FAKE Ficlet: Welcome Distraction

[badly_knitted]

 


Title: Welcome Distraction
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Ryo is stressed from work, but Dee knows how to help; get him thinking about something else.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 488: Diversion at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.





Dee couldn’t fail to notice how stressed Ryo had been getting recently. He wasn’t immune to the pressures of the job himself, but Ryo took everything to heart and their current case had been weighing him down, especially as they were making so little progress. Even after the end of their shift, when they were usually able to set thoughts of work aside, Ryo had been dwelling on it, going over and over the known facts in his head, making notes, checking details… He was laying awake late into the night, and sleeping fitfully when he slept at all; Dee didn’t need to be Ryo’s partner to see he was going to run himself into the ground at this rate. It was obvious to everyone.


Now here they were with the weekend off, and Ryo wanted to keep working. Dee wasn’t having that; they both needed a break, time to clear their heads and regroup, some kind of diversion to distract Ryo’s busy mind and give him something other than work to focus on.


Sex was usually very effective, and something Dee was always ready and willing to supply, but Ryo was too tired at the moment, and not in the right frame of mind to lose himself in physical sensation. What was needed was something that would engage his mind rather than his body, something he’d really need to concentrate on, but that wasn’t too energetic.


“C’mon, babe. Grab your jacket; we’re goin’ out.”


“What? No, Dee, I can’t; I’m working!”


“Nuh uh, no work for the next forty-eight hours. We made an agreement when we moved in together, and you haven’t been keepin’ up your side of it; work stops when we clock off. You need a break from thinkin’ about the case so when we go back to work on Monday you can come at it fresh. Burnin’ yourself out isn’t gonna solve anything. Now turn off that damned computer and come on!”


Realising Dee was serious and wasn’t about to take ‘no’ for an answer, Ryo reluctantly did as he was told, putting his shoes on and picking up his jacket. “Where are we going?”


“The orphanage; Mother could do with a break so we’re gonna help out.”


“Doing what?”


“Tutoring. Some of the kids are strugglin’ with their schoolwork.”


“But I’m not a teacher!”


“Doesn’t matter; neither am I. You did okay helpin’ Bikky so you should be a natural. It’s nothin’ fancy, just basic math, readin’, spellin’, that kinda thing.”


As diversions went, Dee couldn’t have picked anything better, and he was quickly proven right. If Ryo hadn’t become a cop he would’ve made an amazing teacher, patient and encouraging, turning learning into a game. They spent the whole day at the orphanage, with Ryo eventually helping Mother prepare dinner for the starving horde. By the time they left, the stress seemed to have melted away from him.


“Thanks, Dee. That was exactly what I needed.”


Dee grinned. “I’m not just a pretty face!”



The End