selfmedicatingmayor
replied to your post “selfmedicatingmayor
replied to your post “smol-and-passionate: I…”
//me too, I feel even worse when I accidentally do it to a dog at work lol
((at least with dogs you’re allowed to touch them and coddle them to physically reassure them you’re sorry -w-
selfmedicatingmayor
replied to your post “smol-and-passionate: I scared the hell out of my poor coworker…”
//I had a coworker who just left like a week ago who I used to accidentally do this to all the time bc she’s hard of hearing and noises get drowned out by the dogs on top of that so I’d just appear next to her to ask her something and accidentally scare her
((I feel like such a horrible person when it happens ;w;
Carlos shrugged slightly. “Maybe,” he said, though his tone suggested he didn’t think he would.
He continued to take apart the machine, putting aside parts that were usable to be cleaned and tossing broken parts into the far corner. “I’m surprised at how many of these parts survived,” he admitted. “The machine probably hadn’t been used for 200 years before we found it.”
A small frown tugged at the ghoul’s lips at Carlos’ response, but he didn’t bother trying to argue with him, simply going quiet until the other spoke up again. “Is it bad for shit to just sit unused for a long time? I don’t really know anythin’ about technology, only thing I ever really had before I took over here was a radio and anytime one died, my folks would just fork out the caps for a new one–– not that anything’s really new around here.”
“It can be bad,” Carlos said. “But it depends on the place it’s kept in, I guess. If there isn’t a lot of ventilation, then there’s less chance of weathering and less chance for things to dehydrate. That phone I tore apart had some great wires where the rubber hadn’t cracked or become brittle, which was a great find.” He glanced at Hancock. “Were your folks well off? I think it would cost quite a bit of caps…”
“Same to you,” Carlos told him, giving him a smile. He
started to shed his suit, and tried hard not to squirm under Hancock’s gaze. After what just happened, Carlos felt like he
didn’t have any right to be at all sheepish about his body. God, he had so much
hair… and he was starting to fill in again since having left the wasteland. He
was a little bit disappointed in himself.
He tried not to look at himself as he pulled off his
undershirt.
Carlos gently head-butted him. “Stop… just stop. It wasn’t
you.” Carlos didn’t wanna keep playing the ‘no, it’s my fault’ game right now,
though he was damn sure it was his own fault. He just wanted to take a time out
from the world. So instead, he smiled at Hancock. “I dunno if you’ve figured it
out, but… I really like it when you touch my hair. So I’m all for you helping
me wash it out.” He tilted his head to press a kiss to Hancock’s cheekbone,
just under his left eye.
Carlos looked at him, his eyebrows starting to scrunch together in worry. “Wha… Hancock, I didn’t want you to feel guilty!” he told the other man. “I – you don’t have to! You already do so much for me! And I wanted to do something nice for you! It’s okay, I promise.” Carlos put an arm around Hancock to pull him in for a side-hug. “I don’t want you to feel bad, Han…”
“It’s a holiday that means something to you, I should have been more on top of things. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He leaned into the hug, looping his free arm around him as well and placing a soft kiss to Carlos’ cheek. “I promise I’ll be better about these things in the future, I want ya to feel appreciated. I want you to feel like I care, cause I do. I care more about you than anyone else in this hellhole.”
Carlos put his chopsticks down into his bowl. He leaned into Hancock more, sort of cuddling up to him. “You do so much for me already, Hancock,” he said. “You basically let me live here rent free and you let me eat your food… you keep the nastier folks away from me because you know I can’t handle myself in a fight… Han, I get so much from you. Yeah, the holiday means something to me… but that was basically another life. I… I know the day doesn’t mean much to you, but I just wanted an excuse to repay you back at least some of the kindness you give me… you know?”
Carlos smiled at him again. “Well, I have a specially enchanted lock on my suitcase, and my wallet was crafted by an old Native American witch with an enchantment that allows it to bite the hand of anybody who is not its owner,” he started to explain. “Granted, it was a bit of a bitch to get that thing used to me, but once it was it works like a charm.” He looked out the windshield ahead of them. “But… all in all… I don’t think you’re a bad guy. I guess I sorta find you trustworthy. Maybe because Ham looked like a sweetheart, despite my allergy to him.”
“That’s fuckin’ hilarious, have you ever seen someone get bit by that thing?” He laughed, glancing over briefly. “Of course it’s the dog that won ya over, he wins everyone over. I appreciate you sayin’ all that, can’t say I find myself all that great a person, but I do my best, y’know? I promise I won’t steal anything from you anyway, ain’t exactly my style and I’d hate to sour your opinion of our lovely country by fuckin’ you over, heh.”
Carlos laughed. “Yeah, because the image of your country rests solely on your shoulders!” he countered. “Man, if I was that petty then that sandwich shop I would have done in my opinion. As for my wallet… unfortunately, I’ve been the only one bitten so far. And my brother too, when I forgot that it actually bit people and asked him to grab my driver’s license for me once. But actual pick-pockets, no. I guess it’s usually too far down in my pocket for any no-maj to reach. They don’t expect expanded pockets, after all…”
Carlos was surprised that Hancock was
suddenly hugging him, but after a partial moment he put his arms around the
other and held onto him, trying to breath out high-strung tension in his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to…
freak like that either. I… I shouldn’t have.
And… I shouldn’t have switched languages on you. Y-you’re right, I was
talking about myself and stuff but… I’m sorry if- if that shut you out or
something…” Carlos made a soft, pitiful sound and tried to bury his head into
Hancock’s shoulder. “My head hurts…”
“But you are smart!” Carlos insisted. “It’s no small mental feat to keep this place running! You know who’s who and where their strengths are and you know how to command respect and compliance from people, which is something I could never do. And… and I think you’re very good at reading people as well. Heh, I’m, like… pretty bad at that. I didn’t have the social development I probably should have had outside of interacting with the same forty or so people for over three decades, you know?”
“That comes along with livin’ out here for so long, ya learn to read folks and…. honestly, most of us wastelanders are pretty good manipulators, it ain’t exactly a skill I’m proud of, but it’s a necessary one.” He smiled, patting Carlos on the knee. “Anyway, the point is, I’m not offended. We’ve all got our strengths and I know you’ll catch up on the whole reading people part, it just takes a little more time bein’ out here and experiencin’ this shithole firsthand.”
Carlos shrugged slightly. “Maybe,” he said, though his tone suggested he didn’t think he would.
He continued to take apart the machine, putting aside parts that were usable to be cleaned and tossing broken parts into the far corner. “I’m surprised at how many of these parts survived,” he admitted. “The machine probably hadn’t been used for 200 years before we found it.”
Carlos nodded a bit and finally leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Hancock’s mouth. He sat back and took a deep breath before smiling again. He was trying not to cry, and it was working. Hancock was just so sweet and it touched Carlos… but he really didn’t wanna cry yet when he wasn’t even done with the presents yet.
“Um… Let’s finish eating, “ he said. “I’ve… I’ve got something else for you, but I left it in the warehouse. So… mind walking with me to go get it? After we eat?”
“There’s more?” He had a guilty look on his face, how was he supposed to keep up with that? Anything he did at this point would seem like an afterthought, like he was just trying to make it up to Carlos for being a bad partner to begin with–– at least in his mind. “I’ll–– yeah, of course I’ll come with you. I hope you didn’t go overboard though, I’m already feelin’ pretty guilty about not doing anything for you.”
Carlos looked at him, his eyebrows starting to scrunch together in worry. “Wha… Hancock, I didn’t want you to feel guilty!” he told the other man. “I – you don’t have to! You already do so much for me! And I wanted to do something nice for you! It’s okay, I promise.” Carlos put an arm around Hancock to pull him in for a side-hug. “I don’t wan’t you to feel bad, Han…”
The Perfect Scientist 