“Well, you have to stay because I’m staying here,” Carlos said, rolling his eyes. “C’mon, it’ll be fun – there’s loads of activities here – I’m sure you’ll find something to like!”
“I have to sleep in a tent with no air conditioning and no tv and none of my friends!” She protested loudly. “I wanna go home!”
“Wow, am I not your friend?” Carlos asked. “Look, I promise that this will be fun! And I gotta stay to make money for school so I can’t take you home.”
“Well, you have to stay because I’m staying here,” Carlos said, rolling his eyes. “C’mon, it’ll be fun – there’s loads of activities here – I’m sure you’ll find something to like!”
Carlos spent so much time just sitting in the tub. As soon
as the door was shut he dropped his face into his knees and just cried. However
he still tried to keep quiet – he didn’t want his voice to carry through the
entire Statehouse because it would just make it awkward for everyone. Why was he even here? He should have just perished with the
rest of his team all those months ago. He didn’t really have a choice on the
matter, but maybe things would have been better. Hancock deserved someone
better – someone more worth opening up to because Carlos just fucked it all up.
It felt like hours and Carlos was already feeling exhausted.
He needed to get out of the tub – he couldn’t just sleep there. And Hancock
would need to use the bathroom at some point. Slowly, almost like he was a
Protectron, Carlos got himself out of the tub. Nobody was there to watch him,
but he still kept his head down and dried himself off as well as he could with
almost numb motions.
He hung the towel back up and drained the tub. He got his
clothes back on – the dirty ones – and gathered up the underwear he grabbed for
both of them to shove in his pocket.
Carlos quickly rubbed at his face and took a long,
shuddering breath before he opened the door and stepping outside. He almost
expected Hancock to be standing outside or in the lounge waiting for him, but
Carlos halfway relieved when he didn’t see him. But he was also half-way
disappointed.
Probably for the
better, he told himself as he looked for the key to the warehouse. No, it
wasn’t exactly his own place – nothing out here was – but it was away from
Hancock, and hopefully someplace that the other man wouldn’t need to go to any time soon. Carlos had a few blankets down there in his workspace… he could spend the night. Maybe a night alone would help him function in the morning. Where was that damn key?
The Perfect Scientist 