“Everyone did. The five of us were in group chat discussing. You didn’t look in?”

Natalie shook her head.

“I don’t blame you. You probably had your hands full.”

“I wish. I would have liked to be able to do more. I just… tried to keep an eye on Kenzie, give feedback.”

“That’s important,” Tony said. “Do you want a snack too? I’ve got blueberry muffins.”

“Sure. Please,” she said. “I’m going to go get changed, I’ll grab it when I come back downstairs.”

“I’ll warm it up,” he said. “Coffee? Tea?”

“Coffee. I have work I should do,” she said. She didn’t leave right away. “I was wondering—”

“Yes?”

“The reception. What did the group think? What did you think?”

“Of the show? I think a lot is going to depend on what others say. Some pretty freaky, wild stuff. The powers and the…”

“Alien?”

“The lies,” he said. “The Triumvirate lied? Legend, Alexandria, Eidolon? The secrets being kept? I mean, we knew there were secrets, but this is something else.”

“Yeah. Were the others upset?”

“Not upset. Wondering. Processing. Why? Is there backlash already?”

She nodded, eyes widening for emphasis.

“Are you okay? Are they okay?”

“I’m fine. A bit shell-shocked. Kenzie’s… as happy as I’ve seen her. The others… it’s not my place to say.”

“We’re on their side. Nobody’s leaving Kenzie’s rotation here or changing how we do it.”

She felt her forehead crease as she thought on that.

“Go get changed. I’ll warm up your snacks. We’ll get her put to bed like responsible caregivers, and then we’ll talk. Or you can do your work and we can… you want to hook up Saturday or Sunday? Or both?”

Both, was her immediate thought. She did her best to switch to unflappable lawyer mode, like Carol so often did. “Saturday? My apartment? We’ll figure out if Sunday works from there. We can chat then.”

“When not otherwise occupied,” he said.

Aaaaa, she thought.

“Perfect,” she said.

He smiled, “I’ll look forward to it.”

Aaaaa, she thought, again. She wasn’t sure she trusted her legs not to go out on her if she tried to walk away, but she knew she’d look like an idiot if she stayed.