Carlos just laughed. This was the most fun he’d ever had with a near-stranger already, and their trip was just starting.
“You know, not everyone I meet is as god a sport as you with jokes.”
“I just prefer to go with the flow, I guess.” Hancock shrugged, his smile widening at Carlos’ laughter, he really was cute. “I like keepin’ things light and fun, y’know? Ain’t gonna get mad at a little pokin’ fun when I know you’re not bein’ serious. Besides, you’re a pretty funny guy, why would I wanna squash that spirit?”
Carlos grinned at him. “Yeah? Well give it a while… I’m sure that soon you’re going to be groaning at my work. It’s okay – I”m used to it. Puns are just some of my favorites.”
Carlos hadn’t been to a circus in years – not since he was little. But there had been a raffle at work and Carlos had won a coupon for a free ticket. He kinda hoped that his brother and/or his dad were in town so he could invite them to go with him.
Carlos made his way to the ticket office that was set up, standing in the line with his coupon as he looked at everything around him. Some things were different than what he remembered or imagined a circus to be like, but not everything could be a dated cliche trope he supposed.
Once at the ticket office he smiled and offered the coupon. “Hey… this any good?” he asked in a joking manner.
The
acrobat huffed a tired and unforgiving huff from his taut chest and
impossible to breathe with lungs, letting his head fall into his hands
as he glared out the window. “Fine, lets get the pizza.”
“I just wanted to talk with you- about your science man things, don’t
you know? I want to know all about it,” His gentle voice cooed, leaning
into Carlos’ shoulder.
“Oh!” Carlos said. He perked up a bit at the mention of talking about science. “Well, certainly! We can still discuss all about that. You know, I’m working on so many projects and I would love to tell you about them!”
The leaning on his shoulder was kind of weird, and Carlos actually couldn’t allow it for long since he was still driving and needed to shift. When that point came he gently shook his shoulder to free his arm to work the gear shift.
Again, Skip rolled his eyes and sneered faintly at the scientist being so strange about some physical affection. Who doesn’t like to be touched?
When they arrived at Big Rico’s, they were welcomed with open arms from the other acrobats that had come in a cluster. They were all so dramatically different looking from each other, it was almost like some kind of zoo.
Carlos smiled politely as they entered the restaurant. He waited for Skip to introduce him. He was also thinking about what kind of pizza he wanted: did he want to spend the extra money on a gluten-free pizza, or just get a standard slice which sometimes consisted of a bowl of red sauce and toppings or a big greasy ball of cheese?
Skip carried himself like a god, and was quickly greeted by his peers who all wore beautiful and uninhibited smiles as he threw his arm over Carlos’ shoulders and tugged him in with a laugh. “Everyone- Carlos. Carlos..” He chuckled warmly, “Everyone.”
Next he shoved Carlos into a booth along with four choice friends of his own, leaving the runts to entertain themselves. The way the team acted was extremely similar to a high school setting, the cool kids and the rest.
Carlos was barely able to wave before he was ushered away to the booth. Carlos kept smiling as he was sat down. He wondered how young all these people were. He wasn’t exactly an old man, no, but the cliquish actions were pretty interesting to him. And by ‘interesting’ he meant a bit strange.
The young acrobats only seemed to range from fifteen to thirty, it wasn’t exactly much to base anything on as Skip hadn’t given his age yet but was quick to order a chocolate malt. He played with the curiy straw, placing it at his lips before moving it away and then staring up at Carlos’ lips hoping that Carlos would perk up.
Growl. A groan from his stomach, “You look so good tonight Carlos, I could just eat you!” He cheered, grabbing his arm and then his thigh.
Carlos blinked at Skip and laughed. “Well, let’s try some pizza instead,” he suggested. “I’m thinking of getting a simple cheese and red sauce pizza served in a bowl… what about you?”
“Yeah, sort of,” Carlos said. “But a lot of these things are built into the terminal, so it’s kind of like removing your appendix and gallbladder too. And one kidney.” Come to think of it, there was a lot of things that the human body could live without. Toes, hair… Okay, he forgot for a bit who he was hanging out with. Carlos decided to get off of that train of thought and turned his attention back to the terminal, making mental notes of which wires needed replacing and how he could do that.
“That…. makes a lot more sense when ya put it that way.” He nodded as he sat back again, giving Carlos a bit more space to work without crowding him. “I never really thought of a terminal as like a body, always figured technology and shit had to have all its bits and pieces in order to work.”
“Well, it’s not like when someone gets a broken leg,” Carlos started to explain. “A machine doesn’t usually have the capacity to think ‘hey, I’m broken, I should probably not be running’. If you turn it on, it will try to work. If the connections aren’t there, then there will be an error message, but it will still try to execute commands.”
Carlos hadn’t been to a circus in years – not since he was little. But there had been a raffle at work and Carlos had won a coupon for a free ticket. He kinda hoped that his brother and/or his dad were in town so he could invite them to go with him.
Carlos made his way to the ticket office that was set up, standing in the line with his coupon as he looked at everything around him. Some things were different than what he remembered or imagined a circus to be like, but not everything could be a dated cliche trope he supposed.
Once at the ticket office he smiled and offered the coupon. “Hey… this any good?” he asked in a joking manner.
The
acrobat huffed a tired and unforgiving huff from his taut chest and
impossible to breathe with lungs, letting his head fall into his hands
as he glared out the window. “Fine, lets get the pizza.”
“I just wanted to talk with you- about your science man things, don’t
you know? I want to know all about it,” His gentle voice cooed, leaning
into Carlos’ shoulder.
“Oh!” Carlos said. He perked up a bit at the mention of talking about science. “Well, certainly! We can still discuss all about that. You know, I’m working on so many projects and I would love to tell you about them!”
The leaning on his shoulder was kind of weird, and Carlos actually couldn’t allow it for long since he was still driving and needed to shift. When that point came he gently shook his shoulder to free his arm to work the gear shift.
Again, Skip rolled his eyes and sneered faintly at the scientist being so strange about some physical affection. Who doesn’t like to be touched?
When they arrived at Big Rico’s, they were welcomed with open arms from the other acrobats that had come in a cluster. They were all so dramatically different looking from each other, it was almost like some kind of zoo.
Carlos smiled politely as they entered the restaurant. He waited for Skip to introduce him. He was also thinking about what kind of pizza he wanted: did he want to spend the extra money on a gluten-free pizza, or just get a standard slice which sometimes consisted of a bowl of red sauce and toppings or a big greasy ball of cheese?
Skip carried himself like a god, and was quickly greeted by his peers who all wore beautiful and uninhibited smiles as he threw his arm over Carlos’ shoulders and tugged him in with a laugh. “Everyone- Carlos. Carlos..” He chuckled warmly, “Everyone.”
Next he shoved Carlos into a booth along with four choice friends of his own, leaving the runts to entertain themselves. The way the team acted was extremely similar to a high school setting, the cool kids and the rest.
Carlos was barely able to wave before he was ushered away to the booth. Carlos kept smiling as he was sat down. He wondered how young all these people were. He wasn’t exactly an old man, no, but the cliquish actions were pretty interesting to him. And by ‘interesting’ he meant a bit strange.
The Perfect Scientist 