[ When Arya goes quiet and her eyes start getting teary, Cisco worries that maybe he's made a mistake. He does his best with Arya, but he is still all too conscious of the fact that she is a deeply traumatized child and that he is vastly under-qualified to offer her the kind of support she actually needs. But then she smiles, asks if niceness is a policy, and he relaxes slightly. He nudges her foot back. ]
Not everybody.
[ He wants to help everyone in this place to get where they want to be, but Arya is the only one he would offer his own home to. ]
You're my friend, and you deserve a fresh start somewhere you have a chance to be the person you wanna be.
[ Arya has already been displaced so many times, been on the run, been without a safe place to call her own. The transition to another world would be hard, but she is used to upheaval, and she's young still. ]
Did you know my parents weren't from Central City originally? They came there from somewhere else, left everything they had behind, to start over in a place where they didn't know anyone, because they thought it would be a better life. And I'm really lucky they did. So if I can help you make a place for yourself in Central City, that feels like I'm passing it along, y'know?
[ Cisco, Arya thinks, has always had the wrong idea about what Arya deserves. Sansa and Jon deserve better, for sure. Maybe Arya did too, once, but she's so different now, done too many unforgivable things, to deserve that kind of fresh start. She'd just disappoint Cisco. Arya can easily see how much better things could be in Central City, but she can just as easily see how bringing Arya to another world would be a huge mistake. The newness of the place would be frightening, and if the situation with Snart is any indication, Arya tends to make very, very poor decisions when she's frightened.
But she can't tell Cisco that. She's tried already, and for some reason, he refuses to believe her.
And then he tells Arya about his parents, and she knows she can't turn him down, not even if it's for his own good. Now, the offer is more personal. It doesn't just mean something to Arya: it means something to Cisco too, and for once in her life, Arya doesn't want to be rude. Not when Cisco has given her so much already. ]
I think...I think that sounds wonderful. Like the best thing in any world. Then we can always be friends, even after we leave this place.
[ Arya nibbles on her ice cream, to buy herself some time. ]
But even if you can bring me back, it may not work. If Jon or Sansa do not wish to come -- but I think I can convince them to come -- then I cannot leave them. [ A pause. ] And even if we all go there, you should know that it likely will not be easy. I could be blind again, I may not understand your language, I may do something stupid and awful because I got. [ um. ] Confused.
Of course you'll stay with them if they don't want to come.
[ He never would have expected anything different; they're her family, and Cisco understands how much that means to Arya. He listens to her other concerns, sees her body language and hears how quiet her voice has gone. His own tone is gentle as he addresses each point. ]
I know it'll be hard. Hopefully, whatever way we find out of here won't do that, but if you are blind again, well, we've got some pretty great doctors in my world. If they can't fix it, I'll make you some tech that will. We can just communicate in emojis 'til we learn each other's languages. And... if you get confused... we'll think up ways to minimize the damage before that happens. There are people who can help, in Central City. People a lot more qualified than me.
[ Arya lets that all sink in. She's still a little apprehensive about the whole thing -- adjusting to life on a new world will likely be a lot harder than Cisco makes it sound. But once they're settled in, Central City could be really good for Arya and her family. She wishes the rest of them got this chance.
There's also the matter of unfinished business on her world. A revenge quest left incomplete. But maybe, by the time Cisco works out how to leave this place, it won't matter so much anymore. ]
We'll need to invent quite a lot of emojis.
[ Arya says, smiling, then hugs Cisco tightly. It's her way of saying yes, a million times yes, and thank you. She's not going to say it out loud: she doesn't want to jinx her chances. But hopefully, Cisco gets what she means. ]
[ Cisco definitely gets it. As far as he's concerned, a hug is worth a thousand words. He wraps his arms around Arya (he is reminded that she really is alarmingly small, in moments like this), hugging her back for as long as she likes. He wishes he could do more; bring Sansa back right now to ease her worry, give her promises that he could bring them all unharmed to Central City, undo everything bad that had ever happened to her and her family. But he doesn't have that kind of power. No one does.
So instead he hugs her, and when she finally pulls away, he goes back to eating ice cream with her, telling her stories about cool things in Central City she may get a chance to see someday - the skyscrapers, the restaurants, the ice skating rink they put in the park in the winters, the parades and all the rest of it. He keeps it all in the conditional tense, all maybes. But he wants to fill her head with thoughts of happy possibilities, to crowd out her fear for Sansa for at least a little while. ]
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no subject
Not everybody.
[ He wants to help everyone in this place to get where they want to be, but Arya is the only one he would offer his own home to. ]
You're my friend, and you deserve a fresh start somewhere you have a chance to be the person you wanna be.
[ Arya has already been displaced so many times, been on the run, been without a safe place to call her own. The transition to another world would be hard, but she is used to upheaval, and she's young still. ]
Did you know my parents weren't from Central City originally? They came there from somewhere else, left everything they had behind, to start over in a place where they didn't know anyone, because they thought it would be a better life. And I'm really lucky they did. So if I can help you make a place for yourself in Central City, that feels like I'm passing it along, y'know?
no subject
But she can't tell Cisco that. She's tried already, and for some reason, he refuses to believe her.
And then he tells Arya about his parents, and she knows she can't turn him down, not even if it's for his own good. Now, the offer is more personal. It doesn't just mean something to Arya: it means something to Cisco too, and for once in her life, Arya doesn't want to be rude. Not when Cisco has given her so much already. ]
I think...I think that sounds wonderful. Like the best thing in any world. Then we can always be friends, even after we leave this place.
[ Arya nibbles on her ice cream, to buy herself some time. ]
But even if you can bring me back, it may not work. If Jon or Sansa do not wish to come -- but I think I can convince them to come -- then I cannot leave them. [ A pause. ] And even if we all go there, you should know that it likely will not be easy. I could be blind again, I may not understand your language, I may do something stupid and awful because I got. [ um. ] Confused.
no subject
[ He never would have expected anything different; they're her family, and Cisco understands how much that means to Arya. He listens to her other concerns, sees her body language and hears how quiet her voice has gone. His own tone is gentle as he addresses each point. ]
I know it'll be hard. Hopefully, whatever way we find out of here won't do that, but if you are blind again, well, we've got some pretty great doctors in my world. If they can't fix it, I'll make you some tech that will. We can just communicate in emojis 'til we learn each other's languages. And... if you get confused... we'll think up ways to minimize the damage before that happens. There are people who can help, in Central City. People a lot more qualified than me.
no subject
There's also the matter of unfinished business on her world. A revenge quest left incomplete. But maybe, by the time Cisco works out how to leave this place, it won't matter so much anymore. ]
We'll need to invent quite a lot of emojis.
[ Arya says, smiling, then hugs Cisco tightly. It's her way of saying yes, a million times yes, and thank you. She's not going to say it out loud: she doesn't want to jinx her chances. But hopefully, Cisco gets what she means. ]
no subject
So instead he hugs her, and when she finally pulls away, he goes back to eating ice cream with her, telling her stories about cool things in Central City she may get a chance to see someday - the skyscrapers, the restaurants, the ice skating rink they put in the park in the winters, the parades and all the rest of it. He keeps it all in the conditional tense, all maybes. But he wants to fill her head with thoughts of happy possibilities, to crowd out her fear for Sansa for at least a little while. ]