Title: 5 Questions

Author: Krisser

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: J/B

Status: Complete

Date: 02/10/02

Archive: yes

Disclaimer: Petfly owns them, Aly keeps them. I just like to play with them. I'll return them.

Author's Notes: Thanks to Elaine for the beta and to Patt for the encouragement.

Story Notes: Post TSbBS. Just a light piece.

Summary: Blair takes a magazine quiz.

Warnings: m/m

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5 Questions
by Krisser

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Blair just hated when his mom would send him those stupid magazine tests. Like he needed a test from some lady's magazine to discover that he didn't fit the norm.

Naomi meant well, she was still hoping that he would find his chi and become one with himself and leave the "fascist pig" world behind.

He opened the magazine and turned to the page to at least read the title. It would be easier later, to be able to answer truthfully that he did see the article.

5 QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE YOUR PERFECT MATE.

Blair laughed to himself, only five questions? Well, no wonder he got it wrong all the time, he asked way more than five questions.

Curious, he glanced down at the article more closely. There are no wrong answers. He read that first and liked the thought behind it.

"Aw, hell, why not?" He said aloud to the room. Blair walked to the kitchen table, picking up pad and paper on the way. He pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and sat down. He read the rest of the instructions. They instructed him to write down the very first name that popped into his head. They claimed that this was very important. Fine!
Blair read the first question.

TWENTY YEARS DOWN THE LINE, WHO DO YOU WANT TO SEE ACROSS YOUR BREAKFAST TABLE?

Blair scribbled automatically: Jim.

Next question.

EARTHQUAKE! EVERYTHING IS CRUMBLING AROUND YOU, WHO OR WHAT IS YOUR FIRST
THOUGHT?

'Well, shit,' Blair thought, 'Jim, of course.'

WITHOUT HOPE OF RESCUE, WHO WOULD YOU BE STRANDED WITH ON A DESERTED ISLAND?

Blair wrote Jim's name without a second thought.

WHO IS THE FIRST PERSON YOU'D TRUST WITH A DARK SECRET?

Jim!

WITH LOVED ONES, WE FIND OURSELVES CAPABLE OF SACRIFICING OUR OWN LIVES TO
SAVE OR SPARE THEM, BUT WHO WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO KILL FOR?

Without hesitation, Blair wrote Jim.

The article then asked to check your answers and see if the same name appears more than once.

~If the same name appears twice, you have a good friend.~

~Same name three times, maybe you should be dating.~

~Same name all 5 times, your perfect mate.~

The article then stated the typical bullshit; this is intended for entertainment and is not based in science.

It may not have been scientific, but Blair realized that he needed to do some deep thinking. He had the same name all five times. Jim.

Blair examined the questions more thoroughly. He and Jim were cops. They have had to kill to save each other. And of course he would trust Jim with deep, dark secrets, hell, they were Sentinel and Guide. Not too much bigger than that.

In any disaster he would call for Jim. Jim was the Blessed Protector, he would have to reassure him immediately.

Of course he could see himself with Jim across the breakfast table in the future. Blair knew he was the Sentinel's guide. Plus they had a routine. They knew just what to do for the other, when to push and when to back off. Which of course, leads right into the deserted island thing. Who else could he spend all that time with and not really do him in?

Perfect mate? Doesn't that imply sex? Sex with Jim?

Blair let himself dwell on that ...whoa! His body reacted to that thought instantly. He was hard. He arched his hips, rubbing against his own jeans as he thought of Jim's hard body...Hey! Blair jumped up and paced about the kitchen. He wanted Jim's hard body next to his?

He wanted Jim's hard body next to his.

Why?

Because...shit...because he was his perfect mate. Shit!

He picked up the paper he had written on and crumpled it up into a ball. He tossed it in the trash and closed the magazine. Perfect mate. Shit.

Now what was he going to do? He had never let himself think of Jim that way. Liar! His subconscious shouted at him. Oh posh, dreams don't count. It's not like they can be controlled. But studies have shown that they are a direct result of desires and fears. And, man, he didn't fear Jim, so he must...desire him. Double shit!

What to do? Well, his hard-on didn't seem to be going anywhere and he couldn't jack off right here in the kitchen, Jim would smell it. So a shower was in order. He dropped his clothes on the floor and let the warm water hit him. He let his mind drift, testing the dream/desire theory.

Blair soaped his body and stroked his cock, letting his imagination take over.

Jim would come up behind him, already hard and press his cock along his crack. He would then spread his legs and Jim's cock would slide between his thighs and Blair would close his legs hard. They'd rock together, Jim's penis between his legs, Jim's hand on his cock. Water cascading on them, moans would echo off the tiles, becoming shouts as both reached their climax.

Blair rested against the shower wall, hell yes, he desired Jim.

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Jim threw his keys on the table by the door as he entered. Blair came out of his room smelling fresh and clean. Jim noted that he grabbed a magazine off the kitchen table and stuffed it under some of the magazines on the coffee table.

"What was that, Chief?" Jim questioned.

"Nothing, just cleaning up. Had a bunch of stuff out earlier. I try to be neat."

"Since when?" Jim joked back, keeping the placement of that magazine in his mind.

"Hey, I try. I'm just not as anal as you, but I've been getting better." Blair stated, half joking, half hurt.

Jim could sense the hurt and added, "Yeah, I can get in the bathroom without getting my feet wet now, big improvement."

Blair threw the couch cushion at his partner.

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Blair rushed out of the loft with a bagel and his backpack. He coached a youth basketball league for Earl Gaines one Saturday morning a month.

Jim poured another cup of coffee and ended up on the couch. He brushed his toe across the magazines on the table and uncovered a strange publication. He didn't care for too many magazines so he should just look at it and then remove it.

"Lady's Home Journal," Jim chuckled and thought to himself, no wonder Blair had tried to hide it. Naomi was always sending him these things. She was trying to enlighten him. Guess she keeps forgetting that she has a son.

Jim knew that Blair usually laughed out loud and shared these silly articles, so the fact that he hid it upped his curiosity.

5 QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE YOUR PERFECT MATE.

Jim chuckled again, obviously Naomi didn't know Blair well enough, only five questions. He'd asked ten before he got to the good stuff. The kid could ramble for hours, he couldn't stop at just five. He flipped it open to the test flagged. Jim wondered what kind of questions could determine the perfect mate.

~~Twenty years down the line, who do you want to see across your breakfast table?~~ Jim chuckled, that was easy, Blair. Who else would put up with all the sentinel shit?

~~Earthquake! Everything is crumbling around you, who or what is your first thought?~~ Protect the guide. That was always a first for the Sentinel.

~~Without hope of rescue, who would you be stranded with on a deserted island?~~ Jim shook his head, as he answered that easily. Hell, that could be a lot of years, Blair would be the safest bet, if I've lived with him for five years, I could put in a whole lot more.

~~Who is the first person you'd trust with a dark secret?~~ No, thought there, Blair. Look at what he did to keep the sentinel thing quiet. No brainer, Jim thought to himself.

~~With loved ones, we find ourselves capable of sacrificing our own lives to save or spare them, but who would you be willing to kill for?~~ Jim couldn't believe the questions. They shouldn't ask cops these kinds of things. His partner, of course. We protect each other's back. Already done it.

Jim read on, curious what this was supposed to prove. If the same name appears twice, you have a good friend. Same name three times, maybe you should be dating. Same name all 5 times, your perfect mate.

Date Sandburg? Perfect mate. Hell, didn't that imply sex? What kind of test was this? He read the small print that stated that it was for entertainment.

Jim closed the magazine and tossed it on the table. He picked up his gym bag, he could work out for an hour before he met up with Sandburg.

The detective enjoyed the gym. He finished his upper body and headed for the cycle. The fit man set it for mountainous uphill; he loved a tough workout. He began peddling, his body worked by rote, so his mind tackled its latest quandary. Sandburg.

Five years. There was the sentinel and guide thing. But ... there was also the work partners thing. Also, very important was the best friend thing. It may have started as a sentinel thing, but it was way past that now.

They spent a lot of time together. Hell, they spent most of their time together. They vacationed together, worked together, hung out together. There were only a few times a month that they were apart. Jim found this didn't bother him.

He and Caro could never do that, but Sandburg...?

'Fifty plus Jag games over the last five years. Countless numbers of lunches and dinners, movies even a couple of banquets...........hell. I have been dating Sandburg.' Jim was startled but not shocked by his thoughts. He wondered what that meant.

Perfect mate. So that had to mean sex. Jim pondered the idea of sex with Blair. Sure there was stuff in the army. But that was about relief, not relationships. Could he have sex with Sandburg, did he want sex with Sandburg?

With sentinel recall, Jim let his thoughts roam over Blair. His scent was always welcoming; he was okay on the eyes. His voice had a special quality. He'd never told his guide that it wasn't only the guide voice that he responded to. He touched Blair a lot, grounding and all that. The tactile impressions never had him recoil. He found his body responding to just the memories of touch. Then there was taste. Taste? The only taste he remembered was the fountain water and death. His body responded to that memory, too.

With an only half hard cock he made for the showers. What he was going to do with this new information he wasn't sure yet.

He left the gym to hook up with Blair.

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Jim found Blair talking to Earl as the little kids filed out of the gym.

"Hey, Gaines, Sandburg," Jim said by way of greeting.

"Ellison," Earl returned.

"Hi, Jim!" Blair answered with real enthusiasm.

"You ready for some lunch?" Jim directed to his partner.

"Sure am."

Jim looked to the other man, "You want to join us, Earl?"

Earl smiled at the cop, "Wish I could, but I go on duty in thirty, so I'm outta here."

Sandburg and Ellison raised their hands in a wave.

"Cuban or Thai, Chief?" Jim asked as he pulled the truck from the curb.

"How about WonderBurger?" Blair countered with.

Jim smiled, "I won't refuse that, but what's the occasion? Usually it's the blocked artery lecture."

"Well, we all need to deviate sometimes." Blair returned the smile that Jim gave him.

Jim turned the truck in the other direction and said, "Okay." He accepted that Blair wanted the taste of grease, too.

They ate on the open-air patio in the sun. They ate in harmony. Blair passed the pepper to Jim before he asked. Jim slid the mustard packet Blair's way before he indicated that he wanted it.

After lunch, Jim suggested a ride to the Cascade overlook, Blair agreed with a smile. Both men stood along the canyon edge in a companionable silence. Then, without warning, Jim broke it.

"So whose name did you put by the five questions?"

Blair shook his head ruefully, he should have realized that his roommate would have ferreted out the magazine after he had tried to hide. "Naomi sent it, as usual."

"You didn't answer the question, Darwin," Jim persisted.

"I only came up with one name," Blair stated softly.

"Odd, so did I."

Jim's whole demeanor was soft, Blair took a chance, "It was yours, Jim."

"How about that ...the one name on my list was yours, Blair," Jim turned his head to look at Blair's face. "The test only made my head realize what my heart already knew, you are my perfect mate."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I realized, too. It wasn't only a friendship, it was more. I do want more." Blair was still a little unsure that Jim wanted "that" with him.

The Sentinel felt his guide's uncertainty and reached out to caress his cheek. Blair leaned into it and Jim pulled him closer so their lips could meet in a first kiss.

They were alongside a road, Jim meant to keep it simple, but with the first taste, he was lost. The remembered taste of death and fountain water was replaced with the savory taste of his living guide.

Blair's lips opened in invitation and Jim dipped inside. The kiss went from exploring to consuming. Only a honk from a passing car broke the men apart. Half-lidded eyes and puffy lips met a mirror reflection in the other's face.

"Let's go home, Chief."

The ride home was silent but they held hands lest either thought it was just a dream.

The door had barely closed before Jim had Blair pressed firmly against the wall.

Blair grabbed Jim's shoulders and pulled him closer, "I think we've been like this before."

"Last time I didn't make the most of the opportunity. This time I won't make that mistake." Jim crushed his lips against his partner's and once again the taste exploded against his taste buds.

Blair arched into Jim's hardness and wanted more. He unbuttoned Jim's shirt and pulled it from his pants. He moved his open hand all over Jim's chest and back. Jim moaned into the mouth that he couldn't seem to get enough of. He wanted to explore other spots but the lips demanded the opportunity to make up for lost time.

Blair's hand wasn't satisfied, it wanted more so he unfastened the snap and zipper that held the jeans on his partner's body. His hand went right inside the boxer's and found just what it was seeking. A hot, silky and hard piece of evidence that Jim was wanting just what he did. The automatic arching of Jim's hips into his hand only spurred the hand into action. He gripped the hard erection and pumped it in time to his own hips that were thrusting against Jim's hip. His lips were still under attack and the multiple sensations ganged up on the two lovers and they exploded
without warning to themselves or their partner.

Jim rested his head against his perfect mate's, "Since we've been in courtship mode for the last five years can we go straight to the monogamous partner part?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want it any other way." Blair smiled into Jim's neck.

Jim led Blair upstairs for a nap. He wanted to rest up. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"I'll be up for that."

Jim swatted his partner on the ass as he passed him on the stairs.

Sated, both men crawled into bed looking forward to the night ahead. Tucked under Jim's chin, Blair whispered, "I love you."

Jim pulled his love closer, "I love you, too." Cuddled up next to his mate, life had never felt this good. He followed Blair into sleep.

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Next morning, Blair peeked over the railing and watched Jim at the kitchen table. "Jim, what are you mailing?" Blair asked as he bounded down the stairs.

"Just an article, Chief."

"To whom?" Blair asked as he turned over the manila envelope. He read aloud, "Naomi Sandburg? What?" Blair looked quizzically at his partner.

Jim smiled as he opened the magazine to the bookmarked spot.

Blair slipped his arm around Jim's waist as he read, "Test your skills on ~~How To Be A Good Mother-in-law~~." Both men chuckled before stealing another kiss.

FINI