Two weeks. Carlos had been back for two weeks and was still refusing to talk to Cecil, and Earl had never been happier. He tried to keep his relief from showing, because unfortunately Cecil was still upset about it, but Earl was on cloud nine.

However the best part of the situation was Kevin's little science show, because every time he interviewed Carlos the two flirted like crazy; not only was Carlos not going to try and get Cecil back, but he'd completely moved on. Earl had never been so grateful in his life, though he did feel a little guilty about how much it hurt Cecil. But surely that wouldn't last long, Cecil would cheer up again soon and then the two of them could finally be happy together.

Earl grinned when his phone began howling – Cecil calling always made him happy, "Hey Cecil!"

"Hi Earl," Cecil said, he was quiet and a little nervous, but he sounded determined too, "You have off tonight right? Would you maybe want to hang out? Or something?"

"I'd love to Cecil!" Earl was grinning like a maniac, "I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Thanks Earl," Cecil said, sounding relieved, "I can't wait to see you tonight; you're the best friend I could ever ask for."

Earl's heart sank a bit at Cecil's choice of words, but it probably meant nothing, "Me either."

Earl hung up the phone and did his best not to overanalyze Cecil's wording; it made sense for him to say friend, they weren't actually dating yet. But today was the day that would change, he was certain of it. After tonight, Cecil would officially be his boyfriend. Earl turned to his closet, trying to decide what he would wear tonight. He frowned as his radio ceased playing the guttural moans of despair he normally listened to in the morning, he was certain it was supposed to play for another hour at least.

"Good morning Night Vale!" Kevin chirped over the radio, "Great news, apparently the ratings on my show are so good that Station Management decided to extend it. Thank you all so much for your support!"

Earl sighed, listening to Kevin's show was certainly interesting, but he needed to concentrate on planning his date with Cecil.

"Now the first thing I want to talk to you all about today is chemistry," Kevin said, "Specifically chemistry that results in fiery explosions. Here to help us is the wonderful Carlos the Scientist!"

"I'm so glad you invited me back on Kevin," Carlos said; with his annoyingly perfect voice that Earl so despised. Earl could picture him sitting in the studio, running his fingers through that stupidly perfect hair that Earl couldn't stand to see. Earl hated Carlos more than anything he'd ever come in contact with, "Personally I think explosions are one of the most fun things to do with science, there's something very intimate about the passionate reactions that occur between chemicals. Chemicals are a bit like people in that regard, because they don't always react with each other, and sometimes they react in different ways. Of course some elements are more reactive than others, Caesium for example. Caesium reacts with just about everything, and would be a terrible element to date because-"

Earl shut off the radio. Listening to Carlos passive aggressively yell at Cecil over the radio was not the background for picking out the perfect outfit to wear on a date. Instead Earl started playing one of his favorite records, a collection of Elvis songs slowed down to a fifth of their original speed. It was a little old, but he couldn't stand listening to anything Elvis did after the 1980s, he'd changed his style to try and widen his audience but it was just a train wreck.

XoXoXoXoX

"And now a quick word from our sponsors," Kevin hit the button to cue the prerecorded message and leaned back in his chair, it felt so good to be in a radio station again. He was in his element, though Night Vale's equipment was a little dated, but it had been so long since Kevin had been in a recording booth that he was thankful for the simplicity.

"What's the plan for the next segment?" Carlos asked, scribbling notes about unknown topics into his journal. Kevin often wondered what was written there, but he wasn't sure if he should ask.

"I was thinking we'd take some questions from the listeners," Kevin said, "It'd be a good opportunity to see what they enjoy most about the show."

"Alright," Carlos said, "I hope I can give them comprehensive answers to their questions, I haven't had a chance to really investigate all the things that have been happening in Night Vale since I left.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Kevin said, "After all, you're the only real scientific authority around here, it's not as though anyone's going to try contradicting you."

"Just because no one will know doesn't mean I can spread misinformation, it'd be unethical," Carlos said.

Kevin gave a shrug, and the prerecorded ad ended, "Welcome back listeners! We're now going to open up our phone lines to accept your calls, if you have something you'd like to ask about or comment on, just begin hissing into your phones and you'll be connected!"

It didn't take long before the calls came rolling in, most of them were fairly simple questions, like "What makes up the endless void above our heads?" or "How do I keep mutant rats out of the pantry?" But Carlos was happy to answer them all. Kevin liked watching his face while he talked about science, his excitement was so genuine, nothing like how the people in Desert Bluffs had been. It wasn't until Carlos' face flushed and he started stammering that Kevin realized he hadn't been listening.

"That's, err, very personal," Carlos began, "And I'm, uh, not so sure it has anything to do with science."

"You're not denying it," said the caller, "which means it's almost definitely true, and someone needs to make up new T-shirts."

"Oh err, you really don't have to do that," Carlos said, "Please, no one do that."

"Well I'm not hanging up until one of you confirm it," the caller said, "Kevin, you'll give us a proper answer won't you?"

Kevin didn't know what he was meant to be confirming, but he'd always found that when in doubt you should always tell people exactly what they wanted to hear, "It's all true, and you should definitely make new T-shirts."

Incoherent squealing was all that could be heard over the phone, and Kevin took the chance to write a note asking Carlos what he'd just confirmed. Carlos read the look, gave him a sort of horrified look and then scribbled down a response. Kevin was about to read the note when the squealing turned into a song.

"Carlos and Kevin sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First," Carlos shut off the call before they could continue.

"Ok well that's all the time we have today, right Kevin?" he said.

"Yes I'm afraid so," Kevin said, "But before we go home I wanted to ask you a quick question."

Kevin had never seen someone look so nervous and adorable at the same time, "Carlos, would you go to dinner with me?"