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Carlos was standing at the self-checkout, immersed in his science pun hoodie, when Cecil walked past, bouncing on the balls of his feet and humming. Carlos debated waving at him - on the one hand, he really liked Cecil, and, well, you’re supposed to wave at people you know. On the other, Cecil would probably want to come over to watch him with unnerving intensity while he chattered nervously about his latest experiment. It wasn’t much of a decision. He waved. Cecil looked briefly alarmed, flapped his hand around a bit, and walked off. Carlos stared after him, bemused. Was that really going to be the extent of their interaction? He reached up under his hood to scratch his head.
Cecil’s outpouring of rage at the haircut was a mystery to Carlos. Cecil seemed to like anything that made Carlos more comfortable, and the hair had been an issue - too hot, and too easy to fiddle with when he was supposed to be being Professional. Secretly, too, he didn’t like the attention it was getting him. Does Cecil really like your hair more than he likes you? he wrote in a notebook that was rapidly becoming more about Cecil than anything except science.
He later recorded in his notebooks other instances of Cecil ignoring people - anybody, really - who got their hair cut, or at least maintaining a distance until engaged in conversation. He walked right past intern Dana when she took out her braids, once asked Rochelle if she knew where Rochelle was, seemingly unaware that the sunhat-wearing scientist in front of him was who he was looking for. Carlos realized that he was the one staring, and looked away.
He understood, later. He’d told Cecil slowly and calmly that he was going to get a haircut, not from Telly, but from someone who would very much like to keep their job. Cecil had nodded, resigned, and pinned his NVCR “Cecil Palmer” badge on Carlos’s shirt. At Carlos’s bemused look, he’d explained, “Now I will know who you are. It’s a bit of overkill, but best to be safe.”
Like many things about Night Vale, realization came slowly and all at once. “You can’t recognize me without my hair?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question.
note to self he wrote, faceblind boyfriend means a) introduce self often after haircut and b) excellent pranks.