fandomweekly | [#125] Somewhere Warm (FAKE)

Theme Prompt: #125 – Come In From The Cold
Title: Somewhere Warm
Fandom: FAKE
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: When a blizzard hits New York, Dee and Ryo go in search of somewhere warmer where they can wait it out.

“Winter in New York isn’t so bad,” Dee argued. “Some places have it a whole lot worse. I guess bein’ on the coast helps. I saw on the news this mornin’ some places are gettin’ ice storms, several inches of ice over everything, bringin’ down power lines so there’re whole towns with no electricity.”

Muffled up in coat and hat as they walked along the winter sidewalks, sipping from paper cups of takeaway coffee, Ryo nodded. “I saw that too. Snow I can handle, but that much ice would be seriously scary.”

“Yeah, I feel bad for all those people. No light, no way to call for help once their phones run outta juice, maybe no heat and no way to cook, less they have a gas supply, and even then it could be risky if vents are iced over. Carbon monoxide poisoning and all that…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Count me out. When we lose power around here it usually gets fixed pretty quick, no waitin’ for weeks, tryin’ not to freeze to death, starve, or whatever. I’m never gonna complain about New York winters again, just remind myself how lucky I am livin’ here.”

Ryo didn’t believe that for a moment; he knew his lover too well, and while New York might enjoy slightly milder winters than some parts of the United States, that didn’t mean living through the winter months was a picnic, especially for anyone whose profession required them to be out on the streets in all weathers. Just because he and Dee were detectives didn’t mean they got to spend their entire shift each day in their cosy little office.

By afternoon, the temperature outside had dropped, the clear skies of the morning were now hidden behind low clouds, and there was an icy wind gusting through the streets, tugging at Dee and Ryo’s clothes as they went from building to building trying to track down potential witnesses to a fatal shooting. They weren’t having much luck, and it got even worse when they came out of the last building on their list to be greeted by a swirling wall of white.

“Oh, that’s just frickin’ great!” Dee grumbled. “It couldn’t wait to start snowin’ ‘til we got back to the car? Now we gotta find our way back through this!” Visibility was down to barely more than a few feet.

“Weren’t you the one this morning saying you’d never complain about New York winters again? I seem to recall you saying they’re not so bad.” Ryo picked his way carefully down the stoop to the sidewalk, where the snow was already several inches deep.

“That’s only when we don’t haveta be out in it.” Digging a black woollen beanie out of his coat pocket, Dee put it on, tugging it down over his ears.

Ryo flipped the hood of his coat up over his own hat. “Come on, we should head back to the precinct before conditions get any worse.”

“Worse?” Dee sounded incredulous. “We can already barely see where we’re goin’. There’s no way we can drive in this!”

“You may be right, but we can’t stay here, and going back inside wouldn’t be much better.” The hallways of the rundown apartment building were unheated, and several windows were cracked or broken. All the buildings in the area they’d been canvassing were in a similar condition; they could duck into one to get out of the snow, but they wouldn’t be any warmer. “At least the car has a heater.”

“If it hasn’t already been buried under a snowdrift.” Dee made his way down the steps to join his partner on the sidewalk.

“It’s not that deep, Dee!”

“Might be by the time we get to the damn car, if we can even find it!" Dee hugged himself. “Damn, that wind’s freezin’!”

“You’re not going to get any warmer standing there. I’m going back to the car, with or without you.”

“I’m comin’!” Dee hustled after his lover through the falling snow; it was barely two-thirty, but it already seemed to be getting darker thanks to the heavy cloud and the swirling white flakes. It would be easy to lose sight of Ryo if he wasn’t careful.

He almost did, because he glanced away from the bundled-up figure ahead of him, just for a minute, trying to get control of his scarf which was flapping wildly in the wind, and when he looked again, Ryo was gone.

“Dee! Over here!”

Turning, Dee was just able to make out his partner standing in a doorway.

“What’re ya doin’? I thought we were makin’ for the car!”

“We were, but then I remembered passing this place.” Ryo pushed the door open, and Dee followed him inside in a flurry of snow.

The warmth almost took his breath away, and as he blinked the snowflakes from his eyelashes, he found himself in a small café. Ryo was already halfway to the counter, unfastening his coat as he went.

Tugging his hat off, Dee followed, breathing in the smell of coffee and fried food. From feeling like he was going to freeze to death, suddenly he was almost too hot. The blocks of ice that were his toes started to ache as they warmed up.

“I ordered for you,” Ryo said as Dee joined him. “Coffee, and a toasted ham and cheese.”

“Sounds great. Thanks, bud.”

Making their way to an empty table against the wall to wait for their order, they stripped out of their coats and scarves.

“Good thing you found this place! Beats the hell outta waitin’ in the car,” Dee said as he tossed his coat onto an empty seat and sank into the one beside it.

“We’ll still have to go back out in it. Let’s just hope the blizzard’s eased up by the time we finish eating.”

“Ah, we can worry ‘bout that later.” Dee grinned. “Best thing about cold weather is gettin’ inside after bein’ out in it.”

The End

[#125] Somewhere Warm (FAKE)

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