runs_on_batteries | IC Inbox/ Interactions 2.0

Tony nodded. Gladio and he were going to get along just fine as roommates. He'd been leery about putting too much stuff in the salad, but hearing Gladio really was good with them, he went back and added both spinach, kale, and then some chopped up broccoli. He put together a honey mustard vinaigrette too, though he would've preferred more spices in it.

"Just don't mash these or they'll turn gray," he warned about the purple potatoes. He assumed they were like the ones from his world, though you never really knew. He went back to work and before too long, the food was ready. It was far from the best dish he'd ever made, but with the ingredients available he thought it sure beat a lot of the options he'd had on the train.

He fixed up two plates and made it look as nice as he could before calling Gladio over. It wasn't a candlelight dinner or anything, but an effort had been made.

Now finding himself without much to do, Gladio went and sat himself down to watch. He was tempted to offer to help but the kitchen was a bit too small for the both of them to comfortably work in. "Do they still taste fine when gray?" Because that didn't bother him at all. Little butter, little salt, they'd still be mashed potato and that as fine by him.

Despite his best efforts Gladio had started to drift off a little. The smell of cooking, the sound of Tonu bustling about, there was a soothing quality to it. He didn't actually fall asleep, but his eyes were closed and he had relaxed. When he was called, he yawned and sat himself up before heading over to get his plate.

"Looks real good. I think you can stay." Gladio grinned and grabbed a fork and his plate. "Uh... tables outta commission. So couch dinner it'll have to be."

Tony paused as he chopped and tried to remember if he'd ever eaten it once it turned gray. "I don't know. I'm hoping once the replicator is back up and running we can get better potatoes for mashing. This kind makes nice chips and fries." He might have gone into the history of regular potatoes and purple, but when he glanced back, Gladio looked sleepy. He found himself smiling and leaving it alone.

Once they had their food and moved to the couch, he could relax. He chuckled at the joke that he could stay because of his cooking skills. "Now the true reason you wanted a roommate comes out." He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "I might have overreacted to Ignis earlier. Just a little."

"Damn, you caught me." Gladio grinned and dropped down into the love seat while Tony took the couch. Sure they could have sat together, but this way he didn't have to keep turning or sit awkward just to talk to the other man.

"Yeah, you think?" With his plate balanced in a hand he took his first bite with an appreciative sound. "... This is delicious." There as still that slight 'off' taste that marked the ingredients as synthetic rather than fresh, but that didn't stop it from tasting damn good.

It wasn't the train, they could have some space! It was really nice even if last night.. well, they weren't talking about last night. He was going to sleep in his own bed tonight and hopefully Gladio would forget that ever happened. Sure, it felt nice and the younger man would've been fun to fuck, but their friendship was the most important thing. As it was, he'd let Gladio keep his airtight seal (since, come on, he knew that guy hadn't been the bottom for either Noct or the puppy).

He nodded reluctantly. It took effort to keep his thoughts on their conversation. "Thank you," he smiled at the compliment. It tasted like he had used spam instead of real meat and the vegetables had a slightly.. he wasn't sure, almost plastic taste. It was like those bagged salads that had sat around too long. However, both were an upgrade to what he was used to. "Is this the only way to get food here? These replicators?"

Gladio wasn't talking about last night, because Tony had told him not to. It was literally one of the first things he'd said on climbing into his bed. Okay, so maybe it was 'tell anyone and you're dead', but he took that to mean 'we don't mention this ever'. He was trying to be considerate. If Tony even remembered. He'd been under the influence of a bear and those pills. Maybe he'd not quite slept it off and that was why he'd acted the way he had?

Of course that didn't explain why Gladio had acted the way he had. Why he'd kissed Tony back. Why it didn't actually bother him.

Though there was a little part of him that knew exactly why. But since they weren't discussing it...

"You can get upgrades to them. Better quality food, better variety. Other than that I think it's just Affurgato's where you can get food. The stuff you get in the replicators is all synthetic though." Gladio's lips twitched. "I'd been planning on growing food back on the train. Wonder if I can still do that here?"

Tony grinned, pleased Gladio caught on to exactly where his thoughts were leading. "Precisely. There's more than enough room on these lots, even if we need to put them on the roof, to make small gardens. Growing our own food has to taste better than this and may be healthier for us." Who knew what exactly was in this stuff?

"Back home I built a skyscraper with large floors that grew vegetables year round. They were given precise lighting and temperature and they grew among special artificial rocks and water that gave them exactly what they needed. It cut out the need for farmers using a particular field till it was zoid of all natural nutrients. We obviously wouldn't have that kind of resources here but even if we had a small greenhouse we could do something similar."

"There's communal areas we can use once the weather gets warmer. It's just getting hold of seeds to plant..." And Gladio would have to ask how people did that. Did they pray or something? "I know people have gotten things, gifts, from home. Not sure it's like how it was on the Voidtrecker. Might have to make offerings and pray to the gods." He laughed at that, though wasn't really against the idea. If it got him what he wanted then sure, he'd do the thing.

"Just a shame we don't have Glorfindel or Persephone to help things grow faster." They'd been so good at that. Gladio almost swore he'd seen things growing right in front of his eyes when they were both giving a plant attention. "But we could get something started, sure."

"Actually.. it's not just seeds," Tony began. "Along with the right conditions of the soil, some vegetables and fruits also require cross pollination." From there, the man went on a lengthy explanation on pollination and nutrients in the soil. It was at least a good six minutes of straight mansplaining. "We would need to introduce or find some native bees. Have you noticed if this place has insects or small birds like hummingbirds?"

He took another few bites. He agreed. This would be much easier with a little magic. "Do you think the Noct here would take to it like the one on the train? It could give you two something to repair your friendship over."

Edited 2021-02-19 01:27 (UTC)

Gladio... was only half listening really. Logic and reason went out of the window in places like this. Somehow people were growing flowers and if he could find out how they were doing that then they'd find out how to grow vegetables and fruits. It was just trial and error really. And probably a hefty dose of magic. And possibly some of the native's technology.

By the time Tony had wound down, Gladio had almost finished his meal.

"Can't say I've seen any wildlife other than the critters at the temples and people's pets. But I'll bet there's a way. Flowers are grown here so something is helping them. Or someone." And as for Noct, Gladio laughed. "Probably not. He's... 'not a florist or whatever'."

Someone might miss the classes he used to teach. He hadn't been doing them since his episode. Either that or he was just enjoying the sound of his own voice, which happened often too.

"Yeah, what's up with that? Why is my supposed goddess with Cinderella mice as her minions? Who the hell thought that was a good idea?" He was highly offended by this pairing! The last thing he wanted was to benefit a Powerpuff Girl.

He listened to Gladio's reaction about Noct with some surprise. The large man may have laughed, but what Tony heard was hurt. He moved his hand to rest briefly on Gladio's forearm and gave him a sympathetic pat. "We'll find a way to get you all on good terms again. I'm a dick, but I can also be charming, remember?"

Gladio smirked and lowered his head. No, he wouldn't laugh. But it was definitely funny. "Clearly someone up there thought you could benefit from a little purity in your life." And that was just funny as all hell. But he concentrated on finishing the last of his meal so he wouldn't choke himself laughing.

He didn't see the touch coming though. And despite himself it made him jump. And then he did laugh. Laugh and grin over at Tony. "Nothin to worry about. I can be patient when I want to be. Especially if there's something I want. But in this... I'm trying to make myself available. Noct, I hope, will come to me. I don't want to push him too hard and send him the other way."

Well Tony sure laughed at hearing he needed 'purity'. There was no way he was getting any purity back in his filthy old soul.

He smiled and drew his hand away. "Isn't the reason you two have issues in the first place because he wallows and doesn't act? You might not really want to wait until he comes to you. You could be waiting a really long time. What about inviting them over? We could cook or if this rain ever stops I could probably jerry rig a grill. You guys like card games, we could play poker."

"The problem is their view of me, Tony. I'm workin on it. But maybe when this weather clears up and the replicators aren't a mess we could to that." Inviting people over sounded like an idea. But Gladio also thought working on each one in turn was probably a better plan. Prompto didn't seem like a problem. He'd been easier to deal with. Hadn't treated him differently if he was honest. Though maybe that was more the fact Prompto hadn't seen him in years than any forgiveness on his part.

But Noct and Ignis... Those were the two that needed work. Noct more than the other.

"Need cards to play poker though. And paper is rarer than mithril here."

"How do you change their view of you other than show them you're not that guy? They have to see your actions and that'll be easy because you're lovable! You're like the Abominable Snowman after they find out he's ticklish."

He chuckled and got up to start cleaning up. "That never stopped me on the train. We just have to find the right substitute material. Have you noticed what is in abundance here?" He got the water going to do the dishes and found a container for the leftover food. "If I hadn't shot the door, we'd have that for scraps."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Not forcing them to accept me. But I'll be there when they need me." It's all he could really do. He tried. He reached out when he could. Sometimes it was accepted, sometimes he'd watch as the shutters went down and he'd realised he'd tried too hard. "I have to earn their trust again. It wasn't me who hurt them, but the memory is stronger than that." He'd get there though. He would wait. Though for how long he wasn't too sure. Gladio liked to believe he could wait forever, but there was only so much he could take before he just... gave up.

When his plate was taken, Gladio frowned and got up too to follow. He was very tempted to grab Tony and physically lift him and move him out of the way. "You cooked. Clean up is on me." A pause. "Snow. An abundance of snow, scrap and now chocolate."

"Alright, but I think you can be too passive. We'll do it your way until I figure out how to grill and get some cards. Then we're having them over. They don't know it yet, but I'm still part of the family... or close to it," he said with more confidence than he really felt.

He stopped at Gladio's comment on the clean up. He turned around and looked ready to argue but instead he huffed out a laugh. "Alright, I know better than to try and fight you on this. Just know, you're still one ahead because you're letting me stay here."

With that he slipped past his friend and sat on one of the dining chairs. There was no table, so these had been pushed up against a wall on one side of the room. He pulled it out a bit so he could comfortably keep talking to Gladio but be out of the way. "Speaking of, are there any rules on how living areas are supposed to work? Like will there be others who end up staying here?"

"Until I'm sure I won't make things worse, passive is the way it's gotta be." He grinned and dropped a hand on Tony's shoulder for a moment. "You're family, Tony. They'll realise that sooner or later. Now move your ass."

He removed his hand and took his place at the sink once Tony had moved. "And what do you mean 'letting you stay'? We're roommates now. This is your place as much as mine." After rolling up his sleeves, Gladio got to work washing up. "Only people who get to live here are any we ask. Otherwise no, don't think there's rules. One house for each person I guess."

Tony gave Gladio a smile and then a quick laugh at the order. He was glad his friend understood without him having to say anything. He might have lost Ignis a month or so ago but he'd had a family out of the boys left behind plus his daughter Madoka. You never just marry the person, you marry the family. He felt that old familiar guilt that he hadn't gone along with the wedding like 'train' Ignis had wanted. He hated that title, but it worked well enough.

"Is there rent or a mortgage I should be expecting to pay with you then?" He asked, unsure how all of these things worked. It was only his second day here, so it was going to take some time. "I had an idea of how we can make the upstairs more appropriate for our use than four bedrooms. I liked what you did with making two beds into one, so I'll do that in another room. We should then select one of the other rooms for a library and then the other room as a work room."

"So far as I know, none of that." His lips twitched and then curved into a grin as he set a plate down to drip dry on the rack. "Way ahead of you. I set a bed up in one of the rooms. Even made it for you. Aren't I great?" As for the rest. "There's a little place in town, I think the idea was to make that a library. But you're welcome to make the other rooms into whatever you want. Knock a wall down and make one big workshop if you'd like." Gladio was pretty easygoing when it came to this. He didn't plan on spending most of his time indoors anyway. And once he was situated enough he wanted to get himself involved more. There was several people already who had expressed interest in training so his thoughts were leaning toward finding a space of his own where he could do that. Some had mentioned starting up a gym. It was a thought that was at the back of his mind as a viable option for the future. And a good way to earn some money.

Tony's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Wow, that is nice of you. You must be buttering me up for something," he joked. Either that or Gladio really wanted to keep him out of his space again. He wondered briefly if he should apologize for that or just continue to pretend it didn't happen. It had been really stupid and put his friendship on the line. It was best to just keep ignoring it and hope Gladio would just forget it.

However, he was surprised at the reaction about the library. "I thought you loved books." Did Gladio think he'd forgotten? He wanted to do something with the other rooms that supported both of their interests. With Gladio's size, he didn't think putting a gym upstairs was a good idea.

"I'm a nice guy, asshole." He grinned over his shoulder then turned back to his dishes. "Just wanna make you feel welcome here is all. Having a space of your own means somethin now." After so long being squashed together, a place where privacy was a precious commodity, he though Tony would appreciate having somewhere he could run off to if he needed peace.

"I do. Love books, I mean. But... that place, I think I'd prefer to build that up." He paused, frowning a little. "There was a kid here. Vianca. You'd have loved her. That place was her's. A cosy place with flowers and books. But she left recently. I think adding to that collection'd keep her memory alive here." Gladio glanced over his shoulder again, smile softer now. "Make sense?"

"Yeah we'll see," Tony bantered playfully back. The truth was, he was flattered. The gesture had been something Pepper or Ignis would've done and he missed things like that. He didn't know how to express that kind of gratitude, so it came out in jokes. He got up and made some tea and sighed when he got tea in a cup with a handful of raisins next to it. Well at least it wasn't a potato in the tea.

He frowned unsure why they were still talking about this other place, but then Gladio explained it. "Ahh, yes. That.. I didn't know. So, it's a library and a florist?" That was an odd combination, but if it was run by a kid it was rather sweet.

"More like a place to sit and read with flowers in it. But you can take books, so long as you bring em back. So as close to a library as we can get." He grinned. Much like the shelf of books in the corner back on the Voidtrecker, it was makeshift as can be, but this one was definitely built for comfort instead of practicality.

"I'll take you tomorrow if you want? Should show you around this place at some point." He grabbed a dish towel to start drying the dishes, falling quiet for a moment before he laughed. "Think you'd see more if you do that flying thing though."

"I see," Tony said thoughtfully. It sounded like the perfect place for Gladio to spend all his free time. That and the guy probably could use a massage. When was the last time that guy actually did anything relaxing?

"Hmm?" He heard something about flying. He definitely wasn't sitting there thinking about rubbing those hard muscles down with massage oil. Nope. "Yeah, flying. I did earlier.. um, you haven't used all the hot water with the dishes have you? I think I have some chocolate I'd like to get out of my hair before it gets too late."

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