Title: Worth losing
Author: Kidishcaresh
Pairing: OC+5
Word count: 15
Theme: pets
Challenge word: Houdini
Timeline: Post EW

Authoress notes: Okay my friend challenged me to write 100 stories with themes she gave me. For this story she told me to write a story around the word Houdini with the theme pets. This is the result. There will be a semi prequel to this later on under another theme.
Summary: Wufei learns that sometimes losing has its perks.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's.

Story 1, Worth losing.

She looked at him quietly. His face set in a disappointed scowl.
'Okay think…he's many years my senior experience wise…so trying to overpower him is impossible...don't even think about getting past him...I'll need a distraction of sorts...dang where's Duo when I need him...' She thought, eyes darting around trying to find a way out. Anything would do. Anything was better than admitting defeat to him. As long as she didn't give up there would be the hope of a way. Even if that hope was pointless, if she just believed hard enough then she'd find a way out. She knew there had to be a way. Somehow somewhere there had to be a loophole in this situation that she could use for her escape.

'Why does she have to make this so impossibly hard on herself?' He thought sighing mentally. He scowled, watching her as she tried so hard to find a way out of this situation and the sad thing to him was...she'd probably find one too. Sally had been right to call her a regular Houdini. Something would happen or someone would pass or call and distract him and then she'd make her escape. Why did she have to be such a persistent woman? Didn't she see that if she'd only asked…okay scratch that thought. He knew she had good reason not to, but that wasn't the point here.
A phone rang. She grinned. He sighed. She'd won again. He smirked though. He'd get back on this later though. She didn't know yet, but this was only round one. He would have his way. He just had to figure out how.
"Hey, yes I'll be there in a few." he said before ending the call he got.
"That was Quatre. I have a mission now. We'll get back on...that when I get home." He said before leaving. She sighed. She'd won, for now. Now came the hardest part of her mission. Preparations for stage two. He'd keep his word and get back on the matter and she had to prepare her plea very carefully to convince him of her point. She would though. He'd see her way before the day was over…or at least the day he returned from his mission was over.

The mission was long, longer than any of them had expected. It'd been hard to convince those people that the war was over and there was no need for violence and fighting anymore. Quatre had done most of the negotiations and he'd translated for the blond. Somehow trusting the boy whom they deemed one of them more then Quatre, the rebels were only willing to cooperate if the Chinese man were present to translate. A good idea it turned out as the dialect barrier made that the blond couldn't understand a word the rebel leader said whereas Wufei who had a better grasp on his native language and the many dialects that despite the union of China and the decree of 2289, stating that all of China would from then on in only speak Mandarin Chinese and get taught only that in school, there were still many desolated places that only spoke their own dialect. For once he'd been thankful that his teacher insisted on his learning all dialects of the Chinese language. Negotiations went well thankfully and after assuring them they would not lose their independence under ESUN and arranging a black on white agreement for that he could finally go home.

His day was far from over though, because at home awaited him another problem. She'd be there and so would IT. She'd be ready to defend IT with everything she's got. He knew she'd probably win too, he'd been working hard for weeks without sleep and she had all that time to think of an argument to keep IT
He sighed softly as he opened the door. He prepared himself mentally to be jumped by IT again. He frowned though when nothing happened. Slowly he inched toward the living room fully prepared for an assault by 30 pounds of drooling fur. Yes IT was well fed when she found him. He sighed when he found her without IT asleep on the couch. On the table he saw a thank you card. IT apparently had the name Houdini and Houdini belonged to someone who'd picked him up while he was away. He should be glad. He'd won after all, but why didn't it feel like he had? He sighed and put the blanket over her quietly.
"How do you keep doing this to me? Even when I win I lose somehow..." He mumbled turning around and leaving the living room quietly. He went upstairs and showered. After his shower he sat down towel drying his hair. He eyed the card he'd somehow taken upstairs with him.

'Thank you ever so much for finding and caring for my dog Houdini. I do hope he's not been too much of a burden to you and your husband.
Kind regards,
Ms. P. Lewis'

He chuckled and shook his head. Somehow everyone in their neighborhood had assumed they were married when they moved into the small apartment with the large garden. Old lady Lewis lived three blocks down he knew. He'd often stopped to help her with the groceries or gardening if needed. He hadn't known she owned the very fat grey furred dog though. He sighed again that the thought of the dog who'd spend several weeks in their care while he argued with her over it.
"She's just so stubborn at times...if she'd only just give in and accept her defeat every so often..." He mumbled to himself. With another glance at the note he got up and left the house. She'd won...again and he knew it. He always acted like it was a big deal and he hated it, but when no one was around to hear he'd silently admit to himself that he didn't mind all too much that she won. The mere overjoyed look on her face when he gave in would more than make up for the defeat he suffered and if he were to be very honest with himself he would even have to admit that most of the time he let her win just to see that look of delight on her face at getting her way again. He'd die before ever saying any of that out loud though.

The pet shop owner smiled when she caught him looking around.
"Looking te buy yer spouse a pretty pet?" She asked walking over to him.
"No it's for my friend, we have no romantic relationship." He said smiling kindly.
"Still a nice gesture mista. So y' lookin' fer anythin' special?" She asked smiling back.
"Uhm yeah, I was hoping to find a puppy. See we had a stray dog stay with us for a few weeks, but it's owner came. My friend is very upset that it had to leave though. I'm hoping this will make her feel better." He mumbled willing away the faint blush skillfully.
"Ah drew te short straw huh?" The girl said knowingly as she led him to the back.
"Huh?" He said confusedly.
"Y' didn't want te keep the stray n in te end y' caved in, ain't that how it went? Well this is our only nest right now. They're ready to go." the girl said before leaving him with the pups to help another costumer.

He wondered how she knew, but pushed the thought aside looking at the retriever puppies that lay snuggled up together. Most were the usual golden color, but one of the pups stood out though. Like some of its siblings it had a darker coat color. It was much smaller than its siblings too and was looking at him with warm green eyes. He smiled and picked the pup up.
"Perfect." He said quietly as he took it to the front to pay for it.
"I see y' chose te runt of the litter. She's a cutie huh? Will y' be takin' her home right now?" The girl asked. Wufei nodded and let the girl help him pick out all the necessities for the little pup. He paid for it and went home quickly. It was getting late when he returned. He smiled when he found her still asleep on the couch.
"Kimi-kim, wake up." He said quietly. He knew how she hated the nickname Catherine had given her when they visited Trowa at the circus. Kimi stirred and slowly sat up.
"Wha?" She mumbled sleepily.
"Haven't you slept long enough yet? It's almost evening Lazybones." Wufei chuckled.
"M not lazy...did the garden...mission...lots of work...Houdini went home so you can be happy now...you won." she mumbled rubbing her eyes and sitting up. Wufei snorted and carefully dropped the pup on her lap.
"How did I win? I'd say I caved in when I saw that post card from old lady Lewis." he grumbled. He quickly smiled though when she looked at the pup in shock then picked it up with a delighted squeal.
'Yes, definitely a fight worth losing.' he thought quietly as she kissed him happily.

There you have the first of my series of themed drabbles. Let's see if we can reach 100. Let me know what you think of this little story.