Event: Ugly Sweater Party!

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Although Sean and Josh had arrived at the LGBT Youth Center at the same time (as tended to happen when carpooling), the telepath had disappeared into the back almost immediately, leaving his partner to find a place to volunteer.

It was what happened when the psychiatrist had to deal with seasonal depression in his students – not merely at Hammel but everywhere. Vermont had that effect on people, and the force of the holiday season on teenagers and their social isolation was often exacerbated on those who weren’t out to their families. Or else those who were out but had to pretend otherwise to survive the holidays.

Sean was familiar with that from personal experience.

The crisis was averted, and after a good talk, he brought the student into the party room proper. He made sure the boy found somewhere to occupy himself, and then the psychiatrist immediately sought out his partner.

Sean had no particular love for ugly sweaters, but he did enjoy Christmas as a secular holiday; he was also long-used to Josh’s feelings on the subject, and so he had opted for a non-denominational sweater to counterbalance what he expected from everyone else, and to lend a bit of solidarity to Josh without wearing someone else’s religious and cultural heritage on his chest (literally). The end result was a red and white Festivus sweater his nephew had ordered for him after the telepath had mentioned the party in casual conversation.

Sometimes he worried about how Ryan chose to spend his money.

He came up behind Josh and wrapped an arm around his shoulders (nothing inappropriate in front of the teenagers). Although, he did project a question to the other man. Is that a candy cane in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Then, seeing Marnie, he offered her a wide smile. “And how are you enjoying the party so far?”

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Miss Sullivan! Hot cocoa?" Josh greeted his renter with a smile, raising his bag of marshmallows in her direction. At her question he gave a small shrug; this season had been much less intense than the last holiday season, which was all for the better. Perhaps he should be grateful he hadn't been elected after all. "Things are well. And yourself? Any exciting holiday plans?"

When Sean arrived Josh tilted his head slightly, trying to look behind him at his partner. You'll have to see for yourself later..

Out loud he asked, "Hot cocoa? Or is it time to get the sweater contest started?"

[Deleted]

Their small group was growing, Sunar tended to have that effect when they went places together. For some reason, his roommate was convinced that he was somehow this great person that everyone should be friends with and Devyn was hardly very sure he was anything close to that ideal. He certainly tried to be and for the most part, he succeeded though sometimes he also failed... and rather miserably too.

He nodded to their newest addition, a little sheepish of the way Sunar had introduced him. Devyn lifted his hand in another little half wave and mumbled out a greeting, smiling sympathetically when Grady burned his tongue. "Hate when that happens."

It was a good thing the girl found Sunar's jokes to be funny otherwise they would be in a rather tense situation because he knew they were due for plenty of them before the night was over with.

[Marnie Sullivan]

Marnie had only just arrived and barely spoken to anyone, but she smiled gamely anyway as she accepted the mug of cocoa Mr. Bernstein was offering.

"It's great, I love ugly sweater parties," she told them, "wouldn't miss it." Never mind how much she'd had to psych herself up to get here. Dr. Neville knew perfectly well how her last visit had ended, which had been a source been a source of embarrassment for months. Perhaps if Marnie hadn't avoided the center since then it wouldn't be on her mind now - oh who was she kidding, of course it would - but by now he'd proven no intent to hold it over her head forever. For now, she thought, sipping her cocoa, she would just try to have fun. Apparently she was just in time for the contest!

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean’s smile widened when he heard his partner’s mental reply. I’ll make sure to take a look later, if you’ll give me a show, he projected in response. There would be plenty of time for that later.

With that, he offered his full attention to Marnie. He had to chaperone, and, moreover, he was genuinely happy to see his tenant and former student come to this party. His disappointment at finding her using a fake ID and sneaking into 21+-clubs with older girls aside, he thought she needed the social support. Her parents weren’t nearby, she was a freshly-minted college student, and, he, too, had struggled with bisexuality, albeit at an older age than she did.

Having friends in the community could make all the difference when trying to find oneself.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He was; he wanted her to have a good time. And while ugly sweaters weren’t his favorite part of the holiday season by any stretch of the imagination, everyone had appeared so thrilled by the party suggestion, and the psychiatrist considered this a raging success.

Nodding towards her sweater, he asked, “Did you make that yourself?” Some of the sweaters were homemade, and the pattern didn’t look so complicated as to indicate that it had to be store-bought.

[Grady Mitchellson]

Grady grinned at Sunar's reaction. He wondered sometimes how the other boy had so much energy and positiveness about him. Maybe he slept really well? Or just consumed a lot of sugar? It couldn't be natural.

"Uh...nice to meet ya Joelle," Grady said, holding out his hand for her to shake. He'd been working on trying to be mindful about giving a good, firm handshake lately. Wasn't that the mark of a good man, or something? "And yeah I've seen you around at school." He was pretty sure Devyn was in a few of his classes but since Grady was pretty quiet and didn't really pay attention to his classmates he wasn't sure which classes.

"Thanks," he said to the compliment. He had to laugh a little. He was sure he looked weird. "What's your brother's name?"

He blew on his cocoa to try to cool it down a little and smiled at Devyn's comment. It was nice to feel like people were chill here and accepting, even with his awkwardness. It was nice.

"So you guys...uh guys and lady...come here often?" he asked. Though Grady used 'guys' as a gender neutral term, he was trying to be more mindful of it. After all he knew how much he hated when people said "ladies" around him. Even though he didn't know if Joelle was sensitive about pronouns, he figured this sort of event was the place to pay attention to it.

[Joshua Bernstein]

At Sean's question to Marnie Josh's face fell.

"We were supposed to make our sweaters? Well now I'm disqualified!"

Not that he actually wanted to compete with a bunch of teenagers; this party was for their sake, not his. But he hadn't realized that there were more criteria than wear ugly sweater.

And since the party was for the younger people he probably shouldn't take up all their time. With that thought in mind he added, "You don't have to humor us old folk, though. You should go dance and have fun!"

There looked like plenty of other people her age there; he didn't realize all the youth clustered together on the other side of the room were actually younger than Marnie was, as he had reached an age where anyone younger than thirty was a kid.

[Marnie Sullivan]

Marnie shook her head; I don't know how, she wanted to say, before Mr. Bernstein chimed in. Did buying a sweater disqualify you for the contest? If so, then she was out, just like he was. But it probably didn't matter; Marnie hadn't come to win a prize. She'd only come to...

...Well, to make friends, she supposed. Not to score a hot date - which was also probably a good thing. She was the only college student here, and while at first that had been a relief, now it made her feel old and awkward. The younger kids were all chatting happily, and Marnie felt weird trying to butt in. But that was the whole point, wasn't it? So she nodded at Mr. Bernstein's encouragement, took another sip of cocoa, and stepped towards the group.

"Hey, does anyone know what song this is?" Marnie pointed vaguely towards the ceiling, as if to indicate the speaker system playing tunes. Hopefully this would be less obtrusive than just jumping in and saying her name. "It's good but I always forget the title."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean cocked his head to the side slightly at his partner’s question. “We don’t have to make our sweaters.” Surely, the psychiatrist would have mentioned that to Josh at any point during the past weeks as they had prepared for the party. He certainly would have mentioned it when they had chosen their sweaters, particularly since Sean, unlike many other people at the party, knew how to knit.

However, Marnie’s sweater was nice, and since people could knit their own sweaters if they so chose, he had thought to ask.

He smiled at Marnie as she said her goodbye and then disappeared to talk to some other teenagers – younger than her but still closer to her age than either he or Josh was.

Which left him alone with his partner at the cocoa station. The psychiatrist had yet to remove his arm from around the other man’s shoulders.

“Will you offer me a mug? Or must we reserve everything for the teenagers?”

Sean knew for a fact that they had more than enough provisions for the volunteer chaperones as well as for the teenagers, and for everyone to eat and drink their fill. This was the major holiday party, which meant that they had gone all out with the budget.

“I hope she makes friends,” he said quietly, while gesturing with his shoulder at Marnie, while she approached the other teenagers.

[Sunar Chugani]

"I do sometimes! It's Dev's first time, though," Sunar answered Grady's question with enormous cheer. He winced in sympathy as the other boy burned his tongue, and then a devastating truth dawned upon him.

"DEV! We didn't get hot chocolate!" 

He had been so distracted by the thought of meeting someone new that he had bypassed the hot chocolate table despite noticing it when they had first arrived. 

Of course, another distraction presented herself before he could actually make good on that thought and go fetch some. 

"Nope! I don't know it!" Sunar shrugged in apology. "Christmas songs aren't really my area of expertise. Unless it's from Sufjan Stevens Christmas album, but I don't know if that counts. Does that count?" He aimed that question towards the group at large. "Maybe someone else knows. Or we can ask one of the adults." 

Adults knew everything. 

And also they were the ones putting on the party, so maybe they had provided the music, as well, instead of relying on the radio or pandora. 

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Would you like me to make you a mug?" Josh laughed, leaning back in Sean's arms. "Whip cream or marshmallows? Maybe a nice decorative candy cane?"

Despite this offer he made no move to divest himself of Sean's arms. Instead he smiled in the direction of the group of teenagers.

"You think she won't? She's a nice, personable young woman, I'm sure she'll find some friends easily enough Maybe they'll all bond over their sweaters. Speaking of, isn't it almost time for the contest?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean tightened his arms just so around his partner, offering the other man support as he leaned back. The psychiatrist would never let him fall. He turned his head so he could rest his chin in Josh’s thick, dark hair. “I would, in fact,” he murmured. His question had been sincere, rather than flirtation.

Not that he couldn’t multitask; often enough, they managed to engage in tasks or conversation while maintaining flirtatious banter.

Yet, the rich scent of the cocoa was enticing, and he was both puckish and parched, enough that he would appreciate a mug of cocoa irrespective of the party and theme.

A smile touched his lips. “Marshmallows, please. I went out of my way to find those French vanilla flavored ones, and I’d love to try them out.” They had been a unique find, stuffed in the corner of the grocery store’s “seasonal” aisle, and he had made sure to buy as many of them as he could. The party was intended to blend flavors and treats, and he couldn’t hoard those at the expense of the Center.

Still, he wanted to try them for himself, now that they were here.

As for Marnie, he lifted his chin just slightly, just enough so he could turn to watch her. “She’s shy,” he explained. “And self-conscious.” As he had been, although not by his freshman year of college.

“It’s much harder to be that way now than it was when I was her age.” Particularly with so many of her peers possessing louder, more extroverted personalities (at best) and mean petty streaks (at worst).

His partner’s question prompted Sean to loosen one arm, so that he could free his wrist from his sleeve. Lo and behold, they were about ten minutes from the contest. “You’re right. That still gives me time for cocoa before we have to gather everyone.”

Thankfully, because his stomach rumbled with need at the thought of the hot beverage.