Crazy Love, Vol II (Josh)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean didn’t expect the other man to keep up with every trick of the trade, or every inconvenience of his working conditions. He only mentioned some of them, usually as semi-complaints, certainly nothing worth holding memory space over.

“Good,” the telepath replied, since he’d given Josh first bite. He let the plate linger for a moment, should the other man want more, before he slid it back towards himself.

Sean overheard that thought as well; mental shields were, to a large degree, down for the rest of the night because he’d expended too much energy today as it was. As such, he would quietly overhear most of Josh’s inner ramblings and he would only remark on the most banal, which was how most of his time without strong mental shields went. Thus he didn’t point out that the two obvious solutions were that he could bow out and let Josh have a trip with his other friends for the weekend, which eliminate any attempts to convince Cobalt because the first words out of Josh’s mouth post invitation could be Sean isn’t coming. Or that Cobalt could set it aside for a weekend since it wasn’t as though they would be in the same car.

But that was contemplation for another day because there were both more important and more pleasant thoughts and plans ahead.

Plans such as reminding (teaching perhaps if the lessons were so long forgotten) Josh of how pleasant a sober relationship could be. Such as sharing experience, although he knew it had been over a decade since the other man had last dated, but there was still experience to be shared and gained. Such as moving everything around to make the house a home for both of them.

The telepath didn’t contemplate the offer for more than the merest second. He picked up his fork, reached carefully over his own plate to avoid getting an elbow in whipped cream, and then cut off a corner of cheesecake. He brought it to his mouth, ate it, and smiled. “You’re right; that is good.”

He washed it down with a sip of coffee and then remarked, “It occurs to me I can’t remember the last time I’ve even had cheesecake. For which I blame Anya.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Why would that be Anya's fault?" Josh felt as if he were missing something here. He was aware that the Russian woman was a fabulous baker and that she was known to bake treats for her coworkers, but much as he sometimes ate dessert that wasn't given to him by Riley he fully expected that Sean sometimes sought at dessert that wasn't baked by Anya. He still had that bakery on speed dial, didn't he? He thought they'd offered a selection of cheesecakes last time he'd perused their menu, though he'd admittedly been far more concerned with his friend's mental state at the time.

"Are we going to have to go on a cheesecake tasting now? Maye Pilot Ridge can hold a cheesecake festival and we can taste everyone's different recipes."

He was sure that Riley could make a cheesecake, because he had the utmost faith in Riley's ability to make anything edible, from vegetables to pies to frozen desserts to meats. If it was food, Riley could make it.

He had less experience with Anya's kitchen skills, with the exception of poker night, and while he'd initially resolved to use that as an excuse to impose upon her skills more frequently the fact that he didn't even remember anything that happened between spilling beer down the front of his shirt and asking Cobalt if he had anything he could borrow (this had not materialized, unsurprisingly, since they were nowhere near the same size) and waking up in bed with Sean the next morning. Somehow in spite of their inebriated state they had gotten home and out of their clothes and into bed.

Somehow.

Coffee drained and cheesecake eaten, he leaned back in the booth, smiling.

"Well. This night turned out better than I expected when you showed up in my driveway."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Because I always have leftovers,” Sean explained with a smile. Anya was an exceedingly caring friend, and she was motherly; the moment she had learned about the telepath’s sweet tooth and his eating habits, he found himself inundated with brownies and cake and cookies. Cheesecake wasn’t a common offering, and thus he ate it less frequently. His blaming of Anya was good-natured, since he certainly had it within his ability go out and buy cheesecake whenever he wanted.

There was always something else to eat instead.

“Do you want to add a cheesecake tasting to the list?” The telepath queried with the merest raised eyebrow. They needn’t save that for a weekend (and their weekends were rapidly filling up with other plans). “And if you want to try to hold a cheesecake festival, I’m sure there would be community support. But we might want to open that up to include a general potluck and/or chili cook-off. Those tend to be more popular.”

They could convince Riley and Anya to participate in that, surely. Sean could try to teach Josh how to cook for it as well.

The telepath finished off his strawberry shortcake, resisting the brief image that popped into his mind of leaning over with a dollop of whipped cream on his finger and dabbing it on the other man’s nose. Fortunately, he had self-restraint.

And after taking the last sip of his coffee, he set down the mug and reached into his pocket for his wallet, for whenever the waiter returned.

He returned the other man’s smile and then inquired, “And what were you expecting?”

Of course, he hadn’t expected the night to end with this type of reconciliation either, but he’d had hope enough that they would be on good terms. That this had wildly exceeding his expectations was another matter.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Well, now you have another person to eat those leftovers with," Josh pointed out. He considered anything in Sean's pantry to be fair game even when visiting, because it was probably more nutritious than anything in his own cupboards. Not that he disliked the food he bought, but the fact remained that it was filled with preservatives and artificial flavoring and came out of boxes.

"Either a cheesecake tasting or buying a cheesecake." He wasn't too picky about that, really, cheesecake was cheesecake. "Although the idea of a chili cook-off is tempting." He would have balked at the idea of learning how to cook himself for such an event, had he been aware that was what Sean was considering. He'd not been terrifically successful in his early, abortive attempts to cook his own meals and instead of practicing further had instead learned which of his friends cooked and scheduled plans around their willingness to cook for him.

He opened his mouth to answer the question, then fell silent as the waiter approached with the bill, waiting until Sean had paid and the waiter had left them alone again before giving his friend an apologetic shrug and nervous smile.

"After our ahhh argument....I don't know, I suppose I thought I'd really done it this time, and you'd seen the light and were going to do what I couldn't do all those decades before."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The telepath smiled at the comment. “So I do.” He was happier about that than words could express. And while he considered everything in his pantry fair game for any of his visitors, it would be different for the food to not longer be fair game, but to simply be Josh’s. That thought also made him happy.

“Buying a cheesecake would be the most prudent, I assume,” Sean replied, since that could be solved with a trip to the bakery. However there was more entertainment value in the other. Certainly more socialization in a chili cook-off. “The chili cook-off is tempting. And we could easily get volunteers for that.

Sean glanced at the check when it was brought, and finding everything in order, handed over his credit card to the waiter, who disappeared to run it. When they were alone, he leaned forward slightly to listen to Josh’s explanation, and he immediately shook his head, denying that. He sighed softly. “It pains me when you speak that way.” He wanted Josh to understand that.

“There isn’t a light for me to see that could make me stop wanting to spend time with you. You are the person closest to me in this world. What happened the other day, and before, was troubling, and I needed some time to collect myself and to give you space as well. But having you leave my life has never been an option.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh was already considering how much fun a chili cook-off would be. The Community Field Day hadn't been the most spectacular success, but Pilot Ridge had been coming off both snow and half its citizens in the hospital, so it was only to be expected. A chili cook-off would surely go over well, especially considering how many of his friends cooked.

"I'm sure we could." He agreed happily. He loved events that brought the community together and sparked community involvement, and when they involved food then so much the better. If they could make it for a charity cause, then that would be a bonus. Perhaps funding for the local library was in order...

Sean's immediate dismissal of the idea he might want to end their friendship made him squirm uncomfortably and look away. He was glad of this, truly, but he wasn't entirely convinced that the telepath was seeing clearly; if he was, he would have realized a long time ago that he was better off without the attorney in his life.

But he didn't really want to talk about that on more than a superficial level, not now that they had reconciled, so he shrugged and mumbled. "It didn't happen, so..."

He trailed off, busying himself brushing crumbs off his lap with his napkin until the waiter returned with Sean's card before looking up again. "Shall we...?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The telepath was more willing to discuss this matter, because he thought the underlying perceptions merited discussion. They had begun to clear the air and to communicate; he didn’t view communication as a means to an end, the means to their reconciliation. Since they had reconciled, discussion became all the more important. He couldn’t allow their relationship to fall apart a second time due to an unwillingness to have earnest discussions.

He didn’t think he had it in him to go through that again. Considering what Josh had revealed, he didn’t think the other man did either.

But there would be other nights for such discussions. Now was a pleasant night, a night to simply enjoy the fact that they were together again, a night to look forward to what the future had to offer. Thus, he said, “No, it didn’t,” and left it for the moment.

When the waiter returned with the credit card, Sean slipped it back into his wallet. He then left a thirty-percent tip because he was in a wonderful mood, and regardless of whether the waiter was aware, he had contributed to improving Sean’s life. Setting down the pen, he met Josh’s eyes and nodded.

Rising to his feet, he offered Josh his hand.