Nebulous || Evan Buckley [1]

chapter sixteen

the big 7.1 earthquake

In the kitchen at the 118 firehouse, Bobby was cooking omelets for breakfast. He scooped one on a plate to serve Chimney seated at the counter. While he returned to finish cooking up another, Chimney continues to find himself astounded by his captain's cooking skills. He and the rest of 118 members were grateful enough to be served with Bobby's dishes throughout these 24 hour shifts.

Chimney looked at his food for a moment before darting at his captain. "You ever feel like you missed your calling, Cap?" He wondered.

"What are you thinking? Michelin-rated restaurant or short order cook?" Bobby questioned, tossing in ingredients into the pan while Hen peered his shoulder in amusement.

"I was thinking TV chef. I mean, what you do, it's like performance art."

Hen hummed in agreement, "Mm-hmm, and much like watching cooking on TV, we never get to taste anything. Usually by the time it hits the table, the bell goes off." She mused to the latter before snatching her slice of Chimney's omelet.

Expanding the topic of the conversation, Bobby directed at the duo. "All right, speed round. If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?"

"Fighter pilot. Topgun. Callsign: shogun." Chimney answered causing Hen to utter a laugh.

"What about you, Hen?"

"Editorial cartoonist, The New Yorker." She circled Chimney to sit next to him, leaving both men intrigued by her answer. She shrugged, "I have a lot to say."

Bobby pondered, "You draw?"

"No, it's a dream. It's not supposed to be attainable." She replied and then jabbed her knife towards Chimney. "Topgun? You can barely drive, you rebar head."

"Hey." Chimney took it offense when Bobby and Hen fell into a fit of laughter.

The trio were soon joined by Josephine and Buck at the kitchen after climbing up the stairs. Buck went to snatch up an apple as Josephine happily grabbed a clean plate for Bobby to scoop up a finished omelet from the pan to serve her.

Chimney directed at the latter, "All right, Josie, Buckaroo. If you were not a member of the LAFD, what would you be doing?"

Josephine rose her eyebrow merely enlightened by the question. "Aside from the fact most of my relatives are scattered first responders, I would either be backpacking somewhere in the world or a technical analyst for the FBI. Only because the other option would be jail time for my crimes as a vigilante hacker." She entailed, eliciting a sly smirk to her colleagues who were taken back.

"Considering I can see either one of those happening in a different timeline, I am glad that you steered back in the family line." Hen quipped with a short nod.

"What about you, Buckaroo?" Chimney wandered back to the blond settling on a stool.

He formed an uncertain expression and then looked over at Bobby. "Uh, I don't know. I'm not getting fired, am I?"