Rite of Passage

"OOHHHHHH...*hiccup*...the sun shines brrriiight on my ooolllddd..."  *sigh*  "Ken...Ken...Kaaaintukkkkeeee hooommmmmm!"

Jim Ellison winced as his partner sang loudly, not to mention off-key, in his ear.  He was thankful his neighbors in 305 were out of town for the weekend.  Mr. Wilcox in 308 was almost deaf so it was unlikely the drunken singing would wake him.

"Hey, Jim...I used to live in Kentucky, y'know?"  Blair Sandburg, hanging onto the body of the tall Sentinel, thumped his hand on said Sentinel's firm chest.

"Is that a fact, Sandburg?" Jim grunted.  He propped Blair against the wall and fished out his keys.

"Yep, it's a fact," Blair solemnly nodded.  "Kentucky!" he shouted, spreading his arms to either side of his sliding body.  "Home of beautiful horses and fast women!"

Jim caught his partner just before the younger man hit the floor.  Ordinarily, he would have taken the opportunity to  touch his partner a little more intimately than would have been necessary.  But Jim would have felt he was taking unfair advantage of his friend.  The door unlocked, he kicked it open then pulled Sandburg to his feet.

"I mean it, Jim."  Blair suddenly grabbed Jim's shirt with both fists.  "Fast women."  He leaned forward until his nose touched Jim's.  "REALLY fast women."

Jim automatically closed his eyes to keep from staring cross-eyed at his partner.  Then he leaned back.  "Works for me, Chief.  C'mon."  He tugged on Blair, bringing him inside the loft.

"Okay," Blair seriously nodded.  "Wh're we goin', JIm?"  He pulled away from his friend as Jim shut and locked the door behind them.  "Time to save the day ag...ag...*hiccup* 'gin?"

"Time to get you to bed," Jim grumbled.  "How much did you drink tonight, Sandburg?"

"Not much," Blair denied in a hurt voice.  He weaved back and forth as he tried to count on his fingers.  "I had a drink with Simon...gotta drink with th' boss, ya know."  He lowered his voice.  "Office politics," he whispered.  "Learned 'bout that at Rain'er."  He suddenly frowned.  "Shoulda learned it better," he sniffled.

"C'mon..." Jim began only to be interrupted when Blair threw himself into his arms.

"I'm sorry, man!  Shoulda handled it better," Blair sniffed.  "Diss made a mess of ever'thin."

Jim gently hugged his partner.  "It's okay, Blair.  Remember?  All that's in the past.  We're okay, right?"

"Right!"  Blair slapped Jim's back hard enough to startle the older man then staggered away.  "Bad diss."  He mournfully shook his head.  "Bad bad diss."  He wrathfully looked around the living room.  "I'd spank it if it'd be 'round."  He spun around, falling onto the couch.  "Don't tell N'omi, man.  She doesn't b'leve in cor...cor...cor..."  He irritably waved his hands.  "In 'pankin."  He suddenly looked around.  "Jim?  Are we havin' an earthquake?  Man, the room's...MOVIN'."

"No earthquake, Chief."  Jim tried not to laugh as he pulled his partner to his feet.  "Time to get you to bed."

"Okay," Blair cheerfully agreed.  "Time to go beddie-bye."  He rubbed his throat as Jim prodded him towards the small bedroom.  "We got any beer?  'M awful thirsty."

"No beer," Jim firmly denied.  "You get undressed, and I'll get you some water."

"I can get it," Blair offered.  He started to walk past Jim only to lose his balance and stagger against the taller man.  "There's 'nother 'quake, man."

"Get undressed and into bed, Sandburg," Jim gently ordered.  "I'll get the water."

"Okey-dokey," Blair grinned.

Jim shook his head as he walked away.  Major Crimes had taken Blair to Shiff's Bar & Grill to celebrate his graduation from the Academy.  They'd run into some of the cops from Vice and Narcotics who'd been celebrating the successful closure of a long and brutal joint investigation.  Somehow, they'd all wound up in one of the back banquet rooms.  Jim suspected the manager had done it to keep all the rowdy cops in one room.

As Jim searched the refrigerator for some of Blair's bottled water, the phone rang.  He quickly grabbed it before his partner staggered out to answer it.  "Ellison."

"Jim, how's the kid?"  Simon Banks' voice was half-amused and half-concerned.

"Well, if tonight was a rite of passage like he kept saying, then he's not our little kid anymore," Jim smirked.  He reopened the refrigerator door.

"Ha-Ha, Jim," Simon snorted. 

Jim shoved bottles of mayonnaise, pickles, and something he couldn't even begin to recognize to one side.  "Seriously, Simon, if I find out who gave him so much to drink..."

"Like you said, Jim.  He's not our little kid anymore," Simon interrupted.  "But I really doubt anybody in Major Crimes got him this drunk."

Jim sighed and closed the refrigerator door.  No bottled water.  He'd just have to slip his partner some tap water.  "Probably some of those idiots in Vice."

"That would be my guess," Simon admitted.

"OOOOH, JIIIMMMY!  JIMMMY JOOOOOSSSSFFFFF!"

Jim closed his eyes.

"Jimmy Joseph?" Simon chortled.

"Feel free to come over anytime and help," Jim offered as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"He's YOUR partner," Simon pointed out.  "Have fun."

"Thank you, sir.  Good night, sir."  Jim disconnected the call before Blair could yell again.  He started towards Blair's room then stopped.  Slowly he looked up the stairs towards his room.  "Sandburg?"

"That's my name!  *hiccup*  Don't wear it out!"

Jim's eyes widened as Blair looked through the railing.

"Sandburg, what are you doing in my bed?"  Jim silently asked himself how Blair had managed to get up there without breaking his neck.  He quickly trotted up the stairs.  He stopped in shocked surprise on the top step.

Not only was Blair in his bed.  Blair was naked.  Naked in his bed.

"Waitin' f'you."  Blair rolled onto his back, stretched, and wiggled his toes.

"Okay," Jim slowly nodded.  He had to admit this was one of his stranger trips into the Sandburg zone.  "Why?" he asked, sitting on the side of the bed.  He quickly calculated how quickly he could get Sandburg back downstairs without tipping off his drunken, but very intelligent, partner that he wanted to nail him to the mattress.

"Earthquakes down there," Blair confided.  "Not up here."

"Really?"  Jim wondered if it would be worth the effort to get Blair back downstairs to his own room.  Then again, he figured, Blair's scent would be in his room if he left the younger man in his bed.   Jim reasoned he could sleep downstairs for one night.

"But I want it t'move."  Blair reached out and pulled Jim down on top of him.  "Make the earth move f'me, Jim."

Startled, Jim stared down into Blair's earnest blue eyes.  "Chief...I..."  He tried to get his hands in position to push himself off Blair's body.

"NOOOOOO!" Blair wailed as he tried to wrap his arms and legs around Jim.  "Stay!"

Jim suppressed a grin.  Blair looked and sounded like a petulant five-year old.  "Okay, but let me lay down beside you."

Blair determinedly shook his head "no".  Then winced and grabbed his head with both hands.  "Ooohhh...that wasn't good."

Jim took the opportunity to slide to one side.  He lay on his right side, facing Blair.  "Easy."  He reached out and pulled Blair's hands away from his head.  "Why don't you just close your eyes, okay?"  He was surprised when Blair curled up on his side and snuggled against him.

"Love you," Blair muttered.

"You do, huh?" Jim smiled as he began to gently rub Blair's back.

"Mmmm-hmmmm," Blair closed his eyes.  "More 'n an'thin."

"More than chocolate?" Jim softly asked.

"Mmmm-hmmmm," Blair nodded.

"More than camping?"  Jim lowered his voice further.

"Mmmm-hmmmm."  Blair snuggled closer, his breath tickling Jim's neck.

"More than algae shakes?"  Jim whispered.

"Mmmmm-hmmm."  Blair barely responded.

"I know you do," Jim murmured into Blair's curls.  "You know what?"  He heard Blair's gentle breathing.  "I love you, too.   More than anything."

"More 'n th' truck?" Blair whispered.

"More than the truck," Jim smiled.  He gently kissed Blair's forehead.  "Go to sleep now."

"Don' wanna," Blair grumbled.  "Don' wan' it t'be dream."  *hiccup*

"It won't be," Jim soothed.  He lay on his back and pulled Blair completely into his arms.  "This is going to be the sweetest courtship in history.  We're going to sleep together in this bed every night.  Then, when we're ready...we'll make the slowest sweetest love to each other."

"Pr'mis?"  Blair slowly opened his eyes.

"Promise," Jim whispered, staring into the blue eyes that owned his soul.

Blair's eyes slowly closed.  "Cool."

Jim gently stroked Blair's back until the younger man fell asleep.  He smiled, thinking that his partner was going to be absolutely miserable in the morning.  He decided that when he found out who deliberately got Blair drunk, and he WOULD find out, he wouldn't kill them.  He decided to send them an anonymous bouquet of flowers with a thank-you card.  It would drive them crazy.


March 2002

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