OPEN | i wanna be where the people are

[franciscoramon]

who: cisco + anyone!
what: catch-all
when: mid-april through may
where: anywhere; if you want an individual starter lmk!
warnings: will add as necessary

fireflies

[ When Cisco had gone firefly catching, he had been intending to study them - do a few modest experiments, see if he could figure out what was making them light up in so many colors. He has a scientist's curiosity, and needed something to get his creative gears going.

The trouble was, it didn't really take the scientific method to realize pretty soon that those fireflies not only bit (which is just so rude), but that their bite had some pretty serious impact on people's moods. It reminds Cisco of Rainbow Raider, and how he'd used color to send people into paroxysms of murderous rage. At least this isn't that bad - but the effects are still profoundly inconvenient.

The trouble is, knowing they might make his emotions go haywire didn't actually make him want to study them any less. In fact, quite the opposite. He wants to know how. But there's no good way to determine that without being around the damn things, so basically, that just means getting bit. A lot. And trying his best to manage the fallout. But, there's only so much avoiding he can do - he's bound to run into some people while tweaking on firefly magic. ]

moontech lab

[ Cisco's been settling in nicely at his job since his arrival. He's gotten things set up how he likes them - or at the very least, tolerably close to it. He's talked to a few members of the perimeter guard, the police force, and the firefighters, and he has a good idea of what they need. He's working on some interesting ideas for tech to keep them safe.

But he's also not hesitating to put the word out - to his roommates, and other random people that he speaks to - that if anyone needs a tech solution to any kind of confounding problem, that they should come and see him at the lab and see what he can whip up for them. Cisco might charge a nominal fee - guy's gotta eat, after all - but is aiming to make connections rather than make a profit. He knows from experience how important it can be to make friends, to have allies, and making stuff for people has proved to be a good way to do that in the past.

He can be found at the lab, surrounded by tables covered in bits and bobs - wires and circuit boards and tools and a laptop or two buried under things. ]

misc

[ Cisco isn't someone who does well with idleness. Sure, he appreciates the necessity of goofing off, of not working nonstop, but usually his leisure is busy - he's either marathoning some sci-fi show or playing his way through the newest triple a game in a single day, or devouring the latest science journals by the dozen, or going to clubs to dance until he can barely stay on his feet.

The trouble here is that here, a lot of those options aren't really open to him. So he ends up taking over a table at a coffee house that reminds him, just a little, of Jitters. He may stay there for hours on end, watching the people go by, but he is not wasting time. Cisco's brought a journal or two that he's using to sketch out designs for tech, to write down observations and theories about this place, and take notes on the few people he has met so far. Honestly, if anyone looked in them they'd probably find it a little creepy, but everyone acclimates in different ways. This is his.

Still, he has a smile to offer anyone who looks familiar or stops by his table to check in. ]

Comments

fireflies

[naz]

[ The firefly phenomenon is more than a little fascinating. Given her own background, she's curious how the bites actually do have the effect on people — herself included, admittedly, a time or two — that they have. When she learned that Cisco was studying them, she immediately wanted in and she still does, so she stops by to join him in the attempt to catch more of them to research.

She's thinking the more of them they can catch, the better, and not only do they have to study the fireflies themselves, but Caitlin is not opposed to using each other as test subjects, so to speak, by letting the different colored bugs bite them and then take blood and tissue samples and running brain scans to see what kind of molecular and neurological level changes are taking place in their bodies after the bites.

Leave it to Caitlin to be entirely too enthusiastic about the idea of working on her day off. With a jar in hand, she grins at her friend and holds it up, wiggling it slightly just in case he missed it. ]

Ready when you are. I was thinking we should run some tests on 'victims,' for lack of a better word, of the fireflies. How do you feel about letting them bite us, taking turns, until we've tested after all the different colors...?

[franciscoramon]

[ It might seem like a dangerous or odd arrangement to someone else - someone who didn't know how much deeper the bond went between Caitlin and Cisco than mere coworkers, or even team members. Or someone who was used to conducting science in a slow, institutional setting. But the both of them have gotten used to playing things a bit fast and loose, and sometimes that means minorly inconveniencing themselves. Or using themselves as test subjects. If Cisco hadn't been cool with it, he wouldn't have invited her here in the first place.

So when she proposes using themselves as subjects, Cisco starts rolling up a sleeve, holding out his forearm in her direction, volunteering to be first. But he's going to grumble about it, too. ]

Sounds like a whole barrel of laughs.

[ He lets out a long breath, looking at the jar Caitlin is holding. He'd managed to separate out the fireflies into different containers according to color - she's got the jar of purple fireflies in her hands right now. Cisco thinks back to when he had been collecting them with Eddie and says: ]

Obviously we gotta get samples and run tests under the influence of each of them, but it's gonna take a while. Last time I got bit, it lasted hours. And I don't know which one it was - the purple one or the yellow one or maybe both - but it made me, like...

[ It shouldn't be hard to say it; this is Caitlin after all. But finding the actual words to sum up the experience is strangely difficult. Cisco flounders for a moment before settling on: ]

...panicky. Like, hear a weird sound coming from the kitchen at 3am after a whole day of marathoning Criminal Minds kinda panicky. So lemme do both of those, okay?

[ Cisco says it like it's a given, that if there's a particular kind of firefly whose effect he knows is deeply unpleasant, he should be the one subjected to it, not Caitlin. It doesn't even register to him as something selfless - it's just how he thinks. It's what friends are for. ]

[naz]

[ Caitlin thinks that maybe half the reason she and Cisco get along so well and have grown so close over the years is because they're equally as willing to scrap the "by the books" way of doing things when it benefits them to think outside the box. In this case, using themselves as test subjects is better than subjecting volunteers to the effects and they don't have to worry about how they react to the bites, because they're best friends. They know each other. They love each other. How could this possibly go wrong? Even if the effects of one or more of the fireflies turns one of them into something nasty and mean...well. Cisco's seen Caitlin as Killer Frost and he still cares about her. If he can endure Killer Frost and not kick their friendship to the curb, then she's not worried about a little firefly bite. Obviously, she intends to return the favor to Cisco.

So it's just better to do it this way and, therefore, she's not surprised when, in spite of his whining about it, Cisco holds an arm out. With a little laugh, Caitlin shakes her head. ]

Well, it'll be a whole barrel of something, I'm sure.

[ Caitlin grins, reaching for the red jar, thinking that maybe it would make the most sense to just follow the visible spectrum of light in order, as far as colors go, so that they don't lose their spot, but then Cisco goes on and she pauses to look back at him, lifting her eyebrows curiously.

He's already been bitten and gotten some apparently negative effects, judging by the way he trails off briefly. An expression of sympathy creeps into her features when he explains and she reaches for his hand, giving it a squeeze. ]

You know, let's just...we'll start with purple and see what happens.

[ She isn't willing to agree outright not to be the one to take the ugly reaction, but she's willing to let him volunteer , at least, for one of them because she knows Cisco and he knows her. They'll be here arguing all day if she doesn't. It's just the way he is: he's always been protective of her, especially after Ronnie's apparent death in the Particle Accelerator explosion. Sometimes, Caitlin feels like she needs that in her life, because she hasn't any siblings to do it and her relationship with her parents is...well. She appreciates Cisco for it and she isn't willing to argue over it just to rob him of the one thing they can consistently offer one another: protection from the little things they can control. ]

All right... [ Caitlin selects the purple jar rather than the red and decides they can work backwards, in that case. ] Hold this, I'm going to cover up more so that we're sure the only person it can bite right now is you.

[ She moves away from him then and it takes her a moment to find the beekeeper outfit she'd brought to the lab specifically for this purpose. It's big enough for Cisco, since they'll have to switch off — she might have been planning on his saying yes to her experiment, because well. That's just how they do things — so she's sort of swimming in it when she takes the jar back from him.

When she speaks again, it's to her cell phone, asking it to record her notes. She starts with listing off the date and time and the name of the experiment. ]

Test One: Purple. Subject: Male, 26. ...that sounds so clinical... Cisco. Subject: Cisco.

[ She gives him a sheepishly apologetic look and shrugs before gesturing to the jar and then telling the recording to pause. ]

Go ahead and open it. Just remember, no matter what happens, I'm right here and I'm not going to leave you or let anything bad happen to you. Okay? We'll catch the fireflies again once they bite you and jar them up again so I can get out of this suit and then...we wait.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco hadn't thought he was really in need of reassurance; but as he's standing there, holding the jar, and Caitlin says what she does, he smiles softly. How does she always know just what to say to make him feel better? How is it Caitlin's always been much better than almost anyone else at seeing when Cisco - usually the giver of pep talks - needs one of his own. ]

I'll remember.

[ With that, he twists the lid off the jar and shakes it a little to get the fireflies out. And then, Cisco immediately goes about trying to catch them and put them back - if experience has taught him anything, it's that they don't want to be caught, and that going after then will precipitate a bite pretty quickly.

And he is not wrong - he's gotten three of them back into the jar when the forth narrowly avoids his hand and then lands on the back of his wrist, and Cisco feels a sudden, sharp prick of pain. ]

Ow! Augh, yep, that's it, one of 'em got me. Time to...

[ It takes the both of them five or so minutes to gather up the rest of the freed purple fireflies and guide them into the jar, and all the while Cisco is thinking about how warm his wrist feels, how the vague tingling feeling from it seems to be spreading up his arm. ]

You should probably do- take a few temperature readings, see if it changes over time. I'm starting to feel kinda warm.

[naz]

[ Caitlin takes Cisco's cue when he starts immediately trying to wrangle the fireflies. It occurs to her a little belatedly that trying to capture them again might be more effective in riling them up enough to bite him than letting them fly around and do so at their own leisure. It isn't as though they're on a time crunch or anything, but she's thinking Cisco's got the right idea.

It doesn't take them too long before they've rounded up the last of the purple fireflies and Caitlin takes the jar back from him, securing the top and setting it down on the counter so that she can get out of the beekeeper suit. ]

Does it hurt more than a normal bug bite?

[ She figures that's something that ought to be noted, if so.

She's already starting to fold the beekeeper suit and move on to start getting together the tools she'll need to take Cisco's vitals. She probably should've taken them before they started, as well, but she figures when he levels out in a few hours, she can take them, then, and it'll be about the same as his normal vitals would be, anyway. ]

Already working on it.

[ She tells the cell phone to start recording again.

Caitlin pushes a small cart up to him and sits down on a stool beside him, first taking his temperature and dictating that the the phone. Then she checks his pulse, takes his blood pressure, and runs through a a battery of neurological tests, dictating each result into the phone. ]

So how are you feeling right now, Cisco? Warm... Anything else?

[ Next, she moves away from him to go retrieve what she needs to take a blood sample. ]

[franciscoramon]

Definitely more. But it doesn't itch, exactly, so that's a plus.

[ Cisco takes a seat and waits while Caitlin de-beekeepers herself; the two of them fall into a rhythm that doesn't really need words. When Caitlin is taking out the blood pressure cuff, Cisco's already offering his arm. By the time she's got the cover on the thermometer, his mouth is open. They've done all this before at one time or another, but usually, Cisco's at least a little more impatient with it. Now, however? He doesn't really seem to mind so much. ]

Have I ever told you I love it when you get all doctor-y?

[ Cisco talks as Caitlin is readying the needle, holds out his arm without protest and doesn't even really wince - he's too busy smiling at Caitlin, shaking his head a little. ]

I mean, not if it's because Barry's full of shrapnel or Hatley tried to blow me up. But you're just so... I don't know. Professional.

[ But 'professional' somehow doesn't even begin to cover it. Cisco sighs, tries to think of the right words to use. After all... after all, Caitlin deserves all the praise in the world, but she's never been the sort of person who would ask for it. Or for validation, or compliments, or anything. That was Caitlin Snow - always giving, never asking for anything back. ]

I always really admired that. Like from the first time we ever met. I thought you must be way older than me, and not just 'cause you were already a doctor and you had this great fiancee and this awesome life. I figured anyone who was that professional had to have at least 10 years on me. Lemme tell you, when Ronnie told me your birthday that first time...

[ Cisco trails off, his hand coming up to touch his mouth. He's just made the connection, between what he's experiencing now and what he'd felt that first time he got bitten by some fireflies. It had taken him less time to notice, then, because he'd been with Eddie - it's harder to see, with Caitlin, who is already his best friend. ]

I think. This one maybe isn't the one that made me feel afraid. I think maybe it's making me, I don't know. Sappy? I dunno, I'm not usually a 'remember the good ole times' kinda guy.

[naz]

[ An incredulous little laugh escapes Caitlin and her nose wrinkles a little as she rolls her eyes playfully at his comment about her being "doctor-y." She can honestly say that it's a new compliment, that's for sure. ]

Nope, I can't say that you have...

[ And okay, maybe it's a little weird that he's not whining, even playfully, throughout this process; he's actually being incredibly cooperative which...kind of isn't really like him. Even if he's never given Caitlin a hard time, he at least pretends to give her a hard time. This time, he's being proactive, even.

So when she moves away from him briefly after pressing a cotton ball to the puncture wound so that she can put away his blood sample, she lowers her voice and mentions it to the phone recording the process.

Then, she returns her attention back to him and smiles a little. Even if it's strange to hear the barrage of compliments coming from Cisco, she can't help appreciating them. It isn't often people compliment Caitlin Snow and she never, ever asks. Everybody needs to feel validated sometimes, so she just allows herself to appreciate the words pouring out of her best friend until he moves his hand to his mouth and she grins, eyebrows lifted. ]

There it is.

[ As in, he's noticed that he's acting a little less like himself than normal, as well. ]

Yeah, you're being really...well yeah. Sappy. And sweet. Which is not to say that you're not typically sweet, but this is maybe bordering on the kind of sweet you should probably save for Gypsy.

[ She's maybe a little thrown off by the saccharine attitude her friend is displaying and might have forgotten about their time difference. ]

For the record, though? Thank you. That was still really nice to hear. How long did you say this lasted the last time you were bitten?

[ Caitlin finally makes her way back over to settle on the stool beside him, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze to remind him physically that she is, in fact, right here with him and isn't going to let anything bad happen. The second he starts to show any signs of a negative impact, she'll be working to negate it. ]

[franciscoramon]

Save for who now?

[ This isn't Cisco teasing, pretending not to know who she means - the question is genuine, and the look on Cisco's face completely bemused. He doesn't really have anybody in his life he would be saving his sweetness for, and he's definitely sure he's never met anybody named Gypsy before.

It's not hard to guess, what's happened. Caitlin is referring to something, someone, he's never met yet. She'd slipped up, and now she's going to refuse to explain, and the thing is, honestly, Cisco gets that. But it doesn't stop it from being frustrating. And it doesn't stop him, in his somewhat compromised state, from leaning forward and resting his head in his hands, lamenting: ]

I hate this stupid mismatched timelines thing. I feel like there's this distance now between us and I can't even fix it.

[ There's no solution, and Cisco knows that. But he doesn't want Caitlin knowing more about his future than he knows, himself. Doesn't want her hiding things and maybe even lying sometimes and saying it's for their own good. All that is Dr. Wells stuff, not Caitlin stuff.

But what can they do? ]

I don't know. Maybe an couple hours? I had a double whammy then, though. Maybe it'll wear off faster with just one.

[naz]

[ It actually takes Caitlin a second to process what just happened. She mentioned Gypsy, Cisco doesn't know who Gypsy is. Once the realization hits her, Caitlin's face starts to warm, going pink around her cheeks and ears and she looks apologetically back at him, shaking her head. ]

Crap, I'm sorry... I didn't... I forgot there's...

[ She trails off then, looking genuinely sorry because she can't say anything. She can't explain. Caitlin can't tell Cisco what she's talking about and even without the boost from a bug bite, she's feeling that same distance and the same melancholy that goes with it. ]

I know, I do too. It really sucks. And I want to tell you...I want to tell you everything but I'm afraid to because...

[ She sighs. ]

I don't want to tell you something that ends up changing your whole timeline. It could happen and I don't want to do that to you. I'll try to remember to be more careful with what I say.

[ At that, she takes Cisco's hand, drawing it away from his face and gives it what she hopes is a reassuring squeeze. At least these effects won't last too long, because it's probably only compounding what he's feeling right now with regard to her slip up. ]

Okay, well...I guess now we just wait and see.

[ She makes small talk with him for a while, trying to pull their conversation away from the time and experienced wedged between them and toward the fact that they're building a new experience here together and how that's what's really important. She might have even playfully nudged him to tell her more about how great her doctoring skills are just to try to make him laugh at her for feigning that particular neediness.

Before they know it, he seems to have leveled out and Caitlin goes back through the barrage of tests, draws more blood, and walks Cisco through the process of the neurological tests before prepping a new syringe for her own blood samples. ]

All right, suit up. My turn. I'll draw my own blood but you're going to have to do everything else. Questions before we get started?

[ Admittedly? She's a little nervous. ...a lot nervous. She's incredibly nervous because she has no idea what the little blue bug is going to do to her, she just knows that it's likely to be something that has the potential to be embarrassing. ]

Ready when you are.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco is perfectly content to spend the duration of that firefly's effects singing Caitlin's praises. She had made him laugh, acting like she wants to coax praise out of him, but the truth of it is, praising her right then seems like the most natural and wonderful thing to do. He doesn't reserve his compliments to her doctorly talents, either. By the end of it he's talked about everything from her ability to run in heels to her laughable alcohol tolerance, and even the traits which might not seem like virtues at the offset, he describes with such obvious fondness that they end up seeming like it.

Then, finally, the effects start to fade, and then there are more tests (and this time, Cisco is noticeably fidgety and impatient through them. Once Caitlin is finished, he's more than ready to be on the other end of this equation. ]

Nope, no questions. Think I've got it.

[ Cisco pulls on the beekeeper suit, gets it all fastened up. It takes a little longer, this time around, to get one of the fireflies to bite Caitlin. But it wouldn't be science without a few unexpected hiccups and frustrating delays. Eventually, they resort to Caitlin sticking her hand in the jar and shaking it, which seems a little cruel, but it does the trick. Then they tuck the contained blue fireflies away and Cisco is pulling off the awkward protective outfit and asking. ]

Feel anything?

[naz]

[ This time, when Caitlin goes through her tests, Cisco seems a lot more like himself; far more impatient and less proactive than he had been the first time. and she can't help smirking to herself a little as she goes through the tests. He certainly doesn't waste any time getting into the beekeeper get up so that he can be off the receiving end of this whole thing.

Caitlin is in a little less of a hurry, because now she's seen first hand just how completely the bug bite takes over a person and they have no idea what the blue bug is going to do.

Still, she is a scientist and if Cisco can do it, so can she. Caitlin takes a deep breath and lets it out in a quick huff. Of course the fireflies don't cooperate, because nothing can be easy, but eventually she gets bitten and Cisco's right, it definitely hurts more than the average bug bite, but she doesn't feel anything different beyond that.

So, Caitlin shakes her head, brow creased in thought. ]

No...no, not yet.

[ The thoughtful expression becomes a frown a few moments later and, after a moment, a quivering chin joins the frown. ]

Cisco...you won't leave me, right? Go home without me, I mean? You wouldn't, right?

[ She's quiet for another long stretch of time. Or at least, as far as Cisco's concerned, she's quiet. Her mind is going a mile a minute and nothing bouncing around in there is any good. Caitlin's eyes well up with tears and, when she speaks, they spill over like the floodgates have been opened. ]

Everyone always leaves me. Ronnie died and then Jay was— [ She hiccups and chokes on the words freaking Zoom making that potentially unintelligible ] —and then Ray... You know, I really thought I could count on Ray, because he's Ray Palmer, you know? Am I so hard to love? Seriously? I don't even think my own mother loves me; am I really that bad?

[ She swipes at her eyes with her palms and takes a shaking breath that comes out in a frustrated huff as she sniffs, sobbing: ]

Okay, well, I guess we know what the blue does. [ She takes a moment to try to compose herself and it lasts a few seconds before she loses it again, wailing sorrowfully,] Of course I get the one that makes me a blubbering sad sack. Because, why not? I'm already unlovable, let's just add in miserable to be around, while we're at it.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco had been watching closely, ready to pick up on the smallest sign of emotional or psychological changes. He had thought it would be a little more subtle than this. It had taken a while to realize Eddie was whammied, and for him to notice the fear in himself. But because it's Caitiln, and because it's this kind of sadness, it shows up right away, stark and obvious.

One moment, she is sitting there, and the next she is crying. And not the kind of crying he is used to from Caitlin - tight, contained, almost-silent, with her hiding her face and hold it all back. The tears are spilling fast and the words even faster, and Cisco comes quickly over to her side, medical tests forgotten in a moment. He loops an arm around her shoulders and draws her against his side, hand pushing her hair back so it doesn't stick to her wet cheeks. It's so rare for Caitlin to express herself like this and he doesn't interrupt; once she pauses for a breath, though, he is ready. ]

Caitlin. Hey, hey, c'mon, it's okay. I'm right here. I've got you, and I'm not going anywhere.

[ And he knows it must be bad when she brings up her mother; it's so rare for Caitlin to even mention her. Usually, Cisco is careful not to be too blunt or too honest in his opinions about Caitlin's mother, but right now isn't one of those times. ]

Your mom- [ The words are fervent and there's an edge of something like scorn in the way he says mom ] -doesn't deserve a daughter as good as you. Okay? Now, I don't really know what happened with Jay. Or what Ray Palmer has to do with it. But I do know that you, Caitlin Snow, are not bad, or hard to love. I know that- I know that if he could've, Ronnie never would've left you. And I know that if I've got any say in the matter, you're totally stuck with me, like, forever. No matter what. Okay?

[ Cisco rests his head against hers, rubbing one hand up and down her back, a soothing gesture. Internally, Cisco wonders if perhaps... the impact of the fireflies depends on the combination of person and mood. Eddie's honesty had been an inconvenience to him, but nothing overwhelming - and the same was true of Cisco's affectionateness just now. But for Cisco, who has had a hard time in his life managing his fear, the experience was intense, and wretched. And it would appear the same is true of Caitlin, and her grief and self-doubt.]

Please. It's not like you've never seen me in blubbering sad-sack mode. Remember that time we watched The Fox and the Hound, and I was drunk and I cried for like, an hour without stopping?

[ Cisco gives Caitlin a little squeeze, and then takes his arm away from her shoulders, reaching for the thermometer. ]

I'm gonna take your temperature now, okay?

[ He does so, takes a few more readings before asking, half-wondering if maybe he shouldn't while she's in this state. ]

What's this about Ray, now?