Sincerity is Key - Ben Tags Cobalt

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Casey buzzed for Ben's attention as he was going through his reference collection to find the one he needed for a diagnosis only he couldn't find it. He threw the one in his hand on the small couch in the corner to answer the buzz. "Yeah Case?"

"Your 3 o'clock cancelled. Should I move anything else beyond that?"

Ben mused just for a bit. "Nah, I think I need to go to the library. Can you believe there isn't a book in here that talks about projection any further than what I know. It's ridiculous." He chuckled as Casey did too. "You're a genius, that's why they have nothing further than what you know."

"I'm still going to give you the Christmas bonus, Casey. You don't have to flatter me to get it." He laughed when Casey went quiet. She too laughed before jokingly simpering. "Eh, I could just open your door and talk but I can't move...so you had your lunch yet?"

"Nope. Not hungry but I think I need to go to the library."

"Nerd."

Chuckling, Ben grabbed his coat and wallet before going out of his office. "I have my phone with me so if anything happens, just call me. You going to be okay here alone?" He asked Casey who raised an eyebrow at him to which he raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry I know, pregnant women are capable of anything. Got it. You want anything while I'm outside?"

"I want pretzels. Sour cream and onion. I'm eating a lot of that right now I don't know what's up with that but yeah...Get me two. Thank you boss." She smiled sweetly to which Ben rolled his eyes at.

Listening to his MP3 player as he headed down to the library, he hummed with the song all the way down. He took it out once he was in the library and went straight to the reference section without noticing a familiar figure by himself at one of the tables.

The library had a small portion of psychology books; one full shelf, but Ben finally procured three books that might have what he was looking for so he went to the tables while he read one of them. Mumbling the words, he managed to sit down properly without knocking any of the chairs down. It took him about twenty minutes to finally realise he wasn't alone at the table. Looking up, he was surprised to find none other than Cobalt.

"Hey!" He exclaimed before clasping a hand over his mouth with a sheepish grin, careful not to meet any of the other glares from the occupants of the library. "Oops...hey," he said, quietening down. "I didn't even see you there." He quietly chuckled.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt was never happier or more zen than when he was doing research. It was quiet, relaxing, gave him a set goal to work for and it was solitary and low-stress. The man was academic by nature anyway, so these kinds of places made him feel in his element. Leila frequently teased him for being “geeky”, and all the librarians knew him by name, but hey. At least he was out of the house and enjoying himself.

When he entered the library, he waved to the old woman at the information desk. “Hey May,” He greeted her with a wave and smile, “How are you today? How’s your husband?”

May’s wrinkled face folded into a smile, “Oh, hello, Cobalt. Sam is fine, thanks for asking. And look!” She gave him a grin as she tapped on her keyboard, “For once, you don’t have any overdue charges on your card. Miracle of miracles.”

Cobalt laughed quietly, pressing a hand to his heart, “You wound me with your words, May. I can turn things in on time on occasion.”

May chuckled, “I’ll believe it when I see it. Did you want a key to the microfiche room again?”

“No thanks,” Cobalt smiled, “I’m going to have a peek at the academic journals, but nothing involving those godawful microfiches.” He gave her a final wave and limped down the aisles.

Today, he had a specific goal in mind. Having met Ruth, he was intrigued about how her power worked and perhaps he could figure out a way to help her cope with it. He knew she wasn’t going to follow his advice to talk to Clarisse, and he couldn’t very well talk to her himself, since he was neither Ruth’s parent or legal guardian, but he was worried about her. She was a smart kid who was selling herself short. That didn’t need to happen. So, he found as many academic journals and books he could find about the subject, as well as some basic anatomy and physiology textbooks to refresh his memory and settled down at one of the open tables with a notebook and a pen. And from that point on, he was blind and deaf to the rest of the world.

So when a certain someone exclaimed “Hey!” right in front of him rather loudly, Cobalt almost jumped clean out of his seat in surprise, the shadows flaring out violently around him. His knee knocked against the side of the table leg painfully as he started. “Ow!” Cobalt hissed, rubbing his knee, looking up to see Ben staring sheepishly at him. “Ben.” Cobalt said in surprise, “What… how long have you been sitting there?” He hoped he hadn’t been ignoring the other man the whole time; that was always kind of embarrassing. “Sorry, I’m just… I wasn’t really paying attention.” He gave the other man a sheepish grin, “What brings you over here? Work?”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Holding back the impending cringe Ben was about to make when the shadows crawled up, the younger man adopted a more serene expression, hoping Cobalt didn't notice a strain to it. The expression grew easier when Cobalt too adopted a sheepish grin, something he hadn't seen the few times he had gone to lunch with him and Josh. He still hadn't gotten the pleasure of meeting Leila but in due time, he thought.

Cobalt's question and later apology made Ben hide a smile. This was also something he hadn't seen from Cobalt. Maybe it was just the environment or having gotten over the initial awkwardness they had experienced their first meet, but Cobalt seemed more relaxed and that smile was something Ben could get used to, even if it was sheepish.

"Naw, it's okay. I tend to block everything out when I read too." He showed the book he was reading to Cobalt and grinned. "I'm at work twenty four seven, might as well make it enjoyable." The thought that people might find it nerdy that Ben called reading academic journals 'enjoyable' didn't occur to him. "How about you? I pegged you for a reader but I didn't think you'd actually be in a library doing it." Ben didn't frequent the library as much but only because his office was a shrine to psychology books and even some of his pleasure reads.

He hadn't even realised it but Ben was leaning a little too forward over the table so he could talk quietly but have the other man hear him.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Ben’s uneasy glance at Cobalt’s shadows didn’t go unnoticed by the shadow manipulator. He suppressed a sigh, making the conscious effort to push down his shadows to roll and coil restlessly under the table. He didn’t know exactly how to deal with this whole thing; he relatively liked Ben, he didn’t mind his company, but all the cringing and nervous looks were getting really tiring. He didn’t say anything, however; choosing to continue to talk pleasantly. He was in such a good mood, even Ben’s inexplicable discomfort about his powers couldn’t stop him.

“Yeah, I hear that.” Cobalt nodded readily at Ben’s explanation of academic journals being enjoyable. “Oh, I come here all the time. I pay half of the employees’ salaries in late fees, lemme tell you.” He grinned at Ben, a little more easily this time, “I usually come here to do idle research just for my own personal curiosity or because I need to do work.” He gestured at his notebook and veritable mountain of textbooks, “I’m not working on work right now, though.” He tapped his pen on the desk, his brow furrowing. “I…so I met this teenager. Ruth. She has uncontrollable super speed and goes to Hammel. She’s…” Cobalt laughed a little, shaking his head, “The kid crashed through my office window because she can’t control her super speed. So we talked and… She is so smart, and she could do whatever she wanted, but she’s feeling…” Cobalt paused, trying to think of the word, “isolated. Because her power is so different from the other speedsters at her school and she doesn’t like Hammel, so she feels like the only one there.” Cobalt shook his head, “Anyways, she feels like her power is holding her back, so I thought I’d look into it for her. Turns out, it’s incredibly complex.” He pulled over his notebook and opened it, “See, her type of super speed doesn’t just engage the skeletal muscles and the hormones and parts of the brain that control those activities, but virtually every function in her body is activated and accelerated during her power trips. So from what I can tell is that her power may be more hormonally and chemically based than physically based.” Cobalt sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I’m not explaining this well. I haven’t had an anatomy/physiology class in ages, so I’ve had to do some background research to remind myself.” He shrugged, “I just wanna help her, you know? Because I know how isolating Hammel can be, and how hard it can be to keep motivated.” Cobalt sighed, “I mean, she should just talk to Dr. Prideaux, but she won’t. I don’t know. I’m probably getting too far into her business.”

“So yeah.” He sighed, “That’s what I’m doing here. Usually I’m in here for more self-serving reasons. I like to do research just because, so…” Cobalt trailed off, suddenly aware of how close Ben was to his face. “Uh…” He froze, and the shadows flared up around him before he could even think about reining them in. Ben’s eyes were a weird color. He pulled back, “So what are you working on?” His face was getting hot, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Chuckling at Cobalt's humorous comment, Ben physically eased into a comfortable stance, even propping up an elbow so he was more comfortable leaning forward on the table. He wasn't even aware of the shadows coiling around Cobalt. Though if he were aware, he would have thought it was strange because he thought these powers were connected to the emotions of the manipulator. Wouldn't a happy Cobalt mean the shadows move away from him? Then again, Ben didn't know much about them and obviously wasn't aware so those thoughts didn't pop into his head.

Showing appropriate expressions throughout Cobalt's story, Ben was intrigued at the way Cobalt was expressing himself. And it was pretty obvious from how he spoke about this Ruth that he was really concerned about her. Ben would be as well but to see someone who had been a little terse when they had first met show so much compassion over a teenager, it was endearing. His admonishment made Ben shake his head, tapping the other man's hand reassuringly. "You're doing fine," the child psychologist offered.

"I know exactly how you feel." Ben gave a little sympathetic grin. "Not in context obviously but I've seen my fair share of kids who feel this way. Powered or not, they're still young kids and their emotions are so much more raw than ours. What they must feel should be ten times worse than we're used to. And metas have the tendency to feel even more." Ben was speaking not from experience obviously but the children who come in through his office door, not all of them were non-powered. He even got a few older teens coming in to see him since he was one of a few psychologists who cater to metas.

When Cobalt showed discomfort, Ben was a little confused until he realised how close they were. The shadows creeping up was another indication of Cobalt's unease. He was then struck with a thought. In a way, the shadows were kind of protecting Cobalt. Because they only flared up when he was either a little upset, confused or surprised. Those were strong uncontrollable emotions and the shadows were acting accordingly so Cobalt felt more protected. They were connected to his emotions and Ben felt silly for being so afraid of them. Sure they could potentially be dangerous as most abilities are but Ben hardly thought Cobalt was capable of being bad. Snarky, sure but not evil.

Leaning back into his seat, Ben pulled up a little smile on his face and showed the book he had been reading. "It's this patient I'm seeing. Her parents are going through a pretty nasty divorce from what I've heard and she's been acting up in school...standard stuff but there's something about the case that I can't quite get. Hence, the reading. I just want to make sure I'm properly diagnosing her. To give the proper treatment and such." He shrugged and wince slightly when his stomach grumbled.

"Oh boy..." he chuckled. "Hey, wanna get outta here? I'm kind of worried people will start throwing books at us for talking too much in a library." Ben grinned easily.

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Right,” Cobalt nodded at Ben’s discussion about metahuman teenagers. He rubbed his forehead, sighing, “And I suppose this conversation would come up eventually, but that’s my biggest objection to Hammel’s compulsory attendance philosophy. These kids… I mean, not only do they have to go through puberty, which is a notoriously miserable time for anyone, but on top of that, something scary is happening to your body and suddenly, you’re being taken away from your family, which is supposed to be your biggest support group and sent to a school that for some is all the way across the country?” Cobalt shook his head, “That’s not right. And, I mean, it’s not really my job per se to care this much, but it really troubles me. Because Hammel’s not willing to look into other alternatives to how they’re doing things now, you end up with kids like Ruth, who could do very well, but don’t feel like they have enough control in their lives to do the best they can. I mean, granted,” He waved his hand, “Hammel has some of the best teachers in the country; your child would get an excellent education at Hammel. But it should be a choice; there should be outreach programs, things like that.” Cobalt sighed, giving Ben a wry grin, “Clearly, I can talk about this for a while, but I won’t. It’s not really… a point of interest for a lot of people.” That was one of the reasons that he’d become so close with Josh so fast. The man didn’t think he was different despite being meta, and he shared Cobalt’s views on Hammel Institute. That had been incredibly important to Cobalt.

He listened to Ben’s explanation of why he was at the library with interest. “Ah. I’m sorry for her,” Cobalt looked sympathetic. He glanced at the book, “Is she metahuman?”

Cobalt snickered slightly at Ben’s complaining stomach when he realized how hungry he was. “Yeah,” He responded, putting his notebook in his bag, “I’ve been ignoring my stomach all morning and afternoon. Any longer and it’s going to revolt.” He snorted, “Yeah, and I’m usually the grouchy old guy telling people to shut up; let’s get outta here before I make myself a hypocrite.” He pushed himself out of the seat, his knees complaining from the bump under the table and stiff from being still for so long. “Here, lemme check these out first.” He tucked three of the pile of books under his arm and limped toward the checkout table.

At the checkout line, Cobalt grinned at the lady behind the counter as he presented her his books, “Hey Sarah.”

Sarah, a younger woman, raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you gonna give these back ever?”

Cobalt rolled his eyes, feigning offence, “Sarah, I always return my books. Eventually.”

She laughed as she ran the books through the scanner, “Yeah, yeah. Guess I shouldn’t complain. My Christmas bonus is probably coming from your late fees, but still…” She glanced up and saw Ben, glanced between the two of them, and grinned mischievously, “Hey, are you his friend? Make sure he turns in his library books on time, would you?”

“And make sure he eats better!” May called from the information desk with a smile.

“Okay, okay,” Cobalt grumbled, flushing, “How I eat and when I turn in my books is none of his business, thank you.” He scooped up his books and turned to Ben, “Okay, now we can go.” He pulled Ben away as the two women chuckled.

“So where do you wanna go?” He asked, once they were outside.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben could feel Cobalt's frustration and was both sad and surprised at how someone like the civil rights lawyer could be so caring towards a young girl he barely even knew. Of course, he was still sort of prejudiced since their first lunch together but today he was seeing a whole different side of the cranky shadow manipulator he kind of liked.

The psychologist didn't really have any pre-existing thoughts on Hammel mostly because his cousin Andrew kept it private. He was always just happy to be home and doesn't actually talk about his stay at the school much. He must have liked it since he's now a trainer over there. Listening to Cobalt talk about it, Ben gathered the guy didn't have the best time there. Understatement possibly but he wasn't going to assume.

When Cobalt started to hesitate in talking further about the institute, Ben quickly dissuaded him from it by waving a dismissive hand. "Don't be silly. I've got all the time in the world to listen to things like this. And besides, if I was honest, I'm quite interested." He gave Cobalt a quick grin. "I've only got one meta family member. At least that I know of and he's not exactly the most forthcoming of people." He chuckled, running his hand through his thinning hair.

"I do too," came Ben's response to Cobalt's sympathy. "And no, she isn't. Which I'm not surprised at at all. If I'm being honest, I think non-powered humans are screw ups. And they have nothing to blame it on." It was an attempt at a joke which just so happened to be Ben's actual opinion on the matter.

Cobalt's agreeance to grab a bite was met with a wide grin on Ben's face as he collected his books and followed Cobalt to the check-out counter. It was unfortunate that he couldn't check them out but he could come back again later. The camaraderie amongst the librarians and Cobalt made Ben feel awkward for thinking Cobalt didn't have many friends. Of course, Ben didn't know Cobalt too well so he thought it was reasonable for him to think so. The thought comforted him slightly.

He joined in the laughter but cut it short when Cobalt showed discomfort. It was cute and Ben was surprised when the other man grabbed him and pulled him away. Cobalt's question almost went unheard but dazed Ben looked up at him and asked him to repeat the question.

"Oh...uh, there's a cafe around here." Ben slipped out of Cobalt's hold gently before turning around to find the cafe he knew was around. "It serves little coffee shop stuff and real food." He finally spotted it a little ways away from where they were standing. "Ah there it is." He turned to Cobalt and got his attention by patting the other man's forearm and pointing in the direction of the cafe.

The walk wasn't too bad and they filled it with idle chatter. Once they were in the cafe, Ben checked over the menu and decided on what he wanted. "Did you meet up with Josh?" Ben asked randomly.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt matched his grin, “I don’t usually meet with a lot of agreement on my points on Hammel, which wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not really in the mood for an argument right now. Shocking, I know.” Cobalt’s look turned teasingly ironic, “But it’s not really all that interesting. I just feel that there are potential solutions to these problems, but the staff members at Hammel are unfortunately too fond of Hammel in general to think about improvement. And that’s frustrating to me, I suppose.” He shrugged. Ben’s attempt at a joke surprised him in its cynicism. He hadn’t figured on Ben feeling that way about metahumans, but his comfort towards them as a whole, yet his discomfort towards Cobalt’s own powers baffled the shadow manipulator all the more. “Eh, I think everyone’s a screw-up. And I don’t know if I would blame my problems on my power, even though that would certainly be easier, god knows.” He shrugged vaguely, a small smile still on his lips.

As Cobalt tugged Ben along, he noted that Ben looked a little… dazed. He stared at the man, repeated his question, then Ben answered. It wasn’t until Ben slipped out of his grasp that Cobalt realized that he had been holding Ben’s wrist after they’d left the library. Oops. Cobalt flushed, shadows flaring up to sit around his shoulders and head. Fortunately, Ben didn’t seem to mind, as he talked pretty much the rest of the walk, with Cobalt answering when required, and comfortably listening when not.

When they arrived, Cobalt settled in and checked the menu briefly before he was distracted by Ben’s question. “Hm? Oh, no, actually. Josh was too busy this time, turns out he actually has work to do in his office, the lucky bastard,” Cobalt grinned, rolling his eyes, “Whereas Leila and I need to outsource to keep busy.” He rolled his eyes, “I’m gonna have to go to…god, I think Massachusetts in a couple of weeks to act as a consulting attorney to some case up there. But it’ll be fine, I’m kind of looking forward to it. I mean, it’s a fairly cut and dry discrimination case, but the guy owed me a favor, and I’m going crazy over here with nothing to do. So I’ll finally get to do my job for once.” He grinned, shadows burst around his arms and shoulders, reflecting his anticipation.

“But you mentioned that one of your family members was meta.” Cobalt propped his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in his hand. This was nowhere near as unpleasant as the first couple times he talked with the other man. But still… if Ben made one more uncomfortable look at Cobalt’s shadows, he was gonna do… something. He wasn’t sure what, but it was really a little silly. It’s not like his shadows were dangerous…

[Benjamin Rhodes]

"Maybe that's because I don't know Hammel myself." Ben pointed out. "And I'm not about to argue. Not with you. Ever." He held his hands up in mock surrender. He then continued listening to Cobalt explain about Hammel and his distaste for it's ethics.

The smile on Cobalt's face once again disarmed the younger man. He decided not to open his mouth for fear of either saying something really dumb or really offensive. The after effects of either one did not look pretty to Ben so he decided not to try.

Ben laughed at Cobalt's response and funnily enough felt a little tinge of...something when the older man said he would be out of town in two weeks time. Ben pushed away the silly feeling and laughed at Cobalt's accompanying words. The shadows that jumped around Cobalt was like a comical "Boo!" to the psychologist and that obviously didn't escape the shadow manipulator.

"Ah yeah, my cousin." He stumbled, pausing when the waiter came over and asked for their orders. Giving his in and waiting until Cobalt gave his, Ben waited until the waiter left to continue his train of thought. "Um, Andrew. Yeah. He's the only one I know who has powers in our family. Power suppression." He shrugged.

Reprimanding himself silently for being an idiot for being scared of shadows, Ben took a sip of the ice water on the table. "You the only one in your family?"

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt actually laughed at Ben’s hasty disclaimer and his unwillingness to argue the point any further. “Wise decision.” Cobalt chuckled, “I hear tell that arguing with me is a bit of a headache.” Shadows fluttered around him happily, “We’ll have to find something else to debate about that you might actually have a chance in.” He grinned at the other man, “I don’t enjoy myself unless there’s some kind of challenge.”

Then Ben jumped at Cobalt’s shadows. Again. Cobalt sighed loudly, giving the other man an exasperated look. He waited until both had given their orders to the waiter and for Ben to stammer out some attempt at re-starting the conversation. Right. Cobalt leaned forward, a wry smile on his lips, “Okay, look. If we’re gonna be friends, you can’t keep jumping every time I move shadows around. It’s gonna get really annoying really fast, as our first meeting already demonstrated. So, gimme your hand.” Cobalt held his own out expectantly. When Ben hesitated, Cobalt rolled his eyes, “C’mon, give it over.” Grasping Ben’s hand in his own, he turned the other man’s hand over so it lay palm up in his own. Cobalt eyed the other man, “Okay, so don’t freak out. Just… trust me.” He held Ben’s wrist firmly in one hand and held the other a couple inches from their hands. “Don’t freak out.” He warned Ben gently as tendrils of shadow coiled down Cobalt’s arm. It didn’t really require thought anymore to do something as simple as this. It was mostly instinctive now; something that was so inextricably a part of him that it came as natural as breathing. The shadows unspooled slowly from his hand to rest onto Ben’s, held in place by the presence of Cobalt’s other hand under Ben’s.

“There.” Cobalt smiled, looking up at Ben, “That’s all it is. They can’t hurt you, or cause any damage. I should have explained this to you earlier. I don’t even take away light to make dark. That’s umbrakinesis. I just work with the darkness that’s already there.” He stared at Ben for a moment longer before pulling away, the shadows dissipating. “So don’t be such a baby,” He teased lightly, rubbing his hands together awkwardly; they felt warm.

"So." Cobalt said, looking vaguely uncomfortable, "What were we talking about?"

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Not actually expecting Cobalt to lean forward, Ben physically reared into his seat as Cobalt started to speak. Despite how embarrassing the situation was, Ben couldn't help but find hilarity and truth in Cobalt's words. But he didn't laugh. Moreso when Cobalt asked Ben to give his hand. "Say what now?" He blurted out involuntarily.

At his insistence, Ben finally extended his right hand to Cobalt, cautious and greatly hesitant. He involuntarily jerked his hand back a couple of times despite Cobalt telling him to not freak out. How was he not to freak out? He didn't know what was going to happen. Instinctively, he looked up to see if anyone was paying them any attention but they were too wrapped up in their own thing.

The rational part of Ben was asking him to not freak out and to trust Cobalt. He wouldn't kill Ben in the middle of a cafe with a lot of witnesses. But the irrational fear of moving shadows that Ben had was paralyzing him and begging for him to close his eyes and cry his eyes out. When the shadows started to roll down Cobalt's arm, a grace to them Ben was suddenly seeing, Ben actually didn't freak out. Cobalt's hand gripping his kind of helped.

Ben blinked a few times before he realised Cobalt had started to speak again. His explanation about his powers fell on slightly deaf ears. Ben was a tad too stunned at what had just happened and was trying to get back his senses when he took notice of Cobalt staring at him. He gulped and gave out a rather frenetic laugh which died when Cobalt pulled away. Ben almost whimpered at the loss of touch as it had been the only thing keeping from feeling like he was about to float away.

Knocking some sense into himself, Ben blinked rapidly to stay in focus. That had been a little less than pleasant feeling but he knew now that the shadows weren't harmful. He'd stored it in his brains and was sure he would be bring that knowledge out sporadically even though he still didn't feel comfortable. Goddammit, Rhodes. You're fourty years old. Get a grip on yourself! "I...need to pee. I mean, toilet. I'll come back." He didn't even notice the words he used, which could have been taken out of context given the circumstance.

He walked slowly to the bathroom where he splashed some cold water on his face. "Keep it together you dolt." He berated himself. He took a couple of deep breaths and let it out slowly before wiping his hands and face. Adopting the usually cool and calm facade, Ben left the bathroom and went back to his seat and apologised with a charming smile on his face. "Sorry for the delay."

The food came shortly and before he ate, Ben looked at Cobalt and gave him a little smile. "Cobalt, I appreciate what you did earlier. I...misjudged you and your powers and I do want to be friends with you. I don't really get to meet many of Josh's friends so I hope you'll consider starting over.

"Hi, I'm Ben Rhodes. Glad to make your acquaintance." He took Cobalt's hand without permission and shook it warmly. No more jumping. He knew what Cobalt was capable of, he needed to get it through his thick skull. He held on to Cobalt's hand a while longer before letting it go, suddenly aware of how their actions could be perceived. For all Ben knew, Cobalt wasn't even gay and if he caught wind that Ben was, it wouldn't turn out pretty.

"As I was saying before, my cousin used to go to Hammel. Anyone else you know who went there?" Ben was amiable, his previous feelings quelled for the time being. Now all he was concentrating on was making a second...third good impression on Josh's friend.

[Cobalt Weaver]

There were a few ways Cobalt expected this thing to go. However, none of those vague ideas anticipated Ben looking like he was going to cry or anything like that. He wasn’t reassured when Ben let out a rather panicked laugh and then excused himself quickly to go use the toilet. Cobalt sighed, rubbing his forehead, “Dammit, I hope he’s not throwing up in there.” He hadn’t meant to freak Ben out that much; he’d just never had his powers so… feared before. His shadow manipulation had always been on the lower level of the things-that-freak-people-out scale, since it wasn’t able to cause physical or mental harm to anyone else. It was just… something he was able to do. And an upset Ben was surprisingly upsetting in and of itself. The younger man had such an expressive face that even though he probably thought he was hiding his emotions well, Cobalt could tell exactly how the other man was feeling. And, contrary to popular opinion, Cobalt didn’t actually like making people feel uncomfortable. Or terrified. A little more upset about this than he felt was strictly necessary, Cobalt waited for Ben to come back.

When the other man returned, he looked much more together than when he’d left. Cobalt felt marginally better about everything as he returned Ben’s smile. “That’s fine.”

When the food came, Cobalt racked his brain in search of what he could say to make up for his miscalculation. But as it turned out, he didn’t really have to. He listened with surprise as Ben offered the chance of starting over. He didn’t usually make second opinions about someone after he’d met them (and frankly, very few people did the same for him), but Ben smiled and shook his hand and Cobalt decided that he could handle giving Ben a second chance. The man had done the same for him, anyways. “Ben Rhodes? Cobalt Weaver. Nice to meet you.” He gave Ben a wide smile as he returned the handshake firmly, not really realizing how long they’d held it. He was just glad to see that Ben was making an effort to accept Cobalt’s abilities. To extend the same courtesy, Cobalt lowered his shadows, which were flickering happily around his shoulders. He didn’t lower them completely because, well, Ben was really going to have to get used to them, eventually.

They had time.

“Hm? Oh. Yeah, you know that flower shop downtown?” Cobalt pointed in the general direction of Mama’s Garden, “That’s run by an old friend of mine from Hammel. Elaine Tonaya. You may have seen her briefly. She went to the holiday party with me. Really, she made me come, but you know.” He grinned fondly at the mention of Elaine, “She’s a really good friend of mine. She and her son, Morgan, definitely got me through some pretty rough times at Hammel, though they probably don’t even know it.” He shrugged, “They’re the closest thing to family I have.” He bit the inside of his lip, thinking of how to switch the conversation back to Ben, who seemed a lot more forthcoming, “So what about you? What’s your family like?”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Cobalt's mutual eagerness to turn the day around was met with Ben's charming self. Which wasn't too hard to tap into, given the circumstance. Cobalt was smiling and relaxed and that helped a lot. Even his shadows were backing down. "I have to mention, you have an interesting name. I mean I'm guessing your parents named you that because of your eyes. They're...a pretty interesting color." Ben admitted with less awkwardness than he had initially imagined.

His introduction of his friend with a flowershop reminded Ben to go and get some flowers for Yulia. The Russian loved flowers and it would add a nice touch to her room which only had a futon she insisted on using and the wardrobe the room came with. The four poster bed Ben used to have in there had been moved to the basement which Ben regularly keeps clean because of the bed.

"Oh I'm sure I'll visit there sometime. I need to get some for my housemate. She loves flowers." Ben nodded with a smile. He remembered the pretty lady in Cobalt's arm that night. How Cobalt spoke about them made Ben's smile widen. He could tell the man wasn't exactly the touchy feely kind of person Ben was close to being and Ben was a sucker for guys like that. Alright there buddy, reign yourself in. You have no business thinking like that about the man you just met a few days ago. You don't even know if he's- Ben cut off his thoughts and tilted his head at Cobalt's question.

He gave out a short laugh. "My family is like every other family in the world. I've got four brothers and like I said, my cousin who lives with us." Ben shrugged and later thanked the waiter who brought them their food. Waiting for him to leave, Ben turned to Cobalt once more. "Have you been in Pilot Ridge awhile or did you leave after Hammel and then come back?"

As much as Ben loved talking to new people, he always tried to let the other person talk about themselves as much as he did and Ben knew guys like Cobalt weren't the type to talk unless he was asked direct questions. He wasn't about to go all up close and personal on the man because he too liked his privacy but just for the sake of keeping the conversation alive, he choose simple questions that didn't require complex answers.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt hesitated at Ben’s innocent question about his name. This was information he didn’t usually share with people; usually when people found out he’d grown up as an orphan, the responses were two: a blush and an awkward stammer of an apology or (and even worse) a heartfelt expression of sympathy and a “oh that explains it” look in their eye. Which was… rather annoying after a while. This was one of the reasons he’d became so close with Josh, because the man had driven straight over the information without making a fuss about it. To someone else, it might have seen callous and uncaring, but to Cobalt, it was a miracle. He didn’t expect Ben to be so benignly tactless, however. He struck Cobalt as a family man, and the prospect of growing up without one would undoubtedly bother him. He considered lying, but it wasn’t worth it. Ben would find out soon enough anyways. “Ah. I’m not sure, actually. I grew up in a Catholic children’s home in New Jersey. I… uh. Never knew my parents.” He shrugged uneasily, not wanting to see that annoying stroke of sympathy in Ben’s eyes. But Cobalt would deal. If he was lucky, it wouldn’t last all that long.

He smiled, “Well, her flower shop is the best.” Biased? Oh, definitely. Especially considering that, to his knowledge, hers was the only one close enough in town.

He listened to Ben talk about his family with interest. He always enjoyed listening to other people talk about their families, especially someone like Ben, who clearly appreciated his. In answer to Ben’s question, Cobalt nodded, “I left Hammel the second I graduated.” He grinned at Ben, “I got a scholarship to go to University of Chicago and so I left.” He was glad he’d gotten that opportunity; his only regret would always be leaving behind Elaine and Morgan. “I just came back a few months ago, actually. Leila is planning on specializing in metahuman law, which is something I never did, so we opted to move back to Pilot Ridge.” He sighed, rubbing his knee, “I didn’t really want to move back, Chicago is amazing. But it was moving a little too fast for me now, and Leila asked be to come back with her.” He laughed fondly; Leila had made her sad face and Cobalt was helpless to resist. “That girl always knows how to play me, I tell you.” He looked over at Ben, “What about you? Did you move around for school or did you stay here?”

Another thought occurred to him: “What made you decide to be a child psychologist? And… okay, so this may be obvious, but I’ve never been able to figure it out…what’s the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?” He grinned a little sheepishly at Ben, willing to admit that his question may be a little silly.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Of all things Ben expected coming from Cobalt, being in a children's home wasn't even on the list. He was shocked for sure but he wasn't stupid enough to show it. Not for too long anyway. He obviously didn't know what it felt like to be an orphan since he had grown up in such a loving environment. He wanted to feel sorry for Cobalt but no way in hell would that come off as anything but condescending so he tried his best to smooth out his expression and just nod.

Moving on.

"I see." He paused to hear Cobalt's compliment of his...friend's[?] shop and nodded once more. "Well, now I'm definitely going to have to go there." Ben chuckled, giving Cobalt a definitive smile and a nod.

Ben showed sufficient amount of interest when Cobalt revealed that he left and had just come back. Which meant he must have been around when Ben was still in school. Of course, just because Pilot Ridge isn't big, doesn't mean Ben would have run into him any earlier than now. When Leila was mentioned, Ben cocked his head slightly. "Leila, I was supposed to have met her the other day right? The first lunch we had?" He asked. "She's your...assistant?"

He laughed at Cobalt's description of Leila and it told him of his affection towards the woman. "You knew her even from when you were in Chicago?" When the conversation turned back to him, Ben grinned. "I've been living around my childhood home since forever. The house I'm living now is just a few blocks away from my parent's house. I guess you can say I didn't really fly too far from the coop unlike my brothers." He held great affection for his family in those few sentences and he was sure Cobalt caught it.

Cobalt's next question brought a bigger smile on his face. It was a question that was always on the forefront of people's thoughts and even though people who know of his profession never ask outwardly, by their arguments, he knew that they were digging for him to answer it. It was refreshing when people actually asked since his profession was something Ben didn't mind oversharing.

"This is strictly my own biased opinion on the matter so really, don't hold it against me and don't quote me either." He disclaimed with a little chuckle and a hand up in defense. Cobalt's self deprecating words didn't go unnoticed and Ben dispelled it. "It's really not such an obvious question because really, not a lot of people actually know why psychologists take that much of an offense when people call us the poorer cousins of psychiatry.

"Simply put, psychiatrists are psychologists that write out prescriptions. As a psychologist, I'm more inclined to get to the root of the problem instead of curing it, if that makes any sense." Ben chuckled once more, waving his hand in dismissal. "I really know how to talk someone's ear off."

He then remembered the earlier question Cobalt presented. "Oh, um why I chose child psychology? This may sound a little awkward coming from a forty year old dude but I genuinely love kids. Even as a kid, I had been drawn to a child's psyche, what makes them tick.

"I kind of went from a broad course on psychology to narrowing it down to early childhood for my Bachelors. I didn't want to be a teacher so, child psychologist seemed to be the right path for me. And you? Why civil rights?"

[OOC: Holy crow's feet that was long >_< Sowie Kayla!]