FAKE Ficlet: Dining Alfresco
Title: Dining Alfresco
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: What could be better on a summer’s evening than enjoying dinner in the midst of their own little piece of paradise?
Word Count: 781
Written For: Challenge 225: Roof at beattheblackdog.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
The new patio furniture is perfect for their needs, and it looks great, set out in a clear area surrounded by tubs where flowers and fruit and vegetables are growing. Ryo steps back to admire it, the table set with two placemats, cutlery, a bottle of red wine and two glasses, everything shaded by the wide red umbrella. There’s a bowl of homegrown salad leaves, shallots, celery stalks, and freshly picked tomatoes, still warm from the sun, and a plate of crusty bread rolls, thickly spread with creamy butter.
Although they bought the larger table with four chairs, they only need two tonight. What better way could there possibly be to christen their new furniture than with an intimate, romantic rooftop dinner for two?
Dee helped bring the table and chairs out and set them up, then left the rest of the preparations to Ryo in order to get the steaks started on the barbecue; now the smell of cooking meat filling the air makes Ryo’s mouth water. He hopes he won’t have to wait much longer before they can eat; after a busy day at work he’s starving, and he’s sure Dee must be too!
Pouring the wine, Ryo takes a glass to Dee, who’s keeping a close eye on the steaks, then leans against the surrounding wall nearby, his back to the warm, sturdy brownstone bricks, sipping from his own glass and letting his gaze travel over the roof garden he and Dee have created. It’s a beautiful sight, a verdant oasis crammed with bedding plants in full bloom. Tomatoes are ripening on the vines, and beans are climbing their poles. Zucchini and squash are swelling amongst the herbs and leaf vegetables, the feathery foliage of carrots, sturdy beets and rutabagas, the jewel bright colors of sweet peppers, and the dramatic starburst globes of onion flowers all vie for his attention.
Off to one side in the fruit cage are strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, and a small cherry tree in a tub. In only five months the bare rooftop where Dee used to sometimes lounge about, smoking, and drinking beer after work, has been transformed into their own private paradise. Come spring the new greenhouse will be up and running, seeds germinating, young plants growing…
“You gonna just stand there all night admirin’ your handiwork or do ya wanna eat?” Dee calls across to him.
Ryo pulls his mind back to the present.
“Huh?”
“Steaks are ready, unless ya want yours overdone.”
“Oh!” How could he have forgotten? Pushing away from the wall, Ryo joins Dee at the barbecue, breathing in the delicious aroma.
“Finally! I’m starving!”
“Hey, can’t rush perfection!”
Dee plates the steaks and the lovers make their way over to their new table, taking their seats and helping themselves to salad and bread.
“Yum!” Dee grins around a celery stick, crunching into it with relish. “You were right, babe; home-grown tastes so much better than anything from the supermarket.
“Mmm,” Ryo agrees, slicing open a tomato, sweet and juicy, the perfect accompaniment to the tender steak.
For several minutes, silence reigns except for the sounds of cutlery on chinaware. Food this good deserves to be savored.
“You were right too,” Ryo says at last. “A table and chairs is so much more practical than a garden bench. We should eat out here as often as we can, make the most of the good weather. It’s far better than being cooped up indoors on a sunny evening. It’s almost like not being in the city at all.”
Dee smiles. “Just shows what can be done with a bit of ingenuity and effort. Who knows, maybe it’ll catch on; the neighbours might follow our lead and start puttin’ their roof spaces to good use.”
“As long as people don’t start sneaking up the fire escape to help themselves to our fresh produce.”
“They try and we’ll just arrest ‘em; one of the advantages of bein’ cops.” Dee tops up their wine glasses. “Doesn’t get much better than this.” He raises his glass. “To us, and a bountiful harvest.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Ryo clinks his glass against his lover’s. “We can fill up the freezer and enjoy homegrown fruit and veg all winter.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Five floors above the street it’s like they’re in another world, one that’s green and growing, filled with the fragrance of flowers and abuzz with busy bees, a sanctuary where the stresses of work are a distant memory. Good food, good company, and an idyllic setting, what more could either of them possibly ask for?
Ryo glances towards the fruit cage again. Well, maybe some fresh strawberries for dessert…
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: What could be better on a summer’s evening than enjoying dinner in the midst of their own little piece of paradise?
Word Count: 781
Written For: Challenge 225: Roof at beattheblackdog.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
The new patio furniture is perfect for their needs, and it looks great, set out in a clear area surrounded by tubs where flowers and fruit and vegetables are growing. Ryo steps back to admire it, the table set with two placemats, cutlery, a bottle of red wine and two glasses, everything shaded by the wide red umbrella. There’s a bowl of homegrown salad leaves, shallots, celery stalks, and freshly picked tomatoes, still warm from the sun, and a plate of crusty bread rolls, thickly spread with creamy butter.
Although they bought the larger table with four chairs, they only need two tonight. What better way could there possibly be to christen their new furniture than with an intimate, romantic rooftop dinner for two?
Dee helped bring the table and chairs out and set them up, then left the rest of the preparations to Ryo in order to get the steaks started on the barbecue; now the smell of cooking meat filling the air makes Ryo’s mouth water. He hopes he won’t have to wait much longer before they can eat; after a busy day at work he’s starving, and he’s sure Dee must be too!
Pouring the wine, Ryo takes a glass to Dee, who’s keeping a close eye on the steaks, then leans against the surrounding wall nearby, his back to the warm, sturdy brownstone bricks, sipping from his own glass and letting his gaze travel over the roof garden he and Dee have created. It’s a beautiful sight, a verdant oasis crammed with bedding plants in full bloom. Tomatoes are ripening on the vines, and beans are climbing their poles. Zucchini and squash are swelling amongst the herbs and leaf vegetables, the feathery foliage of carrots, sturdy beets and rutabagas, the jewel bright colors of sweet peppers, and the dramatic starburst globes of onion flowers all vie for his attention.
Off to one side in the fruit cage are strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, and a small cherry tree in a tub. In only five months the bare rooftop where Dee used to sometimes lounge about, smoking, and drinking beer after work, has been transformed into their own private paradise. Come spring the new greenhouse will be up and running, seeds germinating, young plants growing…
“You gonna just stand there all night admirin’ your handiwork or do ya wanna eat?” Dee calls across to him.
Ryo pulls his mind back to the present.
“Huh?”
“Steaks are ready, unless ya want yours overdone.”
“Oh!” How could he have forgotten? Pushing away from the wall, Ryo joins Dee at the barbecue, breathing in the delicious aroma.
“Finally! I’m starving!”
“Hey, can’t rush perfection!”
Dee plates the steaks and the lovers make their way over to their new table, taking their seats and helping themselves to salad and bread.
“Yum!” Dee grins around a celery stick, crunching into it with relish. “You were right, babe; home-grown tastes so much better than anything from the supermarket.
“Mmm,” Ryo agrees, slicing open a tomato, sweet and juicy, the perfect accompaniment to the tender steak.
For several minutes, silence reigns except for the sounds of cutlery on chinaware. Food this good deserves to be savored.
“You were right too,” Ryo says at last. “A table and chairs is so much more practical than a garden bench. We should eat out here as often as we can, make the most of the good weather. It’s far better than being cooped up indoors on a sunny evening. It’s almost like not being in the city at all.”
Dee smiles. “Just shows what can be done with a bit of ingenuity and effort. Who knows, maybe it’ll catch on; the neighbours might follow our lead and start puttin’ their roof spaces to good use.”
“As long as people don’t start sneaking up the fire escape to help themselves to our fresh produce.”
“They try and we’ll just arrest ‘em; one of the advantages of bein’ cops.” Dee tops up their wine glasses. “Doesn’t get much better than this.” He raises his glass. “To us, and a bountiful harvest.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Ryo clinks his glass against his lover’s. “We can fill up the freezer and enjoy homegrown fruit and veg all winter.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Five floors above the street it’s like they’re in another world, one that’s green and growing, filled with the fragrance of flowers and abuzz with busy bees, a sanctuary where the stresses of work are a distant memory. Good food, good company, and an idyllic setting, what more could either of them possibly ask for?
Ryo glances towards the fruit cage again. Well, maybe some fresh strawberries for dessert…
The End