Chapter Text
Today. Today is the day.
For the last few weeks, Cecil has been talking animatedly to what feels like the entire world about the new kid that showed up out of nowhere and today is it, the day that he finally makes his move. He's been practising what he's going to say, word for word:
"Hi, my name is Cecil G. Palmer. The G stands for Gershwin but that's not important right now. What's important right now is that I, Cecil G. Palmer, would like to ask you on a date. You. Carlos. The one I'm pointing at right now; I want you to go on a date with me, if you're okay with that. I hope you're okay with that. Also, I think you're beautiful, if that helps. Especially your hair...
He's been planning this for a while, if it wasn't obvious- ever since he started observing Carlos from a distance, not in a creepy binoculars way, but in a hanging-around-outside-the-science-lab-with-Earl-after-school-to-see-if-Carlos-will-talk-to-him-when-he-walks-past-them. The plan hadn't been working, not until yesterday. Yesterday, Carlos said six whole words to him and Cecil swears that the boy has sucked up his soul or something dramatic like that. Those six words changed everything. He couldn't believe it.
Cecil and Earl had been sat outside the science lab, facing each other, with Earl working on sewing some more badges onto his Boy Scout uniform. Honestly, Cecil didn't understand how Earl had managed to stay a Boy Scout for so long, because he'd left as soon as he found out that it required the kind of physique that he just didn't have. He'd been hoping for something... More fun. Something with more useful life skills. His mother has promised there would be Warding Off Demon badges and Denying The Existence of Mountain badges but she'd been wrong.
It wasn't uncommon for his mother to be wrong about these things.
"Do you think he puts something in his hair to make it look that wonderful?" Cecil had been saying, about Carlos, as he usually was, "It can't be naturally that shiny, can it? Unless... He's not human."
"Cecil." Earl said, in his I'm-two-months-older-and-years-wiser voice, "Do you remember when we talked about accusing people of not being human? Don't do it unless you have evidence first. Remember when you accused poor Dana of hypnotising you and she got all upset about it?"
"Well, I thought she was hypnotising me and using me for her evil bidding." Cecil hoped he didn't look as embarrassed as he felt, (he can't believe he accused Dana of hypnotism that one time), "And I never said she wasn't human!"
"People don't like being accused of things they haven't done- or things they are not." Earl said, swearing under his breath as he pricked his finger on his needle, "I'm just saying that you shouldn't assume things about this... "Carlos", if you haven't actually spoken to him yet. Plus, I'm 97.89% sure that's he's human and trust me, I've done the math."
Cecil trusted him on this because Earl scored a B on a math test last week.
"I'm going to speak to him. Today. Right now. I'm going." Cecil didn't move.
"Go on, then." Earl dared, "Go and speak to him."
"Maybe later." Cecil returned to staring at his purple bootlaces, which his mother has superglued together so that they don't come untied again. His mother is a little... Odd. That's the word that he hears people use anyway. A lot of people, especially idiotic people in his grade, say that he's a lot like her in that way. Other people say he was dropped as a baby. Both could be true- he can't be sure either way.
His mother says there's no reason he's so Cecil-y, he just is.
"You're scared to speak to Carlos. Why?" Earl inquired, curiously, cutting the thread and admiring his handiwork. Cecil doesn't know if there's a sewing badge but if there is, Earl definitely deserves it. His stitching is incredible and Cecil peers over to get a better look.
"I'm not scared." Cecil replied, slumping back when Earl caught him staring, "I'm just waiting for the right time."
"What's the right time?" Earl asked, "I thought you said that time was broken anyway. Is it fixed now?"
"No, it's still broken. The right time is just a metaphor for when I'm going to finally talk to Carlos."
"You don't make any sense."
Cecil was about to respond, when the door to the lab swung open and he shut his mouth abruptly. The science club members, who stayed behind after school to study science-y things (presumably), began to spill out. Earl moved his feet out of the way to let them past and Cecil studied their shoes to spot his Carlos. He knows that Carlos wears shiny shoes with matching laces, which is what he looked for. He knows those feet well enough by now.
Eventually, he spots them (and Carlos's new striped socks, wow!) and was surprised to see them come to a stop in front of him. He looks up to see the boy of his dreams standing over him, beautiful hair and amazing mind and all.
Cecil smiled in the way that he knows people like.
Carlos smiled back at him.
Then, he said. "Don't you guys get bored out here?"
He looked for Cecil to an answer but Cecil- the excessive chatterbox, the voice of the school radio, the captain of the debate team, the one who always got things like "eager participation" and "very friendly" on his reports- didn't know what to say. He just blinked, looking up at Carlos, and searched for the right words.
"We're just fine, thank you." Earl said for him, "Carlos."
Earl didn't like Carlos too much and said his name like it wasn't his name. Even though Earl said Cecil was being completely weird about Carlos, he was the one that kept calling Carlos an outsider. Even to his face a few times. Which Cecil didn't think was particularly nice but technically, he supposed that Carlos was an outsider. To him and Earl, to Night Vale, to their entire world here.
"Right. Earl." Carlos nodded to him, turning away from Cecil, "What are you doing out here anyway?"
"He likes it here." Earl said, gesturing to Cecil, "And I'm his friend, so I sit with him. Because that's what good friends do." He speaks quickly, "We're good friends."
"Cool." Carlos said, like he didn't think it was cool at all, "Nice to see you anyway, Earl. And..." He frowned at Cecil, like he wasn't quite sure what to call him, "Earl's friend." And he smiled.
Cecil nodded. And Carlos walked off, hands in his lab coat pockets.
Because of that happening yesterday, Cecil knew that he had to make his move today to make sure that Carlos didn't forget that he existed. And so that Carlos didn't call him Earl's friend- because, even though he was Earl's friend, he was also his own person and liked people to refer to him as Cecil.
SLAM! Earl slamming his locker shut, enthusiastically, beside him jerks him out of his thoughts abruptly and brings him back to the present. His friend is standing there, backpack hanging off one shoulder, looking at him expectantly. He just asked Cecil as a question and is waiting for an answer.
"Repeat the question, please?" Cecil frowns, "I wasn't listening to a single word you just said. In fact, I didn't even register you were standing there. Not that you aren't noticeable but I was a million miles away."
"With the fairies, Cecil?" Earl says, in an amused but friendly way, "As always, I see. I said, you do know that we have a debate club meeting during lunch, right?"
"Right, right." Cecil nods, "I know that. But I wasn't going to go."
"But you're the captain."
"I know that as well. But I wasn't going to go." Cecil repeats, "Today is the day that I ask Carlos out on a date and I don't have time for the debate team meeting. We'll just have to reschedule it so that I can put my boyfriend first. Some things are just more important than debate club."
"You can't call him your boyfriend until you've actually asked him out." Earl points out, helpfully, "And you know that Wednesday is always the day we hold debate club meetings. Can't you just ask Carlos out some other day?"
"No. I have to do it today, so he doesn't forget I exist."
"Ugh..." Earl looks bored of all the Carlos talk, rolling his eyes. He keeps fidgeting with his neckerchief- Earl is permanently wearing a neckerchief, in the way that Cecil is always wearing a tie.
Cecil changes the subject. "Did you want to go bowling on Saturday again?"
This seems to brighten Earl's mood significantly, which is lucky because Earl's moodiness was really beginning to drag Cecil down.
Cecil makes sure to keep up an incessant chatter about weekend plans the whole way to class.
There's only one class which he shares with Carlos, which is, unfortunately, science. This is unfortunate for two reasons: 1. Cecil already agreed to be lab partners with Dana and can't switch now without upsetting his friend and 2. Carlos is too busy gazing at the experiments while stars surface in his pretty brown eyes to pay any attention to anybody else in the room. So, he pays no attention to Cecil, (who is two seats behind him and one to the right), and instead focuses on scribbling eagerly on a clipboard. They aren't even meant to be using clipboards- Cecil has no idea where he got one from.
"So, Earl told me that today was a pretty big day for you." Dana says, brightly, as she drops her bag on the desk and takes the seat beside Cecil. She's the school president, one of Cecil's close friends, and is the only girl he knows with choppy, uneven brown hair that she cuts herself. She also doesn't wear her glasses, even though she's meant to.
"Everyday is a big day for me, especially in the wonderful desert town of Night Vale." Cecil replies, "But yes, today especially, is exciting for a reason which is entirely different to the usual antics."
"Even more exciting than when those antiques got stolen?" Dana raises an eyebrow.
"You mean, when the antiques got loose." Cecil corrects, "And it is more exciting than that. Much more exciting. It's the day that I-"
Dana leans in eagerly but it's too late, the teacher sweeps in and the lesson begins before Cecil can tell her just why today is so exciting. As usual, he doesn't focus on the lesson and instead occupies himself with writing new ideas for his radio show in the back of his exercise book. He knows he can pass this class, as long as he does all the homework.
(He also... Well, it's silly really but he's never sure what to say in front of Carlos. And he really wants to impress him but when he puts his hand up in other classes, people tend to sigh dramatically in a Cecil-Palmer-is-up-to-it-again way. He doesn't want Carlos to do that.)
Ever since freshman year, Cecil has been the sole voice of the school radio, which is broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays respectfully. Honestly, he's not really sure why he was picked, but his mother reckons it was to keep him out of trouble. He has no idea what that's supposed to mean- how much trouble could he get into during lunch twice a week?- but he's glad that he was picked anyway. Since they can never keep an intern for longer than a week, Cecil is almost solely in charge of the broadcasts and it's his greatest pride. He's always coming up with the best ideas. At least, he thinks they're the best ideas. Other people don't always agree.
He's just scribbling down some ideas about how to make the community calendar a little more exciting (most involve dragons) when Dana nudges him firmly in the ribs.
Cecil looks up. "Hm?"
"We're switching lab partners." She tells him and he watches the shining stud in her tongue wiggle around as she talks.
"Why on earth would we do that?"
"Because the teacher-" Dana sighs and doesn't bother explaining further, "Listen, just pack up your stuff and head over to your boyfriend over there. Future boyfriend. Whatever. Look, he's waiting for you to go over."
Carlos is waiting for him to go over, indeed. He's looking at Cecil and smiling!
He's going to be Carlos's lab partner today? He can't believe that this opportunity just fell into his lap like this but he's going to grab it and make the best of it. Cecil takes his bag and his collection of sentient rocks, straightens his stylish purple tie, and heads over to Carlos's desk. He takes the now empty seat beside him and smiles back at Carlos in a "hey, this is such a great coincidence" kind of way. Or that's what he intends.
Carlos, sweeping his hair out of his eyes in a dramatic gesture, smiles back.
"Hey." He says, "I'm Carlos."
"Yes, I know." Cecil says, "We spoke yesterday. Remember?"
Carlos nods. "I remember, you're Earl's friend."
"Actually, Earl is my friend. I'm the one that asked him to help me earn my Escaping A Locked Room badge in the Boy Scouts and we've been friends ever since." Cecil explains, "I'm Cecil G. Palmer by the way. The G stands for Gershwin."
"Your parents are a fan of the composer?" Carlos guesses.
"Composer?"
"George Gershwin, the composer." Carlos explains.
"No, no, it's nothing like that. My mother was going to name me Gershwin after my grandmother, since she was convinced that I would be a girl. But after I was born, she decided it would fit better as a middle name. I share the same last name as my mother, that's the origin of Palmer. I don't know where the Cecil part comes from."
"Right." Carlos looks confused but he shrugs, "It's nice to meet you, Cecil."
"It's nice to meet you too, Carlos." He beams- not literally, that's just a metaphor that means that he smiles brightly like a beam of light- and looks Carlos over, taking in every single detail. Unfortunately, the love of his life- ahem, he means Carlos- has already returned to the lesson, writing a whole bunch of notes on his clipboard. Cecil peers at them but can't make head or tail of the jumbled handwriting. It must be important science stuff, he guesses. Though, he can see several drawings of cats in the corner of the clipboard.
He doesn't find a chance to fit "Will you be my boyfriend?" into the conversation anywhere but Cecil does get a chance to talk a little more to Carlos during the experiment. It involves mixing two different chemicals to cause a reaction- which Carlos decides he should do and Cecil should just watch.
Still, Cecil decides that this would be a perfect chance to learn a little more about Carlos.
"Where did you move here from, beautiful Carlos?" He asks, struggling to fit the goggles on over his glasses, "I mean, where did you used to live? Before Night Vale?"
"Oh, you know, just here and there. My parents are scientists and they like to study lots of different things. We move a lot." Carlos gestures vaguely with one hand, before using it to push his long hair back again, (it keeps falling in his eyes, which is adorable), "I think we'll be staying here a while though. Night Vale is just so interesting."
"It is, isn't it? I think it's just about the most interesting and wonderful place in the known universe." Cecil agrees, "And I'm not just biased that because I grew up here. My mother says that Night Vale only gets better year by year- more and more magical, if you know what I mean."
"Magical, huh?" Carlos smiles at him, "How's it magical, Cecil?"
"I just think it's a wonderful place where all creatures from different walks of life can coincide peacefully- most of the time." Cecil says, "And I think it's wonderful that we can all exist in a place like this where strange lights pass overhead and beings we can't legally call angels walk among us."
"You've got quite the imagination, Cecil."
"That's what my doctor says too." Cecil nods, "But I think that's just because he doesn't want anybody to find out about the truths the city council are trying to hide from us all."
Carlos laughs but not in a cruel way. In a friendly way. "It's probably a large conspiracy to conceal dangerous secrets from the general public, I agree."
Cecil's eyes widen. "Finally! Somebody that gets it!"
"I get you, Cecil." He says, "Can you pass me that test tube to your left?"
"Of course." Cecil does.
Whilst Carlos doesn't speak, he does run his tongue over his front teeth as he pours one test tube into another and turns the liquid a bright shade of purple. It's the exact shade of purple that Cecil's eyes would be if they were combined. It makes him inhale sharply, excitedly, as he looks at Carlos. Science has never been exciting before. Carlos is scribbling frantically on his clipboard about gods knows what.
Cecil lets him scribble for a while before cutting in.
"Science is a lot like witchcraft, isn't it?"
"I'm hoping I won't get tied to a stake and burnt for science like those poor women in medieval times." Carlos's gaze flicks up and his brown eyes melt Cecil's heart in his chest.
"My great grandmother was burnt alive for witchcraft." Cecil offers helpfully.
"Are you serious?" Carlos's eyebrows pull together.
"Well, that's what my mother told me." Cecil shrugs.
Carlos's face softens into another smile. "You're just full of secrets, aren't you, Cecil?"
Cecil nods. "Only secrets I'm forbidden to tell."
"Well, aren't all secrets things that we're forbidden to tell?" Carlos says, "If we were allowed to tell them, they wouldn't be secrets, right?"
And he bumps arms with Cecil, perhaps on purpose, sending a jolt of electricity all the way up his arm.
When Cecil meets with Earl at lunch, he is ecstatic and practically bubbling over with excitement about how many words him and Carlos exchanged. Earl, good old Earl, listens to it all- even when Cecil starts spontaneously burbling in Yiddish instead of English. He's not sure how much of that Earl understands but apparently, it's enough.
"I'm glad that things went well with Carlos." He says, flatly, when Cecil finishes.
"You don't sound glad, which means you're lying to me." Cecil notes, "I don't like it when you lie to me about things and you know that, Earl Harlan."
He can usually tell when Earl is lying to him because his voice betrays him. When Earl is lying about being glad, his voice goes flatter than a pancake. When Earl lies about being upset, his voice sounds miserable. When Earl lies about the existence of mountains, he sounds exasperated. Cecil has learnt to call him out on these things.
"I am glad, Cecil." Earl promises, "Scout's honour. I'm just a little tired."
"Oh, that's okay!" Cecil brightens up, "As long as you aren't lying to me. How was... What class were you in again, Divination?"
"That's not real." comes a small voice from behind them, "We were in Math."
Roger, the startlingly quiet boy with the red hair and freckles, is following them to lunch. Cecil hadn't even noticed him shadowing them, which he feels bad about, but isn't unusual. Honestly, Roger speaks so little that it's rare for him to be noticed. A year ago, he seemed to take to Earl and decided to tag along behind him ever since, meaning that he often follows them to lunch or to the bowling alley or to the record shop. Cecil doesn't mind him too much but Roger's inherent lack of belief in anything is mildly annoying.
"Math?" Cecil says, instead of commenting on Roger's idiocy, "How exciting!"
"It's really not exciting, Cecil." Earl shakes his head, looking amused, "But it was okay, I guess. Are you still planning to call off the debate club meeting?"
"Of course I am, I already told you that this morning." Cecil says, "We'll have to make sure that everybody knows so nobody gets too excited about going to the meeting. Can you tell everybody?"
"Cecil..." Earl has an exasperated expression on his face, "You and me are the only members of the debate club, remember? You kicked Violet, the only other member, out after you accused him of mind control."
"I just don't like the idea of Violet controlling my mind, does that make me crazy?" Cecil can't help rolling his eyes, "He had no right to hypnotise me into holding that charitable bake sale. No right, I tell you."
"Cecil-" Earl now looks defeated, "Ugh, whatever. Sure, no debate club. We'll just have to hold the meeting after school at my place."
"It's always at your place." Cecil complains, "And your place is so far away. And you know that I'm not allowed to catch buses, in case the drivers turn into giant eagles and devour me."
"The things your mother tells you, honestly. Anyway, your place is full of stuffed birds and creepy dreamcatchers and magical amulets warding off the evil eye."
"So, what?"
"You know it makes me uncomfortable."
"Then, why do you wear the amulet that I gave you for your birthday?" Cecil stops and turns to face him, poking at the charm hanging around Earl's neck on a purple string. He'd handmade it with the help of his mother and given it to Earl for his birthday when they were thirteen. Earl hadn't taken it off since then.
"It matches my eyes." Earl mumbles, or something equally as made-up.
"It's purple. Your eyes are green." Cecil says.
"Just forget it." Earl pushes Cecil's hand away, "It's nothing."
"If you say so." Cecil says, a little hurt that the handmade amulet is 'nothing'.
They stand there for a few moments, just staring at each other. Something in Earl's eyes looks an awful lot like upset but Cecil doesn't want to point it out.
"We're going to be late for Geography." Roger says, eventually, making Cecil jump. He'd forgotten that Roger was standing there again.
"Right." Earl says, nodding, "Let's get to Geography, Cecil."
They are late for Geography, of course, but the teacher, The Man In The Tan Jacket, doesn't have anything to say about it. Most likely because he is often late, due to him phasing in and out of time and space. At least, that's what Cecil theorises. Earl tells him that's not true and that it's a complete coincidence that their teacher is easy to miss- he also says that Cecil should pay more attention to his surroundings, instead of talking about time travel and doodling magical glowing portals into the textbooks with gel pens.
Cecil doesn't like Geography much because it reminds him of the world outside of Night Vale. He doesn't like to think about the world outside, which is much less pleasant that his wonderful town, so he blanks most of the information out.
Today they are learning about mountains- which may or may not exist.
When Cecil puts his hand up and states that they don't exist, The Man In The Tan Jacket just shrugs and tells him that he can believe whatever he wants but mountains definitely do exist and that's just a fact. Cecil argues. The Man In The Tan Jacket ignores him.
"Mountains do exist." Roger points out, "We went hiking up one in the spring."
"Indeed." Earl says, apparently still unhappy about something.
"I still think it's a conspiracy devised by an agency of undercover lizards." Cecil says.
"I swear, the stuff you come out with gets more ludicrous every day." Earl sighs.
"Thanks, Earl!" Cecil grins, taking it as a compliment.
Earl lays his head down on the desk.
At lunch, Cecil doesn't head to debate club because he cancelled it and instead, heads into the cafeteria. It's not somewhere that he goes very often, since it's not a good place for people like him, and him and Earl prefer to eat lunch in the safety of the science corridor. Not many people venture there and they get to sit quietly, talking and trading cards and sewing badges (in Earl's case, at least).
The cafeteria is loud, which bothers Cecil, but he tries to focus on something else. Like Carlos. He focuses on Carlos, who is sitting at a table full of other science club people, and makes his way over to him as quickly as he can. He ignores the whispers that follow him, which might belong to lost spirits but more likely belong to the other kids, who don't like him.
Carlos is talking eagerly about something, probably science, and gesturing with his hands as he does so. Cecil doesn't want to cut him off, so he waits until his boyfrie- ahem, Carlos, is done talking before he speaks. Then, he taps him on the shoulder.
"Carlos... Can I please have a word? Or a couple of them?" He makes sure to stand where Carlos won't miss him, as close as he dares. Which isn't close at all.
"Huh? Oh, Cecil!" Carlos smiles at him, "Hey. Nice to see you again."
"Yeah." Cecil wonders if he looks as happy as he feels, "Can I please talk to you?"
"In private?" Carlos says, going to get up.
"No, no, we can do it here." Cecil flicks his eyes over the group of scientists and decides that it's not bad if they overhear. If all goes well, he'll be announcing this on the school radio show soon enough anyway and the whole school will know. "It doesn't really matter."
"Okay, shoot."
"Shoot what?" Cecil blinks.
"I mean... Go ahead. Talk." Carlos gestures for him to go on, "What did you want?"
"Oh, I just... Do you listen to the school radio show?" Cecil hopes so.
"Sure I do. That's you, right? Yeah, you seem to talk about me a lot on it." Carlos doesn't look upset by this, more entertained, "Is this something to do with that?"
"Sort of." Cecil has never been so lost for words, "The thing is... I wondered if you might be free sometime soon so that we could spend some time in each other's company. Like... Like a date kind of thing?"
Carlos's expression is impossible to read. "Are you asking me out?"
"Yes, I'm asking when you're free so that we can go on a date." Cecil says, drawing up to his full height (which is still short), "This weekend, perhaps?"
"A date." Carlos is still registering, "What kind of date would this be?"
"Arby's maybe? They have really great food there." Cecil has a million things he could say about Arby's and he went with the stupidest and least relevant one. Sometimes, he can't believe the comments he makes. Carlos jumbles his brain so that he can't speak as eloquently as usual.
"Arby's." Carlos repeats.
"Yes, that's what I just said."
"With you?"
"That is how dates conventionally work." Cecil frowns, "We can go and get a meal together, talk about our interests and hobbies, hold hands, and kiss underneath the stars."
"Woah."
"Was that the wrong thing to say?"
"It's just... Surprising, honestly. This is a lot to take in at once. You're a lot to take in at once, Cecil." Carlos runs a hand through his hair, "But sure, why not? I'll go on a date with you. I'd like to. It sounds... Fun?"
"It will be fun, yes!" Cecil agrees. He can't believe this is actually happening.
"I'd like to spend Saturday afternoon with you, Cecil, if that's okay." Carlos says, standing up so that they're almost eye-level (Carlos is taller), "I'd enjoy that."
"Me too." Cecil nods, "I will see you then, provided we are both well and alive and not abducted by any extraterrestrial lifeforms in the meantime."
Carlos smiles widely.
"He actually said yes?" Earl sounds surprised.
School has recently ended, signified by the ringing of the final bell, and the two of them are walking down the sidewalk towards Earl's house. It's on the other side of town, which Cecil is unhappy about, but Earl refuses point blank to step in Cecil's home if he can help it. Cecil doesn't really understand why but he's not offended. Besides, Earl's dad always makes the nicest cookies.
"He actually said yes." Cecil confirms, wondering why Earl didn't process this information the first time, "I am going to be spending Saturday with Carlos T. Scientist at Arby's."
"First of all, I'm pretty sure his last name isn't Scientist." Earl says, staring ahead of them, even though there's nothing interesting to see, (at least, there's nothing to see if your mind is as closed as Earl's can be), "Second of all, you promised me bowling on Saturday. Remember?"
"We can bowl on Sunday. As long as it's in the evening. You know my mother likes me to spend time with her in the morning. And I like to bake in the afternoon." Cecil says, "But any time after five should be just about fine."
"But you promised me Saturday." Earl says, his expression hard-to-read.
"I know." Cecil says, to make it clear, "But now, I'm spending Saturday with Carlos. I'm going to have to see you on Sunday. That will be okay, right?"
"Right." Earl says, "But you promised me Saturday."
"You can have every Saturday for the rest of the month." Cecil says, "Scout's Honour."
"You're not even a Scout anymore." Earl says, but he smiles a little, "But I'm holding you to that. Want to shake on it?"
Earl grips his hand a little longer than necessary.