Tuesday Night at Nell's

[mylandmyrules]

The usual suspects (minus the original) had all been (handwavily) reminded and invited. Nell had set out the usual snacks, along with some fresh baked brownies with frosting, and cleaned the place from top to bottom.

Now she was just looking through various options of potential things to watch.

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[sword_chocobro]

Now that Ignis was coming along for these Tuesday night get-togethers, Gladio had mostly tasked himself with finding interesting drinks to bring, since even if he was bringing Ignis who was bringing the food, he still couldn't just show up empty-handed.

(The attempts to convince Ignis to allowed Gladio to just carry him in, both to not be empty handed and because he thought it would be a good call back to his conversation with Nell last week, did not go in his favor).

So he figured a six-pack of one of the more unique options he found at T&C could not only be interesting, but also potentially Ignis-approved.

[mylandmyrules]

"Come on in," Nell said cheerfully. "Hospitality and safety to you while you're here." The brightly colored drinks caught her eye. "Oooh! Those look interesting!"

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio held up the pack to show them off better before he realized he could just hand them over to Nell to have a look for herself. "Mango with chili," he said, with a proud little grin. "A little sweet, a little spice."

Because she said she liked spice? Yes. Definitely.

"A little different 'cause it's fermented, but not enough to be booze. Figured Tuesday nights could be a good opportunity to try something new, you know?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Oooh, that is definitely something I'd like to try," she said looking it over. "And how nice to have it fermentated for a little kick, but not enough that I'd hesitate to drink all of it if I liked it."

Nell smiled up at him. "And I do like spicy."

With someone else that might have had a double meaning, but this was Nell.

[sword_chocobro]

Hopefully a baseball metaphor might not be too out of place if it turned out they didn't end up watching the game, but right about then, Gladio was feeling like he'd really hit it out of the park just now.

"You see?" he grinned at Nell, taking a moment to tap his forehead to indicate the big brain lurking underneath that tough-guy exterior. "I pay attention. I can remember stuff."

[mylandmyrules]

"Wouldn't like you near so much if you didn't," she said cheerfully. "Should I try one in a glass, you think, or right from the can to get the whole experience?"

[sword_chocobro]

"Straight outta the can's one less dish to worry about, too," Gladio pointed out.

[chef_chocobro]

Never let it be said that Ignis was one to know when something wasn't working, so he'd skipped the wine that presumably went fairly untouched last week and stuck with just the food. Honestly, he was enjoying playing around with different ideas for the food, anyway, and, this week, as he accompanied Gladio, he also came bearing soft pretzels and pickle chips.

[mylandmyrules]

"Hello, Iggy," Nell said with a smile which could probably be heard in her voice. "Hospitality and safety to you while you're here. Whatever you've made this time smells delicious.

She started toward the kitchen, then hesitated. "Oh! Did you get to try the beans and rice I sent hom or did Gladio eat it all on the way home?"

[chef_chocobro]

Despite his best efforts to the contrary, the greeting did managed to wrangle a faint smile out of Ignis. "Pretzels and fried pickles," he said by way of explanation, with a nod to the concessions made to...well, concessions. "And, as tempted as I may be to feign ignorance of any such beans and rice dish to shed a disingenuous light on my roommate, I must admit that I was not, in fact, left adrift without trying it, and my compliments to the chef. A good hearty dish, and you're clearly not afraid of spice, which should be useful information for my own cooking endeavors."

He certainly wouldn't have gone so far as to say it was a bean dish that might have turned even Noctis around on the concept, but he did rather enjoy it.

Not nearly as much as Gladio did, but that, he felt, went without saying.

But then he offered a smile, unable to really help himself from adding, "It seems I may have some competition to look out for."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell laughed delightedly. "I'm not so sure about the competition. I mostly make plain food. Tasty, but nothing fancy. I'm glad you liked it, though - and that you appreciated the spice. Not everyone likes a good spicy dish."

[chef_chocobro]

"I prefer something with a bit more of a nuanced, umami leaning, myself," Ignis admitted, "though a strategical use of spice can be quite the enhancement to the correct dish, and cooking for Prompto especially has provided me some good opportunities there. And while fancy certainly has its place, so does a good, hearty meal that does what it's intended to do."

[mylandmyrules]

"Not quite sure what umami is, but I've liked everything you've made so far," Nell said. "I don't always make things spicy, but some dishes just call for it."

She nodded at him. "Sometimes you need a good hearty meal that will stick to your bones. 'Specially back home where I was working hard twelve, sixteen hours a day."

[chef_chocobro]

"The kind of meal," Ignis said with a familiar nod, "I'd whip up right before a big hunt or a long road ahead on foot. But those are quite the hours to be putting in, Nell. What demanded so much hard work and labor?

"And umami," he added helpfully, "is one of five categories of taste in food, very often associated with savory things, although it leans heavily into sort of an earthy, meaty mouthfeel, as opposed to something, say, sweet or sour, salty or bitter."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts had not been present last week. However he was here this week. And once again bearing cinnamon rolls to share.

[mylandmyrules]

"Detective! I'm happy to see you, please come in," Nell said with a smile. "Hospitality and safety to you while you're here. Those rolls smell delicious."

[pocketpretzels]

“Good evening, Ms. Ingram.” Once again, his hat was going to find its way on to something not meant for hat-hanging before he made his way to the kitchen to drop off the cinnamon r- were those pretzels?

[mylandmyrules]

"I see you've noticed the pretzels Iggy brought," Nell said as she gently moved the hat to its proper spot. One day she might just catch it before he placed it on top of something strange, but today was not that day.

"Please get whatever you'd like and come make yourself comfortable."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts grabbed himself a pretzel, of course, and filled a plate with some other goodies before he made his way back to the living room.

“You’re doing well, I hope?” he asked Nell.

[mylandmyrules]

"I am," she said, "All things considered. Yesterday's trip was a bit much, though it all turned out all right in the end. And you? "

[sword_chocobro]

"Detective," Gladio greeted, with a nod, and a lift of his can of tepache, when he spotted him, and not just because he might have been eying those cinnamon rolls a little bit, too. Though that was, admittedly, probably part of it. "How's it goin'?"

[pocketpretzels]

With a bit more time between himself and the events of yesterday, that question was far less fraught than it had been when Ignis asked it around lunchtime.

“I am doing well enough,” he said. “Yourself?”

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio gave a small nod in acknowledgement of the enough that was in there, as if to sort of allow that you couldn't really win them all, and the grin that accompanied his own answer was slightly apologetic because of it.

"Pretty damn good, actually. Good to see you again this week."

[pocketpretzels]

“You as well,” Watts said. “It seems this has become something of a - regular gathering.”

[sword_chocobro]

"'Bout a month now, I think," Gladio confirmed with a nod, a faint grin on his face as he looked around a little at the space that was becoming increasingly (comfortably) familiar to him. "S'good to have something to sort of break up the monotony of the bars, you know?"

And, more importantly, it meant a lot to Nell, but he wasn't about to go blathering on about that.