Legends
Part 1
Author's Notes: This is a crossover fic in which the characters from the two different manga series never actually interact because some of the action takes place in 1910 and the rest in 2010.
Fandom info:
Fake is a manga about 2 NYC police detectives – Ryo (aka Randy), reserved,
methodical and prone to overthinking, and Dee, brash, impulsive and big-hearted.
Partnered at work, they eventually become partners at home. This part of the
story is set in 2010. Ryo's adopted son, Bikky, now in college, will be
mentioned but won't appear in the story. Their supervisor at work is Berkeley
Rose, a man who once pursued Ryo and who enjoys annoying Dee.
Gorgeous Carat is the story of Count Ray Balzac Courland and his companion, the
penniless aristocrat Florian du Rochefort. Florian sold himself to Ray to pay
off his family's debt and soon discovered Ray's secret identity - Noir, the
phantom jewel thief. Their part of this story is set in 1910 and Ray and Florian
have been together for 10 years. Their friend Laila, once Ray's servant and
friend has just married Solomon Sugar, a detective who has been trying to
capture Noir for years, but who has also proven to be a friend to Ray and
Florian.
(Gorgeous Carat fandom overview available here
*****
NYC 2010
"Hey, who do you know in Paris?"
Dee dropped the rest of the mail onto the chair – the usual dull assortment of
bills and junk mail. The thin vellum envelope in his hand, however, was far from
dull.
He cast a glance towards the kitchen where Ryo was in his usual
dinner-preparation bubble, earphones in and ipod turned up higher than necessary
out of years of habit. It's not like he needed to drown out Dee and Bikky's
pre-dinner "discussions" anymore. Not when the brat was on the opposite coast
enjoying college and California life.
"Hey!" Dee entered the kitchen just as Ryo was putting a bowl of – was that
vegetable soup again? – on the table. Dee waited until the bowl was safely
placed before trapping Ryo up against the edge of the table and waving the
letter in front of him.
"What's that?" Ryo shouted before remembering to remove his earphones. Dee could
hear the music clearly now – how could Ryo stand it that loud?
"Secret codes?" Dee suggested. "Got your decoder ring handy?" It was a joking
reference to a recent art robbery case solved when Ryo managed to decrypt a
message left by the thief. Drake and the other detectives, egged on by Dee, had
solemnly presented Ryo with a shiny plastic decoder ring in recognition of his
achievement.
"Give me that." Ryo snatched the letter out of his hand and studied it,
frowning. "Slice the bread for me?" he asked absently.
"No signs of tampering. Flat. No unusual odor, colorings or markings. Appears to
be a single sheet of stationery in a rather nice envelope. Return address
pre-printed, the delivery address hand-written." Ryo continued to list his
observations until Dee let out a sigh, grabbed the letter and used the bread
knife to open it. A quick glance to confirm that there were no powdery
substances inside and he handed it back.
"Here. Read it. The soup's getting cold."
"Would it be such a strain to follow procedure just once? You could consider it
a novelty."
"I consider you a novelty. I'll even prove it later. After you read the letter!"
He grinned, waiting for Ryo's response but instead, he was left waiting as Ryo
removed the single page, tri-folded and opened it.
"Well?"
"It's a newspaper article. From…" He squinted at the print and considered
getting his glasses but Dee moved to stand behind him and read the date of his
shoulder.
"1910? Why is someone sending you a copy of a 100 year old newspaper clipping?
From Paris? In French?"
"You know as much as I do about it," Ryo countered, struggling his way through
the short article, trying to remember some of what he’d learned years ago in
high school French class.
"I think it's a wedding announcement. Laila – that's the bride, I think. And
there's Rochefort and Courland – those must be names."
"Which one's the groom?" Dee wondered.
"Neither. The groom's name was Solomon Sugar."
*****
PARIS 1910
"Tired?" Ray asked, leaning down to offer a flute of champagne to his companion.
Florian accepted with a grateful smile and took a sip. He'd already had more
champagne than he usually drank but it was a special occasion.
"A little," Florian confessed, watching as Ray sat on the edge of the armchair.
He leaned over so his head was resting against Ray's side, Ray's arm settling
around his shoulders. Muffled sounds could be heard from the next room where the
staff and hired help were clearing away the remnants of the small reception.
"It was a beautiful wedding," Florian said at last, his eyes bright with
memories of the short ceremony and the much longer reception afterwards. It was
well past one in the morning and the last of the guests had just left.
"You do know we're never doing this again?" Ray stole Florian's champagne and
drained the glass, while he toyed with Florian's hair. He'd gotten a trim for
the wedding and it was shorter than Ray liked it.
"No arguments from me," Florian assured him. "Besides, we seem to be out of
brides."
"Thankfully," Ray snorted. "If we'd had to endure more of Laila's tempers, I
would have bribed Michel to leave her off on a deserted island."
"You would not," Florian countered, laughing. "Solomon did have his hands full,
didn't he?"
"Always will now that they're married." Ray shook his head, amused. "It's not a
pairing I would have expected."
"They do care for each other," Florian replied, a hint of wistfulness in his
voice.
"They're not the only ones." Ray assured him, leaning down for an awkward kiss.
He pulled back and stood, setting the empty glass aside so he could offer his
hand to Florian. "The musicians left but that doesn't mean we can't finally have
our dance." He bowed with a flourish, never letting go of Florian’s hand. "May
I?"
"I would be honored." Florian slid comfortably into Ray's embrace, pressing
himself closer than necessary for their imaginary waltz but it didn't matter;
they'd had plenty of practice dancing like this.
*****
NYC 2010
"Find anything?" Dee asked as he wandered in from the kitchen where he'd just
finished washing the supper dishes. He still had the dishtowel draped over his
shoulder and Ryo gave it a frown but didn't say anything before returning his
attention to the computer.
"Basic searches didn't turn up anything useful so I'm going to try some of the
research tools we have at work. It's taking forever to login." Ryo was leaning
in towards the computer screen, glasses perched on the end of his nose and
expression set in stubborn mode. Dee sighed and went for his laptop. Might as
well forget the idea of trying to lure Ryo into bed early.
"You won't bother me if you want to watch TV," Ryo said, glancing over as Dee
set his laptop on the table near Ryo's.
"Nothing interesting on." Dee waved the idea off and settled in for a few hours
of staring at the computer. He'd hated the idea of the laptops when the
department first bought them; he'd even tried to convince their boss that he and
Ryo could share one. He still remembered the fake smile on Berkeley Rose's face
when he'd delivered the first of the new department laptops to Dee personally.
Dee had been happy to have the thing many times since then, even if he wasn't
happy that police detectives spent as much time staring at a computer as they
did interviewing witnesses and looking for evidence. He glanced over at Ryo who
was working his way methodically through the usual search engines and databases.
Ryo was good, but Dee preferred less routine and more instinct when he searched.
Confident that he wasn't duplicating Ryo's efforts, he opened his bookmark
folder and picked one of the links at random.
*****
PARIS 1910
"We should go somewhere," Ray suggested as he pushed away his empty dinner
plate. He smiled at Florian's surprised expression. The blond had been
distracted throughout the meal and Ray knew he was thinking about Laila and
Solomon on their honeymoon. A month-long tour of Europe had been Ray and
Florian's gift to the couple, along with the offer of Ray's mansion for the
wedding and reception. Solomon had insisted on paying the wedding expenses, but
since Florian handled the household accounts he and Ray had managed to work in a
few extras for the happy event.
"Do you mean 'we' as in just the two of us or will Noir be joining us?" After
ten years together, what had once been a sensitive subject was now something of
an amusement. Florian didn't actually approve of Ray's jewel thief alter-ego,
but he'd made peace with him. Especially since Noir's acquisitions often
resulted in anonymous donations to Florian's favorite charities.
"We could take the entire household if you wish, but I was thinking it might be
better for just the two of us to go. New York is supposed to be nice this time
of year." Of course they'd take a couple of assistants along, but compared to
their usual entourage, that was as close to traveling alone as they'd ever get.
"America?" Florian was thrilled and appalled by the idea. He was curious to
visit the country, and especially New York City, but he dreaded the thought of a
long ocean voyage and the seasickness that always accompanied it.
He looked up at Ray who was watching with bright eyes and a hopeful expression
that Florian couldn't resist even if he wanted to. With a small shake of his
head to cast aside his selfish concerns, he offered a bright smile of his own.
"When do we leave?"
"Friday. All the arrangements are made." Ray's smile turned into a
self-satisfied grin and Florian fought back the urge to throw something at him
just on principle.
"Two days. Just enough time to pack and get the household affairs in order." He
placed his napkin across his plate and stood. "I should get started."
"It can wait," Ray insisted, moving so fast to intercept his lover that Florian
barely registered the movement. "There are other things we should do first."
"I do want to finish my book," Florian said agreeably. A moment later he was
pinned against the wall, Ray pressed against him and their lips locked.
Florian returned the kiss eagerly, making a mental note to pack his book for the
journey.
*****
NYC 2010
"Hey!" Ryo protested when Dee leaned over and closed Ryo's laptop.
"Bedtime," Dee countered, shutting down his own computer and pushing away from
the table. He stood and stretched, his body angled towards Ryo so that he'd get
a good view when Dee's shirt rode up exposing a tempting bit of skin. He almost
ruined the effect by laughing at Ryo's expression; the man looked as if he was
being forced to choose between a plate of sushi and his favorite dessert.
"I'm going to take a shower." The unspoken invitation for Ryo to join him hung
in the air but Dee knew he'd won. Ryo looked down for a moment, a stray lock of
chestnut-brown hair falling over his face. He slid his glasses off and placed
them on the closed laptop. When he looked up he wore his usual determined
expression but this time it was directed fully at Dee.
It was going to be a good night after all, Dee decided as he pivoted and walked
towards the shower, using the hips-swaying walk of seduction that made Ryo
laugh, but never failed to get Dee exactly what he wanted.
"Someday that's not going to work," Ryo warned him, but the effect was ruined
when he tossed aside his clothes and stepped into the shower right behind his
partner.
Dee's dark hair was plastered to his skull and his golden skin glistened. The
desire that spiked through Ryo was as intense as the first time they'd showered
together and he couldn't resist the need to touch, to claim.
"Mine," he growled, earning a surprised and delighted laugh from Dee. It was
rare for Ryo to allow his possessiveness to show so blatantly. The rest of the
world usually saw Ryo as a soft-spoken, gentle man, and many of them couldn't
reconcile that with his job as a police detective. But Dee and a few of their
co-workers knew that soft exterior concealed a passionate, sometimes reckless
man. Only Dee knew how hard Ryo worked to suppress that side of himself. Dee
also knew that he was the only one Ryo trusted enough to allow that side of
himself free reign.
"You're not kissing me," Ryo complained, pressing Dee back against the wall,
barely missing the soap holder.
"You're the one in control," Dee pointed out, thinking that it was quite the
opposite – that Ryo's control was slipping and that Dee was about to reap the
rewards from that rare occurrence. He tilted his head just slightly and accepted
Ryo's demanding kiss.
"We're wasting water," Ryo pointed out once he pulled back. "And we're going to
have to shower again anyway." Dee happily agreed and moved aside so Ryo could
reach around and turn off the water. He let Ryo drag him out of the bathroom and
dropped willingly onto the bed. He kept grinning until Ryo did that special
trick with his tongue. After that he was far too wrapped up in sensation to
bother thinking.
*****
PARIS 1910
"Shopping for clothing in New York should be interesting." Florian commented as
he traced intricate patterns on Ray's skin. He had little talent with paint and
canvas, but here, when they were like this, he was an artist.
"You're not planning on buying off the rack?" Ray was too content to put up much
of a protest. Instead, he shifted onto his back to present Florian with a
broader surface for his masterpieces.
"Hmm? No. Well, perhaps." He stopped sketching long enough to meet Ray's gaze,
his lips curving up in amusement. "We can't very well walk about New York like
this." He ran a finger down Ray's side, skimming it just above his ticklish
spot. "But since you haven't given me time to pack..."
"You do remember we have servants? I pay them very well to take care of those
details."
"And when they do, you spend the entire trip complaining about items you're
missing. I won't have a repeat of Verona."
"What was wrong with Verona?" Ray turned onto his side, his question almost a
challenge. If he played it right he could work Florian up enough to put a bit of
fire in his amethyst eyes.
"You made Jacques roust a master tailor at five in the morning because you
didn't have your favorite shirt. The old man was scared half-to-death thinking
he was being kidnapped." Florian sat up, unable to remain relaxed when he
remembered how long it had taken him to calm the man.
"He was well paid for the inconvenience. Don't forget that you acquired three
very nice shirts as part of the bargain – including that pale lavender one that
you wear when you want to seduce me."
"I do not wear it to seduce you!" Florian was headed towards a full scale
indignant rant and Ray was prepared to enjoy every minute of it. He delighted in
the way Florian left the bed and began pacing, his movements freer and less
self-conscious than usual. His eyes were so bright they glittered and his face
was tinted a very attractive rose.
"I saw a lion tamer once," Ray commented reaching under his pillow. Florian
stopped and turned towards him, rant temporarily derailed. "Fascinating how he
was able to control that wild animal."
"What has that got to do with anything?"
"You have an active imagination, Florian." Ray sat up, pulling his whip out from
under the pillow and lifting it so Florian could see it. The blond stared at the
whip with a mixture of irritation and desire. He forced his attention to Ray's
face but didn't find any clues there; Ray was smiling in that way that could
mean very good or very bad things.
"I could give Jacques a packing list."
"But then what would you do with all of your free time?" Ray loosened his grip,
letting the tail of the whip drop down onto his naked thigh.
"I'm sure you could make some suggestions," Florian offered, slinking onto the
bed. "I usually like your suggestions."
"Do you?" Ray rose up on his knees and uncoiled the full length of the whip.
"Roll over."
Florian complied quickly, not even pretending to resist. He loved Ray's playful
moods. There was just one thing...
"Try not to leave so many bite marks this time?"
Ray laughed and leaned down to speak directly into Florian's ear. "High collars
are still in fashion."
TBC