FAKE Fic: Life’s Too Short
Title: Life’s Too Short
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo does some deep thinking while Dee takes a nap.
Word Count: 571
Written For:
nagasvoice’s prompt ‘Any, any, quote:
“Death had no terrors, life had no joys,
Before I met you.
But now I fear, however long my life may be,
It will be too short for me!” - Yoshitaka Fujiwara (d.974)’ at
fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Chin propped up on one hand, Ryo watched Dee sleep; he was so still and quiet, chest rising and falling slowly, peacefully, the complete opposite of when he was awake.
Dee awake was a force of nature, loud, energetic, vibrant and full of life. Then when there was work to do, he napped. Ryo shook his head in amused affection; he’d never change.
‘But he’s changed me, changed my entire life.’
The thought surprised him, but it was no less than the truth. Before Dee, life had just been… well, life. He’d had a purpose, to be a cop and learn the truth about his parents’ deaths, but besides that, nothing had really mattered that much to him. He’d known he was choosing a potentially dangerous profession, but he wasn’t scared of dying, and he didn’t really have a life outside of work.
Then he’d been partnered with Dee and his whole world had been turned upside down. His entire adult life, Ryo had been hiding from himself, telling himself he was straight, of course he was, he liked women, not men, definitely not men! Except, Dee had challenged that every single day, getting up close and personal, sometimes way too personal for Ryo’s comfort. He’d made Ryo unsettled, confused, off-balance; had shaken the very foundations that Ryo had built his life on. He could hide from himself, but he couldn’t hide from Dee; those sea green eyes saw right through him, uncovering all the secrets he’d tried so hard to bury.
Dee had kept chipping away at him, eventually stripping away the lies and in the process, he’d brought Ryo well and truly to life. Every day now was an adventure, and work was no longer the most important thing in his life. Oh, he was still committed to his career, just as Dee was; neither one of them wanted to be anything but what they were. But after work, that was when Ryo’s life really happened now, and he lived it to the full.
Sometimes it scared him. Because now he knew that he could spend every day for the rest of his life just learning about this man and loving him, and if he lived to be a hundred, it still wouldn’t be enough time. Even forever wouldn’t be long enough.
Watching his lover sleep, Ryo came to a decision, vowing to make the most of every moment they had together so that when the end did finally come, he wouldn’t have a list of regrets over wasted time and things he’d never done or said. His only regret would be that it ended too soon, and that was a regret he could live with, because it would be the same whether he died tomorrow or in a million years. What mattered was now, not the far-off future.
Mind made up, he leaned over and kissed Dee full on the lips. Drowsy green eyes opened, then fluttered closed again as strong arms snaked around Ryo’s body. When they finally broke apart, Dee was smiling.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what brought that on? Thought you wanted to keep things professional at work.”
“I do, mostly, but I got to thinking. Life’s too short and I want to make the most of every day.”
“I can live with that,” Dee grinned, and pulling Ryo into his lap, he proceeded to kiss his partner into the middle of next week.
The End