Sunday Afternoon [Ben Rhodes]

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean walked with both men through the house and into the kitchen. He waited for Terrence to answer his question about food, and upon hearing a negative response, he continued to walk. “If you change your mind, let me know. And we have bottled water chilling in the cooler outside,” he added, so that Terrence would know that he wasn’t ignoring his request for a beverage when he let them from the kitchen to the terrace.

At the newcomer’s question, Sean nodded a single time. “It’s the theme that the kids voted for, yes. Not everyone voted for it, but a ¾ majority did.” Because the telepath was long familiar with the history of the theme, and because he hadn’t lived through systemic prejudice, he viewed it as benign, albeit a bit predictable.

When they reached the backyard, he gestured at the collection of lawn chairs for both men to take a seat. He went to the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water, which he handed to Terrence before sitting back down in his own lawn chair. “Correct me if you already know this background, but there’s a long history in the fetishism of angels and demons and the comingling of the groups, the corruption there. The students might not realize that’s why they think the theme is attractive, but that is why they voted for it. That and because it’s popular.” Sean gave the other man a reassuring smile.

The telepath then reached for his bottle of iced tea and took a sip before answering the question about the menu. “The menu isn’t entirely related to the theme, although we’re trying to match it if we can. So far we have dessert covered and we’re thinking of going with sandwiches.”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben had been to dances that were heavily themed so and most of those dances had girls either in suffocating looking red tights or 'Angel' suits that strangely reminded him of Emma Frost's costume but with wings. He usually did something ridiculously lame, like dress up in a nicely fitted suit with the back saying: Handsome Devil.

"Oh, maybe we could add like light nibbles like potato wedges or uh...cheese poppers?" Ben voiced out his opinion, not wanting to be a sourpuss the whole evening. "I suppose we should also think on what to do with the decorations, unless the center would provide everything?" He commented, peeling off the label to his beer bottle.

[Dr. Terrence Jordan]

Terrence followed the other two into the backyard, settling comfortably into one of the lawn chairs indicated.

"Ah." He began after the explanation of the themes appeal, "the corruption of innocence." That wasn't his favorite theme, exactly, as certain aspects of it tended to intersect with a wholly prejudiced fetishism of his skin color. He wasn't really all that keen on playing the African Savage (noble or otherwise) ravaging some helpless upperclass white woman. Not that there weren't attractive white women, but interest that solely lay in his skin tone and how exotic and dangerous he must be (a laughable idea, that) did not sit well with him. Then again, the angels and demons being portrayed were fantasy beings, nothing at all like the traditional religious depictions. While the impulse made him uncomfortable, that was due to experiences that were only tangentially related.

"Dessert is covered?" He repeated with a laugh, accepting the bottle of water and untwisting the top. "It sounds as if you have the important part down already."

Although he'd asked the question himself, he wasn't sure how one would go about matching food to a theme like this. Perhaps simply having spicy food for the Devils and cold for the angels? He wasn't good at this kind of thing.

"What kind of sandwiches? I assume you want a variety so that all diets are taken into account." He didn't know the youth involved, or whether or not they were of any particular religious affiliation with special diets, or health problems which required attention to diet. And of course it wasn't unheard of for people to choose to be, say, Vegetarian out of social convictions rather than religious or health reasons.

"I assume you'll have fruit punch, that can be nice and red." A thought struck him and he added, "Or that uhhhh what is it, the punch with ice cream? That looks a bit like clouds, that could be ahhh heavenly?"

He furrowed his brow seriously at Ben's inquiry about decorations, "I'm sorry, I did not realize that the Center had more than..." No, that wasn't right. "I thought it was all volunteer work." Meaning, he'd thought Ben and Sean and other volunteers ran the entire program, not that Ben and Sean only ran the prom.

Not that it mattered too much; the prom was the part he was helping with.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Precisely,” the telepath said with a nod, as he settled in his armchair and sipped his iced tea. “As well as some element of trying to discover one’s own identity, even if it parts with community conventions. The angel that prefers demons and vice versa.” Of course, the prejudices that Sean had faced directly weren’t rooted in systemic racism. There were other fears of corruption, which came from his sexual orientation (as well as unfounded beliefs about promiscuity) and from his abilities. There was a fair amount of prejudice against psychics rooted in fear of loss of self and that translated to corruption. He had strong opinions about that, but the Center was excellent at maintaining a pan-accepting environment on all fronts.

The telepath chuckled as well. “Dessert is always covered; I consider it a priority.” Terrence would come to know that in time, if he spent more time with Sean.

Sean then nodded in confirmation and explained, “There will be vegetarian options, and depending on who RSVPs, Kosher and Halal options as well. We know all of the teens intimately so we can do that on a case-by-cases basis. The same goes for allergies.”

The psychiatrist smiled at the suggestion regarding the punch. “I like that idea; it’s creative. Ben, what do you think?” It would be simple enough to put together, and they could have one bowl with the ice cream and one without. “And cheese poppers should be fine, same with the potato wedges. There has to be a Halloween cookbook we can find and modify from.”

“I’d need to check out the prom budget, but I’d planned on paying for the decorations out of pocket. I can drop it on my credit card.” The telepath didn’t mind; he had the money to spare due to being single and without children; it led to a great deal of disposable income and this was a good cause. “With the exception of the light projector; the Center should still have that in storage.”

Sean then turned to Terrence and explained. “It’s mostly volunteers, and both Ben and I have been volunteering for a long time. It’s a non-profit group, but we do have a budget because it’s an established entity and not a loose collective.”