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Monday: Covent Garden Flowers

Nell was here and definitely happier than she had been last Monday. Gladio (and the others) were back, the House was no longer a problem, and yesterday... well, yesterday had been pretty amazing.

So here she was at the flower shop trying to catch up on all the things she'd let slide a bit last week.

Covent Garden Flowers was open.

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And Gladio was there, as well, because he was still on Nell Watch, which was fair and something he was more than happy to be under. He might make an appeal for it to be lifted so that he could hit up his Monday night bar time, especially to try and get back into the rhythm of his usual schedule after two weeks of having it being completely fucked by the house, but for now? He had two hands and a lot of muscle and height to help with anything around the shop that might need doing, and a book that there would be valiant attempt to make some progress through that would be completely stymied by the distracting company and the fact that any time his attention strayed Nell's way, it was going to be staying there and lingering with a faint, pleased, grateful sort of grin plastered on his face.

Nell had to work very hard not to be constantly distracted with Gladio right there in the shop and not to blush too much when she looked over and caught him watching her. Not that she minded, honestly, she was thrilled to have him here. And with his help she'd gotten through the more physical part of the job very quickly.

Which was why she made her way over to where he was reading with two mugs and two Cup Noodles. "Lunch break," she said cheerfully. "Though I am going to insist you eat some food that's actually good for you later."

She was laughing. He almost had to spend an eternity with nothing but Maruchan, and she was laughing.

"I am not going to just sit here and let you disparage my precious and delicious Cup Noodle^TM like this."

Except that he totally was going to just sit there, slipping a marker into the book and setting aside so he could turn his attention to the offerings at hand.

"You sound like Iggy."

Which, you know, tough luck for him, because, yes, Gladio loved the guy, but if he was going to be fussed over, Nell definitely took the preference there.

"I'm not saying you can't eat your delicious Cup Noodle," Nell said with a grin, because wasn't it wonderful to have him here being all Gladio and teasing her? "I'm just saying that you need to eat something good for you as well. And only one of those is for you!"

Though she wasn't cruel, there were many more in the back.

The skeptical look on Gladio's face as he reached for one of the Cup Noodles^TM seemed to suggest that Nell had better eat up, then, if she planned on him only having the one, but with the Cup Noodle^TM now in his hand, all was right with the world again.

"Cup Noodle^TM is good for me," he insisted. "It's good for my soul."

And they didn't really need to get into why that was particularly in need of nourishment at the moment.

"But alright," he said, "if you insist. I promise I'll eat at least something probably leafy and green."

A moment, to lift a placating hand toward the plants, "No offense, guys."

Oh Nell would be eating! In fact she had just taken a big mouthful of noodles when he made his pronouncement and her subsequent laughter nearly made her snort them out her nose.

So she was already laughing, hand over her mouth, as she tried not to end up wearing the noodles when he apologized to the plants and that set her off entirely.

In fact, all she could do for a few moments was to laugh and wave helplessly in his general direction.

You know what else was pretty good for Gladio's soul right now? That, Nell's laughter. It had already been building up to be one of his favorite sounds (especially when it was him causing it), and after not hearing it for nearly two weeks, he was just sort of basking in it, soaking up that response, and feeling pretty pleased with himself for inspiring it.

And, eventually, with a lifted brow and a faint smirk, he had to check. "You good?"

"I'm good," Nell said after she collected herself, still smiling. "Oh, I've missed you!"

She gestured to the plants. "These you don't want to eat, but at my store there are good greens to eat."

And that oh, I've missed you could probably find a spot right up there with the sound of Nell's laughter now, too. His grin took on an almost boyish kind of pride at it.

"Well, then. I guess I know where I'm going for dinner."

"I guess you do," she said primly. "Only healthy bad tasting foods for you tonight."

As if.

She'd feed him straight Cup Noodle for the next two weeks if he wanted.

Whilst he lounged on a couch, like how ancient Romans were fed grapes, perhaps?

"I don't believe it's possible for you to make bad tasting food," Gladio countered, and, mid-way through his next bite of Cup Noodle^TM, hastily added, "Not a challenge, by the way."

Perhaps!

"I'll leave the crazy food to Summer," Nell said with a smile. "I took one of her classes years ago, I think. Creative, but not food I'd want to add to my repertoire."

"Thank gods," Gladio snorted, and made sure to really appreciate his next bite. "I'm always worried, with Iggy always taking her classes, that he's going to completely crack one day and start getting whole new ideas for his recipehs...."

"Never," Nell said with a smile. "He has too much respect for the culinary art form. Summer, on the other hand, loves to push the limits and make people squirm a little."

She set her Cup Noodle down for a moment and sipped at her tea. "This is nice. Here. Us."

"It is nice," Gladio agreed, and there was the tiniest whisper of worry in the very back of his brain that wondered if the house had just gotten much better at setting things up for an even more devastating turn, but if that were the case, all the more reason to appreciate it while he could.

He'd just about finished his Cup Noodle^TM (pacing? Please), and tilted the cup to drink up what was left of the broth.

"Here," he added, before he really grinned over at her. "Us."

Nell's smile was just a little on the giddy side. "That's the best part," she said. "Us.."

Edited 2023-08-14 23:36 (UTC)

"You know," said Gladio, unceremoniously and mostly without even thinking about it, wiping his mouth a little with the back of his hand, "I was going to argue that the best part is you, but then I remembered that I was a part of this equation, too, so, no, you definitely had it right the first time."

Nell whacked his hand gently and tossed him a napkin. Then she made a little face at him. "I couldn't possibly be the best part. I'm just me. But... I kinda like that you'd think that. Even if yes, I was right to begin with, us."

Gladio laughed a little and made a point of using that napkin before picking up the tea. "You're half of us, so if us is so great, then that means you are, too. And I like 'just you.' I like 'just you' an awful lot."

He took a sip of his tea.

"In case you haven't noticed."

"Might have noticed a little something like that," Nell said. "I kind of like you an awful lot too, in case you hadn't noticed."

She smiled at him over the rim of her tea cup.

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Monday: Covent Garden Flowers

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