franciscoramon | riverview ∆ ic inbox ∆ @ciscodelamancha

Okay.

[ Cisco hates feeling like he is powerless, particularly when it's clear Taako is in pain. He might not be sobbing or ranting, but Cisco can see it now, in the way he's holding himself, the way he's speaking, all of it. But if there's nothing to be done, there's nothing to be done. The last thing Taako probably wants right now is some misguided effort to cheer him up, which he might see as a response to his pain and anger being obnoxious, and Cisco wanting him to be fun again, or something like that.

So he just focuses on what he can do, right now, which is find out results from Taako's blood sample. He switches to the cheek swab, placing it in another compartment of the machine and typing in some even more complex instructions. ]

I built a time machine once. Long story. But dicking with the past is some pretty dangerous shit.

[ He knows that Taako must know that; Cisco only speaks so that he can break the heavy silence filling the lab at the moment. Squinting at the readouts, he announces: ]

It definitely looks like it was something you ingested. Which is pretty worrying. Maybe avoid that coffee place you went to. And also gimme their name because I feel like I should do some follow-up on this. Make sure they aren't up to something.

Yeah, I know. Chalice.

[It's a little short, but it's the same way he was short before, not angry at Cisco, just incapable of actually toning his anger down despite the fact that Lucretia isn't even here. He's just tired and furious and so sick of all this bullshit, including the bullshit this place keeps throwing at them.

Including drugged coffee, apparently, but that isn't what Taako says, because something else is clicking.]

Wait. Fuck, that's why Loki was acting weird. It must be...

[The whole thing had totally slipped his mind in the wake of everything else; it's not quite the same as what happened with Rin, but maybe whatever this is effects people differently? Taako's an elf, after all, and Loki is a... well, a frost giant, apparently. It wouldn't surprise him if a drug interacted with their physiology strangely.]

Must be what? How was he acting?

[ Before Taako even has a chance to answer, Cisco raises up a hand to halt him for a moment, saying rather gravely: ]

And I'm not asking to be a gossip. This is for science. I need to know what this stuff's doing to people and how many have been affected and a bunch of other stuff, and the quickest way to do that is to start off with as much information as possible.

[ And after all, Cisco doesn't even know this Loki guy, so why would he be that invested in gossip about him, anyway? ]

[Despite Cisco's insistence about hearing the Rin gossip before things got weird and messy, that thought hadn't even crossed Taako's mind. He knows Cisco pretty well, and he knows that this is just about getting as much information as possible.]

Affectionate, I guess? [This, at least, is easier to talk about, and some of the tension leaves Taako's shoulders.] Kinda like he was drunk but booze doesn't effect him the way it does us mortal dipshits. He let me paint his nails, it was weird.

[ Cisco nods, rather solemnly considering they are discussing nail-painting. That new detail might have thrown him for a loop at one point, but there have been a few incidents in his time here that have seemed to increase people's affection for one another, or else made people who usually have very strict boundaries feel a bit looser about them. So what Taako says isn't all that surprising. ]

So it's possible this stuff causes drowsiness and confusion, but also drunkenness and or affectionateness for immortals. [ The two seem so unrelated, but there must be an explanation. Something he is missing. ] And whatever it is, clearly it's strong enough to affect someone with a pretty powerful metabolism, or at least, someone with a resistance to other drugs.

[ Alcohol is a drug, technically speaking. Cisco chews at his bottom lip, brain working hard even as he asks: ]

Anybody else been acting funny that you remember? Morseo than usual I mean.

[This really isn't Taako's area of expertise, but everything that Cisco's saying makes enough sense that he nods an agreement.]

I'll be real with you, haven't given a whole lot of shits about other people lately.

[Taako is self-centered at the best of times, but it's only been worse in the last couple days with everything, between Lucretia ad what he saw of his own future.]

[ Cisco just nods; he feels a brief surge of guilt that he hadn't realized, hadn't figured out that Taako's quietness and absence for the last little while was due to something being very wrong. What kind of a friend is he, if he doesn't keep an eye out for that sort of thing? He's going to have to do much better, in the future. And the best way to do that is to start now. The science is important, but it can wait for an hour or two. Cisco looks over at Taako, at the set of his shoulders and the look of tiredness, and only says: ]

Got it. I'll keep an ear to the ground, and if I find anything out, I'll let you know.

[ Cisco punches a few more buttons on the machine, setting it to keep running tests on the samples, and turns away from it. He sighs, hands coming to hook in his pockets, and asks: ]

How 'bout I whip us up some totally non-drugged coffee and sandwiches, and then I can show you this totally sweet new video game I found. There's a co op setting I've been meaning to try out for ages.

[ It's possible Taako will turn down the offer, that he'll want to be alone again. But it's the best option Cisco can think of - sustenance, caffeine, and company without the obligation to speak to one another or even really look at each other. He knows that, for him at least, playing video games could be like a kind of meditation; playing could calm him down, mute the horrible thought processes and worries and memories, if only for a little while. ]

[The first response that nearly makes itself known is a refusal. His instinct these days is to avoid people when something is wrong, not wanting to give any sign of having any kind of emotions, but it hasn't always been like that. He walked away from Lup, before, and it was a first.

He doesn't want to keep doing that. It's too easy to fall back into habits built while he was alone, and isolating himself doesn't help. If Cisco was asking to sit down and talk about shit, that'd be easier to walk away from, but saying yes to simple company and distraction isn't going to end the world.]

Promise not to kick my ass too badly?

[That's not a promise Cisco can keep, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that they're going to play a stupid video game and eat sandwiches and for at least a little while, Taako isn't going to think about Lucretia.]

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