Reunion: Awkward Times Are Here Again!

Danny grinned at Josh’s words, giddy with the thought of both meeting his oldest friend and having the potential to meet his friends. It was exciting! He never thought he would’ve had the chance. He listened to the names Josh listed, and straightened as he recognized one of them.

“Well, actually, I do know S—”

Fortunately for him—although he didn’t really think so at the time—he was distracted by the idea of lunch, and his grin widened and he nodded so quickly that he had to push up his glasses again and remind himself to take it easy. “That sounds great! And we’re not that old. Are we?” Oh dear. They were. When had that happened? Oh well. Who cared? They said forty was the new thirty.

Danny definitely didn’t pay attention to what he’d ordered. He got the vague impression that it was a salad or something, but he’d just picked something from the menu before turning his attention back to Cobalt.

“That’s great! Being a lawyer. Wow! That’s amazing. I’m a model builder, now. And not…everyone knew.” He was blushing a bit. “I definitely didn’t meet a Leila. Who are all these people, anyways? I’d like to meet them.”

However, some of his happiness was mitigated by the fact that he could still tell Ben wasn’t…happy. Or didn’t seem like it. It was weird. He kept fiddling with that napkin, and he looked so…strained. He almost, almost opened his mouth to speak up, to ask if he was sure, but he found himself distracted by Cobalt again as the man touched his arm. He offered him an almost frighteningly radiant smile. “I’d like that.” He clasped his hand over Cobalt’s, but released him after a moment, remembering how his friend could sometimes be prickly, and turned his attention to Josh, curiously. “So who would I be meeting in this lunch, exactly? There sure are a lot of people to meet!” But that was nice. He liked it that way.

Cobalt snorted at Josh’s comment about retirement homes. “Maybe not physically.” Cobalt knew he was old-natured and cranky. And that was okay with him. He had been told once when he was younger that he had been born forty, and that…pretty much made sense.

Cobalt grinned, “Thanks, it’s not amazing, but it’s a good job. I like it.” He laughed suddenly when Danny mentioned his career. “Oh my god, that makes so much sense. You always used to wander around with those model airplanes.” He grinned nostalgically; Danny used to play with those airplanes all the time. And try to make Cobalt do the same.

“Leila’s twenty-eight.” Cobalt responded to Josh’s question, “And acts like she’s fourteen until you give her work to do.” Which was something that had baffled Cobalt when he first met her. And then she helped out on a job. Now Cobalt knew not to underestimate her. “She’s my business partner. Sort of. Unless she’s being a pest. Then she’s my intern.” He chuckled again.

He gave Danny a bright smile as his old friend agreed to meet up sometime for dinner. "Okay great. We'll talk later. It'll be nice."

“Yeah.” Cobalt turned to Ben, “How come you’ve never brought…other Ben around?” Cobalt didn’t really sound very enthused about Other Ben, but if it would make Ben quit inexplicably sulking, then whatever.

Danny was happy to listen to the conversations going around him, listening to all these people talk. He grinned when Cobalt said that his career made sense, and laughed.

“I’m glad you think so! My parents thought I was crazy. But they put up with me and funded me through art school, so apparently they had enough faith in me. But I really enjoy it. And I’m glad you like being a lawyer. And I can’t wait to meet all these people you keep talking about! So many new faces.” He almost couldn’t stop smiling, although it did fade a little bit when he saw Ben’s eyes light at the mention of a career. Well, not really at that part. But the fact that he decided not to ask when he was clearly curious bothered Danny a bit. Had he said something wrong? He hoped he hadn’t. The last thing he would want was to make one of Cobalt and Josh’s friends upset with him.

He nodded to Ben’s question. “Yeah! I just moved here. I was looking for a change of pace. But I have a nice little apartment, and I feel like I’m settling in now. It’s nice.”

He looked around at the group, then abruptly remembered something Ben had mentioned: a name. Sean? “Is Sean part of the group, too?” he asked cheerfully, looking over at Cobalt, then at Josh. “I met him a couple of days ago. He seemed…” Oh, he was blushing. He was getting to be fifty: surely he would have gotten over this silliness by now. “Well, I liked him. I didn’t know he worked with the LGBT center. Do you know Sean, Cobalt? Josh?”

Oh, dear. Danny, if only you knew…