Just Like Children (Leila/Open)

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt was pretty sure nobody ever listened to him ever.

He knew this because he distinctly remembered saying several times to several different people, “no thank you, I do not believe I will be going to the community field day. Because it sounds stupid and I don’t like people. Thank you for asking.” He remembered saying this. Really, he did. But no matter who he said it to, or how many times (and ways) he expressed these sentiments, he seemed to be relatively ignored. Either that, or that person (namely Josh and Riley) acted surprised that he wouldn’t go. As if it came as a total shock that Cobalt didn’t like social events. Or most people.

Especially since Morgan had gotten hurt. Cobalt had been livid and worried sick and had wanted to opt out and see if Elaine needed any help. But she had declined, saying Morgan needed some quiet and had urged him to go and have fun on her behalf.

That woman certainly knew how to play him.

So now here he was, walking around in the bright sunshine in faded jeans and a black T-shirt, hands in his pockets and looking as awkward as he felt as Leila—who had apparently decided to tail him for the day, probably to make sure he went and stayed—tried to get him to volunteer for the face painting booth. Or get his face painted. Cobalt wasn’t really paying attention.

“Leila, you are insane. I am not going anywhere near that booth.” He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. It was hard to be put-out at Leila for too long. But he suspected that she had been planning on that. “So you can quit now.”

[Leila Gold]

It was a beautiful day, and Leila was going to enjoy every minute of it. Darn it, this was supposed to be a happy day, despite all the bad things that were going on. So she quietly made sure that all the clouds were blown away from the sky and that the breeze kept itself to a minimum as they wandered about. Still, she didn't focus too much on the weather, since she had her own problems to deal with.

"Come on, Blue, it'll be fun! I'm planning on getting this really cool mask on my face, look, here, I even have a print-out. And you can get something really cool, and look like a ghost or something. Personally, I think you'd look really good as Darth Maul, or maybe you could go with--"

When he interrupted her, she pouted a little. "Fine, but will you join me at the pie-eating contest? Or what about we try the dunk tank?"

Honestly, she was worried that if she left him alone, he would just wander off and leave, or go sit under the shade of the trees and not try to enjoy himself. She really thought that this could be a good opportunity for him to just let loose and have fun.

"Here, let's get something to eat." She steered over toward the food stall and picked out a plate of cookies. "Enjoy your food, and then we'll go try the sack race or something. Okay?"

If she kept suggesting things, hopefully soon he'd pick something he wouldn't mind doing. Or get the hint and suggest something himself.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt eyed Leila sideways, a slight grin tilting his mouth. She wanted everyone to have fun, that much was clear. They both had been under quite a lot of pressure these past few days and he knew she’d been a little worried about him and he’d been a little worried about her. Sighing finally, Cobalt grinned wider and flicked a handful of shadow at the young woman, “If you really want someone’s face to be painted, you should do it. I’ll just stand around and be… moral support or something.” He gave her a mock-scrutinizing look, “I think you would look better with the Darth Maul paint anyways. It’d be… uh… fetching.” He laughed a little at the last word, imagining his sweet-faced friend in the black and red paint. She would look ridiculous.

He sighed, “Dunk tank, no. Pie eating, maybe.” He glanced over to where Riley was talking with Stephen and some woman he vaguely remembered meeting once. He couldn’t quite remember her name. “We’ll just have to wait ‘til Riley’s actually done setting up.” He also kind of wanted to just talk with Josh and Riley. No doubt that would make him feel a little more comfortable.

Cobalt almost choked on the cookie that Leila gave him, “Sack race?” He gave her a dubious look, “I hope by we, you mean you because I will kill myself at a sack race.” He suspected that Leila just secretly wanted to see him look ridiculous. Not that he completely blamed her.

“I dunno, what’s there to do here…?” He said, scanning the area to look for Josh. If he saw Sean, there would be problems, but he did want to see his friend.

[Leila Gold]

"No, no, no Darth Maul for me. I'm going with a special job. But it can wait, because I can do that later when you've done some stuff, too." She patted her pocket, which contained her wallet, cell phone, and a folded piece of paper with the design she wanted done for face paint.

"Not to worry, Blue, I will find something that we will both enjoy! And if it's pie eating you're interested in, I think that can be arranged. You've got an empty stomach ready for it, huh?" She was glad he was finally taking an interest, and putting him near Riley and Josh might help, too. He needed some of his friends around so he could relax a little.

"I could do the sack race, but it wouldn't be the same unless I was actually racing against somebody just as small as me. Plus, I like having someone who I think I can beat. Your bum knees would give me a guaranteed win." She grinned. "Ooh! We should try the three-legged race! We're the same height, right? So it would totally work! Not like if you went with Riley or something, because that would just be ridiculous."

It would. She actually had to hold back a laugh thinking of the two trying to hobble across the finish line. But since that would never happen, she just had to live with what she could do.

"There's a lot here, Blue. Just like everything you'd usually find at a school fair, or one of those big reunion things. Haven't you ever been to a field day before?" Some of her favorite times were at big fairs with all of her friends, and she frowned at her partner, thinking that he might never have experienced that kind of fun.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt squinted at her. “I am instantly suspicious of you.” He informed her teasingly, “But as long as you get it off by Monday, I guess I have no say in it.”

“Heh. It’s not so much the pie eating contest so much as I really like Riley’s pies.” Cobalt grinned, “I think I’d choke if I tried to eat them at a fast pace.” He finished off the cookie, “We should get some pie though. Maybe after the actual contest. I wouldn’t mind watching it, though.” He offered to Leila, not wanting to sound like he was saying no to every idea she had. He really was only interested in watching stuff anyways.

He did laugh at her explanation of the sack race. “How Spartan of you. How do you plan to sabotage the other racers, then? Or am I not allowed to know your secrets?”

Cobalt rolled his eyes, “No, we are not going to do the three-legged race, that would be terrible. Also: I am taller than you.” He glanced over at her hesitatingly. He…was taller than her, wasn’t he? Cobalt was pretty sure she was about five foot three, but he wasn’t always positive, since she wore heels.

Her question confused him, “No, I didn’t know about this kind of stuff when I was in school. Didn’t really have any cause to go anyways.” He shrugged, looking out at the people now beginning to trickle in. Morgan’s friend Darryl was being dunked at the dunking place, Riley was still talking with Stephen and that woman whilst setting up pies. Some smarmy-looking Asian boy was trying his best to charm a pale teenage girl. He reflected vaguely that he might have missed out on something as a child, not going to these things. But really, he couldn’t imagine his younger self allowing himself to have fun at a field day when he was far too busy trying to get out of Hammel as fast as possible.

[Leila Gold]

"Don't worry about the face paint, it's nothing that bad. Plus, it's just face paint. It washes off." She shrugged.

"Then we will definitely get some pie. And we can watch some other people stuff their faces and get sick, though we'll be sure to leave before anyone throws up. Because that's just disgusting." She was getting the feeling that he wasn't really going to want to participate in anything, at least not by choice. Soon there might need to be some drastic action taken.

"I can't give away all my secrets, Blue. But I can tell you this. I have been working very hard on my ant farm at home, and I think it's just about time I put those little bugs to use." This was a lie. She had no ant farm, she had no intention of disturbing the other racers. But it was worth admitting to something just to get a reaction out of those around her.

"Sure, you're taller than me. Just keep telling yourself. One of these days you'll believe it." Once again, he was in the right. But she was never going to admit it. The inch or so that separated them in height was hardly worth mentioning, anyway. Especially since she usually wore heels. Today she was in her tennis shoes, but she kept running around and skipping about any time she thought he might be trying to guess her height.

She really was sad that he had never enjoyed these sorts of activities before. It made her that much more determined to see that he enjoyed himself now. "Well, you have a reason to go now," she said with a smile. "Because we have been working hard these last few months, and it's about time we had a chance to just relax. And yes, it is possible to relax outside the comforts of your own home. Just...try to have fun, okay? And please don't just talk to me the whole time. I really want you to be able to hang out with your friends here, too. That's the whole point of doing this sort of thing, to hang out with everyone."

[Joshua Bernstein]

The last few months had been, for lack of a better word, stressful. He'd helped Ben and Riley and several of the more prominent members of the community plan out the field day less from charitable inclination and more because it gave him an excuse not to think about how worried he'd been when Sean called. It also gave him a more compelling reason to stay away from alcohol beyond health or propensity to end up in bed with the best friend, neither of which were particularly good deterrents. Being too busy to drink was always the best plan; and if he was too busy to drink that also meant he was too busy to think. And too busy to freak out on Sean or ask him too many questions about what had happened, because he wasn't really sure his friend wanted to share.

Thus Community Field Day, a time of cheer and sports and food and sweat-stained slacks. He didn't own any jeans, so he'd been forced to sacrifice an old pair of khakis to the cause. He was armed with a clipboard and a stop-watch, ready to time his race and declare winners, thankful that he didn't have to run the race himself, when he spotted Cobalt and Leila pilfering from one of the food vendors.

"Cobalt!" He waved to his friend, picking his way through the crowd. "I'm glad you could make it." The shorter man had behaved in a less than enthusiastic manner any time Field Day was brought up, but it would have been quite a shame if he'd stayed home alone. Where was the fun in that? "I see you and Leila are guarding the cookies."

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Fair point.” Cobalt conceded, squinting up at the sunshine. It was suspiciously bright for late April. Wasn’t it still supposed to be rainy? Though he supposed that rainy weather would have kind of ruined the field day. And that would have been a shame. For other people. Cobalt wouldn’t have minded.

“Yeah, true. Although, that is a little funny, you have to admit.” Cobalt gave a lopsided, absent grin, “It’s…what do you call it? Schadenfreude. Or something.” He was surprised that Leila was only half-heartedly trying to get him to participate. She was usually far more aggressive than this when she wanted him to do something. He decided to keep an eye on her.

Cobalt laughed, “You are a liar. A complete liar. It’s shameful.” He chose not to comment about the height thing. He was… yeah, he was pretty sure that he was taller than Leila. Except she still kept flouncing around when he tried to gauge her height. Also, he was pretty sure she knew he was right, but had the annoying tendency to not admit it.

And Leila was right. They had been working hard these past few months, and these past few weeks had been particularly stressful. Maybe she had a point; maybe he could do with calming down and chilling out a little bit. As best as he could. “Yeah, yeah okay. Hey, I’ll talk to my friends when I see them.”

And speak of the devil.

Josh’s sudden appearance almost made him laugh. Josh had impeccable timing. Sometimes. “Hey Josh.” Cobalt grinned, “Yeah, I was pretty much forced by this one,” He jerked his head towards Leila, “And so obviously I had to hide behind cookies.”

“So how have you been?” Cobalt made sure to keep his tone light, but he knew that Josh had had a lot on his hands lately. "Did you just get here?" He eyed Josh's timer and clipboard, "Did you... volunteer for something?" He snickered, just a little bit.

[Riley Adams]

Having already spent a good chunk of the morning with his boyfriend and Anya, Riley was ready to find his friends. He hadn't had to do much when it came to the pie eating contest but he was glad the ones he had put up for sale were quickly disappearing.

After a quick walkaround, doubly making sure everything was going smoothly, Riley spotted a young blonde in the company of his two friends. Holding up a hand in a wave, Riley approached the trio. Slapping Josh on the back, he greeted Leila and Cobalt with a grin.

"Hey, guys. Excellent turnout, Josh." He squeezed Josh's shoulder in reassurance.

[OOC: Sowie for such a sucky and short post >_<]

[Leila Gold]

Leila was glad to see some of Cobalt's friends show up and start a conversation. Not only would it be good for the cranky bastard, but she kind of liked Josh and Riley, too.

"Hey Josh!" she said when he wandered over. "Of course he made it. You think I would rest knowing that he was at home stewing in the dark on such a beautiful day?" She managed to laugh a bit. "How are you, by the way? I haven't seen you in forever, it feels like."

And when Riley wandered over, she gave him another big grin. "Nice to see you, big guy. How you holding out with all the attention over your pies?"

She decided, though, that Cobalt was now happily under the care of two other protective biddies who wouldn't let him leave the fair. Now she was free to go off and enjoy some booths on her own.

"Hey, you guys mind if I wander off for a bit? I have a mind to get my face painted..." She pulled out a creased piece of paper with an example of the kind of mask she was looking for. "And I was hoping to try some of the other exhibits. Think you guys can manage without someone level-headed in the group for a little while?"

She gave them all a little wave before wandering off on her own for a bit, trusting that he was in good hands.

[OOC: I'm stepping out for a bit, but do not worry. Leila will be back with a vengeance.]

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh glanced down at his clipboard as if he'd only just noticed he was holding it. "Oh. Yes. I'm reffing the 50 yard dash." He explained, scratching his nose. "If I wanted to hide then behind the cookies would be the place to do it, cookies are very distracting, nobody notices anything else when they're around."

He turned to Leila, pleasure at seeing her written on his face. "It has been too long! You never seem to make it out to lunch anymore. You know none of us mind if you join us. I know us old men aren't the most exciting companions, but you should come now and then, I'm sure Cobalt doesn't reliably report everything." In fact, most of what Cobalt reported was that Leila wasn't feeling well or couldn't come because she was sick. She looked healthy now, though. She was probably just having allergy problems.

"Riley!" He offered the taller man a smile, pleased to see his pie-baking friend. "It really is going well, isn't it? How's the pie eating contest? I'm sure you have people fighting to participate. I know I would, between you and Anya the pies are exquisite. That's the only word I can think of to use. I don't suppose you saved any for your friends?" He added, blue eyes wide with hope that there would be pie with lunch.

"Have fun!" He told Leila as she left, completely missing the affectionate insult.

"I have a bit of time before the race, anyone want to watch some of the games and be thankful we aren't participating?"

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt rolled his eyes as Leila bounced away, “I’m sure we’ll manage without your guidance for a while, don’t worry.” He grinned, watching her wander off.

“Anyways,” Cobalt turned back to Josh, “Reffing, huh? That should be, uh… fun.” Really, he didn’t think that sounded like fun at all, but Josh was the more energetic between them anyway. He opened his mouth to say something about cookies when Riley showed up.

“Hey Riley.” Cobalt greeted, feeling more relaxed about this thing than he had when Leila had dragged him over. “Ooh, yeah, you should save us some pie.” He informed his taller friend before laughing, “I swear we don’t just like you for your food.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea.” Cobalt replied, scanning the crowd idly. His eyebrows shot up as he watched a tall teenage boy dump a bucket of water on the Asian boy in the kissing booth and then speeding away. The sight was so absurd, Cobalt had to laugh again, “Good thing Leila didn’t see that.”

[Riley Adams]

"It's going well enough." Riley smiled with a nod at Josh's question, laughing at both his friends eagerness at getting pie. When Leila left, Riley waved with a little smile, sad that she had to leave so early.

"Well, I'm glad to know that if it wasn't for my food, you'd still like me." Riley chuckled, sweeping his fingers through his hair. At Josh's suggestion, Riley nodded and started to move. "I'm glad there were enough volunteers for the games." The landscaper grinned, looking around at the whole place.

"You're not volunteering for anything, Cobalt?" Riley asked of the shadow manipulator. Knowing the man, he was sure the answer was a no but he was in Leila's company before, surely the tiny blond dynamite would have done something to persuade the lawyer to do something!

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Cobalt lies," Josh elbowed his smaller friend in the side. "We definitely only like you for your food. Not because you're the nicest person we know, that couldn't be it. It's definitely the pie. And the cheese-dip. And the lasagna. Although, I have to say, Ben makes a pretty mean lasagna, too. Don't tell Sean," he added, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "but Riley's lasagna is definitely better." Sean was a decent cook, but Riley was excellent. Amazing, even. And he felt guilty admitting that aloud, so it was best to pass off that admission as humorous.

He tucked his clipboard under one arm and grinned down at Cobalt, "Cobalt was just telling me that he volunteered to eat all the cookies to keep Pilot Ridge's collective waistlines down. Isn't that generous of him?" He laughed, following his friend's gaze toward the kissing booth. "I think someone got the kissing booth and the dunking booth confused." He commented. The volunteers for the kissing booth both looked a bit on the young side; there was one event he definitely wasn't participating in.

"It's definitely going well." He grinned up at Riley, then scanned the surrounding area for a good event to chuckle at. "Oh! What about the three legged race? That definitely deserves spectators."

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt laughed as Josh elbowed him, “Well, god, Josh. You don’t just tell him. What if he decides not to feed us anymore?” He shot a grin at Riley, reinforcing the silent assurance that they were indeed just joking around. “Oh, that’s true, Riley’s cheese dip is incredibly tasty.” As Josh continued talking about Riley’s cooking skills, Cobalt pulled a mock-affronted face, “Why have I not had any of these lasagnas? I feel so left out.” When Josh confessed that Riley’s cooking was better than Sean’s, Cobalt grinned wickedly and raised a hand, “I’m telling. Why would I pass up an opportunity to make some trouble for Josh?” He elbowed Josh back, laughing slightly.

At Riley’s question of volunteering, Cobalt scoffed, “Hell no—” But when Josh offered a better explanation than Leila doesn’t run my life, Cobalt snickered, “Yup, that’s it. I’m a regular saint, you know.” To emphasize his point, Cobalt bit into another cookie,

“Mmmph…” Cobalt mumbled in agreement to Josh’s assessment on the kissing booth versus the dunking booth, his mouth far too full of cookie to elaborate further. He swallowed, allowing him to answer Josh’s question about the three-legged race, “Sure, is it set up yet?”