[ Cisco can't help getting a little choked up, too, which perhaps is a bit silly. But the fact is that he forgets sometimes how vulnerable Eddie is, how unhappy he has been in the past. To Cisco, making him a bracelet for their anniversary (even when he had done his best to make it to Eddie's taste and as beautiful and neat as he could) feels just barely adequate. Yet despite their differences, one of the things they both know well is the feeling of being unappreciated, and Cisco doesn't ever want Eddie to feel that way again. He resolves right at that moment to try to be more demonstrative, to not let his own insecurities about being too enthusiastic or too clingy get in the way of expressing every little iota of affection in him.
His eyes go wide when Eddie hefts the large present onto the table, head tilting to the side a little as he tries to guess what it could possibly be. The truth is he'd been expecting something smaller. Usually, when he gets a present from someone, it's a book or a DVD, or very rarely a t-shirt. It was understandable that people guy go for things they knew he'd like, and Cisco has never minded when he gets something entirely predictable. A gift is a gift, after all. But this, whatever it is, is large, and heavy, and Eddie's wrapped it up in fabric, which seems a strange choice. Perhaps the Clock decided to be stingy on wrapping paper and Eddie had had to improvise. Glancing up at him and then back at the present, Cisco carefully unpins the bow, pulling off the layers of fabric. Inside is an oddly-shaped wooden case, with fastenings. With eagerness that is beginning to border on impatience, Cisco undoes the clasps and flips up the wooden lid.
The sewing machine inside is very old but in perfect condition, with a lovely design stenciled on the sides. There is more, too: some strange, lovely bits of fabric, scissors and pins and chalk and tape, but Cisco's eyes go back to the sewing machine itself. ]
I always wanted one of these...
[ He'd never gotten one, though. When he was young he didn't have the money or the comfort with his own masculinity to go looking, and then later at S.T.A.R. Labs, he'd had no time to go looking and had felt silly for still being so attached to the idea. They were on the cutting edge of science, and to want something antique and pretty just because it was antique and pretty felt like something prohibited to him. Machines like this were for hipsters and rich kids and people who could be a little pretentious without getting too much ridicule for it.
But... he'd told Eddie. He doesn't remember when or how it had come up. Some muzzy morning of pillow talk, he'd mentioned how he loved them. Eddie had been making breakfast, he thinks, and Cisco hadn't been entirely sure he was even listening.
He rests a hand against his chest, over his heart, without quite realizing it. He's too stunned to even smile right now. With his other hand Cisco reaches out, touching the cool metal of the machine, checking that it's real. He touches the wheel, the stenciled flowers, the little stack of fabrics. ]
...You remembered.
[ Cisco looks up at Eddie again now, heart beating a little too fast, his expression momentarily closer to confusion than to happiness. It's not just the thing itself - it's the fact that Eddie had listened and thought that something beautiful like this would suit Cisco. That Eddie knew him well enough to see past just getting him another Star Wars tee.
When the smile finally breaks onto Cisco's face, it is small, distracted, and warm. ]
no subject
His eyes go wide when Eddie hefts the large present onto the table, head tilting to the side a little as he tries to guess what it could possibly be. The truth is he'd been expecting something smaller. Usually, when he gets a present from someone, it's a book or a DVD, or very rarely a t-shirt. It was understandable that people guy go for things they knew he'd like, and Cisco has never minded when he gets something entirely predictable. A gift is a gift, after all. But this, whatever it is, is large, and heavy, and Eddie's wrapped it up in fabric, which seems a strange choice. Perhaps the Clock decided to be stingy on wrapping paper and Eddie had had to improvise. Glancing up at him and then back at the present, Cisco carefully unpins the bow, pulling off the layers of fabric. Inside is an oddly-shaped wooden case, with fastenings. With eagerness that is beginning to border on impatience, Cisco undoes the clasps and flips up the wooden lid.
The sewing machine inside is very old but in perfect condition, with a lovely design stenciled on the sides. There is more, too: some strange, lovely bits of fabric, scissors and pins and chalk and tape, but Cisco's eyes go back to the sewing machine itself. ]
I always wanted one of these...
[ He'd never gotten one, though. When he was young he didn't have the money or the comfort with his own masculinity to go looking, and then later at S.T.A.R. Labs, he'd had no time to go looking and had felt silly for still being so attached to the idea. They were on the cutting edge of science, and to want something antique and pretty just because it was antique and pretty felt like something prohibited to him. Machines like this were for hipsters and rich kids and people who could be a little pretentious without getting too much ridicule for it.
But... he'd told Eddie. He doesn't remember when or how it had come up. Some muzzy morning of pillow talk, he'd mentioned how he loved them. Eddie had been making breakfast, he thinks, and Cisco hadn't been entirely sure he was even listening.
He rests a hand against his chest, over his heart, without quite realizing it. He's too stunned to even smile right now. With his other hand Cisco reaches out, touching the cool metal of the machine, checking that it's real. He touches the wheel, the stenciled flowers, the little stack of fabrics. ]
...You remembered.
[ Cisco looks up at Eddie again now, heart beating a little too fast, his expression momentarily closer to confusion than to happiness. It's not just the thing itself - it's the fact that Eddie had listened and thought that something beautiful like this would suit Cisco. That Eddie knew him well enough to see past just getting him another Star Wars tee.
When the smile finally breaks onto Cisco's face, it is small, distracted, and warm. ]
It's perfect.