Monday Night with Nell and Gladio

[mylandmyrules]

Nell had decided on lasagna for dinner - one extra large one with meat and a smaller one without. She made up a garlic spread for the bread, that Gladio could slather on her bread before they heated it up for serving, and a large salad. That plus the usual snacks and desserts should be more than enough for anyolne who might stop by.

Once everything was set and the lasagna ready to pop in the over she had some time to put her feet up by the fireplace and snuggle with the cats and/or Gladio if he was there. Though if he growled against her neck she might just have to drag him off to the bedroom.

Comments

[sword_chocobro]

Well, now, that would just potentially make things a little awkward for their guests and also run the risk of being interrupted at a very inopportune time! Although at least if Gladio did end up having to answer the door without a shirt on, no one who knew him would think much of that.

But since he really didn't care for not getting to finish something he'd started, any neck growling was definitely being held off until after everyone left. But there would be kisses that might also be tempting fate, especially once he got back from his usual day of training, checking in at the gym, hitting up his class, and then hitting up the grocery store, which really needed to stop having deals on cozy stuff, because they probably didn't need new towels or bathrobes, but you put an idea like that into his head...

And, of course, if they were having lasagna tonight, he had to go with some nice Italian soda for his beverage du jour.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell would end up nicely pink and a bit flustered when their guests arrived and would be eager to have some growling once they'd gone home. For now though, she'd barely managed to get the lasagna into the oven on time and now needed Gladio to work on the garlic bread for her.

Though, if they got a bit distracted here and there, well... what could they do?

"Just slather the garlic sauce on each slice and then we'll heat them up."

[sword_chocobro]

"Slather, huh?" asked Gladio, with a lift of his eyebrow and a knife prepped in one hand with the sauce in the other. "Is that a technical term?"

But if she wanted slathered, Nell was going to get slathered. He was going to slather that bread with all the slather in him.

Once again, though, he just couldn't help feeling like what he needed was just a bigger knife.

[mylandmyrules]

"Absolutely," Nell said with a grin. "Technnical as they come."

And if he wanted to bring in a bigger knife he was welcome to do so!

"No sense in skimping on the garlic for garlic bread." And since they'd both be eating it there wouldn't be a garlic issue later.

[chef_chocobro]

Typically, Ignis did try to challenge himself to make something vegan in general for the gatherings at Nell's (and, well, Gladio's now, too, as well), but this week, he was making an exception, because while he could potentially whip up a dairy-free version of his chocotorta cake, he felt that would greatly diminish the spirit of the inspiration.

And though it was clearly unintentional, it did strike him as rather amusing when he realized what Nell had made that evening, that they'd both be leaning heavily into layered dishes.

Because sometimes, it really did not take much to amuse him, contrary, probably, to popular belief.

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh Ignis!" A pink and cheerful Nell greeted him at the door. And if her shirt and hair were a bit disheveled, well, at least they were mostly straightened. "That is amazing! I can't wait to try it after dinner."

And there were surely enough gluten free desserts for the Detective and Steven should they stop by.

[chef_chocobro]

Well, to Nell's benefit, at least Ignis was the last person to notice her disheveled hair or clothing, although it was interesting, wasn't it, how such things could sometimes manage to be translated into one's words, too. Well. Perhaps not the words themselves, but rather just in how they were said...

So there was a small hint of a grin on Ignis' face as he ducked his head a little in greeting. "It will make for an excellent dessert, especially with maybe a little coffee served with it. I know you tend to lean more toward tea, but it's a very coffee-forward treat."

Which was another reason why he absolutely could not have made anything else that evening.

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh, I like my coffee too, she assured him. "So I can definitely make up a pot to go with dessert."

Tea was a wonderful drink, but she definitely needed coffee to get her going in the morning.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana wasn't going to say anything about their hostess's disheveled appearance, her countenance calm and serene...and maaaaybe just a hint of dimples if one looked closely enough.

"Hello dear," she said to Nell, like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "And how are you this fine evening?"

[mylandmyrules]

"I'm quite well," Nell said with a smile that was only slightly flustered and maybe a tinge satisfied. "I'm eager to have some lasagna. It's smelling wonderful!"

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana certainly had no idea where those emotions could have come from, of course. Likely some kind of kitchen mishap successfully handled.

She knew she quite enjoyed a bit of successful handling herself. Ahem. Culinarily speaking, of course.

"Indeed," she said, her smile existing for the commentary on dinner and dinner only. "I can only assume it tastes better than it smells, of course."

[mylandmyrules]

Mmm hmm, that's exactly what it was. Or not. Nell would never tell.

Nell sniffed at the lasaagna smells. "I think it smells pretty good," she said, "But I do think it should taste very good."

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto didn't bring drinks or some fancy dessert, but he did bring a baby and some invitations!

As usual, he didn't know how long they'd be there at Nell's tonight, but he was really warming up to the idea of getting the chance to go hang out with everyone, even if this week was going to be loaded with opportunities between Ignis' party and Noctra's. But after last week? He felt like they all deserved a lot of good time and good food and good company.

Plus, he was saving himself on some postage by delivering a few invitations in person tonight, and, besides, based on Friday's texts with Liz, Noctra not only had a cute new dress to show off, but also a new best friend.

[mylandmyrules]

"Welcome," Nell said with a smile. "Hopsitality and safety to you while you're here. And doesn't Noctra look adorable! Who's your new friend sweetheart?"

[hashtag_chocobro]

One of Noctra's hands was clutching the little chicken plush to her mouth while the other was lifted to open-and-close at Nell in her version of a wave, her big blue eyes just staring at her the whole time before she managed to mumble out response.

"'ot albabo," she said. "'Ickah!"

"Awww," said Prompto, who really couldn't help melting over his kid sometimes, even in the presence of other people, and he gave her a little kiss on her forehead. "That's right, Noctra! It's not a chocobo! It's a chicken.

"At least," he added, leaning toward Nell with one hand over Noctra's closest ear as he lowered his voice into a whisper, "I think that's what she said?"

It's not like she was about to correct him if he was wrong, though, right?

"But thanks, Nell. How's it going? Smells great in here, by the way." He took a moment to breathe it in. "Garlicky!"

But you know what? Sure, it was zombies and angels and daemons last week, but you weren't going to hear Prompto complaining about a little extra protection against vampires while he was here!

[deathsmajesty]

"Trying to show up my party, are you?" Liliana teased, opening up her invitation and reading it aloud. Not for anybody's personal benefit or anything, just to prove she did sometimes read mail immediately.

"What is a puppy bowl?"

Don't ask her what she was picturing, Prompto, it will only make you cry.

[hashtag_chocobro]

Oh, noooooooooooo.

The reading of the invitation outloud did lift Prompto's eyebrows a little, with a faint grin as he glanced over toward nobody who might have personally benefited from such an action, and then grinned more directly at Liliana. "Hey, man," he said, "no shade to Iggy or anything, but mine features an adorable baby and cute puppies running around like they're playing a sport, so you were already coming in at a disadvantage. But, that's what the puppy bowl is. You see, every year, there's this big game called the Super Bowl, it's football, I don't really care about it that much, but, in conjunction with that, there's the Puppy Bowl, and it's literally one of my absolute favorite things about this world ever. It's where they get together a bunch of shelter dogs, put them on teams, and have them 'play'" his grin grew even more as he lifted his hands to put extra emphasis on the finger quotes there, "football! It's literally the cutest thing ever, and I've always held a party for it, even before we got stuck in Eos, and it just so happens to be really close to Noctra's birthday this year, so it's perfect for her birthday party! You guys gotta come!"

Well, he figured Ignis would regardless, but it would be nice if Liliana came, too! Especially since, you know, she was hopefully getting a nice break from all that daemon hunting and angel slaying or whatever?

[pocketpretzels]

Watts? There at the usual time, with a tray of cinnamon rolls in hand.

“Good evening, Ms. Ingram,” he greeted, his hat, also as per usual, ending up dangling off something not meant to be a hat rack.

[mylandmyrules]

"Good evening," Detective," Nell said as she cheerfully rescued his hat and placed it on its peg. Did Watts ever notice that it had been moved? Nell was guessing he didn't. "Its good tb see you today."

[pocketpretzels]

“And you as well, as always, Ms. Ingram,” Watts replied. “You’re doing well?”

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Oh, hey, Detective!" said Prompto, when he spotted him (okay, okay, he might have smelled the cinnamon rolls first, but can you blame him?), and he gave him a little bit of an awkward smile as he slipped one of the invitations out of the small stack he'd brought with him to hand over. "Good, I was hoping I might catch you or Steven or both here tonight so I could give you one of these! We're having a birthday-slash-puppy bowl party for Noctra on Sunday. No worries if you guys can't make it, but, well, if you can, it'd be great to have you there."

It was more than a little weird for him, if he was honest, because of the house thing, but he knew it would probably mean a lot to Liz, and if it meant a lot to Liz, he'd do pretty much anything.

[pocketpretzels]

“Little Miss is well on her way to becoming a proper young lady, isn’t she?” Watts asked, wiggling his fingers in greeting at the Little Miss in question after tucking the invitation away in his suit jacket. “Though what, if I may ask, is a Puppy Bowl?”

[flamesburned]

Liz was also looking forward to the evening and being able to spend sometime hanging out at Nell’s with Prompto and Noctra.

[mylandmyrules]

"Liz! Welcome. Come in and make yourself at home," Nell said cheerfully.

[flamesburned]

"Thank you Nell," Liz smiled as she entered, "thank you for having us,"