saraid@wf.net
"Dammit, Sandburg!" Simon abandoned his position in front of the booth and came around the back. Blair looked up from the sandwich he was supposedly wrapping for two sweet young things, startled when the captain nudged him aside and took over the task. "Get out there and get us some customers."
"Me?" aware that his voice was squeaking Blair tried again. "You want me out front?"
"We needs customers, kid -- get out there and bring 'em in!" Simon gave him a not-too-gentle shove in the middle of his back, making him stumble. On his other side Jim caught his arm until he regained his balance and gave Simon a dirty look. "We should use every asset." the captain's eyes were twinkling.
With a confused shrug Blair took a position a few feet in front of the booth. Here at the Cascade annual city-wide fourth- of-july picnic every city department was given a booth to raise money for the cause of their choice. The PD was supporting Big Brothers and Sisters again this year, something Blair could appreciate. He could've used a big brother when he was younger, not that Naomi would have participated in anything like that.
Jim stepped close to Simon, a frown on his face.
"I don't like using the kid this way."
"He loves it." Simon grinned, thinking that Jim was jealous.
They both watched as Sandburg took a few minutes to get his bearings and them began working the crowd.
In an oversized muscle shirt and biker shorts, his hair pulled away from his face in deference to the heat, feet in those velcro sandals, Blair was adorable. Even Jim would have to admit it. And every woman walking by agreed.
Fifteen minutes after Blair took point they were busy. An hour later they were swamped.
Jim glanced up from the grill where he was currently in charge of cooking the sausage links. He could barely see Blair for the crowd of women and girls that surrounded him, but he could hear him clearly. Turning on the charm, Blair at his best; charming, amusing, attractive. They were eating it up -- along with the sausage sandwiches.
By early evening they had brought in twice what they'd made last year.
Cheerfully chattering to a petite blonde, Blair didn't jump when Jim's hand landed on his shoulder. Jim could never startle him.
"Time for the football game, Chief." Jim was grinning down at him but there was something in his eyes that Blair couldn't quite place. "You're going to be our secret weapon."
"The football game? Jim, I -"
"C'mon, Chief. Everybody agreed. We want you to play."
"Really? *Cool*." Blair's eyes lit up. He loved being included by the other cops.
With a quick goodbye to the girls Blair bounced along behind Jim as the team gathered and headed for the field.
The field. As soon as he realized what he was seeing Blair slowed and stopped.
"Oh, man, Jim. Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah, Chief. Come on, we're going to be late." Jim took his arm and tugged at him.
Grimacing, Blair followed.
The earlier game was just finishing. They gathered around the referee with their opponents, the firefighters' team.
"Hey, Ellison?! That your little brother?" one of the captains teased loudly. Blair stood firm by Jim's side.
"This is my partner, Howie." Jim answered with cheerful malice.
"And he's gonna run circles around you guys!" Brown added as the coin was tossed. Blair groaned.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do." Quarterback Brown gathered them all in a huddle on the side, nobody quite ready yet to step on the field. "Sandburg can catch anything. I've seen him. All we have to do is throw him the ball and keep those guys from crushing him."
"That sounds like a good idea." Blair groaned again. The ref blew his whistle. Blair took another look at the field and then pulled off his shirt with the others.
"I wish you had told me about this." he grumbled to Jim. "I would have worn different shorts."
"But the audience loves those." Jim grinned at Blair's behind as the younger man walked onto the field carefully. The tight spandex shorts left nothing to the imagination. Even some of the guys couldn't help staring. Jim had to at least look.
"Yuck." Blair took his place in the line up, shifting from side to side, trying to get his footing in the gluey mess. "Oh, shit!" he shouted with the rest when the big hose was turned on, the mud that filed the field becoming slicker and smellier. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"It's for charity." Jim spoke from a few men away.
Brown called a play. Blair split to the side, doubled back, and caught the short pass neatly. But he got slammed before he could run and bounced back up cursing, covered head-to-toe in thick black mud, well aware of Jim's laughter.
"What happened to blocking?!"
By halftime they were ahead 14-3. The firefighters were getting pissed and turning their attention to Blair.
He leapt for a long pass that would put them within five yards of a third touchdown. Coming down he saw the body moving behind him and tried to roll out of the way, but got hit hard, slammed between two huge guys, dropping like a rock without a sound.
"Sandburg! Chief!" Jim was on his knees beside his friend, shaking his shoulders. Several of the other cops were giving the firefighters dirty looks and grumbling.
"Hey, the kid shouldn't play if he can't take it."
"I can take it." Blair opened his eyes and grabbed Jim's hand, letting his friend drag him to his feet, the mud make hungry sucking sounds as it released him. "This is disgusting."
"You look great, Chief." Jim teased. But he wasn't ready for the softening of Blair's eyes when the smaller man looked at him.
"You think so, Jim?" Blair handed him the ball and gave himself a good shake, his hair, loosed from the tieback, swinging around his face in muddy tendrils.
"Only one more quarter." Brown trotted over to them. "Think you can hang on, Blair?"
"Just watch me." Blair matched his grin.
The cops put everything they had toward protecting him after that hit. He caught ball after ball, and every time Jim was there, between him and some big firefighter who wanted to splatter him across the landscape. He ran, twisting, turning, sliding and slipping, and scored two more touchdowns.
On the last play of the game he was determined to score once more. Quickly he outlined a play for Brown, who agreed to it.
It went exactly as he'd planned it, except for one little hitch...the mud finally caught him. He slipped and went down, windmilling, catching at Jim and taking him down with him. Jim landed hard, right on top of Blair, knocking the wind out of both of them.
Embarrassed, worried about squashing his smaller friend, Jim tried to get up, but every movement threw him back at Sandburg, and no one was helping. The rest of the team -- the other team and the audience, too -- were too busy howling with laughter to help.
"Fuck, Sandburg, how did we get into this?!" Jim growled as he tried to push off only to have one hand slip and give the younger man a painful blow to the crotch. Blair yelped and would have curled over but Jim's weight held him in place.
"Shit, man..." he wheezed. "You didn't have to attack me. I would've said yes."
Jim's eyes widened comically and Blair would have laughed if he didn't hurt so much. Then Jim leaned closer -- he was already on top if is friend, so he couldn't get *much* closer --, and whispered; "If I'd known all I had to do was ask..." he trailed off and then managed to get himself off to the side, where he lay on his back, panting, giving Blair the chance to curl around his pain and moan softly.
"Next year you should wear a cup." Jim sat, giving the crowd a dirty look, trying to ignore the messages his body was sending. Taggart broke away and came over to offer Blair a hand.
"Ain't going to be a next year." Blair muttered darkly. He dropped the ball on the ground and staggered a little, still bent over trying to ignore the pain. "Done my bit for freedom, man."
Jim put an arm around him and walked him off the field. A cheer rose and Blair felt better, managed to raise a hand and acknowledge it.
"Good job, Sandburg." Simon reached to pat him on the shoulder but changed his mind at the last minute and merely waved at it. "Get over with everybody else and get cleaned up."
Assisted by Jim's arm around his waist Blair limped to the crowd gathering at the edge of the field.
When the hose was turned on the pressure threatened to wash him away. He clung to Jim, trying not to let his mind linger on the hard heat of Jim's muscular shoulders, feeling relief when Brown stepped to his other side and propped him up so he could let go of Jim. But his friend seemed unwilling to let him go and kept that arm around him.
By the time they were rinsed clean they were soaked through. Blair put his shirt back on and tried to wring out his hair, aware that there was still mud in it.
He felt the limp mass lifted from his hands from behind and would have protested but Jim spoke first.
"You would really say yes?" Jim's voice was low as he twisted and squeezed Blair's hair, getting as much water out of it as he could.
Blair stiffened but didn't answer. Jim finished with his hair and knotted a leather tie around it neatly, running his hands over the sides one more time before stepping away.
Blair's eyes darted from side to side. But no one was looking, nobody seemed to think that Jim playing with his hair was weird except him.
"Let's get some dinner. I'm buying." Stepping around in front of him, Jim's grin widened.
"Anything but sausage." Blair grinned back. He felt off balance, but somehow it felt right.
They wandered the fairgrounds side-by-side. It was getting late and people were beginning to stake out spots to watch the fireworks. They got nachos and beer and joined up with the rest of the department, sprawled out over a conglomeration of blankets. Wives and children talked and played through the group.
Major crimes had claimed the far left corner of the space. Jim and Blair took seats to the back, Jim with his back to the wall of a shed, Blair in front of him because there wasn't enough room to sit to the side.
They ate, giving each other long glances and probing looks. Simon appeared and Jim shifted enough to give him room to sit. Darryl ignored them and went off to join a group of other cops' kids, teenagers and the captain shook his head ruefully.
"I'm just not cool enough." he sighed. Jim teased him and then hushed as the first of the pyrotechnics lit the sky, brilliant and magical.
In front of him Blair shifted, leaning back to get a better view. Without thinking about it Jim wrapped his arms around his partner's waist and pulled him to his chest. Unresisting, Blair lay his head on Jim's shoulder and stared up at the sky, making small appreciative noises.
Aware of the men he worked with, surrounding them, some staring, Jim ignored them and concentrated on the feel of Blair in his arms -- warm, sweet, promising. He barely heard Simon's words, knew that his captain had picked up Blair's habit of speaking so low no one else could hear it.
"It's about time you two figured that out."
He grinned at Simon in answer and tightened his hold on Blair.
As the fireworks progressed with a dozen huge multi-colored bursts high in the sky accompanied with shooting towers of gold sparks, Jim gently turned Blair's head to look into his eyes. The welcome he saw there was like coming home after years away, so sweet that he didn't close his eyes as he covered Blair's mouth with his own in a lingering, exploration of his mouth that was quickly returned by his friend.
When he pulled away he was aware of the racing of Blair's heart, it matched his own. Leaning forward and laying his head on the younger man's shoulder to watch the last of the show he whispered in his ear, loose hairs tickling his nose.
"I'm asking."
He felt the twitch from the warm body in his arms, but Blair didn't pull away. His hands slid up to cover Jim's.
"I'm saying yes." the words floated in the air between them, like the sparks of the fireworks.
"Let's go." Jim stood and tugged Blair after him, the younger man coming carefully, reluctantly.
"But it's not over yet."
"We can make a better show at home." Jim grinned at him and Blair smiled back widely.
"You already made me see stars once today." Blair teased as they walked through the parking lot, deserted, everyone off watching the celebration.
"Trust me." Jim turned and swung Blair up to him. "It'll be a big bang."