A Holiday Surprise (closed w/ selfmedicatingmayor)

selfmedicatingmayor:

the-perfect-scientist‌:

Carlos leaned into him without really thinking about it. “It’s not the same,” he told Hancock. “Chocolate was the first thing to go when the food stores were discovered in the Vault, so it’s been a few years for me, but I know that chocolate flavored stuff isn’t the same at all.”

But then he was curious. “Do you really have coffee? We still have some milk and sugar too, right?”

“You’ve actually tried it? What was it like? Good, right? I’m a little jealous, heh.” When they stepped out onto the street, Hancock huddled a little closer to Carlos, gripping his arm tight as the brisk night air hit him.

“I like to keep some real coffee around, yeah. Not sure about the milk, don’t remember when we picked it up, but there’s definitely some sugar.”

Carlos smiled at Hancock. He wished he had a bigger coat, but the labcoat was not meant to be used for warmth at all, and Carlos’ sweater was only built for one person. He cuddled back against Hancock as best as he could – at least it was a short walk back to the Statehouse.

“I’d like to look and see if we have milk too,” Carlos said. “If that’s okay.”

Now… back to chocolate… “Chocolate… it has like a sort of weird, rich flavor to it,” he started to explain. “I don’t know how to describe it… it felt kind of like warm milk when you chewed it because it had a low melting point and would spread all over your tastebuds. Kind of like ice cream, but not exactly the same.” Carlos laughed. “Gosh, I really don’t know how to make that make sense… but the science behind it is that chocolate can help improve blood flow and oxygen availability when you breathe. It just… feels really good to eat.”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

He
shook his head firmly and set down the empty packet, sucking briefly on
his fangs before answering. “No.. I usually have many young men with me
to.. help.”

Carlos just nodded, sort of understanding what Skip was saying. “After I get notes on your hypnotism process today, you and I can talk about what can be done. I’ll need to know what sort of things affect you, like if a certain actual food might curb the craving or something. This’ll be a challenge, but you have my word as a scientist that I’ll work on this and figure out how to help you.” He smiled at the vampire, open and friendly and willing to help.

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Um,”
That was actually extremely dangerous but Skip wasn’t about to go off,
“Sure, do you want me to do that now?” He was honestly unsure of what
these people were expecting, and the way Carlos phrased this was as if
they were preforming a show for a kid. But Skip’s hypnotism wasn’t for
the faint of heart.

“No, no, this afternoon,” Carlos said. “I still need to meet with the Literal Rock Band today to discuss a new single release, and everyone else has work to do. In the meantime, you can hang around. Get a bite to eat…” Carlos paused. He laughed, halfway nervous but still pretty amused by the comment. “Heh, geddit? ‘Bite’? Heh heh, but seriously. We have plenty of blood bags in the fridge. Go ahead and grab one.”

Skip didn’t exactly find Carlos’ poor joke amusing but played along just to please him, he nodded at the offer and hurriedly made off to the kitchen. All of this was just readily available for him now?

What a deal. He thought as he folded up a blood bag, and sunk his fangs into it to begin drinking.

Skip must’ve been hungry, Carlos thought to himself. He followed after the vampire and leaned against the counter once he was inside the room.

“Can I ask… since you didn’t actually answer me, um… Why do you want to stop drinking? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, just tell me. But I’m very curious.”

Skip glanced up from the packet of blood, his droopy grey eyes batting innocently before pulling away from the packet and licking his fangs. “Because.. It’s kind of like an addiction.. But I can’t shake it at all, it’s not like there’s a AA group or anything you know?” He laughed softly.

“People get hurt by me.. I need to put a stop to it.”

Carlos blinked at him. “Really?” he asked. “I thought you did this with consent. How do people get hurt?”

“Oh- no, of course it’s consented.. I would never drink from someone unless I had their permission,” He explained again, leaning against the table. “Sometimes they don’t tell me to stop, and I drink past their limit and they pass out, or I’ll cling to them for a while and sneak heavy drinks every hour.. it’s too much.”

“Ah. So it’s really unhealthy… for everyone involved,” Carlos said. “I gotcha… Have you ever tried stopping it before?”

“No,” Skip muttered in an embarrassed tone, letting his eyes fall to the packet again. “Usually it’s fine- but I’ve been getting hungrier..”

“Right… you had two whole pints of blood last night, and another today. THat’s… not usual for you, is it?”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Um,”
That was actually extremely dangerous but Skip wasn’t about to go off,
“Sure, do you want me to do that now?” He was honestly unsure of what
these people were expecting, and the way Carlos phrased this was as if
they were preforming a show for a kid. But Skip’s hypnotism wasn’t for
the faint of heart.

“No, no, this afternoon,” Carlos said. “I still need to meet with the Literal Rock Band today to discuss a new single release, and everyone else has work to do. In the meantime, you can hang around. Get a bite to eat…” Carlos paused. He laughed, halfway nervous but still pretty amused by the comment. “Heh, geddit? ‘Bite’? Heh heh, but seriously. We have plenty of blood bags in the fridge. Go ahead and grab one.”

Skip didn’t exactly find Carlos’ poor joke amusing but played along just to please him, he nodded at the offer and hurriedly made off to the kitchen. All of this was just readily available for him now?

What a deal. He thought as he folded up a blood bag, and sunk his fangs into it to begin drinking.

Skip must’ve been hungry, Carlos thought to himself. He followed after the vampire and leaned against the counter once he was inside the room.

“Can I ask… since you didn’t actually answer me, um… Why do you want to stop drinking? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, just tell me. But I’m very curious.”

Skip glanced up from the packet of blood, his droopy grey eyes batting innocently before pulling away from the packet and licking his fangs. “Because.. It’s kind of like an addiction.. But I can’t shake it at all, it’s not like there’s a AA group or anything you know?” He laughed softly.

“People get hurt by me.. I need to put a stop to it.”

Carlos blinked at him. “Really?” he asked. “I thought you did this with consent. How do people get hurt?”

“Oh- no, of course it’s consented.. I would never drink from someone unless I had their permission,” He explained again, leaning against the table. “Sometimes they don’t tell me to stop, and I drink past their limit and they pass out, or I’ll cling to them for a while and sneak heavy drinks every hour.. it’s too much.”

“Ah. So it’s really unhealthy… for everyone involved,” Carlos said. “I gotcha… Have you ever tried stopping it before?”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Um,”
That was actually extremely dangerous but Skip wasn’t about to go off,
“Sure, do you want me to do that now?” He was honestly unsure of what
these people were expecting, and the way Carlos phrased this was as if
they were preforming a show for a kid. But Skip’s hypnotism wasn’t for
the faint of heart.

“No, no, this afternoon,” Carlos said. “I still need to meet with the Literal Rock Band today to discuss a new single release, and everyone else has work to do. In the meantime, you can hang around. Get a bite to eat…” Carlos paused. He laughed, halfway nervous but still pretty amused by the comment. “Heh, geddit? ‘Bite’? Heh heh, but seriously. We have plenty of blood bags in the fridge. Go ahead and grab one.”

Skip didn’t exactly find Carlos’ poor joke amusing but played along just to please him, he nodded at the offer and hurriedly made off to the kitchen. All of this was just readily available for him now?

What a deal. He thought as he folded up a blood bag, and sunk his fangs into it to begin drinking.

Skip must’ve been hungry, Carlos thought to himself. He followed after the vampire and leaned against the counter once he was inside the room.

“Can I ask… since you didn’t actually answer me, um… Why do you want to stop drinking? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, just tell me. But I’m very curious.”

Skip glanced up from the packet of blood, his droopy grey eyes batting innocently before pulling away from the packet and licking his fangs. “Because.. It’s kind of like an addiction.. But I can’t shake it at all, it’s not like there’s a AA group or anything you know?” He laughed softly.

“People get hurt by me.. I need to put a stop to it.”

Carlos blinked at him. “Really?” he asked. “I thought you did this with consent. How do people get hurt?”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Um,”
That was actually extremely dangerous but Skip wasn’t about to go off,
“Sure, do you want me to do that now?” He was honestly unsure of what
these people were expecting, and the way Carlos phrased this was as if
they were preforming a show for a kid. But Skip’s hypnotism wasn’t for
the faint of heart.

“No, no, this afternoon,” Carlos said. “I still need to meet with the Literal Rock Band today to discuss a new single release, and everyone else has work to do. In the meantime, you can hang around. Get a bite to eat…” Carlos paused. He laughed, halfway nervous but still pretty amused by the comment. “Heh, geddit? ‘Bite’? Heh heh, but seriously. We have plenty of blood bags in the fridge. Go ahead and grab one.”

Skip didn’t exactly find Carlos’ poor joke amusing but played along just to please him, he nodded at the offer and hurriedly made off to the kitchen. All of this was just readily available for him now?

What a deal. He thought as he folded up a blood bag, and sunk his fangs into it to begin drinking.

Skip must’ve been hungry, Carlos thought to himself. He followed after the vampire and leaned against the counter once he was inside the room.

“Can I ask… since you didn’t actually answer me, um… Why do you want to stop drinking? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, just tell me. But I’m very curious.”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Um,”
That was actually extremely dangerous but Skip wasn’t about to go off,
“Sure, do you want me to do that now?” He was honestly unsure of what
these people were expecting, and the way Carlos phrased this was as if
they were preforming a show for a kid. But Skip’s hypnotism wasn’t for
the faint of heart.

“No, no, this afternoon,” Carlos said. “I still need to meet with the Literal Rock Band today to discuss a new single release, and everyone else has work to do. In the meantime, you can hang around. Get a bite to eat…” Carlos paused. He laughed, halfway nervous but still pretty amused by the comment. “Heh, geddit? ‘Bite’? Heh heh, but seriously. We have plenty of blood bags in the fridge. Go ahead and grab one.”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Could
you?” He pressed curiously, “What like some kind of diet pills or
something?” He joked lightly and shuffled a bit, tucking his hands into
his pants.

Carlos pressed his lips together a bit in thought. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I would like to know a little bit more about your physiology to see what I can do, but of course you’ve already proven to be a challenging study. I just need to find out if there’s even a way to get a drug into your body. Your lack of blood will make it near impossible to spread.” Carlos’ gaze drifted off as he started to thin. “Hm… maybe if I give it to you in the blood, since your body seems to absorb that so easily… Hm, yes, it can be done…”

Skip blushed at all of the words and phrases that were directed towards him, for once he was going to be helped instead of shunned. Naturally he smiled eagerly and nodded, “I’d love to try anything you can think of,”

He rubbed his neck nervously, “Really, it’s such a relief to hear you want to help- thank you so much.”

Carlos looked at him, a little bit like he was pulled out of a distracted space. “Hm? Oh – oh, yeah, sure. I’m a scientist – it’s what I do.” He offered Skip a smile. “So… in the meantime, would you like to come up with your ‘act’ for this afternoon? By that, I mean demonstrating, like, different sequences in how your power works. It’ll help my research to see a few different levels of difficulty with your powers.”

He nodded and glanced over his shoulder at the other scientists, “I don’t mean to be rude but I can probably only control two to three people at my most, sorry it’s just.. Sometimes their minds really don’t want to work with me.” He looked back to Carlos, “And I’d hate to get mad at them on stage, so just two or three at most but I’d prefer to just start off with one just so the crowd gets used to the idea..” He offered, folding his hands as he thought of what else to do with these men.

Carlos nodded. “That’ll be fine,” he said. “Part of the fun is for others to watch it too. Do you think you can do it in shifts? Like, do one pair and then finish with them and do another pair?”

“Sure- why not?” He smiled and laughed lightly, but knew that this would all take a mountain of energy that he didn’t usually use. Though he was locked on I’m pressing the town, so he would give it his all. “I’ll try to do something different with every pair- how many are there?”

“Well, I think only four to six scientists will end up participating. The rest just seem pretty content with watching – stage fright, you know?” Carlos smiled at him. “You okay with all that?”

Phew.

“Yeah, of course! I was expecting more but that’s a perfect amount actually,” He huffed and tucked some hair behind his pierced ear, “And everyone is okay with everything this entails?”

“Well, like I said only a few of them are interested in being hypnotized,” Carlos said. “But right before, we can give a quick explanation of what’s going to happen. And it’ll probably be best just to do little things, like making them think they’re driving in a car or something.”

My Fingers Slipped @partyplanningforsuckers The heat only seemed to be packed in at the circus, with the hundreds of citizens that had swarmed like ants and the intense rides that seemed to have a life of their own. The smell of sugary cotton candy and popcorn was enough to lure anyone who had just come from a days work, the circus was the place to be. With a circle of sand and tigers, along with swinging trapeze and double jointed dancers, the main stage was selling ticket for such a view.

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers:

the-perfect-scientist:

partyplanningforsuckers

the-perfect-scientist:

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.

@partyplanningforsuckers

“Could
you?” He pressed curiously, “What like some kind of diet pills or
something?” He joked lightly and shuffled a bit, tucking his hands into
his pants.

Carlos pressed his lips together a bit in thought. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I would like to know a little bit more about your physiology to see what I can do, but of course you’ve already proven to be a challenging study. I just need to find out if there’s even a way to get a drug into your body. Your lack of blood will make it near impossible to spread.” Carlos’ gaze drifted off as he started to thin. “Hm… maybe if I give it to you in the blood, since your body seems to absorb that so easily… Hm, yes, it can be done…”

Skip blushed at all of the words and phrases that were directed towards him, for once he was going to be helped instead of shunned. Naturally he smiled eagerly and nodded, “I’d love to try anything you can think of,”

He rubbed his neck nervously, “Really, it’s such a relief to hear you want to help- thank you so much.”

Carlos looked at him, a little bit like he was pulled out of a distracted space. “Hm? Oh – oh, yeah, sure. I’m a scientist – it’s what I do.” He offered Skip a smile. “So… in the meantime, would you like to come up with your ‘act’ for this afternoon? By that, I mean demonstrating, like, different sequences in how your power works. It’ll help my research to see a few different levels of difficulty with your powers.”

He nodded and glanced over his shoulder at the other scientists, “I don’t mean to be rude but I can probably only control two to three people at my most, sorry it’s just.. Sometimes their minds really don’t want to work with me.” He looked back to Carlos, “And I’d hate to get mad at them on stage, so just two or three at most but I’d prefer to just start off with one just so the crowd gets used to the idea..” He offered, folding his hands as he thought of what else to do with these men.

Carlos nodded. “That’ll be fine,” he said. “Part of the fun is for others to watch it too. Do you think you can do it in shifts? Like, do one pair and then finish with them and do another pair?”

“Sure- why not?” He smiled and laughed lightly, but knew that this would all take a mountain of energy that he didn’t usually use. Though he was locked on I’m pressing the town, so he would give it his all. “I’ll try to do something different with every pair- how many are there?”

“Well, I think only four to six scientists will end up participating. The rest just seem pretty content with watching – stage fright, you know?” Carlos smiled at him. “You okay with all that?”

selfmedicatingmayor:

the-perfect-scientist‌:

Somewhere over there. It frustrated Carlos that Hancock couldn’t be more helpful, but really… what could he expect? But he can give it a quick look-around before pressing Hancock for details.

Carlos started to stand up to go to the indicated counter.

Fortunately, even high the ghoul had enough sense to know where he’d put something–– more or less. The addictol was in one of the drawers in the kitchen area, if Carlos were to look through them, he’d find it before too long, Hancock just wasn’t sure exactly which drawer the other should look in and he wouldn’t be any help if Carlos expected him to get up and help.

Carlos rooted through the drawers, picking up inhalers he found and reading the label. Why did Addictol inhalers have to look like damn Jet inhalers?

But finally Carlos found one that was labeled Addictol and seemed to be full. Before he turned to get back to Hancock though he had mind enough to go to the cooler and grab a can of water as well.

Carlos came back, watching his feet so he didn’t step on something and hurt himself, before he knelt back beside the couch.

“Here, Han… some Addictol,” he said, offering it to the ghoul. “Do- do you need help taking it?”