FAKE Ficlet: Facing Prejudice
Title: Facing Prejudice
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee, OCs.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo finds that accepting his sexuality was only the first hurdle.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 585: Confront at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
It had taken Ryo a long time, a lot of persistence on Dee’s part, and some none too gentle nudging from Diana, to finally confront the truth about himself; that he was gay and in love with his work partner and best friend. Perhaps naively, he’d thought once over that hurdle things would become easier, there’d be less for him to worry and stress over, and he could simply relax and settle into his new reality.
Ha! Just showed how much he knew, or perhaps more accurately, how much he still had to learn.
First there was the problem of trying to keep their relationship more or less private. While there was nothing explicit in the rules and regulations against two cops of the same gender, even work partners, getting involved in a romantic relationship, it wasn’t exactly encouraged either, although it was generally understood that as long as they were discreet about it nothing would be said.
Then there was the juggling act of trying to keep their work and personal lives separate, which, with Dee being the unrepentant horndog that he was, often proved easier said than done. Dee was always up for some action, especially if work was slow, he wanted to avoid paperwork, or he was bored. Sex was apparently Dee’s go to cure for boredom.
That, of course, raised another issue, namely their not entirely compatible sex drives. Dee seemed to be permanently ready, willing, and able, while Ryo would have been fine with three or four times a month. Not that he didn’t enjoy being with Dee that way, he just didn’t crave that intimacy all the time the way Dee did. In Ryo’s opinion there was more to life and relationships than sex, no matter how enjoyable it might be.
All of those issues, however, paled by comparison to the prejudice, discrimination, and outright homophobia they were frequently confronted with when out on dates, or even doing perfectly normal things like stopping off somewhere for lunch, or picking up groceries together. The way some people reacted, anyone would think they had a flashing neon sign hovering above their heads, proclaiming GAY COUPLE in letters ten feet tall. They didn’t even need to be holding hands; people still glared, muttered, or worse, threw insults and verbal abuse at them.
More than once they were refused service at a restaurant or diner, told outright, “We don’t serve your kind here!” Once, in a pharmacy, when Dee tried to buy lube he was informed by the woman behind the counter that she refused to sell it to him on religious grounds, because she knew what he planned on doing with it. Dee had demanded to see the manager, who’d overruled his employee, but Ryo had just wanted the ground to swallow him up. It was so embarrassing!
Looking back, confronting his sexuality had been easy; dealing with other people’s ignorance, intolerance and bigotry was the hard part, but he was facing it head-on, out and proud.
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee, OCs.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo finds that accepting his sexuality was only the first hurdle.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 585: Confront at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
It had taken Ryo a long time, a lot of persistence on Dee’s part, and some none too gentle nudging from Diana, to finally confront the truth about himself; that he was gay and in love with his work partner and best friend. Perhaps naively, he’d thought once over that hurdle things would become easier, there’d be less for him to worry and stress over, and he could simply relax and settle into his new reality.
Ha! Just showed how much he knew, or perhaps more accurately, how much he still had to learn.
First there was the problem of trying to keep their relationship more or less private. While there was nothing explicit in the rules and regulations against two cops of the same gender, even work partners, getting involved in a romantic relationship, it wasn’t exactly encouraged either, although it was generally understood that as long as they were discreet about it nothing would be said.
Then there was the juggling act of trying to keep their work and personal lives separate, which, with Dee being the unrepentant horndog that he was, often proved easier said than done. Dee was always up for some action, especially if work was slow, he wanted to avoid paperwork, or he was bored. Sex was apparently Dee’s go to cure for boredom.
That, of course, raised another issue, namely their not entirely compatible sex drives. Dee seemed to be permanently ready, willing, and able, while Ryo would have been fine with three or four times a month. Not that he didn’t enjoy being with Dee that way, he just didn’t crave that intimacy all the time the way Dee did. In Ryo’s opinion there was more to life and relationships than sex, no matter how enjoyable it might be.
All of those issues, however, paled by comparison to the prejudice, discrimination, and outright homophobia they were frequently confronted with when out on dates, or even doing perfectly normal things like stopping off somewhere for lunch, or picking up groceries together. The way some people reacted, anyone would think they had a flashing neon sign hovering above their heads, proclaiming GAY COUPLE in letters ten feet tall. They didn’t even need to be holding hands; people still glared, muttered, or worse, threw insults and verbal abuse at them.
More than once they were refused service at a restaurant or diner, told outright, “We don’t serve your kind here!” Once, in a pharmacy, when Dee tried to buy lube he was informed by the woman behind the counter that she refused to sell it to him on religious grounds, because she knew what he planned on doing with it. Dee had demanded to see the manager, who’d overruled his employee, but Ryo had just wanted the ground to swallow him up. It was so embarrassing!
Looking back, confronting his sexuality had been easy; dealing with other people’s ignorance, intolerance and bigotry was the hard part, but he was facing it head-on, out and proud.
The End