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She walked up beside him from behind. It was like a parallel of how they met, only this time she didn't intend on kidnapping him. He was sitting at the bar leaning over his drink. The expression on his face looked lost. It wasn't how she was used to seeing him. She didn't like it. She slipped into the seat next to him. "Well hey there Cisco," Lisa greeted shining a flirty smile in his direction.
Cisco turned in his seat to look at her. The smile he gave in return was weak. It was small and didn't reach his eyes. "Lisa Snart, we have to stop meeting like this." He remarked. The impersonator of his smile still playing about his lips.
Lisa focused on it, frowning a little. Why wasn't Cisco smiling like normal? What was wrong? She turned her attention away from it and back to Cisco as whole. It was now her mission to make him smile for real. First step, find out what stole his smile in the first place.
She laughed, "if I recall you invited me here." She waved for the bartender's attention.
Cisco tapped at the glass his drink was in. "Touché." He returned to staring at the glass intently.
Lisa sat beside him observing. She watched him, noticing how tense he was. His shoulders were slumped, his expression sullen and his all around vibe and general atmosphere wasn't the same as Lisa was used to it being. Cisco had always radiated the tiniest bit of positivity. Her concern for Cisco started to grow, the longer they sat next to one another. He didn't make any attempts to say anything, he just stared at his drink. Occasionally he'd pick it up and take a drink. The music playing in the bar and the other patrons around them conversing made up for the silence between them. People came and went around them at the bar. The bartender set Lisa's own drink down in front of her. Her focus was locked on Cisco.
She nudged him in the side. "Hey," Cisco looked in her direction. "Please talk to me?" Lisa ventured forcing a smile.
Cisco raised his eyebrow at her frowning at her. Lisa remained smiling hoping he'd crack a smile. "Last time you said that to me it didn't play out how I thought it would," He remarked. He sounded surprisingly hurt.
Lisa frowned, "I know, I'm sorry."
Cisco nodded, looking away from her. He stared down at his feet for a second. In a quick blur he shook his head and looked up at Lisa. Lisa stared back at him surprised. "I'm sorry, this wasn't the plan," He said before downing the rest of his drink. "I asked you to meet me to distract myself not wallow." He remarked.
Lisa narrowed her eyes at him. She tried to piece together whatever he could mean from that but came up with nothing. "What are we wallowing about?" She dared to ask.
Shaking his head, Cisco sat up and looked around the bar. He stopped searching when his eyes fell on a DJ's booth. "Nope, no more wallowing." He declared. "I'll be back." He got up from where he was sitting and walked off leaving Lisa sitting at the bar alone.
She frowned at him confused. "Okay?" Lisa said sounding confused. She glanced over her shoulder watching as Cisco walked further into the depths of the bar. Frowning in confusion Lisa shook her head and turned back to the bar. Something was up with Cisco and she was going to find out. She wasn't sure how she planned to go about it but she'd find out. She picked up her drink reading to take a sip from it.
"Liissaa!!"
The sound of Cisco's voice amplified through a sound system echoed throughout the bar. A few people laughing followed. The music's volume had been lowered. Lisa paused her drink raised half way to her mouth. She frowned at the sound of her name. Refusing to look back where she assumed Cisco was. Lisa waited a few seconds and waited to resume her attempt at drinking her drink. Cisco had obviously somehow gotten into the sound system. Her name was called out over the speakers again.
"Lisa!"
She set her drink down and turned in her seat. She found herself looking at Cisco who was standing in the DJ's booth. He was staring in her direction, waving at her. The DJ's microphone was in his hand and the DJ did not look pleased. Lisa stared back at him with a curious expression on her face. His mood appeared to have changed just like that. She watched as the DJ yanked the microphone out of Cisco's hand. The DJ motioned for Cisco to leave. Lisa almost laughed as Cisco scowled at the DJ in return. Cisco proceeded to head in her direction.
Lisa tried to figure out the mood change but before she could Cisco was in front of her. He had a dopey smile on his face. It lit up his face and made his eyes crinkle. It was the smile Lisa had been missing. The one she'd been searching for a hoped she'd manage to get him to smile. But it didn't seem right. Something was still troubling him.
"Hey," Cisco slipped into his seat and waved for the bartender. He kept smiling.
She smiled back, a small smile. The mood change still puzzled her. She eyed him curiously trying to piece it together. It didn't make sense, and yet the positivity was contagious. Lisa looked at him with a playful smirk, "I thought I was supposed to be the criminal in this relationship?"
Cisco laughed, "what?" He said sounding a little nervous. He had probably never been called a criminal before. Lisa continued to smile at him. "I'm not a criminal."
She looked at him thoughtfully, "then what were you doing with the DJ, Cisco?"
"Seeing if they had karaoke." Cisco responded taking a sip from the new drink the bartender had given him.
Lisa laughed shaking her head at him.
"Whaaat," Cisco stared at her. "I like karaoke!" He defended.
She continued to laugh smiling at Cisco, "nothing, I just didn't expect that from you." Lisa admitted with a smile.
Cisco laughed and gave a small smile in return, "oh." He said turning back to face the bar.
Things almost seemed and felt like normal. Lisa could almost for get the way he had acted not that long ago. The way he tapped on his glass reminded her, there was something bothering Cisco.
"We should go somewhere that has karaoke next time," Cisco said before drinking.
It threw Lisa for a loop. She blinked at him shocked. "Next time?"
He nodded, sipping at his drink. "Mhmmm, why not?"
Lisa narrowed her eyes at him. "Cisco," her voice took on a serious tone. Cisco's head perked up and he looked at her narrowed eyes. "If there's something-"
"Uh-uh!" Cisco shook his head and turned his attention back to the bar. "No. None of that. Just, just drink and weren't not talking about it." He said.
Lisa frowned. "Cisco," she sighed.
He shook his head drinking his drink. With his other hand he pushed Lisa's forgotten one closer to her. She looked down at the drink and sighed. Cisco's text had simply said to meet him at the bar, it had implied nothing. But from his behaviour Lisa could tell something was wrong. She moved to pick up her drink, while considering her options. Go along with Cisco's line of action, forget and ignore whatever was bothering him. The course of action she probably would normally have taken, had it been anyone other than Cisco. Or, she could be the grown up person and make him confront it. However she was supposed to do that. Lisa glared at the glass in front before picking it up and downing its contents. She nearly slammed the glass down onto the bar top. Cisco looked at her shocked. His eyes wide, mouth open in surprise.
Lisa turned so she was facing him. "Look, Lenny's gone." She said trying her best to keep the hurt tone out of her voice. "He, and Mick are gone. I don't know where they are." Cisco stared at her listening. His expression reverting back to the same sad one it had been before. "I can't find them and no one knows anything. I've already lost my brother, Cisco, I'm not losing you too, so just tell me what's wrong." She looked at him with a pleading expression.
Cisco stared, an expression of hurt and understanding on his face. He tried to form the words he wanted to say but nothing sounded right. "Lisa," he could tell his voice was off, a lump of emotions forming in his throat. "I know how you feel." He said quietly.
She looked at him a hurt expression on her face. It was mixed with a hint of annoyance. "No, you don't." Her emotions were going from frustrated concern to anger quickly.
Cisco frowned, "I do." Lisa didn't notice how his whole demeanour changed. His shoulders slumped and he shrunk in on himself looking down at the bar. "My brother," his voice was quieter, hardly able to be heard over everything in the bar. "Dante, he," Cisco could feel the lump in his throat. He didn't want to say it. He didn't.
Lisa stared at him. Her frustration vanishing in place sympathy and worry taking it's place. She didn't know how to comfort him that well. She'd considered putting a hand on his arm. She did, Cisco barely reacted to it.
"He died." Cisco swallowed around the lump in his throat. He found himself being consumed by the same grief and pain he'd been wanting to forget earlier. Because he was still hoping, maybe, maybe one day Barry would agree. That Barry would go back and save his brother. It was never going to happen but Cisco...Cisco still wanted to hope. He wanted to hope some day he'd get his brother back. That they could be brothers finally. Because he still loved Dante even though they hadn't gotten along.
"Cisco, I-" Lisa stopped speaking. She was going to say the standard "I'm sorry for your loss" but she knew that that never helped. It didn't help her when anyone said it about Len. Why would it help Cisco about his brother. Lisa looked at Cisco sadly. She tried to figure out what would make him smile. Nothing seemed like a good fix. She should have just left it alone and kept drinking with him.
Sighing in defeat Lisa slid her hand down his arm so she could take his hand in hers. "I'm sorry."
He squeezed her hand, nodding in acknowledgement. He still wouldn't look up though.
"So we both lost our brothers." Lisa remarked quietly.
Cisco forced out a laugh, "yeah, and they both were jerks."
Lisa looked down sadly, "but we still love them."
"They were the only ones we had." Cisco slipped his hand out from hers and picked up his drink. He drank it. Any trace of his previous good mood was gone. He looked sullen and grieving. Lisa guessed he was mentally going through a list of what ifs. What could he have done to stop his brother's death from happening? She hated herself a little bit for making his good mood go away.
Frowning Lisa was determined to get him back into the good mood he'd been in.
The catchy beat of the music playing in the bar caught he r attention. The bass vibrated through the floor of the bar. A small smirk made it's way to the corner of her mouth. She got an idea on how to cheer up Cisco. She grabbed and tugged on Cisco's hand as she stood up. "Come on!" She declared.
Cisco looked up at her confused. "Wha-"
"Come on, we're going to go turn this place into a karaoke bar." Lisa declared with a wicked grin on her face.
A nervous laugh came from Cisco, "um, no we're not." Cisco disagreed looking around awkwardly.
Lisa pouted at him, "now where's the fun in that Cisco?"
He frowned pulling his hand away from hers. "Not in the mood." He said turning back to the bar.
She sighed frowning that her plan hadn't worked. Slipping back into her seat beside him, Lisa frowned at him. "Alright," she said. "But I don't think this is how your brother would have wanted you to be spending your night." She remarked.
Cisco looked at her. Lisa shrugged. "That's a low blow, Lis."
Lisa shrugged, "but it's true." She argued.
He nodded frowning at the bar top. He wasn't sure what Dante would have wanted him to be doing to be honest. Cisco sighed.
"Cisco, I know how you feel. You said it yourself," Lisa said with a small smile. "But, let's just, let's get out of here and go have some fun alright? Sing bad karaoke until they kick us out?" She offered.
"You're not letting up on this are you?" Cisco asked.
Lisa smiled. "What do you think?"
Cisco sighed and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "Alright," he agreed getting up and pulling on his jacket. "For the record, I rock at karaoke."
Laughing Lisa grinned from ear to ear, "I'll be the judge of that."