Monday Night at Nell and Gladio's

[mylandmyrules]

Nell did not open Covent Garden Flowers today. Their stock was vastly depleted after the weekend and frankly, Nell simply needed a day to take in everything that had happened this weekend. She had left a note on the door for anyone to call if they had a flower emergency.

So, instead she cleaned the house. Again. Though honestly it didn't take much since she'd cleaned it to within an inch of its life when she knew Iris was coming. Dinner was a spicy beef stew, that had been simmering since the morning, and the rest of the bread she'd baked fresh over the weekend.

She didn't honestly expect any visitors today - she knew it took time to settle back down - but in any case there was plenty of food for anyone who might stop by.

She spent most of the rest of the day on the roof, alternating between puttering in the greenhouse, checking that the hives would be ready for the coming winter, and taking breaks to soak in the hot tub.

Which was most likely where she could be found at twilight.

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[sword_chocobro]

Gladio hadn't gone about his usual Monday errands and tasks; maybe it might've been good to get back into the routine of things again after the weekend, but he was feeling like he just needed some time to himself. To think things over. To figure out what it all meant. To deal with all the complicated feelings he had about the whole thing. He didn't really like when things got complicated, so he didn't really appreciate getting thrown into dealing with it. There was a lot to think about, and, thankfully, at least, there was a lot of preserve to go stomping through while thinking. And some good spots to stop and sit and do that thinking. At one point, he'd even considered going and grabbing his fishing rod.

But there was also probably a limit to how much thinking a man could do in one day, too, and Gladio was pretty sure he'd overpassed his limit, and he started to head on back home, with a quick swing by T&C to pick up something (ciders; couldnt' go wrong with ciders, this time of year), because it just felt wrong to come back empty handed at this point. And when he made it up to the roof after making sure the cats were fed and 'testing' that stew real quick, just to make sure it was on the right track, of course!, he was already shucking off his shirt and sliding right into that hot tub to settle in beside Nell.

"Hey."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell just turned and curled into him - both offering and taking wordless support. "Hey," she said softly. And then she just let him talk or not depending on what he might need.

Any concerns or questions she might have were so much less important than his.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio would disagree with that sentiment pretty strongly, but they'll probably get around to it eventually. For now, though, Nell was curled up into him and his arm dropped down to her shoulders to pull her in close and he was dropping a kiss on the top of her head and rubbing her shoulder.

It was when he'd realized that he'd just been sitting there thinking again that he said something, because he had decided he'd pretty much done enough of that today.

And there'd been enough complicated this whole weekend, too, so he decided he'd start with something good and simple, too.

"M'glad you got to meet Iris," he said. "Still kind of hard to believe you actually did."

Good thing there'd been so many witnesses, or else Gladio might have been convinced he'd hallucinated the whole thing.

[mylandmyrules]

"M'awful glad that she was able to come and visit," Nell said. "I know how much you've missed her. Do you... do you think this means you'll be able to go back and forth to your home again?"

She was absolutely NOT going to think about the fact that last time they were trapped there for ten years and poor Liz had about lost her mind with grief and worry. Well... maybe she was going to think about it a little bit.

[sword_chocobro]

Well, that was fine if she did, because you'd better believe Gladio had been doing a lot of thinking about it himself. But unlike some people, he didn't really see a whole lot of point in dancing around it, either. Wasn't really ever his strong suit anyway.

"It might," he said. "It might not. Could've just been a fluke. At least we know it's not entitely a one-way thing since they got back okay. Phone messages are getting through, too, which is definitely something. But, you know....seems pretty risky until we know a little more."

[mylandmyrules]

"That's good," Nell said. "I know that for me, phone messages getting through shows the portal is working well. But yes, it does seem a bit risky still."

She was quiet for a moment. "I wouldn't want to lose you."

[sword_chocobro]

"I wouldn't want to lose you, eitjer," Gladio said, drawing her in closer, with both arms now.

"We've been talking about it a little," he added. "Me and the guys. Trying to figure out how to know for sure. And even then, it's no guarantee. We went back and forth with no problems for a long time, too, until suddenly....we couldn't. Who even knows if it'll happen again, even if it seems safe? So we're trying to figure out a good way to test it, put a few safeguards in place.

"It'll probably be Iggy. It can't be Prompto. But we're pretty sure if Iggy got stuck again, Lils would tear through the fabric of reality just to get him back if she could.

"Not that you wouldn't, either," Gladio added, with a faint smirk. "It's just she's got that planeswalking thing that gives her kind of a step up on that one."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell nodded. "It's hard to say and given Fandom and Portalocity, anything can happen."

She continued to nod as Gladio went through their reasoning. "Prompto definitely has to stay here," she agreed. "And yes, Liliana would probably have the best chance of breaking through - not that I wouldn't do anything and everything to try and get you back, but I didn't have much luck when I was stuck - here and then there."

[sword_chocobro]

"I wouldn't want you to have to deal with all that if you didn't have to, anyway," Gladio pointed out.

Which, yeah, he realized also made it sound like he was perfectly fine with Liliana dealing with it, and, well...

"But, hey," he said, with a little bit more of an optimistic note, "if it turns out things are stable between here and there again?" He grinned down at her, leaning in with a little nudge. "Maybe I can finally show you some of Eos. You can get to see that statue of me firsthand!"

[mylandmyrules]

"You and that statue," Nell teased, giving him a nudge. "Next you'll be wanting one up here!"

She smiled up at him fondly. "But yes, I'd love to be able to explore Eos with you if it proves to be stable enough."

Plus, if she went with him and the portal went down at least they'd be together.

[sword_chocobro]

That thought was definitely at the forefront of Gladio's thinking, too. Lot different being stuck somewhere if you were stuck with people you wanted to be with.

"Maybe we can put it right over there," he said, grin growing a little more as he jerked his chin to indicate the direction, "by the beehives. So they know I'm always keeping an eye for 'em. Like a scarecrow, but, you know....much more handsome.

"Iris said everything seems to be coming back into balance again, too," he said, "after everything that happened. I'd love to really get to see the place as it should be again."

[mylandmyrules]

"I don't know," Nell said thoughtfully. "I've seen some pretty handsome scarecrows."

She had not.

"I'd love to be able to see Eos as well," Nell said. "It sounds like it was a beautiful place and is becoming so again."

[sword_chocobro]

"Once we're sure things are all clear and set, then," Gladio said with a nod, "we'll head out there. Maybe go do some camping out near Malmalam or the Vesperpool. Then you'll really get to see what I mean about those bugs!"

He laughed a little at that, shifting to sink down a little more into the water and give her a waggle of his brows. "And I can think of at least one thing I got that you're not gonna get from all those handsome scarecrows..."

[mylandmyrules]

"Your bugs scare me," Nell said with a grin, "but the rest sounds wonderful."

She sank further down into the water herself and considered. "You have good hair...?"