Monday Night at Nell and Gladio's

[mylandmyrules]

Before Nell left for work she seared and marinated a roast then set it to cook slowly while she was at work. She'd had a craving for a dish her Mama had called Misssissippi Pot Roast and today seemed like a good day to make it. The pepperoncinis and garlic gave it a delicious tang and made her mouth water just thinking of it.

THe house smelled incredible when she got home and she set a pot of water ready to boil so she could cook the egg noodles fresh once everyone arrived. She threw together a pan of jalapeno cornbread to go with it, then settled down with her book and eventually (hopefully) a Gladio would join her.

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[sword_chocobro]

Gladio was feeling pretty proud of what he'd manage to find, beverage-wise, for tonight, and was looking forward, especially, to the look on Iggy's face when he mentioned he had a nice pie soda for him. He went to drop the drinks off in the kitchen and just asked in the aroma for a moment, and, guessing that Nell was in the living room, wondered if he could get away with tasting a little now, but...no, too risky. Not worth getting caught. So he just chuckled a little at the thought of Nell's imaginary reprimand, and went to go find her.

Not that he didn't know exactly where to look. "You know," he said, by way of greeting, leaning over her to rudely interrupt her reading with a kiss, but, hey, she knew he was home, if she hadn't expected that, that was on her, "that smells so good I'm not sure I can wait 'til everyone else gets here."

And, with that, and the overly exaggerated grunt that seemed to be getting increasingly less exaggerated, he plopped down on the couch next to Nell, with his arm immediately slipping around her shoulders to pull her in.

"What'cha reading today?"

[mylandmyrules]

Nell was always happy to have Gladio interrupt her with a kiss and she happily responded with another kiss of her own before he settled in next to her. She curled right into him and offered him a look at the cover. "Historical fiction. Set during the Jacobean rebellion," she said. "Very interesting and well researched with just enough romance to keep it interesting, but not too sappy."

He'd know she'd memorized the page she was on before she'd offered it to him, so if he wanted to look it over he was welcome. "Lots of good fighting scenes."

[sword_chocobro]

"You sure about that?" asked Gladio, his grin with a challenging tilt to it as he took the book from Nell witha skeptical flip through the book. "You sure you're not about to invite a rant about logistics and how they clearly got all the details wrong?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh yes," Nell said with a grin. "I'm leaving that for you to do. It will be very entertaining."

[sword_chocobro]

"Alright, then," said Gladio, "pressure's on."

He thumbed through the pages a little more in earnest, now, with his well-read eyes scanning for some key words until he finally landed on something that made him pause.

"Okay, here we go. This is gonna be good."

He took a moment to dramatically clear his throat, and then began to read:

"Gripping the sword tight in his sweaty palms," No one could blame him for the snort he gave there, right? "he plant--"

And that, alas, was as far as Gladio got. Because, as if taking a cue from the very word he didn't even finished uttering, the book tumbled onto the couch from hands that were no longer there. Gladiolus, it seemed, had himself become planted, in the most literal sense, taking the form of a beautiful arrangement of his namesake in a very lovely vase.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell quickly grabbed for the vase to prevent it crashing to the floor and shattering. "Gladio!"

She wrapped her arms around it, leaning her head on its curves as if it were still him. "Oh Gladio. Come back to me soon."

Was he still aware of her and what was going on? Maybe Ignis would know.

After a moment Nell stood, holding onto the vase carefully and set it up on the shelf that the kittens knew not to bother. Then she got some of the soil for Soulwood and carefully sifted some into the bottom of the vase.

She closed her eyes and touched the blooms gently, sending them extra energy and connecting to them. At the very least she could make sure the gladiolus stayed vibrant and healthy - and connected to her - for as long as Gladio stayed that way.

She could be sad later. For now she potentially had company coming.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio was pretty aware of most things, especially so quickly after changing, and he appreciated it all greatly. He'd love to have been able to Nell know that, too, but, unfortunately, unlike some people who turned into more expressive things like puppies and squirrels, he was....a plant. And couldn't really do much of anything except sit there and look pretty.

But he had a feeling Nell would be able to tell anyway, even without the Soulwood soil.