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[franciscoramon]

ID: goodvibrations

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[causational]

You got it. Pretty sure his husband could get away with anything.

Seriously? Gross.

[franciscoramon]

Yeah, well, I was 20 a few years ago and I definitely didn't do acid. That shit stays in your brain stem. [ Cisco gives Harry a considering look and adds, with warmth and a touch of amusement: ] Actually that could explain a lot about you...

[ The crack about keeping an eye on his bed makes Cisco smile, shaking his head as he continues to scratch lightly at Harry's scalp. ]

Careful. If you show up like this - [ He flicks Harry's cat ear, indicating his current state ] - original flavor cat Harry might get territorial. That's kind of an interesting question. I wonder if she would treat you different...

[ He is seriously thinking about suggesting they go over there and test it out (for science), but then Harry keeps talking, and gradually the idea slips from his mind. Part of him feels guilty; Harry is so much more talkative than usual, and that's got to be down to the catnip. But another part of him is pathetically grateful. The mention of Reverb makes his stomach twist with anxiety, but then Harry is saying that he needs Cisco, and his hand goes still for just a moment with surprise. It's so unusual, hearing Harry say he needs anything. Hearing him be so... honest about it. ]

Maybe you're right.

[ Cisco hadn't considered that possibility before - that all of this was part of some elaborate plan to help everyone with their problems, including the awkwardness between Harry and him, since his stint as Reverb. He's not quite as convinced of the Clock's benevolence as Harry, but it's an interesting theory. But it's hard to focus on theories and all the effects of this one change when I need you is echoing in his head. Maybe it's pathetic, wanting to be needed as badly as he does. Cisco knows it's probably not healthy, craving validation as much as he does. But since he has no way of changing it, he just sits there quietly for a while, basking in it quietly, happy and radiant. ]

I'm sure she would be torn up by guilt if she knew.

[ In a softer voice he adds: ]

And if that's why it happened, then... I'm glad.

[franciscoramon]

okay a) don't judge; b) you look cute in your workout clothes; c) there's way grosser things to be a lil into than a hot dude who is a bit hot and messy from going to the gym.

[breacher]

[ Harrison rolls his eyes at the comments about acid. If he were more with it, he'd argue that point, and he worked very hard to be the way he is, thank you very much. Instead, he reaches over and knocks some thread off of the couch with one clean swipe of his hand. That's about all he can really muster at the moment, as he leans in to touch against his scalp, rambling on idly as one does when they are, for all intents and purposes, good and stoned.

Still, he can feel Cisco pause for a moment, and then— he's glad. Ramon is glad and Reverb is a thing now firmly in the past, much like Turtle and the Thawne accusations and the entireity of the first week they'd met. Though, Harrison notes idly, that doesn't include the catnip by any stretch of the imagination. He'll give Cisco a piece of his mind later, when he's more coherent. Something has to temper how insufferable he'll be after digesting all of this, anyway.

But right now, Cisco is glad and Harrison can't help but feel almost content with that.

Almost. ]

Focus, Ramon.

[ And he gives him a nudge at that, gesturing at the needle work before starting to mutter out directions idly, taking his ramblings in an entirely different direction. It's not long before Harrison is settled in firmly at Cisco's side, critiquing a few of the stitches as they're being made and questioning at least one of the cuts. He'll wander off for a nap shortly when the fatigue really starts to set in, to sleep off the rest of the effects. But not before he's made sure that the stitchwork is impeccable and Ramon doesn't try to insert lasers or god knows what else he has up his sleeves. ]

[causational]

Okay fine. Workout sweat is way less gross than like, hot day sweat. I can KIND OF see how it's a little sexy. Compromise.

I guess it's sort of like how I love how you look when you first wake up in the morning all groggy with messy hair and pressure lines from the pillow on your face.

august 15th; @eddietective

[causational]

Happy 6 month anniversary, babe.

I can't believe it's been half a year since we started dating. It feels like no time at all, but at the same time I feel like I've known you forever.

I love you so much, and I'm so happy about this thing we have going on.

Do something special with me tonight?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco is glad that one of them, at least, is keeping track of these things. Six months! It seems like much longer (though some of that has to do with the months he'd spent back in Central City), and also - Eddie is right - no time at all. When he reads the message Cisco smiles gently to himself, because it's so sweet, and cheesy, and Eddie. ]

absolutely. fancy candlelit dinner? dancing? [ Sometimes you just couldn't mess with the classics. ]

never made it to six months before. and... i'm glad that now that i have it's with you.

[causational]

[Eddie has always been this way, naturally inclined to keep track of this sort of thing, of dates and relationship milestones. Besides, he's never gone home, he's only been here, and has a clearer sense of time than Cisco.]

Do you want that? Because I think maybe it's about time I took you to a really nice place. I want to spoil you.

I hope that's not weird.

I'm so glad we got here, babe. Thank you.

[franciscoramon]

you say that like you don't spoil me all the time

i so want that. how bout you arrange the dinner, i arrange the dancing. that way both of us gets a surprise.

[ And he won't say it, but Cisco is already casting his mind over what would be a good gift - he doesn't have time to make anything, but if there's one thing the Clock is good for, it's finding stuff in times of need. ]

love you.

[causational]

I don't. I treat you exactly how you deserve to be treated. And for our anniversary, I want to spoil you and make it special. Especially if you've never had a six month anniversary before.

That sounds perfect. I can't wait.

[Eddie had the same idea, has been giving idle thought to a gift for a bit now, and has a few ideas. It's just a matter of finding things, now that he's confirmed Cisco is interested in celebrating.]

Love you too. So much.

[franciscoramon]

have you? i mean, before iris?

[ Cisco realizes he doesn't actually know; the two of them haven't spent too much time talking about past relationships, by an unspoken mutual agreement. But he is curious, and it's something to chat about as he brainstorms gift ideas, writing up a little list any everything. ]

[causational]

No. Never before Iris. I had a really hard time connecting with people, you know?

But I don't think I've ever found someone I feel as connected to as you. You see me, and I feel like I see you.

[It's cheesy, but he's in a bit of a cheesy mood today. He can't help it, because realizing it's been six months now, thinking back on how he felt when he first got here compared to how he feels now. How much the despair has lifted, the hopelessness has gone out of him. He feels like he's addressed more of his issues, the things that trouble him and make his life hard more in the past six months than the decade before that.]

You make my life better.

[franciscoramon]

see now you got me in a rhetorical corner because i can't say you're crazy for thinking morning is a good look on me without being a total hypocrite.

[causational]

I guess I AM smarter than I look. ;)

All according to plan. I'm working on that whole 'evil genius' thing a little, I guess.

I mean, besides the fact that morning is seriously a good look on you.

[franciscoramon]

yeah, i do.

[ That had been one of the first things to surprise him about Eddie - Cisco always assumed it must be easy for a guy like him. Good job, good looks, good manners - he must have so many friends and past lovers he couldn't even count them all.

And he likes that Eddie says the cheesy things, because unlike most, even when he goes full sap, he actually means what he's saying. It's not a manipulation or a ploy or a lie. He just feels how he feels, and says it as plainly as he wants to, without worry. Which lets Cisco do the same, even when his first instinct is to make earnest emotions into a joke. ]

you do.

[ And once he's sent that, once he has affirmed that Eddie is right, one small joke won't hurt. ]

guess that's why we're... seeing each other.

(that was lame, i know, 4/10 for effort)

hey what do you like better, silver or gold? definitely asking for no particular reason whatsoever

[causational]

[In the end, all the manners and looks and jobs in the world can't make him good at connecting with people. It's just a fact. He has a hard time expressing himself, and a terrible sense of humour, and it takes a certain type, he thinks, to actually want him for more than just a night.

And when Cisco texts back that joke, he laughs out loud, bright and happy.]

Are you kidding me? That was great. I laughed out loud.

But you are probably NOT surprised by that. I have an awful sense of humor. ;)

Um. Silver. What a peculiar random factoid to want to know about me for no reason at all.

[franciscoramon]

someone took his sass supplements this morning, i can tell. and before you eve say it yes, that IS a real thing, obviously.

i guess as far as evil genius plans go, making it so neither of us can argue about weird stuff we like about one another is not all THAT bad.

[causational]

I took an extra dose, just for you. ;) I know you like it when I get sassy with you.

And I should hope so. I don't really want to be an evil genius, I was just joking. :( :( :(

[franciscoramon]

i can't even argue with that cuz it's true

i don't think you need to worry. you haven't got an evil bone in your body.

[franciscoramon]

[ Their text conversation peters out after that, as both of them go about making the preparations that they need. Cisco goes to his workshop, first - after six months, he thinks that he knows Eddie well enough to know that a gift he's had an actual hand in making, that has significance rather than just something that is pretty or fancy, will make him much happier. Neither of them spend too much time dwelling on the past, but he knows well enough by now that Eddie got plenty of gifts when he was young, but that a lot of them meant nothing, had no actual love attached.

So Cisco makes Eddie a gift. It's not as elaborate as it might have been if he'd had more time to plan, but he is skilled with his hands, and it comes out pretty great - a few narrow strips of dark leather, braided tightly together, a small, flat piece of silver attached neatly at the center. Cisco holds the bracelet in place with clamps, sets to work engraving Eddie's name on the surface. It's delicate work, and even though he is very deft, it is clear that the letters were done by hand. On the inside of the silver, that will be facing Eddie's wrist, Cisco adds a small heart.

Once he's finished, he polishes it, tugs at it to test that it's strong, polishes again, and then goes looking for a box for it, and someplace they can go dancing. He finds both, easily, and then returns to his room to get himself ready. He is worried about what he should wear, until he opens his closet, and decides immediately. Cisco hasn't actually had a call to wear it before, and now seems like the perfect moment. He gives himself plenty of time to make sure he looks neat and put-together, feeling unaccountably nervous. Anniversaries seem like the kind of thing Eddie would be really invested in, and Cisco doesn't want to mess this up for him.

Finally, once his hair has dried enough and he's tied and retied and retied his tie, Cisco texts: ]

I'm ready whenever you are.

[causational]

This is why I love you.

Neither do you, babe. It's why we're a great team.

[causational]

[Eddie might've sprung this on Cisco at the last moment, but he's been thinking about it for a couple weeks now. Long enough that he's put some thought into his gift, has it tucked away and hidden. He'd gone through a few ideas, most of them more obvious than what he's chosen, things he knows with confidence Cisco would like, DVD sets or games or otherworldly tech. But those are all things that he could give Cisco anytime, they seem too easy, almost a cop-out, don't seem poignant enough for a 6-month anniversary.

What he ended up choosing, he has a good gut feeling about. It's a risk, for sure, but Eddie's always been a risk-taker, and even if he strikes out and has to fall back on something a little less meaningful, he hopes the fact that he was listening and thinking counts for something. So he takes out the pretty antique electric sewing machine he'd found, painted a light metallic blue with beautiful stencilled flower patterns on it, with some other supplies - pins, nice fabric scissors, a measuring tape, drafting chalk - tucked inside its hardwood carrying case. He wraps it gently in a few layers of pretty fabric he found, and gently pins a bow to the top.

Then he gets dressed, heart beating hard, making sure he looks his best. Hair on point, a three-piece suit in dark blues that bring out his eyes, fit perfectly to the line of his shoulders, a little snug in the ass, a nice tie, cuff links and polished shoes. He goes to the restaurant he picked out early, because it doesn't come with servers even if it comes with a kitchen that has a beautiful plate set out once you speak aloud what you want from the menu. He sets up, gets the table decorated with a nice tablecloth, some roses in a vase, candles, a bottle of nice champagne cooling in an ice bucket off to the side.

He's still fussing over it when he gets Cisco's text, and takes a deep breath, lets it out slow, then heads over to Cisco's place. He taps a quick series of knocks and waits just to the side until Cisco emerges.

Stepping back, Eddie lets his gaze slide up and down the length of him, his mouth curving into a broad smile before he's reaching in and gently closing fingers around the lapels of Cisco's blazer and tugging him in for a kiss. The meaning of the outfit Cisco chose isn't lost on him, and he rests his forehead against Cisco's for a moment, mouth curved into a wide smile.]

I still think you look super hot in this.

@overwatch

[smoak]

[ After she arrived, it took Felicity awhile to notice the device, but once she did, she'd basically gone through every app until she reached her contacts.

Caitlin, Ray, Laurel, even Harrison Wells was here. So what about ... and there he was. Cisco. Or at least, someone she really really thinks is Cisco. She had to say something, but now that she was staring at the blinking cursor on her screen, she didn't know what to say.

Until she did. ]

From what I've heard so far, I think I've walked right into a mix between Inception and Harry Potter.

[franciscoramon]

[ It's probably a good thing that Eddie pulls him into the kiss, because if he hadn't, Cisco might have just stood there and stared for a minute or two. It's not that he'd forgotten what Eddie looked like in a sharp suit, but there's not much call for him to wear one, here. Cisco loves the fact that now he doesn't really associate Eddie with suits, but with the kinds of clothes he wears around his room or in Cisco's - because it's a sign that they are intimate, that they are comfortable around one another.

But it's still a pleasant little thrill to see him looking so effortlessly, breathtakingly handsome. Cisco presses his forehead to Eddie's when he breaks off the kiss, smiling and saying in a low, fond, humorous voice. ]

And I still think you must need glasses.

[ But there is far more flattered happiness in that remark than actual self-deprecation. Cisco settles his hands easily on Eddie's waist, and he feels dizzy for a moment thinking about it. Six months. He remembers those early days of it - the excitement, the nervousness, the fear that he would mess things up, the worry that something would happen to Eddie. It might not be all that long, but they had been through plenty in that time. More than most couples went through in two or three years. ]

What about you, huh? You know the three piece suit thing is totally unfair, right?

[franciscoramon]

[ He had spotted the new username on the network (writing that tracking app to see when names were added or removed had been one of the best choices he'd made here) but hadn't made the connection until just now. If this person is texting him out of the blue... making pop culture references while they do so... ]

felicity?

[ Worth a shot, anyway. ]