Work Text:
Breakfast Scenarios
By Franscats
Friday Morning – Rainier University
Blair Sandburg sat at his desk and stared at the papers in front of him. They were copies of notes the explorer, Richard Burton, had made on one of his trips to South America. The notes had never made it into any of his writings but had been left in a small writing box. Of interest only to a few scholars, the discovery of the papers had been published on one of the back pages of an anthropology journal.
Blair, more than a little interested, had immediately contacted the museum in England holding the papers and after several weeks and quite a bit of correspondence had received photocopies of the four pages of handwritten notes, the papers technically going to Rainier University’s Anthropology Department.
Eli Stoddard, anthropology department head, had told his secretary that as soon as the pages arrived she should make a copy for Blair. And so Blair had run to the office when Ms. Mercer called and scooped up a copy of the pages.
Blair had hoped the pages would include something about sentinels, Blair’s favorite topic. It had been Burton’s writings about sentinels that had started Blair down his own road of research that led to him finding James Joseph Ellison, detective and sentinel.
Blair ran a finger over the papers spread out on his desk letting his hand land on the notes about sentinels and their companions. Burton had written that sentinels and their companions were bisexual. Blair could guess why these notes wouldn’t make it into a publication. Homosexuality was a felony in England in the 1800s. But the notes brought one big question to mind, was Burton correct? Could Jim, straight as an arrow Ellison, be bisexual? The notes seemed to indicate that sentinels and their companions (guides Blair mentally supplied remembering the term the rogue CIA agent Bracket had coined) often traveled the outskirts of the tribe and needed to connect on all levels. As the tribe never knew if the sentinel would be male or female or if the guide would be male or female there was no stigma attached to their choice of partner and sexuality.
Considering the notes, Blair realized If Burton were correct than the guide wasn’t just any member of the tribe but someone with his or her own special skill set. Blair never thought of himself as special with regard to sentinels, he didn’t feel as though he had some special ability beyond caring and common sense, but Burton suggested Jim wouldn’t have been able to connect with just anyone and learn to handle his senses so quickly or so well. It would have been a longer more painful process and he would never get full control.
Sighing, Blair sat back wondering how he could find out if Jim was amendable to swinging both ways? He would have to find some way to get Jim to talk about his sexual preferences, something Jim had always been less than forthcoming about. Closing his eyes, Blair considered a scenario where he would ask. They would be in the loft, maybe a Saturday morning when Jim didn’t need to work. Blair would cook some eggs, make coffee and they would both sit down at the table…
“Morning, Chief,” Jim greeted as he took a seat at the table and eyed the omelet suspiciously. “You made breakfast,” his voice sounded uncertain as he moved the egg around the plate with his fork. Blair guessed Jim was trying to see if there was any tofu in it. “What’s in it?” he asked and Blair noted the flaring nostrils as Jim sniffed the food trying to detect the ingredients.
“It’s an egg white omelet with peppers and onions. Better than the pop tarts you were going to eat,” Blair set his mind to rest.
“Takes longer to make,” Jim answered lifting his coffee cup.
“That’s true,” Blair agreed. “But it’s worth the wait. By the way, Jim have you ever had sex with a man?”
Jim, in the process of downing some coffee when Blair asked the question choked, coffee spraying across the table as he glared at Blair. “What?” he bellowed…
Blair opened his eyes. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to find out if Jim was bi. Maybe, Blair closed his eyes reconstructing the morning…
Blair set the breakfast table as Jim came down the stairs. Indicating that Jim should take a seat, he put the finishing touches on two omelets with turkey sausage and placed one in front of Jim before taking a seat.
“Morning, Chief. This looks good.”
“Hope you like it. I made it with some low fat cheese and peppers,” Blair answered lifting and taking a bite of one of the sausage links.
Jim smiled and lifted his coffee cup.
“So, uhm, Jim, did you ever go undercover when you were in vice? You know, dealing with drugs or prostitutes female or male.”
Jim put down the coffee cup and stared at Blair. “Where did this question come from?”
“Well, I just wondered about your experiences in vice.”
“Keep wondering,” Jim growled…
Blair opened his eyes. Okay, that might not work. How else could he find out? Maybe, if he got Jim to talk about the Chopec…
Jim sipped his coffee as Blair placed a cheddar cheese omelet before him and three sausage patties beside it. “This looks great, Chief,” he picked up his fork as Blair sat down.
“Thanks,” Blair picked up his own fork and considered the sentinel. “So, Jim, when you were with the Chopec, did you have sex with any tribe members?”
“What?” Jim asked as the fork dropped from his hand and he stared at Blair.
“Well, come on man, you were there 18 months.”
“Sandburg, I knew I wasn’t going to be staying so I wasn’t going to get some woman pregnant.”
“I would think they might want you to. Passing on sentinel genes and all.”
Jim shrugged. “Actually, Incacha did ask but I said no.”
“Why?”
“If the child had heightened senses he or she would be honored but if the kid didn’t, he or she would be different from the others. I doubt anyone in the tribe would hurt the kid but I know what it’s like to be different. And if I had a kid, I’d want to raise the kid myself.”
Blair nodded his understanding. “But no sex for 18 months? I mean you could have had sex with a man,” he suggested lightly.
Jim taking a bite of his omelet choked, eggs flying out of his mouth as he glared at Blair.
“You know there are ways to get relief that don’t involve other people,” he snarled…
Blair opened his eyes and shook his head. He needed a better way. Maybe, deal with his experiences in the army…
Jim looked at the ham and cheese omelet and the bacon that Blair put down in front of him. “This looks great, Chief.”
“Enjoy it, Jim. Something this artery clogging is a rare indulgence.”
“So what’s the occasion?” Jim asked as he picked up a piece of bacon.
Blair shrugged. “I felt like making it.”
“Right,” Jim sounded skeptical as he lifted his coffee cup.
Blair watched as Jim took a gulp of coffee. “Jim, can I ask you a question?”
“I think you just did.”
“Ha, ha,” Blair laughed. “Don’t give up your day job to become a comic, man.” Blair answered as Jim waved his fork for Blair to continue. “In the army, did guys, you know, do it with each other?”
“Do it?” Jim repeated lifting an eyebrow.
“The horizontal mambo,” Blair clarified. “I mean you were in places without women.”
“I’m sure some men did,” Jim answered his voice cautious. “But most of the time that was what R&R was for. And that was what ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ was about.”
“How about you Jim, did you ever?” Blair wiggled his eyebrows.
“Why would you want to know?” Jim asked finding a piece of bacon fascinating.
“There are some theories that sentinels are bi.”
“And you want to know if I am,” Jim concluded. “My sex life is not part of your dissertation, Sandburg,” Jim answered his voice reflecting anger…
Blair opened his eyes. He’d get further with this scenario but how was he to answer why he needed the information. It wasn’t for his dissertation. The reason was far more selfish. He was bi and had been all his life. He guessed it made a certain amount of sense if Burton was right. He was a guide or companion to a sentinel. And Jim was the secret object of his affections.
Well, Saturday morning, one way or another he would find out if Jim could be interested in a man.
Saturday Morning – The Loft
Blair smiled as he put the finishing touches on two ham and cheese omelets and set them next to a plate of bacon and a plate with four buttermilk donuts. Blair had gotten up early and run to Colette’s bakery downstairs to get the fresh donuts, returning with donuts and the paper. As Jim came down from his bedroom, he smiled seeing the grand breakfast.
“Hey Chief, what’s with the breakfast?”
Blair smiled remembering his first day at the loft after his warehouse home had burned down. He had made breakfast and Jim had asked if this was some kind of courting ritual. Jim no longer asked, but this was a courting ritual, sort of.
“I felt like having a big breakfast,” Blair answered taking a seat and watching as Jim moved to his normal spot at the table.
Jim glanced over the breakfast, ham and cheese omelets, bacon, donuts, toast with real butter, not the grape jelly Blair insisted was better for them. Something was definitely up. Taking a sip of his coffee he glanced at Blair. “What kind of test do you want to run today?” Jim asked suspiciously.
“No tests,” Blair answered as he grabbed a piece of toast and bit into the buttery bread. “Once in a while I like a big breakfast.”
“It’s not some special pagan holiday that requires ritual eating and then some kind of human sacrifice?”
“No.” Blair laughed.
“Not my birthday or yours?” Jim asked joking.
“No, man.”
Jim nodded biting into a piece of bacon as Blair considered the various scenarios he had envisioned. “Um…I do want some information,” he admitted deciding to forgo the scenarios in favor of the direct approach. Jim was a direct kind of guy and Blair could obfuscate if Jim asked about his motives.
Raising an eyebrow, Jim waited as Blair swallowed a bit of coffee. “Um…have you ever been with a guy?”
“Been with,” Jim repeated, slowly.
“You know, been with a guy,” Blair wiggled his eyebrows.
“Where is this question coming from, Sandburg?”
To Blair’s “Jim Trained Ear” Jim didn’t sound angry, just curious, which, of course, meant all his scenarios were somehow off. Finding his plate very interesting, a blush coloring his cheeks, Blair answered, “I got some notes Burton wrote where he theorized that because sentinels and guides spent a lot of time on the outskirts of the tribe that they were close. Since the sentinel or the guide could be male or female they both were bisexual.”
Jim sat back, watching Blair. “Does that mean you’re bisexual?” he asked softly.
“Are you?” Blair countered aware of Jim’s careful scrutiny and wondering how and why his obfuscation abilities had flown the coop.
Jim considered this as he lifted a donut, his eyes never leaving Blair’s red face. “Have you ever been with a guy, Blair?” asked master interrogator Detective Ellison.
“It’s not about having been with a guy or not, it’s about whether or not there is an acceptance of sexuality.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Jim pointed out.
Blair looked up and realized he was staring at Jim’s poker face. “I made the breakfast, man, you should answer my questions first,” he complained.
“Fair enough,” Jim agreed. “Yes, I’m bisexual. And before you ask, just to show I am more comfortable with the subject than you, yes, I’ve had experience with both sexes.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Blair asked.
“Why didn’t you?” Jim answered with amusement and Blair found himself smiling, a clear admission that he was bi.
“I didn’t know how you’d react,” Blair admitted.
“And I didn’t tell you for the same reason.”
Blair nodded. “Okay, if we use a sampling of two than Burton was right.” He glanced at Jim his smile growing brighter and bigger as he considered Jim’s admission. “Were you a top or a bottom?” he challenged.
“Both,” Jim answered seeming at ease with his own sexuality and experiences.
“With the same person?”
Jim nodded. “Both positions have their merits,” he admitted before letting his tongue swirl over the sweet donut suggestively. “How about you?”
“I’ve never bottomed,” Blair admitted. “But for the right person I would.”
“What would the right person look like?”
Blair shook his head. “First you tell me what kind of guy you would go for.”
Jim glanced over Blair and Blair felt as though he were being undressed. “Short, cute and hairy.”
Blair swallowed his nervousness, his eyes roaming over Jim. “Me, I like them tall and buff.”
Jim smiled and dropping his fork reached across the table to capture Blair’s hand. “Blair I couldn’t do anything less than an exclusive committed relationship with you. You mean too much to me for that. I’d sooner remain friends than try anything casual.”
“Jim,” Blair smiled, his own hand tightening on his sentinel’s. “No matter how you look at it, we’ve been together for three years. I think we’re already committed, we’re just missing the fun stuff.”
“I guess it’s time for the fun stuff,” Jim released his hold on Blair and Blair watched as Jim picked up his fork. “Right after breakfast. I don’t get a breakfast like this from you too often.”
Blair laughed before picking up his own fork. “They do say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”