His Master's Voice 12

By CatMoran

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I don't own the canon characters or concept; I do own this story.

Summary: We continue with the saga of a vampire and his sentinel.

Warning: Not beta'd.

His Master's Voice 12
By CatMoran
*****

Jim was silent for several minutes. Finally he said, "All I had to do was ask?"

Blair nodded happily, "That's all, Jim."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"What if I hadn't asked?"

Blair shrugged. "I'm not sure. I mean, I didn't want to leave but..."

"But?"

"But I've sort of been crashing at your place for the last two years, you know?"

"Blair, the loft is your home. Ever since you gave up that trip to Borneo, maybe even before then."

"I didn't know that, Jim," Blair argued reasonably. "I figured it was just until I finished my research and you had a handle on your senses."

"Incacha said you're my shaman."

"Yeah, and I haven't done squat about that. Maybe that had better be my next project."

Jim groaned. "Another project? Chief, you're overbooked as it is!"

"Not since I died, Jim." Blair grinned cheekily. "That seems to have cleared my calendar somewhat."

"Are you planning to stay dead?"

Blair stared at Jim quizzically and laughed. "Jim, I don't think I've really got a choice in the matter, you know? People don't generally come back from the dead. At least, not after 2 days."

"There's precedent for it. Anyway, that's not quite what I meant."

Blair smirked. "That's good, because I'm a nice Jewish boy and I don't believe in your precedent." He ducked and laughed as Jim aimed a slap at his head. "So, what *do* you mean?"

"Well, are you going to make a miraculous public return? Come back to the department with me? Go back to school? Everyone still thinks you're dead and that your body is missing."

"I sort of figured that we'd wait until we know what the sunlight situation is, first."

Jim frowned. "And what happens if we find out you can't go outside in sunlight? Are you going to stay dead? The longer you're missing, the harder it's going to be to explain your return."

Blair snorted. "Like it's not going to be hard anyway?"

"Well, I thought we could invite Simon over to the loft. You play 'recovering patient'; I tell him you just wandered home, dazed and outof it, the day before. Then we let *him* figure out what to tell everyone else."

Blair laughed. "Ellison, have I ever told you that you're a genius?"

Jim smiled back. "No, but you were bound to notice sooner or later."

"Ok, genius, tell me," Blair turned to face Jim and licked his lips, "what would I rather be doing instead of talking?"

Jim laughed nervously. "I didn't think there was anything you liked more than talking."

Blair bounced off the bench and ran his hands nervously through his hair. "Oh God. Did I misunderstand? Aw jeez, Jim..."

"No!" Jim barked the word, then softened his voice. "No, Blair. You didn't misunderstand. It's just..."

"Duh! I'm sorry, Jim. You've never kissed a man. I'm sorry, we'll slow down..."

"*No*, Blair. That's not it, either. I've, um, kissed a man before." Jim's face reddened. "This is just sort of, important?" He looked at Blair for confirmation.

Blair sat back down next to Jim. "Yeah, man, it is. So when did you kiss another man? Was it in vice?"

"It was while I was still in vice, *and* before then. And if you'd shut up, I think I'd like to kiss you now."

Blair smiled brilliantly. "Jim, I thought you'd never ask!"

Their lips met. Blair's lips were cool, but soft and yielding. Jim parted his lips and ran the tip of his tongue across the other man's lips. The tease of a taste was intoxicating, and Jim sank both hands
into Blair's thick hair, to make sure his prize didn't escape.

Blair's lips parted and his tongue met Jim's. Simultaneously, both men groaned and opened their mouths wider to deepen the contact. A moment later Jim yelped and pulled back.

"Sandburg, your teeth are sharp!"

"Jim, I'm so sorry!"

Both men spoke at the same time, then they started laughing.

Several minutes passed before Blair could form a coherent sentence. "Jim, man, why are we laughing? This isn't really funny."

"I think it's one of those laugh or cry things, Sandburg."

"We should probably be doing this back at the loft anyway."

"What, laughing?"

That remark sent them both off into more semi-hysterical laughter.

"No, Jim. Seriously, I don't think this is the place for us to be kissing. It might be bad for your career if you were caught kissing your boyfriend in public."

"You left something out, Sandburg."

"What's that?"

"It might be bad for my career if I were caught kissing my 'dead' boyfriend in public."

"Oh yeah, that doesn't help much, does it?"

Jim pulled Blair close, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "You ready to go back to the loft, Chief?"

"Naomi's there."

"Probably."

"But I suppose I need to see her sometime."

"Not if you're not ready. We can stay someplace else."

"Where, a hotel? No one knows I'm not dead, remember?"

Jim shrugged. "Why not a hotel? I understand if you're not ready to face her."

"No, let's get it over with. She won't get used to me if she doesn't see me."

"That's the spirit." Jim stood and tugged Blair off the bench, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, Sandburg. You're not so hard to get used to."

"Gee, thanks, Jim. Not!" Blair stuck his tongue out at Jim, and both men laughed.

The End
(c) CatMoran 2000