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Cecil woke up as usual - groaning and silencing the bloodcurdling screams emanating from his alarm clock. He reluctantly rolled out of bed, shuffling his way to the kitchen to make his coffee. He then started the meticulous task of grinding the fresh beans with a hammer and hateful thoughts, and then placing each grind, individually, into the pot.
Approximately an hour later, Cecil was feeling much more awake and cheerful after finishing his last sip of coffee with a satisfied sigh. He was just about to settle down to review tonight’s broadcast when he heard a knock at the door. Panicking, he realized that he was wearing his pajamas; a t-shirt reading "Say Hey if You're Gay!" And Batman boxers. While these were certainly up to Cecil's fashion standards, they were not what was considered appropriate for a radio professional. Oh well, it’s not like he had time to change now. He took a deep breath and walked to the door, hoping for the best.
He nearly had a heart attack when he opened the door to none other than the perfect-haired scientist himself. His heart was pounding so hard that he was fairly sure Carlos could see it under his shirt; his terribly-awkward-in-front-of-my-crush-shirt.
“Hey!” Carlos exclaimed about to pull out his science notebook until he noticed how red Cecil’s face was getting. “Are you okay?” Carlos asked, letting his eyes wander down to Cecil’s chest where his heart was pumping and then realizing what was on the shirt. “Oh dear that’s not what I-” Carlos spluttered, his face growing an even deeper red than Cecil’s, if that was possible.
Regaining his composure slightly, Cecil managed to ask “Do you? Carlos I hoped but you never seemed to reciprocate.”
Carlos tried to say something, but was cut off by a gentle, nervous peck on the lips from the endearing radio host. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he quickly pulled away, shocked, embarrassed, and confused. “I-I’m sorry! I have to go!” Carlos gasped as he rushed away.
He arrived back at his lab his whole body shaking. He reached out and grabbed a lab table to steady himself. Great, he had just run away from his first chance of telling Cecil how he felt. He was just too nervous. Every time he even thought about talking to Cecil his chest started aching and he could hardly breathe. So when Cecil kissed him he couldn’t handle it and had to escape. Not that he didn’t want to kiss Cecil, of course he did, but he was far too anxious and awkward. He had to apologize, Carlos realized, but he could already feel his heart start racing again at the thought. Sighing, he settled back down to his experiments to hopefully get it off his mind and relax.
Back at his apartment, Cecil frowned and closed the door, upset that he had ruined everything with Carlos again. He should have known better than to startle him like that, it’s just that Cecil was so excited at the slightest hint from Carlos. He had been waiting so long, and he was feeling resigned to the fact that the perfect scientist would never be interested in him. He would just have to hope that Carlos could forget about it. Cecil took a deep breath and settled down to finally start reviewing his broadcast for the evening.
Time went by at an excruciatingly slow tempo, with Cecil trying to take his mind off Carlos by painting. Unfortunately, the gentle curls of the grass were starting to look suspiciously like Carlos’ perfect locks. Cecil threw the canvas across the room and decided he would head to the studio early to spend some time with Khoshekh.
Cecil couldn’t help but grin at the sight of his cat and his little kittens. He greeted each one of them, being careful to avoid the venomous spines and not to trip over the ones hovering closer to the floor.
It was soon time to settle into the booth and start recording. Just as Cecil was about to open the door, he saw Carlos through the window of the outside door. He slowly walked towards him, worried that Carlos was going to tell him that they could no longer be friends. With dread in his heart he pulled the door open to reveal a blushing Carlos, and in his hand a small bouquet of the most exquisite red flowers.
“They’re-um-bleeding hearts. I thought you’d like them.” Carlos whispered.
Cecil squeaked and threw his arms around Carlos. “They’re perfect! But I thought you didn’t like me.”
“No…I just-I’m too nervous so I thought I could let the flowers do the talking.”
Cecil pulled them from Carlos’ hands and set them down, pulling him close and giving him a long, sweet kiss. “Baby, I have to go record, but please wait for me.”
That night he ended the broadcast differently.
Good night Night Vale and goodnight to my perfect boyfriend, the lovely Carlos.