A Nice Shaded Clearing in the Preserve; Late Monday Afternoon [08/21].

[sword_chocobro]

Sure, the weather was insisting yet again on being hot and humid, but Nell and Gladio had decided they were going to have a picnic that day, and so a picnic they would still have! Maybe it would start to cool down as they headed into evening, anyway, and besides, Gladio was never that bothered by hot weather, anyway.

Even with a shirt on.

So when Nell was finished with work, he swung by to pick her up so they could get things for the picnic together and head out. He knew the preserve very well at this point (best to avoid the woods on the other end of the island for now, really), so he felt he knew a good spot that would be cool and comfortable, with just enough shade from the surrounding trees and close enough to the shore to maybe sometimes get a little bit of a refreshing sea breeze coming off of the ocean.

But, of course, a second opinion on the matter was vital.

"Think this'll work?" he asked, turning to his companion in this particular excursion, with all the confidence that she'd approve because, well...he knew how to pick a good spot.

[[ for she who was egregiously modded for lovely date tiems~ ]]

Comments

[sword_chocobro]

"Acceptable?" asked Gladio, who was just about to thank her for handing him some chicken, but now he was going to have to reconsider, with such disparaging remarks flung his way. He looked at Nell with brows lifted, with an expression all but demanding that she explain herself, but instead of waiting, he just shook the chicken leg at her and shook his head.

"Sure you didn't mean ex-ceptional."

It was fine; the words were very close, clearly she just misspoke.

"'Cause that's definitely more what I was thinking," he added, throwing in a wink before taking a big, meat-tearing sort of bite out of that chicken.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell couldn't help but laugh. "Hmmm, let me think now. Might have been more like excellent now that I think about it."

She couldn't help it. She did love to see him get all mock riled up.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio squinted over at Nell with exaggerated skepticism as he chewed thoughtfully, as if deciding whether this attempted recovery would cut it, but then he nodded, clearly with approval and acceptance.

"That sounds more like it," he said, and really couldn't keep the serious act much longer than that, fading away into his own chuckle and another shake of his head. "We're pretty good at that."

[mylandmyrules]

"We are," she agreed cheerfully. "Never knew you could joke around with a man like that. But then you make everything fun."

[sword_chocobro]

The next shake of Gladio's head was far less amused, with just more of that mix of bewilderment, sadness, and anger that went along with being reminded of where Nell had come from, how she was raised, and the massive amount of things that seemed to need to be unpacked with even the smallest details, like them just joking around with each other. But he also wasn't about to let something like that cast a dark shadow on their otherwise great time, either. So he just looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before giving her a grin.

"Can I let you in," he asked, lowering both his voice and his head toward her to make things seem that much more confidential, "on a little secret?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Of course," she said curiously, leaning in a little closer. "Always."

[sword_chocobro]

"All this joking? All this having fun?" Gladio said, lifting a speculative eyebrow at Nell. "Totally selfish. I mostly only do it 'cause I like making you laugh."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell actually giggled at that. "I think that's the best thing ever. Please be as selfish as you like."

And she leaned in to kiss him again.

[sword_chocobro]

Not only a laugh, but a giggle, and then Nell was kissing him, and, really, could there have been any better response to his confession than that? Gladio kissed her back, though it wasn't long before he pulled back slightly, just enough to grin and murmur, low and rumbling, "Well, since you said please."

His next kiss was definitely selfish, leaning in with both hands cupping her face, because it turned out there were much better things for them to be holding than double sandwiches.

[mylandmyrules]

That was... Nell didn't even have words for how joyous an experience that was. It was everything she had loved about being kissed by Gladio and even more. Her body twisted to get even closer to him and when she finally pulled back from the kiss purely for the need to catch her breath, all she could say was, "Wow..." as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

[sword_chocobro]

"Yeah?" asked Gladio, and with her head nestled there, she couldn't see the grin on his face that just wouldn't quit, but she could probably hear it even in just that one word. He tilted his head toward her. "Good wow?"

[mylandmyrules]

"Mmmhmmm..."

Nell sighed contentedly and he could probably feel her smile against his neck. "I love that I can just feel your voice rumble through me when I'm close to you like this."

And she knew that there was even more and for the first time believed that it would only get better. She wasn't ready for too much of the 'more' yet, but she was loving every moment of the now.