My Land, My Rules

"Iggy refused to let me leave the apartment empty handed," Gladio offered, by way of explanation, when he showed up knocking at the door with a dish of pastrami sliders.

Look. At least he'd been able to talk the guy out of insisting he bring a bottle of wine to a baseball night. Theirs was definitely a relationship built on compromise.

Well, and shared trauma, but that was beside the point.

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"Hospitality and safety to you while you're here," Nell said with a warm smile, then was distracted by the smell of whatever dish Gladio was bringing in. "Oh, those, what are they? They smell wonderful!"

She led him up into the kitchen and showed him where he could set it down - among the chips and dips and various other snacks. "Thank you for coming. I'm very glad you're here."

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The rote little greeting got a faint grin out of Gladio as he followed Nell in, especially with it being far less groggy and exhausted as the last time he'd heard it. "They're just little pastrami sliders," he said, before going to set them down amidst the spread. "Good game food. I'm sure he spent all day fussing over them.

"And thanks for inviting me," he added, with a small, grateful nod and a faint smile to go with it. "Glad to be here, too...need any help with anything?"

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Marc was 100% that asshole who didn't think to bring something. Steven would have told him to if he'd been given the chance to point that out but Marc had not given Steven the chance.

So it was around the invited time ~~that Marc had totally texted to confirm and ignore how the mun forgot to do that please~~ and after Gladio got there that Marc came knocking.

Edited Date: May 16th, 2023 02:07 pm (UTC)

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"You'll have to thank him for me. Perhaps he can join us another night. Steven said the Detective might be interested in joining as well. And I think Lana was interested." Her small gethering seemed to have the potential to grow much larger.

"I've never heard of pastrami before, but they do smell delicious," she said with a smile. "Hmmm... perhaps bring these extra napkins in and set them by each chair?"

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"Marc!" Nell said with a smile. "Hospitality and safety to you. Thank you for coming. Gladio's here, so come on in and make yourself comfortable."

She led him into the kitchen which had snacks of aLl kinds on it and the smell of the baking brownies scenting the air.

"We'll be depending on you to tell us about the game if we get confused," she said cheerfully. "Or if I do at least."

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"I think he'd like that," Gladio said with a nod. "He's kind of back on not really knowing what to do with himself much, now that the diner's out of commission for a while. It'll be good for him to get out a bit more."

Granted, he couldn't exactly watch the game, but these things weren't really about watching the game, anyway.

"And, apparently," he added, going to locate those extra napkins she mentioned and smirking just a little at the hard work it would entail, him carrying them over, but it was nice that she'd fielded him something to do, "Marc's gotten it at the diner a few times, so he figured that'd be a safe bet for what to bring."

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"Marc," Gladio gave him a nod, once he'd gotten a bit settled. "Long time, no see."

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"Well, then he'll definitely have to come," Nell said. "Any word on when the diner will be back up and running?"

She smiled as she watched him set the napkins out - hey, it was hard for her to let anyone do much of anything to help. If he caught her watching him she'd have an explanation - one that didn't actually explain any fluttery sorts of feelings that she might or not be having - but a real explanation.

"That was very thoughtful of him," Nell said. "I should have asked if there was something in particular that you liked beyond a type of drink - which ... we have several types of beers," which she rattled off, "or water or tea if you'd prefer. I could also make coffee."

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"We'll stick to the basics," Marc said. "Which team to cheer for when other people cheer."

Edited Date: May 16th, 2023 05:36 pm (UTC)

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"Gladio, right?" Marc replied. Which did backfire on him as a joke if Gladio noticed that in general Marc couldn't be bothered with people's names.

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"That I can do," Nell said with a smile. "Please grab a beer and some snacks and make yourself comfortable."

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Even if Gladio wasn't one to just naturally notice things, he'd have probably caught Nell watching him when he looked at her, all set to give her a reproachful sort of look since they'd pretty much already had the discussion that he didn't really need anything in particular.

Noticed it, felt a small tug of curiosity for the reason why, but not enough to mention or bring attention to it. Probably just judging his napkin placement but was too polite to say so, a thought that made him grin a little, probably not as much to himself as he thought it was.

"You know I'm good with whatever," he reassured her, "but a beer sounds like the thing, right, for a game night. If you don't mind."

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He didn't need any kind of drink in particular! He might have a snack he liked! She could have gotten his Cup Noodles that the mun doesn't know how to make the trademark symbol for!

Maybe she blushed the tiniest bit when he looked at her and smiled that quiet little smile to himself. Though it was probably just anticipation of him telling her again that he didn't need anything special.

"Of course," Nell said, "Not a problem at all." She showed him the options and let him pick the one he liked best. "I'm sticking to water for now, but I'll probably have some tea later. Would you like to come in the living room and have a seat?"

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That was easy enough. Marc figured Nell was going to go all out on the food so he'd saved his appetite for the most part. The sliders Gladio brought caught his interest ~~especially since there'd been permission to mod some as not having dairy~~ so Marc grabbed a couple of those first.

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It was fine! Nell wasn't contractually obligated to include the trademark!

'Liked best' was kind of generous, though, as Gladio didn't really have strong opinions or preferences when it came to nom-Cup Noodle^TM-branded or favorite-bartender-blended drinks, so he just sort of considered the options before plucking one out with a shrug.

"Sounds good," he said. "You can grill me on any burning last minute baseball questions you might have.

"And no word on the diner yet," he added, realizing belatedly that he hadn't really answered that yet. "Not that I know, anyway, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. It was pretty good for Igs, having something else to focus on that isn't his own kitchen.

"Not that I mind," he added, with a snort, and a swig from his drink. "I do kind of reap the benefits either way."

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Gladio shrugged magnanimously. "Close enough," he allowed.

Well, it was just a nickname, after all.

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Nell got a plate with one of the sliders and some other nibbles and made her way into the living room. She didn't have a huge tv, but it was big enough. "I'm glad you're here," she said.

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Nell laughed. "No burning last minute questions," she said. "I think those will all come in the moment." She poured herself a large glass of water and went into the living room to set it by her chair figuring he'd follow her. Did she have wooden tables like tv trays to the side of each seat? Of course she did.

"Hopefully it will be soon for his sake and Marc's," Nell said, then tilted her head to look at her. "I understand why you benefit from him being home and cooking, but how do you benefit from him at the diner?"

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"Well," said Gladio, having grabbed a few things to munch on for himself before following Nell, "he does still bring home leftovers."

He took a moment, considering the set-up, before finding a seat.

"And it makes him happy."

He shrugged as he sat, as if it really was that simple. It wasn't, of course, but that was the crux of it.

Then he tilted a smirk Nell'a way.

"He nags less when he's happy."

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Nell's heart was touched when he said it made Ignis happy and then she laughed and almost spit out the sip of water she'd taken.

"Nags less," she managed. "Oh, that's good. What does he nag you about anyway?"

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Gladio might have felt a little bad about his excellent comedic timing nearly causing a spit take, but it just felt too good to have made Nell laugh to really even get close.

"How much time do we have before the game starts?" he asked. "Might be better to stick to what he doesn't."

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Nell laughed again. "All right, top three?" she suggested. "I can tell you the top three things my mother despaired of in me."

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"I can't imagine there'd even be three," Gladio stated, but something had softened a bit in his tone. He almost wasn't sure he wanted to hear them, truth be told, with the sinking feeling that, with what little he knew about Nell and where she'd come from, there was a good chance some of it would spark up that anger in him that he was constantly keeping in check.

But also...he did know so little about Nell, really, beyond the surface level stuff, and he would like to know her more. Know her better. Understand her and all her quirks and nuances and what made her so...her.

So he smiled a bit, had a swig from his beer and a bite of food before offering out, "well, for starters, number one with a bullet's definitely my eating habits. I'm pretty sure if it was up to him, our pantry would be a Designated Cup Noodle^TM-Free Zone."

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