A Night with the Changs

By Aryn

             Mei Chang covered her face with her hand and squeezed her eyes shut. She hated nights like this…no kids, no work, just her husband and nothing on TV.

             “Wufei, must you flip through all the channels within two minutes?”

             “I got it down to a minute and half now.”

             Mei groaned. Her head was killing her from constant picture change. “Can you even tell what shows you’re passing over?”

             Wufei shrugged. “Not really. But I all ready checked the TV Guide and nothings on.”

             “So why did we even turn the TV on, dear?”

             Wufei paused in his channel surfing. “I don’t know.”

             “Give me the remote.”

             “No.”

             “Wufei, you have clearly proven that you have you used no intelligent thought behind the use of that instrument. Hand it over.”

             Wufei gave his wife his most pathetic looking face that he saved only for her eyes. “Mei, you might as well take away my Gundam.”

             “Well, when you start using your Gundam with as much thought as you were using your remote, I will take away your Gundam. Now, give me the remote.”

             Wufei held the device above his head. “Come and get it.”

             Mei took advantage of Wufei’s exposed rib cage and started tickling him. He let out a startled yelp and immediately tried to protect his exposed area. Mei jumped on the distraction and swiped the remote with one hand and still trying to tickle him with her free hand. With one hand she popped the batteries out of the remote and dropped them into her sweatshirt pocket. By that time Wufei had completely recovered from her attack and was retaliating with an attack of his own. Mei soon found herself on the floor, curled into a fetal position and laughing so hard she was crying. She also felt the remote ripped from her hand.

             “See Mei, you shouldn’t come between a man and his remote.”

             Mei rolled into a sitting position on the floor. “Oh yes, you big strong man. Did it make you feel good to defeat a skinny little house wife in a tickle fight?”

             Wufei laughed as he plopped down on the couch again. “’Skinny little house wife,’ that’s a good one Mei. But I‘ve seen you take down guys three times your size.”

             Mei sighed. “Well, while you sit here and watch nothing, I’m going to get a jump start on the laundry.”

             Wufei made a sound in response. Mei merely shook her head as she walked away.

             “Well, what do you expect from a pig than a grunt?”

             “What was that Mei?”

             “Nothing dear.”

             Mei grinned inwardly. She had to find a spot to hide the batteries before Wufei noticed they were-

             “Mei!”

             Missing. “Yes sweetheart.”

             “Give me back my batteries.”

             “I wasn’t aware that you ran on batteries.”

             “Mei.”

             “What batteries?”

             “For the remote! I know you swiped them.”

             “Can’t you just get up and change the channel?”

             Wufei let out an exasperated sigh. “That’s what the remote is for. So you don’t have to get up.”

             “Oh. Is that why we have a remote for the TV?”

             Mei listened closely as she heard the volume get turned up on the TV and thankfully Wufei had finally settled on a re-run of “Law and Order.” Just as she basking in the glory of winning this battle, the phone rang. Setting aside the laundry for a moment, she walked back into the living room and picked up the phone.

             “Hey Mei, it’s Arys.”

             Unfortunately, Mei realized Wufei had one up on her. The TV was blaring and she could barely hear the person on the other end. And Wufei was now reading the newspaper.

             “Who is this?”

             “Arys. Arys Yuy. Mei, what’s going on? It sounds like you’re holding a court case in the middle of your living room.”

             “You’re close Arys. Hang on.” Mei covered the receiver of the phone with her hand and shouted to her husband, “Wufei, the TV’s too loud.”

             The paper rustled slightly. “Well turn it down then.”

             “Wufei!”

             “Be a little easier if you had the remote, wouldn’t it?”

             “Wufei!”

             “And you just said I don’t use my intelligence.”

             Mei uncovered the phone. “Sorry Arys. It seems I have a fault on this end and he won’t get off the couch.”

             Arys laughed. “You stole the batteries out of the remote again, didn’t you?”

             Mei feigned surprise. “How’d you know that?”

             “Well, I was just calling to see if you and Mr. Physical Activity wanted to go indoor rock climbing with Heero and me tonight?”

             “Hang on, let me check.” Mei covered the phone again. “Wufei, Arys wants to know if we want to go rock climbing tonight with her and Heero.”

             “What? And miss all the good stuff on TV tonight?”