An Entire Year of You

Chapter 11: The Hill

"I think it's time to hold another meeting." Carlos announced one morning. Three weeks had passed since the hair cut and he was yet to bring the issue up to Cecil, but Telly had left town for other reasons beginning with f and ending with raud so he'd ultimately decided to let it slide. There were more pressing problems, like the town's careless attitudes towards plutonium and dinosaurs, two issues that Carlos never thought would come up in the same day. Heck, he didn't expect dinosaurs to be a problem in his lifetime. It was this that prompted the idea to talk to the residents again. Maybe if they understood the scientific gravity of what the town faced on a daily basis, they'd take things a little more seriously, or at least stop adding to the town's alarmingly high radiation level.

"That's fine. Just make sure you don't involve us." Said Marsha.

"The hall is booked out for a discussion on dinosaur safety, which I suppose makes sense after last weeks attacks. What about the community college? Talking to the next generation might help sway the town towards a safer future. What do you think?"

"Again, we don't care." Marsha scowled. Carlos rolled his eyes. He really needed a better team.

"Community college it is then." He mumbled.

He booked a hall at the community college for two days later and paid the deposit of three locks of hair and two drops of blood, though he didn't want any of them back. He picked his least controversial research, though he wasn't sure what counted as controversial in Night Vale. After all, he'd nearly been imprisoned for the act of existing and having a vague knowledge of helicopters. Luckily, the vague but menacing government agents didn't show up. Mr Markson must have paid them very well. Or it could just be that they no longer cared. Few people seemed interested. As it turned out, Cecil's outburst toward Telly had the unintended side effect of scaring people into leaving him alone. Since people were no longer showing up to his talks to scream at him, they'd mostly opted to just ignore him. The few people who sat in the lecture hall was a vast comparison to the crowded room that came to jeer at him on that first day.

Despite the lack of interest, Carlos continued regardless. He talked about his research into the strange seismic activity in the scrub land, the alarming noises that the sun made (which everyone seemed surprised to find out wasn't a common occurrence), and the possible existence of parallel universes all converging on the town, though everyone quickly hushed him and encouraged him to move on when he brought that particular theory up. Mostly though he ranted about plutonium and why people should never, ever touch it. Seriously, he didn't think anyone would ever need that spelling out for them.

Most people left as soon as the talk was over without asking any questions. Carlos was pretty sure at least half of them had tuned out halfway through the plutonium talk. He didn't mind too much. The talk had been uneventful and at least he could say that he tried. Two people lingered in the hallway, Josie and Cecil.
"Great talk as always, sweetie." Said Josie, who greeted him with a hug.

"Thanks, Josie." Carlos squirmed in the hug. He'd never been a big fan of being held us closely. Josie must have caught onto this because it didn't take long for her to let go. "Hey, Ce. Didn't expect to see you here."

"Oh well, I'd never pass up a chance to support you. Plus, Station Management said I had to come to the college and try to recruit new interns." He explained.

"Did you manage?"

"Oh, I didn't try, I sat in your talk. They don't need to know that though." He winked.

"I'll leave you two to it." Josie smiled. "Loving the new hair, Carlos."

"Yeah, I don't know. I'm thinking of letting it grow out again."

"Oh, so we're on that timeline." A glint of mischief flashed across her eyes as she smiled. She was walking away before Carlos could even comprehend the fact that he should have been asking questions.

"So...parallel universes." Said Cecil.

"Yeah, I'm not going to lie, it's really just a hunch. I know that's not really scientific but...sometimes I just get these gut feelings, you know?"

"Is there a universe where you're the citizen and I'm the interloper?"

"Sure." He smiled. "Though in that universe I'm probably in jail." This made Cecil laugh. God, he had a beautiful laugh. Beautiful laugh, beautiful smile, beautiful-

Carlos pushed the thought away. He was getting distracted. He'd been getting distracted for several weeks now, ever since they got coffee if he was being completely honest, but for the most part it had been at the back of his mind. But since he went to the radio station, he'd been thinking more and more about Cecil every day. Still, Cecil wasn't going to be a problem. A good scientist had to stay focused at all times, no matter what.

"Oh, there's actually been something I've been meaning to show you. Have you got a few minutes?" Asked Carlos.

"Well as long as station management thinks I'm here I have about five hours free." Cecil shrugged.

"Awesome. Follow me."

Night Vale didn't have any mountains, well it did, but everybody quite strongly denied this, so the only high point in the town was a hill, which was covered in a lush grass that was surprisingly green for a desert. It was a short walk from the community college and the pair partially jogged to the top, filled with energy as the sunset above them.

"Alright, now look where I'm pointing." They sat down on the grass and Carlos stretched out his arm to point down into the town, towards the dog park. It wasn't visible everywhere but if a person looked in just the right spot, they could see a beam of pure black shooting into the sky, up and up and out of sight. "Do you see it?"

"Oh yeah...that's weird." Said Cecil as he stared towards the beam.

"Oh well, if you think it's weird then I should definitely be concerned." Carlos joked. He lowered his arm and looked towards Cecil, who seemed completely amazed by the sight. Carlos had always loved the look of wonder in people's eyes. It must have been a scientist thing.

"Absolutely." Cecil smiled. "You know I've never been up here before. Hey, you can see my apartment."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Look, down there. Right in the middle of town." Cecil pointed close to the beam to a little cluster of lights, in the middle of which was a small apartment building.

"Nice." Carlos grinned. It must have been nice growing up in a town where virtually everything was a stone throw away. Nobody was ever far from home.

"You can see it closer if you like. Maybe inside." Cecil playfully nudged.

"Cecil." Carlos shook his head, though he couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm perfectly happy to stay here." Cecil reassured.

"Okay, let's just watch this delayed sunset."

"Delayed?"

"Don't worry about it."

So, there they sat. Carlos wasn't sure how long they stayed there; he was too engrossed in the sky. Colours were so much more vibrant in Night Vale. Every little plant and flower looked as if it had somehow been enhanced. He watched as the scene in front of him turned from baby blue to fiery orange until it turned to a soft crushed velvet black. He was so entranced that he barely noticed himself moving towards Cecil. He quickly stopped himself from subconsciously leaning on him. He snapped back in reality. He was losing focus again. He couldn't lose focus. But wow, how he wished he could. He wished he could stay in that moment for the rest of time, watching day turn to night above tinkling lights with Cecil by his side.

The realisation hit him like a truck.

Cecil was going to be a problem.