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“My lab equipment is ruined. It’s destroyed, do you understand? Night Vale doesn’t even have a postal service, for reasons I, again, do not want to know. But that being said, God knows when I’ll be able to get a new barometer or set of flasks. Do you realize how expensive these things are?”
Cecil sits on a stool facing Carlos, playing guiltily with the hem of his shirt and pouting like a dejected puppy awaiting his punishment. Carlos rants and raves, pacing the floor and waving his arms around dramatically.
“I’m sorry, Carlos,” Cecil says in a low tone.
“I understand that, Cecil. I really do. I know you didn’t mean to do it. It’s just…” Carlos sighs tensely and runs a hand through his thick, curly hair. “This is my job, though, Cecil. I don’t think you get that. This isn’t something I do just for fun. I understand why that would be confusing for you since it seems that you’re somehow exempt from paying for anything you do because you’re The Voice of Night Vale, but us in the real world actually need money to survive. Do you get that? Do you know what I’m trying to say?”
Cecil nods sullenly.
“Christ, Cecil. Christ. I’ll have to buy a new cholla cactus to whisper my order of science supplies into because my last one broke somehow…my team is going to hound me for weeks for letting you roam around the lab…I swear to God, Cecil, if I didn’t love you so much I’d just about kill you…oh, God, is the Erlenmeyer flask broken? Cecil, I—”
Carlos whips around to see Cecil inches away from his nose, gazing at him with a giant smile that might as well break his face in two. Cecil bites his lip eagerly and Carlos swears he can see actual hearts in his eyes.
“What? What is it?”
Cecil just blinks at him lovingly. “Carlos…” he says, drawing out the syllables his name as long as humanly possible.
Carlos quickly reviews his words and his eyes go wide and his hand claps over his mouth. “Oh my God,” he says, his voice muffled through his fist.
“Carlos!” Cecil squeals, jumping up and down like a small child. “You love me? Do you really love me? You do! You love me! Carlos!”
“Cecil, I wasn’t…I didn’t…”
Cecil cuts him off, grasping Carlos’s face with two hands and leaning in to kiss him. He tangles his legs within his Carlos’s and pushes his hips up against the edge of the counter, kissing him harder and with purpose. Cecil moves his hands to fist Carlos’s hair and entwine it between his fingers. He breaks the kisses every now and again to giggle into Carlos’s mouth and smile against his swollen, pink lips.
“Cecil,” Carlos says in between kisses, “you’re making it nearly impossible to be angry with you.”
Cecil smiles and wraps his arms around Carlos’s neck. “I think you’ll find that that was entirely the point, dear Carlos.”
“If we end up breaking another flask I actually will kill you.”
“No you won’t,” Cecil says giddily and kisses him again. “You love me.”