Awkward Pictures for Twinsies (Josh)

[Danny Silverman]

Drinking was starting to grow on him. That was a side effect he never would have thought of when moving to Pilot Ridge. First it had been with Sean, although he wasn’t sure he could properly call that “drinking.” Maybe on Sean’s end, but definitely not on Danny’s unless being a “lightweight” allowed you to be really drunk off of three beers. And then he’d just started hanging out at bars. Maybe it was because Pilot Ridge’s social life for adults was at the places where the teens couldn’t go. Or maybe it was just because a lot of his friends seemed to like to drink. He didn’t mind, though. He was starting to like beer and wine more. He hadn’t branched out to hard liquor yet, after remembering some rather interesting periods when he’d been in college, but he thought he might change that.

Maybe even tonight. He and Josh had decided to go drinking, which was why he was currently sitting at the bar, nursing his customary beer and waiting for his doppelganger to arrive. He’d been told they looked alike, and so he’d started calling Josh his twin, just for kicks. He was an orphan. He’d always wanted a brother. It had been a no brainer.

It hadn’t occurred to him that Josh might not think that way. Oh, poor Danny. Sometimes you can be so clueless.

He brightened as he saw his twin walk through the door and straightened up to wave energetically.

“Glad you can make it!” he said, grinning at Josh as he arrived. “I’ve never been here before. Seems nice.” A little louder than the bars he’d been to before, but he was from LA. Loud wasn’t an issue. “You, um, okay?” Certain awkward conversations came to mind again, and he blushed and tried to push them aside. He still hoped they could be friends, right?

Right?

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh slipped through the door of the bar, scanning the room for any sign of Danny. Their burgeoning friendship had suffered a setback once Josh had realized that his new friend had hooked up with Sean (Sean, who claimed to dislike casual sex and flings) but he'd managed to more or less forgive Danny for his transgression.

Which was why he and the other man had agreed to meet for drinks. He felt as if he was doing this a lot lately, going to bars, though the last time he'd been in here he'd spilled his beer all over himself. He would be more careful this time; he hoped he wouldn't have any terrible news like the last time, either.

Fortunately it didn't take him long to spot Danny, as he was waving furiously, (and there was no sign of either Sean or Griff, yay) and he sidled up to the smaller man, grinning widely.

"I'm doing well." Better than he had been in the immediate aftermath of his friendship's death, anyway. "This is a good bar. I just hope that the bartender doesn't remember the last time I was here." He chuckled nervously. "So how about you, how've you been?"

[Danny Silverman]

He liked that Josh was smiling at him. That was a step. Not having people like him was a good way to make Danny an absolutely nervous wreck. He knew that wasn’t a good way to be. That he should have more confidence in himself and in his abilities to be a good friend and not act like every person who didn’t like him was a blow to his self-esteem. And he didn’t do that ALL the time. But he liked Josh, and Josh was one of Cobalt’s friends. Why wouldn’t he want the man to like him?

Besides, they were Jewish. Jewish men had to stick together.

“Glad to hear you’re doing okay,” he said brightly, unaware of the other drama that Josh had been going through. “I’ve been fine. Just working a little bit. Keeping busy. What happened last time?”

Danny couldn’t really picture Josh doing anything that crazy, but who knew? Everyone had their moments, right?

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Ah." Josh glanced furtively around the bar before leaning in close to Danny, dropping his voice to an embarrassed whisper. "I uhh I may have gotten into a bit of a tiff with another patron. And spilled my beer all down my lap."

He straightened hastily, gesturing for the bartender. He wasn't interested in anything particularly different today. Just a regular old beer. Yuengling, if they had it. And they did, he knew, having been in before.

"How's work going? Planning on showing off any of your models? Cobalt speaks highly of your skills."

Cobalt lit up every time Danny was mentioned, which was one of many reasons to forgive the younger man and be friends. There weren't many people who could cause the shorter lawyer to smile quite like Danny did: Elaine, definitely. Morgan, whom he had yet to really meet. To a lesser extent Riley and Ben and Leila, but not in the same way as Danny or Elaine or Morgan.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long. Just as I was leaving I noticed my jacket had a hole in the side and I had a time finding a different one."

Stupid goat.

[Danny Silverman]

“Oooooh.” It was clear by Danny’s wide eyes and faintly puzzled look that he didn’t think Josh was capable of getting into a “tiff.” But because the man was his friend, he decided he must have had a reason for it and dismissed it as not a big deal. Josh just wouldn’t get into a fight for no reason, right?

Or, so he told himself.

“Well, I’ll vouch for you if he comes over,” he said cheerfully. “And worst case we can find somewhere else.”

He didn’t care. Either way would be pretty good to Danny.

“I’ve been doing mostly online stuff,” he said. “And some work for Riley. I’m making ends meet and having fun, so I’m enjoying it.” He grinned. “What about you? You’re a lawyer, right? What have you been doing? But no.” He shook his head. “I haven’t been waiting that long at all. I’m glad you found other clothes, though. What happened to your jacket? Just old?”

Danny’s clothes tended to get a little worn when he wasn’t paying attention, which was often. But he had sort of learned how to sew well enough to solve that problem.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh told himself that his argument with Griff had been entirely justified -- After all, it hadn't been until he was in the picture that Sean had decided to abandon over three decades of friendship, so it was obviously is fault -- but even still he knew that explaining what had happened would not impress anyone else. And maybe he hadn't been at his most mature, but dammit, Griff was annoying.

Fortunately, Danny didn't press the issue.

Even more fortunately, the bartender was a new young woman and she brought him over a beer without comment.

"Ah, that's right, you work with Riley. He must be the most easy to get along with coworker known to man." He grinned, nursing his beer happily, "I work with his sister and she's something else. Passionate and dedicated, definitely, but she always gets her way." He smiled ruefully; she had really brow-beat him about sulking in his office, pushy woman that she was, but he really did like her quite a bit.

"We're thinking of hiring an intern to help manage some of the paperwork. Already have someone in mind, nice young man who attends Hammel." As he hadn't even met the prospective intern yet it really was an assumption to refer to him as nice, but he was obviously responsible enough to apply for an internship, so that meant something, right?

He frowned into his beer at the question about his jacket. "Goat ate it." He grumbled, managing to look more like a petulant teenager than a mature adult. "Don't know how the city can allow goats to wander about, they should be penned up."

He took a much larger swig of beer at this thought, slamming his can back onto the table. "No offense if you have a goat...." He added with as much sincerity as he could muster, which honestly wasn't that much. He really hoped Danny didn't have a pet goat.

[Danny Silverman]

Danny’s grin turned slightly shy at the mention of Riley. Riley was a very easy-going coworker and an even more relaxed boss. Danny was very happy to be working with him, and really liked the man. He’d have to think of a way to repay him for helping him out that one time when he’d been so stressed. If Riley liked cooking, a dinner out probably wasn’t going to be a big thing…maybe a recipe book? He liked that idea. He’d have to ask Cobalt and maybe even Josh later what Riley liked so he could think of something he could do for them. “Riley’s great,” he admitted. “And I didn’t know he had a sister! She sounds nice, though. Fun.” Danny didn’t mind being bossed around. It helped give him direction.

“But interns are good.” He nodded. “I hired one or two for my work in LA once. They were very…” He trailed off as he tried to think of a word. There was no one word or even a phrase that would describe them, really. Some of them had been very, very good. Likewise, some of them had just sat and had whined all day. But Danny was an optimist and believed in saying the best about everything, so all he said was, “It was an experience. But I’m glad you’re getting someone!” He smiled. “You’ll have to tell me how it goes.”

He finished his beer and had waved over for another one when Josh mentioned the goat. He blinked at him and jumped a little bit as Josh slammed the mug onto the table, then shrugged. “I didn’t know they did,” he admitted, wondering why Josh was so upset about the goat. He must have really liked that jacket, or maybe it was something else. “But I don’t have one, so no worries!” he smiled at him. “Do you…want to talk about it?” Something seemed to be bothering Josh, so he thought he might as well ask.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"He has a sister. She's about ten years his junior, I believe?" He wasn't entirely sure, but he knew she was quite a bit younger. She'd never divulged her age, however, and he'd never asked Riley his, but both had mentioned having an age gap and not growing up together when discussing family. Both the Adams were closed-mouthed beyond that, at least to him, but he didn't pry.

"We just have so much paperwork to do these days, we can hardly get it done ourselves. An intern seemed promising." He smiled when Danny mentioned having his own interns; he'd forgotten that really Danny was yet another of the entrepreneurs lurking about Pilot Ridge, not just an employee of Riley's. "Perhaps sometime Janice and I can bring the intern out to lunch with you and Riley."

He went out to lunch with Riley and Cobalt all the time anyway, except when Cobalt was off with Ben. Maybe Ben and Cobalt would want to come, too. It wouldn't hurt to introduce the intern around, after all, help him establish some connections in the professional world.

He shook his head violently as Danny continued to inquire about the goat. "The gentleman I was arguing with in this very bar set his goat on me when we met later." He complained, draining the rest of his glass. "But I would rather not talk about that."

He'd already cried to Cobalt about it, and that had been awkward enough. He barely knew Danny so he certainly wasn't about to pour his woes on him.

He flagged down the bartender for yet another beer before turning to grin at Danny. "But enough about that, I have a fake twin, that's much better than a goat, don't you think?"

[Danny Silverman]

Danny nodded. “Oh! I didn’t know that. I’d like to meet her.” Riley was so great that he couldn’t picture his sister not being. But it was nice that he had family and siblings. That was good. It meant he had someone to spend time with and talk to if he was upset. If they had that relationship. But Danny didn’t get why family members DIDN’T have that kind of relationship with each other.

“I’d like that!” he added cheerfully to Josh’s comment of bringing the intern to a lunch. Then again, there wasn’t much that Danny didn’t like, but he thought it’d be fun to meet an intern. “And they are very good for paperwork. I’m sure it’ll work out great!”

Danny listened intently to Josh’s story about the goat, and then frowned. “I’m so sorry! That sounds horrible. Well, with luck, you won’t meet him again. But yes! Twins for the win!” he giggled at the phrase and drank more of the beer, then smiled at him. “If you’d like, I might be able to fix your coat! I’m pretty good at sewing and stuff.” He’d had to be, after he’d spent a lot of time in very low-paying jobs and spent most of his money on the art supplies he needed to start his business. “I don’t know if it’d help entirely, but…” His smile turned shy. “Maybe it’d help?”

[Joshua Bernstein]

"I'm sure she'd love to meet you." Josh assured Danny. Janice came on strong, but she was quite amicable, and he could see no reason she wouldn't be interested in meeting a friend of Riley's.

And really, he couldn't see why his future intern wouldn't be fun to take out to lunch and show off. "Wonderful! I'll be sure to be in touch about lunch then."

The offer to help with his jacket was met with a delighted smile. "Are you sure you don't mind?" He asked, because it would be rude to accept too eagerly, but it was so difficult when he wanted to jump up and down and exclaim yes, please! "My sister is a fabulous seamstress, but she's still in the City and I can't quite justify visiting simply to ask her to fix my jacket."

After all, she had teenage children running rampant, so it wasn't as if she just had tons of free time.

He took another (long) swig of beer, body relaxing with atmosphere and company. "Twins for the win?" He repeated with a laugh, "Now you sound like my nieces and nephews."

He leaned against the counter, a grin on his face as they drank together. "Do you know, now that we're twins and all we should do twin things. Use that to our advantage. It's too bad we aren't in school anymore, we could do the classic swapping places if we were." And he wasn't about to suggest that they swap places at work, it would be apparent from the moment he broke a model that he wasn't Danny.

[Danny Silverman]

“Excellent!” Danny looked happy about that. He liked meeting younger people. Or really, he liked meeting anybody. Hence why he was excited about Janice and about the new intern, even though he knew experiences with interns didn’t always work out in the past.

“Oh, no!” Danny shook his head to him asking if it was any trouble. “Not at all! I like to mend things, and it’s no problem at all. I’m happy to help, especially if it’s your favorite coat. You’re my friend.” He smiled at him quite happily and lifted his beer mug in a toast. “So here’s to you and a hopefully repaired coat!”

And if it cheered up Josh, that made him more than happy to do it.

“I know.” He was blushing. “I really need to get a better vocabulary. But it’s cool! I like having a twin. But yeah.” He finished his beer and waved, maybe a little unsteadily, for another one before propping his chin up on his folded hands and thinking. “We need to think of something fun to do. We could….could…” his brow furrowed as he pushed his glasses up. “I dunno yet. But we’ll think of something, okay? We have to have fun.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do you have any ideas?"

[Joshua Bernstein]

Several beers later and Josh was more than tipsy: he was downright inebriated. Not the sort of falling down, vomiting and probably having no memory by the next morning inebriated, but inebriated enough that when twin activities had come up for the second time that night he managed to suggest what he thought was a brilliant idea.

A brilliant idea he would come to regret the next morning.

"Pictures." He slurred at Danny the moment the thought occurred to him. "Twins should take pictures. Isn't that considered a twin thing?"

If he'd been on speaking terms with Sean there was a good chance that his initial teasing suggestion that they have a menage a trois might have occurred in a more serious fashion and once he'd sobered up that would have mortified him.

As it was, he thought that twin pictures was a wonderful idea.

((OOC: moved us ahead a bit, hope that is okay))

[Danny Silverman]

((That’s fine!XD Moving the thread along is good.))

Somehow or another, Danny actually found himself drinking enough to actually become drunk. This was a novel sensation for him. He’d gotten a little buzzed with Sean before, but the last time he’d actually been drunk was back in his college days. He kind of liked it. Sure, he was swaying in his seat a little, but he felt very good and very happy and very inclined to agree with whatever Josh said. So when he mentioned pictures as the twin thing to do, his immediate reaction was to nod happily.

“Pitchurs! Right!” No, not right. That didn’t sound right at all. His brows furrowed. How was pictures a twin thing to do? Was he missing something?

Actually, he was probably missing a lot of things. But that was a thought that would only occur to him when he was actually sober.

“What kind of pitchurs, Josh?” he promptly asked. “I don’ get it.”

Oh, Danny. You really should have stayed home…

[Joshua Bernstein]

Twins and twincest were unfortunately inextricably linked in Josh's mind. So much so that one of the few times he'd acknowledged Sean's sex life had been to comment that his relationship with the Gestalt pair was kinky, a fact Sean denied on the grounds that Gestalts were one mind in two bodies. That wasn't something he could easily wrap his mind around, although after his run in with the Degreas twins he would have been somewhat thankful that Gestalts weren't really the same as regular twins, had he thought about it.

So when Danny asked what kind of pictures, his explanation was a somewhat impatient, "You know, pictures!" He tried to formulate some way to tell his friend exactly what sort of pictures he meant. "Twin pictures." No, that wasn't helpful. "The sort where you pretend to be making out because it's supposed to be funny." And kind of sexy. For other people. "We can send them to Sean." He added, the alcohol erasing any notions that he ought not to send suggestive pictures to someone he wasn't on speaking terms with.

[Danny Silverman]

Had Danny been sober, he probably would have wondered a little bit about Josh’s sanity. Not that he would have ever admitted it out loud to his friend. That would have been embarrassing. But Danny would admit that he didn’t link twins and twincest at all. For all his living in LA and his going to college in the infamous San Fransisco, he was still a little bit of an innocent when it came to kinks.

But because he was swayingly drunk and really wanted to do something twin-like with Josh, he didn’t seem to mind the idea of taking silly (or weird) pictures with Josh. Instead, he bobbed his head like a bobble head doll as if he’d gotten it immediately. “Right! Oh! Yeah. That makes sense.”

Actually, no. It didn’t. Why was that funny? Even while he was drunk it didn’t sink into his brain. But he decided not to care. Josh liked him again. That was the important part.

Someone should send this boy to therapy.

“I like it!” he said happily. “Let’s do it! Um.” He paused, blinking owlishly as he pushed up his glasses. “How?” That was a bit of a problem, wasn't it?