#she had a lot more to say than i realized....JFKLSDJFLKSDJ

[melloreturn]

@mythvoiced sent in: MORE NELL, MORE NELL~ What are ways for her to wind down after a tough day/night? How does she feel about tough life decisions, avoidant or 'better get this over with as fast as possible'? What's her dream home? Ideal date? 👀 Does she prefer working in silence or does she like ambient sounds or maybe some tunes playing in the background? What's a supposed work 'for children' that she'd thoroughly enjoy as an adult? One work of fiction that feels like home? What are her high fives like, soft, loud, two hands, one hand, is she one of those people that holds your hand a little when your palms connect? ALL THE LOVE, FERRE~ || lena back at it with the WONDERFUL QUESTIONS 🥺

She has to look twice at this curious bystander because most of the time, she’s the one who ends up asking the questions, not the other way around. Between her, Alfred, and Myungdae, she has the least to hide…if one does not count the illegal hacking Nell used to do on the side.  But in her defense, it was a side gig,  the rent in London is always going up, and her employer at the time definitely didn’t have any intention of matching her salary with inflation rates. Hand momentarily off the keyboard, she points to herself, mouthing ‘me, right?’

Yes, they are talking to her.

Her hands go back to the keyboard- wireless with tactile switches; perhaps getting one with linear switches would be better since they make less noise and require less force to press down on, but the sound of typing is so ingrained in her ( and the other two for that matter ), it feels wrong to switch to something else. “I’m a simple girl. Give me my Do*ctor Who marathons and a tub of pistachio ice cream and I’ll be there. Not that any other flavor is worse, but you know…we all have our preferences, don’t we? Myungdae’s got his red beans and Alfred, he’s pretty BASIC. Don’t tell him I said that.”

Chocolate, she means. Not that basic is necessarily bad in this case.

She gives a nervous laugh though, glancing over at her screen. Alfred and Myungdae still haven’t arrived yet. “This…this isn’t an interrogation is it? Not that, I’m implying that you are, I mean, why would you need to, I’m just…working on work, filing for the shop, you know-“ Oh wait, she never answered the question, did she? Maybe the way she’s reacting, answers it all too clearly- if she can, she’d rather avoid the hard decisions…even if that ends up biting her in the arse later. She sighs. “Well…avoiding them doesn’t usually solve them, does it? It’s not like he's able to…”

He, as in the Black Knight. Well, the image of the Black Knight- she’s not actually him, himself. That’s Myungdae’s role, but then again, when you’re constantly with people like Myungdae and Alfred, people have been plunged into the deep end with no life vest available and yet they’re still swimming in spite it all, it makes even the worst of problems seem…bearable.  Avoiding her problems almost feels like an insult at that point. Or maybe something about being the Black Knight makes her want to be BRAVER.

 The next question is, thankfully, less probing. “Does it have good wifi? That’s all I really need to be at home. Well, a high end condo wouldn’t be terrible- I’d love to have enough space for both windows and my screens. If it’ll let me have a smartscreen installed, I’d take that to. It’d have to have an elevator though. No stairs, if possible.” That would be for her mother, the woman who raised her all on her own. Isn’t that why Nell went into hacking to begin with- to pay her mother back for all the years put into raising her daughter? At the very least, if god forbid, something happens to her, at least her mother will be comfortable. The back of her neck suddenly grows terribly warm though-not from the sentimentality or worry, but rather from-

“D-Date?” She chuckles nervously. “T-That’s a bold question, wouldn’t you say? Not that, I’m not flattered, but-“ Well, it’s a bit difficult to maintain a relationship let alone go on a date when a. you don’t know the language well and b. most of your free time is being used to be the Black Knight’s tech support. She coughs into her hand- a classic movement picked up from Myungdae. “Take me to dinner and talk to me about D*octor Who or any of my favorite TV shows. And don’t just tell me who your favorite characters are- I want to go into the meta territory.” There’s a reason her favorites have always been the long-running shows…cartoons ( St*even Uni*verse especially- if only the real world worked the way things did in there- by talking things out, no violence necessary! ) are included, even if Alfred tells her they’re for kids. It’s her free time; she’ll be using it the way she pleases, thank you very much!

“Don’t tell Alfred this, but if neither of them is in the base, I’ll put music on- with earphones, of course.” She pats her bag that holds her trusty air pods….thank goodness for wireless headphones and keyboards, she can’t imagine returning to her days of detangling wires! That was a university thing. “What? It gets boring after a while.” Not while they’re in Black Knight mode, of course, but for all the other times, seeing that the basement of the clocktower is one of the few places she can really be herself…if it weren’t for the fact it’s also where she works, she might consider hosting a marathon or two there.

( Little does she realize Myungdae has caught her once or twice jamming out to her music…he doesn’t mind, not at all. As a matter of fact, it can bring a small smile to his face in those moments, where she’s completely caught up with the present moment. )

A work of fiction that feels like home though? “Gotta be D*octor Who for sure. I remember when the reboot first started up- I was a tween- one with not a lot of friends mind you so I was always looking forward to going home to watch the new episode on the telly. And the old ones too. Mum used to yell at me for spending too much time looking at screens.” She laughs, albeit sadly. It’s been THREE YEARS since she’s seen her mother- since that day she had to go into hiding. The last thing she told her mother was that she was going out to get milk.

She wonders if her mother is still waiting for her to come home. With milk. She rubs her hands- last question. “Hm…actually I haven’t given a high-five in a while. It’s not exactly a thing, we- you know.” Most times when there’s a victory within Team Checkmate, it’s acknowledged briefly before they move on to the next topic. “I guess it would depend on who I’m giving it to? Myungdae’s not a huge fan of pain-“ So she’d probably hold his hand in a gesture of victory than high-five. “And Alfred’s on the rougher side.” Which means her palms will inevitably sting.

But speaking of which, she notices them from the other end of the room. Alfred is waving her to join them. Closing her laptop, she gives the curious soul a tight smile. “Sorry, I’d love to chat more but uh…my ride’s here. And they don’t like it when I keep them waiting.” Standing up, she tucks her laptop into her bag along with the keyboard. “Maybe we can meet up again some time? It’s hard making friends you know- well, maybe you have better luck than I do, but that’s not your problem so much as it is mine and it’s probably my fault anyways-“

She takes a deep breath.

“Anyways. I’ll see you around. Try to stay out of this side of Itaewon tonight for me, okay?”