Time is an Ocean (Cobalt)

All Cobalt had wanted was to go for a run. He liked running well enough, and it helped him maintain some semblance of health to his daily life. And it was a good stress relief. Fortunately, Cobalt wasn't particularly stressed today, just bored and antsy. So he had dug up his shoes, a pair of sweats, and a worn T-shirt and made his way down to the elevator. When the doors slid open, he found himself facing the last person he expected to see.

Sean.

"Oh." He blinked, wondering how rude it would be to just say "nevermind" and go take the stairs. But no, he was working on not being so...ridiculous. So he exasperatedly wondered what his life was and then stepped into the elevator. "Hello." He said stiffly. He hadn't seen Sean since the Pilot Ridge holiday party, and that was only eye contact. The last time he'd actually talked to Sean...

Yeah. Well.

Shifting awkwardly, Cobalt rolled his eyes at himself, and pressed the "down" button on the elevator, intent on keeping as quiet as possible until the elevator liberated the both of them to go on to carry out the rest of their day separately. That is, until the elevator shuddered to a sudden stop, shaking both men slightly as it halted. Cobalt frowned. "That was a little more jarring than normal." He commented idly, waiting for the doors to open.

They didn't.

"...Oh hell." Cobalt sighed, reaching over and pressing the first floor button. No response. Cobalt glared at the elevator console before pressing the emergency button. No response. "Oh wow." Cobalt spat, rushing a hand through his hair. "What a goddamn surprise."

Because of course this would happen with Sean in the elevator with him. It couldn't be someone less...Sean. Like Danny or Josh or Riley. Nope. Had to be Sean.

Perfect.

Cobalt pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is frankly ridiculous," He muttered to himself, pushing up his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Really. Ridiculous." He thought about pressing the buttons some more, but what the hell good would that do? Not much. Instead he rolled his eyes, retreated back to lean against the wall and say to Sean, "I sure hope you're not terribly claustrophobic." If anything, Cobalt was almost the opposite, and he couldn't remember Sean mentioning anything like that, but it's not like it would ever come up in conversation. "Leila is."

"Yeah well..." Cobalt muttered, remembering the last two times they had to talk. One was in a bank vault and it was just frankly ridiculous. One was in a car, and while there was good that came out of the conversation, it had still been a painful conversation. He didn't really wonder why he had remained fairly averse to having conversations with the taller man. "I can't think of anything else we could possibly have a conversation about."

Haven't they had enough conversations to last a lifetime? Apparently not.

"Right." Cobalt muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't all that offended--well, that wasn't completely true, the whole situation offended him, he was just not offended as he used to be when he forgot Sean knew things people wouldn't usually. "Good to know," he commented when Sean said he wasn't claustrophobic. "I think about that sort of thing now, with Leila. She gets anxious just hearing about it." She would get anxious simply if Cobalt told her about today, just on his behalf.

Cobalt considered the options before him that the telepath suggested. Finally, he said, "well, the weather has been getting warm." He grimaced, really not enjoying banal small talk, but preferring it to anything more significant.

"It's the only thing I don't miss from Chicago." Cobalt offered, without really knowing why he was contributing more to any conversation. "The summers were almost unbearable. Worse than here, I think. But I think New York is pretty similar, so I guess you know what I'm talking about." Yes. They were going to talk about the weather until they got out. Right.

“I’m glad for that.” He commented, completely content with the small talk, all things considered. “The snow was a hassle. I had to help Ben clear out his driveway once. That was ridiculous.” He gave a very small, very brief smile at the memory, but it vanished fairly quickly. He was still suspicious they would end up talking about uncomfortable things against his will.

“That sounds nice.” Cobalt said out of mostly courtesy. Cobalt didn’t really like the lake because he didn’t like water, and he didn’t like swimming.

Cobalt nodded. “Yeah, the humidity is the worst. There were days that I felt like if I jumped, the humidity in the air would just catch me.” He grimaced. It was worse because he couldn’t wear short sleeves or shorts because he would sunburn instantly and then he would be hot, sweaty, and in pain. His mouth twisted into a wry smile, “Oh yeah. I remember that adventure. It was certainly unenjoyable.”

This seemed relatively…all right. He could handle talking about innocuous things with Sean. It wasn’t ideal by any means, but it was manageable. He just hoped the elevator would start working soon.

"I kept telling Ben he ought to just do that." Cobalt shook his head. "There are enough kids in Pilot Ridge that need pocket money that he would be set. But he kept forgetting. The snow was really a pain when I was younger. I was always too small for my snow clothes." He remembered being unable to walk through the snow because his little legs couldn't get through the snow drifts.

Cobalt didn't know what to say about Sean's penchant for the water. He didn't really feel like being a downer on the conversation by discussing how much he didn't like the water. So he didn't say anything at all.

"Hah. Yeah, I think I would prefer dry heat as well. I imagine the humidity would be a nasty surprise for someone who wasn't expecting it." The other comment, however, made him pause for a moment.

He honestly didn't have a problem if people wanted to find out creative uses for ice cubes on each other. He just didn't understand why Sean felt the need to tell him. "Sometimes," he said slowly. "Sometimes I can't decide why you tell me things like that. You know all the stuff that goes on up here," he gestured at his own head, "so you know that all that will do is make me awkward. So sometimes I think you just mention that sort of thing because it's sort of funny to watch my reaction. Which," Cobalt shrugged, "is really fair, since I am told it is funny."

"Makes sense." It didn't surprise him at all that Sean had always been tall. "I had the opposite problem, as you can imagine. Snow boots didn't do much good if they kept letting snow in." He shook his head; he hadn't thought about how his smaller past self handled snow in a while. "I just wore every pair of socks I owned and since the boots were usually secondhand, I'd have to use tape to make sure there was no holes. There would always be a hole in the sole I could never get to."

"Yeah, it makes a lot more sense." He nodded. He'd never seen the appeal of Florida anyways, but if he were being honest with himself, he didn't see the appeal in much.

"Of course I can handle it." Cobalt said irritably. "The subject doesn't offend me. It just isn't a thing people talk about with me for a reason. Because I get awkward--and I don't know why--and then the conversations either trail off uncomfortably or they end up like this. I am just saying, it doesn't really seem a smart tactic if you're trying to keep polite conversation."

He shrugged, scooting to the other wall of the elevator to likewise sit down. Might as well get comfortable, because try as he might, he wasn't going to keep the conversation on the weather.

Cobalt looked baffled. "Sean, I am not asking you to change anything fundamental about yourself. I am asking you to be a little considerate. Shockingly, we both have that capacity, but since you have never extended the courtesy to me, I haven't seen much need to do the same. I wanted to talk about the weather. I was trying to keep things polite because I really didn't want to make this unpleasant. I was trying to extend to you a courtesy. God, every time we have a conversation, it inevitably ends up with 'let's point out the things that are wrong with Cobalt' hour. And Josh wonders why I don't like talking with you. Big shock."

"But okay." Cobalt said bitterly, giving Sean an exasperated look. "Fine. If my discomfort in this conversation did not stem from a really stupid comment that admittedly is probably not worth all this crap, then what is it? Additionally, since you seem incapable of having a conversation with me without pointing out the reasons for my deficiencies like they are pretty obvious, why then do I get uncomfortable when people talk too much about their personal lives? Because it couldn't possibly just be a personal preference I have the right to have."

Cobalt pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose. "Since the conversation was always inevitably going this way, I figure I can just cut to the chase." And all he wanted to do today was go running and then maybe go to lunch with Leila.