Reunion: Awkward Times Are Here Again!

[Danny Silverman]

((Tags didn't fit, sooo...This is for:

Danny/Cobalt/Ben/Josh.

HAVE AT IT GUYS. And thanks to Dry for the awesome title. <3))

It was a nice afternoon. That was the first thing that had been a pleasant surprise for Danny. He’d heard it was supposed to get cold again, but right now the weather in Pilot Ridge had been surprisingly warm. That was nice. It meant that he could start sketching again outside, maybe in that park that Sean had mentioned, or the hill. Sketching wasn’t his best skill, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it. And there were so many lovely things to sketch here, too. And once he’d gotten enough sketches, he could make a model, and…oh, how many plans he had for when he knew the town well enough to start work. Working for Riley was nice, but he’d admit to not having quite enough business yet to keep himself fully occupied. He’d find something, though. He was nothing if not confident in his own abilities in that.

Right now, he was waiting for a new friend he’d met. Surprisingly, it had been in temple. Danny hadn’t ever thought that synagogue of all places was a place to meet people. When he’d been in LA, it had been the sort of event where friends went together, stayed together, and left together. No real community had been involved. But this time, he found himself sitting next to a man who said his name was Josh, and much to his surprise, found himself liking the other man quite a lot. So they’d agreed to meet for coffee at this small little café, and Josh had mentioned that he might bring friends along. Or maybe it was they might meet friends along the way? Whatever the case, Danny was looking forward to it. He loved meeting new people, although he did always feel a bit shy at first. He couldn’t help it. What if they didn’t like him? What if they thought he was weird?

And then he told himself he was being silly. He was coming up on fifty soon. He really shouldn’t be worrying about these kinds of things. He was too old for it. So instead of fretting about when they’d arrive, he ordered a coffee with a smile and a nod, fetched his sketching pad, and set to sketching the leaf on the table in front of him. Not the best way to spend his time, maybe, but at least it was something to do.

Little did he know that the peace that had characterized his life thus far in Pilot Ridge was about to change. Oh, poor Danny. You have no idea.

[Joshua Bernstein]

At long last life was back to the way Josh felt it should be. Sean was out of the hospital, he no longer had the flu (and he had better not get it a third time or he was moving back to New York), and the weather was gorgeous. Even better, he had a new friend, and he always enjoyed making new friends.

He'd been ecstatic when Danny had accepted his offer to meet up with some of his friends, and while Cobalt had been rather suspicious (as he always seemed to be when meeting new people was suggested), Ben had likewise been enthusiastic, and Cobalt frequently was swayed by whatever Ben wanted. Josh was beginning to wonder if Elaine's spot as best friend wasn't being co-opted by the younger man.

He very nearly skipped to the front of the little cafe, looking around to see if anyone else had arrived before him. There was no sign of either Ben or Cobalt, but he spotted Danny sitting at one of the outdoor tables, sketchbook in hand, looking very serious.

"I see you made it!" He greeted his new friend with a wave, pulling up the seat across from him. "Looks like the other two haven't got here quite yet."

As this wasn't the place to have proper menus, instead relying upon the patrons to go up to the counter and order, he glanced toward the large chalkboard that hung above the cash register. "Did you order yet?" He asked, then, "How's your week been? Enjoying Pilot Ridge so far?"

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt was feeling quite a bit better from his own bout of flu himself. He was a little annoyed that he missed the majority of the winter and the nice not-sunny days getting the flu twice, but that was neither here nor there. That, and Morgan was getting better and would probably be out of the hospital soon, which made him and Elaine feel much happier. Slowly but surely, everything was getting back in order, which suited Cobalt just fine. He didn’t like all this chaos. A little order would be nice now, and he hoped it would stick.

So, as a nod to a return to his old routine, he’d agreed to meet Josh and Ben for lunch. Unfortunately, Josh decided that he would bring along another new person, which Cobalt was a little miffed over. He really wasn’t in a mood to meet someone new, but Ben had been insistent, so to shut Ben up and keep Josh happy, Cobalt had agreed. He hadn’t paid much attention to the details as Josh said them. All Cobalt could think of was how the last time he tried to make Cobalt play nice with a stranger. But then, that had all turned out all right in the end.

The first thing Cobalt thought when he approached Josh and his new friend was how similar they both looked. Cobalt had to stop for a moment and do a small double-take. Wow…they looked… like brothers. Weird. Collecting himself, Cobalt walked over to the table, a twitchy, slightly awkward smile on his face.

“Hey Josh. Uh.” He turned to the stranger, who looked… really familiar, but probably because he also looked like Josh, “I know Josh mentioned your name, but I can’t remember it.” Cobalt shifted awkwardly before sticking his hand out, “Cobalt Weaver. Nice to meet you.”

[Danny Silverman]

Danny looked up as the man he’d met at synagogue arrived, and he grinned and sat up, putting his sketchbook away into his bag to watch him. He was more than happy to switch from serious sketching mode to greeting his new friend. That was much more entertaining to him. “Great to see you, Josh! No, I haven’t ordered yet. I just got a coffee while I was waiting.” Not that he’d been there for long. He’d just gotten there a little early. “Shame the two aren’t here, though. I’m really looking forward to meeting them.”

And it was true. New people equaled awesome in Danny’s mind.

“My week’s been great,” he said. “I love Pilot Ridge. It’s so beautiful And yourself? Hey!” He paused as he saw someone else approaching. “Looks like one of your friends made it.” He looked strangely familiar. He also seemed really uncomfortable when he arrived.

Sorry, Cobalt. It’s about to get much more awkward.

At first, the name didn’t register as he leaned forward to take the hand with his usual friendly smile. “I’m Danny. Nice to meet you—” and abruptly, he stopped, and his eyes widened. It had been a very, very long time since he’d heard that name. But that didn’t mean he didn’t remember it. And he did remember it, very well. Which was why he didn’t do any rational thing, but instead made a sound that might have been described by someone who disliked him as a squeal and someone who did as a happy sort of yelp and leapt to his feet to throw his arms around the other small man.

“Cobalt Weaver! COBALT! It’s you! I never thought I was going to see you again? Why didn’t you ever write me back? You know what, it doesn’t matter! It’s YOU! After all this time, it’s really, really, really you!”

It probably didn’t make sense to anyone but Danny, but the man didn’t care. He was grinning from ear to ear. It was Cobalt Weaver! Prickly, wonderful Cobalt, his old friend! He’d always known that it was going to happen.

Okay. Well, maybe he hadn’t. But he’d BELIEVED in it.

[Benjamin Rhodes]

When Josh called for lunch, Ben was more than happy to oblige, shifting schedules and meetings around so he could see his friends again.

Okay, so fine, he just wanted to see Cobalt. Then again, Josh also said there would be an addition to the group and for Ben, that meant new friends and new friends for Ben was pretty cool. Yes, he was really actually fifteen.

So when time came for lunch, Ben left the office in his light grey shirt and dark pants with a spring in his step. But once he arrived at the eating establishment Josh had told him earlier, Ben was surprised to not only see a man who looked like a slightly younger Josh but the very same man was hugging his Cobalt. The nerve!

But adult as he was, he didn't break them up. Instead, he went to the actual Josh and bumped him on the shoulder. "New guy?" he kept his tone light but boy was Ben all different shades of mixed emotions.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh turned his head slightly, following Danny's gaze. "Cobalt!" He flashed the other lawyer a grin. It was nice to see the shorter man being sociable; he spent too much time attempting to pretend he was completely misanthropic. Not that Josh really believed this was true, but Cobalt could do a good imitation of hating all humanity when he wanted.

But before he could properly greet his friend, Danny had flung himself out of his chair and onto Cobalt, shrieking in nearly inarticulate glee. It was apparent that Danny recognized Cobalt, or thought he did (and really, Cobalt was an uncommon enough name) but Cobalt looked thoroughly confused.

He was relieved when Ben showed up, as the presence of the violet-eyed man gave him something to do other than gape at Danny's Labrador-worthy greeting of Cobalt. "Ben! Glad to see you. Umm, that's Danny Silverman, he's new in town. Don't worry, he doesn't greet everyone like that, you're safe. You don't have to worry about what your boyfriend will think."

He had yet to meet Ben's boyfriend; supposedly he was also named Ben, which was rather amusing. Despite the perennial popularity of his name Josh had never dated anyone else named Josh. He thought that might seem a bit weird, personally.

[Cobalt Weaver]

Of all the greetings Cobalt expected from this oddly-familiar person, an all out shriek-and-tackle was absolutely not what he was expecting. At all. As Cobalt usually did when confronted with unexpected personal contact, he froze, his shadows bursting up in surprise. And now the guy was absolutely yelling in his ear and Ben was walking in and looking confused and Josh was gaping at them and Cobalt had no idea what the hell was going on and why was this person touching him? Finally, Cobalt gained enough self-control to stammer out “W-wha--?”

Wait.

Danny.

Danny Silverman?

Cobalt’s eyes went wide and he pushed the other man back enough to look at his face. And…no, there it was. That big, stupid grin and that same laugh and oh my god, it was Danny. Cobalt’s face lit up and a wide, shocked grin broke out across his face, “DANNY! Oh my god, what the hell are you—how did you—” He was talking over Danny as Danny was talking over him but he didn’t actually give a damn, “—haven’t heard from you since we were like… thirteen! What are you doing here? I did write you back, why didn’t you write me back?” They were all but shouting in their excitement and Cobalt had quite forgotten that his other friends were even there. He let out an almost hysterical laugh and pulled Danny in for a tight hug. “Oh my god,” He breathed, laughing still, “This is so weird.”

Finally, Cobalt remembered that this probably made no sense to anybody else in their party, so he let Danny go and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Er. Yeah. Hey Ben. Um. This is Danny. We…” Cobalt let out another disbelieving laugh, “We’ve known each other since we were, what, nine?” He turned to Danny for confirmation, still completely gobsmacked. “Danny, this is Ben. Um. I guess you already met Josh, somehow.”

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Ben nodded congenially at Josh's greeting but kept his eyes on the little squealing match happening between the shadow manipulator and his supposed childhood friend. A tinge of something green hit Ben right then as he realised that the new guy wasn't at all new.

When Josh mentioned boyfriend, Ben raised an eyebrow and turned to the older man with an incredulous chuckle, a little flushed in the cheeks. "Wha...he's not my boyf - Oh, Ben...right uh...yeah." Ben gave out a nervous chuckle, his hand mirroring Cobalt's as it rubbed the back of his neck.

The sight of Cobalt still wrapped in the other guy's [how mature, Ben...refusing to acknowledge that the man had a name] arms made Ben balk a little, the urge to pull them apart highly overwhelming. "Hi," he awkwardly gave the other man a wave.

[Danny Silverman]

Right. Right. Hugging people who you hadn’t seen in years was supposed to be awkward, especially since Cobalt hadn’t recognized him. Luckily for him, he hadn’t noticed the shadows flaring up or, in reality, even the fact that Cobalt just didn’t seem that interested. Because then Cobalt was hugging him back, and he found himself grinning from ear to ear again as Cobalt was babbling right back.

“I got adopted!” he said happily. “And I lost your address, and I waited for you to write again, but you didn’t, and I was sooo depressed—oh.” He stopped as he realized that other people had arrived, and were staring at him and Cobalt as if they were beings from another planet. “Oops.” Remembering that Cobalt didn’t like contact, he didn’t try to grab at his hand like he wanted to or hug him again. Instead he just gave a sheepish little wave. “I met Josh in synagogue,” he told Cobalt. “And you’re, uh, Ben?” he turned his attention to the other man and grinned at him as he leaned forward to offer his hand. “Hi. I swear, I won’t jump on you. I just haven’t seen Cobalt in…forever. Forever forever.” He chuckled to himself, then looked at Cobalt, still smiling and resisting the urge to hug the guy again. “Nice to meet you all. And to, uh, see Cobalt. I can’t believe that I…that we…” He was grinning again, very very broadly. “Um, should we get food?”

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh watched the babbling reminiscence between Danny and Cobalt with growing bewilderment. Obviously, they knew one another.

"...Yes, Ben," He confirmed, wondering what, exactly, had caused his friend to deny that Ben wasn't his boyfriend. Questions for later. "When are we going to meet Ben, anyway?"

And then Cobalt and Danny remembered that the rest of them were there, and Cobalt was explaining that he'd known Danny as a child. Josh wondered if Donald or Richard would react like that if they met again. Greg probably would, if only because a reunion would mean he was no longer in prison.

"Isn't this wonderful!" He beamed at the two of them. "What a coincidence, that you knew one another already."

He nodded at Danny's query. "Oh, yes, we should probably get food." He agreed. He supposed that Danny could effectively count as a success; Cobalt wasn't likely to glare at him if they were already friends. "So should we plan a party to celebrate? Danny's going to need to meet Elaine and Morgan, at least." And Riley. And Sean. Of course, he had no idea that Danny had already met several of their social circle...

[Cobalt Weaver]

Cobalt couldn’t bring himself to care—for once—how stupid he looked. Because it was Danny. And if there was one person that was allowed to make him grin like an idiot and if there was one person besides Elaine who could hug him unexpectedly and invade his carefully cultivated personal space, it was Danny. And right then, Cobalt was just so surprised to have Danny with him that he was barely even making any sense.

“You got—that’s great!” Cobalt said enthusiastically when Danny told him what had happened, “Oh, but that means… I wrote to the old address, there must have been a mistake in sending it to you. I was convinced I’d said something or you’d forgotten or something.” He felt like bursting out into hysterical laughter, but he had regained enough composure to know that that would be a silly thing to do. So he just contended himself with grinning brightly as Danny introduced himself to Ben. Ben, who looked… a little weird. Cobalt calmed down enough to give the younger man a questioning stare.

Then, he turned to grin at Josh, “It’s great. Sorry for startling you.” He laughed at Danny’s assessment, “It’s definitely been forever forever.” It had certainly felt like it. And then, Cobalt did the one thing he’d never, ever done in his entire life.

He looked enthusiastic about a party.

“That’s a great idea.” Cobalt nodded. He leaned against Danny’s shoulder, still unwilling to let his old friend out of his immediate reach. He turned to Danny, “Yeah, you need to meet Elaine. You’ll love her, she’s wonderful. Like a sister.” He turned to Ben, who had been mysteriously quiet, “And Riley, I’d imagine. What do you think, Ben?” The younger man looked weird, and Cobalt was having trouble deciphering his expression. Hm…

[Benjamin Rhodes]

Had it been another person, another time and another place, Ben would probably have thought this reunion was adorable. Two people seeing each other again after a ridiculously long time apart...it was made for movies. But he couldn't quite care this time. With this person. At this place.

Cobalt looked happy. Like, honest to God, no holds barred happy. And much to Ben's chagrin, it wasn't because of him. On the contrary, Ben seemed to always frustrate Cobalt, which sucked. But hey, it was nice seeing Cobalt smile like that. He looked...good.

When they finally all sat down, Ben didn't realise he wasn't including himself in the conversation until Cobalt called on his opinion. "Uh yeah...sounds good." He forced a smile on his face, suddenly glad the waiters were speedy this time. He ordered and waited as the others did the same.

[Danny Silverman]

“It is a coincidence, isn’t it?” Danny smiled and rocked back and forth on his feet, feeling so happy that he could positively bounce. Well…all right. Normally he wasn’t this hyper. But he was so very, very happy that he’d finally met Cobalt. And when Cobalt mentioned that he had sent it to the old address, Danny nodded.

“I thought that was what happened. But I couldn’t find your address…and I kept trying. I thought you’d become a cop or something, like you’d wanted to, and so I tried looking there—”

He was doing it again, he realized. Chattering. Oops. And now that man—Ben, right?—was looking a little upset. Why? Was Cobalt seeing him? But he hadn’t been introduced like that. Maybe…maybe he was just having a weird day. Danny decided to dismiss it for now, but determined to make him smile later.

“Parties sound great!” he said. “And do you mean Riley, of Patching Adams?” He loved that name. “I just got a job with him, actually. Or…freelancing. Don’t know the others, though, but I’d love to meet them anyways! Um.” He thought for a moment, then looked at Josh and grinned. “Sorry. I know this isn’t how you meant for it to turn out…but, hopefully it’ll still work out. Uh, anything you want in particular, Ben?”

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh was pleased to see how enthusiastic Cobalt was about the idea of a party. Unlike the Danny and Cobalt, he didn't notice at all that Ben was reacting with dismay. He was far too focused on just how excited Cobalt and Danny were to see one another. Cobalt was rarely this happy, even when discussing Elaine -- particularly lately, with Morgan injured. Of course, perhaps when he was talking with Elaine he was, but Josh rarely saw the woman. She seemed nice, though, as nice as Danny; he could see why Cobalt liked them.

He nodded in recognition of Riley's business name. "That's him. You're working for Riley? Pilot Ridge really is a small town." He commented with a laugh. He hadn't expected that Danny would already know not one, but two of his friends. "Don't tell me, you've probably already met Leila, then. And Anya and Clarisse and Sean."

He paused, realizing the cashier was waiting on him, and ordered with little attention to what he was actually purchasing. It was food, it would be delicious. "But Riley is extremely nice. Sometime when we meet him for lunch you should come. I know Rina isn't that interested in eating with a bunch of old men, but as you're Cobalt's friend you might be more inclined...?" He suggested.

[Cobalt Weaver]

“It’s a weird coincidence.” Cobalt agreed, nodding with a smile. It didn’t feel like calling a coincidence; like coincidence wasn’t a strong enough word for this strange twist of fate that brought him back with his old friend. And miracle was far too dramatic. So he didn’t say anything. Just smiled happily as his shadows flared and curled around him.

“Ah, no. No, I didn’t end up being a cop after all.” He grinned crookedly, “I went to law school. I’m a lawyer now. So it’s… at least in the same law enforcement category. Though far less exciting.” His old roommate in college became a police officer and Cobalt was pretty sure Sam got into far more trouble than Cobalt nowadays. “What are you doing now?” As far as Cobalt could remember, Danny had wanted to be an astronaut, but childhood dreams had a way of not panning out.

Cobalt laughed as Danny explained that he worked for Riley. “Did everyone know you were here except me?” He nudged Danny’s shoulder before groaning at Josh’s comment, “Oh god. If Leila met him and didn’t say anything about it… she’d be in so much trouble.” Granted, he’d never told Leila about Danny. Never told anybody about Danny, really. Except for Elaine, and even then not by name. He kept his mouth shut about Sean.

When Danny asked Ben if he was going to eat, Cobalt also stared at Ben. Who was acting extremely…quiet. Ever tactful, Cobalt tilted his head to the side, “Hey, what’s up with you? I hope you’re not getting sick with whatever we got. You’re being awfully quiet.” Which was true, and Cobalt wanted to know why. Ben looked weirdly upset, but Cobalt couldn’t place the cause. Huh.

Cobalt absently ordered something very small. He wasn’t a big eater anyways, and right now he was so thrilled, he wasn’t the slightest bit hungry. “Yeah, we eat together a lot for lack of better things to do. You should join us.”

Speaking of eating, Cobalt touched Danny’s arm briefly, “Also, we need to get dinner or something sometime. We have like… thirty years of catching up to do. And I wanna hear about your family.” He was so, so glad to hear that Danny had gotten adopted, and now he just wanted to hear about everything that had happened in the years they hadn’t seen each other.