Coffee and Cupcakes (Sean)

[Mallory Reynolds]

Backdated to Monday


Mallory had spent a solid amount of time on Sunday baking up a storm. With classes now in full swing again and students to keep placated with treats, she’d been busy. She liked to start the week with a fun lesson, and baked examples ahead of time to show them before she sent them off to try their hands at it. This time... yeah, she’d gone overboard. Cupcakes everywhere.

After dropping off what she needed for her classes (plus a handful of extras for Aleks and his daughter), she’d packed up the rest back in the caddies and whisked them off to the staff lounge. She knew full well that she wasn’t the only one that left treats. She’d bumped into that nice chef multiple times now, but that was okay. She was happy to share her extras.

She kept the lids on to keep them from drying out, and placed them on the counter. After locating a scrap piece of a paper and a pen, she merrily scrawled out a note to place with them, inviting anyone who wanted one to please go ahead. At the bottom, she also promised that they were nut free in case anyone had allergies.

With her work done, she smiled to herself and made her way over to the coffee maker. Now she had herself organized for the day, coffee was a must.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Some days, Sean loved working at Hammel.

He always felt a sense of satisfaction from his work, knowing that he made a difference in the lives of students during their difficult adolescent years, sometimes suffering from social problems, or family problems, or academic problems, or the typical problems with puberty but exacerbated by the presence of meta-human powers (theirs and everyone else’s). Sometimes he felt stress because of the behavior of the students, or due to a difficult situation that a student suffered, or that one day every year that he had to deliver his annual sex education lecture.

Then, some days, the staff lounge was filled with baked goods. Baked goods that Sean hadn’t brought himself as the result of Josh’s nightly (more like a couple of nights per week at this point) baking endeavors.

When the psychiatrist had entered the staff lounge for a coffee break, he had found the coffee table brimming with cupcakes, and a fresh pot of dark roast in the coffeemaker. Doing what came naturally, Sean poured himself a cup of coffee, helped himself to a cupcake, and settled on the sofa.

Only a few moments later, the door opened and Mallory stepped through. He offered her a smile, waving with the hand that currently held one of the many cupcakes surrounding him.

[Mallory Reynolds]

Mallory was so happy to be back. While she’d enjoyed her time enough as a student again in University, she’d missed her students, and she’d missed teaching. Even though she now shared her classroom with Aleks, she didn’t really mind. He was plenty nice, and so far they’d encountered very little in the way of bumps. It would take time to really smooth out their schedules, but there was plenty of it to work with.

She had also missed her coworkers. Inevitably some had moved on, and new ones like Aleks had arrived, but she knew there were still a few she knew and thought fondly of. She’d look forward to getting to know the new staff as the year went along, and there wasn’t a better way she could think of than with baking.

After stepping away for a few moments to wait for the coffee and returning, she was delighted to see she wasn’t alone in the lounge anymore. Dr. Neville, or Sean, rather, now they were both adults, was always good company. Beaming, she heading to the coffeepot and filled her favorite Princess mug, added several doses of sugar, and came to join him on the couch. “Good morning Sean!” That, like she assumed for most former students, had taken some getting used to, but now it came as near-second nature. “I’m happy you found the cupcakes. I got, um… a little carried away on the weekend.” She offered a slightly sheepish smile as she stirred her coffee. “How have you been?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Aleks had seemed quite nice in the interactions that Sean had shared with the other man, which, admittedly, had been few. They occupied such different areas of the school that, outside of the occasional staff meeting or run-in while taking a break in the lounge that they had little cause to converse. However, it was nice to have Mallory back with them. Mallory had been a former student, and she had worked with the psychiatrist as the home economics teacher for longer than Aleks had been in the United States. Despite the age difference, Sean considered her a friend.

That camaraderie despite the age difference and experience gap took getting used to for most of the staff members, Sean included. By now it was second nature to expect the same people he counseled a year before to treat him as a peer once they joined the Hammel staff; but, back when he had first taken his job, it had been an adjustment to go from thinking of his former teachers as peers, complete with using their given names rather than surnames with titles. Except for Robert, but he had always been on a first-name basis with his trainer.

Sean shifted on the sofa to make room for her, offering her a smile as she joined him. “There’s no such thing as getting carried away when baking.”

That philosophy illustrated why he had love handles.

“I’ve been fine.” Quite fine in fact. “The weather is still nice enough that Josh and I went sailing this past weekend.”

[Mallory Reynolds]

Aleks had seemed nice enough when she’d run into him her first day back. Hopefully they would find some kind of harmony between them, the students, and their classes. It was a bit of a switch, going from teaching to student to back to teaching, but it was nice to be back. She’d missed Hammel. It was practically her second home at this point.

Sean was one of those people that made it feel like a home, the staff more or less one big family. The students came and went, but turnover in staff was blissfully rare. Sean was one of the constants when it came to the school, for both students as well as staff. Mallory had been lucky enough to avoid detentions or any real reason to meet with him as a student, but as an adult he was a comforting presence. He reminded her a bit of her own father. He had a quiet patience to him as well.

“Oh, you’re just saying that. Trust me. There’s such a thing.” It had been a lot of work, but it had been fun. Especially the decorating.

“Ohh, sailing. That must be so nice. That’s one thing I really miss about living in Maine. My dad and brothers all fish, so we were pretty much raised on the water. It was wonderful.” Being on the boat had always been fun for her. The fishing and baiting, not so much, but her brothers had delighted in it. “Does Josh enjoy the water too?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean sipped his coffee and then shook his head. “I’ve yet to see it.” He appreciated baked goods far too much to declare that there was such a thing as too many baked goods, particularly since baking didn’t fall into the type of harmful addiction that could destroy lives. At worst, it led to a few additional pastries around the house that one could share with neighbors or coworkers.

For instance, the telepath had one of those cupcakes in his other hand at this moment.

He then smiled as she regaled him with stories of growing up in a fishing family in Maine. “It sounds wonderful,” he replied, and he truly thought that. He had liked his upbringing, but for certain political leanings and the undercurrent of distress that every member of his family had felt about his powers. He certainly had no regrets about being William Neville’s son, and, moreover, he wasn’t much of a fisherman but for the catch and release he did with Greg or Josh on occasion, but he did so love being out on the water. Some of his happiest childhood memories came from sailing with his father.

His smile widened when she asked about his partner, and he nodded in reply. “He does. I got him into sailing a long time ago, and sometimes we’ll go out for the entire afternoon.” They would pack a lunch and a cooler of beverages and then simply enjoy the lake. Sometimes they read in silence together, sometimes they talked or listened to music or took photos, and sometimes they played catch and release.

[Mallory Reynolds]

Taking a quick sip of coffee, she smiled behind her mug. “I’m just glad everyone appreciates them here.” It never failed – putting treats in the staff lounge was a sure-fire way to see them disappear. It worked to a degree in the classroom too, but there was a limit to how much her students could actually inhale, or how much she really wanted them bouncing off the walls. To that end, many of the extras ended up in the staff lounge.

“Oh, it was.” Even if she and CeCe weren’t exactly good with the fishing part, they’d loved being on the boats with their father and brothers. Living on the coast of Maine had certainly had its’ perks, such as easy water access and boats, as well as lots of fresh seafood. Her mother’s love of cooking had done a lot to inspire Mallory, and she’d delighted in learning how to bake and cook by her side.

“That’s wonderful he likes it too. There isn’t much like being out on the water. My Dad never did sailing, but if he wasn’t working he would take us all out on the fishing boat for the day.” She and CeCe had often done things like sunbathe on the desk while her brothers played with the equipment and generally ran around causing trouble.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean’s eyes lit up with the enthusiasm he reserved for his sweet tooth. “They most certainly are appreciated.” While the telepath avoided speaking for other people when he could avoid doing so, he knew that he didn’t only speak for himself in this moment. He knew that beyond the telepathy, simply because he came to the staff lounge at least twice each day in between sessions, and whatever baked goods were there in the morning, either brought by him courtesy of Josh’s baking homework or by another person, always disappeared by the end of the day, and Sean wasn’t the only one responsible for that. He never ate entire platters of baked goods, not ones that had been intended for everyone.

The telepath nodded in agreement while sipping his coffee; it was nice that Josh had come to enjoy sailing. His partner had taken to it quickly, even if the younger man had expressed some reticence about the more adventurous aspects of sailing until he had grown his sea legs. They always enjoyed the trips out onto the lake, and they enjoyed one another’s company; that was all that mattered.

He then smiled as she described her childhood memories. “That sounds lovely. I went sailing with my father when I was a boy.” Although that was decades ago at this point. "Memories like that are precious."

[Mallory Reynolds]

”Oh good. I’m so glad.” Just knowing she made everyone else’s day just that little bit better with surprise cupcakes or muffins or whatever else she’d experimented with over the weekend made her happy. She certainly didn’t need it all laying around her house, and it was kind to share anyway.

“Oh, I agree. There was nothing better than knowing Dad was going to have a day off, because we all knew it meant playtime on the boat. He taught us all to fish, but my sister and I never took to it. We had much more fun sunbathing and playing cards than messing around with bait like the boys did.” Her brothers had delighted in the grosser elements of fishing, such as playing with worms and other kinds of bait, and chasing their sisters around with their hard won fish.

“He still takes us out now, if we’re all home together. It’s harder because I don’t make it back as often as my siblings do, but we make it a party when we’re all under one roof.” Her mother would cook up a storm and shoo everyone out of the kitchen, while her father and brothers were happy to do the fishing.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had never been one of those boys who had liked gross things for the sake of being gross, and that had followed him into adulthood. Perhaps it had been his personality, since he had always been introspective, mild-mannered, compassionate, and he had been one of those boys whom adults had adored...until his powers manifested. Perhaps it had been a result of his upbringing, since his family had been upper-middle class, his father had been a respected surgeon, he had spent so much time with his mother, he only had one sibling – his younger sister, and they had all been exemplary Irish Catholics. Perhaps it had been a combination of all of the above.

Whatever it was, he didn’t play with bait. He did, however, like playing card games, and so the telepath asked, “What card games do you play?”

That, more than throwing worms at other people, served as a great form of bonding.

He smiled at the mental image she conjured of when she and her siblings were home for visits as one large family. “That sounds nice,” he admitted. His parents had passed several years ago, and he wasn’t on speaking terms with his sister, and so he didn’t have that experience. Instead, he participated in Josh’s family gatherings, which was close, since there were three siblings and two other spouses and then five nieces and nephews, and most everyone was extroverted and everyone was friendly and welcoming.

[Mallory Reynolds]

Growing up on the coast and having access to a fishing boat had given her mischievous brothers ample access to gross things, which had seemed to delight the two of them. They’d always been ones for rolling in the dirt and playing with bugs and generally being boys. Mallory and CeCe had always been much more content indoors, away from the boys.

“Oh, we played lots. Everything from Go Fish to Twenty One when we were kids and a little bit of poker when we were older.” She adopted a slightly more mischievous expression. “That one we weren’t supposed to tell our mother about.” Taking a sip from her mug, she tipped her head in thought. “Oh, we played Cheat a lot too.” That one had taken up a lot of their time, especially on rainy days.

“It is. Doesn’t happen often enough, but that makes it more special, I think.” Shifting slightly to look at Sean better, she smiled sweetly. “How is Josh? I should have asked earlier.” Here she was carrying on about her family when she should have been asking after his.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean nodded in approval, particularly with the poker. While he wasn’t a big gambler, and he would never play at a casino, he saw nothing wrong with playing with friends for low-stakes. “I like poker,” he admitted, before taking another sip of his coffee. “I also like pinochle; do you know how to play?”

The psychiatrist smiled again upon hearing her mention his partner. “He’s doing well.” They were both doing well, given that both of them were healthy, they had stable careers, and their relationship was as rock-solid as ever. They had no major complaints. “He chose not to try to run for town council this year.” Although the telepath would never interfere with his partner’s political ambitions or community engagement, he had to admit that he enjoyed having the other man home more often this autumn, in stark contrast to the previous two when they had all manner of campaign events to host and/or attend.

There was always next year.

“This weekend, we plan to pick some apples and pumpkins at the orchard outside of town.” It would make a nice change of pace from their typical weekend plans, and they could use their spoils as ingredients, in pies, or in the noodle kugel recipe that Josh’s family favored, or in soup or stuffing.

[Mallory Reynolds]

Mallory brightened at his approval over her experience with games. “I don’t, actually. Is it anything like poker?” She was always interested in learning new things. Perhaps she’d look it up during her free period.

“Oh good, that’s wonderful.” Knowing Josh was doing well was important, after all. He was important to Sean, which meant he was important to the rest of the Hammel staff. “That’s too bad about the town council though. He’d be great at it.” Still, it was probably nice to have him at home more.

“That sounds lovely! The orchards are such a nice place to spent a weekend.” Nine times out of ten she would end up with far more than she needed and the results would end up in the staff lounge. “I was thinking about doing some design work this weekend. Put my education to use.” She smiled and sipped at her drink. “I’m going to try to get the seniors into some designing projects later in the year and see how that goes.” Some of her seniors she’d had since their first year at Hammel, and they were the ones she thought might do well with some more free rein.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean shook his head in the negative to answer the question. “Not unless you count the fact that both games have tournaments; they don’t use the same type of deck.” Both decks used the standard diamonds-clubs-hearts-spades suits and the same types of face cards, but, beyond that, they were quite different. A poker deck was the same deck of cards most people grew up with and which other games had adapted to use, including gin, whist, hearts, war, or even solitaire. By contrast, pinochle used a special deck consisting of two sets each of the four face cards, tens, and nines in each suit. The game required far more strategy than poker and relied less on chance, even though chance played a role.

The telepath nodded then. “He would be, but I think it’s a mixed blessing. I like having him home more often.” The campaign trail was exhausting, even for something as ultimately meaningless as a town council position in a town as small as Pilot Ridge. Moreover, PUSE had brought out the worst in some of the voters, which, in turn, upset both Josh and Sean. They didn’t need the additional stress right now, and they had more than enough money.

Perhaps in a few years, or when they began transitioning towards retirement. If Josh spent less time in court, then local politics might prove more rewarding.

The telepath smiled and nodded again. “It should be; I’m looking forward to it.” Both for the fruits they would pick as well as for the time alone with his partner in a location that wasn’t their home, either of their workplaces, or the businesses where they ran errands on weekends.

At her declaration, Sean tilted his head slightly to convey his interest. “What type of designing will you have them do?”

[Mallory Reynolds]

Mallory tilted her head in thought as Sean answered her. Adding another game to her repertoire meant more fun and games back home. “Would you be willing to teach me sometime, when we both have some time to spare?” She knew that Sean had a busy schedule with the kids, and sometimes with the staff. She didn’t want to steal time away from them, but if they both had some free time, she’d be happy to learn.

“I’m sure you do. It wouldn’t be easy having him out of the house so much.” If she had a spouse, she’d feel the same, she was sure. Of course, she’d be happy they were pursuing something they were passionate about, and she’d support them all she could, but she’d still miss them.

At his question, she grinned happily and set down her mug. She knew her enthusiasm for the subject was likely to end in spillage if she kept hold of it. “I was going to show them the process of going from drawing to pattern making to sewing their creations. I thought it would make a great end of year senior project.” Since her time at school, she had been practicing, and felt like she had it down well enough to teach it to them, too. “Whatever they want to try to design, if they can think it up, I think they can pull it off.” With a lot of support, of course. But she had faith in them. “What do you think?”