It Grows (Greg)

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt gave Greg a Look. He was quite good at Looks. This particular Look was “wow that was so clever, thank you for gracing us with your wit”. Mixed in with a good healthy dose of distain. He would have actually just said this, but he didn’t really want to get into it with Leila right now. That, and she was talking about brighter window decor, to which Cobalt was forced to say, “Oh good. That way, we can be mistaken for a preschool.” However, he couldn’t hide a slightly amused smile, “It’s not as though we could possibly be more ridiculous.”

He held up surrendering hands when Leila tried to preemptively defend her theory of Josh’s weird charisma. “Hey, I wasn’t going to say anything,” He protested mildly, “I just don’t think it’s that complicated. Pilot Ridge is small, and Josh is loud and persistently friendly. Case closed.”

“And Sean,” Cobalt supplied with an eye-roll. He only really mentioned Sean because he didn’t want Leila to linger too obviously on the name she wasn’t saying, “But I guess if you know Josh, you know Sean. They’ve known each other for a while.” He didn’t bother keeping the quiet dislike out of his voice. He still didn’t much like Sean.

Cobalt watched Leila joke around with a slight smile on his face. He really did love her; she was like the obnoxious, spoiled daughter he never had. As such, he couldn’t really stay seriously annoyed with her, even though he wished she wouldn’t bring all these people into their office for him to make nice to. He wished they got more actual business.

However, he didn’t really feel the need to try to make nice that much for Greg. So when Leila went to the back room, Cobalt didn’t try to strike up more of a conversation. Instead, he turned back to his computer, skimming through the email he was writing.

[Gregory Strickland]

“I agree,” he said, grinning, “blue and gold should be bright and bold! Let me know when you repaint and I’ll give you my professional opinion.” Greg was partially kidding, but he also knew what he was talking about. Buildings were his specialty, and although there was nothing spectacular here in comparison to New York, he was still finding happiness in the quaintness of the area. Cobalt spoke up and Greg shrugged, “Looking like a preschool is better than looking like you’re not in business.”

Greg smiled as Leila went on and on about Josh. Indeed the man had changed from when Greg first met him. Seems strange now that he had once been shy. Then Sean was mentioned with an eye-roll and this alerted Greg. Maybe it was just intuition or wisdom from getting up there in years, but Greg new better than to let that bad feeling in his gut go ignored. “I’ve known them for a while as well,” he said carefully, unable to keep the grin from spreading across his face.

“The more the merrier,” he said, eager to be making plans for meeting more people in the future. Greg’s social circles had been completely cut, leaving him, a social butterfly, with nothing to do but make a new cocoon and try this life thing over again.

They didn’t get much business? Hmm, perhaps he would keep that in mind and try and get them some more business. He would be good at advertising, he was sure of it. “Well I can come by as often as you like! I really have nothing better to do,” he said light heartedly, although it was nothing but the truth.

“Coffee sounds great,” he said with enthusiasm, turning to Cobalt with a grin as Leila made herself disappear. But Cobalt wasn’t looking at him, he was looking at his computer. Greg secretly wondered if this was how the man handled every new person he met – no wonder he had no business.

“So, law firm eh?” He pondered allowed, more to himself than anything else. “What type of cases do you deal with? Unlawful imprisonment perhaps?” Greg wanted to know for future reference. It was really too bad Cobalt couldn’t see Greg might be his meal ticket.

[Leila Gold]

"Wait, we're not a preschool?" Leila countered after Greg's comment. "Don't we cater to small immature individuals who throw fits over little things? Or is that just the workers?" She immediately spun and gave an overdramatic bow to Greg. "I would greatly appreciate your advice on all things decor related. The stump in the corner doesn't agree with my taste, and I could use some back-up that is not coerced. Because I can make Josh and Riley agree with me, but it's usually because of doe-eyes and not any actual opinion of theirs."

She grinned when Greg mentioned dropping by. "Great! I will make sure to create a list of topics for us, so we never run out of things to blabber about."

After pouring a few mugs of coffee Leila stuck her head out of the back room to see Greg and Cobalt sitting rather awkwardly on opposite sides of the room. She ignored this. "Hey, Greg! What do you want in your coffee? I forgot to ask."

She quickly mixed up the drinks and carried them into the front room. Convincing Cobalt to make conversation wouldn't be easy, so she decided to not bother. "So, how much of the town have you seen so far?" she asked slowly, sipping her drink.