Bad Luck: What's new, pussycat? (Sean)

[Josie Raines]

Well, that should do it, Josie thought, dusting her hands off as her gaze traveled over her living room in one last inspection. She hadn't had a guest of any sort since letting Ruby stay the night, and without any extra eyes around to judge, she had let her apartment fall into mild disarray. Stray glasses, empty bottles, bits of clothing strewn about; cleaning all day for a paycheck was one thing, but most days Josie just couldn't be bothered to continue once she came home. Today had to be different, though. She was expecting the big kahuna himself to stop by, and she didn't want anybody thinking that she lived in squalor.

"You're in for a surprise, pup," Josie said, when Princess trotted up to her side. The pooch craned her neck up to watch, long pink tongue dangling from the side of her mouth, as Josie scratched behind her ears. As her tail wagged, it thumped against the kitchen counter, but Princess didn't seem to mind. "Just for a little while, don't worry."

Princess cocked her head, curious; if her ears hadn't been docked years ago - possibly as a puppy, the shelter hadn't been sure - they might have been standing at attention. When Josie didn't continue, though, she lost interest and padded off to her water bowl.

For the hundredth time, Josie wondered if this was a good idea. Princess had never seemed like much of a fighter; while not nearly as timid as the day Cal had brought her home, she tended to shy away from other dogs they ran across while on walks or at the vet. But as far as Josie knew, she'd never met a cat before. And everybody knew about cats and dogs....

Well, they would just have to see when the Doc arrived.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

In a typical sitcom, Sean would have spent as much time as he had trapping the stray cat, getting her vaccinated and checking that she was spayed and healthy, feeding her, and having the vet trim her claws, all to emotionally bond with her and then choose, at the last minute, to keep her. He would look into her little whiskered face through the slats of the cat carrier and then feel his heart swell, unable to part with her.

Sean Neville did not live in a sitcom’s reality.

Truthfully, the telepath could not wait to drop the cat off with Josie, so that he could start sleeping better, and so Josh would stop panicking about Mospy potentially becoming a midnight snack for a furry creature barely twice her size. Everyone in his neighborhood looked forward to him dropping her off with someone, and Sean simply considered himself fortunate that he had found someone (who lived on the other side of town) willing to take in the poor creature.

Mreow, the cat cried, the entire trip to Josie’s home. The longer they were in the car, the louder she cried, as though she thought he had not heard her the first time.

She cried when he lifted her from the backseat, once he had parked the car. She cried as he carried her box up the steps to Josie’s home. She cried when he knocked to announce their arrival.

[Josie Raines]

Princess heard them coming before Josie did, but it didn't take either of them very long to pick up on the tortured mewlings of the animal outside.

Jesus, he wasn't kidding, she thought with a frown. The doc had warned her about how vocal the cat he'd caught could be, but while she knew the apartments weren't terribly well insulated to sound, she still hadn't expected the thing to have such strong lungs.

Princess, to her credit, wasn't cowering the way she might have had there been barking outside. Instead she had galumphed right up to the door, tail going so furiously her whole butt wagged, her typical response to approaching humans. That had to be a good sign, Josie figured.

At the sound of his knocking, she hurried forward and hooked three fingers under Princess' collar - the next step in her process of greeting humans tended to involve jumping up, and Josie didn't peg the doctor as someone who'd want a dog this size in his face. Grip secure, she tugged Princess back a bit before swinging the door open.

"Hey, come on i-" Josie began, voice halting when, sure enough, the dog tried to leap up and greet the doc herself. Fortunately she didn't get very far, but that didn't stop her from trying. In order to make space for the man to even enter, Josie started dragging Princess back, one hand under the collar, one hand on her rump. "Sorry, she's just excited. Come in."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Mreow. The cat continued to cry pitifully, and Sean could see nothing he could do about that. Trying to move the carrier would only cause further discomfort to the poor creature, and he did not know how to begin reassuring an animal at all, certainly not one who wanted to go home with him when he was in the midst of giving her to a coworker for adoption.

Then the door opened, but before he could step over the threshold, a dog went flying at his face. He stepped backward, demonstrating that, not only was he not a cat person, but he was also not a dog person. Animals were so unpredictable.

Fortunately, Josie managed to wrangle the dog before she landed on his face or caused him to lose his grip on the carrier. Unfortunately, that much excitement rattled the carrier, and the cat howled in fear.

They were not off to a good start.

Once he regained his footing, he offered her a small smile and walked through the front door. “I want to thank you again for being willing to take her.” Noticeably, he did not have a name for the cat, since she was not his pet. He would leave that to Josie to choose. “She’s been loud all day but I think she’ll calm down eventually.”

He based that on the fact that she apparently cried less when he wasn’t around, according to his neighbors.

[Josie Raines]

Josie continued dragging Princess deeper into the apartment, which was a bit difficult now that the dog was focused intently on the carrier in the doc's hands. No wonder, with the noises it was making. Maybe she really hadn't ever seen a cat before. Well, now the question was how to separate them for the time being - well, if she could just convince Princess to behave herself, she wouldn't have to shut her in the bedroom and listen to her pitiful crying.

"Okay, girl, sit, sit," Josie ordered once she'd gotten the dog from the kitchen to the living room. As wound up as Princess was, it took some repeating and the use of hand gestures left over from the training they hadn't quite completed (okay, "sit" was technically the only command Princess knew), but after a few tries the pooch was parked by the coffee table and Josie was able to take the carrier.

"Be right back," she told Dr. Neville. Limited as the space was, there was only the bedroom to release the cat and let it roam, so that's where she went. Careful to slip in and out - it was also the one room she hadn't tidied since Ruby's stay - Josie unlatched the carrier, hoping the noisy thing wouldn't shred anything while her back was turned, and shut the door behind her.

"Here," she said as she passed back the carrier. "Just in case you hafta wrangle anymore strays."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

With her dog restrained, Sean stepped over the threshold and entered the apartment. Holding the carrier carefully in one hand, he shut the door with the other. That would prevent either of the animals from escaping, which would save them a headache and search later.

Then, when Josie reached out for the carrier, he handed it over. The cat continued to cry pitifully at him, for which he had no solution. At least she would have a home and be well-cared for here; he trusted Josie to treat her well.

While she disappeared into her bedroom to deposit the cat, he stood there staring at the dog, and with Princess staring back at him. He could tolerate pets in small doses, and he would have pet her but for the fact that she had proven so excitable. He didn’t want to set her off during this already delicate situation. As such, he simply stood, waiting.

Josie returned, and he reached out to take the carrier back.

“She doesn’t destroy property.” Josie had not articulated the concern aloud, but Sean had heard it all the same. Louder, in fact, due to the fact that it was only them in the apartment as far as his powers were concerned, despite the loud presence of both the cat and Josie’s dog. “She huts rodents and small birds, but she’s been quite respectful of personal property.”

She had never touched anything of his, aside from rubbing something that obviously belonged to him; she was smart enough to tell his shoes apart from Josh’s. She stayed away from Josh’s bicycle but liked to rub against his car. Admittedly, he knew little about animal behavior and attributed that in part to the fact that the van was warm, because it had an internal combustion system.

“And I hope we have no more strays.” He was not the type of person to do animal rescue typically, and the neighborhood wanted to go back to sleep without another incident like this.

[Josie Raines]

Good to know she didn't wreck shit, at least. That had been one of Josie's primary concerns going into this agreement, as well as one of the reasons she knew it would be temporary. Hunting wouldn't be a big problem, though - the cat would be stuck inside all day and have no opportunity. It could hunt dirty socks or nothing at all.

"Well, I hope so too, 'cause I don't really have space for a shelter here," Josie replied, gesturing with one hand around the place. And it was true - if Princess were a more destructive or energetic dog, it would have been even too small for her. The kitchen and the living room were basically the same space, the bedroom couldn't handle more than a twin bed if she wanted space to walk around it, and the bathroom - don't even get her started on the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Josie was faced with a different issue. The doc wasn't her boss, technically - he was senior to her, for sure, but they both reported to the same person. But her experiences at Hammel definitely colored her impression of him, and how was one supposed to handle a person who used to give you detentions when they were in one's home? Felix had been here a couple of times, so it wasn't the first time she'd hosted a fellow staff member, but the doc was different.

"So, uh... you want something to drink, or...?" she tried, meaning water as much as she meant anything else. That's what polite people did, wasn't it?

[Dr. Sean Neville]

As desperate as Sean was to move the cat out of his cul-de-sac and into a home where she could be watched by someone who could tolerate her better than he could, he would not dump a destructive animal on another person. For all of the trouble that Josie had given him seven years ago as a student, he wished her no ill-will; rather, he liked her. He appreciated that she had been willing to take in the cat, and he would not repay that by bringing a creature into her house that would destroy her meager possessions and make her tight living situation less bearable.

Although he agreed that she needed a larger apartment.

The offer came across as awkward as she felt making it, surely. He knew that feeling; all newer staff members went through that when dealing with the older staff members, the ones who had worked there during their tenure as students.

Sean had coped with it by throwing himself headlong into his work.

However, he had also never had detention as a student. His only behavioral problems had been the result of his powers and unintentional; detention would not have helped.

“I don’t want to impose,” he replied with a self-deprecating twitch of his lips. He wanted to give her the out for the awkwardness.

[Josie Raines]

"Well, you're already givin' me a cat, what's a glass of water, hey?" Josie shrugged, and then froze when her brain caught up with her mouth. Fabulous, that hadn't even taken five minutes. "I mean, y'know, fair trade an' all."

It was just... weird. Like at school, on the clock, obviously it was necessary to watch her mouth around the staff, even the ones around whom it was more important to watch her thoughts than words. This was her home, though; she couldn't get into trouble for what she said here. Could she? No, of course not. Maybe she was just that used to being on guard around Doctor Detention here. Not that that was enough to stop her saying dumb shit, apparently.

"Anyway, here." Moving past him into the kitchen, Josie busied herself with retrieving a plastic cup and scooping ice from the bin in the freezer.

Should she offer him a beer or something? Josie was tempted - not out of any strong sense of hospitality, but rather because if he was drinking it meant she could as well, and she had a feeling that would make this conversation easier.

Aw, fuck it. "What'll it be, doc? Water, soda, beer?" Maybe it would smooth over the accidental sass.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean took no offense to the sass, as he realized how uncomfortable she was. Someone without telepathy could tell how uncomfortable she was. Someone without psychiatric training and poor observation skills could tell how uncomfortable she was. Josh could tell how uncomfortable she was, or could have if he was here with them.

That discomfort had been why the telepath had not wanted to impose any further on her. He didn’t want to drag this out or make her feel worse in her own home.

He, more than many people, understood the necessity of keeping a personal sanctuary in which one could let one’s hair down. Yet, here they were.

Since she had offered alcohol, the telepath decided to go all in. Although he drove, he knew his limits, and one drink would not rise to the legal limit, nor would it impair him in any way, shape, or form. He had been drinking hard liquor for longer than he had known his partner, after all, and, although they had agreed to cut back together (and had done so for the past year and a half), it was only a single drink. “I’d take a scotch, if you have it, and a beer if you don’t.”

Beer was Josh’s drink more than his, but he drank it in a pinch.

[Josie Raines]

Beer it was, then. The closest Josie came to scotch these days was late-night reruns of Mad Man. Which meant that cup of ice would go to waste (beer over ice? ugh) but whatever. She'd made worse mistakes in her life. She'd made worse mistakes today.

"Hope you like reds," she told the doc, as she opened the fridge. She didn't need to dig around for her prize; she needed to go grocery shopping this weekend, and the thing was bare but for a handful of staples and a six pack. Josie didn't mind this much, but at that moment she was grateful that the fridge door was blocking his view. Unless it wasn't - the man was freakishly tall, after all. Maybe he could peer down into her fridge just as easily as into her thoughts.

Why was she doing this again?

Letting the fridge door swing shut, Josie set to retrieving a bottle opener. This was about as simple as retrieving the beer; she probably had about eight or nine of the things scattered throughout her kitchen drawers. They had a bad habit of vanishing and then reappearing as soon as she'd obtained a new one. 

Each bottle let out a tiny tss when she popped it open, and she passed one to the doc with a "here."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had no interest in examining the contents of Josie’s refrigerator. That was her affair, and he was not her houseguest in a way that made her pantry contents his business. Besides, back when Josh had lived in Manhattan, before their Reconciliation or his partner’s relocation to Vermont, the attorney had done an atrocious job of stocking his pantry and refrigerator. So much so that, when the telepath had visited, he made it a priority to take his then-friend grocery shopping.

Not that he would say any of that aloud. To comment on any of it would be to make Josie uncomfortable, and the least Sean could do while a guest in her home was to keep that to a minimum. As it was, he knew that she found the notion of his powers uncomfortable in the first place.

When she handed him the beer, he accepted it with one hand and a nod. “Thank you.” He didn’t have much of an opinion about Reds, but he wouldn’t turn it down since she had provided it to him.

He waited for her to open her bottle, before he took a sip from his. “Are you looking forward to the winter recess?”

He certainly was. He and Josh had some mild plans.

[Josie Raines]

"I guess," Josie replied without conviction. Vacations were nice, sure, but she wouldn't be leaving Pilot Ridge and she had no real plans for how to spend the break. As far as she knew, most of her - limited - friends here were leaving town or had their own thing. She wouldn't mind just going out and partying; not only did Christmas mean celebrations were everywhere, but winter break meant she wouldn't have to worry about slogging through work with a hangover. The problem was, her party scene had noticeably lost its shine in the last few months. In June she'd gotten to play the hero spiriting an underage clubber out of harm's way, but then in August she'd gone home with a violent psychopath and suddenly the risk wasn't fun anymore.

As pathetic as it was, she almost wished she could just skip the vacation and work while everyone was away. At work she felt useful. At home she was nothing.

But now she had a cat to corral, Josie mused as she sipped her beer. That oughta keep her busy.

"Heard there was a 'holiday bash' coming up," she mentioned. "Could be fun." She wouldn't go, though, she knew that even as she said it. Not her sort of party, too many people she didn't want to be a drunken mess in front of.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“It usually is.” Sean thoroughly enjoyed the Holiday Bash, despite the fact that for several consecutive years a while back, he had needed to remain sober. Before Josh had moved to Pilot Ridge, before M.S.A.D. and Gabriel Underwood and all of those other factors, he had enjoyed attending the Bash every winter, drinking and listening to music and taking the opportunity to talk to other adults from around the town that he might not see regularly due to long hours at Hammel.

Since Josh had moved to Pilot Ridge, he had taken the other man as his date, and, even with the need to remain sober or to cut back on their alcohol intake as a result of the attorney’s hypertension, they could still enjoy the food and the atmosphere and seeing all of their neighbors in a different setting. He recommended that to everyone, particularly when the Bash combined a winter celebration with a charity fundraiser.

The psychiatrist then paused over his beer. Despite impressions to the contrary, he didn’t make a habit of rummaging through other people’s thoughts and memories, particularly not in their homes when he had been invited as a guest and they were doing him a favor. However, Josie couldn’t shield, and due to proximity, the thought had been loud, albeit brief, and had come to his attention.

He didn’t want to turn this into a lecture. From the sound of it, the situation had been months ago. But, in all of those months, he had never seen a disciplinary report about someone caught drinking underage and off-campus.

Part of his curse as a responsible adult was that duty won the inner conflict with politeness, and so he remarked, “I don’t want to be rude, but I have to ask, who was drinking off campus?”

[Josie Raines]

At first it was confusion that knitted Josie's brow. Drinking off campus? She hadn't visited any of her usual haunts lately; for all she knew, the doc could've been talking about anybody. A second later her furrowed brow turned to a scowl. He was in her head. He was in her head, and she'd been stupid enough to think about Ruby.

"Me, obviously," she snapped. "I do all my drinking off campus these days."

Josie regretted her remark immediately, although her scowl didn't budge. Of course she'd never ratted on the girl, and she sure as shit didn't want to now, but what choice did she have? She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose; this was going to be a fun conversation.

"...She didn't tell me her name," Josie told him. "I mean, she told me a name, but I'm like ninety-eight percent sure she was lying." Since last summer, she'd seen Ruby at Hammel a handful of times, confirming her original suspicions that the girl was still in high school, but they hadn't really talked. Whatever her real name was, Josie hadn't bothered to investigate. If she wasn't gonna report her, what use did she have for that?