January Writing Challenge: Self-Improvement

[Sean *]

It's writing challenge time again. To enter, just post a ficlet (300-4000 words suggested) in this thread. When the voting for this month's OTM winners comes around, a voting poll will go up for this as well.

The Challenge: The new year brings resolutions. Write a story about your character striving to improve themselves in some way, with good or bad results. The character has to make a deliberate decision to improve or change themselves.


The Rules:

• Characters must be in Hammel canon, but the ficlets are not site canon unless expressly stately. Anything that can't fit with canon is automatically considered AU.
• Entries must be more than 300 words.
• You can enter no more than three ficlets. Any ficlets posted after the original 3 will not be considered for voting. If you want to post more, however, have fun.
• Ficlets must be titled.
  

[Joshua Bernstein]

Friendship

When Sean had announced his engagement Josh had realized just how much of an upheaval this meant for his life. The telepath had made clear his intentions to bring future children around for holidays, which meant only one thing:

Josh could no longer avoid Sam.

And since she was here to stay, that meant that he had to befriend her.

He didn't especially desire this; he was jealous of her intimacy with Sean, and terrified that her relationship with the telepath would supercede the one he shared with Josh. After all, she was around Sean all the time, and so it was only natural she would replace him. But if he didn't befriend her and instead continued to avoid speaking with her then probable replacement would turn into definite replacement, because now that she and Sean would wed then avoiding her meant avoiding Sean as well.

His first opportunity for this came only three weekends after Sean had first called to tell him the news, when he went up to Vermont to help celebrate. He admittedly didn't feel exactly celebratory, but he squashed the negative feelings to the best of his ability. This was Sean's big event, and as the best friend Josh was obligated to celebrate with him. He wasn't supposed to have feelings other than the greatest delight, and he was going to manufacture those feelings if he couldn't make them happen naturally.

And, of course, he was going to make Sam his friend.

Which was why he cornered her the first night of his visit, blue eyes furrowed and mouth set.

"It's so nice of you to allow me to visit," He told her, tone more grim than grateful.

"Oh, of course! You're Sean's best friend!" Sam exclaimed, beaming. "He was so excited to have you come up!"

"I had to come up," Josh informed her in a manner that suggested that had was more literal than he might otherwise admit. "My best friend is engaged, I couldn't possibly allow this to pass without acknowledgement."

"Well, we're glad you decided to come," Sam chirped.

Josh was stymied; he knew that in order to be friends he needed to talk to her about something less shallow, but he couldn't think of an appropriate topic of conversation. What would force her to like him and want him around?

Unfortunately before he could think of something Sean walked up and rescued Sam with, "Is everyone ready for dessert and drinks?"

Josh cursed his luck under his breath. He hadn't convinced Sam to be his friend yet! But at least dessert and drinks required her presence, and so he had time to think about this.

"Soooooo.....Sean and Sam Neville. If you monogram everything you'll sound like a ship."

"Then it's fortunate we aren't monograming anything," Sean answered, giving Josh a peculiar look over his wine glass.

"Aren't you? I thought that was an important part of married culture. Weddings, monograming, babies, that's the order, isn't it?"

"Marriage culture?" Sean repeated. "When did we give you the impression...."

"I thought you said Sam wanted a traditional big wedding?" Josh asked nervously, glancing between the couple. They didn't look impressed by this explanation. "Ahhh...so.....what about President Clinton?"

That proved to be a safe change of topic, fortunately, and soon the three were cozily debating the merits of Clinton and whether or not he was too moderate.

The next day Josh set his alarm with the intentions of awaking earlier than usual, but he failed to catch Sam alone before breakfast. Instead he caught Sean while Sam slept in. Josh was happy enough to banter with his best friend, if a bit disappointed that he still hadn't ensnared Sam into friendship. He tried to corner her after the trio had cleaned up breakfast, but Sean intruded before he could.

Josh tried not to allow frustration to show on his face, but he wished that Sean would give then a little space so that he could figure out what would make Sam become his friend.

Unfortunately for his plans, he never did get a moment alone with Sam for the remainder of the visit. He did get more alone time with Sean, which although much more fun than alone time with Sam did nothing to further his goal. It wasn't like he could tell Sean that he wanted to befriend his fiance, after all.

And so he began attempting to find every opportunity to go up to Vermont, or to convince Sean to bring Sam up to the City. But even on the rare occasions he was able to get her alone, he never successfully managed a conversation with her. Somehow, as soon as he had the opportunity, he forgot how to converse with other people.

"So, Dole, huh?" Was not a very good conversation starter, even if the result was that Sam launched into a tirade that he would have appreciated from anybody else. Instead, because she was the Best Friend's Fiance, he could only manage to smile and nod, and then kick himself later when he realized that he had missed an opportunity to comment on something she had said.

And as Sean and Sam began to plan for their wedding there was less time for visits. Josh tried to make up for this by suggesting that Sean bring Sam to Talia's wedding with him, but she came down with the flu and couldn't make it.

"I'm sorry that Sam isn't feeling well," Josh told Sean, although he wondered if perhaps she didn't really have the flu, and had only used that as an excuse to avoid him.

"She is, too. She was looking forward to meeting your family."

"She was?" Josh asked, expression one of confusion.

"Of course she was. If we're going to visit your family for Jewish holidays she needs to know your family!"

Josh had never considered the specifics of that arrangement until now.

"Oh." Josh mulled this answer over as they hauled Sean's luggage out of Penn Station. It wasn't until they had hailed a cab and were halfway back to his house that he said, "You know you don't have to do that."

"Do what?" Sean asked, staring at Josh in surprise.

"Visit for the holidays."

"Do you not want us to?" Sean looked hurt at that possibility, and Josh felt guilt overwhelm him.

"No! It isn't that! But wouldn't it be easier if you didn't? I just thought...Sam doesn't like me that much so...."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"It's obvious!" Josh exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I've been trying to be her friend and it hasn't been working at all!"

Sean didn't answer right away, and Josh was afraid that perhaps he had offended the telepath somehow. But eventually the other man asked, ""Is there a reason you're holding her to a higher standard of friendship than everyone else?"

That wasn't the response Josh had expected. "What are you talking about?" He demanded, feeling attacked by Sean's question.

"I've seen you decide people waiting with you at the bus stop are friends because you talked about the weather."

"No I haven't!"

"I'm not going to argue about it, but Greg teased you mercilessly for months and you considered him your friend. Sam doesn't tease you, so why would you think she hates you?"

Josh dug his fingers into the upholstery as the cab took a corner sharper than absolutely necessary. "We don't even talk! Whenever I try it ends up awkward. It's fine, she doesn't have to like me"

"She's never said that it's awkward when you talk," Sean informed the attorney, raising an eyebrow.

Josh grit his teeth. "Then she's being polite"

Sean sucked in air through his nose at that. "We could pretend for a minute that you don't think the woman I'm going to marry would lie to a telepath."

Josh quickly looked out the window at the buildings and pedestrians rushing by. "Look, it's fine. I was trying to be her friend but it isn't working out. You can't be friends with everyone"

"You're the only one who's convinced you aren't friends."

The taxi came to a stop in front of Josh's building, and the attorney hopped out and thumbed through his wallet without looking at Sean. "Surely that isn't true. We can't even talk without it being awful and uncomfortable."

Sean went around to the trunk and pulled out his luggage. He rolled it over to Josh and leaned against a meter maid while he waited for the other man to pay their fare and tip the cabbie.

"You're the only one who's called it awkward and uncomfortable, and, when I told you this, you said she was lying to me to spare my feelings. So, I'll ask again, why are you invested in this narrative?"

Josh shoved his wallet back into his jacket pocket. "Do you think I'm just making up how awkward it's been trying to talk to her?"

"No," Sean shook his head, "but I think that, when we feel a certain way, all of us have a tendency to project it."

"What are you trying to say?" Josh stalked towards his apartment building and yanked open the door, holding it open so that his friend could wheel his luggage inside. One of his neighbors was checking her mail, but otherwise the halls were empty.

"It sounds to me like you find it awkward to talk to her, for whatever reason, and that the awkwardness is so overwhelming that you assume it has to be mutual, because how could it not be?" Sean hefted his luggage on one shoulder as they reached the stairs, shaking his head as Josh reached a hand out for it.

Josh sighed and dropped both hands to his side, shoulders sagging. "It...has to be mutual. It's never awkward to talk to people."

"She likes it when you visit, so it isn't mutual."

The luggage banged against the wall as they twisted their way up the stairs, almost drowning out Josh's incredulous, "She...she does?"

"She thinks you're smart and adventurous."

Josh considered that. Eventually he opted for a dubious, "Oh."

"Do you want to talk about why you find talking to her so awkward?" Sean suggested as they reached Josh's floor.

"I don't know what to talk about!" Josh grumbled, opening the stairwell door.

Sean paused, whether to consider his next words or to wrestle his luggage into the hallway Josh couldn't say. "Then may I say something I'd like you to take to heart?"

"What?" Josh asked suspiciously.

"You're my best friend, and I love you. If nothing else, remember that and know I wouldn't want to start a family with someone who couldn't understand why you're so important to me."

That was a much more touching response than Josh had expected and he sighed. "Oh. I...suppose."

Sean furrowed his brow as he rolled his luggage down the hallway after the attorney, "Don't suppose, Josh. This isn't about Sam right now; this is about us. Please don't tell me that almost two decades is only worth 'I suppose.'"

Josh mentally kicked himself, trying to backtrack while he fumbled through his pockets for his apartment key. "No it's just...I don't know. I thought since you were getting married we should be friends but...I don't know. She can understand without being my friend."

"She likes you; I don't know how to say it more blatantly than that."

"You say that but I don't know why she would," Josh complained, holding the door open for his friend.

"Because you're a smart, insightful person who wears his heart on his sleeve, and you can be fun when you relax a little."


"I'm relaxed!" Josh objected, waiting until Sean and his luggage were out of the foyer before shutting the door behind them.

"A lot of the time you are, yes."


"But," Josh objected, removing his shoes and setting them on the mat in front of the door, "I also used to date the man she's going to marry. That has to bother her a little."

Sean brought his luggage over to the sofa as he asked, "Why would it bother her?"

Josh had to work not to roll his eyes at that. "Why wouldn't it bother her?"

"Because she doesn't own my past and has no reason to expect that I would arrive on her doorstep a virgin who'd never loved or dated or slept with someone else before?"

Sean's answer was calm, collected, and not at all what Josh wanted to hear. "Yes but it's different when you're still friends with them."

"It isn't different," Sean contradicted as he settled comfortably into the sofa.

"Yes, it is!" Josh insisted, moving the all of two feet it took to get from the front door to the refrigerator and pulling out two beers. "It would bother me!"

"Why? You're friends with your ex; why would it be different for anyone else?"

Josh sat on the sofa beside Sean, handing the other man one of the beers. "Maybe nobody should date me, either."

"You know I don't believe that," Sean told him as he popped open his beer.
Josh ignored that. "The point is, that means you can't know if you'll be the most important person."

"What matters is if you can make a life together with someone you love, not whether they care about other people too."

Josh scoffed as he unscrewed the lid from his beer with more force than necessary. "Oh, sure, then why even bother with romance at all? I'll just go make a life with someone from work then."

"For the life of me, I can't understand how you can turn 'make a life with someone you love, even if they're still friends with people they used to date' into 'no romance work-marriage.'"

Josh gestured emphatically at the telepath with his beer. "You're the one who said it didn't matter if the person you're marrying has feelings for someone else."

"I said it doesn't matter if they care about other people as long as you love each other and can build a life together. None of that implies a lack of love or a business arrangement."

"I just don't understand how anyone can really not feel threatened by that," Josh admitted, taking a swig of his beer.

"Have you ever made love with someone, and, while you're in the middle of that, you've become aware beyond any doubt that they're fantasizing about someone else? Then, afterward, they told you they loved you, and you knew that they were telling the truth? And that both coexisted?"

Josh had only had sex with two people, and one of those he had been the person fantasizing about someone else. "No."

"I have. I don't find it threatening." Sean emphasized this by taking a drink from his beer.

"That doesn't make sense," Josh argued, "There's not room for more than one person."

"If that were true, we'd all be only children," Sean answered, all but rolling his eyes at Josh's argument.

"You're not taking this seriously! I mean it! You can only have one person be that important to you. Dependents are different."

"There's no reason to worry about hypothetical situations that don't have any bearing on real life. People don't have to choose between their friends and their spouse in non-abusive relationships. It doesn't matter that in some ultra-specific situation that's never going to happen that she might choose an ex-boyfriend, or her brother, or one or our children over me, because that's not how we live."

"I suppose. Never mind. If she's really fine with this then fine. That's great, but it SHOULD BE threatening because nobody can ever be as important to me as you"

"We all prioritize relationships different; there's nothing inherently threatening about that as long as everyone is honest and affectionate."

Josh slouched down into the sofa miserably. "That's not how relationships work. never mind, let's not talk about this anymore."

The next morning he felt terrible. The last thing he wanted was to argue with his best friend, and he was worried that Sean was upset at him for failing to befriend Sam. When he awoke Sean was already in the kitchen scrambling eggs, which made the guilt so much worse.
"Sean..." He began, inhaling deeply before continuing, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I said I thought your fiance hates me. I'll try harder."

"I don't want to poke at this for too long, but what are you trying harder about?" Sean asked, turning off the stove and moving the pan of eggs to a cool burner.

"To be her friend," Josh answered, scooping ground coffee beans into a paper filter.

"I already told you she likes you."


".............I just don't *feel* like we're friends yet," Josh admitted as he placed the filter into the coffee machine and turned it on.

"You ask yourself why you feel that way and work on whatever the answer it."

"Oh. What if you can't?"

"If you can't answer it? Or if you can't work on it?"

"Work on it," Josh answered as he pulled down two mugs.

Sean shrugged and began to scoop the eggs onto plates. "I suppose it depends on why."

"Some things you can't change."

"Not everything has to be changed in order to cope with it."

"That's not...how am I supposed to be friends with someone if I don't change how I feel?"

"I don't want to pry," Sean answered carefully, "but it's difficult to have any sort of meaningful discussion with vague hypotheticals. But, off the top of my head, you can remind yourself that she does like you, and, if that doesn't work, you can remind yourself that I've never lied to you and wouldn't start now."

"I already told you! I feel awkward. I don't know how to talk to her. I have to be her friend and I don't know how!"

"You've been talking to her. That's my point. Every failure is just your perception, not reality."

A pop from the counter announced that the toast was done, and Sean slid the toast onto the plates beside the eggs and began to butter them.

"Yeah, but she isn't easy to talk to like...like you or Greg or Daphne."

"She agrees with you about politics. She's less religious than I was when we were dating, and she would never, ever undermine your religious or cultural heritage. She thinks your job is interesting. She likes you as a person and respects your intelligence. She drinks. She likes dancing more than I do. You don't care about sports, and so it doesn't matter that she doesn't root for New York teams. What makes it hard to talk to her?"


"You can't just accept that I find it difficult?" Josh complained. The coffee had slowed to a trickle. When it stopped altogether he pulled the pot away and poured piping hot coffee for himself and his friend.

"Not when you say you want to try harder but that you're incapable of working on it. I don't let that slide with my patients, either."

"I'm not your patient!" Josh objected.

"No," Sean carried the plates over to the coffee table in the area of the apartment Josh used as a living room, "you're my best friend, which means I'm a lot more invested in your life."

"Wouldn't 'you find it difficult?" Josh asked plaintively as he followed behind Sean with the coffee.

"To talk to your boyfriend, you mean?"

"If I had one, yeah."

"How could I be anything but ecstatic that you found someone to share your life with?" Sean asked, making his way back into the kitchen for flatware and napkins.

"That has nothing to do with talking to someone," Josh objected, feeling a stab of guilt that Sean would be ecstatic and he felt awkward and uncomfortable.

"Why would I find it difficult? I know you; you wouldn't date someone aggressive or mean-spirited, or so shy that we couldn't talk, or who had intolerable beliefs."

"But it's not like you would want to be friends with someone like that."

"Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I want to be friends with an intelligent, engaging, thoughtful person who had a good sense of humor and a gentle soul? The type of person you would date?"

"No, but I mean...you wouldn't be friends with them if I was dating them, right? It would be weird." Josh prompted, hoping that he wasn't the only one who found this whole scenario awkward.

"It wouldn't be weird. I'm your friend, and he would be your boyfriend. I'd be honored to be his friend as well."

That was the wrong answer. Josh didn't want Sean to want to be friends with anyone he might date. "No! Why would you say that? I don't want....that's not...why would you want to be?"

"Why would I say what? That I'd be honored to be friends with someone you dated? Because it's *true*. I want to see you happy, and I'd want to get to know someone you made you happy."

"Because you're the most important person in my life and if you date that person is supposed to be the most important. I can only date if I replace you," Josh explained glumly. "You aren't supposed to want to be friends with anyone I replace you with."

I'm not replacing you, Josh."

"I didn't say that!" Josh said quickly, hiding his face in his coffee.

"No, you said that I shouldn't want to be friends with your hypothetical boyfriend because that would mean you were replacing me. And you said that after we were talking about why you find it so hard to talk to my fiancee."

Josh was silent for a long moment. He couldn't deny that; he had said that, and Sean had understood exactly what he meant by it.

"How could I ever replace you? You're my closest friend."

Josh swallowed back a sudden lump in his throat. "But that's just sort of what happens. when you're in a relationship they're the only person that matters."

Sean stared pensively at the Jimmy Carter poster on the wall across from them. "...You know, we were young and immature, and neither of us knew how to balance our lives. I'm not that way anymore. I know how to have space and time for everyone and everything now."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart."



*with thanks to Sean, who wrote sean's dialog for the heart to heart

[Ruby Parker]

Ruby and The Jerk

Once upon a time there was a girl with vibrant red hair named Ruby. She was kind, and eager to improve herself. Her greatest flaw, however, was the fact she could never insult people well. She tried and tried, but all her insults were lame and lack any sort of bite. Other kids laughed at her when she tried and it made her more and more self conscious as time went by.

The girl hated her lack of skill, so one day she left to seek a jerk mentor. She brought candy and money to bribe her future insult mentor, assuming even dicks would appreciate sweet things and cash. The red headed girl scoured the school until she found an asshole named Oriel lounging on a couch.

"Oriel, can you teach me how to be a jerk?" Ruby asked.

"Naw," Oriel said.

"Please?" Ruby begged.

"Naw," Oriel said again, picking ear wax out of his eat in disinterest.

"I can give you candy," Ruby said.

"Okay, fine." Oriel said. "Go clean the windows."

And so Ruby left to clean the windows with all her heart. She scrubbed until the chemical stung her eyes and her hands were raw. When she returned to the jerk, she told him about her hard work with a big smile. He shrugged it off and told her to mop the floors, a task which Ruby worked just as hard at.

Each time Ruby returned to Oriel and he gave her a new task to complete and she did it as best as she could only to be sent to do something else. By the end of the day, Ruby was exhausted and confused. She set out to find Oriel at his couch again and asked, "Oriel, what does any of this have to do with being a dick?"

With a cat's grin, Oriel said, "Well, you did my chores for me, didn't you?"

Ruby frowned and said, "Well, yeah, but I thought you were doing a Karate Kid deal."

"Nope, I just wanted you to do my chores for me," Oriel said, returning to his slumber and leaving a peeved Ruby to seep in her own frustration.

From this, Ruby learned three important rules. The first rule was to ask about the outcome before going to a task. The second rule was to avoid assumptions. The third rule was that Oriel was a jerk, and thus an expert on this subject if she  could find a way to get him to actually help her.

The end.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

I Wish You Could Be Here

Sundays in this town there’s
Not a lot for me to do.
I’ve been list’nin’ to some records
But my thoughts return to you.

Sean largely had the school to himself. So few others were on campus at the moment that he almost felt like he could breathe. Not entirely, since there remained a few others bustling about, and his range extended far beyond the school campus. Still, this was a marked improvement.

At the same time, he felt sad. Not lonely, but rather excluded and mournful. After all, most everyone else had gone to Boston for a field trip: to visit the Museum of Science, and to travel the Freedom Trail and see other historical sites, and to eat and shop at Faneuil Hall.

The administration had unanimously voted to prevent the young telepath from attending the trip. The only other stragglers were those whose disciplinary records grounded them (and there were only a small handful) and anyone possessed of a disability that would make such travel difficult or impossible.

Sean had no disabilities, since Hammel emphasized the point day in and day out that powers and their attendant side effects weren’t disabilities. He never acted out deliberately; in fact, he was one of the most mild-mannered students at the school.

However, he did suffer power slips. The nature of his powers was such that when he had slips, other people suffered.

He wondered if the other students were having a good time. He couldn’t tell, since the distance from Pilot Ridge to Boston far exceeded his telepathic range. For which he felt gratitude, for if he could hear that far away, he knew he would have lost his sanity soon after manifestation. That would have made him more powerful even than Robert, and if his trainer couldn’t help him, then he had no hope.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to face that scenario; Robert outclassed him in every way, which meant that Sean could learn at the older man’s knee.

That thought brought the only sense of hope he experienced these days. Everything else brought fatigue, pain, anxiety, and hopelessness.

Having the school to himself proved far less exciting than the Headmaster had tried to sell to him when he had broken the news that Sean had to stay behind. There was nothing to watch on the seven television channels, as he had no interest in soap operas or the repetitive afternoon news broadcasts. The movies of the week would only come on during the later afternoon, when most kids got out of school – the ones who didn’t attend boarding school and thus had a television in their living room; until then, he was stuck with the same programming aimed at housewives like his mother.

To his knowledge, his mother didn’t much care for soap operas. She kept busy during the day.

He had books to read, although nothing kept his interest. He read so much as it was, and he couldn’t keep his mind on reading, even recreational reading, on a field trip day. He should be in Boston right now, rather than trying to read on his bed.

He had no homework to finish; he’d done all of it last night. With no classes today, he had no new assignments.

No classes also meant that none of the teachers had come in, just as they stayed home on weekends. Only the medical staff, janitors, a couple of security guards, and one kitchen staff had come in. And the dorm monitors, of course, but they lived on campus and so it hardly counted as “coming in” when all they had to do was roll out of bed, shower, and dress themselves. Truly, it was an empty building.

Even if he left the building, he couldn’t go into town unescorted, and there were no available escorts.

He couldn’t even play outside. Not that he couldn’t go outside – he could – but he had nobody to play with.

Although, to be fair, he had nobody to play with, even when the entire student body was on campus at once. That was one of the consequences of having no friends and no social circle. He and his roommate didn’t get along well enough for them to share a table in the cafeteria, let alone to play tag or handball, or to have a snowball fight after a storm.

In that regard, having the school to himself felt less lonely, because his inability to play or talk to people came from a lack of people rather than from unwillingness to give him the time of day.

Eventually, the young telepath went for a walk around the courtyard.

He could still here the other grounded students’ thoughts, some musing over how unfair this was; a couple had convinced themselves that Boston wouldn’t be that fun anyway. Sean thought of the Aesop’s Fable about the fox and the sour grapes.

Not that he could blame them.

He could hear the security guards who thought that guarding a mostly-empty school was a pointless waste of time. But at least they were getting paid, so that was something.

He could hear the townspeople going about their daily lives. And he could hear-

“I thought I might find you out here, son.”

Sean blinked in surprise and looked up at the sound of his mentor’s voice. “I thought you had the day off,” he squeaked.

Why couldn’t his voice change smoothly? Assurances from his father did nothing to make the cracks and squeaks less awkward or embarrassing.

Robert smiled and shrugged. “I wanted to check on you. I know how devastating the decision was.”

The younger telepath looked down at his feet. “I don’t-I’m not that scary, am I?”

The trainer placed his hand on Sean’s shoulder and guided him towards one of the benches. “Of course not, son. But they had to weigh the likelihood of a slip with the potential consequences. I know it hurts right now, but with a bit more work-”

“But this is the only field trip we get this year.”

“I know.”

“Couldn’t they have just had Mister Moore stay with me the whole time?” Moore was a power suppressor, called in to handle those with the most dangerous powers.

Robert’s expression was sympathetic as he shook his head in denial. “We’ve discussed that before; power suppression is a crutch, and you can’t lean on it. Control can’t come from suppression.”

“What good is having a power if it destroys your life?” Sean asked miserably. “I don’t have any friends. I can’t go home for holidays, and I can’t even go on the only field trip we get! My parents...”

The older telepath squeezed the boy’s shoulder. “I know,” he replied gently. “It isn’t easy, but it has been done before, and I have no doubt that you can do it too.”

Sean looked unconvinced, which prompted Robert to try an analogy. “What if we severed everyone’s vocal chords when their voices started to change, to spare the embarrassment and the unpleasantness? We would have no more singing, and we would forever lose a plethora of individual voices because of a temporary phase.”

On the one hand, the boy could relate to that. On the other hand... “It’s not the same.”

“I know it might not seem like it right now.” Robert squeezed his shoulder again. “How about we go inside? I can brew us some tea, and we can work on your shielding for a bit.”

“I don’t want to make you work on your day off,” the younger telepath protested weakly. It was bad enough that he was excluded from the field trip, but that his trainer couldn’t enjoy a day off because of him seemed completely unfair.

“Beth is busy until dinner anyway,” Robert assured him. “You’ll feel better after we work a bit. Trust me.”

Sean did trust him.

More than that, if the administration wouldn’t let him leave until he proved himself, then he had to work harder to get to that point.

“Okay,” he acquiesced. Then, he rose and followed his trainer back into the school.