I donāt know when a good time to mention this would be, so I might as well just do it now. If weāre going to have another Carlos Week next year, I think we might have to move it to a different week. The first one was chosen on a whim based on things that were going on in the fandom at the time, and the last one was on that same week. But I think that random week in February just isnāt convenient for me and other people, so I think it would be best to find another week that works better.
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Okay, so Iām not putting this one on AO3 tonight, but - down to the wire, hereās the last Carlos Week fic. Much shorter. Considering the future and potential character development, there are a lot of things that I think would be neat for Carlos to explore.
Itās light on the Night Vale weirdness, but thereās a limit to how much my brain can do in one day. I hope the general fluff makes up for it.
But obviously, one thing that has to happen? These dorks need to get married. And so...
Cecil Gershwin Palmer went all out, of course. He got down on one knee. He pulled out the little box, and opened it with the requisite satisfying click. He spoke loudly and clearly, as was his habit, but it wasnāt his radio professional, here is what you, dear listener, need to know voice or his okay, Secret Police, are you listening? I donāt want to repeat myself voice.
With every ounce of desire in his beating, blood-drenched heart, Cecil asked, āCarlos, will you marry me?ā
He offered up a ring that he suspected had belonged to someone in his family. He didnāt know who, exactly - maybe his mother, he rather hoped his mother - but heād found it in a closet and had it appraised. It was the real deal, so to speak, and now, well, now he would always know who it belonged to. Now, he would never forget.
Carlos didnāt answer. His knees trembled, as the announcement hit him in his joints, and he didnāt fit it. He dropped down in front of Cecil.
The radio host reached out and grabbed his shoulder, and gasped, āCarlos? Are you-ā
Carlos was a lot of things. Fine was one, and an understatement, and he had a lot of momentum going. He wrapped both arms around Cecil and pulled his - oh, gosh - fiance into a kiss. Cecil made a little sound in his deep voice, and Carlos felt the vibrations stir against his lips. The scientist lifted a hand, stroking through the other manās hair, and hummed softly in return.
Only when they were both dizzy from the combined lack of oxygen and excess emotion did Carlos pull away. He swallowed, and Cecil laughed, āIs that-ā
Carlos cut him off again, demonstrating unusual impatience as he poked Cecil gently on the nose. āYes. Of course. There are no other scientifically valid interpretations, silly.ā
āGood. Goodā¦ā Cecil murmured. āIām glad. I wasnātā¦ worried. But Iām glad to hear it.ā
āWell, Iām glad to tell you. Yes, Ceec, I will marry you,ā Carlos said, and kissed Cecil again.
Although it took up less oxygen than before, Cecil came away twice as giddy, and Carlos was perfectly content to hold him until they felt ready to move. Ā
Alright, so itās late, but for day 3 of @carlosweek, I was thinking about what Carlos said about people making home (heavily paraphrased, I know).Ā
And thereās a lot of very good stuff said about Carlos and Cecil and how they make home for each other, but we know that Cecil isnāt the only person in Night Vale who cares about Carlos. I tried to explore that a little in here.
So, for your nightly sap, here isĀ āWelcome Back.ā Read it on AO3!
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I feel like a broken record, especially seeing a lot of people's other responses, but my favorite moment is in first date and when they first kiss. That moment is so serene and soft and I love it. Not counting live shows, my favorite episode with Carlos in it is Rumbling. It's basically an episode with nothing but Carlos and Cecil calling each other. It was not the happiest episode, and combine that with the sad weather they had, boy, did that episode give me so many feelings.
Day 6: Favorite Moments- Best episode with Carlos or your favorite Carlos moment?
Iād be lying if I said their first kiss didnāt make me smile and cry and squeal like a puppy.Ā
I almost did theĀ āhard at workā scene but their first kiss is just so pure and so defining for the Cecilos relationship. This moment solidified their status as a couple, and thatās very important for fictional gay couples. To sayĀ āNo this isnāt just a silly thing for the audience itās real.ā
Okay Iām just going to talk about a thing today. Or a few things. Because it says favoriteĀ āmoments,ā not just favoriteĀ āmoment.ā Theyāre only two episodes apart, anyway. Two pieces from episodes 25 and 27 respectively. Two scenes that Iāve probably way overthought. It gets rather long, and so, under a cut:
First up, all the way back in episode 25. This episode contains so many transitions and shifts, while at the same time echoing the pilot. Very cool stuff. But for this, Iām thinking of CarlosāĀ āchargeā into Lane 5.
I canāt help but interpret this as something like an act of defiance. Night Vale is weird. Night Vale is dangerous. Night Vale is a lot of things, and so many of them seem to threaten him, or defy scientific explanation (definitely worse), but this, he can explain. He knows whatās under Lane 5, and soon, everyone else will, too. Thatās the power of science.
But then... It goes poorly. Or seems like it. He gets hurt. Badly. Lots of adverbs. And it seems like this town might be the end of him, after all. Can you imagine how scary that must have been? At that stage, he still probably had no plans to stay, although he was also probably determined not to leave without answers. And suddenly, heās bleeding out on the floor underneath a bowling alley. Ouch.
On top of this, I like to imagine that Cecilās show is basically blasting through the sound system at this point. Whether it normal does this or not, heās there now. Itās very important that Carlos hears what Cecil says about him, now. Carlos hears how desperately Cecil wants to help him and how much Cecil really does care. He realizes, in what he might have suspected were his dying moments, that he means something very real to Cecil.Ā
He realizes that, in spite of the fear and confusion and conflicting scientific evidence, Night Vale may not be so bad, after all. (Consider how panicked he sounded in parts of episode 16, for contrast.) And when he makes it out, he decides to give Night Vale - and Cecil - a chance.Ā
Next, episode 27. First Date. Well, that alone was promising. And it was an adorable episode.Ā āThinking. Itās part of being a scientist. What have you been up to?ā
But the moment I want to talk about here is the kiss at the end. Iāve always been in the camp of thought that Carlos did, in fact, hear what Cecil said about him and was not comfortable with it at first. He didnāt really have anything against Cecil - this becomes important, of course - but because of the general scary weirdness of Night Vale, possible interalized homophobia, or both, he didnāt know how to respond. He didnāt want to respond at first.Ā
My point is, I think Carlos has always been receptive to Cecilās signals, whereas Cecil wasnāt as clear on what Carlos was communicating. In part because Carlos wasnāt communicate a lot, through no fault of his.Ā
So when Carlos kisses Cecil here, I think itās a very specific and very sweet gesture. He can tell that Cecil is sad about not getting to check out the lab (weāre taking this at face value, for now). He can tell that Cecil canāt tell what exactly heās thinking. And while itās true that Carlos may not want Cecil to come in yet - boundaries are important, after all, and scientists are apparently self-reliant - he had a very good experience that evening.Ā
The thing is, once again, heās not entirely sure how to communicate that. So he chooses a quick gesture, one that he is comfortable with.Ā
(Also:Ā āI stroked Carlosā cheek. I donāt know if he noticed.ā He noticed. And I bet it made him feel warm and fuzzy. Nerds.)
There are things here that I still havenāt managed to articulate, but I figure thatās enough for now. AlthoughĀ āa scientist is self-reliantā deserves its own full-post analysis and frankly, another time, Iāll probably give it one.
