Kuon was in the middle of a new script when he heard the light footfalls of Kyoko's bunny-slipper feet shuffling against the hardwood floor and looked up.
"Our son is finally going to sleep." This was said with equal parts relief and exasperation as Kyoko flopped beside him on the plush sofa. "I read him one of the new books Auntie Moko sent."
Kuon smiled to himself, imagining Kanae Kotonami's reaction to being referred to as Auntie Moko.
His wife leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. "Did you know the moon is actually egg-shaped?"
"Uh, no..."
"Hmm. Me neither. I learned that fun fact while reading Nibbles: The Monster Hunt to Kai." A glimmer of mirth danced in her tired amber eyes and the corners of her mouth quirked as though she were fighting a smile.
He raised his brow in silent inquiry.
"So, I decided to double check with Google Sensei because that's the first I've ever heard such a thing either," she continued. "Apparently they've been measuring the measuring the moon's surface periodically and discovered a bulge," her mouth twitched again.
Kuon could easily see where this was headed. No pun intended.
She pulled out her phone and began reading from a NASA webpage, "The good news for lunar scientists is that the new results are consistent with earlier findings."
She paused to clear her throat. "The estimated size of the tide confirmed the previous measurement of the bulge. The other value of great interest to researchers is the overall stiffness of the moon, known as the Love number," she barely managed to utter the last word coherently before collapsing in gales of laughter.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she met his amused gaze again, grinning. "You can always tell when the group of scientist are male. Only men want to measure the size of the bulge or the stiffness," she snickered.
Kuon laughed, unable to dispute her claim. "I've created a monster," he said and kissed her soundly on the lips. He leaned over, warm breath whispering against her skin like velvet. "Would you like to see the size of the bulge and the stiffness?"
The light in her eyes shifted from humorous to sultry in an instant. As Kuon swept up his wife in a princess carry and dashed into their room, the furry-eared slippers fell to the floor with a soft thud, unheeded.