Hey, Operator (Sean)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Thank you.” Although Sean wouldn’t be home for several days, he still appreciated that his partner would do a bit of grocery shopping. The telepath had done their weekly trip before going on the retreat, but he kept an ongoing list by the refrigerator of staples that they needed to replenish. While Josh didn’t always display the best observation skills for the “little things” in life, he knew that the other man could keep track of what he used up, so that they could replenish before, or when, Sean returned home from New Hampshire.

Then, just like that, the tone and topic of the conversation shifted from practical concerns and loneliness to more intimate matters. The standard way to cope with loneliness when separated from one’s partner. Josh was fortunate that the telepath knew him so well and found him so attractive; not everyone would be able to distinguish a suggestive voice from a lifelong smoker (and with a New York accent) from his regular speaking voice, and, among those who could, not all of them would appreciate it.

Sean could distinguish, and he certainly appreciated it. However, often, his first role in their flirtatious banter took the guise of feigning disinterest or obliviousness. “Is that a fact?”

[Joshua Bernstein]

"I can see the chocolate smeared all over your face," Josh continued on with this fantasy, since Sean had asked, which was a signal he should go on. "I'm sure you need help getting it all off. What sort of partner would I be if I didn't offer my services?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean was glad that he had walked as far from the campfire, and thus the students and other faculty, as he had. That way, he could enjoy this conversation with his partner and participate fully. While he could school his expression and keep himself from blushing while in public, it meant that he wouldn’t have to worry about stalling while he ran for the cabin or elsewhere after Josh had made his opening gambit.

“I do have a tendency to make a mess...” He mused aloud, although that was a lie. As with many other aspects of the telepath’s life, he was organized, polite, and tidy. However, his habits didn’t matter when engaging in flirtation and fantasy. He and Josh could imagine whatever they wanted, particularly since they were in no position to act on anything, when separated by hundreds of miles. “So what type of services do you offer?"

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh finished piling food onto his plate and carried it to the kitchen table, phone still tucked between his ear and his shoulder in order to keep his hands free.

"I offer full cleaning services," He began, setting the plate down and then returning to the cabinets in order to find a fork and spoon. "I'll reach all those places you didn't even know needed cleaning."

Truthfully his housekeeping (when not directed by Sean) was atrocious, but if he could pretend to be a spy or Sean could pretend to be a rock star then he could pretend that he was a wonderful housekeeper for the purposes of this phone call.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean could pretend to be a rock star as long as he didn’t try to sing, which was easy enough because he never felt tempted to sing, and Josh knew better than to go down the road of trying to goad him during more intimate moments. (Josh might tolerate his voice better than anyone else, but the attorney knew bad singing when he heard it, and the telepath’s singing voice was indefensible.) By comparison, Josh kept an immaculate house when left to his own devices. So they could certainly pretend.

Even if, in reality, Sean, not Josh, was the reason their household was organized and functional. Such was the purpose of role play.

“Is that so?” The telepath’s voice lowered a bit, growing slightly huskier as they entered more flirtatious territory. “Every last hard to reach place?”

Leave it to them to make a pretend conversation about housekeeping turn intimate.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Oh yes," Josh assured his partner. "You won't find another offer as satisfying as mine. I'll get down on hands and knees to scrub clean every last inch."

He settled comfortably in his chair as he added, "you can't clean without a little exertion."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

For at least the half-dozenth time since answering his phone only a few minutes ago, Sean found himself grateful that he’d opted to take the call privately, as far away from the students and the communal campfire as he could while still being able to find his way back from the woods alone in the dark. One could attribute it to how much the telepath loved Josh, but the attorney had the ability to make almost any topic interesting when he put his mind to it.

If only they weren’t separated by hundreds of miles tonight.

He rested his free hand, the one not holding his cellphone, on his knee, while he pressed the phone to his ear with his other hand. “I’m glad to hear that you won’t shy away from a bit of dirt or elbow grease.” He kept his tone even, despite the grin that spread across his lips at the flirtation.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh spread his feet out under the table. "Oh, I'm definitely not shy," he agreed. Now that he was sitting down for dinner he was too distracted to eat; his food was going to get cold.

He could warm it up again.

"I'll do anything necessary for customer satisfaction."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Briefly, only briefly, Sean wondered what any of the older adults in his life would think if they could see or hear him now. Fifty-eight years old and giddy like a teenager at the prospect of a semi-lewd, entendre-laden telephone call with his fifty-five-year-old spouse. Since the only person he cared about in this moment was Josh, he let that train of thought slip to the wayside.

He had a role to play.

“Anything?” He inquired, as though he doubted the veracity of that pledge. “Is that a guarantee?”

Josh was not a great housekeeper, a topic that the telepath had occasionally tried to visit with the younger man before pushing it to the wayside. It wasn’t as though the attorney never helped, and, Sean knew, Josh’s lack of participation in some areas came from a lack of awareness rather than from negligence or malice. The thought of him as an attentive, and somewhat randy, butler had its appeal.

Perhaps eroticizing the experience would make Josh more aware of the housekeeping tasks. It had worked in some other areas of their lives.

That was, after all, how he had helped the other man with his anatomy homework close to four decades ago.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Anything," Josh repeated, leaning back in his chair, "And if you're not satisfied with my work then I'll try again as many times as you require."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean would be embarrassed if anyone could overhear them. Not because he found anything inherently shameful in their banter, or in their relationship, but because this type of flirtation was intended for the two of them. Even with their experiment in different personas at the club this past Valentine’s Day, they had kept it quiet, not broadcasting to the world their specifics, and that was while they were in costume.

Also, he didn’t work with any of the men in that club. Certainly none of his students had been there, at a club that catered exclusively to middle-aged and older men seeking other men of that same age.

But the telepath thought he was far enough away from the camp grounds that he needn’t worry about interlopers. And that meant he could put aside his professionalism and let down his hair.

If only he had a cabin to himself, he could steer this into more fruitful ground. But the accommodations were designed for four adults per cabin, and there was nothing Sean could do about that. Instead, he closed his eyes and allowed his imagination to work, thinking of what his partner might look like in the present, and, further, if this was a sincere occupation.

“I have rigorous standards,” he warned, feigning seriousness. “You might have to try five or six times to meet my expectations.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Five or six times?" Josh repeated incredulously, "You're certainly a hard customer, aren't you? But don't you worry, I won't rest until you're completely satisfied. That's my motto, you know. No rest until the customer is satisfied. I don't think you'll find anyone better at this job than me. Perhaps you would like a demonstration sometime?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“I warned you that I was,” Sean confirmed, his calm, almost severe tone a stark contrast to the smile on his face, although his partner couldn’t see that, due to the hundreds of miles between them and the fact that they were using cell phones rather than Skype. The telepath had lamented on past trips the fact that his powers didn’t include astral projection, and the fact that, despite his long and impressive range, there was no way to bridge the gap between them with telepathy when they were in different states.

It was only five days, he reminded himself. They had survived that before, and they would survive it again. They had survived longer, albeit before they had rekindled their relationship. He was calm and sure that this wouldn’t destroy either of them, but he still missed seeing Josh’s face and sleeping beside him at night, rather than alone in a cramped bunk bed.

“And I think I would like a demonstration. Just to prove that you’re as good as you say, and that there isn’t anyone better. That’s a big boast after all.”

A boast that Josh need never worry was untrue, at least as far as their relationship was concerned. Sean wanted nobody apart from his partner, who knew him best of all, and whom he loved above all others.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"It's simply a fact," Josh countered with a confidence he would never have felt had he not been playing a role. He certainly didn't worry about his performance the way he had decades ago when he'd been young and inexperienced but he also wouldn't claim to be the best of anything.

But this was a game, and boasting was simply part and parcel of it.

"I hope you don't mind if I take off my shirt while I work. It gets so hot when working this hard."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

As with many other areas of life, Sean had a more nuanced view of intimacy than many other people, particularly many other men – gay, straight, and bisexual alike. He possessed a quiet confidence, bolstered by decades of pleasing his partners, combined with the fact that he genuinely enjoyed doing so. That was the secret to his confidence; he didn’t view intimacy as something to be performed but something to be enjoyed. He craved the closeness and the shared experience just as much as the pleasure itself, if not more so, and that allowed for a perspective shift.

He wanted his partners to feel pleasure and enjoy themselves, not because it was a man’s duty, or because it was a reflection on his abilities or performance, but because he genuinely wanted them to enjoy themselves, and because he took pleasure in that, just as surely as he thought the reverse was true. It allowed him to explore and learn and repeat what he knew his partners enjoyed without a thought about anything else.

And the telepathy was an asset as well.

Not that he thought in terms of “best” but rather “different” and “enjoyable.” All of that said, Josh was his favorite lover, and, now that they were together, he only had eyes for the attorney. He hadn’t thought about anyone else since 2011, an echo of a similar sentiment he had shared with the other man decades ago, when they had lived in the Village.

And, for the purposes of this banter, he found the false confidence endearing.

“I wouldn’t mind,” he replied, and he leaned forward slightly where he sat, shifting to cradle the phone more carefully. “But I hope you don’t mind that I’ll have to follow you around to make sure you meet my exacting standards.” Which meant that, in this fantasy scenario, he would be all but on top of the shirtless man.