Tinsel {Sean&Josh}

[Jeremy Derenstein]

Jeremy hadn’t spoken to Sean or Josh since the rally, months before. They hadn’t exactly been friends before the rally, but he remembered exchanging a few words with them. No longer, of course. He understood; Sean was meta, he knew, and everyone was aware of Josh’s relationship with him. In fact, he picked up more of a seething distrust from Josh than from Sean – the latter was usually as impassive as ever, which Jeremy had always found unnerving, especially since the man was a telepath. In any case, the center was busy enough where he could avoid the both of them without making it too awkward.

It was a late night. Jeremy had decided to volunteer a few more extra hours; he’d nothing special to do that evening, and he thought he could afford it. Unfortunately, it seemed that Sean had the same idea. Or, generally, at least. It was after hours, and most of the volunteers and staff had left; it was him and Sean, in an empty donations room.

Silence made Jeremy uncomfortable. It burned and itched at him. After a few seconds of chewing on his bottom lip, he decided that fumbling conversation was better than the thick quiet that settled over the room like a blanket. He kept it casual, for starters.

“So,” he began. “How’s your boyfriend?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

As a telepath, Sean had developed the ability to disconnect his personal opinions of people and their opinions from the way that he interacted with them. While this was a skill that anyone, meta-human or not – telepath or not – could master, for most people, it was helpful in their daily lives. For Sean, this had been necessary for survival. Otherwise, he never would have survived through adolescence into adulthood, and he certainly never could have functioned as a psychiatrist.

Due to that, the telepath remained aware of Jeremy’s opinions, but he went through the motions of a healthy working relationship with the younger man for the sake of the students at the LGBT Youth Center. Personally, Sean thought it problematic that there was an active metaphobe working there, given the large crossover in the student population, but Jeremy kept it to himself during volunteering hours. That was all that Sean could hope for.

Tonight, he had had a late-night meeting with a student, the result of an emergency call. Josh was at a campaign event, and it would be improper for Sean to arrive halfway through. As a result, he had decided to wait out the rest of it at the Center. Josh would call and come by when he finished, and then they would go home together.

When Jeremy asked the question, Sean looked over at the younger man. “He’s fine. His campaign is going well.” He didn’t correct with partner as he might with someone outside of the space. “And how are you?”

[Jeremy Derenstein]

Jeremy folded up a shirt. It’d be put on the shelf behind him, numbered by sizes, little white stickers that read ‘S’ or ‘M’ or ‘L’. “Just fine,” he responded, and though it sounded curt, it was with as bright a smile as usual.

He wondered if he should count Sean as an enemy. He couldn’t bring himself to use such a melodramatic term, but the fact of the matter was that they were, in a way…political enemies, that was. The most socially accepted sort of enemies there were. It happened every election – and he reminded himself that most still stayed cordial with each other.

Jeremy didn’t look up as he forced open a box, skinning the cardboard in the process. “Will you be here for the Halloween party?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had taken time to study the differences between Jeremy and Joe Honnick. In one sense, Joe was more extreme because he was the leader of PUSE, and he had far worse personal experience which would make changing his mind more difficult. In another sense, Jeremy’s rhetoric had been far more inflammatory at the rally those months ago, and that was disconcerting. Tracking and registration was antithetical to the notions of freedom and equality. That was something to watch.

“Come Hell or high water,” the telepath replied with a nod. He enjoyed chaperoning the major events, such as dances or other outings; he tried not to miss them. Unless something terrible happened with Josh, or unless Sean grew ill in such a way that he worried about contagion, he would be here early to help set up, and he would remain late to clean up afterward.

“We still have to settle our costumes.” That was a problem for both this dance and for the Hammel Halloween dance. Sean wanted to go in costume, since he enjoyed Halloween, and there was no reason not to go in costume. For the past three years, he and Josh had coordinated their costumes, taking advantage of their couple status in order to affect a theme. They had yet to do so, although he had confidence that they would manage in time for the event.

Looking over at the younger man, he inquired, “Do you have something planned?”