riverviewlogs | [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! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Cisco still feels ambivalent about this whole venture, and like he's the one not really carrying his weight in this time of crisis. That feeling only gets worse when Magnus is actually supporting his weight, helping him to get higher up, closer to being able to reach that ledge they'd fallen from.

But after all Magnus is right, and they probably ought to look like they're trying if they don't want the bear to think they're pulling a fast one. So Cisco lets himself be boosted, shirts flung over one shoulder. It's a little awkward, but then Magnus just lifts him as if he isn't a full-grown man who, okay, is a little short, but still weighs enough that someone ought not to be able to just heave him up into the air like that.

No time to focus on that, though; Cisco makes a wild grab for the place where the rusted fence had fallen away, and he just gets a handhold. Hauling himself up is not quick or easy; he isn't weak, but pull-ups aren't his strong suit. There's some teeth-gritting and his arms quiver a bit as he does it, but Cisco drags himself up and then onto the pavement outside the bear enclosure, gasping with relief when his legs are no longer dangling.

He allows himself that one moment of relief before he turns, peers over the edge at Magnus down below, trying to figure out how to help, how to contribute. ]

How's it look?

Uhh... I'll update you in a sec!

[He gives the wall a once-over, deciding whether or not he should even try to climb it. It doesn't seem like it'd be a very fun climb—so he turns back to the bear.]

Any chance you'd give me a boost, buddy?

[...The bear huffs, unimpressed. Turning back to the wall, he comes to terms with the fact that climbing is his only option. He paces away from it to gain running distance, then takes a breath.]

Alright, here we go.

[He makes a run for the wall, attempting to scale it in one go, but he misses the ledge and absolutely beefs it onto the ground. (He's okay, though. He's taken worse falls before. More than anything it's his pride that's damaged.)

After a dejected groan, he lifts himself back onto his feet. He rises to see a laughing bear.]

Yeah, thanks, buddy, [he quips, sarcastically. But the bear actually takes pity on him at this point and does, in fact, give him a boost. Finally, with its help, Magnus pulls himself up to meet Cisco, who presumably just saw him make an ass of himself.]

...So that happened. [He sighs.] Are you okay?

[ If he weren't so worried, Cisco would probably be rolling around on the ground, laughing. As is, he looks away briefly to haul his shirts back on, and looks back just in time to see Magnus take his spectacular leap, and correspondingly spectacular fall back to the ground. Cisco clutches at his face in horror, leaning over and trying to see if Magnus is alright, if he's broken something or his his head or-

But he gets to his feet, seeming annoyed but uninjured. Cisco releases the breath he'd been holding, shoulders slumping in relief. He only notices the bear when Magnus addresses it again, and is it... laughing? Do bears even do that?! Is Magnus some kind of druid and Taako just failed to mention it?

He watches with his heart in his throat as the bear comes over to Magnus. Cisco thinks it is going to take a bite, that he is going to have to figure out a way to fight it and get it away from his new friend. But it doesn't attack. Instead, it helps to lift Magnus up, and Cisco quickly bends down to try to help haul Magnus up as he climbs out of the enclosure. Once he's on his feet, before Cisco can even speak, Magnus asks if he's alright. Cisco can't help it: he laughs. ]

Am I okay?! Are you okay?! I saw you fall, I should've found a better way to get you out, made... I don't know, found a rope or...

[ Cisco fusses and talks, talks and fusses, looking Magnus over to make sure he's not limping or holding his arms funny or anything like that. But he seems okay, as far as Cisco can tell, and he heaves a big sigh. ]

[Magnus can't help but laugh when anyone fusses about his physical safety. ~~He doesn't realize that one of these days he's gonna break if he keeps going too hard. He thinks he's invincible.~~]

Yeah, I admit that was kinda dumb on my part. I'm not always the smartest. But, hey! [He gives Cisco a pat on the shoulder.] We did it! We got out of there and didn't even get a scratch.

[He thinks about this and checks his elbow.] One scratch.

[ Normally Cisco isn't here for people putting down their own intelligence, but Magnus did just make a whole lot of really inadvisable decisions in the last fifteen minutes or so. Not that Cisco hadn't had some dumb ideas, too. Really, not the finest moment for either of them, but they'd gotten out of it. ]

Hey, you don't gotta be smart, apparently you can talk to friggin bears?! Which is completely dope.

[ Seriously, what even was that? Cisco has never seen anything like that, before. There's being good with animals, but this is just on a whole other level.

He frowns at that slightly-bloody scrape on Magnus's elbow, wishing he had bandages or antibiotics on him. Cisco nods his head in the direction of the main office of the zoo, saying: ]

C'mon, they'll have first aid shit in there, and we should probably tell them about the fence, and yell at them to fix the other ones because damn, that shit is not up to code. Not even close.

[ Cisco starts off in that direction, only gets a step or two before he blurts: ]

Thank you. For boosting me out, and... jumping down to help and... all of it. That coulda been really really bad if you weren't there.

[He doesn't think much of his interactions with animals, so he's almost always taken aback when anyone thinks anything of it.] Oh, that? Ha, sure. I mean, as long as it's like, a nice bear.

[He might be an idiot, but since the battle is over, he at least knows well enough to follow Cisco's instructions on getting medical attention. He could use a bandaid.

He shrugs off Cisco's thank-you.] Not at all, bud. I'm glad you're okay!

Y'know, I still had a great day. Even though all of, uh, that happened. You're a cool guy, Cisco.

[ Cisco leads the way to the main office, smiling softly when Magnus says he still had a good day. ]

Yeah. Me too. Even better if you promise not to tell anybody about the trying to make a rope outta my clothes thing.

[ Now that they aren't in danger, Cisco has the mental and emotional space to feel properly, truly, deeply embarrassed about that. The idea itself might not have been so bad, if Magnus weren't such a big guy, but the execution of it... he's going to be remembering that at 3AM when he can't sleep and banging his head against some walls, he can already tell.

But hey, even if there were some not great bits, they had gotten into a scrape and gotten out the other side and now they're a little closer as friends, and that's a pretty great silver lining. ]

You're a cool guy, too, Magnus.

[open] cancel your reservations

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yeah i just failed SEVERAL rolls

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