I'm not an Alcoholic (Sean)

[Stefan Spencer]

Stefan had been out of jail and on probation for a while now. So far the only effect it had on his drinking was that he had to hide it and sometimes barkeeps who knew of his trouble with the law would refuse to serve him saying it was for his own good. Both were a little annoying, especially the hiding his drinking from the people at the halfway house which had forced him to crash other places or even outside when he was stumbling and slurring too bad. It had forced him to actually notice when he was drunk. But even then he hadn't allowed himself to keep track of how often he was drunk.

He was attending meetings. And though Stefan wasn't one lie much, it was usually because he didn't have a reason too. But he'd found that he was pretty good at it. It was easy enough to read in others whether they were believing him and he could adjust his story accordingly when he needed to.

Stefan had bumped into Sean a few days back and the other man had mentioned that Stefan should stop by so they could catch up. Stefan could tell something was a little off about that request, but he had a feeling it had something to do with when he and Josh had shown up wasted a while back. Sean had already had one chat with Stefan about the last time he and Josh had gotten wasted. So while he was a bit nervous about how the chat was going to go, he figured it wouldn't be any worse than the first time.

He knocked on the door and patted the pocket of his blazer that had his flask in it, an unconscious habit.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Although Sean and Stefan were on amiable enough terms, he considered the other man more of a cautionary example than a friend. It wasn’t that he disliked Stefan – the other man was entertaining enough, and he was a talented writer when actively engaged in his job – but whenever he spoke to Stefan, whenever he ran into him by proxy, he felt that he was speaking to a persona, to the inevitable byproduct of decades of alcohol abuse rather than a person.

The telepath couldn’t preach the evils of alcohol like a member of the temperance movement, not with any credibility. He had never been a teetotaler; he came from a family that drank freely, and he had done so since he was eighteen, back in an era where the legal drinking age was eighteen. He and Josh used to drink as bonding, and he still drank, but he had cut back as a show of solidarity to his partner’s hypertension.

Besides, he didn’t need to drink heavily, and so he had stopped.

Stefan, on the other hand, had been jailed for DWI, coupled with his inappropriate flirtation that bordered on and often crossed over completely into sexual harassment. It was sad.

While the telepath didn’t often conduct interventions, he had decided that this was the time to do one, given that somehow neither the jail time nor the parole that led to living in a halfway house had caused Stefan to moderate his drinking. So the last time he had run into the other man, he had invited him over with no false pretenses. Rather the lie had been of omission. Sean outright told him that he wanted to talk, but he had neglected to mention the topic.

Sean had arranged this for while Josh was out, so that he could have this conversation without interruptions. When Stefan knocked, the telepath answered the door and stepped to the side. “Good afternoon. Come in and make yourself at home.”

[Stefan Spencer]

Stefan considered most of the population of Pilot Ridge to be his friend. About half of those he considered potential lovers. Sean fit into the first category most days. And the second most nights he'd been drinking, as did most of the above 18 population.

That said, Stefan wasn't particularly close to Sean. And might not even consider him to be a close friend if it weren't for Josh. The other man was much more Stefan's style. Though admittedly this was because a lot of Stefan's flirting and other comments went right over Josh's head.

Still, Stefan respected the man. And yes, perhaps even feared him a little. This wasn't because of Sean's status or ability. But the fact that Sean stood by his principles and Stefan thought the other man would have no problem dropping him from his life entirely. And since that was a great fear of Stefan, he found himself often on edge around Sean. He wanted to badly to please and get along with Sean, even if he didn't think they would ever be close or get past friendship. Stefan couldn't stand the thought of loosing any of his friends, it didn't matter if they were close or not.

"How are you doing, hand-uh...Sean?" Stefan asked as he walked in, stopping himself. He knew Sean hated his flirting, but sometimes is was as natural as breathing.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Contrary to popular belief, Sean could party and let his hair down. He had more than a bit of a history of doing so, particularly before he and Josh had reconciled, back when alcohol had led to poor decisions when coupled with loneliness and attraction. However, he had scaled back for personal reasons, and then for Josh’s health reasons. He had nothing wrong with drinking in moderation; he appreciated hard liquor.

He also recognized that Stefan couldn’t control his drinking and was a barely-functioning alcohol. Sean knew that he wasn’t alone in this observation, but the fact that Josh, and several other members of their social circle appeared oblivious to this simple truth concerned him. It had been enough to prevent the psychiatrist from inviting anyone else to this conversation.

No, if he was going to stage an intervention, Sean would do it entirely on his own.

“I’m fine,” he replied, once Stefan had crossed the threshold. The telepath closed the door and then beckoned for the other man to follow him into the kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink? I have water, iced tea, orange and grapefruit juice, coffee...”

Noticeably, Sean didn’t include any alcoholic beverages on his list. Nor should he, as Stefan was on probation and should be in rehab.

[Stefan Spencer]

Stefan wasn't an idiot. He knew that some people didn't approve of his drinking. But he always managed to joke any concern away. And his real friends, like Mike, were always there to pick up the pieces on particularly drunk nights. Only a handful of times had someone ever confronted him about it. Usually because he had done something particularly shameful while under the influence. But even then, it was easy to make a joke of it. Heck, Stefan was drunk more often than he was sober so it was possible that some people just assumed it was his personality and not his drinking that caused him to act the way he did sometimes.

But Stefan knew that Sean was one of those few people who didn't just go along with it. But usually it was easy enough to overlook that fact. Particularly when Josh was around, since Josh was so eager to let everything just be fun and chill and no-confrontational.

These days though, it was harder for Stefan to ignore other's thoughts and emotions. Not that Stefan could read minds. But he had noticed lately that his ability seemed to be more active. And less easy to ignore. Of course he hadn't made the connection to his ability functioning better and his being sober more often, but he had noticed.

So when he walked into the house, he couldn't help but see that Sean was in a serious mood and that the other man had something on his mind. And suddenly Stefan felt like a child being ushered into the principle's office.

"Coffee sounds good," Stefan replied, wondering if it would be possible to tip his flask over it without the telepath noticing. Most likely not. But it might be worth a shot.

"Is Josh around?" Stefan asked, trying not to sound too hopeful as found himself a seat in the kitchen. Also wondering how long he could delay whatever Sean wanted to discuss.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

It remained in Stefan’s best interest to remember that people could disapprove of chronic binge drinking (which rose to the level of barely-functional alcoholism) without being teetotalers. Case in point, Sean was no stranger to drinking, even drinking to excess, but he had never gotten a DUI. He had never driven drunk, because he would never risk other people’s lives that way. How could he possibly rationalize such reckless, selfish behavior?

Because he wasn’t an alcoholic.

But Stefan was.

Stefan was, and Sean boggled at how many people around them seemed either oblivious to the fact (such as his partner) or unwilling to do anything about it (such as Stefan’s coworkers and several of his other friends).

No matter. The psychiatrist had taken matters into his own hands now.

When they reached the kitchen, he gestured at the table for Stefan to make himself comfortable. Then he puttered around the kitchen, pulling down two mugs. “Flavored coffee? Or straight?”

Typically, he didn’t drink much flavored coffee, but he kept it for entertaining. More than that, he was sure that both of them would require multiple cups of something caffeinated by the time they finished here.

To respond to the question, he shook his head. “No, Josh is out right now. It’s just us.”