franciscoramon | riverview ∆ ic inbox ∆ @ciscodelamancha

wow where'd all this shade come from?

got it. just a thing.
well, congrats on the thing 🎉

[ Welp. Time to bite the bullet and just do this. Here's hoping it isn't a catastrophe... ]

naw murder's not my brand u know that
but...
eddie asked me out
and i said yes

[ Cisco doesn't wait for Taako to text back before he explains: ]

i really like him
i mean he's totally out of my league
but i guess he doesn't think so yet
and he's really nice to me
and i'm not afraid of him

i just... i hope it doesn't make things weird, for us. cuz like, you're kinda my bff and i don't wanna fuck that up.

[All the shade is coming from the fact he's in a good mood for the first time since his fight with Lucretia and that means being even more of a shit than usual.

But he doesn't say that, because.... that sure is like... a series of words that happen to appear on the screen. He takes a second to just absorb it all, but doesn't waste too much time replying because he knows that Cisco is likely worrying on the other side.]

If you make me give you a pep talk about your standards and self worth while you're dating my ex it is gonna get weird.

[By which he means: he doesn't approve of Cisco saying that Eddie is out of his league, nor does he approve of "I'm not afraid of him" being on the list of criteria, because that should be a given.

But, in the interest of reassuring Cisco:]

We're good, pumpkin. But I am gonna have to give him a shovel talk, since I'm your bff.

[ Cisco very much is worrying on the other side of that conversation. He's been really trying not to chew his fingernails so much lately but right now he's definitely undoing that progress with alacrity. ]

no
no pep talks needed, promise
cross my heart

[ It doesn't look good on the screen, does it? Dating my ex. But then Taako is back a moment later, calling him pumpkin and saying that, yes, they are in fact bffs. Cisco isn't kidding himself that there won't be some weirdness, but he especially after the month Taako's had, Cisco thinks that if he were really angry or disgusted, he would just say so. He's not somebody how lies very often to smooth social situations, or make other people comfortable at his own expense. Cisco's always liked that about him. ]

okay. cool. good. shovel talk away. or is it, like, a magic missile talk?
wait actually should i give one to magnus on your behalf
i hadn't even thought about that
feels like i'm a little late to that party
and anyway i'm pretty sure he could punch me into the stratosphere if he wanted to so

If he breaks your heart he's gonna get a lot worse than a magic missile.

[Honestly, Taako isn't really one for the whole bullshit with shovel talks, because he trusts his friends to look after themselves, but he's saying all this so that a) Cisco knows they're cool and b) Cisco knows he cares about him.

But he also would absolutely murder someone if they hurt Cisco, so there's that.]

And if like, anyone needs that shit with me and Magnus it's not him. I'm the asshole who didn't talk to him for a like a year cause he got waaaaay too invested.

[This is an admission that only Cisco gets.]

[ As silly and entirely hypothetical and joking as that threat is, a warmth spreads through Cisco's chest when he reads those words. It's still a little bit of a new experience, actually mattering to people. Having friends who have his back. Cisco wonders if he's ever going to get used to it. ]

magnus doesn't seem like a real heartbreaker type it's true
not gonna lie: sounds like that must've been an aaaaawkward year on the starblaster
i'm guessing you guys worked it out tho?

[ Magnus is in Taako's bed, and Taako's answer when Cisco asked what the two of them were to each other didn't sound fraught. A hundred years was a long time, and besides, dire circumstances had a way of making tiny interpersonal trespasses seem inconsequential. ]

he doing okay?
i know you said the stuff he was gonna remember would hurt and that's why you wanted to give him a choice and all

Edited 2017-09-07 02:33 (UTC)

It was like, the most awkward year of my life. I asked Lup to murder me so I could avoid dealing with it but she was an asshole and refused.

[Hyperbole? A legit thing that happened? It's hard to tell sometimes.]

But we sorted it, just kinda had to explain that I didn't do like... that. All of of that.

[Which is, essentially, the same problem he ran into with Eddie.]

Physically he's good, I walked him through it without his brain melting which was a fucking relief. I dunno about the rest, there's a lot to come to terms with, you know?

don't you just hate it when people won't mercy kill you? gosh.

well i'm glad you're both on the same page now
in more ways than one

[ He's a little tempted to saying something to the effect of it's okay not to 'do all of that', but he's worried it would sound condescending or like he thinks Taako needs permission or something, so he doesn't. ]

yeah 0% brain melting is the ideal
didn't even know that could happen yikes 😱
and yeah. it's a lot.

[ It's not the same, in degree or volume, but Cisco has at least some idea of what it must be like. He'd very recently been made to forget something big and awful, and then had the memories given back to him, and had had to deal with that. ]

is there anything else you want me putting on the do not mention list?

[ Cisco doesn't know if Taako's told Magnus about Eddie, or if it's even that big of a deal... whether he's said anything about the change in his appearance... there's really a variety of things that could potentially be stuff Taako wants kept quiet for the time being. ~~Cisco is just used to his friends asking him to keep a ton of secrets...~~ ]

She killed Barry cause he got a splinter once but wouldn't kill me to save THAT awkwardness. I dunno why I even like her.

[Lup's the worst???]

I nearly straight up fucking died when I drank it. I got lucky Clark was there.

[In his defense, drinking the ichor from Fisher had been rough but not deadly, so he had slightly underestimated how bad drinking Junior's ichor would be.]

Maybe don't mention Krav....itz? 😓😓😓😓

[This whole situation is. weird.]

Edited 2017-09-08 12:41 (UTC)

i seriously can't tell if you're joking but how bad must that splinter have been that dying was like, less inconvenient / painful???

wow. i had no idea.
i don't think we knew each other back then, did we?

[ Weird, to think back; it wasn't even THAT long ago. Cisco is glad that Clark was there for Taako, and feel a brief pang of sadness that he had left, even if he had probably had good reasons. It occurs to him he doesn't know if he met Taako before he'd drunk the ichor. Back then he'd just been That Nice Elf Guy who was dating Eddie. ]

sure, can do.

For a fucking nerd, Barry is overdramatic as hell and Lup is very impulsive

Also the lich thing, after that they got pretty careless with bodies.

[So yes: it happened.]

It was like, just before Memoria or whatever the fuck it was called? The sad festival. I think we'd met but only a couple times before I drank the ichor, you were spared the worst of my bitch ass.

[Taako-without-Lup was an asshole.]

Super appreciate it, my man. I'm gonna tell him it's just, you know? You probably don't know. I don't even know.

i guess it would get to be kinda not a big deal if you were gonna be a sick ass ghost for the rest of the year and then alive again??

[ Still kind of Does Not Compute for him but he feels like that's never gonna change. Cisco had only died the once and he was very much not a fan. He really can't imagine getting inured to it. ]

yeah, that was pretty soon after i met you...

[ He tries to think back, to remember any kind of shift, but at this point, he would just be projecting that onto his memories because he knows now it must have been there. He hadn't known Taako well enough yet to tell the difference at all. Perhaps, at the start, Taako had been a touch more glib - about the Hunger, about people being untrustworthy, about himself... ]

yeah no worries i get it
that's a you-and-him conversation and you wanna pick the right moment
it's totally cool

(what is it you're uncertain about tho? just being nosy.)

Sick ass ghost with the bonus of scaring Magnus constantly. He never got used to the liches.

[The only downside was Lup occasionally complaining about not getting laid, if one of them was a lich, at which point Taako would ask someone else in the crew to kill him so he didn't have to hear it.]

I just... like, most of the shit that's happened with Kravitz has been cause of the canisters? It doesn't feel like it's happened to me.

can't really blame him tbh!!!

[ Cisco had only seen liches in those weird dream visions he and Taako had shared, and there had been a whole lot of other messed up and scary stuff happening, but even then, they'd stuck out. Pretty memorable, the whole spectral entity thing. ]

shit
yeah, that's... gotta be deeply weird.
i haven't gotten a canister or anything from home since i arrived
(not a lotta love from the portal i gotta say)
so i don't know exactly how it feels in the first place
but that's definitely a weird limbo you're in

Try waking up with one floating over you

[Lup is a jerk, shocking no one.]

I got two canisters and the ichor so I guess it likes me knowing shit.

It's real fucking weird. Am I like cheating on my boyfriend I don't even have yet? Who the fuck knows!

yikes no thank you 🙅🏽

[ A part of Cisco does wonder about that, about the distributions of items and canisters, but that is a quandary for another time. ]

i don't think so
i mean just going by my gut instinct
and as a guy that's gotten cheated on.... a few times......
i don't think anybody would see it like that

I'd threaten to get all ghost on your ass but ghosts aren't as spooky scary as liches.

Dude.
I mean usually I'm like, the other dude not the person cheating or being cheated on but like, that's rough.

I dunno. I guess it's not like I'll remember this shit anyway.

both too spooky for me tbh
i like my spooky levels at about 0%. 2% if i'm feeling adventurous.

[ Cisco you are no fun. ]

it's not that big a deal
(and i don't mean that in a 'saying it's not a big deal but actually it is' kinda way either)
none of them were like, super serious relationships, and i was young
shit happens

[ It hadn't been great for his ego, sure, but it hadn't scarred him, either. He just accepted it, the same way he accepted many things. ]

you'll drive yourself crazy thinking about that stuff
you just gotta do what you need to do to be happy and if/when you see him again, just be honest
that's all anybody can ask for, right?

Is that enough spook levels to watch a horror movie 🤔

[Taako's a fan tbh.]

Still kinda sucks. Any of those assholes show up here and I'll kick their ass for you.

You're probably right and I'm gonna take your word for it anyway cause you've got way more experience with this relationship shit than I do.

i mean......... they're not my favorite but i'll do it
if you don't mind me screaming, holding onto your arm so hard i may cut off your circulation, and hiding my face through like the last forty minutes probably.
but i will do it.

[ Cisco isn't kidding himself, here. He's only made it through a few horror movies, the ones that had hit cult status and everyone said he had to see, but they mess him up. If Taako wants to make him watch one, he should be going in with open eyes. ]

you bet.
but i somehow seriously doubt it
they're too boring to end up here.

[ Okay maybe he is just a teeny tiny bit bitter, still. ]

that's me
the relationship guru
(i'm not, really)

Edited 2017-09-10 01:18 (UTC)

What if we get you wasted first?

[That makes things less scary, right?]

So, hey, ignoring all my relationship bullshit, does this thing with Eddie mean you're gonna stay?

[Since Eddie can't leave, and he can't imagine Eddie getting into another doomed relationship so quickly.]

that could help or make things twice as bad
only one way to find out

[ Cisco is willing to get drunk and subject himself to a horror movie, for science and for Taako's amusement. ]

yeah, i think so
not because of him or anything
i made that decision a while ago

[ And then, because he knows Taako is worrying about his life back in Fearun and his life here, and the complications between them, Cisco adds: ]

but if i can figure out my power well enough to open breaches, even once you go home i ought to be able to visit
so you better not think you're gonna get rid of me that easy

Edited 2017-09-10 02:02 (UTC)

Wait fuck I got one better. I'll whip us up some special brownies 😏

[He knew that staying was on the cards for Cisco, but this confirms it. At the end of the day, that doesn't really change anything for Taako, at one point he's going to leave and then he'll never see Cisco again. Maybe Cisco will be able to get through to their universe using his powers, but Taako won't hold his breath. It's not out of lack of faith, just... he's a pragmatist, at best.]

You sure you wanna come visit?
You have seen Upsy.

hell. yes.
now we're talking!!!!!

[ Cisco knows there are a lot of variables - Taako's world might be ending, for one thing, if the Hunger gets its way - but at the end of the day, no matter how much he wishes and pretends otherwise, Cisco is an optimist, down to his marrow. What are little things like the apocalypse or the multiverse, compared with friendship?

But he's pretty sure if he said something that sappy Taako might actually vomit, so instead he just kids around: ]

wow you really had to remind me???
when i only just stopped having nightmares?????

Edited 2017-09-10 02:32 (UTC)

Is this a dudes only deal or is Lup invited?

[It doesn't really bother him either way, but it's the sort of thing he should clarify ahead of time, instead of a surprise sister turning up.]

I'm just making sure you know what you're getting into :D

hell yeah she's invited
as long as SHE doesn't mind me screaming
(if the brownies don't cover that)

[ This is starting to feel less like a joke and more like a plan and Cisco is so on board. ]

whatever, i think magic and dragons and orcs and shit cancel out creepy elevator mechs
like just BARELY

[ He thinks about those horror movie plans, and a possible wrench in the works occurs to him, and he says: ]

actually haven't had any of that particular kind of brownie very recently
not 100% sure how it might interact with my powers
in theory it should be more than fine because it's supposed to lower dopamine levels but i should maybe do a trial run
just in case shit's not ideal and sticking to alcohol when there's people and movies is a better call...

riverview ∆ ic inbox ∆ @ciscodelamancha

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)