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It had been a long, taxing day at the lab for Carlos; more so than days at the lab usually were. It wouldn’t have been that much of a problem if two of Carlos’s grad students hadn’t called in with a sudden case of throat spiders and the mysterious, glowing fungus collected from Mission Grove Park hadn’t decided to overrun the lab. It had taken hours to stop the spores from spreading and the entire experiment was more or less ruined. Carlos was not looking forward to starting back at square one. What’s worse was the fact that the fungus infestation had caused him to miss dinner with Cecil, again. Cecil had been more than understanding, but Carlos couldn’t help but feel guilty about the fact that he had once again called to cancel on Cecil. Especially since Cecil was the one in charge of dinner tonight and Carlos knew how much Cecil loved to cook for Carlos. Carlos stopped by the local florist to pick up a desert succulent by way of apology, but he wasn’t sure if it’d do the trick.
As Carlos pulled up to their apartment complex, he let out a sigh and dropped his head against the steering wheel. Hopefully Cecil wouldn’t be too cross with him. He cut the engine and got out of the car, making sure that he didn’t drop the plant as he did so. He made his way up the stairs until he reached the familiar off white door that lead into their cozy apartment. As Carlos quietly opened the door, he heard a familiar piano riff of a Van Morrison song coming from inside. Eyebrow quirked, Carlos closed the door with a quiet click and toed off his shoes before creeping further inside the apartment. From the kitchen, he heard the music getting louder as the sounds of dishes being scrubbed and Cecil’s voice joined in.
“Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance with the stars up above in your eyes. A fantabulous night to make romance 'neath the cover of October skies,” Cecil crooned along to the song, swaying slightly as he cleaned the dirty dishes from tonight’s missed dinner. Carlos leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen as Cecil continued to sing and sway, oblivious of his audience, “And all the leaves on the trees are falling to the sound of the breezes that blow. And I'm trying to please to the calling of your heart-strings that play soft and low. And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush, and all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush.”
With a flourish, Cecil began to dance along with the chorus, spinning and swaying to the music as he loudly sang along. A loving grin spread across Carlos’s face as he turned to the old CD player sitting on the nearby counter. A thought popped into Carlos’s head and he silently crept over to the CD player. He set the potted succulent down next to the electronic device and quickly pressed the pause button. With a jolt, Cecil spun to around to see what had caused the music to stop, only to come face to face with a cheekily grinning Carlos.
“Oh, Carlos, it’s just you,” Cecil said with a relieved smile. “For a second there, I thought that the Faceless Old Woman who Secretly Lives in Your Home decided that she didn’t like my music choice-.”
Carlos cut Cecil off by pressing the previous track button then the play button, causing the song to start from the beginning. Cecil raised an amused eyebrow as Carlos made his way over to Cecil. Carlos held a hand out to Cecil, who looked at it with a surprised yet excited smile.
“I didn’t realize you liked Van Morrison,” Cecil said as he took Carlos’s outstretched hand.
“Moondance is one of my favorite songs,” Carlos admitted, pulling Cecil to him with a quick jerk.
Cecil let out a squeak as he collided with Carlos’s chest, a slight blush spreading across his face. Carlos chuckled under his breath and began to move the two of them in time with the music. Cecil straightened himself and allowed Carlos to lead in the dance around their kitchen. It was, on the whole, a very sloppy affair. Neither Carlos nor Cecil had had any sort of dance experience, leading the two of them to spin without grace around the small space. Carlos, however, did his best to make sure that Cecil was having a great time by twirling the taller man under his arm and dipping him backwards as he saw fit, causing Cecil to erupt into a fit of giggles every time. By the time the song ended, the two of them were very much out of breath and all grins.
“So, where’d you learn to dance like that?” Cecil asked as he turned back to finish the dishes.
“Oh, you know,” Carlos responded as he moved to help. “Around.”
Cecil playfully flicked a bit of water at Carlos for his response, eliciting an undignified squawk from the scientist. Cecil chuckled under his breath and Carlos ruffled the radio host’s hair before hugging him from behind.
“I am sorry about missing dinner tonight Cecil,” Carlos murmured.
“It’s alright Carlos,” Cecil replied. “You had science stuff to do and you did call to let me know this time, so there’s no need for me to be mad at you. Besides, I can make dinner tomorrow night.”
“I bought you a plant to make up for it,” Carlos admitted, glancing back at the potted succulent to make sure that it hadn’t sprouted tentacles or something while he wasn’t paying attention.
“That’s very sweet of you Carlos,” Cecil said, “but I think there’s a better way to make it up to me.”
Carlos raised an eyebrow, “How?”
Cecil turned in his boyfriend’s arms, resting his arms on Carlos’s shoulders and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
“Join me in another dance?”
Carlos tugged Cecil closer, responding with another kiss.
“I’d be delighted to.”