Seth tries to do his job the best he can. Yes, he’s the head of the company; yes, his meetings include playing poker; and yes, it works out fine. This time is no different, even though the news is more worrying than usual. But he’s going to take it one step at the time and be just fine. It’s more of the same in the end -- talk to these people, arrange that meeting, and don’t panic anybody. The stakes are higher, but it’s nothing he hasn’t done before. And he gets to spend time at the fire station with Connor. Seth should be good.<br><br>And there’s nothing out of the ordinary on Connor’s end. It’s a normal day, spent doing normal things, with the normal people. He happens to love his life and, though some things could be better, they could also be way worse. Connor is satisfied, and nothing is going to change that.<br><br>Everything is going according to plan. There’s no reason to believe that anything has to change. Right?

Out of Nowhere

“Okay, no. No,” Oliver says. He probably meant to do it firmly, but if so, he should do something about that grin that Seth sees lurking. “Enough with the innuendoes.”


“That’s the beauty about innuendoes though,” Seth says. He has every intention of finishing his line of thought but somebody gets there first.


“You can’t tell they’re there if your mind is out the gutter,” Connor finishes. His eyes travel to Seth to give him the most unimpressed glance Seth has received today. Seth shrugs and Connor rolls his eyes dramatically. “Guys, help me with the food?” Connor starts to get it out of the bags while the others get dishware, glasses, and cutlery.


Seth points to Connor. “I taught you well.”


“And then Seth can pretend he never intended to do it,” Connor grumbles. “Makes you think you’re deep in the gutter with no company.”


“That only happened once,” Seth says in his defense, then reconsiders. “Okay, maybe more than once. But five times tops. No more than that.”


Chapter 7