Well, I’m pretty sure if we add anymore water it’ll be too heavy to move, so, I guess it’s good?
*nods* Alright then. Lemme lift it. Make sure there’s nothing in my way?
Mhm, just a couple of little twigs and rocks, shouldn’t be an issue, right?
Right. Okay, keep an eye out for me bud! *he lifts the pot and starts walking* Where’s a good spot to set this?
Maybe like, next to where we build the fire- hey, watch out for the log.
*Carlos immediately stops* Where is it? *he tries to look around the pot to the ground.”
Like right by your feet, just step over it and you should be all good.
How big is it? *he lifts his foot and tentatively starts poking around at the ground in front of him.*
Probably about uh,, *he puts his hands up* that big? Not very,
*Carlos’ foot finds the log and he gently tries to kick it away out of the way* Okay… moving forward…
You should be good to set it down,
Right here? Okay. *slowly lowers the pot toward the ground*
Yeah, *he grabs a couple of the pods from his hoodie*
Okay. So – *the pot touches Carlos’ foot and suddenly tips forward, spilling half the water and scum out in front of him*
Hm. Well shit.
Oh, shoot! I’m sorry, Max. I’ll go fill it up again – hang on. *he turns around with a sigh and carries the pot with one hand back to the lakeside.*
*Max follows Carlos back to the lake, putting the pods back in his pocket* I could actually help carry it this time.
If you want to… I just need to make sure I’m not setting it down on my foot this time. Heh…
Yeah, it’ll be easier with two people.
It would be… but one of us is less than three feet tall. No offense, but it’d be better if we matched closer in height for that to be really effective.
I’m not that short!
*smiles sympathetically. “I’m sorry, buddy… but you kind of are. That’s okay though – you’re about average for someone your age.
I’m not. I’m below average.
What? Why would you say that? How old are you?
10. The average is like, 4’10. I’m below that.
Oh… I thought you were, like… seven. It’s hard to judge, considering your… surprisingly mature demeanor. My apologies, Max. But hey – I think you still have some growing to do!
I- fair enough, I guess. I doubt it.
Well, time will only tell. But it’s alright to be optimistic about it. You’re still young after all! *he kneels by the lake to fill the pot again.* Do you wanna get some more pondscum, Max?
Hells yeah! *he picks up a different stick and gets some pondscum on it*
*Carlos snorts and giggles* You’re such a boy – getting all excited about slime. That’s adorable.
Hey, it’s not slime. It’s pondscum. There’s a difference. And I’m not adorable.
*chuckles* Right, of course. At ten years old you’re the peak of masculinity. By the way, slime encompasses a wide variety of things – mud, scum, mucus, etc. The more you know! C’mon, get it over here and into the pot. *he smiles happily at Max*
Pondscum is it’s own catagory of scum. *he droped the scum in the pot, still on the stick, resulting in the water slashing a little*
*Carlos grabbed the stick and swirled it in the pot, trying to get the scum off of it* I don’t usually study nature, but I think I know about pondscum. I was a boy too, you know.
The Perfect Scientist 