Work Text:
Quiet Sounds of Love
by Bobbie T.
"God, I'm tired," Blair moaned as he leaned his head against the steering wheel. "No, scratch that, tired was three days ago, and I flew past exhausted yesterday. I'm not sure what I am now." He moaned again as he tried to get the energy to get out of the car and head up to the loft. "I can do this," he told himself, "all I've gotta do is make it upstairs before I crash. Sure, I can do this," he mumbled. He caught himself as he stumbled and wearily pushed the button for the elevator, deciding that he was too tired to bother with being paranoid about elevators tonight.
This had to have been the hardest week Blair could ever remember having, and he was grateful that it was almost over. To begin with, it was finals week, a fact that he had conveniently neglected to tell Jim. Blair had to prepare and give exams for his two Intro classes, as well as take two exams of his own. In addition, he wound up covering for Professor Wexler's TA, Tony, when he was called out of town for a family emergency. Tony had covered for him several times when he was out working with Jim, so he couldn't turn him down, right? That meant that he had two additional classes' exams to proctor, grade and get posted. Considering that each class had 100-150 students, and the exams were all essays, this alone was enough to fill his week.
Then of course, there was his work with Jim. There was no way he could have let Jim go out on those stake-outs this week by himself, or with someone who didn't know the risks of zone-outs. Stakeouts were hard on Jim, mainly because he used his senses more than usual over a protracted period of time. He also tended to zone more when he was tired or bored, both of which were almost inevitable during stakeouts. Blair knew Jim depended on him to keep him grounded. He had no doubt that Jim would have told him to stay home if he knew how swamped and tired he really was, but there was no way he was going to let Jim down. Jim needed him, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
All this meant that Blair had gotten virtually no sleep at all since Monday. He was at the University by 6:30 a.m. on Monday to prepare for his exams. He met Jim for the stakeout directly from school, and they didn't get home until after 1:00 a.m. each morning. What Jim didn't know was that as soon as Blair knew Jim was sleeping soundly, he was slipping out and heading back to the University to grade papers and study. He knew under normal circumstances, that Jim would notice his nocturnal departures, but he was also so tired from a week of long days and even longer nights that he slept straight through until dawn. Blair had been getting, at most, one to two hours of sleep a night, and most of that came in short catnaps caught at his desk. But it was almost over - finals were done, his grades were all entered, and they had finally caught the perp they were watching for. If he could just make it upstairs and into bed, he could let his body crash. Blair was about to hit the wall, and hit it hard.
"Just a little further, Blair, you can do it," he mumbled to himself. For the first time he could remember, he found himself hoping that Jim wouldn't be home yet. Not that he didn't want to see his roommate--he always wanted to see Jim. It was just that if Jim was home, he would expect conversation, and Blair wasn't sure he would be able to manage "hello" right now, much less actually talk to him in a coherent fashion. And he certainly didn't want Jim to know just how weary he really was, because that would lead to questions. Blair knew he didn't have the energy to sidestep them in his usual fashion. If Jim realized that Blair had been economical with the truth when Jim had asked him if he had any free time this week, he would be torn between exasperation and feeling bad for having monopolized his time when Blair could least afford it. Blair stumbled to the door and started fumbling for his keys. Before he could get it in the lock, though, the door slipped open, and Jim stepped back, waiting for him to step inside. Blair moved in slowly, and Jim quietly closed the door, as he turned to look at his partner. Blair just looked up at him with owlish eyes that were slightly out of focus, and tried to think of something he could say. Jim just quietly stepped over to him, and without a word, simply pulled him into his arms and just held him. Blair stood tensely for a second, but when he realized that nothing else was expected of him, he simply sighed and melted into the warm cocoon of his partner's arms.
After a few minutes of quiet cuddling, Jim gently let go of his partner, took his backpack and set it by the door, undid the buttons on his coat, slipped it off for him and hung it on the rack by the door. He then put his arm around Blair's waist and tenderly led him toward the bathroom, where he quietly and gently undressed him, while Blair stood there and let him. It was as if his mind and body had both decided that Jim was in charge, and whatever he wanted was fine, as long as he didn't have to think or move.
Once he had Blair undressed, Jim turned on the water and waited until it was as warm as he could stand it, knowing how Blair liked hot showers. He quickly stepped out of his own clothes and pulled Blair gently into the shower and under the hot spray. Blair gave a huge sigh as the warm water soaked into his tense muscles, and he suddenly felt himself starting to lean. Jim just reached out and let him settle his weight against his chest, holding him up as the hot water cascaded down his back. After a few minutes of this, Jim gently took the soap and soaped his partners back and buttocks, while Blair still leaned against his chest, almost as if he were asleep already. Jim moved him minutely under the spray so that it would rinse away the soap, and then maneuvered his somnolent partner around so that his back was against Jim's chest and he could soap up the front. Still with Blair leaning snuggly against him, Jim wrapped his arms around him and soaped and rinsed as well as he could without having to let him go.
When Jim decided that Blair was as relaxed as the hot water was going to get him, and he knew he was in danger of actually falling asleep in the shower, he decided it was time to get his weary partner out. It took some work, but finally he had Blair out of the tub, wrapped snuggly in towels, and more or less dry. Once again Blair just looked up at him with bleary eyes that showed the world his soul and never said a word. He simply sighed quietly and once again leaned into his friend, his partner, his strength, his purpose in life. Jim quietly reached down and did something he rarely did with his smaller friend, for fear he would make him feel less than a man. He picked him up in his arms and carried him out of the room and up the stairs. Jim chuckled to himself as he realized it would have been a lot easier just to throw Blair over his shoulder to get him upstairs, as he was no lightweight. Blair simply snuggled down in his arms and leaned his head under Jim's chin, closing his eyes and reveling in the strength and caring of the older man.
Once upstairs, Jim set his sleepy partner gently on his feet, then unwrapped the towels and tenderly urged him onto the bed, under the sheet. He quietly climbed in behind Blair, pulled him to him and wrapped him in his arms where he belonged, arranging the covers over both of them. Blair felt warm, loved, and oh, so very comfortable. He smiled gently up at his love and let his eyes drift closed. Soon, all that could be heard was the gentle sounds of soft snores coming from an extremely exhausted anthropologist, and the quiet sighs of a Sentinel who held his life safely in his arms. "Rest, my love," he whispered, "just rest."
Finis