Noah had moved to the corner where the cord met the generator.
He adjusted the choke, listened, adjusted again like he'd done it before. The engine caught and settled into a low, steady thrum like a large animal content to sit as long as it was fed. The lights dimmed and then steadied.
"Pick something cheerful," Lachlan said. "We deserve it."
Alexei clicked through options with a finger. "Our choices are apocalypse, apocalypse with jokes, and a cartoon about a fish with memory loss."
"Fish," Elias said, deadpan.
"Fish it is," Alexei declared, triumphant.
Noah laughed like he belonged among them.
Sera set her own cup down and leaned against the arm of the chair, Luci curled into the curve of her foot. Noah's gaze found them and then pretended not to have found them, a trick of an old habit.
She cataloged the beat it took him to look away.
The cartoon started. The room dimmed.
