Song for the Asking (Danny, Greg, Josh)

[Gregory Strickland]

“You strike me as the type,” he said most affectionately towards Sean. Truly, Sean was one of the kindest persons Greg had ever known. That’s what made it so lovely to tease him. Having friends over was just a good way to spend the time, there were no ill intentions involved. It’d be nice for Greg to know a few more people around here.

Greg thought about Addie, the lovely woman who took care of the grounds at Hammel. Between her, Danny, this Riley Adams, and himself, he was thinking about building a nice house. Those that really knew Greg could tell he was putting a plan into action, and would soon be contacting everyone. It would be fun, and it would be just what he needed. “Good to know,” he said simply, his mind somewhere else. He wasn’t trying to be rude, he was just getting excited.

“You see, Sean doesn’t know how to have fun,” he said in a secretive voice to Danny as Greg made to leave. Again, he was teasing. Poker, pinochle, bobbing for apples, or anything else would suit him just fine. “Poker then I think,” Greg said finishing off his first drink, not hesitant in the least. There, taking it easy wasn’t so bad. Looked like Josh had something to do. Greg really hoped the chips were red – red was his lucky color.

Greg shook his head ‘no’. “I’ve sort of been on break ever since I got here.” He smiled a bit, leaning forward. “Though I was thinking, when I was spacing out a moment or two ago, that it’d be nice to build a house here.” Money wasn’t an issue, and well, he really didn’t want to be anywhere else. Pilot Ridge was starting to feel like home. "But I'd need some help. A model builder, a landscaper... oh, and someone really good with flowers and trees and such." Hopefully the bait would be taken.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Yes, yes, of course,” Sean said dismissively at Greg as he rose from the arm of the sofa. “As Josh can attest, I spend hours every day primping in the mirror over my magnificent physique.” Then, for emphasis, he patted his stomach which was holding a few extra pounds and was certainly not the product of frequent workouts.

He perked up at the news that Danny actually knew how to play poker, which meant that they might be able to get a game going later tonight. That was exciting.

Then, with that, he left the room, disappearing into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on supper. After pulling everything out of the oven, the telepath went about bringing each dish into the dining room for serving. Fettuccine pesto with grilled chicken as the entrée (a favorite for entertaining because he made it well and it was easy enough while also varied and filling), with a fresh salad with Italian dressing, and bruschetta with tomato, basil, and mozzarella.

Sean wasn’t Italian, he didn’t claim to be Italian or to have any culinary training, but it was hard to turn down Italian food. Besides, he thought his cooking did a fair enough approximation.

Once the food was on the table, and he had filled the chaser glasses with water, he stepped back out into the living room. “We can migrate in for supper whenever you all want.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

While Danny and Greg discussed work Josh reluctantly removed himself from his seat, making a mental note of the drinks the other two men had so that he could properly refill them. He thus quite missed Danny's question about Pinochle, distracted as he was by playing host.

He so rarely got to play host anymore; not because he and Sean didn't have guests, but because in some ways he still considered the house to be Sean's, and thus when there were gatherings Sean was the host.

As was evidenced by the fact that he was keeping them on schedule, such as announcing that they could switch to the dining room now.

He turned toward Greg and Danny, who seemed to be getting on rather splendidly (even if their conversation was mostly about work) with a questioning glance. "I'm ready when everyone else is." He offered, moving in that direction.

They could just as easily converse elsewhere.

[Danny Silverman]

Danny laughed. “Nah. That’s not true. I could see why he wouldn’t want to play poker. When I was working on a set a couple of years ago, I bent my back in a way that had me doubled over for weeks. Eventually I had to get sent to physical therapy! It really hurt, too. But poker sounds like a good compromise, don’t you think? Although…if we’re gambling for real money, I’m gonna end up really broke.” Danny’s poker face didn’t exist. He had a knack for looking happy when he had a good hand and depressed when he didn’t and had a tendency to smile nervously when he was bluffing. It was completely hopeless. Well, unless he was already happy, and then he just smiled all the time and actually would get somewhere.

As Greg had predicted, Danny’s eyes lit up. “I know people who could help with that! And I’d love to help you with the model building, if you really decide to go through with it.” And then he could get Riley in on it too. He wasn’t sure about the flowers, but he thought Riley would be able to pick someone for that. “Sounds like you’ve got all the people you need right here, if you want!”

He glanced up at the invitation to dinner and nodded. “That’d be great, if we could. Also, could I, uh, get another drink?” He felt guilty for asking it. “Whatever you have is fine.” But it had tasted really good. Especially toward the end.

He moved into the dining room and blinked at the amount of food. “It looks delicious,” he remarked, turning to Sean with a grin. “Where did you learn to cook like this?”

[Gregory Strickland]

“Well Josh doesn’t seem to be complaining,” Greg said amiably, happy for his friends, despite their lack of ‘good physique’. Looks weren’t all that mattered anyways, not everyone was a super model and life would be boring if everyone was.

Greg smiled a bit, glad he was getting to know some new people that could help him out with his next big idea. “It’ll keep my mind and hands busy for a while I think. I’ll just grab your contact information later,” he said, being purely platonic for once in his life. Greg had a vision in his head and once that happened, it was hard not to follow through. “I just have to find somewhere to build...” He mused, getting lost in his thoughts again until dinner was served.

Settling himself at the table, Greg looked around at the spread and gave a low whistle. “Looks delicious,” he said agreed, but he couldn’t just leave it at that, “hopefully it tastes good as well.” Of course, it would, and Greg was already helping himself to the bruschetta. “Takes practice to make all this I’m sure,” he said, passing the bruschetta along to Danny, reaching for the salad, and then passing that along as well. “Can’t say I can cook worth a damn,” Greg said, smiling and laughing a little. He resisted the urge to ask for another drink as well. Not tonight.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

When the other men all migrated into the dining room, Sean retreated back there as well; after making eye contact with Josh to remedy the liquor situation. His partner had wanted a hosting duty, and thus he could play bartender for a while; Josh was as familiar with cocktails as Sean was, after all.

As a good host should, he waited until the other three men were seated before taking his own place at the table.

He smiled at Danny’s insistence that he would lose any poker games that they played. It was a possibility, of course, but that was also why poker was played between friends for low stakes. “If we played poker, it wouldn’t be for any serious money,” he assured the younger man. “And nobody here is looking to hustle anyone else.”

As much as they might joke about the contrary, they were all fine, upstanding citizens. And they certainly didn’t cheat at cards.

While the bruschetta was being passed around, Sean passed Josh the salad bowl so it could begin moving in the counter-clockwise direction.

“I hope it tastes half as good,” he said with a chuckle. He cooked well enough, but he would never be a professional. “And I picked it up here and there over the years. A little from Hammel; they had a good home economics teacher, and they still do. A little from my mother. A little from other people who had recipes to teach. And a little from necessity.”

Living alone meant he had to cook for himself. Unlike several other members of his social circle, living on microwave meals, sandwiches, and food shoved into a toaster was wholly unacceptable.

[Joshua Bernstein]

At Danny's request, and the subsequent non-verbal prompting from Sean, Josh made his way to the liquor cabinet. While he had only recently become interested in cooking anything beyond grilled cheese sandwiches, his interest in mixing alcohols had begun decades back, and so mixing his friend another cocktail was easy enough.

"I don't believe that Sean learned cooking," He scoffed as he brought the cocktail back to the table, setting it in front of Danny. "I think he came out of the womb with kitchen knowledge."

While his tone was teasing that was actually rather close to his actual beliefs; cooking surely was an innate skill that some people just possessed.

"Would you like anything else?" He turned his attention to Greg, not wanting to neglect his college friend in his refill duties.

"We don't even have to play for money, we could play for...paperclips or something. I think I have a box of ballpoint pens up in my room, you can never have too many of those in your office, right?"

[Danny Silverman]

“Oh, there’s beautiful plots,” Danny said enthusiastically. “I was looking into them when I first moved here, but unfortunately my business isn’t really the kind that lets me just up and buy a house.” Danny was fairly (ish) careful with his money, but renting his small studio was currently more efficient than getting his own place. And for now, he was okay with that. “I can show you around if you’d like!”

He glanced up at Josh, then grinned and thanked him for the drink—my, he was getting brave with these things, but he was hoping his tolerance level had actually gone up this time—then sipped at it absently as they talked about poker. He grinned.

“I only use pens when I run out of sculpting tools,” he admitted. With a cap on the tip they made quite nice lines, all considering. Or he used them to prop up pieces until he’d had time to properly glue them to the model—or as interior supports for really tall things. In fact, Danny couldn’t recall the last time he’d actually used a pen. Sketching, maybe? “But that sounds wonderful, if you don’t mind, Josh. I think I could stand losing ball point pens.”

[Gregory Strickland]

“Are you sure?” Greg asked Sean. “I might have picked up hustling as a new hobby,” he said with raised eyebrows and a bemused smirk. Somehow conning people out of their money didn’t seem like the hobby of choice for Greg.

Greg was a grown man, but if you put him in a kitchen you’d never know it. He raised his hand and shook his head ‘no’ at Josh’s offer. He was a bit surprised at himself, but he didn’t want to take his drinking slow tonight. He hadn’t always been so fond of liquor as he had been as of late. “We’re playing for office supplies? Excellent, I could always use more pens,” he smirked, “I could throw in some marbles!” Really, he had a collection of them so they were really valuable in his eyes.

“I’ve sort of sketched out what I want the house to look like already,” he said a little sheepishly between bites. “Plots though, I’d love to see those,” he said with a good natured smile. Yes, things were coming together nicely. There was hope left in this life yet. All that drama that had happened before seemed like a bad nightmare. This was what life was all about.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean rolled his eyes at Josh’s comment. When relaxing with friends, he could indulge in a playful eye-roll rather than setting the record straight or otherwise trying to make his partner’s comments comport with reality. He knew that Josh was (mostly) joking, and the fact that it was only mostly wasn’t something to call out in front of friends. As such, he said, “I also learned needlepoint in the womb, but I don’t advertise that.”

Then he focused on passing the dishes around the table, making sure that everyone was able to take as much fettuccine and salad and bruschetta as they desired. His goal for parties was to make sure that his guests ate and drank their fill.

The telepath was rather pleased with how the discussion about poker had manifested. They might actually be able to put together a game, which was exciting to him. Harmless poker between friends while enjoying a few drinks and a good meal. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend a party.

“Ballpoint pens, paperclips, and marbles. I think we can manage all of that. We can make it a scavenger hunt while I find the cards after supper.” That seemed reasonable to him. There was also no reason to gamble seriously, particularly not given how much liquor he’d set aside for this party.

“Would anyone like anything else?” He had to ask, since he was playing host.

[Joshua Bernstein]

As soon as dinner had finished Josh began clearing dishes off the table. Sean may have been the chef, but he insisted on doing his part, and that meant helping clean table and kitchen.

It was heartening to see that Danny and Greg were getting along so well, though that was no surprise, given that both men were so very friendly. And really, Josh was sure that it was impossible for anyone to dislike Greg, as charming as he was. Some things hadn't changed since college.

Dinner conversation, of course, had been dominated by Greg's charismatic personality, a personality even Josh's abundant extroversion couldn't compete with. But with his friends enjoying themselves he hadn't minded; instead, he had busied himself keeping the alcohol flowing, and passing around dishes whenever plates began to empty.

"So are we ready for our big game of poker?" He asked, stacking mostly empty plates in one arm. "I still need to find paperclips and pens, don't I?"

He maneuvered his way around the dining room table and into the kitchen, calling over his shoulder as he did so, "And if anyone need more wine or beer just ask!"

[Danny Silverman]

“Really?” Danny brightened at the idea. He wasn’t the largest fan of collecting marbles, but he did enjoy it and found it to be a fairly entertaining exercise, and it gave him fond memories of childhood, of which he valued very much. So pens and marbles were up for grabs. That was pretty wonderful. “I could throw in some clay,” he added, “but I’m not sure anyone but me would really want that anyways, so just let me know!”

“Oh really?” Danny’s expression screwed up into one of thoughtful imagination. “I could take a look and do some models. Free of charge, of course, but I just like to do it, so it’s always a pleasure.” He smiled sheepishly, then grinned again. “Oh, all right! We can do that!”

He was still cautiously sipping at his latest drink—he’d lost count, but it was beginning to get a little bit hazy around the edges—and he shook his head at Josh’s question.

“I’m okay,” he said, feeling pretty happy, “and ready to play! Can I help with anything? I can chip in pennies! If I can, uh, find my wallet somewhere… Can I help with the cleanup at least?”

[Gregory Strickland]

“Sorry to burst your bubble my friend, but I think you just did,” he said, smirking at Sean and all his silliness. Later that evening, Greg would be found making flyers of all the different hobbies Sean had picked up, and how he would be offering classes to anyone interested. No thanks necessary; Greg didn’t mind doing the legwork.

Greg laughed amiably, shaking his hand towards Danny. “I would pay where credit is deserved, it’s not problem.” And he took his projects quite seriously and didn’t expect a model builder of Danny’s calibre to waste his time on unpaid work. “I’ll let you take a look of the sketches.”

“We can have scavenger hunts, but no Twister?” He asked, feigning insult. Greg shook his head ‘no’ to needing anything else. No, he was quite content. He was heading towards the living room with no intentions of helping clean up. After being told no so many times, he decided it was better not to bother.

“Where’s the poker set?” He asked from the living room, finding it odd that he didn’t have a drink in his hand. Odd, and strangely good at the same time. He’d have another one later, and he had legs, all the better to help himself with.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“You don’t need to help clean up,” Sean assured Danny with a smile. “You and Greg are our guests.” He and Josh had the entire meal covered, as well as bartending, cleaning, and other tasks inherent in being hosts.

Sean rolled his eyes at Greg’s complaint, before he rose from the table to begin clearing away the dishes. However, he was beaten to the task by Josh, and he wouldn’t argue with his partner. “We get to have a scavenger hunt because it’s the means to an end, and because there’s no risk of anyone ending up in the E.R. tonight from having one. If you want to play Twister, you can host a Twister party next weekend.” While it wasn’t how the telepath wanted to spend an evening, he would encourage Greg to have that party, since it meant that he was having social activities. Sean wanted Greg to broaden his social circle.

“I think it’s upstairs,” the telepath called over his shoulder, as he walked in the direction of the stairs. His last recollection of playing had been on a lazy weekend afternoon with Josh, and they hadn’t left the bedroom for the game. “How about you and Danny get comfortable in the living room while I run up and get it?”

The telepath then reached out to brush Josh’s mind. Whichever one of us finishes first can resume playing bartender. Do you want another beer, or will you take a cocktail?

With that, Sean started up the stairs to the second floor, on a beeline to the bedroom.

[Joshua Bernstein]

I believe that a cocktail is more suited to poker Josh projected back at his partner. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like, to be able to communicate this way with everyone, not just with his closest friend. And then he wondered if even their communication felt different for Sean than it did for him, as he was only attempting to focus his thoughts on what he wanted to tell Sean, whereas for Sean this was an aspect of who he was.

However, he knew this curiosity would never be sated; he could only wonder and imagine, though imagination was bolstered by Sean's own attempts at description, and all the questions he had asked when they had first met, and he had been so enamored that he had needed to know everything about the telepath.

And been jealous of any other demands on his time. He was better about that now; better at containing those feelings, if not having less jealousy.

He thought he felt less jealousy.

Most of the time.

He certainly wasn't jealous of Greg, and his initial jealousy of Danny had worn away months ago. A good thing, since he quite liked his so-called fake twin.

Several trips were needed to ferry dishes in and out of the kitchen, and then there was time spent carefully putting away leftovers and then arranging dishes in the dishwasher before he could finally come out into the living room to see if the guests needed anything and, more importantly, if Sean had beat him to the task.