Wufei and the Shanghai Terror
Chapter 2
Stalking the Prey
"I'm going to be gone for 3 days to that boring medical conference on L4," said Sally, as she slid off her shoes and lay back with a large sigh on the sofa.
Wufei looked at her from his chair where he'd been reading, and slid off his glasses. "It'll be the first weekend we've been apart since our wedding," he said dejectedly.
"Oh, it was bound to happen sometime," she shrugged philosophically. "You won't die, I promise." She grinned at him. He was so easy to tease.
He gave her a hard look from over the book on his lap. "I'm sure I won't, but that's not the point."
"What is the point, then?" asked Sally, "Because I seem to have missed it."
"I shall have to care for that insolent creature with which we still unfortunately share our home."
"Oh, that," said Sally, faking a yawn to hide another grin.
"Yes, that," repeated Wufei, looking around somewhat anxiously after uttering the word "creature". Lu had a tendency to ambush him from high places and the bookshelves in the den were perfect for that purpose.
"I suppose I will have to tend to its feeding and other necessities." He shuddered faintly at the idea.
"Well, the 'necessities' take care of themselves since I got one of those automatic litter boxes, so don't cringe."
Wufei looked relieved. "Then all I have to do is provide food and water?"
"And affection, Wufei. It's a warm-blooded creature and likes affection."
"What are you insinuating, woman!" he asked in defensive tones. "I'm affectionate!"
"Yes, when coerced, backed into a corner and pestered relentlessly!" Sally said, laughing. She threw her shoe at him, trying to knock the book out of his hands. She succeeded and threw her head back laughing harder.
Wufei made a slight growling noise and threw down his book. "I'll show you affectionate!"
Sally flung her other shoe at him and missed as she ran from the room, Wufei in hot pursuit.
Shanghai Lu crept from under the sofa and sauntered over to the book Wufei had dropped and sniffed it curiously, then gently sank a fang into this lovely rustling object that held the scent of "the Enemy".
Soon, the small sounds of paper tearing were added to the background of giggles, moans and growls coming from the bedroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "All right, you've convinced me," said Sally wryly, sitting up and vaguely wondering why her bra was now hanging from a picture on the wall.
"That's what you get for arguing with me," said Wufei drowsily.
"Remind me to argue with you more often," said Sally.
The only response to this was one of those small grunts someone manages when barely awake.
"Hey, I finally got the last word," said Sally out loud to herself.
She rose, pulling on her bathrobe and went to take a shower.
Wufei awoke half an hour later, vaguely wondering where Sally was, until he began to smell something rather delicious emanating from the hallway that adjoined the kitchen.
"It was my night to cook," he said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder.
"You looked so relaxed, I didn't want to wake you," replied Sally. "You can take two turns."
"This latest case I'm working on has been time-consuming," he admitted. "And, having Maxwell as a partner is exhausting enough all by itself."
He frowned and reaching for an orange and began to peel it with a distracted air.
"Sometimes, I'm sorry we're not working together anymore," said Sally. "But, I'm much happier working at the hospital. I always preferred being a doctor to being a soldier."
"I'm relieved you're doing less dangerous work," said Wufei. "It's bad enough I have to do it."
"Someone has to do it," said Sally, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, I can't imagine you doing anything else."
"I had intended to be a teacher," mused Wufei. "After all, I was a scholar first and becoming a soldier was simply a necessity."
Sally looked at him in faint surprise. He didn't often talk about the days before she'd met him.
"You'd be a good teacher, I suppose," said Sally. "I just never imagined...."
"I know." He gave her a small rueful grin, and popped a slice of orange into his mouth. "Life makes strange choices for us."
"Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes," she said, wiping her hands on a towel.
"Just enough time for me to finish the chapter I was reading before I was so, um, rudely interrupted." He smiled at her briefly as he left.
Sally was just contemplating how nice it was to see Wufei smile more often when a roar of pure indignation greeted her ears.
"Where IS that unholy creature?" she heard Wufei yell, and the muffled sounds of more curses. Sally ran into the den.
"Wufei, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Look at my book!" he excalimed, holding up the tattered remnants of what used to be a book and now was largely shredded paper.
"Oh, my goodness," said Sally, "Did Lu do that?"
Wufei rolled his eyes. "Who do you think, woman?" he demanded. "When I find that beast, I'm going to force feed her the rest of it from the other end!"
"Oh, Wufei, I'm sorry," she said, "I'll find Lu, but please don't do anything you'll regret. We can replace your book."
"That animal absolutely despises me," he said looking sadly at the remains of the book. He ceremoniously walked over to the wastebasket and lowered it into the metal cylinder.
"Farewell, old friend," he sighed melodramatically.
Sally in the meantime, was on her hands and knees trying to lure out the culprit from beneath the sofa.
"Here, kitty, here Lu," she coaxed. The animal responded by cringing further under the sofa.
"She knows she's been naughty," said Sally, looking at Wufei, who was standing behind her with his arms folded across his chest.
"She knows what's waiting for her when she comes out," he scoffed. "The creature has no conscience I can detect."
"You're going to have to leave, or she'll never come out," Sally finally said after long minutes of coaxing. "Besides, dinner should be ready, go turn off the oven."
"Cowardly beast," was all Wufei said as he stalked off to the kitchen.
Lu slunk out from beneath the sofa as soon as she detected The Enemy's retreating scent.
Sally scooped up the cat. "Bad kitty," she said to Lu, who proceeded to nuzzle Sally's hand and squeeze her eyes shut endearingly.
"Oh, you're in for it now," said Sally. "You ate Wufei's book and I'm not going to be here to save you this weekend."
"Niyaaaou!" said the Shanghai Terror.
"If I were you, I'd hide until after dinner," said Sally, setting the cat down and giving it a push back under the sofa.
"Maybe for the next week," Sally added as she went to join her husband.
"
"
Chapter 2
Stalking the Prey
"I'm going to be gone for 3 days to that boring medical conference on L4," said Sally, as she slid off her shoes and lay back with a large sigh on the sofa.
Wufei looked at her from his chair where he'd been reading, and slid off his glasses. "It'll be the first weekend we've been apart since our wedding," he said dejectedly.
"Oh, it was bound to happen sometime," she shrugged philosophically. "You won't die, I promise." She grinned at him. He was so easy to tease.
He gave her a hard look from over the book on his lap. "I'm sure I won't, but that's not the point."
"What is the point, then?" asked Sally, "Because I seem to have missed it."
"I shall have to care for that insolent creature with which we still unfortunately share our home."
"Oh, that," said Sally, faking a yawn to hide another grin.
"Yes, that," repeated Wufei, looking around somewhat anxiously after uttering the word "creature". Lu had a tendency to ambush him from high places and the bookshelves in the den were perfect for that purpose.
"I suppose I will have to tend to its feeding and other necessities." He shuddered faintly at the idea.
"Well, the 'necessities' take care of themselves since I got one of those automatic litter boxes, so don't cringe."
Wufei looked relieved. "Then all I have to do is provide food and water?"
"And affection, Wufei. It's a warm-blooded creature and likes affection."
"What are you insinuating, woman!" he asked in defensive tones. "I'm affectionate!"
"Yes, when coerced, backed into a corner and pestered relentlessly!" Sally said, laughing. She threw her shoe at him, trying to knock the book out of his hands. She succeeded and threw her head back laughing harder.
Wufei made a slight growling noise and threw down his book. "I'll show you affectionate!"
Sally flung her other shoe at him and missed as she ran from the room, Wufei in hot pursuit.
Shanghai Lu crept from under the sofa and sauntered over to the book Wufei had dropped and sniffed it curiously, then gently sank a fang into this lovely rustling object that held the scent of "the Enemy".
Soon, the small sounds of paper tearing were added to the background of giggles, moans and growls coming from the bedroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "All right, you've convinced me," said Sally wryly, sitting up and vaguely wondering why her bra was now hanging from a picture on the wall.
"That's what you get for arguing with me," said Wufei drowsily.
"Remind me to argue with you more often," said Sally.
The only response to this was one of those small grunts someone manages when barely awake.
"Hey, I finally got the last word," said Sally out loud to herself.
She rose, pulling on her bathrobe and went to take a shower.
Wufei awoke half an hour later, vaguely wondering where Sally was, until he began to smell something rather delicious emanating from the hallway that adjoined the kitchen.
"It was my night to cook," he said, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder.
"You looked so relaxed, I didn't want to wake you," replied Sally. "You can take two turns."
"This latest case I'm working on has been time-consuming," he admitted. "And, having Maxwell as a partner is exhausting enough all by itself."
He frowned and reaching for an orange and began to peel it with a distracted air.
"Sometimes, I'm sorry we're not working together anymore," said Sally. "But, I'm much happier working at the hospital. I always preferred being a doctor to being a soldier."
"I'm relieved you're doing less dangerous work," said Wufei. "It's bad enough I have to do it."
"Someone has to do it," said Sally, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, I can't imagine you doing anything else."
"I had intended to be a teacher," mused Wufei. "After all, I was a scholar first and becoming a soldier was simply a necessity."
Sally looked at him in faint surprise. He didn't often talk about the days before she'd met him.
"You'd be a good teacher, I suppose," said Sally. "I just never imagined...."
"I know." He gave her a small rueful grin, and popped a slice of orange into his mouth. "Life makes strange choices for us."
"Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes," she said, wiping her hands on a towel.
"Just enough time for me to finish the chapter I was reading before I was so, um, rudely interrupted." He smiled at her briefly as he left.
Sally was just contemplating how nice it was to see Wufei smile more often when a roar of pure indignation greeted her ears.
"Where IS that unholy creature?" she heard Wufei yell, and the muffled sounds of more curses. Sally ran into the den.
"Wufei, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Look at my book!" he excalimed, holding up the tattered remnants of what used to be a book and now was largely shredded paper.
"Oh, my goodness," said Sally, "Did Lu do that?"
Wufei rolled his eyes. "Who do you think, woman?" he demanded. "When I find that beast, I'm going to force feed her the rest of it from the other end!"
"Oh, Wufei, I'm sorry," she said, "I'll find Lu, but please don't do anything you'll regret. We can replace your book."
"That animal absolutely despises me," he said looking sadly at the remains of the book. He ceremoniously walked over to the wastebasket and lowered it into the metal cylinder.
"Farewell, old friend," he sighed melodramatically.
Sally in the meantime, was on her hands and knees trying to lure out the culprit from beneath the sofa.
"Here, kitty, here Lu," she coaxed. The animal responded by cringing further under the sofa.
"She knows she's been naughty," said Sally, looking at Wufei, who was standing behind her with his arms folded across his chest.
"She knows what's waiting for her when she comes out," he scoffed. "The creature has no conscience I can detect."
"You're going to have to leave, or she'll never come out," Sally finally said after long minutes of coaxing. "Besides, dinner should be ready, go turn off the oven."
"Cowardly beast," was all Wufei said as he stalked off to the kitchen.
Lu slunk out from beneath the sofa as soon as she detected The Enemy's retreating scent.
Sally scooped up the cat. "Bad kitty," she said to Lu, who proceeded to nuzzle Sally's hand and squeeze her eyes shut endearingly.
"Oh, you're in for it now," said Sally. "You ate Wufei's book and I'm not going to be here to save you this weekend."
"Niyaaaou!" said the Shanghai Terror.
"If I were you, I'd hide until after dinner," said Sally, setting the cat down and giving it a push back under the sofa.
"Maybe for the next week," Sally added as she went to join her husband.
"
"