For all that he has made a study of the strange and unexplainable happenings in the world, the most surprising part of the universe for Carlos continues to be himself.
Soon after he realises that the house in Desert Creek doesn't actually exist – that's it's just a flickering remnant of another dimension – he wants nothing more than to return home.
Night Vale might be the most scientifically interesting community in all of the US – that doesn't change its oddness, however. He grew up in New York and studied at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and he's used to the daily grind of life in big cities. Getting used to the routine of a small town was always going to be hard, but he hadn't expected Night Vale.
But then, no one ever expected Night Vale.
And when he realises that he is so far out of his comfort zone that he can't even remember what his comfort zone was any longer, the only thing he wants is to go home. Home, where even though extraordinary things hardly ever happened, he would be surrounded by familiar people and events and not things like a house that doesn't exist and earthquakes that didn't have any effect.
But he was a scientist, and he was here to study the anomalous phenomena happening in the town in the hope of discovering something useful. If he could just figure out why the earthquakes didn't affect the surface, for example, he could potentially save millions of lives. There wasn't really a choice – he had to stay in the town, if only for the good of science.
The clocks are a shock. The fact that they don't seem to exist in the town was bad enough on its own, of course, but the research he'd just completed into the passage of time in Night Vale hadn't relied on the clocks from the town. He'd used the one on his laptop – which he'd brought in from New York – instead.
Clocks not existing is something he can get over, but the idea of Night Vale being slower than the rest of the world – that there are 1703 more minutes passing in the outside world for every week he's been in Night Vale – that's terrifying.
He's not here forever. As soon as he gets enough data, he has every plan to leave and return home, where things are logical and he knows the people. But now, he wonders if it's possible at all – he's been in Night Vale for a couple of months, as far as he's aware, but he has to wonder just how much time he's spent here according to the real world.
"Carlos, querido, it has been eight months since you returned. Are you happy in this little town?"
His mother's worried voice is like a soothing balm to his soul. He's been terrified about the implications that the slowing down of time in Night Vale might have on his relations in the outside world, but knowing that his mother hasn't seemed to have experienced time any differently than he has- well, he thinks he might just have to alter his theories about the town.
For all that it's a part of the US, it seems to be located in a fold of time and space where things are different than in the rest of the world. It's possible to enter and leave the town, of course – the fact that the City Council visits what he's begun to think of as the mainland is proof enough, not to mention regular television access and Amazon deliveries – but at the same time, it's not part of the earth that he knows so well. Not really – not at all.
That's the reason he's there, after all.
He says something to pacify his mother – he plans on returning for Christmas, anyway – and returns to his work, all the while breathing sighs of relief at the knowledge that there's one little anomaly that doesn't really affect him as badly as he had thought it might.
The team of scientists that have come to Night Vale with him include men and women he's known for what seems like forever, from high school and university and all the spaces in between. They're a close knit group, and they're the only ones who know about his frustration with the town – they're the only ones who would understand it, anyway.
"So, do you ever plan on making a move on that radio host?" James, his best friend, asks him out of the blue one day.
He blushes immediately. "I thought we agreed that we'd never talk about that," he mutters, trying to avoid answering the question.
"No, actually, you agreed we'd never talk about it," he replies mildly. "The rest of us refused to give up such a brilliant opportunity to tease you."
Carlos turns away, refusing to answer the question. James sniggers from behind him, and he knows that there is no chance that his best friend has given up on that line of questioning. Oddly enough, he's grateful for the way his team constantly badger him about Cecil and his obvious crush on him. It reminds him of New York and Atlanta, and normality, and it makes him feel like he never left home.
Of course, that illusion shatters over and over every time he steps out of the lab – and, considering the things they're researching, most of the time he's in the lab – but he's always believed that it's the thought that counts.
It's nice. He's certain that if it wasn't for his friends, he would have left Night Vale screaming and blubbering months ago.
It's strange, the way he seems to get used to the odd happenings in Night Vale.
Before, he'd have found the idea of a five-headed dragon utterly absurd. Now, he thinks nothing of joining in the campaign to help vote him into the Mayor's office. In a way, he thinks, it's sad that the dragon is among the most normal of Night Vale residents – even his attempt at tax fraud only serves to remind him of real-world politicians – but as long as his ideas make sense, Carlos has decided not to spend too much time thinking about his species.
(He doesn't think about the fact that he joined the campaign immediately after he heard Cecil voicing his support for Hiram McDaniels on the radio. The enigmatic radio host has nothing to do with his decision, and he doesn't care what James says.)
He doesn't realise just how used to Night Vale he's gotten until he returns home for Christmas. Their entire team is on holiday, and he and James take a flight to New York together.
Before he left, he was certain that he would be thrilled to be back home. Even though the pangs of homesickness have lessened, he still misses New York and the comforting routine it offers.
And then he's back home, and he's finally with his family again.
"You look so much better than you did before you left," Isabel laughs, hugging him tight. "I think you might have found your place, querido."
He gives her an astounded look. "I don't think so, Isa," he says, waving aside her words. "New York is always going to be my home."
His eldest sister simply gives him a knowing look, the kind that has always annoyed him. He refuses to think about what she's said – it's impossible, to think of him being content in Night Vale. He's spent the past year or so wishing for nothing for than normalcy and home, after all.
And then the sheen and glamour of being home and with his family again starts to slowly wear off. His loves his family – of course he does – but two weeks into his Christmas holiday, he can't help but feel unaccountably bored.
There have been no glow clouds, or menacing city council announcements, or even radio programmes recited in soothing, dulcet tones for all the time he's been back in New York, and he finds that for some reason, he misses them.
It's only when they all return that he realises.
Somehow, without him noticing, Night Vale has slowly managed to creep up upon him and crawl inside him. With it has come all the odd things that happen in the town, and more importantly, Cecil, and for all that he may complain about the town, New York just isn't his home anymore.
Night Vale is.
He's still never going to truly get used to the odd happenings in Night Vale, he's almost certain of that, but somehow he's managed to become comfortable in the place.
"…Welcome to Night Vale."
As Cecil's voice comes through the radio once again, he smiles and settles in with his work. Maybe he'll ask the other man out someday, but until he can manage to build up the courage, this – listening to his voice from afar, and sometimes being lucky enough to listen to the radio presenter talk about him in adoring tones – is enough.
an: because i really doubt that poor carlos got used to the craziness of night vale immediately.
i hope you guys liked it! as always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)