RP: Tea/Coffee for Two

[tobiaswhitehall]

Date: October 25, 2011
Characters: Dax Xavier, Tobias Whitehall
Location: Coffee House
Status: Private
Summary: Catching up with a new friend.
Completion: incomplete

Comments

[dax_xavier]

Tobias was a good new friend. Dax was glad that they'd met at the dog park, since they always had nice conversations that didn't include references to Karen. It was probably selfish, in a way, to enjoy being around the people he'd met since her death instead of their old friends, but he couldn't help it. The only negative about being around Tobias was that he was smart and a psychiatrist, so it made it more difficult to pretend like he could with most people.

When he arrived at the coffee shop, he spotted Tobias and waved before going to the counter to order a hot chocolate and a croissant. Once he had his purchases, he made his way to the table and sat down. "Good afternoon, Tobias. I hope I wasn't late."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"No, you're fine." He smiled and made room for Dax's cup and plate. "I escaped my Abnormal Psych students early today. Midterms are a blessing and a curse. I dread seeing what they did on the essay question. How was your day?"

[dax_xavier]

"You could always be lazy like some professors and make everything else multiple choice," Dax pointed out, smiling as he raised his cup and blew on it to cool it off a little. "My day was fine. It was full, which is never a bad thing, and I didn't lose any patients today, which is even better."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"I could, but then I get professor guilt. They pay me to stuff knowledge into their heads and that's what I intend to do whether they like or not. Plus, Abnormal Psych is like undergraduate crack cocaine. They all want to hear the gruesome things. That helps it stick."

"I don't know how you deal with it." Tobias admitted. "People are so attached to their pets."

[dax_xavier]

"I'll never understand people who want to hear about the bad stuff. It's like those gory documentaries that exploit rituals in some civilizations to provide shocking and disturbing visual images for gore freaks." Dax shook his head before sipping the hot chocolate. It was still pretty hot, but he didn't think he'd burned his tongue. "But I guess them wanting to learn is a good thing?"

Dax nodded. "Yes, they are attached. Sometimes more to their pets than the people in their lives. It isn't always easy, but I balance those cases with the ones that have positive outcomes. It helps, most of the time. I don't know how you handle classrooms full of college students."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"We're fascinated by the taboo. Like teenagers told that they shouldn't have sex. You can't help but think about it." He rolled his mug slowly between his hands. "And in this case, someone needs to be intrigued enough to try to work the afflicted, so it doesn't' bother me as much as reality television."

"I guess we can agree that neither of us wants the others job then." He smile, "Really it only takes patience for the students."

[dax_xavier]

"Hmm. I suppose so. It's all human behavior, and more predictable than people think at the time." Dax shook his head. "It's good for you, of course, since you're obviously into the human mind, and behavior is interesting. But, yes, people need to work in all fields, so that intrigue is good, even if it's not my cup of tea."

Dax snorted. "You forget that I'm the father of two college students. I love my kids, but I can't imagine teaching classrooms full of their friends. I'd probably be bald from pulling my hair out."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"The human mind is a bit like staring into muddy puddle. I gave up trying to make it clearer a long time ago and just try to help people sort through it, but I hope a student of mine can someday." He flushed. "My little speech, sorry."

"I'm not their father, so that helps a lot." He laughed. "I'm not responsible for them. Just responsible for three credits."

[dax_xavier]

Dax smiled as he ripped off a corner of his croissant. "No apology necessary, Tobias. It's nice to see people passionate about their jobs. It's better than the alternative. As for minds, I don't think I could ever sort them out."

"That's true. I still can't imagine trying to get a roomful of them to listen," he said. "How's life outside of school?"

[tobiaswhitehall]

"I think we all just muddle through, doing our best. Well or most do anyway." He'd certainly met a few people that could try harder.

"They have to listen to me. I hold the power of the F. Usually that's enough." He chewed while he thought about. "Quiet. I was won by a nice young lady at LGBT fundraiser for a date. That was interesting, but otherwise, nothing new. You?"

[dax_xavier]

Dax had heard something about the fundraiser from one of the interns at work, but he hadn't participated. He'd made a monetary donation to the youth center, of course, but he hadn't attended, despite knowing it was also open for allies of the cause. He wasn't ready for that yet. Might never be.

"A young lady won you? That's certainly interesting," he agreed. "Nothing new, either. The children have started back to school, so the nagging and attention has quieted down, which is a relief. I sound ungrateful, I'm sure, but they have their own lives they should be focusing on instead of worrying about their old man."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"She liked my blog." He laughed dryly. "I didn't really expect to pull a handsome young man, but it would have been nice."

"And I'm sure you want your own space." He sympathized. Too much attention was wearying.

[dax_xavier]

"It would have?" Dax studied Tobias. "You know there are places to go if you want that, I've heard. Well, there are for heterosexual people, and I assume that's the same for other sexualities." He wasn't going to specify that he'd learned about some of those gay clubs when he'd done a search for information about gay friendly places in the metroplex. "But, yes, I'm not surprised she enjoys the blog. It's quite good."

He nodded. "Yes, of course. I'm the parent, after all, and they sometimes seem to forget that."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"It's different for gay men." He sighed. "It's not something I'm proud of in our culture, but there isn't a lot of room for men over forty. I'm too young to live the rest of my life in mourning though. I know that sounds harsh, but three years without someone in my life...I miss it."

"I'm sure they don't, deep down. The first time they need you, they'll remember that you're the one meant to be taking care of them."

[dax_xavier]

"I wouldn't know," Dax said truthfully. "I'd think there were people of all ages looking for companionship and love. Not everyone's a hot twenty-five year old, after all." He finished his croissant and nodded. "I don't think it sounds harsh. I doubt he'd want you to give up on ever being with someone else."

Dax nodded. "Probably so. That's how children seem to be."

[tobiaswhitehall]

"Looking maybe, but not in clubs or in the gay scene." He took a long swallow of tea, cool enough now for that. "And frankly, online dating feels...cold. Removed. And the people on it seem unbalanced."