Cecil smiled despite himself, despite the situation at hand. It
was a tired smile, but a deep one, fond and full. He breathed in slowly
and felt a little bit more alive for Carlos’s ministrations, a little
less like… like a corpse. Like a vampire.“You may be a scientist,” he whispered lovingly, “and a great scientist, the smartest there is… but you’re also my husband.”
Carlos’s pain and fear for him still cut Cecil like a knife
into his cold white skin, but the radio host was also warmed by that
love that Carlos had for him that was greater than Science, greater than
life and all that filled it. It was the love that Cecil had for Carlos,
too, impossible to contain, keeping him alive (pretty literally, to be perfectly honest).“Yeah, I guess I am. I think you’re right… Thank you for taking such good care of me.”
Carlos glanced at Cecil. “Oh –– absolutely, honey!”
He reached out and grabbed a couple of the stones from the table before turning back to Cecil.
“I would absolutely do anything for you. I may be very uncertain with what we are dealing with at the moment, Cecil, but there are two things that I know: I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Cecil replied softly, his smile deepening further still, even if it did not widen, did not quite light the tired pink eyes turned towards his husband. The breath he drew in was soft but audible as he asked, “What’s the other thing?”
Carlos smiled at him, gentle and loving. “You just said it,” he said. They’d had this conversation before at least a couple times; Carlos was still trying to decide if this was now a ‘thing’ for them, or if Cecil genuinely forgot the two things that Carlos knew.
He held a stone out for Cecil. “Um… try sucking on it first… see if that does it. I don’t want you to try hurting your teeth right away.”
“OK,” Cecil said gently, warmed by the reassurance, the words that made him feel full of the love he had for Carlos, and soothed by the love that Carlos had for him. It took on a sense that was almost physical, adding to that sense of rejuvenation.
He put his lips onto the stone and began to suck on it lightly. It did help, and he soon felt relief washing over him that was tangible. Once he was finished, he slowly sat up, and stretched his stiff and weary limbs. “Thank you… That is much better.”
Carlos sat up with Cecil, smiling at him. “Really? You feel okay?” he asked. “Er, I mean, in consideration of your current state, at least?” Carlos didn’t know if ‘okay’ was going to happen anytime soon… or ever, really. He just hoped that together the two of them could pull through. They should… they were in love, and Carlos was a scientist.
“I’m OK as long as I have you,” Cecil replied, and of course he genuinely meant it. His tone and his gaze were soft, and even if his body was rather stiff, and there was a certain bluish tint to the already cream white of his skin, he was still already genuinely looking better and more lively.
It was a vampiric sort of lively, sure, but it was infinitely better than ‘actual corpse.’
“So, yes, in consideration of my current state.” he concluded, and nodded. Changing gears a bit, he commented, “Gosh, this is a lot to take in, isn’t it? I feel like last night was just a dream but now, I… It’s just real. I know there are a lot of things that feel like that, but this like… this isn’t like anything I’ve ever known.”
Carlos nodded in agreement. “Yeah… it doesn’t seem real for me, either. It’s been… roughly twelve hours already. But you’re still here… that’s all that matters.” Carlos took his hand and lifted it to his mouth, giving him gentle, loving kisses.
The Perfect Scientist 