Work Text:
Destiny is a peculiar thing. Only eight years of life and already Earl Harlan knew this. He knew he was destined to become a great scoutmaster someday, whether he liked it or not. Not that he minded, being raised on the wonderful tasks all scouts have to endure he understood how nature was great and large and beautiful and that it was his responsibility to teach about and protect it. He knew that the government controlled all destinies of Nightvale citizens, but for once he just wanted to be able to make a decision that would surprise them. Become a doctor, or an astronaut instead of a boy scout troop leader. Fall in love and stay in love with someone besides whoever they had picked out as his eternal soul mate. To rebel, was his greatest wish.
-----------
On a sunny morning in early september, Earl Harlan began to teach a group of new scouts as he himself had reached the ranking of ‘weird scout’. Aged at twelve and a half, the freckled child began to lead the new cub scouts, all generally around five and six. Except one, who was older than any cub scout Earl had seen.
“Hi,” Was all he managed to squeak out, intimidated by the older boy.
Earl received a sideways yet angered glance from the cub scout and the weird scout swallowed, taking in this obviously annoyed boy. White hair that blazed so bright in the sun it reflected the purple of the scout uniforms surrounding the two. His skin was deep tan over his whole body, aside from the puffed skin of his forehead, which bled into a silvery color that shimmered whenever he turned. Looks like someone was growing a third eye, which meant he must be a very important being. To Earl’s dismay he hadn’t grown a third, which meant he wasn’t as important as he’d thought, but sometimes the adults would murmur about the colors of his eyes signifying some sort of bad omen. Earl didn’t worry about it too much, but sometimes it felt like people didn’t like him because of these things the grownups would say.
Trying again, Earl said, “Welcome to the scouts! I’m your temporary scout leader, Earl Harlan!” He held out a creamy near white hand that the other boy seemed to shrug off, then a sort of realization spread over his face.
“Are you talking to me?” The boy asked with a sort of embarrassment about him. He seemed extremely uncomfortable to be there, being so much older than everyone else.
“Well...yeah of course I am.” Earl gave a half smile and pressed his hand forward once more. “What’s your name?”
Almost cautiously, the scout smiled back and took the freckled hand offered to him. “I’m Cecil. Cecil Gershwin Palmer.”
Earl felt his body growing warm all over at the touch and his smile broadened generously, shaking the hand. “Well Cecil Gershwin Palmer, it’s nice to meet you.”
When the handshake was through, their fingers seemed to linger together for just a moment longer than would be considered normal and when they finally let go with adolescent awkwardness the heat still warmed him inside and out.
“I’m sure you don’t want to hear this but...aren’t you a little old to be a cub scout? What made you decide to join?”
Cecil cringed. “It’s kind of silly…”
“I promise not to laugh, anyone willing to start scouting no matter what their age is no laughing matter. I have full respect for every scout.”
The expression on Cecil’s face became difficult to read, but hinted slight unease as he spoke. “Well...I’m destined to become the new radio host someday, y’know to take over for Leonard Burton? And I recently found out when he was a kid he was in scouts and there appeared to be no age limit on joining. So I thought why not?”
Earl remembered reading about him in the newspaper a few weeks back and gave a fond grin full of teeth that could use braces but were also just fine the way they were. No wonder this kid was sporting a third eye, replacing a man as powerful as Leonard Burton was a big job, which in turn made Earl feel almost equally important since he would be training him.
“Well...today’s session is already done but if you’d like...we can work extra on your training if you’d like so you can push ahead faster. It’s not like I have anything else to be doing right now…”
He shook his head and Cecil thanked him anyways, tromping off home, leaving Earl for the first, and most certainly not the last time.
-----------
In the crisp heat of day of the small desert community, fifteen year old boy scout Earl Harlan sat trying his hardest to enjoy a personal sized tub of gecko and cherry ice cream. The sun beat on him and he could feel his pale skin crisping up as he absentmindedly picked at his heated red forearms. His gaze wandered the scenery and practiced his telepathy which at the moment was poor and no where near badge worthy. The middle aged woman standing by the entrance of the Ralph’s was definitely thinking about something that could get her re-educated but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
Earl strained and peered from mismatched eyes at the woman, only picking up that whatever she was thinking had to do with wings and had many, many eyes. His concentration was so focused on trying to get into this woman’s mind that he hadn’t realized someone had plopped down next to him on the curb, beginning to share his frozen treat.
Frustrated by the lack of telepathic ability currently handicapped by bitter remorse, the redhead decided to take a break for the time being and try again later. A tanned arm stuck its hand into the container resting in his lap and pulled out the last cherry flavored gecko head, dripping creamy pink dessert from its nose.
“Cecil!” The scout exclaimed at his best friend who crunched on the head and sucked the melty ice cream from his greedy fingers. “How long have you been sitting here?”
“Long enough to finish your ice cream,” the soon-to-be radio host said in a playful yet empty voice. Something had gone wrong.
“How...How did it go…?” Earl asked with caution, knowing whatever the response was wouldn’t be positive.
Cecil’s eyes clouded over and he turned his face downward into his lap where he wouldn’t look at Earl, as if Earl was the one who hurt him.
“He thought I was weird,” came the wounded response.
“You? I mean I know you aren’t exactly perfect, but who is? Besides Marcus Vansten of course…”
“I was really, really looking forward to that stupid date…” Cecil said, half ignoring Earl’s plea to help. His face turned soft in an unpleasant sadness for an instant, then roughened and he sneered. “What a...What a jerk!” His eyes burned a white flame and the third eye resting over his forehead peeked open in curiosity of what had perturbed its owner.
Earl was ashamed of the hope that rose from his belly to his throat at the prospect of Cecil hating his now ex-crush.
“I told you that guy was trouble…”
“I mean all he did was talk about politics and conspiracy theories! And then he insulted Leonard Burton! I hope he gets throat spiders…”
Normally Earl would agree immediately with him in a heartbeat, he’d never liked that Steve Carlsburg (not that his dislike had anything to do with Cecil’s infatuation with the stringbean of a boy of course), but after catching the throat spiders in the fifth grade he wouldn’t wish that disease on even his worst enemy. Instead of blindly approving of Cecil’s opinion like normal, he decided it would be a good idea to distract him.
“Well don’t think about him, he’s kind of a loser anyways, yeah?” Earl glanced at the ice cream container. Empty. “We can get more ice cream?”
“No way!” Those white eyes were filled with fury, and the dreadnaught scout had a feeling the anger was aimed more towards the insult at Cecil’s idol than his apparent ‘weirdness’. “I’m not going to cry and eat ice cream like some pitiful boy scout trying to earn his ‘Crying-while-eating-ice-cream badge’!”
The redhead winced at the exclamation against the badge, which he attempted to cover nonchalantly by placing his hand over where it was sewn into his pale sash. He decided not to say anything about it and instead fumbled with the eye fastener holding up his purple tie.
Realizing his rudeness, Cecil gave a sheepish look.
“Sorry that was…”
“It’s okay,” Earl murmured, pulling his hand from his sash and tossing the container at a passing hooded figure who gave the most joyful expression a faceless being could possibly give. As the figure began performing rituals unfit for human eyes upon the garbage, Earl turned away and looked back at his best friend.
Nervously, he slipped his fingers onto the sixteen year old’s opposing shoulder and pulled him close.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” Earl lied.
“Sigh...Yeah.”
Cecil thought for an impossibly long moment as Earl’s heart raced a marathon from the body pressed close to his side. Eventually his hand became too clammy not to wipe off and he pulled it away to rub on his purple shorts that laid just above his scraped knees.
“I think I’m going to go home…” Cecil muttered to Earl’s disappointment. “Sleepover at my house tonight?”
With a smile, Earl nodded.
“Of course.”
-----------
When Earl and Cecil were on the early side of seventeen and nineteen respectively, a new import had been introduced to the town, and Cecil was eager to try it with his best friend. Sitting in the backyard of Cecil’s fenced in house, the pair sat cross legged in the grass and talked about everything they could ever speak to one another about, using this product. Cigarettes they were called, and though Earl coughed through them, the calm of the deep night sky was enhanced by these burning, smoking sticks. A breeze ruffled through the yard and swirled the slight overgrowth of choppy cayenne hair around his ears. Just as Burton had foretold in the Community Calender, time was growing to a standstill, this Friday night was supposed to last for twenty four extra hours and Earl couldn’t have asked for anything more.
The sun, bright and hot sunk beyond the horizon and the great void ate the blue parts of the sky, revealing the swirling opaque night. As the world around them blackened the breeze went slack, the rustling of wind snaking through grass ceased and the drip of the beginning of a light rain paused in the air like diamonds.
And everything was perfect.
Earl rested on his back, setting his palms folded behind his head with Cecil laying next to him, recently tattooed arms straight against the frozen grass. It was a pleasant silence for a while, nothing more than the infrequent exhale coming from Cecil who pushed the smoke from between his teeth and watched it stiffen in large clouds in front of his eyes.
“You don’t want anymore?” The radio assistant took another drag before stubbing it out in the weeds.
Earl shook his head. “Not really...They’re making me sick I think.”
Cecil shrugged and lit another, growing the cloud above him. “I like how they smell.”
Eventually the pair lost track of how long they had been laying there listening to Cecil breath in and out heavily. He gazed sleepily at the white smoke swirled in front of him and pawed it away. Earl watched it glide across the yard, the sphere knocked a few suspended rain drops out of the way and stopped when it hit the fence.
It was quiet again and Earl began to grow antsy of the stillness.
“Do you ever wonder what those things are?” Earl inquired, partially to Cecil, partially to the stars themselves. “Why are they there? How big are they? What is keeping them from falling on us? What lies beyond the void? What is keeping us from falling in?”
It was quiet for a while longer as they dwelt on these ideas, thought of the different possibilities and imagined what it would be like to fall in. What was that big void like anyways? And where did it come from?
“I’m terrified, let’s stop.”
“Yeah okay.”
Earl was still for another twenty minutes, then rolled over to face Cecil, his eyes drooping from both sleep deprivation and the euphoric properties the drug had brought him. They both stank of nicotine and bug spray.
“Cecil?”
“Yeah?”
“I really love you.”
Quiet.
“I really love you too.”
“I’m really glad.”
The silence then was only broken by their gentle breathing, or the somewhat frequent wild dog that would howl, then silence, howl, then silence. And it was in this moment that Earl admitted to himself that he didn’t just really love Cecil, he was just really in love with Cecil.
And he was happy.
-----------
It was a cool afternoon and though people told Earl he should be ashamed to be nineteen and still riding around on a bicycle, he was too ecstatic to be embarrassed. After three, dreadfully long months without a best friend, Cecil had finally come home from his backpacking trip across Europe. The breeze rushed through his tangled mess of paprika colored hair as he pedaled as fast as his thin yet muscular legs could take him. This was how he wanted to feel all the time. Filled with joy and constantly soaring into places he desperately wanted to be, full of a life he had come to love as a Boy Scout and best friend and son. He wanted to keep pedaling, pedal through the sand wastes and through Desert Bluffs and through whatever might lie beyond that until he felt too free, too alive. He wanted to do all of this and- SHIT! Missing a car by no more than a centimeter, Earl reminded himself of where he was, which was unfortunately not the celestial-like day-dream he had been having. Only crashing and toppling a few times with minimum bandage requirement, Earl eventually made it to Cecil’s house. The brick building had been empty of anyone but Cecil himself since he was around fifteen, but somehow the bills were always paid and there was always food stocking the cupboards though the radio intern earned no income.
When he pushed up the long twisting driveway it took everything he had not to throw his bike carelessly into the grass and burst full force into the front door. Earl took care to set his bike nicely on the kickstand and as he passed the lavender mailbox, marked in traditional porpoise blood “Palmer” of course, he noticed that Cecil’s Kia Provo was not parked in the blatantly open garage. Had he been home and then gone somewhere else? They had agreed to meet at Cecil’s...right?
Earl absently nibbled his stubby bloody nails and thought about different scenarios that could have led up to this. He deduced that Cecil probably suspected Earl would be late and decided to run to the store and...no that didn’t make sense, Earl’s sense of time always made him just a few minutes ahead of schedule earning him the nickname of ‘Earl-y Bird’ from Cecil, which always made his cheeks pink with affectionate embarrassment.
The answer became clear when Earl wandered up the steps of the creaky wooden porch and he spotted the clean piece of paper fastened to the door with double sided tape. The flying feeling from earlier now reversed itself as he read, his stomach became the void of the night sky that held a dark heaviness and anchored his feet to the ground. Wide eyes full of terror scanned the single slip of Manila paper and inside his body Earl felt the fear consume his joy like a serpent poisoning its prey. He wasn’t sure what to do, much less how to react. As quickly as he could he scrambled back to his bike, dropping the cream colored sheet marked with a red stamp: “NOTICE OF RE-EDUCATION”
Fueled by nothing more than the blind hope that Cecil was alright, or at least... mostly alright, Earl pedaled at warp speed, wishing he had earned the highest badge in bike riding instead of settling for only intermediate guava biking. The hot burn against his eyes made it difficult to concentrate on getting to the re-education facility downtown and he had to force himself not to tear up and cry. Any sort of negative feeling would be poor for Cecil’s mental well being, depending on what he had forgotten. The only thing Earl could envision Cecil forgetting was his best friend. His insides trembled as he imagined coming to retrieve his friend and long time crush only to hear Cecil whisper a pained, “Do I…Do I know you?” The burning returned to his eyes and threatened tears which he choked down once more.
The clinic was not far now and Earl found himself slowing more and more the closer he approached. What if his normally pointless fears were true this time? If Cecil didn’t recognize him he would surely break down in front of him which would alter Cecil’s brain to become depressed. He had to be strong, he had to be brave and smile for his friend, put on a show if necessary. He could...no he would do it for Cecil. If his interior was caving in on itself because his only friend was taken from him, if it was making him feel like he was a piece of glass shattering, his exterior would be beaming and loving and careful to handle the emotions of others.
Of course, the Sheriff’s Secret Police had already alerted the re-education center that Earl was coming to pick up Cecil and so the white haired boy was already sitting on the front step, awaiting his ride home. Earl’s breath cut off in his throat as Cecil’s blank slate eyes drifted towards him and waited. Those eyes that normally looked as lustrous and alluring and downright unreal as fairy tale books depicted snow now held a dusty cobweb coloring. A large square bandage was sealed over his third eye and a swirl of rust colored blood was dried at either corner of his wet mouth. His lips were cracked and peeling, glossy with a dribble of pink spit.
“Early Bird, you’re late,” Cecil half smiled while rubbing his right eye with the back of his hand.
Under normal circumstances Earl would have blushed and socked his best friend in the arm, playfully of course. However given what...well whatever had happened to Cecil had happened, Earl just hugged him, careful of any injuries he’d gained.
He didn’t say a word, simply held onto him and let the relief wash him over in a storm that was difficult to contain. There was no movement or sounds for the next few moments, just the exhilarating feeling of sweet solace that Earl had not become nothing more than a stolen memory and that he still meant something, still mattered. Cecil seemed to at least partially understand what was going on, to which he turned his head and pressed a kiss to Earl’s cheek that meant nothing more than ‘I’m so very glad you are here and alive’.
Finally pulling back, the scout kept a hand on his friend’s shoulder and looked him over again.
“We should take you home, I’ll make you something to eat?”
Cecil gave a small, near confused nod and lifted his eyes up again as if he didn’t quite understand. Earl knew this was a side effect of re-education and ruled it out as at least slightly harmless. He turned around and crouched down, band-aid covered knees bent in front of Cecil as he gestured for the fragile boy to come forward. After the information took a longer than normal moment to process, he climbed onto Earl’s back. With a deep breath the freckled boy stood while mentally patting himself on the back for having enough sense to earn his ‘piggybacking-a-re-educated-young-adult’ badge. Sometimes he suspected badges were made up specifically for whatever the SSP knew he would need in the future.
Holding on to Cecil with utmost care he trekked back to the house, not giving a pteranodon’s left wing about his abandoned bike. Along the way he said nothing to Cecil, only let him peer about the neighborhood and it gave him time to think about what could be missing from his friend’s memory now.
He approached the front door and noticed the Kia parked in the driveway once more. Earl glanced behind him, giving a small nudge to Cecil, who had fallen asleep.
“Hey buddy, we’re home.” he whispered fondly at the limp boy on his back.
Cecil stirred and very gradually woke up, Earl patiently waiting while his knees wobbled from the weight slumped against his back. The radio host in-training gazed at the homely appearance and aura the house emitted, an even more confused look plastered along his face.
“Is this your house? I thought you lived with the scoutmasters.”
Concern flooded Earl’s mind as he jostled the doorknob. It didn’t open and near frantically, he pulled vigorously on it. This had to be a joke, why would the city take his home from him why would-
“Earl did you try pushing instead of pulling?”
Oh. The door swept inward to reveal the typical items every typical house had. Light fixtures, Salamander nesting grounds, sacrificial human remains, plush seating, plush scent, statues of the immortal president James Buchanan, and family photos and heirlooms. Though something seemed almost... disturbed. Of course all the mirrors were covered, which was probably good so Cecil couldn’t see how fatigued his features currently appeared. Earl stared up at the staircase leading to the 5th floor, which seemed odd since there was no second, third or fourth floor.
After the painful hike to his room, Earl made sure to lay Cecil onto his bed with care and left him for only a moment to retrieve a cool washcloth and extra blanket. He cleaned his lips up, changed his eye bandage and tucked him into the H.P Lovecraft sheets of his bed.
“Are you tired? Or hungry maybe?”
Cecil shook his head softly and extended his arm to Earl.
“Hold my hand until I fall asleep.”
After thanking his lucky stars that Cecil was too out of it to make fun of his reddened cheeks, Earl obliged and sat with him until his eyes shut and small snores began to emit from his throat and then some. When he finally stood he bent over and kissed near the bandage before stepping down the steps as quietly as possible.
Snooping was never Earl’s thing, it always seemed wrong to him. But he needed to figure out what was so different about the house, why it seemed...peculiar. He flicked the kitchen light on and searched around the room, finding nothing. The same occurred with the dining rooms, bathrooms, clown room, basement, deeper basement, and living room. When he exited Cecil’s mother’s room in embarrassment for even thinking to step inside of it he glanced at the end of the hallway. There wasn’t a door at the end of it which was strange, since there had always been one there.
Earl stalked toward the sealed wall and the closer he got, the worse the black flickering around his eyes became. He rubbed at them and turned on the hall light which did nothing. When he touched the sealed wall his vision went out and he fell down.
A short while later he awoke on the kitchen floor, a headache in his brain and a turkey breast in his hand. He pushed the breast away and left it on the floor for the salamanders. His vision was fuzzy at the edges but after a few minutes it cleared up so he wasn’t too worried. Earl glanced down the hall again where, oddly enough, the door to Cecil’s older brother’s room was back. Curiosity got the best of him, and he gave it another go, this time opening the door without passing out.
He knew Cecil’s mother and brother had been gone for around six years now, but Cecil felt it was necessary to leave their rooms in peace. Inside the room was now a void of darkness, the only thing that stood out was a small orange ‘X’ that looked somewhat distant. Earl shut the door again with great bewilderment, something that didn’t happen often.
“What are you doing?”
Earl just about jumped out of his skin as he spun around to see Cecil wearing that awful mauve and mustard houndstooth robe he loved so much.
“I was just uhh…” His mind blanked, nothing he thought of sounded like even a remotely good excuse.
“Did you want to go in the void room? I mean I wouldn’t condone it, but if that’s what you really feel is necessary for yourself I’ll try to stop you. I’m not letting my best friend get stuck in nothingness.”
“But that was your… your brother’s room.”
“Earl I’m an only child don’t be ridiculous.”
He gestured towards the family photo hanging on the wall beside him, which showed Cecil holding his mother’s hand at age five, no brother standing next to him like there used to be. Didn’t there used to be another person in that picture…?
Earl shook the thought away, of course Cecil had had a brother his name was...name was...Maybe he hadn’t had a brother after all…
The scout looked at Cecil for a while, wondering if he had actually just imagined Cecil having a brother. Finally he rubbed his temple to try and erase the pounding that was splitting his head open.
“Are you hungry yet?”
-----------
At twenty three, Earl was fed up with his crush being nothing more than that. A petty crush that kindled no passion or promise of growth. It was time to take action. It began much easier than he thought.
“Cecil? You want to come over?”
That was all it took. Within a half hour Cecil was at the base cabin for all scoutmasters, clad in an orange and cream paisley dress shirt, olive bow tie and skinny jeans that looked just a bit too snug. Earl glanced downwards for just a few moments longer than deemed appropriate and Cecil cleared his throat. He’d grown into such a handsome man, defined chin, smooth skin, three bright eyes shimmering like moonlight. Earl was melting.
“What did you have planned for today? I hope not one of those scouting trips again, I can’t stay that long. I have an interview with the new mayor in a little while, she’s supposed to materialize sometime today.”
“Well can you stay for a movie?”
“Ugh, I’m not sure I feel like summoning Netflix right now, too many oiled tires and throat singing for me right now…”
Earl had failed to think of what to do next in all honesty, which he smacked himself for mentally. This is what he got for lack of planning.
“We could go somewhere? Or just...uhm...I don’t know I just haven’t seen you in a while is all.”
“Of course! I have a job now you know? Responsibilities! I can’t just play around building forest fires or hiding from cricket bears.”
“Then just go back to your job if it’s that important to you…”
“We’re trying to hang out Earl, I’m not going back yet.”
This was getting irritating. It was supposed to be a nice day Cecil and Earl could spend together, or at least part of it. Currently however, the situation was leaning away from confessions and more towards unwanted conversations.
“Do you think you have time for a cigarette?”
That made Cecil laugh, which in turn brightened Earl’s mood.
“You? You haven’t smoked since...well since…” Cecil paused, which in turn darkened Earl’s mood. “You haven’t ever smoked have you? Why did I think that was funny…”
The scoutmaster knew full well that Cecil had been sent in for more re-educating since that first time but...did he really not remember their night beneath the stars when the world stopped for them? The memory eroding in his mind played out in fragments and wondered how much of it Cecil remembered, if any at all.
“Haha, nevermind,” Cecil waved the thought off. “I’m just having an off day…” He was quiet for a bit longer, then turned back to Earl. “Why don’t we just take a walk?”
With a nod the best friends set off into the heat of the desert evening, walking through the only town they had ever known. It was too hot to be out for long, but Cecil didn’t plan on staying anyways and the time they were together was cherished by Earl. Their tour of the shops melted into a pathway of suburbs and eventually led them to the elementary school park, which was deserted. The sun bled off an echo of coloring into the sky, reds and oranges melting to blue and purple. They sat on the swings, not moving just looking.
“We’ve been friends for a long time huh?”
“Yeah.”
Earl swallowed.
“You know I like you a lot Cecil.”
“Of course you do, I like you a lot too Earl. We’re incredible friends.”
Earl stared at the fine red hairs of his calves shining in the distant sunlight and kicked at the dust with his dangling feet. His insides quivered and his face pinked in a way that had nothing to do with the heat. With a swallow of a dry throat he leaned towards Cecil who turned his head and ran right into Earl’s chapped lips. The radio host was silent as they kissed, making no effort to kiss back but, also did not move away.
They broke.
Nervously, Earl glanced at Cecil, whose expression was unreadable.
Brow crinkled, the white haired man stood with a shake of his head and a whisper of nothing more than, “No.”
And he stood, and he left.
And Earl sat, and he stayed.
-----------
Earl leaned back in his seat, a gentle moan pushing up from his throat. There was soft heat pooling in his cheeks and a few beads of sweat dribbled softly from his tempol. Mouth half open he shut his eyes and felt so loved, Cecil’s voice flooded his ears with such caring words that he could barely contain another sound from escaping his throat.
But those words, those words that flowed into his ears with such encouragement and care that he wanted to just take in everything Cecil had to offer to him. He passed his thin freckled hand through his hair shakily and shifted his thighs just a hint wider. Knees bent, socks and shirt left on made it apparent of how hastily he had undressed. Earl breathed Cecil’s name and his head dropped back to his pillow as the pace of the hand wrapped about the base of his cock picked up speed and he moaned once again.
He trembled, kept up with the flush of hot red over his face as the electricity being pulled from his body rose in his lower belly and all the while Cecil’s sweet voice whispered to him. It did not take long for him to swell with passion and tip from the line of ‘almost’ to a glowing mixture of pleasure and shame. And his breath and heart and mind stopped at the words that next were given to him by his beloved Cecil.
“And I fell in love instantly.”
The room was quiet for a moment and Earl glanced down at his loneliness with sad eyes. He felt the shy pink of his cheeks become a sickly shameful red. He leaned over to the radio on his bedside and shut Cecil off with the push of a button. The air flowing into him was thick from his own activities and with embarrassed tears pooling in his eyes, he wiped the white drizzle from his belly. His covers were then pulled over his head and with a heaviness that seemed to gravitate him to the bed. He didn’t want to move, didn’t want to speak. Didn’t even wish to hear Cecil speak. Tears pooled, streamed down his face in silence and pooled again. He held it in like he always did and only a small phrase held in his mind and he lay there in a pitiful position.
“I’m sorry.”
-----------
When Earl was twenty-seven the morning sun was cold and he shivered. Cecil had of course foretold this in the community calendar which Earl had listened to intently though the pair had recently grown farther and farther apart. These days they only spoke to one another if necessary or politely when one spotted the other in public. Other times they barely acknowledged one another. Today however was something a little bit different, a little bit special. They would be speaking to one another for business purposes. Cecil’s business to be exact.
It was the day of the first promotion of Fear Scout to Eternal Scout. Earl couldn’t have been more proud, nor more terrified, if he wanted. And for whatever odd reason, Cecil wanted a word with him about these feelings.
The meeting was awkward and Earl couldn’t help but admire Cecil in everything about him. His poor fashion choices, the lopsided grin of perfectly straight teeth, that amusing speech pattern he’d always carried about with him. Before he’d realized the interview had begun it was over, and soft palm to Cecil’s arm he spoke before he left.
“We could have had something Cecil, always remember that.”
Right hand lingering, his eyes glanced upon Cecil’s perfect face for the last time as he left without looking back. His destiny was upon him, the damned government seemed to be winning. Nothing bothered him more than that.
The ceremony began and ended while Earl viewed the occurrence in a somber mood. When mute children began to wander about the area he thought only of Cecil, the Cecil that should have been with him. Where he went wrong, he just didn’t know. But, he was the scoutmaster of Eternal scouts now which meant more responsibilities to keep their power from consuming the city.
He helped clean up the tent out back of the Ralph’s, said farewell to the children’s parents and citizens who came to watch the amazing transformation and went to check on Barton and Franklin. They kept blank expressions, their eyes filled completely with blood. They did not blink, only stared and Earl put a hand on Franklin’s shoulder to congratulate him and tell him how proud he was of the two boys. His hand immediately blistered and popped with the smell of roasting flesh.
Pain intense in his now bleeding and charred hand caused him to cry out, then to just cry. As he clutched his hand he began to hobble to the community hospital, though the tearing sensation through his palm ceased when small white fingers gripped the injury. Earl turned to meet the dead eyed gaze of an otherworldly child. A lavender ‘Anja’ was inscribed upon her forehead, which could have meant she was named Anja, or she was trying to better connect spiritually. Being so young, Earl decided the first one seemed more plausible. He was unsure whether he was supposed to talk to her or not but, she had come up to him instead of standing near him watching him suffer.
“Um...Thank you.” He began. “Are you lost?”
Why he asked he a question when she had no mouth to respond with, he wasn’t entirely sure. She stared at him in silence and did not let go of his hand. Her eyes shut in a soft flutter of long eyelashes for an unusually long time. Earl felt himself closing his eyes as well and did not notice he had done so until he no longer felt the ground beneath the soles of his well worn shoes. It was like a dream, his heart soaring, his body...also soaring.
Nightvale was under him and when he glanced up the little girl was still holding his hand, lifting him into that void. The void he had frightened himself and...and...who was with him…? He couldn’t seem to remember. That town below him was so small now. Like little grains of sand, the people wandered about through the hair thin streets. Earl felt some weight lifted off of himself, the first thing the girl took from him was physical pain. The ache in his back disappeared, as did the cuts on his knees, and even scars. His body felt good, but his soul still weighed them to the Earth. She plucked the anger next. Anger at Carlos the scientist for being so loved by Cecil. Anger at himself. Everything was feeling better. Sadness was discarded next, and as it left him in a thick navy fluid he couldn’t miss Cecil.
Cecil.
That was right! Cecil! He was home in Nightvale but...why? Where was Earl going? Where was he coming from? He couldn’t cry, there was no sadness left inside of him. So instead he just got scared. Please stop, please don’t pull me apart. The girl just fluttered her eyelashes again and he was so utterly terrified of non-existence that he didn’t know what to do. Concentrate Earl, you can get out of this. He wobbled about in the atmosphere, trying to break away, break free from this girl’s kind grasp. They reached high enough for Earl to have difficulty breathing and so the girl stripped his body from him and Earl sensed it had then been discarded. He was a thick soul, full of a positive life, which the child continued to pull apart without consent. Next went the sheer horror he felt, flung into the night, leaving with the thought of “Please don’t let me disappear...”
Earl was so calm. His happiness was tossed next and all he was now was composed of was a conscience only capable of feeling love for Cecil. The girl stopped, mid-void. The soul in her hands was just what she needed to keep destiny rolling along. She shut her eyes and promised herself to make sure Earl Harlan would never be forgotten or left behind again. With her hands pulling the spirit back and stretched it taut in aim. The soul nearly snapped before she let it go back to its hometown, back to where it should be, with Cecil.
-----------
Beneath the Desert flower bowling alley and Arcade fun complex, the underground city raged the war on Nightvale by attacking the outsider who was tall dark and handsome in a very unconventional way. Teeth like a military cemetery, premature gray hair sprouting from the temples of his purely perfect hair, he was Carlos the scientist, come to take on the city causing fear to sprout in Nightvale. They attacked in a silly way and the scientist was able to brush them off easily. The citizens of the underground city set up a bomb, aimed it at the giant’s chest. He didn’t notice it and they fired. Carlos began to double over before the weapon even touched him. When it did, it gave him a small flesh wound that made him bleed just a touch. The scientist stood in pain and pawed at his chest as another man he did not know jumped into the cavern wearing a rather offensive ‘Indian’ headdress. He climbed out of the hole, hand over his aching chest and as he exited the building he felt something he hadn’t felt before. The urge to call Cecil overwhelmed him.
And this time, it was for personal reasons.