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."