She growled in frustration, throwing the jacket to the floor amidst the pile of formerly folded, now toppled clothes. Gritting her teeth, she brought a fist to the side of her head rather painfully, seething between rage and sorrow. They had just returned from their trip, and the damned clothes stank of those dreaded store perfumes; of course she was going to wash everything the moment they got home! She'd clipped all the tags after inspecting the articles for defects, had read all about the materials and washing instructions, and followed them to a tee.
"So why the fuck is it melted?" She snarled, the victim limp in her death grip once more, a gentle waft of burnt polyester breezing past her face. Her face tensed into a snarl as she flailed the jacket around in irritation, as if she could shake away the mistake. She dropped heavily to the floor with a grunt, bringing her hands to her head as she hung the article between her spread knees. Biting back the whirlwind of emotions, she stared long and hard at the dark wood floor. Absentmindedly, she stroked the now ruined fur, memories of petting the soft garment in the store playing through her head, only feeding her frustration by ignorance. Growling, she pushed herself up, flinging the new jack down the stairwell and nearly clipping her partner in the process. Upset and not caring about her image at this point, the ticked off woman stomped animatedly towards the couch, tossing and thudding everything she touched excessively.
When the man had made his way back up the stairs after having gone down to retrieve the poor burnt jacket, he gave his wife an empathetic look. Setting down his mug of tea on the kitchen island, he strode quietly over to the couch, prisoner of iron fists belonging to the seething woman sitting on it. Ignoring her aggressive behavior with the remote, he took up a seat next to her, easing himself into the couch gently. She graced him with a sidelong glance before glaring at the clothing in his lap. Lip curling, she snarled once more, huffing and crossing her legs and arms in disapproval.
"Tumble dry low my ass. Fucking instructions are bullshitting me." She snapped as the man looked down at the sad, sad fur. Turning the jacket over and inspecting the damage, he concluded it was isolated to the fur as his wife carried on. "What a fucking waste of money. So much for buying something nice on sale for once. Never lasts with me." She snorted. He frowned in disagreement.
"Hey, it's not that bad. I guess our dryer is a little too hot for this kind of polyester."
"It would've been fine if the damned instructions had told me to air dry the fucking thing! I paid out my ass for that and now it's ruined before I even got to wear it! What the hell! What kind of manufacturer fucks with you like that? Now it's destroyed; I may as well have just burned my money instead!" He watched her intently as she vented, fingering the remnants of the once soft, furry hood, trying to think up a way to placate his wife. When she had finished and turned her attention back to strangling the remote, he leaned further back into the couch, shifting weight on his back to dig the phone from his pocket. He felt her eyes on him as he dialed, hoping the following conversation would go as planned. As the dial tone rang, he caught a glimpse of her legs unfolding, relaxing, apprehensive.
"Hey, Vanille? I- Yeah, it's me, Hope. Hey; we've had a bit of a misfortunate.. mishap with our dryer and- Light's new jacket, the fur? It- yeah, on the hood. It melted, and- yes, it's polyester," thumbing the tag inside the lining as his wife looked on, brows dangerously sharp as they continued to angle downwards. She huffed once more in annoyance, tearing the jacket from his grip. "Yeah, so I was wondering if- Oh?.. Uh-huh. Mm," He watched from his seat on the couch as as Lightning eyed him curiously from the kitchen, splaying the jacket on the counter and regarding her newest purchase with a mournful expression. She jerked as her husband's pitch changed.
"Oh! That's great! Okay, I- Really? Are you sure? I mean, if it's a problem or you don't- Well, alright then! Who am I to argue?" Hope smiled at the woman standing in the kitchen, who turned away ashamedly as he lifted from the couch and trotted towards her. "Sure thing. Thank you so much! Give my regards to Fang. Ah- Right. Yep! Okay, you too. Bye!"
"Vanille?" She inquired as he hung up, playing with her fingers as her arms hung loosely in front of herself, eyes dark and sorrowful. She toyed with the hem of the jacket before Hope pulled it from the counter, folding it neatly over his forearm while he leaned in to kiss her temple.
"Yes dear. She said she knows a great shop that sells faux fur to replace it with, and will even repair it herself, free of charge."
"But-" Lightning started as her husband began packing the ruined garment in a paper bag for delivery. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head as she pouted, feeling guilty for imposing on her friend, as well as regretting her previous outburst.
"Light, you know she doesn't mind. Besides; she says she hasn't found a gift for us yet, and that we're 'not to worry about it!'" He mimicked the strange accent at the end, earning himself a poorly disguised laugh as his wife playfully batted him on the shoulder for the mockery. "I just want you to be happy," he continued, carrying the bag to the door and setting it on the table so as to remind himself when he left later. At this confession, he was met with a misty eyed woman now instead. She struggled to contain herself as he tutted during his long strides back to her.
"I'm sorry," she began, doing her best to tame her quivering lips. "I just- I never buy anything nice, you know? Just functional clothes for errands, and the occasional replacement uniform for work. I just wanted one nice outfit, and then I go and ruin it. I can't believe I'm so stupid; I should've known it would melt. Why didn't I read up more about it first? I wish I'd never bought it now; so much for saving money buying it on sale. I shouldn't-"
"Shh," he hushed over her, running his fingers through her hair and stroking the base of her skull, down her neck as he pulled her in close, smiling gently as he breathed her in. "I know. It'll be fine, okay? We'll get it fixed, and hey. At least we know now for next time, right?" He soothed her, calming her irrational shakes as she nodded into his chest, quickly rubbing the back of her hands into her eyes before drying them on her thighs, starting on her way back downstairs to the rest of the abandoned laundry. He grabbed her wrist before she made it too far.
"Hey," She looked up at him, eyes wet and bright. He smiled. "I love you."
He watched as her lips dared to quiver again, and his heart melted as they tugged up into a smile.
"I love you, too."