AU: Oh what a thrill (Sean)

[Joshua Bernstein]

A night as a couple was a rarity these days in the Bernstein-Neville home. Josh did his best to be home for supper, as spending time with his family was a priority, but the courthouse schedule didn't always align with his preferences. Some weeks he worked long hours, only trailing through the door right before the children's bedtime.

The presence of children was perhaps even more a reason dates were infrequent. There was homework to help with, meals to be served, baths to be given. It was a few years before the oldest could begin helping with the task of child care without adult supervision, and babysitters were put under such intense scrutiny that very few passed.

Neither Sean not Josh trusted strangers.

Not even all these years later.

But tonight there were no strangers watching the children. Instead Lakshmi and Andrew were watching their younger siblings, their parents having taken advantage of a handmade coupon book the two eldest had presented them for Father's Day.

They had left instructions and a reminder to call if needed before heading out to dinner. Josh smiled affectionately up at his partner, craning his head slightly to see behind him.

"It's going to be nice having the evening to ourselves," he commented as they made their way to the ramp they'd installed when they'd first moved into the house. Stairs were an impossibility for Josh, and Sean was very conscientious about disability access.

Conscientious, and they'd saved up the money through years of apartment living in the City.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean was not what anyone would have pegged for a largely stay-at-home father. He didn’t look the part, and most stay-at-home parents didn’t have the childhood ambitions of becoming a doctor. They certainly didn’t have the war experience or name problems that the former Child Soldier had.

Sean wasn’t a stay-at-home father purely by choice. He loved their children as dearly as he loved Josh, and he wanted to make sure that they were safe; that a priority. However, he would have found a steadier job if he could find one; most businesses were too intimidated by his name to see what he could do for them. As a result, he did some freelance work from home, and took care of his family. He was good at taking care of his family.

Sean’s hands remained on the back of Josh’s wheelchair, gripping the handles so that he could more easily push his lover. While Josh was perfectly capable of pushing himself – and he had to do that at work – the telepath saw no reason for his lover to have to exert himself when they were together. After all, he was supposed to protect the younger man. Slowly, he pushed Josh down the ramp, making sure that gravity did not get the better of either of them. Once on the ground, he pushed his partner towards their car.

“It should be.” The coupon book was tucked safely in his coat pocket.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Entering and exiting vehicles was not an easy task with a wheelchair, but Josh found that he preferred this to public transportation. That wasn't a preference bed ever expected to have up until they'd moved away from the City and begun looking at cars for their growing family. Admittedly, some of his comfort came from the fact that Sean was in charge.

He trusted Sean more than he did other people.

Fortunately he'd seen hide not hair of the two people he trusted least since graduating law school. He'd heard rumor they'd moved to Chicago, but he hadn't investigated.

"You look nice," he commented once he was settled into the car. "You should dress up more often."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean hated public transportation.

In one sense, this was unsurprising, since the list of things that the telepath hated dwarfed the list of things he liked. He had his reasons, although many people might not understand them. Josh always understood, which was all that mattered.

Sean had no control over public transportation, not the way he did when he drove. There was no sense of safety, when surrounded by strangers, some of whom paid no mind to Josh’s disability and that proved problematic time and again. Many parts of public transportation still had yet to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which frustrated the telepath. It had been years, and still most taxi cabs, half of all buses, and several subway station stops had no ability to accommodate a wheelchair.

Their van had a wheelchair lift for the back. Moreover, Sean was proficient at helping his lover to transfer, when the younger man allowed him to do so.

Once Josh was settled safely in the passenger seat, and the wheelchair was folded in the trunk, Sean slid into the driver’s seat. In one sense, he was always pleased to hear that his lover found him, or one of his outfits attractive. On the other hand, dressing up was impractical given his lifestyle.

“So the baby can spill juice on a tie instead of a tee shirt?” He asked, although the question was gentle and fond, rather than scathing the way it might be with mixed company.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh smiled affectionately as their van pulled out of the garage. "You have a valid point." He conceded, one hand drifting to find Sean's knee. He didn't want to interrupt driving by reaching for a hand, so this was his compromise; he thrived on the act of physical touch, even when such touches were small things.

"I'll just have to enjoy this while you're still wearing it." Blue eyes glinted mischievously. Although their lifestyle had changed when they'd introduced children into their family, he was still unable to resist flirting. Particularly as they were now alone with nobody else to overhear.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean shifted his leg, pressing his knee up against the younger man’s hand. It was all that he could do while they were driving, as he didn’t want to risk an accident for the opportunity to grasp Josh’s hand. There would be plenty of time for that at the restaurant or afterward, as the telepath fully intended to take advantage of their date night for the purposes of lovemaking.

Sean kept his eyes on the road, so that they didn’t perish in a fatal car accident before their date night even began. He had made a vow when they were younger, that he would do everything in his power to protect Josh, and neither carelessness nor attraction was a valid reason to break that vow. However, decades of telepathy made it possible for the older man to divide his attention between two or more tasks, and thus he could flirt and drive without placing them at risk, so long as he didn’t divide his visual attention or compromise his motor skills.

“I’ll wear it all night for you.” That was a promise. It was easy enough to indulge his lover by wearing the tie (and the rest of the outfit) for the duration of their date night.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"You're always so nice to me." Josh laughed, turning his head to peer out his window. There wasn't much traffic, and the houses and shopping centers along the side of the road breezed past them. "But maybe I don't want you to wear it all night."

The attorney had similar designs to his partner, and he didn't need telepathy to guess that this was the case.

Soon they pulled into a parking lot, one that had a valet out front. Josh's mouth turned down into a frown at the sight. He didn't enjoy leaving their fastest means of transportation with someone else, but parking further away had its own set of difficulties.

"Do you think this'll be all right?" He whispered to Sean as the valet approached their door. He trusted Sean, so if his lover said it was safe, he would accept it. But otherwise he was willing to travel from someplace a little farther.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean didn’t consider any of his behavior a matter of being nice. Nice was a façade, it was something did for another person to show their magnanimity. Niceness was not an entitlement. The telepath knew this, because he had many opinions about ethics, behavior, and posturing, although, with the exception of Josh and their children, nobody cared the slightest bit about his thoughts on the matter. In fact, some people dismissed his opinions without hearing them, simply because of his name.

Sean didn’t care for that.

He did care for Josh, which was why he wouldn’t categorize his behavior as nice. He loved the younger man. He cared about, and took care of, his lover. He might categorize his behavior as tender or attentive or protective but not nice.

However, his lips cracked into a smile at the younger man’s caveat. Without turning his head, he replied, “I could keep the tie on even if I shed a few other garments,” he pointed out. That might be a fun change of pace for the evening.

As with all aspects of life, Sean had to make a quick assessment of whether to comply with a basic luxury or to maintain control over a situation. A scan of the valet’s mind told the telepath that the valet was harmless enough. In this case, not making Josh travel far was worth relinquishing control of the keys. As such, he answered, “It should be fine,” and he put the car in park.

It took a few minutes to retrieve the wheelchair and to help the younger man into the seat. Sean gave the valet special instructions, emphasizing the handicapped pass in their windshield and the fact that he knew the young man’s name and would find him if anything happened.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh waited patiently as Sean held his discourse with the valet, allowing himself to peer around at the exterior of the restaurant. There was a ramp up to the front door, lined with foliage as well as benches for those waiting for a table to become free. At the end of the ramp were double doors, with gilded door knobs and a fancy lettering displaying the name of the restaurant.

As they made their way up the ramp Josh noted lanterns set at even intervals along the way, unlit currently as it was still light out. Once through the doors there was a very large fish tank full of tropical fish to one side, and straight ahead was a podium for the hosts and hostesses. There were two people behind it currently, dressed all in black and staring at the laminated map of the interior. They looked up when Sean and Josh approached, and the older of the pair spoke.

"Two? Would you like a booth?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The restaurant had a certain atmosphere. The type of atmosphere where they hadn’t been able to indulge themselves in a long time. Not with children, who needed to eat quickly, who didn’t like to experiment with new foods, who cried and made a scene. Sean didn’t like to call attention to them at all, and it was difficult to wrangle children when he was the only parent with full mobility. More than that, he became particularly protective of the children, if anyone had the bad manners or cruelty to say something about children being children.

Tonight, however, it was just him and Josh, and he was grateful for the more cultured atmosphere.

While Sean didn’t like to put his partner on the spot or call more attention than necessary to his disability, the reality of using a wheelchair required some accommodation that couldn’t disappear from politeness.

“If we can fit at a booth,” he answered. If the booth was isolated enough and had a large enough table that they could park Josh’s wheelchair without causing a tripping hazard or putting his partner at risk of being bumped into by other patrons or waitstaff.

If not, Sean didn’t mind sitting at a regular table. He didn’t mind sitting in chairs, and they could move the other away so that Josh’s wheelchair could substitute.

[Joshua Bernstein]

The hosts exchanged glances, and then the younger one reached under the podium for two glossy bound menus. "A table is fine, then?" He asked, as the older one tapped at a location on the map. Josh nodded, and a pen was brought out of an apron to circle the table the hosts had chosen.

"Follow me." The younger host breezed quickly through the aisles, stopping at a table set somewhat out of the way. The tablecloth was white, and the napkins wrapped around the flatware was a deep crimson. There was a candle flickering in the middle of the table beside the salt and pepper shakers, and a little porcelain container for packets of sugar and sugar substitutes.

He set the menus down beside each chair, then looked at Josh rather uncertainly. "Would you like me to take one of these chairs away...?"

Josh nodded again. "Yes, please."

The host inched the chair away from its spot at the table. "Your server will be with you shortly," He promised, carting the unwanted chair to the back of the restaurant.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Yes.” A table was fine with Sean, and the seating arrangements were of no concern to Josh, who used the same chair regardless of where they were seated.

The telepath placed his hands on the back of his lover’s chair and pushed, moving them to follow the host as directed. As they made their way, there were a few stares from other patrons, although most were too distracted by their own plans. Of the stares, some were due to Josh’s wheelchair, while others came from the fact that they were two men together at an obviously romantic restaurant. Sean ignored them.

The older man made sure that his lover was seated at a comfortable distance from the table. Only then did he seat himself at the other end. Immediately, he picked up his menu with one hand, which he reached the other across the table for Josh’s.

“We can split a bottle of wine,” he suggested. A glass or two wouldn’t impair his ability to drive, particularly if he drank them over the course of a leisurely meal. Particularly since the telepath intended to have at least three courses tonight, as the restaurant was renowned for its desserts. Not that he ever turned away dessert anywhere.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh entwined his fingers with Sean's, his free hand flipping through the menu curiously. "A bottle of wine sounds perfect." He agreed. He hadn't been much of a drinker before the war started, but once they'd begun living on their own he had slowly built up an enthusiasm for alcohol, particularly fine wines and then fun drinks, like margaritas with Mexican food.

"What kind of wine would you like?"

That would impact what sort of entrees he looked at.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean squeezed his lover’s hand gently, conveying affection and contentment. He was quite happy to have this alone time with the younger man. And, while he loved the children and would call to check on them from the restaurant, he was glad to have the ability to be an adult and a lover, rather than a parent. If only for a few hours.

“Choose an entrée first.”

Sean hadn’t spent time with his parents in so many decades. They had passed away when he had been a teenager. However, he had learned a bit about wine pairing from them, and Robert had taught him further. While it was important to match wine to entrée, the telepath thought it was to put the cart before the horse to choose a wine before deciding on the meal.

“Do you want an appetizer?”

Sean did. Or a soup or a salad. He was flexible, and if Josh had an idea in mind, he would most likely go along with his lover’s choice.

Whatever they got, they would also go through at least one bowl of bread. The telepath was unapologetic about his glucose consumption, as it was a necessary side effect of his psychic powers.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Of course I want an appetizer," Josh laughed. They were out for a fancy romantic dinner, which meant that an appetizer was almost a requirement. He ignored the looks some of the other patrons were giving them; he had long since stopped caring what other people thought of him, either for his disability or for his lover. The only person whose opinion truly mattered was Sean's.

He thumbed through the menu until he landed on entrees, then began skimming the list. "I think I'm in the mood for pasta." He declared after a moment. "This spinach and cheese stuffed shells dish sounds delicious. What are you thinking of getting?"