Paper Wings and Giant Rings

[Danny Silverman]

If You...

Visit any place in the world, where would you go?

Oh. Um. Paris! They have the Louvre there, and lots of wonderful paintings and stuff. And the architecture and the countryside…actually, just all of France. Yeah.

Change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’d like to not be so worried if people like me or not. I’m pretty sure it’s not good for me.

Fly, where would you go and why?

I’d just fly around. Because I could fly. I think I had this conversation with Griff before…

Make three wishes, what would you wish for?
1. Free art supplies.
2. Josh and Griff to get along.
3. Why do I need a third? Um. Peace in Israel, I guess? It’d be nice for them to get along.


Meet someone from the past, who would you meet?

Leonardo da Vinci. Or Neil Armstrong. Can I meet both?

Have any pet what would you have?

A parrot. They’re colorful and they don’t eat or scratch models.

---

Beliefs

Magic?

Yeah!...maybe? It’d be cool.
Karma?

I dunno? As long as it doesn’t apply to Cobalt, I guess I don’t see why not. I really hope he doesn’t read this…

Love at first sight?

I believe in strong feelings at first sight! I guess love would be logical too.

Life on other planets?

Oh definitely. It’s a big universe out there. Why wouldn’t there be life?

Miracles?

Yeah! I met Cobalt again just because I picked a town to live in off a map. If that’s not a miracle, what is?

Ghosts?

…I really hope not.

Luck?

I think we make our own luck, really. Which is probably why people don’t do well at casinos…

Believe there’s a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?

I tried that once. It didn’t work.

Do you wish on stars?

Yup! All the time!

Do you believe in the traditional view of Heaven and Hell?

Sometimes I worry about it. But technically Jews don’t believe in that, so I guess I shouldn’t either.

Divorce?

If it really doesn’t work out between two people, I guess it makes sense. It’s always sad, though.

---

Questions For Freaks

Why is this section named that? Does that mean I’m a freak? I don’t know if I like this…

If the sky wasn’t blue and the grass wasn’t green… What colours would they be?
Um. Red and purple? Oh! Or yellow and green! Green as the sky of course. A pale green, yeah…

….

Huh? Sorry, I was sketching.

Which end of the worm is the head?
I don’t know. I never thought of it. What if it has two heads? That’d be weird.

Why don’t boys have boobs?
Um. I think that’s…um. >> A biological question. I’m just a model maker.

What languages does hippos speak?
…hippopotamus? I never asked.

If you run in the rain do you get less wet?
Actually, NO! I learned this from Mythbusters! You get more wet! I don’t know why, though.

What shape was the last cloud you saw?
An elephant. It was awesome.

Why do sprouts taste so bad?
…I kind of like sprouts.

Where does that other sock end up?
I’m convinced something eats it. Maybe that’s how dryers keep running.

Is Santa real?
Santa is real inside of all of us. He is the spirit of giving!

Is a dog man's best friend?
So long as it doesn’t pee on models, yeah, I guess.

---

Personal Survey

Oh! I think I’ll like this one.

Do you go to the bathroom with the door open or closed?
Uh. I think I’ve changed my mind. Um. Pass?

Are your underwear and socks folded in your drawer or just thrown in?
…it depends on the day?

Sleep on your back or stomach?
On my side…? Why do you need to know these things?

Are you a cuddler?
Oh, yes. Definitely.

What would I find if I looked UNDER your bed?
Lots of boxes for taxes and stuff.

Something that happened today that made you angry?
Um, one of my models broke. It didn’t make me angry, really? It just was sad.

What were you doing before this survey?
I was checking my email. I got two orders, yay!

What will you do after the survey?
I will…go start the models for those orders? Or maybe buy some art supplies, yeah…

Marriage or living together?
Um. Depends on the couple, I guess.

What shirt are you wearing now?
A white plain one. It’s kinda covered in paint.

Do you sing?
hehehe! No, but I’d like to.

Do you de-label your beer bottles?
Before I recycle them, sure! I heard that’s better. But I don’t usually buy beer, so…

Do you talk about your feelings or hide them?
Talk about them! It always helps to express yourself.

Is there something you regret and wish you could take back?
I regret not remembering to reply to Cobalt, and not memorizing his address at Hammel. And I regret causing trouble for Cobalt’s friends. I really didn’t mean to, but I don’t know if I can really take that back.

First thing you do when you wake up?
Yawn. And stretch a little, I think. Then I usually get my glasses, or I’ll break something.

Ever had surgery?
Umm. Yes! For my appendix.

Last argument you got into with?
…I guess I got into a little one with a buyer, once. But I really try not to argue with people. It’s not fun.

Do you tend to rip the paper off water bottles?
Sometimes! But not a lot. Only when I want to draw something on them.

What's one good thing about your best friend?
He can stand up to anyone and he’s not afraid of anything.

Why are you laughing? >> I’m serious.

How long does it take for you to fall asleep at night?
Depends on the night? But usually not very long.

When you shut off your alarm clock, do you tend to fall back asleep?
Nope! If I do that I’ll never get up.

If you were given the chance to take care of a monkey for a weekend, would you?
…why would I be taking care of monkeys? I don’t know. Monkeys tend to climb on things…

What are you looking forward to in the next few months?
Oh! Spending more time with Griff and Riley and Ben and Cobalt! They’re all wonderful.

It's midnight. Who are you texting?
Probably my mom, ‘cause it would be nine in California.

It's Wednesday afternoon, where are you usually?
…working? Or shopping. That’s fun.

Honestly, if you could have ANYONE in the world, who would it be?
HAVE anyone? I don’t get it. Have, like have for dinner, or…?

…Oh…

…um.

Neil Patrick Harris

Your Christmas list consists of?
Like, the people I shop for? Everyone, I think.

You're going to New York for school shopping, where do you go first?
\Why would I go to New York for school shopping? Nah! I’d go to Broadway.

You need a new pair of jeans, what store do you go to first?
Um. Target? Or Wal-Mart. I know it’s not a nice place, but I go through clothes very fast.

How do you feel about your hair?
It’s…thick?

What movie is in your DVD player?
Titanic. It gets me every time. And the sets are amazing!

If you could move away, no questions asked, where would you move?
I already did that…

How much do looks matter to you in a guy/girl?
…I don’t know. I never thought about it.

What's the greatest thing that happened to you today?
Arranging to meet Griff and Riley!

How many TRUE best friends do you have?
I’d like to think a lot! What's wrong with having a lot of best friends?

What would you change about your life right now?
I’d like for ALL of my friends to get along. That’d be great.

What’s the best feeling in the world?
Being with people you love and care about.

---

Do You...

Sing Well?
I don’t really think so.

Believe In Yourself?
Um. Next question?

Get Motion Sickness?
Not really.

Think You Are Attractive?
That’s kind of a weird question.

Like Thunderstorms?
Sort of.

Own An IPOD?
Yeah! Definitely!

Pray?
A little?

Keep A Journal/Diary?
Not really. I keep a list of supplies and models, though, so I can keep track.

Sing In The Shower?
Yup!

Chew on your pencils?
>> How’d you know?

Like your handwriting?
It’s kinda spiky.

Cry at weddings?
Oh, yes! Doesn’t everyone?

Like Camping?
It’s okay…

Wear nail polish?
Nope!

Do you trust anyone with your life. If so, who?
Yeah! Cobalt! And Riley. And I think Griff too…maybe Josh? I dunno. He does weird things sometimes.
I hope he doesn’t read this either

Do you like to watch storms pass by?
Yeah! It’s pretty.

---

Either Or

Sparking or still water:

Sparkling water is pretty good.

Kisses or hugs:
Lots of both!

Piercings or tattoos:
Um. Not really a big fan of either.

Hot or cold:
cold!

Nike or Adidas:
Adidas are pretty comfortable.

Cats or dogs:
Dogs, I guess?

The US or the UK:
I like the US.

McDonalds or Burger King:
I really prefer Carl’s Jr.

Church or nightclub:
Church! Nightclubs and I seem to have problems.

Mariah or Madonna:
…Mariah? They both kind of scare me.

Beer or soda:
Soda please. .-.

Rock or rap:
Rock! I don’t get rap.

Winter or summer:
Winter. That’s why I came here.

Sun or rain:
Hmm. Rain. It means more snuggling—I mean relaxing opportunities.

Love or lust:
Love! Lust is okay, I guess, but love is…love is better.

Pepsi or Coke:
Is there a difference? Pepsi, I guess.

Love or money:
Love! I thought we’d went over this already!

Indiana Jones or James Bond:
I dunno. I like Indiana’s rugged but sexy sort of attitude but James is so smooth…

Um. I didn’t say that.

Sweet or sour:
Sweet!

Night or day:
Day and night? I think you kind of need both.

Originality or acceptance:
I’d like to be accepted better.

Independence or Companionship:
Companionship! Life’s better with people.

Stability or Freedom:
I think I picked freedom a while ago.><

Introvert or Extrovert:
Extrovert! Or…inverted extrovert? I don’t know.

Wicked or RENT:
RENT is soooo sad…no, they’re both sad! I can’t deciiiidee.

Music or Television:
Television!

Blondes or Brunettes:
…brunettes…

Birds or Squirrels:
Squirrels are pretty entertaining, but birds are so pretty.

Car or Truck:
Car! More fuel efficient.

Driving or Riding:
I kind of prefer being a passenger.

Mexican or Chinese food:
Mexican! I miss it.

Pie or cake?
Can I have both?

Chocolate or vanilla?
Vanilla!...although chocolate is pretty good.

Smile or frown?
Smile! Always.

Tears of joy or tears of sorrow?
Tears of joy. I don’t want to cry ‘cause I’m sad.

Past or present?
I like both?

Science fiction or fantasy?
Science fiction. Oh, but fantasy means better model materials…I’m going to have to think about this.

Dull or sharp?
Dull! I don’t want to be hurt. Unless it’s my saw. Then sharp.

Live forever or die young?
Die young. But only if everyone else does too.

Books or television?
Television. I’m not much of a reader…

Jump or skip?
Skip!

Fast or slow?
Both have their merits…

Run or walk?
Walk. You get to enjoy the sights!

Disney or Warner Brothers?
Disney is amazing.

Belle or Jasmine?
Ohh. Jasmine. She reminds me of Cobalt…

Maybe I should delete this once I’m done.

Gaston or Cruella Deville?
Gaston always makes me laugh.

Colors or black and white?
Colors!

Cute or pretty?
I think pretty people are cute too…

Good or evil?
Good!

Fruits or vegetables?
Fruits are amazing.

Milk or juice?
Juice, I think.

Hot chocolate or gingerale?
I kind of like ginger ale! But hot chocolate is really comforting.

Beer or wine?
I don’t drink anymore.>>

Movies or cartoons?
Cartoons!

Moon or stars?
The moon is beautiful. But they go better together.

Sky or sea?
I still like both…

Vision or hearing?
Vision. I wouldn’t like not to be able to see people.

---

How old were you when you had your first relationship?
Um. Really young.

Are you taken/single?
…I don’t really know.

How old were you when you had your first kiss?
See the answer above the last one.>>

What color is your underwear?
Why do you want to know this?...it may be purple…

Do you like anyone right now?
…*giggle*…

Ever had your heartbroken?
Yeah. I don’t…really like to talk about that.

Miss anyone right now?
Yeah! My parents.

Who was the last person you sent a text to?
Um. My dad?

Last person to text you?
My dad?

Last person you saw?
Cobalt!

What was the last thing you said to someone?
“See you again soon?”

Who do you trust the most in your life?
Cobalt! And my parents.

Who do you love most?
…I don’t know. I love lots of people. I try not to love one most, though. I don’t think that’s fair.>>

Ever been in love?
Yup!

Who has hurt you the most?
…there was a guy. In LA. It didn’t end well. That’s all, I guess.

Has a tragedy ever happened in your life?
I…got left when I was a kid? That’s kind of tragic.

Are you happy?
Yeah! Of course! I love it here!

How many good friends do you have?
A lot! it’s amazing.

Are there some songs you cant listen to because they remind you of someone?
Um. Now that you mention it…

Have you ever cheated on a partner?
No! That wouldn’t be nice.

Ever been cheated on?
…I don’t think I like this questionnaire…

Ever been told someone loved you?
Yup.

Ever told someone you loved them and meant it?
Yeah! I wouldn’t say it and not mean it.

Not meant it?
Who would do something like that?

Ever had your heart broken?
I think I answered this question…

Are you happy with where you are relationship-wise now?
I might be, actually.^^ I can’t wait.

What is your idea of true love?
When you care about someone enough to do anything for them.

When they slip, do you think you can let go the small stuff?
Yeah!

Do you believe in love at first sight?
I don’t know. I hope so?

Why or why not?
‘Cause it’d be nice…

Do you believe that it is best to have a friendship first then love?
I think love and friendship aren’t that separated.

Do you believe that love can be found in bars or is that too much of a risk?
I found a very nice guy in a bar once…

Should people go to bars to find love?
I don’t know about that.

Or should they go to places where people who like what they like hang out?
I guess? I don’t think there’s any real way to find love. Or any one way.

Should men and women be expecting the other to buy the other gifts?
I don’t really need gifts, but I like getting them for other people.

Who should wear the pants in the relationship or should it be a mutual give and take?
Mutual, always!

Should chauvinists of either gender be in a relationship?
I don’t know what that means…

…is that it? That was fun! I’ll have to do that more. But maybe I should delete the more personal stuff…

..I’ll do it later.

[Danny Silverman]

“Danny.” It was hard for the older man to tell if his best friend of many, many years was trying not to laugh or trying not to throttle him. He suspected it was more of the latter, but that hadn’t stopped Danny from standing right next to him and beaming at the setting quite proudly. “How did you—why did you—why in God’s name did you make my apartment look like something from the mall?”

It had taken him all day, and most of the night before. It was good that he’d had help (AKA, asking Ben to have Cobalt stay for the night, and having his new secondary best-bud help out with the decorating), because otherwise he didn’t see how it was possible for any of this to get done. But as it was, the decorations looked fantastic. Okay, they were a little overboard. Danny had spent all of his money earned from his latest Lord of the Rings models on the decorations. There had been lights, streamers, a tree (real, even though Danny had never had a tree before, because he viewed that as the traditional thing to do it and it smelled so lovely), blow up things for the lawn, and so on. He’d talked to the landlord, who had given the man a very strange look, but had agreed, and then had proceeded on his merry way, his new friend Cornelius Connor Cohen (otherwise known as Cee) in tow.

He hadn’t meant to do anything of this nature. He’d been in a mall in the central part of Vermont, buying presents for Riley, Cobalt, Sean and Josh, and had been in the elevator with another, taller man when the elevator had gotten stuck. Danny, who wasn’t bothered by small spaces, had been alarmed and concerned when the other man (burdened by so many packages that there was hardly any space on his skinny frame that wasn’t covered) had dropped all of his packages and had nearly collapsed on the floor, apparently in the midst of a panic attack. Danny wasn’t much good at comforting people, but he’d managed to soothe the man while the officials had tried to get the elevator to work, and by the time it had been fixed, the two were fast friends. Cee knew all about Danny’s best friend in the whole world Cobalt, and Danny knew all about Cee’s knack for electronics and mechanical items and his longing for familial company and Christmas decorations.

“I don’t have any notions on how to decorate,” he confessed to Danny. “I’m an engineer. No items I make are particularly beautiful, but I do miss decorating.”

Danny had never decorated before, being Jewish. He remembered decorations from the orphanage, but he’d always felt…ambivalent toward them. The nuns had hardly become extravagant—that was exactly what they didn’t do. He couldn’t recall if Cobalt had liked them or not, but how could he not? The more Cee described the decorations, the more he wished to do it. It was artistic and model-making on a grander scale, and besides—it could be a present for Cobalt, something to lighten his spirits. So while they were being anxiously interviewed by one of the mall’s managers, Danny made a proposition to Cee.

“Would you help me decorate my friend’s apartment?”

Cee had agreed like a shot, and before Danny knew it, he was being directed by the energetic man all over the mall, picking up decorations, lights, streamers, holiday-colored decorations, a tree, etc. And all that had gone piling into Danny’s little station wagon and the two had gone puttering off into the great unknown. Danny had called Ben to ask him to keep Cobalt at his place for a while, and the two had set to work.

Looking back, Danny thought that they might have gone a bit overboard. But he’d looked at pictures of how well-decorated houses should look, and he’d…kind of gone for it. The front lawn of Cobalt’s apartment complex was covered in decorations. There were the lit-up reindeer, a blow-up Santa, lights wound through all the trees and bushes that were timed for the Christmas music that was playing through hidden speakers (that had been Cee’s particular touch. Danny had to admit that he liked the effect). There were lit signs and plywood painted cutouts of the Grinch, Rudolph, Santa, Frosty, and any other Christmas character that Danny had hastily Googled and then painted. And to top it off, the lovely snow provided a wonderful atmosphere. All the local kids were stopping by, and many adults were driving by slowly to point. The local landlord seemed to be caught between extreme irritation at the two excitable men and a desire to make money off of this. The latter seemed to have won, if the hot-chocolate stand out front was any indication. When Cobalt had returned, the scene outside had been bad enough, but at least tolerable because it was not in his apartment. He’d unlocked the door, internally grumbling about all the fuss—

And then he’d come into his apartment and found that the Christmas cheer had followed him there too. And there was Danny, wearing a Santa hat and a sheepish and slightly worried grin. He was surrounded by…well, Christmas. The apartment had been thoroughly cleaned (Danny’s touch. He had told Cee to stop after the man had nearly knocked over a picture), and the whole thing had been redecorated. There was a Christmas tree in the corner, tall and wound all the way around with extremely colorful lights. There were strings of green and red paper chains on the ceiling, the towels and the placemats had all been replaced by holiday-themed ones, and there was a Santa Claus blanket on the sofa. Cobalt took it all in and barely managed to resist the urge to bolt, because it was Danny and he was looking at him with those large, pleading ideas.

And this was about when we came in.

“Danny,” he said, once he realized Danny wasn’t going to answer the why question and managing not to shout because it was Danny and they had just managed to get on better terms after their fight, “It looks like Christmas threw up in here.” The sheer amount of lights and color were SCREAMING at him, and he didn’t think he could stand to look at any of it, so he stared, perplexed, at Danny instead.

“I kind of worried that you’d think it was um, too much, so I promised I left the bedroom alone,” he said. “And, um, the bathroom.”

Other than some comical plastic reindeer antlers on the showerhead. He hadn’t been able to resist.

This was a small comfort to Cobalt, because at least Christmas wouldn’t be stalking him when he slept too, but he looked around wildly, feeling overwhelmed and trapped by the sheer amount of CHEER. “But, Danny, I thought—Danny, why in hell’s name—you’re Jewish!”

“But you’re not,” the other man pointed out reasonably. “Or, um, you weren’t? I brought you a present too, and I’ll take it down. But I met this very nice guy, and even though I think he thinks you’re a vampire—”

“What?” Cobalt was trying not to laugh again, in spite of himself. Only Danny could be this ridiculous.

“—it’s a long story. Anyways, he told me that he doesn’t have much family, and that the ones he does don’t get along, and I thought, well…” He swallowed. “Why not try to celebrate Christmas, just this once? ‘Cause I…I kind of consider you my family. Actually, I really do. So I decorated, like families do and—and—I got you a gift.” He held out a thin but long wrapped parcel, and Cobalt took it, staring down at him. Because only Danny could make him simultaneously want to cry and shake him at the same time. Only Danny could make him feel so wonderful and so irritated all at once.

“But you can’t open it until Christmas,” Danny added.

Cobalt rolled his eyes and managed a soft little whuffing chuckle, then hugged Danny. It was quick and it was awkward and it wasn’t perfect, but when they separated, the two were smiling.

At least, until Cobalt added, “Can you please take some of this down now?”