Carlos showed up at a fellow scientist's house that night, bag slung over his shoulder, eyes downcast.
"Carlos?" Pepper asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Cecil and I had a fight…. We broke up. And I came to you because you're a scientist so you'll understand me but you're not from NightVale so you won't side with Cecil automatically. Uhh….. can I stay here for a few days?" Pepper was already nodding and stepping away from the door before he finished. She turned and walked away, towards the kitchen and Carlos followed, closing the door behind him. He had been to Pepper's house several times and knew his way around. He took his shoes off in the front entry way and dropped his bag off in the guest bedroom before making his way to the kitchen where Pepper was already blowing the steam off the top of a cup of coffee. He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and pour coffee into it before sitting down at the table across from Pepper. They sat in silence for a minute before Pepper finally spoke.
"You going to tell me what you two fought about?" Carlos took a small sip of coffee before nodding and telling her what he knew, about why he suspected that Cecil was cheating on him and the huge fight they had had before Carlos had stormed out. Pepper took another slow sip of coffee and pushed her black Hipster style glasses further up her nose.
"That's rough. But other than that one conversation, what makes you think he's cheating on you?"
"He's spending more and more time with Dimitri and less and less with me." Pepper straightened her glasses and quickly put up her mocha colored hair into a messy bun. She was in scientist mode.
"That can be explained by him helping Dimitri with his experiments, you of all people should understand how science can take over your life."
"Alright, what about what Dimitri told me, about seeing Cecil's tattoos move and glow?"
"Have you ever bothered to ask what the experiments are about? You may be involved with them and, well, Cecil never has been much for self-control. No offense."
"None taken." They were silent for a long time, drinking their coffee and thinking about the situation at hand. After a long time Carlos spoke again.
"Do you believe the reasons?"
"Hm?"
"Do you believe the reasons you gave me for all this stuff?"
"Of course. Carlos, you and Cecil are special with each other, you two are….. if I weren't a scientist I'd say you were made for each other. I don't think Cecil could ever cheat on you." Carlos sighed and set the mug down on the table.
"I guess that means I have to go apologize and let him explain." Pepper smiled gently.
"That would probably be a good first step." Carlos stood up and turned to go out again, then turned back and quickly crossed to his friend and gave her a quick hug before grabbing his shoes and walking out the door, shouting a quick 'thank you' before he shut the door.
Pepper's eyes narrowed and she whipped out her cell phone the second Carlos was gone, dialing a number she had memorized by now. She waited for the answering 'hello' and spoke quickly.
"Dimitri, I may have made things much, much more interesting…."