Time Warp: The 59th Street Bridge Song (Josh)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

((OOC: Also known as "Feeling Groovy."))


June 1979.


They had signed the least to begin on the first of the month, but the landlord had been kind enough to let them have furniture deliveries a few days early, since the apartment was otherwise vacated. It made the actual process of moving a little more pleasant, since, come the actual moving day, they already had beds, desks, and a kitchen table waiting for them.

First and last months’ rent had been due at signing the lease; half had come from Sean’s parents, and the other half from Josh’s parents. That had helped to make it feel more equal between the parent sets, and it had also helped to make it feel like theirs for the young men.

Paying, and even the furniture deliveries, had paled in that regard when compared with the actual act of moving. Getting the boxes up the stairs wasn’t too bad; they were both young and in shape, and besides, Josh’s brother Matthew had come downtown to help them with the task. Between the three of them, it had only taken a couple of hours to move everything upstairs. Sean had offered to buy Matt pizza – since there was no way to cook with the apartment a mess – to thank him, but the other young man had politely refused. Instead, he had wished Sean and Josh luck with getting everything organized and left the apartment after taking a rest break.

That had left the two of them alone in the apartment. Sean had shut the door to give them privacy, and then he had watched from the window as Matt Bernstein eventually exited the front door of the apartment building and retreated down the street towards the subway.

As soon as he lost sight of Josh’s brother, he moved from the window and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend. Drawing him close, he kissed him softly, before saying, “It’s all ours. We never have to worry about privacy again.”

Living with Greg had been fine, since their blond friend had no reason to judge them. Still, they were subject to University housing policies, and not everyone at the school was so accepting. Likewise, Josh’s roommate hadn’t been in the know. Having an apartment of their own was much better.

[Joshua Bernstein]

An apartment of his very own. Of their own.

The thought made him feel warm with affection for the entire world, affectionate enough that he had protested when Matt insisted on leaving. Still, it was understandable; he had plans with his girlfriend for later that day. Josh wouldn't have broken plans with Sean for anything, and so he had reluctantly allowed that his brother should leave after all.

That meant he could turn his affection on Sean, who, it appeared, was also in the throws of warm fuzziness regarding the fact that they now properly owned (well, rented) their very own apartment.

No longer would he have to worry about Greg making remarks when he stayed over for breakfast; no longer did he have to worry about what his roommate would say if he found out.

He returned Sean's embrace secure in the knowledge that nobody else would burst in on them unannounced, grinning in response to his boyfriend's remarks.

"It's almost like a dream. If someone pinches me I'll wake up." He commented, still lost in wonder. He had his own apartment.

With Sean.

"We may have to ask Greg to spend the night some, I don't know if I can get used to not having him toss innuendo at us over breakfast every morning."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Once the kiss had broken, Sean pulled back to allow them to breathe, but he made no effort to otherwise end the physical contact. He enjoyed having his arms wrapped around Josh far too much for that, as much as he enjoyed the privacy and the secure knowledge that they had privacy. There was a lock on the door and nobody but the two of them (and their landlord) had the keys.

It was perfect.

Even with all of the boxes strewn about and the undeniable fact that it would take hours, if not days, to put everything in their proper places. There would be plenty of time for that after they had taken a few moments to savor their good fortune.

Although they couldn’t wait too many days to finish the unpacking, since the telepath was sure that his parents would want to come by to check in on them. Having a messy apartment was an insufficient excuse. But that didn’t matter in the moment.

Smiling down at his boyfriend, Sean said, “We can invite him over as much as you want. But you should give living alone a try first. For one thing, we don’t have to get dressed to eat breakfast if it’s just the two of us.”

He would never cook that way, but if they were only having cereal or fruit...

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh's eyes widened at the image Sean's suggestion produced. That thought had never occurred to him -- he had never had the luxury of not getting dressed in the morning, having always lived with first with his family and then with his college roommate. The idea of rolling out of bed and not immediately changing for the day was interesting, made more so by the fact that he really enjoyed the thought of admiring Sean while he ate breakfast.

He was very easily pleased where Sean was involved.

"Oh." He whispered breathlessly, finding the room suddenly stifling, "I didn't think about that. Maybe....maybe Greg can stay at his own place."

It wasn't as if their friend had any lack of other beds to stay in, in any event; he was very popular, after all.

"I suppose..." He added reluctantly, unwilling to break the contact, "we should start unpacking. My parents want to come by later this week..."

And he was sure that Sean's parents, would, as well. Both the Bernstein and Neville families, for all their differences, were very interested and involved in the lives of their children.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Admittedly, Sean had never been in a position to do that more than once or twice. When he had dated his last girlfriend, they’d been able to pull it off at her apartment since her roommate essentially had lived at her boyfriend’s place. Otherwise, he had been in much the same position as Josh: family, roommates, and others around whom a state of perpetual undress was inappropriate at best and rude at worst.

He smiled at Josh’s reaction and leaned in to kiss his cheek softly. “I thought you might agree.”

That didn’t mean Greg couldn’t visit sometimes, but there were definite perks to having the space to themselves.

At his boyfriend’s reminder about unpacking, the telepath glanced around the living room, stacked with boxes. The bedrooms were just as bad, but at least the bathroom only had a couple of boxes. That was...something.

Sean’s parents might have gone a little overboard in helping him buy some things. And he had so many books and albums to unpack...

“You’re right. We should get started on that.” Although he, too, was reluctant to let Josh out of his arms. But he did so anyway, so that they could begin the task.

“Did you want to start with the bedrooms?”

They might feel more accomplished once all of the clothing was put away.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Josh agreed with enthusiasm. He would have agreed to anything Sean had suggested; he was just so excited to have his own apartment.

Of course, he would have been happier had there only been one bedroom, but they had appearances to maintain. The extra bedroom could function as a guest bedroom, however, so it wasn't a total loss, but really when all he wanted was to get finished as soon as possible so that he could focus on more rewarding tasks it seemed like kind of a pain.

"Should we start with yours?"

They only needed one primary bedroom, which, given Sean's size and the size of his bed versus Josh's, meant Sean's room. And it would feel nice to at least not have boxes all around while they were sleeping.

Nothing to knock over on accident.

He didn't wait for an answer before tugging at the telepath's hand toward the room in question. "It'll be like home before you know it!"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean also would have been happier if there had only been one bedroom. They didn’t need the additional space, and a one-bedroom apartment would be cheaper than the two-bedroom; the money could be better served on groceries or other bills or necessities. Of course, there was no way to communicate the fact that he and Josh planned to share a bedroom to his parents; coming out simply wasn’t an option. Then again, if one of them was a woman, they never would have been allowed to rent an apartment together, not until after they were married.

In that respect, it was better this way. Even if they had a room they wouldn’t use except for the occasional overnight guest that wasn’t a sibling or other relative.

The telepath nodded his assent with the suggestion. “We might as well. It’ll take longer.” They would have to put away all of his things and most of Josh’s as well in that room, since that would be their bedroom. Likewise, they had to put up all of their important decorations in that room, since that was where they would be in a position to appreciate the décor.

He allowed himself to be tugged towards the bedroom, stepping over boxes carefully to prevent tripping and bringing Josh down with him. The bedroom was bereft besides the unmade bed and the dresser, and of course stacks of boxes, but that would change.

“I think we only need to put enough of your clothes in your room to make it look like you’re living there, and then we can keep everything else here,” he declared, as he went to the stack of boxes labeled “clothing” to begin tearing them open. “We can keep our winter clothes in your closet to make it look like it’s being used more and to make more room here for the stuff we’ll actually need.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

"That's such a good idea!" Josh enthused, impressed with Sean's intelligence. He had evidently given this so much thought; his boyfriend remained the smartest person he knew. He didn't think that would ever have occurred to him, but it made so much sense.

"Sooo do you think I should ferry all the winter clothes over before we start unpacking for real?" He asked, peering into the box Sean was ripping open. That looked like button up shirts; no winter clothes there. The younger boy shrugged and began to open up another of the boxes.

"It's going to be so nice when everything is all put together," He opined happily, already envisioning how familiar and comfortable their apartment would look once they had unpacked. He hoped it wouldn't take too long.

"I think we should do the bathroom next," He added as he began to unpack the trousers in the box he had opened, "I think we'll both need a shower after all this work."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean, months ago, had assumed that Josh would grow out of his excessive, albeit flattering, praise phase. He’d been incorrect in that assumption, although he told himself that Josh was getting better about it. At least most of his overly-praised-fill diatribes were confined to his thoughts. Mostly. Sometimes.

“Only if you want to,” he answered his boyfriend’s question about the winter clothes. “Otherwise, we can just work around them and toss the empty boxes into the living room until we’re done.” Either would work as far as he was concerned.

The telepath glanced at the box he had just opened, finding it filled with sleeved shirts. That meant they needed to find clothes hangers to put these in the closet. “Do you remember what box we put the clothes hangers in?” He asked, while casting about the room for a box duly labeled that might jump out at him.

He didn’t see it, because there were simply too many boxes.

Unfortunate, because they wouldn’t be able to put away anything in the closet until they found the hangers. So he moved on to the next box, hoping to find either hangers or something to fold into the drawers.

Sean then nodded in agreement with both Josh’s suggestion and his assessment. “That’s fine with me. We can break it in together.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh accepted Sean's suggestion with a simple, "Okay." He saw no reason to exert himself more than need be; there was so much to do as it was. Instead, he folded trousers, until the telepath inquired about hangers.

"I think I saw it!" He responded, eager to be helpful; it was also true. He had noticed the head of a hanger poking from the corner of a poor, beat up cardboard box that probably would be thrown out at the end of their moving adventure.

But he saw no reason they would need boxes after this; he had no plans to move anytime soon.

He put aside the trousers he had been folding, stepping carefully around the room, expecting the edges of all the boxes until he spied the one he was looking for.

"Here it is!" He announced triumphantly, tugging the top of the box open and handing Sean a handful of hangers all tangled together.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean took the ball (not the most accurate description) of hangers from his boyfriend with a grateful smile. “Thanks,” he said, before setting them down on the box of shirts. He took a couple of minutes to yank various edges out of spaces within the hangers, until all of them were separate and were in a relatively neat pile. He moved those to the floor by his feet and then began to slip shirts around them.

Each shirt was added to a hanger, which was then laid out neatly atop another box. When he finished with this armful, he would bring all of them over to the closet en masse. It was more efficient that way, and it also minimized the chance of him tripping over a box and stabbing himself with a wire hanger.

As he went about his task, he smiled over at his boyfriend. “We should have a housewarming party this weekend.” Granted, the weekend was rapidly approaching, but he saw no reason that they couldn’t finish unpacking by Sunday. It didn’t have to be a formal party, but one for their friends to enjoy the new space.

“We can invite Greg and Daphne and Dave and Sondra...” All of their college friends, whom they hadn’t seen as a group since graduation. Which had also been a party but of a different type.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Hangers discovered, Josh returned his attention to the boxes surrounding them. His attention had been distracted by his search, and thus he quite forgot that he already had an open box to sort through. Instead he opened one to the left of the box of hangers, finding the plethora of posters that had decorated their respective dorms.

"How do you wanna hang these?" He questioned, pulling out Sean's treasured poster of Audrey Hepburn. "Hammer and nails or tape?"

Tape might ruin their posters, not to mention the wall, but he didn't know where the hammer and nails were at the moment. If that was the preferred method of hanging he might have to put them back and unpack a different box until they could find the toolbox.

At the mention of a party he perked up, excited, as always, about the prospect of socializing.

"Yes! That's such a great idea! We can supply alcohol and pizza and maybe see if the bakery down the street is any good!"

Baked goods and alcohol were some of Josh's favorite things, right after Sean and parties.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean peered over the rising pile of shirts when Josh asked the question. He noticed that his boyfriend was discussing the posters, and it posed a good question. He also could have sworn that there was a box of thumbtacks somewhere that they could use as a middle ground. “Didn’t we pack thumbtacks?”

Not that those were helpful if they didn’t know where they’d put them. Then again, if they didn’t have anything to hang the posters with, they could just lay them on the bed and come back to the task when they found thumbtacks or tape or nails.

The question of how also gave rise to the question of where. Decorating for two was more difficult than decorating for one, since they had to share space. And while they agreed on much, they didn’t agree on everything.

Like Audrey.

Sean knew Josh didn’t have the same affection for her as he had, and he didn’t want to make his boyfriend stare at her face all day. Still, he did want to hang it up. “Do you know where you wanted to put everything?

The telepath was also glad to know that his boyfriend was excited about a party, although he hadn’t expected a different reaction. Josh did love to socialize. “That works for me. And if the bakery isn’t very good, we’ll find one that is.”

Sub-par baked goods were simply intolerable to the telepath.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Yeah, somewhere," Josh acknowledged, scrunching up his face in thought as he pondered where the thumbtacks might have ended up. Not with the posters, or it might have occurred to him that they could be used together.

There wasn't even any guarantee that the box they were in had ended up in this bedroom, and so he decided to shelve that task for now.

"Mmm. Wherever they all fit?" He suggested tentatively. He hadn't really had a plan when he had a room to himself, so he didn't see why he would need one now. They would just cover the walls until they didn't have any more room, or they didn't have any more posters. Whichever came first.

"You know what this means, right?" His expression was serious as he left the box of posters, surveying the room until he spotted the box of trousers he had abandoned. He tiptoed around the remaining boxes s he made his way back over to them.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Judging by the way Josh seemingly abandoned the posters where they were, Sean assumed that his boyfriend had reached the same conclusion that he had. Namely that they could wait to decorate until they found thumbtacks or another reliable way of hanging posters.

It also appeared that the younger boy had few preferences regarding the way they decorated. Sean still wanted to be courteous with his posters and didn’t want to taunt Josh with reminders about crushes. While the telepath didn’t care in the slightest about different stages of celebrity infatuation, he knew that Josh did. His boyfriend pretended not, but he’d made enough remarks, and thought enough thoughts, such that Sean knew he did.

He could think of somewhere to put the poster when they reached that task.

Finishing with the shirts, he grabbed them carefully and tiptoed around the boxes to arrive at the closet. Then, two by two, shirts on hangers were placed in the closet. It was only the start, but it was a start, and that made him smile.

He repeated the process until all of the shirts in that one box were hung. Then he moved on to the next box, tearing it open to find underwear. That would be a quick enough task.

“What does it mean?” He asked, peering over at Josh when he asked the question.