our lot in life

"You should come down to the offices sometime, we love hearing from citizens," Ed's not the type to back down completely, though. Just thread the clever needle of snark while not pissing off the older man too much, "Not all business can be conducted on boats."

"Well, all due respect," which was none, "I'm not just any citizen. I'm a citizen with land. Lots of it." Land that supposedly Olympios wanted? He'd have to do a lot better than sending a little intern down here as a messenger.

"Not all business can be conducted through subordinates."

He hurries outside, folding his apron and tucking it in his coat pocket. He sneaks up behind Sloane, poking her sides when he sidles up.

"Boo," he says with a chuckle. "So, there's the bagel cart around the corner, or I'm pretty sure the gyro truck is pulling up soon."

She looked around for a moment, considering the options, before pulling out her phone GPS.

"No, I said I'd take you somewhere! We can get anywhere you want!" Sloane was still figuring out where everything was located, but she recalled visiting a delightful, high-end ramen place a few weeks ago.. Pulling the place up on Google, she showed Tim the name (and the $$$ symbols next to it), "How about here?"

"Exactly, I agree! I was so, so lucky to have a small fund to at least start college, and I only needed loans my last 2 years," Elinor's father had made damn sure to blow the rest of his money... But they tried not to begrudge him for that. They were certainly in a better place than most, with only a few thousand in debt instead of 6 figures, "And how did you decide you wanted more? What put that fire under you?"

"Well, money, kind of. Plus I got a concussion a couple years in. I didn't want to get anything worse," Oh god, Leticia could already tell Elinor was going to take that tidbit and run with it.

"Look, I see what you're trying to do. But the 'fire' or whatever that I have inside me is not something I ever wanted to like, impart to the youth. I don't even like kids."

"All I've seen is the bar doing what a bar does. Nothing about... that stuff."

Not that he hadn't tried asking about the investigation. But he's not a complete idiot. He didn't push that hard when James said it wasn't his business. Then they ended up doing not-talking activities so it's fine.

"Besides, he's a private guy. I barely know anything about him besides that he owns the bar, he's got a prosthetic, and he really likes... well, not that important."

"Exactly, you barely know anything about him!"

The "stuff" that Adam claimed to not know about is exactly what Leticia just avoided a crisis about. She wasn't sure if she believed that Adam knew nothing about it. Clearly, he's been compromised.

"Look, we're both adults here and I can't tell you to not do anything you want to do," Or anyone... "But you're involved, Adam, whether you like it or not. People are going think you know about the 'stuff' and they're going to think you're involved."

Leticia was always like this, especially near the end of their friendship—forcing Odette to try and confront feelings she'd rather leave buried.

But sidestepping the uncomfortable is a dance of its own, one she's mastered over the years alongside ballet.

"Leticia, it's fine. I don't see the point in digging up old bodies. Why can't we just leave them to rest?"

"If you're leaving them to rest, how come you can't make eye contact with me?" She steps a little more bravely into the aisle, "I'm still me, Odette."

It's supposed to come out sounding more reassuring, but Leticia fails to realize that maybe being herself is the problem here.

"I'll be sure to make a note of that in our minutes," Edmund responds dryly, obviously not doing that and putting his pen away, "Speaking of transportation, we've been thinking about allocating some land here for a bus line. Of course we wouldn't want to encroach too much on your property, but I think a compromise could be made to expand the roads here a little, seeing how it would help tourists get down to the fishing areas and bait shops."

"Who's 'we'?" He raised a brow and crossed his arms, "First time I'm hearing of this."

So it's his land they want then? He'd just have to see what Hades has to say about that.

He groans leaning on the desk with his face in his hands.

"I know. I've been kind of ignoring that fact. I swear I thought I wasn't seen."

He knows it's not at all a consolation but he feels the need to say it. The compulsion to justify his mistakes. He's been doing it for years now.

"Does it help that it's just sex? Just casual no strings attached sex that's fun and god... I know you don't want details but it's so good, Lettie."

On one hand, as Adam's friend, she'd like to tell him to have fun however he damn well pleases. As Adam's advisor, though, this is the last thing he needs for his image. Either way, this speaks danger.

"Weirdly, yeah, I feel like that does help," Thank god she doesn't have to spin this as a fairytale romance, "Let me get some things straight then, have you seen anything around Nauticus and has he talked to you about the business?"

"Well, that's exactly what I'm trying to do too, if you'd be willing to engage with me on this," the teacher opens their palms upward, almost as if trying to extend themself to meet Leticia across the metaphorical aisle, "I also want my students to be free-thinkers and to explore careers through independent thought and practice."

They hummed for a moment, considering a different angle, "What did you like most about being and EMT? Why did you do that for so long?"

Honestly, it kind of reminded Leticia of herself.

"I guess I liked being close to the emergencies. Being close to the drama," It might sound a little cold to refer to life and death situations as "drama", but Leticia is telling the truth. She loves the thrill of an emergency.

"Fine, I guess it's nice that I never had student loans to worry about. I did it for as long as I could till I wanted something more."

"Trust me, you do not want me fucking up your homework for you."

He looks at the clock on the wall.

"Couple of minutes. Breakfast rush wasn't terrible today and we'd managed to stay on top of cleaning during it. So finish your food, and I'll meet you outside. Want me to bring anything when I do? On me."

"Oh, you don't have to do that! This place isn't really substantial food anyways. You should let me take you out somewhere!"

It was probably impractical to go get lunch somewhere else when she's still nursing the matcha she was just handed, but money is no object. And Tim has been working so hard all morning!

She packs up her laptop quickly and waits outside.

Adam has been working on this email for longer than he really should have. His mind had just been wandering back to the previous night with James, remembering very distracting details. Add on that he hadn't gotten home until 4 this morning and had barely slept and this email really wasn't interesting enough to warrant the necessary brain power.

This sudden predicament, however, definitely does.

He takes in the picture, then looks up at Leticia's expression and winces.

"I can lie and say it definitely isn't..."

Except he's not allowed to lie to Leticia, so there really isn't an option. He sighs and slumps into his chair.

"I'm not sure you'll like the explanation."

"You literally could not have chosen a worse time for this," If this came out last year, Hook would've been a bit unsavory, but still a generally respected member of the community. A business owner. Now, he was only a few months out from a major drug trial.

"So what is this? How can we play this? You like, have a little crush or is this a real thing?"

The teacher could tell Leticia was either bored of the conversation or just hated them enough to turn them down for anything, but that wouldn't stop Elinor from trying. They'd already been rattled hard by talking with Zander, so this was nowhere near as bad.

"Haven't you ever wished you'd had a mentor when figuring out your career path?"

"I got everywhere I needed to go in my career by myself, and I'm proud of that," She folds her arms protectively, "More people in this town should learn how to get their shit together without being babied through it."

Though she does agree with the general concept of Elinor's philosophy, Leticia also prioritizes independence and self-sufficiency. She did not make time for fools.

Zander inquires, his conciliatory tone betraying a small hint of the amusement he feels at the thought that one of the most capable and trusted individuals in his employ would feel so distressed at the presence of a perceived competitor.

“Mr. Pevensie is a promising young associate of mine, doing no more than what I have personally asked him to do, which is to investigate the political ramifications of our project. He is acting upon my request to implement the ideas you first proposed to me. The solutions you and I discussed at the beginning of the year — solutions you have and will continue to be credited for as they begin to come into effect. Your job descriptions could not be more different, so do not concern yourself with him. Your time is far too valuable to waste upon matters of bureaucracy and red tape.”

"So you're giving him, like, busy work?" It sounds nice to be taking the red tape off Leticia's hands, but she still didn't like having someone (anyone) in the office who was taking up space and bothering her.

You have to cut out the rot sometimes, yeah?

"I'm not threatened by a little boy," Leticia did respect Zander's opinions, but that didn't mean he was always right. He was wrong about Ed, "Seems like a lot of responsibility for someone so young."

“Very good. Safety should be your topmost concern after what happened last winter.” The former mayor concurs, even if his praise sounds almost… disparaging.

“How much traffic are you anticipating to receive this summer? Are you certain that you and your employees are adequately equipped to handle the increase in demand after such a long period of… reconstruction?”

"Mr. Olympios, Nauticus survived storms, embargoes, and worse long before last winter. I have every faith in my employees to work with visitors," It's important he maintain the narrative that the issues and crimes were solely caused by a few trouble making teenagers, not by his own involvement.

Plus, it was expensive to rebuild after all the damages. Hook is smart with his money and wouldn't have spent a red cent he didn't think he would recoup.

"I've always held my initiative to employ the newly released parolees in town, it's a solid gig for my men who need experience quick. I won't be changing that just because of a few bad apples."

"Well, you lost that privilege when you lost the trust of the people," If Edmund knew a little more of the history of the town, he might have the sense to hold his biting tongue in front of a dangerous man, but the words were already out, "If there have been large changes within the past two decades, I see no reason why we couldn't push for more in the coming decades. It's not personal."

"I've provided jobs, transportation, business, tourism-everything to this town for years," Hook's anger simmers under his skin. He stand imposingly over Edmund, brows furrowing.

"You sit in a comfortable office and speak of replacing me, but Nauticus is not as changeable as a handful of numbers in your budget. It's mine. If your people have concerns, perhaps they should remember how much of this city stands because I put it there."

Run and tell his little boss that.