Who:Cisco and Morgan What:Christmas gift exchange When:Backdated to NOLA Where:The steps in front of the complex Warnings: Will experience warm fuzzies. Status: complete via gdoc
Cisco was actually in a better mood than he’d been in weeks. He’d been going through a rough patch lately. He was thoroughly enjoying New Orleans though. Cisco had barely even thought about work the last few days. He was sitting outside the apartments on the stairs leading up to it, just watching people go by. He had one earbud in his ear that was of a custom design, and the other was open to the sounds of the city. In fact, he’d gotten tired of the music over powering it, slipping it out, he placed it in the small case that lie inside his pocket and rested his arms lazily on his knee as he watched as though he were in some kind of daze.
It almost felt wrong being happy while Barry was so upset lately, and yet he couldn’t help the little smile that remained on his face. Ironic, he used to idolize the Weasleys growing up as a kid. He never thought he’d end up dating one. In a way it sort of made sense, they were both creators. George with his magic and Cisco with science. In a way it made sense, but in another Cisco had no clue how it even happened. His dating life had been so dismal lately he was basically done, he’d all but given up and then it happened? There was no logic there. He made a face as he chewed on a piece of red licorice and leaned his head against a metal stair rail contently. --- Morgan felt accomplished. After spending days in her lab tinkering with her suit, she was confident that her gift for Markus would work the way she hoped it would. Now, she could properly enjoy the change of scenery, and had even managed to get a little Christmas shopping done before heading back to the apartments.
She spotted Cisco almost immediately, thinking that he seemed to be happily lost in thought. Grinning, Morgan made her way over to pluck the licorice out of his hand. “Thanks,” she said with a smirk and plopped down on the steps beside him. --- Cisco went to bite at the licorice only to find he bit at air and raised an eyebrow at the candy thief in front of him. “Hey. What the?” He started out mildly irritated but then noticed Morgan and smiled instead. “Yeah yeah, lucky it’s you.” He teased, as if Cisco would purposefully hurt any of them. He reached into the small package of them and grabbed another one.
“You know, I almost wish we could stay here.” He was happy there, more so than he’d been in a long time. Not just because of George, but George was a major factor. The change of scenery was doing amazing things for him. Especially considering so far no emergency alerts had gone off and nothing awful had happened. He was cautiously optimistic about this place. It’d been a long time since he could feel that way. --- “Had to get your attention somehow,” she said with a nudge to his shoulder. “You were really dazed out there.”
Morgan’s head tilted to the side as he spoke. She enjoyed New Orleans, but it seemed to have an entirely different effect on her friend. He almost seemed happy, and that wasn’t something she’d seen from him since they had grown close. She never knew how to make things better for Cisco, other than to be there for him if he ever wanted to talk, but Morgan wasn’t one to pry. So, whatever was responsible for his change of mood? Well, she was happy for him. “Are you New Orleans new number one fan now,” she asked with a teasing tone. --- He’d been going through some rough things for a while, but the shrink, the new place, George, all of it seemed to be helping a lot. “Kinda. Ridiculous as it is, it’s a little magical don’t you think?” He chewed at another licorice. He was trying to be cautious about being happy again, after the last time he experienced how crushing it could be when it ended he was a little more careful. And yet he found himself quickly becoming infatuated with George, and everything around them.
“I didn’t get to explore any of the other places really.” He’d been taking full advantage, trying not to let fear and paranoia get the best of him. He had friends, it wasn’t just him watching over Goodland. He was starting to learn to trust the people around him too. That part was a work in progress, but the point was he was working on it. “I think I’ve gained ten pounds, but no regrets.” --- Reaching for another piece of candy from the bag, she smiled- thinking back to the night Markus had taken to her to Lafayette Square. "Yeah," she replied with a nod. "It is a little magical." This time of year was always magical for her, though. The holidays were important to Morgan, and she supposed this year was her favorite Christmas yet.
"It's good to see you like this, the extra ten pounds and all." Smiling again, she began fumbling through the shopping bags until she found a long cylinder-shaped package. "So, just in case we get busy over the next week? Merry Christmas!" Inside the sparkly blue paper was a poster she had custom made. About two months ago after the maze, a conversation with Cisco sparked the idea. Morgan told him that 'code is one of the most beautiful things in the world, most people just don't know how to appreciate it,' and when he mentioned he needed that printed out? Well, she never forgot anything and had just been waiting for an excuse to make it happen. --- Christmas on the flipside had been hard for Cisco since the loss of his brother, this was the first year he was going to really try to enjoy it. He was hoping nothing awful happened on it. The last few years for Team Flash had been pretty rough as well. Something terrible always happened. He was determined to have one good Christmas to remember, hopefully in a world full of major superheroes he could accomplish it. It wasn’t just him and Barry anymore.
He happily shared the licorice with her. It was his favorite second to sour gummies. “I hope we stay.” He was content there. He didn’t want that feeling to end. When she reached over and handed him that package he raised an eyebrow with a laugh. “Wait what? I haven’t even finished yours yet.” It seemed like they’d both had the same idea though, create something for the recipient. “You sure?” He peered curiously at it and her, he wasn’t about to turn it down! --- Morgan smiled at his wish to stay. Although she doubted very much that the Entity was going to make this a permanent change, she was happy for her friends like Cisco and Hope who had found joy in New Orleans.
Her curiosity spiked at the mention of her gift not being finished yet, but she was too excited for him to open his poster to ask any questions. “I wouldn’t have handed it to you if I wasn’t sure,” she teased. --- Change was always hard for him, so the fact that he could accept something like this was a big step. When she confirmed it was okay, he carefully unwrapped it and unraveled it to give it a once over. --- Morgan smiled as he unwrapped his gift, watching him with anticipation. “It isn’t much, but we talked about it what feels like forever ago, and I guess it just kind of stuck in my brain.” Not that Morgan ever forgot anything. It was a curse sometimes, but in this case? It had been very useful. “I hope you like it.” ---
Cisco would have liked anything she got him, just to be thought of at all had made him happy. Tony had really helped him feel like maybe he could exist in Goodland and his family helped him find a place that was his to be productive. It was something Cisco badly needed, to feel structured and have a meaningful existence anywhere. The poster made his eyes light up, and he glanced over at her with a warm smile. “This is perfect, my office is kinda plain..” He hadn’t really decorated it beyond what it needed to be functional yet. “I think you’re the first person I ever met that appreciated code like this.” When he talked computers, often times people’s eyes glazed over. Cisco leaned over to hug her. “Thank you.”
--- Morgan’s smile brightened as his eyes lit up. “Code makes sense,” she said matter of factly. “More so than people sometimes.” The girl always tried very hard to understand people and their feelings. She reached out, she felt their pain, she shared their joy, but sometimes? Sometimes it was too much for her, and all she wanted was to lock herself away in her lab and forget anyone existed outside of her projects and equations. Cisco understood this better than most, it was probably why they got along so well. “I’m so glad you like it,” she said as she returned his hug. “Merry Christmas, Cisco.”
“It does. You are completely correct.” He understood computers a lot more than people too nine days out of ten, so he understood her feels completely. There were days he still didn’t understand how people worked either, days he just sort of shut down and hid away with technology, so the fact that he had her to understand his love of machines and tech was something special. “Merry Christmas. You’ll have to wait just a little bit for mine.” He stated with a smile. “But for now, hot chocolate?” He’d gotten a little addicted to the stuff and stood from the stoop to open the door for her if she took the offer. Whether she did or not he still held the door like a proper human.