My Land, My Rules

Tuesdays were one of Nell's favorite days and she was very much looking forward to a nice evening with her friends. (And maybe a little special time up on the roof at the end of the evening.)

All the usual snacks and pastries were set out, but today she'd made a peach cobbler that she could serve hot with some vanilla ice cream should anyone be interested. She was ready to offer hospitality and safety to her guests when they arrived, but at the moment she was sitting with Cygnus on her lap and Rigel playing with the hem of her skirt as she sipped at a glass of iced tea.

In the late afternoon, as planned, Ignis and Lana met up with Nell to execute their plan. Nell tucked her old pink blanket under her arm and they headed off to find a place in the woods where they wouldn't be disturbed or stumbled upon accidentally.

Nell chose one of the spots that she'd previously 'seeded' with soil from Soulwood next to one of her favorite trees. She figured she'd have the best chance of connecting if she started on something linking her to her home land. It didn't take long for her to set out her blanket and start to prepare.


[Ignis and Lana lightly modded with permission.]

There was wine and cheese to be had tonight, thanks to whatever Fandom oddity had brought them to Nell's shop. She'd also had a craving for hot fudge sundaes, so the fixings for those would be available for anyone who might have a similar craving.

Other than that, all the usual things were there and Nell was ready to welcome everyone with hospitality and safety as they arrived.

Nell was rather cheerful today. Not that this was unusual for her, but she was feeling particularly content today. She spent some time down in the shop, replanting seedlings into bigger pots and organizing a new shipment of supplies before moving up to the greenhouse.

The plants were all thriving and growing like crazy and Nell's happiness had some of them flowering well before they were expected to. She checked on her bees, which were making honey like it was going out of style, and made sure there were no problems with the hives.

A break for tea in the afternoon, dinner at the appropriate time, and clean up from the day ended her labors. Then she was free to go up on the roof with one of the leftover sparkling drinks from Tuesday and a good book to read as she waited to watch the sunset and see the stars come out.



[Open for anyone who might want to stop by and see Nell at any part of her day!]

Sundays were usually quiet days for Nell. She ran, then did her forms on the roof if the weather was nice enough or in the back of the store if it wasn't. A little straightening up, some cooking and baking, and then the rest of the day was hers to read or work on a project or anything else she wanted.

Today she was also expecting a visit from Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and, of course, Gladio, so she could show off the view from her roof.

She'd spent a lot of time thinking about things. About Noctis - and the other dead who had come to visit. She wondered if anyone would ever come to visit her. Though she really only had John and Leah and she couldn't imagine anything that would get John to come visit her for any reason. Except perhaps to chastise and she didn't need that. He'd never understand Fandom or approve of her life here.

Leah, though... It would be nice to see her again. But again, she most likely wouldn't approve of what Nell had made of herself here.

Too bad animals didn't seem to come visit. She'd give a lot to be able to see her dogs again.

All of these thoughts left her feeling a little low, but nothing that she couldn't shake off easily when visitors arrived. In the meantime there was an interesting book to keep her occupied.


[Expecting some, but open to anyone who might want to stop by.]

It was hot and sticky and rainy, so Nell had made up a Thai chopped salad with a tangy peanut dressing and a delicious fruit salad. There were of course cookies and brownies she'd made in the relative cool of the morning and both ice cream and frozen yogurt for anyone who wanted a sweet dessert.

She'd set up a sort of canopy over her bee hives to try and keep them a little safer from the driving rain, which she'd run up to check on before her guests arrived. The bees seemed fine, but she was rather damp and her hair was curling wildly, with maybe just the slightest touch of green around the edges.

Nell had started a batch of bread earlier and now she sliced up a dozen pieces of bacon and set them to sizzle slowly in her cast iron frying pan along with the hot peppers and her bean-herb mix. While that cooked she did a quick clean of the house, set the table, and fed the cats.

When the bacon was done she poured the spicy drippings into the beans that had been slow cooking all day, chopped up the bacon and added that into the beans as well, before setting it on the back burner to stay hot. She worked the dough again and started the rice so it would be ready to go when the rest of dinner was ready. The salad was set, just needing to be dressed and tossed at the last minute.

As she got the bread ready to go in the oven she started to second guess herself. Should it have been cornbread instead? Maybe that would have been better. Well, either bread would keep, so she tossed one set in the oven and prepared a quick cornbread that could go in just before dinner. Dessert would be fresh peaches with ice cream and her own homemade syrup for on top.

It didn't take long to finish up the last bits and pieces.

Now all she had to do was wait for her guest.

It was a decent enough evening, so as the sun went down Nell went up on her roof to run through some of her forms in that lovely dusky twilight. Once she was done she planned to sit and watch the stars come out and just enjoy the quiet of the evening.

Nell had done a little extra baking today, cookies and brownies, and had picked up some ice cream to go with them if anyone was interested. The popcorn and other snacks were set and she'd even picked up a couple of Cup Noodles for Gladio in case he wanted something more substantial. They'd keep if he didn't.

She'd even been able to check on her bees once again and was excited that they were thriving and beginning to make honey.

Now she just had to wait for her friends.

The bees were finally here! Nell had let them rest in a cool dark place for the day, but now it was time to transfer them into the hives she'd prepared for them.

The sugar water was set to go and she had a smoker standing by just in case.

Nell had definitely not made it into work today. She'd slept straight through till some semblance of daylight - maybe late morning? - when the kittens had awoken her. She'd fed them, sort of responded to a text Steven had sent her... sometime, and then was out again till sometime much later which was definitely not morning, but still a little too light to be night.

The kittens were snuggled up with her in bed, her phone was somewhere under her pillow, and her eyes weren't sure they could stay open, but her pain was gone, her hands seemed functional, and she had a vague memory of yelling to Gladio to not look at her. It was going to take her a while to figure out what had happened and straighten it all out in her mind, but for the moment she was just going to let herself be and doze in and out as her body wanted.


[Mostly establishy, but can be open if someone wants to call or text or knows how to get into her house.]

Nell hadn't slept very well, her brain going everything she had to do and everything that could possibly happen on the trip home. Still she was up and ready long before she expected Marc, which was still early enough that it was dark out. Life started early at the church, so if she wanted to get to the farmer's market as they were setting up they had to leave before the sun rose.

She'd packed sandwiches and other food stuffs and a large thermos of coffee for the drive from Soulwood to town. And she'd had several cups as she waited for Marc.

Nell had tried something a little different for dinner tonight. She'd made a large, and hopefully tasty, vegetable stir fry and had stir-fried some beef in a different pan so those wanting meat could have some. She also had homemade sourdough bread, salad, and a vegetable broth based soup to start the meal.

The apartment was spic and span, the cats were happily curled up on their cat trees, for however long that would last, and she thought she was prepared as she could be for her first ever birthday celebration. Now to wait somewhat anxiously for her guests.



[For those who know who they are.]

Nell was determined not to mess this up the way she'd missed her training time with Marc today. She still couldn't believe she'd completely slept through her alarm! But now she had to get things ready to bake pies with the Detective. She had a couple of different options ready for them to try - all vegan, of course, since she assumed he was making them for Steven.

All that was necessary was for the Detective to arrive.

Nell was absolutely not at the Parent's Weekend picnic. It was far too people-y for her there. Instead she was working on the interior of the store, rearranging things and setting up different areas for working with the plants and making her various products as well as areas for customers to browse through.

The store's not officially open, but the door is and Nell would be happy to stop and tell anyone about what she was working on.

[Events taken from Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter.

Some liberties have been taken to merge canon with Fandom.

CW for attempted sexual assault, animal death, and mention of child sexual abuse.]



( About four months before her twenty-fourth - or twenty-eighth - birthday, )

Nell took a deep breath and stepped through the portal. She found herself right back at the tree she'd been sitting beside when the portal had suddenly taken her from Soulwood to Fandom in the first place. She wrapped her arms around the tree, kicking off her shoes to get her feet into the soil - finally back at her beloved Soulwood. It was so hard to leave Fandom and her friends behind, but reconnecting with her land was like finding a lost part of herself.

She let her consciousness run through the woods and was stunned to realize that the woods didn't seem to have grown or changed at all since she'd left four years ago. But that didn't make any sense.

Then she heard an annoyed voice coming from the area by the house. "Nell! You'un gonna get in here any time soon? Grieving is one thing, but my dinner's not gonna make itself!"

John? But...?

She patted her pockets, making sure her phone and the books were tucked away, then made her way tentatively toward the house, finding her husband standing on the porch, hands on hips. "Well?" he demanded, not gently, but not unkindly. "I miss her too, but you can't hide out in the woods leaving your duties undone."

"John?" How had this happened? Could she possibly have been returned back just after she left instead of four years later?

Her husband let out a huff and turned toward the house. "I'm going in to wash up. Don't keep me waiting long."

"Of course," Nell murmured automatically, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of what had happened. She turned and looked around her gardens. everything looking exactly as she remembered it from four years ago, then straightened her shoulders and headed into the house to make dinner for her husband.

No one new, but I haven't posted this since she arrived, so...

Nell Ingram...

Short Version:

* Here pre-canon and reluctantly, though part of her will be relieved.

* Almost 17 years old now, (how did that happen?) - technically married for five years, though she's been here for the last two years with no contact back home.

* Raised in east Tennessee in what was effectively a cult, called the God's Cloud of Glory church.

* Waist length straight brown hair, generally wears skirts at least calf length with boots or leggings to cover all that skin with, and concealing shirts/sweaters or some type of t-shirt with overalls and work boots.

* Slight, but wiry, and muscular in a way that comes from hard physical labor. She is tiny, but fierce.

* Can communicate with and control the land and those things growing on it.

( If you want to know more... )

So...

Nell Ingrahm...

Short Version:

* Here pre-canon and reluctantly, though part of her will be relieved.

* Almost 15 years old, married for three years (but hasn't started performing her 'wifely duties' yet)

* Raised in east Tennessee in what was effectively a cult, called the God's Cloud of Glory church.

* Waist length straight brown hair, generally wears skirts at least calf length with boots or leggings to cover all that skin with, and concealing shirts/sweaters or some type of t-shirt with overalls and work boots.

* Slight, but wiry, and muscular in a way that comes from hard physical labor. She is tiny, but fierce.

* Can communicate with and control the land and those things growing on it.

( Want to know more? )


The Mun

* Mai

* On EST - mostly available late afternoons, evenings

* Teacher in a non-profit private school for kids with severe emotional and behavioral issues.

* Also works part-time at a used bookstore to help out a friend who owns it.

* Usually does a crazy amount of theatre in whatever spare time is left over.

* Has moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, which is currently well-controlled, but still leaves me ridiculously fatigued much of the time.

Character Name: Nell Ingram

( All About Nell )