Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Common Ground ❯ Chapter 4
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: NeekerBreeker 
Anime/Manga: Fake Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Police | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.13.2004 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 381 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Fake Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Police | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.13.2004 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 381 | Status: Work In Progress
Common Ground 4/?
Author: NeekerBreeker(@fanficcer.zzn.com)
Pairing: Drake x JJ (+ some Dee/Ryou)
Rating: R
Timeline: After the Epilogue. Contains massive spoilers for the whole series.
Keywords: Romance, Drama, Action, some Angst.
Disclaimer: I'm not Matou Sanami, JJ's not an idiot and Drake exists, dammit.
====
"Ryou, what are you doing?" Cal asked, exasperated. Her hair was threatening to escape from the bun she had tied it into and she tucked her hair behind her ear with one hand as the other held a whisk menacingly.
Ryou smiled and raised his hands, trying to play peacemaker. "I was just checking the oven."
"It's been ten minutes! They won't be ready for another fifteen minutes at least, so shoo." Cal hit him playfully with the whisk and went back to whipping the eggs.
"Okay, okay. You're in charge." Ryou turned to leave. He tapped Bicky on the shoulder on his way out. "C'mon, Bicky, we have a lot of cleaning to do."
Bicky took a candy from a bowl on the kitchen table and put it into his mouth, turning to watch what Cal was doing. "Yeah, in a sec."
Ryou sighed, crossed his arms and watched him, shaking his head. Bicky might've reached the hall ceiling at Ryou's apartment, but he still hadn't learned to listen to his elders. Luckily Ryou was patient enough to wait, because eventually, Bicky did what he was told. He just always had to do it in his own pace and time.
Cal turned to poke Bicky, leaving a trace of flour on top of Bicky's nose. "No, you can't have a taste. And stop eating those candies, they're for the cakes!"
"What? I only ate two."
"You ate four. Now kiss the cook and get out of my kitchen."
Bicky grinned and gave her a quick kiss.
"C'mon," Ryou said and led Bicky out of the door, "let's leave her to work her magic."
The apartment was a mess. The renovation and redecoration, Ryou moving in and now the party preparations, all in rapid succession, had resulted in something just short of chaos. Bicky had claimed Ryou's apartment as his when Ryou had moved in with Dee. The lease didn't end until the end of the next month, so it was only convenient to have someone live in the apartment until then. Not to mention that Ryou really preferred Bicky having his parties in a place Ryou didn't have to clean up afterwards. But in the last few days, Bicky had been helping out with the moving and redecoration, so he had pretty much moved into Dee's apartment, too. Cal followed with him, naturally, and with the four of them there, the place was getting stuffy and messy, because both Dee and Bicky seemed to radiate disorder wherever they went.
Not to mention that it was hard to get any private time with Dee, both of them being so busy with work and the renovation - and now with Bicky and Cal there, to boot. The restroom at the station had never seen so much action.
Ryou picked up one of Bicky's sneakers from the couch and handed it to him. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'll vacuum the TV room and the hall. You go take a mop, a bucket of water and a floor cloth from the broom closet over there and mop the floors and wipe the surfaces."
"You can't *see* most of the surfaces," Bicky pointed out, looking pointedly at the pile of five empty pizza boxes on top of the TV.
Ryou smiled at him briskly. "That's why you're going to clear them while I'm vacuuming." He patted the protesting Bicky on the shoulder. "There are trash bags in the closet."
Bicky turned his cap's visor back. "But I was just gonna call Rai and ask if he's coming."
Ryou sighed. "We've been over this, Bicky. You can stay for a while, but you, or your friends, are *not* going to stay for the whole party. You have your own place now, so why don't you take your friends there?"
"'Cause all the food and drink's gonna be here."
"If you're planning on eating all the food, snitching all the alcohol and then running back to my old apartment, you're dead wrong, mister." Ryou took Bicky's cap and put it back on his head the right way around, pulling the visor down to cover his eyes. "Mop."
"Aw, man..."
Ryou went to get the vacuum cleaner and, picking up random pieces of food and clothing and putting them on the table for Bicky to go through, vacuumed the TV room and the hall. The rest, he left for the kids; he'd already done his share of the work. It was about time Bicky and Cal stopped lying around bumming food and started doing something. Ryou wiped his brow on his sleeve and put the vacuum cleaner into the corner. He glanced at Bicky to make sure he was working. Now Bicky and Cal had something to occupy themselves with, which meant that he could sneak away for a while. He threw an empty Coke can from the bookshelf to the trash and went to the newly renovated part of the apartment, in search of his payment for all the cleaning he had been doing that day.
***
Finding Dee was simple: Ryou just had to follow the cursing. They had had a lot of trouble with the electric wiring in the room that was going to be Dee's "music room"; his new stereo equipment needed more sockets than he had at first thought, and they had had the electrician over two times already. Ryou's computer was also going to be in that room, so they wanted to get the wiring right. Right now, the room was empty except for Ryou's desk and chair; there was no way Dee would endanger his precious stereo equipment by keeping it in the room while the renovation continued.
Dee was standing on Ryou's wheeled office chair, trying to get the shade of the pendant lamp to stay in place. He looked about ready to give up, and growled at the lamp as if threatening it would make it do his bidding. The chair swung dangerously as Dee forcefully tried to thrust the shade into its place.
"C'mon, you fuckin' no good piece of shit..." he muttered from between his teeth.
Ryou walked to him and put his hands on the back of the chair to keep it from swinging. He looked up at Dee - and, admittedly, his butt, which was right in front of Ryou's face, nicely clad in worn-down jeans. Ryou could almost hear it calling for him. "Still fighting the good fight?"
Dee turned around. He wore a bandanna to keep the hair off his face. A drop of sweat slowly made its way down his throat. Ryou stared at it as it disappeared under the collar of Dee's white t-shirt, which clung to his skin at his pecs...
Ryou couldn't believe how easily he could get a hard-on these days. His cock seemed to think he was a teenager again. And all the trigger he needed was standing right in front of him with a lamp shade in his hand.
Dee made a face. "I can't get the fucking thing to stay in place. I don't suppose you remember how you did it when you put it up in your bedroom?"
The words "fucking" and "bedroom" struck a chord in Ryou. Dee must've seen the 'sex-now-and-not-a-second-later' look in Ryou's eyes. Normally, Dee would've pounced him already. Was he playing a game, teasing Ryou until he was ready to burst out of his pants? He'd done that sort of thing before. Ryou wasn't sure, so he decided to play with him, for now. "No, sorry. I got it from my aunt; she said it was antique, so it's no wonder it's difficult to adjust."
Dee hopped down from the chair - something that would've resulted in him spread out on the floor if Ryou hadn't been holding the chair for him. Not that it was that far from Ryou's objective, of course.
Dee put the lamp shade on the desk with an air of defeat. "Oh, what the hell. I'll look at it again tomorrow. We're not gonna allow guests into this room anyway, so what's the hurry?"
Ryou fanned himself with his hand. "Hmm, point taken."
"How's Cal doing? No signs of smoke yet, so I suppose the kitchen is still intact?"
Ryou was getting tired of the game. He wanted to get out of the impersonal, unfinished room. Was it just him or was this room hotter than the rest of the apartment? Could well be, since it didn't have any windows or other means of air-conditioning. And how long would Dee see fit to ignore the bulge in his pants? But Ryou wasn't ready to admit defeat yet. "If Cal destroyed the kitchen, that would be the last she ever saw of it. Or anything made in it."
"Aaww, come on, lover," Dee said and grinned - if Ryou had had any doubts of whether or not he had noticed Ryou's condition, they vanished now, "we still have the other kitchen for you to be domestic in."
Ah, to hell with it. Ryou closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Dee's waist demandingly. "There are other places I'd rather be domestic in right now," he said in a low voice, starting to lick and kiss Dee's throat. The salty taste and the feel of Dee's quickening pulse against his lips made him growl deep in his throat.
Dee let out a choked laugh and grabbed Ryou's head, burying his fingers in his hair and forcing him to kiss his throat more forcefully. Dee's other hand crawled to Ryou's butt. "How long was that - almost ten hours with no sex? Damn, I've taught you too well."
Ryou nibbled at the sensitive skin under Dee's jawbone, then moved up to look him in the eyes. "Stop taking all the credit for yourself." Dee leaned forward and Ryou kissed him as deeply as he could, the sparring of their tongues the only thing he could concentrate on for a while. Dee's hands wandered to Ryou's belt buckle, hastily opening it and pulling at the buttons of his jeans, and somewhere along the way Ryou untied the shirt from Dee's hips and let it fall onto the ground.
Ryou pulled back to catch his breath again. "And... and that's *eleven* hours you've kept me waiting." He tugged Dee's shirt up, letting his hands feel the warm skin and the familiar form of Dee's upper body.
Dee came to his assistance and pulled the shirt over his head, then crossed his arms over his bare chest and smirked. "I still win with the seven years *you* teased *me*, you naughty little vixen."
Ryou couldn't help laughing. Did Dee even realize how silly he sounded, calling him by a new cheesy pet name every minute?
"Not 'crafty love-bunny' like last night?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow as he slowly started opening the buttons of his shirt and taking it off, knowing Dee liked to watch.
Dee licked his lips, his eyes taking on the lusty look that always seemed to burn holes into Ryou's skin. "Wise-ass."
Ryou stepped out of his jeans and came to Dee, enjoying the feel of his eyes on him. "You should know all there is to know about my ass. Now, move it." He gave Dee a short but passionate kiss, snaked three fingers under the waistband of Dee's jeans and started dragging him towards the bedroom.
Dee allowed Ryou to pull him along to the hallway, but then wrapped his arm possessively around Ryou from behind and pulled him flush against his chest. "How come we never fuck in the rooms that are being renovated?" He sounded out of breath; his voice tingled with laughter and arousal. "First I thought you were obsessed with only doing it in the bedroom, but..."
Ryou silenced him momentarily by turning to kiss him and groped around until he found the door handle, then kicked the bedroom door open. "Welcome to reality, Mr. Latener. You're living with an orderly person who isn't big on - mmh - big on having sex in the m - hey! - middle of sawdust, dirty old newspapers and still-wet paint. Now get to the bed before I lose my nerve."
Ryou gave the chuckling Dee a push towards the bed and, checking the hallway for the last time for the kids, closed the door behind them.
He had to admit to himself that he liked the bedroom - Dee's paintings on the walls, Dee's bedside lamp, and Ryou's parents' old bed. It was a pleasant mix of the old and the new in his life. He got into the bed, absently noticing that it hadn't been made that morning. Well, all the better. He threw the covers to the side.
"C'mere," Dee said in a low voice as he wriggled out of his jeans and briefs.
Ryou helped him get rid of them, freeing Dee's other hand so that it could pull down Ryou's boxers. Kicking them somewhere, Ryou threw Dee down on his back and started kissing his way down his lover's chest. Today he was going to do with Dee as he pleased. He was getting to know most of Dee's sweet spots, but since Dee was always so loud during sex, it was hard to tell which they were. Or maybe Dee's body was one huge erogenous zone. It wouldn't be all that surprising...
Dee groaned as Ryou let the backs of his hands travel over Dee's nipples. Ryou smiled against his upper stomach muscles. Slight touches always seemed to elicit the kind of reactions he liked best. He was suddenly reminded of the time Dee had shivered when Ryou had first licked around his nipples, then blown on them. Making a mental note to try it again soon, Ryou quickly kissed his way down Dee's stomach and sides, then brought one hand down to teasingly slide down Dee's shaft before gripping the base firmly.
He looked at Dee's face. Dee was leaning against the huge pillow, half-sitting and half-lying, completely relaxed and open to his lover's touch. His eyes were half-closed and they gleamed dangerously; a wide, hungry smile was on his lips. He reminded Ryou of a large feline; his wildcat of a pet to tame and teach tricks to.
"I seem to recall from the day before yesterday..." Ryou slid down so that he was lying comfortably between Dee's legs and gave the head of his erect cock a quick, but wet kiss, tasting the slightly bitter pre-come. Dee tensed and moaned deep in his throat. "I seem to recall you saying that I need a little training in this department." Ryou put his hands on Dee's thighs and looked up again, as if asking permission, which most obviously wasn't needed.
Dee sounded out of breath when he laughed. "Far be it from me to say, but - oh, God, Ryou, yes..."
Without waiting to hear Dee's reply, Ryou started licking and kissing down the shaft, trying to avoid the most sensitive spots, keeping in mind that he was supposed to slowly tease Dee. He had to use his hands to hold Dee's hips down when he moved to the head and took it slowly into his mouth, savoring the bitter taste and the warmth and the thickness.
He pulled back after giving the head one careful suck. He glanced at Dee's face. "Don't forget to warn me, okay?"
Dee answered by moaning demandingly and burying his hand in Ryou's hair, pulling his head back down. Ryou pushed his hand away; he didn't like it when someone held his head when he did this, it distracted him.
Ryou licked his lips. How delicious and inviting could a penis look? Well, not much more than the one in front of him. He started by slowly licking from the base of the cock to just below the blushed head, remembering that this was his own favorite. Judging by Dee's groaning, he seemed to like it, too. Encouraged, Ryou took the cock into his mouth as far as he could comfortably manage. He expectantly pushed Dee's hips back down onto the mattress when Dee threatened to buck and choke Ryou. Starting to slowly move his head up and down around the cock, Ryou slid his hands up Dee's warm and well-toned body, tracing the tensed muscles and the ribs that could be felt when Dee arched up his upper body. He could hear Dee breathing in short, loud gasps. Ryou pulled away slightly so that only the head of Dee's cock was in his mouth before brushing his fingers over Dee's nipple.
"Ahh!" Dee threw his head back and groped around for something to grab onto. "Again, Ryou, oh fucking *Christ*!"
Ryou took the cock out of his mouth, then brought two of his fingers to his mouth, licking them slowly. Dee watched him, mesmerized. Ryou then moved his fingers up Dee's chest, tracing little paths, before catching a nipple between his fingers and slowly teasing it to harden into a cute, dark nub.
Dee thrashed against the huge pillows. He was moaning loudly, but Ryou had become so accustomed to hearing Dee moan and groan like a tiger in heat when they made love that it had been reduced to pleasant background noise; the incidental music of their own private show. It still didn't mean that he would ignore it. He could tell Dee was close, and decided to be merciful. After all, he was starting to lose control himself, and he still had plans.
Ryou took Dee's cock into his mouth again, this time letting his tongue awkwardly run across the very tip, allowing the salty, bitter taste to spread to every corner of his mouth. He pushed Dee's thighs onto the mattress forcefully, feeling the heat and the tensing muscles under his hands. The heat going through him in a delicious wave, Ryou began to suck on Dee, moving his head steadily up and down.
Among Dee's frantic nonsensical muttering, one particular word made a sudden sense to Ryou. "Stop, Ryou, oh-my-god-you're... Oh holy motherfucking *God*, please, you have to stop now!"
Ryou quickly pulled back. He sat up and kneeled between Dee's legs. He stared at his lover's beautiful cock, which seemed to draw his eyes to it automatically; knowing that with one touch, he could make Dee kiss the stars. Drunk on the feeling of power he had over Dee, Ryou reached out and, letting his other hand play with Dee's left nipple, stroked him until he let out a choked, shocked moan and came, throwing his head back.
It was enticing; Dee was enticing, his whole body tensing for one brief moment, before totally relaxing against the crumbled bedsheets. His house tiger... Ryou stroked his own cock once, felt it aching under his fingers.
Dee sat up, his movements feline and boneless as he wrapped his arms around Ryou and kissed him hotly and thoroughly. "Thanks," he said, his voice hardly audible against Ryou's lips. "You're getting wickedly good."
Ryou smirked. "I'm not finished."
Dee chuckled a little, tucking a few firm, sucking kisses under Ryou's ear. "I can feel you're not." His hand sneaked to lightly slide down Ryou's cock.
Ryou had to mentally brace himself before he moved away and reached under the bed. It was this side of the bed, wasn't it...? Ah, of course it was.
He threw the K-Y to Dee, ignoring the way his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Your turn to get moving. C'mere and prepare me."
One of these days Dee was going to grin so wide he'd split his head open.
***
After finally making the painful decision to put on some clothes and leave the bed, Ryou found that they were running out of time; it was already half past three. The kids were now nowhere to be seen but they had obviously been watching TV at some point; you didn't have to be a detective to find out, given all the popcorn spread over the place. Two teenagers in love and a bowl of popcorn were too much for one couch, Ryou observed. A lovely scent came from the kitchen, something resembling good curry, but a touch different. What exactly was Cal making, anyway? She wouldn't say, telling Ryou only that it was her special recipe.
Dee began putting together the music equipment and hunting for all his CDs, now scattered throughout the apartment like almost everything else.
Ryou walked through the apartment. It looked okay; at least the rooms they didn't lock up for the party. That meant three rooms were off-limits, one of them rather spacious... Ryou tried to add in his head how many people would be coming and how they would all fit in. "Dee?" he called, wandering back to the living room.
Dee looked at him from behind a huge amplifier he was setting into the corner as carefully as if it was a newborn baby.
"How many people from Mother Maria's orphanage are actually coming tonight?"
"Well, there's Nicky, and Chris and Bailey," Dee started to list, "and Barry, of course, and Barry might bring a couple 'a band members with him..."
Ryou whistled. "I hope they're not spending the night. We have two apartments, and we can't even fit all the guys from work here."
Dee put down the amplifier and shrugged. "So let's not pour all the vodka bottles into the punch."
The kitchen door opened a crack and Bicky's frowning face appeared in the doorway. "Wait, wait, wait, you got several bottles? You said I couldn't have any 'cause you only have one! Dee, you fucking cheat!"
"Bicky!" Ryou said reprimandingly.
"What did you just call me?" Dee asked, in a dangerous, low voice, and pointed his finger demandingly at Bicky.
"I called you a lying cheat!"
Dee raised his eyebrows, sucked on his teeth and moved to stand in the middle of living room, his hands on his hips. "Bicky? C'mere for a sec."
Bicky scowled at him. "What?"
"Come on, I don't wanna talk to a disembodied head." Dee made a beckoning move with his hand, keeping his gaze down.
Ryou had a hunch of what Dee had in mind. He smiled and leaned against the wall.
Bicky emerged from the kitchen - Ryou would always think of it as Cal's Kitchen, he suddenly realized - and, looking only a little wary, walked over to Dee and faced him defiantly.
Dee kept looking at the floor, not saying a word.
"So, whacha-- " Bicky started, in a loud and obnoxious voice, but it immediately changed into a yelp as Dee grabbed his arm and, swiftly and effectively, twisted it behind Bicky's back, turning the youngster roughly around.
Ryou might've been concerned if this wasn't his partner. He had Dee's bodywork down to a science and knew when Dee was truly mad and able to inflict damage, and when he was just playing the bad cop. All his moves were familiar to Ryou; he had observed them a hundred times when they were holding down struggling suspects. Dee knew what he was doing; he was just aiming to keep Bicky down.
Dee took hold of Bicky's shoulder and, still gripping Bicky's other hand firmly, pulled Bicky down and to him. When Bicky started to struggle, Dee put him in a choker hold, forcing his head back. He moved close to Bicky so that his nose almost touched Bicky's cheek. "Look at me, brat. Look at me!"
Grudgingly, Bicky turned his head a little and squinted at Dee. He was gritting his teeth.
"Do I look like a fucking dumbass to you? Huh, do I?" Dee tightened his hold on Bicky's left hand, the one he had twisted behind his back; just a little, but Ryou could see Bicky wince.
"No," Bicky said through his teeth.
"'Kay, now that we got that figured, tell me what I would be if I gave a stupid 18-year-old street rat a bottle of vodka on top of all that cheap-ass beer you've got hidden in the closet?"
"Let go of my fuckin' hand!" Bicky fought against Dee's hold, and Ryou saw Dee tighten his hold again. This time, it didn't stop Bicky, who tried to sweep-kick Dee off his feet. "Are you a big bad copper now, huh? Threatenin' a fuckin' kid?"
Dee gritted his teeth, too, and Ryou could see he was using a lot of force now. "Answer the question, you little shit."
Bicky coughed when the choker hold around his throat tightened. "You'd be... you'd be a fucking dumb... ass."
"Good kid," Dee said, and let go. Immediately, Bicky spun around and punched Dee, trying to throw him down onto the floor. But Dee had been expecting it. He managed to dodge almost the whole punch, and grabbed Bicky's wrists again. This was his work, after all; he was trained to deal with people who'd try anything to get away from the cop trying to put them in.
"We're finished!" he said to Bicky, in his loud, not-taking-any-shit -voice.
Bicky snarled at him for a moment, then gave up and looked at Ryou, accusingly.
"Dee has a point, Bicky," Ryou said simply. "I don't want to find you lying under the table all yellow in the face tomorrow."
He turned his gaze to Cal, who had appeared in the doorway, her eyes big as the plate she was holding in her hands. "What are you doing?" she asked, sounding like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Dee grinned. "Family discussion. You go back to your cupcakes, little lady."
Cal's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why, you-- "
Ryou grabbed Cal before she could march over to crash Ryou's only cake plate on top of Dee's head. "All right, I think that's enough domestic disturbance for tonight. Cal, are we finally allowed into the kitchen? Because something is smelling wonderful, and I'm dying to know what it is."
"See if I cook for you ever again," Cal said, huffing, and glared at Dee. "I think I'll just take my spicy minced meat rolls and eat them with Bicky and Rai and Ras."
"Yeah!" Bicky said, smiling smugly.
"Cream cakes and chocolate mousse *and* minced meat rolls? Whoa, boy! I'm sorry for every bad word I ever said about you!" Dee kissed Cal's cheek, putting on his charm. "You little angel, pray forgive this sorry soul his faults and allow me into your kitchen of miracles."
Cal smiled a crooked smile. "The way to a man's heart seems to really be through his stomach."
Dee put his hand over his heart. "What can I say; you've seduced me."
Ryou laughed. "Well, that at least explains why you've been over at my place for dinner so often." He put his arms around Dee's waist.
Dee turned his head to give Ryou a kiss. "Nah, that just explains why you've made dinner for me so often."
Bicky walked past them, pushing Dee out of his way. "I'm starving, so can we get into the kitchen o' love already and *eat* something?"
"Not my minced meat rolls, they're for later," Cal said, bustling after him. "If you're hungry put some pasta into the microwa-- " The kitchen door clicked closed behind the two and muffled the rest of her sentence.
Ryou chuckled into Dee's neck. "Looks like we at least won't starve tonight."
"Y'know, Bailey's *bound* to bring something, too. He works in an Italian restaurant."
"Yeah?"
Dee turned around in Ryou's arms and wrapped his own arms around Ryou's shoulders. "Uh huh. And take a wild guess what Ted's gonna bring."
Ryou raised his eyebrows. "Anything Gina has made for the occasion. Which means all it'll cost him is some sweet talk."
"Can you believe that cunning bastard? We gotta make sure he doesn't get any minced meat rolls."
Ryou laughed and kissed Dee's cheek. "At least the other guys're not likely to bring in their culinary wonders. Take JJ for instance; can you really imagine him cooking anything?"
Dee made a face and pulled away, opening the kitchen door. "Yeah, he'll just bring a stun gun."
Ryou rolled his eyes and followed him inside. "Dee, honestly, if you could only take it in a little more mature w-- WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO THE KITCHEN?"
***
Since most of the guests came fashionably late, the party didn't properly begin until around eight PM. Their work buddies had been warned well beforehand, which meant that they had all fixed their shifts so that they had the whole evening off, and they were the first to arrive. Only JJ hadn't yet arrived, and Ryou was beginning to doubt whether he'd come at all. It would be understandable, but it still didn't feel right to him to exclude JJ when all the others from the squad were there, having fun. Oh, Drake seemed to be somewhat down, but Ryou didn't doubt that the evening would fix it. Drake really wasn't the sulking sort. And no matter what was said of Ted's cunning ways to keep from paying for a housewarming gift, no one complained when they saw the blackberry pie he brought. Apparently, Gina was from the South, in addition to being a domestic wonder.
Ryou was eating his third piece when the doorbell rang again. He went to open it, licking his lips, knowing he was a mess.
At the door stood a huge black man wearing a neat black-and-white-striped suit. His hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and he was grinning in an irresistibly honest way. As soon as you saw Barry's grin, you couldn't help liking him. Ryou had met him before, but not the short, sharp-looking woman beside him. On the other hand, the woman might've only looked short because she was standing next to Barry.
"Barry!"
"Hi, Ryou, it's been a while," Barry said in his deep, toe-curling voice and shook Ryou's hand heartily before Ryou even came to think of offering it.
Ryou smiled. "Good to see you, too, and welcome. Who's your companion, I don't think we've met before?" The woman smiled readily, and suddenly Ryou understood. It was all in her mouth. "You wouldn't happen to be Jill, would you?"
"One and the same." They shook hands; her grip was nice and strong, and all in all, she was radiating the same kind of immediate likeability as Barry. "Nice to meet you. Was it Randy...?"
"Ryou or Randy, pick whichever you like. Hope you enjoy yourself, Jill." He moved out of the way to let the two in. "Better hurry if you want blackberry pie; there's nothing as hungry as a bunch of off duty police detectives."
Barry laughed. Ryou could've sworn he felt it through the floor. "I bet our band could beat you guys on that account, ten to clean, plain zero. Dee!" he then shouted, and at least three heads turned immediately, "where're you hiding, you little scurryin' rat?"
Ryou turned to look at Jill, who had picked up a glass and was pouring some punch for herself. "Are you in the music business too, Jill?"
"No, I'm afraid I'm in ol' boring travel industry. But Barry keeps our family's eccentric levels from going down." She chuckled and took a sip of the punch. "I sometimes sing backgrounds when they're playing somewhere near and the time's okay with my schedule, but it's not a career for me."
"I take it you grew up under Penguin's wing, too." Ryou took the meat roll plate and offered one to her.
She shook her head. "No, thanks. I don't eat red meat. And no, I was raised in a foster home in New Jersey. I didn't find out I had a big brother until I was thirteen."
Ryou looked down. He should've known; he had seen enough similar cases at work. Many siblings got sent to different orphanages and foster homes, some intentionally, after one sibling had committed a crime and the social workers didn't want their siblings to get bad influences. Technically, it was possible Dee had a sibling somewhere. But there was no way of knowing...
*Even though it's painful to know my parents were killed,* Ryou thought, *at least I know for sure. At least I know.*
"It must be strange, suddenly finding out you have siblings."
Jill smiled a crooked smile. "Barry's been a two-hundred-percent big brother to me ever since we first met. I consider the past made up for." She took a cream cake, looking at it as if suspecting it had red meat hidden inside it. "You have to learn to do that sort of thing. Forgive and forget. I'm sure you guys have to do the same in your profession."
"Yeah, that's true. We all have our ghosts, though. After a decade in NYPD, you'd have to be made of Teflon to not have gathered any excess baggage."
Right after saying it, Ryou noticed Dee was looking at him through the crowd. He made a beckoning move with his head.
"But, anyway, I think Dee wants to see you, too," Ryou said to Jill. "Come on, let's go sit on the couch."
Jill followed his gaze to the couch where Dee was sitting with a couple of guests, including Barry, who was impossible to miss. "Tell Dee I'll be there, but first, could you show me where the toilet is?"
"Sure. Go through that hallway, turn right and it's the door to the right." Ryou smiled. "The broom closet door next to it looks exactly the same."
"Thanks," Jill said and nodded, and went off.
Ryou poured himself some punch and went over to where Dee was sitting, in the far corner of the room where they had pushed the big TV room couch. Drake was sitting next to Dee, leaning his elbows on his knees, which made him look slumped, and Barry was showing Dee a CD.
"It's like I say, a cover artist is only a cover artist if he's a pure hundred-percent anal retentive shithead," Barry was just stating.
Dee raised his glass. "I'll take your word for it. Huh, Drake?" He elbowed Drake, who looked up and blinked like a bat in the daylight.
Ryou sat on the armrest next to Dee and looked at Drake over Dee's head. "Were you on night shift yesterday? You sure look like it."
Drake raked his hair off his face and twiddled the glass he was holding in his hand. "Nah. 'M okay."
"But hey, Barry, let's go over your CD a little later, when everyone's here to hear it, too," Dee said rather pointedly, offering the CD back to Barry.
Barry took it and fluidly, slipped it into his breast pocket. Or so Ryou thought, anyway; it happened too fast for him to see where the man had magicked the object.
*Former pickpocket,* Ryou thought, automatically.
"Sure, Dee. Catch you later." Barry turned and went to introduce himself to Ted.
Ryou nudged Dee. "What's so important you had to send him away?" Dee just grabbed Ryou's punch from his hand. "Hey!"
Offering Ryou's punch to Drake without looking at him, Dee said, "This guy here is dead set on getting piss-ass drunk, and as a good host, who am I to say no? By the way, smooth move to send Jill away before you came over."
"I didn't - she left on her own!" Ryou looked at him incredulously. "Why would I-- " He then looked at Drake, who was now chuckling in a low voice. Suddenly, the pieces fell into their places. So Drake didn't like seeing Jill, despite what he had told Dee.
"Is okay, I'm bound to run into her over and over again anyways." Drake gulped down Ryou's punch and gave the glass back to Dee. "It's my karma, or some shit like that. Good punch."
Ryou frowned and reached over to put his hand on Drake's shoulder. Maybe Dee was okay with letting his guests do as they pleased, but they sure as hell didn't wallow in melancholy if Ryou had any say in the matter. "Hey, Drake, I'm sorry. I thought Dee said you were okay with Jill coming here, too."
Drake laughed a little as he looked up at Ryou. His eyes were somewhat hazy. "Yah, well, it is. I am. I gotta speak with her anyways. She bring Stevie with her?"
Dee looked at Drake, a half-smile on his face. "No, I don't think she did. And you're getting closer to your glorious goal; you're slipping back to Packer Country speech."
Drake just smiled tiredly and got up to go to the punch bowl for a refill.
Ryou looked at Dee, worried. "Is he going to be okay?"
Dee chuckled and leaned back, wrapping his arm around Ryou's waist. "Yeah. Drake just needs to punctuate how much the world hates him, occasionally."
"Yeah, but still..."
"Don't worry about him. Drake should be used to getting dumped by now." Dee smiled a little and shrugged.
Ryou's eyes suddenly spotted a familiar-looking vest among the crowd. "Hey, I think I just saw JJ." Bailey moved out of the way and Ryou got a clear view of JJ, who was leaning against the wall, talking with someone. "He must've sneaked in earlier when Nicky went to open the door for Marty."
"Oh, great. Hide me."
Ryou gave Dee the Look. Dee kissed him lovingly. Ryou could only be dumbfounded at his powers of distraction, because they seemed to work every time.
Drake came back with his glass filled and sat down. Jill followed close behind him. She had tied her chin-length black hair into a ponytail, like her brother.
"Dee," Jill said and smiled, "get up so that I can give you a hug."
"Hi," Dee said, and grinning, did as told. "It's been far too long. I'm sorry I had to miss your gig last week. How did it go?"
Ryou glanced at Drake. It was hard to tell, but to him it seemed that Drake wasn't as gloomy as before. On the other hand, Drake was on his approximately fourth glass of punch. He was watching Jill somewhat warily, although there wasn't much tension in the air.
"Oh, fine. Some technical problems, but they're unavoidable." Jill let go of Dee. Her hug had a calculated feel to it. It occurred to Ryou that many of her moves did. They seemed like she had planned them all well beforehand. "This looks like a nice place you've got here. I love those bookshelves that are made of bricks. Gotta remember that one."
Dee sat back down. "It's hell to renovate, but it's slowly starting to resemble some kind of a home. Hey, Bicky!" he then called, and Ryou's eyes followed his to the tall teenager, who was just picking up a piece of pie. Bicky took the piece, shoved his other hand into the pocket of his pants and sauntered over to them.
"Weren't you supposed to get going?" Ryou asked, fixing a stern stare at Bicky.
Bicky shrugged and took a bite of the pie. "I'm waitin' for Rai."
"Bicky, say hi to Jill," Dee said, nudging Bicky with his foot. "She's Barry's sister."
"Nice to meetcha," Bicky said and nodded to Jill dutifully. Then he noticed Drake and grinned smugly. "Hey, old man. If you want someone to kick your ass in basketball, I'm free."
Drake grinned back. "You're dreaming, pal. And next time we're playing by real rules, not by your crooked street rat rules. You'll go down like a shot duck."
Bicky chuckled. "I'll kick your fucking ass."
"You're gonna regret you said that. Mark my words, you're gonna." Drake got up, going through his pockets to find his Down Town Lights. "Now, though, if you'll excuse me."
Jill looked at him. She had a calculatedly kindly smile on her face. "I'll come with you to the balcony, I need some fresh air."
Drake looked at her funny, then nodded absent-mindedly.
Dee nudged Bicky with his foot again. "Go on, you get going, too. You've bummed enough food already."
"Okay, okay! Stop kicking me!" Bicky rolled his eyes. "But I'll be back tomorrow to get the rest of my stuff. Oh, and hey, Drake," Bicky then added, seemingly suddenly remembering something, "that JJ was looking for you."
Dee laughed. "My, you're a wanted man all of a sudden, Drake."
Ryou saw a strange expression pass over Drake's face at that comment. For a moment, he seemed very vulnerable, as if some kind of a mask had slipped off his face. His brows burrowed into a sad, concerned frown. "Yeah, I guess," he muttered softly and turned away. Jill followed him.
Drake rarely had that look of raw feeling on his face. Ryou thought back, trying to remember when he had last seen it.
*Oh, c'mon, Dee! Lay off the poor kid, already! JJ, are you okay?*
Could it be? Now that he came to think of it, Drake had always treated JJ sort of tenderly. He was always looking after JJ, defending him when Dee lost his nerve with him. Sure, the two were partners, and partners looked after each other, but still...
And what had that look on JJ's face been on Tuesday at the gym, when Ryou had spotted him staring at Drake? Ryou had only ever seen JJ look at Dee like that, and usually he was clobbered over the head for it.
Dee poked him. "Hey. Whatcha plannin'?"
Ryou shook his head slowly. "Nothing. I was just thinking you might've hit closer to the truth than you know."
Author: NeekerBreeker(@fanficcer.zzn.com)
Pairing: Drake x JJ (+ some Dee/Ryou)
Rating: R
Timeline: After the Epilogue. Contains massive spoilers for the whole series.
Keywords: Romance, Drama, Action, some Angst.
Disclaimer: I'm not Matou Sanami, JJ's not an idiot and Drake exists, dammit.
====
"Ryou, what are you doing?" Cal asked, exasperated. Her hair was threatening to escape from the bun she had tied it into and she tucked her hair behind her ear with one hand as the other held a whisk menacingly.
Ryou smiled and raised his hands, trying to play peacemaker. "I was just checking the oven."
"It's been ten minutes! They won't be ready for another fifteen minutes at least, so shoo." Cal hit him playfully with the whisk and went back to whipping the eggs.
"Okay, okay. You're in charge." Ryou turned to leave. He tapped Bicky on the shoulder on his way out. "C'mon, Bicky, we have a lot of cleaning to do."
Bicky took a candy from a bowl on the kitchen table and put it into his mouth, turning to watch what Cal was doing. "Yeah, in a sec."
Ryou sighed, crossed his arms and watched him, shaking his head. Bicky might've reached the hall ceiling at Ryou's apartment, but he still hadn't learned to listen to his elders. Luckily Ryou was patient enough to wait, because eventually, Bicky did what he was told. He just always had to do it in his own pace and time.
Cal turned to poke Bicky, leaving a trace of flour on top of Bicky's nose. "No, you can't have a taste. And stop eating those candies, they're for the cakes!"
"What? I only ate two."
"You ate four. Now kiss the cook and get out of my kitchen."
Bicky grinned and gave her a quick kiss.
"C'mon," Ryou said and led Bicky out of the door, "let's leave her to work her magic."
The apartment was a mess. The renovation and redecoration, Ryou moving in and now the party preparations, all in rapid succession, had resulted in something just short of chaos. Bicky had claimed Ryou's apartment as his when Ryou had moved in with Dee. The lease didn't end until the end of the next month, so it was only convenient to have someone live in the apartment until then. Not to mention that Ryou really preferred Bicky having his parties in a place Ryou didn't have to clean up afterwards. But in the last few days, Bicky had been helping out with the moving and redecoration, so he had pretty much moved into Dee's apartment, too. Cal followed with him, naturally, and with the four of them there, the place was getting stuffy and messy, because both Dee and Bicky seemed to radiate disorder wherever they went.
Not to mention that it was hard to get any private time with Dee, both of them being so busy with work and the renovation - and now with Bicky and Cal there, to boot. The restroom at the station had never seen so much action.
Ryou picked up one of Bicky's sneakers from the couch and handed it to him. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'll vacuum the TV room and the hall. You go take a mop, a bucket of water and a floor cloth from the broom closet over there and mop the floors and wipe the surfaces."
"You can't *see* most of the surfaces," Bicky pointed out, looking pointedly at the pile of five empty pizza boxes on top of the TV.
Ryou smiled at him briskly. "That's why you're going to clear them while I'm vacuuming." He patted the protesting Bicky on the shoulder. "There are trash bags in the closet."
Bicky turned his cap's visor back. "But I was just gonna call Rai and ask if he's coming."
Ryou sighed. "We've been over this, Bicky. You can stay for a while, but you, or your friends, are *not* going to stay for the whole party. You have your own place now, so why don't you take your friends there?"
"'Cause all the food and drink's gonna be here."
"If you're planning on eating all the food, snitching all the alcohol and then running back to my old apartment, you're dead wrong, mister." Ryou took Bicky's cap and put it back on his head the right way around, pulling the visor down to cover his eyes. "Mop."
"Aw, man..."
Ryou went to get the vacuum cleaner and, picking up random pieces of food and clothing and putting them on the table for Bicky to go through, vacuumed the TV room and the hall. The rest, he left for the kids; he'd already done his share of the work. It was about time Bicky and Cal stopped lying around bumming food and started doing something. Ryou wiped his brow on his sleeve and put the vacuum cleaner into the corner. He glanced at Bicky to make sure he was working. Now Bicky and Cal had something to occupy themselves with, which meant that he could sneak away for a while. He threw an empty Coke can from the bookshelf to the trash and went to the newly renovated part of the apartment, in search of his payment for all the cleaning he had been doing that day.
***
Finding Dee was simple: Ryou just had to follow the cursing. They had had a lot of trouble with the electric wiring in the room that was going to be Dee's "music room"; his new stereo equipment needed more sockets than he had at first thought, and they had had the electrician over two times already. Ryou's computer was also going to be in that room, so they wanted to get the wiring right. Right now, the room was empty except for Ryou's desk and chair; there was no way Dee would endanger his precious stereo equipment by keeping it in the room while the renovation continued.
Dee was standing on Ryou's wheeled office chair, trying to get the shade of the pendant lamp to stay in place. He looked about ready to give up, and growled at the lamp as if threatening it would make it do his bidding. The chair swung dangerously as Dee forcefully tried to thrust the shade into its place.
"C'mon, you fuckin' no good piece of shit..." he muttered from between his teeth.
Ryou walked to him and put his hands on the back of the chair to keep it from swinging. He looked up at Dee - and, admittedly, his butt, which was right in front of Ryou's face, nicely clad in worn-down jeans. Ryou could almost hear it calling for him. "Still fighting the good fight?"
Dee turned around. He wore a bandanna to keep the hair off his face. A drop of sweat slowly made its way down his throat. Ryou stared at it as it disappeared under the collar of Dee's white t-shirt, which clung to his skin at his pecs...
Ryou couldn't believe how easily he could get a hard-on these days. His cock seemed to think he was a teenager again. And all the trigger he needed was standing right in front of him with a lamp shade in his hand.
Dee made a face. "I can't get the fucking thing to stay in place. I don't suppose you remember how you did it when you put it up in your bedroom?"
The words "fucking" and "bedroom" struck a chord in Ryou. Dee must've seen the 'sex-now-and-not-a-second-later' look in Ryou's eyes. Normally, Dee would've pounced him already. Was he playing a game, teasing Ryou until he was ready to burst out of his pants? He'd done that sort of thing before. Ryou wasn't sure, so he decided to play with him, for now. "No, sorry. I got it from my aunt; she said it was antique, so it's no wonder it's difficult to adjust."
Dee hopped down from the chair - something that would've resulted in him spread out on the floor if Ryou hadn't been holding the chair for him. Not that it was that far from Ryou's objective, of course.
Dee put the lamp shade on the desk with an air of defeat. "Oh, what the hell. I'll look at it again tomorrow. We're not gonna allow guests into this room anyway, so what's the hurry?"
Ryou fanned himself with his hand. "Hmm, point taken."
"How's Cal doing? No signs of smoke yet, so I suppose the kitchen is still intact?"
Ryou was getting tired of the game. He wanted to get out of the impersonal, unfinished room. Was it just him or was this room hotter than the rest of the apartment? Could well be, since it didn't have any windows or other means of air-conditioning. And how long would Dee see fit to ignore the bulge in his pants? But Ryou wasn't ready to admit defeat yet. "If Cal destroyed the kitchen, that would be the last she ever saw of it. Or anything made in it."
"Aaww, come on, lover," Dee said and grinned - if Ryou had had any doubts of whether or not he had noticed Ryou's condition, they vanished now, "we still have the other kitchen for you to be domestic in."
Ah, to hell with it. Ryou closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Dee's waist demandingly. "There are other places I'd rather be domestic in right now," he said in a low voice, starting to lick and kiss Dee's throat. The salty taste and the feel of Dee's quickening pulse against his lips made him growl deep in his throat.
Dee let out a choked laugh and grabbed Ryou's head, burying his fingers in his hair and forcing him to kiss his throat more forcefully. Dee's other hand crawled to Ryou's butt. "How long was that - almost ten hours with no sex? Damn, I've taught you too well."
Ryou nibbled at the sensitive skin under Dee's jawbone, then moved up to look him in the eyes. "Stop taking all the credit for yourself." Dee leaned forward and Ryou kissed him as deeply as he could, the sparring of their tongues the only thing he could concentrate on for a while. Dee's hands wandered to Ryou's belt buckle, hastily opening it and pulling at the buttons of his jeans, and somewhere along the way Ryou untied the shirt from Dee's hips and let it fall onto the ground.
Ryou pulled back to catch his breath again. "And... and that's *eleven* hours you've kept me waiting." He tugged Dee's shirt up, letting his hands feel the warm skin and the familiar form of Dee's upper body.
Dee came to his assistance and pulled the shirt over his head, then crossed his arms over his bare chest and smirked. "I still win with the seven years *you* teased *me*, you naughty little vixen."
Ryou couldn't help laughing. Did Dee even realize how silly he sounded, calling him by a new cheesy pet name every minute?
"Not 'crafty love-bunny' like last night?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow as he slowly started opening the buttons of his shirt and taking it off, knowing Dee liked to watch.
Dee licked his lips, his eyes taking on the lusty look that always seemed to burn holes into Ryou's skin. "Wise-ass."
Ryou stepped out of his jeans and came to Dee, enjoying the feel of his eyes on him. "You should know all there is to know about my ass. Now, move it." He gave Dee a short but passionate kiss, snaked three fingers under the waistband of Dee's jeans and started dragging him towards the bedroom.
Dee allowed Ryou to pull him along to the hallway, but then wrapped his arm possessively around Ryou from behind and pulled him flush against his chest. "How come we never fuck in the rooms that are being renovated?" He sounded out of breath; his voice tingled with laughter and arousal. "First I thought you were obsessed with only doing it in the bedroom, but..."
Ryou silenced him momentarily by turning to kiss him and groped around until he found the door handle, then kicked the bedroom door open. "Welcome to reality, Mr. Latener. You're living with an orderly person who isn't big on - mmh - big on having sex in the m - hey! - middle of sawdust, dirty old newspapers and still-wet paint. Now get to the bed before I lose my nerve."
Ryou gave the chuckling Dee a push towards the bed and, checking the hallway for the last time for the kids, closed the door behind them.
He had to admit to himself that he liked the bedroom - Dee's paintings on the walls, Dee's bedside lamp, and Ryou's parents' old bed. It was a pleasant mix of the old and the new in his life. He got into the bed, absently noticing that it hadn't been made that morning. Well, all the better. He threw the covers to the side.
"C'mere," Dee said in a low voice as he wriggled out of his jeans and briefs.
Ryou helped him get rid of them, freeing Dee's other hand so that it could pull down Ryou's boxers. Kicking them somewhere, Ryou threw Dee down on his back and started kissing his way down his lover's chest. Today he was going to do with Dee as he pleased. He was getting to know most of Dee's sweet spots, but since Dee was always so loud during sex, it was hard to tell which they were. Or maybe Dee's body was one huge erogenous zone. It wouldn't be all that surprising...
Dee groaned as Ryou let the backs of his hands travel over Dee's nipples. Ryou smiled against his upper stomach muscles. Slight touches always seemed to elicit the kind of reactions he liked best. He was suddenly reminded of the time Dee had shivered when Ryou had first licked around his nipples, then blown on them. Making a mental note to try it again soon, Ryou quickly kissed his way down Dee's stomach and sides, then brought one hand down to teasingly slide down Dee's shaft before gripping the base firmly.
He looked at Dee's face. Dee was leaning against the huge pillow, half-sitting and half-lying, completely relaxed and open to his lover's touch. His eyes were half-closed and they gleamed dangerously; a wide, hungry smile was on his lips. He reminded Ryou of a large feline; his wildcat of a pet to tame and teach tricks to.
"I seem to recall from the day before yesterday..." Ryou slid down so that he was lying comfortably between Dee's legs and gave the head of his erect cock a quick, but wet kiss, tasting the slightly bitter pre-come. Dee tensed and moaned deep in his throat. "I seem to recall you saying that I need a little training in this department." Ryou put his hands on Dee's thighs and looked up again, as if asking permission, which most obviously wasn't needed.
Dee sounded out of breath when he laughed. "Far be it from me to say, but - oh, God, Ryou, yes..."
Without waiting to hear Dee's reply, Ryou started licking and kissing down the shaft, trying to avoid the most sensitive spots, keeping in mind that he was supposed to slowly tease Dee. He had to use his hands to hold Dee's hips down when he moved to the head and took it slowly into his mouth, savoring the bitter taste and the warmth and the thickness.
He pulled back after giving the head one careful suck. He glanced at Dee's face. "Don't forget to warn me, okay?"
Dee answered by moaning demandingly and burying his hand in Ryou's hair, pulling his head back down. Ryou pushed his hand away; he didn't like it when someone held his head when he did this, it distracted him.
Ryou licked his lips. How delicious and inviting could a penis look? Well, not much more than the one in front of him. He started by slowly licking from the base of the cock to just below the blushed head, remembering that this was his own favorite. Judging by Dee's groaning, he seemed to like it, too. Encouraged, Ryou took the cock into his mouth as far as he could comfortably manage. He expectantly pushed Dee's hips back down onto the mattress when Dee threatened to buck and choke Ryou. Starting to slowly move his head up and down around the cock, Ryou slid his hands up Dee's warm and well-toned body, tracing the tensed muscles and the ribs that could be felt when Dee arched up his upper body. He could hear Dee breathing in short, loud gasps. Ryou pulled away slightly so that only the head of Dee's cock was in his mouth before brushing his fingers over Dee's nipple.
"Ahh!" Dee threw his head back and groped around for something to grab onto. "Again, Ryou, oh fucking *Christ*!"
Ryou took the cock out of his mouth, then brought two of his fingers to his mouth, licking them slowly. Dee watched him, mesmerized. Ryou then moved his fingers up Dee's chest, tracing little paths, before catching a nipple between his fingers and slowly teasing it to harden into a cute, dark nub.
Dee thrashed against the huge pillows. He was moaning loudly, but Ryou had become so accustomed to hearing Dee moan and groan like a tiger in heat when they made love that it had been reduced to pleasant background noise; the incidental music of their own private show. It still didn't mean that he would ignore it. He could tell Dee was close, and decided to be merciful. After all, he was starting to lose control himself, and he still had plans.
Ryou took Dee's cock into his mouth again, this time letting his tongue awkwardly run across the very tip, allowing the salty, bitter taste to spread to every corner of his mouth. He pushed Dee's thighs onto the mattress forcefully, feeling the heat and the tensing muscles under his hands. The heat going through him in a delicious wave, Ryou began to suck on Dee, moving his head steadily up and down.
Among Dee's frantic nonsensical muttering, one particular word made a sudden sense to Ryou. "Stop, Ryou, oh-my-god-you're... Oh holy motherfucking *God*, please, you have to stop now!"
Ryou quickly pulled back. He sat up and kneeled between Dee's legs. He stared at his lover's beautiful cock, which seemed to draw his eyes to it automatically; knowing that with one touch, he could make Dee kiss the stars. Drunk on the feeling of power he had over Dee, Ryou reached out and, letting his other hand play with Dee's left nipple, stroked him until he let out a choked, shocked moan and came, throwing his head back.
It was enticing; Dee was enticing, his whole body tensing for one brief moment, before totally relaxing against the crumbled bedsheets. His house tiger... Ryou stroked his own cock once, felt it aching under his fingers.
Dee sat up, his movements feline and boneless as he wrapped his arms around Ryou and kissed him hotly and thoroughly. "Thanks," he said, his voice hardly audible against Ryou's lips. "You're getting wickedly good."
Ryou smirked. "I'm not finished."
Dee chuckled a little, tucking a few firm, sucking kisses under Ryou's ear. "I can feel you're not." His hand sneaked to lightly slide down Ryou's cock.
Ryou had to mentally brace himself before he moved away and reached under the bed. It was this side of the bed, wasn't it...? Ah, of course it was.
He threw the K-Y to Dee, ignoring the way his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Your turn to get moving. C'mere and prepare me."
One of these days Dee was going to grin so wide he'd split his head open.
***
After finally making the painful decision to put on some clothes and leave the bed, Ryou found that they were running out of time; it was already half past three. The kids were now nowhere to be seen but they had obviously been watching TV at some point; you didn't have to be a detective to find out, given all the popcorn spread over the place. Two teenagers in love and a bowl of popcorn were too much for one couch, Ryou observed. A lovely scent came from the kitchen, something resembling good curry, but a touch different. What exactly was Cal making, anyway? She wouldn't say, telling Ryou only that it was her special recipe.
Dee began putting together the music equipment and hunting for all his CDs, now scattered throughout the apartment like almost everything else.
Ryou walked through the apartment. It looked okay; at least the rooms they didn't lock up for the party. That meant three rooms were off-limits, one of them rather spacious... Ryou tried to add in his head how many people would be coming and how they would all fit in. "Dee?" he called, wandering back to the living room.
Dee looked at him from behind a huge amplifier he was setting into the corner as carefully as if it was a newborn baby.
"How many people from Mother Maria's orphanage are actually coming tonight?"
"Well, there's Nicky, and Chris and Bailey," Dee started to list, "and Barry, of course, and Barry might bring a couple 'a band members with him..."
Ryou whistled. "I hope they're not spending the night. We have two apartments, and we can't even fit all the guys from work here."
Dee put down the amplifier and shrugged. "So let's not pour all the vodka bottles into the punch."
The kitchen door opened a crack and Bicky's frowning face appeared in the doorway. "Wait, wait, wait, you got several bottles? You said I couldn't have any 'cause you only have one! Dee, you fucking cheat!"
"Bicky!" Ryou said reprimandingly.
"What did you just call me?" Dee asked, in a dangerous, low voice, and pointed his finger demandingly at Bicky.
"I called you a lying cheat!"
Dee raised his eyebrows, sucked on his teeth and moved to stand in the middle of living room, his hands on his hips. "Bicky? C'mere for a sec."
Bicky scowled at him. "What?"
"Come on, I don't wanna talk to a disembodied head." Dee made a beckoning move with his hand, keeping his gaze down.
Ryou had a hunch of what Dee had in mind. He smiled and leaned against the wall.
Bicky emerged from the kitchen - Ryou would always think of it as Cal's Kitchen, he suddenly realized - and, looking only a little wary, walked over to Dee and faced him defiantly.
Dee kept looking at the floor, not saying a word.
"So, whacha-- " Bicky started, in a loud and obnoxious voice, but it immediately changed into a yelp as Dee grabbed his arm and, swiftly and effectively, twisted it behind Bicky's back, turning the youngster roughly around.
Ryou might've been concerned if this wasn't his partner. He had Dee's bodywork down to a science and knew when Dee was truly mad and able to inflict damage, and when he was just playing the bad cop. All his moves were familiar to Ryou; he had observed them a hundred times when they were holding down struggling suspects. Dee knew what he was doing; he was just aiming to keep Bicky down.
Dee took hold of Bicky's shoulder and, still gripping Bicky's other hand firmly, pulled Bicky down and to him. When Bicky started to struggle, Dee put him in a choker hold, forcing his head back. He moved close to Bicky so that his nose almost touched Bicky's cheek. "Look at me, brat. Look at me!"
Grudgingly, Bicky turned his head a little and squinted at Dee. He was gritting his teeth.
"Do I look like a fucking dumbass to you? Huh, do I?" Dee tightened his hold on Bicky's left hand, the one he had twisted behind his back; just a little, but Ryou could see Bicky wince.
"No," Bicky said through his teeth.
"'Kay, now that we got that figured, tell me what I would be if I gave a stupid 18-year-old street rat a bottle of vodka on top of all that cheap-ass beer you've got hidden in the closet?"
"Let go of my fuckin' hand!" Bicky fought against Dee's hold, and Ryou saw Dee tighten his hold again. This time, it didn't stop Bicky, who tried to sweep-kick Dee off his feet. "Are you a big bad copper now, huh? Threatenin' a fuckin' kid?"
Dee gritted his teeth, too, and Ryou could see he was using a lot of force now. "Answer the question, you little shit."
Bicky coughed when the choker hold around his throat tightened. "You'd be... you'd be a fucking dumb... ass."
"Good kid," Dee said, and let go. Immediately, Bicky spun around and punched Dee, trying to throw him down onto the floor. But Dee had been expecting it. He managed to dodge almost the whole punch, and grabbed Bicky's wrists again. This was his work, after all; he was trained to deal with people who'd try anything to get away from the cop trying to put them in.
"We're finished!" he said to Bicky, in his loud, not-taking-any-shit -voice.
Bicky snarled at him for a moment, then gave up and looked at Ryou, accusingly.
"Dee has a point, Bicky," Ryou said simply. "I don't want to find you lying under the table all yellow in the face tomorrow."
He turned his gaze to Cal, who had appeared in the doorway, her eyes big as the plate she was holding in her hands. "What are you doing?" she asked, sounding like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Dee grinned. "Family discussion. You go back to your cupcakes, little lady."
Cal's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why, you-- "
Ryou grabbed Cal before she could march over to crash Ryou's only cake plate on top of Dee's head. "All right, I think that's enough domestic disturbance for tonight. Cal, are we finally allowed into the kitchen? Because something is smelling wonderful, and I'm dying to know what it is."
"See if I cook for you ever again," Cal said, huffing, and glared at Dee. "I think I'll just take my spicy minced meat rolls and eat them with Bicky and Rai and Ras."
"Yeah!" Bicky said, smiling smugly.
"Cream cakes and chocolate mousse *and* minced meat rolls? Whoa, boy! I'm sorry for every bad word I ever said about you!" Dee kissed Cal's cheek, putting on his charm. "You little angel, pray forgive this sorry soul his faults and allow me into your kitchen of miracles."
Cal smiled a crooked smile. "The way to a man's heart seems to really be through his stomach."
Dee put his hand over his heart. "What can I say; you've seduced me."
Ryou laughed. "Well, that at least explains why you've been over at my place for dinner so often." He put his arms around Dee's waist.
Dee turned his head to give Ryou a kiss. "Nah, that just explains why you've made dinner for me so often."
Bicky walked past them, pushing Dee out of his way. "I'm starving, so can we get into the kitchen o' love already and *eat* something?"
"Not my minced meat rolls, they're for later," Cal said, bustling after him. "If you're hungry put some pasta into the microwa-- " The kitchen door clicked closed behind the two and muffled the rest of her sentence.
Ryou chuckled into Dee's neck. "Looks like we at least won't starve tonight."
"Y'know, Bailey's *bound* to bring something, too. He works in an Italian restaurant."
"Yeah?"
Dee turned around in Ryou's arms and wrapped his own arms around Ryou's shoulders. "Uh huh. And take a wild guess what Ted's gonna bring."
Ryou raised his eyebrows. "Anything Gina has made for the occasion. Which means all it'll cost him is some sweet talk."
"Can you believe that cunning bastard? We gotta make sure he doesn't get any minced meat rolls."
Ryou laughed and kissed Dee's cheek. "At least the other guys're not likely to bring in their culinary wonders. Take JJ for instance; can you really imagine him cooking anything?"
Dee made a face and pulled away, opening the kitchen door. "Yeah, he'll just bring a stun gun."
Ryou rolled his eyes and followed him inside. "Dee, honestly, if you could only take it in a little more mature w-- WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO THE KITCHEN?"
***
Since most of the guests came fashionably late, the party didn't properly begin until around eight PM. Their work buddies had been warned well beforehand, which meant that they had all fixed their shifts so that they had the whole evening off, and they were the first to arrive. Only JJ hadn't yet arrived, and Ryou was beginning to doubt whether he'd come at all. It would be understandable, but it still didn't feel right to him to exclude JJ when all the others from the squad were there, having fun. Oh, Drake seemed to be somewhat down, but Ryou didn't doubt that the evening would fix it. Drake really wasn't the sulking sort. And no matter what was said of Ted's cunning ways to keep from paying for a housewarming gift, no one complained when they saw the blackberry pie he brought. Apparently, Gina was from the South, in addition to being a domestic wonder.
Ryou was eating his third piece when the doorbell rang again. He went to open it, licking his lips, knowing he was a mess.
At the door stood a huge black man wearing a neat black-and-white-striped suit. His hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and he was grinning in an irresistibly honest way. As soon as you saw Barry's grin, you couldn't help liking him. Ryou had met him before, but not the short, sharp-looking woman beside him. On the other hand, the woman might've only looked short because she was standing next to Barry.
"Barry!"
"Hi, Ryou, it's been a while," Barry said in his deep, toe-curling voice and shook Ryou's hand heartily before Ryou even came to think of offering it.
Ryou smiled. "Good to see you, too, and welcome. Who's your companion, I don't think we've met before?" The woman smiled readily, and suddenly Ryou understood. It was all in her mouth. "You wouldn't happen to be Jill, would you?"
"One and the same." They shook hands; her grip was nice and strong, and all in all, she was radiating the same kind of immediate likeability as Barry. "Nice to meet you. Was it Randy...?"
"Ryou or Randy, pick whichever you like. Hope you enjoy yourself, Jill." He moved out of the way to let the two in. "Better hurry if you want blackberry pie; there's nothing as hungry as a bunch of off duty police detectives."
Barry laughed. Ryou could've sworn he felt it through the floor. "I bet our band could beat you guys on that account, ten to clean, plain zero. Dee!" he then shouted, and at least three heads turned immediately, "where're you hiding, you little scurryin' rat?"
Ryou turned to look at Jill, who had picked up a glass and was pouring some punch for herself. "Are you in the music business too, Jill?"
"No, I'm afraid I'm in ol' boring travel industry. But Barry keeps our family's eccentric levels from going down." She chuckled and took a sip of the punch. "I sometimes sing backgrounds when they're playing somewhere near and the time's okay with my schedule, but it's not a career for me."
"I take it you grew up under Penguin's wing, too." Ryou took the meat roll plate and offered one to her.
She shook her head. "No, thanks. I don't eat red meat. And no, I was raised in a foster home in New Jersey. I didn't find out I had a big brother until I was thirteen."
Ryou looked down. He should've known; he had seen enough similar cases at work. Many siblings got sent to different orphanages and foster homes, some intentionally, after one sibling had committed a crime and the social workers didn't want their siblings to get bad influences. Technically, it was possible Dee had a sibling somewhere. But there was no way of knowing...
*Even though it's painful to know my parents were killed,* Ryou thought, *at least I know for sure. At least I know.*
"It must be strange, suddenly finding out you have siblings."
Jill smiled a crooked smile. "Barry's been a two-hundred-percent big brother to me ever since we first met. I consider the past made up for." She took a cream cake, looking at it as if suspecting it had red meat hidden inside it. "You have to learn to do that sort of thing. Forgive and forget. I'm sure you guys have to do the same in your profession."
"Yeah, that's true. We all have our ghosts, though. After a decade in NYPD, you'd have to be made of Teflon to not have gathered any excess baggage."
Right after saying it, Ryou noticed Dee was looking at him through the crowd. He made a beckoning move with his head.
"But, anyway, I think Dee wants to see you, too," Ryou said to Jill. "Come on, let's go sit on the couch."
Jill followed his gaze to the couch where Dee was sitting with a couple of guests, including Barry, who was impossible to miss. "Tell Dee I'll be there, but first, could you show me where the toilet is?"
"Sure. Go through that hallway, turn right and it's the door to the right." Ryou smiled. "The broom closet door next to it looks exactly the same."
"Thanks," Jill said and nodded, and went off.
Ryou poured himself some punch and went over to where Dee was sitting, in the far corner of the room where they had pushed the big TV room couch. Drake was sitting next to Dee, leaning his elbows on his knees, which made him look slumped, and Barry was showing Dee a CD.
"It's like I say, a cover artist is only a cover artist if he's a pure hundred-percent anal retentive shithead," Barry was just stating.
Dee raised his glass. "I'll take your word for it. Huh, Drake?" He elbowed Drake, who looked up and blinked like a bat in the daylight.
Ryou sat on the armrest next to Dee and looked at Drake over Dee's head. "Were you on night shift yesterday? You sure look like it."
Drake raked his hair off his face and twiddled the glass he was holding in his hand. "Nah. 'M okay."
"But hey, Barry, let's go over your CD a little later, when everyone's here to hear it, too," Dee said rather pointedly, offering the CD back to Barry.
Barry took it and fluidly, slipped it into his breast pocket. Or so Ryou thought, anyway; it happened too fast for him to see where the man had magicked the object.
*Former pickpocket,* Ryou thought, automatically.
"Sure, Dee. Catch you later." Barry turned and went to introduce himself to Ted.
Ryou nudged Dee. "What's so important you had to send him away?" Dee just grabbed Ryou's punch from his hand. "Hey!"
Offering Ryou's punch to Drake without looking at him, Dee said, "This guy here is dead set on getting piss-ass drunk, and as a good host, who am I to say no? By the way, smooth move to send Jill away before you came over."
"I didn't - she left on her own!" Ryou looked at him incredulously. "Why would I-- " He then looked at Drake, who was now chuckling in a low voice. Suddenly, the pieces fell into their places. So Drake didn't like seeing Jill, despite what he had told Dee.
"Is okay, I'm bound to run into her over and over again anyways." Drake gulped down Ryou's punch and gave the glass back to Dee. "It's my karma, or some shit like that. Good punch."
Ryou frowned and reached over to put his hand on Drake's shoulder. Maybe Dee was okay with letting his guests do as they pleased, but they sure as hell didn't wallow in melancholy if Ryou had any say in the matter. "Hey, Drake, I'm sorry. I thought Dee said you were okay with Jill coming here, too."
Drake laughed a little as he looked up at Ryou. His eyes were somewhat hazy. "Yah, well, it is. I am. I gotta speak with her anyways. She bring Stevie with her?"
Dee looked at Drake, a half-smile on his face. "No, I don't think she did. And you're getting closer to your glorious goal; you're slipping back to Packer Country speech."
Drake just smiled tiredly and got up to go to the punch bowl for a refill.
Ryou looked at Dee, worried. "Is he going to be okay?"
Dee chuckled and leaned back, wrapping his arm around Ryou's waist. "Yeah. Drake just needs to punctuate how much the world hates him, occasionally."
"Yeah, but still..."
"Don't worry about him. Drake should be used to getting dumped by now." Dee smiled a little and shrugged.
Ryou's eyes suddenly spotted a familiar-looking vest among the crowd. "Hey, I think I just saw JJ." Bailey moved out of the way and Ryou got a clear view of JJ, who was leaning against the wall, talking with someone. "He must've sneaked in earlier when Nicky went to open the door for Marty."
"Oh, great. Hide me."
Ryou gave Dee the Look. Dee kissed him lovingly. Ryou could only be dumbfounded at his powers of distraction, because they seemed to work every time.
Drake came back with his glass filled and sat down. Jill followed close behind him. She had tied her chin-length black hair into a ponytail, like her brother.
"Dee," Jill said and smiled, "get up so that I can give you a hug."
"Hi," Dee said, and grinning, did as told. "It's been far too long. I'm sorry I had to miss your gig last week. How did it go?"
Ryou glanced at Drake. It was hard to tell, but to him it seemed that Drake wasn't as gloomy as before. On the other hand, Drake was on his approximately fourth glass of punch. He was watching Jill somewhat warily, although there wasn't much tension in the air.
"Oh, fine. Some technical problems, but they're unavoidable." Jill let go of Dee. Her hug had a calculated feel to it. It occurred to Ryou that many of her moves did. They seemed like she had planned them all well beforehand. "This looks like a nice place you've got here. I love those bookshelves that are made of bricks. Gotta remember that one."
Dee sat back down. "It's hell to renovate, but it's slowly starting to resemble some kind of a home. Hey, Bicky!" he then called, and Ryou's eyes followed his to the tall teenager, who was just picking up a piece of pie. Bicky took the piece, shoved his other hand into the pocket of his pants and sauntered over to them.
"Weren't you supposed to get going?" Ryou asked, fixing a stern stare at Bicky.
Bicky shrugged and took a bite of the pie. "I'm waitin' for Rai."
"Bicky, say hi to Jill," Dee said, nudging Bicky with his foot. "She's Barry's sister."
"Nice to meetcha," Bicky said and nodded to Jill dutifully. Then he noticed Drake and grinned smugly. "Hey, old man. If you want someone to kick your ass in basketball, I'm free."
Drake grinned back. "You're dreaming, pal. And next time we're playing by real rules, not by your crooked street rat rules. You'll go down like a shot duck."
Bicky chuckled. "I'll kick your fucking ass."
"You're gonna regret you said that. Mark my words, you're gonna." Drake got up, going through his pockets to find his Down Town Lights. "Now, though, if you'll excuse me."
Jill looked at him. She had a calculatedly kindly smile on her face. "I'll come with you to the balcony, I need some fresh air."
Drake looked at her funny, then nodded absent-mindedly.
Dee nudged Bicky with his foot again. "Go on, you get going, too. You've bummed enough food already."
"Okay, okay! Stop kicking me!" Bicky rolled his eyes. "But I'll be back tomorrow to get the rest of my stuff. Oh, and hey, Drake," Bicky then added, seemingly suddenly remembering something, "that JJ was looking for you."
Dee laughed. "My, you're a wanted man all of a sudden, Drake."
Ryou saw a strange expression pass over Drake's face at that comment. For a moment, he seemed very vulnerable, as if some kind of a mask had slipped off his face. His brows burrowed into a sad, concerned frown. "Yeah, I guess," he muttered softly and turned away. Jill followed him.
Drake rarely had that look of raw feeling on his face. Ryou thought back, trying to remember when he had last seen it.
*Oh, c'mon, Dee! Lay off the poor kid, already! JJ, are you okay?*
Could it be? Now that he came to think of it, Drake had always treated JJ sort of tenderly. He was always looking after JJ, defending him when Dee lost his nerve with him. Sure, the two were partners, and partners looked after each other, but still...
And what had that look on JJ's face been on Tuesday at the gym, when Ryou had spotted him staring at Drake? Ryou had only ever seen JJ look at Dee like that, and usually he was clobbered over the head for it.
Dee poked him. "Hey. Whatcha plannin'?"
Ryou shook his head slowly. "Nothing. I was just thinking you might've hit closer to the truth than you know."