Harmonious Unity - Tags Josh, Cobalt

Cobalt was glad Josh was feeling well enough to resume their lunch meetings, it was like he was staggering back into normalcy after the attack in the woods. He’d tried to keep a surreptitious eye on Josh after that, not so much for his physical health, but for any emotional trouble his friend may have. Getting beaten up was, as per the biggest understatement in Cobalt’s life, scary. And he wanted to make sure that Josh wasn’t going through anything alone. The other lawyer, however, seemed to be coping well and as far as Cobalt could tell, he was on the mend mentally as well as physically. And if he’d even suspected Josh’s fear of being replaced, he would swiftly beat Josh over the head, injuries or no. Thankfully, it hadn’t gotten to that point.

So now here they were, having lunch again like things were getting back to normal. Albeit with a few changes. Leila wasn’t feeling well again. Which was a problem only in that she had been getting ill with more frequency than before. She looked pale more often and was less of a smart alek than usual. Cobalt made a mental note to ask her about it with more insistence. Later. Another change was that Josh had invited another friend to join. Which was fine, at this point, Cobalt was getting pretty used to the fact that everyone had to meet everyone in a town as small as Pilot Ridge. So they were waiting for him—Ben Rhodes, Josh said his name was—and discussing an unexpected turn of events: Riley was going to throw a New Year’s party.

Cobalt nodded at Josh’s general plans. “To be honest, I’m surprised Riley wants to do something like this. I mean, he’s not all that comfortable around alcohol and people getting more than a little drunk.” He gave Josh a pointed look. “But still, I guess--” He was cut off by the arrival of a tall, amiable-looking man who sat himself down between Josh and himself.

“Oh, hey. Nice to meet you Ben. Uh. Yeah, Cobalt Weaver.” He shook the man’s hand, the shadows curling up his arm. He wished they wouldn’t do that when he was surprised. It was a little annoying. He let Josh explain Riley’s plan to host a New Year’s party as he scrutinized Ben. He looked considerably younger than Josh, and he’d already told Cobalt that Ben neither worked for, or went to, Hammel. He wondered how they knew each other.

“Hm?” Cobalt jerked his attention back to his friend as Josh directed a question at him, “Oh. Uh…” He thought about it. On one hand, the last time he’d been at a group gathering at someone’s house, it had gone…poorly was a word. On the other, the holiday party went relatively well, and that was with considerably more people. “Ah, I suppose so. Riley’ll need someone who won’t drink excessively.” He eyed Josh again, a teasing grin forming on his lips. Baiting Josh was surprisingly amusing, actually.

“So, how do you two happen to know each other?” Cobalt asked, gesturing between Josh and Ben. “Was it through work or..?” He’d never heard Josh mention Ben when they talked shop, but considering Josh, that wasn’t really all that surprising. The man could be a little inattentive sometimes.

"I won't drink excessively!" Josh protested, face flushing in embarrassment at his friend's needling. Obviously Cobalt was never going to let him live down the poker party, or at least the drinking that had occurred. He was still in the dark as to what had occurred after he'd gotten drunk; he couldn't remember and his friends weren't telling. He'd probably done something horribly embarrassing, like dancing on the table. He was probably glad he didn't remember. "You make me sound like an alcoholic. I don't just go home and swill beer, you know, I only drink socially. And I haven't drunk anything in weeks. I think I can be allowed one glass of champagne to ring in the new year, if nothing else."

He nodded at the description of Riley, failing to notice the uncomfortable look Ben was giving Cobalt's shadows. "That sounds like him. He's a giant. Wasn't he with Mr. Gage?" He hadn't actually witnessed this himself, he'd only heard about it later through Cobalt and Sean, so he couldn't comment on people with fedoras. Of course, he felt that he had reason to not notice the landscaper's date: he'd been distracted by crowds of people asking about his health and then his mother had come over and demanded all his attention.

"Sean is doing well. I don't believe he's been by the center, himself. He's had a lot on his mind lately." Between reigning in students, the local terrorist organization and caring for beat up friends Josh didn't know how the telepath had any free time at all. If he had gone by the center lately he hadn't mentioned it to Josh. Not that he was going to tell Ben any of this; instead he simply added, "The holidays are a busy time of year for everyone."

He pushed his menu to the side of the table and eyed the psychologist curiously. "So you don't really know Riley, then? Did you want to come to the party? Should be fun. And even if he decides to be a spoilsport and not serve any alcohol, he bakes a mean pie. And he makes fantastic cheese dip. The snacks alone will be worth going for. But even if they weren't, he's a nice guy. You should come, if you don't have any plans."

A Mr. Gage was mentioned and Ben was suddenly lost. As much as the man was friendly, it wasn't like he knew everyone but they were always potential friends just waiting to happen so he made a mental note of this Mr. Gage before he inserted himself into the conversation only to have Cobalt jeer at him, further playing with his shadows.

Ben knew the initial appearance of his powers was involuntary but the second time round, there was a certain malice in the other man's actions that Ben disapproved of.

"I'm sorry, did I make you feel uncomfortable? Do let me know."

The obvious sarcasm dripping from every syllable of the man's words made Ben frown. True, it was obvious that Ben had offended the meta but he hadn't meant to do so. The fact that the man seemed to think he did was an offense to Ben and his very nature. It actually shut the psychologist up as Josh and Cobalt continued their friendly banter.

Ben just gave Josh forced smiles and generic answers before Cobalt actually addressed him by confirming Riley's identity. He still saw the deliberate shadowplay but he was no longer fearful of it rather, annoyed by the petulance of the whole act.

Swallowing his pride, like he always did whenever he was challenged in any way, the question about the center was answered in a careful tone. "Dr. Neville and I frequent the LGBT center uptown. That was how we intially met." He even plastered a semi-genuine smile on his face. It occurred to him momentarily that he was grateful that Josh might not even realise the hostility between the two men. And if he did, he was good to not say anything about it.

Ben put in the effort to maintain his cool which became easy when food was mentioned. Not one to turn down free food, Ben grinned easily at Josh. "Might I bring a guest? My housemate shouldn't be alone on New Year's Eve. Well, she shouldn't be alone at all." Ben shook his head affectionately when thoughts of Yulia came to mind. In just a few weeks, Ben had grown so accustomed to the dark haired Russian that he saw her as his little sister.

"Shall we order?" he asked, making sure to look at Josh and Cobalt as he said so.

Cobalt noted Josh’s troubled expression as he watched Cobalt and Ben glare at each other. Well… to be accurate, it was Ben glaring and Cobalt acting petty, but either way, Josh looked pensive and thoughtful. And here came the guilt. It was not lost on Cobalt that he was systematically nasty to every one of Josh’s friends that he met so far. Which he didn’t quite know what to do with. Granted, he felt entirely justified about disliking Sean and being irritated with Ben. He and Sean’s personalities unfortunately clashed, among other things, and that was that. As for Ben… so maybe he shouldn’t have been so petty, but it really did get tiring, having people react negatively to something he couldn’t control. Just because he was used to it didn’t mean he had to put up with it. And it didn’t help that instead of saying something, anything, Ben was just going to sulk. Whatever.

But then there was Leila. And the promise he made to her that he would try to be a better person. Goddammit.

“Uh. Ben.” Cobalt sighed, rubbing his eyes. Shadows coiled around his shoulders—unintentionally this time—in a subconscious attempt to hide the manipulator. He flicked them away; show of good faith. “I… we got off on the wrong foot. Which was, for once, not started by me, but that’s not the point.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. He hated apologies. So. Much. “I…did not appreciate your reaction to something I didn’t actually mean to do, which made me uncomfortable and I reacted to it. Poorly. You’re Josh’s friend, and I don’t get along with enough of his friends anyways, so…” He shrugged, “At the very least, we should call a truce.” He knew he didn’t look all too thrilled about this, but dammit, there was only so much he could do.

He did, however, crack a grin at Josh’s frustration. “Victory.” He proclaimed, taking a sip from his water. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m a lawyer. It could also contribute to the fact that I have very little friends.” He smirked at his friend, “You know I’m kidding. I know you’re not a complete drunk. I don’t think your job would be okay with that.”

At Ben’s explanation of the center, Cobalt nodded, “Ah, I see. I didn’t know we even had an LGBT center in Pilot Ridge.” While Cobalt didn’t want to make assumptions, he figured it was probably safe to assume that Ben, much like (what appeared to be) the majority of his new friends now, was also gay. Also, Ben was apparently a friend of Sean’s. Like the majority of his new friends. Wonderful.

Cobalt shrugged easily at Josh’s suggestion for Riley’s party, “Sure, that sounds fine with me. We’ll all end up in the same place anyways.”

“Oh right. Food.” Cobalt gave his order to the dread-locked man and turned to the others. He… didn’t know what else to say, but he felt that he should at least try to contribute to the conversation. “So, uh. Ben. What is it that you do?”