Summary: Carlos experiences gravity problems, Ellie is contacted by angels and the scientists consider recruiting new help.
Carlos had the feeling when he woke up that morning that today was a day for being PRODUCTIVE. He hadn't had a day like that in a while. Since moving in with Cecil, it seemed he was constantly tired in the mornings. He'd perk up during the day of course - science always got him motivated - then 'spend time' with Cecil in the evening. He was surprised the neighbours hadn't complained about the noise already.
Either way, mornings were not kind to Carlos.
However, this Sunday morning, he felt like it would be a productive day. Their apartment building had mysteriously mutated the week before. Everything had shaken and despite the fact it seemed to be a government-issued earthquake, it did had not explained why the only apartment in their apartment block was now theirs, on the ground floor, rather than the 2nd. Nor why they suddenly had a lawn either. When Carlos had continued to ask questions, Cecil had sheepishly said that he had asked the City Council for permission for a little 'renovation' work on their new home. Apparently that had meant entire apartment levels vanishing without a trace.
At this point, Night Vale customs like this were standard to Carlos. He was arguably surprised more each day by that fact than some of the things he was asked to do in the town. He'd covered all kinds of things whilst in Night Vale. They ranged from humans suddenly gaining an extra two kidneys to gelatinous ooze appearing in oatmeal when "it absolutely shouldn't be there on a Wednesday".
Cecil had left early that morning, and had left Carlos a note saying he was off to the radio station to fill in some reports before his show. Carlos padded through to the kitchen and grabbed some bananas and a yoghurt.
It was still strange coming into a kitchen that wasn't either bristling with activity or covered in a strange substance that Dr Green had accidentally brought with her from the lab. It was...quiet. It was perfectly fine whenever Cecil was there, but the silence in the house when he wasn't present was incredibly alien to the scientist. Carlos didn't mind silence, as it was scientifically proven to aid in concentration, but there was something unnerving about the silence that surrounded him. It was most probably nothing, Carlos thought, shaking his head.
He got dressed and grabbed his equipment. It was beginning to get warmer, Carlos noticed, as he stepped outside and headed for his car. He checked for spikes that may have been put there by the Secret Police for something he hadn't done yet. There weren't any, so he got in his car and drove towards the lab. Yes, today was going to be a productive day!
~
"UUGGHHHHHH." Ellie groaned. "Too hot..."
The biochemist was lying on top the freezer, her back pressed against the cool surface and groaning. Her curled blonde hair was shoved into a loose ponytail. Natalia was sat on the floor next to the freezer, her labcoat discarded, wearing her usual black cropped tank top that showed off her rose and thorn tattoos on her collarbone, as well as the purple tattoo of a cat snaking around her hip. Her third eye was closed, too tired from the heat to give a little effort to observing the world around it. Jeffries was staying in the shade; even with Cecil's special sunblock he had given him in the first month of them living in Night Vale, he was suffering.
A knocking at the door caused the scientists to look up. It seemed to take much more effort than they would normally put in such an action.
"Come in!" Natalia shouted wearily.
"Hello?" Carlos asked, not seeing anyone. He peered around the laboratory until he came across the scientist lolling lazily next to the fridge.
"Carlos, hey!" Ellie raised her arm halfheartedly.
"What is happening right now?" Carlos asked hesitantly.
"It's too hot. This is the hottest it's been since we came here, I think. I can't really tell though. It's like the thermometer's taken the day off too."
"Too?"
"S'a Sunday, Carlos." Jeffries murmured tiredly. "We always have Sundays off unless it's a matte' of urgency or disaster."
"Ah, yes. I thought that as Cecil's doing the show, I could do some work..."
"Carlos, you've worked every single day this week. Why don't you maybe do something nice for Cecil as it's your day off? Well, supposed to be your day off." Natalia suggested.
"I have been meaning to mow our new lawn, I guess..." He sighed. "But I expect everyone in at first light tomorrow."
With time the way it was in Night Vale, the scientists had long given up on reading clocks. Everyone's clock would read a different time most days and it only complicated things. They had therefore began to start meeting at certain amounts of perceived time after first light.
"Deal." Ellie said. "By the way, this came for you." She held up two envelopes. "There are two CVs inside. One for a Rochelle Hower; don't worry it's not that monster woman we encountered during that sandstorm, it's her twin sister. The other one is for a Dave Gardner. They both seem keen to join the team."
Carlos was surprised. They'd be up to five scientists if they recruited these two people. That was the original intended expedition size, after all. Parker had left after two weeks and Perez's sister was recovering as far as he knew, so there was little chance of him returning.
"I'll look over it today. It's good to know we have more passionate scientists in this town. Science-"
"Uugghhhh Carlos it's too hot for that." Ellie groaned, waving the envelopes in his face.
Carlos looked a little put out but took the envelopes all the same, putting them in his satchel.
"Have a good day, boss." Jeffries smiled weakly as Carlos headed for the door. Carlos put a hand on his shoulder.
"Drink some more, Brent. Hydration in such climatic fluctuations cannot be understated."
"Understood, boss."
"See you tomorrow." Carlos called as he left, leaving the three weary scientists behind him.
~
"Eleanor, please. Take the frozen peas from out of your shirt." Natalia grumbled. It had been over half an hour since Carlos left and still the biochemist was groaning insufferably.
"But it's helpingggg." The blonde haired woman replied dramatically. "And don't call me Eleanor."
"I'm surprised even you're still talking. No-one is t..." Natalia paused to yawn. "...talking." She slumped against the fridge and closed her eyes.
"When reached for comment, Tamika said, 'We do not look around. We do not look inside. We do not sleep. Our god is not a Smiling God, and we are ready for this war.' When asked to clarify, she challenged our reporter to a hundred days of hand-to-hand combat, which our reporter declined by running away screaming, pursued by hundreds of battle-hardened children...." Cecil's voice seemed to float and the world spin as Dr Green felt more and more lethargic.
Her lungs seem to stop working and she felt breathless. But...she felt too tired to care about that. She had barely the energy to strain for the oxygen she needed for basic survival. Thus her vision swam blearily and just before she closed her eyes, she saw the outline of a large winged creature.
~
Listening to Cecil's show was always relaxing for Carlos. Even when, half the time, he was most at ease when working on a new project, there was something about listening to the smooth tones of the man he loved that just soothed Carlos of all his worries. The lawn that Carlos had mowed had whistled, but only did so when he was whistling too. Carlos decided to experiment with different tunes as he mowed, everything from Vivaldi's Spring to I've Had The Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing, that he'd finally gotten Cecil to watch the night before. Cecil had been a little disappointed, having expected (to Carlos' horror) a bloodbath at the end. Carlos has spent at least an hour explaining all the reasons why that was not needed for a successful romance film.
It had surprised Carlos more however to hear that he was "the only one feeling industrious today" The only one? Seriously? Come to think of it, he mused, even my dedicated team of scientists seemed unconcerned with the wonder that is science today. It's probably just a little sunstroke due to the heat. Nobody is in danger. The laziness of the day was nothing too serious.
That opinion had changed immediately the moment that the mower Carlos was holding began to float.
"Ahh, ah...." Carlos gaped, but soon found his own feet leaving the ground and floating upwards. The radio rose next to Carlos. The scientist reached for it desperately and tucked it under his arm, before clinging to the guttering of the house.
"Huh. It's quite cluttered." Carlos observed. He held tightly onto both the radio under his arm and the guttering and used a nearby shovel to start clearing it.
"The earth is slowing. Gravity is slacking off. My mic is floating. Carlos is also floating, and he's taking this opportunity to clean out the gutter on his roof. How industrious! How...uuuugh, I don't really have the energy to think of another word."
Carlos laughed at Cecil's attitude towards the heat. As a Night Valean, he would have expected him to have adapted better to the heat than Carlos himself. However, it didn't seem that that was the case today. Carlos continued to clean the guttering, singing quietly as he did so in case Cecil could see him with his crazy third eye.
~
"Oh, she's coming around, Erika."
"Erika...?" Ellie muttered. Blurry shapes sharpened into the form of two winged creatures besides a shorter old woman.
"J-Josie?!"
"Hush, child. I haven't much time. It is dangerous for me to be here, and the Erikas only brought me because they knew I would want to deliver the message myself."
"What message?" Ellie said sitting up. Her surroundings were mostly dark, like she was in an abandoned factory. There was an old oak door stood by itself near her. It did not seem to be attached to anything, not even a wall. "Where am I?"
"The library, dear."
"L-Library?" Ellie paled.
"Don't worry, dear. We're quite safe in this section. Young Miss Flynn and those sweet friends of hers have been doing an wonderful job of caging up the librarians."
"Oh..."
"The reason why you're here is because your lungs gave out. We managed to protect the chosen one before the events of the day. Even now, he is not feeling the effects of this lazy day. Cecil was more resilient to the Erikas secretive help. He always was a stubborn boy." Josie tutted as if that explained the matter entirely. "But you were affected my dear, we had to act quickly."
"Thank you. But, er, chosen one? You mean Carlos, right?"
"Indeed. Say what you will about that stubborn Cecil, he has fine taste in men." Some of the Erikas around Josie nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, he's got a cute butt." Ellie remarked. "But why am I here?"
"We need to update you. The Erikas gave you a task, did they not?"
"To watch over Carlos. And I have been! But Josie...where have you been?"
Josie nodded. "That you have. And the Erikas saved me from those wretched helicopters. You must not tell anyone where I am. Not even Carlos the scientist or Cecil. The scientist would tell Cecil and Cecil cannot keep a secret to save his life. I'm not putting the life of the only man who is like a son to me in danger." She said. It sounded so firm, yet so sad. It struck a chord within Ellie's heart. Josie really did love Cecil a lot.
"I understand." Ellie said.
"StrexCorp are coming. Any unusual activity, go near where my house was and one of the Erikas will be able to take a message for me from you."
"Yes, Josie. Oh, there are two scientists joining us. Rochelle Hower and Dave Gardner. Are they Strex?"
"No. Dave I have known from a little boy and Rochelle is a sweet girl. She is as sweet as her sister is sour. They are not a threat to our operation."
"Thank you, Josie. Um...how do I get back?"
~
The lawn was mowed, albeit with some small missed patches. The guttering was clear, his closets were sorted. Carlos was sleepy and content. He'd texted Cecil to join him and the scientist had had a snack before sitting down to listen to the radio.
"Carlos, meanwhile, says he's had a busy day and might take a nap now. That...well, that sounds nice. Listeners, I think now is the time at which I must say goodbye. There's a place here in Night Vale. A place I'd like to be just now. Maybe my lazy day isn't quite done after all...."
Carlos looked out of the window. Ellie was passing by. She looked a bit frazzled and shocked but then again so did many of the people now walking around Night Vale. He moved to the sofa and felt his eyelids become heavier. I'll lie down a moment, he thought. That way I can be more rested for when Cecil gets back.
However, when Cecil returned, Carlos was curled up in a tiny ball on the sofa, his flannel shirt crumpled; its collar was just covering Carlos' mouth and small snores were coming from it. The lazy day had finally caught up with the scientist. But now he could rest, ready for a new day.