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fandomweekly2020-10-02 01:48 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2020-10-02 01:48 pm
Entry tags:
[#069] The Bright Side (FAKE)
Theme Prompt: 069 – Ray Of Sunshine
Title: The Bright Side
Fandom: FAKE
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: It’s a dismally wet day and Dee’s in a bad mood, which just makes JJ’s cheerfulness grate even more than usual.
Dee and Ryo were drenched when they pounded through the 27th Precinct’s front doors, having been diverted to the scene of a homicide on their way into work. A storm was raging above the city, rendering umbrellas useless, and it looked like the bad weather had set in for the day.
“Good morning, Mr Dreamy!” JJ called out on seeing the object of his obsessive adoration.
Dee scowled at the smaller detective, who was well wrapped up in a stylish bright blue rain slicker and hat, and was therefore perfectly dry and warm despite having only just arrived himself.
“What’s good about it?” he demanded, stomping past JJ, leaving a trail of rainwater behind him. “We’re soaked, half frozen, and we’ve just come from a murder scene where an entire family’s been butchered! Way I see it, today needs ta be over already.”
“But the rain’s washing the streets clean! We really needed it; the air smells so much fresher already!”
Optimism should have been JJ’s middle name; he was perennially cheerful, always looking on the bright side, seeing the glass half full, and some days Dee just hated him for it. Bad enough that JJ kept jumping all over him, trying to kiss him while declaring his undying love, but he was always so damned happy about everything, a determined little blue-haired ray of sunshine! For a detective on the Serious Crimes Squad that was wrong in more ways than Dee could count.
“Yeah? Well it’s washin’ away most of the evidence from our crime scene too!”
“Oh, but that won’t stop you solving the case!” Far from being put off by Dee’s grumpiness, JJ was tagging along behind his crush, full of bounce and good cheer, somehow getting between Dee and Ryo, who was dripping along in their wake. “I believe in you!”
“You can go believe in someone else; I need a shower.” Dee was heading for the locker room where there was hot water, towels, and dry clothing.
“I could wash your back!” JJ had that starry-eyed look on his face.
“Try it and I’ll shove ya in your locker and leave ya there all day!”
“There’s no need to be so mean, Mister Grumpy-Pants! If you change your mind you know where to find me.” With that, JJ bounced his way towards the squad room.
Dee shoved the locker room door open and squelched through. Behind him he could hear Ryo snickering.
“Oh sure, go ahead and laugh!” he grumbled at his partner. “It’s okay for you; you’re not the one he’s obsessed with.”
“You could be a little nicer to him,” Ryo chastised mildly.
“Are you outta your mind? Bein’ nice to him was what got me into this mess in the first place. I stood up for him back at the Academy when he was gettin’ bullied for bein’ the way he is. You know, a little on the flamboyant side. Everyone knew he was gay from the start and a bunch of senior cadets saw him as an easy target. I told ‘em if they had somethin’ against gays they should pick on someone their own size.”
“Someone like you?”
“Exactly.” Dee grinned wolfishly as he began to peel his way out of his wet clothes. “I put the ringleader in the infirmary, got myself a reprimand for it, but he started the fight so he only had himself to blame for gettin’ kicked out. Ever since then, JJ’s had a bad case of hero worship. Thinks he loves me ‘cause I saved him. Thought I’d gotten rid of him for a while, but then he had ta show up here.”
He stopped talking while he fought his way out of his jeans, straightening up at last clad only in his boxers, then…
“Y’know, I’d let you wash my back.”
“Wash your own back. We’re NOT starting anything in the showers at work!”
“You sure about that?” Dee grinned at his lover. “’Cause I’d return the favor.”
Ryo didn’t dignify that with a reply, just headed into the shower, leaving Dee to follow.
Twenty minutes later, warmer and more comfortable in dry clothes, they made their way to their desks. Dee cast a gloomy look out of the rain-streaked window.
“Just hope we don’t haveta go out in that again today; we’re outta dry clothes.”
“Maybe the rain will stop.”
Dee eyed his partner suspiciously. “You been drinkin’ JJ’s Kool-Aid?”
Ryo laughed. “He’s right about one thing; it wouldn’t hurt you to lighten up a bit, try seeing the bright side for once.”
“I see the bright side when there is one. JJ just gets on my nerves, especially on days like this. Why’s he gotta be so goddamned cheerful all the time? It’s not natural, I swear he’s gotta have a few screws loose.”
“He’s got as much right to be cheerful as you have to be grumpy.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“My own.”
Across the room, neither man saw the way JJ’s face fell, all his determined cheerfulness evaporating as he watched them bantering, saw their hands brush briefly, and the smile that passed between them.
“Why d’you keep doing this to yourself?” JJ’s partner Drake Parker asked. “Dee’s never gonna look at you the way he looks at Ryo. It’s Ryo he wants.”
“I know,” JJ whispered, “but as long as I keep trying I can pretend there’s still hope. If I give up then what do I have left? Just the knowledge that I’ve wasted years loving someone who’ll never love me back, and that’s too depressing to think about.” He pasted his smile back on. “Besides, maybe someday he’ll get tired of pining after Ryo and see what’s right in front of him.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Drake said with uncharacteristic perceptiveness. “I doubt anyone’s getting between those two.”
JJ pretended not to hear. “Look, Drakey; the sun’s trying to break through!”
A glimmer of sunlight pierced the clouds; it looked a lot like hope.
The End
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"It looked a lot like hope." That line is immaculate, dawg.
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Than you! Glad you liked this, it came out pretty well considering I had no idea what I was going to write!
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Thank you!
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I love the characters, but Dee really hates his stalker fawning all over him, it makes him bad tempered. He only has eyes for Ryo. Poor JJ is obsessed with a dream that can never become reality, but nothing keeps him down for long.
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“My own.”
I really enjoyed that line! Being unfamiliar with the canon, I really enjoyed the banter and the voices in the dialogue. It was very distinct and JJ's worship was very obvious through the way he spoke. This was really great.
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JJ can really be annoying in the manga, but at the same time I feel for him. On the other hand, Dee does nothing to encourage him, keeps telling him he's not interested, and JJ still refuse to accept it. I can't blame Dee for snapping at his stalker.
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Thank you!