Email: slashgirl@gmail.com

Author's notes: Response to James' Birthdya challenge. Happy Birthdya!



Oh, Teddy!
by Stacy L.A. Stronach, September 1997


Jim Ellison knocked on his brother, Stephen's, door and could
hear the younger man walking toward it.


"Jim, come in!" Stephen said, smiling and glad to see his
brother. "Would you like a coffee or something else to drink?"


"Coffee'd be good, thanks," Jim replied, sitting down on the
couch in the living room.


Stephen brought the coffee in, handing a mug to his brother and
sat down in a chair. "Look, Jim, I've got a few boxes of your
stuff, from home. I was wondering if you wanted them. I just
finished moving the last of my stuff from storage in Seattle, and they
were with it."


"My stuff from home, Stephen? What stuff are you talking about?"
Jim asked, puzzled.


"A lot of the stuff you didn't or couldn't take with you when you left.
Dad made me pack it all away and had told me to take it out to the dump,
but I hid the stuff in my closet. I thought you'd
come back eventually...Then when I moved out I took it with me,
never really thought about. Forgot about it, actually. I'd put
them in storage with some other stuff when I first came down here to
Cascade. Didn't know if I'd be staying," Stephen finished.


"Yeah, I'll take it home with me, see what's in them," Jim said
and their conversation turned to other topics.


Later...
Blair walked into the Loft and saw three big moving boxes sitting on
the floor. He felt a little worried...had he finally pissed
Jim off enough for the older man to kick him out? "Hey, Jim," he
called out.


"What?" came the reply from up in Jim's bedroom.


"Is one of us moving out or something? Or did we get a new
roommate?" Blair asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.


Jim walked down the stairs, "No, this is just some of my stuff
from home that Stephen had packed away for me, after I left. He
brought them up from Seattle the other day. Would you help me
take them up to my room, please?" he asked.


"Sure thing. You need any help unpacking?" Blair enquired
eagerly, always anxious to find out things about his favourite
Sentinel.


"No, thanks, Sandburg, I think I want to do this by myself. If
there's anything interesting, I'll let you know. Now let's get
these upstairs, okay?" Jim said.


"Okay, Big Guy," Blair replied, keeping the disappointment out of his
voice.


About an hour later, Blair, who was sitting on the couch
correcting term papers, heard Jim speak. That wasn't surprising.
What was surprising was what he said and how he said it. His
voice was in the range that most people used when looking at cute babies
or animals, and what he said, was: "Oh, Mozzie bear, it's
you! I haven't seen you in so long. Oh, no, look at that--you
need to be mended. I'll have to buy some stuff so I can fix you
and make you all better. We'll just put you under here for now,
so you're safe."


Blair sat there, looks from amazement to amusement crossing his
beautiful face. He quickly checked his watch--no, no time loss.
So, obviously, aliens hadn't come down and abducted Jim and left
a poor quality Jim-clone in his place. *Mozzie bear?!? My God,
the man is going silly over a teddy bear?* Blair thought, then
felt himself blush slightly as he remembered his own little
Frosty-bear who was sitting in his little box under Blair's bed.
(Which is where he stayed during the daytime.) The same plush
panda-teddy bear Blair almost always slept with. *Guess I better not
tease Jim about this one,* he thought.


Jim came down the stairs, buttoning his shirt, "Hey, Sandburg,
you coming to the poker game tonight?"


"What, and wipe you guys out yet again--you guys suckers for
punishment or what? No, I'd love to Jim, but I gotta get these
papers done. Maybe next time, okay?" Blair replied.


"Okay, Chief, see ya later," Jim said as he left the loft.


Blair got up and went over to the window, making sure Jim had
pulled away. Then he quickly made his way upstairs to look for
Mozzie-bear. He had to see it, he just had to. Jim had placed him underneath
something, at least that's what he'd said. Blair
looked around the room, then his gaze fell on the pillows on the
bed. They looked suspiciously lumpy. Going over and moving the
pillows aside, he found the bear. It was adorable--all blue with
a tiny, pink nose, set in a white muzzle, big brown eyes, white
hands and feet. Blair looked it over and saw that one of the arms was
almost completely off, the seam in the back was just about to let go,
his head was starting to come off, and the little guy's
tail was almost completely gone. As he held Mozzie in his hands,
Blair was struck with inspiration. Knowing Jim wouldn't be back
for at least a couple of hours, Blair made a quick trip to the
mall, taking the bear with him.


A half hour later, Blair was back at the loft, sitting on the
couch with Mozzie-bear in one hand, threaded needle in the other. He
smiled as he made the needed repairs to the bear, knowing that Jim might
get upset with him for doing this, but hoping that the
older man would appreciate the gesture. Blair was rather familiar with
teddy bear repair, having had to mend his own Frosty-bear
many times over the years. He'd had Frosty-bear since he was
five, one of Naomi's boyfriends, one of the ones that had
actually liked Blair and been nice to him, had given it to him
for his birthday.


When he had mended all the noticeable problems, Blair did a quick check
of the rest of the bear, making sure there were no other
weakened seams, or limbs about to fall off. He set the bear
beside him on the couch with a satisfied sigh, then smiled as he
thought of something to add. He went over to the table, and
quickly wrote a little note. Stringing some thread through the
paper, Blair made it into a little necklace for the bear, then
took Mozzie-bear back upstairs to his hiding place.


Blair had just resettled himself on the sofa when he heard the
key in the lock. *Oh, man, that cut it way too close,* he
thought. "Hey, Jim. Did you win lots of money tonight?" Blair
asked.


"Well, I did pretty good for myself. Which is much easier to do
it you're not there. You're so lucky, Sandbur, that sometimes I
think you were born with a horseshoe up your ass. It's
unnatural," Jim complained good naturedly. "I'm going up to bed,
I'm bushed," Jim said, as he walked up the stairs.


Getting off the couch, Blair walked into his own room, wishing he had
Sentinel hearing. He wanted to know how Jim would react to
his act of kindness.


Jim sat down on his bed, reaching under the pillow for Mozziebear
and frowned when he heard the crinkle of paper. He knew he
hadn't put any paper under there with the bear. Quickly pulling
the bear out, he took the piece of paper from around his neck,
noticing that it had been fixed. He read the piece of paper:


"Repairs courtesy of The Keeper of the Teddy Bears, and his
faithful companion, Frosty."


Holding the bear up to his nose, Jim inhaled and discovered the
telltale scent of his Guide on the stuffed toy. *How on earth did Blair
know,* he wondered, then grinned as he realized Sandburg
had probably heard him when he was talking to the bear earlier.
Keeping Mozzie in one hand, Jim quietly made his way downstairs.
Jim stood outside Blair's door, listening to see if the younger
man was awake. He was, so Jim knocked on the door.


Blair sighed, knowing it was no use to pretend to be asleep.
"Yeah, whaddya want?"


"I'd like to talk to, um, what is it? Ah, yes, The Keeper of the
Teddy Bears," Jim said softly.


"I think you've got the wrong room, man. No Teddy Bear Keepers in here,"
Blair replied, trying to keep the laughter out of his
voice.


Jim opened the door and walked in, and Blair thought he'd never
seen anything sweeter than the big man clutching the small teddy
bear to him. "Oh, I think I've got the right room. I'd know your
handwriting anywhere, Chief," Jim said as he walked over and sat
beside Blair on the bed. Blair sat up, looking at his friend,
trying to read what he was feeling.


"Jim, look, I hope you don't mind my fixing him. It's just that
I, um, overheard you talking to him earlier, and well..." Blair
tried to explain why he'd fixed little Mozzie-bear.


"It's okay, Blair. I appreciate it, it's was unexpected, that's
all. I didn't even think about your being able to hear me in the
living room earlier. This was a nice surprise. Just one question. Who
the heck is Frosty?" Jim asked.


Bashfully, Blair reached under the covers and pulled out his own
teddy bear. "Frosty, meet Jim and Mozzie-bear. Jim, Mozzie, this
is Frosty," Blair said, then laughed at his own silliness.


"Blair, why did you name something which is obviously a Panda
bear `Frosty?'" Jim asked.


"Man, one of Naomi's boyfriends gave him to me for my fifth
birthday and I was positive that this is what Polar bears looked
like. Even after they'd taken me down to the library and showed
me pictures of both, I still didn't believe them," Blair
finished, smiling at his friend.


"You've had Frosty for 23 years, huh? Has he always slept with
you? Where do you hide him during the day?" Jim asked.


"Well, he doesn't sleep with me if I've got company in bed with
me. He's got his own little box he sleeps in during the day. I
keep it under the bed," Blair answered. "As for names, where in
the heck did you get `Mozzie' from?"


"My best friend when I was a kid. His parents named him Mozart
but everyone called him Mozzie. He gave this to me when we were,
six, I guess. He was killed in a car crash when we were 10. We'd been
playing together since we were babies. I had to leave Mozzie behind when
I joined the army. I was not taking a stuffed bear
with me to boot camp, and after that I figured he'd been thrown
out or something. But here he is, safe and sound," explained Jim.


"That's too bad, Jim, I'm sorry," Blair said, then continued,
"You know what I've always loved about my bear? I can tell him
anything--he doesn't get upset or treat me differently, doesn't
bitch and complain back, either. The perfect confidante--they can torture
him, and he'll never say a word," Blair said and laughed.


"You do have a point there, Blair," Jim agreed.


One year later


*Oh, Frosty, sounds like the boys are home,* Mozzie said to his
friend, who was sitting next to him on the pillows of the big bed upstairs.
This is where the two bears now spent their days, and
they were enjoying it to the fullest.


*Good. Didn't I always tell you they'd get together? And they
make each other so happy, it's wonderful, isn't it, Mozzie?*
Frosty said.


*Yes you did, my friend. I'm so glad you were right. They both
deserve their happiness, don't they?* Mozzie answered.


*That they certainly do, my friend, they certainly do.*


Later that evening each bear was gently lifted and placed in
their own little beds beside the bigger bed. Mozzie's bed was on
Jim's side of the big bed, while Frosty's bed was on Blair's
side.


Blair and Jim curled up to one another, "Good night, Blair. I
love you," Jim said, kissing his lover gently.


"I love you, too, Jim. Good night, Big Guy," Blair answered.


*Good night and happy dreams, Frosty*


*Of course. Good night and happy dreams to you too, Mozzie*



End Oh, Teddy