Finding Mami Tomoe seems to be an adventure. Someone had thought they managed, and Mami had sat, so to say, on the piece of paper she had been handed during the situation with Nagisa for a few days now, until she found some time in the later afternoon after school to head out to somewhere where she could reasonably manage a meeting without it being too awkward.
As such, whoever picked up the phone found themselves getting directions to the Botanical Garden off of the King Penguin Park, before she headed out herself.
Mami hasn't bothered changing out of her school uniform, and she's perched at one of the benches down away from the koi pond, where it's much quieter. She's reading while waiting. She keeps on top of her schoolwork and on top of Witches, it seems.
Finding someone whose identity you don't truly know, and are in fact /guessing/ at based on some clues, proves to be quite the adventure indeed. It only worked out by random chance.
So when Rune's phone - the 'other phone', the one set aside for use solely regarding magical matters - rings, she was surprised... and pleased, accepting the offer to meet. It may seem bizarre to transform for such a meeting, but now that she's aware that secret identities are a thing... Runealy is making use of it.
And so the alien princess arrives in full magical garb, with wand stowed behind her back. It's an odd contrast to the school uniform Mami is in, yet Runealy walks right up and smiles. "This will be a very odd question, but... are you the Mami Tomoe that Homura knows, the Mami Tomoe who protects others?"
Mami takes a long look when she sees Runealy show up, and more at what she is in fact, wearing. She inhales slightly, especially when she hears the name 'Homura', but then she lets it out in a smooth, exhale, before she nods. Her ring on her finger flashes, the yellow mark on her fingernail showing as her Soul Gem appears in her grip. She then gives a slow nod.
"That would be me, of course. It might be more familiar if I..."
She henshins, dropping back into place in her magical girl uniform, smoothing the flower on her hat into place. "If I looked like this, I suppose. Can I ask what this is about?"
The alien princess blinks, impressed by the transformation. "Incredible..." Mami strikes her as very visually distinct like that. "So it is you... yes, I'll be glad to tell you! I am new in this area. New enough that ideas such as electricity, and even the very phones we used to communicate, were unheard of to me until very recently. I had the misfortune of encountering a Witch... and the fortune of obtaining its Grief Seed."
She makes a tiny nod before continuing: "I was experimenting with it to find out more, but... it turns out it's useless to someone like me. Homura found me and told me what they're really for." Rather, Homura gave Runealy a carefully edited version of the truth; enough to convey the important points while leaving out certain dangerous information. "She told me that she and her peers, you among them, need those seeds. As I had no way of contacting you and could not hold on to it, she offered to bring it to you with my regards... I hope she has since done so. However..."
Her smile grows. "She also told me many wonderful things about you. That you protect people at incredible risk to yourself, noble and kind more so than many others like you. And so I wanted to meet you, specifically you, Mami Tomoe!"
Mami brushes one drill as she listens to Runealy. This explains a couple of things, and then she reels a little, visibly blinking in confusion a couple of times. Homura had-- she said- that /Mami/ - Mami lifts a hand for a moment, wordlessly gesturing in startled surprise, before she finally exhales again, her cool, for once, having been shot.
Heh. Shot.
"Homura-san did indeed give me a Grief Seed a little while ago. I thank you for it. You were brave yourself fighting a Witch, especially surviving. There are some magical girls that would've fallen themselves, especially depending on the Witch itself, or the magical girl."
She looks away slightly. "Homura said all of that..." She murmurs.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Mami Tomoe..." Awkward?
"So she did deliver it..." Runealy looks surprised, then relieved... then somewhat subdued for a moment. "I nearly did die. There's a very good chance the only reason I'm standing here right now is a friend did something extraordinary. Those things are dangerous, scary... unbelievable. But yes, Homura did say that about you."
"And I have s--" The princess catches her mistake. No, the 'mysterious princess' hasn't seen this, as her thoughts flash back to Mami's help in calming Nagisa Momoe on that day at the hospital. "...spoken with others who feel the same way. It's fair to say that even though we haven't met until just now, I admire you. I..."
...She can't share her name just yet. So she hesitates and instead offers, "...Forgive me, but for now please simply think of me as 'The Princess', or any other way you wish to refer to me. I've been hoping that at least when it comes to Witches and other threats to Tokyo, we could work together."
"They are deadly. You do not go against them alone, then, since you sound... fairly new, if you'll pardon me, to your powers. You are not a puella magi, like us, but you are a magical girl in your own way, Princess." Mami says, thoughtfully.
"So yes, I accept your offer. But be warned. There are other puella magi that will not accept your interference as easily as Homura-san and I will, due to the nature of the Grief Seeds."
"I didn't have a choice that time," Runealy comments softly. "Still... given a choice, I'd rather be with people than not, especially against those things. Everything about them just seems impossible. And... I know." The warning is heeded. "You and everyone like you truly /need/ them. Any of you would be jealous and careful about that. From what I understand of your kind, I can't fault it. I saw one of them struck down over what appeared to be just a single mistake; Witches are that dangerous. And when the stake is the very thing you must have in order to live..." Homura had explained that much, at least, "I will be careful. I won't deny any of them a Grief Seed if it comes up, but you... I think it's important that you, especially, have them." A nod, and the smile returns. "So thank you for letting me help!"
Mami, who has ulteior motives to pass along any extra Grief Seeds to Nagisa, seems enthused about the fact that she might be getting them from Runealy.
"Ah, well... thank you. For wanting to help. Just... be careful. Let me do this, as well - you should have my number from when I called you. Keep it. If you need me, call me. If I need you, I will reach out at the number I was given, the number I spoke to you on today. Let us keep communicating."
"I don't know if I'll come across any more," Rune comments. "I've only obtained one, and from what I understand even that was extraordinary. Nonetheless, whether it's with Witches or Seeds or other matters entirely, I'd like to work with you as best I can. It seems you're one of the most extraordinary people in this city! Thank you for hearing me out, odd as my introduction has been. And yes..." She digs around in her dress' bow, eventually pulling out a phone. "...You're right. This thing does 'remember' numbers, doesn't it? I hadn't even thought about it, but now that you mention that... that is clever."
She backs off a few steps from Mami, but remains smiling. "Meeting you was definitely worth it."
Mami stares at Rune. Like, a full on stare.
"... Yes, it does. Here." She pulls out her own phone, to show her how her phone stores recent calls, and even showing her how she'd add a unknown number to her contacts. She's a good senpai and helper, see? "You really are new." She says, afterwards, wonderingly. "That's neat."
Runealy leans in to pay attention to this, fascinated by the phone's menus. "I... think I've seen something like this. And... yes. Very new to Tokyo. What you have known as light bulbs, I thought of as 'glass candles'. A bus was a metal carriage with no horses. Electricity... I had no concept for it, at all. It was completely different and 'impossible' at the time. Still, now I know how to do that..." A nod, then the alien princess stows her own phone. "Thank you. Why would you call it 'neat', however? I had thought it would seem shockingly ignorant?"
"... where are you from?!"
Mami has heard of no country that doesn't at least know what electricity is. She then shakes her head. "I-- nevermind, I don't want to know. This is weird. What's with all you people wanting to experiment on Grief SEeds, anyways? It's a bad idea!"
"Europe," Runealy /instantly/ answers with the lie. "A very remote part of Europe. I wouldn't know about anyone else experimenting, but... you're right. Homura has told me why, and what little I was able to find out alone," which wasn't much, "was enough to get the point across. If you're worried about that, then at least in my case you can know that I'm done. They're useless to me, but mean everything to you. I'll respect that."
"Uhhhh-huh." Mami says, thoughtfully.
"Anyways, do you have anything else for me, Princess-san? I would love to stay and chat, but the evenings are my patrol times... and I still have schoolwork to do." She says, sounding a touch amused.
"No, I..." Runealy is ready to part ways at first, then hears what Mami will be up to. "I... would be pretty useless with your schoolwork, I'm afraid. However," She goes silent for a few seconds, remembering what happened the last time she was in a Witch's Barrier. It's chilling, and weighs on the alien princess' mind. Yet in the end, she offers: "May I go with you on your patrol? I won't be a burden... electricity may be novel to me, but I know something of monsters and magic. Of how important it is to protect people, or else these awful things might eventually run unchecked across a city of millions."
Mami considers.
"... yes. That's acceptable too. Sometimes it can be pretty quiet, so that's what we should hope for. Are you prepared?"
"I don't think you can really be 'prepared' for some of the things I've seen in a Witch's Barrier," Runealy remarks in a low voice. "So 'as much as I can be, and I hope for a quiet patrol' is going to have to be my answer. Still... I'll stay with you until you're ready to part ways for the evening."
And she plans to do just that. It stings to be stringing Mami along with half-truths, omissions, and outright lies... but at least the princess can take some satisfaction in having seen that the 'Mami Tomoe' that Homura spoke of seems to be as kind as the rumors say. Seeing it both at the hospital with Nagisa Momoe, and now with Mami's apparent stance on magical matters... Runealy will feel good about helping here.
Mami smiles.
"I like the way you think, Princess." She says, before she glances around the park... and then goes to vault over the fence. Magical girls away!