FAKE Ficlet: Sleepless
Title: Sleepless
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Ryo can’t sleep, which is unusual; what could it possibly be about tomorrow that’s keeping him awake?
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 570: Tomorrow at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Ryo couldn’t sleep, which was stupid. There was no good reason for his insomnia; usually he slept well, barring the occasional nightmare about his work, or his parents’ long ago murder.
Lying as still as possible to keep from waking Dee, he stared up through the darkness towards the ceiling, suddenly wishing he hadn’t laughed that time Dee had suggested sticking glow-in-the-dark stars and planets up there like he had for the kids’ bedrooms at the orphanage. It might have been nice, soothing, even comforting to see their soft glow and he silently cursed himself for always having to be a sensible adult. Maybe tomorrow he’d ask if Dee still had the leftover stars tucked away somewhere.
Tomorrow. If he didn’t get some sleep he was going to be useless come morning when he really needed to be alert and rested. He didn’t know what he was stressing about anyway; it wasn’t as if tomorrow’s events would change anything.
Everything had been planned as thoroughly as possible, he’d gone over the list in his head more times than he could recall, checking off each item, assuring himself he hadn’t forgotten anything. Nothing could go wrong unless some unforeseen problem cropped up, and they’d deal with anything like that if and when it happened. There was nothing to be gained by worrying.
Closing his eyes he willed himself to go to sleep, tried counting backwards from one hundred and made it all the way to zero, still wide awake. He was tired, but his brain just would not switch off.
He tried to blank his mind, think about nothing at all, but that was harder than it sounded. He was aware of every tiny noise; the ticking of the clock, the occasional gurgles and clanks from the pipes, late traffic passing on the street four floors below, distant laughter, a gust of wind rattling the windowpane…
“Y’know lyin’ there awake won’t make tomorrow come any faster,” a drowsy voice murmured beside him. “You’re like a kid waitin’ for Christmas mornin’, too excited to sleep.”
Excitement? Was that what was keeping him awake, and if so, why? What reason did he have to be excited?
“It’s not that,” he replied as he felt Dee move closer, warm arms wrapping around him. “I mean, what is there to get excited about?”
“Are you serious?” Dee sounded incredulous and Ryo could just picture the shocked expression on his partner’s face. “Most people would think their weddin’ day was worth gettin’ excited over.”
“But it’s not our wedding day,” Ryo protested. “We’re already married; we’re just renewing our vows in front of family and a few friends.”
“It’s still gonna be a big day; guests, ceremony, vows, and a party afterwards. All the things we didn’t get first time around.”
“I suppose, but it won’t change anything; it’ll just mean everyone knows we’re married.”
Dee snorted. “You’re weird. C’mere, bet I can stop ya thinkin’ long enough to fall asleep.”
As usual, Dee was right.
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Ryo can’t sleep, which is unusual; what could it possibly be about tomorrow that’s keeping him awake?
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 570: Tomorrow at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Ryo couldn’t sleep, which was stupid. There was no good reason for his insomnia; usually he slept well, barring the occasional nightmare about his work, or his parents’ long ago murder.
Lying as still as possible to keep from waking Dee, he stared up through the darkness towards the ceiling, suddenly wishing he hadn’t laughed that time Dee had suggested sticking glow-in-the-dark stars and planets up there like he had for the kids’ bedrooms at the orphanage. It might have been nice, soothing, even comforting to see their soft glow and he silently cursed himself for always having to be a sensible adult. Maybe tomorrow he’d ask if Dee still had the leftover stars tucked away somewhere.
Tomorrow. If he didn’t get some sleep he was going to be useless come morning when he really needed to be alert and rested. He didn’t know what he was stressing about anyway; it wasn’t as if tomorrow’s events would change anything.
Everything had been planned as thoroughly as possible, he’d gone over the list in his head more times than he could recall, checking off each item, assuring himself he hadn’t forgotten anything. Nothing could go wrong unless some unforeseen problem cropped up, and they’d deal with anything like that if and when it happened. There was nothing to be gained by worrying.
Closing his eyes he willed himself to go to sleep, tried counting backwards from one hundred and made it all the way to zero, still wide awake. He was tired, but his brain just would not switch off.
He tried to blank his mind, think about nothing at all, but that was harder than it sounded. He was aware of every tiny noise; the ticking of the clock, the occasional gurgles and clanks from the pipes, late traffic passing on the street four floors below, distant laughter, a gust of wind rattling the windowpane…
“Y’know lyin’ there awake won’t make tomorrow come any faster,” a drowsy voice murmured beside him. “You’re like a kid waitin’ for Christmas mornin’, too excited to sleep.”
Excitement? Was that what was keeping him awake, and if so, why? What reason did he have to be excited?
“It’s not that,” he replied as he felt Dee move closer, warm arms wrapping around him. “I mean, what is there to get excited about?”
“Are you serious?” Dee sounded incredulous and Ryo could just picture the shocked expression on his partner’s face. “Most people would think their weddin’ day was worth gettin’ excited over.”
“But it’s not our wedding day,” Ryo protested. “We’re already married; we’re just renewing our vows in front of family and a few friends.”
“It’s still gonna be a big day; guests, ceremony, vows, and a party afterwards. All the things we didn’t get first time around.”
“I suppose, but it won’t change anything; it’ll just mean everyone knows we’re married.”
Dee snorted. “You’re weird. C’mere, bet I can stop ya thinkin’ long enough to fall asleep.”
As usual, Dee was right.
The End