Welcome to One Shots (WTNV, Cecilos)

Affection Competition

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.