Cecilos

One

Cecil Gershwin Palmer was very well known in the Night Vale community. Being a reporter in a relatively small town, he had interviewed, befriended, or at least heard of every man, woman, or otherwise who resided in the desert haven. But today, a new person had entered the strange hamlet. A person that no one knew. A person with perfect hair.
     Cecil was struck from the first moment he saw this perfect stranger. He had never quite believed in 'Love at first sight,' but this mysterious new man with his dark, curly hair that fell almost to his shoulders was about to change everything that Cecil believed, wether he knew it or not.

•~•

     Carlos was new to Night Vale. He didn't remember how he got here or why he had come, but he did know that it seemed as good a place as any to re-start his life. Carlos' parents had thrown him out of the house the moment they had found out that he was gay. Carlos was only 17 years old at the time and hadn't even graduated high-school, so his friend's parents gave him a place to stay until he had a place of his own to go. Being one of the top students in the school, Carlos was offered many scholarships and decided that he had nothing better to do than go to school. He took out some loans and started studying science. At the age of 25, he finally graduated with honours and a doctorate. The only problem was, he didn't know what to do now. So he started driving. And here he was.
     Carlos had no idea what this place was, but quickly found it to be quite interesting. The people gathered around his car yelling 'Interloper' was a bit off-putting at first, but they warmed up to him very fast. One man, a cute blond with some interesting tattoos running down his arms, even called him 'Perfect Carlos.' This said man was apparently a very important person in the town. He was the radio host and reporter at the only news broadcast in town. Some people called him 'The Voice of Night Vale.' Others called him Cecil. Either way, Carlos knew that he wanted to get to know this strangely alluring man quite a bit more.

•~•

     A few days after Carlos' first appearance, Cecil stopped by his lab to ask him a few questions for his radio show. Cecil wasn't sure if Carlos listened to it, but after telling everyone listening that he had fallen in love with Carlos, he kind of hoped that he didn't. Cecil didn't want to come on too strong. He really liked this guy he was smart, handsome, mysterious—
     Carlos interrupted Cecil's train of thought by answering the door.
     "Cecil!" Carlos exclaimed, trying not to sound as excited as he was. "What a nice surprise. Come on in."
     Carlos had initially found Cecil attractive, but after hearing his confession on the radio, The scientist found that he, too was in love, or at the very least deeply infatuated.
     Cecil walked into the lab and looked at all the bubbling beakers and colourful chemicals scattered around the sophisticated, bright lab. Carlos led the radio host out of the lab, down a short hallway, and up a staircase. They entered a reasonably sized room with a bed, a stove, a table with a couple of chairs, and a couch. Cecil guessed it was Carlos' bedroom.
     Carlos gestured to the greenish-brown, worn-out couch. "Make yourself comfortable," Cecil sat down while Carlos pulled a chair from the table in front of Cecil and sat down. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Carlos asked, smiling.
     Cecil was struck for a moment by the beautiful man's perfect teeth and perfect smile. "...yes. Yes. I am here by the request of Station Management in response to the curiosity of our dear listeners. They have requested that I ask you some of Night Vale's most burning questions about your business here. We don't get many visitors"
     Carlos was slightly disappointed. He had hoped that Cecil had come here as a friend or even as more than a friend. He must have shown this disappointment because Cecil quickly added, "I also wanted to see how you were liking Night Vale."
     Carlos repressed his joy in hearing this. "I'm glad to answer any of your questions," Carlos grinned.
     "Alrighty then. So..." Cecil got out his phone and pulled up the question that Station Management had approved. "Why did you come to Night Vale, Carlos?"
     "Well...I recently finished my doctorate in science and was looking for a place to start my career"
     Cecil was impressed. "A doctorate in science. Impressive. I'm very into science these days," Cecil realised he was getting off topic and blushed. "Anyways... next question. How long do you plan on staying in Night Vale?"
     Carlos thought for a moment before saying, "Well it depends, Cecil."
     "On what?"
     "On a lot of things. On what kind of work I can find, which hasn't been a problem so far, on what people I meet," Carlos caught Cecil's eyes for a short moment. "On if I'm not driven out by the people who yell 'Interloper' at me every time I go out, on my life span, and some other small things. But I don't foresee myself leaving anytime soon. I like it here."
     Carlos and Cecil met eyes for a little longer this time. Cecil saw that Carlos had beautiful, deep, brown eyes that seemed to give off their own light. Carlos noticed that Cecil's eyes were a deep shade of purple. This alarmed Carlos at first, but he quickly realised that the man must be wearing coloured contact lenses. But why would he then have glasses on over them? The scientist was confused. He wanted to study the man's eyes. He wanted to look into those intoxicating purple mysteries for as long as humanly possible. But Carlos broke his gaze away from Cecil's eyes, not wanting to seem too creepy.
     Cecil asked a few more questions such as "What is your favourite type of nose" "What colour is your spleen" and "What do you think of rabbits?" Although Carlos thought some of the questions were strange, he answered them to the best of his ability. Carlos was just glad to have an excuse to talk to Cecil.
     After the interview was over, Cecil stood up and informed Carlos that those were all the questions he had. Carlos thanked him and led Cecil back down the  stairs, back down the short hallway, back through the bright, clean lab, and to the front door.
     "I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. Here..." Cecil wrote down his phone number on a small stone he pulled from his pocket with a sharpened knife. Pen and paper had been illegal for years now, so Cecil was used to it, but Carlos was very confused and slightly concerned by this gesture. "If you ever have any questions, comments, or...anything else, just call me. Thanks again. See you!" With that, Cecil handed Carlos the rock and started walking back to the radio station which was just across the street.
Carlos only knew two things after this awkward and spontaneous meeting. He wanted to see Cecil more, and he wanted to see more of Cecil. Carlos, although not as instantly as Cecil, had fallen in love.