In the rest of the world, a blue moon doesn't occur all that often. But, as with everything, this is not the case in Night Vale. In fact, one happened nearly every month, so the saying "once in a blue moon" was fairly pointless here.
"And now, listeners, I must return home to keep my Carlos company on this beautiful night. Goodnight, Night Vale. Goodnight." Carlos could almost picture Cecil's sharp teeth as he said this. He still wasn't sure whether or not he was a vampire, but it was one mystery that he couldn't really be bothered finding the answer to.
Carlos' ears twitched as Cecil's key slid into his lock and then he lifted his head from the arm of the lounge as the door swung open.
"Hi," he smiled at him, though it was more of a grimace- his mouth was always the last to change for some reason, and it still ached.
"Carlos," Cecil greeted him, sitting down beside him and wrapping an arm around his excessively-furry body. It was easier to smile at this gesture, though it was soon ruined by a sharp pain that changed Carlos' jaw to accommodate the new, sharper teeth.
"Finally," he sighed, relaxing and snuggling up to his boyfriend. "So, what did you bring tonight to keep us entertained?"
"I brought a movie," Cecil replied, reaching into the plastic bag that he'd brought in and withdrawing a DVD that Carlos had noticed before but never watched. Apparently it had been all the rage a few months ago and had only now been approved by the Council to be watched by Night Vale residents.
"Of course you watch Disney movies," Carlos chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything else from you."
"Well, I'd originally chosen something with wolves in it but then I thought that that might be a little cruel," Cecil informed him.
"It would be a little on the nose," Carlos agreed, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
Cecil slipped the disc into the player via a system of placing it on the DVD player and murmuring some words, and soon the image of the main menu appeared on the screen.
Through the opening credits, Carlos alternated between watching Cecil's look of utter delight and what was happening on the screen. Soon he connected them together.
"I hope you don't want me to grow my hair that long," he commented, leaning up to brush his furry face against Cecil's neck. Of course that elicited a small noise of pleasure.
"Aw, why not?" Cecil pouted. Carlos laughed at him again.
"Well, my fur length is directly related to my hair length, as I've discovered, which is why I tend to keep my hair short so the fur doesn't get in the way of anything when there's a full moon," Carlos explained. Cecil didn't understand most of what was said, so the scientist clarified: "The longer my hair, the longer my fur."
"Well, I wouldn't exactly want to be cuddling a giant furball," Cecil figured, stroking the fur on Carlos' neck. It was a very pleasant feeling.
"Exactly, and I wouldn't want to shed fur all over our home. It'd get in the way of my experiments and all over your clothes," Carlos added.
"And why would that be a problem for me?" Cecil asked. "None of my interns are allergic to animal fur. Even those who were no longer have their allergies after they come into contact with Khoshekh."
"Khoshekh is exactly the reason why my fur would be a problem for you," Carlos pointed out. "That cat probably hates dogs, like most cats do. Didn't he make one woman put down her dog?"
"Yes," Cecil replied slowly. "You're right, long hair would be a problem." He looked back to the screen and, seeing a completely different scene to the tower one previously, muttered some curses that probably were actual curses under his breath and rewound the DVD player to the point he'd been up to.
Carlos could only smile at his boyfriend's actions and remained where he was cuddled up to Cecil with his head on his chest. He couldn't help but notice that Cecil kept stroking his hair. Whether or not it was intentional was up for debate, but Carlos did find it oddly soothing. It at least helped him resist the urge to go outside- he'd learned early on that venturing outdoors during a full moon led to a full-on transformation into a wolf, which was painful but more worryingly made him give into his wolf instincts and go on a killing spree.
As the movie played on, bathing the room in the flickering glow of the television, Carlos noticed that Cecil's tattoos were glowing a very faint gold. He ran his clawed fingers over them, wondering as he always did at how they could glow so many different colours. There was nothing in them that could cause such luminescence, unless somehow they contained part of this magical flower in the movie. He abruptly caught himself overanalysing everything again and tried to enjoy the movie and Cecil's proximity.
Slowly, so very slowly, Carlos began to be wrapped up in the movie. It helped that Cecil began to either hum or softly sing along to the songs. Carlos had the feeling that Cecil had watched this movie before, probably several times, but that just made this movie night more special- he'd chosen to share a much-loved DVD with his boyfriend. It made Carlos smile, but then he got drawn back into the movie.
"Floating lanterns," he whispered. "Like our lights above Arby's." Cecil grinned and squeezed him into a tight hug, overjoyed at this statement. Although he eventually loosened his grip, Carlos remained pressed closely to his boyfriend. He greatly enjoyed his comfort, his presence, his overall nearness, especially on a night such as this.
When the movie finally ended, Carlos felt a warm glow spreading through him. It was such a happy ending, one that made him smile as much as it made him almost want to cry.
"Well, how did you like that?" Cecil asked once the credits had started rolling.
"I loved it," Carlos replied immediately, still with a goofy grin plastered to his face. "It took a while for me to stop thinking about how the glowing flower worked, but I guess sometimes you just have to believe in magic." He'd never before uttered that sentence, nor had he ever thought he would. A year ago, he would've laughed at someone who said such a thing. But, what with being turned into a werewolf and having a boyfriend with all kinds of strange quirks, it was entirely possible that magic just might be real.