Fandom Island Museum, Thursday Daytime

[hasaknightjob]

The upcoming Saturday was... well Steven would be lying if he said there weren't mixed feelings. But then again mixed feelings about things was what he and Marc did best, wasn't it?

On the plus side today was work, and catching up on what needed doing after a week away. So Steven was behind the Welcome Desk, going through mail, making sure they were fully stocked on brochures, and all other sorts of maintenance tasks.

It helped to keep his mind off of things. Though of course he'd not complain about any visitors who also kept his mind off of things, should any stop by.

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Comments

[mylandmyrules]

Nell stopped by to say hello before class. "Good morning, Steven!"

[hasaknightjob]

"Good morning, Nell!" Steven replied. "How are you?"

[mylandmyrules]

"I'm good," Nell assured him. "Did you have a lovely holiday?"

[hasaknightjob]

"Yes, yes, wonderful," Steven said, somewhat distracted as he looked at Nell with concern. "But what about you? Last week sounded... dangerous. Are you all right?"

Radio had been something to catch up on when they'd gotten back.

[mylandmyrules]

"Oh I'm fine," Nell said, "even if it wasn't the vacation we expected. The first day or so was amazing. The rest was just very... odd."

[hasaknightjob]

Steven looked confused at her word choice. "The hotel fell down around you all? Or was radio having one of its laughs about that?"

The people who'd talked about things like ever growing cracks in the ceilings of the hotel rooms weren't the ones who usually... were creative in their reporting but perhaps it was some holiday related joke Steven hadn't been privy to.

[mylandmyrules]

"An... asteroid-amusement park-thing crashed into the place we were," Nell said. "It was a mess, but they moved us to another hotel and we got to spend time at the amusement park. Weird, but okay."

[hasaknightjob]

"I... see," Steven said. He wasn't entirely certain he did but he'd been on the island long enough that he at least understood that things could happen that sounded highly strange if someone attempted to summarize them. "Well good to know it wasn't as dangerous as it sounded. Always hard knowing what to trust with radio reports sometimes.

"So it was all right then? Bonus amusement park on top of the existing plan?"

[mylandmyrules]

Nell waggled a hand. "So so. It was an odd place. A bit dangerous. Not the best food. But Gladio won me an embarrassingly large number of stuffed... creatures."

She was pretty good with just rolling with the punches.

"I don't think anyone was hurt - just very inconvenienced. And it was a bit sad to have started in such a beautiful place and then have it all taken away."

[hasaknightjob]

"Good that no one was hurt then," Steven said. He smiled. "And sweet that Gladio won you prizes? Romantic gesture, that."

[mylandmyrules]

"He is awful sweet," Nell agreed. "We're going to bring most of them to hospitals over the causeway. To give to sick kids."

She smiled at him. "We'll keep some of them, of course, but we don't need so many of then."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's a wonderful idea," Steven said. "And very like you, generous. I'm sure they'll be thrilled. I'm glad to hear it all worked out then. Felt a bit strange to talk about my own holiday if yours had been dangerous. But it was wonderful. Beautiful location, relaxing. No sudden amusement parks."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell laughed. "No surprise amusement parks is a good thing!"

[hasaknightjob]

"There was a surprise dinner though," Steven said. His smile grew fond at the memory. "Llewellyn planned the most romantic thing. Candlelight, special menu, out on a pier by the water. It was wonderful."

[mylandmyrules]

"Talk about romantic," Nell said with a smile. "Sounds wonderful."

[hasaknightjob]

"It really was," Steven said. "No one's ever done anything like that for me before. Even that he arranged something special was - well, special."

[mylandmyrules]

"I'm glad you have him," Nell said. "You deserve good things."

[hasaknightjob]

"He's the best thing," Steven agreed. "No offense to your Gladio, of course. Best for me, I mean."

[mylandmyrules]

"Of course," Nell said. "Everyone has their own best and the Detective is yours. Gladio... he's so good to me. So good I almost feel like I should be waiting for the other shoe to fall. So much more than I deserve or ever would have dared to dream of. I didn't, you know. Dream."

[hasaknightjob]

"He does seem perfect for you," Steven said. "You always seem so happy when you speak of him. And everything you say makes me think he takes good care of you. It's nice to see that for a friend. That they have someone who wants good things for them."

[mylandmyrules]

"He is very good to me," Nell agreed. "And he trusts me to make good decisions for myself. He doesn't try to tell me what I should do, though he's happy to offer advice if I need it."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's important," Steven agreed. "You ask me it's good to be with someone who you respect enough to want their advice but who respects you enough to support your decisions. In general, I mean. Not just you specifically."

[mylandmyrules]

"No, no, I totally agree," Nell said. "Good advice for anyone."