mylandmyrules | Monday Night at Nell's

Well, if Nell did decide to get a tree and needed help decorating it, Gladio might know someone who could help at least putting the star on top for her.

As it was, though, Gladio was showing up with his usual six pack of interesting sodas from the shelves of T&C, this time a cinnamon roll one that felt Christmas-adjacent enough.

He'd even been good about not trying to eat any buildings today, and not just because he'd hate to spoil his appetite for tonight.

At some point in the evening, a crimson giftbag was casually placed next to him.

And Gladio was going to casually glance at that gift bag, before casually lifting an eyebrow at the person placing it, and then he was going to (you guessed it) casually pick it up.

"What's this?" he asked, though he was probably about to find out, since he was already opening it to look inside.

"Open them and find out," Liliana said with a small flicker of a smile. "I know I'm new here, but I'm fairly certain that's how its usually done."

Inside, he'd find an ornament she'd picked up at the market today. She'd laughed when she'd seen it, but what had made her buy it was Ignis' expression when she'd told him what she'd found. Sorry, darling, some things were just too perfect to pass up.

Beneath that, however, was a box that Ignis and Prompto would both find very familiar, though Gladio's only held three locket frames and they were not engraved.

Inside the first were two pictures - one of him with Prompto and one of him with Ignis. Inside the second was only one - Nell, still from Halloween, though by herself, surrounded by greenery and illuminated by moonlight.

Inside the third there were two more. One was him posing with Noctis. The second, a candid shot of him with a young woman Liliana hadn't recognized. Prompto had ~~probably begun leaking again~~ told her that the young woman's name was Iris.

Iris Amicitia.

Edited 2023-12-18 20:36 (UTC)

Yeah, Gladio sort of figured his question was going to be met with a smart-aleck comment like that, so he just snorted a little, but it managed to work its way up to a laugh as he held up the first ornament and shook his head, but then it caught in the light a little, and it was impossible to not admire the beauty of the logo shining back at him.

"Almost looks good enough to eat," he noted, and he'd definitely be poking through Nell's pantry later for the back-up rations he kept here at her place. But he set it aside to go digging a little more for the other box, setting the bag aside now, as well, so he could open it and see what was inside.

HIs head tilted, thoughtfully, as he plucked out the first one, opened it, and then looked at Liliana with just a lifted brow, before his attention shifted to the second one. When he opened that one, something in his face softened and he just sort of looked at it for a good, long moment before a light smile surfaced. Another shake of his head and the sort of moment that seemed to suggest that he was definitely waiting to see what was in the last one before he'd let himself say anything.

Ironic, really, because when he did pop open the third one, and saw the pictures there, he didn't really know what he could say. There was a grunt, wedged out of him, a tightening of his jaw, and his snapped it shut much quicker than the others. Lowered his head and sighed, his other hand lifting to rub his forehead a little.

He was....definitely going to need a moment, and a lot of that was just trying to figure out exactly what to make of all that, and wondering if really, Liliana should have quite while she was ahead with just the Cup Noodle^TM.

Head still lowered, hand thumb and forefinger still poised on his forehead, he lifted his eyes toward her.

"Prompto?" he guessed, as the only....logical explanation on how she might have gotten those pictures, because, man, if she got them some other way, he was gonna be real interested to know exactly how.

Look, she'd given them to the other two, she wasn't going to leave you out of it, Beefslab.

"Of course," Liliana said, from where she was pouring herself some soda and very much not looking at him or his reactions. "We spent an afternoon going through the old pictures. Congratulations, I think I laughed at your hair the least."

She'd still laughed at it, absolutely. But considering the competition...

A hand went over Gladio's shoulder to push his hair back, with maybe a small shake of his head. "I always did have great hair," he agreed, although, really, she was right, that bar was so low you'd trip on it.

There was a small moment after that, and he considered Liliana a little more seriously.

"But thanks."

A soft huff. Maybe even a faint smile, and a lift of his chin.

"Guess I gotta go get you something now, too, huh?"

Liliana just laughed. It was an I've got a secret laugh.

"If you'd like," she said. "I assure you, Gladio, I never expected you to."

Was it that laugh or that answer that got the most of that somewhat amused side-eye out of Gladio? Hard to tell.

"Well, now," he said, "I really have to get you something."

"I look forward to this most thoughtful and not-at-all-spite-driven gift," Liliana said, biting back a smile.

"I don't know what anyone could find spiteful about a free lifetime membership but only for the morning hours at the gym," Gladio said, not bothering to hold back a smile at all. In fact, he seemed to insist on it.

"Oh, that's definitely a gift I can imaging getting a lot of use of," Liliana said. "It's been very difficult with Ignis being such a late riser, when I can think of nothing better than seeing the sun rise while doing all that...exercising."

She was completely on the fence about it. "Cinnamn roll! Oh, we need to save one for the Detective if he doesn't make it today." She stretched up to give him a kiss. "I'm so happy you're here."

Gladio leaned down to help so Nell didn't have to stretch quite as much, and grinned into the kiss back.

"I'm happy I'm here, too," he said. "How was your day? What do you need me to get?"

"My day was far too full of gingerbread," Nell said. "And if you could reach those fancier bowls down for the macaroni and cheese I'd appreciate it."

Gladio grinned a little, feeling like maybe that particular task was kind of targeted, but he definitely wasn't going to complain. He'd just do the best reaching for the fancy bowl he could do.

"Well," he said, "at least it should all be back to normal tomorrow.

Hey, she could have climbed up and got them down herself, but she waited and left that for him!

"At least things won't be gingerbread, but who knows what else Fandom has planned for us?" Nell said with a smile.

"Anything in particular you'd really like to see?" Gladio asked, as he handed over that nigh-unreachable fancy dish on over to Nell.

"Hmmm..." Nell considered that as she set the bowl down. "Nothing specific. Just preferably not messy like the sugar snow and I'd rather my house doesn't change into anything else. Do you know even my beehives are gingerbread today?"

"They are?" asked Gladio, although as soon as he did, he made a sound of realization. "Right. Because they're still buildings, just for bees."

His expression went a little concerned.

"Is that gonna mess 'em up at all?"

"I don't think so," Nell said. "They're pretty much just hibernating and everything will hopefully be back to normal in the morning, so I think they'll be fine."

To help save Liliana from what had turned out to be a rather unexpectedly wretched final exam for Jon's class (no good deed goes unpunished, indeed) and to help save himself the frustration of constantly trying to prevent her from nibbling on the walls, Ignis had smartly utilized Portalocity and his knowledge of her burgeoning love to the season to whisk her away for the afternoon to some quaint European Christkindlmarket to distract her with more holiday cheer and glühwein.

Which also meant that when they came back in time for Nell's, he also came bearing plenty of little handmade gifts, as well as pretzels, roasted nuts, and cookies (no gingerbread, though, specifically) straight from the booths and stalls.

"When do we get to go back?" Liliana asked him once they came back together after the requisite greetings and conversations with other people. "Not even to the market, but to...wherever we were. Köln? I believe?"

Ignis had gotten to watch one of Liliana's Planewalker powers in real time as she'd gone from only speaking English to being fluent in German over the course of an hour or so of listening to random conversations. "It was a beautiful city, my darling, and I'm realizing I've been absolutely nowhere. Doesn't a trip together somewhere sound lovely?"

It had been quite the sight to hear, really, and fascinating in a way that Ignis hadn't quite yet managed to really process yet, but there would certainly be questions about it later when they got home.

For now, though, he was smiling softly, a hand light against her elbow as if in light assurance that she not stray too far at that moment. "We can go back," he said, "whenever you'd like. Barring, of course, any other obligations..."

He fully realized that they both had very different interpretations of what fell under that category, as well.

"But a trip together anywhere," yes, that did still manage to include planes where they were likely to be attacked just by being there, which he was not at all convinced would be limited only to Innistrad, at this point; a part of him, albeit a very small one, was mildly surprised they even managed to make it through the Christkindlmarkt unscathed, "would indeed be exceptionally lovely. And I will say this much about this world: it is expansive, and there is, even in my brief experience, no shortage of interesting places to discover."

Rude to perfectly lovely necromancers! She took no responsibility for the actions of other people. Especially other, clearly unhinged people like Henrika 'Banging Demons Is An Objectively Good Idea' Domnathi and Garruk 'Who Need Brains When Have Axe' Wildspeaker!

"I warn you though," she said with a soft laugh, leaning against him more fully because she also had no desire to stray far. "We end up anywhere the word wilderness applies and I'm Planeswalking back to the island. I appreciate amenities."

Well, at least these clearly independently motivated actions of other people meant Ignis didn't have to worry about being bored on any of these jaunts, although he would also like to point out that, with Liliana, that was never even a concern of his to begin with.

And if she was going to lean in a little more, then what choice did Ignis really have but to lean in enough to brush a kiss against her forehead, and move that hand at her elbow down until it found itself properly there in hers.

"Luckily for you, then," he assured her with a smile, "my appreciation for sightseeing in the great outdoors has been significantly, and if we did end up in any such place, a grave miscalculation had been made, and no one could blame you."

Listen, it certainly wasn't her fault Henrika had decided the only proper way to get the answer to the question 'why is Liliana Vess looking for Griselbrand?' was to send a clutch of vampires after her (okay, it was possibly a little bit her fault, but only in that she was so powerful and competent, Henrika had known that she'd get nowhere with only sending a few), and as for Garruk--

Well, it was a very complicated situation, but of all the players involved, it was Liliana's fault the least.

"My legs were made for being admired," Liliana declared with a laugh, taking the opportunity to rub one up and down the inside of his calf, "not for actually being used. If the gods had meant for us to walk, they wouldn't have invented horses. Or chocobos."

Liliana's favorite part of a ski trip would be 'never leaving the lodge.'

"And then mankind surpassed them both," Ignis noted, with a touch of wistfulness in the sardonic musing, "when they invented automobiles..."

Someone couldn't help being a bit nostalgic for the open road again, for some odd reason...

It was a mystery.

"You'll have to tell me about them," she said quietly, their fingers twined. "I'd love to hear your stories of them - an experience I've never had."

"Oh, I'm not entirely sure," Ignis admitted, although quite a bit blithely, "that even I possess quite the eloquence to truly capture it for you; it is something best simply experienced, but I certainly intend to try..."

He was also trying, out of his respect for Nell, to not allow himself to get carried away by that occasional tendency to simply forget that it was not, in fact, just him and Liliana in the room, though that seemed almost an even more insurmountable task.

Especially when they were so cozily pressed together, her perfume mixing with the scent of fresh air from the market that clung to them both.

"I'm excited to have you make the attempt," she said, already imagining his deep drawl murmuring in her ear. "And we'll have to find a way to have us experience it, won't we?"

"Perhaps we'll have to see about you learning to drive sometime," Ignis speculated, no doubt making it easier for her to imagine that drawl in her ear as it was already coming into play. "You can't possibly be any worse at it than Prompto..."

Which, rude, Igs. Rude. Prompto was a great driver....just not with cars. His driving saved the world once, and you didn't even know!

"What a high bar you've set for me!" Liliana said with a laugh, which helped cover for the shiver his voice sent down her spine. "Not that you're sure I'll be great, but simply that I can't be worse than Prompto. And they say romance is dead."

"Oh my!" Nell said. "Just look at all this. It's amazing!"

"Well," Ignis said, unable to help himself, even with Nell, "I certainly would if I could. But hello, Nell. We couldn't exactly show up empty handed, now, could we? How are you?"

She smiled at him. "Sorry, Ignis. It's a little sad how many expressions involve sight. And you are welcome here whether you bring anything or not."

"It's quite alright," Ignis assured her. "It just means I often find myself in the unique position of being able to help other be more aware of the importance of preciseness in their speech, and, well, I could hardly pass up an opportunity like that if presented with one. And that may be so, but I'd rather be both welcome and a courteous guest."

Nell chuckled. "I know. I'd always rather bring something whenever I'm invited somewhere."

They were her walls, Ignis, she could nibble on them if she liked.

And also that right there was why she made it a point to not help people out. Because sometimes you did and then suddenly everything was very tiresome.

Still the impromptu trip had sweetened her temper back up, so it was a laughing Liliana who came in on Ignis' arm, hands also full of little presents, still holding her souvenir mug with the last few mouthfuls of glühwein in, just as excited about having been somewhere new and interesting as for the Christkindlmarkt itself.

"Welcome, Liliana," Nell said with a smile. "I see you brought your own beverage."

"Only the last little bit of it, I'm afraid," Liliana said, holding up her commemorative mug. "Look! It's a little boot!"

Clearly the most adorable thing ever.

Nell laughed. "It is very cute. Well, come on in and make yourself at home. I'm glad you're here."

"Thanks for inviting me, darling," Liliana said. "Oh! And a gift for you darling." She held out a shimmery green gift bag. "From a Christmaskindlmarket in Köln. Ignis decided I couldn't be trusted to not eat my own house."

For the very good reason of because she couldn't.

Nell laughed. "If I never see gingerbread again it may be too soon."

She took the bag. "This is very kind of you," she said, "thank you."

Inside was a snow lantern, that was, a snowglobe in the shape of a lantern. "I saw it and thought of you and Gladio," she said with a small laugh. "Out in a tent, perfectly happy and self-sufficient, even in the snow."

Nell laughed again. "Oh. Liliana, it's perfect! It's just like us and so beautiful! Thank you!"

She had a gift for Liliana as well - a basket with teas, jams, special lotions, and a small bottle of Nell's honey. "This is for you. I hope you enjoy it."

"Oooh, thank you darling," Liliana taking it and immediately pawing through it, making little oooh and ahh noises as she did. "Oh, are you hosting next Monday? That's the real Christmas, right?"

"I hadn't thought about it," Nell said. "I can, if people want to come. I figured Gladio would be here at least. The store won't be open so it will be a quiet day. Maybe people could come by in the evening for desserts if they want?"

"I don't think Ignis and I have talked about it," she said, like, you know, how lots of non-couple-y people just automatically assume they'll be spending a major holiday together and might wish to check in before making additional plans. "But considering your desserts are one of the few that he'll eat without complaint, I think he might be amenable."

"We can always see how it feels as the day gets closer," Nell said. "And if it's too much on Christmas day we can always get together on Tuesday."

"Either way there will be some kind of Christmassy thing," Liliana agreed. "I don't think I can deny Ignis the joy of making a proper Christmas dinner though. I don't think there's a gift I can give him that will grant more joy than that."

"Absolutely," Nell said. "I'm sure he'd want to do that. I haven't actually thought much about what to make. I suppose I'll see if there's something Gladio particularly likes."

It had been a long time since she'd done anything special for Christmas. Even then it had been quiet and subdued.

"That gives me the perfect idea for a gift for you to give Gladio," Liliana said with a laugh. "A Cup Noodle Cookbook! An entire meal made of different dishes wrought from Cup of Noodle."

It was a good thing that she and Ignis weren't dating, elsewise he might take this as enough reason to break up with her.

Nell laughed. "That would be very funny," she admitted, "Though I think I'd have to write my own and I don't think I have enough time before Christmas."

"Well, maybe you can get a start on trying out some dishes now and get it ready by...whenever his birthday is," Liliana suggested, full of good ideas as usual.

"Now, that's an idea," Nell said. "I'm sure I could manage that."

"And I'm pretty sure that surprising him with even a side dish on Christmas will make his entire holiday season."

Look, she didn't know him well but there were some things that were just obvious.

"Oh, he gets plenty of Cup Noodle here," Nell said with a grin. "I have a whole cabinet of it."

"Liliana, hello!" Lana smiled. "How have you been lately?"

"Lana! Darling, hello." She offered Lana a smile. "I've been enjoying the season greatly. We just came back from a Christmaskindlmarket, which was delightful. Yourself?"

"Busy." Lana shook her head. "I don't think I've been to one of those - a market for Christmas things, I'm guessing?" Call it a hunch.

Liliana nodded. "Yes, Köln, in Germany. Inexplicably, Ignis doubted I could be trusted near my walls today."

"Oh, honestly." Lana shook her head. "This month these things never last more than a day. Still, a trip somewhere nice is good. Did you have fun?" She leaned in conspiratorially. "And did you get to nibble the walls?"

"I did! I haven't done much exploring of this plane at all and so it was lovely to visit somewhere else," Liliana said. "And of course not. I would never."

For all her protesting to the contrary, Liliana was absolutely nodding.

"Hello?" Lana stuck her head in the door. "I come not bearing gingerbread."

"Thank heavens," Nell said. "Come on in!"

Lana came in, smiling. "It's an annoying if harmless day, isn't it? How have you been? I apologize for being so busy lately."

"No apologies necessary," Nell said firmly. "You have a lot of responsibilities. I'm just happy that you choose to join us when you have time. You're always welcome."

"And I always enjoy being here," Lana said. "Merry Christmas to you."

"Thank you," Nell said with a smile. "I have a little something for you." It was a wrapped basket with some of Lana's favorite teas and jams as well as some lotions Nell had created especially for her. "Nothing big, just a token."

"Oh, that's lovely!" Lana smiled at her. "Thank you. You didn't have to, but I appreciate it."

"I'm glad you like it," Nell said. She smiled with a shrug. "I know, but I wanted to."

Lana smiled back. "Thank you. And I hear you've been doing quite well; no trip home with me this break? Though you would both be welcome."

"I actually haven't talked to Gladio about what we might do. I think we'll definitely be spending at least Christmas here. But maybe we could come for a day or two?"

Monday Night at Nell's

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