Ryo looked up from his paperwork to study the man sat at the desk directly opposite him. Dee Latener. Supposedly one of New York's finest. The other man was oblivious to Ryo's scrutiny, allowing his blond partner to make some observations.

There was no denying that Dee was strikingly handsome. Olive skin, a strong, masculine jaw line and deep green/grey eyes framed by a shock of ebony black hair. Okay, the hair was a little untidy but nothing a pair of scissors couldn't fix Ryo thought confidently. Despite his incredible attractiveness, Ryo had noted many aspects of Dee's personality since he had started work earlier that week that he was sure would drive him up the wall. Now completely distracted from the case files staring up at him from his desk, Ryo started to make a mental list of those niggling traits, his imagination filling in the blanks where necessary.

He smokes.

And drinks. Lots. Probably only beer too.

He likes basketball. And football. Talks about both way too much.

He bites his nails constantly and makes annoying noises when he eats.

He picks his nose in public. And his ears. Probably eats the resulting finds too.

He swears. Copiously. Using words I've never even heard of.

He's rude to people in authority. Scratch that, he's rude to anyone he thinks is wrong.

He's always late, no matter what and he always has some lousy excuse ready.

His clothes never match. His ties always clash badly with his shirt, which is never ironed.

His shoes are always scuffed. Has he never heard of polish?

His diet is hideous. He lives off things that are the stuff of dentist's and dietician's nightmares.

He drinks way too much coffee and if he does have tea, he has it with four sugars!

His taste in music is terrible and he listens to it about forty decibels too high. He also insists we listen to it in the car as he drums to the beat on the steering wheel.

Talking of cars, he drives like a manic! I'm sure he must be colour blind because he never seems to notice that the lights are on red. His car looks like he's rescued it straight from destruction derby too but that's probably a good thing since he doesn't take particularly good care of it. It's supposed to be blue but I'd say it's something nearer brown with all the dirt ingrained on its bodywork. I dread to think what his apartment must look like...

He tells the worst jokes, usually rude ones and then makes fun of me when I don't laugh. He calls me a 'prude'.

He calls me names like 'sugar' when I've explicitly asked him not to. He also likes to make suggestive remarks to me, especially in front of other people.

He never completes his paperwork and on the rare occasions that he does, his handwriting is completely illegible. And he never has his own pen. And when he borrows mine they always come back chewed at the end.

He probably snores... Wait, what am I doing thinking about him in bed?? Ryo, get a grip!

Ryo shook himself out of his daydream, realising he'd been staring at Dee for some time. He blushed slightly at his lack of self-restraint, consoled only by the fact that no one, least of all Dee, had seen what he was doing. Come to think of it, what was he doing? He wasn't gay, at least, he didn't think he was but something he couldn't explain made the man opposite him irresistibly appealing. The more he saw of Dee the more he realised that the man stood for everything that he, Ryo, hated. He was exactly the kind of man that Ryo had worked hard to ensure he wouldn't be. No, Ryo was disciplined and lived his life in an orderly fashion, making Dee Ryo's antithesis. Ryo shook his head disapprovingly as he straightened the pens on his desk and returned to his paperwork.

Dee glanced up from the spot he'd been staring at on his desk for the last twenty minutes. He turned off the radio that he had concealed under his desk and removed the earpiece that, for the last half an hour had been feeding him information about the latest Knicks game. Damn them for playing when he had to work! When the final whistle had blown he'd almost had to stop himself from jumping up and cheering the favourable result. Normally he wouldn't have exercised such self-restraint; he didn't care how much the Chief chewed him out, the game was his priority. He'd deliberately concealed his activities because of the blond haired man sat opposite him. He knew Ryo wouldn't approve but why Dee should care was something he hadn't yet worked out. Maybe because he wanted his new partner to respect him.

Or maybe it was because Ryo was hot. Completely and utterly hot.

A stirring in his groin told him he'd hit the nail on the head. He'd been attracted to Ryo the moment he'd laid eyes on him however the more he'd got to know his new partner, the more he realised that they were nothing alike. Not that that tempered his desire any but Dee knew he'd be lying if he said Ryo didn't irritate the hell out of him. As he stashed his portable radio in the top drawer of his desk, he glanced up in time to see Ryo straighten the pens on his desk so that they lay parallel to the large desk diary in front of him. The blond man had been frowning up to that point but righting the pens appeared to ease his tension.

God you're so anal! Dee thought to himself as he observed Ryo's actions. Sigmund Freud would have had a field day with you! Anal retentive with traces of obsessive compulsive disorder, he confidently concluded harking back to his psychology lectures at the academy. As Ryo sat engrossed in his paperwork, Dee sat back, folded his arms across his chest and studied the handsome man in front of him. So pretty but so many faults Dee thought, shaking his head as a list began to form in his mind.

Let's see, he doesn't drink, hell, he'd probably get drunk off a chocolate liqueur!

He has this annoying, self-righteous expression when I smoke as if he's showing off the fact that he's got perfectly healthy lungs.

He always dresses so that everything matches; jeez I bet his underpants are even coordinated!

Shit Dee, don't get thinking about his underwear...

He uses a napkin every time he eats and he chews everything really carefully. I think he'd probably die if he ever opened his mouth while he was eating.

He drinks herbal tea and sips it like an old woman. I know he has a penchant for china cups as opposed to mugs. I mean, what the hell does it matter!

He has this really flowery handwriting that I can't make head nor tail of. And he always insists that reports are completed and filed before he leaves for the day.

He takes hours to get anywhere because he drives like an old man. He's one of those "knights of the road" who lets every man and his dog out at junctions.

He's always on time, or even worse, early.

He hates sports; hell he probably thinks the Knicks are a type of underwear. Oops, back onto underwear again...

He folds things and stacks things so that nothing is out of place on his desk.

He has his name on his pens and stationary. Okay that's a lie but I bet he's considered it.

Especially since he pulls a face every time I ask to borrow anything...

Dee paused, realising that for the last five or so minutes he had been chewing absent-mindedly on a pen; Ryo's pen, which he had borrowed earlier that morning. He pulled it from his mouth noting the gnawed plastic at the end and hastily wiped it with his free hand. The movement caught Ryo's attention and for the first time since they had arrived that morning the two men made eye contact.

Jumpy and paranoid, Dee surmised as he viewed Ryo's slightly anxious gaze, swiftly followed by a blush sweeping across his fair cheeks. Definitely not my type.

Obnoxious, Ryo concluded as he found himself on the receiving end of a hard green stare. Overbearing and oversexed.

"Ryo?" Dee's voice cut off any further thoughts the blond man was about to have. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"I'd love to," the other man found himself saying in response before his brain could engage and instruct him otherwise.

The two men acknowledged this arrangement with a nod before returning to their work. Dee watched Ryo pick up his pen and begin to write in that flowery handwriting he hated so much before a small smile of satisfaction crept onto his face. He retrieved the pen he had loaned from Ryo, chewed on it thoughtfully for a moment longer before returning to his own reports.

Sensing Dee was no longer looking, Ryo stopped writing and closed his eyes, his fingers gripping his pen so tightly it threatened to break. What the hell have I done? He thought to himself, still in disbelief at how quickly and readily he had agreed to Dee's request. Get a grip Ryo or he's going to think you like him or something!

Ryo's memory of that first week at work was interrupted by Dee, who offered to refill his wine glass as they sat facing each other in "Le Chateau", an expensive downtown restaurant that Dee had selected in honour of their first year anniversary as a couple. Ryo smiled and nodded, holding the glass forward to assist Dee as he poured.

"What were you thinking about?" Dee asked, gazing lovingly at the other man, "I had to call your name three times."

Ryo smiled and blushed slightly. "I was thinking about when we first met."

"Yeah? That's weird, I was just thinking about that too."

Ryo stopped and gazed at Dee over his wine glass. "Really?" he replied, surprised at how they always managed to be on the same wavelength. He contemplated his next question before allowing the words to slip carelessly from his mouth. "So what did you think of me when we first met?"

Dee looked up as he popped a forkful of Fillet Mignon into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He decided the truth was a little harsh so instead he said, "I thought you were... nice."

Seemingly satisfied with this, Ryo smiled and nodded as he took another sip of wine.

"Your turn now," Dee said suddenly, fixing the other with an expectant look.

Ryo set his wine glass down, blushing once again at his recollection of their first few days together at work. "I thought you were nice too," he said following the slightly inaccurate comment with the sexy smile that always helped distract Dee from taking on board what he had actually said.

He knew it had worked when Dee responded with a broad smile. Setting his cutlery down, Dee then reached for his own wine glass and raised it in front of him. "Then let's have a toast," he said, indicating for Ryo to do the same.

Ryo copied his gesture, allowing their glasses to clink together.

"Here's to first impressions," Dee said, his eyes never leaving the handsome face of the man he loved with all his heart.

"First impressions," Ryo repeated, drinking from his glass as Dee did the same, each man thoroughly satisfied that, despite many of their initial observations turning out to be correct, there was proof that the old adage "opposites attract" was more than just a well-used cliché.

End.