Fandom Island Museum, Thursday Daytime

[hasaknightjob]

A conversation with Prompto at the Welcome Picnic had gotten Steven thinking about how they could make the Museum more accessible and interesting for children. Of course Steven thought it was all interesting if it was explained properly. But he knew some displays were more child friendly than others.

As such, Steven was currently making a list of which displays he thought those were. Once he had that done, he could try to figure out how best to present the information to any visitors with young ones along.

In the meanwhile, any visitors of any age who came along would find Steven behind the Welcome Desk, happy to offer any help that he could.

[open!]

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[pocketpretzels]

After another night of not sleeping well (albeit this time with company), Watts- well, Watts had tried to keep himself occupied after Steven had left for work, if the sheer amount of bread dough that currently existed in his kitchen (and the contents of the tote bag slung over his shoulder) was any indication. But mid-afternoon rolled around and that nagging, gnawing feeling in his gut was only getting louder, and so it was that Watts found himself walking the familiar path to the museum, complete with a quick glance through the windows of Steph’s shop and a wave hello on the way.

As he got closer to the museum, his pace quickened, spurred on by that knot in his stomach, so his heart was pounding as he pushed open the door and-

Saw Steven sitting at the welcome desk as per usual.

“Hello, you,” he said, a little breathlessly.

[hasaknightjob]

"Hello, you, " Steven said automatically. Then he frowned, taking in the sight of Llewellyn. He fumbled for his mobile and his pocketwatch to check the date. "Is it - I didn't confuse our lunch day, did I?"

Not that Steven minded Llewellyn being there at any time. But Llewellyn was carrying a bag which might have food in it and Steven was certain their lunch date that week was tomorrow. But maybe he'd lost days again?

[pocketpretzels]

“No, no,” Watts assured him. “You’re fine, our lunch date is tomorrow. I just-“ needed to make sure you were still here “- wanted to come say hello.”

Although yes, he had brought something to eat with him. He’d get to that in a minute.

[hasaknightjob]

"All right," Steven said, relaxing. He knew Llewellyn would always set him to right on time so if he said it wasn't their lunch day, it wasn't their lunch day. "Well, certainly don't mind seeing you no matter what the day. Do you need water or anything?"

Llewellyn had been out of breath, after all.

[pocketpretzels]

“I wouldn’t turn it down, if you had some handy,” Watts admitted, hopping up to sit on the edge of the welcome desk.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven smiled, simply enjoying the sight of Llewellyn being himself. "Right, back in a tick."

Luckily there was a water cooler in Blathers's office, so it was easy enough to get a cup of water for Llewellyn and bring it back. "Here you are. Plenty more where that came from."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts took the cup and downed it in a few grateful gulps. “Thank you,” he said, putting down the cup. He then reached out to grab hold of Steven’s hand before Steven could sit back down again.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven was going to offer to get more water when Llewellyn took his hand. Instead he was happy to let his hand be held. "Are you all right, Llew?"

[pocketpretzels]

Suddenly feeling embarrassed over the notion that had brought him here, Watts nodded. “I’m all right.”

Not a lie if he was saying it in an effort to convince himself, right?

[hasaknightjob]

"You seem out of sorts is all," Steven said. "Anything I can do?"

[pocketpretzels]

Oh, he was absolutely out of sorts. But trying to get sorted, at least?

“You’re here.” Still.

[hasaknightjob]

"Every Thursday," Steven said. "Well, except for holidays or the like. But in those cases I'm usually with you, right?"

There was a hint of hope that crept in there as Steven remembered that he couldn't be entirely sure he hasn't lost a Thursday somewhere.

[pocketpretzels]

“That you are,” Watts said, smiling slightly. Despite the fact that a few of their holidays had resulted in some troubling revelations for Steven, overall they’d been quite good.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell stopped by after yoga, smiling amnd cheerful. "Hello, Steven. How are you doing today?"

[hasaknightjob]

"Hello, Nell!" Steven said, smiling as he waved back. "Doing well, thank you. Yourself? You look cheerful today."

[mylandmyrules]

Are you reading the narrative, Steven? Or maybe it's just that she did appear so cheerful.

"I am," she said. "It's a good day and things are growing and my bees will be here any day now!"

[hasaknightjob]

"Well it's good to see you enjoying yourself regardless of reasons," Steven said. "Me, I liked our trip Monday. First time off planet, very exciting!"

[mylandmyrules]

"Wasn't it wonderful?" Nell said. "It was so good to see Venda and the other warrior women. Came away bruised, but happy!"

[hasaknightjob]

"That sounds... fun?" Steven guessed. Fighting wasn't his thing if he could avoid it. Neither was working out. But it seemed Nell enjoyed it!

[mylandmyrules]

"It was wonderful!" Nell said. "They are so helpful and supportive and told me I had really made good progress."

She smiled at him. "I even took down Gladio the other day, though I'm sure he could have stopped me if he'd really tried. Which he did when we worked on it again."

Her smile slipped away for a minute as she thought about that moment right after she'd dropped him by surprise that first time, then she took a breath and smiled again, though not quite as brightly. "I... I can admit that right after I did it I got a little panicky. Putting my hands on a man and doing that without him knowing it was coming. Got a little scared. But..." She let out another breath and her smile steadied a little. "But it was Gladio, and Marc was right across the room and he would have been there in a second, and it was stupid anyway."

[hasaknightjob]

Steven nodded. Not that he knew every detail of Marc and Nell's practice sessions back when they'd done them, they did have privacy after all. But Steven did know that Marc had made a point of never touching her since he'd met Nell because he knew of her understandable discomfort around men.

"That sounds like a very large step," Steven said. "I don't know Gladio as well as Marc does but I know Marc doesn't dislike him." Which was high praise coming from Marc, after all. "So it's good you felt you were able to trust him even if you were nervous?"

Steven ended that one as a question just in case Nell wanted to correct him on the assumption.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell nodded. "I think so. I mean, yes, I trust him. It's... when I went to demonstrate, I didn't even hesitate or think it through. It was only as he was falling that my brain got panicky, thinking what he could do or how mad he might be. He's a big man and really..."

She took a breath. "I don't know if he knew," he totally did, Nell, "but he just said I should try again with better follow through. And I did. And knowing he knew what I was doing then and was okay with it... I wasn't so anxious."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's good to hear," Steven said. "It sounds like you were very brave in the end, able to push past those worries and doubts. That must have felt like a workout all its own, never mind the physical."

[mylandmyrules]

"I guess it was," Nell said. "I hadn't thought of it that way. Anyway, it ended up being okay."

Her smile maybe got a little fonder. "And when I saw him at the yoga class today, everything seemed normal, so that's good too."

[hasaknightjob]

"Yoga as well?" Steven asked, impressed. "Well aren't you keeping busy? I've only the one class we're in together. But trying not to put too much on the schedule, you know? Leave room in there for Marc to do his things, what things he's got."