Warning, silliness ahead.

Chapter 10: An Awkward Moment or More

Cisco stood uncomfortably in the room, looking around at anything but Harrison. "Thank you Mr. Ramon. I can handle it from here," Harrison declared, sensing the other man's hesitation. Ignoring his pain, he started towards his suitcase. Joe had moved it onto the bed and Harrison found it difficult to reach it in the new spot. Seeing the struggle, Cisco came over.

"What do you need?"

"I can manage," Harrison insisted. He didn't want Cisco's help, even if he needed it. The last thing in the world he wanted was Cisco's pity. The other man thinking Harrison was weak and helpless was a blow to his ego Harrison would not tolerate. "Why don't you just have a seat and I'll get this done." He grunted down some pain as he turned his body some to lengthen his reach.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not risk Caitlin's wrath," Cisco said, stepping forwards. "What do you need out of here?"

"My shaving kit and the change in clothes," Harrison said, giving in and accepting the engineer's help. "If it's all the same to you, I can handle the bathroom on my own."

"Right," Cisco said, reaching into the suitcase. Pulling out the clothing he frowned.

"Something wrong?" Harrison asked, seeing the odd look on Cisco's face.

"No, not really. Just, the you that I knew never really wore anything other than black or white," Cisco said. "And we've only ever seen you in black and blue. I guess I wasn't expecting this." He held up the lightweight bright red short-sleeved shirt.

"Yes, well… I'm not in the public light much anymore. I'd rather be comfortable on the trip home instead of wearing some hot dress up clothes," Harrison answered honestly. "If you'll just hand me…"

"What the," Cisco trailed off as his eyes lit upon something else in the suitcase. He started to laugh as he pulled out a pair of bright pink boxers with blue writing on them. There was a chemical structure on one leg. Frowning, Cisco stared at it before he recognized it and started to laugh. "Is that the chemical structure for testosterone?" A bright blush coloured Harrison's face as he nodded. "Where did you get these?"

Snatching the boxers from Cisco, Harrison showed him the other leg where the words, "Property of Tess Morgan," were emblazoned in the same bright blue. "Tess gave them to me on our wedding night. A packet of ten of them. One for each decade of expected marriage. She over estimated a bit. " At his words, Cisco's laughter died suddenly so that the young man almost choked on it.

"Sorry," Cisco said seriously.

"Don't be," Harrison said, staring fondly at the boxers. "Tess seemed to derive great pleasure in giving me embarrassing garments like this, especially because she knew I'd feel obligated to wear them." The love in his boss's eyes surprised Cisco. Eobard Thawne had never talked about Tess.

"I didn't mean to laugh," Cisco began but Harrison cut him off.

"Yes you did and I can't blame you. I'd probably laugh if I saw them in your suitcase… or get mad, cause why would you be property of Tess Morgan?" He smiled cheekily at the other man, enjoying the brief moment of friendship with his employee. Shaking his head, he dropped the boxers into his lap and tossed his pants and shirt at the bed.

"Uhm, do you need any help?" Cisco asked as Harrison headed into the bathroom after grabbing his shaving kit from where Cisco had put it on the bed.

"I'll be fine," Harrison assured him. He closed the door behind himself and left Cisco staring around the room.

As he sat, Cisco considered the moment he'd just shared with Dr. Wells. Since they'd found out about Eobard, before that even, when the dreams had started, he'd struggled with acting normal around the man. When this new Dr. Wells had showed up, Cisco's nightmares had started again. This time they had been of the timeline the new Dr. Wells was from. Through the dreams Cisco had learned his boss had been injured saving Cisco from part of the building collapsing. In the process though, Dr. Wells had been trapped inside of the building for several days before the EMS people would let anyone back in to search for him. Even knowing all that, Cisco found himself struggling to trust the man. It all seemed too perfect.

The bathroom door opened rousing Cisco from his thoughts. Glancing at the clock he realized about twenty minutes had passed. Freshly showered and dressed in the hot pink testosterone boxers, Dr. Wells exited the bathroom, wincing with each push of his chair's wheels. As he entered the room Cisco stood, his eyes quickly drawn to the bright, painful looking bruises littering the man's chest, arms, and legs.

"I'm going to need some help with my shirt," Harrison said looking more embarrassed about needing help than he had about the boxers.

"No problem," Cisco said, coming forwards, grabbing the shirt as he did. "I can completely understand that."

"Thanks. I can get my arms through, but can you pull it over my head? Hurts to lift my arms up very high right now." Nodding, Cisco followed his directions and in no time they had the bright red shirt covering Harrison's injuries.

"Uhm, how do you put your pants on?" Cisco asked, glancing at the jeans Harrison had tossed onto the bed.

"I can do all of that. You just need to help me transfer to the bed," Harrison declared, smiling at the relieved look on Cisco's face. He talked Cisco through the transfer and once Harrison was on the bed, Cisco stood smiling, proud of himself. He watched Harrison grab his trousers and start pulling them on, rolling onto his stomach to finish pulling them up over his butt.

"Now we have to transfer you back, right," Cisco said when Harrison was finished.

"Give me a minute," Harrison requested. Studying his boss, Cisco realized that the doctor looked exhausted.

"Uhm, about what happened yesterday," Cisco began, starting to feel comfortable enough to bring up the subject of his possible meta-powers. Holding a hand up, Harrison shook his head.

"Look, Cisco, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. There is only one more thing I will tell you. Just remember that no matter what happens to your body, you will still be you," Harrison informed him.

"Wow, that's… kind of sappy and deep," Cisco admitted.

"My thoughts exactly when a friend told me that," Harrison agreed. Looking up, Cisco frowned, moved to help the other man back into the wheelchair.

"Who told you that?" Cisco asked, wondering why any of Dr. Wells's friends would need to say something like that to the older man.

"You did, at least my you, when I was trying to adjust to the paralysis," Harrison said. "Come on, let's see who else is up." Nodding mutely Cisco helped Dr. Wells maneuver the chair around the bed and to the door. The younger man was still considering what had just happen as they left the room.

Please note: The boxers described do actually exist, though I combined two different boxers and I don't know about the colouring...