Monday night at Nell and Gladio's

[mylandmyrules]

After work Nell headed home to get things ready for the evening. She thought simpler was better, both in case there were children and in case people chose to stay home with their children instead.

It would be easy enough to throw together an extra simple pasta bake or plain noodles to go with the fresh bread she'd made. And, of course she had plenty of cookies and brownies.

If she was perhaps a little quieter than usual, well, there were a number of things occupying her mind.

Comments

[blueblackbrat]

For all that Irrim had wanted to accompany Ignis to his friends' house, now that she was here, she found herself oddly shy and hesitant, sticking to her mother's shadow, of all things.

But for all that her mother was an expert in making Irrim feel unwelcome, she knew that she'd raise a fuss worthy of the entire Abyss if someone else did.

[deathsmajesty]

"You're very quiet," Liliana couldn't help but notice. What with how Irrim had suddenly swapped from 'can't get away from you fast enough' to 'suddenly underfoot.' "Do you not want to play with the other children?"

[blueblackbrat]

Irrim gave her mother an irritated glance. "They're children," she pointed out.

And Irrim was a very adult thirteen. Obviously. Yet another reason for her to be standing over here, with the grownups.

"That doesn't explain why you're so quiet."

Irrim flushed and looked a little pugnacious. "I've never done this before. Met...your friends. Socially."

[deathsmajesty]

"Ah," Liliana said, voice softening. "Would you like an introduction then? I am sure that everyone would be pleased to meet you albeit handwavily, since we probably don't want to break L's brain."

Irrim gave the shrug of I'm a teen so obviously I'm too cool to care but yes, actually, I would like that a lot.

"All right," Liliana said, leading her over to Summer to begin with. "Summer, I'd like to introduce you to Irrim, who came to visit this weekend..."

And yes. Everybody would be kind and welcoming to the girl, or Liliana would do something drastic. Sure, she didn't expect otherwise, but she was surprised to discover the feeling existed anyway.

Huh. Time to completely not examine that.

[mylandmyrules]

"Welcome. I'm Nell," she said. "Hospitality and safety to you while you're there. Please make yourself comfortable."

Nell would not tolerate someone be unwelcoming to a guest in her house either.

[blueblackbrat]

Irrim nodded slightly. "Thank you, ma'am," she said quietly. "Extending the invitation to me was very kind of you."

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh gosh, you'un don't have to call me ma'am," Nell said easily. "M'just Nell. Even if the Detective insists on calling me Ms. Ingram. And I'm sory, but I'm afraid I don't know your name."

If Irrim was reading her mind she'd see Nell was just as honest and welcoming as she appeared.

[blueblackbrat]

Weeeeelllllll....Irrim wasn't not reading her mind. You know. Just surface thoughts! Had to stay on top of things and Liliana had forbidden her from reading Ignis' mind and neither she nor Jace had ever been able to read Liliana's, so clearly, this was just self-defense.

...Or something?

"Oh! I'm Irrim," she said. "Irrim Vesseren. Pleasure to meet you."

Because there had been no way Liliana was going to let Jace be the only one giving his surname to the child.

[mylandmyrules]

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Irrim," Nell said warmly. "Can I get you something to drink? Gladio bought these very cool sodas. And I have pasta with all sorts of options for toppings and some fresh baked bread if you're hungry."

[blueblackbrat]

"Oh, yes please," Irrim said, because she was a thirteen year old magic user and therefore she was pretty much either hungry or sleeping and sometimes both. "Can I ask...Gladio and Ignis and Prompto are...brothers?" Everybody's thoughts on that were confusing. And they didn't look like brothers. But then, not all brothers looked alike, either.

[mylandmyrules]

"In heart and spirit if not in blood," Nell said as she led Irrim to the kitchen and handed her a soda. "They've been through a lot together, so they've become family."

She hesitated. "I'd better let you pick what you want. There's a pasta bake and plain pasta that you can add sauce or butter to and some sausage and bread... Help yourself or tell me what you'd like and I can serve you."

[blueblackbrat]

"Pasta...bake?" Irrim said, looking at both options curiously. "I've never had this. The food we eat at home is very different. Could you tell me about them?"

If nothing else, the prospect of Learning Something<sup>TM had her relaxing.

"And what's Cup Noodle?"</sup>

[mylandmyrules]

Nell opened her mouth to explain the pasta bake, then had to laugh. "Cup Noodle. Oh, it's one of those things tbat are extremely tasty and no doubt terrible for you. Gladio's favorite food. He'll love you forever if you try some and tell Ignis how delicious it is."

She nodded towards the Cup Noodle. "Just add boiling water. And after that you can try the bake which is pasta baked in with sauce and some ground beef and more cheese than is probably healthy for you."

[blueblackbrat]

Irrim's expression was very dubious as she peeled back the paper and looked inside. "Do we eat the cup, too?" she asked, because the texture between noodle and cup were not particularly far apart.

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh no," Nell said. "Pour the water in and cover it up to sit for a few moments and then you just eat the noodles and broth."

[blueblackbrat]

Ignis was probably inwardly dying at the idea that Nell, an adult he trusted, would be leading a child astray like this.

"The...carrot chunks? And...corn kernals? Look very weird," Irrim noted, but she was pouring the water in as instructed. Learning was important, after all.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell laughed. "It is strange, and certainly not up to the standard of anything I would cook - or Ignis for that matter - but they are tasty."

[blueblackbrat]

"Yes, this pasta looks much better," Irrim said, carefully holding the paper lid down. She looked very dubious about this. "Cheese is good."

She was thirteen. The concept of 'good for you' did not yet apply.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell laughed. "Cheese is wonderful! So after you've tried Cup Noodle and made Gladio very happy, you can havethe pasta bake. I even have extra cheese to sprinkle on top."

[blueblackbrat]

"Is it ready yet?" she asked, looking down at the cup in her hand.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell nodded. "Should be. Just give it a stir and then take a taste. Be careful you don't burn your mouth, though."

[blueblackbrat]

Irrim nodded. Irrim stirred. Irrim took a mouthful - and immediately made a face.

"Salty!" she declared. "I. Uh. No thank you." She put the cup down and immediately started making plans to 'accidentally' knock it over if Nell looked like she was going to insist Irrim finish it.

It was possible that Ignis was feeling an unexplained swell of pride in the other room.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell laughed. "They are, yes. Let me take that from you and trade it for some pasta bake instead."

[blueblackbrat]

Irrim was suddenly looking at the pasta bake with a lot more apprehension. It smelled good, but Nell had assured her that this cup of noodles was good too and, well...

"Perhaps a small bowl?" she suggested. "Just to start?"

#NailedIt

[mylandmyrules]

Nell could read the room. She offered Irrim a small spoon. "Why don't you try a bite first and see if you like it. If not there's plain pasta that you can doctor up as you like. Everyone likes different things after all."