riverviewlogs | [open] try to tell the difference

[ Putting it lightly, October had been a hectic mess, in Cisco's life. He'd lost track of a lot of folks who weren't within his most immediate circle of friends, while there were still ghosts around and random memories popping into people's minds and all the disruption that caused. Even after all that had faded away, he'd been left with such a mountain of backlogged work for his job that he'd barely had time to get out and participate in various community events.

Things have been finally feeling back to normal this last week or so, and he's starting to have the time and energy to wonder how some of his other friends are doing. Which is why, when he spots Billy a ways off walking down the street, he doesn't just let the opportunity go. Instead, he calls out, enthusiastically. ]

Yo, Billy! Wait up!

[ He waves an arm through the air, jogging to catch up with Billy, who... doesn't look as happy to see him as Cisco would have hoped? Some part of his brain registers that the response isn't what he was expecting, but he forges on, happily and a bit breathlessly declaring: ]

I haven't seen you in ages, man!

[ They'd decided today was the ideal day for their little mission out to the abandoned hospital; Beverly and the small team she was bringing wouldn't be missed at the hospital, Cisco had finally caught up on all his backlogged work for the fire department, and the weather was clear, if a little on the cold side for Cisco's taste. He had bundled up, thrown together a pack with everything he thought they might need (and then some). He's not expecting trouble, but he wants to be ready for it if it comes.

He's sketched out a map to the building in question; it is possible to get most, though not entirely, the way there in a vehicle, so Cisco had called in a favor with the Perimeter Guard and gotten a jeep and a driver. It's all feeling a bit Jurassic Park, which is an analogy he doesn't want to think about too much or else he'll start to worry.

He arrives at the agreed-upon meeting point a few minutes early, with coffees for everybody, and a bright smile which is only mostly covering up his restless, nervous energy. When he sees Beverly arrive, he waves her over, holding out a coffee for her to take. ]

Hey, Dr. Crusher. Thanks so much for... all this.

( that is definitely his name, but it's not a voice he recognizes. for a moment, he almost assumes it's just someone else named billy this guy is calling out for--but this wouldn't be the first, nor the last time some unknown person here in riverview has known more about him than they should.

so he twists around, moves to face cisco and--yeah, definitely not ringing any bells. it's good he's already used to this: the process of letting people know he doesn't remember anything from being here before. that two weeks ago he was busy hopping through the multiverse, not. . this. his brows furrow, but the corners of his lips do twist up into some semblance of a hesitant smile. )

I'm--sorry. I don't remember you. There. . must have been a portal glitch or something when I came through? ( or something. ) Because I know I had been here for a while before, but I don't remember any of it.

[ As soon as Billy says he doesn't remember him, Cisco's smile drops away. It takes a few moments for that information to actually sink in. Cisco's heard of this kind of thing happening before. Rey had told him about it, when it had happened with Poe. But it's never been someone he actually knew.

His first instinct - which he's not really proud of - is suspicion. This could be Billy, returned but without his memories. Or it could be a Billy from a slightly different version of reality than the one Cisco had known. But it could also be a shapeshifter, of the same sort as Hannibal Bates. Or even someone like Eobard Thawne, who had used god knows what technology to transform himself into the shape of Harrison Wells. ]

That's, uh. Wow.

[ He rubs at the back of his neck, feeling awkward and alarmed but trying to muster up a smile. After another moment's hesitation, he holds out a hand for Billy (?) to shake. ]

Cisco Ramon. I- we were, um, friends.

[Perhaps it's strange, but Beverly's really been looking forward to their little expedition. Exploring has for so long been part of her life, yet here in the Quarantine, she's found herself settling into a more... domestic existence, more easily than she would have thought. While there isn't anything particularly wrong with that, she's feeling restless and she finds she doesn't want to lose that part of herself either.

So she's full of energy this morning, making the coffee rather unnecessary - not that that stops her from drinking it.]

It's my pleasure, really.

[ They make small talk and finish their coffees - Cisco introduces Beverly to the driver, talks about how far away the site is, they go over the various emergency protocols and signals and things for if they get attacked while they're on the road, and then everyone is piling into the vehicle and heading out.

Cisco makes sure to get a seat next to Beverly; during the drive he says (although he's pretty sure he'd told her as much in their initial conversation about the place). ]

So, it was sealed up tight until a few weeks ago. I'd tried to get in a couple times, but the vines over the door were super thick and there were easier buildings to scavenge so I just left it. When Rey and I went in there weren't any signs that any animals had got in since it was locked up. That's like, really rare, out here.

[ He doesn't know how much cause Beverly has had to come out past the wall, so he is trying to be as thorough as possible. His hands are twisting together in his lap as he talks, but he's really trying his best to not worry. Trying being the key word. ]

( alternative universes or really inconvenient memory loss are his two current best guesses; billy's traveled the multiverse enough to know there's plenty versions of him, but most of the ones he's run across were different enough that one would be able to tell the difference. loki called him a different incarnation of the one who was here before, which. seems like a good call, too.

still doesn't make this part any easier. cisco offers his hand, and billy's quick enough to shake it, the same sheepish smile never quite fading. )

Billy Kaplan, but I guess you knew that already. ( friends he said. and as far as he can tell, he's not that different from how he was before, so: ) It's nice to meet you, again.

[Beverly, in turn, introduces him to the small crew from the hospital - adventurous sorts who were as curious about what the abandoned site might have to offer as she is. There's an atmosphere of cautious excitement among them, though they keep the chatter to a minimum as the jeep drives deeper into the abandoned city. Even those who rarely venture past the wall know all too well the dangers that lurk there.

Beverly unobtrusively reaches a hand over to rest on Cisco's. Her hand is steady and warm, hopefully offering some reassurance.]

That's good, for us. Whatever's in there should still be intact then.

So... this is super duper weird, right?

[ One of them might as well just come out and say it; no point in trying to deny how very strange this situation is. Still, they're both people who are accustomed to some pretty strange situations. The fact that they'd become friends in the first place, considering they were from different universes, is so unlikely that everything else feels trivial by comparison. If Cisco had gotten close to Billy once, he could do it again.

So he grins, shrugs, and declares: ]

Guess I get to reuse all my best jokes now.

[ There's a shadow of something sad, beneath that optimism and the wide smile. Billy had been the first person he told about his powers, had been the one who encouraged him to stop running away from them, to start facing the fact that he is a metahuman. He'd been someone Cisco had trusted - and now there's one less name on that already very short list. ]

How're you holding up? I mean... the whole amnesia thing's gotta be all kinds of uncomfortable. Random strangers rocking up to you, and all...

[ If nothing else, the obvious concern in Cisco's voice, and his worried expression, are evidence enough that he had been close enough to Billy to fret over how he's dealing with this situation. ]

[ The gesture surprises Cisco; he doesn't say anything, but glances down quickly, figuring that Beverly must need something or be trying to signal him, or something. But no - it's just a small, direct offer of reassurance. He hadn't even been conscious of how clearly his hands were giving away his anxiety. He smiles faintly at Beverly, and draws in a long breath, willing himself to chill out. It'll probably be much less creepy in there, with more people, and this time he knows what he's getting into. ]

Should be. I think it was just a warehouse, that they converted during the plague 'cause they ran out of room at the hospital or whatever. The building doesn't look like it was designed for it, you know? It's just sort of one massive room that had to house the overflow.

[ He's choosing his words carefully, wanting to get across as much information as he can without necessarily admitting to the fact that he had gotten a lot of that information from a vision, rather than from just looking at the empty room. ]

Did you ever deal with stuff like that, in Starfleet? Epidemics or whatever?

I'd say it's considerably high on the list of weird things I've gone through. ( finding out that you've been somewhere before but can't quite remember being there, getting stuck in some weird pocket of the multiverse with no way back to his own corner of it, finding there's two different versions of a few people he's familiar with, here. the weird time differences between himself and those he knows from back home.

alternative realities are no big deal to an avenger. alternative versions are no big deal. but this is in a whole other ballgame. but from what he's learned of the billy who was here before, they're not that different, and he trusts his own taste in friends. . ish. if this guy is even telling the truth about them being friends.

but it sounds like a really silly thing to lie over. )

I'm getting used to it. ( being approached, not needing to introduce himself but definitely needing to catch up on a few names he's supposed to know but doesn't. ) Amnesia just means I get to start all over, right?

( considering he spent a good thirty minutes sitting on the stairs with his face in his hands when he first got here, he's. not doing as well as he could be, but billy's cool now and that's what matters. )

[It's natural enough for him to be nervous - and smart for him to be cautious. But this sort of thing is something she has a lifetime of experience in and she'll support and, if need be, protect him just as if he were a member of her crew.

His question, however, gives her pause. It's not that what she's about to say is any particular secret, or something she is unwilling to talk about, but it's a difficult topic. So her answer comes slowly.]

I have.

[Her smile now is soft and sad, not really a smile at all.]

Not just in Starfleet. I lived through one, as a child. It's why I became a doctor.

[After the last message from Cisco, Ed had been a little skeptical when he got another one some time after the meeting with Magnus. Still, he wasn't going to count the guy out completely yet, and Floor Six was generally a pretty busy place. Everyone had work, and there were few residents at the moment, so for now Ed had the floor to himself. Which made it a perfect time for Cisco to stop by for... Whatever reason.

On the plus side, if he was coming over rather than expecting Ed to meet him somewhere, he could be sure it wasn't another attempted set up. In typical Elric fashion, he remained focused on getting some research done and recovering lost notes after the August fire while he waited for the other's arrival.]

You know, sometimes I get tempted to just write down an actual list? Like can you imagine. Just a piece of paper somewhere; some new totally crazy shit happens, you deal with it, then put it on the list.

[ Cisco's trying his best to make light of the situation, to lift spirits by joking around, but his humor's a little anemic at the moment. ]

Yeah. A fresh start.

[ To him, the idea of starting all over sounds far more like a disaster than an opportunity, but perhaps that is just because he is the one who remembers. Or, perhaps, it seems just as bad to Billy, but he's making the best of a bad situation. Perhaps it's some combination of the two. ]

Listen, I don't wanna be presumptuous or anything, but... I'd really like a chance to get to be your friend, again. You don't know this right now, but... we got a lot in common.

[ The moment Beverly doesn't give an answer right away, Cisco's stomach drops a little. That pause can't mean anything good. Given her age, her high rank, her calm about the whole mission, he seriously doubts she is silent at first because she's about to say this is new to her but she's perfectly qualified, etc. And if it's not a pause for that reason, it must be because the question has struck some kind of a nerve.

He just didn't realize how much of one, until she speaks, and it's pretty much the worst case scenario, as far as answers go. Cisco's nervous agitation halts as he sits still, the only sounds for a few moments the hum of the jeep's engine and the chatter of the rest of the medical team. After a moment's hesitation, he turns his hand over so he can hold hers, hoping that will bridge the gap of how ineffective words seem. ]

Sorry. I didn't know.

[ She'd lived through something like that, and he'd just texted her out of the blue asking for her help with this place, without ever considering that perhaps it could have a personal resonance for her. He'd slipped into that unhelpful pattern of thinking that she's from the distant future, so surely they've solved problems like that by then. But that's not how life works, not how diseases work. ]

[ Cisco's intentions had been good with the whole blind date thing, but he'd come to realize afterwards that he had, perhaps, overstepped a little.

Okay, overstepped a lot. On the grand scale of things, no one had been in danger, no one had gotten hurt; it could have been worse! Still, he feels like an apology is probably in order. So he doesn't just show up to Edie's room empty-handed. He has a basket tucked under one arm, filled to the brim with candy, beers, and a serviceable Gameboy-knockoff that he'd managed to throw together with the resources available to him.

He knocks, and when Ed bids him to come in, steps inside. ]

Sup, Ed.

[ What's up, it seems, is some kind of project - research maybe, judging by all the open books balanced on various surfaces around where Ed is bent over some paper. Cisco opens his mouth to announce that he's brought gifts, but doesn't quite get there. Ed's wearing a sleeveless vest, and Cisco notices with considerable surprise that one of his arms, all the way up to his shoulder, is made of shining metal. He hadn't realized he'd never seen Ed without sleeves or gloves, hadn't known Ed had a prosthetic.

He recovers quickly from the surprise, though, and says: ]

Brought an olive branch. Metaphorically, obviously, 'cause what would you even want a real olive branch for. Wait, is that a saying you've heard? Olive branch? It's like a peace thing. Um. What I mean is it's a "sorry for the blind date" gift... thing.

Edited 2017-11-30 17:34 (UTC)

Hey.

[Ed looks up from his research long enough to give Cisco a glance in greeting before golden eyes fall to the basket in one arm and then back to Cisco pointedly, as if he doesn't get it. He notices the way the poor guy falters with a slightly quirked brow, Cisco doesn't exactly have the best poker face on the moon, but he moves past it fast enough that Ed almost doesn't have time to question what might have caused the reaction.

It sinks in as he's explaining about olive branches that Ed hadn't thought to put a shirt on, and perhaps without any warning that might have caused the reaction - but considering Cisco breezed onto the next topic without so much as a questioning look or word of sympathy things seemed to be going smoothly enough on that front.]

Uh, yeah I've- heard of that one. Thanks.

[He's just going to smirk a little, mostly as a sign he's not mad over the whole ordeal - of course, if he was Cisco probably would have gotten a completely different reaction to his message - and move some stuff out of the way to allow him to set the basket down. Not really looking at Cisco as he speaks next.]

It was a nice thought, at least. Magnus said you did it because you thought he was lonely, you were just trying to be a good friend, I get that.

[ Cisco's eyes do return to the automail once or twice, but he's not staring, and he doesn't ask about it - at least, for the time being. Of course he's curious, but he didn't show up so he could interrogate Ed about something that's probably fairly private. After all it can't be a coincidence that when Ed is out and about he covers up that arm. Probably not something he likes talking about all that much. ]

Didn't know if you liked beer, but you can always give it away to your floormates if not. Or, you know, to whoever.

[ He'd been meaning to stop by and apologize for a while now, but something had happened recently to quicken the process. Cisco had been headed home from his workshop when he'd spotted Ed with a girl. Cisco almost hadn't recognized him at first, as distinctive as his looks are, because Ed had looked so... happy. Bubbly, laughing, delighted. It had occurred to him that maybe... well, who knows. That there might be something going on there.

A little awkwardly, he continues: ]

I, uh- realized after the fact I probably should've checked with you first to make sure you were still single, and all. And if you were, y'know, interested at all. That's my bad. I was so preoccupied with whether or not I could that I didn't stop to think if I should.

[That might make Cisco the most tactful person on the moon regarding this subject, next to Laura of all people. He wouldn't be surprised that Cisco had questions, but if he'd learned anything in all this multiverse stuff it was that something like automail could be fairly unremarkable to certain people, so there was no reaction that surprised him anymore. He just looks amused at the offer to give the beer away, considering he was already thinking Jay was probably the most likely to wind up with it out of Floor Six, but he wasn't about to tell Cisco his gift was going to get re-gifted, at least until he brought it up himself.]

Someone will make good use of it, trust me.

[When Cisco continues though his eyes widen at the prospect of not being single, glancing away as he felt his face heat up.]

Uh, yeah- I - Magnus is cool and all, but not really my type. Guess the feeling's mutual, so it worked out.

[Ed doesn't realize Cisco had seen him with Val and made his own conclusions there, so he focused on the 'interested' part of that statement more than anything. He flashes a quick disarming grin.]

Don't worry about it- dating's not really my thing anyway, and I've been so busy, getting an old friend settled that arrived last month. I wouldn't have time for it even if I wanted to.

[ There's no way Cisco could miss that reaction; Ed has the sort of complexion where a blush shows up fairly obviously, and the averted gaze and slight stammering for words all confirm it in Cisco's mind. Ed is probably with somebody, and it's almost certainly that girl Cisco had seen him walking with. Must be, right? ]

For what it's worth, I promise I'm never gonna try shit like that again. I learned my lesson.

[ But then Ed is saying dating's not for him, that he's been helping an old friend get settled in, and Cisco blinks a moment or two, surprised. Evidently he'd made the wrong assumption yet again. Or had he? ]

An old friend? Is that- I actually passed by you a couple days ago and you were walking with a girl, I kind of... thought she was maybe that friend from the place you were before here, that you told me about...?

Edited 2017-12-01 01:38 (UTC)

[Poor Cisco, doesn't realize how painfully easy it is to get Edward Elric to blush at the slightest thing. Still, he can't help the laugh, holding his arms up as if to indicate Cisco didn't have to explain or whatever to him.]

I guess one positive came out of all this.

[He's teasing, but then Cisco continues and his expression drops as those words conjure the mental image of Val, and then Taiga as he continues talking. Golden eyes widen and he lifts a hand to cover his mouth before laughing it off, as if it was all some big misunderstanding, but the hurried way he's dismissing the topic is almost suspicious, and if anything the color on his face is only growing darker.]

What- Val? No... No, we're just friends!

[He and Taiga had been just friends too, technically, by Ed's definition of things. He clears his throat to compose himself, waving a hand dismissively as if Cisco had clearly imagined the whole thing. His tone a little more serious now that's he had a moment to recover.]

I don't know how much I've told you, but I was on two other worlds before coming here. Taiga was on one... Val was on the other. She was my best friend, well- I guess she is my best friend now that she's back, right?

[That's all there is to it, as far as he's concerned. Yup, totally.]

[She gives his hand a squeeze. There's no blame there at all. Reminders of Arvada will always be out there and that can't stop her from doing the things she needs to do - the things she wants to do.]

It's all right. How could you know? It's not something I talk about often.

( it’s a bit of both. billy isn’t quite sure what happened when he was here before—but considering there a lot of things certain people have decided to be overly vague over, he’s not quite sure he wants to know, either. he went from being in his own dimension with people he had been very familiar with to. . somewhere with people he’s mildly familiar with, and someone he’d been around for the last god knows how long who admitted to numerous lies he really doesn’t want to stop to think about.

overwhelming is putting it lightly. ) I’d need a few notebooks to get that list written. ( not including everything strange and unusual that’s happened here—the last year back home would take pages to detail.

and he’s not particularly—difficult to befriend. it seems a little weird for someone to ask like that, but. considering he knew him but doesn’t know him. . ) Yeah, sure. Though I’m really not sure if having that much in common with me’s a good thing.

( considering, well. his life. )

I’d start talking about myself—but if we were friends, you probably’ve got all the basics down, right?

[ Cisco has his own private suspicions - any time he's seen someone deny that forcefully that they are only friends with someone, usually they are covering something up. Hell, he'd been like that about Eddie, right up until the moment they'd started dating officially. Of course, it's possible that Ed's in the same situation that Iris had been in for so long about Barry: he might really believe the words that he's saying, be in total denial that there is anything else to it.

He might have been inclined to tease and push a little bit, if circumstances were different. But considering how drastically he'd tried to intervene in Ed's love life recently, he thinks it's best to stay out of it, and pretend he buys the whole thing. ]

And now you've got her back? That's really great, Ed.

[ There is genuine warmth in the way Cisco says that. He leans his hip against the table, crossing his arms comfortably, and making a mental note of the two names. Taiga, and Val. ]

Which world did you and Val meet in? How long's she been here?

[Nail on the head with that perception, Cisco. Ed has no idea, but he's still not even sure what to call the situation with Taiga and that's the closest thing he's ever had to a relationship.]

Yeah, it really is. This place is ... Really an improvement on where we were before.

[At the question he pauses as if to think it over before answering the last part first.]

Just before all those dreams, the memory stuff. That's when she got here. Val was in Purgatorium, the one no one aged... We were there for awhile together, kind of without anyone else. Stop me if none of that makes sense-

[He offers a grin, apologetic.]

It gets kind of hard to keep track of who knows what, sometimes.

[open] try to tell the difference

⚡️ billy

⚡️ beverly

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Communal Building - Floor Six

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