An Entire Year of You

Chapter 10: The Discussion

The decision had been made. If he was trapped in Night Vale by the forces of prophecies and unread legal contracts, then he would spend the little time he had left without fear. He was a scientist; he was going to die with a test tube in one hand and a case file in the other. He set to work getting his new life in gear right away. He bought himself a small second-hand electric car so he could get around without experiencing anymore kidnappings, be they real or attempted, and cut his hair short so it wouldn't get in the way of his experiments. He walked into the lab with a spring in his step. Everything was going to be just fine.

"Hey, Carlos, your boyfriend is doxing the barber." Jess informed him as soon as he walked through the door. He sighed. Everything was going to be fine as it could get in Night Vale.

"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend. He's a boy...man...who is a friend, but he's not- wait he's doing to what?"

Jess switched on the radio, catching Cecil mid-sentence. Sure enough, he was throwing poor Telly into deep water. A vat full of the stuff. He just hoped the town wasn't too easily persuaded. They seemed stubborn in everything else and Carlos prayed they couldn't be moved to hurt the man.

"5'9 with a small moustache and a thick pot belly. He talks with an accent and sneers. Telly the barber cut Carlos' beautiful hair. According to reports. Telly. Now, while I gather myself, let's have a look at traffic."

Carlos switched off the radio. Okay, that was still a bit weird, but Cecil was a reasonable man. He was a strange man but reasonable. He would just talk to him and tell him to take everything back on air. He would remind him that it was his hair and Telly was only doing his job. He'd understand that. Cecil wasn't going to be a problem.

"I'll go talk to him. Wait here." He said as he picked up his keys and headed towards the door.

"Where would we go?" Asked Robin.

"Will you please get some work done for once?" Shouted Marsha. Carlos didn't reply to either of them. He was already rushing towards his car, which was parked in the spot where the vague to menacing government agents used to watch him, and drove off towards the station.

If Carlos lived in a normal town, with a normal radio station, he would probably have been disturbed the screams omitting from the building. But Carlos didn't live in a normal town, and Cecil didn't work for a normal radio station, so the screams didn't bother him. In fact, he barely registered them. He parked his car and walked into the reception. It seemed dark and completely abandoned. The light flickered, but it was more off than on, and a low primal growl which was impossible to locate echoed through the walls. Undeterred, Carlos went up to the desk and rang the bell.

"Psst, down here." Whispered a small male voice. Carlos peered over the side of the desk to find a young man cowering behind it.

"Are you okay? What's going on? Where's C-"

"Shhh." The man flapped his hands frantically. "Get over here." Carlos rolled his eyes and moved behind the desk. At this point, he'd realised it was just easier to do what people asked. Plus, a lot safer.

"Where's Cecil? And why are we whispering?" Carlos whispered.

"Station management's loose. Cecil's hiding under his desk until they calm down."

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know. Cecil can survive a ridiculous amount of stuff; he'll probably be okay. Are you Carlos?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"Hmm, Cecil's right. You are beautiful."

"Um...thanks." Carlos blushed. "Listen urr..."

"Casper." The man smiled.

"Casper. I really need to speak to Cecil." He explained.

"You can't go out there. You'll die." Casper told him. Carlos bit his lip. No, this wasn't the way he was going to go out. He was going to enjoy the whole year.

"Fine, I'll come back later. Can you tell him that I called?"

"Sure." Casper nodded. Carlos stood up, only to duck back down as a chair smashed into the door, moved by an unseen force.

"On second thought, I could just stay here." Carlos trembled.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Casper agreed.

The pair stayed behind the desk for the next three hours. It was actually quite a leisurely afternoon. Carlos explained his research in Night Vale so far and Casper told him all about his young life within the town. They even played noughts and crosses. If only they had a pack of cards, Carlos would have happily stayed there all day. Eventually though, the lights came back on and the growling stopped. Station management was back in their office and it was safe to come out.

"Well, that's that. For the next two years at least." Muttered Casper. The pair stumbled to their feet. Their muscles ached from the prolonged crouching in the confined space. Surviving Night Vale required such a strong stretching regime.

"Cecil." Carlos gasped as Cecil rounded the corner. He looked wide eyed and exhausted; his face paler than he'd ever seen. Carlos ran to his side; afraid he might collapse.

"Carlos, what are you doing here?" Cecil asked through short breath.

"I-I was here to talk to you. Cecil, what happened?" The two sat against the wall closest to the door. Cecil's legs were shaking far too much for them to stand.

"Contract negotiations went sour and station management got mad for some reason and..." Cecil's voice trailed off as he swallowed back tears. "I lost Jerry."

"I'm...I'm sorry I don't understand."

"Jerry, he was the intern here. He died today."

"Oh God that's awful. I'm so sorry."

"He's not the first intern I lost. Not even the first this month. Radio is a very dangerous job, you know?" Cecil sobbed.

"Yeah." He nodded. Carlos didn't know, but it didn't seem like the right time to bring that up, so he didn't.

"I try not to let affect me on air. I try to brush it off, pretend nothing really major has happened. I'm...pretty good at that now. But it's just...I'm supposed to be charge, I'm supposed to protect them, and I never can. No matter what I can never..." He wiped his eyes and cleared his throat, quickly regaining composure like a man who'd lost a thousand times before and always come out the other side still breathing. "I'm sorry. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"I..." He'd come to argue. He'd come to tell Cecil that it wasn't his place to say how people could and couldn't interact with him. He'd come to say a lot of words that were bound to sting. But it wasn't the time for any of that. There would be plenty of time in the future for fighting. For now, Cecil clearly needed him and even then, Carlos knew that there would come a day where he needed Cecil. So, as they sat there Carlos didn't say any of the things he had planned to. Instead he said, "Nothing. I just wanted see you."