so a radio host, a radio host, and a scientist walk into a bar... [closed]

[youbarium]

Who| Cecil, Cecil, and Carlos
What| Carlos offers to set up a meeting between the two Cecils and hopes to Goddard no one kills their double
Where| A coffeeshop!
When| Early in the family-visit week -- Tuesday or Wednesday
Warnings/Notes| Weaponized passive-aggression and more creepy existential horror than your body has room for.



Carlos had cleared it with Cecil -- the Capitol Cecil -- beforehand, of course. He had called Cecil to ask if Cecil would like to meet the other Cecil, since the other Cecil was in town. Cecil from the Capitol had agreed, and though Carlos had voiced concerns about Cecils' observed tendencies to kill their doubles on sight, Capitol-Cecil had assured Carlos that of course he wouldn't! He would never do anything like that, he had said! He was a Capitol citizen, he was civilized, and knew how to behave himself around people from other worlds!

Cecil had voiced no objection, so Carlos had suggested that they all meet for coffee. As he and Capitol-Cecil were already planning to do that later in the week, it seemed to Carlos to be the most convenient way to get the three of them in the same place. Also, he had not said, it was in public, and if anyone did feel any urges to commit violent murder, Peacekeepers would be alerted immediately and the whole thing would be broken up quickly.

Carlos had also explained the situation to Cecil -- the Cecil from Night Vale -- beforehand. He told Cecil, his Cecil, what to expect: that there was an alternate-universe version of Cecil Palmer who had lived in the Capitol all his life, and that this Cecil also had a radio show and a cat, and that the implications of these universal constants were very scientifically interesting. He also asked Cecil to suppress any unexplained murderous urges.

Having taken every precaution he possibly could, Carlos pushed open the door of the coffeeshop with Cecil Palmer in tow, looking for Cecil Palmer. Unlike their first meeting, Carlos was on time: thanks to these coffee dates meetings, he had grown familiar with the locations of most coffee shops close to the Tribute center. This one, like all the rest, had a theme: it was dimly lit, full of glow-in-the-dark shades of neon orange and lime green, both the lighting and the decor evoking radiation and radioactivity.

"Well," he said to Cecil, "this is it. He should be here soon, if he isn't already -- we're actually a couple of minutes early."

Comments

[goodnightdearlisteners]

Most people would probably find all of this weird and confusing. Here he was, in an unfamiliar city - WORLD! - getting ready to have a cup of coffee with another version of himself. Honestly, it would have bothered him a lot more if he hadn't already met that other double of his...that sick, disgusting mockery of what he was. This other him sounded like a much better alternative, though he was still reserving his judgement. Still, he DID promise Carlos he would behave, and he would try his best at that.

Cecil's almost uncomfortably bright clothing seemed to match the decor of the cafe - if there were black lights to be passed by or walked under, he was going to light up like the traditional decorated Christmas stalagmite.

"This is really exciting," he breathed, his eyes barely taking in the rest of the room before falling upon Carlos again. Always on Carlos. He was just soooooo glad to know where he had went to, and to see him again.....

The city was amazing, but not as amazing as his favorite Scientist.

[void_whereprohibited]

Cecil was not early this time. Cecil was exactly punctual. He remembered Carlos having explained to someone in the Arena once (during one of his more recent rewatches of all Carlos-relevant Arena broadcasts) that time in Night Vale didn't exist - that none of the clocks worked and the days were never the same length. Therefore, he had no way of knowing if his alternate-universe double had any conception of real, functioning, forward-moving time! Appearing in the doorway of the coffeeshop at exactly the minute they'd agreed to meet was nothing more than an attempt to avoid confusing him.

He saw them right away - they were hard to miss even in the dim blacklit glow of the shop. Cecil (the other Cecil) stood out like a beacon. Cecil (himself) switched on a smile when he saw them and approached before he could talk himself out of it - before he could think of a reason to pretend he'd been called away, or to remember something more pressing he could be doing, or to fake a sudden case of debilitating existential confusion.

"Carlos," he said by way of greeting, and his smile was bright, if a little... fixed. He stalled by letting himself admire Carlos for a moment - how well-fitted his labcoat was today. How nicely his hair was growing in. How good he looked even lit in radioactive yellow from above.

...But he couldn't stall forever, and his smile became more fixed as he turned it on his double-- the man who looked like him and yet not like him, who was him and yet not him, who had his voice and his job and his feelings for Carlos but not his face or his conception of reality or, it seemed, his fashion sense. The once-over Cecil gave Cecil as he put out his hand to shake was-- sort of disbelieving. Not in a you have been brought here from a foreign world and resemble me in fundamental and scientifically interesting ways kind of way, but more a how did someone with three eyes fail to notice how badly that jacket goes with those pants? kind of way.

"Cecil," he said, with an almost pained widening of his grin, and whether he was acknowledging the other Cecil's presence or introducing himself was not immediately clear. Honestly, it didn't matter.

[youbarium]

Carlos was the only person in the room who thought that they looked identical. Seeing the two of them together -- they looked so different, but so fundamentally alike. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense, and that was pure scientific fact.

He cleared his throat. "Right. Yes, Cecil, this is -- well, you know who he is." Is anyone feeling sudden, unexplained homicidal urges? No? Good. As long as nobody reached for anyone else's throat, Carlos could handle a little awkwardness.

...okay, a lot of awkwardness.

"...I think we should sit down," he said, once Cecil and Cecil had shaken hands. Sitting down was the next step in this process, wasn't it?