He Was... •cecilos•

Secretly Famous

"Have you ever looked at art? Really looked? Looked so hard that you see through the art, straight into another dimension? To the other world trapped inside? The miniature people are screaming for help, trapped in the brushstrokes that make them.. them. Save them. Please, save them.
Welcome to Night Vale."
Carlos frowned and hit his iPod a few times. It took a few times moving around his new room, finding a spot with good reception, but he eventually sat in the corner closest to his window looking out at Cecil's house. Strange how it was hard to get a clear signal of the broadcast considering it was being aired from literally thirty yards away, but Carlos was too wrapped up in thought to really consider it.
"Listeners, I am happy to announce that a new house had materialised across from mine, and that a new family has moved in."
Carlos perked up and looked down at his iPod. His stomach turned in anxiety. Why would Cecil care enough about him to mention him on the internet? Maybe it was another family.
"Needless to say, dear listeners, that we will have a new student joining us in school this upcoming semester."
There were lots of families with kids, Carlos tried to convince himself.
"His name is Carlos!"
Well..
"He is a scientist- well, a scientist in the making, of course. There is still much for him to learn about our little desert community. Like, can you believe he didn't know that the Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency stations agents outside our house to watch our every move? He thought the black car outside his house was a stalker! How naive of him. Of course, we should cut him some slack. I suppose scientists outside of Night Vale are not used to secret agents spying on them, although I cannot imagine living without them.."
Carlos rolled his eyes. This kid was absolutely insane. There was no way anyone listened to this crap. He clicked onto the home page of Cecil's website where it showed the hit counter, and immediately he almost choked on his own spit.
15,000 listeners?!
How the hell did so many people get Cecil's broadcast?
Wait.
That meant that 15,000 people knew who Carlos was now.
Fuck!
~•~•~
Cecil spun around in his twirling chair. Abby had gotten it for him for his birthday a few years back, and it had a bunch of rips and tears in it. Maybe he'd ask for another one?
"But Carlos is actually quite nice," Cecil continued, twirling his headphone wire around his finger. He wondered if Carlos was listening. He hoped Carlos was listening. "His house is also very nice for one that just randomly appeared the other day." He pulled back the curtains and looked out at Carlos' house. "Everything about Carlos is nice. Like his hair. Have any of you seen his hair, listeners? It's absolutely perfect. My best friend, Earl Harlan, says I'm just imagining it, but I know perfect hair when I see it." He sighed happily and propped his feet up on his recording table. "Perfect Carlos with perfect hair.. I can't wait for you all to meet him. He is much better in person."
Cecil paused and thought for a moment. "Oh, I did give him this website. I'm not quite sure if he actually paid attention to me when I did so, but I hope he is listening nonetheless. If you are listening, dear Carlos, then hello! If not, then I hope my voice reaches you throughout time and into the future when you do listen to me. And in that case, hello from the past! Time is strange, and I am glad that we are in this time, in this dimension, together."
~•~•~
Carlos frowned at his iPod. It had been buffering for the past five minutes. He had missed practically the whole podcast by now!
It finally loaded, although Cecil was in mid sentence.
"..this dimension, together."
Carlos snorted. Good to know he was still spouting his weird nonsense.
"On another note, listeners, I am happy to announce that I have a new intern! Her name is Maureen. Sadly, she didn't show up to my house today. I sent her numerous calls and texts and tried to summon her with a bloodstone circle, but she didn't respond to anything! Perhaps she slept in? Or maybe went out with one of her friends? That would be terrible interning, if she did. I'm not not-paying her for this kind of work."
The boy started to unpack more boxes. He'd yet to find his set of flasks and beakers, and he was beginning to worry that they got lost in the moving process.
You can't do science without flasks and beakers! It was impossible! And highly dangerous!
"Oh, listeners. It seems that the Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency agent that was stationed outside of Carlos' home was not supposed to be discovered, and my sister, Abby, is telling me that she has received a call that I should never mention them again. Whoops. My bad!"
Carlos looked his window. That black car was definitely still there. They weren't very discreet about their parking place. If they didn't want to be talked about, then don't park right outside the house! Or at least, I don't know, park behind the house.
"The other day I mentioned this interesting book that dear Carlos gave me. It is actually not as easy to read as I expected, but I am persevering through it nonetheless! I feel that since Carlos is very sciency, that I should be sciency too! It is only common sense, considering we are neighbours."
Carlos smiled slightly at that. He didn't think Cecil cared that much about his opinion. He'd even ignore the fact that 'sciency' was not a word.
"I don't understand much in this book, if I am to be completely honest. There's some incorrect content in here, such as what DNA is made of. It says here it is made of a nucleotide composted of sugar, nitrogen, and phosphate, but listeners, we all know that DNA is actually composed of many microscopic aliens that are constantly trying to take control of our whole body and use it as a vessel for mass destruction and world domination, but hey! No one is perfect. I'm sure it was just a typo."
There they were! The box must have been labeled wrong, because it instead said MEER OBJECTS ARE MEANINGLESS. EVERYTHING TANGIBLE EVENTUALLY DIES. WE MUST GIVE PRAISE. ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD. ALL HAIL.
He didn't remember writing that.
Weird.
Then again, what wasn't weird in this town?
Carlos shrugged and set up his science stuff, turning off Cecil's podcast. There were still around 15,000 listeners tuned into the site, so he wouldn't be missed.
Now, where did he put that stash of acid capable of dissolving wood? It was in a cooler; he was sure of it..
~•~•~
Cecil sighed impatiently at Maureen's text.
"Listeners! Maureen actually ditched the show to go on a date! A date! How selfish!"
He let out an angry grunt. "Like, I wouldn't leave this precious broadcast to go out to dinner with Carlos, now would-?"
Cecil froze.
Did he just?
He swallowed heavily. "I.. I don't know why I said that. Carlos and I aren't even.. I mean.."
Cecil took off his headphones and ran his fingers through his hair. Where did that even come from? He adjusted the mic.
"Please ignore that remark, listeners. Probably stress. Probably.." His voice trailed off. "Unless, I am actually in love with our dear Carlos?"
He shook his head.
"I need to go think through this. Please listen to this prerecorded weather report. I'll be right back."