FAKE Ficlet: Workplace Gossip
Title: Workplace Gossip
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo/Dee, Others.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Vol. 7.
Summary: Ryo’s worried that the people they work with might know about him and Dee.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt #414 - Gossip, at slashthedrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Every time Ryo walks into the squad room to see their colleagues huddled around the water cooler, deep in conversation and speaking in hushed voices, he wonders if they know about him and Dee. Is that what they’re discussing, his and Dee’s rather against-the-rules relationship? Do guys gossip about such things?
Deep down he knows they’re probably talking about sports, keeping their voices low so that the Chief won’t overhear and yell at them to get their lazy asses back to work, but even so he can’t quite shake the fear that they know and will give the game away, however inadvertently.
Then there’s Janet and the other girls at the front desk, forever sneaking looks at him and Dee, and going suspiciously quiet whenever they appear. Girls definitely gossip, Ryo knows that for a fact, and they especially love to talk about who’s doing what with whom, getting a weird sort of enjoyment out of speculating on the details of other people’s relationships.
“So what if the guys we work with know about us?” Dee asks one day, catching the worried look on his partner’s face. “Would that be so bad?”
“It might, if the chief finds out and decides to separate us. What if we had to work with different partners, or worse, if one of us got sent to another precinct?”
“The old badger wouldn’t do that. As much as he loves complainin’ about us, he knows we make him look good. We’re a great team, and our arrest record is well above average. We’ve closed more cases than any other detectives in the 27th, plus we’ve solved a few cold cases. Even if he hears rumours, he’ll turn a blind eye. There’s always gossip, but as long as we don’t start makin’ out right in front of him, gossip is all it is, there’s no proof, or at least none that he’s seen. Quit worryin’, you’ll give yourself frown lines.” He nudges Ryo’s shoulder with his own. “And if they have guessed, they’re probably just jealous of us.”
“What about the girls at the desk then?”
“They don’t have a clue. I overheard Janet and a couple of the civilian clerks talkin’ the other day, wondering if you’re seein’ anyone and arguing over which of them you might fancy. How will you get out of it if one of them flat out asks you on a date?”
Ryo looks petrified at that possibility. “You don’t think they would, do you?”
“You’re gorgeous, babe, why wouldn’t they? Look, if they do, just act all mysterious and say you’re spoken for. You could even say your boyfriend wouldn’t approve, that would really give them somethin’ to gossip about.”
“I couldn’t do that!”
“Why not? If you don’t tell them something, you’ll wind up havin’ to go on a date with one of them. And for the record, your boyfriend definitely wouldn’t be happy about that. You’re mine, got it? I don’t share.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The End