mylandmyrules | Monday Night at Nell's

Well, assuming it was a fairly large tub, anyway, otherwise all you'd get were knees blocking all the good stuff.

"Is that how you plan on marketing these new bath bombs and bubble baths?" Gladio simply had to ask.

"Mmm..." She glanced back at it. "Raw and unseasoned? Yes, that does track, doesn't it?"

She did have a lovely big soaking tub. Whoever had designed this house apparently really enjoyed their baths. But you know, enough bubbles would only tease at the good stuff anyway.

Nell pretended to consider that for a moment. "No," she said finally. "I think that any pictures I took would be solely for me."

"It certainly seems to have been working out quite well so far," Ignis noted. "There's no denying that it does make my Tuesday mornings significantly easier. And besides..." there was a pause, one not without his own curiosity, "it will be considerably more quiet than it has been for the past few days."

Another pause, this one quite a bit difference, including the addition of a small smirk.

"Perfect for getting an early good night's rest."

"Oh good," Liliana said with a laugh. "I was starting to worry you were ridiculously skilled at all things handicraft-related."

Nell shook her head as she laughed again. "Oh no, not at all. I can do a lot of basic things, but I definitely have my limits. And making my own pottery is definitely one."

"And it's important," Ignis added thoughtfully, "to foster a certain sense of independence and the opportunity to experience new things....for both parents and child alike."

"Mmmm, perhaps, I could be moved to giving you another massage like last night's," she murmured, leaning in to brush a kiss over his beautifully arched cheekbone and breathed, too soft to be overheard by anyone else, "Are you sure it will be quieter? Especially if we retire early?"

She said nothing about going to sleep.

"Raw, I'll take," said Gladio. "But unseasoned?" He grinned. "Never. Besides, I bet Specs' got a fancy word for whatever you'd call that."

Gladio, you had been heir to literally the seconds most important House of Lucis. Don't act like you didn't know steak tartare.

"You sure?" asked Gladio, lifting skeptical brows at Nell, but her was grinning faintly. "Just think of how many bath bombs a face like this," excuse him a moment as he preened and mugged and stroked his chin to help prove his point.

"I agree," Nell said. "It's useful for children to experience new things and different environments. Especially as they get older so they can see the world from different angles."

"Then I shall stop my nascent investigations into the possibility that you're some kind of tiny domestic wood sprite," Liliana said. "I am comforted."

"Nope. Too selfish," Nell said. "I guess I'll just have to take the loss of sales."

She was sort of wood sprite, actually, though she didn't really know it as yet.

"I'm glad to reassure you," Nell said solemnly. "I'd hate to worry you."

Having little interest in his own tarts at the moment, that easily left Ignis with a free hand, perfect for finding Liliana's hip and the sliding to the small of her back when she lean in, as if to keep her close.

"Perfectly peaceful," he declared, "although...and I know this may sound quite unbelievabl, but I have been wrong on a...few occasions..."

And with that, he leaned in a little himself, lowering his face toward her ear, to whisper (for the discretion of course), "Perhaps I could be moved to return the favor."

Please, he'd had at least three conversations with Ignis, so even if he hadn't been the Amicitia heir, he'd probably know the term.

"If you say so, Carpaccio," Liliana snorted, lips twitching. She gave him a skeptical once-over. "I'll take your word for it."

"See, now," Gladio grinned, waving a finger of acknowledgement at Nell, "I like that. Standing by your principles, good sign of integrity, right there."

Even with multiple conversations to work from, Gladio was still going to have to look something up later.

And, briefly, for a moment, he thought of pointing out that she didn't have to take just his word for it. In fact, out of the people currently here, she was the odd one out on that one, but figured the trouble to amusement scale on that one just wasn't worth it.

"Probably for the best," he agreed. "That wouldn't be fair to Igs."

"Selfishness, integrity," Nell said, waving her hand. "Same basic thing, right?"

She smiled at him. 'But I do like to keep you all to myself. Stay over tonight?" SHe'd missed having him in her bed. "Stay over any night. Or all nights."

"All nights, huh?" Gladio's brow lifted. "At this point, maybe I should just move in."

At first, he'd gone into saying it as kind of a joke, especially since, well, Ignis had practically done that already with Liliana, and Gladio, while staying at Nell's not nearly as frequently, wasn't that behind.

Well. He did say in class today he should give gardening as try; that was one way to plant a seed!

Nell stopped what she was doing and turned to give him her full attention. She just looked at him silently for a moment with very little expression.

Then she said, "Maybe you should."

Why not? She was happier when she slept in his arms. He was good company. He didn't need entertaining and was perfectly happy to read a book companionably by the fire. The cats loved him - almost as much as she did. Why not?

Why not do what made her happy?

"Maybe you should."

A pity, because Liliana would have been very interested in that little tidbit. So actually, good on you, Gladio, saving ya boy yet another conversation that contributed to global warming.

Instead, she just laughed. "You keep telling yourself that," she said merrily, patting an arm the size of a ham hock. "You sound like you need that win, so I'll let you have it."

Apparently, she didn't see much of a reason for Ignis to be concerned.

She shivered, one of the good shivers. Surely just an accidental side effect of that bid for discretion. "You know I don't turn down any opportunity to get your hands on me," she said, turning her face slightly to catch his lower lip between her teeth.

"Queen Oona and I already don't get along well," Liliana said, laughing. "I'd hate to belatedly discover I wasn't showing one of her kinswomen the proper respect."

By accident, anyway. When Liliana disrespected people, she far preferred it to be intentional.

At first, with that reaction, Gladio was instantly worried that maybe, even as a joke, the suggestion had crossed a line, and he was feeling a little torn, between a frustration for having gotten it wrong and a firm belief in that he'd rather be able to be open and honest with Nell about anything and everything, especially when it came to something that, now that he'd said it, now that it was out there in the open air, really did seem...well, logical. It would make sense and be kind of nice, actually, but he also knew he had no right to just impose on her space like that, especially when he knew how important having that space for herself was to Nell...

So he took that moment of blank consideration with a sort of ready patience, preparing himself for whatever can of worms he may have just inadvertently opened, and then blinked when she finally did speak. And by the time she said it again to confirm he'd heard it correctly, he just grinned back.

"Maybe," he echoed, "I should."

And maybe he should also just take a moment to set those kittens back down on the floor so that he could wrap it around Nell instead and give her that long-overdue kiss.

They could work out the details and if they were really serious about it later. Right now, he just needed this.

Monday Night at Nell's

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