Another Sunny Day

[Joshua Bernstein]

The skies had been overcast for most of the week, which had threatened to put a damper on the plans Sean and Josh had made with their friend Calvin.

It had all started when he'd admitted that he had never been sailing before. This was, of course, a travesty and needed to be rectified as soon as possible. But then the weather had become grey and dreary. Rain had fallen for several days in a row. Nobody was confident that the weather would clear up by the weekend.

Saturday morning had dawned grey and overcast as the rest of the week, but by the time Temple services were over the clouds had parted and the sun winked down at Pilot Ridge from its brilliant blue abode. The temperatures were still cool, only barely breaking fifty, but that was spring weather. Provided there was no breeze to add a chill, Josh was known to wear shorts when the temperature hit fifty.

Josh had packed beer, relentlessly ignoring his diet in the process; he couldn't imagine sailing without beer. Fortunately, he tended to watch his intake better when out on the water than he did while socializing at parties, so perhaps this would prove less of a problem for him than some other events had been for his blood pressure.

He had also packed brownies, baked the previous night because he didn't want to wait between services and spending time with friends. He was glad that the weather had cooperated; they could have all three gathered for beer and brownies indoors, but sharing the magic of sailing was imperative.

How had Calvin managed to go for so long without ever having been out on the lake?!

Once everything was packed up they had met their friend at the marina.

"Ahoy there!" He waved to the familiar figure waiting for them. "Are you ready to get your sea legs? Or lake legs, I suppose."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

To Sean, sailing, like talking, was an incredibly versatile activity that took on different significance depending on whether he was alone or had company, and then upon the nature of that company. Sailing could serve as a means of solitude and reflection, a way to commune with nature while processing internal stress when out alone. It served as a method of sharing, bonding, and intimacy with Josh, when it was the two of them. It could be friendly bonding when out with others; once upon a time, it was family bonding with his father and other members of his family, including his nephew.

As a standby, sailing was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Unsurprisingly, he and Josh were of similar minds when it came to learning that Calvin had never sailed before. Sean had gotten his partner into the hobby, and neither of them had looked back from that point.

Once the weather was nice enough to sustain a sailing trip, without fear of ice or other weather hazards, they had planned to spend a Saturday on the lake. The telepath had prepared a lunch feast to commemorate the time, while he had put Josh in charge of alcohol and dessert, the two aspects of meals that the attorney did best.

Then they went to the marina to wait.

As soon as he saw Calvin approaching, Sean offered him a smile and a wave. “Did you bring a windbreaker?”

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin was beginning to regret having admitted that he had never been on the water before.

Honestly, he hadn't gone all these years avoiding sailing because he was afraid of it. More like, he hadn't ever really given much thought to how he should spend his leisure time. Calvin hardly allowed himself to have some if he could help it. Part of that was because he knew if he had time open, there was more time to socialize, and he'd never been that good at that. Sean and Josh were for some reason the exception to that rule. They were easier for him to talk to than most people were... Therefore, he would also make an exception in adding a new activity to his life experience.

He headed to the marina bearing a cup of coffee. He had the forethought to bring Sean and Josh some coffee too, just in case they wanted it. He risked getting weird looks from them for it, but Hell, that was better than being judged for forgetting them. When he saw them waiting there, he instantly felt a tugging feeling in his stomach. He was... afraid? Of the water? Of possibly drowning? He felt ridiculous.

“Windbreaker?” Calvin repeated, looking down at himself. He was in a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved button-up shirt, with a faux-leather jacket. No windbreaker there. He raised a brow. “It doesn't seem so... Well, as long as I won't be sinking anything, I'm sure it will be fine. Coffee?”

Here it came, the awkward moment in which they might refuse his offering. But well... That was a good distraction.

They might not notice how there were little beads of sweat on his forehead...

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh's face lit up at the offer of one of his favorite indulgences.

"You shouldn't have," he exclaimed, although he had no intention of refusal. Even in his bleakest moments, when food was unappealing, he still found the ability to ingest coffee. Only after acknowledging his friend's offering did he return to the topic of sinking.

"We won't sink, have a little faith in Sean's abilities," He laughed, patting his partner on the arm. "And even if we do sink, we have life vests. Safety first and all that."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Between his telepathy, his psychological training, and his natural observation skills, Sean was particularly perceptive. As such, he immediately noticed their friend’s discomfort. As a compassionate individual, the older man did not want their friend to feel ill-at-ease about what was supposed to be a fun and relaxing outing. As such, he made it his priority to offer Calvin reassurances. “We won’t sink; I’m an experienced seaman.”

The telepath used seaman rather than Captain because the latter brought connotations of long-voyage experience, possibly with a crew. Sean lacked that. However, he had taken this boat out countless times in oceans and lakes over the decades, and he brought it in for annual maintenance so that it remained seaworthy.

“And as Josh says, we have plenty of safety equipment. I’ll run you through all of that once we board.” They had life vests and tubes in case of an emergency. He also had waterproof flares in his capsize kit.

“It’s also fine if you don’t have a windbreaker. It gets a little chilly with the wind and the water this time of year. The leather will do fine.” The leather jacket would surely keep Calvin warm; the older man suggested windbreakers because, unlike leather, they were waterproof.

He then took the offered coffee with a smile. “Thank you for this; it should go well with the muffins we brought.” Sean and Josh had done a bit of baking the night before in anticipation of their sailing adventure today.

“If we’re all ready, we can head down to the boat.”

[Calvin Brewer]

To an extent, it calmed Calvin down to know that Sean had done this many times before. Calvin was just nervous because it was something that he'd never tried before, and as he wasn't one for trying new things, the whole experience was a little daunting. It would be fine since he was with two people who weren't at all unfamiliar with the tide. He smiled a bit gratefully until he heard 'even if we do sink'. With comical speed, the smile turned into a raised brow stare.

“Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you've thought ahead to the possibility... But has that ever happened before?” He was having... were they still 'second thoughts' when he'd thought them with alarming frequency? This was ridiculous; Calvin had been involved in situations involving guns and maniacs. A bit of water was nothing. He willed himself to calm down and focus on the positives. At least there were safety procedures, and he'd learn them as well as he could the first time around.

Taking a drink of his coffee as though it would instill courage, he continued. “Thanks for inviting me out. It's been a while since I've even spent this much time outdoors.” The idea of muffins and coffee together made Calvin much more cheerful, as it was a touch of the ordinary in with this new hobby. Besides, he knew that if he complained too much, he would ruin what was obviously one of their favorite pastimes for the day. “Who knows? Maybe I'll even get a tan,” he said with a laugh.

“Ready as I'll ever be. Lead the way, my Captain,” he said, bowing his head with a smirk and extending his arm toward where the boat was. With his luck, he might just wander in the wrong direction if he tried to take the lead.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh regretted his cavalier response to the idea of sinking when Calvin replied with a question that oozed anxiety. As an anxiety sufferer himself, the attorney could sense a certain kinship, although perhaps their anxiety manifested over different situations; he'd never worried that they might sink, because Sean had always been at the helm.

"We've never sunk before," He hurried to assure their friend, refraining from adding but there's a first time for everything. Instead he concluded with, "It's not possible to know Sean for almost forty years and not consider safety precautions. I think you just acquire it through osmosis, eventually. We even have a fire safety plan for our home, and we've never had a fire, either."

The path from the marina to the boat was one he was well familiar with from all the years he had come up for visits from the City, before he had moved to Pilot Ridge himself. What poor directional sense he had fortunately did not extend to short routes taken repeatedly.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“No. It’s rare, and essentially unheard of on still waters.” The lake constituted still waters. For better or for worse, Vermont was the only state in New England that did not border an ocean, not even for a foot along the outer rim. As a result, the waters in Vermont were automatically more controlled, although not always fully controlled. After all, there were rivers and lakes which fed into one another, and the pull of lunar gravity still existed. Except during the spillover from the hurricanes, the telepath had never seen the lake in a condition that he would describe as “out of control.”

Since he had decades of experience sailing, decades with this boat in these waters, Sean felt confident that they would have no emergencies today. Even if he could never guarantee that beyond a shadow of a doubt, which was the reason behind his safety lectures.

With that, he turned on his heels and led the other men toward the marina.

The walk took little time, during which they passed other boats. Once or twice, Sean pointed out a boat, explaining to which noteworthy resident it belonged. Soon enough, they reached his well-tended blue and white boat, and he helped Josh, and then Calvin, to step aboard.

To Calvin, he said, “If you want to sit while I untether us, that’s fine. Josh can help you get your lifejacket on.”

They were kept in the stowage bench, easy enough to access. It wasn’t as though Josh was unfamiliar with the boat layout.

[Calvin Brewer]

Finally, with both showing absolutely no indication that they were worried about an accident, Calvin began to relax. In fact, he laughed a little bit, because at first he'd thought that Josh was going to say that they had a fire safety plan for the boat, which would indeed be thorough. “Alright. You have my trust, boys,” he said, looking primarily at Sean who would be in control. Something was odd about referring to an older man as 'boy', he reflected immediately after. Hopefully he wouldn't take offense.

As they walked he took in the sight of the boats and listened to Sean's explanations. Now, not only was he calm, but he was kind of looking forward to getting on the water. “I didn't know that so many people in town went sailing,” he admitted, aware that the wonder was showing through in his voice.

Once he'd muttered his thank you to Sean for the aid getting on board, he was feeling rather confident. He decided to stand rather than sit as Sean prepared them to leave. He wondered if he would be able to get his life jacket on by himself. He would feel much more like a child if he needed help in that respect, but then again, it was better to play it safe. Hadn't that been his concern before? “Sorry,” he said to Josh in advance. It was his way of asking him for help, without having to actually ask.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh led Calvin to the stowage bench, opening the top to reveal the orange foam life jackets.

"Sorry?" He echoed, his head buried in the bench as he leaned over to fetch three of the precious life saving devices. "Ow..." In his confusion he bumped his head on the way up, rubbing at the tender spot ruefully. It was only after he had straightened and saw the look on his friend's face that he gleaned what, precisely, the other man was apologizing for.

"Oh! Don't be sorry. They're easy enough to put on. Here," He handed one to the younger man one, then placed Sean's on the ground. "It's just like putting on a vest."

While he spoke he demonstrated, slipping his arms through the arm holes. "Then you just adjust the belt around your waist and clip it so it won't slip off. See? Do you need help adjusting the belt? It's a little hard to do when you're wearing it."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean hoped that Calvin would continue to relax. While the telepath took no offense to the fact that their friend was nervous, he did want the police officer to enjoy his time on the water. When inviting Calvin out in the first place, he had hoped to provide their friend with a pleasant experience, a new way to pass time, one that he and Josh could guarantee was fun for them as well.

He had not intended to inspire any form of anxiety. Anxiety would detract from the experience, and, while nothing was 100% safe, the lake was calm, and Sean had decades of experience sailing with this boat and with others before it.

Once they had weighed anchor, he stepped up onto the boat and stepped over to Josh long enough to pick up his life jacket.

Having sailed so many times on his own, he was proficient with clipping it himself, even if it was less comfortable than wearing a typical jacket or vest.

“I’ll ease us out gently,” he promised, as he crossed over to the helm. Once he had steered them out to a more secluded spot on the lake, then they could settle and enjoy the calmness of the waters.

[Calvin Brewer]

Calvin shook his head when Josh asked him if he needed help with the belt. He had his personal bubble, and though he wasn't so stubborn as to let himself drown rather than get aid, he was pretty sure that he could handle this. After all, he had put on other kinds of vests before, and it couldn't be much more complicated than that. It took him a bit of time, but he got it on fine. “Thanks.” He felt better knowing that if there was an accident, he would probably make it through. If not? He was a single man in his fifties without much family to speak of. At least he might make the papers.

A smirk on his face, he decided that they were safe enough that he could make some conversation with the two. The casual sort that he normally failed at, but that the two of them inspired in him. Besides, it made for a good distraction while he got used to the feeling of being on a boat. With a glance around, he spoke of something unrelated to their little voyage.

“How have things been with you two, anyway?” He didn't anticipate any problems. Not knowing the details of their histories, he assumed that they had always been what he thought of as the ideal couple. They shared interests, and from what Cal had seen, they got along very well. It was refreshing to see that. A lot of couples did more fighting than compromising.Though... Maybe he just saw the good things because they were skilled at hiding it.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"We've been very well, thank you," Josh laughed breathlessly as he helped Sean to weigh anchor, exercising upper arm muscles he rarely had reason to use in his day job. The wind lightly caressed the vessel from the lake, causing slight ripples across the water.

"Still can't believe I'm fifty four. Where does all that time go? One day I'm going to look up and realize I'm sixty and I didn't even notice it happen."

This was highly unlikely, given that the attorney, as opposed to his partner, marked his birthdays with celebrations. There was no possible way he could miss his birthday when he held a party to honor the occasion.

"What about yourself? Not too busy with all the crime in Pilot Ridge, are you?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean focused on weighing anchor (grateful for Josh’s help as he was no longer a spring chicken), and untying the boat from the dock before he crossed over to the helm. He was long used to operating this boat alone, such that he had a rhythm about it. Carefully, he piloted the boat out into the open water, avoiding the other ships in the dock and the few that were making their way around the lake.

At the question, he cracked a wide grin. “We’re still as in love as ever.” Technically, he thought that they were more in love. The telepath subscribed to the belief that love grew as it matured. And so, absent falling out of love (which he did not expect for himself or Josh), they were more in love now than they had been at this time last year, and they would be more in love next year than they were in this moment.

To his partner, he said, “By the time you reach sixty, you’ll look fifty, and I’ll probably look twenty years older than you at that point.” This was only a minor exaggeration. He’d spent most of their lives together, as boyfriends and friends and partners looking far older than Josh did.