cisco_ramon | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Cisco's not that nervous. It's not a date, after all; it's just trivia, and Cisco's going to buy Matt a drink and then they'll see where it goes from there. So he's not nervous.

Okay, maybe just a bit.

Josie's is a standard sort of American pub, TVs on the wall and top 40 music playing over the sound system. The atmosphere is casual, which is a relief since Cisco went ahead with his standard t-shirt/hoodie combo, opting for comfortable. It's not like he can impress Matt with the way he dresses anyway.

Showing his ID to the guy at the door, he heads toward the bar, more and more butterflies coming to life in his belly as he gets closer. He spots Matt immediately, recognizing him by the set of his shoulders and his perfect, shining hair. Taking a deep breath, Cisco approaches him, hoping Matt will like the cologne he selected, the scent of his conditioner. He knows Matt's other senses will be stronger to compensate for his blindness, and he wants to give Matt something he can identify him by, something pleasant.

Moving to stand just beside him, Cisco carefully touches the outside of Matt's upper arm, saying gently, "Matt?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His brows knit at the sudden change in Cisco. Accelerated heartbeat, a rush of adrenaline and for a moment or two he's not even sure he's breathing. It's not fear that has Cisco frozen it's.. something else, something Matt can't put his finger on. But as quickly as it happens, it stops and he rubs his thumb along the side of Cisco's hand. He's not telling the truth. Not completely. But since the moment has passed Matt won't press the issue.

"That sounds good, I'll try one of those." They can focus on talking, getting to know one another and seeing if the chemistry they'd shared over text was the same as it was in person.

Matt? He's already betting that it is. When the beer is handed over he'll take a moment to breathe in the scent of it. "They added coffee to the malt. Roasted them together. Good choice." And the porter is indeed as good as Cisco had promised. Just the right hint of vanilla.

Cisco silently thanks Matt for not making a big deal out of his slip, and he mentally pats himself on the back for not running out the door this time like he had with Kendra. These early vibes are always so disjointed and vague that even if he went straight to Team Flash about it there wouldn't be anything they could do. Besides, the vision seemed to be of a hero taking down a bad guy. Cisco realizes that these things are often not what they seem, but he's not going to get any more clarity by leaving.

He also knows there's a chance the vibe was about Matt. If that's the case, staying with him will give him more chances to get more information. Not only that but Cisco's learned, mostly from the things Barry's gone through, that being a superhero (in so much that Cisco is one, sort of) will take away your life if you let it, literally (obviously) but figuratively as well. Cisco hasn't had a date since Kendra left him for that douchebag Carter, and maybe this thing with Matt won't go anywhere, but Cisco's not going to leave this bar until he's at least given it a shot.

When the bartender hands them their beers, Cisco watches as Matt smells his first, sampling the aroma, and it's not surprising that his sense of smell is sharper than a sighted person's would be, but Matt clearly has an understanding and appreciation for beer that makes Cisco smile. He lifts his own glass, taking a whiff, and he can smell the coffee too, now that he knows to look for it. There's vanilla there too (most of that flavor comes from the smell, so it's not surprising), and Cisco takes a sip, savoring the blend of the roasted barley and the chocolate malt (and Matt's right, the coffee makes for a good balance there, just the right amount of extra bitterness), and the vanilla is bright and natural tasting, coming through brilliantly in the finish.

"They must have dry hopped the vanilla beans," he comments, hoping his knowledge will impress Matt as much as Matt's had done him. "It tastes too good to be bottled extract."

Maybe one day soon they'll be able to talk about what Cisco has seen in his vibe and how Matt spends his off hours. If it's in private, Matt will be far more willing to discuss things with someone he's connected so well with.

His comment about the vanilla gets a smile and a nod. "I don't smell anything artificial in the vanilla, so it had to be."

"So I have to ask, how did a scientist wind up working as a police liason?"

It's a good, reasonable question, but Cisco finds he doesn't have an answer ready beyond the truth, and it's probably too early in their relationship (whatever it turns out to be) to bring up metahumans in general (even if Cisco plans to keep his own status a secret until he's sure things are serious). Cisco's not a fan of lying (partially because he's terrible at it), and the idea of lying to Matt, someone who is so open an honest and clearly very kind, makes his stomach hurt. He's not keeping secrets for deceptive reasons, it really is for Matt's protection (and also the fact that Cisco likes this guy and doesn't want to run him off by sounding like a lunatic on their first sorta date), so he decides to just be vague but not outright dishonest.

"There were some criminals in my city that were proving difficult to catch by conventional means," Cisco says, taking another sip of his beer. "My best friend, who's a CSI himself, his foster dad is a detective with the Central City Police Department. When I found out the trouble they were having, I had a couple ideas for things I could build for the department to help them out," he explains. "It ended up working out so well they put me on retainer. I like it because it's practical work; my day job is more... experimental." He's not meaning for it to sound so dodgy, but it's not exactly untrue. Before the accelerator explosion STAR Labs had, technically, been a research laboratory, and the work Cisco does there now still has a measure of that involved, prototyping and testing theories. It's just the driving factors that are different now.

"I have a masters degree in mechanical engineering," he tells Matt, just to give him an idea what he does more generally. "It's just always been something I liked do, building things, taking them apart. The number of toasters my parents had to replace when I was growing up was fairly substantial," he adds with a laugh.

There isn't an overt hint of a lie in his explanation - so Matt is inclined to take the answer for what it is. His instincts are telling him that there's far more to it, but he also doesn't want to jeopardize what could be a very nice almost first date by being too nosy.

Mention of having a masters in mechanical engineering has his eyebrows loft, clearly impressed. Pop culture, working with the police to help them catch criminals who clearly needed some special form of containment and a master's degree in mechanical engineering - there is a lot to Cisco and Matt can't help but want to learn more.

He chuckles at the mention of toasters, taking another sip of the beer before using his forearm to remember exactly where the bar is so he can set the pint down without incident. "I grew up in Hell's Kitchen. My dad was a boxer. I saw a lot of people who needed help but couldn't afford it as a kid so it eventually drove me to law school. Me and my partner have a little practice there. It's not much," he allows with a self-deprecating smile. "But we try and help. Granted we normally get paid in goods rather than dollars, but it's good work."

"More handling crooked landlords and helping new immigrants navigate paperwork than busting criminals with the help of science, but it's been worth it."

"And now that we've talked about work and gotten that out of the way, what do you like to do during your down time?"

Cisco's heard of Hell's Kitchen but he's never been there (it's a rough sounding sort of place, and Cisco has powers, true, but he can't control the parts of them that might be useful to defend himself), but hearing that Matt's from there gives Cisco a lot of perspective as far as how tough Matt probably is beneath his kind, sweet exterior. It also cements Cisco's impression of him as a giving sort of person, fighting for the rights of people who are routinely stepped on, pushed aside, and unwanted. Cisco often plays a part in saving people's lives, but Matt's doing so much more, giving people the kind of lives they deserve, making the world a better place.

"That's incredible, what you're doing," he says, unable to let it go without commenting on it. "There aren't many people who would do something that selfless with their law degree," he goes on. "Or just be that selfless in general. I'm definitely not," he adds. "Hell's Kitchen is lucky to have someone like you. I hope they know that."

Likewise Cisco's lucky to be here with someone like Matt, even just on a date, and he's not going to take that for granted.

"Downtime, whew," he says after he takes a breath, shaking off the heavier part of the conversation. "I don't have a lot of it, to be honest," he admits with a laugh. "But when I get a night off I like karaoke, and beer," he tells Matt. "And movies. I really love watching movies," he adds, almost forgetting how much more often he used to watch them before everything got crazy with Reverse Flash and now Zoom.

"Don't sell yourself short," Matt adds with a smile, sipping at his beer. "You've got a master's degree in mechanical engineering and you spend your time helping the police. That's no small thing." In all honesty, it's also intriguing.

Mention of karaoke draws another smile. "You know I've never been? But that's probably a small mercy, I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." But in hearing Cisco's voice, the warm cadence of it, Matt is almost sure he can sing very well.

"Movies? What sort? I'll admit I try and keep up, but unless it's a book to movie adaptation I tend to lose some of the action."

"You've never gone to karaoke?" Cisco replies, and he nearly slaps himself as he does, because of course Matt probably wouldn't, considering the whole having to read the screen component. Of course that wasn't strictly necessary, assuming a person knew they lyrics to the song they were singing. Still, Cisco was going to have to pay more attention to the stupid things that came out of his mouth. "Honestly, a lot of the people who do it aren't great singers," Cisco pushed on, hoping Matt would forgive him his faux pas. "That's part of the fun."

Cisco, of course, just likes singing. Back when he was in high school he was in a choir, but he hasn't has much of an outlet for it since he graduated, at least not outside the caterwauling he does in the shower.

"And movies, I love all kinds," he replies, glad Matt was the one to bring up the difficulties he might have with such a thing himself (and thus keeping Cisco from putting his foot in his mouth again). "Do you ever have anyone watch with you, and describe the action?" he asks then, curious, wondering how much assistance Matt prefers with things in his day to day life.

It's all right - Matt hardly takes offense. Sighted people operate a bit differently so while the idea of reading lyrics on a screen seems simple to them, it's a relatively foreign concept for him. But he doesn't want to draw as much attention to his own inability and presses on with a smile of his own. "That does sound like fun, even if my singing would be considered a bit of a crime in some states," he jokes easily.

"Foggy has tried, but I'll admit his attention.." a faint smile, "gets a little scattered. And most of the services that come with a DVD or BlueRay are a little lacking when it comes to describing what's going on." But if Cisco were to offer? Matt would absolutely take him up on it, if for the sole reason of listening to his voice as he describes what is going on.

"If you're a Tolkien fan you may be on the hook for the entire trilogy," he warns with a chuckle.

Cisco has a feeling that Matt's singing voice isn't as bad as he says, considering how pleasant and resonant his speaking voice is, but Cisco knows better than to overzealous with compliments at the beginning of a relationship. "If you ever want to give it a try, I would be happy to take you to the place I like," Cisco says instead. "The do two dollar drafts on karaoke night, so if the singing doesn't work out, at least there's cheap, good beer."

Really all Cisco wants is to spend more time with Matt; if he gets to sing (and Matt gets to hear his voice), that will just be a bonus.

"Dude, I love Lord of the Rings," he says then, before Matt can say anything else. "I've seen those movies at least two dozen times a piece. At least," he adds with a laugh. "I could describe the hell of out those movies for you," he assures. "If you wanted me to, of course," he amends.

A warm laugh. "Two dollar drafts? Sounds like they're providing a little liquid courage. Which might not be a bad thing." He may not want to get up and sing, but he'd be more than happy to listen to Cisco if he chooses to sing.

"You know, I think that sounds like a great idea," he agrees. And just like that they had at least two potential dates planned. Like everything else with Cisco - it was effortless.

"You might not even have to read the Elvish subtitles," he offers. "I may have read a lot of Tolkien's work on languages when I was a teenager."

"Oh, that's definitely what they're doing," Cisco replies with a chuckle. "I don't get up there and sing until I've had at least two beers, and I was in choir in high school."

Cisco blinks then when Matt mentions his history with Tolkien. "Are you saying you can speak Elvish?" he asks, his tone awed. "And, like, Dwarvish and all that?"

"To be fair, my Sindarin is a little stronger than my Quenya," he offers, rubbing at the back of his neck with a smile. "They never translated any Dwarven into braille so I never really had the chance. When I was learning braille, I had a tutor who got his hands on some rare copies when he found out I liked Tolkien."

"I'll make you a deal," that smile is back again. "If we watch the movies and I botch any of the translations, I will do karaoke. And sing." Why not make it a little interesting, right?

The words Matt's coming up with make Cisco's eyes go wide, and it's not that Cisco didn't believe that Matt was really a fan of Tolkien, he's just ridiculously impressed. He read the trilogy when he was a kid, but he doesn't have that many details still floating around in his brain, probably too much other random stuff in there now to hold onto it.

"Okay," Cisco replies with a wide smile, not so much because he's eager to see if Matt can successfully translate Elvish (though he is excited for the demonstration) but because it means they're absolutely, for sure planning a second date. "You've got yourself a deal."

Okay, now Matt can't help himself. His voice pitches a bit lower, taking on a melodic note as he recalls the verse. "I*nimwaloth i bain a phant, I laiss in end calen nadhras,
A egennir galad vin lant, En elin vi uialthiliol." The words sound almost vaguely Gaelic, a quiet singsong lilt to the verse. It doesn't matter that they're in a bar and it's nearing time to pair off for trivia, he has a feeling that Cisco is one of the very rare few who would appreciate at least a snippet of the Sindarin.

"There, ah, weren't that many books to read at first. So I tended to read the same ones over and over." And Matt hopes that it wasn't too much as he takes a moment to locate Cisco's hand and loosely tangle their fingers.

Cisco isn't expecting it, so when Matt begins to sing he inhales a little gasp of surprise (and though most people probably wouldn't have heard it over the ambient noise the in bar, Cisco has a feeling Matt probably does). The timber of Matt's voice is rumbling and resonant just as Cisco had predicted, though Matt is mostly speaking in a more singsong way than actually singing. Still it's not an unpleasant sound, and while Cisco doesn't remember the lyrics of the song in English, the fact that Matt's reciting it to him, here in a bar, makes Cisco's heart skip a few beats.

His pulse only flutters more when Matt twines their fingers, and he almost wishes they weren't here for trivia, because he doesn't want to have to stop talking to Matt, to share him with Matt's friends. "Do they make more books in braille now days?" he asks, his eyes falling to where they're fingers are tangled, easy and comfortable.

Well at least it isn't an unhappy sort of surprise judging by the sound of an indrawn breath and the slight stutter of his heartbeat. Trivia is almost forgotten, Matt would much rather spend his time and attention talking to this very remarkable person beside him.

"Not as many," he admits. "Most of them are converting text to speech. It's less expensive to have a computer read the words, even if you lose a lot of the magic that way."

They've been talking so easily and Matt almost winces at the sound of the microphone and the announcer stating that trivia will begin soon. "Hey.. do you want to get out of here? I mean, I know we came here for trivia but I think I'd rather skip it tonight."

Cisco frowns softly, and he wishes there was something he could do to help Matt get a hold of more books in braille. Though even as he thinks it he wonders if he might be able to build a machine that could read the text of a book and then print braille, pins that would automatically press the indentations into the paper. He doesn't know exactly how braille works so he'll have to do some research first, but the idea feels completely doable. He can probably even ask Hartley for help, considering the project is to help someone with sensory impairment.

He doesn't say anything to Matt about it, not yet, not wanting to get Matt's hopes up, just in case. "Do you ever listen to anything with a good voice actor at least?" he asks instead. "Like, someone with a really sexy voice?"

The announcement that trivia's about to start comes over the speakers then, and he's about to move to get up off his chair to head to the table for trivia when Matt stops him, fingers still tangled. He can't help the smile that comes out across his face with Matt's suggestion. "You read my mind," he says, feeling butterflies taking flight in his belly once again. "Your friends won't be too disappointed, will they?"

"A few," he admits. "The Dresden books are pretty good, a good voice actor I've heard before."

Matt chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm sure it's fine. Foggy knew I was meeting you here." Likely he'll catch hell about it on the way in to the office tomorrow, but Matt was fine with that.

"Let's find someplace a little quieter." As Cisco settles the tab he picks up his cane. "Do you mind if I take your arm?"

"Wait, that's James Masters, isn't it?" Cisco asks in reply. "I've heard a couple of those," he adds, then grins softly. "Do you think his voice is hot?"

Cisco returns Matt's soft laugh. "Did you tell him you had a hot date?" he jokes, sure that Matt didn't tell his friend Foggy anything of the sort. "And no, I don't mind," he tells Matt, shifting his arm so he bumps Matt's forearm with his elbow gently, letting Matt know where he is so he can hold on.

As Matt takes his arm and walks them out of the bar, Cisco's stomach goes fluttery again. He's not sure where Matt's thinking they could go, but quieter means they can talk more, which means Matt must be enjoying talking to him. He's definitely having a nice time with Matt.

"What were you thinking?" he asks once they're out on the street. "A cafe or a diner maybe?"

His smile is vaguely sly. "Among others." Cisco's voice is warm and appealing and he would much rather spend time with him than hazarding guesses at trivia.

There's another chuckle as he can make out Foggy's voice, clearly they aren't escaping unnoticed. But that's all right. He's having a normal, regular night out which is a rarity. Pretty sure his best friend will understand.

The air outside is cooler, freshened by the breeze and he takes a deep breath, keeping his hand settled lightly on Cisco's arm. "There's that outdoor cafe a block down? They have good food and I don't know about you but I could stand to eat something."

Cisco blushes, and his instinct is to think that there's no way Matt means his voice, but the way Matt says it, the little smile he offers, Cisco allows himself to feel a little flattered. The cool air feels good on his warm face, and he slows his pace from the way he usually walks, always in a hurry. He wants to savor this moment, strolling along with Matt on his arm, and he knows it's more necessity than chivalry, but it still feels nice.

"I think I see the cafe you mean," Cisco says, noticing a patio with chairs and tables a ways down with. It doesn't look busy and Cisco's glad; he's really looking forward to getting to talk with Matt more, getting to know him better.

It isn't long before they're there, and the hostess shows them to a table, Cisco stopping so Matt can find the back of his chair with his hand before he moves around to sit himself, the feet of metal chair scraping against the stone patio as he pulls it out.

"This is nice," he remarks as he picks up the menu in front of him, giving it a quick once over.

The air outside is cool and fresh and it helps open up more sensations for Matt to track. The meals being served around them, the fresh coffee, the cool sharp scent of wine. An ideal place to sit and just focus on Cisco.

"It's a good place. I've been here once or twice." A slight wince as he hands the menu to Cisco. "And they don't have anything in braille."

The wince is replaced by another smile as an idea strikes. "Although you did pick a pretty good beer at Josie's. Maybe I can trust you to pick out something else good?"

Cisco frowns at himself. The menu is just one more thing he takes for granted in a world that doesn't really accommodate the disabled, one more thing he didn't even consider until Matt made a comment about it. He doesn't know how far this will go beyond two dates, but Cisco makes a note to be more cognizant about all of these things, prepared to offer assistance whenever he can.

"How hungry are you?" he asks, starting simply. "Are you thinking maybe appetizers, or something more substantial?"

It's simply a facet of his existence. Matt can tell that the man two tables down is one more creme brulee away from heart trouble but he can't read words on paper. "How about something simple," he suggests. "Protein heavy is good, and um, no olives."

Matt is well aware he's asking a lot as it is and tries his best to reassure him. "I'm used to it. I'm not that picky, really."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Let's try that again..

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