"Cecil?" Carlos nudged the door open with his shoulder, juggling his keys and several bags of groceries.
"Oh thank goodness," He heard Cecil murmur from the living room. He turned the corner and saw the man curled up in the corner of the couch. He rolled over, smiling gently. "You came back." He flopped back over, burying his face in the throw pillow.
Carlos set the bags down, approaching him cautiously. "Of course I came back," he said, sitting down beside him. "Did you think I wouldn't?"
Cecil shrugged. "I was worried…People don't always, you know." He swallowed, hard. "Some just disappear."
Carlos sighed, rubbing his back gently. "Well I'm not going to disappear on you," he said. "Or at least, if I feel myself disappearing, I will definitely try to call you first." He smiled, though it faded quickly as Cecil did not move. "I'm sorry…I was…I was trying to be funny."
Cecil's shoulders quivered. "I don't want you to disappear." he said quietly. "Not even as a joke."
"I'm sorry," Carlos murmured again, kissing the top of his head. "I'm not going anywhere, alright? I promise—"
"You can't promise something like that in Night Vale," Cecil said bitterly. "You don't know what'll happen tomorrow…."
Carlos frowned. "No, that's true…I'll give you that." He pulled away, sitting back on his heels. "But I can promise you that if anyone tries to take me away from you, they're going to get a generous helping of scientific whoopass."
Cecil snorted. "Scientific…whoopass, huh?" he asked, rolling over to look him in the eye. "Would you care to demonstrate that for me? I can call Steve Carlsberg over—"
Carlos shook his head, chuckling. "Nice try," he said. "But I'm afraid it's for emergencies only." He kissed him again, brushing the hair out of his face. "I do have something that might make you feel better, though."
"Oh?"
"Well, unless they recently mandated that ice cream is only for emergencies, it should at least help a little…"
Cecil laughed, his face brightening. "As long as it's not orange sorbet, we're in luck." He wrapped an arm around Carlos' waist. "You want to go scoop some, I'll start putting the rest of the groceries away?"
"Deal." Carlos smiled. "I love you, you know?"
Cecil nodded, smiling back. "Me too," he said, quietly. "More than I could ever say."
