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[youbarium]

Who| Carlos and anyone
What| He's been a sad scientist lately, and a reclusive scientist, and an obsessive scientist. He is a scientist who is bad at remembering that he has friends, and he can do things with friends, and that the world does not revolve around memorizing a blueprint.
Where| The coffee place on the ground floor of the Tribute Center.
When| Late this week/possibly this weekend, any time you feel like finding him
Warnings/Notes| None so far.

I almost have it. I almost have it. Just a few more days, and I'll be able to recreate the blueprint completely accurately.

Carlos can't make an actual recording of his progress, since the Capitol would both confiscate his recording device and record him making the recording itself, but that doesn't mean he can't pretend to take voice notes in his head.

Steve, Tony, and Bruce have been a huge help. Steve especially. Between the three of us, I'm sure we can reverse-engineer this machine.

He sits at a small table, hair artistically mussed and one shoe half-untied, and sips a cup of coffee. The steam makes his glasses fog up, but he only seems to notice so much. That is, he is repeating a cycle of actions: he takes a sip, his glasses fog up. He wipes the lenses with the sleeve of his lab coat, and sips again. He does not seem to get agitated, nor does he seem to realize that he could avoid this by removing his glasses. He just repeats the motions again and again, too lost in thought to take any further action.

I'll be ready when I go to District 13. If I go to District 13.

Comments

[silberfuchs]

"Is this where you've been hiding?" Albert slides into the seat across from Carlos, the warmth of his own disposable cup lost on metal hands. He wears gloves and long sleeves to hide them, though he needn't bother. It's not like anyone doesn't know he's a cyborg, but old habits die hard.

"I haven't seen you in over a week."

[youbarium]

Carlos almost looks startled -- like he hadn't expected to be pulled from his thoughts.

"Not exactly," he says. "I've been out of the Tribute Center a lot lately. There's just so much more to do out in the Capitol."

Not the whole truth, but not a lie. Carlos is done with lying.

[silberfuchs]

"There is, true, but wouldn't it be a bit more entertaining with friends? I owe you a favor as it is." He knows Carlos means rebellion work, nothing so innocent as enjoying the Capitol's pleasures, but if the pall that hangs around his friend is any indication, Carlos needs a break from that too. A break in general or he'll burn himself out.

"It's too early for a bar," meaning, too early for them. It seems as if the bars never actually close in the Capitol. Hedonists. "But is there anything else you'd like to do? Something that has no real meaning, just... fun."

He phrases it that way hoping Carlos will catch his drift.

[youbarium]

Carlos looks at Albert blankly for a few moments. Then, understanding kicks in. Visibly. The moment Carlos's brain actually gets into gear can be seen on his face.

Oh, he realizes. He wants to hang out.

"Uh..." Carlos begins, awkwardly. "I -- I don't have anything in mind." He opens his mouth to say, really, I shouldn't, but Carlos realizes in time that he can't explain in front of the cameras that he is obsessively memorizing a blueprint to the device that brought the Tributes to the Capitol, and barring that, he doesn't really have an excuse not to hang out with Albert.

[silberfuchs]

"There's a zoo." He shrugs. "Or museums. Or even just the park for a walk. You look as if you haven't seen the outside in some time so my vote is the first or last, if you need help narrowing it down, but if you'd rather a museum at least it's out."

Albert sips his coffee, looking a bit closer at Carlos. He looks tired, stressed, weighed down in a way that is to be expected given their circumstances but Albert learned long ago that wallowing in that pressure is the fastest way to burn out. It's the last thing he wants to see happen to Carlos.

[youbarium]

"It doesn't have to be a museum," Carlos admits. "My first Arena was a museum, and it's been kind of hard to go into them since. Actually, the only time I did was -- was with Cecil."

His voice is almost, almost neutral. Almost natural. His next words almost aren't too quick.

"The zoo is fine."

[silberfuchs]

"Ah, I didn't know you came in during that one. That was my first as well." He hadn't been in it long enough to really develop any feelings on museums he didn't have already. As for Cecil, it's difficult to discuss because of the uncertainty and he can tell it's not something Carlos wants to talk about, at least not right now.

"Alright, the zoo then." He stands from the table, giving Carlos an out from the topic of Cecil and expecting him to follow suit. "I'm hoping they have an aviary, personally."

[gardienne]

"I thought you'd gone home, Sir." Eponine, sweaty faced and a little smelly, paused next to Carlos. For once in her life, she had been training.

"I have not seen you in ages. I am glad you are still here."

[youbarium]

Oh, it's her! Carlos hasn't seen her around in a while, either.

"Hi, Eponine," he says, letting his mug of coffee rest on the table as his glasses un-fog. "Yeah, I'm still here." He gives her a half-hearted smile. "What do you know?"

The attempt at cheer is half-hearted.

"At least it's better than being dead."

[gardienne]

"I am glad, really." She slips into the seat opposite him. "I know that is selfish of me, but... it is nice to have such a handsome face to see." She laughs - but she's not joking either. Just seeing nice men makes Eponine a little bit happy.
"What have you been doing, Sir?"

[youbarium]

"Uhhh..." With any luck, the Capitolites monitoring the cameras will take Carlos's awkward moment of hesitation as embarrassment about being called handsome and not a sudden panic to find an explanation he could give Eponine that is not trying to reconstruct the device that brought us here. "...I've been doing science, Eponine. Of course I've been doing science. I'm a scientist."

[gardienne]

"I know you are." Eponine smiles warmly. "You cured my tuberculosis, yes? Have you been doing that? Curing sickness? You know, you must be so careful. I do not want you to die."

It's a thinly veiled warning, either, but definitely not something she could be pulled up about, and Eponine is quite proud of herself for thinking of it.

[youbarium]

He breathes out a sigh.

"No," Carlos admits with genuine sadness. "They haven't let me do any science since the outbreaks. They arrested me instead." His tone is longsuffering but completely casual; he might as well have been talking about being passed up for promotion.

It's kind that she's concerned about him, though. It was a well-delivered warning; it's good to see Eponine navigating the dangerous waters of a heavily surveilled totalitarian dictatorship.

[pythianjudgment]

When you've spent as much time lying around in a bed as Terezi has this past week, you start craving attention and excitement and drama. And there is nothing more dramatic or exciting than building a can-sized depiction of a small metropolis. At least, that's her intent when she goes to find Dave and drag him to one of the somewhat unused corners of the Tribute Tower. "Taking it easy" isn't one of Terezi's fortes, but she's pretty sure that building a can town would fall under acceptable activities.

When she catches Carlos's scent, Terezi lingers by the entrance to the coffee place and waves Dave over with one hand and a 'shh' motion. The scientist seems fully absorbed in whatever he happens to be thinking about, which obviously means that they need to disturb him in some manner. Equally obvious is that this is the perfect place to build their metropolis.

"How long do you think it would take for him to notice us?" she whispers conspiratorially.

[shenunigans]

Dave isn't around to nag. Not at all. He isn't hovering around Terezi to make sure she isn't rebreaking any ribs or bleeding out. Not at all. He knows she's competent and tough as hell, but he also knows she pushes herself too damn hard and needs to take it easy. When the Can Town initiative is brought up, he thinks it sounds like a good fucking idea. Not too intensive because it's a chill as hell thing to be doing. Plus, y'know, enough time has passed that it doesn't bring miserable amounts of nostalgia.

Naturally, he's the one roped into carrying the shit here, he has a backpack full of chalk and cans and a head full of empty when he's waved over. He heeds the warning to be silent, leaning his head past her shoulder curiously and laying his eyes on their target. Poor guy looks a little wrecked, but for understandable reasons. There's nothing malicious about fooling around with him, Dave thinks, so he nods along.

"I bet you five asses that it'll take him at least, roughly six minutes and thirty five seconds." He means Assi, of course, and that's not a vague guess. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Inspector?"

[youbarium]

Carlos is oblivious. It's not that he doesn't know there are people around him. Objectively, he does. He knows, in a distant way, that the Tribute Center isn't empty, and that there are other people here getting coffee.

It's just that his undivided attention is on whatever is going on in his head.

Start the clock, Dave.

[pythianjudgment]

He doesn't look up, even with them whispering about him. Not that she thinks humans can hear that well, but most of them at least have a rudimentary awareness for their surroundings. She is just going to chalk it up to the poor survival instinct of scientists.

"Ten asses, eight minutes, and you're on." She cheerfully snatches a few cans out of his backpack to get started with.

[shenunigans]

It's definitely a scientist thing, or at least, a Carlos thing. Dave is sure he'd have been kicking some bratty kid ass by this point, so he must really be in his own world.

"Right, well. I'm thinking we start with a school, I'm sure the scientist agrees." He glances toward Carlos, wondering if the 's' word will wake him up. When it doesn't appear to, he reaches for the chalk, starting to shape out the green surroundings of where the building ought to be.

[youbarium]

It takes seven minutes and seventeen seconds, just in case anyone's counting, for Carlos to stir, blinking three or four times, and start to look around him.

"Dave?" he asks. "Terezi? ...what are you doing?"

[seestheman]

There's something about Carlos's behavior that's strangely familiar to Clara. Okay, it isn't exactly the same, but it's somewhat close to watching Alex try to think his way through some roadblock in a case back home. Close enough that she feels guilty for trying to break his concentration.

If he gives her shit about it later, she'll just point out that the Capitol might be suspicious that he looks so deep in thought with nothing but a cup of coffee.

"So this is where you've been hiding out."

[youbarium]

It takes Carlos a moment to realize he's being addressed. He realizes it abruptly; he suddenly sits up straighter, puts his coffee down, and looks around.

"--I'm sorry, Clara, I didn't realize you were talking to me."

(None of the seats around him are occupied.)

[seestheman]

That get a skeptical look from Clara. Seriously? Though, maybe she shouldn't be surprised. For all that Carlos may be a brilliant scientist, he doesn't seem all that perceptive.

"Considering the crowd of people we know that we're surrounded by, who could blame you for being surprised?" Sometimes a little bit of snark is needed in these situations.

[youbarium]

Carlos registers the empty chairs and the sarcasm, and lets out a long breath, running his hands through his hair.

"Sorry, I guess I was kind of lost in thought."

He doesn't look unhappy to see her, far from it -- just a little tired, and like he's held onto a lot of worry for a long time. He gestures toward the chair across from him, a clear invitation to sit down. Carlos presumes she's come here to talk, and she has every right to. Besides, he feels a little bad for accidentally ignoring her.

"But I promise, I wasn't hiding." Implied in that is: I wasn't avoiding you. Not on purpose.

[seestheman]

"Really? I couldn't tell." Her sarcasm has no bite to it that time, as if it's more good-natured teasing than anything else as she sits down across from him.

Clara gives him a small nod. As much as she'd like to believe that, she has a hard time doing so. After all the only people who'd probably have a better reason than him to hide from her would be Black Tom (who she really wish would do so, if only so she wouldn't have to see him around their floor) and maybe Alex. "It's okay. Sometimes we need an escape, especially considering who we share a floor with. So then, penny for your thoughts?"

[youbarium]

He hesitates.

Carlos can't give her his actual thoughts -- they're worth much more than a penny, especially to the Capitol, and he doesn't want to lie about what he was thinking about. Carlos doesn't want to lie at all anymore, if he can help it.

But he can talk about hiding, and maybe reasons for hiding.

A deep breath.

"Please don't feel bad about what happened in the Arena," is what finally comes out. "I'm sorry it ended that way. It can't have been easy for you."