[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

[causational]

[Eddie is quiet, listening to the story as Cisco tells it, making soft hums in his throat to acknowledge things, but about the time he mentions that the guy was alone and invited him in and offered him a beer, at 15, Eddie falls silent. He keeps breathing, keeps touching Cisco's chest, but he just listens, takes it in and tries to compartmentalize the growing horror and retroactive anger at this guy. Because Eddie can see it clearly, the manipulation. Ordering a large amount of pizza from a delivery boy he knew would be coming by alone, who he sort of knew, whose brother he'd had a fight with. Giving someone only 15 years old several beers before coming onto him, apparently out of nowhere, and Cisco doesn't mention being asked or anything.

Eddie can feel the shrug, and when he finishes the story off by saying the guy never got hold of him, never talked to him afterward, that he was icy cold and shut him out, and he can't help knowing, just from experience, that the guy had done it as revenge against Dante, or because taking advantage of a drunk kid was easy. Especially a drunk kid all alone at midnight whose parents didn't care where he was. Eddie knows, he knows that underage kids drink and have sex all the time and that even if it's illegal it isn't always bad, but this...this isn't that, it's something else, and he feels a protective surge, unconsciously presses closer to Cisco as if he could port back in time to tell him he deserved better, squeezes an arm around his middle gently, palm flat against the base of Cisco's sternum.]

Wow.

[He manages not to let any of the anger or shock sound in his voice, because he knows Cisco would take that the wrong way, would think Eddie was judging him or something, and he's not. He's judging the guy who'd done all of that.]

That's pretty cold. And it makes my first time sound really, really boring. I was literally at a club on my 22nd birthday, I was pretty drunk and I kept dancing with this girl and buying her drinks. I thought she was really hot, you know? Tan skin, long gorgeous dark hair, a really good butt, but some of the guys I was there with said some rude stuff about her, so...I dunno. I thought she was gorgeous. Anyway, when she found out I was a birthday boy she came home with me and we...you know. She was gone when I woke up in the morning, and I think I probably totally embarrassed myself, but it was...pretty good, for a first time. I think.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco doesn't really know what he'd expected from Eddie, after hearing that story. A joke, a question or two, some commentary that is a little more than "that's pretty cold". Cisco feels a little twist of... something in his stomach. Embarrassment? Regret? He probably had said way more than he needed to, and Eddie doesn't want to risk him rambling on any more. But he feels the way Eddie presses in close, squeezing him a little in a kind of one-armed hug. That makes Cisco's throat feel just a touch tight, for a moment, and he's glad that Eddie starts talking, then, and he doesn't have to for a bit.

He's braced for Eddie's story to be at least a little pathetic (not that Cisco would ever call it that to Eddie). But it's just so... normal. At a club with his friends, getting his drink on, on his birthday no less. The only thing that makes it stand out is Eddie refusing to listen to his friends being assholes. And isn't that just like Eddie? That brings a smile to Cisco's lips; he turns his face a little towards the bed to hide it as much as he can, in case Eddie catches a glimpse. ]

Figures you were always super chivalrous.

[ He means to say it as a joke, but there is such warm fondness in the words: a whole lot more than Cisco had meant there to be. Hearing that, he moves on quickly, face heating: ]

I uh- I didn't realize you like dancing so much.

[ He'd known that Taako and Eddie met at one of the dance parties here, but... there are a lot of dance parties, here. That could have been a coincidence. But apparently Eddie used to go out dancing in the clubs, and for one brief moment, Cisco's kind of sad he never bumped into him in one of them. Not like Central City has all that many, anyway. What would it have been like, if he had? ]

Sounds pretty damn good to me. I bet you didn't embarrass yourself, I bet you're just being modest-

[ Oh, no, he hadn't thought about how that would sound before he said it. Cisco had been too distracted trying not to think about the fact that Eddie likes tan skin and dark hair and partners with good butts, and wondering if any of those could ever apply to him, and he'd forgotten to watch his mouth. ]

Uh- what was her name? You ever see her again?

[ Neither of which are things he really needs to know, he'd just wanted to say SOMETHING as a distraction. ]

[causational]

[Eddie feels a bit bad for not saying more about Cisco's story, but he honestly can't, not without giving away how upsetting it was to hear about Cisco being taken advantage of. So he lets the topic go and focuses on his story, which is a little sad because he always thought that girl was totally giving him a pity fuck on his birthday, because at least it doesn't make him angry.

But Cisco is saying he was always chivalrous, doesn't seem to think the whole thing was pathetic, and Eddie laughs.]

I don't know about chivalry, I'm pretty sure it was total pity sex. She was way too hot for the likes of me.

[It sounds fond, and he smiles while he's speaking; the fondness only increases when Cisco says he didn't realize he liked dancing so much, and he laughs softly, again.]

Yeah. I never really did it much in Central City, but before I transferred, back in Keystone right before my promotion, I used to go out a lot. It's just something I enjoy a lot, always have. It's about the only artistic or creative thing I can do, you know? We should go sometime, dancing. If you like it, I mean. You just struck me as the sort of guy who enjoys dancing.

[His voice is still warm and fond, and he relaxes a little bit, laughing again when Cisco says that he doubts he embarrassed himself.]

Well, I came in about thirty seconds, but I like to think I made up for it once she taught me how to go down....

[Clearing his throat, he changes the subject, cheeks going red.]

Sorry, I know, TMI, right? Anyway. No, I never saw her again and I never got her name, but...you know, I take back what I said earlier. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was a really good first time.