FAKE Ficlet: Intolerance
Title: Intolerance
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Dee and Ryo’s dinner out is on the verge of being spoiled by the intolerant asshole at the next table.
Word Count: 600
Written For: Yahtzee prompt ‘Polite’ at getyourwordsout.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“What’re you lookin’ at, asshole?”
Ryo was torn between frowning at his partner, rolling his eyes in exasperation, and laughing out loud, which would probably be the least sensible option, but some days it was difficult to keep a straight face when Dee was being his typically outspoken self.
Dee was perfectly capable of being polite when he wanted to be, Mother had drummed good manners into him from an early age, but people in general had a bad habit of stretching his partner’s patience and tolerance to breaking point, and if someone was rude to him, Dee wasn’t the kind of man to turn the other cheek. Ryo had grown accustomed to smoothing the feathers Dee’s blunt, no nonsense attitude ruffled in the course of their work. It wasn’t so much that he had better manners than Dee, or that he was any more tolerant when confronted by rude, ignorant, and determinedly unpleasant people, but he was better at remaining calm and polite, even in the face of extreme provocation.
That was during their workdays though, when dealing with aggravation from suspects, potential witnesses, victims, and even the general public was par for the course. Both detectives were used to people taking their frustrations out on them, airing their grievances about the state of their fair city and demanding something be done, even though few had any definite ideas about what that ‘something’ should be. It was one of the unavoidable downsides of being a cop.
Tonight had nothing to do with work though; they were out on a date, and the asshole Dee had spoken to was sitting at the table next to theirs in the restaurant. Ryo half wished he and Dee could get up and walk out, but they’d already ordered before the man and his wife had arrived and been seated.
Dee had immediately noticed the way the man kept giving them dirty looks, and it was impossible not to hear what he was saying to the woman across from him, since he was making no attempt to keep his voice down as he went on and on about disgusting perverts being allowed to parade themselves around in public, offending decent folks like himself.
At Dee’s words, the asshole sat up straighter, glaring in outrage, as if he couldn’t believe anyone would have the nerve to talk back to him. “Are you talking to me?”
“I don’t see any other assholes around here.” Dee’s tone was deceptively calm. Around them, other diners were starting to take notice and Ryo wondered briefly if he could sneak away to the men’s room, but dismissed the notion. That would only offer a brief respite from any unpleasantness, so he took a fortifying drink from his wineglass instead, hoping against hope that he wasn’t about to find himself in the middle of a brawl.
Staring intently into the depths of his wine, Ryo didn’t see the restaurant manager appear on the scene; the first he knew of the man’s presence was a calm voice stating firmly, “You and your companion are disturbing our valued patrons; I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Ryo looked up quickly, startled, only to realise that the manager was speaking to the asshole.
“What? You’re kicking us out? What about those perverts?”
“Those gentlemen aren’t the ones causing a scene; you are. We don’t normally discriminate against anyone, but in your case I’ll make an exception; you’re no longer welcome in this establishment.”
“You can’t do that! I’ll call the cops!”
Smiling politely, Ryo couldn’t resist flashing his badge. “No need; they’re already here.”
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Dee and Ryo’s dinner out is on the verge of being spoiled by the intolerant asshole at the next table.
Word Count: 600
Written For: Yahtzee prompt ‘Polite’ at getyourwordsout.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“What’re you lookin’ at, asshole?”
Ryo was torn between frowning at his partner, rolling his eyes in exasperation, and laughing out loud, which would probably be the least sensible option, but some days it was difficult to keep a straight face when Dee was being his typically outspoken self.
Dee was perfectly capable of being polite when he wanted to be, Mother had drummed good manners into him from an early age, but people in general had a bad habit of stretching his partner’s patience and tolerance to breaking point, and if someone was rude to him, Dee wasn’t the kind of man to turn the other cheek. Ryo had grown accustomed to smoothing the feathers Dee’s blunt, no nonsense attitude ruffled in the course of their work. It wasn’t so much that he had better manners than Dee, or that he was any more tolerant when confronted by rude, ignorant, and determinedly unpleasant people, but he was better at remaining calm and polite, even in the face of extreme provocation.
That was during their workdays though, when dealing with aggravation from suspects, potential witnesses, victims, and even the general public was par for the course. Both detectives were used to people taking their frustrations out on them, airing their grievances about the state of their fair city and demanding something be done, even though few had any definite ideas about what that ‘something’ should be. It was one of the unavoidable downsides of being a cop.
Tonight had nothing to do with work though; they were out on a date, and the asshole Dee had spoken to was sitting at the table next to theirs in the restaurant. Ryo half wished he and Dee could get up and walk out, but they’d already ordered before the man and his wife had arrived and been seated.
Dee had immediately noticed the way the man kept giving them dirty looks, and it was impossible not to hear what he was saying to the woman across from him, since he was making no attempt to keep his voice down as he went on and on about disgusting perverts being allowed to parade themselves around in public, offending decent folks like himself.
At Dee’s words, the asshole sat up straighter, glaring in outrage, as if he couldn’t believe anyone would have the nerve to talk back to him. “Are you talking to me?”
“I don’t see any other assholes around here.” Dee’s tone was deceptively calm. Around them, other diners were starting to take notice and Ryo wondered briefly if he could sneak away to the men’s room, but dismissed the notion. That would only offer a brief respite from any unpleasantness, so he took a fortifying drink from his wineglass instead, hoping against hope that he wasn’t about to find himself in the middle of a brawl.
Staring intently into the depths of his wine, Ryo didn’t see the restaurant manager appear on the scene; the first he knew of the man’s presence was a calm voice stating firmly, “You and your companion are disturbing our valued patrons; I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Ryo looked up quickly, startled, only to realise that the manager was speaking to the asshole.
“What? You’re kicking us out? What about those perverts?”
“Those gentlemen aren’t the ones causing a scene; you are. We don’t normally discriminate against anyone, but in your case I’ll make an exception; you’re no longer welcome in this establishment.”
“You can’t do that! I’ll call the cops!”
Smiling politely, Ryo couldn’t resist flashing his badge. “No need; they’re already here.”
The End