splinteredstar | Fic: Move-In Day (Reply)

veleda_k recently made a major cross-country move, so I have written him a tiny tiny housewarming fic.

Enjoy the fluff, Vel.

Welcome to Night Vale
No specific spoilers, though a reaction to Condos
Seriously, like, all of the fluff.

Cecil and Carlos finally move in together.

Carlos unloaded the last of his boxes into his new place with a huff. People had offered to help, but, it had felt right to do it himself. He glanced around at the stacks of boxes, counting them absently but not being overly concerned when he never got the same number twice.

Once that would have driven him into a frenzy of study, but, well, this /was/ Night Vale. He’d learned to pick his battles.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a bright purple and – slightly furry? – couch. He paused, narrowing his eyes, but at his stare the couch oozed away from him a couple of inches. He blinked once, twice, and then went back to unpacking.

Definitely had to pick his battles. He could ask Cecil about it later.

He found one of the boxes of his lab equipment and carefully carried it towards one of the smaller rooms, where they had agreed he would have a home office. Then he heard the front door open, and sat it down with a smile.

“Hi, Ceec.” He poked his head back into the main room. Cecil bounded over and kissed him.

“Carlos!” His eyes were bright clear blue, but then shifted to a slightly more somber shade. “I had wanted to get here first so that I could set everything up for you!”

Carlos smiled and ruffled Cecil’s dark hair. “I wanted to do the same for you.” Cecil’s eyes shifted to bright blue again, half closed in happiness. “Let’s do it together.”

Cecil’s eyes glowed and he nodded. Cecil snuggled against Carlos for a moment – then he narrowed suddenly-purple eyes at the similarly-shaded couch. Carlos glanced over – the couch had started undulating and was trying to squirm behind a completely unhelpful bookcase.

“Oh, by the void.” Cecil broke off to glare at the couch, his eyes deepening to magenta. “The realtor /assured/ me that all of the furniture was friendly!”

Carlos filed that in a mental folder he’d titled (for lack of any better ideas) “Cultural Differences”. Then he tapped Cecil on the shoulder. “Well, we’re strangers to it, right?” Cecil blinked and then his eyes softened to a warm brown. “Remember how Khoshekh didn’t like me at first?” Honestly, that was an understatement. He’d bled for an hour, but Cecil promised he hadn’t used any venom.

“Yes, you’re probably right, of course. Poor thing.” Cecil inched towards the couch, one hand out and eyes glowing brown. “Hello there, I’m not angry at you. I promise we won’t spill things on you or tear any of your cushions.” The couch oozed closer and Cecil patted the armrest gently. “May I…?”

The couch didn’t bolt, so Cecil sank onto the couch with a smile. “Thank you.” He gestured to the seat next to him. “Join me?” Carlos settled down a little more gingerly into the fuzz. It was softer than it looked.

“…welcome home, Ceec.” Not the best time for such a statement, maybe, but “I love you” seemed worse and Carlos was bad at romance – and Cecil kissed him anyway with bright blue eyes, so it was okay.

Carlos kissed back enthusiastically for a few moments – then he flailed as the couch cushions shifted beneath him alarmingly. He suddenly realized that he had been making out on top of a sentient creature’s – back? Face? – cushions and flushed.

“Oh, yes, we don’t be doing any of that on you either.” Cecil patted the cushion again, his eyes flushing orange with embarrassment. “That was very rude of us, I’m sorry.”

Carlos blinked, swallowed, and attempted to straighten his shirt. “Unpacking?”

“Yes, yes.” Cecil grinned, and then leaned forward to kiss Carlos on the nose. “….welcome home, Carlos.”

And when the couch tossed them both to the floor, they both just laughed.