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Not in the Job Description
Dramatis Personae

Iolaus, Sebastian

2013-06-17


Sebastian is earning his salary.

Location

In a car


At LaGuardia there is a car waiting. Outside! There is no driver with a sign saying he is there for DR. SAAVEDRO. There's just a black SUV idling in a line of waiting idlers (many black sedans and SUVs among them) and one text message from Sebastian (to Jane, not Iolaus) informing her of which car is theirs.

The back seat of the car is not empty! It holds one tiny blue shark already. Nervously fidgeting. Nervously waiting. BOUNCING on the edge of his seat. He isn't getting out of the car; smallblueshark is not /quite/ as big a target as a sign saying DR. SAAVEDRO, but it's still a target he doesn't want to /paint/.

So he sits. And waits! Fidgetfidget. He fidgets with the hem of his skirt (the first time he's /worn/ one to work, although maybe only kind-of-to-work since he's not actually officially on the clock at the moment), smoothing black fabric down over the purple plaid hiding between its pleats. He fidgets with the dangly silver D-rings on the thick black cuffs at his wrists. He fidgets with the netting of his purple fishnet tights. /Fidget/. Bounce. Fidget. He watches his phone. The car is early.

The car is early, and the flight is late. Between that and hassling at customs, Iolaus and Jane are nearly 20 minutes late by the time they make their way out of the airport. More than anywhere else, almost, Jane is tense, hand firmly on Iolaus' shoulder as she steers him towards the line of black limos. Almost invisible to see, there is a faint shimmer in the air near the two of them, with just the faintest orange tinge to the air.

Jane peers down through the window of the limo at Sebastian before she opens the door and pushes Iolaus into it, turning to study the driver suspiciously. Iolaus, on the other hand, gives Sebastian a warm wave. "Heya, 'Bastian! I brought you back a..." He trails off, patting down his clothing. "Ah." He pulls a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and proffers it to the other man - dark chocolate, no milk.

Sebastian is tucked into the back row of seats in the SUV. Still fidgeting! He brightens when Jane and Iolaus arrive, giving them a small closed-lipped smile. The driver does not smile. Just nods, watching Jane /back/.

"Sir! ... sirs." More fidgeting, though it's a restless /energetic/ fidget rather than an anxious one. The teenager sets the phone down on the seat beside him, looking from Jane to Iolaus. "Hi! How was your trip how did it go?"

Jane nods back to the driver and, apparently satisfied by her inspection, buckles in at the edge of her seat. Iolaus is in the middle, between Sebastian and her.

Iolaus shrugs his shoulders. "Not a total waste of time. I think he got spooked by some of the things going on in the city right now," he says. "We had a good heart to heart, and he'll start talking to our fundraising people again. Hopefully, we'll be able to get him back down the road." Not, exactly, a ringing success.

Sebastian's smile fades, his head ducking in a nod. "Yeah, the things. Right now. Are." He doesn't finish this sentence, mouth closing as his gills flare outwards. He puts the bar of chocolate in his lap, fingers running against the wrapper. "Doctor -- um, don't be mad," he's looking at /Jane/ with this, actually, more than Iolaus, "but I kind of. /You/ kind of. Have. A press conference to be at. Tomorrow. It's. Short notice."

"A press conference?" Iolaus looks surprised, glancing at Jane, and then down to the phone in his hand. "I didn't see anything from the marketing team. What's going on?" he asks, eyes fixing on Sebastian.

Sebastian buckles his seatbelt back up as the car starts pulling away from the curb. Then reaches over to take Iolaus's and buckle it, too! But after that he returns to fidgeting. "I, um." His hands return to the chocolate bar, running against it. PETTING it. Eventually he unwraps it, though, to break off a tiny corner piece and carefully scrape at it with his teeth. "While you were gone I. Maybe. Went." Scrapescrapescrape. "WenttotalktoTonyStark."

This causes silence from Iolaus for several seconds before his lips spread into a smile. "You went to talk to Tony Stark? Is the press release announcing your upcoming nuptuals?" he teases, lightly. "You certainly look nervous enough that it could be."

"-- You're the second person the past couple days to ask me if I'm dating TonyStark," Sebastian says this name like it is one word. "But we're not getting married /yet/." He smoothes at his skirt again. "He's, um. He's -- he's donating. To the clinic."

Iolaus' eyes widen - plate size. "He's /donating/?" There is a pause, adn his next statement is said even more shocked. "He's donating and holding a /press conference/ about it!?" His voice cracks at the end, and his mouth opens and shuts several times, at a loss for words for several moments. There is a pause while he pulls himself back together, coughs once, then continues. "I think we are going to need to revisit your salary structure."

"Yessir. I -- had dinner with him. On Friday. He's. Donating." Sebastian smooths his skirt down. "He's holding a press conference to talk about the problems in the city. And. Um. The -- fight club -- thing. Because it kind of spurred --" He draws in a slow breath. "He wants you there. And pa. To call for people to do more to -- combat the violence. Instead of spread it. And he's going to announce his donation to the clinic."

Iolaus nods, slowly. "Alright. Alright. This is good. This is really good." he says, bouncing once on his seat. "OK. We need to get in touch with the marketing team and prepare a statement that I can read, and get ready for a possible influx in smaller donations." A pause. "Tony Stark? Holy shit, Sebastian."

"Yeah. He's. Um. He's donating -- seven --" Sebastian trails off, nibbling again at his tiny piece of chocolate. "It'll put the clinic back in the news," he says, slowly, looking to Jane again, "in the current climate that'll -- be a mixed blessing."

"Seven... million? As a chunk, or spread?" Iolaus says, eyeing the teenager. "Never a mixed blessing - always a good thing. It'll be positive press, but even press is good." he says. He chuckles, a low tone. "If anything, not having the clinic built is a blessing when this kind of thing happens. Makes a harder target." Jane's lips thin at this, but she does not comment.

"A chunk. Now." Sebastian finishes his tiny piece of chocolate, and rests his hands back in his lap. He turns his head, eyes darting out the window as they drive, but then returning to Iolaus. "... does this mean I can get a raise?"

"I think a bonus is only fair. And... probably a raise as well," Iolaus says, bemusedly. "Maybe... a half-percent?"

Sebastian's fingers drum against his knee as he does some quick mental math before arriving (with a wrinkle of his nose) at: "-- A half a percent a year? I think that wouldn't even cover the cost of the dinner I had with him, sir." Not -- that Bastian paid for it BUT STILL.

Iolaus' smile twists, mischeviously. "No, Sebastian. I meant, as a bonus, a half-percent." he says, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. "Seems only fair, for someone who doesn't even have fundraising in their scope."

For a moment Sebastian just looks at Iolaus in mild confusion. But then -- another hesitation, another bout of quick internal calculation, and suddenly his eyes widen. His gills flare. He just -- stares, mouthing, '-- really?' without actual /sound/ coming out of his currently breathless mouth.

"Considering that fundraising isn't even in your scope of activities, it's a fair amount, I think." Iolaus says, a chuckle in his voice. "I'll have to run it by the COO - it's her decision as much as it is mine, but..." he trails off, shrugging his shoulders. "We need to meet with her and the Marketing lead anyway, to prep for this press conference. Set it up."

There's a moment longer of silence as Sebastian fishmouths open and closed, gills still fluttering. He takes out his phone, already opening a calendar to peer at it. 'I'll set --' also starts soundlessly, before he flattens his gills and draws in a sudden breath. "I'll set it up this afternoon, sir."

"Thank you, Sebastian." Iolaus says, fondness in his tone. "How were things while I was away?" he asks, leaning against the seat as the driver rushes them through the streets on their way back to Iolaus' apartment.