franciscoramon: (:# making the best of it)
Cisco Ramon ([personal profile] franciscoramon) wrote in [community profile] riverviewlogs2017-08-10 08:17 am

[open] cancel your reservations

who: cisco + anyone!
what: catch-all, amnesia event
when: august
where: anywhere; if you want a starter, please hit me up!
warnings: discussion of murder, use of alcohol to cope, will add more as needed

i. pre-amnesia (august 5-10)

[ Cisco knows that he is probably opening himself up to a world of headaches and unnecessary trouble, but there have been plenty of new arrivals, and more and more he is noticing that people who show up from non-technologically advanced worlds simply have no support system to really teach them all the cool things they can do even with their phones, not to mention other machines and devices. So, one day when there's a lull between projects for the RPD and other emergency services, he goes to a print shop and has flyers made:

TECHNOLOGICAL CULTURE SHOCK??? NEED LESSONS ON HOW TO USE YOUR PHONE, LAPTOP, OR OTHER ELECTRONIC GADGET??? STOP BY THE ADDRESS BELOW FOR A FREE INFORMAL LESSON!!!

Normally it's the kind of announcement he would make over the network, but what if someone is really struggling and can't even get on there? No, flyers seem like the way to go for this crowd. Cisco adds some fine print at the bottom, below the address for his workshop, but all it says is:

*NO HIDDEN AGENDA JUST A HELPFUL DUDE WANTING TO SHARE THE WONDERS OF TECHNOLOGY, LESSONS ARE FREE BUT TRIBUTE PAID IN CANDY IS ALWAYS ACCEPTED]


ii. amnesia (august 12-19)

[ The changes in Cisco are not, at first, as obvious as they may be in other people. He remembers Riverview, and everyone he has met here, and all the details of his life in this place. He remembers his name, all the movies and video games that he loves, all the technical skills and scientific know-how necessary for his job. He even remembers most stuff about his own past - that he worked at S.T.A.R. Labs, that he's a member of Team Flash and friend to Barry Allen. That he is a metahuman, with various abilities tied to manipulating multidimensional energy.

The only thing that has been carved away from his memory is, in fact, Eobard Thawne. Cisco doesn't remember his mentor's betrayal, or being murdered, or the circumstances that surrounded him discovering his powers. All of the shame and dread he's been carrying about his powers, because of Eobard and the things he'd said and done, has just vanished. In addition, Cisco's trauma over that whole experience is, for the moment, covered over. To anyone who knows him even a little he will seem inexplicably younger. Quicker to smile and laugh, volumes more trusting, and also a lot more inclined to talk about some guy named Dr. Wells in a positive, even devoted manner.

Cisco will spend this week doing what he usually does - working at his workshop (still offering those lessons), trying out new restaurants, shopping for graphic tees and games and movies, exploring the safe parts of the city a little - but with an extra spring in his step. If you've wanted your character to find out about him being a metahuman, now would be a good time for it! ]


iii. post-amnesia (august 20-31)

[ The not-remembering? Had been good. But when that's done, and all of Cisco's memories are restored to him, the transition is... rough. Putting it mildly. Back when all of it had happened, there had been so much going on - one life-or-death situation after the other - that he hadn't had time to linger too much on how he was changing, being shaped into an older, sadder, more broken version of himself.

Now, though, there is no big crisis, no distraction to divert his attention. One minute he is the old, sunny Cisco - the one he still thinks of as the person he was supposed to be - and the next, it all comes rushing back. The contrast is stark, and it's kind of fucking him up a little. Or, rather, a lot.

He goes back to having nightmares almost as often as he did in those first weeks after his death, which means he isn't getting a whole lot of sleep, and it shows in the dark circles under his eyes. Cisco withdraws somewhat - not enough to worry that he's abandoning anyone, but he takes longer to answer texts, doesn't reach out to people first, doesn't go out and about in the evenings. He is quieter, with considerably more strain behind his smiles. He throws himself into his work, staying in his workshop long hours, sometimes falling asleep there, for a few fitful hours. When he can't work any more, he spends a little more time than he should in some nearby bars, drinking a little more than he ought to, trying not to think about the person he is now compared to the person he was the week before. ]


iv. misc

[ Come plot something! ]
buildsomething: (no really)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-23 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
Cisco. [He returns the greeting with a nod. Tony...honestly doesn't look all that different, until you get close enough to recognize the exhaustion clinging to him. He hasn't exactly been sleeping well, even moreso than usual. The sudden onslaught of memories might have brought back a panic attack or two, but it's fine. He managed it once, he can do it again.

He still offers a wryly knowing smile as he gestures towards the door.]


After you.
buildsomething: (that's right)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-23 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Tony snorts a little even as he settles in. This may not be the best choice, especially considering just how much drinking he's done lately, but why not test his self control? He's faintly sure that Cisco will keep him from going too far, if not just for his own sake. Hopefully.]

Maybe just go with an air filter over the mouth. Like a medical mask on steroids. Gas masks can be a little intimidating.

[Not that he hasn't been tempted to stay in the armor more often than not, talking about intimidating. He's managed to resist the urge so far.]
buildsomething: (that's right)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-25 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
[By the small grimace Tony gives, he's not wrong. His eyes dart to the side momentarily before he makes himself glance back Cisco's way with a slightly more self-deprecating smile.]

Honestly not sure where to even start.

[Most of it, he'd rather pretend never happened anyway. He'd hit on Barnes of all people. And Loki. Jesus, that's a headtrip.]

Do I owe you an apology?
buildsomething: (drink?)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-26 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
[It's a good thing the drinks have arrived, because Tony finds himself huffing out a wry laugh of his own.]

Yeah, I feel you on that one.

[And he lifts the glass to take a good long drink. He's pretty sure he didn't actually talk to anyone about Obi by name, but he'd sure thought plenty of nice things about him, hadn't he? Obi's an issue Tony's made a point of not letting himself think about much, even after all these years. So much for that.

He makes himself set the glass down again, though. It would be so easy to just keep drinking.]


My one saving grace is that I think most of the people I talked to already know how much of an asshole I can be. So probably not much of a surprise to them. [He flashes Cisco a quick grin.] Small mercies. But I'm sorry anyway.
buildsomething: (my work)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-26 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Tony practically chokes out a laugh but does at least lift his own glass in return.]

Salute. [It's a wry agreement, but a genuine one.] And now I have to wonder about exactly what breed of asshole you've been meeting that you have that kind of a system for it.

[He shakes his head a little as he takes another, smaller sip. He knows exactly what he was like in the bad old days, and he's pretty sure no one else in the universe would categorize it as a level 2 of anything. Granted he hadn't been as bad to Cisco as he could have been, for which he is profoundly not sorry.

The trouble is that as much as he regrets a lot of it, things had felt so much easier when he hadn't felt a need to care about anything. It's like having a nice relaxing vacation and only realizing in retrospect that you were the most obnoxious kind of tourist ever. There are so many reasons why Tony's head is a complete and utter mess at the moment.

None of which are Cisco's problem. But Tony can't help but give him a slightly curious look.]


You only forgot some things, right?
buildsomething: (focusing hard)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-27 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[And okay, granted, for everything Tony had been, he'd never been that kind of asshole. He might have said something to that effect too, but then Cisco is describing what he'd lost and Tony feels his eyebrows shoot straight upwards.

Well that sounds...horrifyingly familiar. Maybe not the time travel part, but the rest of it? An eerie enough similarity that Tony can't help but clear his throat.]


Yeah, but think how disappointed you'd be now when you suddenly remembered it was an actual thing.

[A weak joke for a weak joke, but the faint smile that accompanies it dies back off quickly enough. Tony's only putting off the inevitable and he knows it. He could deflect all day, but after a while it's going to get awkward. And he likes Cisco too much to put him off that obviously. And Cisco doesn't look any happier about sharing than Tony feels, which does help in a weird way.]

I knew a guy kind of like that. Turns out that finding out your business partner is dealing under the table to terrorist groups kind of puts a damper on the whole weapons manufacturing thing.

[Well, Cisco had wanted to know about his former line of work.]
Edited 2017-08-27 20:46 (UTC)
buildsomething: (not now)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-29 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[One side of Tony's mouth ticks into something that probably wants to be amused but can't quite manage it. The immediate understanding of the issue is gratifying, considering Tony almost takes the theft of his work as a greater insult than the actual attempts to kill him.

Or maybe it's just that he never quite managed to work through the latter. It's not like it's hard to remember exactly what Stane did, but even after all these years it's somehow strange to think of the man who'd practically held him up at his parents' funeral and the man who'd stood over him and literally ripped his heart out of his chest and know that they were the same guy.]


Less in jail, more dead. [It's blunt and unapologetic, but Tony at least knows how it can sound.] But he was, you know, trying to kill me. Repeatedly. So hey.
buildsomething: (drink?)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-31 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
[That gets a much more genuine smile and Tony leans forward to knock his glass gently against Cisco's.]

I will seriously drink to that. On both counts.

[And he does, though he's still trying to moderate himself. It's weird to think about, to know that he owes who he is today to that whole shitty situation. That he isn't still the guy who drank too much and hit on everything that moved and gave no fucks about anything.

It doesn't mean he felt any particular need to be reminded of it. So fuck bullshit spores indeed.]


You doing okay otherwise?

[Tony eyes him over the rim of his glass as he asks. His own head is a mess, he can only imagine Cisco must be feeling similar.]
buildsomething: (solemn)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-08-31 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I get that.

[Tony flicks him a look that's both wry and understanding. He probably doesn't have to explain to Cisco just how much of a different person he'd been, moreso than just ten years of missing time could account for.]

It's not always a bad thing, though. Yeah you change, but. You also learn. And you know better for next time.

[For an engineer, a chance to figure out what went wrong and correct those weaknesses is everything. Well, for Tony, at least. As tired and weighed down by all that's gone on as he is, he likes who he is a whole lot better these days.]
buildsomething: (any more bad ideas?)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-09-03 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Tony's fingers tap restlessly on the table in front of him. It's weird, none of this is ever anything he really talks about. Everyone either knows it by proxy the way that most people know about his life, or were along for the ride with him. No one's ever just sat down and asked.

And okay, maybe that's because he's never exactly made himself approachable for it. None of it is anything he's felt a particular need or want to dig back up. But all of it's right there in the forefront of his mind at the moment anyway, so why not?

He lets out a long breath, slumps back in his chair and tries to put his thoughts in order.]


That's a more complicated question. I could say I learned that anyone could turn on you, but honestly I already knew that.

[He'd been in the business world since his early twenties. Backstabbing was nothing new. Maybe not on Stane's scale, but still.]

Better to say the whole situation taught me what's really important. Near-death experiences kind of have a tendency to do that.
buildsomething: (just a slight breakdown)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-09-04 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[The little laugh Tony gives in response somehow manages to even sound cynical.]

Honestly? It's something I've always known. I deal with it because that's just how my life is.

[It's one of the few things Howard had made it a point to teach him. Thanks, Dad.

But Tony studies Cisco as he looks away, eyebrows drawing together into something thoughtful. Tony's always been a cynic, but from the sounds of it, the idea is newer to Cisco. And he's the last person he would ever suggest for inspirational speeches, but a big part of Tony feels like he should at least try.]


I get that. You think I walk around in a full body suit of armor because it's fashionable? But it's...eventually you just stop looking over your shoulder all the time. You know it could happen, but you're ready for it instead of just expecting it.

[And even then, it can still blindside you. But he's pretty sure that's not something Cisco wants to hear.]
buildsomething: (hold the light)

[personal profile] buildsomething 2017-09-06 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
Sure. [Tony flickers a faint smile back at him.

He's not good at this. Tony has no illusions about that. But he also knows that sometimes all you really need is someone who understands, even if that person isn't actually particularly helpful. Someone you can commiserate with in a way that doesn't feel patronizing. There are reasons Tony's never really considered therapy.

So he shrugs a little, leans back, and attempts to play it as cool as he can. Cisco seems like he's doing the same thing, so hey.]


And I mean. You know where I am if you ever want to talk.

[He can listen, at least. Hard to mess that up.]