FAKE Ficlet: Just Unlucky
Title: Just Unlucky
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee.
Rating: PG
Setting: Towards the end of the manga, probably Vol. 6.
Summary: Dee is off sick so Ryo goes to check on him.
Word Count: 538
Content Notes: None necessary.
Written For: Amnesty 3, using Challenge 15: Diagnosis at beattheblackdog.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
It was so rare for Dee to call in sick to work that Ryo was immediately worried, especially when he tried phoning and his partner didn’t pick up. As soon as his shift ended, he headed over to Dee’s place, letting himself in.
“Dee? Where are you?”
“In here,” a miserable voice called from the bedroom.
Ryo kicked off his shoes, hung his jacket up, and pushed open the bedroom door, but he wasn’t prepared for the sight that met his eyes. “Dee! Oh my God! Have you seen a doctor?” Dee’s face was all swollen and blotchy, his eyes half shut.
“Yeah, early this morning; I took a cab to the ER. It’s okay, I’m not contagious, just unlucky,” Dee sighed.
“What happened?” Ryo sat on the edge of the bed where Dee was sprawled, dressed, and with an electric fan blowing cool air on his face.
“You remember I was goin’ to the orphanage yesterday to help Mother with a few things?”
“I remember.” Ryo would have gone too, but he’d had to take Bikky shopping for new clothes. The boy was growing so fast.
“Well, I stayed for dinner, and then I sort of dozed off after and one of the kids thought it would be funny to draw all over my face with black marker. I went online when I got home to find out what to use to remove it, and it came off alright, but then I woke up in the early hours with my face itching like crazy. The doc says it’s an allergic reaction, either to the marker, the solvent I used to clean if off with, or a combination of the two. It looks worse than it really is, but it still itches and I can’t see well enough to do much because my eyes only open this far.” He squinted blearily at Ryo with a lopsided smile. “You’re a sight for sore eyes though.”
Ryo ignored that comment. “Did you get medicine?”
“Uh huh, strong antihistamines, which make me sleepy,” Dee said through a yawn, “and cream for my face. It’s hard to apply though, can’t really see what I’m doin’.”
“Where is it?”
Dee gestured to the planks and cinder blocks that passed for his bedside cabinet. “On there somewhere.”
Ryo picked up the tube, read the instructions, and began to spread a thin layer of the soothing cream over the affected areas. “I think I should take a couple of days off and look after you, just until the swelling goes down enough that you can do this without help.”
“You don’t have to, I can manage.”
“I know, but I want to. Now, why don’t you rest while I pack a few things, then I’m taking you back to my place. Someone needs to keep an eye on you.”
Dee flopped back against his pillows, listening to Ryo bustling around, rummaging in drawers and the bathroom, packing a bag he’d pulled from the bottom of Dee’s wardrobe. Smiling faintly, Dee figured it was almost worth enduring the itching and discomfort to spend a few days with the man of his dreams. Even though Ryo kept rebuffing his advances, deep down he really must care, right?
The End