[open] it's time to tip it off

[franciscoramon]

who: cisco + anyone!
what: catch-all
when: july
where: anywhere; if you want a starter, please hit me up!
warnings: discussion of sex & drinking

i. tech testing

[ Most of Cisco's work is done within the privacy of his workshop, but there comes a time when he has to leave and find a nice quiet place to actually test some of the tech that he's made. The one time he'd done so outside the wall, things had gone very very badly. So he makes a compromise, finds an alleyway that is within the city but deserted. Sure, he might blow up a dumpster or two and make quite a racket, but he is less likely to get attacked by monsters here, and if anyone disturbs him he can just tell them to clear out.

That's the theory, anyway. But some of the stuff he brought with him might be a bit more powerful than he'd intended... ]

ii. nesting

[ Cisco had been very tentative about his new living situation, at first. He didn't want to get too comfortable, in case Yuri changed his mind, or Eddie got sick of him. But after a few weeks, with no signs that they want him to leave, Cisco starts to think about maybe settling in to his new room. It's fairly stark, still - just a bed, some sheets, and an old couch. All his clothes are still in bags, but the first thing on his list is some dark curtains for the windows. He was never meant to be a morning person.

He can be seen in various shops in the quarantine, looking at furniture, rugs, curtains, etcetera. Cisco's not above asking random strangers for their opinion, either. ]

What do you think, this one or this one?

iii. misc

[ Come plot something! ]

Comments

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco doesn't know whether he buys that story entirely. He might not know Wally all that well, but he knows Barry, and Barry would often say that things were "no big problem" that did indeed become big problems in the future. Cisco's learned to be suspicious of that kind of flippancy. But... ]

I mean... I guess it wouldn't be an issue if you don't stop and hang around for long enough while you're in your Flash suit for anyone to get a good look at you. Not like they're gonna notice the red hair when you're just a blur going by, surrounded by lightning.

[ But is that really sustainable, or feasible, in the long term? Sometimes, Wally is going to have to stop and fight. And those would be precisely the people who would get a chance for a good look at his hair, and they are precisely the sort of people who should have the least idea who he really is. So he just shrugs, a slightly exasperated sort of concession, but he files away the problem to mull it over later. ]

Wait... did you say West?

[ Cisco shakes Wally's hand, but his brow is now furrowed. That can't just be a coincidence, can it? This guy just happens to be a speedster who knows Barry Allen, and his last name is West? How could there not be a connection with Iris? ]

[otherflash]

[ Wally doesn't mean to come across as dismissive of Cisco's concerns. But it's true the open cowl showcasing his hair has never been much of an issue for him. Then again, most of the people he interacted with any regularity since he became a costumed hero at the age of thirteen have been those also in the business with one notable exception.

He's willing to admit the situation in the the quarantine isn't the same. ]

I'll think about making a change. You know this place better than I do. [ He smiles wryly. ] I mean, I wouldn't want people to constantly chuck grenades in my direction to test me.

[ Yeah, that's something he is going to remember for a long time.

Wally notices there's something about his name that registers with Cisco even before the other man questions him about the second part of it. He thinks he might have an idea where this is going. ]

I did. Does it mean anything to you?

[ He wouldn't be surprised if it did. It's hard to imagine Barry Allen without Iris West. His Aunt Iris was the one that introduced him to Barry, after all. ]

[franciscoramon]

Well, when you put it like that I sound like a total psycho. It wasn't an armed grenade... I wouldn't've...

[ Cisco stops with the slightly fumbling explanations. Sure, he can protest that Wally's life was never in danger, but in hindsight he sees that maybe it wasn't clear to Wally that there was no danger. And even if Wally knew it was harmless all along, Cisco had still tricked him, and tested him, and made him reveal himself when he didn't want to. His smile falters, just a touch, and he asks in all earnestness: ]

Wait, was that... a really shitty thing, I just did?

[ It's too late for doubts to fix anything, but boy, is he suddenly having them. Should he have just pretended not to recognize Wally? Or even if he did, have let it go without confirming? ]

I mean... you said you know Barry. Hard to imagine a Barry without some Wests around him, in any universe.

[otherflash]

[ Wally waves Cisco's worries away with a hand. ]

Don't worry about it, man. I'm just messing with you. But, maybe you could pick something a little less dangerous looking the next time you want to trick a speedster.

[ He could have done without the grenade (unarmed as it was) tossing and would have preferred to reveal his identity on his own terms, but he isn't really bothered by the turn of events aside from feeling a bit like an idiot for falling for Cisco's trick.

The reaction could have been quite different if Cisco didn't have the whole "I'm a friend of Barry Allen's and know he's the Flash" thing going for him. ]

He and my Aunt Iris are pretty close. She was actually the one who introduced me to him when I was a kid.

[ There's some wistfulness and guilt there as he talks about Iris. He had been keeping his return from the Speed Force and his very existence a secret from her, wanting to solve the altered time-line mystery before approaching her. ]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco's face is pure confusion for a few seconds as he tries to work that one out. Just saying they are 'pretty close' seems like an understatement, compared to in his world, particularly when he thinks about that by-line on that newspaper from the future. Add to that the fact that Iris doesn't have any siblings, and Wally and Iris sharing a surname wouldn't make sense if she were his aunt by marriage. And then there's the whole race thing, too, and in the end Cisco just shakes his head, giving up and proclaiming: ]

Must be another one of those things that's different between our worlds. The Iris West I'm friends with hasn't got a nephew or any way to get one, since I know for a fact her and Barry are gonna end up married in the future, and neither of them have got any siblings.

[ Cisco crosses his arms; it's not that it bothers him, exactly, but the differences are sometimes hard to grapple with. He's trying to imagine this other version of Iris. How different is she? Does she have anything in common with the one Cisco knows? What about Barry for that matter? ]

So you've known Barry a long time? How'd you find out he was the Flash, anyway? I'm assuming there were no grenades involved.

[otherflash]

[ 'Pretty close' is the easiest way to describe Barry's relationship with Iris without getting into the manipulated timeline thing going on back home. Wally was shocked after he returned from the Speed Force to hear Barry refer to Iris as his friend, but even their love wasn't immune to history being rewritten.

He still believes the two will find their way back to one another because they are simply meant to be. ]

I've know Barry for about a decade. He told me about being the Flash right around the time I got my powers and became Kid Flash. I know it wasn't the most original of names, but I was thirteen at the time. So, yeah, it was a pretty ho-hum experience compared to this one.

[ The Captain Cold who was here also mentioned knowing an Iris with no siblings. He wonders if that's just a coincidence or not. Whatever the case is, he's learned to just roll with all of the differences or else he'd get one headache after another. ]

Anyway, him and Iris tying the knot wouldn't be that much of a stretch. Though Iris has two brothers and another nephew in my universe.

sorry for the delay, was moving and only just got wifi back

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco tries to imagine that. A thirteen year old speedster. Kind of horrifying, honestly. He's glad that Barry was around to look out for him, mentor him, keep him from accidentally ending the world or anything like that. He can picture it, too. An older Barry, more secure in his role as a hero, more settled and confident, taking a young meta under his wing, letting him in on the secret.

And from the sound of it, it's less that he and Iris aren't really a thing in Wally's universe, so much as they aren't a thing yet. Hell, the same is true in Cisco's world. If it hadn't been for that newspaper, there'd be hardly any difference at all, by the sound of it. ]

Listen... I feel kinda bad about the whole grenade thing, lemme buy you a drink? Pretty sure they got some alien shit here that'll knock even a speedster's socks off, even if it's only for a couple minutes.

no worries!

[otherflash]

[ Barry's guidance as a person and a mentor has certainly been a life saver for him. Though whenever Wally has expressed that sentiment to Barry, he would just wave if off and say he could have done a better job. Barry would rather take responsibility for the absurd things that aren't his fault. ]

I heard there's a bar close to here that serves this green stuff. It supposedly packs quite a punch. I have a few things I have to finish up, but we could meet up there later and continue to compare notes?

[ He can be a little more open now that Cisco is aware of his secret identity. ]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco agrees eagerly, and the two of them arrange the details - which bar Wally means, when they are going to meet there. They decide to put it off until evening, for the happy hour drinks, which has the added bonus of giving Cisco a few hours to whip up a little something.

When Wally arrives to the bar Cisco has already gotten them a little table in the back corner, somewhere they shouldn't be overheard. There's a little tupperware sitting on the table, with a note taped to the top that reads: SORRY I THREW A GRENADE AT YOU :(. Cisco waits for Wally to take his seat before he slides the tupperware over to him and says: ]

I made you some of the high-calorie bars I make for Barry. There's some peanut butter ones, some tiramisu, and this matcha kind that I'm still tweaking the recipe on.

[ Nothing says 'I'm sorry' like gifts, and besides, taking care of speedsters is pretty much just ingrained in Cisco's DNA at this point. ]