Work Text:
~o~
The whole thing was absurd! Utterly ridiculous!
How dare Miorine do something so terrible?!
Suletta Mercury could endure a lot, tolerate a lot, resist the urge to act on something that would enrage someone else, and ignore subtle hints and insults directed at her. She had even forgiven her mother and sister for abandoning her in the vastness of outer space after using her.
Everyone said Suletta had the patience of a saint, but there were some things Suletta simply couldn't tolerate or ignore. And Miorine, her wife, had finally pushed her to the limit.
"Suletta, darling, are you really going to stay angry?" Prospera asked from the comfort of the recliner in the country house. She admitted that the improved medicine and treatments were making her life more comfortable and pain-free.
"Mio-Mio did something terrible," Suletta complained as she reviewed the documents she was working on to continue building better housing on Mercury. Living underground didn't mean her Mercurian fellows had to live in caves.
Elnora took her daughter's anger seriously—it was quite an event when it happened! But she also wanted to laugh, wanted to roar with laughter until her stomach hurt. She remained serious against her will.
"I think if you two sat down and talked about this..."
"Mio is stubborn," Suletta complained, her cheeks puffed out and her bushy eyebrows furrowed.
"And I think that's something you two have in common."
"But this time she crossed the line."
Of course, that line. Elnora brought a hand to her mouth, pretending to think about the matter seriously, but in reality, she was just hiding her own smile. "I understand your frustration, but please take some time to calm down and talk to Miorine when she gets home, okay?"
Suletta sighed heavily. "Okay."
"Good, now have some tea. Anger makes you miss important details."
The former pilot nodded. Her mother, as always, was right.
Meanwhile, in a car driven by Henao and surrounded by lethal bodyguards, Gund-Arm CEO Miorine Rembran sat with her arms crossed, her expression one of despair and anger that she couldn't seem to quell. Inside a pocket of her business jacket, Ericht, in her hideous keychain body, was mocking her sister-in-law.
"I'm going to mark this event on the calendar," Ericht said mockingly.
"Shut up."
"I'll make a reminder for next year."
"Ericht..."
"We'll celebrate the anniversary of the day you made Suletta angry and she yelled at you."
"Ericht!"
Without a word, Sabina handed her boss a thermos of relaxing tea. Miorine grunted a thanks. Miorine couldn't believe what had happened that morning. Everything was going well, and then, without warning... It happened. She sipped some tea. Yes, it was relaxing.
"I can't believe it," Miorine muttered.
"Hey, boss, stop grumbling. With all this stuff you got, she'll definitely forgive you," Renee said, pointing out what they'd stopped to buy after work: a couple of limited-edition Mr. Hots and Mr. Cool plushies, a ridiculously large bouquet of flowers, a box of fancy chocolates, and a couple of movie tickets.
Miorine sighed. "I couldn't find the matching Mr. Hots and Mr. Cool pajamas."
Sabina, cold and professional in sun, snow, and rain, looked at her boss seriously. "Could you please tell us what happened this morning and when it turned into an argument?"
Miorine rubbed her face with both hands. Ericht laughed, though only to her sister-in-law's ears.
"We were having breakfast and everything was normal. Suletta cooked, and I was going to wash the dishes after breakfast. She said I looked pretty. I told her I didn't look pretty because I had dark circles under my eyes and hadn't used my hair treatments. And then I told her that she was the pretty one for always waking up with a smile..."
The girls, and even Henao at the wheel, nodded attentively.
"And Suletta said no, that I looked prettier and that I was very hardworking, responsible, and reliable. And I told her that she was the one who worked the most, even though she was still in rehab. She said that wasn't true because I had to deal with the stress of continuing to distribute the assets of the Benerit Group. And I told her that she was in charge of giving the Mercurians a better life, and that was harder..."
The girls nodded again.
"By that time, we were both talking out loud..."
Wait a minute… The girls frowned.
"I told Suletta to stop underestimating her own work and effort, that she was the stronger of the two of us, and then..."
And then...
"She yelled at me that I was the stronger one for carrying everything and that I should be the one who stopped underestimating myself! Can you believe it?! Suletta almost died from the data storm, she survived the damn data storm, she recovered when the doctors said she'd never walk again, and on top of that, she comes out with this!"
Miorine started to ruffle her hair, undoing her business-girl hairstyle.
"Can't Suletta see how strong she is?! She's the one who deserves the compliments, not me!"
Erichth couldn't stop laughing again. The girls didn't know whether to be horrified, feel sorry for her, or also laugh. Miorine Rembran and Suletta Mercury weren't arguing with recriminations or shouting like normal people, but rather with a barrage of fierce compliments they hurled at each other like stones...
Sabina, the only one who wouldn't laugh in her boss's face, spoke up. "Just accept the compliments, boss. She means them from the bottom of her heart. Suletta Mercury is a serious person when it comes to you."
Miorine sighed. "Got it."
Thirty minutes later, they dropped her off at her country house and headed straight to downtown where they lived.
"How romantic!" Maisie made a lovestruck face.
"How silly," Renee muttered. "There are a million reasons to fight in a marriage, and they choose the most ridiculous one."
"Don't say that, or she'll fire us," Sabina warned her.
Meanwhile, Miorine arrived home after sunset. She carried all the gifts she'd bought after work as best she could. Luckily, the door was automatic and voice-activated; they'd set it up that way while Suletta was in rehab and couldn't open it herself.
Elnora was in the house in her smart wheelchair.
"We're home, Mom," Ericht said as she took her out of Miorine's pocket. "Let's go out of here. I'll tell you about my awful day at work."
"Hello, we're home, and thank you for being here," Miorine said to her mother in law, taking off her shoes in the entryway. "Where is Suletta?"
"In the kitchen. She made you dinner, a recipe she saw on TV," Elnora said with a smile. "Good luck."
"Thank you."
Miorine left the gifts on the living room sofa and then went to the dining room, loosening her tie, which at times felt more like a chain around her neck.
And there was Suletta, her precious Suletta.
For her part, Suletta looked at Miorine showing her tired expression, her loosened tie, her tousled hair...
They both sighed.
"Suletta, I'm sorry," Miorine apologized immediately. "I know how much you appreciate my effort and..."
Suletta made a childish pout. "So you accept that you're strong and very intelligent and beautiful and hardworking?"
Miorine took a deep breath. "I accept," she said, quickly going to the living room to get all the gifts and placing them on the table. She noticed how her wife beamed.
"They're the limited-edition plushies!" Suletta exclaimed happily.
"And a bouquet of flowers, and chocolates for us to eat together after dinner, and movie tickets for the weekend," Miorine added, looking at her wife with a smile. "Ericht says she wants to mark our first argument on the calendar. How about we have a date that day next year?"
A delighted Suletta nodded as she hugged the pair of plushies. Then she placed them on the table, as if they were guests, and went straight to hug her wife.
"I love you, Miorine."
"And I love you, Suletta. And next time I'd love to be the one showering you with compliments."
"Okay, but me first."
A kiss sealed the promise.
Finally, they were able to have dinner.
FIN