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The concealer she put on this morning is useless against the dark circles that have taken up residency under her eyes. The early lunch she took was the last thing she ate and, with the sun long gone, the only thing louder than her pounding head is her stomach. Her feet are calloused and sore to match her aching back and shoulders. Her hair is loose from the cute braids she'd neatly woven earlier and the blouse of her adorable outfit was stained from the coffee a new TV intern had spilled on her. The program shoot had gone on far longer than planned because of the director's persnickety attitude and so she ended up taking the bus as close to her home as possible, getting lost twice, and having to walk another fifteen minutes to reach her street.
Nico is tired.
But she's home.
When she opens the door to her apartment, she hardly wants to cook, but there's no way she'd sleep well without dinner. Luckily she doesn't have to.
"Welcome home, Nico!" Eli greets her, helping take her jacket off and hanging it up for her.
"Eli? What are you still doing up?" She asks.
"You mean 'what are WE doing still up', right, Niccochi?" Nozomi giggles, peeking out from behind the door to the kitchen and wearing Nico's apron, clearly too small on her, but she hardly seems to care about that.
"Nozomi! Okay, what's going on, you two? I've had a really long day, so put it in 20 words or less!" Nico scowls, more confused than upset, in fact, she's having trouble keeping a smile off her face.
The two of them seem to realize this.
"What's wrong with wanting to pamper our favourite local celebrity after she's worked so hard?" Eli teases gently, a big grin that makes Nico blink like it's almost too bright.
"Or did you not want the dinner I made for you? Elicchi's already done your laundry, y'know! Should we put it all back in a hamper?" Nozomi's own teasing isn't quite as gentle but the mischief laden smile she wears is no less bright and Nico's cheeks burn lightly between the two of them.
And besides, why couldn't Nico have her own fun, "How could I ever live with myself as a television icon if I turned down my two biggest fans? I'm warning you, though! Nico's standards are as high as her heart is big!"
"No comment."
"Nozomi!"
Eli steps between Nico's glare and Nozomi's challenging eyes and ushers Nico toward the bathroom with a soft hand against her back.
"I've run a bath for you, nice and hot. Why don't you take a nice soak while Nozomi and I finish preparing and we can all eat together?" She suggests.
Nico hums her satisfaction at the words but something stills her, "Have you two not eaten yet?"
The two women give her confused looks, as though the answer was clear from the get go.
"What fun is dinner if we don't all eat as a family?" Eli replies.
Nozomi snorts playfully, "Nicocchi, you forgot! Haven't we made that clear since we started living together?"
But instead of getting mad, she's far too happy, and so Nico laughs, "I get it, I get it! A bath sounds great! And pajamas!"
"I'll set some out for you." Eli smiles.
There's a prance in her step that ignores the pain of her feet as she heads to the bathroom and a sing-songed "Thank you!" rings down the hall.
Nico was still tired, sure, and it had been a bad day but all be damned if this wasn't a perfect evening.