fandomtownies | Tuesday: Plant Parenthood

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Tuesday: Plant Parenthood

Nell was in a particularly good mood today. The weekend had been perfect, last night was lwonderful, and Gladio wanted to do something special for her birthday. The what didn't matter to her, but the idea was lovely. She still didn't know how she could possible havev gotten so lucky!

In any case, she and the kittens were dowanstairs, tending to business, and singing along with the radio.

Please come visit!

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Sometime in the afternoon Steven stopped by, his arms full as he carried a box wrapped in decorative paper. He did his best to try to negotiate getting inside without bumping the box against the door or the doorframe on his way in.

Nell hurried to help him get through the door. "Goodness, Steven, welcome. Come in, please!"

"Cheers," Steven said as she lent a hand. "I mean should be all right. Safe inside its box. But don't want to ruin the wrapping before you have a chance to tear in now do we? Hello! How are you? Er - are we attempting to be discreet if any squirrels are listening?"

He indicated the present he was holding as the thing Nell might want discretion about, if she didn't want too much of a fuss made over her birthday.

"What? Oh! No, no worrying about the squirrels," Nell said. "I just decided to have a birthday exactly the way I wanted it - like you told me before."

She smiled at him. "So, this year I wanted a quiet afternoon and evening watching movies and sitting under the stars with Gladio, so that's exactly what I did. I didn't mean to have it be secret or anything, but you didn't need to get me a present!"

"Ah! All right then," Steven said with a smile. "Happy birthday in person then. And of course! It's from Llewellyn and me. We debated having him bring it over last night but thought best not if you didn't want anyone else there aware it was your birthday this past weekend."

Steven put the present on the counter. "You can open it whenever you like, of course. And there's a gift receipt tucked in as well. If you don't care for it you can exchange it for whatever you like, no hard feelings."

"Oh," Nell said, "Steven, this is beautiful. I've never used one of these, but it will certainly come in handy - especially in the winter when I make more stews and such. Thank you so very much!"

"You don't have one already?" Steven said. "Wonderful! Llewellyn and I love ours. Dead handy for getting things made without having to keep on top of them. We thought that might be useful for you, given that you've your shop to run and all."

"I don't," Nell said. She didn't have a lot of the more new-fangled stuff that was available here. "But this looks very handy, as you say. I could even bring it downstairs if it was something that needed to be watched. Thank you!"

"Wonderful!" Steven said. "I'll tell Llewellyn you liked it. Or - actually could I take a photo with you and it? For the memory? Only if you're comfortable with it of course."

"Of course," Nell said easily. "I don't mind at all. And yes, please do tell the Detective I liked it. I'll tell him myself as well, of course, when I see him, but you'll see him so much sooner."

Steven fumbled through his pockets for his mobile, then framed up a shot with both Nell and her gift in it. "There we are. When you're ready?"

Nell didn't worry much about how she looked in pictures, so she just smiled at Steven. "I'm set whenever you are."

"Right then. One, two, three," Steven counted off and then took the picture. He turned his phone around to let Nell see that it was a good shot, not one with her eyes closed or anything like it. "That all right? I can delete it if you're not happy with it."

"If you're happy with it, that's all that matters," Nell said. "Do you like it?"

"I am," Steven said. He put his mobile away. "Thank you. It's good to keep memories. Especially of the important things, like birthdays. And yours was good? Nice and quiet, as you liked?"

She nodded, smiling gently. "I did. Gladio came over and we snuggled on the couch while we watched a movie. We had a nice dinner and then went up on the roof to watch the stars. And he stayed the night, which was very lovely."

"I'm glad you were able to do what made you happy," Steven said. "I'm sorry I didn't think to ask you about any plans on Thursday. Still trying to get myself oriented it seems."

Luckily Steven had calendar reminders to help make sure he didn't forget the birthdays of friends when they happened.

"I didn't actually think about it myself till Saturday morning," Nell admitted. "It was never much more than just another day. But I remembered what you said and just did something I wanted. Didn't even realize I hadn't told Gladio."

"Does he know now?" Steven asked. "Or others? Should I keep er, keeping it discreet, I mean?"

"Oh, he does," Nell assured him. "I mentioned your text to him and only then realized I hadn't said anything. It's no secret, I don't mind who knows, I just don't think about it much."

"All right then," Steven said. "Wanted to be sure to respect however you wanted to handle it. After all, you might have changed your mind since I've seen you last. It's been a whole year."

Yes, he'd been sitting on that joke for a while. Sorry, Nell.

She laughed and shook her head at him. "Oh you," she said fondly.

He grinned proudly. "I get to do that one again in January."

Fair warning and all.

"Mmmhmmm... I'll keep that in mind," she said with a smile. "How are you doing? Feeling more settled?"

"Comparatively, yeah," Steven said. "Still get a little thrown now and then but nowhere near as bad. Just have to remember to pace myself, double check things and the like. Thank you. For asking. And things are good here? The place looks wonderful. I mean - always does but with the change in the seasons and all."

"Good," Nell said. "I'm glad. I worry, you know. When people I care about are having a hard time."

She looked around the shop with a smile."Things are going vey well here. Couldn't be better! And it will get a bit quieter now that we're headed into winter, which is as it should be."

"Plants all tucking in for winter naps," Steven said to show he understood. "Gift season coming round the corner as well. Imagine you'll be abuzz with orders then."

A little bee pun there, naturally.

Nell laughed, acknowledging the pun. "Certainly I have more orders for teas and lotions, but not so many for plants."

"I imagine a gift basket of your lotions and teas would do a treat for a gift," Steven said. "Be lucky to be someone getting that for the holidays."

"You're very kind," Nell said. "But I am pleased that people seem to like my things so much."

"Well they're made with love and care, aren't they?" Steven pointed out. "Tops to tails. Makes them better than anything you get online, you ask me."

"They are," Nell agreed with a smile. "And all by my own hands so I know the quality is good for every one."

"And you can't beat the quality inspectors," Steven said, indicating the kittens.

"They do have a tendency to fall asleep on the job, but you can't fault them," Nell said with a smile. "They're just too cute."

"Sign of a good job done on your part I'd say," Steven replied. "No need for micromanagement."

Steven then grinned as he realized. "Though I suppose as small as they are all management is micro."

Nell chuckled. "They are awful tiny. I'm thinking at this point it must be some fandom thing. They're not much bigger than they were when I got them and they should be full grwon by now."

"As long as they're healthy, yeah?" Steven said. "How long has it been? We've had Raphael a year this Thursday, turns out."

"Oh, I don't know off the top of my head," Nell said. "But about a year."

"Happy anniversary to them as well then," Steven said. "Whenever it might be."

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Tuesday: Plant Parenthood

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