'Conventional Wisdom', Jim/Blair, PG-13 (Five senses, five days)

[sid]

Ah!  Day Five.  I managed to do it.  :-)

Hot off the press:  Jim arrives home early from a trip and gets a surprise.  ~725 PG-13 rated words.  Un-beta'd, so please let me know if you spot anything that needs fixing.

(Excuse me while I laugh at the dog - I tell her to lie down and leave me alone for a minute and she lifts a paw to shake hands.  Hee!)

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Jim was exhausted when he came through the door. He never could sleep on airplanes. In addition, the stale pressurized air had dried out and irritated his nasal passages and he was still waiting for his ears to pop. All his focus was on getting himself into bed; his own bed, after two nights in a Chicago hotel and two days spent listening to long-winded seminars on interrogation techniques and reading body language and maintaining good relations with the public.

 

He was exhausted.

 

That was the only possible explanation for why he hadn’t known what he was going to see when he got to the top of the stairs.

 

Blair. In his bed. Asleep.

 

Jim blinked. His jaw dropped. He lowered his suitcase gently to the floor, cocked his head and stared. Unless he’d dozed off in the cab and was dreaming all this, Blair was sleeping in his bed. Curled on his side, facing Jim, lips slightly parted, hair fanned out behind him. Sheet draped over his hips, bare from the waist up.

 

Jim’s eyes went to the other side of the bed. No indentation in the pillow. Blair hadn’t brought some woman up here, anyway.

 

That would have ruined everything.

 

So, why the hell…? “Sandburg.”

 

Eyelids lifted, blue slits appeared. “Jim?” The eyes got wide. “Shit!”

 

“Mind telling me what the hell is going on?”

 

“Oh, man, Jim, I am so sorry!” Blair was sitting up now, clutching the sheet. “I didn’t expect you until this afternoon!”

 

“Obviously.” Jim struggled to come to terms with the now apparent fact that Blair Sandburg was naked in his bed. “I decided to catch the red-eye.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Blair repeated anxiously. “I was going to wash the sheets, honest. I mean, I still will. Man, I apologize.”

 

“You’d wash the sheets and I’d never know, is that it? What, you just wanted to put one over on me?” It didn’t make any sense.

 

“No!” Blair looked even more shame-faced. “Well, yeah, it would have amounted to that, but I wasn’t trying to….”

 

“So, okay, that’s not why you’re in my bed. So, enlighten me. Because I’m sort of puzzled here, Chief.” Examine the details, but keep the big picture in mind.

 

“I just…I’ve always wanted to sleep up here. That’s…that’s all. I mean, great view,” Blair gestured over his shoulder, “nice big bed.”

 

Jim studied Blair’s flushed face. No, that wasn’t all. All the visual cues he was receiving said that Blair was obfuscating. “Let me ask you, if I hadn’t come home early, if you’d gotten away with it. Would you have felt guilty about it?”

 

“Well, yeah. Of course I would. Jim….”

 

“So why would you even do it? It just doesn’t fit.” Didn’t fit what he knew about Blair; didn’t fit the gap in the puzzle confronting Jim. If you’re not satisfied with the answers you’re getting, press your point.

 

“I already told you. I’ve just always wanted to sleep up here.” Blair looked down and picked at the sheet, his lips tightly pressed together.

 

This time Jim believed him. This time it rang true. A simple statement, delivered in a rather sad tone of voice. And if Jim could only get this last piece to slot into place, maybe he’d be able to see the whole picture. “Look at me,” Jim said quietly. Eye contact is key.

 

Blair raised his head and met Jim’s gaze with evident reluctance.

 

Jim looked into his wary eyes and inhaled sharply, his chest swelling as a thought, a hope hit him. Blair’s eyes widened in reaction, and his chest rose, too. “Was my being out of town part of that?”

 

“What? I don’t know what you mean,” Blair said.

 

But Jim, the lessons from the symposium still fresh in his mind, could tell without any doubt that he did. “When you’d think about sleeping up here, were you thinking about me being out of town?”

 

Blair’s mouth opened, but no words came out. His face said it all.

 

Jim took two steps forward. A sincere smile can produce amazing results when dealing with the civilian population. “Please tell me I was in the bed, too.” 

 

Blair squealed. There was no other way to describe it. Squealed, threw back the sheet, sprang from the bed. Naked. Reaching for Jim.

 

It was the prettiest picture Jim could ever have imagined.

Comments

[roslynsmuse.livejournal.com]

Very cool story, Sid. But, I wouldn't say it was 'pre-slash' but more 'first time' :-)

Nice solution to the 'puzzle'!

[sid]

Hmm, yes, in about two seconds it's going to qualify as First Time, isn't it?

Yes, I'm going to agree with you. I'll change the tag. :-D

(I already had this story planned before the 'puzzle' prompt came out, but it was easy to incorporate and turned it into a more complete story, so I'm delighted!)

[betagoddess.livejournal.com]

LOL! Too cute! Loved it! *g*

[sid]

Thank you! I had fun writing it - especially that ending, hee!

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

You write them so darn cute I can't help grinning happily. Love Jim working his way through it to the happy ending.

[sid]

Gosh, right now I can't imagine writing them all angsty and bitter and hurt. They're just too much fun all fluffy and sweet. :-)

Hope the party went/is going well!

[snycock.livejournal.com]

Hee! I really liked Jim remembering pointers from the conference and using them...to clearly very good effect!

Now, when he goes back to work and reports to Simon on how helpful the conference was, think he'll mention this?

[sid]

I think that Jim understands that there are some things Simon would just rather not know about. ;-)

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Aw, Blair's busted! (In the nicest possible way. :-)

[sid]

Caught in the act. Well, so to speak. Actually he exercised a great deal of restraint. ;-)

[msbeata.livejournal.com]

What pretty pictures you paint!

Perhaps there were a few more strokes to this?

[sid]

Strokes, sure.

Mebbe a few licks, too. *eg*

But I leave that to the reader's imagination....

[mab-browne.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is pretty. I may be the biggest angst hag around but, heck, happy works too. :-)

[sid]

Oh, come on! There were at least 10 seconds of excruciating angst in there! Blair was picturing himself out on the sidewalk, with his belongings strewn at his feet....

:-D

But I'm glad the naked in Jim's arms picture works for ya, too!

[pattrose.livejournal.com]

Sid, this was great. I love happy endings and you know it's happy when it's our boys together, happy at last. Great job.

Hugs, Patt

[sid]

Thank you, Patt! I'm not known for sad endings, although I'll sneak one in occasionally. (ya know, all happy and no sad makes Sid a dull writer, lol)

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

That was an adorable story. I hope you don't mind if I say that. It's a compliment, ya know. Thanks for the smile you put on my face.

I liked how you wove Jim's new knowledge into the storyline. Worked very well, I think.

[sid]

I don't mind being adorable. *giggles*

Thanks for letting me know what worked for you. :-)

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

So cute - I love Jim doggedly working through all the evidence. Thanks for making me smile :~)

[sid]

I like smiles. Smiles are good. :-)

Glad you enjoyed!!

[hawk-soaring.livejournal.com]

Sweet! loved this...

[sid]

Thanks very much! :-)

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Hoo-boy I'd like to know what was going on in Blair's head when Jim woke him up. Panic, panic, panic.
I enjoyed the story.
Laurie.

[sid]

"This isn't happening! I'm so screwed. What was I thinking? I'm going to be living in my car...."

*g*

Glad you enjoyed it, Laurie!