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fandomweekly2024-08-03 05:42 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2024-08-03 05:42 pm
Entry tags:
[#229] Looking On The Bright Side (FAKE)
Theme Prompt: #229 – Optimism
Title: Looking On The Bright Side
Fandom: FAKE
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: JJ has always been an optimist. Even when things fail to go his way, it doesn’t keep him down for long.
JJ Adams had always considered himself an optimist; no matter how bad things got in his life, he prided himself on being able to see the glass half full rather than half empty. Of course, being the youngest child of a wealthy, upper class family meant his life was never truly bad, not in the way so many of his colleagues’ lives might sometimes be, not to mention the lives of the crime victims they tried to get justice for. Still, he did his best to look on the bright side, even when, because of his job as a detective with the NYPD, the bright side might not always be obvious.
His natural optimism was what kept him going through the long, often exhausting and demoralising workdays, because he was living his own personal dream. While he didn’t technically need to work and could have lived very well on the proceeds from the trust fund his grandparents had set up for him, being a cop was all he’d ever wanted. He’d worked hard to make that dream a reality, and he’d gotten where he was today through his own efforts, with no help from his family.
Really, despite the terrible things he often saw working for the Serious Crimes Unit, the dead bodies, the bloody crime scenes, the devastated families of homicide victims, his life was everything he could have hoped for. He had a palatial penthouse apartment in Manhattan, plenty of money to buy the latest in designer fashions, and a job he found physically, mentally, and emotionally rewarding. The only dark cloud on his horizon was his singular lack of a love life, although that certainly wasn’t through lack of trying.
Back at the police academy, ten years or so ago, he’d met his perfect match, a tall, devastatingly handsome, black-haired, green-eyed love god by the name of Dee Laytner, a fellow cadet. Their first meeting hadn’t been the most auspicious, since JJ had accidentally headbutted Dee in the face, almost breaking his nose, but on the plus side, it had been memorable. And then, when Dee had rescued JJ from a beating at the hands of some homophobic fellow cadets… Well, JJ had been sure it would only be a matter of time before he and Dee became a couple. Only, that hadn’t happened.
When they’d graduated, Dee had been assigned to the NYPD as a rookie while JJ, having shown great potential on the firing range, probably through years of experience at target shooting, had been assigned to a training programme for police snipers in California. When that training was complete, JJ had gone through the ranks in L.A., a year as a rookie, a few years in uniform, before getting the tap for detective.
Eventually, tired of being so far from New York and his family, he’d requested a transfer to New York. Yes, it had meant him going through a certain amount of re-training since there were differences between the ways the LAPD and NYPD did things, but it had been worth taking a step down for a year or so and re-taking the detective’s exam, which he’d passed with flying colours, because it meant he was home.
Better yet, he’d been assigned to the 27th Precinct where, as luck would have it, Dee laytner was working. To JJ’s mind, that had to be a sign. Finally, after so much time apart, they would be together again! Surely Dee would be as ecstatic over their reunion as JJ was! Soon they’d be in each other’s arms, looking forward to their Happily Ever After.
If Dee was happy to see him, however, he didn’t show it. Indeed, he seemed fixated on his work partner, one Randy ‘Ryo’ Maclean. Not that JJ gave up hope, because Ryo didn’t seem at all interested in Dee’s clumsy advances. Obviously, Dee was wasting his time, throwing himself Ryo. Sooner or later, he’d open his eyes and realise that JJ was waiting right there, ready and willing to fulfil his every desire. Of course, that meant JJ had to keep reminding the man of his dreams that they were destined to be together, so he never missed a chance to let Dee know how he felt, kissing and hugging him at every opportunity, telling Dee how happy they would be together, once he gave up his fruitless pursuit of Ryo.
For his part, Dee kept pushing JJ away, yelling at him, and generally being mean and ungrateful, but JJ didn’t let that get him down. All relationships had their rough patches, but persistence would surely pay off in the end, and it did, just not in the way JJ had expected.
He wasn’t sure when he’d first noticed the change in Dee and Ryo’s behaviour, but eventually JJ could ignore it no longer. Dee had won Ryo’s heart, they were together, and both of them looked so happy. JJ’s heart sank. He’d invested so much time and attention in Dee, yet it had all come to nothing. Dee would never be his.
For a while, JJ wallowed in misery, his usual cheery optimism considerably dampened, but realising that was a waste of time and effort, both of which he’d already put into trying to convince Dee they were made for each other, he pulled himself together. Even the darkest clouds couldn’t keep the sun from shining, they simply blocked it from sight. The sun would shine on JJ again; he just needed to be patient.
He found Drake on the station house roof, moping over getting dumped again. JJ was still trying to shake off his own gloom, despite the bright sunshine, but something Drake said made him look at his partner in a new light. JJ was lonely, Drake was lonely, and he was right, they needed to stick together. So, JJ kissed him, full on the lips, and the sun seemed to shine a little brighter.
All it took was some positive thinking. Things were already looking up.
The End
His natural optimism was what kept him going through the long, often exhausting and demoralising workdays, because he was living his own personal dream. While he didn’t technically need to work and could have lived very well on the proceeds from the trust fund his grandparents had set up for him, being a cop was all he’d ever wanted. He’d worked hard to make that dream a reality, and he’d gotten where he was today through his own efforts, with no help from his family.
Really, despite the terrible things he often saw working for the Serious Crimes Unit, the dead bodies, the bloody crime scenes, the devastated families of homicide victims, his life was everything he could have hoped for. He had a palatial penthouse apartment in Manhattan, plenty of money to buy the latest in designer fashions, and a job he found physically, mentally, and emotionally rewarding. The only dark cloud on his horizon was his singular lack of a love life, although that certainly wasn’t through lack of trying.
Back at the police academy, ten years or so ago, he’d met his perfect match, a tall, devastatingly handsome, black-haired, green-eyed love god by the name of Dee Laytner, a fellow cadet. Their first meeting hadn’t been the most auspicious, since JJ had accidentally headbutted Dee in the face, almost breaking his nose, but on the plus side, it had been memorable. And then, when Dee had rescued JJ from a beating at the hands of some homophobic fellow cadets… Well, JJ had been sure it would only be a matter of time before he and Dee became a couple. Only, that hadn’t happened.
When they’d graduated, Dee had been assigned to the NYPD as a rookie while JJ, having shown great potential on the firing range, probably through years of experience at target shooting, had been assigned to a training programme for police snipers in California. When that training was complete, JJ had gone through the ranks in L.A., a year as a rookie, a few years in uniform, before getting the tap for detective.
Eventually, tired of being so far from New York and his family, he’d requested a transfer to New York. Yes, it had meant him going through a certain amount of re-training since there were differences between the ways the LAPD and NYPD did things, but it had been worth taking a step down for a year or so and re-taking the detective’s exam, which he’d passed with flying colours, because it meant he was home.
Better yet, he’d been assigned to the 27th Precinct where, as luck would have it, Dee laytner was working. To JJ’s mind, that had to be a sign. Finally, after so much time apart, they would be together again! Surely Dee would be as ecstatic over their reunion as JJ was! Soon they’d be in each other’s arms, looking forward to their Happily Ever After.
If Dee was happy to see him, however, he didn’t show it. Indeed, he seemed fixated on his work partner, one Randy ‘Ryo’ Maclean. Not that JJ gave up hope, because Ryo didn’t seem at all interested in Dee’s clumsy advances. Obviously, Dee was wasting his time, throwing himself Ryo. Sooner or later, he’d open his eyes and realise that JJ was waiting right there, ready and willing to fulfil his every desire. Of course, that meant JJ had to keep reminding the man of his dreams that they were destined to be together, so he never missed a chance to let Dee know how he felt, kissing and hugging him at every opportunity, telling Dee how happy they would be together, once he gave up his fruitless pursuit of Ryo.
For his part, Dee kept pushing JJ away, yelling at him, and generally being mean and ungrateful, but JJ didn’t let that get him down. All relationships had their rough patches, but persistence would surely pay off in the end, and it did, just not in the way JJ had expected.
He wasn’t sure when he’d first noticed the change in Dee and Ryo’s behaviour, but eventually JJ could ignore it no longer. Dee had won Ryo’s heart, they were together, and both of them looked so happy. JJ’s heart sank. He’d invested so much time and attention in Dee, yet it had all come to nothing. Dee would never be his.
For a while, JJ wallowed in misery, his usual cheery optimism considerably dampened, but realising that was a waste of time and effort, both of which he’d already put into trying to convince Dee they were made for each other, he pulled himself together. Even the darkest clouds couldn’t keep the sun from shining, they simply blocked it from sight. The sun would shine on JJ again; he just needed to be patient.
He found Drake on the station house roof, moping over getting dumped again. JJ was still trying to shake off his own gloom, despite the bright sunshine, but something Drake said made him look at his partner in a new light. JJ was lonely, Drake was lonely, and he was right, they needed to stick together. So, JJ kissed him, full on the lips, and the sun seemed to shine a little brighter.
All it took was some positive thinking. Things were already looking up.
The End