a/n: Now exams are over, I can type away to my heart's content- yayness! ==
This chapter may contain some plot if I'm lucky…
SOUR GRAPES
Chapter Five
"Dee, how many fingers am I holding up?" Ryo Maclean stood beside an eye test chart taped to one wall of the shooting range room.
"…Err…three? And a half?" Dee Laytner said hopefully as he squinted in the other man's direction. Ryo glanced down at his hand and shook his head.
"It was two, Dee. You probably need glasses-that's why you've been getting all those headaches lately." Dee scowled and made to pack up his uniform and training equipment in a worn black sports bag.
"No way I'm getting specs. I'll be geek boy of the century."
"Are you implying that I'm a geek? I wear them on occasion." Ryo arched an eyebrow.
"You know that's different." Dee slung the bag over his shoulder pulled the protective goggles from his face, dumping them in a box nearby with others of its kind. "It's better in most regards if you remain the sight impaired one anyway." Ryo yawned. Ever since Dee had been staying over, he didn't seem to be getting much sleep- though it wasn't for lack of trying…
"Why is that?" he inquired, also removing his goggles but handing them to Drake who was passing nearby.
"Well for one thing, it makes it more difficult for you to spot me and run away when I try to begin a little friendly conversation."
"Conversation?" Ryo half laughed and half choked, "I think you have that word confused with something else." Dee smiled and tugged Ryo's ear gently.
"Maybe so, but I do understand one thing: at least I don't need to see to know exactly where you are in a dark room! Hint hint?" Snickering, Dee waltzed away…directly into the snack vending machine.
"You deserved that."
"LAYTNER! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!" The early morning cry of the chief-animal permeated the air of its office-forest, startling the skittish native inhabitants.
"Crap." The delighted response of the Dee-animal, scientifically known as Laytner Lazius. "Sorry to crunch the enthralling conversation Ted."
A male officer with a gullible smile and social office status akin to the paper shredder-waved Dee away.
"Alright then, go- but remember, it could happen!"
"Ok…sure. Next time I see something moving in the back of my refrigerator, I'll allow it to grow and evolve into a highly intelligent form of life. See you."
The chief barely glanced up as Dee slunk into the room.
"Word is, you're going blind." Dee looked as though he'd discovered something slimy and revolting slithering around in one of his socks.
"Who told you that?" he demanded.
The chief arched an eyebrow as he examined a piece of paper in front of him. To an ordinary person, much like you or me- it was dull and boring, perhaps in our minds, fit for doodling on or making a paper airplane with. But to the chief, it appeared to be incredibly and inexplicably fascinating. Or maybe he just liked the brilliant whiteness bouncing off the paper and beaming through his retinas. Either way, that paper seemed to be the most amazing thing in the universe at that particular moment in time.
"The Mocha-Chino Monsters. What of it?"
Dee groaned and prevented himself from beating himself around the head with the chief's desk lamp. The Mocha-Chino Monsters were a coven of female officers and station receptionists who spent all of their free work time in the staff room, guzzling mocha-chinos, wolfing down expensive imported biscotti and all around nit picking their co-workers faults and personal lives. No one within those walls had a secret they didn't know about. And if they did, the Mocha-Chino Monsters had people working on the problem.
"Laytner, either you submit to some weirdo poking your eyeballs or you're off the Force. A grammatically correct answer? Or is that beyond your capabilities?"
Dee wound his fingers through his short hair.
"Do I have to foot the bill if work needs to be done?" He cupped his hands around his eyes and smiled inquiringly.
"Idiot. Your health plan should cover it. Unless you brought it from a scalper in a back ally like your car insurance…"
Hot faced, Dee glared.
"That was when I was like…fifteen years old!"
"Twenty-six." The chief corrected.
"Whatever. So the fact of the matter is, I could get the most expensive specs in the joint- with built in windscreen wipers and digital TV…and work has to pay for it all?"
"Yes…well…wait a minute. Don't you dare!" The amazing piece of paper was crushed in the chief's hand as the chair he was sitting in squealed backwards violently. "We don't have the kind of funds for that fancy crap. Get the bottom of glass bottles in frames for all I care, but you overstep the budget and I'll make you sorry." The chief, who we must remember as being a short and stocky man, glowed red like the setting sun. The anger radiating off his skin would have been enough to warm a household of shaven polar bears for a year and a day quite comfortably.
"What will you do?" Dee smirked- feeling satisfactorily victorious, "Take away my milk money?"
"Not only that boy," glowered the chief, "But I'll take away the coffee, gun and desk that goes with it. Does the small minded creature comprehend?"
Muttering, Dee replied, "I'll stick the gun up your…"
"Pardon? I didn't seem to hear you."
Forcing a laugh from somewhere below his pancreas, Dee made his lips turn up in a thin smile. "Recommend any good optometrists?"
"You shouldn't freak out so much, Dee." Ryo shook his head as he tried vainly to stop Dee chewing his fingernails nervously as they walked down the street together. "I mean, how much can laser surgery hurt…Really?"
"Thanks for caring Ryo…" Dee lamented; now feeling the warmth seep from his flesh. "You made me feel so much better."
"It may not even come to that."
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, I can open the door myself! Do I have the word 'BLIND' tattooed on my forehead or something?"
Ryo squinted at Dee's face.
"No, but what the heck have you been doing with Drake? You're covered with purple pen ink!"
"Erm…pen wars." Dee replied, biting his lip. "What? It was for the last Mars Bar!" Dee dug out his last resort as Ryo rolled his eyes and sighed the familiar sigh. "Aren't you proud that I won?"
"Very." Ryo remarked dryly, "Now hold still- I think I can get some of it off-"
Dee instantaneously chose to then find the door slide through it, leaving Ryo grabbing empty air.
"There! I can find the door! Can we go home now?"
"No." Nice, kind Ryo said flatly. "It'll take all of twenty minutes. Now shut up and walk." His hands firmly on Dee's shoulders, Ryo steered Dee into the quiet little office space. Children on the floor played with a basket of toys while their mothers flipped through magazines. Glass display cases around the walls highlighted a vast multitude of frames; big, small, round, square, red, blue, black, orange, tortoiseshell, and…feathery? Looking at those frames and feeling slightly disturbed, Dee walked into the reception desk and bashed his shins.
"Yes? Can I help you at all sir?" Reception man…or woman seemed pleasant enough, disregarding fuzziness through which Dee saw them.
"Erm…I think so. I had an appointment made for me? Under Dee Laytner." Tapping sounds of a keyboard and small 'uh huh' noises from the occupant of the desk.
"Please take a seat. The optometrist will be with you shortly." Sitting down with Ryo on supposedly stylish but highly uncomfortable chairs, Dee opened his wallet to check he had enough money to pay for the visit.
"Hey, Ryo? Can you tell me how much this is?"
"A fifty."
"Ahh…good, good." Dee replied, tucking the money back into its safe leather compartment.
"Mummy! Mummy! Look! A policeman!" One of the fuzzy blobs on the floor spotted Dee's badge inside his open wallet and wandered up to him, pointing and smiling with youthful awe and wonder.
"Shhh! Don't stare at people Sam, it's rude!" Unsuccessfully, the mother tried to drag her wriggling child away while keeping a hold on her magazine.
"I'm so sorry," she said apologetically to Dee. "He just loves to talk to people- even strangers." Both Dee and Ryo smiled.
"It's ok. Ryo said, pulling out his own wallet. "Would you like to see my badge?" Small gasps of absolute happiness from the youngster.
"WOW! Look, Mummy! Mummy! You're not looking!"
Then came a sound of a pair of high heels crossing floorboards to carpeting.
"Mr. Laytner?" Dee shook the offered hand with neat, manicured nails painted a violent shade of red.
"Uhh…hello?" A tinkling laugh as the hand left his.
"Jill Renolds, Mr. Laytner. I'll be examining your eyes today. Right this way…no…that's the women's lavatory."
"Ahaha..Ha…" Rounding off his nervous laugh with a subtle cough, Dee made his way through the corridor, following the thin fuzzy blob.
"Now, seat yourself on this chair…very good. Feet here…look straight ahead, right about…now." A bright light shone directly into Dee's eyes, almost blinding him completely.
"Hmmm…" murmured Ms Renolds.
"Hmmm…what?" Dee said, "You're not going to scoop out my eyeballs with a melon baller, are you?" he gulped.
Ms Renolds laughed, "Not today. I was just going to say that you have pretty eyes. Such a nice green colour, too." Though of course Dee was full aware of his own natural beauty, it still made him slightly embarrassed when people paid him complements. Especially people he had known for all of three minutes.
The light swung out and away to the left, and the optometrist scribbled down some notes on a piece of paper before pointing to a chart.
"Can you read the top line for me?"
"Uhh…R…T…. S…err…U? 12?" The woman sighed.
"I think you can stop there…" Rummaging around in her cabinet, she pulled out a pair of test frames and slid them gently on his face. "How about now? Can you see?" Dee gasped. Everything within the room was clear as crystal, detailed and precise. He could see!
"Fantastic." he said, restrainedly enthralled.
"Alright then." she announced as she jotted down some more notes and pulled a small box off a shelf.
"You'll either need to wear some glasses or contacts. Which would you prefer-"
"Contacts." Dee said abruptly. There were no two ways about it. Vanity and Self-Conscience had banded together to beat Better Judgement with a vacuum cleaner hose into unconsciousness.
"I thought that might be the case," she replied absently, "So I fished these out. Here, I'll show you how to put them in…"
The first thing Dee did when he walked out the reception area and into the street was to grab Ryo and kiss him on the nose.
"What was that for?" Ryo demanded indignantly, rubbing his nose so hard, it turned pink.
"Can't a man test out his new eyes without being given the third degree? Man almighty…" Though his words sounded harsh, they lacked sting. Dee smiled warmly, and with a hand loosely hooked in Ryo's shoulder holster, dragged him away down the darkening street.
"Now it's my turn to lead you somewhere." he murmured. Whether to himself or at Ryo, the other man couldn't guess.
Every so often Dee stopped at a crowded street corner, looked around and turned down an unfamiliar street. Ryo stopped trying to remember all the turns they took after the eighth block they ambled down. Ryo admitted to himself that Dee did look kind of cute- he seemed so happy to be out and about. But at the same time, he looked a smidge alarming. A type of thought out concentration was visible even in the way he walked; shoulders back, head held high, and that hand still insufferably attached to Ryo's holster, within his jacket. In the passing moment where Dee glanced back at him lovingly, Ryo furiously hoped that the other wouldn't feel the painful flip-flopping of his heart inside his chest. Ryo hated feeling like that. It was too uncomfortable.
At length, Dee shortened his stride and pulled Ryo across a busy street. Once safely over, the pair craned their necks upwards and gazed at the snow blanketed trees. This in itself wasn't entirely remarkable, for they were now in Central Park. Dee let go of Ryo's holster in favour of taking him by the arm.
"Come on," he said. "I saw this on our way over…thought it might be…y'know…fun."
"You're being very suspicious." Ryo said, but allowing himself to be led all the same.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise…at least for a few minutes, anyway." Each man's step shadowed the other, in perfect rhythm- crunching the soft fallen snow underfoot. The clouds of warm breath vaporizing in the chilled air increased, as did the heartbeats. Still they walked- intertwined, by more than each other's arms.
"Here we are!" Dee announced gleefully, "Surprised?" Ryo widened his eyes and nodded slightly. They were at the edge of Central Park Lake, now completely frozen by the crisp winter weather. Street-lamps lining the lake shore cast darting and twirling figures on its surface- in a pale yellow glow.
"Do you skate?" Dee asked, walking towards a man whom was renting ice-skates from a weather beaten cart.
"Huh…kinda…" Ryo nervously mumbled, sitting down with Dee on a bench and pulling off his shoes. "I haven't been out on the ice since I was shorter than Bikky!"
"Hmm..Well, I guess you could say it's just like riding a bike. And if you start to fall- I'll catch you, don't worry." Tying the laces of both their shoes together, he entrusted them in the care of the skate-renter and held Ryo's hand as the brown-haired one tentatively clacked down to the lake's edge. Dee stepped out first and turned around to pull Ryo out. It was amazing, Ryo thought, how much you can feel like you're floating- skating on something that technically; you should be drowning in. The pair left the speed skaters and young children the edge of the lake and slid slowly towards the center.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yes…cool. " Ryo remarked absently- trying not to make a complete idiot of himself by falling flat on his face.
"…Ryo?"
Uh-oh said Ryo's brain, watch out- that bastard's being sneaky again! "Hmm? What?"
"I know you'll probably hate me for this…but…"
RUN! IF YOU CAN'T RUN THEN CRAWL, DAMMIT!
"I don't know if I'll ever catch you like this again." Dee leaned in and kissed Ryo full on lips. Passionately, tenderly…both and yet neither one at once. Ryo's first reaction was one of absolute horror. This wasn't like they were in their apartments- but in a public place. People might see them…People might…
Well, you got yourself in this mess. Screw the people…Might as well enjoy it, hadn't you? Ryo caught the front of Dee's coat and pulled him in closer. Now both hearts were thumping wildly together on the cold ice.
"Uhh…Dee?"
"Hnn?" the other man mumbled, trying to shut Ryo up by kissing him some more.
"DEE!"
"WHAT?" It was obvious when he raised his head. An out of control figure skater was cannon balling directly at them- her partner standing in the distance and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He'd get his head verbally blown off when he'd be bandaging her ankle. A flurry of shaven ice, and a swift thud saw all three entangled in a confused heap of skates, coats and limbs.
"That had to happen now." Dee muttered glaring at the girl as he helped his skating-impaired love up.
"I'm sorry!" She burst, her partner tentatively approaching and picking her up. "It's all his fault!" Even when the pair left, their argument could be heard drifting through the overhanging trees.
"Care to share in the humor, Mister Funnyman?" Dee said, shooting Ryo a curious look as both of them limped off the ice.
"It's just those two so reminded me of Carol and Bikky." Ryo said with a wide smile as he returned the skates and collected their shoes. "It's quite disturbing."
"I'll say, now that you mention it." Huddled close for warmth, the couple found their way back to the main street. Dee called a taxi and fifteen minutes later (A time mostly spent by Ryo vainly attempting to stop Dee fondling him) and they were both defrosting inside Ryo's snug apartment. Bikky had left a note explaining he was at one of his friend's houses watching movies and that Carol had finally gone back to live in her real home, by supreme judgement of the author in this current chapter. Hot coffee was swigged, and jam donuts scoffed and they sat in relatively comfortable silence together on Ryo's wide and squishy leather couch. Of course, nothing calm and quiet can be maintained for long when Dee is in the room.
"So," he began idly, Ryo's feet resting on his knees, as the brown-haired one lay sprawled backwards on the couch. "How's about we picked up where we left off? Before we were so rudely interrupted?"
"What do you mean, so…hey! What are you doing!" Ryo exclaimed- now becoming aware that Dee was pulling him closer towards him by feet.
"I'm cold. Your legs are warm," he said simply. "And…yes, so is your stomach…" Dee's hand traced along well-defined muscles underneath Ryo's shirt. Ryo made no move to stop him, but just looked at him sort of worriedly. He winced as Dee pulled back his shirt to reveal a vast and blackening bruise; spreading from the side of his left hip, to underneath and across his narrow back.
"Must have fallen harder than I thought…" he murmured, eyes still fixated on Dee.
"Yes…ice has a tendency to inflict these sort of injuries, but luckily…I know the cure." He gently bent down and kissed the bruise and worked his way up to Ryo's upturned face. "Feel better?"
"A little." Ryo squeaked.
"How about now?" Dee again kissed him on the mouth, his hands cradling Ryo's head. This time, it was heavily laced with lust, love and need. Blood rushed to heads as they tore apart for air.
"Ryo," Dee breathed heavily, "You are singly the most amazing person I've ever met, y'know that, right?"
"I…think…" Ryo began to say quietly- his hands brushing Dee's dark hair out of his face.
"Yes?"
"…I don't know what to think…does that make sense?" his voice screamed apprehension to an observer.
Dee groaned and propped his arms on Ryo's torso, shaking his head slightly. He loathed spilling his innards to another without gaining any kind of positive response. Though he didn't like to admit it, it was hurtful in a way. "Tragically perfect sense." As the strained silence that followed crawled by, Ryo lightly touched Dee on the leg.
"…I'm sorry."
"Pff." Dee looked down at him with unreadable features, "One day I'll catch you when this brick wall you've got built around yourself has crumbled into the dust. I'll catch you and nothing will make me let go, understand? I'm greedy. I want you all to myself- the whole enchilada."
Enchilada? Whispered the little voice in Ryo's brain again. What, he has a craving for Mexican food?