Little Moments: 100
Themes
#96: Catch 22
Lillie Bell
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.
Mamoru was flopped happily on the couch awaiting the arrival of his wife. He could hear her scurrying about in their bedroom, fighting to be ready in time to make it to the hospital's anniversary banquet.
He fiddled with the straight collar of his tuxedo. Without the weight of his cape, the familiar silk around his eyes, or the suffocating grasp of his bowtie he felt oddly naked. In fact, the rented tuxedo felt so uncomfortable he was three seconds away from just transforming and cutting his losses with the rental charges. If she takes any longer…
The door to their bedroom opened and there stood his beautiful wife, the one and only love of his life. Her blonde hair was stacked upon her head and he simply wondered at the impossible feat. His eyes had yet to skim the rest of her body when she shuffled closer to him.
"Mamo-chan," she started, swaying a bit with the length of the new dress. She was trying to turn to the side a bit in order to sneak through the space between the couch and loveseat. Mamoru, however, took the chance to admire her profile until he noticed her slightly disgruntled face. She continued to make her way towards him when he paled considerably.
A new dress meant he was going to get the question. He licked his lips, trying vainly to think of a simple, neutral answer that would not land him on the doorstep. This was not the sort of question that simply left him with a night of uncomfortable sleep on the sofa. The results of her inquisition could have him outside on the balcony if he was lucky. He quickly remembered Motoki was working at the hospital late that night and the small bit of hope that was building in the face of adversity died.
Usagi turned, having finally made her way through the couches without snagging the embroidered lace of her topskirt, and opened her mouth to ask her husband if he'd seen her shoes. If she remembered correctly, the last time she wore them he had been rather hasty to remove them and the next morning she could not find them in the pile of evening dress and hose. His face, however, had taken on an absolutely petrified expression and he seemed to be moving his lips in a manner that implied intense thought. Deciding he was being very strange, she made her way around the room and the hallway until finally finding the black heels hidden behind the hamper.
Slipping them on, she made her way out into the living room again and her standing husband. Before the smile could make its way across her face, Mamoru blurted out with a slightly wavering lilt: "You're beautiful."
He proceeded to quickly grab her evening coat and slug it over her shoulders and usher out of the apartment. Luna and Artemis, the latest addition to the Chiba household, watched as the two left.
"What was the deal with him?"
Artemis couldn't even smile, understanding the grave matter that caused such an awkward moment for the man. "The ultimate question," he explained. "Does this make me look fat."