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“May I take your coat?” Asked Cecil, smiling a little at the formality.
Carlos hesitated, and Cecil’s smile faltered.
“Cecil…”
“What is it?” Cecil asked, encouraging.
Carlos took a breath, standing like he did when preparing to deliver a lecture. Cecil did so enjoy Carlos’ lectures. “Night Vale is not like the rest of the world.”
Cecil nodded. Carlos had explained this many times.
“And I am not like the rest of the world, either,” Carlos continued. “But I haven’t uncovered enough data to determine whether I am unlike the world in a way that is unusual even in Night Vale.”
“Carlos,” said Cecil, “You are far too beautiful to be usual anywhere in the world.”
Carlos nodded. Cecil had explained this many times.
“There is something else unusual about me,” Carlos said. “I can show you, if you like.”
“Of course I would like you to show me, Carlos.”
“In that case, you may take my coat, Cecil.”
While Cecil hung the labcoat reverently on the stand, Carlos began unbuttoning his flannel shirt. Cecil stared, at first in awe, and then mixed curiosity and confusion, as Carlos revealed his dark torso, and the still darker bands that wrapped around it. When Carlos removed his shirt, the dark bands left their positions, lifting away from Carlos’ skin and spreading into the air around him.
“Have you ever seen anyone else with this kind of appendages?” Asked Carlos, hope and fear and isolation tinging his voice.
“No,” said Cecil. He’d seen many things, but Carlos was, in yet another way, extraordinary. “Are they safe to touch?” He asked.
“I’ve found no evidence to the contrary,” Carlos admitted.
Cecil reached out, making just a moment’s contact before both his hand and the tentacle drew back out of fear. Reassured that there was no immediate damage from short-term contact, Cecil moved his hand closer once again, brushing the surface of one tentacles with his fingers. “It feels soft,” he said with a smile.
“Doesn’t it scare you?” Asked Carlos.
“Of course it scares me.” So many things scared Cecil. Almost everything, actually. Fear was only a natural reaction to the horrors of life. Cecil hadn’t survived into adulthood by letting a little thing like fear determine his actions.
“Cecil,” said Carlos, his voice breaking as Cecil looked at him and saw a tear fall from his eye.
Cecil stepped closer to him, reaching up and touching his cheek. “What is it, Carlos?”
“It’s just… you’re more than I ever could have hoped for.” The sentence ended with a sob as Cecil wrapped his arms around Carlos, fitting his own limbs between the appendages attached to Carlos’ torso.
“Oh, Carlos,” said Cecil, as Carlos hugged him back, arms and tentacles together wrapping him in a cocoon of soft warmth. “That’s exactly how I feel about you.”