Work Text:
Surprisingly, Nightvale could actually get cold at night.
Carlos, who had grown up in Puerto Rico, was not used to cold. He had owned a coat at one point in his life for precautionary measures, but had gotten rid of it at some point when he was in his late teens. Considering that he had never actually had to use it, the garment was never replaced.
To put it nicely, he was not very fond of the below freezing temperatures that could be experienced in the desert, nor was he well equipped. In hindsight, he probably should’ve done a bit more research on the climate, but there was a lot more to worry about than the climate when you had science to do.
However, due to a recent Polar Vortex, the weather was proving to be a bit of an issue lately. Cecil and him collectively had quite the fair share of sweaters, but it was colder than just sweater weather, and he wasn’t about to layer on five sweaters. Besides, he didn't plan on spending any huge amount of time in the cold at once, just while on the way to his car, a building, or someplace else that was heated. He would be fine in just his regular workwear.
He would have been fine, anyways, except that Cecil was having none of it. Carlos had tried to kiss him goodbye before leaving for the lab, as was commonplace each morning, but the other man had frowned disapprovingly and gently shoved him away.
“Oh come on, what could I possibly be in trouble for this early in the morning?” He asked, trying to restrain soft laughter. He felt bad about it, but the chastising look always made Cecil look more like an upset puppy than a threat.
“You’re going to work like that?”
Carlos scrubbed a hand along his jaw, wondering why the forces that be were so cruel as to have Cecil wake up at the same time as him today of all days. Even if he wanted to, there was no refusing Cecil; he was too stubborn.
“I was planning on it, yes.”
“Well you're going to freeze to death,” Cecil crossed his arms, glaring past his glasses.
“Cecil, I’m going to be late,” Carlos sighed, his tone becoming more pleading by the minute. He kissed his boyfriend on the forehead and turned to leave, only to have Cecil grab his arm.
“No, you aren’t going to work like that. Either find something warmer to wear or stay home.”
God dammit, there was no way for Carlos to say no to that. It was cold and he was tired and their bed did sound inviting. He saw no reason to continue an argument just for the sake of winning, especially not when he was up against Cecil Palmer.
“Fine,” he nodded, “I’ll stay home, but just today.” There was no way they could afford to have Carlos miss work every time Cecil stayed home.
It wasn’t until hours later that he realised that maybe the cold hadn’t been Cecil’s issue, and he promised himself that he would spend at least a little more time with his boyfriend.