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They walked to the bin together, never straying all that far from each other. Finch pushed the
pedal with his foot, opening the lid, and Hugh dropped the dustpan into it. It was a tight fit, and
to get it fully into the bin, he had to shove it down. “You need a bigger bin, Finch,” Hugh said
between clenched teeth as he struggled to get the damned thing situated. “What do you usually
do to get it in far enough to close the lid? I can give the dustpan a good swipe with my claw if
that’ll help.”
There was a long silence, during which Finch clamped a hand over his mouth. His shoulders
shook. Then, just before Hugh could ask if he was quite all right, he snorted.
“Finch?”
Finch snorted noisily several more times, then shut his eyes and burst into unabashed laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Hugh asked, almost laughing himself.
“Dustpans aren’t disposable, sir.” When Finch had recovered from the worst of his laughter,
he retrieved the would-be trash and tapped it on the side of the bin to rid it of the last scrap of
paper. “But I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”
Hugh’s cheeks burned. “Oh.”
“Don’t be embarrassed.” Finch’s smile wobbled as he held back more laughter, and even
though Hugh was the one he was laughing at, he couldn’t help but find it charming. He wanted
to see Finch like this again. And often. “All of us make mistakes. If you saw me the first time
Superin…” Finch stopped talking all at once.
“What were you saying?” Hugh asked. “Superin?”
“Superin,” Finch piped. He quickly set the dustpan on the counter and crossed his arms
nervously over his chest. “A, um, a turn of phrase popular in London during my youth. You
wouldn’t be familiar.”
“Well, what does it mean?”
“Sir, I’m not sure you want to know.”
“I can assure you that I do.”
Finch’s upper lip twitched. “If you insist. But I’m afraid you’ll have to make me a promise
beforehand—absolutely none of the staff can know.”
A secret? Hugh stood a little taller, all the more intrigued. He wasn’t sure what increased height
had to do with trustworthiness, but it certainly felt like the right thing to do. “Of course! My lips
