"CARLOS!"
Night Vale's favorite outsider scientist jumped as the sound of frantic hammering on his door jarred him out of examining a particularly enthusiastic cockroach with "YOU WILL RIDE THE SUBWAY" and "GIVE YOURSELF TO PUBLIC TRANSIT" emblazoned on its back in swirling cursive. He carefully ushered the squirming specimen into a small jar, closing the lid tightly before rushing to open his door before it could be knocked off its hinges.
"Cecil, what-" Carlos yelped as Cecil tackled him around the waist, knocking him to the chemical-stained floor of the lab. Carlos lay staring blankly up at the ceiling for several moments, trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him by the Voice of Night Vale and blinking away several spots that had appeared as his head collided with the floor. He finally struggled to sit up, only managing to push himself up on his elbows beneath Cecil's weight. Carlos tried to loosen Cecil's grip, only to feel it tighten to near rib-cracking strength as Cecil released a heart-wrenching sob and began to shake.
"Cecil, what's going on? What happened?" Carlos coaxed, wincing as he struggled to breathe. "Is this about the intern? I heard you lost another one today-"
"No," Cecil choked, shaking his head furiously against Carlos' now tear-soaked lab coat. He started to sob again. Carlos gently gripped Cecil under both elbows, managing to put enough space between the two of them that he was able to stand and guide Cecil over to the couch before succumbing to gravity and Cecil's grip once again. Carlos managed to shift slightly as they dropped onto the cushions, shifting Cecil's weight from his abdomen and allowing Carlos to take a long, deep breath of much-needed oxygen. Cecil burrowed his head into Carlos' shoulder, still sobbing violently. Carlos gently wrapped his arms around Cecil, one hand rubbing at his boyfriend's back as the other stroked his hair in what Carlos hoped was a soothing motion.
It was a long time before Cecil finally began to calm down, a soft hiccup occasionally punctuating his now soft weeping against the crook of Carlos' neck. Finally, after what the not-clock in the lab read as approximately forty minutes later, Cecil gave a pathetic whimpering sniffle and sat up, still refusing to fully release Carlos. Carlos reached across the couch for an old, mostly-clean rag and offered it to Cecil, who wiped at his running nose and swollen red eyes for several moments before tossing the rag onto the coffee table and curling into a half fetal position against Carlos' side.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Carlos asked softly. Cecil was quiet for several moments, then sniffed loudly, causing Carlos to fear another sobbing streak. Thankfully, Cecil simply continued to stare into space, apparently fixated on a dark chemical stain on Carlos' lab coat. Carlos nudged him gently. "Cecil?"
Cecil jumped slightly, as if he had momentarily forgotten where he was. He looked down at his hands and began fumbling with the cuffs of his shirt sleeves, mumbling something under his breath. Carlos raised his eyebrows.
"What?" Carlos asked, leaning closer to Cecil. Cecil's face turned a deep red, continuing to fumble with his sleeves as he mumbled, just barely audible, "I missed you."
In any other situation, in any other town than Night Vale, Carlos would have started laughing. Maybe thought about getting a restraining order against someone who reacted so strongly about not having seen him in only a few hours.
"We had lunch together this afternoon, Cecil," Carlos said slowly, watching as Cecil's face started to become alarmingly blank and pale once again. "Did something happen since then?"
Cecil whimpered, then suddenly turned and grabbed Carlos around the waist once again, knocking him down flat on the couch and nestling against his chest as he buried his face against Carlos' plaid shirt.
"It was awful, Carlos!" Cecil wailed, shoulders shaking as he fought back the urge to break into renewed sobs. "I was gone for years, and years, and years, and there were all these people but I was all alone, and you got older and older and then you weren't old anymore, youwerejustdeadandIwasaloneand-"
"Cecil!" Carlos interrupted. Cecil had started to hyperventilate, his face red and eyes disturbingly large. Carlos took Cecil's face in both his hands, encouraging him to shift upwards and rest his forehead against Carlos' as he looked him straight in the eyes.
"I'm right here, Cecil. I'm alive. I'm okay. We're together. You're okay." Cecil stared into Carlos' eyes for several long moments; Carlos began to fear that Cecil hadn't heard him, until Cecil slowly blinked, nodding.
"Okay." Cecil whispered, closing his eyes as Carlos pressed a kiss to his pale forehead. "Okay. Okay. Okay…" Cecil lay his head down on Carlos' chest, softly muttering that mantra to himself over and over again beneath his breath as Carlos stroked his hair, the day's earlier experiments and to-do lists forgotten. Night Vale's citizens could deal with whatever new disasters came along for the next few hours. This was more important. This was Cecil.
"Hey," Cecil hiccupped, sniffling pathetically as he looked up at Carlos through bleary eyes, his cheeks regaining some healthy pink. "Sorry about your head."
Carlos laughed, kissing Cecil gently for several long minutes. He waited, allowing Cecil to be the one to pull away as he sighed contentedly and nestled his head back into the worn plaid of Carlos' shirt. Cecil's breathing finally began to even out as he closed his eyes, Carlos gently running his fingers through Cecil's hair as he hummed an old Spanish song his mother had taught him as a boy. Eventually he joined Cecil in sleep, their arms wrapped tightly around each other. They would stay that way until morning.