Amulet (Janice)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had only met Janice Adams on New Year’s Eve of 2010, turning into 2011. That had been at her brother’s New Year’s party, which had been an eventful evening. The first half of the evening had been sober, spent discussing Morgan Tonaya’s boyfriend with Morgan’s mother Elaine. The second half of the evening had been spent drinking with Josh, and then apparently becoming a bit friendly.

Despite that, or perhaps because of it (given Janice’s personality), the two of them had slowly become friends. Sean had dropped Josh off, and picked Josh up from, work enough times to see Janice for brief conversations, and from there, they had started to spend time together recreationally. Nothing fancy, given how down-to-Earth Janice was, and how Sean was more comfortable being able to let his hair down in those atmospheres.

Both of them were free after work tonight, and Josh had plans to visit his mother. As such, Sean had made arrangements to meet Janice at Kali’s Café, since it served both food and alcohol, to get a bite to eat, and to talk. As typically happened, the telepath had managed to get down there a few minutes early, and so he’d claimed a booth for them and placed an order for the first round of drinks.

[Janice Adams]

Janice liked Sean a whole lot. Which wasn't that hard--Janice liked mostly anyone who was kind to Riley, and Sean was kind to everyone. He was also shockingly hilarious, which wasn't something Janice had expected when they had first met. He had seemed sort of solemn until Janice had started really talking to him. And now they were friends.

Janice had agreed readily to the arrangements when Sean proposed them. Now that Leila had left town to pursue an exciting political career and she and Mason were...not really an issue, her social life had really taken a downturn. Which didn't suit the naturally social Janice very well at all.

When she arrived at Kali's, Sean was already there, and she grinned and waved as greeting. "Hello," Janice chirped. "Thanks for grabbing a booth." She rubbed her hands together, pulling off her gloves and shrugging off her jacket. "November weather, am I right? Jeeze."

"So!" She said once she was comfortable, "how's your day been? Anything exciting happen today?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Shockingly hilarious was the type of assessment that might work its way into Sean’s epitaph, particularly if somehow he managed to survive Josh. It wasn’t necessarily what he wanted to advertise to Hammel at large, given that it was important for him to maintain the respect of the students.

Then again, that was undoubtedly why shockingly accompanied discovery of his sense of humor. Just as stories of his college exploits dashed faculty impressions of him as a saint, as Clarisse had once told Josh, and the attorney had passed on to him.

He returned the greeting with an equally wide smile and enthusiastic wave. “You’re welcome. The chairs here are a little hard on an old man’s back.”

That was an exaggeration, albeit a mild one. He joked about his age and the ailments which accompanied it, but his back truly did get stiff after too much sitting, and booths were more comfortable, as they had more room and were cushioned.

“Excitement at Hammel is very different from the rest of the world,” he reminded her. He shifted his glass out of the way to make more room on the table for her gloves, and for her to simply take up space as was her right. “Fires don’t even make us blink.”

Which was good, given Sam Rixon’s poor power control.

“But tell me about how things are going at the office.”

[Janice Adams]

Janice had always been impressed with Sean, but had also always dismissed the notion of him being a saint. Although the way Josh talked about him, you could never be sure. She was also pretty sure that you couldn't live in this town with the friends he had and be all dignified all the time.

"Aw c'mon." She grinned. "You're only as old as you feel, yeah? Although I've gotta say, our intern was making me feel ancient." she rubbed her temples. "Thank god, he's gone now." Bless whoever for that, too, Janice thought to herself. "What an atrocious mistake that was."

"Ew," Janice made a face. "I'm constantly surprised Hammel hasn't exploded or something by now. What with all the ludicrous stuff that always seems to happen. But I guess you guys are pretty prompt about that, I don't know." She paused for a moment as a server came, took their order, and then left. "I dunno how my poor brother ever managed. His level of absurdity was always pretty low."

"Well," Janice pillowed her chin in her hand, thinking about the office. "We finally got rid of the Vincent kid. Or he left. Or whatever, I don't even know, that's how happy I was to see him go. Man, I thought he was funny for a while! And then he kept fucking up all our shit all the time." She rolled her eyes, forgetting to use her Polite Language, as her mother used to say. "Way more work than was worth. Anyways, we'll probably try again in a few months, but with an actual interview process." She sighed. "Josh said you did warn him. Too bad we didn't listen." Janice shot him a wry grin.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Pity me, then. I usually feel old these days,” Sean said with a wistful sigh. “I’m sure the young me would ask why I let myself go and what I did to my face.” He didn’t often miss the beard, and he certainly didn’t miss the sideburns. Still, he was unrecognizable at times, unless one peered inward.

The telepath rolled his eyes at her insight. “Trust me when I say that it’s a testament to how well Hammel operates. Hormones and untrained superhuman powers are a volatile combination in the best of times.” Sean had experienced that for half his life at this stage. “I don’t miss puberty,” he added.

“His internship ended, and you’re both quite fortunate for that,” the telepath remarked with a shake of his head. He had listened to Josh’s stories about Vincent’s antics for almost a year, and it had been miserable from the first day. Of course, nothing that Josh said was surprising to Sean; he’d had to deal with Vincent’s behavior for years. And he’d had to continue doing so throughout the internship and for this past semester after it had ended, while Josh and Janice were free.

“Although,” he said with a quirk of his lips, “You can take comfort in knowing that you will never have an intern worse than Vincent. I think there’s a certain amount of liberation in that knowledge.”

[Janice Adams]

Janice laughed merrily into her hand. "Aw no, you look distinguished! Why do you say that?" She snickered some more. "And sorry, no sympathy for the old guy. You have Josh to uh...keep you young." She gave him a wink.

"God, I don't miss it either, and I didn't have superpowers." She grimaced. "I tip my hat to the Hammel staff. No wonder you guys sometimes get wasted." She was, of course, referring to the poker party Riley mentioned but once, almost three years ago. She wished dearly that she had more details, for the sake of hilarity.

"It's true!" She laughed. "I've now freed myself from that fear. I no longer fear what will become of us if we get a new one. It's like...oh gosh, did you hear once about some guys who buried themselves alive for a few days to overcome the fear of death? I mean, they died within like...four minutes, of course, because you can't live for days buried alive. But the point is that it's like being buried alive. I no longer fear bad interns." Janice was most definitely babbling, but that was just what she did with friends: talk about everything and anything that was on her mind.

"Anyways, gosh, we've talked about work rather quickly. I can't ask you how Josh is because I just saw Josh, I work with Josh. I can't ask you for terrible Hammel gossip in case you can't tell stories out of school." She pillowed her chin in her hand with a grin. "Dang, I dunno. I don't even have good work stories for you. Everything is sort of blown over. Oh! Are you excited for the holiday bash thing? That's coming up soon, right?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean’s smile turned into a grin, coupled with a chuckle. “And I’ll assure you that he does.” That was all that he would say on the matter, particularly in front of people who had borne witness to their behavior at certain parties.

“I appreciate the understanding,” he said, with a faux-solemn expression. There were valid reasons that the faculty occasionally sought refuge in liquor, many of them related directly to the stress of teaching at Hammel, and certain students in particular. Vincent came to mind immediately, and now Janice and Josh forever shared that bond with Hammel.

He tilted his head to the side slightly, listening as she described immersion therapy as related to Vincent. “I know of immersion therapy,” he explained, and then he shook his head. “Getting over fears isn’t worth working with Vincent Verax for a year.”

Nothing was.

Sean nodded, both to confirm that the Holiday Bash would soon be upon them, as well as to demonstrate that he was, in fact, excited for it. He was quite fond of that annual tradition, even if the last two had left something to be desired due to recent events and particular attendees. He held out hope that this year, he and Josh could simply drink and enjoy themselves without interruptions, and that they could do so without other concerns. “I am. I already bought toys for the donation program,” he said with a soft smile.

Buying toys never failed to bring a smile to his lips, even if the toys went to children that he would never meet.

“How about you?” He asked then, redirecting the conversation back to her. “Do you and Mason plan to attend this year?”

He hoped so, since the rule for parties was the more, the merrier.

“And you can ask me about Hammel. I censor anything that’s confidential,” he explained. That was how he managed conversations with non-Hammel friends, and with his nephew during visits.

[Janice Adams]

Janice grinned back, delighted and amused, but didn't continue the line of dialogue. They were cute, she decided for the millionth time, and she was glad that they had each other. And that Josh had someone who was a little more low-key to balance him out. She often wondered how Josh didn't have ulcers.

"Immersion therapy, that's what it's called!" She snapped her fingers and nodded. "Yeah, immersion therapy. But I agree. Man, what a trip. That was frigging frustrating. You know we still have messes to clean up because of him? Ugh." She rubbed her temples. "What a mistake."

Sean's comment made her grin. "That's a good idea. I'll go with Riley to toy shop. He likes that kind of stuff." It wasn't that Janice didn't like kids or shopping for cute kid toys. But it was far more fun with Riley, who was so enthusiastic about it.

"Yeah," Janice wiggled a little in her chair in excitement. "We're gonna go together, but probably gonna have dinner first. But we'll be by later. I look forward to it! Last year's was really fun." Especially because that was when they got together.

"Oh man what should I ask," she teased, pretending to consider it greatly. "Aw, now I have two people with all the Hammel gossip nowadays: you and Mason." Janice laughed. "I don't know why I keep bringing it up, especially since it's probably just work, you know, whatever. But I just remember being really curious for a really long time as a kid about the mysterious Hammel and all the secret stuff. Imagine my surprise when it wasn't that secret fancy."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean overheard her thought, and he considered the opinion flattering. Most people didn’t share Janice’s opinion of their relationship (at least when confronted with concrete examples as opposed to an abstract happiness for their general couplehood), particularly those who had seen him and Josh drink together at parties. They were two middle-aged men, and despite their attraction to one another, neither of them fit the societal ideals of “sexiness.” Still, the telepath was glad that they had one another, and his long-term goal was to help Josh cope with his high levels of anxiety.

One step at a time.

Sean then nodded to show that he did know, and that he also sympathized with her plight. “Josh told me,” he said, his expression also conveying sympathy for her. “He’s assured me that everything Vincent touched needs to be redone, and I can’t say that I’m surprised. At best, his ‘assistance’ is disastrous. At worst...” There was a reason that Vincent Verax’s name was notorious at Hammel.

Sean then smiled, encouraging the idea. “You should go and take him along. Monetary donations are always helpful around the holidays to pay for necessities, but the presents go a long way too.” The telepath had been fortunate enough to come from a family of means; he had never wanted for toys as a child. His unmet needs had been less tangible, all related to his telepathy and the inevitable consequences. “You could make a child or too very happy.”

That was the point of the holidays.

Sean’s expression turned knowing. Part of his side effects were that such matters were available to him all of the time, even if he wasn’t interested. However, he was glad that her relationship with Mason was going well, and he believed that everyone should take advantage of the fun atmosphere of the Bash as long as pants remained on. Even he and Josh could manage that. “I hope you have a great time, and I’ll look forward to seeing you there.”

He understood why it would evoke her curiosity, even if it was less interesting to him because it was his life and his job. “The grass is always greener,” he reminded her. “But if I can answer something, I will. To help satisfy your curiosity.”