franciscoramon | riverview ∆ ic inbox ∆ @ciscodelamancha

[ Poe laughs. ]

You're already doing a pretty good job.

[ Because he's genuinely curious: ] What is it she does for you? She said she's working as a scavenger, that you invent things.

[ That's a little bit of a relief, anyway. And Poe's question is an easy one to answer. ]

I research, design, and build tech and other gear for the emergency services in town - so the firefighters, the perimeter guard, the cops, that kind of thing. To do that I gotta have supplies - like fabric and leather for uniforms, sure, but also materials that go into microchips and sonic stun grenades etcetera. And you can't buy all that in a store - at least, not here you can't. So she and I go out into the ruins outside the wall and we look through the stuff that was left behind. There's plenty of good stuff out there that no one is using. I was doing it on my own before, but it's kinda dangerous and it goes way faster with two.

[ He's not going to pretend there is no risk involved in the job - he'd been very clear to Rey about that before they made the whole thing official. She had insisted she could look after herself, and all signs point to her being way more badass and capable of survival than Cisco himself is. ]

Edited 2017-11-17 00:03 (UTC)

[ All right, color Poe impressed. And given what he knows of Rey, she seems pretty capable of taking care of herself. Moreover, she trusts Cisco enough to have told him about her abilities. But still-- ]

You have much weapons training?

[ That is a very weird question, but Rey had mentioned that Poe is a pilot and with the resistance, so he supposes maybe it's not all that weird for him. ]

I have zero weapons training. I wouldn't say I'm totally helpless, though.

[ Video games don't count, do they? ]

I'm really more of a behind the scenes kind of guy. Fighting the good fight by supporting the heroes, and all that.

[ Pretty much everyone Poe knows has weapons training of some kind, even going back to his childhood. Growing up on a jungle planet with occasional aggressive predators will do that.

He's not thrilled with the idea of Cisco going out there without the backup of a weapon. Not because it poses a risk to Rey--again, he's pretty sure she can handle herself--but as far as he knows, Cisco is a regular old ordinary human. ]

If you're going out there, though, it might be good to learn. I can teach you. I'm better in the air than on the ground, but--

[ A pause, and he laughs. ] Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, I'm pretty sure what you do makes you just as much of a hero.

[ Cisco laughs softly, and restrains himself from saying something to the effect of 'I don't need that but could you teach me to fly?'. Poe might think he was serious. ]

It's cool, dude. And my boyfriend's a cop, so, it's not like I don't know how to fire a gun or anything. Just nothing formal. Did you train people back home? Like, uh, a space drill instructor, or whatever?

[ Cisco is torn between happiness that he seems to be making at least an okay first impression on Rey's friend, and his knee-jerk modesty and need to correct that there is a big difference between what he does and what someone like Eddie or Barry did. ]

Well, I don't know about that. I do my best to help out. It takes a whole team, and I got some skills I can offer, with the tech and everything. But that doesn't mean I'm a hero.

Edited 2017-11-19 19:47 (UTC)

We'll agree to disagree about what counts as a hero. A pilot's nothing without a good flight tech.

[ As far as teaching goes, Poe would absolutely think he was serious and would absolutely do it. ]

Ha, drill instructor, no. But I do work with our pilots, particularly the younger ones. Get them comfortable in a real cockpit versus a simulator, walk them through live weapon's training, that kind of thing.

[ Whether or not he's willing to admit his own crucial importance, Cisco definitely likes the fact that Poe appreciated the techs that help him out in the Resistance. That's a good sign about a person, if he really means it - that he's not all ego, doesn't look down on people with different talents than him.

The fact that he taught the other pilots also makes Cisco think well of him - and so he asks: ]

So who taught you to fly? If you don't mind me asking I mean...

[ He means it. Sure, he does a lot of his own maintenance, but when you're in a rush, throwing on your flight suit and trying to get in the air and into attack formation, having someone there to do the last checks and decouplings can be a very literal lifesaver.

The question takes him by surprise. ]

Ah-- my mom. She was a pilot herself, started taking me up when I was really little.

Wow, that's awesome.

[ If the answer had been different Cisco might have asked for more details, but as a general rule of thumb he knows that across the multiverse, parents can be a pretty sensitive topic to broach. After all, for all he knows, Poe's mom was a badass fighter pilot who got horribly killed fighting that First Order or whatever. Cisco doesn't wanna unearth any traumas, while he's trying to make a good impression. So instead he says: ]

I don't know how much Rey told you about me but our worlds are pretty different. Where I come from would probably seem pretty primitive to you. The furthest we've gotten in space is our own moon, and only for a couple hours at a time. We haven't got contact with any other planets or people out there in the universe. We've barely invented holograms.

[ Fortunately for Cisco's curiosity, Poe is more than willing to praise his mom. ]

Bronze Nova for Conspicuous Gallantry and her triple ace within a week of each other. She was one of the best in the Alliance.

[ It doesn't occur to him that Cisco might not know the difference between the Alliance and the Resistance--it's one of those things, like droids, that are such a natural presence in his life that it takes someone pointing it out for him to explain.

He's nodding as Cisco explains his universe. ]

My friend Karen is from the same sort of world. Must be an adjustment, coming to a place like this.

I've got no clue what either of those things are, but they sound pretty damn cool.

[ Cisco might not know what a Bronze Nova is, but he recognizes the past tense when he sees it. Of course, hard to say if Poe's mom 'was' one of the best because she's retired or because she was killed or who knows why. He also doesn't know the difference between the Alliance and the Resistance, so he assumes (naively) that they are different names for the same thing. ]

Definitely an adjustment. But a good one. It's awesome meeting people from so many different worlds. Seeing what overlaps, what doesn't. Learning about all different kinds of cultures. The tech here's incredible, but... it's the people that really make it a great place to be.

[ Apparently he's got quite an earnest streak, too, because he sounds like he means that without a trace of irony. ]

[ A chuckle. ]

Triple ace means she took down fifteen or more aerial combatants in a single engagement. The Bronze Nova--it's a big deal, let's just leave it at that.

[ He stays quiet for a little while after Cisco finishes talking, almost nauseous with homesickness. ]

So you're going to stay? [ Okay, even Poe realizes that's probably too personal a question. ] Sorry, never mind.

Fifteen?! Daaamn.

[ Cisco doesn't know the first thing about aerial combat, but fifteen in a single fight has got to be a whole lot, right? He wonders then what the scale is for a typical engagement, and those sorts of specifics, but... this probably isn't the time or place. Maybe once he knows Poe a little better. ]

Gotcha.

[ It's... actually really cool, how proud Poe is of his mother. Cisco's known far too many guys in his life who love their moms, but don't look up to them, don't think of them as fully-rounded people, much less accomplished and impressive ones. His own relationship with his mom, well... that's an entirely different matter. One that he's more than happy not to think or talk about. ]

It's cool, dude. I don't mind answering questions. And yeah, I'm staying. This is home, now.

[ And then, because Cisco's come to expect certain questions when he tells people that, he preemptively explains: ]

I like living somewhere with so many different types of people. Makes Earth seem kinda narrow, by comparison. Only humans, only people from one planet, one time, you know? And the work I'm doing here is important. I'm making more of a difference than I was back home. Plus... there's people that need me here and... not really anybody to miss me there.

[ The reality is more complicated than that, of course. Barry and Caitlin would miss him, at least, at first. His family was bound to notice eventually. But none of them really needed him around. Barry and Caitlin had made that quite clear, in the months after the singularity. He's still planning on sending a message back, explaining the circumstances and his choice - but he's not leaving this moon, and Eddie, and the life he's building here. ]

[ As far as Poe is concerned, his parents gave him all the best parts of himself. Their legacy is something to live up to, to safeguard, to fight for. He has a uniquely healthy relationship with his parents, really, if you ignore the part where he feels like he failed them for not stopping the First Order before the destruction of the New Republic. ]

I understand that. [ He can't imagine it, frankly, living on one tiny planet with one single species. ] I'm glad, then. I'm glad this place found you.

[ He sounds puzzled by his own feelings, which admittedly, he is. It's the first time he's actually considered that this place is somewhere people would want to stay. ]

I'm glad it did, too.

[ Sure, this place isn't perfect. But Earth hadn't been perfect, either. And Cisco's been here long enough that he barely ever feels homesick, anymore. More and more, this is starting to be not just a place that he wants to be, but a place where he belongs. He feels like if he says that to Poe, though, and belabors the point, it might start sounding a bit too "everybody's happy here", and swing a little bit towards creepiness, so Cisco will just keep that to himself. ]

Listen... if you ever need help settling in, I mean, I know you got Rey and everything, but if she's busy, or it's something she doesn't know the answer to, feel free to just hit me up, alright? I've been here more than half a year, I know the place pretty well by now.

[ People keep offering that. To help him settle in. It's kind, he knows it's kind, but he doesn't want to settle in. He doesn't want to act like this is some colony planet he chose to come to. He's starting to realize he can be glad for the people that like it here, sure, but the thought of being stuck, the thought of having to settle in--

He's been quiet for too long, probably. ]

Thank you, Cisco. [ A pause. ] I'm really, really glad you and Rey found each other, too. She deserves to know good people.

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