[ open ] call it your 2.0, your rebirth, whatever

[franciscoramon]

who: cisco + anyone!
what: catch-all + tdm prompts + fajro prompts
when: february
where: various places!
warnings: will add as needed

I. DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

[ Cisco thought that the crystal caves sounded exactly like something from a fantasy series he had loved as a child, so of course, he dragged Eddie to go and see them with him. There had been nothing ominous about the place, at the time. It isn't until a few days later that Cisco's dreams start to show the sign of outside influence. They become vivid, surreal, and most importantly, he starts having guests. A few times he'll have a passing thought about a friend before falling asleep, only to run into them in his dream. He's no stranger to unusual dreams, and - after what had happened in October - not even a stranger to encountering other people in them.

But it's still pretty damn weird. ]

You see that, right? It's not just me?

[ Cisco asks the question to whoever is standing next to him, pointing down an empty city street at the looming figure of what is, unmistakably, a Godzilla-sized robotic panda. ]

II. CLEANING HOUSE

[ Cisco had rolled his eyes at first at the idea of a whole holiday based around cleaning. What could be less fun? He's always been somewhat inclined to keep stuff. After all, you never know what use it could be later. He spends plenty of his time scavenging the things other people left behind in the abandoned parts of the city, for materials and parts for his work.

But once he and Eddie decide to share the same room, he realizes he is going to have to get rid of at least some of his stuff, to make room. So he reluctantly starts, only to find himself getting more and more into the task. He can be seen either having a cute little yard sale to get rid of various items (clothing, books, etc.), or else taking what remains after the sale down to the bonfires by the river. ]

III. CLEARING THE AIR

[ Along with everyone else in the Quarantine, as the month progresses, he finds himself dwelling on resentments from his past. Unfortunately for Cisco, most of those resentments pertain to people who aren't even here. Once the 15th rolls around, he finds that his sense of taste has vanished completely. A few conversations with others tell him that this is probably something to do with the holiday, that he needs to clear the air.

But what is he supposed to do, when the people he's feeling resentful towards aren't even here?

So Cisco can be found all that week making his way around town, sitting in a park or perhaps at a bar, slump-shouldered and wan and uncomfortable, needing (but not knowing it) someone to talk to. A good heart-to-heart will put things right, but he's not aware of that yet.

He is also, despite his distraction, more than happy to listen to others' woes, or any resentments held against him. ]

Comments

[antietam]

[ There are always weird things happening here, but usually they go away. This weird thing has lasted a month, and he's yet to see it affect anyone else.

He's mentioned it to Ronan, but his boyfriend can't quite grasp the weirdness of it, maybe because he's too used to that sort of thing. There's no one else he would trust to talk about his confusion with except...

He sends Cisco a quick message asking to meet him in a park, and promises coffee in exchange for his time.

He's settled himself on a bench near the entrance so Cisco will be able to spot him easily. Instead of watching for him, though, Adam is looking over the back of the bench, hand outstretched like he's trying to grab a fistful of grass. ]

[franciscoramon]

[ When Cisco sees an unexpected message from Adam, his first worry is that something has gone wrong with the defense system, that Ivar had gotten in and set their house on fire or had attacked Ronan, something of the sort. But the fact that Adam just arranges to meet with him at the park and promises coffee assuages some of Cisco's fears. It can't be anything too urgent or too dreadful, then, can it?

So he agrees, of course, and shows up at the arranged meeting spot on time. Adam is easy to pick out, even with his back turned. Cisco can't quite see what it is he's trying to do, but he doesn't want to startle him, so he calls out, voice casual: ]

Whatcha got there?

[antietam]

[ Adam doesn't startle. In fact, thanks to Shigeru's healing, he knows exactly where Cisco's voice and footsteps come from and turns to greet him. ]

I'll get to it, don't worry. [ He smiles and motions to the spot next to him on the bench. ] How've you been? Ronan and I have been asking a lot of you lately, I know.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco's curiosity is piqued, but he shrugs and sits down, lets Adam keep doing whatever it is he's doing. Eventually he'll explain, right? When he's done? Cisco can be patient. Well, for a few minutes.

He settles himself on the bench comfortably, laughs softly under his breath when Adam says he and Ronan have been asking a lot of him. ]

I think you and I have got different definitions of 'a lot'.

[ After all, Cisco's baseline had gotten pretty warped, working for Team Flash, where he'd needed to be available and on-call basically 24-7, for a variety of life-threatening, potentially world-ending crises. Compared to that, all the demands he's come across in the Quarantine put together don't add up to much. So it's no trouble, making a forcefield for Adam and Ronan's house, or coming to meet Adam in the park for mysterious reasons. ]

I gotta admit though, you got me straight-up intrigued what all this is about. Is everything okay?

[antietam]

[ Adam seems troubled by that, like he's about to argue that Cisco has done a lot by anyone's standards. And yet, Cisco clearly has no desire to linger on that, and only wants to hear about the next thing. He can relate to that, so he nods and decides to satisfy Cisco's curiosity. ]

Oh, it's fine. At least so far? That's sort of why I wanted to see if you knew anything about this. [ He doesn't know how to explain it, so he decides he should demonstrate.

He reaches out to the grass again, concentrates for a few moments, then catches the stem of a flower when it shoots out from seemingly nowhere through the grass. Then he exhales, like it took a good amount of stamina, and hands it to Cisco. ]

That's... new for me.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco is only getting more curious by the second, and twists to look at the grass Adam is reaching for. He thinks Adam's found something - a piece of tech, a mysterious stone, some kind of shy tiny animal that turns invisible sometimes...?

But then he sees the flower burst up out of the ground, so abrupt that it startles him a little even though he had been anticipating something would happen. Yet Adam catches it like a pro, and holds it out for Cisco to take. Tentatively, he does. It feels faintly warm, like it's been soaking up the sun for some time, but that fades a moment after he takes it. And it's just - a flower. Feels like a regular flower, smells like a regular flower. Cisco turns it over and over in his hands, smiling faintly, and then looks back up to Adam. ]

You can make things grow?

[ He hadn't conjured the flower from nothing, after all, the way Taako might with a spell. He'd coaxed it from the earth. ]

And it's not- you couldn't do this before, like the ley line stuff? This is something different?

[antietam]

[ Adam waits for Cisco to have some scientific revelation, to see what it is immediately, like he has some scientist-vision that can determine what Adam can't.

He sighs and shakes his head. ]

No, I didn't make it grow. I don't know how I would do something like that. That flower is from over there. [ He tilts his head toward the entrance. It was just a flower he saw there when he came in. ]

The leyline was... no, it was all powered by the energy back home. I guess I had control over plant stuff but I'm not connected to it anymore. Not for a while. This doesn't feel like that anyway.

[ He flexes his hand. ] I can't do much, and it's tiring. I can move plants a little bit, or make them grow. It's like... the most useless superpower ever.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco raises his eyebrows at that, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.]

Adam, please. That's not even the fifth most useless superpower I've run into.

[ Cisco's not just saying that to make Adam feel better, either - he's run into some real duds in his time working for Team Flash. And that wasn't even getting into the category of powers that were powerful, but harmful to the people who wielded them. Stuff like that Bette had, and Cisco's own powers, to a certain degree. Which, he thinks, he still needs to tell Adam about, at some point. Though... maybe Ronan already had? He would have to investigate that... ]

And sure, maybe you need a little bit of practice, to get better at it, but... being able to control plants? To move them, or grow them, and probably some other stuff you haven't even realized yet? That's super fucking useful. Plants are everywhere. Plants are like, what keep us alive, dude. You're like, one training montage away from being a total badass.

[ He's making it sound simpler than it is, of course, but at this point they aren't talking about specific strategies: he is just trying to encourage Adam, that his powers aren't as pointless as he seems to think, or limited to just what he can do now. ]

Too bad you're not an aspiring botanist, huh?

[antietam]

[ He's having a hard time thinking of a more useless superpower, but he has to trust the expert. It helps to think that he can improve. ]

Do you know anyone who has training montage powers? [ Cisco gets a light smile out of him, and he sits properly on the bench, arms crossed. ]

I was sort of hoping you'd have advice about practicing or maybe give me a 'with great power comes great responsibility' talk.

[ It's clear he just wants to understand this better. Ronan knows how to keep secrets, and he hasn't told Adam any of Cisco's. ] It's hard to trust this coming out of nowhere, right? I know other people have mentioned getting powers suddenly, but have you studied it at all?

[franciscoramon]

No, but that would be super cool. You could learn to do just about anything in the whole world, in a couple minutes, with some sick-ass music in the background. Man, I wish that was my thing, now.

[ The way he says it, the particular tone of his wistfulness, slightly implies that he has a different 'thing' he'd like to swap out, but it's only a subtle suggestion. Adam might not even pick up on it, and even if he does, Cisco keeps the conversation moving quickly along. His face grows graver when Adam says he is looking for guidance, for advice and support. ]

I can help with that. The training, and the pep talks, even though I think you might've been kidding about that bit.

[ Cisco, on the other hand, isn't kidding, for once. He knows the power of a good pep talk. He'd seen Barry get through harrowing situations, just because Iris or Joe or (as much as he despises the thought) Dr. Wells had said the right thing to him at the right moment. A lot of this stuff, he knows, is psychological. Not that he's going to frame it that way, considering how badly Adam had reacted to Cisco's suggestion that Ronan try therapy. Better steer clear of the 'p' word. ]

I helped the Flash learn to use his powers, get faster, fight smarter, you know. I've been helping Eddie with his, too. So I've got a bit of practice. And I can tell you it's not actually all that uncommon, powers popping up out of nowhere. Sometimes, it's temporary. Weird shit happens here. But when that's the case, it's usually a heap of people at once, you know? And I haven't heard gossip about a bunch of cases of- of stuff like this.

[ He is certainly going to keep an ear out for them, now, though. ]

But that doesn't mean it's anything to worry about. Back home, not all the metas got their powers right after the particle accelerator explosion. Some didn't see any sign of them for months, or even years. It's not... not as neat, as you'd think. So I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you really want, you can come to my workshop and I can try running a few tests. See if I can detect any changes in your DNA or anything like that. I just figured... well, Ronan seemed pretty against the idea, when I suggested it, to help with his nightmares.

[antietam]

[ There's a different emphasis on my thing than he would have expected, but the joking context makes Cisco's transition seamless. It only catches his attention for a moment. ]

Don't you ever get tired? Doing things for other people? [ It's the first thing he thinks of even though it's not the most polite thing to say to someone offering help. He just isn't good at accepting it, especially when he and Ronan have already been an imposition on him. ]

I mean―don't think I'm not grateful. But you don't have to do all that, I was just thinking about getting a few tips.

[ Or warnings. He frowns thoughtfully when Cisco says it's not neat. He thinks to ask about that, but first, Ronan. ] What was he against, the tests? Training? [ He doesn't ask about the therapy, since he made his stance clear on that. ]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco laughs softly, shaking his head a little, surprised by the question. In his estimation, he hadn't even begun to help Ronan or Adam an excessive amount. It's nothing like the way he'd thrown himself into helping Barry, given endless hours to making Team Flash great, to looking for potential threats. But he can tell Adam means it, so he gives a little shrug and admits: ]

Oh, sure. All the time. If it's dangerous. Or I didn't volunteer in the first place. Or if people act super condescending about it. Or if it's something really tedious and boring.

[ But, the implication clearly goes, if none of those things are true, then no, he doesn't ever get tired of doing things for other people. It's just a part of who he is. Cisco's not even necessarily conscious of it, of how much time he spends dedicated to making other people's lives better. Sometimes he does it with moral support, sometimes with a well-timed joke, sometimes with tech, sometimes with advice... it's just what he does. ]

Well, I can do a few tips, too. And a motivational speech, as a bonus. Let's see. Hmmm... try to train as consistently as you can. Make it a habit for a while. Try to figure out if there's anything that influences your powers - if you're drawing energy from a source, if there are particular emotional triggers, if it leaves you with any sort of after-effects that might give you a clue how it works. I'd say definitely have a separate space that you just use for training. There's rooms you can rent at the gym, you know, where they do martial arts classes and pilates or whatever sometimes. Those are a pretty good bet for privacy and... you can just bring in some potted plants or whatever to work with. And most importantly: never train alone. You should always have someone there, like Ronan or really anybody, in case things get complicated. 'Cause sometimes, they do, and it's best to have backup.

[ There's more advice he could give, but he figures, a little bit at the time. If Adam wanted to handle this on his own, he should at least follow those first guidelines. ]

He seemed pretty damn set against any kind of tests. Couldn't tell if it was a Ronan thing or a 'I'm in the hospital all full of IVs and already feel kind of like a lab rat' sort of situational thing.