Carlos was beginning to get annoyed.

He prided himself on being able to control his emotions. He was a scientist - he had to focus on the facts. And the facts said that emotions clouded facts, making judgement difficult, so he usually shoved them all into a pit in his stomach and ignored them. But he couldn't ignore feelings when they had to do with Cecil. For some reason, the Night Vale Community Radio host had the ability to draw his emotions out from their hiding place and into the forefront of his mind. The last time he had asked Cecil, Cecil had said that of course he could do that, every natural-born Night Vale citizen had the power of emotional telekinesis.

Carlos had not known how to respond, but Cecil had laughed and kissed him and then gone off to do whatever it was that he did when he wasn't around. Carlos was confused, but he had eventually just let it go. He had accepted how Cecil made him feel. But the annoyance was not (entirely) Cecil's fault.

It was that damn cat.

Cecil had a pet cat, named Khoshekh, who usually hovered in the men's bathroom at his work. Allergic to cats, Carlos tended to not really care if Cecil had this pet so long as he didn't bring any cat hair home with him. But recently, the cat had been attacked by something at Cecil's work (he refused to say what, but he trembled every time he thought about it) and they'd had to take him to the vet. And Cecil had brought the cat home with him. Normally, Carlos would not have minded terribly, as long as the cat was kept away from him. Cecil had been paying more attention to the cat, however, that to him.

Carlos was not jealous. A scientist did not get jealous (Scientist Rule # 35). He was, however, annoyed, because he wanted to spend time with his boyfriend, but his boyfriend wanted to spend time with the cat, and he couldn't spend time with the cat, so he couldn't spend time with his boyfriend either. He was extremely annoyed, because whenever he went to talk to his boyfriend, Cecil was with that damn cat. Even with the allergy meds he was taking, it didn't really help. Cecil wasn't even sleeping in their bed anymore - he was sleeping on the sofa, near the cat. Carlos had become so accustomed to sleeping with his boyfriend in close proximity (indeed, in his arms) that he was suffering from insomnia, and had just recently almost fallen asleep over an experiment, the result being that he had almost set himself on fire.

Cecil was at work, and Carlos was at home (his scientists had insisted that he stay and get some rest so that no one else was set on fire). He was in his chair in the living room, and he was reading over some notes from a few projects ago. The cat was on the couch, across the room. And he was staring at Carlos with his one working eye. Carlos was doing his best to ignore the cat, but every so often he would look up from his reports and stare at the cat, and they would have awkward staring contests.

"He's my boyfriend, you know," Carlos said at one point. The cat, still staring at him, said nothing.

"Cecil is my boyfriend. I'm the one who had to gather all my nerve to ask him on that first date to the restaurant and I'm the one who spontaneously kissed him in the car and I'm the one who sleeps in his bed and comforts him when he has nightmares and - "

The cat looked away.

"I'm the one who broke his cardinal rule about emotions - namely, Thou shalt have no feelings - for Cecil Gershwin Palmer. I love him more than you ever can, or ever will. He's my boyfriend and I - love him."

Carlos spent the rest of the day in the bedroom, ignoring the cat. He heard Cecil come home, but he didn't leave the bedroom. Cecil didn't come in, and Carlos didn't go out. They stayed separate, and Carlos experienced sadness for the first time in a long time.

Carlos didn't go to work for the next few days. Cecil came and went, but Carlos stayed in the bedroom, leaving only when he knew Cecil would be out. He wore the same clothes (a slightly singed lab coat and purple pajama pants), and he barely slept. Little notes from Cecil appeared under the doorway, but he ignored them. He locked the door, but knowing how adept Cecil was at picking locks with his tentacles, he barricaded the entrance as well.

One week after the incident with Khoshekh, Carlos was in the kitchen when Cecil came home. The scientist and the radio host locked eyes only briefly, and then Carlos turned to shuffle back into the bedroom.

"Carlos!" Cecil called. Carlos didn't respond. "Carlos, talk to me! What's wrong, why are you ignoring me?"

The scientist continued to walk away until he came to the place where the kitchen and the living room met. There was a little bump there, a little raised portion of the floor, and Carlos tripped on it. Normally, he would have stabilized himself immediately, but he was weak from lack of sleep and he fell, slamming his head into the wood of the floor.

"Carlos!" Cecil yelled. Carlos didn't move. He was thinking. If he was hurt, maybe Cecil would pay attention to him. "Carlos, what's going on, please, please, answer me, don't be hurt please, please just answer me!"

Carlos didn't answer; he let his entire body go limp. Maybe now he'll pay attention to me, Carlos thought jealously. Something warm seeped down his forehead and dripped towards his eyes; reflexively he shut them.

"Carlos! Oh god, you're bleeding, I - not again! I won't lose you again! I won't lose you again, Carlos, I'd rather die than lose you again!" And the absolute pain and terror in Cecil's voice shattered Carlos. Because he knew exactly what his boyfriend was thinking about, exactly which incident lingered in his mind.

The bowling alley. The night when Carlos had been struck by a missile from the tiny civilization living below Lane 5 of the Desert Flower Bowling  Alley and Arcade Fun Complex, and his life had been very narrowly saves by the selfless sacrifice of the Apache Tracker (despite the fact that he was an asshole). Cecil and Carlos had almost been separated by the permanent veil, and Cecil still had nightmares about it. More warm wetness on his face, but different - scattered drops, uneven pieces of a single whole. Tears. Cecil was crying.

"Carlos! CARLOS! ANSWER ME!"

And Carlos did. He opened his eyes and saw his boyfriend, purple eyes full of tears, sobbing, face flushed and glasses fogging over. Carlos lifted a hand and brushed the tears from Cecil's eyes, smiling fondly.

"Silly Cecil . . . Why are you crying? I'm fine . . . "

"Carlos!" Cecil gasped. Carlos sat upright, pressing a hand to his pounding forehead. He felt something wet and sticky - blood. "Carlos, why didn't you answer me?"

Carlos was silent for a moment. He didn't know how to answer. But he thought about all the rules Cecil had broken, and before he knew it -

"I was jealous."

"W - what?" And damn that radio host, with his innocent, baffled look and his bloodshot, teary eyes, but he couldn't lie to him. Carlos stood and walked over to the counter, muttering the ceremonial incantation and dabbing some of the blood from his cut across the faucet to get some water to wash his head.

"I was jealous of you spending all your time with Khoshekh. I missed you, and I can't get close to you because I'm allergic and I can't sleep because I'm so used to having you in my arms and it sucked! And I couldn't tell you because a scientist is never jealous but you've already made me break all my rules so why should this be any different, right? Because why shouldn't you just pop up and completely invert my entire life, like it's no big deal, when I don't mean anything to you back?!" And Carlos hadn't realized he was shouting until he slammed his hand onto the counter in irritation.

"Would I have gotten that upset if I didn't care?" Cecil wasn't yelling. His voice was firm and quiet, a bit shaky from the crying, but all the same. He sniffled, once, and continued.

"I thought I lost you when the miniature civilization attacked. I thought I lost you when you stopped speaking to me. I thought I lost you when you fell just now and cut your head open. And I know that time doesn't exist and I know that the line between weird and semantic is thin and covered in jellyfish and I know that love is just an abstract concept and no one can ever truly grasp it but I love you, goddamnit, I love you!"

Neither of them spoke. Carlos finished with his cut and taped on a bandage. When he turned, Cecil was standing in the doorway, back to him. "Cecil."

When his boyfriend turned, he pivoted too quickly. His foot slipped, and he tripped on the same wooden slab that caused Carlos to fall. But as he toppled forwards, Carlos lunged out and caught him in his arms. Cecil looked up, and Carlos kissed his hair.

"I love you too, my perfect Cecil," Carlos whispered. They went back to their bedroom, cuddled quietly together in a tangle of arms and legs and torso, and even though Khoshekh slept on the couch in the corner they were secure in their love. And that was all they needed, at least for the moment.

{A/N: sorry it took so long. had to finish it properly. feel free to leave more requests. ~ ml}