Scope Creep (Sean)

Sean didn’t believe in American wedding culture. This wasn’t a surprising fact, given that the telepath barely believed in marriage as an institution, as opposed to defining one’s family for oneself as a matter of self-determination. His distaste for reality television magnified with the myriad programs devoted to cataloguing young couples spend themselves into bankruptcy while introducing additional strife, narcissism, and meaningless materialism into what should be a simple celebration shared with family and friends.

This was another reason that it benefitted his and Josh’s relationship that they weren’t getting married. Given Josh’s penchant for grandiose gestures and the telepath’s relative mellowness, there was too much potential for unnecessary clashes.

His personal beliefs and relationship aside, Sean didn’t object to the notion of marriage. Marriage was important to a great many people, including members of his own family, and he encouraged everyone to do what was right for his relationship. Thus, he had been elated to learn of Danny’s and Riley’s engagement. He was certain that the men would have a lovely ceremony, and, more importantly, a stable relationship that would continue after the honeymoon ended.

Still, since Danny and Riley were both prominent members of his and Josh’s social circle, the telepath was privy to some of the model builder’s enthusiasm. Some of it was typical; other aspects were a bit more concerning. The telepath wasn’t stingy by any means, but there was something about seeing a man close to fifty falling into the traps of wedding culture that he found particularly noteworthy and somewhat troubling.

As such, when he had been invited to his friend’s studio, he had made a mental note to discuss this with Danny.

After pleasantries and other conversation.

He returned Danny’s hug as soon as he crossed the threshold, and then he followed the younger man over to the mentioned chairs. “I’m glad I could make it too.” Offering his friend a smile, he then said, “Josh is doing fine. He’s doing some community work, and Bailey is with her trainer.”

He didn’t envy his foster daughter the state of being an untrained meta-human with a psychic power. He had spent more than enough of his life in that state.

“And how are you and Riley doing?”

Sean and Josh had discussed Josh’s potential political career at length. Since Josh had officially thrown his hat into the ring, the psychiatrist felt comfortable discussing it. “Josh is looking into Town Council,” he explained. “ So there’s a lot of legwork involved.” They had decided to tackle the legwork together, even if Sean still though that Josh needed to prepare himself emotionally, more than he had thus far. That was a more private discussion.

“She is,” the telepath replied with a smile. He was quite proud of Bailey, and he was glad to have her as his and Josh’s foster daughter. She continued to adjust to life in their home, while also adjusting to life at Hammel, and, meanwhile, he and his partner adjusted to taking care of a child, albeit a somewhat older one. Bailey was such a sweet girl. As for Tomer, the young introverted boy was having difficulty with his powers, and Sean did what he could to help him adjust. “Tomer is more Josh’s nephew than mine, since we don’t share any legal relationship. But they’re both doing well. Tomer is taking more time to adjust to Hammel, but he’s having a hard time of it.”

Tomer’s side effects created a functional disability, which was always difficult.

“How is your training going?” the telepath inquired, as he turned to look over at the platter of cookies. “And would you mind if I helped myself to a cookie? Would you like one, as well?” It was time for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Sean smiled, although he would have been surprised to learn that he wasn’t invited, given that he was a close friend of both grooms. He was touched at the mention of officiating. “I don’t typically have the right to officiate but, if you and Riley want me to, I know how to get the authority.” One shouldn’t ask how he knew those channels, but he had been involved in enough wedding plans over the decades in Vermont that he knew a few regulations that otherwise might slip into the cracks.

“There’s no obligation to have wedding parties. The entire industry is a little over the top these days.” Wedding culture hadn’t adapted to more modern social systems.

Sean smiled at the younger man’s pledge to vote for Josh. He wasn’t surprised to hear Danny’s enthusiasm for the attorney, and, while he didn’t expect other people to have the same level of confidence in his partner that the telepath did, he still had certain reasonable expectations of friends. “He’ll be very glad to hear that,” Sean assured him. Any votes and assistance were welcome. “And I’ll talk to him about campaign help, although you should focus on other commitments first.”

The telepath also didn’t bring up facts that might remind Josh about the twin pictures disaster. That was part and parcel of the game of make-believe in which he and Josh participated.

“If you give me enough lead time, with Riley’s consent, I’ll get right on what I need to do to gain the authority.” It was paperwork and a petition, but Sean wanted to have everything set properly so that there would be no stress or uncertainty in the days prior to the wedding.

“Tomer isn’t one for new people, but I’ll keep Cobalt in mind as a resource.” Which was to say that if Josh wanted him to speak to Cobalt, and Cobalt was willing, then Sean wouldn’t impede that process. However, despite severe introversion, Cobalt and Tomer had very little in common regarding their attitudes. He then nodded in agreement. “It can be depressing, but I think it’s the right thing as well. There are so many children who need stability.” And they were in a unique position to provide it.

With the permission, Sean rose from his seat and fetched two cookies from the plate. Upon returning, he held one out to Danny, before bringing the other to his mouth. Taking a bite, he smiled. “These are delicious.”

Focused then on his cookie, he looked over as the younger man described his opinions about wedding culture. At the end of the day, all decisions belonged to Danny and Riley alone. However, Sean...disagreed with the assessment. “Of course it should be special,” the telepath said, since he agreed with that despite his personal disinterest in having a wedding or a marriage. “But our culture veers off from that into narcissism and base materialism, and it puts so much pressure on people to conform to those standards.”

Sean nodded his understanding, although he thought that teaching classes and doing commissions counted as commitments. Perhaps not to the same hectic schedule that some professionals had, but it wasn’t as though Danny had no commitments. Still, the telepath would be sure to pass this on to his partner; although Sean was Josh’s campaign manager, it was the attorney’s decision regarding who was involved with his campaign and in what capacity. Surely, he would be happy to have Danny aboard.

“And I’ll be sure to offer that to Tomer as well.” The telepath couldn’t guarantee that Tomer would choose to avail himself of the option, but he agreed that it was valuable to have the option. Considering how kind Riley and Danny were, they wouldn’t be threats. Although, Danny’s general exuberance might set him a bit on edge, given his bubbling extroverted tendencies (as compared to Tomer’s quiet introspection).

Sean smiled and remarked, “Riley is an inspiration to us all.” After all, the landscaper had taught Josh how to bake, and Sean had benefitted immensely from those lessons over the past year and a half. More than that, Riley was a good man, who brought a lot of joy to their circle of friends and to the community at large. As was Danny, which is why they made a nice couple.

The telepath finished his cookie and washed it down with a sip from his cup before he explained his thoughts on the subject. “Weddings aren’t inherently narcissistic, but our culture encourages it. So much of the wedding culture emphasizes the day over the relationship and does so to extremes. Encouraging spouses to remove people from their wedding parties for the sake of height symmetry, for instance.”

The obsession and glorification of such behavior made him disenchanted with wedding culture. Not that Sean was particularly inclined towards marriage (as opposed to long-term relationships which he wholeheartedly supported) in the first place, but those cultural inclinations certainly didn’t aid his opinions.

Sean smiled at Danny’s declaration, because that was what he liked to hear. He had never doubted the younger man’s affection for Riley; in fact, he had been one of the first to know about their relationship (due to his telepathy), and he had been quite happy for both of them. He was happier still to see that their relationship had lasted for long enough that they felt comfortable making a public declaration and seeking state recognition for themselves. The telepath was glad enough that he had just agreed to officiate at their ceremony, if Riley consented. “That’s what I like to hear,” he remarked honestly. That was how he felt about Josh, and it was how he knew the attorney felt about him in return.

Sean shook his head and polished off his cookie, so that he could focus entirely on his friend. He chewed and swallowed, taking those seconds to formulate the best way to respond to Danny’s questions. The telepath certainly hadn’t meant his explanation as an indictment of the younger man’s desire to get married or of his excitement over having a wedding to plan. It was an indictment of what Sean viewed as an unhealthy obsession with the material and with oneself to the exclusion of others, including one’s relationship. He considered it as problematic as it was pervasive.

“I don’t mean that everyone has the same demands. Or that everyone who wants to plan a wedding is doing it for the wrong reasons or has the wrong focus.” It was important for him to make this point, so that he and Danny didn’t continue to have any sort of misunderstanding during this conversation. “There are many valid reasons to want to have a wedding ceremony to share with friends and loved ones, even in our culture. But I don’t think our culture, as a whole, focuses on the right reasons or the right methods. Do you know how many young couples divorce within two years as a direct result of money problems caused by their wedding? Or by unrealistic expectations that come from the idea of not having to compromise?”

It was far more than would occur without broad societal enabling.

“So am I.” Sean smiled at that, although he didn’t blush. He was quite pleased with how his life events had unfolded over the past couple of years, since Josh had always made him happy. The attorney had made him happy when they had been in college, and then when they had been in graduate school. Now that they were older, wiser, and had a less co-dependent relationship, Josh continued to make him happy, as much as Sean hoped he made his partner happy in return. “And thank you. I like to think that way as well.”

The topic of wedding culture was one where the telepath was just as opinionated but had less nostalgia and warm feelings. As he had said, he didn’t object to couples sharing their happiness with friends and family, but the United States, and several other cultures, had an unhealthy relationship with the notion of marriage and with the wedding industry. Sean had no particular fondness there.

He wanted Danny to understand his opinions, but he also didn’t want his friend to think that he was critiquing his desire for marriage or his urge to share with his friends. The older man didn’t judge anyone for wanting a wedding; he didn’t judge Josh for caring about marriage more than Sean himself did. But in the hypothetical direction this conversation had turned, he could debate it in the abstract. “It’s important to go for what you want within reason. But there’s so much cultural pressure for things that don’t have long-term impact, and there’s a lot of social pressure to pit spouses against each other with a selfish ‘my’ big day as opposed to ‘our’ big day.”

He shook his head to himself at the thought. “Wanting Riley to have a good time is important. At the end of the day, this is the beginning of your marriage and a party to celebrate that. Both of you need to be comfortable.”

Sean was unlike many people in that he viewed divorce as a force for good. He didn’t think that marriages should be entered into with the intent to end in divorce, but he viewed it was a pressure valve in society, one that needed to exist. People were imperfect, some deliberately cruel, and bad marriages needed to dissolve. As someone who had grown up Catholic in the 1960s, the telepath had seen what happened when people felt that they had to remain together but simultaneously had no real reason to do so.

However, focusing on the social value of divorce was not the way to discuss his problems with wedding culture.

The older man also had no intention of dissuading Danny from enjoying the notion of getting married. Once again, he shook his head, because he didn’t want to give his friend the wrong impression. He didn’t object to marriage itself (even if he personally had little interest in it for other reasons), nor did he object to the notion of a wedding. He simply viewed the U.S. culture of entitlement and gross excess to run contrary to the very purpose of marriage. “I’m not saying that your marriage won’t work out. You and Riley have a very stable relationship.”

While Sean could hardly lecture on how to maintain the healthiest or happiest personal life, he did feel emboldened enough to intervene if he thought there would be long-term problems. In fact, he had done so with Cobalt before. He saw no such need with Danny and the landscaper.

He offered a smile to his friend. “I’m sure you’ll have a bar and cake, which is all I ever need at weddings.”