Chapter Text
Midmorning the following day, the three of them were on the suite's couch and watching a documentary about cacti. There was a half-finished breakfast spread laid out on the coffee table in front of them, and Carlos only wore a pair of boxer shorts and his lounge lab coat, while his boyfriends were dressed in each other's pajama pants.
Cecil and Carlos sat next to each other with an arm around the other's shoulders, and Kevin reclined across their legs, his head in Carlos’ lap. Mostly paying attention to the documentary, Carlos lazily ran his fingers through Kevin's hair with his free hand, and Cecil traced gentle patterns over his thighs.
It was a perfect morning after a perfect date night, Kevin thought with a soft smile.
(He had even slept in, a fact that Cecil had only just finished teasing him about.)
“Thank you for all of this, Sunshine,” Kevin said, smiling up at Carlos.
Carlos continued to twirl his fingers loosely in Kevin’s hair. “After everything that’s happened, you both deserved this.” He turned his head to kiss Cecil’s cheek. “And I did promise I’d take you out on a nice date, didn’t I?”
Cecil turned his head so he could give Carlos a proper kiss on the lips. “You’ve done an exceptional job of keeping that promise. You’ve been so wonderful. You’re always so wonderful. No matter how much time you spent in that godforsaken desert, I’ll always love you. We’ll always love you. You’ll always be our perfectly imperfect Carlos, our beautiful, caring scientist.”
Kevin reached up to run his fingers over Carlos’ facial hair. “Our incredible, smart boyfriend that went to Desert Bluffs with me to figure out what was happening in my head. I’m sure I would have run away if not for you, Carlos. In fact, I know I would have left Night Vale out of fear of hurting you if you hadn’t insisted on helping me.”
“You were so ready to leave, to make us leave you behind in Desert Bluffs,” Carlos said sadly. “We couldn’t do that.”
Anxiety nagged at the back of Kevin’s mind. “And what if things like that keep happening to me? You’ve had to save me from myself twice.” He glanced at the newest scars along Cecil’s arms. “You’ve had to save yourselves from me too. What if there’s a new threat weeks, months, years from now?”
“Kevin,” Cecil said firmly. “I don’t care what happens. We’re always going to be here for you. You know that.” He leaned forward to place a gentle hand on Kevin’s chest. “I’m stubborn. It took me far too long, but now that I’ve fallen for you, you can’t just scare me away.”
“He’s right,” Carlos laughed. “About the stubbornness and us always being here.”
Kevin closed his eyes, sighing for just a moment before shifting his position, moving off of his boyfriends’ laps and squeezing himself between them on the couch. They both leaned in to kiss his cheeks, and he smiled. “I love you both.” He wrapped his arms around their shoulders, pulling them in close.
“And you know we love you,” Carlos said warmly, kissing his temple. “We have your tower fixed – or, at least plans to keep it up and running. We know your knife is important to keep on hand, and we’re not afraid of it. We’re not afraid of you.” There was a brief pause. “And Kevin?”
Kevin looked at him curiously. “Yes?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask. Before we went to Desert Bluffs, you mentioned feeling off. Like there’s been a buzzing in your head for as long as you’ve been away from the Bluffs,” Carlos recalled. “Have you still been feeling any of that?”
Kevin pursed his lips. He’d become so good at tuning it out over the past several months of being in Night Vale (and the past years in the Desert Otherworld) that he only really noticed the buzzing if he focused on trying to hear it. Would Carlos be concerned if he knew Kevin could still hear it? “Yes, I can still feel it,” he said calmly.
“Buzzing?” Cecil asked.
Carlos opened his eyes wide and let out an embarrassed cough. “Sorry, Ceec. Kevin brought that up to me when we were still, uh… hiding the murder from you. I guess we glossed over mentioning it.”
“You did,” Cecil said with a soft laugh and a shake of his head. “Chickadee, what do you mean by buzzing?”
Kevin straightened his back and looked over at his double. “Oh! Well, ever since living in Night Vale, and even back in the Desert Otherworld, there’s always been a sort of static, a buzzing in the back of my mind. Like…” He thought for a moment. “Have you ever held a fly between cupped hands? Where you can both feel and hear it buzzing? Or like radio static when you’re just too far away for the signal to reach.”
Cecil blinked at him. “I know the feeling well. Or, well, not well, but I know what you’re talking about. It’s easy to ignore after a while though, like the ticking of a clock. Or perhaps I shouldn’t say ignore, but rather that it’s easy to accept as a constant, like tinnitus or chronic pain.”
“Speaking of,” Carlos cut in, “if you need your meds for your back, I did pack those in your suitcase.”
Cecil looked past Kevin, smiling fondly at the scientist. “Thank you, Honeybun. You really did plan for everything.” He looked at Kevin again. “But as I was saying, I think I know the buzzing you’re talking about. I’ve never heard it in Night Vale, but it’s there whenever I leave.”
“Carlos, you were right!” Kevin exclaimed as he started making connections to what Cecil was saying. When Carlos just cocked his head at him, his nose scrunched up as he tried to remember, Kevin elaborated, “When we were in your lab, when I told you about the static in my head, you were worried it was because I was the Voice of Desert Bluffs. And I think you’re right! If Cecil hears it when he leaves Night Vale, and I hear it outside of the Bluffs, then I think it’s that simple!”
Carlos opened his eyes wide before a smile spread across his face. “Kevin, that’s brilliant!”
“What does that mean, then?” Cecil asked.
“I think it means that whenever our station recognizes me as an official Voice of Night Vale, no matter how long that takes, the buzzing will go away,” Kevin mused. “Right?”
“That would make the most sense,” Carlos said. “But until we get to the point where you’re an official Voice here, the buzzing isn’t hurting you, is it?”
Kevin shook his head. “A little annoying sometimes, and if I focus too hard on it, I start to feel really off, like I have a bad case of vertigo, but I’ve already lived with it for years, so I’m starting to think it won’t negatively affect me any more than that. But,” Kevin groaned, “I do think there’s another thing that might have worse consequences if I don’t get it fixed soon.”
Cecil and Carlos both gave him worried looks, each turning their bodies toward him and placing a hand on his legs. “What is it?” Cecil asked.
Kevin moved his arms from around his boyfriends’ shoulders so he could reach down to take their hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t think it’s too bad, but Sheriff Sam has been nagging me again. They and their officers keep leaving me passive aggressive voicemails.”
Cecil’s muscles visibly tensed and he looked like he was already ready to give an officer a piece of his mind. “Really? What have they been bothering you about?”
“My name,” Kevin replied simply.
Carlos raised an eyebrow. “Your name? What about it? I think Kevin is a nice name.”
Kevin laughed softly. Smiling God, Carlos was so cute. “No, no. They don’t mind my first name. It’s the fact that I only have a first name.”
“Right,” Cecil groaned. “Are they still hellbent on you needing a last name even after your citizenship paperwork was already approved? Honestly, I thought they only mentioned that to me just to see if they could get a rise out of me.”
“They are,” Kevin nodded, letting go of his boyfriends’ hands and leaning forward to grab a piece of toast, long since gone cold, from the spread of food on the coffee table.
Carlos furrowed his brows, shaking his head. “I still don’t understand why they won’t get off your back but they haven’t bothered me at all.”
Cecil reached over Kevin to touch Carlos’ cheek. “Like I told Kevin before, you have a last name, Bunny! You’re Carlos the Scientist! That’s what’s on your citizenship paperwork!”
Swallowing a bite of toast, Kevin faced Carlos with a curious expression. “Wait, do you have a different last name, Sunshine? And if you do, why didn’t you ever tell me while we were in the Otherworld?” he added the last question with a teasing grin.
Carlos removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought, a soft curse on his lips after a couple minutes. “...I guess I don’t remember it. I don’t know if I’ve remembered it at all since I moved here.”
“And that’s why The Scientist is perfect!” Cecil said brightly, reaching toward the breakfast spread to find his mug of room temperature coffee.
“It suits you well, Sunshine,” Kevin smiled. “And so what about me? You’re Carlos the Scientist and Cecil Palmer – heck, Cecil, you even have three names! – but I’m just Kevin. And I am not going to take my father's surname, even if I do ever decide to track down his grave.”
“You’re not just Kevin, Chickadee. Surname or not, you’re still a citizen of Night Vale. You’re a Voice, and I know our station is going to accept you as an official Voice before we know it! You’re one of the bravest and strongest men I know, and above all, you’re the man we love and adore.” Cecil kissed Kevin’s cheek, then took a long sip of coffee before continuing carefully, “You know, my offer still stands.”
Kevin tilted his head curiously, trying to remember exactly what Cecil might have been talking about. “What offer?”
“You joked about taking my last name, back in your apartment when we were bathing together,” Cecil grinned. “And I told you that I did run the idea by the police officer that told me about the issue with your paperwork.”
“You were serious about that?” Kevin tried to hide the hope in his voice.
“Of course I was!”
“Is that something you can just give him?” Carlos asked. “Or is there a… ritual or something?”
Cecil waved a hand a little. “I mean, I could just give Kevin the Palmer name – a name is just a word that we assign meaning to, of course – but without something like a marriage license or court papers, we could run the awkward risk of people thinking you’ve had that name all along and that we might be related.”
Kevin made a face. “Oh, Smiling God, that’s the last thing I want people to assume. The tabloids would have a field day and then we’d never be able to escape those rumors.” He let out an exasperated sigh.
Carlos cut in, his voice soft, “...Cecil, did you mention a marriage license?”
Cecil blinked at him. “...yes? Kevin could also go through the Night Vale Municipal Courts to choose his own name, of course, but the process might take years.”
“Yes, but marriage?” Kevin’s voice squeaked, and he felt his ears grow warm.
Cecil blushed with him, looking almost like he regretted saying anything. “Do you not want to get married?”
“No- I mean, yes, of course I do!” Kevin replied, flustered. Oh Smiles, he’d dreamed of something domestic like marriage, even back before Strex when he was still single, but he’d rarely mentioned it to his boyfriends. “But this isn’t about whether or not I want to get married. It’s just-” He cleared his throat, trying to will himself to stop blushing so hard. “Cecil, Carlos, we haven’t even been dating for a year yet! I haven’t even been back in Night Vale for a year! Even if we did choose to get married, aren’t you worried this might be too soon in our relationship? You two have been together long enough, sure, but I’m still a new addition to your relationship.”
“I think we’ve been through enough together to make up for years’ worth of relationships,” Cecil countered with a shrug.
“You think so?” Kevin didn’t try to hide the hope in his tone this time.
Cecil reached out to run fingers through Kevin’s hair. “I do. Kevin, we’ve done so much together. We’ve been through so many trials, but I think I speak for Carlos too when I say that our love for you has never diminished.” He looked at Carlos for confirmation.
Carlos nodded without hesitation. “In fact, I think our love has only grown over the past months.”
“I gave up five years of my life for you before we were even dating. I promise, my love for you will never fade. I feel so deeply, you know that. If you need a name, I will gladly give you mine.” Cecil kissed the tip of Kevin’s nose, then glanced at Carlos again. “I'll give you both my name, if you’ll have it. We can make a big celebration of it!” He clasped his hands together. “Oh, Carlos and I have talked so much about getting married! This isn't the proposal I had in mind, but I don't care!”
“We're doing this then?” Carlos asked with a soft chuckle.
“Of course! Uh. If you want to, of course,” Cecil answered, his blush spreading from his face down to his chest.
Carlos smiled. “You know, this isn’t what I had in mind either, but this feels right. I’m buying you both rings though at some point!”
Kevin’s head was spinning. “So you do want to marry me?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” Carlos answered with certainty.
Cecil pressed a hand over Kevin’s heart. “Of course I want to marry you.” He kissed Kevin gently. “As long as you want to marry us too.” He looked at Carlos. “And as long as you want to get married.”
“I do,” Carlos smiled, leaning in to kiss Kevin, then Cecil. “I absolutely do. I've dreamed of marrying you for a long time, Cecil. And now Kevin, too.”
“Then let’s get married!” Kevin wrapped his arms around them both again, pulling them in close and unable to hold back sounds of excitement. “Carlos, I think now would be the perfect time to open that champagne you ordered last night! We're engaged! I love you both!”
Cecil let out his own excited squeak at being pulled in for the hug. “And we love you, Mr. Palmer.”
A mutual marriage proposal in a private hotel suite, without a plan, without fanfare, and without rings, might not have been how Kevin ever expected to get engaged, but he didn’t care. He had boyfriends – fiancés! – that he adored with every drop of blood flowing through his veins, with every beat of his heart, with every breath he took. The horrors he’d been through didn’t matter anymore. They never did, really, not for as long as Carlos and Cecil had been showering him with love.
And now, not only did he have the most wonderful men in his life to love, but something as special as marriage was in their shared future.
It didn’t matter what Kevin had been through in his past. It didn’t matter what he might encounter in the future. In the present, as he heard the pop! of Carlos opening the champagne, everything was perfect.