Work Text:
If there's one thing that Eobard both loves and regrets, it's the ease with which he isolates Cisco once the young engineer begins working for him.
Of course there's the team at STAR Labs, but Hartley makes his dislike for Cisco clear from the very start, and Caitlin and Ronnie are wrapped up in each other more than they seem to realize. Still, they do try, barring Hartley, but its Eobard, or Wells rather, that Cisco ends up confiding in when asked why he's never eager to leave at the end of the work day.
"It's just that my apartment feels so empty," He explains as he examines the blueprints that Eobard has set before him. "Don't get me wrong, it's great not living with my parents anymore, but sometimes..."
He trails off and presses the erasing end of his pencil against his bottom lip. "It's isolating," Eobard volunteers. "Being away from things that you consider familiar. Things that you've grown up around."
"Yeah, exactly." He says it with a little too much enthusiasm, like it's a wonder for someone to finally understand him, then pauses. "Was it like that when you moved here from Starling City?"
Oh if only he knew. "Not exactly, no, but at the time it was necessary." Or so he'd thought, but now he's stuck here in the past, instead of just a city away.
Across from him, Cisco grows solemn, brow knitting together as he sketches on the newly improved klystron that he's designing for the particle accelerator. Eobard watches as he works, following the smooth lines that Cisco creates while also allowing him to process whatever is making his brows scrunch up in such a way.
"You must miss her a lot," Cisco finally says, soft and obviously worried that he's bringing up something that he shouldn't. "Your soul mate, I mean."
"Tess and I were never soul mates." Not at all a lie; he cares as much about Tess as he did about Nora Allen. "Are you planning on redesigning the radiofrequency cavaties as well?" He asks when Cisco lets out a breathy Oh and the young engineer shoots him a grateful look, latching onto the subject change like a bird would a branch.
"Not really." Eobard raises an eyebrow and Cisco huffs, tossing his pencil down onto the table between them. Not two weeks ago he would have never dreamed of doing such a thing and that change makes it difficult to bite back a smile.
"Cisco, can you tell me the maximum acceleration of the Large Hadron Collider?" A simple enough question and Cisco doesn't disappoint.
"Eighty-four percent the speed of light, so..." He picks up the pencil again and fiddles with it. " Somewhere around five hundred and sixty three million miles an hour. Give or take."
"Give six hundred and forty thousand more miles and you'd be correct." Eobard tells him and Cisco flushes. "I want to go twice that."
"Which means a higher oscillation rate for the cavaties in order to push the particle along." Cisco sighs but there's a gleam in his eyes as he taps his pencil against the klystron blueprints. "I can't just make them faster, you know. I'll need to make more of them too."
"Then I suggest you get started first thing tomorrow morning, Mr Ramon." Eobard tells him and Cisco checks his phone for the first time in what's most likely been a few hours.
"Shit." He shoots up from his chair and shoves his phone back into the pocket of his jeans before scooping his work into a half-hazard pile and tucking it into a drawer of his desk. "Sorry." He adds and Eobard waves him off.
"I hope I didn't make you late for something."
Cisco blows out a breath and tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. "No, I just... The buses stop running soon and I hate walking."
There's no way for Eobard to not wrinkle his nose in disgust at the thought of public transport. It's something that he's infinitely grateful to for not existing in his time and he offers Cisco a ride home before he can think better of it.
And Cisco accepts with the most delicious mix of gratitude and incredulity that Eobard has ever had the pleasure of seeing.
"Don't ever dumb down the answer to one of my questions again, Cisco." He adds as they reach the elevator in the Cortex and it may be the wording of the command or a trick of the light but he swears that Cisco's eyes dilate in response.
...
There's a pattern to it after that. Nights spent tucked away in Cisco's work room once most of the staff have gone home. By the second week Cisco brings in a DVD player and proceeds to "educate" him concerning his woeful lack of knowledge about cult classics. Despite Cisco's best efforts however, he only retains a strange fondness for the first Donnie Darko movie and a growing disgust for what Cisco deems "movie science".
"As opposed to actual science." Eobard points out and Cisco bites into a Red Vine with a vengeance.
"That's exactly why we have this thing called suspension of disbelief." But no matter how far he suspends that disbelief, Tom Cruise should still be dead.
He tells Cisco this and receives a snort in reply as the young engineer comes dangerously close to choking on his candy in between laughs.
A week later he invites Cisco to dinner on the way home and is pleasantly surprised when he accepts. They end up in a fairly nice Thai restaurant a few blocks from Cisco's apartment, the familiarity of which seems to settle Cisco's nerves better than anything Eobard could hope to say.
Still, he can't seem to keep from asking the obvious. "Is this a date?" It's said quickly and from behind the cover of his menu, as if the speed and added barrier might swallow up the words before they can be heard.
Eobard smiles, but remains focused on his own order. "If you'd like. Or it could be dinner among colleagues."
"I think I like the date option more." Cisco says, letting his menu drop to reveal more of his face and Eobard winks.
"How are the radiofrequency cavities coming along?" He asks once they've placed their orders and Cisco gives him a grateful smile.
"Considering how massive they are? Surprisingly well. You were right about the copper shielding and Ronnie promised to help me with making sure everything is set up soundly."
"It seems my belief in your abilities was not at all misplaced then." Not that he ever believed they were, but he knows that there are some things that the young man before him needs to hear before he can start accepting his own accomplishments. "Excellent work Mr Ramon."
And Cisco practically glows with pride.
...
The next time the go out he has the pleasure of seeing Cisco try Gan Guo for the first time and laughs unrepentantly when his entire face goes red. When he kisses him at the end of the night the lingering heat of the peppers makes it all the better.
...
"One has to wonder how long you're planning on keeping this particular stray around." Hartley's leaning against his door jam when he arrives to work four months from the unveiling of the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator and makes absolutely no effort to hide the glare that he's shooting Cisco's way.
"He's not a dog, Hartley." It's a silly thing to have to say but Hartley only scoffs and follows him into his office.
"He's not wanted either." He points out as Eobard logs in to his computer and pulls up his email. "At least dogs leave when all the table scraps are gone."
"Which is particularly harsh coming from you, considering the similarities in how your families regard the each of you." He makes a show of clicking his mouse when Hartley turns his glare onto him and cups his cheek into his hand. "Have you gotten that email from Dr. Sheehy yet?"
"Have you gotten into his pants yet?" Is the snapped reply and Eobard shoots him a look through his fingers. "It's not exactly hard to miss that your his Identifier."
"A soulmark doesn't constitute romance, or even attraction. You know that."
Hartley rolls his eyes and turns to pick up two of the chess pieces from the set on the table. "It doesn't constitute a healthy working relationship either.
"One could almost say you sound jealous." Hartley pauses at that, nose scrunching up in a look of pure disgust.
"Not on his life." He sets the queen down with enough force that it clacks against the glass of the desktop despite the green felt underneath it. "This is me. And this," he hold up a pawn. "Is Cisco Ramon. In chess there's nothing better than knowing when and how to use your pieces, Wells."
Now it's Eobard's turn to scoff. "Don't paraphrase Griffiths at me, Hartley." He plucks up the queen from his desk and turns it through his fingers. "Go see Dr Snow about the Bio-Med project, then check your mail for a reply from Dr Sheehy. I'd like her here for the unveiling."
Hartley retrieves the queen when it's held out for him and places it back on the board with the pawn before turning to leave and Eobard clears his throat once he's reached the door. "I've always respected your opinion Hartley, but I'm still the CEO of this company and you're still my employee. Try to remember that the next time you decide to question my hiring choices."
...
"You should have seen it." Cisco complains, eye roll including, as he unlocks and opens the door to his apartment with a flourish. "They looked like they were walking into a pig sty instead of a..." He looks around at his own living room like he's seeing it for the first time. "Fairly cluttered one bedroom. Maybe my mom was right."
"It's homey." Eobard allows, taking in the model USS Enterprise on the shelf of the entertainment system.
Cisco shoots him an unimpressed look. "It's dirty and I can not believe that I brought you back here. Sorry, I'm just gonna..."
"Hey," Eobard stops him before he can start trying to clean and plucks his apartment key from his hand. "It's you. Don't apologize for that." He sets it down on the coffee table and brushes a lock of hair from Cisco's face.
It's Cisco that initiates the kiss this time, rising up on his tip toes to do it and Eobard loops an arm around his waist to pull him closer.