The Gay Men Club (closed)

[Joshua Bernstein]

The entire backyard, which always appeared so massive when empty, had been taken over by lawn chairs and grills and guests.

So. Many. Guests.

Josh was friends with most of them; Cobalt looked uncomfortable, though that was no surprise. He made no secret about his dislike of Sean, and thus Josh was simply grateful he'd attended at all. He'd seen very little of Danny since the photograph incident, which was unfortunate; he hoped that this cook out could result in putting that behind them.

Dr. Jones, of course, had brought his goat with him. He evidently took Gladys with him everywhere, so it was a good thing that this gathering was held outside. The familiar, friendly greeting with which he and Sean had greeted one another had lead to a flush-cheeked, empty-stomached feeling that had resulted in a strained smile on his part.

He recognized neither James Campbell nor his husband, Chase, though he was familiar enough with their names. Sean had mentioned them many times before. He was also unfamiliar with Bradley, though the fact that he was uncomfortable with one of the guests (even when he shouldn't be; he had made up with Griff, after all, but switching mindsets was so difficult) and didn't even know three of them didn't bother him, though. He would be friends with all of them by the end of the evening.

Emma was out visiting friends, which he felt was for the best; she probably would not have fun hanging around a bunch of middle aged men having a cook out. She was a nice enough young woman, even if there were times he felt flashes of discomfort around her, memories of another time he had stayed with Sean while he had a young house guest. A young blond woman with mascara applied thickly, pale skinned and thin, barely into adulthood. He'd not been moved in for long enough to entirely consider Sean's house his, and the presence of Emma so soon in gave him an awkward feeling of deja vu.

Not that he would ever mention this.

Particularly not while at a party. This was a happy, friend-filled occasion!

Because he wasn't allowed near the grill (and didn't want to be near it, for that matter) he weaved his way over to Cobalt, giving the smaller attorney a wide smile.

"Cobalt! So glad you could make it!" He held out a can of Yuengling, wet with condensation. He'd never seen his friend drink alcohol, but that was no reason not to offer him a beer anyway. "Have you seen Ben?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean liked throwing house parties, but this past year had made that more difficult. This summer had also been difficult, between surprises at Hammel, sudden silent treatment and other personal matters, and then hurricanes and cleanup. However, the yard had been reconstructed thanks to Riley’s skills. And with autumn upon them, they had only a bit longer before the weather would turn too unpleasant for an outdoor house party. As such, when the topic of a house party came up, there had been almost no discussion.

A trip to the grocery store to stock up on meat for the grill and side dishes and snacks and alcohol and desserts...the car had been stuffed but that was the point. The point was fun, the point was spending time with friends, the point was limiting himself to the equivalent of four drinks and making up the difference in cookies.

He knew everyone on the guest list, which was fortunate since this was his house. He was somewhat amazed that Cobalt had agreed to come, but he was grateful on Sean’s behalf, and aside from a quick, polite greeting, he resolved to give the short man a wide berth.

That was easily accomplished, considering how many people were there and the fact that he had to keep his eye on the grill. It had been a while since he’d last had occasion to have this many people over and to cook for them; the last time there had been this large a congregation, it had been in the winter in anticipation of M.S.A.D…and that had been takeout and serious, rather than a barbecue and all smiles. Also there had been women last time; it wasn’t unnoticed that there were no women here, and that everyone was at least a three (or higher) on the Kinsey scale. It reminded him of parties with Greg and Orion in the 80s, except everyone was more mature now.

They’d set up the stereo to play outdoors on the speakers, and he’d told Bradley when the other man had arrived that if he wanted to change the music, he was welcome to do so.

Otherwise, he was content to listen to the Rolling Stones, with a scotch and soda in one hand and the tongs in the other for turning over the meat. He’d assured Danny when the other bespectacled man had arrived that the hotdogs were Hebrew National and thus Kosher; additionally, there were other options including hamburgers, chicken, and ribs because this was a party.

The telepath was also wearing his grilling apron, which was typical except that it read in large letters Telepaths do it better, with smaller print underneath which read Grilling that is. It had been a present from Greg, and since the other man wasn’t here, Sean thought it appropriate to wear it so that his friend was here in spirit. Besides, everyone here was at least thirty-five years old and could live with exposure to one somewhat colorful joke.

So he cooked and greeted everyone, and conversed with anyone who stopped by his otherwise lonely little fire pit.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff had the largest stack of goodies it was humanly possible to carry when one was burdened with a goat. He'd brought a large victoria sponge cake, several bottles of wine, some seafood skewers he'd made himself, a set of scones and a pork pie. He was trying to fly the flag for the UK at this meeting, anyway. He'd settled in easily, and was walking around introducing Gladys to everyone at the party - including Cobalt, when he realised he hadn't greeted Josh yet.

He was about to go over when he noticed he was talking to Cobalt, and turned mid walk to hover uncomfortably near Sean. "Hi!" He said cheerily, looking over at the barbecue. "Looks delicious." He said gently, lifting Gladys up so she could get a better look. "Look sweetheart!" The goat merely bleated and took to munching on Griff's beard. Maybe if it had been lettuce or bread on there, then she would have leapt on the damn thing. He was semi-relieved she didn't. He didn't want his baby turning into the appetiser.

He did notice his two most favourite men in the world round near the flower-side of the garden and gave an incredibly eager wave to them. He wanted to tell them he'd managed to find a new arts and crafts shop in town and wanted to take them both there as soon as possible. Maybe tomorrow afternoon? He shrugged to himself, then peered over Sean's shoulder again, managing to grab a light coke (he was making an effort, at least) and sipping it.

"Anything I can do to help?" He offered, feeling a little uncomfortable just standing around. He wanted to DO something that wasn't nursing Gladys away from everyone's clothing.

[Cobalt Weaver]

This could potentially be the worst idea ever.

Cobalt didn't like parties. He didn't like people. The only reason he was even here was because Josh had all but pled for him to come over. So here he was. At Sean's house. With a bunch of people he barely knew--or worse, didn't know at all. At a cookout...thing. And it wasn't even so much his dislike of Sean that was making him uncomfortable. It was the fact that he was surrounded by people he didn't know, like or was barely acquainted with. This was terrible, and his social anxiety was acting up.

He jumped a little when Josh approached him. "Oh. Hey. Yeah, I told you I would." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Um. Not here. I haven't talked to him in a while." He hoped Josh wouldn't ask why.

"No thanks." He shook his head at the proffered can of beer, "So, ah..." He glanced around, at Sean talking to Griff, at that ridiculous goat, "...You having fun?" This was so awkward. And he knew Josh the best.

[Bradley Reeves]

Bradley arrived at the party balancing a tray of deviled eggs on one hand and a bowl of pasta salad in the other. He also had a bottle of wine tucked under his arm. It had taken longer than usual for him to get ready since he hadn’t met several of the other guest Sean had mentioned were coming and he was worried that he was a bit late. But it seemed that he was right on time. He smiled at James and Chase, attempting to wave with the hand that was holding the pasta salad, before looking for a spot to set down the food he had brought.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at Sean’s apron when he got close enough to read it. “Nice,” he told his co-worker. “Where can I set these down? Also, my mother made me swear to inform you that the eggs are her recipe. I’m not allowed to take any credit.” When the man offered to let Bradley change the music, he politely declined. Although if he’d known ahead of time, he might have brought something along. “Perhaps after some singing lessons, you can be the entertainment for the next get-together?” he joked.

After finding a place for the food, Bradley looked around the yard at the other guest. Although he was a bit apprehensive about so many strange faces, he was eager to expand his circle of friends. Nothing better than good food with good people and---

Dear Lord! Is that a goat?

For a moment, Bradley was ready to bolt. What kind of people prepared their dinner in the company of farm animals? Certainly James, a fellow neat-freak, wouldn’t allow that kind of activity. But as Bradley looked on, he noticed that the animal acted more like a small dog than anything else. At least it wasn’t jumping up on the tables or terrorizing the guest. If fact, it was sort of cute in an out-of-place sort of way.

Still keeping an eye on the goat, Bradley walked over to where James was standing. Might as well start with a person he was already fairly comfortable with.

“Good evening,” he said as he approached him. “Lovely weather for a cookout. Do you know that man?” he asked, gesturing towards the man and his pet goat. He still wasn’t sure what to make of the unusual pair.

[Dr. James Campbell]

"Ew. Jamie, don't put that in it."

"It's in the recipe, Chase. And it's just zucchini."

"But it's gross."

"You know I sneak vegetables into just about everything I make for you, right?"

"Yeah, but you're making this for other people."

"It's a chop salad, and this is how it's made. What else would you suggest bringing?"

"Beer."

Despite Chase's whining about it, zucchini had made its way into the chopped salad James made for the cookout, though they did bring along some beer and a trifle as well. (Chase liking two of the three things brought along was eventually declared good enough.) They'd said goodbye and left Ginny some money to get pizza with Niko, and had headed over to Sean's house.

The first thing James had noticed when he'd looked around was that everyone at the party--save for Sean and Chase--was gay. (And considering both the exceptions were in same-sex relationships, they might as well count as gay too.) The second thing he noticed was that Cobalt Weaver, the attorney who had helped them with Niko's adoption, was there. The third thing was that a man was carrying a goat around like a small dog.

Seriously. Not for the first time, James wondered how Sean was friends with so many people.

The man--a doctor, apparently--had come over and introduced himself, and James had managed to stay on the far side of his husband from him the whole time. (And had been particularly perturbed when Chase had fed the zucchini he'd picked out of his serving of salad and fed it to the goat. And yes, James was refusing to hold his husband's hand until he washed it.) So when their coworker approached, the recruiter nodded. "He's a friend of Sean's, named Griff. He's a doctor in town." He took a drink from his bottle of beer--couldn't drink canned drinks; he tasted the metal--and gestured towards the diminutive lawyer. "And that man is named Cobalt, but I don't know the others."

[Mitya Makarov]

Gifts were always difficult. The food was absolutely fine; he had figured out right after being invited that pelmeni would be the easiest thing to make. It wasn't really that much of an effort to make them from scratch and they were a lot less polarising than other Russian foods. Since the definition of the dish was essentially 'dough stuffed with interesting food and boiled or fried or whatever', he could make a variety and then everyone could be happy. But being semi-traditional, he still felt that he should bring gifts for the hosts. It was this part that was most difficult. He had always hated bringing flowers, because there were rules for flowers. And foodstuffs did not always make great gifts because of allergies. Alcohol was a safe choice, but then what kind of alcohol? And weren't there religious things to think about? Things that were expensive were usually a no, and a new wallet didn't seem like something either host needed. Mitya always thought meticulously about these things, which was why he could not leave any of this until the last minute. He had almost stayed up all night drawing intricate mind maps for the gift-buying process, and the separation of each type of pelmeni was done ever so carefully. Not even a corner of two different types touched.

Eventually, the Russian gave up and bought a shiny new set of serving dishes for the food he was bringing. That could be their gift. By the time he'd arrived, people were already milling about and chatting, and instantly, he felt very uncomfortable. He'd waved hello to the people he knew and tried to give nice, firm (and slightly difficult, what with the load he was carrying) handshakes to those he didn't as he made his way over to where the food was being prepared.

For some reason he felt it was somehow appropriate to attempt a slight bow towards Dr. Neville and the man he didn't really know... and the goat. It was an interesting start, if nothing else. "Dr. Neville, thank you," he began, though he was looking at the goat. "For allowing me to come. I, er..." He brandished the heavy box and silently wondered why he wasn't using telekinesis for this. "I brought pelmeni, with serving dishes... They're a gift, to you and to Josh." Feeling as though he really did not belong at such a function, he cleared his throat. "Is there somewhere I can put them? And can I help you with anything?"

Once that was taken care of, he turned to the person with the goat and offered his hand. "Mitya Makarov; it's a pleasure." Looking down at the pet, he held back a grin. "She... doesn't bite or anything, does she?" He was taking a guess with the gender of the animal and kind of hoped he wouldn't be set upon by it for guessing wrongly.

[Danny Silverman]

Danny knew…half of the people here. That was a step, right? Actually, it was more than knew! He was good friends with Cobalt (of course), Sean, Josh, Griff and even Riley—although he didn’t know if the man had decided to come or if Riley even knew Sean at all—and so if the others came from the school…well, it was always good to meet more people. He would not be nervous. Nope.

He’d brought chips. Most of the people here could cook better than he could, so he figured that was safe. But he’d also bought a few extremely expensive avocados (buying them had been one of the few times that he’d missed California) and tomatoes to make salsa and guacamole, because that could be managed without a stove or an oven and just with a knife and some patience.

He’d been dropping them at the table when Sean had spoken to him, and he’d smiled, pleased that Sean had actually remembered, and had thanked the man profusely before grabbing a bottle of water. He’d said hi to Josh, nodded to Cobalt who was being ambushed by Josh (that was meant as no offense to either party, it was just Cobalt looked so unhappy about talking to anyone that Danny’s mind couldn’t help making the comparison), and grinned at Griff. Then, of course, Riley came, and he instantly moved to greet his friend with a grin.

“It’s good to see you!” he said happily. He knew it hadn’t been long…but it still was true. “How’s the business going and everything? And your candle-holder?”

[Josef Muller]

Josef…wasn’t altogether sure why he’d come to this. He was in nice clothes again. Twice in one week was practically unheard of for him, and he kept having the nervous urge to tug on his collar. He knew Josh. He knew Cobalt as well, although he had the feeling that the lawyer didn’t really like him. That was fine. Josef was fairly used to people not liking him. Or…had been. In any case, he didn’t spend enough time with the lawyer to care. He only knew Sean from that…interesting experience with the treasure hunt, and everyone else—well, he was just going to have to make do. He slipped in late, carefully balancing a tray of cookies, brownies and scones on one shoulder. He deposited them on the table with a nod to the host, then fetched a beer and went to stand a little ways away from the rest of the crowd to drink it. Unless something came up, he was going to play the observer for today and be glad of it.

[Riley Adams]

After personally doing the good doctor's backyard for the past few weeks, Riley knew the way to the house like the back of his hand. With a plate of marinated chicken wings and assorted barbecue foods, Riley made his way over to Sean's home.

By the time he reached there, it was practically filled with half the town's middle aged population. Okay so that was an exaggeration but really not by much. He went over to set the chicken by the pit and thanked Sean for inviting him before moving over to the other side of the garden in the hopes of finding people he knew.

But one person who already knew him found him first and he was grateful. He could have hugged Danny right then and there but that might be a tad awkward considering he saw the man as more than a friend but they were still not at...that point yet.

"Hi Danny!" Riley greeted back with as much enthusiasm as the younger man. "Good to see you too! Everything's great. I'm working on a job in Burlington so I might not be around here so often." He looked up in time to see Griff wave towards them. Riley waved back with a huge grin. So it seems that he knew at least five of the people here. That was swell.

When he saw Cobalt with Josh, Riley waved at them both. He could talk to them later. If they were free of course! But for now he was more than content with staying near Danny. "And yourself? We should talk to Griff about the camping trip. I feel really bad canceling on him at the last minute the last time. What with the hurricane coming down and so many people calling in...he'll understand right?"

[John Thornton]

"What is it again?"

"Just a get together, there'll be teachers from Hammel there, and you can meet Cobalt and Riley and everyone..."

"Which teachers?"

"I don't know, some of Sean's friends."

"You two are throwing this together? So you're moving in with him? Roommates or something? Bit old for that arn't you?"

"Yeah... something like that."

He should have brought more scotch. That was his first thought as John managed to spy Josh and Sean in the crowd of mostly unfamiliar people and weave his way through with a few gruff "Excuse me"s. He'd been at this house before, once, to be debriefed before that horrifying day at that terrorist compound, but apart from that he hadn't really talked to Dr Neville much. Telepaths made him uncomfortable.

"Ah, happy housewarming," Thornton said a little stiffly, holding out the bag with the bottle of single malt. "I didn't really know what else to bring..." Cooking was not exactly something he did in large amounts; more then two people was more then he could manage. "There are a lot of people here," he added, glancing at Josh with a raised eyebrow.

There were a few things that Thornton was missing here, and they all involved the men holding hands around the garden. Yes, he was completely oblivious to the fact that he had just ruined what was otherwise a pretty completely lavender party. "Doctor Neville," he nodded, then turned and looked down at a rather short man standing nearby. This man had beer. That seemed like an excellent idea.

He scanned the garden looking for where he could find one for himself, then did a mild double take at what looked like... well, a goat. On the lawn.

"Wait, is that a goat?" The englishman said slowly to Josh and Sean and, well, the short angry looking man. His brows lowered in confusion as he managed to find a long neck and pull the lid off. "Is this... is that a normal thing?"

It was America after all, maybe they were going to kill and eat it. He was not one to make assumptions.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Is that so?" Josh squinted at Cobalt in curiosity, wondering what had happened, exactly, but deciding against probing further. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, so it wouldn't do to remind his friend of any lover's spats. A shame, really, as looking around he thought Ben was the only person on the guest list who hadn't showed up.

"I'm glad you could make it." He took a sip of his beer, waving at Danny and Riley in greeting, then gestured toward the picnic table covered in food, some prepared by Sean but some brought by guests. "Feel up to some appetizers?"

He would have lead the charge himself, but he was intercepted by John Thornton as he passed the grill.

"John! Glad to see you could make it." It was unlikely that John would have appreciated it had he known that Josh thought he ought to fit in with the rest of the group. Josh' gaydar wasn't necessarily the best. His eyes lit up at the housewarming gift, and he smiled in delight at his friend. "That's so generous, thank you."

It was amazing that all his friends had felt it necessary to bring some manner of food or drink, even though the invitation hadn't requested this at all.

Then, unsurprisingly, ,John commented on the presence of Gladys. "Ah, no, Dr. Jones is the only person I know who owns a goat." He admitted, following the trainer's gaze, "But he's from Wales, I believe, perhaps goats are a common pet there."

He shrugged as if to say Who knows, because he certainly didn't, before he caught sight of Josef hovering to one side. "Josef!" He called out, waving for the other man to come over, "Don't be shy, come join us."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean didn’t care for stereotypes for similar reasons to Josh’s discomfort with them: they resulted in Othering and reduced individuals to molds they often didn’t fit. However...

There was a societal expectation that the group of men to which all of their guests belonged would go out of their way to prepare and bring food to this cookout, even though it wasn’t a potluck. And the guests, one by one, had exceeded that expectation.

As the guests came up with the food they had brought, he directed them to the row of picnic tables that had been pushed together to provide the makeshift buffet. He did the same with Bradley, although he also smiled at his friend’s joke. “If you’ll ever be willing to give me a passing grade in singing, I could make the attempt.” That was...unlikely. And Sean didn’t want to scare his guests away. “The apron is a gift from an old friend,” he explained, before he gestured at the tables and Bradley went to set down the food he brought and comingle.

And when Griff came up to greet him, he greeted the other man affectionately. At the question, he lifted the hand with the tongs, gesturing vaguely at the grill. “Unless you want to take a turn flipping burgers, I don’t know how much you can do.”

And Gladys was nibbling Griff’s beard; it wouldn’t be an outing with Gladys if she didn’t do that. Sean had expectations of the goat as well.

Mitya’s arrival was met with a gentle smile from the telepath, who set down his beer to take the dishes (and food) that the Russian had brought with him. “Please, call me Sean, and I’m quite happy to see that you came,” he reassured the other man. He knew that Mitya was uncomfortable with his telepathy, and with the embarrassing incident from several months ago, but Sean intended to win him over yet; besides, he blamed Josh for that incident, although he had forgiven him. “And this was very considerate of you,” he added, smiling down at the pelmeni, but meaning the dishes he intended as a gift. “They can go on the serving table. And unless you want a turn at the grill, you can just relax. Would you like a drink?”

There was certainly more than enough to drink; any party that Sean and Josh might throw together had beverages as a priority.

“Hello John” the telepath greeted the trainer. And hearing his thought, he gestured at the drink table. “The beer is over there; help yourself.”

He let Josh field the question about goats. And Griff could defend himself on that point.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

When the invitation was extended to him for a housewarming cookout/party thing, Ben was thrilled and was also a bit uncomfortable, seeing that he would be meeting up with people he didn't know and also all the people who were involved in the intervention. On the plus side, the invitation was from both Josh and Sean which meant they finally resolved their issue...right?

He got dressed fairly quickly into a dark blue long sleeve, which he rolled up to his elbow, shirt and jeans and brought with him his lasagna that he was sure would be enough for a full house. Hopefully.

The first person he saw was Cobalt and he gave a small awkward smile to the man before joining Sean at the grill. "Hey, Sean. Thanks for the invitation. So sorry I'm late." He gave the older man a sheepish grin before holding up the casserole dish. "Peace offering. Although, seeing all this food, I think it's rendered quite moot. Should I put this inside?" He asked.

[OOC: Bitty post ftw!]

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff laughed in admittance that there probably wasn't anything he could do, and offered a small shrug. "I could make us all a cup of tea, but we have beer, so perhaps that would be a waste of time." He smiled, giving Gladys a little scratch. He did swat her away from his beard as he held her in his arms, but he knew it was folly. Nearly as soon as the goat was away from his beard it was back on again, nibbling.

"I hope the seafood skewers are alright." He added, before blinking in surprise and putting on his best smile as a new person he'd never met appeared.

"Oh no, she doesn't bite." He said honestly, grinning. "I'm Griff Jones, I work at the local doctors practice." The doctor somehow managed to juggle Gladys so he could offer a hand out to shake, then nodded down. "This is Gladys, she's ever so friendly, but she does like to nibble." He paused, then, to get the goat away from his facial hair once more. "Gladys, say hello."

The goat seemed to turn at that moment and offered a small bleat, before returning to the patch of scruff she was currently trimming, her little goat tail flickering. "You can pet her if you'd like, she loves the attention." He was lucky enough not to catch the repeated questions about why there was a goat at the party. He might have gotten somewhat upset and had to make an announcement.

"Hello!" Griff added eagerly when Ben joined the fray around the barbecue. "I don't think we've met, I'm Griff, and this is ... Mitya." He did have to think a moment, mostly because the name was clearly Russian and Griff's pronunciation of Russian still left a lot to be desired. This was a nice idea. Now all he needed to do was try and stop the goat rumours and everything else would go swimmingly.