Title: Glove Story
Fandom: FAKE
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Drake, JJ.
Rating: G
Setting: Shortly after Like Like Love.
Summary: Why is it that when the weather is bitterly cold, gloves go missing?
Word Count: 953
Written For: My own prompt ‘Any, Any, Half a pair of gloves,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Drake looked gloomily at his glove. Outside, snow was falling so he was wrapped up warm; winter coat, stocking cap, which probably looked ridiculous on him but would at least keep him from freezing his ears off, thick scarf, boots, two pairs of socks, and a glove. Singular. As in half a pair. What in the hell was the use of half a pair of gloves when both of his hands were cold?
He’d had two gloves this morning on his way in to work, but at some point during the day, he must have lost one. Probably it had been when he and JJ had apprehended that idiot who’d tried to hold up a liquor store in broad daylight. Fleeing the scene, the kid had skidded on the frozen sidewalk and fallen face first into a heap of snow piled up by the plows that were busy keeping the roads passable. They’d had to rescue him before arresting him and dragging his sorry ass off to central booking.
Now it was late at night and temperatures had plummeted, the snow coming down heavier than it had been earlier in the day. Drake knew it would take him at least an hour to get home in this weather and with only one glove he’d have to shove his un-gloved hand in his pocket to keep it warm. Not that it would help much, his coat pockets were ridiculously shallow, too small to really keep anything in them, which was probably why his other glove had fallen out and got lost in the first place. Dammit, he’d liked this pair; they fitted well and were fleece-lined for extra warmth. Now he’d have to find the time and money to buy a new pair. Couldn’t go through a New York winter without decent gloves, not in his line of work; they were a necessity.
“Drake?” He turned at the sound of his partner’s voice. JJ looked surprised to see him. “What’re you still doing here? I thought you’d already left. I’m sure I remember you telling me you wanted to get off as soon as shift ended because it would take you so long to get back to your apartment.”
Drake smiled wryly at his partner. “I did, but I hit a snag.” He held up his lone glove. “I’ve lost my other glove. I’ve searched everywhere for it, but it’s just not here. I must’ve dropped it when we were out this afternoon.” He glanced over at the wall clock. “And now look at the time! I’ll be lucky to get a bus at this time of night; maybe I should call a cab.”
“Why don’t you stay over at my place tonight?” JJ suggested. “It’s closer than yours and it’s only a few minutes’ walk from the subway. We can be there in less than half an hour.”
“I wouldn’t want to put you out…” They’d only been dating a couple of weeks and while he’d been to JJ’s lavish apartment several times, he hadn’t spent the night yet.
“You won’t be, silly. In case you haven’t noticed, I like having you around. I can whip us up something to eat, and since we don’t have to be back at work until tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have all night and tomorrow morning to do whatever we feel like doing.”
“Well, if you’re sure you don’t mind…”
“I’m sure; I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise. Come on, it’ll be fun!”
“Okay then, you’ve talked me into it. Thanks, JJ.”
Pulling his single glove on, Drake followed JJ down the stairs and out into the snowy darkness, heading for the subway station. The one at JJ’s end might be close to his building, but they had a walk of almost three blocks to get to the one nearest the precinct house. By the time they’d crossed the snowy forecourt and stepped out onto the sidewalk, Drake’s gloveless hand, shoved in his coat pocket, was freezing. JJ must have noticed.
“Give me your hand.”
“What?” Drake frowned down at the smaller man, thinking he must have misheard through the muffler wrapped around JJ’s face and the hat pulled down over his own ears.
“Give me your hand,” JJ repeated. “You’ll get frostbite if you’re not careful.”
“How will giving you my hand prevent that?”
“You’ll see. Trust me, Drakey.”
Feeling that he didn’t have much to lose, except maybe a few fingers, Drake did as instructed, pulling his hand from the meagre protection of his pocket and holding it out to JJ, who took it in his own. Drake hadn’t paid attention to the gloves JJ was wearing, but now he did; they were a silly novelty pair, like huge fluffy paws, and he felt his frozen hand suddenly enveloped in thick fur. Although feeling chilly against his bare skin to start with, the fur quickly started to warm up. JJ tugged gently and set them walking again, this time hand in gloved hand.
Behind his scarf, Drake started to grin; he and JJ were walking along, in public, holding hands like a proper couple. They hadn’t done that before, but it felt nice, and not just because his frozen fingers were warming up. He glanced in JJ’s direction to see his partner was looking at him too, and he felt the other man squeeze his fingers.
“This is nice,” JJ said, and even though Drake couldn’t see his boyfriend’s lips, he could tell by the way JJ’s eyes were twinkling that he was smiling too. “We should do this more often.”
Drake squeezed back, smile widening. “Yeah, I think we should,” he agreed. Holding hands with his boyfriend was something he could definitely get used to.
The End