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A couple days, what the fuck?
What do you need, pumpkin?

i'm okay
i wasn't there or anything so i'm just fine

[ For certain definitions of 'fine'. ]

Not quite what I asked
You got clothes and stuff for the next few days? You want me to cook you some shit and toss it in your freezer for the rest of the week? Is there anything at the lab that needs looking after?

We've got you, yeah? Just tell us what you need.

[He's not trying to overwhelm Cisco with too many questions, he just wants to make it clear that he (and the rest of the IPRE) will help with anything.]

i don't have anything
i came straight here

[ It is a little overwhelming, but Cisco knows that Taako is right. He's going to need things like clothes and food at some point. He's going to care about those sorts of things, sooner or later. ]

i can get rey to check on the lab
i guess if you really don't mind
some clothes, a toothbrush, my phone charger?

[ He's too numb to worry too much about being a burden; Taako offered to help, and Cisco is going to let him, without fuss for once. ]

somebody's gonna have to feed shadow, too
think you or magnus or lup could do it?
just for a few days til we're home
they don't know how long that'll be yet
and i don't really plan on leaving

Easy as, I'll put together a bag for you and bring it over in like an hour?

We can feed him, for sure, I bet Magnus will even hang out with the little guy for a while to keep him company.

Hey, he's gonna be okay, yeah? The doctors here have helped him out a bunch of times already, they'll keep doing good work.

perfect
thank you
text when you get here so i can come out and meet you
not supposed to be a lot of visitors

that would be good
he's gonna wonder everyone's gone

that's what they said
he was in surgery for like three hours
and i know they've got crazy advanced tech
and they said it is going to be fine
so

[ Cisco is having a little more difficulty than he'd like, switching from 'absolute panic nothing is certain' mode to really believing that Eddie's going to be okay. ]

[Cisco doesn't even have to say anything for Taako to know. They've been friends for too long.]

So he'll be right as rain in a few days. I mean worst case scenario you call Strange and owe him a favor, cause it took him like two seconds to fix my shit up after the whole thing with Lucretia, I bet he could handle a gunshot wound

i guess there were two of them and one had and gun and the other was shooting people with this weird lightning
eddie got hit and the doctor said magic wasn't working on him at all
they had to do it all by hand

[ The advanced technology had helped, no doubt. If this were a hospital back home, chances were good that Eddie would have died. Cisco pushes that thought away as quickly as possible, but it sticks in his mind, like a splinter. ]

i don't know what i would've done

Fuck, that explains the recovery time. Did they get the guys who did it?

[The IPRE will go do a hit if they need to.]

You don't have to know, yeah? He's okay
If you're not allowed in yet you want me to swing by earlier? We don't gotta talk or anything

[But he can be there.]

they're dead.

[ He's not saying he's happy about that, but he's definitely not upset about it, either. ]

please

[ Being alone hadn't mattered, when Eddie was in surgery. He was in such a haze then he wouldn't have appreciated company one way or another. But now, that weird, numb suspension is starting to fade, and the world's getting all real around him again.

But he knows that, out of anyone, Taako's seen him worse than this. Or, at least, as bad as this. He won't be weirded out by Cisco not smiling, joking, talking. ]

Be there in five

[He was already on his way to Cisco's and it doesn't take long to pack a bag (after a second of hesitation, he adds a change of clothes for Eddie, too, in case they don't get a chance to make a trip home before he's discharged). And then he uses up his daily teleport on travelling to the waiting room where Cisco is. Magic makes life so much easier.]

Hey, pumpkin.

[ Cisco doesn't react when Taako appears suddenly out of thin air. It takes a few moments longer than it should for him to lift his eyes, look at his friend. ]

Hey.

[ It's always easy to tell, when Cisco has been crying; so it's just as easy to tell, right now, from the lack of redness around his eyes and nose, that he hasn't cried at all. His expression isn't agonized, or angry, or terrified. Just sort of... lost. He looks smaller than usual, wedged into the waiting room chair, next to a holographic fern that is flickering faintly every now and then - which is exactly the kind of bizarre detail that has made this whole afternoon feel so deeply surreal. ]

Thanks.

[ It feels weird, speaking out loud; he hasn't said much, in the last few hours. When the doctors would come over with updates, all he'd said was is he okay? Just that same phrase, once every hour or so. Mechanically, Cisco says: ]

You don't have to stay.

[Honestly, he's not all that surprised by the lack of tears, knowing Cisco the way he does.

Taako sets the bag down, nudging it under a chair with his foot so that no one trips over it, and then he holds his arms open in the universal 'offering a hug' gesture.]

I know I don't.

[But I will is implicit, he just doesn't want Cisco to think he's here out of obligation. He's here because they're friends.]

[ Cisco knows that hugs aren't something Taako is very free with, but the gratitude he feels for Taako's presence and quiet efforts to provide him comfort is just as muted as the rest. He knows that it's not going to stay that way forever; he'll thank Taako properly later, when things have settled down. Whenever that might be.

For now, though, he accepts the offer of a hug, shutting his eyes for a moment, wishing more than anything to just wake up and for it all to be a dream. He lets go of Taako with another muttered: ]

Thanks.

[ Then it is back to sitting in those uncomfortable chairs, the faint hum of the holographic plant, the noise of some nurses conversing way down the hall. For a while, Cisco sits in silence, relieved that Taako isn't asking him questions, expecting him to talk. Cisco goes back to staring off into the middle distance, gnawing at his nails - what's left of them, anyway. A bad habit, but he doesn't even notice himself doing it.

Abruptly, he says: ]

I just wish they'd let me see him. For a second. Maybe then all of this would, I don't know. Feel real.

[ It wasn't as if Cisco had been here when Eddie was rushed in. He hadn't seen him being moved from surgery to recovery. The last time he'd seen him had been this morning, leaving for work. Cisco had been too tired to even get up and see him out the door. He'd stayed in bed, lazy, comfortable in the fact that nothing would go wrong that day. He'd been wrong. ]

[For all that he loves being appreciated for his efforts in any exercise, Taako doesn't care if Cisco thanks him or not, that's not why he's here. He gives Cisco a hug and takes a seat beside him once that's done, close enough to lean gently against him.

Not talking is fine, too, he just wants Cisco to know that he's here.]

We could. [It's an easy solution to a problem in front of him.] I mean - in the ethereal plane? No one would know we're there and it's not like we'd be in the way or wake him up or anything.

[If it'll make Cisco feel better then Taako is more than willing to do it.]

[ Cisco hesitates for a long moment. His gut response would have been an immediate yes. He wants so badly to see Eddie, even if it's only for a moment from another plane of reality, just to make sure he's breathing, still there. But his answer gets stuck in his throat. Magic is an unknown. He hadn't just been shot; they'd done something to him so magical healing didn't work. What if being in the same room with him, while in the ethereal plane, hurt him somehow?

But that wasn't how the planes worked, was it? They were overlaid all the time, regardless of any spells Taako cast. They wouldn't be introducing any new energies or substances into the room.

Can he be sure, though? What does Cisco really know about magic, or medicine, or anything at all in the world that is useful? ]

There's... no way that could hurt him, right?

[ He has to ask. Has to be sure. He trusts Taako to tell him the truth. ]

I know I'm not-- [Taako hesitates, not sure how to verbalise what he's sure they both know; Eddie isn't one of his people and Taako only really cares about his people, so it wouldn't be beyond him to carelessly endanger him. But Cisco is his people, and Taako wouldn't do anything to hurt him.] I wouldn't do that, bubbale, he's perfectly safe.

[The ethereal plane is always there, having two more people in it won't effect Eddie one way or another.]

[ Cisco gives a little nod, eyes dropping to stare at the floor somewhere between their feet. Through the fog, a little bit of embarrassment comes through, making his cheeks prickle with heat. He hadn't meant to accuse Taako of malice, or even negligence, in any kind of roundabout way. ]

I didn't mean it like that.

[ It's hard, finding the right words to explain, but Cisco tries. The last thing he wants right now is to be a dick to Taako. ]

I can tell that my head's not working right, right now. I just know that I can't... be careful, the way I normally would.

[ There are so many factors that Cisco usually juggles, when considering various decisions - down to what he will say and what he won't. He tries to weigh the variables, to consider all the possible outcomes, to think things through carefully before he does them. But the shock has left him numb, and the panic has left him fearful, and the uncertainty has left him exhausted. He can't do all the usual everyday calculus, and that's scary. Cisco lifts his gaze once more, hoping Taako understands - or if he doesn't, that he just accepts it. ]

I trust you. Can we go? I really want to see him.

Hey, it's cool, I get it.

[Paranoia is understandable in situations like this, when tensions are high, and he wasn't trying to get defensive, just hoping to reassure Cisco in a way they'd both understand. Cisco knows the sort of person Taako is, and while that means he shouldn't be trusted with certain things, he can be trusted to not hurt Cisco.

So Taako just reaches out to take Cisco's hand.]

There might be like.... beings in there, but they'll leave us alone.

[With that warning, he pulls them into the ethereal plane, where everything is grey and soft. He was right about things being here, a few shapes move through the halls of the hospital, but Taako isn't worried about them.]

Just think about where you wanna be, don't worry about walls.

[They don't quite exist here.]

[ In a normal situation, Cisco would absolutely pause and either make jokes or demand to know just what Taako means by 'beings'. That's a pretty damn cryptic warning to drop and then not explain. But considering the day he's been having, Cisco just gives a nod of understanding, puts his hand in Taako's, and waits.

The ethereal plane doesn't look like he'd anticipated. Cisco's not sure what he expected - something a little more technicolor and obviously magical. But he quickly adjusts to how muted and grey and unreal the whole thing is. He hears Taako's instructions, doesn't pause for skepticism or questions. He just thinks I want to see Eddie and adds a please in case that matters.

Sure enough, their surroundings shift, leaving the waiting room behind, moving back into the maze of little rooms beyond the nurse's station. It takes a moment for Cisco to find Eddie, against the weirdly contrast-less surroundings. He doesn't really look like himself, in a bed with so many tubes around him, so many machines monitoring him. Cisco thinks I want to move closer and is closer. It's probably a good thing, that he can't see how pale Eddie might be, at the moment. He sees his face, sees his chest gently moving up and down, and that's enough.

Cisco turns to where Taako is, gives him a little nod of gratitude, and to signal he's seen enough. But that look of vagueness and horror is a little less, on his face. ]

riverview; ic contact & friendr

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