Cecil pulled his window shut and the struggling catch finally gave slamming the window down hard enough to send a crack arcing up through the pane. He looked embarrassed for a moment but was pleased to note Carlos was still immersed in his research notes. The clouds outside were a pleasant shade of moss and he shut the blinds, but made sure the panels were open. With a resolute breath he walked over and sat beside Carlos on the couch.
"So... What brings you to see me?" He asked in what he was pretty sure was a breathy and seductive voice. Carlos must've misheard the tone however, because he didn't instantly fall into a state of lust and unbridled touching.
"It's raining toads over Night Vale." He said, adjusting his glasses. Cecil hid his disappointment by standing up and walking into the kitchen, taking out a loaf pan. He then looked into the loaf pan, wondering why he had taken it out. But if he put it away he might look awkward in front of Carlos, so he set it on the counter and peered into a cabinet for something that might make use of a loaf pan. He found a packet of Easy Baker Blackberry Muffin mix and with a shrug emptied it into a bowl. He tied on a pink and purple apron his mother had thrown at him on his eighth birthday.
"Maybe the Glow Cloud is running for reelection?" He said. Carlos shook his head.
"I checked. The Glow Cloud is on vacation with its child to Lawrence, Kansas." Carlos replied. Cecil nodded sagely as he hunted for his measuring cups, and eventually grabbed a NVCR coffee mug he'd 'borrowed' from work and poured milk into it. A cup was a cup after all.
"Oh, I remember hearing about that at the PTA meeting." He scrounged until he found a couple of eggs. The box called for two eggs, but didn't say what sort. He had duck eggs, so he cracked them into the bowl. Carlos still hadn't looked up at him. Cecil thought about it for a moment.
"We'll, it's spring. Are you sure it's not raining frogs? Or salamanders. We could be having salamanders early this year." He poured chili infused olive oil into the bowl and started mixing. It was more liquid-y than he thought it should be, and the batter was an alarming shade of pink, but he was sure that it would work itself out in the baking.
"No they were definitely toa..." Carlos looked up. "Wait, what about salamanders!?"
"It could be raining salamanders. They usually come in June but it's half through April, they could be early." He put the loaf pan in the oven and picked at a dry spot on the back of his arm. His tattoo touch up itched terribly. He was still scratching when he came around the bar counter and back into the living room.
Carlos stared at him but finally concluded that this, like many things, was something the radio operator would never quite understand wasn't perfectly normal. "Well... Alright then. But these are toads. Male toads."
"Are they dead?" Cecil asked, sounding concerned. Carlos shook his head.
"Not at all... In fact they seem very healthy." Carlos assured him. "They go leaping off into the creeks and other water sources." He said, consulting his notes. "But it's just very confusing."
"I see." Cecil said, although he had no idea what to say. Science confused him sometimes, and Carlos confused him sometimes, and the two together left him wondering how to string more than four words into a cohesive thought, especially when Carlos was looking at him like that. His face felt hot and he looked intently into the oven to disguise it. The loaf didn't appear to be rising at all, but it bubbled lazily.
"Are you cooking? I didn't mean to inturrupt your dinner." Carlos started to get up and leave.
"Wait! I mean, I'm making us a muffin... loaf." Cecil realized how strange that sounded, even from him. "I learned to make it in Spitz. That's in Europe." Carlos walked over and sat at the table.
"Alright then." He sat and Cecil happily put the loaf pan on the table. It sloshed slightly.
"Umm... It's a soup." He said. "A traditional Spitzian muffin loaf soup." He said and by managing a straight face, he convinced Carlos that he at least THOUGHT he was serious.
"It looks..." Carlos didn't say what the sloshing, gelatinous mass looked like and Cecil didn't press for detail, spooning it into bowls. "Anyway, I still wish I knew why those toads are falling out of the sky."
"Maybe there are lady toads in the creek and hopping isn't fast enough." Cecil said, handing him a spoon and praying his lack of cooking skill wasn't going to ruin this. Carlos took a bite, and his eyes went wide. Cecil grimaced.
"You're right... There WERE quite a few females in the creeks and no males except the falling ones." He chewed. "This is very good soup."
Cecil took a bite and was delighted to find he was right. "Yes, I'm a good cook." He lied.
He and Carlos ate their Spicy Blackberry Muffin Pudding, discussing what other explanation there could be for falling toads, if not love. They never did come up with anything better.