FAKE Ficlet: Clearing The Decks

Nov 25, 2022 16:58

Title: Clearing The Decks
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: The workday is over, Dee is eager to head off on their two-week vacation, but Ryo is determined to finish his paperwork first.
Word Count: 888
Written For: Challenge 383: Clear at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

“You do know shift ended ten minutes ago, right?” Dee settled on the edge of Ryo’s desk, watching his partner.

“Yes, I know, but I still have paperwork to finish.” Ryo glanced across at Dee’s desk. “So do you.”

Dee shrugged. “It’s not goin’ anywhere; it’ll still be there when we come back.”

“Exactly.” Ryo returned his attention to the forms and folders on his desk. “We’ll be gone for two weeks, and if I don’t clear my desk before we leave, all of this is going to be hanging over me the entire time we’re away. I won’t be able to stop thinking about it, and that’ll spoil my vacation.”

“I don’t see how. It’ll be here, and we’ll be on a sun-drenched tropical island half the world away, relaxin’ on the beach under cloudless skies, and sippin’ those tall, fruity drinks.”

“That’s my point; we’ll be there, but I’ll know all of this is still here, that when I get home I’ll have a pile of work waiting for me instead of a nice, clear desk. I’m not like you, Dee. I can’t just switch off the second shift ends. It’s not so bad leaving things unfinished when I know I’ll be back at my desk in the morning, but two weeks…” Ryo trailed off, focusing once more on the form he was filling in. “Now shut up and leave me alone or I’ll never be finished.”

“We’re gonna miss our flight at this rate,” Dee grumbled. “We still gotta pack.”

“Speak for yourself; I packed last night and put the last few things in my luggage this morning. I’ve got my passport and tickets in my hand luggage, and everything’s in my car, so I can drive you back to your place when I’m done here, leave the car there, and take a taxi to the airport.” Setting the completed form aside, Ryo reached for the next item on his desk. “If you’re not going to do your paperwork, go home and pack; I’ll be there in…” He paused to glance at what he had left to do. “Hour and a half, unless you keep distracting me, which should be fine since we’ve still got almost five hours before our flight.”

Dee sighed; he’d been in a holiday mood all day, itching to clock off and head for paradise, and yet he was still at the precinct because Ryo was too much of a workaholic to leave a single scrap of paperwork unfinished.

“Fine.” Slumping back into his chair, Dee reached for the work he’d been doing his best to ignore all day. “I’ll wait for you to finish, but the minute you’re done we’re outta here, whether my desk’s clear or not.”

“I guess I can live with that, as long as I can leave an empty desk.”

“You know by the time we get back there’s gonna be stuff piled high on both our desks; just because we’re not here to deal with it doesn’t mean it’ll stop comin’. I swear the damned paperwork breeds.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Ryo set another completed form on the pile to be handed in to the Chief. “As long as I have a clear desk when I leave, I can relax and enjoy my vacation. Anything that appears after I leave here won’t exist for me until I see it for myself when we get back.”

“Your brain is weird.” Dee picked up his pen and started to write. “I bet you cleaned your whole apartment last night too.”

“Of course, and I did the laundry. That way I can go away and have a good time with a clear conscience, while you’ll get home from our vacation to a pile of chores. If anyone’s weird, it’s you.”

Ryo fell silent again, concentrating on his work, and just under an hour later, put the cap back on his pen, dropped it back in his penholder, turned off his work computer, and picked up the pile of forms and folders from the edge of his desk.

“There, all done. I’ll just drop this off with the Chief and we can go.”

Dee didn’t look up. “Yeah, okay, just gimme ten more minutes and I’ll be done.”

“I thought you told me we were leaving as soon as I cleared my desk, whether you had or not.”

“I did, but the way I see it, if I get this stuff outta the way, there’ll be no chance of you worryin’ about what’s left on MY desk, so we can both forget about work completely and really relax.”

“And you think my brain’s weird. Fine, ten minutes.” Leaving Dee to finish up, Ryo headed for the Chief’s office.

Twelve minutes later, Dee dashed in with his own untidy stack of papers. “All done. Let’s go, bud! Sun, sea, sand, beach babes in skimpy bikinis… It’s all waitin’ for us!”

“Beach babes in bikinis?” Ryo asked as they made their way down the stairs.

“Cover story,” Dee quipped. “Let the Chief think we’re gonna be spendin’ our vacation lovin’ the ladies.”

“Whatever. Come on, you still need to get packed.”

“I know, but after that…” Dee grinned. “Blue skies and sandy beaches here we come! The next couple of weeks are gonna be heaven, and not a scrap of paperwork in sight!”

The End

fic, fake fic, ryo maclean, fic: one-shot, dee laytner, ficlet, fake, fan_flashworks, fic: pg

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