It wasn’t as though she had a current surplus of friends, and Cisco seemed nice enough. She noticed the bright smile that appeared on his face, and it read as being quite genuine. Of course, her gaze turned a little shy, so she missed the following expression while the ground momentarily distracted her. Looking at his outstretched hand, Molly decided she’d never break out of her boring cycle of following her parents’ orders if she politely declined. “Alright.” She spoke brightly, taking his hand, and trying to ignore the fact that her cheeks flushed slightly. “STAR Labs. That must be interesting. Though I would’ve thought operations…slowed, or stopped, after what happened.”
Cisco’s face softened when he felt the woman’s hand in his. He didn’t expect her to accept the invitation to hold his hand, and when she did, a part of him wished he wasn’t the way he was. He quickly shook that thought from his mind as he led her toward the restaurant. “Yeah, It’s been pretty slow, but it’s what I love, ya know? Plus, we’re trying to figure out a way to reverse the side effects of the particle accelerator.” He lied, trying to impress the woman. He wasn’t simply going to tell her that they held multiple metas captive in their makeshift jail while his ex-friend, the Flash, went out and saved the city. No way.
Rea came to a stop not too far from the male, fists clenched at her sideline. “I’d say you’re barking up the wrong tree faster than you even realize”, she spoke through clenched teeth, doing what she could to keep her heart rate at the even 68 beats it normally fell at, which only seemed to grow harder and harder by the second. “Now I can understand someone playing around with whatever new power or toy they may have, so I can look past you getting in the way of my job if you give me an apology”, her hand twitched just itching to reach for that second line of defense. “Or you can make the mistake of underestimating me.”
“I’m not getting in anyone’s way. I’m simply out here, enjoying freedom. I’m sooo sorry for getting in your way, princess.” He quipped, the smirk morphing into a sarcastic pout. “Honey, I don’t underestimate anyone. Not with the amount of metas running around. Hell, you’re probably one for all I know.” He laughed, sending a few small vibrations toward where she stood.
Cisco stopped dead in his tracks, hands balled into fists. He was doing everything he could to not lash out. His nails dug into his skin as he turned slowly around. “That’s one hell of an apology, Hartley.” He said, hoping the man could read lips. Cisco was simply too unstable to release his fists. The energy he was trying to supress was eminating from his feet, sending small vibrations out in a ring around Cisco.
She was cautious for a few reasons, one of them being her fresh status as a citizen of Central City. Molly had gone to college here, but even then, she’d been contained in the bubble of higher education. She sensed some dishonesty in his ‘how rude of me’, but chalked it up to her own caution. Maybe she was sensing something that wasn’t true. So, he was a scientist…at STAR Labs. Oh. She was impressed, and a little intrigued. As he spoke again, asking her to a meal, she bit her lip for a moment. “…alright. That sounds good.” She answered, slightly relieved that the invitation included ‘harmless’. No pressure. “I’m Molly, by the way.”
“Great!” A genuine smile showed on his face for mere seconds before turning back into a smirk*. Cisco took a few steps forward before looking back and holding out a hand for her to either take or decline. “Shall we, Molly?”
“I’m doin’ just fine.” He smiled, walking closer to the woman. She seemed confused, and by what he wasn’t really sure. He thought his body language was enough, but aparently not. As he approached her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “What do you say to a few drinks on me?”
“That’s nice.” She spoke as he said he was doing fine, wondering what this guy’s deal was. He seemed a little overly confident, and that was made much more apparent when his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Initially, she froze, looking over at him before stepping forward and out of his reach. “That’s forward.” She stated, before turning around to face him. “For me to consider that, I’d have to know more about you, sorry. I don’t have drinks with complete strangers.” Molly explained. She hated how she’d been advised to try and carefully talk her way out of a situation because she was a girl–if not, she had pepper spray in her bag, and excellent aim.
His arm dropped to his side and his smile left his face as she denied him. “Oh, how rude of me. I’m Cisco Ramon. Scientist at STAR Labs.” He paused, watching her movements. “Okay, no drinks. How about a harmless dinner at Big Belly Burger?”
“No, there was tension because I hated you. And we weren’t competing. I had him long before you showed up.” Hartley couldn’t help his expression going cold. “He also lead me on differently than you. Don’t make Harrison the uniting force. I also knew he had superspeed long before anyone else but I didn’t care because I wanted to have sex with him.” The sneer was back.
Fine. I won’t help you then. Sorry for trying. He signed with a frustrated expression before jogging ahead to distance himself.
“You brought him up, what did you expect, Cisco?” Hartley yelled after him, the sudden sound causing a new wave of pain in his ears but it didn’t phase Hartley much. “I’m hopeless. You’re a smart man, Cisco. You know my weaknesses. Harrison is one of them and always will be.”
Cisco stopped and turned. “Again, sorry for trying.” He yelled back, signing along with his words. He wasn’t going to try anymore. He’d tried so many times to just fall flat on his face. Cisco shook his head before turning and going in his way once more, knowing he wanted to blast this jerk on his ass, but knowing that it would get him absolutely nowhere.
Cisco backup 