FAKE Ficlet: Club Tropicana
Title: Club Tropicana
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Winter in New York is miserable, but Dee and Ryo can’t afford to go away this year. Fortunately, Dee has a brilliant idea.
Word Count: 905
Written For: Challenge 436: Sunshine at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
They’d gone over their combined finances several times, in detail, but even though Dee and Ryo were a long way from being broke, there was no way they could justify spending what they had on a winter vacation, not with all the bills and other expenses they knew they’d have to deal with over the next few months.
For a while, they’d contented themselves with leafing through glossy brochures, planning a less expensive summer break in the Lake Tahoe region, since Ryo’s Aunt Elena had offered to pay for their flights. But once all the planning was done, staring at pictures of the lake and its surroundings, all sunshine, blue waters, and even bluer skies, got a bit depressing. It would be months before they got to see it for themselves, and in the meantime, winter was dragging on.
Outside their windows it was grey skies, snow, sleet, rain, hail, and gusty winds, while work was a seemingly never-ending slog. They were picking up as much overtime as the Chief would allow, trying to get their bank balances looking healthier, but that just dragged them down further, and anytime they weren’t working, there were chores needing to be done. Life wasn’t all doom and gloom, but they were getting a bit fed up. Every day was pretty much the same as the one before, and there was no end in sight.
Then Ryo got called in to work on what was supposed to be the first of their two days off; someone was needed to cover the first half of another detective’s shift, and it was his turn. To make matters worse, the weather outside was more depressing than ever, black skies and pouring rain without the faintest glimmer of sunshine. It was getting hard to remember what the sun even looked like; Ryo couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen it without clouds in the way.
“I could come in with ya,” Dee offered as Ryo dragged himself out of bed.
“What for? You wouldn’t get paid, so there’s no point both of us going out in the rain and getting soaked.” Ryo showered alone and dressed quickly, wrapping up warm and making sure to pick up his umbrella. “I’ll see you later, just not sure when. Spare a thought for me out there while you’re here, all cosy and warm.” Leaning over the bed, he kissed Dee goodbye and left.
Feeling bad that Ryo was having to work instead of enjoying a much-needed lie-in, Dee flopped back against his pillows and tried to think of some way to brighten his lover’s day. He was half dozing when he had one of his occasional brainwaves. What they both needed was a break from drudgery, a bit of sunshine and relaxation. They couldn’t go anywhere, he knew that, but maybe they didn’t have to. He’d just need to hit the mall and pick up a few things…
Diving out of bed, he headed for the shower; he’d have to hurry if he was going to have everything ready by the time Ryo got home.
OoOoOoO
Going out in the pouring rain wasn’t fun, but if everything worked out the way Dee hoped it would, then it was worth getting cold and wet. Putting his bags down in the kitchen, he dried himself off, changed into something more appropriate, turned up the heat a little, closed the blinds to shut out the weather, and set to work.
Several hours later, Ryo arrived home tired and hungry to find their living room transformed. “Dee? What on earth…?”
Dee grinned. “Welcome to Club Tropicana, babe! Not exactly a tropical beach, I know, but sometimes ya just gotta take what ya got and use your imagination.”
The furniture had been pushed aside to make way for two pool chairs complete with beach umbrellas, the ones they used up on the roof in summer. Daylight bulbs had replaced the energy saving kind in a couple of lamps and the overhead fixtures to simulate sunshine, and a small table stood between the chairs, laden with tall glasses of fruit juice and dishes of fresh fruit, mango, pineapple, starfruit… In the background, a CD of Jimmy Buffett’s island music was playing, setting a mood redolent of sun, sea, and sand, and standing in the midst of it all was Dee, barefoot, dressed in shorts, t-shirt, and sunglasses.
“This is…” Words failed Ryo. It was insane, ridiculous, and utterly wonderful!
“Go get changed,” Dee told him. “I left some clothes out for ya in the bedroom. Once you’re suitably dressed, I’ve got us takeout from the Thai place for our first course, the fruit salad for after. All we gotta do for the rest of the day is kick back, relax, and enjoy the fake sunshine. I even found some ocean sounds on YouTube, so after we eat, we can close our eyes and pretend we’re on a beach somewhere. You know the best bit?”
“What?” Ryo found he was grinning.
“All this cost was the price of some fruit and a couple daylight bulbs. Cheapest vacation ever, and we can enjoy it any time we want without havin’ to leave home!”
Ryo couldn’t help laughing. “It’s perfect, Dee. Thank you.” Kicking his shoes off and hanging his wet coat beside Dee’s in their small laundry room, Ryo hurried to change into his beach attire. He couldn’t wait to get their stay-at-home vacation underway!
The End
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Ryo.
Rating: PG
Setting: After Like Like Love.
Summary: Winter in New York is miserable, but Dee and Ryo can’t afford to go away this year. Fortunately, Dee has a brilliant idea.
Word Count: 905
Written For: Challenge 436: Sunshine at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
They’d gone over their combined finances several times, in detail, but even though Dee and Ryo were a long way from being broke, there was no way they could justify spending what they had on a winter vacation, not with all the bills and other expenses they knew they’d have to deal with over the next few months.
For a while, they’d contented themselves with leafing through glossy brochures, planning a less expensive summer break in the Lake Tahoe region, since Ryo’s Aunt Elena had offered to pay for their flights. But once all the planning was done, staring at pictures of the lake and its surroundings, all sunshine, blue waters, and even bluer skies, got a bit depressing. It would be months before they got to see it for themselves, and in the meantime, winter was dragging on.
Outside their windows it was grey skies, snow, sleet, rain, hail, and gusty winds, while work was a seemingly never-ending slog. They were picking up as much overtime as the Chief would allow, trying to get their bank balances looking healthier, but that just dragged them down further, and anytime they weren’t working, there were chores needing to be done. Life wasn’t all doom and gloom, but they were getting a bit fed up. Every day was pretty much the same as the one before, and there was no end in sight.
Then Ryo got called in to work on what was supposed to be the first of their two days off; someone was needed to cover the first half of another detective’s shift, and it was his turn. To make matters worse, the weather outside was more depressing than ever, black skies and pouring rain without the faintest glimmer of sunshine. It was getting hard to remember what the sun even looked like; Ryo couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen it without clouds in the way.
“I could come in with ya,” Dee offered as Ryo dragged himself out of bed.
“What for? You wouldn’t get paid, so there’s no point both of us going out in the rain and getting soaked.” Ryo showered alone and dressed quickly, wrapping up warm and making sure to pick up his umbrella. “I’ll see you later, just not sure when. Spare a thought for me out there while you’re here, all cosy and warm.” Leaning over the bed, he kissed Dee goodbye and left.
Feeling bad that Ryo was having to work instead of enjoying a much-needed lie-in, Dee flopped back against his pillows and tried to think of some way to brighten his lover’s day. He was half dozing when he had one of his occasional brainwaves. What they both needed was a break from drudgery, a bit of sunshine and relaxation. They couldn’t go anywhere, he knew that, but maybe they didn’t have to. He’d just need to hit the mall and pick up a few things…
Diving out of bed, he headed for the shower; he’d have to hurry if he was going to have everything ready by the time Ryo got home.
OoOoOoO
Going out in the pouring rain wasn’t fun, but if everything worked out the way Dee hoped it would, then it was worth getting cold and wet. Putting his bags down in the kitchen, he dried himself off, changed into something more appropriate, turned up the heat a little, closed the blinds to shut out the weather, and set to work.
Several hours later, Ryo arrived home tired and hungry to find their living room transformed. “Dee? What on earth…?”
Dee grinned. “Welcome to Club Tropicana, babe! Not exactly a tropical beach, I know, but sometimes ya just gotta take what ya got and use your imagination.”
The furniture had been pushed aside to make way for two pool chairs complete with beach umbrellas, the ones they used up on the roof in summer. Daylight bulbs had replaced the energy saving kind in a couple of lamps and the overhead fixtures to simulate sunshine, and a small table stood between the chairs, laden with tall glasses of fruit juice and dishes of fresh fruit, mango, pineapple, starfruit… In the background, a CD of Jimmy Buffett’s island music was playing, setting a mood redolent of sun, sea, and sand, and standing in the midst of it all was Dee, barefoot, dressed in shorts, t-shirt, and sunglasses.
“This is…” Words failed Ryo. It was insane, ridiculous, and utterly wonderful!
“Go get changed,” Dee told him. “I left some clothes out for ya in the bedroom. Once you’re suitably dressed, I’ve got us takeout from the Thai place for our first course, the fruit salad for after. All we gotta do for the rest of the day is kick back, relax, and enjoy the fake sunshine. I even found some ocean sounds on YouTube, so after we eat, we can close our eyes and pretend we’re on a beach somewhere. You know the best bit?”
“What?” Ryo found he was grinning.
“All this cost was the price of some fruit and a couple daylight bulbs. Cheapest vacation ever, and we can enjoy it any time we want without havin’ to leave home!”
Ryo couldn’t help laughing. “It’s perfect, Dee. Thank you.” Kicking his shoes off and hanging his wet coat beside Dee’s in their small laundry room, Ryo hurried to change into his beach attire. He couldn’t wait to get their stay-at-home vacation underway!
The End