“Uh.” Oz wasn’t sure if it was a serious question, but he figured he might as well give a serious answer. “You put a little lemon juice in the milk to sour it, and that does something to the baking powder. Activates it, I guess. Like when you made those volcanoes in school, y’know?”
Seth nodded slowly, as though he was actually taking that information on board.
“I’d’ve used buttermilk if you had any. Works even better. Do you really not know how to make pancakes?” Oz asked, and then regretted it immediately. Not everyone needed to know, and it wasn’t some kind of failing if you didn’t.
“I know how toorderpancakes.” Seth shrugged. “I can cook well enough to feed myself, but I usually stay away from anything that requires more than a couple of steps. You might have noticed that my kitchen is kinda full of convenience foods.”
“I figured you were busy,” Oz said, relieved that Seth hadn’t taken it badly. “It’s not like everyone needs to know how to make a good pancake. And the rarer that skill is, the more useful it is to me.” He grinned.
Seth snorted, taking another pancake from the stack, pouring a pool of maple syrup onto his plate, and then dipping it in. “I think people like you for reasons other than your culinary skills.”
“Maybe. I wanna be a good partner someday, though. Someone who can be relied on, someone who… I dunno. It’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” Seth said softly. “Someone who what?”
Oz blushed, embarrassed that he’d even brought it up. “Someone who someone else might want to settle down with. Permanently.”
“You want to get married.”
When Oz looked up, he was surprised to see Seth smiling. It wasn’t a smirk, not anything cruel. It was a genuine smile.
“Uh, yeah. Someday.” Oz scratched the back of his neck. “You?”
Seth shrugged. “I expect to be married off when it’s most convenient for the rest of the family. They’ll find someone rich with a gay kid. Or someone strategically useful who’s happy to be flexible for the money.”
“That’s disgusting,” Oz responded before he could stop himself. He wished he could swallow the words back. It wasn’t any of his business how Seth’s family did things.
Regardless of whether Emma was in love with Mason or not, he’d take care of her. Oz was sure of that. His brother was a good man.
Seth might not be so lucky.
“Welcome to my life,” Seth said, apparently not offended. “Why do you think my mother didn’t even show up to her own daughter’s wedding? She’s long gone, and I don’t blame her.”
Oz’s heart sank. “Man, that’s… that sucks.”
“I’ve made peace with it. Mom still sends me birthday cards. Emma seems to have gotten lucky with Mason. Maybe I’ll actually fall in love with the hot gay heir to some kind of fortune and everything will work out okay.”
Oz opened his mouth to ask why Seth didn’t just walk away, but he knew the answer first-hand. He’d hidden his sexuality from his parents for years to avoid having to cut ties with his family. It was much easier said than done.
“I hope it does,” Oz said. “You deserve someone good.”
Seth laughed softly, like he didn’t entirely believe what Oz was saying. “Thanks.”
Rather than saying anything else, Oz stuffed most of a pancake in his mouth. He’d let his mouth get away from him too often already this morning. Seth’s life wasn’t any of his business, and he had no right to comment on it.
“So your flight is pretty late, right?” Seth asked after a few moments of silence.
“Yeah, eight thirty was the earliest I could get out. I figured I’d explore New York a little. I’ve never been here before.”
“Oh.” Seth looked down at his plate. “I was gonna say I wasn’t planning on going out today, so you could stay here if you wanted.”
Any thought of leaving Seth’s apartment before he absolutely had to for his flight left Oz’s mind immediately. “That sounds way better,” he said in a hurry. “I’d only get lost out there by myself.”
“I couldn’t let my poor innocent country boy get lost in the big city,” Seth said, his whole face lighting up.
The idea of spending the day with him sounded a hundred times better than wandering a city he didn’t belong in and didn’t care about.
“Hey, Austin’s a big city,” Oz countered.
