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]

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."

[blueblackbrat]

Irrim nodded and took the spoon, and dug into the bake. Another dubious look and then she took a nibble.

Her face cleared and even brightened. "Oh! That's very good!"

[mylandmyrules]

Nell smiled at her and nodded to the pan and the dishes nearby. "Help yourself to what you want. There's some fresh baked bread there as well."

[blueblackbrat]

"Thank you!" Irrim said, happily adding a mound of pasta to a dish and several slices of bread.