The house is strangely quiet when she walks in.
"Jimmy, I'm home!" she calls as she kicks off her shoes. It felt good to be home after being gone for a week. "Jimmy, are you here?"
When there's no answer, she checks his study, the bedroom, and the living room. But he appears to have vanished. She's about to call his cell when she hears a loud thud. Then another one. She follows the noises to the stairs leading to the basement. When she sees the water on the floor downstairs, her eyes widen.
"Shit!" a familiar voice exclaims.
She nearly races down the stairs. The water tickles her heels as goes to the laundry room where her husband is fighting with the washer.
"Shit!" he exclaims again.
"Jimmy?" she asks.
He turns around, and despite her confusion and irritation, she nearly laughs. He is absolutely soaked. His hair is sticking up in funny directions like it does when he's been running his hands through it. "Welcome home," he says.
"What's going on?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise." She raises an eyebrow and moves to the side. It's not the washer they bought. It's larger, and it has the Neutron insignia on it. "I've been working on a self-loading and unloading washer for months."
"Why is there water everywhere?"
"It malfunctioned. It wouldn't stop filling! I don't understand why. The damned thing worked just fine in the lab! I had to unplug it, which is what I was doing when you walked in."
"What exactly were you trying to achieve?" she hisses.
"I was trying to be helpful."
She sighs deeply. "How in the hell are we going to get this water out of here?"
"There is a drain over there," he gestures to the corner of the room. "If you could push some of the water towards that. I have an invention that can do the rest." Before she can stop him, he disappears back upstairs. She grabs a mop and starts pushing the water toward the drain.
God, her life was interesting. There had been the self-flushing toilet, the self-cleaning shower. His inventions always ended up making life harder. Well, not always.
"I'm back!" he declares as he appears with a long tube in his hands.
"Does this invention actually work?"
He frowns at her. "Yes."
"It had better," she warns as she kicks a little bit of water at him.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" he hisses as he kicks water towards her.
Soon, they are having an all-out water fight. A few minutes later, every inch of their clothing is wet. Including Jimmy's shirt, which he discards. Heat blooms in her stomach. She was supposed to be angry at him, not turned on. She tries to shove the feeling away, but her gaze remains glued to him.
He teases her with a smile. "See something you like, Vortex?"
She can't help herself. She places her palms against his chest. His ribs. He chuckles and she can feel the vibration in her fingertips. She leans forward and kisses his neck, slowly working her way down to his collarbone. He inhales sharply, and this time, it's her who laughs. He runs his hands down her sides, and then finally rest on her hips.
"What about the water?" his voice is husky, and desire races through her again. She wants to forget about the damned water. But she knows that's a bad idea. She pulls away with reluctance.
"You're right. We are going to clean this mess up and then I am going to have my way with you, Mr. Neutron."
Neutron visibly gulps and she just smiles in satisfaction.