Title: Brainwave

Author: badly-knitted

Characters: Ryo, Dee.

Rating: PG

Setting: After Like Like Love.

Summary: There's a heatwave, the power's out, and Ryo and Dee can't sleep, but they have ice cream in the freezer…

Word Count: 752

Written For: juliet316's prompt 'Author's choice, author's choice, there's nothing like ice cream on a hot summer's day (or night),' at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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Groaning quietly, Ryo flopped over onto his back again, trying to find a slightly cooler spot to lie in, but it was an exercise in futility; nothing was cool in this heat.

"You can't sleep either?" The voice in the darkness sounded like it was coming from over near the window, and when Ryo turned his head in that direction he could just make out Dee, silhouetted against the open casement. Why he'd opened it was anyone's guess since there wasn't a breath of a breeze to be had. Open or closed, it wouldn't make any difference to the temperature in their bedroom.

"How did you guess?" Ryo asked dully, giving up his fruitless attempt to get comfortable. He sat up, sliding his legs off the edge of the bed, the polished wood floor feeling unpleasantly tacky beneath his bare feet. He knew he shouldn't be surprised by any of this. Rolling brownouts in summer always meant periods with no air conditioning, and for some reason they were more likely to occur in the middle of the night when people were desperately trying to get some badly needed sleep in order to cope with working through the heat of the day. In weather like this, Ryo preferred working the night shift, but right now he and Dee were working days.

"Oh, the rolling around and groaning were a pretty major clue," Dee replied with wry amusement, sounding as wrung out as Ryo felt.

Ryo couldn't help but sympathise; what he wouldn't give for a bath full of snow, or a bucket of ice cubes, or a big dish of…

"Ice cream!"

Dee shifted on the windowsill. "Excuse me? Did I just zone out and miss something?" He sounded confused.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" As far as Ryo was concerned, it was his partner who wasn't making sense.

"You said 'ice cream'."

"I did? Sorry; thinking aloud."

"S'okay." There was silence for a minute, then Dee said, "Ice cream. Have we got any?"

"In the freezer, but with the power out we should keep it closed."

"Screw that." Dee slid off the windowsill and fumbled on the nightstand until he found the flashlight they'd taken to keeping there during the heatwave. "I can have it open and shut in less than thirty seconds, and be back here with a tub of Rocky Road and two spoons before you know it."

"Why?"

"Because ice cream sounds pretty damn good in this heat, that's why. Might cool us off enough that we can get some sleep."

"No, I mean why come back here?"

"Because you're here?" Dee suggested. "Why? You got a better idea?"

"Roof. You get the ice cream, I'll grab a sheet, and we'll go up there. Can't be any hotter than in here."

Dee thought about that, forcing his muzzy brain to work. "Okay, sure." He headed out of the bedroom while Ryo dug his flashlight out of a drawer, slotted fresh batteries into it by feel, and flicked it on. He found an old sheet in the linen cupboard and after closing the bedroom window, just in case any would-be burglars might be looking for an easy score, wandered barefoot after his lover, who was over by the door shoving his feet into sneakers. Finding his own, Ryo put them on, then looked at Dee and stifled a giggle.

"D'you think we should put something else on?" All they were wearing aside from the sneakers was their boxers.

"Nah, no one's gonna see us; it's the middle of the night, the power's out, and we're on the top floor. Besides, if anyone else has the same idea as us and comes up on the roof, I doubt they'll be wearin' much more than we are."

"I suppose you're right."

"I am. Now, let's get up there and eat this ice cream before it melts."

"Lead the way."

So that was why they found themselves sitting on the roof of their building at three in the morning, almost naked, and sharing a tub of ice cream. They stayed there until the power came back on an hour or so later, then retreated to the slightly cooler air-conditioned environment of their apartment to hopefully get some sleep.

"We should get another couple tubs of ice cream on our way home from work tomorrow," Ryo mumbled tumbling onto the bed. "Might need them."

"Uh huh," Dee agreed sleepily.

Thanks to their brilliant brainwave it looked like they might actually survive the heat.

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The End