Work Text:
The Odd Couple
By PattRose
Summary: Jim is shopping with Blair at the mall when Blair decides to shop in a candle shop. He tells Jim to sit and wait for him on the bench in front of the store. Jim gladly agrees. Jim meets someone who changes in his life in a good way.
Genre: Slash Established Relationship
Rating: Gen
Warnings: Fluff, sweetness abounds
Word Count:
"Jim, I know you're tired of mall shopping, but I need to get some new candles and some other things from the candle shop. I also know the smell about knocks you out, so why don't you go sit on the bench across from the store and wait for me. I'll try not to take too long."
"Sounds like a fair deal, Blair. Take your time, I'm just going to people watch. Have fun." Jim walked over to the bench and sat down. He had the entire bench to himself and no one to bug him. Perfect.
He watched Blair walk into the candle shop and Jim just leaned back and prepared to be bored out of his mind. The things I do for Blair.
Someone cleared their throat and asked, "Is it all right if I sit here on the bench?" An older gentlemen was standing there and Jim smiled.
"Sit down, this is a free country and as far as I know, it's a free bench." Jim snickered a little bit, making the older man choose to take the seat.
"I'm waiting for my better half, Samuel," the older man said.
"I'm waiting for my better half. His name is Blair."
"It doesn't happen very often that we meet a young gay couple. Tell me all about Blair."
Jim smiled and held his hand out to shake and said, "I'm Jim, by the way."
"Good to meet you, Jim. I'm John," John said as he shook Jim's hand.
"You asked about Blair. Well, the reason I'm over here waiting is because the scents from the candle shop almost choke me, so he wanted me to relax out here and wait while he did the candle shopping. He's a great guy. Maybe you'll meet him."
"I would like to meet him, Jim. Samuel is also in the candle shop. I can't breathe well when I go in there. I have asthma and he is always quite thoughtful of me. See, we both have great better halves."
"Where do you live, John? We live over on Prospect? Are you familiar with that area?"
"Yes, it's about six blocks from where we are. That's a good area to be from. We have a loft apartment. It's very nice and we've been there for about 30 years."
"Wow, how long have you and Samuel been together?" Jim wondered.
"Almost 45 years. Most of them have been happy, but don't get me wrong, we've had our ups and downs."
"Oh, I totally understand, John. Blair and I get along really well, but sometimes we seem to clash for no reason."
"It's because you have to have make up sex," John teased.
Jim blushed and said, "I guess that's true."
"Just because we're in our late 70s doesn't mean we don't enjoy sex anymore, Jim. We still do. And you and Blair will be feeling the same way when you are in your 70s."
"Shit, I'm ten years older, so I might not even be here then."
"Jim, you have to look at it differently. Make every moment count. Don't worry about how many years you're going to have. Instead, worry about how much you can love him every day that you are here. That's what we do and it's worked out beautifully. I'm five years older, but I don't think about leaving first, I think about staying forever. We never think about being alone. It might not be practical, but it works for us."
"It's really nice to see a couple that is older than us, still together and still in love. I can't wait to tell Blair all about you when he comes out."
"Jim, he's been in there almost an hour already. Samuel probably already scoped him out and is talking his leg off."
"Believe me, Samuel would have a hard time getting a word in with Blair," Jim teased.
"So, we have more in common. Samuel used to be a teacher, what does Blair do?" John asked.
Jim smiled. "He's a teacher, John. That's just weird. The next thing you'll tell me is you used to be a cop."
There was dead silence until John said, "This is just really odd. I used to be an Agent with the FBI. And you're a cop? Wow, we really do have a lot in common."
"Yes, we sure do. I see Blair coming this way so you'll get to meet him, John."
"Do you have a lot of gay friends, Jim?"
"No, we have no gay friends. Isn't that terrible? We haven't met anyone that was gay who we had anything in common with. We wish we knew some gay couples. It would be nice sometimes," Jim admitted.
"Maybe if Blair agrees to it, we could get together once a week. We love poker and love to go dancing at a blues club in town. Would you be interested?"
"I think we would be. Let me run it by Blair and see what he says. Hey Chief, this here is a new friend I made. His name is John."
John stood up and shook hands with Blair. "It's very good to meet you, Blair. My better half, Samuel is in the store that you were in."
"Oh my God, what a small world. I was talking to someone named Samuel. He's so cool and I got along with him wonderfully. He's very nice, John."
"There he is right there, Jim. That's my Samuel." Once he walked up to them, John said, "Samuel this is Jim and this is Blair. They live close to us and would like to meet once a week for poker."
Blair looked at Jim like he had grown two heads or something. Jim never makes any plans with anyone.
"Chief, they've been together almost 45 years. Isn't that great?"
Blair continued to look at Jim oddly. Jim didn't normally get this excited over strangers that he just met. What was going on?
"That is great, John and Samuel. Congratulations," Blair said.
John smiled at Blair and said, "You have all the time in the world to think about playing poker with us old guys. In case you're wondering, Samuel is 73 and I'm 78. We are old."
"I think it's great that you're still together. This gives me such hope. And I would love to play poker with you two. Samuel was great company in the store while I waited in line." Blair was practically bouncing in place.
"He's a teacher, John, do you believe it?" Samuel asked.
"Guess what Jim is?" John asked, smiling like crazy.
"Looking at you, I'd say a cop. Am I right?" Samuel wondered.
Jim smiled too and said, "Good guess. We have a lot in common. Let me write down our names, our address and our phone number and you two can give us a call when you feel like doing something."
Samuel waited for the paper and asked, "How would you like to come over tonight for spaghetti and meatballs and stay after and play poker? Don't feel like you have to, but I'm a really good cook."
Blair smiled at both of them. "I think that sounds great. Jim loves Italian food, so this will be so nice. And for poker, do you play for money?"
"We play with poker chips. Not money. It seems to be a little more fun that way," John confessed.
"So, what time would you like us over and where is your place?" Blair asked.
John asked, "Can I borrow your notebook, Jim? I'll write down our phone number, address and anything else you'll need."
As John wrote, Samuel said, "Six o'clock would be good. That will give us plenty of time for card playing when dinner is done."
"Can we bring wine?" Jim asked.
"That would be nice. We prefer red, if you don't mind," John answered.
"You know the funniest part of all this?" Samuel asked.
Blair replied, "No, what?"
"They always called us an odd couple because we were two guys together. Now we don't feel near as odd."
They exchanged their info and left the mall. On the drive home Blair said, "I can't believe you made friends with a 78 year old gay guy in the mall today and we're going to his house for dinner."
"I know, right?" Jim asked, laughing.
"They really seem nice. And Samuel said they don't have a lot of friends. And no gay friends."
"Why don't we stop at the liquor store and get the wine now, so we can chill it before we go?" Jim asked.
"Good thinking. This is going to be fun, Jim. I really liked them. I realize they're much older than us, but they could be us in 30 years."
"They're like us now," Jim pointed out.
"It was really nice that you agreed to play poker with them. They seemed genuinely happy to have company coming over," Blair said.
"Like I said, I really liked him and I liked Samuel, too. We're going to have great fun. And there is nothing wrong with having older friends."
"Maybe we're not such an odd couple anymore," Blair said.
"True, that…"
The end