Legally Lost (Cobalt)

[Josef Muller]

Lawyers instinctively worried Josef. He wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t a logical reaction, and it certainly wasn’t rational. Perhaps it was just because he was concerned by anyone who wanted to argue for a living. That seemed…odd to him. Or perhaps it was just the fact that it involved a wealth of words and not really anything that was substantial. Josef was a physical man. That didn’t mean he solved arguments by punching someone. Instead, it usually referred to the fact that, when it came to problems, he preferred them to be the kind that could be solved with some thought and careful planning paired with brute force in the right places. Shuffling words around to make a solution was baffling. But he supposed each had their own methods.

Besides, it didn’t really matter how he felt about lawyers or not. The fact was that he needed one. Now that he was on his own and somehow wealthier than when he’d started out, he realized that he needed some legal help. If he DID want to open his own business, for one, there were probably laws he’d have to work around or with. And then there was the money itself. Josef wasn’t used to living on a big budget. He didn’t eat out. His expenses other than the necessities included clothes (although that was small, because although he did like looking good, he didn't get spending a lot of money on it), and a gym membership, which was really more of a necessity. He was a minimalist at heart. So even though he had some ideas of what to do with the whopping amount that Will had begrudgingly given him, he didn’t really know what to do with all of it. He’d heard of something called a trust fund: but that did require a lawyer to manage it. So it was those two factors that had him trudging to an office of one Colbat Weaver, who had been recommended by one of his new-found acquaintances.

Josef didn’t know much about the other man. He hadn’t asked. That was a fault that had led to the whole fiasco with William, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to get a first impression before he went asking. Then he’d make up his mind. In the meantime, he could only hope that he didn’t come off like the over-muscled, ignorant bumpkin that he felt like. Hiring a lawyer. Funny, he never thought he’d reach that stage. He paused outside the door of the office, then shrugged to himself and slipped inside, rubbing his chilled hands together as he took it in. He’d went for nicer in appearance today, but not being cold was more important, so a scarf and his typical sweater was thrown over his nice, white button-down shirt. And he’d just stuck to jeans. He hadn’t worn a pair of slacks since the trial.

“Hello?” he called, looking around curiously. Oh well. Perhaps he should just sit down to wait.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt was finally feeling better. Well. He was feeling better physically. He still felt pretty terrible about how he’d treated Ben, but he didn’t want to try and contact the man until Cobalt was no longer ill and therefore twice as unpleasant. Today was the first day he’d felt anywhere remotely like himself, so he figured he would call Ben tomorrow or something and straighten everything out.

Even if it meant he would have to apologize. Which he was awful at. Stupid apologies.

Grumbling slightly, Cobalt hauled himself out of his seat and limped over to the back room. Coffee. He really needed coffee. Feeling better or no, he was still not wholly well and he was combating the feeling of drowsiness unusual for midday. When he was in the back room, he heard someone call in the front. Cobalt sighed slightly. Of course this would be the day where he dressed even more casually than usual. Not a particularly professional move, Cobalt.

He limped back to the front, cup of coffee forgotten. Sitting in front of his desk was a tallish, wary looking man. “Hello,” Cobalt greeted politely, “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He sat down at his desk across from the stranger, “Cobalt Weaver, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for a handshake, “How can I help you?”

[Josef Muller]

Josef turned as the man entered the room and, for a moment, just focused on his appearance. He was an older man—not THAT much older than Josef, though, which was something he was still trying to adjust to—and dressed casually. He didn’t seem to be feeling all that well, though. As the man settled down, he shook off his “analyzing” mode, then leaned forward to take the other man’s hand.

“You hardly kept me waiting at all, and besides: it’s nice to be where it’s warm. I’m Josef Muller. Nice to meet you.” He hesitated, not sure if he should settle down in the seat or not. It didn’t seem like a good idea. He wasn’t even sure…oh well. He sat down in the seat across from the lawyer, then folded his hands in his lap.

“I had a few legal questions, and I was given your name when I asked about it.” All true, all true. That was a benefit, wasn’t it? He resisted the urge to grimace or fidget. “I don’t know anything about lawyers, so if you find any of these questions ridiculous, let me know, but I wanted to ask about trust funds, insurance and just small business laws in general.” He shrugged. “I recently came into some money—“ a hell of a lot of money, which was a perk he hadn’t been expecting when he’d gotten married and then divorced—“and so I thought I might need a little legal advice.”

[Cobalt Weaver]

The younger man looked a little taken aback when Cobalt walked, but the shadow manipulator was a little too distracted (tired, ill, take your pick) to be all that embarrassed. As embarrassed as he ever was. “Josef, nice to meet you.” Cobalt smiled politely as Josef hovered around the seat, apparently trying to figure out if he should sit down. Cobalt raised a discreet eyebrow; the chairs were there for a reason, after all. But he chose not to remark on it, instead opting to wait until Josef decided what to do with himself.

Cobalt shrugged easily, “No questions are ridiculous; it’s my job to know this kind of stuff, anyways. Go ahead.” He listened to Josef’s situation and nodded, “Well, I should warn you that I’m not specialized in financial law and all that, but I can give you advice or refer you to someone who can better assist you.” Truth be told, he just found finances rather boring. But he was able to help Josef, and that was all there was to it. “So why don’t you tell me more about your situation and what your plans were.” He reached over without taking his attention from Josef and grabbed a pen.

[ooc: so sorry for the wait. And for the tiny. D:]

[Josef Muller]

((Nah.^^ No worries! ‘Twas fine.))

Right then. Josef wasn’t used to people listening to him. He wasn’t used to taking the initiative, actually. He was a man who would take direction and follow it. Not a leader at all. But he had decided that he would figure out how to become a stronger person. Or, at the very least, more independent. Once he was settled in his chair, he leaned back, watched the slightly-older man fetch the pencil, then shrugged to himself and started.

“A few months ago, I divorced my husband, and ended up with half of his resources, as well as the money I’d saved.” Which hadn’t been much. Josef wasn’t very economically savvy. “I don’t know the exact numbers, as some things are still…in progress, but there’s a lot more than I ever thought I’d have. I lived here when I was younger, and I wanted to open a self-defense clinic, so I thought that, with this money, I’d try to start one.” It wasn’t all the details, but enough of them for them to continue, he hoped. “I’m not really looking for someone who’s focus is in this, because I’m really hoping it’s not that complicated. The only laws I know happen to be for assault.” He’d been briefed on those by his divorce lawyer, who seemed to think he might go attack William. To be fair, it had been tempting.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt listened to Josef’s situation closely. He felt a twinge of sympathy for the other man’s plight. Divorce was never a fun situation, and Josef seemed to be a nice enough person, if a little irritatingly passive. Which made Cobalt raise an eyebrow at Josef’s comment about assault. Okay then. He decided not to ask. “Okay, well, there are some permits you need to acquire to rent a space for your clinic. I assume you’re already certified to teach the subject, so you would probably have to provide some proof of that.” He paused, trying to remember what he did when he started out his law firm. “I would recommend opening a separate account for the clinic and putting the money you received from the divorce into that. I don’t know all the procedure from that, but the bank will help you through that.”

Cobalt considered telling him that it was startlingly expensive to rent a space in Pilot Ridge, since it was small and space wasn’t readily available, but he figured Josef either already knew that or would find out for himself. In addition, Cobalt couldn’t really give him any advice on where the best places were, since he didn’t pay attention to that kind of thing. Cobalt also considered asking him to leave now, since Cobalt was irritable and in no mood to entertain. However, he opted to be polite (the things he did at the behest of Leila…) and said: “What kind of defense do you teach?”

[Josef Muller]

Irritatingly passive. Josef had heard that one before. People tended to find his general easy-going nature pretty irritating: especially as it came from a man who was supposed to specialize in stressing situations. But Josef had just never seen the point in being more outspoken and forceful. Where exactly did that get people? Then again, now, after experiencing divorce and a failed relationship, he was beginning to wonder if that wasn’t his problem. But that was a pretty bad train of thought to continue down, and he wanted to avoid the whole ring of self-criticism for what he did and didn’t do. He might not have been a therapist, but he could recognize a bad idea when he saw one.

“Logical,” he said, absently making mental note of it. Separate account…sounded reasonable. And as the man had his own law office, so he had some idea of what he was talking about, right? “I think I can manage that.” Yes, even he, who hadn’t done much managing of financial affairs since he’d been in a relationship with the far more economically intelligent William, could get two accounts.

He also knew about the prices. He HAD lived there once, after all. But as he’d said: money really wasn’t an issue.

“All kinds,” he said. “Self-defense, mostly. I don’t believe in these...uh…” He’d almost said something rude about the so-called “composite” karate tactics, but stopped himself. “Pure forms or kickboxing or anything. I have a three-degree black belt in Isshin-Ryu, and extensive training in Judo and other arts forms as well. I figure I’ll teach a mixture of that. Not that you have to worry about attacks in Pilot Ridge, but I taught them on the side before I moved here, and self-defense always seems to be popular.”

He cleared his throat. Enough about him. He already knew he could ramble on and on about martial arts and the differences in forms and the stupidity of repetitive motions that was the usual fare. "What made you want to get into law, if I may?"

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt tilted his head, listening as Josef listed off the styles of self-defense he knew. Cobalt wasn’t familiar with martial arts or self-defense beyond a vague notion that they existed and a basic, layman’s idea of what they did. It did pique his inherent desire to know things, but not enough to express much interest in it. Besides, it wasn’t something he was prepared to ask more information of at this moment. Perhaps some other time. But at Josef’s analysis that you wouldn’t have to worry about attacks in Pilot Ridge, Cobalt couldn’t help a wry smile. “We have had a few disturbances of that nature,” He told the younger man, “I don’t know details—” A little lie, but Cobalt didn’t know this man, “—but your defense clinic might be very timely for some people.” He entertained the notion of trying to persuade Josh to try it, but his older friend would probably turn it down.

The turnabout question about Cobalt surprised the attorney. The instant question of why the younger man even cared indeed crossed his mind, but taking into account what he was able to glean about Josef’s personality, the younger man probably was just curious. Okay then. Cobalt shrugged, “Oh. Law was something I was interested in as a child. I guess the idea of helping people who need it and making people take responsibility for their actions was appealing to me then.” It was a vague, and succinct, answer, but it was true. Helping those who need it and punishing those who deserved it, all within the force of the law, had been an empowering idea for his younger self, and continued to be rewarding. If a little tiring.

“What about you?” He asked without really knowing why, “Why do you do what you do?”

[Josef Muller]

It was slightly heartening to hear that the service that Josef was offering might actually be viable. His parents, never one to avoid critiquing their son for his choices in life, had questioned just what he thought he was doing. A self-defense clinic? When he was pushing forty? Sinking any money that he’d gotten from William into a business and not into retirement? Yes, Josef, what were you thinking?

Some days, Josef just didn’t pick up the phone when he saw their number. It wasn’t worth it. And it wasn’t like his sister was much help. Her advice was just to go with his gut. Right. Because that had worked out so well before.

“Well, that’s…” He paused. No, it wasn’t good. “I’m sorry to hear it. I hope everyone’s all right.” Yes, he didn’t want to be the type of person who thrived off of other’s misfortunes. “I only hope it’ll be of any use to someone.” Not like he’d run this before…taught some classes, but nothing more.

He tilted his head to the side and nodded as Cobalt explained how he’d gotten into law, and then he smiled. “Taking responsibility for their actions. I never thought of it like that.” He’d always considered that more of being a policeman’s job, but he supposed lawyers did it too. He seemed surprised when Cobalt sent the question back—although he didn’t know why, as it was perfectly reasonable—then shrugged, uncomfortable.

“It was what I was good at, I guess. I worked for a...private institute for a while, but then things became complicated.” Yes, sadly so. “I like karate. I enjoy the simplicity of it, and I liked how practice really could make you better. And I like helping people.” Plus, he didn’t know what else to do. He hadn’t ever been a man for grand plans. He plodded along and made his way and didn’t think twice about it. He also didn’t like talking about that. He’d always felt his lack of vision didn’t exactly impress people.

“Ah, do you have any other advice for me, perhaps? Or any papers? If not, I don’t want to take up too much of your time."

[Cobalt Weaver]

“Yeah, everyone was okay.” Cobalt nodded in answer. All things considered, everyone had turned out fine. Cobalt didn’t believe for a second that it was over, but that was neither here nor there. “But I wager your clinic will be helpful in general.” Cobalt’s head was starting to hurt, and he was really running dry on polite small talk. It was probably time to take some aspirin, which he hated.

Cobalt listened vaguely at Josef’s explanation, nodding as he took in the words. Josef seemed nice enough, and knowing his luck, was already friends with one of his friends. It wasn’t as though he didn’t like Josef. It was just that Josef distantly irritated him in the faint way that he couldn’t quite explain. He would feel a little bad about it if he wasn’t already feeling a little ill.

He came back to himself when Josef asked about any other information. “Ah, no. No, that’s about all I can offer you in the way of advice.” He stood up and extended a hand for Josef to shake, “Good luck, it was nice meeting you.”

[ooc: closed for cobalt!]

[Josef Muller]

“I’m glad to hear so. And I do hope it ends up working out.” His lips twitched up into a wry smile and, as Cobalt got up to his feet, followed suit. He was surprised that the man hadn’t mentioned any money or charges. He’d been told that legal consultations weren’t usually free. Well, that was all right. He wasn’t going to complain, and as it mostly looked like the man just wanted to go away and feel better. Well, Josef could take a hint, so he offered Cobalt a smile and shook his hand.

“Thanks for your help,” he said. “And it was nice meeting you too. Good afternoon.” He nodded to the man and turned about to slip out the door.
((wrapped!))