His Master's Voice, Part 2

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 Blair and his fangs.

Warning: Not beta'd.

Note: I don't know if this will be a series.

Feedback me. Bug me with questions. Feed the plot bunnies.

His Master's Voice 2

By CatMoran
*****

Jim stared at the ceiling over his bed in the pre-dawn light, trying to think of a reason to get out of bed. On the one hand, if he wanted to make sure he didn't miss any detail of the investigation, he should get up. On the other, with his guide gone and Simon insisting that he stay out of the investigation, why bother? Finally his bladder decided for him.

He was three steps down the stairs when an unexpected voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey man, I was hoping you'd get up soon. I mean, I could have gone up and woken you, but you looked like you needed the sleep." Blair was seated in his usual spot on the couch, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. And Jim's sunglasses.

"Chief?" Jim stared in shock.

"What, don't tell me you forgot already. Man, the mind really starts to go after 35." Blair chuckled.

"That was a dream. Yesterday was just a dream." Jim spoke, almost to himself. He smiled in relief and continued down the stairs and let his senses focus in on the young man seated below him. As he came closer he frowned. "I don't hear you."

Blair frowned back. "What do you mean you don't hear me? I'm talking right to you!"

Jim shook his head. "I'm finally losing my mind. I can see you, and hear you talking, but I don't hear *you*. Your heart. Breathing. You know, *you*."

Blair blinked and considered that for a moment. "Huh. I never thought about that. Carrot?" He offered a bowl to the taller man, who was now standing next to the couch.

Jim sat on the coffee table and stared at his friend. His nostrils flared, and he leaned forward. "You smell like yourself. Except, sort of--"

"Sort of what, Jim?"

"I don't know. Muted. Muffled. You smell right, but just not as strong as you should."

"What, have you made a habit of going around smelling me?" Blair grinned, showing his fangs in the process.

At the sight of his friend's sharp teeth, Jim scrambled back over the coffee table, moving like a spooked cat. "What *are* you?"

Blair smacked his forehead. "Aw man. You really *don't* remember last night, do you. Ok, we'll have to start from scratch."

Jim circled the couch from a distance. "Nevermind that. Just tell me what you are!" His words rose to a roar as he spoke.

Blair raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Jim, calm down! You're going to wake everyone in the building. I told you what happened last night, but I guess you forgot about it after I put you to bed."

"When you- How long have you been here? Where's Blair? What have you done with my guide!"

"Jim, *I'm* Blair. I look like Blair, I sound like Blair and I smell like Blair. Right? *Right*?"

At Jim's reluctant nod he continued. "I'm not sure how it happened, but I guess that's what comes from traipsing around remote forests for umpteen years. I must have been bitten, or eaten something weird, I dunno. But early this evening, I woke up in the morgue." He shrugged. "Surprise to me, man. Last thing I remember, I'm in the truck with you, then I'm under a sheet in a cold drawer. I totally freaked at first. Thought I'd been kidnapped by the psycho of the week, and was being kept in a fridge or something. So, I'm pushing and shoving, and finally I guess I kicked hard enough, and the door opens. That's when I realized that I was in the city morgue. So I freaked again. Lucky no one was around...

"Anyway, I found a set of scrubs. Then I walked out looking for help, but everyone I talked to acted like some sort of a zombie or something. A cab driver gave me a ride home, and didn't even ask me for the fare. Just drove off. *Totally* weird, man. When I got up here you let me in, and *you* were acting like a zombie. So I sent you to bed, and started trying to put two and two together. The shades were a lucky guess."

"The shades."

"Yeah, I guess when I look at people, that's when they go all 'zombie' on me. I hoped that if you couldn't see my eyes, it wouldn't happen. And I was right!" Blair smiled in triumph, then started back slightly as Jim hissed at him. He smacked himself in the forehead. "Man, I keep forgetting about the teeth!"

"So, you're trying to tell me that you're what-- a *vampire*?"

"I'm not trying to tell you anything, Jim. Did I once say 'vampire'? Nah, you figured that out all on your own. I knew there was a reason you were a detective." Blair smirked, carefully keeping his mouth closed this time.

Jim moved a little closer. "So, what's with the carrots?"

Blair shrugged. "Once an omnivore, always an omnivore, I guess. What, you would rather I slink around the place saying 'I vant to suck your blood'?"

Jim shuddered, mostly with apprehension. He declined to examine the other emotions he was experiencing. "So, you can actually eat? Like-"

"A normal human?" Blair interrupted with good humor. "Nah. I guess I'm a walking food dehydrator." He picked up two of the carrots and waggled them toward Jim.

Even from the distance he was maintaining, the sentinel could see that one of the carrots looked normal, and the other appeared dry and shriveled. He snorted. "Even as a monster you're a rabbit, Sandburg."

Blair's face wiped clean of all expression. "Do you think I'm a monster, Jim?"

Jim tentatively smiled. "No, I think you're a pain. Um. It's going to be getting light soon. Do you need to, I don't know, go somewhere?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping I could stay here, at least for a while."

Even with the sunglasses, there was no missing the pleading look on Blair's face. Puppy-dog eyes were no match for Ray Ban's, Jim thought with affection. If he had any doubts that the strange creature in front of him was still his friend and guide, they were eliminated. "It's still your home, Blair."

Relief washed across Blair's face. "Cool. I figured I could hang out in the closet. So to speak. At least until we figure out which of the folk tales are true, and which are nonsense."

Jim laughed. "Does that mean we'll be testing *you* now, Chief?"

Blair laughed with him. "I guess it does, Jim."

The End
(c) CatMoran 2000