Title: Like Fred Astaire
Fandom: FAKE
Author: 
badly_knitted
Characters: Dee/Ryo, Carol, Bikky, Others.
Rating: PG
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: Dee and Ryo find a new and very enjoyable way of keeping fit.
Word Count: 999
Written For: Amnesty #002, using Theme Prompt: #002 - Practice Makes Perfect at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
“Ouch!” Ryo winced, a pained expression on his face. “Sorry, Dee, but I don’t think I’m designed to bend that way.”
“Relax, babe. The problem is, you’re tensing up. You need to just go with the flow.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Ryo sighed. “You’re way more experienced than I am, and I’ve only ever done this kind of thing with girls. I’m sort of used to taking the lead.” He rubbed his back, offering Dee a rueful smile. “Okay, I think I’ll live; let’s try it again.”
“Maybe we should try something a bit less complicated, just until you’re properly warmed up. Just remember to relax; this really shouldn’t hurt.”
Ryo nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. I mean, it’s been years for me and I’m really out of practice. You can’t just throw me in at the deep end with moves like that.”
“Yeah, my bad. It’s just, I know for a fact that you’ve got natural rhythm else I never would’ve suggested this. I guess we probably should’ve kicked off with the basics, don’t want to put your back out before we even get started.” Dee left Ryo standing in the middle of the floor and went to re-start the music.
“Where’d you learn to dance anyway?” Ryo asked as Dee came back to him and they began an easy Jive.
“One of the girls at the orphanage took lessons and needed a partner to practice with. I picked a lot up from that, and the rest from watching old Fred Astaire movies.”
Startled by the revelation, Ryo made a mistake and trod on Dee’s foot, making him yelp. “Hey! Watch it!”
“Oops!” Ryo bit his lip to keep from laughing. “Sorry, but… Fred Astaire?”
Dee shrugged. “He was an amazing dancer. Gene Kelly too. Mother’s guilty pleasure was, and still is, old movies, especially anything with dancing in it. She’d watch them every chance she got, and if I was off school, or sometimes late at night when I couldn’t sleep, we’d watch together.”
They kept dancing as Dee spoke, Ryo finally starting to find his rhythm as he adjusted to being led rather than leading. As he grew more confident, they added in new steps, moving together with increasing fluidity.
Finally, the music ended and they came to a stop, breathing hard.
“WooHoo! That was fun!” Dee grinned at his partner, pulling him in for a quick kiss. “Now we just have to come up with a spectacular routine for the dance contest.”
“And practice,” Ryo reminded him. “It’s going to take a lot of practice.”
“Well sure, once we know what we’re gonna do we’ll have to perfect it, but all the practice in the world won’t do any good if we don’t know what steps we’re supposed to be practisin’, or even what dance we’re doing.”
To raise money for the police Widows and Orphans fund, the 27th, the Bronx, and several other Manhattan Precincts had decided to hold a joint dance contest open to all police personnel and their significant others. On getting the memo, Dee had suggested right away that they enter. At first, Ryo had been a bit dubious, but Dee had pointed out that there were other gay cops so they were unlikely to be the only all-male pairing, and it did sound like fun… It hadn’t really taken much persuading on Dee’s part to get Ryo to agree.
Over the next few weeks, having decided to throw caution to the wind and dance the Tango, they choreographed their routine and practiced every day. Dee had wanted spectacular, and Carol, watching them one night with Bikky, had to fan herself, proclaiming them to be hotter than hot!
“You’d better say we can be there to watch, because I’m not missing it for the world!”
OoOoOoO
On the night of the contest, Ryo was feeling nervous, convinced he was going to mess up the steps and make fools of them both.
“Ryo, will ya just relax? This is supposed to be fun. Who cares if we come last? We’ve had a great time practising, we’re in better shape than ever because of it, and… Hey, get a load of them!” He gestured to the dance floor where Ted and Janet were attempting a Cha Cha, with Janet hissing instructions at poor Ted every step of the way. “We can’t do any worse than them, right?”
“Dee! Don’t be mean!”
“I’m not! I’m just sayin’, if Ted doesn’t mind puttin’ himself through that, what do we have to worry about?”
It was an excellent point. After all the time he and Dee had spent practicing, Ryo could practically dance their routine in his sleep. The only reason he was nervous was because they’d be dancing in front of their friends and colleagues.
When their turn came and they took to the floor, Ryo still had butterflies, wondering what people would think of him and Dee dancing together. His knees felt a bit weak, but when the familiar music started everything just melted away and it was as if they were back in his living room. They did manage to fluff one turn, but as nobody watching aside from Bikky and Carol knew how it was supposed to go, it didn’t matter, and they certainly got a lot of applause.
They didn’t win, but they did come a very respectable third, behind Commissioner Rose and Diana Spacey, and a couple from the Bronx who blew everyone else away with an incredibly steamy Salsa to take first place.
As they returned to their table Dee, clutching their trophy in one hand, murmured to Ryo, “Maybe next year we should try Salsa. I guarantee we’d be smokin’.”
Ryo blushed furiously, picturing himself and Dee practically grinding against each other. “Maybe we should reserve that for when we’re alone together. I’m not sure I’d be able to control myself.”
Grinning broadly, Dee winked. “How about next weekend?”
“I’ll send Bikky over to Carol’s.”
The End