Oh Simple Things, Where Have You Gone [Danny]

[Cobalt Weaver]

[ooc: this takes place only a few days after Awkward Times Are Here Again]

There were a few things in life Cobalt had accepted would never happen again once he got into the car that one August afternoon and left New Jersey. Getting to have dinner with Danny was one of these things. So he supposed he should be happy about this. Thrilled even. And in a way, he was. He’d never thought he would see his oldest friend again, so naturally seeing him was going to be a little thrilling for a while. The problem was that this dinner should have just been about catching up and getting reacquainted and laughing about old times. Not having to apologize for getting unfairly snappish at Danny because he couldn’t get righteously snappish at the person he actually was angry at. And he didn’t want to have to explain to Danny how he’d unknowingly stepped into a mountain of issues.

At least he knew who to blame for this latest disturbance. It annoyed him when he couldn’t place blame on a single person or event without being too unfair. Although at this point, there was so much drama in Pilot Ridge that he was starting to not care if he was being too unfair. Which was a bad sign.

But he wasn’t going to let this ruin his time completely. He was going to go and spend time with his friend, and that was enough. So, opting to leave his jacket—the first, disturbing sign that winter was indeed coming to a close—he stepped out of his house, planning the quickest way to get to the restaurant where he would be meeting Danny.

Fortunately, they both got there around the same time, and Cobalt was able to meet him by the entrance. He grinned, “Hey Danny, how’s it going?” Yup, it was still surreal to see him. “How’s your week been?”

[Danny Silverman]

Danny was confused. This was, he’d admit to himself, a pretty normal state of affairs. But all the same, this time felt just a little bit worse.

Things had been going so well! He’d been so happy to see Cobalt after a ridiculously long time, and Josh was also a great guy, and he LIKED Ben even if he couldn’t seem to find a way to reach the other man. There had been these tiny little moments when he thought he’d almost managed to coax the man out of being grumpy, but it hadn’t worked. And even then he hadn’t minded (that much) until, well…

Actually, he didn’t know what had happened. One minute he’d been talking about Sean, and the next minute everything had gotten uncomfortable. Josh looked awkward, Ben seemed strange (then again, he’d been weird for the whole conversation, or maybe he was just one of those people who took a while to warm up to people. And then, to make matters worse…

Cobalt had gotten all snappy. Which had left Danny feeling hurt and confused, and he hadn’t slept very well. But that was okay. He told himself that they were going to work it out, and this dinner was the perfect chance to do so.

He arrived promptly and smiled to see Cobalt there, although his normally cheerful expression seemed a little more strained than usual. He liked Cobalt, and he wanted to stay as his friend, but he was a bit worried that Cobalt was going to snap at him again. His friend had always been prickly. He supposed he should get used to that once again.

“Great!” he said with his cheer, his wan smile spreading into a grin as Cobalt smiled at him. He would have hugged him, but he hung back instead. However, it was really, really obvious what he wanted to do. His whole body seemed to vibrate with it. “Yours? How is everyone?” 

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt felt pretty horrible about how everything had turned out that afternoon, and it made him feel even worse when he could see how awkward Danny looked when he saw him. True, it wasn’t as though Cobalt had never snapped at Danny before. But that was back when they were ten and things were much simpler.

“Eh. Not too bad. Slow, I guess.” Cobalt could tell Danny wanted to hug him. It wasn’t as though Danny was a particularly subtle being anyways. So Cobalt reached up and pulled his old friend into a quick hug. “Still good to see you, Dan. Everyone else is fine, I guess.” He shrugged. Josh had been a little sulky, but nothing he wouldn’t snap out of in a couple of days. Ben was nigh incomprehensible, but when was he not? “My partner Leila wants to meet you sometime. She wanted me to pass on the word.”

“So, hey.” He said after they both sat down, “I actually owe you an apology. I guess it was kind of shitty at me to get angry at you for something when you actually didn’t do anything wrong.” He gave Danny an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t the way I wanted to greet my oldest friend after not seeing him for almost thirty years.” Cobalt wasn’t the best apologizer, but hopefully that would help.

[Danny Silverman]

It was funny how little it took to make Danny happy. As soon as Cobalt pulled him into a quick hug, it seemed to make the man much more relaxed. He knew how little Cobalt liked physical touch—if he was willing to hug him, then maybe there was hope after all! So as soon as he was released, he was smiling again, and seemed a bit more at ease. Oh, Danny. You really are just a puppy in human form.

“I’d like to meet her too,” he chirped. “Anyone who likes working with you is worth meeting, I think.” From anyone else, it would have been a tease, but Danny looked completely innocent, and had meant it in the nicest way possible. Of course. He knew Cobalt could be prickly, but it was just part of his personality.

Once they settled down, Danny looked up, slightly surprised that Cobalt had…apologized? And a bit relieved. So he hadn’t messed things up. Good. And at least someone liked him. Out of all the group…that was a step, right?

“It’s okay.” He smiled at him, but it faded a bit. “I’m sorry to have upset you. If I had known that you didn’t like Sean, I wouldn’t have brought it up…But anyways, it doesn’t matter!” he brightened again. “We’re here again, and we have time to catch up. And the fact that we can get into fights is pretty amazing too, because we’re here together, right? What were the chances of that happening?”

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt had to crack a smile when Danny lightened up after one half-hearted hug. It was good to know that some things never changed. Just as long as Danny didn’t expect them to play with his model airplanes again, all would be well. But he’d always been like that, even when they were children. That was probably why Cobalt had taken to Danny so well: Danny didn’t ask very much of Cobalt. He’d never had any expectations and was always so understanding of everything. So if Cobalt had known Danny’s fears, he probably would have smacked him upside the head, because there was no chance he would stop liking Danny.

“Hah. It’s true.” Cobalt grinned, “You’d like her, I think. She can be kind of a pain, but she’s a good girl.”

Cobalt was more than a little relieved that Danny had taken his apology. He hadn’t really expected Danny wouldn’t, since he was simply not that type of person, but there was always the possibility. “No, that’s not really the issue.” Cobalt shrugged, “I mean… I don’t like Sean. But it’s more that… so you know Josh? The guy who looks a lot like you? Well… ah.” Cobalt tried to figure out how to define what was going on with Josh and Sean. “They’re…not dating, but emotionally attached. I guess. So I suppose I was suspicious about Sean’s motives. And worried about the impending drama.” He rolled his eyes at the last bit.

“But you’re right, it doesn’t matter.” Cobalt shrugged, “They’ll get over it. And yeah, I never—I mean, I was pretty sure I was never going to see you again. Which…was a little hard, y’know, adjusting at a new school and being a teenager and all that.” Understatement of the century. It nearly broke Cobalt, but he wasn’t going to admit that in light dinner conversation. And besides, it wasn’t Danny’s fault. “But you should tell me about your family.” Cobalt wanted to hear about everything that had happened since he’d left. Family seemed like a good place to start.

[Danny Silverman]

Danny knew he probably seemed silly, being so relieved after just one little hug, but he didn’t mind. He’d never much cared whether he looked silly or weird or just a little too immature. He liked expressing himself, and so he was always going to do it.

Especially around Cobalt. Because he always liked when he managed to make the stoic man smile.

“Then I can’t wait to meet her,” he said happily. Leila was Cobalt’s partner, he thought. The others had seemed to like her, so Danny was sure he would too.

But the issue with Cobalt, Sean and Josh was a little more complicated than he thought. The small man tilted his head to the side and frowned as he tried to think about it. So what Cobalt was saying was that he was worried that Danny had served as kind of a…surrogate Josh? That was a weird thought, but as Danny was Danny, he dismissed it immediately. Why would people do things like that? That would be just weird and kind of…icky.

Yes, he was nearing fifty and still using the word “icky.”

“Well, I didn’t mean to cause trouble,” he said, still looking a bit shame-faced about the whole thing. “I’m sorry. And sorry about the letter thing too. Things happened so fast…I was really worried about you, but I didn’t know how to get into contact! But…right. Family!” He brightened again. “They’re wonderful. I met a rabbi after you left who introduced me to them. And even though I was older than is usually adoptable, they took me in. What about you?” He tilted his head to the side. “What happened to you after? Did you meet anyone?” He was sure Cobalt would have. He was a bit defensive at first, but Danny knew better than to expect he would have stayed that way the entire time. He liked watching out for people—or, so Danny had assumed, as it was a good explanation for why Cobalt had helped him all those years ago.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Yes, Cobalt thought Danny was pretty ridiculous generally all the time. But he also thought Danny had admirable confidence, was exceedingly kind, always forgiving and perpetually understanding. And it wasn’t as though Cobalt was unfamiliar with ridiculous. That seemed to be the theme of his entire life, particularly since moving back to Pilot Ridge.

Cobalt was pretty sure Leila would be very happy to meet Danny. He was also reasonably certain that Leila would have ulterior motives in any conversation that they would have. “Yeah. You’ll have to watch out for her, though. She likes to be nosy and find out things about your personal life.” It was, after all, her favorite game at work. That, and “Set Cobalt Loose in a Social Setting.”

Cobalt was almost positive that Sean had seen Danny as a substitute Josh, and he also knew that the telepath would deny it were he ever confronted about it. But there was nothing in the world that would convince Cobalt otherwise, and that was one of the top things on Cobalt’s list of Not Okay. Sean and Josh were allowed to have their issues, and do whatever they wanted. That did not mean that Sean could drag other people into this. Especially not people as naïve and well-meaning as Danny.

But when Danny apologized, Cobalt merely shrugged. He’d already gotten upset at Danny once, and this wasn’t even his fault. “You didn’t cause trouble. This shit’s been a long time coming anyway,” He rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s fine, Danny. Really. I’m just glad it all worked out.” To be honest, Cobalt was just thankful that Danny didn’t just decide not to be his friend anymore, like he’d secretly believed since he was thirteen. That would have been terrible. “But yeah, family, go.” He smiled as he listened to Danny talk about his family and what had happened. “That’s great. I’m really glad you got a family.” He wanted to meet them, but he didn’t know how to ask, or even if he should. He was suddenly (and with no little amount of embarrassment) aware that the last time he saw Danny, he’d all but attacked him with his mouth. He wondered if they should talk about that. “So where’d you live, then? Did you stay on the east coast, or did you go somewhere else?”

His thoughts were interrupted when Danny asked him if he ended up with anybody. Cobalt shook his head, “Nah. Between behavioral problems and boarding school, I doubt I was very high on anyone’s adopting list.” He shrugged; it had bothered him when he was younger, but now it was sort of a nonissue. Just something he would have liked but didn’t get. That was life sometimes.

[Danny Silverman]

Nosy? Find out things about his personal life? Danny saw no problem with that. He didn’t exactly have a lot to hide. And other than that whole weird situation with Sean, he had a pretty clean record. Okay, he’d never had much luck romantically, but he had other reasons for that whole problem and besides, it hadn’t ever bothered him that much. “I still can’t wait to meet her,” he said, and smiled. Besides, Cobalt hated anyone prodding into his personal life. Danny wasn’t nearly so private.

“I still want to meet her,” he said with a smile. “But okay. I’ll be careful.” And he nodded earnestly to confirm it.

It was still a relief that Cobalt accepted his apologies, although he was surprised at how similar the man was to the boy he had been. Still shrugging off emotional issues, still not exactly afraid of a fight, still more than happy to defend someone without even thinking about it, especially if he liked the person.

“I really want you to meet them,” Danny said, moving back to his family—a topic which he clearly liked judging by the grin that appeared on his face and the way his eyes brightened under his glasses. “You’d like them! They’re very nice and I told them enough about you that I think they’d love to meet you. But I had to move to the west coast with them. I moved back because I missed it. It wasn’t any fun to be away. There’s no snow in California, did you know? It’s awful!

Danny hadn’t meant adopting, but he didn’t like how easily Cobalt brushed that off. “I’m sure you were on somebody’s list, Cobalt,” he said, a bit sternly, but softened it with a smile. “But I meant friends. People you met at Hammel, maybe? If they’re still here, I want to meet them too!”

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt rolled his eyes. Of course Danny wouldn’t really care about nosy people; it wasn’t as though Danny minded people knowing things about him. He was an open book. It was one of the many ways that they were completely different, even as children. Because even then, Danny was a wide eyed, perpetually cheerful, chatterbox who smiled too much and shared everything. Cobalt was a suspicious, sullen, quiet boy who hid in small places and got into fights. Unlikely friends indeed.

“Hah. You should be. She’s devious.”

Danny hadn’t changed much himself, and when he offered for Cobalt to meet his family, Cobalt grinned. “That would be great. I’d really like to meet them. Do you have, like, siblings or anything like that too?” He laughed then, “No snow at all? Where did you live there? L.A., right? I think there’s snow somewhere more North in California but what do I know?” He shrugged amiably.

Cobalt snorted at Danny’s attempt at a stern face. It was just comical really. “Uhh…people I met at Hammel…” He winced a little, giving Danny a sheepish grin. “Umm. There’s Elaine. Elaine Tonaya. She’s like… my sister now. I love her. She’s got a son, Morgan. He’s all grown up now, and teaches history up at the school.” Cobalt, completely contrary to his opinions of Hammel, was also stupidly proud of Morgan teaching history at a respected, prestigious, private school. So that went both ways. “Anyways, that’s about it. You could meet her. You should.”

[Danny Silverman]

Danny had never thought so much about how different he and Cobalt were. Oh, he’d known. He had always known that Cobalt had a very different perspective on life in general, but that he hadn’t ever cared about that, because Cobalt was his best friend and had stood up for him all those years ago and would always do so.

“Well, I still can’t wait to meet her,” he said firmly. “She sounds wonderful.”

Danny’s grin widened when Cobalt mentioned his family again, and he settled down again. “No siblings. That was the only sad part. I really wanted a sibling, and it was a little lonely sometimes. I wasn’t used to not having anyone around! It was weird. But yes. LA.” He nodded. “And there was? I never got to see any. That’s why I came here! But I’m not complaining, because you’re here, and that’s all that matters to me. Plus, I really like it here. There’s lots of…nice people…” Or were sort of nice sometimes, when he wasn’t upsetting them. But he had high hopes still.

Danny’s stern face promptly faded into another beaming smile, and he nodded. “She sounds wonderful! They both do! I want to see them both. They sound wonderful. But that can’t be it, can it?” He stared at him, looking upset at the thought of Cobalt only having that, but then brightened again. “So what made you pick law school again? And why live here? I do want to hear it all.”

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt listened with a lopsided grin while Danny talked about his family some more. “Oh yeah. That would be a little weird, huh? Hey, at least you didn’t have to share your room anymore.” Before, they’d shared a room with another older boy named Mike who was an ass. “Yeah, I remember that being weird myself.” Even though he had ultimately liked having his own space to hide in at Hammel, he would have chosen Danny’s company over everything else.

“Wow, Los Angeles. I haven’t ever been there. How’d you like it?” He’d read about L.A., but never had occasion to be anywhere along the West Coast. Which was a shame—San Francisco seemed like a cool place. “Uhh…I dunno, I thought Northern California got snow. Like…way up in the mountains?” Cobalt made a vague I-don’t-actually-know-what-I-am-talking-about gesture. Cobalt grinned, “I’m really glad you’re here, man.” His grin faded at Danny’s mention of his friends. “Yeah… nice people.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “They really are nice people. They’re just… they don’t…” Cobalt waved his hands in the air, “We all don’t handle things well. That’s all. It’s not your fault.” And it wasn’t. And Cobalt would snap at anybody who would try to say otherwise. “I do apologize for Ben, though. I don’t know what is wrong with him.” He shook his head, looking troubled. Seriously, what on earth was Ben all irritated about? It wasn’t like Josh and Sean, where Josh (however misguided) perceived Danny as someone who would take Sean away from him. Danny didn’t pose that kind of threat to Ben.

Cobalt cracked a returning smile. Danny couldn’t hold a stern face to save his life. “She is. They are. They’re like…a little fake family.” He laughed a little awkwardly. His awkwardly amused face only got more pronounced when Danny pressed for more information. “Uhhh…no. Dan, you asked me this at Ives’ too. Right now, this is the most friends I’ve ever had.” He didn’t really mind admitting it, but he thought it was odd and a little amusing that Danny simply couldn’t fathom Cobalt not having a bunch of friends. “Besides, I wasn’t a big ray of sunshine at Hammel, you know.” He grinned slightly before turning the topic back to Danny, “But what about you? Get any good friends at school?” He knew the answer was yes, and plenty, and he wanted to know.

“Oh. Law school was because I still wanted to focus on law enforcement but I didn’t think I was cut out for police academy.” He grinned, “That, and I enjoyed arguing and was far better at that than I was at punching people. So I figured I’d give it a shot. And hey, it worked.” He shrugged, “I moved back to Pilot Ridge for Leila. She wants to specialize in metahuman rights, and wanted to move to where the issues are. To be honest, I sometimes miss Chicago.”

“And you? I mean, you were always tinkering with those model airplanes.” Cobalt laughed a little, remembering Danny sitting for hours building those models, “How’d you figure you could make a career out of it?”

[Danny Silverman]

“But I missed having everyone around!” Danny protested. It had been weird not to know that everyone was around him just in case something happened. Well, his parents had been down the hall, but all the same, it had still been very…strange. “Well,” he corrected himself, “except Mike.” Danny didn’t like disliking people, but he hadn’t been too fond of Mike. Yes, even Danny could not like people, especially people who didn’t like Cobalt.

“Los Angeles is...is…” Danny actually had to pause to think of how to describe it. He really HAD liked it there. He’d liked that no matter what hour of the day you were out, and no matter where you were, there was always someone out. He’d liked that you could find those awesome creative people, and you never ran out of supplies, and you could actually make a living working with the movie business. However… “Dirty. And busy. And loud.” But he was grinning as he said it. “Hot, though. But I liked it a lot. Still, I missed it here, and I like it much better here. Even if I had known about the snow in Northern California before. And I’m even happier to be here since you’re here too!” Had that made any sense? Probably not, but it didn’t stop Danny from beaming anyways. It did fade a bit when Cobalt mentioned the friends again, but he shook his head.

“Okay,” he said, a bit hesitantly. “And Ben seems…” Grumpy? Irritable? To hate him? He avoided that. “Nice? I’m sure he was just having a bad day. But I still look forward to getting to know him too! But Cobalt.” He eyed him. “There’s no such thing as fake families. You’re my family, even if we aren’t related, because I like you and you’ve always been my best friend. And I think you can be a…a…” He blushed and pushed up his glasses. “A ray of sunshine. You’ve always been for me. But yes.” His red flush deepened, and he moved past the corny lines as best as he could. “I had a few.” He liked people, what could he say?

He nodded to Cobalt’s description of why he’d picked it. Privately, he would admit that he wasn’t sure Cobalt would ever find something he liked more than punching people, but that was his own personal thought, nothing more. “But that’s great! What do you miss about Chicago, though?” Did he have more friends there? Maybe a…a…boyfriend? He’d liked boys, hadn’t he? That confusing kiss that they’d shared before he’d left had indicated…well, maybe he wasn’t comfortable with talking about that.

“Oh, I never knew if I could make a living off of model making.” He chuckled. “And I spent a long time flipping burgers! But I just thought that it was something I’d enjoy, so I thought I’d keep doing it. Do you…” He shifted, suddenly shy. “Do you want to see some?”

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Oh god, Mike.” Cobalt laughed, rolling his eyes, “I haven’t thought about him in a while. He was such an ass. Whatever happened to him, do you know?” He was a little curious as to how everyone he used to know was doing, but he wouldn’t be too broken up if he never heard about or from Mike again. That guy was irritating. And he used to pick on Danny, which was definitely Not Okay.

Cobalt snorted a little at Danny’s description of Los Angeles. “Sounds a little terrible,” Cobalt supplied helpfully, “And I’ve never known you to not like wherever you were.” But at Danny’s words he grinned wider. “I think I’m happier here because of you as well, Dan.” Cobalt replied, uncharacteristically affectionate, “It’s been a really long time. I missed you and all.” There were…things they should talk about regarding the day they left, however. Maybe? Cobalt wasn’t going to push the issue. But in the back of his mind, he wondered if they really should talk about it, or if that was just one of those things that would remain unsaid forever.

“Ben’s…” Cobalt sighed, throwing his hands up in the air, “Ben is a great person. He is. He’s a wonderful person, and he makes me laugh and…” Cobalt shrugged, a helpless look on his face, “and I do not understand him at all.” He was more troubled about Ben’s emotional state than he really should be (he wasn’t really all that troubled about Josh disliking Danny. But perhaps that was because he knew that would pass). “Hopefully whatever’s bothering him will work itself out.” Maybe Cobalt should talk to him about it? He wasn’t sure.

Cobalt…was really glad he wasn’t drinking water at the time Danny happened to call him a ray of goddamned sunshine, because if he had, there would be water all over the table. As it was, he laughed loudly, giving Danny an amusedly incredulous look. “No way.” He grinned, “If we’re family, then you can be the happy brother. I’ll be the stoic brother. We could have our own T.V. show.” He grinned again, shaking his head, “You’re so dumb. I ended up with the dumb brother.” This was all in jest, and it was nice to be teasing him like they used to. Like brothers again.

“I’m not surprised.” Cobalt replied, “You always were the friendly one. Anyone interesting?”

He nodded at the burger flipping comment, “Me too. Being poor was fun.” He rolled his eyes, “But good on you, doing what you like and stuff.” He brightened a little bit when Danny offered to show him his work. “Yeah! That’d be really cool.” He felt a little bit of pride that Danny was successful doing what he loved. He always knew that if anyone would be able to do that, it would be Danny.

[Danny Silverman]

Danny shook his head at Cobalt’s question. He hadn’t kept track of Mike, mostly because (although it shamed him to admit it) he hadn’t liked the other boy. Plus, he’d gotten very busy once he’d moved to California, and although he’d done his best to write to all his friends from the orphanage, even though there weren’t really all that many, losing touch happened. It was sad, but it was true. “I think he ended up going to a university somewhere,” Danny said, screwing his eyes up in thought as he pushed up his glasses again. “But I dunno. What do you think happened to him? I guess we could try to find out.” He tried to sound excited about the idea, but it came out as just a little doubtful. He felt bad for thinking it, but…why would anyone want to find out about Mike?

Danny started upright as Cobalt spoke. “Oh, no! It’s not terrible at all, really! It’s just—there’s no other way to describe it. And I dislike…some places…” He just couldn’t think of any at the moment. He brightened, however, when Cobalt said that he’d missed him. It really didn’t take much. “But thank you, Cobalt! It has been a long time. But it’s over now, and I’m glad we can see each other again. And I’m not losing track of you ever again, I promise.”

The man tilted his head to the side and watched Cobalt as he spoke about Ben, and his brows furrowed. To him it almost sounded like…well, what did he know about such things? Besides, he hadn’t seen Cobalt in a long time. His abilities to read his best friend wasn’t as good as it had been. “Do you think I should try to talk to him?” he asked hesitantly. “I don’t want to get in between you two or cause you any trouble.” And he trusted Cobalt’s judgment of people, so it didn’t even cross his mind that Ben wasn’t a nice guy. Perhaps he’d just been having a bad day, or maybe Danny reminded him of something or someone, or maybe there was something else. But it did worry him.

Danny’s mouth stretched into a grin at Cobalt’s laughter, and he stuck his tongue out at Cobalt in an oh-so-mature way when he called him the “dumb” brother. “We can’t all be lawyers, you know,” was his retort, still said with a happy smile. “But sure! Reality TV or something—the new Odd Couple! I like it! I have producer friends, you know.” He wagged a finger at Cobalt. “Be careful, or I’ll call them! Speaking of which…”

He got up and came to sit next to Cobalt as he turned on his phone. “I’ll show you friends and models together! See?” He pulled up a couple of pictures on his phone, of model sets for movies and other people working with him. One tall man he pointed out as “Jeff,” with whom he had a lot of pictures on sets with, and then another was a thinner woman he called “Marie” who he had a lot of pictures with in bars. He tended to turn scarlet and skipped over those whenever it became obvious that Danny had had a little too much drink. Then he focused more on the models, like the fancy ships he’d made, or the model gardens, perfect in every detail, or even a half-constructed skyscraper model with little blueprints that could almost be read. Afterwards, Danny pushed up his glasses again and offered Cobalt a shy look.

“What do you think?” he asked. “And do you have any pictures? I want to see your friends and your work, too! Do you have an office?”

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt considered Danny’s suggestion that they should find out about their old roommate. “…Nah,” Cobalt shook his head, “I don’t really care.” Mike was a jerk, and he didn’t really need more jerks in his life. With his luck, Leila would think Mike was funny.

He grinned at Danny’s reassurances that he indeed like Los Angeles, and that he and Cobalt would never loose track of each other again. “That’s good. On both counts. I…uh. Missed you a lot.” He was careful to phrase that like he hadn’t spent his entire stay at Hammel angsting over Danny in some manner or another.

Cobalt continued to look grumpy at mention of Ben. “No, it’s…fine. Ben has this weird tendency to make things stupidly complicated. It’s better off if you leave him to his own devices for a while. He’ll come around.”

Cobalt snorted, “Please. If you do that, I promise I will beat you up. Just because I haven’t done it yet doesn’t mean I won’t do it.” Which was a baldfaced lie; Danny was one of the last people in the world that Cobalt would even try that. Danny was just too much like a kid for that kind of thing.

He leaned over the phone as Danny showed him the pictures of friends and models and Danny having a little too much to drink. He grinned, “That’s great! The models look fantastic, Danny. And it also looks like you’ve got good friends.” As far as Cobalt could tell via picture anyways.

“I have some pictures,” Cobalt hedged, “But none on my phone. I have an office downtown actually, and a funny story about the window…”

[ooc: Closed!! Thanks <3]