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[franciscoramon]

ID: goodvibrations

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Comments

[franciscoramon]

being smart and being discreet aren't always the same thing.

i just don't want you underestimating him. like, you gotta know right now i'm 100% sure he reads everything on the network. like EVERYTHING.

[ Cisco wants to say that he's half-convinced Eobard has or will find a way to read private messages and personal inboxes, too, but even he recognizes that is baseless paranoia talking. ]

[billionerd]

I don't bring up sensitive subjects on the network. And I usually talk to my team in person anyway, I promise it's okay.

1/2

[franciscoramon]

no offense, dude, but you don't seem like a guy who's good at keeping dangerous secrets.

[ Neither does Rory. Snart, well. Cisco isn't as worried about him accidentally blowing the whole thing. He might talk a lot of shit but he is deliberate about it. ]

2/2

[franciscoramon]

i mean that as a compliment.

it's just not great for this particular sitch.

[billionerd]

What dangerous secret have I slipped on lately?

[franciscoramon]

don't ask me to pull receipts man, that'll just make me feel like a dick.

[ Like... he could, but let's not go there, buddy, pal, that's a dangerous road. ]

i just meant you're an honest guy. and you trust people.

[billionerd]

my trust is usually well-placed.

[franciscoramon]

well how nice for you

[ ......okay, maybe that was a bit harsh, Cisco. Dial it back a bit. ]

but i bet you trusted dr. wells before you talked to caitlin didn't you?

[billionerd]

I talked to him, he picked me up after I was beaten in Russian prison. Kinda hard not to trust.

[franciscoramon]

you see what i'm getting at though right ray

your 'usually' didn't apply. you trusted him and you were wrong.

doesn't surprise me he jumped at the chance to help you. that's totally his m.o. find someone who's hurting or vulnerable and make them trust him and feel like they owe him. then he can use them however he wants.

[billionerd]

i get it. i have a better picture of what's life been for you guys the past few months.

i'm sorry.

[franciscoramon]

i wasn't looking for sympathy. i'm just saying... don't be as stupid as i used to be.

[billionerd]

being trusting isn't stupid, Cisco.

[franciscoramon]

how much did caitlin tell you about zoom

[ Because 'it happened twice' is a pretty compelling argument for 'yes, trusting people is incredibly stupid, never do it' ]

[billionerd]

It was Eddie who warned me, actually. And not much? Evil speedster with nebulous motivations about being the best?

[franciscoramon]

[ Fuck. Does he really have to do this speech. Really. Does he have to go over it again? Then again, Caitlin should definitely not have to go through that. Barry either. And Harry just plain won't so. Looks like it's Cisco's job. ]

you could say that.

also, he's a complete psycho.

and he played us. just like eobard. you'd think we would've learned the first time. but instead of doing that, we trusted him. he was part of the team. he showed up and said he was the flash on earth-2 and we just believed him. he said he was a hero, but it turned out, not so much.

[billionerd]

And it's not your fault for trusting him.

I'd rather trust people and be wrong sometimes than not trust anyone and be right sometimes.

[franciscoramon]

[ It's about 10 minutes before Cisco texts back, because he needs to relocate his chill first. Texting in anger is never a good idea and he's been trying to work on that, generally. Plus, he's already let poor Ray be the brunt of his misdirected anger way too many times. ]

i think it's a lot easier to make that choice from where you're standing. being betrayed like that is something that's never happened to you.

it's happened to me and caitlin and barry TWICE so please do me a favor and don't say shit like that to them. i know you, so i know you don't mean it like that, but it sounds really self-righteous.

i didn't tell you about zoom because i wanted a pep talk about the virtues of learning to trust again, ok? i just... told you because i felt bad about not telling you about dr. wells.

[ Right now he's regretting telling Ray at all. ]

[billionerd]

[ It is honestly a blessing that Ray is A. Super chill and B. Completely aware none of Cisco's current anger is about him. ]

Look Cisco, you don't know what's happened to me so let's not make any assumptions.

[franciscoramon]

you're right. i shouldn't make assumptions. i don't actually know all that much about your life. why do we always gotta talk about me? i'm sick of it.

i'm all ears. or eyes. whatever. tell me about it?

[ Time to put up or shut up. And, y'know, also: if Ray has been through something similar, Cisco would actually want to offer his support. ]

[billionerd]

Seriously? A lot has happened. Some of it on the level of awful I'd really rather not talk about.

[franciscoramon]

well then, talk about something you can talk about.

look i'm not trying to pressure you here, seriously, but you can't have it both ways. you can't accuse me of not knowing stuff about you and then refuse to tell me literally anything about you.

and i mean if i had my way i'd never talk about dr. wells or jay ever again but it's not like i have the luxury of that choice.

you're the one who's preaching the gospel of trust, but i'm the one with all my dirty laundry and shit out in the open and you just get to say 'no thanks'?

[billionerd]

[ SIIIIGHS, thinking really hard about how to go about this without sounding angry, even though he kind of is. ]

Okay. So do you want specific instances of betrayal or are general traumatic experiences that might shake one's faith in humanity good too?

[franciscoramon]

y'know what?

nevermind.

i'm not gonna be a part of this.

if sometime you actually honestly feel like opening up and talking to me about stuff, as a friend, you know that i'm always here, and i'll always be willing to listen.

but this right now? doesn't feel right. i don't wanna force you to talk about something you don't wanna talk about.

sorry i assumed wrong. i guess i just can't understand how someone could be as [ He types naive, thinks, erases it ] optimistic as you after going through whatever.

must be you're just a better person than me.

[billionerd]

[ He has seriously no idea of how to deal with this. ]

It's not that I don't trust you. I don't want to make this into some messed competition on who has a better reason to be jaded.

And I'm fine, ultimately. I fuck up, I go over why I fucked up, I take steps to stop it from happening again. But when it comes to people, to trusting, I'm gonna fuck up every time. I'll risk my mission and my life and the life of my teammates on a complete stranger because I believe everyone deserves a chance.

That doesn't make me better than anyone. Hell, anyone who knows me will tell you it makes me an idiot. But I'm okay with that, I'd rather be a happy idiot than a jaded genius.