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“Carlos, please, we’re going to be late.” This was the third plea from Cecil in about as many minutes.
“Just one second, honey. I’m almost done.” Cecil was considering protesting that he’s been saying that for about 20 minutes now and they really were going to be very late when Carlos emerged, removing his labcoat and goggles.
“Okay, done. Let’s go.” He grabbed Cecil by the hand and walked them briskly towards the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex. Unusually for the desert (although frankly ‘average’ for Night Vale) the air had a chill to it and Cecil was beginning to regret not bringing a jacket.
“I’m glad you decided to come, Old Woman Josie is very excited to bowl with you.” Cecil said, grinning and skipping slightly ahead of him.
“About that, who are we actually bowling against? And who else is on our team, I’m not very experienced and I wouldn’t want to let you down.” Their pace slowed a little.
“Oh, Carlos, you could never let me down! Besides, it’s just us against Josie and Erika tonight. Are you gonna be okay with that?” They stopped and Cecil stepped in front of Carlos, cupping his face. Carlos looked up into Cecil’s eyes and smiled.
“You bet, we’re gonna nail this!” He gave him a peck and took off at a sprint down the street.
Never before would anyone have had cause to call Carlos ‘overconfident’, but at this point that was probably an understatement. After a first (disastrous) game of bowling, they decided they’d take a break and get a bite to eat. It was disastrous in the sense that Carlos hit the pins about three times, Old Woman Josie bowled like her life depended on it and he had no evidence but was pretty sure one or more of the Erikas was cheating. Once done, Carlos was the first to challenge them to a rematch. Kindly, one of the Erikas suggested they have the side barriers put up. No one protested, not because acknowledging the existence of angels was a crime (angels do not exist), but because they actually had no objections. This new addition helped a lot, and team ‘For Science!’ lost by a significantly smaller margin to team ‘[REDACTED]’.
It was just after the third game (in which the margin of loss was larger than the second but smaller than the first) that Erika whispered something to Josie. She stood and started to gather her things.
“It’s been a pleasure bowling with you boys tonight, but I think it’s time I be getting home.” She hugged Cecil, who had to bend down significantly to do this, and whispered something in his ear and he laughed. Carlos, had his hand outstretched for a handshake and was surprised when she hugged him too. The Erikas (whose number had increased significantly throughout the night) floated ethereally around the two men before following Josie out of the door.
“I’m sorry I was so bad at bowling. I had fun though.” Carlos said as they strolled back towards their apartment through Mission Grove Park, their fingers interlaced.
“Oh, you weren’t that bad. Not after the barriers were put up. And I’m glad you had fun, so did I. I’m not sure we “nailed it” though.” He made air quotes and laughed, and Carlos laughed too. And then the heavens opened (metaphorically) and it started raining cats and dogs (literally). They took cover under a nearby tree (which was definitely a tree and not a spy at all) until the glow cloud ALL HAIL had passed. It was followed by a non-glowing cumulonimbus cloud which was releasing rain of the regular kind, the kind made of water. Carlos took Cecil’s hands and dragged him out into the downpour, intending to be very romantic and twirl him around and kiss him in the rain (Carlos had wanted to do that for a very long time). Instead, he froze. Cecil tried to take over the twirling, but he was unresponsive, staring at his chest.
“Cecil, where did your shirt go?” Cecil looked down and saw that, despite the sensation of wet cloth against his skin, he did not appear to be wearing a shirt. He felt for the edge of the shirt and pulled it out to examine it, but for all intents and purposes it looked like he was holding nothing.
“They said at the store that sweat patches would be invisible.” He gave as an answer and shrugged. Carlos put out his hand and stroked Cecil’s chest, his eyes widening when he felt the material.
“This is amazing, Cecil. It’s totally see-through. I’ve never seen anything this transparent.” He continued to feel the material as Cecil went redder at the almost intimate touching in such a public place. He cleared his throat.
“Um, Carlos, not that I don’t like this, and I know you’re very excited about the science of this, but it’s raining pretty hard.” Carlos had been searching for a label on the shirt, anywhere, and was stood behind Cecil when the words brought him out of his trance. He whispered against Cecil’s neck.
“You are very scientifically interesting, Cecil Palmer.” He kissed along his neck and spun him around on the spot before pressing a kiss to his lips. Cecil leaned in and kissed back and the chill of the rain no longer reached either of them. When they finally broke apart they rested on each others foreheads. Cecil grinned.
“Neat.” He muttered, still catching up with his breathing. They ran back to the apartment and stripped their soaking wet clothes off, discarding them hastily on the floor. Carlos would investigate the shirt in the morning, assuming he could find it.