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Cecil walked lazily out of the studio doors to his car, hoping that his date with Carlos wouldn’t be too strenuous. He was guilty to admit that he’d almost rather just sleep than go out for government-mandated pizza tonight.
When he pulled up at Carlos’s apartment he forgot all about his stressful day and practically leaped out of the car and through the apartment door. He smiled to himself and let out a soft sigh of pleasure.
“Carlooooos…” he called when the scientist didn’t answer the door after about the 5th knock. “Carlos, darling, are you home?” He knew he was home. His car was in the driveway and the lamp that Cecil had picked out for him when shopping together was on. Obviously Carlos wouldn’t be out walking at this time of night, with the hooded figures and such.
He let out a breath, half nervous of what could’ve happened to the love of his life, and half annoyed that he drove all the way over for their date and Carlos didn’t have the decency to even come to the door. I mean, since science was obviously more important than him… why did Carlos just take science’s virginity? I’m sure he’d find that much more enjoyable. I mean, maybe Cecil was awkward and talked about personal stuff on the radio (only sometimes) and he was dramatic about most things. But really Carlos could at least answer the door. Damn.
The radio host decided to push those emotions out of his mind and bent down to find the spare key, he knew was hidden somewhere under the mat. He fumbled around a little trying to get the key in the door, but eventually succeeded and slowly pushed open the door.
When he got inside he was staring at a sobbing lump of blankets lying in the middle of a tacky orange couch. It took him half a second to process and then threw himself at the heap of blankets.
“Carlos! Oh my beautiful Carlos! What’s the matter? What’s happened to you?” Cried Cecil. Now that he was thinking of it… it was the first time he’d ever seen Carlos cry. Carlos had seen him cry lots of times before and comforted him lots of times before. Now Cecil had to be the good boy friend. All three of his eyes were starting to tear up at the sorry sight, as he peeled back the blankets to find his sweaty, sobbing, and somehow still the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen.
“I-I…. he’s…. g-gone…” Carlos stuttered, his voice shaking and cracking.
“Who, Carlos?” He inquired, but then realized the scientist was too choked up to speak. He hesitated a moment, not entirely sure what to do in this situation. “Sweetie calm down. It’s ok, just come here. You’ll be ok love.” He patted his lap, inviting the other to rest his head. The scientist laid his head into Cecil’s lap and sniffled, struggling to gain control. Cecil petted his hair and leaned over to press a soft kiss to his cheek. He felt Carlos relax a little and take a deep, shaky breath.
“My brother. He was in a car accident and he’s dead. I’ll never see him again.” He looked suddenly panicked, as if he just came to this realization, and started breathing harder and sporadically, as if having an anxiety attack.
Cecil was so used to people on Nightvale dying it barely fazed him. Everyday someone he knew died. He’d lost so many interns it had become a regular occurrence and was no longer upsetting. But, seeing Carlos so torn up like, and so like his usually scientific and mechanical self, made his heart ache. He didn’t know how to handle it so he just kept repeating over and over, “shhh…. shhh…. It’ll be ok my love. I’ve got you. We can get through this together. “
He’s not sure exactly how long they sat there, but when he realized that they were still on his couch the next morning, he saw that Carlos had finally stopped bawling and was sweetly and evenly breathing in his sleep. Cecil slipped slowly put from under him and carefully from under him and tucked him in to the blankets. He kissed him, brushed his tear-stained cheeks, and smiled silently to himself, admiring Carlos’s beauty.
“You must be starving!” Cecil said when he remembered that neither of them ate last night, and he wondered how long it had been since Carlos had last eaten.
He scurried into the kitchen, looking through the cabinets for food and scowling at what Carlos’s diet must be. The most appetizing thing he found was a half empty box of gluten free mac and cheese. He settled on that, cooked it, and put it on the flimsy paper plates he found on the counter.
Carlos had already woken up by the time he got back to the couch. He looked dazed and confused. His eyes were red and his hair was a gorgeous mess. Cecil held the plate of mac and cheese out to him.
“I made you something, darling. Sit up and eat so you won’t starve to death!” He brushed his brunette hair back and helped him sit, so he could lean on Cecil.
Carlos just made a muffled grunt and didn’t follow Cecil’s lead in eating. He started to slide down so he was lying in Cecil’s lap again.
“Oh no you don’t, Mister,” Cecil said pulling him up and holding Carlos to face him. He put his own dish down and taking the other to feed Carlos. He swore he’d get him to eat one way or another.
After getting him to eat a few bites he figured he’d better not force it, and put the plate back down to kiss Carlos all over his face, and wiped the tears reforming in his perfect, brown, eyes.
"I'm sorry I ruined our date," Carlos looked and sounded miserable.
"Carlos, you never have to apologize. I love spending any kind of time with you at all. No matter what kind of state either of us is in. I love you."
After a few moments of only semi awkward silence Cecil took a deep breath and said, “Oh, beautiful, perfect Carlos, I wish I could be in pain instead of you. My heart feels like it has been sucked into the void, eaten by a venomous piranha, and placed back into my aching carcass.” This made Carlos offer a weak, half-hearted smile, because he sounded so sincere and that, in its own twisted way, was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to him.
Carlos buried his head into Cecil’s strong chest and sighed, shakily, “I love you, too, Cecil.”