Carlos hummed along to the song coming from the little radio on his desk. He always enjoyed listening to Cecil's voice as he worked, no matter how busy he was or how much concentration was required. While he still wasn't entirely sure why music here was referred to as "the weather", he was fine to let that particular sleeping dog lie. He found that humming relieved some of the tension that came with trying to sketch diagrams and graphs onto his computer rather than paper. The fact that the town had outlawed pencils, pens and paper was also something that he never really understood.
When his work was finally done, the scientist stretched in his chair and quickly became aware of two things: one, that it had grown late; and two, that the radio had gone onto its next program of white noise. That could only mean one thing...
"Hello, Cecil," he greeted his boyfriend, rising from his seat and walking across the room to embrace him. He didn't mind at all that sometimes Cecil watched him work, as long as he didn't make too much noise- he, himself, would have gladly watched Cecil work if it wasn't for the fact that he was too busy cataloguing the various oddities of this town.
"Carlos," Cecil replied, somehow managing to convey all the love in the world in that one simple word. "You look like you've had a long day."
"Well, trying to draw a diagram on a computer isn't exactly the easiest feat," Carlos replied with a shrug, pulling away from him to look at him. "You look a little stressed too."
"Station management," Cecil shrugged. "I think I may have stepped over a line with talking about you too much." Carlos kissed him gently, hoping to ease his stress. It seemed to work, too.
"Would it be better if I came in and tried to do my work in the station?" Carlos suggested. He had to smile at the way that made Cecil's whole face light up.
"Yes," the radio host finally replied when he managed to find his tongue. "I'm sure station management won't mind. And besides, I've always wanted to dance with someone during the weather."
"Dance?" Carlos echoed, frowning in worry. While it was a wonderful suggestion and something he'd love to do, there was just one tiny little problem...
Carlos did not know how to dance. Not with another person, not on his own, not even as part of a group. He'd just never had to learn. But now he had a very good reason to learn.
At least in Night Vale the internet worked just fine (although the government always kept an eye on whatever he did so he was careful about what he searched for), so Carlos managed to spend most of the night watching videos of couples dancing. Somehow, that turned into watching cat videos, and he posted a few to Cecil's wall. Seeing the hearts that he commented on them with made Carlos smile almost unconsciously.
When Carlos arrived at the radio station the next day, Cecil let him in and hugged him tightly for a few moments.
"I almost wish I could just spend the day with you here but my listeners deserve to hear my voice," Cecil smiled before stepping away from his boyfriend. "It's almost too bad I can't talk about you today, but station management said that if I want to have you here, I can't talk about you. They also gave me a list of things that we can't do while you're here." On saying this, he handed Carlos a sheet of paper with a list on it before striding over to his booth to begin his broadcast.
The list made Carlos blush. Of course sex was on there, as well as heavy kissing, neck-biting, inappropriate touching, use of tentacles, and, strangest of all, ritualistic sacrifices. He swore he saw a tentacle wave past the frosted glass of station management's door, but it was probably just his imagination.
While Cecil made his way through his broadcast, Carlos sat at the table in the break room and began typing up a report. He still wasn't sure whether or not he was allowed to send reports back to the non-weird outside world, but secret government agents hadn't shown up on his doorstep yet so he supposed that it was safe to do so. It was almost too quiet in the break room, and Carlos realised that he'd become so accustomed to hearing Cecil's voice that he found it difficult to work without it. At last, he couldn't take it anymore and saved the document before shutting down his laptop with a heavy sigh. Maybe even just seeing Cecil would clear his mind.
He was right- just seeing his boyfriend made his thoughts clearer (as opposed to the early days when the thought of him muddled his mind terribly), and he set up a little work station with his back against the wall where he could still look up and see but not hear Cecil.
"And now, the weather," he heard Cecil announce, and looked up to see the radio host stand up and stretch. Carlos tried not to stare, but he didn't try very hard. As he walked out of his booth, Carlos put his laptop away once more and stood slowly. Music began to filter through the speakers in the radio station, and Carlos realised that Cecil must have flipped a switch that made the sound audible not only in his booth and on the airwaves but in the station itself. It sounded like a slow song, perfect for dancing to. Had Cecil planned this? Knowing him, he probably had. He was just that adorable.
"Did you put this weather on specifically for our dance?" Carlos asked with a chuckle.
"Station management cues the weather, I just switch it on to broadcast," Cecil informed him. "If it's fitting for our dance, maybe they were feeling nice. If they're even capable of feeling, that is." Carlos wrapped his arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss, relishing the feeling of those soft lips beneath his.
"Shall we dance?" the scientist suggested. All the videos he'd watched the night before had mentioned that line at the beginning of the dance.
"Yes," Cecil nodded, grinning like a complete fangirl. Carlos put them in the correct dance position for the music and they soon began to dance as a violin and electronic mix of music flowed around them. It was quite a beautiful mix, if a little unexpected at first. In fact, it was quite difficult to find a correct dance step that was neither too slow nor too fast, but find it they did. It was as if the two of them moved together in a perfect harmony, no matter what the tune was.
At one point the song seemed to slow down and near its completion, but then it gradually built up and got faster, so they changed their dance to match it. Somehow, Cecil managed to not step on Carlos' toes. His skill as a dancer was honestly quite amazing and fascinating, making Carlos feel unskilled in comparison. At last, the song ended with a violin and Cecil stepped back from where he'd had his head on Carlos' chest.
"That was wonderful," he smiled at his boyfriend. "I'm glad you came here today."
"Thank you for the dance," Carlos thanked him almost breathlessly. He'd been intimate with Cecil before, but dance brought on a whole new level of intimacy that wasn't sexual in the slightest. Rather, it was a feeling of intense closeness, of having been for just those few moments two parts of a beautiful whole.
"No, thank you," Cecil replied with a smile, then stepped back inside his booth and sat back behind his desk. Carlos could only watch with a smile, still standing where they'd previously been dancing.
Carlos finally, after a few minutes of watching his boyfriend speak, decided that he'd better get back to his report. He felt as warm and fuzzy as a cloud looked, but science waited for no man. As he typed away, he noticed with extreme gratitude that Cecil had left the switch on to broadcast to the whole station. A serene smile touched his lips. Being in love was wonderful.