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.

Comments

[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...?"