Will it? Oh, that’s good to hear!
*he
tries to chew on a few but is usually stopped, he likes few of the toys
brought to him, but clings to one of the stuffed animals Angie brought
over*
A: Papa, he likes this one!
C: Ooh, that’s great! I’ll get that for him then. Find a teething ring too, will you honey? I think I’m almost done here.
A: Okay! *she finds a little soft plastic ring with liquid and glitter inside and puts it in the cart*
Will it? Oh, that’s good to hear!
*tiny grabby hands* an-gee! an-gee!
*Carlos hands him off to Angie and starts to clean up. He wipes his hands clean with some upholstery wipes he had and ties up the trash bag before getting back into the driver’s seat.* Okay, let’s go!
*he giggles and looks out the window again, watching the world pass by*
*they all soon arrive at the store and Carlos found a parking spot on the street. He got out and opened the door for Angie.*
C: Okay – c’mere, Max! *he reaches for the baby*
pap! pap papa! *he laughs and reachs for Carlos*
*Carlos picks him up and Angie hops out, closing the door behind her. Together they head to the store.* So… diapers, teething ring, maybe a bit of food…
*he yawned and looked around the store, waving at the few people he saw*
A: And a toy!
C: Uh… why?
A: Babies need toys! And big Max had a teddy bear. But get him one that isn’t falling apart and isn’t covered in dirt.
C: Uh… yeah, okay then. Maybe he’d like a blue one?
*baby babbling as he reaches for random colorful things in the shelves*
C: Well, we’ll see what’s in the baby section for toys.
*they head there and Carlos starts to do the Adult™
thing and compare prices and stuff. Angela keeps bringing toys to Max – two at a time to see what he likes better*
Yondu
yawns nuzzling his neck before sitting up and stretches back popping.
He sniffs smelling the food and hums a bit. “Hmmm… smells good.” Stands
and waits for Carlos to join him as they head down to eat finding the
table decorated with food. “Ohh.”Mr Ramon looked up from where he had just placed a tortilla warmer on the table and he grinned at them. “Hello… just a little something I whipped up.”
There was a dish of spicy-smelling ground meat on the table, along with a bowl of shredded cheese, a bowl of chopped lettuce, some sour cream, a small glass bowl of chopped olives, and the tortillas. There was also a pitcher of a pinkish-red juice that looked like Mr Ramon had actually made earlier that week.
Carlos laughed sheepishly. “Dad… this isn’t just something you ‘whip up’.”
Mr Ramon just kept smiling at him. “Well, this is a special ‘whip up’ occasion. It’s not every day my son comes home from being lost… and also getting to meet the person who saved him and brought him home.” Mr Ramon’s voice started to sound a little broken at the end and he cleared his throat, turning away to rub at his eyes.
Yondus fin flashed just a bit sensing the mood shift and can’t help but smile a bit and walk over putting his arm over his shoulders in a kind of hug. “Thanks mr.ramon.” Takes a seat looking at the food and grins. He watched how it was to be done then makes up one himself unsure about the veggies but added them anyway before taking a bite eyes wide then shoved the whole thing in his mouth.
Mr Ramon was a little surprised by the hug, but he smiled and returned it as best he could – one hand was supporting him with his cane still, of course. He settled in his own seat and Mikey rolled up to his side of the table. Carlos sat down in the additional seat – Yondu took his usual one, but he didn’t mind at all.
Looking at Yondu scarf down the soft taco he made Carlos chuckled softly. “Careful – eating the tortillas too fast could give you hiccups,” he said. Carlos took a bite of his own and almost immediately he let out a groan of happiness and longing. “Oh my god,” he murmured, his mouth full. “I missed this so much…”
“What, they don’t have Mexican food in space?” Mikey teased his brother.
Carlos laughed. “No… though some Hraxian dishes have the spice in them that I’m more used to. But it’s closer to Indian than Mexican spice…”
“Yondu, I have some juice here,” Mr Ramon explained to their guest, pointing to the pitcher. “It’s made of pomegranate and grape. It’s not citrus, which was what you described to me… if you’d like you can have a taste. Or I can get you some water instead, or cow’s milk.”
Yondu
yawns nuzzling his neck before sitting up and stretches back popping.
He sniffs smelling the food and hums a bit. “Hmmm… smells good.” Stands
and waits for Carlos to join him as they head down to eat finding the
table decorated with food. “Ohh.”
Mr Ramon looked up from where he had just placed a tortilla warmer on the table and he grinned at them. “Hello… just a little something I whipped up.”
There was a dish of spicy-smelling ground meat on the table, along with a bowl of shredded cheese, a bowl of chopped lettuce, some sour cream, a small glass bowl of chopped olives, and the tortillas. There was also a pitcher of a pinkish-red juice that looked like Mr Ramon had actually made earlier that week.
Carlos laughed sheepishly. “Dad… this isn’t just something you ‘whip up’.”
Mr Ramon just kept smiling at him. “Well, this is a special ‘whip up’ occasion. It’s not every day my son comes home from being lost… and also getting to meet the person who saved him and brought him home.” Mr Ramon’s voice started to sound a little broken at the end and he cleared his throat, turning away to rub at his eyes.
“Well, I was!” Carlos countered with a grin. “But at that time I hadn’t been to college yet – the difference in schooling styles just really threw me through a loop, not to mention that now I usually work on my own with no one to laugh at my jokes – not even Alexa.”
“Jeez, ya can’t even get a robot to laugh at your jokes? You must be tellin’ some pretty bad ones.” Hancock teased lightly, a smirk on his face. “Well, I can’t promise I’ll laugh at all of your jokes, if they’re bad, I might give ya a groan instead, but feel free to tell as many as ya like on this little trip, I’d love to hear ‘em.”
Carlos chuckled. “Alexa has standards, surprisingly – even as nice as she is,” Carlos replied with a smile. “I promise you, when the jokes come to me you’ll be the first to know. Whether you like it or not.” He winked with a little impish smirk on his face.
“Yeah……
but you know….. some days I just… I think….. what Stakar said to me…..
how…. he said I did it for the money… that if it was from the goodness
of my heart I wouldn’t have taken the money…. I just…… was I just
greedy….. or….. not……. I just….. It’s hard….. …. hardest was being
abandoned…. again…… I.. was lost…. I still am…… you saw my ship… she’s
falling apart….. you look at the other ravager ships …. so different….
we don’t have enough jobs or credits to fix shit…..soon I’ll just be
captain of scrap metal…”“You were UBER-ing kids across the Galaxy,” Carlos said. “It’d be foolish not to charge something with fuel and power to consider. I… I really find it hard to believe that this Stakar person wouldn’t understand that. As for greed… well, what can one expect from Ravagers? But Yondu, I know you – you would never hurt a child intentionally. This Ego person… he sounds highly manipulative and, obviously, has committed serial filicide.You can’t blame yourself for his intentions and actions.”
Frowns. “What’s a ubering? But… regardless…. that’s how Stakar dealt with it.” Looks at him and rolls a bit grabbing him to snuggle nuzzling into his neck.
Carlos made a noise, surprised by the sudden affection, but he put an arm around Yondu comfortingly. “I’m sorry… for everything that happened.” He started to rub Yondu’s back.
“I meant ‘taxiing’. Ubers… they’re a thing on Earth that are like taxis, but more flexible and convenient.”
“Heh…. you Terrans are so weird..” Smiles a bit pressing close and sighs relaxing nuzzling against his chest closing his eyes. He was a secret cuddler and proved it by snuggling pressing as close as he could to carlos.
“It’s a brand name,” Carlos said. “That might be why it didn’t translate over that well.” He leaned his head in against Yondu’s. “I want to still be friends, Yondu. I really do. I don’t… I don’t want to give up all that’s happened in space. I want to be able to talk to you and to the boys. And, I dunno… maybe having someone from Earth that he could talk to would help Peter out a bit as he grows up?”
Yondu nods clutching just a bit tighter to him. Damn this terran for making him so sentimental. “I…. Ok….. not sure how well the coma will work over the larger distances but… we can.. test them and…. hopefully allow us to…. communicate….even a little.”
“And even if comms don’t work, there’s still just the space-mailing with electronic text messages,” Carlos said. He smiled slightly. “We call it ‘email’.”
“Yeah… there is that. But you can’t make fun of my spelling. Heh.” Nuzzles him and sighs. “I don’t …. do goodbyes well…… I hate them…….. especially when…. we’ll…. you know….”
Carlos nodded slightly. He bumped his head gently against Yondu’s. “But it’s not forever… we’ll still talk to each other. I’ll send recordings of stuff on Earth, and maybe some music that Peter might like.”
“Yeah.and I’ll send pictures of … everything I can. Just so… you know… earth doesn’t bore you to much.” Nudges his head back nuzzling at him and sighs closing his eyes breathing turning relaxed as he just rests with him until the food was ready. He was softly snoring in a light sleep after a few minutes lulled to sleep with Carlos so close.
Carlos just lay awake holding Yondu. This… this was nice. He didn’t actually lay down and have Yondu snuggle up against him like this and sleep. They didn’t quite get to that, as Carlos was still having trouble sleeping and he was afraid of waking up Yondu too much.
This was going to be the only time he’d experience this with Yondu. If he could move on… that remained to be seen. But this wasn’t going to happen again with Yondu, so he tried to commit it to memory.
After a while he heard Mikey’s voice calling for him and Yondu, and it honestly startled Carlos a bit. But he turned and started to shake Yondu awake. “Hey – dinner’s ready.”
Yondu snuggles up closer mumbling as he slowly comes out of sleep and leans up giving a goofy smile seeing carlos and kisses him. Brain still heavily dogged by sleep. “Morning beautiful.”
Carlos chuckled softly. “It’s not morning,” he said. “Mikey’s calling for us. I think that means dinner’s ready. You’re going to love my Dad’s cooking, I promise.”
I mean, I have to I guess. But I had no idea – you guys are just kids, aren’t you??
huh… have you ever seen anyone turn into a zombie? do you think zombies could become real?
*frowns slightly* I’ve never seen that. And honestly… I’m not sure. Traditional Zombies, probably not. But… one could say that you are sort of a zombie… right?
….. oh yeah… life is weird
… Was that a joke?
*he.. looks confused* joke..?
You’re not technically alive so… I thought you were making a joke by saying ‘life’. I’m sorry…
*he blinks* it’s alright.. i often forget that i’m not really ‘alive’ anymore too…
You’re alive in the important ways.
*he chuckles slightly* yeah, i guess
*glances at Max* You are though. Okay? You’re still here and kicking against all scientific explanation. That’s amazing.
*he smiles softly* thanks Carlos
*smiles* You’re welcome, Max.
*after a minute longer of driving they pulled up close to the store.* Ah, here we go…
Will it? Oh, that’s good to hear!
*tiny grabby hands* an-gee! an-gee!
*Carlos hands him off to Angie and starts to clean up. He wipes his hands clean with some upholstery wipes he had and ties up the trash bag before getting back into the driver’s seat.* Okay, let’s go!
*he giggles and looks out the window again, watching the world pass by*
*they all soon arrive at the store and Carlos found a parking spot on the street. He got out and opened the door for Angie.*
C: Okay – c’mere, Max! *he reaches for the baby*
pap! pap papa! *he laughs and reachs for Carlos*
*Carlos picks him up and Angie hops out, closing the door behind her. Together they head to the store.* So… diapers, teething ring, maybe a bit of food…
*he yawned and looked around the store, waving at the few people he saw*
A: And a toy!
C: Uh… why?
A: Babies need toys! And big Max had a teddy bear. But get him one that isn’t falling apart and isn’t covered in dirt.
C: Uh… yeah, okay then. Maybe he’d like a blue one?
“Yeah……
but you know….. some days I just… I think….. what Stakar said to me…..
how…. he said I did it for the money… that if it was from the goodness
of my heart I wouldn’t have taken the money…. I just…… was I just
greedy….. or….. not……. I just….. It’s hard….. …. hardest was being
abandoned…. again…… I.. was lost…. I still am…… you saw my ship… she’s
falling apart….. you look at the other ravager ships …. so different….
we don’t have enough jobs or credits to fix shit…..soon I’ll just be
captain of scrap metal…”“You were UBER-ing kids across the Galaxy,” Carlos said. “It’d be foolish not to charge something with fuel and power to consider. I… I really find it hard to believe that this Stakar person wouldn’t understand that. As for greed… well, what can one expect from Ravagers? But Yondu, I know you – you would never hurt a child intentionally. This Ego person… he sounds highly manipulative and, obviously, has committed serial filicide.You can’t blame yourself for his intentions and actions.”
Frowns. “What’s a ubering? But… regardless…. that’s how Stakar dealt with it.” Looks at him and rolls a bit grabbing him to snuggle nuzzling into his neck.
Carlos made a noise, surprised by the sudden affection, but he put an arm around Yondu comfortingly. “I’m sorry… for everything that happened.” He started to rub Yondu’s back.
“I meant ‘taxiing’. Ubers… they’re a thing on Earth that are like taxis, but more flexible and convenient.”
“Heh…. you Terrans are so weird..” Smiles a bit pressing close and sighs relaxing nuzzling against his chest closing his eyes. He was a secret cuddler and proved it by snuggling pressing as close as he could to carlos.
“It’s a brand name,” Carlos said. “That might be why it didn’t translate over that well.” He leaned his head in against Yondu’s. “I want to still be friends, Yondu. I really do. I don’t… I don’t want to give up all that’s happened in space. I want to be able to talk to you and to the boys. And, I dunno… maybe having someone from Earth that he could talk to would help Peter out a bit as he grows up?”
Yondu nods clutching just a bit tighter to him. Damn this terran for making him so sentimental. “I…. Ok….. not sure how well the coma will work over the larger distances but… we can.. test them and…. hopefully allow us to…. communicate….even a little.”
“And even if comms don’t work, there’s still just the space-mailing with electronic text messages,” Carlos said. He smiled slightly. “We call it ‘email’.”
“Yeah… there is that. But you can’t make fun of my spelling. Heh.” Nuzzles him and sighs. “I don’t …. do goodbyes well…… I hate them…….. especially when…. we’ll…. you know….”
Carlos nodded slightly. He bumped his head gently against Yondu’s. “But it’s not forever… we’ll still talk to each other. I’ll send recordings of stuff on Earth, and maybe some music that Peter might like.”
“Yeah.and I’ll send pictures of … everything I can. Just so… you know… earth doesn’t bore you to much.” Nudges his head back nuzzling at him and sighs closing his eyes breathing turning relaxed as he just rests with him until the food was ready. He was softly snoring in a light sleep after a few minutes lulled to sleep with Carlos so close.
Carlos just lay awake holding Yondu. This… this was nice. He didn’t actually lay down and have Yondu snuggle up against him like this and sleep. They didn’t quite get to that, as Carlos was still having trouble sleeping and he was afraid of waking up Yondu too much.
This was going to be the only time he’d experience this with Yondu. If he could move on… that remained to be seen. But this wasn’t going to happen again with Yondu, so he tried to commit it to memory.
After a while he heard Mikey’s voice calling for him and Yondu, and it honestly startled Carlos a bit. But he turned and started to shake Yondu awake. “Hey – dinner’s ready.”
I mean, I have to I guess. But I had no idea – you guys are just kids, aren’t you??
huh… have you ever seen anyone turn into a zombie? do you think zombies could become real?
*frowns slightly* I’ve never seen that. And honestly… I’m not sure. Traditional Zombies, probably not. But… one could say that you are sort of a zombie… right?
….. oh yeah… life is weird
… Was that a joke?
*he.. looks confused* joke..?
You’re not technically alive so… I thought you were making a joke by saying ‘life’. I’m sorry…
*he blinks* it’s alright.. i often forget that i’m not really ‘alive’ anymore too…
You’re alive in the important ways.
*he chuckles slightly* yeah, i guess
*glances at Max* You are though. Okay? You’re still here and kicking against all scientific explanation. That’s amazing.
The Perfect Scientist 
