“Well,
you won’t have to think about that for a while yet,” Carlos told him,
turning his head up to look at him with a smile. “You’re one of the best
things that has every happened to me, and I’m not going to let you go
if I can help it.”
“We find a way to make you like this and I won’t ever have to think about it.” He joked, a small smile on his face. “You’re wonderful, y’know that? Just the most amazing man I’ve ever met. You’re perfect, sunshine.”
Wait,
was that a joke? Was Hancock joking? It sounded like it, but Carlos
honestly couldn’t tell. He sometimes thought about the fact that the
ghoul was technically immortal and he wondered – genuinely wondered –
what was going to happen to them in the long run.
But to Hancock’s face, Carlos didn’t like thinking about it because it was a problem he couldn’t fix.
“How’s
about a date tonight?” Carlos suddenly asked. “I was gonna ask about
it, but then we got to discussing over who’s perfect and beautiful.”
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.”
“We’ll see, I s’pose. Puns ain’t exactly my favorite form of humor, but that’s alright, I like ya well enough to overlook that.” He winked. “You get a lotta groans from folks for jokin’ around? Why is that? People in the states don’t like to laugh or something?”
Carlos chuckled. “Nah, nah, it’s just… I said them so often. I’d be met with a unanimous groaning of ‘Carlos…’ if it was a particularly bad one. My classmates often found them pretty… punishing.”
Carlos smiled and nodded. “I wonder if we can warm up something to drink…” They had already eaten the noodle bowls, of course, but being outside did chase away some of the warmth. How did mutfruit juice taste warm? Would it be like cider, or just yucky?
“I got coffee, that work for you? It’s uh…. it’s pretty old, but it ain’t bad, as far as I know.” With a smile, Hancock looped his arm in the other man’s and tugged him gently toward the door. “Think I read they used to drink hot chocolate before the war? I don’t even really know how that works, but I guess we don’t have nearly the same resources, heh. I don’t actually know what real chocolate even tastes like, I’ve only had like chocolate snack cakes and cereal and junk, I doubt that’s the same.”
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?”
Carlos looked around. The drawer? Which drawer? Wait – Hancock shouldn’t be going to sleep! “Han, s- please, stay with me. Which
drawer? Which dresser are we talking – where you usually keep your
drugs? I need to know, Han, okay? I- I’m trying to help you…”
Should
he shout out for help? Hancock might not like anyone seeing him like
this, but Carlos was worried he couldn’t take care of everything
himself.
Oh God, this was all his fault wasn’t it? If he had
just stayed inside – even slept on the couch – then he could have kept
an eye on Hancock and this wouldn’t have happened!
He let out a low hum, a frown crossing his face as he tried to think. Everything was so foggy and distant now and some small part of him recognized the fear and urgency in Carlos’ voice, but he didn’t have the energy to put together why the other might be so worried.
“Kitchen?” The ghoul more asked than answered, dark eyes opening slightly in a squint as he glanced over at the kitchen counter across the room. “S’over there somewhere.”
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.
Carlos huffed softly in amusement. Hancock was like a cat – just wanting all of Carlos’ warmth, it seemed. “It’s okay… because we’re together now, right? That’s all that matters.”
Carlos was saying this like they might be together forever. Relationships sometimes ended, he realized, but right now he didn’t see this one ending. He was pretty damn happy.
“That’s right, nothin’ else matters.” He purred, peppering a few kisses along Carlos’ neck. He was getting tired sitting there like that just soaking up the other man’s warmth and affection and he hugged him tighter, letting out a sleepy, contented sigh against his neck. “Never thought I could be so happy, y’know? You make life worth livin’, sunshine. Dunno how I ever got by without ya.”
Carlos grinned at him. “You say the sweetest things,” he cooed. He pressed a kiss to the top of Hancock’s head and held him. “You sound tired… do you wanna lay down and have a nap?” What was unsaid was that Carlos intended to join him – Hancock seemed perfectly happy with him there after all.
“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.”
“Heh, can’t say I’ve never run on a broken leg, actually.” He shrugged, a small smile on his face as he sat back to lean against the couch and watch more comfortably. “So these things know something’s up but don’t quit despite that? I had no idea.”
Carlos looked at Hancock in curiosity. He sort of wanted to hear that story. But to answer his question…
“Well, they’re usually programmed to detect errors and tell you about it,” Carlos told him. “But machines do what they’re told to do despite everything. It’s really only their physical capacity that might stop them, like shutting down when it gets overheated.”
Carlos smiled. He felt unable to look into Hancock’s eyes, so he leaned in to nuzzle into his shoulder. “You’re too much,” he murmured softly, feeling slightly embarrassed but happy at the same time.
“You love it.” He purred, turning his head to nuzzle his hair and press a little kiss to the top of his head. “You’re the best thing in my life, y’know? I never thought I’d have anyone like you and now that I have you, I’m not sure what I’d do without ya.”
“Well,
you won’t have to think about that for a while yet,” Carlos told him,
turning his head up to look at him with a smile. “You’re one of the best
things that has every happened to me, and I’m not going to let you go
if I can help it.”
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.”
“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.”
The Perfect Scientist 