My Land, My Rules

As long as he helped chop the vegetables she was considering the food he thought he was sneaking an acceptable loss. Though she might have been unable to resist smacking the back of his hand once and telling him he'd spoil his supper.

Before ruining it all by laughing.

From:

chef_chocobro

It would seem that fruit and cake was the order of the evening, although Ignis' offering came in the form of a pear upside-down cake.

Hopefully not to be served with a side of awkwardness over the whirlwind of difficulty the past week seemed to have stirred up, but , to that, he supposed, only time would tell. He could at least look forward to feeling far more certain about their potential impending lack of apartment after tonight...

From:

Liliana might have blinked upon seeing Gladio's books on the shelves already; again, last she'd heard, things were still in the 'being discussed' territory. Apparently, things had moved very fast - including the moving aspect itself.

But this did at least give her the chance to peruse Nell's shelves, something she hadn't done since getting an invitation to join the gatherings and that was always good for...well, a number of things, really.

From:

Beefslab, darling. Beefslab.

Though high-five, fellow member of the Sneaky Food Thief Brigade. At some points, they ought to share tips.

"I do believe congratulations are in order," Liliana noted softly, toasting his slightly with her drink. "And so, congratulations."

From:

At diverse parts of the evening, at least, he could look forward to the cool brush of her fingers upon his arm, against his wrist, and between his own. Silent greetings? Reassurances she was nearby? Clandestine offers of comfort, if necessary?

From:

sword_chocobro

Gladio would more than happily do all the slicing, dicing, chopping and cutting Nell needed to do, even if it would involve a lot of shaking his head and claiming that he didn't see how anyone could call something this dinky a knife.

And when his hand got slapped for swiping carrots? He snorted.

"And here you were worried," he stated, "about becoming a mouse. And a mouse's dinner is about all a bite like that would spoil, too. Gonna take more than that to fill me up, and you know it."

Just wait, Nell. You were lucky they were having company, because after this? He might just have to test to see how serious you were about not picking up his underwear.

From:

sword_chocobro

Oh, there were plenty of beef-related nicknames to go around.

But Gladio's tips would be no good to you, Lils, Ignis already knew all his techniques.

He was unable to keep the grin off his face at that, but he did give her a grateful nod of his head. "Thanks," he said. "I appreciate that. Especially since I know it kinda put you and Igs in an awkward spot. Sorry about that."

Funny, he didn't look very sorry, and the sentiment probably wasn't helped when he followed it up with a "So? Are those contrats going right back at you, too?"

From:

Liliana would absolutely and categorically refuse to call you Beefcake, Gladio. Not unless it was followed up by an absurd surname like Thighpunch or Rockhead or something.

"My heart is warmed by your genuine and sincere apology," Liliana drawled, taking a sip of the weird drink he'd brought tonight. Which was absolutely the worst timing on her part, because he was already asking about what they were doing, which led to Liliana swallowing wrong and having a coughing fit instead.

Which, hey! Meant not having to answer, at least!

Listen, their relationship had worked perfectly well thus far without defining anything or talking about it, why change now?

From:

At about the time a Llewellyn would normally show up, there was in fact a Steven with Llewellyn ~~who would ping in himself~~. Steven was a bit nervous, this being his first time, but he hoped it would go well.

From:

pocketpretzels

And indeed, there was Watts, who had brought along with him a container of cinnamon rolls to share.

From:

"Welcome, Iggy, hospitality and safety to you while you're here," Nell said. "I'm glad you're here."

She was sorry for any distress she and Gladio had caused, but she wouldn't have changed her mind so she didn't feel right about apologizing for it. And no need to bring it up unless he did.

From:

"See anything you like?" Nell asked. "I'm excited to read some of these myself."

From:

"Steven! Welcome!" Nell said with delight. "Hospitality and safety to you while you're here. Please come in. I have a lovely vegetable stew and all sorts of delicious things to eat."

From:

"Detective! I'm glad to see you," Nell said happily. "Hospitality and safety while you're here."

She waited to see where his hat would end up at that she could place it on it's proper peg.

From:

Gladio might not like to discover what would happen to any underwear he left lying around. He really wouldn't.

"That's what I'm afraid of," she said with an arched brow. "Give you an inch - or a bite of carrot - and next thing I know my whole dinner will have disappeared and I'll have to send out for pizza!"

From:

"Nell! Cheers," Steven said. "It smells wonderful. And congratulations to you and Gladio on the big day."

From:

"That makes it sound far too much as if we'uns is getting married," Nell said with a laugh. "And it's been more like a big weekend of moving in and getting settled."

From:

"Congratulations on... being done with the move?" Steven offered, in case that was better.

From:

"Much better," Nell said cheerfully. "And you're in luck,I successfully prevented him from eating everything I cooked before you arrived."

From:

"That is appreciated as knowing you'd be cooking I did make sure to bring my appetite," Steven said. "Is there anything I can help with?"

From:

"I'm already pawed through much of Gladio's library, though I've only read two," Liliana said, still going through the titles. "Well, two and a half, really. We have similar interests, but different lenses. No, darling, I'm poking at your collections."

From:

"No, no," Nell said with a smile. "Just come in and make yourself comfortable. Be careful of Gladio's swords in the other room and watch out for kittens underfoot, but otherwise everything should be in order. We usually grab some food and settle in in the living room."

From:

"Hello, Steven darling," Liliana said. "I do believe this is the first time I've seen you at once of these. I'm so glad our schedules finally synched up."

She knew that people dipped in and out as their schedules allowed for and assumed that she'd just been busy on those Mondays that she'd been present.

From: