What? No, Go Away [Griff]

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt was hungry. And irritated. For once, he was miffed because he was by himself. Mostly because if there was something he liked more than solitude, it was routine, and his routine was thrown off today. And this made him grumpy. He actually had a something to do during the time he usually took lunch, and so he had to eat early or he’d forget to eat altogether. But this also meant that none of his friends were really available to eat with him. Which, if he had known beforehand, he would have just packed a lunch and eaten in the office. Which led him here.

Having entered the restaurant—a nice little sandwich shop that he liked—he limped over to the counter and ordered. After which, sandwich in tow, he found a place to sit and sat down, ready to eat with the disconcerting feeling that he wasn’t going to enjoy eating by himself.

What had Pilot Ridge done to him.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff, too, needed an early lunch. An afternoon shift starting in an hour meant he was in a rush to get fed before the steady influx of patients came in for his help. Sleeves rolled up, suit jacket lain on his back seat, he hummed to himself as he walked into the shop. It was quieter than normal, though he'd only visited said shop a few times previously. He just liked it since the owners happened to do some british classics.

Heading to the counter, he gave a warm smile and ordered himself a lovely cheese and pickle baguette with a small juice, and glanced around the shop. There was a man sat alone, which was an awful thing in of itself. Everyone needed company! Taking his sandwich and drink, he leant against the chair.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" Griff lilted, giving Cobalt a nice warm smile. He'd not seen the man before, and he needed to at least make some more friends. Sean, Danny and Riley were lovely, without a doubt, but you can never have too many friends. "I'm Griffin." He added, resting his hand over the seat, waiting for permission to sit.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Instantly, Cobalt regretted his internal reservations about eating by himself. He wanted to eat with his friends, not stumbling through a stilted interaction with a complete stranger. However, he couldn’t very well tell this guy no. Mostly because Pilot Ridge had atrophied his rude, antisocial tendencies with nice people. And pie. This place was turning him into a softie, and he didn’t appreciate it.

“Fine.” Cobalt grumbled, looking at his sandwich. He wasn’t going to be outright rude to the guy, but he was still Cobalt. He wasn’t going to be warm and friendly, “Good to meet you, Griff. My name’s Cobalt.”

Maybe Cobalt would get lucky and the other man would note his awkward and irritated posture and voice and leave. Even more hopeful (and probably more realistic, if this man was the type to approach strangers and sit with them for lunch), would be that the other man didn’t know someone he did, they’d have nothing to talk about, and this would be fairly brief.

He could dream.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"Ah, sorry, did you say Cobalt?" Griff hesitated, sitting down and smiling. "As in, Cobalt who knows Riley, Danny and Sean?" He set the baguette down and opened his juice, taking a gulp. "It's lovely to meet the man behind the things Danny says about you." His face seemed to beam even brighter, happy to meet another of Danny's friends.

Picking a chunk of baguette off and giving it a chew, Griff chuckled. "I work at the local doctors practice." He added, exuding friendliness. Now he knew who Cobalt was, he could invite him over for tea and they could have great fun, sit and have cakes... Griff let out a dreamy sigh. He could finally hold a proper lunch with his friends. Wonderful.

Unfortunately for Cobalt, Griff assumes everyone is as friendly as he is, so he hadn't got any sort of hint except that Cobalt was also short and appeared to be ever so slightly closed. "You're an... attorney, yes?" He mused, looking down at his baguette.

Fancy meeting another member of Danny's social circle, and at such an anti-social hour, too.

[Cobalt Weaver]

“…Yeah.” Cobalt sighed, resting his head in his hand briefly. Suddenly, he jerked his head up, suddenly remembering where he’d heard the name before, “Wait wait wait wait. You’re Griff?” The Griff that had unwittingly (probably) gotten into a huge mess called Josh and Sean? The same Griff that had inadvertently made Cobalt’s life infinitely more complicated and full of an upset Josh and feelings?

…Goddammit.

“Um, yes. I’m a friend of Josh’s.” He said carefully, hoping that Griff would take the hint and then swiftly depart. Maybe that would work.

But no, Griff kept talking. “Oh, that’s…nice. Good.” At Griff’s question, Cobalt nodded, “Uh, yeah, I’m a civil rights attorney. I run the office down the street.” He gestured vaguely.

“…So have you been in Pilot Ridge long?” He wondered if he should really encourage conversation with this man. Probably not.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

"Yes, that's me!" Griff said cheerily, scratching his beard. "Look, I always like to start a friendship at the first level, so how does a slice of cake between us sound?" He offered, not waiting for Cobalt's answer before heading off to order a nice slice of their chocolate fudge cake. Who could hate free cake, after all?

When he returned with the cake, he nodded. "Josh is probably a lovely friend." He said soothingly, pushing the slice open handedly to Cobalt, while tucking into his baguette. He chewed in silence for a moment, then smiled once more. "We had a little misunderstanding but I'm sure it'll smooth over with time."

"Civil rights?" Griff exclaimed, looking impressed. "That's wonderful. Do you get many meta cases and the suchlike?" He asked, genuinely curious. This really was an excellent idea after all.

The question made Griff pause. "Ah, a month and a bit now. Still getting used to the pace and being paid privately for healthcare, instead of the NHS." He chuckled, shaking his head. "But I like it here, everyone seems lovely."

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt squinted at the other man, trying to figure out if he was actually serious. Cake? Really? While Cobalt was trying to determine if he was joking, Griff… just… got up. “Wh- wait, no, I don’t want—aand there he goes.” Cobalt pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Dammit, what the hell was up with Pilot Ridge and persistently nice people. He didn’t want to make friends today. He had too many to know what to do with anyways.

Cobalt eyed Griff and then the cake. And then Griff. Yeah, no, he was definitely not eating that. He wasn’t taking Friendship Cake from someone he didn’t know. Riley didn’t even make him eat Friendship Cake. “…Yeah, Josh is great.” Cobalt stared expectantly at the other man, waiting for the awkward. By his own account, Josh was fairly rude to Griff. Why wasn’t—Why didn’t anyone here make sense? “…Sure.” He let the doubt ring through in his voice, but didn’t elaborate further. Griff would figure it out soon enough.

“Um. Yeah, we get quite a few meta cases.” Cobalt nodded, “My business partner, Leila, wants to specialize in metahuman law. I didn’t specialize, myself.”

“Ah. Well… um. Good.” Cobalt bit into his sandwich for lack of better things to say. “…So why’d you move here, of all places?” It seemed as good a question as any, and this man was clearly not going away, as much as Cobalt would like him to.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff was unaware that friendship cake would not go down well, but he wasn't particularly fussed. He was going to make friends with Cobalt and integrate himself happily into Pilot Ridge with lots of lovely companions. "I always have cake after my sandwich anyway." Griff said cheerily, sipping his juice.

"Ah, well, Sean said Josh was acting out of emotion, and that's understandable. I'm sure he's a lovely man." Griff concluded, pulling his sleeves up. He took a few munches of sandwich, before leaning back.

"Really? I should imagine you get a few involving people not wanting to go to Hammel, yes?" He said curiously, swirling his juice in the bottle. "It must be fascinating."

"I moved here because I wanted a change of scenery. I wanted to work at Hammel itself as a doctor but the position closed. Then I saw that the Pilot Ridge practice was recruiting, and put forth my credentials." He smiled. "It's nice, I have meta human expertise so I can help people suffering from power mishaps."

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Fascinating.” Cobalt said dryly, poking at his sandwich. This guy…simply couldn’t take a hint. At all. Cobalt had tried to be polite. He’d tried to insinuate very gently that he was in no state to be friendly today, that he didn’t want to make new friends. He wasn’t being nice, or warm, or pleasant, or the thousands of other things you were supposed to do to signal to another person that you want to be friends. And yet. “So do you always pester random strangers at your lunch hour?” It was said mildly, and with no malice, but it was supposed to be a more obvious signal. To go away.

“Y-yes. Josh is a good guy. He’s told me a bit about you,” Cobalt said carefully. Wondering if Griff could fill in the blanks of what exactly Josh said. Mostly because Josh didn’t say much beyond “has a goat” and “is irritating” and “Sean’s new boyfriend”. And to tell the truth, Cobalt didn’t blame Griff at all for Josh and Sean’s mishap. Mostly he blamed Josh, and gave some of the blame to Sean. But still. Cobalt was starting to get annoyed with this man. He rubbed absently at his knee, and wondered if he should still be polite. But Griff knew Riley and Sean and—

“…Wait, you know Danny?” Cobalt raised an eyebrow. Good listening skills, Cobalt. “When did you two meet?”

“Ah. Yeah, we get a few instances with kids not wanting to go to Hammel.” Cobalt’s expression darkened, “Unfortunately, by the time they come to me, there isn’t a whole lot I can do about that, which is always a little angering.” He thought about Ruth and Tamsin, all who asked only one thing of him: to go home. And how frustrated he’d been when he couldn’t give it to them.

Now he was in a far worse mood than before. So he sighed roughly, “I’m sure it’s great.” His voice implying that he didn’t really care one way or another. At this point, manners were starting to escape him.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff was getting that buzz in his stomach he'd gotten from Josh not so long ago, and he frowned, looking a little sad and moving his baguette round the table like a sad child. Why did he become so disliked all of a sudden? "Uh... not always. It was sort of how I met Danny though." He said with a little smile, remembering the man fondly. And then he'd met Riley during a shopping excursion. Sean during an evening getting takeaway. Meetings always seemed to revolve around food.

"Ah. Probably nothing flattering." He said with a sad chuckle, slumping his shoulders and taking another bite of bread. "I promise I'm not a goat wielding maniac. Nor do I have a habit of breaking up friendships." Just what was it about the scary yin-yang in Pilot Ridge? Some people were the nicest people he'd ever met and everyone else seemed to hate him.

"We met during a hunt for coffee. Danny joined my table." Griff looked a tiny bit bashful at this. "He made a statuette of Gladys for me! And we shared a cookie." He glanced pointedly at the cake. "Then he came over for dinner. I've known him for about a month now." Him and Riley. It was a lovely day when it was spent with them both.

Griff sympathized with people who didn't want to be sent away to a meta school. He'd been uncomfortable at Kocher at first, and felt very alone for the first month or so. He imagined people with stronger family ties (not to say his weren't strong) would have pined and missed going home. "I feel for them. I really do. I don't understand why people can't just have private trainers so the kids can stay at home with their families."

"It's alright, I'm still getting to grips with things but a lot of the people are nice." He paused, staring at Cobalt. A lot of people WERE nice, but apparently not this gentleman. He wondered why.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt noted Griff’s sad face with a little annoyance. Oh no. He certainly wasn’t going to feel bad because someone felt the need to try to be social with him and it backfired. One day, he was going to regain his reputation as Someone To Not Socialize With, and he would never have to worry about this again. But there was no way in hell he was going to be guilted into socialization by a sad face. He was friends with Riley and Danny, for Chrissakes. Their sad faces were far more potent. He raised an eyebrow as the other man perked up visibly at the mention of Danny. “Danny is very personable,” Cobalt admitted carefully, “I’ve known him a long time.” Since he was ten years old, really, but this stranger didn’t need to know that.

Cobalt was determined not to like Griff, mostly because the other man was being irritatingly persistent with his friendship cake and his conversations that Cobalt didn’t want to participate in. But the phrase “goat wielding maniac” was a little amusing. A smile quirked Cobalt’s lips momentarily before disappearing. “I figured,” Cobalt said mildly, poking at his sandwich, “You seem to have the unfortunate knack for stirring up drama.” Which actually wasn’t very fair at all. The only people to blame for Josh and Sean’s crap were Josh and Sean. That, and he could very well say the same thing about Danny. But he didn’t want to think about that.

Cobalt smiled slightly at mention of Danny. “That’s typical,” He said, almost more to himself than to Griff, although he did eyebrow Griff a little bit at the other man’s bashful behavior. So now the aggressively friendly man was being shy? People made no sense. “Danny likes to like people and wants people to like him back.” Danny hadn’t mentioned Griff to Cobalt, but he hadn’t had time to meet with Danny for decent amounts of time anymore. Which needed to be fixed soon.

The fact that Griff agreed with Cobalt on Hammel’s compulsory attendance rules did endear him to Cobalt a little more. “That would be ideal. Even better would be an integrated meta-nonmeta school system that dealt with training as simply a part of special education, rather than sequestering children away from their peers and parents,” He muttered, picking the crusts off his bread, scowling darkly, “But that’s just me.”

Cobalt rolled his eyes slightly, “Yeah, a lot of the people here are very nice.” Unfortunately for Griff, Cobalt just wasn’t one of them.

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff's sadface wasn't intentionally used to make Cobalt guilty - it was just the doctor's reaction to friendship cake rejection. "Really?" Griff said, interested at Cobalt's long-term knowledge of Danny. He wished he could have known someone as pleasant for such a long time. "He is lovely. Very sweet." He added, in agreement to try and appease Cobalt and get him to just have a little forkful of the cake.

And was that a smile? Hurrah! Griff had to try and attempt not to grin triumphantly at getting the other man. "It's my first ever drama stir." He said simply, with a small shrug as he finished the first half of his baguette. "Gladys' too, but probably not her last." The goat had a knack for chewing things people didn't want her to, and he doubted that would change during her lifetime.

"He's a wonderful man." Griff concluded on the subject of Danny, if only because he happened to be Riley and Danny's biggest fan right now. And he didn't want Cobalt to get ideas about his emotions when it came to the pair. "Sounds like what anyone would want." He added slyly, flicking his eyes over to Cobalt, then investigating the contents of his juice drink as though they were interesting.

But then the conversation was back to something Griff felt for, and he nodded in agreement. "That would probably help with the anti-meta sentiment, too. It's hard to hate someone when you're intermixed with them." He rubbed his chin. "I mostly hated being away from my family. Not to mention Kocher was a way away, and my family couldn't afford to fly me back and forth all the time." There was a frown then. "I can't imagine what it would be like for someone with a sick parent or sibling."

Sitting back, Griff mused on this. It would be nice, in an ideal world, for everyone to be raised together, without religion, meta ability or other underlying factors encouraging segregation. "I think it all stems from a fear that rampaging meta-teenagers would lose control and set fire to things." There was a small eyeroll. With careful training that shouldn't happen.

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Yeah, he is…” Cobalt wasn’t going to say ‘lovely’—he’d never had occasion to say it before, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now. “Danny’s a great guy.” It was an understatement, to be sure, since Danny meant the world to him, but again. There was no need to overshare in front of a stranger. And he was gratified that, although he was instinctually suspicious of this fellow for his overpleasantness, Griff was hardly a threatening soul. And therefore unlikely to cause a problem for Danny at any point in time.

…But that still didn’t mean Cobalt was going to have any Friendship Cake.

Cobalt nodded slightly. “What. Um. Kind of goat is she?” He was just vaguely curious as to why Griff kept a goat as a pet, of all things. After all, he only had a cat.

Cobalt eyebrowed at Griff again when the other man tried to be sneaky. “…No, not everyone wants that. Some people just want to be left alone.” There, that was just about as subtle as a brick to the face. There was no way Griff could mistake him now.

“Exactly.” Cobalt nodded, trying to decide if he should finish his sandwich. He wasn’t hungry, but then again, he was never really hungry. “I met a kid who had parents from outside the U.S. and they didn’t have any way to contact her the whole time she was there. It was… it’s just not right.” It was a source of constant frustration for Cobalt, to say the least. Children shouldn’t be forced away from their families.

“Well, naturally.” Cobalt’s disdainful face was much more prominent than Griff’s, “People are afraid of things they don’t understand or can’t control. It’s hard—but not impossible—to control a young and untrained pyrokinetic. So people choose the easy way out, so people can pretend that the problem doesn’t exist anymore.”

[Dr. Griffin Jones]

Griff couldn't agree more. Danny and Riley were fast becoming his favourite people in the town - though Sean was still his preferred person to go to for quiet contemplation. Generally speaking, he could just cuddle up with Danny and feel like the world was all right. But Griff's goal was to get Cobalt to take just ONE bite of friendship cake. And he'd sit here till Cobalt ate it.

"She's a pygmy goat." Griff explained, rummaging around in his pocket to find his phone and show her to Cobalt. "Still very young, but she likes to go walking with me and she's a sweet little thing." He smiled fondly, setting the phone on the table and pushing it over.

Griff was aware Cobalt was referring to himself when he said that people wanted to be left alone, but he had ideas on how to keep the grumpy man talking. "That would be very lonely." He mused, finishing his sandwich and sipping his drink.

"That's terrible!" He said suddenly when Cobalt said about the girl. "The poor thing..." His smile faded to another sad look. "Is there anything you can do for her? Like... I don't know, I'm not good with legality, but surely it's against her human rights?" Griff couldn't imagine how frightened and upset that poor girl must be, and his heart went out for her.

"Even in Meta communities some powers are looked down on." He added softly, looking at his hands. "I ... Well, I'm a reanimator. We aren't looked at with much fairness. I think people think we'll conjure zombie armies or something." He facepalmed, then shrugged his shoulders. "The human race isn't good with tolerance. Look at the racial divide."