Saturday, early evening: Journey to Soulwood

[mylandmyrules]

Nell and Gladio stepped through the portal shortly before sunset onto the grounds of Soulwood. The sun was setting through the trees to the west, beautiful colors suggesting a bright tomorrow.

As soon as Nell stepped onto the land its energy rose up to greet her. Even someone without Nell's connection to the land couldn't have missed it. Everything was suddenly a little more vibrant, the trees seemed to lean in close, the birds hushed then sang louder than before, and Nell positively glowed.

Her hair and face seemed more vibrant, and everything about her seemed to reach out and connect with the land until an imaginative person might have almost thought he could see the bright lines of force connecting them.

She pushed a wayward strand of hair off her face - was it the breeze or was her hair floating gently in the energy currents? -and took a moment to kick her shoes off and sink her feet into the dirt, eyes closing for a moment.

"Ain't no one watching us'uns here," she said, sliding back into the language of home, and smiled up at him, reaching for his hand. "Just we'uns and the land and its creatures. Welcome to Soulwood, Tall Man."



[Nfb for distance and for the lightly modded tall man in question.]

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[sword_chocobro]

Observant as he was, Gladio wouldn't have been able to describe the first thing about Soulwood if anyone asked him, at that time. He'd get around to taking that all in eventually, but how could he possibly see anything but Nell just then? All he could do was watch her and the immediate change that being here on this land had on her with a marveling fondness and a soft, distant smile on his face. He let her have her moment (let's be honest, he was sort of having one of his own, too), and by the time she reached for his hand, there was no way just her hand would be enough. He took it and leaned in, bending over to kiss her.

"Thanks for having me, Bossy Woman. Think I should kick off my shoes, too?"

His boots would take a bit more doing, but the prospect was looking pretty inviting.

[mylandmyrules]

She laughed and danced away a little after kissing him. "I would if'n I was you. Nothin' feels better than having your feet in good Soulwood soil."

Nell raised her outstretched arms to the sky and took in a deep breath. "Smells so good here. Come on!"

She all but danced to her favorite tree, pulling her old pink blanket out from her bag and spreading it on the ground. "Come sit with me while I commune with my land."

She was already sitting, feet dug in, one hand on the soil, the other out for him to take if he chose. Her eyes closed and she let her consciousness fall into the land, deeper and deeper.

The trees were happy and growing well, a new small grove poking up by the spring just over the rise. A family of deer stopped at the spring, ears up as a flock of birds settled in above them. Further afield she found bobcats and a lone mountain lion roaming, feeling their steps upon the earth as if they were walking on her.

It was her land and it was beautiful.

[sword_chocobro]

The energy practically radiating off of Nell right now was contagious enough to make Gladio laugh a little, but not so much that he was even going to try to keep up with her, ambling after her at his own relaxed, amused pace. Besides, that just made it easier to just appreciate seeing her clearly in her element here, with an unmatched radiance that he really needed to think of ways to inspire in her more often. When he dod reach the blanket, he set down his things, especially his sword and laid them down before lowering himself to join her, with the expected, mostly-exaggerated grunt from the moment. Then he leaned forward to start unlacing his boots, and, once they were free, his socks tucked neatly inside, he stretched out his long legs and nudged the dirt a little with his toes, as well, and when he took up her hand again, he gave it just a little extra squeeze.

"Pretty nice place you got here," he complimented.

No, he still hadn't really looked it over, but he was starting to do so now.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell smiled over at him absently, eyes still closed as she squeezed back. Most of her consciousness was flowing with the land exploring every last blade of grass and insect on or below it.

Vines slowly grew and curled around her feet and the hand on the soil, winding about her legs and arms - not tightly, more like a loose hug.

After what could have been twenty minutes or two hours, she started floating back toward herself, becoming aware again of her own body, Gladio beside her, the cats off by the front porch waiting to see if she was going to perhaps get up and come into the house. She sighed deeply, contentedly, and slowly opened her eyes.

"Welcome to Soulwood. Hospitality and safety while you'un is here," she said softly. We're both happy to have you."

[sword_chocobro]

When the vines started to make their way up from the ground and wind around Nell's feet her fingers, her limbs, Gladio couldn't help but tense, just slightly, ans put his attention there, with watchful caution. It was , so he was sure everything would be fine, but in the off chance that it wasn't, he planned to be prepared.

But Nell was relaxed and so were the vines, so Gladio relaxed, too (a little), and whether it was twenty minutes or two hours, he was perfectly content in just letting her soak it up for as long as she might want or need.

When she finally did come around in that dreamy state and spoke, he snorted faintly, fondly.

"Yeah," he quietly said back, leaning in to gently nudge her shoulder with his. "I could tell. Good thing I'm not the jealous type, huh?"

[mylandmyrules]

Nell giggled. "I don't think you need to worry," she said. "You're much nicer to snuggle with at night." As if that was the only reason, when really there were more than she could ever put into words.

She disentangled herself from the vines and brushed her feet off before standing. "Come on, I'll show you the house."

The cats scattered to the edge of the porch as they approached. "These are the cats," she said, "not like the kittens. There mousers and mostly stay outdoors." She scooped up an armful of wood to bring in one she'd opened up the door. "There should be enough electricity stored to give us light for a while. I'll just get the stove going to warm up the place."

She'd told Brother Rankin that she'd be in tonight so she want entirely surprised to find a loaf of banana bread and a note on the table welcoming her. He and his boys had managed to keep her pipes from freezing all winter, so she was grateful for him.

"Make yourself comfortable while I get this started and then I can heat up some water for us to have some Cup Noodle if you want."

[sword_chocobro]

As he followed Nell inside, Gladio starter to take in the place more closely, finding himself a little surprised, T first, by how big the place was, for just her by herself. But it wouldn't have been just her by herself at all, and there was that first sharp stirring of that anger he knew would be knotting in the bottom of his stomach in coming here. But he buried it under just remembering that look of contented elation on Nell's face as she communed with the land, and focused on other things. A respectful bro nod to the cats in passing, hunter to hunter, and also a hunter's instinct that frowned at the blood stains on the porch, and then all the sparse details once inside.

"Anything I can do to help?"

By now, she had to have known that'd be one of the first things he'd ask.

[mylandmyrules]

And even though she was used to it... At home. At their lovely home on 42 Unicorn Street. Here... it felt as if it was out of the blue. No one helped her here. No one had ever helped her while she lived here and men certainly didn't help here.

So she gaped at him for a moment as her brain took a moment to catch up with her instincts. "You want..."?" And then she remembered herself and shook her head a little and blushed. "You could bring some more wood in and you could put our bags -"

And there she stopped again. Where should he put their bags? It made sense to use the big bedroom, but that was John's room. Or, at best, Johns's and Leah's room. She'd never really slept there. She'd done her wifely duty and once John was done she'd gone back to her little cot in the alcove. And even when it was just her she'd stayed there despite there being a number of bedrooms to choose from.

Still, she was pretty sure Gladio wasn't going to fit on her little cot. She barely did herself.

"I guess you can leave them in the living room to the right there till I figure things out."

[sword_chocobro]

Well, Gladio'd done worse than trying to squeeze onto a small cot before. And the floor looked plenty comfortable enough, too...

But the surprise of Nell's reaction to a simple and inevitable question like that caught Gladio off guard, and he frowned for a moment, but then nodded.

Old habits died hard. And there were a lot of bad habits in this place. Only way to fix that was to move forward with new ones.

"Wood, then bags," he said, with a somewhat crooked grin, and a swoop down to kiss her forehead. "You got it."

[mylandmyrules]

But she had her feet back under her now, so she called to him as he headed out the door. "You're still in charge of oatmeal in the morning!"

Then laughed at how bizarre and freeing that felt.

[sword_chocobro]

And at the door, as Nell called pit, Gladio stopped, turned his head to look over his shoulder with an arch eyebrow, and then barked a laugh right back.

"Just remember that when you're actually stuck eating it then!" he called back, before continuing on his way back outside.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell laughed again and bent to get the fire going. She was always a bit surprised at how easily the finesse needed to prime the hot water heater came back to her. Still there'd be hot water to wash the dishes and enough left for a short shower or two.

As for sleeping... there were clean sheets in the closet and one of the other bedrooms would surely do, though part of her wanted her own cot.

When Gladio returned there was water heating on the stove and a few of the Cup Noodles she'd brought along set out for him. "You can pick ay room you like to sleep in," she said with a smile. "There are plenty to choose from."

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio had been really starting to look forward to digging into some of those Cup Noodle^TM, so he had to grin, seeing them all set out and ready to go like that, as he shrugged at her question.

"Well, which one would you like to sleep in? You know the place better than I do. You pick."

[mylandmyrules]

"I... I don't... I ain't..." She stepped away from the stove and clasped her hands in front of her, ducking her head a little. "I ain't every slept in any of 'em really."

It seemed too big, too complicated to try and explain standing here in the kitchen, so she gestured for him to follow and led the way to John's bedroom. She opened the door and stepped back to let him look in.

"This here is John's bedroom. Leah slept there there too, 'fore she died, though she also has another bedroom. I never really slept here, just come in to do my duty and when John was done I went on back to my cot." Nell looked up at him quickly. "I could have stayed. He didn't kick me out or nothin'. I just never felt comfortable or wanted to. Even after he died... I got a new mattress and all, but it never seemed like a place for me."

She backed away and headed to her little alcove where her cot was. "I'd come back here to sleep. Got so's it was just my place. Coulda slept anywhere in any of the other bedrooms at any time - there's a bunch. John had two other wives who divorced him, when it turned out he couldn't have children, so there's room for them and the children they expected. I just never did... So..."

Her voice trailed off a little miserably and she nodded toward the bed. "Barely enough room for me, much less you'un, so you see, you can choose any of the rooms - 'cept not John's - and it will be fine. Like we'uns is stayin' at a hotel."

She couldn't quite bring herself to look at him, not wanting to see if he thought she was as pathetic as she felt just then.

[sword_chocobro]

As Nell explained and showed him, Gladio was quiet, thoughtful, and paying far more attention to her than the house or the rooms. Listening carefully, as the explanation filled in a few of those gaps in the expected ways, although a few maybe a little less so. Either way, when she finished talking and just left her eyes down and away from him like that, he just turned toward her in a way to gentle place a hand on each of her shoulders. Started to say something, seemed to have changed his mind as all the came out was a sort of helpless sigh, and then he just pulled Nell into a hug.

"It's a nice night," he pointed out. "Little chilly; I've had worse. Think a little night under the stars is an option?"

Which he felt was...a bit avoidant, of some of the underlying issues, but, at the same time, there was a lot there, and he'd rather be able to get a good look at them all under the light of a new day than try to dismantle them all right here and now. There was no rush. There shouldn't be a rush, it would have to be a work in progress, and he'd....figure something out, but it would need time...

[mylandmyrules]

Nell clung to him tightly, so grateful for his strength and warmth. It took a moment for his suggestion to sink in, but when it did her eyes opened wide and she looked up at him with relief. "Yes," she said. "A night under the stars on Soulwood is definitely an option. I think we'd both be very comfortable out there."

Nell certainly would.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio could feel Nell shifting to look up at him, but he was just going to need a moment to hold her a little longer, with a tight squeeze, before he pulled back enough, but with his arms still around her, to look back at her and smiled, softly, gently, somewhat lopsided.

And then smiling just suddenly wasn't enough, and he had to kiss her again.

"Perfect," he said. "I think so, too."

[mylandmyrules]

The tension seemed to drain out of Nell as they kissed and she was all smiles again at his words. "Perfect," she repeated with a bigger smile. "I've spent many nights sleeping on Soulwood. I don't have a tent, but there are plenty of blankets to make a bed and keep us warm."

She stretched up to kiss him again, lingeringly. "But first, Cup Noodle. Come. The water should be almost boiling by now."

[sword_chocobro]

And those smiles were encouraging; those smiles were good. Gladio did feel a little twinge of worry that Nell might just be putting them on for his sake, but he knew she wouldn't do that with him. She knew that he wouldn't want her doing that for him, and they'd felt genuine, he was just...being here made him feel tense and worried, angry and sad, and all sorts of other things that were muddying his usual confidence and self-assurance.

And that lingering kiss definitely helped, his hand spreading across her back as he feel into it easily and did his part to make it linger as long as possible.

And there was nothing ingenuine about his own grin, either, once they parted from it.

"Don't need to tell me twice when Cup Noodle^TM is involved. Let's eat."

[mylandmyrules]

After a meal of Cup Noodle, banana bread, and some of Sister Erasmus's wine, Nell gathered together armloads of blankets after banking the fire in the stove enough to keep it going through the night.

"There's a wonderful little hollow not far from the stream," Nell said, most likely already divested of a number of the blankets by Gladio. "Right next to some of my favorite trees. "We'll be protected from the elements there unless there's a freak rain or snow storm."

She paused, checking in with her senses. "Which is highly unlikely, so we should be fine."

It didn't take long to get there and the way Nell set out the blankets just so suggested it wasn't her first time bedding down here. Though it was the first time she'd done so with another person. Once it was all set to her satisfaction she settled down and patted the space beside her. "Come lie with me? We can snuggle and watch the stars." And do anything else they might feel like.

[sword_chocobro]

Anything else they might feel like would definitely end up being much more comfortable for Gladio out here, too, really. And he needed just about as much prompting to lower himself down and settle in, lying down beside Nell as he had to go have some delicious Cup Noodle^TM.

She could probably feel how he almost instantly relaxed, too, once he was there, with an arm around her and nuzzling his face slightly into her hair. "This was a good idea," he said, and, yes, it was mostly a compliment to himself, but what was really new about that? "We can wake up with the sun, too, and get started on whatever else is ahead of us for the day."

He snorted faintly. "After oatmeal."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell could feel him relax and that let her relax even more. "You can hunt for a deer," she said murmured. "And we didn't have to have oatmeal if you don't want. It's a lot trickier on a wood stove."

She turned her head enough to kiss him, lingering for another moment. "Thank you for coming with me. And for understanding."

Not that she'd thought he wouldn't. One of the things she loved most about him was his acceptance of whatever she needed. He didn't try to tell her what to do or what she should do or protect her from the things she needed to do. He was just there, by her side, supporting her with whatever she needed.

[sword_chocobro]

"I'm glad you wanted me to be here with you," Gladio said, that soft smile getting a lot of use that evening, and now it was accompanied with a gentle brush of fingers against Nell's cheek, where they'd drifted easily as they kissed, and that relaxation and contentment grew deeper, "so thanks for that, too. And, hey, you made dinner. S'only fair I treat you back with breakfast."

Not to mention the fact that he came to realize that his oatmeal might be the first time a man had ever even used that kitchen, and once he thought of that, it practically became a necessity.

[mylandmyrules]

It absolutely would be the first time a man had ever used that kitchen. His unfamiliarity with a wood stove might make the oatmeal nearly inedible, but Nell didn't care.

"Not like Cup Noodle is hard," she teased. "I just had to heat up water."

She stroked his face and kissed him again. "Will you make love to me?" she whispered. "Out here under the stars, on my land? I want to be with you here and then sleep curled up in your arms while Soulwood watches over us both."

[sword_chocobro]

"Yeah," Gladio had to agree with the incredible ease and convenience of preparing Cup Noodle^TM with a grin, "but you heat up that water better than anyone."

So, you know, suck on that, Scientia.

But that soft kiss and the gentle touch of his cheek that accompanied Nell's request settled those jocular impulses. And while the idea of Soulwood 'watching over them' initially sent an odd feeling up his spine, he knew how much deeper it ran than that, that there was so many facets to the meaning there.

At first, his only answer was to kiss her again, leaning into it with his arm tight around her so that he could shift their position, just that little bit, easily, comfortably, and full of intention. An intention made even more clear when his hand then trailed down the side of her body, to her waist, to loosen the clothing there enough that his hand could slide under to touch her skin, sliding then to her back. There was a soft groan of appreciation for the contact, although it was hardly anything new. He pulled away to drop his head to send the next few slow kisses along her neck, then returned to her lips for another moment. He pulled back only enough to murmur "It'd be my honor," before kissing her again, but even that return was fleeting, before he was pulling away again to start peeling away her blouse.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell's hands went up under his shirt, loving the feel of his skin under her hands. She shifted enough to help him remove her blouse before going back to tugging his shirt over his head. Her skirts were easy enough to wriggle out of, though she was happy to let him help any way he chose because mostly she just wanted to be skin to skin with him.

"Love you so much, Tall Man."

[sword_chocobro]

But helping Nell with her skirts gave Gladio the chance to pull back enough that the best way to return to her: with slow hands up her side and soft kisses starting at her stomach and making the path from there to her lips again. Granted, he would have needed to pull away for his own jeans, but, well, details, details. The important things was that it wasn't long at all before there would be nary a scrap of clothing on them, and he'd taken the scenic route back until he was murmuring "Love you, too, Bossy Woman" with a grin against her neck.