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Giving - And Receiving	By : Amarin Category: S through Z > Sentinel Views: 2451 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Sentinel, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Giving - And Receiving
- 1
Giving – And Receiving

***

DISCLAIMER: The characters depicted in this story do not belong to me.

***

“Hey, Jim, I’m gonna head to the bookstore, where should I meet you?” Blair asked, juggling his packages. It was two weeks ‘til Christmas, and what with Cascade’s steady trickle of crime and Blair’s classes – three he was teaching, two he was taking – neither Sentinel nor Guide had had time to shop for Christmas presents until now. They’d taken a Saturday afternoon to head to the mall and get all their shopping done.
“I need to go to Bath & Bodyworks.” Jim grimaced at Blair’s astonished look. “They’re having a ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ sale on stuff, and I need presents for Megan, Sally and Rhonda,” he explained. Blair nodded. “It shouldn’t take me long, and I know you’d spend all day in the bookstore if I let you, so I’ll just meet you there, okay, Chief?”
Blair grinned. “Sure, Jim, see you there,” he said, heading off towards Brentano’s Books.
Jim shook his head; he couldn’t believe Blair still had energy after shopping for three hours.
***
Blair pulled up short in front of
‘Toys R Us.’ There was a massive train display; they must have used over a
dozen sets to create the railroad masterpiece.
Blair walked forward, captivated
by the display.
He remembered when he was eight
and he and Naomi were living with her then boyfriend Jake Masters, an
out-of-work guitar player. He’d wanted a toy train for Christmas. One of the
only times he’d ever asked for a specific present, and the only time he’d ever
asked for a toy. He was normally happy with books, which was good, since most
of the presents he received were practical: clothes, mittens, a few books.
Naomi didn’t have much disposable income, so she got him useful gifts. He’d
never gone in for toys much. He didn’t like action figures or toy guns, which
was all they had when he was growing up, except for sports equipment. Someone
at school always had a basketball or soccer ball they were willing to let the
whole group use, and if it was baseball, he could always borrow a glove or bat
from the school.
But Jake lived in Venice, and for
Thanksgiving week, they’d gone to the California State Railroad Museum. It was
one of the greatest things he’d ever seen, and ever since then he’d wanted a
train of his very own.
The Christmas he was eight was when
he discovered that wishes didn’t always come true.
When he’d asked Naomi for a train
set for Christmas, she’d given him a sad look and told him money was tight,
surely he could understand? Of course, he said he did. He’d learned that not
asking for anything, not expecting anything, was the best hope he had of not
getting hurt. He was eight years old and had lived in more than two-dozen
different places, attended over nine different schools. The more he liked a
place, it seemed, the sooner Naomi would decide to leave, so he’d learned never
to be effusive about how he felt about where they were living.
Blair stood, watching the trains,
mesmerized, the bookstore forgotten.
***
Jim found the perfect presents
for the women on his list, and even got something extra for Sandburg with his
second free gift. He went through the thankfully short checkout and headed off
to find his partner. He headed for the bookstore, but the sight of his roommate
frozen in front of the toy store stopped him in his tracks. Blair was standing,
watching the electric train display with wide eyes.
Jim blinked and smiled
bittersweetly in remembrance. When he was very young, his father had set up an
electric train set underneath their Christmas tree every year. It was his
favorite part of the holiday. He still remembered the excitement he’d felt,
‘cause he knew the arrival of the train meant Santa would be coming soon. His
smile faded. Of course, that was before his mother left. Before his father said
they were too old to have a train set. Before he stopped believing in St. Nick
when he didn’t get his wish – that his mother would come back.
Jim shook off his sad
reminiscences and walked up to his partner, standing by his side. “Did you ever
have a train?” Jim asked his partner quietly.
Blair shook his head sadly. “No.
I asked for one once, but we didn’t have enough money.” He turned away
reluctantly. “I still haven’t been to the bookstore. Would you mind stopping by
there for a moment?”
“Sure,” Jim said, wondering why
his partner seemed so down. Then it hit him – Naomi never had a steady job, and
Blair’s Christmas gifts most likely consisted of underwear and socks, useful
stuff. Toys were probably at the bottom of the list. Now that he thought about
it, when Sandburg’s warehouse apartment got blown up, most of his stuff was
still intact – and it had all been able to fit into his Volvo, with a few boxes
in the back of Jim’s truck.
He teased Blair about his room
being a mess, but the truth was, the room was tiny – and if Blair had even half
as much stuff as Jim did, there wouldn’t be room in his bedroom for Blair.
Jim resolved then and there to
make this the best Christmas for his Guide he possibly could…and he knew just
where to start.
***
“I think this is the last one,”
Blair said, no sign of disappointment in his voice. Most people got a little
depressed when they finished unwrapping all of their presents; Blair got
excited by how many people had thought of him. But what was really surprising
was that Blair hadn’t opened a gift from Jim yet, and didn’t seem in the least
upset that he hadn’t gotten one from his friend, even though he’d given Jim
several: a thick blue fleece ski hat, a new wallet (Jim’s old one was falling
apart) made of real leather, and some specially-made muscle liniment that was
scent free. Jim always had to dial down smell to almost zero when he needed to
use the store brand muscle rub.
“Not quite, Chief, you still
haven’t opened mine,” Jim chided his friend. He got up from the couch and went
over to the linen closet, pulling open the door to retrieve a number of boxes
in all shapes and sizes from the top shelf. He juggled them around until he
could carry them all over to the sofa, grinning at Blair’s wide-eyed
expression.
“Here you go, buddy,” Jim said
tenderly, placing the pile of presents in his Guide’s lap. There were very few
people that he enjoyed giving presents to. Most people told you they liked a
gift even if they hated it, so he was never sure if he’d gotten someone a good
gift. After his sense came online, it was easy for him to tell when someone was
lying; giving presents became more a chore than anything else since most people
didn’t really like what he got them. But Blair, Blair was the best gift
recipient Jim had ever known. He was extremely easy to buy for. On Blair’s
first birthday at the loft, Jim hadn’t known him very well and had gotten him a
gift certificate to the local ‘Barnes & Noble’. Blair had launched himself
into his arms and hugged the stuffing out of him. It seemed most people got him
trinkets; necklaces, fetishes, obscure Anthropology artifacts, and while those
were great, he was an underpaid teaching assistant, and he never had the money
for books.
Jim didn’t know anyone who
reacted with such delight when they received a gift. He sat back down on the
couch and prepared to watch Blair’s eyes light up as he tore into the
brightly-wrapped packages.
Blair stared in awe at the gifts;
he couldn’t believe Jim had gotten him so many. He did a quick count and found
there were fourteen gifts. He turned to his friend. “Not that I’m not grateful,
and believe me, I am, but why are there so many?”
Jim grinned widely. “Well, I got
you one present for each day of Hanukah, with three extras for the last day of
it, since I know you’re supposed to get more then, and three for Christmas.” He
blushed. “I guess I went overboard, especially since I’m not sure if you
celebrate Hanukah; you didn’t bring it up when I asked you to come with me to
buy a Christmas tree, and I wasn’t sure…”
Blair smiled at his rambling
friend. “I do celebrate Hanukah, and other Jewish holidays. I’m just not into
all the rituals: you’re supposed to light the menorah at sunset, and say
several prayers, and eat special foods that take forever to fix… I see no
reason why I should say all the prayers or fix all the foods, since God knows
why I’m doing it. I put the menorah out on the balcony so the smoke from the
candles wouldn’t irritate your senses,” he said, nodding towards the glass
doors.
He went on, “When I was growing
up, we never had the money to get gifts for all eight days of Hanukah, so we
mostly celebrated Christmas as the present-giving day, and just lit the menorah
on the other nights.” He grew quiet. “I’ve never gotten a Hanukah present
before,” he said softly, caressing one blue-wrapped box with silver menorahs
gracing the surface.
Jim’s heart ached for his friend.
While his Christmases after his mother left weren’t very happy, he’d always
gotten lots of gifts; the holiday season was one time when his father stopped
playing favorites, so he and Stephen each received the same number of gifts,
there was just no fanfare or affection. Conversely, Blair probably received
very few presents, but his holidays were most likely filled with love and
laughter. He wondered who was better off.
Jim shook himself from his
thoughts. “Well, now you’ve got one, or rather, ten. Open them before I burst,”
he said teasingly, wanting to lift his friend’s spirits.
Blair flashed a quick grin at him
and tore into the present he’d been stroking a moment before. Inside was a
soft, cotton-blend sweater in variegating shades of blue. It looked very warm,
and he loved the pattern. “Oh, Jim, this is really nice.” He inspected the
weave of the cloth. “And very good quality.” He smiled at his friend, folding
the sweater back up and laying it next to Jim on the couch.
He reached into the gold and
beige bag, which he recognized as being from the bath store Jim had gone into
yesterday, and pulled out a large bottle of Melon & Rose body lotion. He
flipped up the cap and took a deep sniff. “Mmm, this smells nice.” He grinned
his thanks at the Sentinel. He opened a small, palm-sized box next, which held
a clip-on watch in the shape of a silver wolf’s head.
“I thought, since you’re always
forgetting to wear your watch, that you could attach this to the zipper on your
backpack so that you always know what time it is,” Jim told him.
“I love it, Jim, thanks.” Blair
leaned over and gave his friend a quick squeeze.
“Well, you’re not done yet, don’t
hug me until you’re through, or we’ll be here all night,” Jim laughed.
Blair pulled back and nodded.
“Okay, Big Guy.” He opened an almost round parcel next; Jim had obviously tried
very hard to get it to look good. He pulled off the gold bow and removed the
tape holding it together to reveal a round blue candle. It had a checked
pattern over it, and when he checked the label on the bottom, it said it was
cranberry-scented.
The next gift was in a long green
box, tied with a silvery-purple ribbon. Blair pulled off the cloth band and set
it in top of his sweater. At Jim’s look, he said, “It’ll make a great
bookmark.” Jim nodded.
Blair gasped as he opened the
box. Inside was a paper booklet, obviously made by Jim, with coupons for things
like ‘One Hour of Gripe-Free Testing’, ‘One Day Where I Do My Own Paperwork’,
and ‘Jim Cooks On Blair’s Night’. There were also several coupons for full-body
massages – “For when you’re feeling rundown,” Jim explained – and for Jim
cleaning out the bathroom drains. He’d made Blair do it after the first time,
since his hair was what clogged it up in the first place.
Blair counted those vouchers up,
and there were six, enough to last for a year. There was more than one of
everything so far, and the booklet had at least a hundred coupons in it. The
smile Blair flashed at Jim almost blinded him, and Ellison thought he saw a
tear in the corner of his friend’s eyes.
“T'>“This is great, Jim,” Blair said,
trying not to let his tears fall. “I can’t believe you’re willing to do all
this.”
Jim smirked at his friend,
wanting to lessen the tension. “Well, since I gave you a booklet this year, I
expect to get a similar one next year. I was thinking of ones for ‘Blair Cleans
Up Bathroom Every Morning For A Week’, ‘Blair Holds Still For More Than One
Hour At Precinct’, ‘Blair Doesn’t Talk About Obscure Tribal Rituals On
Stakeout’, y’know, stuff like that.”
Blair barked a laugh. “In your
dreams, man.” He reminded himself to think of stuff to put in his booklet and
grabbed the next gift, a white shoebox-sized package. In it was a pair of
hiking boots very similar to the ones he’d handed over to Sneaks that first
time he’d gone with Jim to meet the snitch.
“I know you never got reimbursed
for the ones you gave Sneaks. This one goes with those,” Jim told him, handing
over another white-wrapped box. Blair opened the second package to find half a
dozen pairs of argyle socks in varying color combinations.
“These are great, man, really
soft,” Blair said. “And I don’t have most of these colors.” He set the shoebox
next to his sweater and laid the socks on top of it, before picking up the next
gift. The large, yet light box yielded a pile of folded blue fleece. “What is
it?” he asked Jim.
“It’s a sleep sack,” Jim told
him, a pleased expression on his face.
“A sleep sack?” Blair asked
hesitantly.
Jim nodded. “Yeah, it’s a
one-piece outfit which goes from neck to ankles. You wear it around the house
like a bathrobe, only without the drafts. It’s really warm.”
Blair dug through the folds of
cloth, finding the wrist and ankle cuffs, plus the zipper that ran down the
front of the sack. “Wow, this is great. I’m gonna wear it tonight, I’ve been
freezin’,” Blair said, placing the fleece garment back in the box, then setting
the box on the floor.
A thin green and tan envelope
held another book gift certificate, and Blair smiled at his friend’s continued
thoughtfulness. Once Jim had found out that Blair never had enough money for
books, he’d given him a gift certificate each Christmas and birthday, along
with his other, less practical gifts.
The next was a large, flat box,
again rather light. Inside was a leather-bottomed backpack. “Uh, Jim, I already
have a backpack,” Blair said regretfully. The pack was very well-made,
and it even had pouches on the side for drinks, plus a pocket inside the small
front compartment for his cell phone.
Jim snorted. “It’s falling apart.
I saw you in your room last week with a needle and thread stitching the strap
back on. And that wasn’t the first time it happened. This one will last you for
a good long while,” he assured his Guide.
Blair’s face reddened slightly at
having been found out. “Thanks, Jim,” he said warmly. He placed the backpack on
the couch next to his shoes and picked up another bag; almost weightless, this
one held some sheer silk garments.
Blair was stunned. “Uh, Jim did
you get me lingerie?” he asked half-unbelievingly, half-teasing.
“No,” Jim sputtered. He snatched
up one of the garments and held it up for Blair to see. “That’s silk thermal
underwear; long-sleeved shirts and leggings. You wear them underneath your
clothes to add warmth.”
Blair nodded and grinned. “Ah, I
see.” He placed the bag on top of the shoebox, and picked up another box. This
one held CD’s. “Greatest Hits of the 60’s?” Blair read off the first jewel
case. He picked up the next two four-packs. “Greatest Hits of the 70’s.
Greatest Hits of the 80’s. Wow, this is great!” He read the backs of the CD
cases. “And they’ve got a lot of my favorite songs.” Then he glanced up at Jim,
concerned. “But these must’ve cost a bundle, Big Guy,” he said worriedly,
looking his friend in the eye.
Jim sighed. “You shouldn’t worry
about how much a gift costs, Chief, just accept it. But to make you feel
better, I got a deal on them. The music store had a going out of business sale
and I got them 60 percent off.”
Blair nodded; he knew Jim had
plenty of money, having made wise investments with his back pay from the Army,
but he didn’t like the idea that Jim was spending most of it on him. He picked
up another box, opening it to find a framed photo of he and Jim at the
Detective of the Year awards ceremony. They were both in tuxes, and had their
arms around each other’s shoulders, smiling at the camera.
“Aw, Jim, this is nice. It’s a
great picture,” he said, cradling the wood frame carefully. He laid it on top
of his sweater and picked up the next gift. It was another envelope, a manila
one. Inside was an official-looking document. He picked it up and read the
first part of it.
“Jim?” he said, confusion in his
voice. “Isn’t this the deed to the loft?”
Jim nodded, clenching his hands
together in his lap. “Read the end of it, Chief.”
Blair skimmed down to the bottom
of the paper and read, “Owners – Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg. Jim, you’re
giving me co-ownership of the loft?! But I don’t even pay rent.” He stared at
his friend in disbelief.
Jim sighed. “Yeah, but you do so
much for me, Blair. I wanted to do something for you. I wanted to give you a
home. Please accept this, Blair, I want you to.” He sat there, tense, waiting
for Blair’s verdict. If Blair accepted this, then he might have a chance…
Blair turned a dazzling smile on
the older man, before getting up and throwing his arms around Jim’s neck. “Of
course I will, Jim. This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” He hugged his
friend tightly before sitting next to him on the couch. “I love my presents,
Jim, they’re the greatest.”
Jim chuckled, the thread of
tension in his voice going unnoticed by Blair. “Well, you still have two more,”
he pointed out.
“Oh, yeah!” Blair said excitedly,
grabbing the second to last gift, a large bag that was crammed with items. The
first was a large stuffed gray wolf, very realistic, with a gold medallion
around its neck that obviously had not come with it. As Blair reached for the
pendant, Jim stopped him.
“Don’t,” he said. “Not until you
see the other one,” he finished softly. Moment of truth time. If Blair takes
it badly, I don’t know what I’ll do.
y,” y,” Blair agreed softly; he
could sense this was important.sat sat the wolf on his lap and reached back
into the bag. He pulled out a large black jaguar, again, extremely lifelike, complete
with the melanistic rosette-shaped black markings in the background of its
coat. It was also wearing a gold pendant.
“They’re wonderful,” he breathed.
“Our spirit animals?” He looked up at his Sentinel, remembering how wonderful
it felt when they merged. Because of their shared experience, he’d ho
no
nightmares about his drowning.
“Yes. I saw them in the ‘Nature’s
Life’ store and I knew I had to get them for you…for us,” he finished softly.
“You can look at the pendants now.” Jim looked slightly nervous as he made the
offer.
“Okay.” Blair nodded and turned
around the locket on the jaguar’s neck, reading the inscription on the back to
himself: “Blair, My Guide, My Heart – Always.”
As his eyes misted, he reached
for the pendant around the wolf’s neck and read: “Jim, My Sentinel, My Life –
Always.”
He looked up at his partner, who
seemed to be waiting for his reaction. “Do you really mean that?” he asked,
almost inaudibly. “That I’m your heart?”
Jim nodded jerkily, almost frozen
with terror. Blair seemed to be taking his profession of love, however subtle,
well, but he wasn’t sure he could trust his senses – he could smell Blair’s
arousal and happiness, and he wondered if he wasn’t just imagining it.
“Oh, Jim…” Blair’s eyes filled with tears, and a large
smile graced his face. He launched himself at the Sentinel, and held on tight.
“I love you, too,” he mumbled, knowing that this had been Jim’s way of
revealing his feelings.
Jim let out a large breath in
relief, wrapping Blair in his embrace. “You do so much for me, Chief. I wanted
to do something for you, show you how much I…how much I love you,” he finished
on a breath.
Blair turned a dazzling smile on
the older man, not negated by his tear-streaked cheeks. “This is the
best gift I’ve ever gotten.” He leaned in to kiss his partner. Their lips met
with the barest of touches, but Jim could swear a spark of electricity sizzled
through him. Their tongues stroked each other for long moments before they
surfaced for air, slightly out of breath, but smiling. Blair gave Jim a peck on
the nose before sitting next to him on the couch. “I love my presents, Jim,
they’re the greatest.” He smirked as he stroked a hand over the bulge in Jim’s
pants.
Jim moaned as he arched up
slightly into Blair’s hand. Then he chuckled. “Well, you’re not done yet,
Chief, you’ve still got one more,” he said, pointing to the very large box
still sitting next to the chair.
“I’ll open it later,” Blair
promised huskily, pushing Jim down onto the couch and climbing on top of him.
He pressed his body close to the bigger one, his groin coming into hot contact
with Jim’s, making the big man groan deep in his throat and rub against him,
his hands sliding around to cup Blair’s ass. Blair chuckled and leaned down to
resume their kissing.
***
Jim smiled as he watched his
partner sleep. They’d spent the whole night making love; it was the most
wonderful thing he’d ever experienced.
He propped himself up on his
elbow and smoothed Blair’s hair back from his face. He caressed his Guide for long
moments, until Blair began to stir.
“Mmmmm,” Blair mumbled, arching
into his lover’s stroking hand. “Jim,” he sighed deeply. “That feels nice.”
Jim chuckled and leaned down to
press a kiss to Blair’s mouth. “It’s the day after Christmas, Chief, and I
thought you might want to open your last present.”
Blair blinked, coming out of his
arousal-induced fog. “Oh, yeah!” he said excitedly. “You wanna help me open
it?” he asked coyly, fingering the waistband of his boxers.
Jim smirked and shook his head.
“I’m not that young, anymore, Darwin, I need to recharge before we go at it
again. Why don’t we get dressed and open your last gift together, okay?”
Blair sighed and nodded. “O-kay,”
he said mock-petulantly. He threw off the covers and went to find his jeans,
which had ended up on the stairs. He grabbed his shirt off the living room
floor, and called, “Hey, Big Guy, aren’t you coming?” He chuckled.
Jim growled, “Keep your pants on,
Sandburg, and I mean that literally.” Jim descended the stairs, still tucking
in his shirt.
“Okay, c’mon and help me open
this bugger.” Blair knelt down on the floor next to the huge package, ripping
into the paper with glee. When he saw the pictures on the box, he stilled.
“It’s a…train set,” he said
wonderingly, stroking the plastic-formed protrusions that were shaped around
the different cars. “It’s got a caboose, smond lnd lights, track and
everything. But why?” He turned to his lover.
Jim smiled softly at his Guide.
“Because you asked for one when you were younger. It’s a little late, but I
thought we could both enjoy it. We had one at Christmas when I was younger, but
after my mom left, Dad stopped putting it up.” His face fell slightly. “He
thought we were too old for ‘baby toys’, but I missed it. So while I’m giving you
a piece of your childhood you never had, I’m giving myself back a piece of my
childhood that I’d lost.” He knelt on the floor next to Blair and said gruffly,
“Now, you wanna help me set it up?”
Slowly a smile spread across
Blair’s face and he nodded. “Yeah.”
Half an hour later, the train was
set up on a figure-eight track that wound around the coffee table, back over
itself, and around the tree base, only to start all over again.
“This is so great,” Blair
enthused.
“Yeah, it is,” Jim agreed. He
pressed the button on the control panel to sound the horn. “Choo-Choo,” he
laughed softly as he watched the train chug around the tracks.
Blair chuckled at his partner.
Jim seemed to be enjoying the train just as much as he must have when he was younger.
His lover was acting like a big kid. He knew the Sentinel must have heard in
his voice how much he wanted that train when he was younger and decided to make
up for it now.
His Christmases when he was
younger might have been meager, and while he might have regretted not being
able to have everything on his wish list, he knew his mother loved him. He told
himself that was the most important part, but sometimes he wondered if his life
would have been better if Naomi had ever stayed somewhere for more than six
months. She’d have been able to get a better job, make more money, and he would
have known Christmases full of toys instead of clothes. He’d never really
gotten to be a child, always having to worry about money or where they were
staying for the night. He’d never sent a letter to Santa, since he would never
get anything on his list, because Naomi couldn’t have afforded it. Now Jim was
giving him a chance to relive a small part of his childhood over…and he was
going to enjoy it to the max.
Blair knelt next to Jim and said,
“Hey, let me try that.”
Jim chuckled at his Guide’s
enthusiasm and relinquished the controls.
He sat back and just watched
Blair following the train around the track with avid eyes. Blair occasionally
added a horn blast or some smoke or lights. He was totally into his new toy.
Yup, he’d done good.
“Hey, Jim?” Blair asked boldly.
“Now that we’re together, I assume that you’re gonna stop enforcing the ‘No sex
in the loft’ rule, right?”
Jim groaned.
- 1
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Giving - And Receiving