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Summary: Blair plots, Jim gets a surprise, a normal occurrence
in the life of Sentinel and Guide.
Disclaimer: PetFly owns them. No word on the time share
options yet. Thanks to Tae for a wonderful beta job and for teaching me not
to talk like a robot. ;)
"All right!" Blair shouted from the computer, pumping his fist into the air.
Jim put down the morning paper to look at his excited guide. "What's all the yelling about, junior?"
Blair turned to look over his shoulder at his Sentinel. "Umm, nothing Jim," he said in all innocence.
Folding up the paper, the older man stood up and moved over to his guide. "Uh huh. Nothing, Chief? What are you up to now?"
Blair covered the computer screen with both hands. "Stop right there, man. Don't come any closer."
Jim stopped to look at the crazy younger man. "All right, Sandburg. What are you being so secretive about?"
Blair shielded the computer screen from Jim's sharp eyes and quickly shut down the system. "Only time will tell, Jim," he replied, teasingly, as he turned toward the older man, giving him an innocent smile.
"You can save the innocent routine for someone who doesn't know you, Sandburg."
"Aw, Jim, you hurt me with your sarcasm," was the wounded reply, that was ruined by the small smile playing across his lips.
"Sure, Chief. Since you're the king of sarcasm, I think you've learned to deal with it."
Blair laughed at Jim's retort. "Too true, man. Too true."
Standing up the smaller man moved over to his Sentinel and clapped him on a broad shoulder. "Don't you worry, Jim. You'll find out what this is all about in a couple of weeks."
Giving Blair a smirk, he rolled his eyes and said, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
Blair snickered as he moved past the taller man. "I don't know. Maybe because you're the most paranoid person I've ever met?"
With a yelp, Blair dodged Jim's lunge and rushed into his room to hide, the older man's laughter trailing after him.
**Two Weeks' Later**
Jim arrived home from the station after a long boring day doing paperwork. The rich smell of linguine with clam sauce wafted into the hallway, urging the Sentinel to move faster.
"Smells good, Chief," he said as he dropped his keys into the little wicker basket. Hanging up his coat on the rack, he headed into the kitchen to grab a beer.
Blair threw him a smile as a freshly opened bottle of beer clinked to the counter beside him. "Thanks, man. Should be ready in ten minutes."
"Good, I'm starved."
"I have a surprise for you, Jim," Blair said as he gave the sauce another stir.
Taking a long pull on his beer, Jim raised an eyebrow at the smaller man. "A surprise?"
Placing a lid on the pot, Blair motioned for Jim to go into the living room. "Have a seat, man. It's in my room. Be right back."
Moving into the living room he took a seat on the couch and waited for his Guide.
Bouncing over to Jim, the younger man placed a box on his lap.
"Before you open it, do you remember a couple of weeks ago when you were acting all paranoid and I told you that I would let you know what was going on in a couple of weeks?"
Eyeing the younger man warily, wondering what strange thing could be in the box, Jim nodded.
"Well, this is what was going on," Blair said, looking very pleased with himself.
Jim looked down at the simple cardboard box with trepidation. At least his sense of smell was telling him that it wasn't some weird food stuff that Blair wanted him to try.
Tearing off the tape he opened the flaps of the box. Pushing the tissue paper aside, he looked up at his Guide with surprise. "Blair, what is this?"
Sitting down beside the older man Blair grabbed one of the items in the box. A gray and white toy dog with blue eyes was shoved into Jim's face. "Isn't he great Jim? Look at the other one."
Jim turned his attention back to the box and pulled out a small black panther.
"Aren't they great, Jim?"
"Umm, what are they, Chief?" Jim said, puzzled.
"They're Beanie Babies, man. Haven't you ever heard of them? Look," Blair said as he pointed out the tags on the small animals' ears. "They have names and little poems to go with them."
"Cute, Sandburg, but I don't understand what's so special.."
Blair cut him off impatiently. "Look at them closely, Jim. What do you think they represent?"
Handing the little dog back to Jim, he watched as his Sentinel studied his gift.
Looking at the tag on the dog, he noticed it was a husky. What did a husky and panther have to do with anything?
Holding the small toys in his hands, he looked at them closely.
A sudden smile spread across his face. Turning to Blair, he started to chuckle. "They're our spirit animals right?"
"Give the man a cigar," Blair crowed happily. " I know that they are really a husky and a panther, but they look like a wolf and jaguar to me."
"I agree. Where did you get them, Chief?"
"I got them through an online auction. The panther is no longer being made so it's a little hard to track down. Man, I couldn't believe when I finally got the winning bid on them."
Looking around the room, Jim wondered where he should put the two stuffed animals. Spotting the computer monitor he stood up and placed the duo on top of it.
"So, do you like them?"
Turning to look at his Guide, he grinned again. "Yes, I like them, Sandburg. What do you think about putting them here?"
"It's a good spot, Jim."
Jim adjusted the panther until the toy stared straight at whoever was using the computer. "There we go."
"What are you doing, man?"
Moving out of the way, Jim showed the younger man the computer and the animals on top of the monitor and pointed at the black panther. "Just setting it up so the next time you get carried away and stay online too long, this guy will stare at you until you remember."
"Oh, great, that's just what I need. Two blessed protectors. I'm never going to have fun again."
"You'd better believe it, junior. Now, lets go eat.
I'm starving."
Blair stood up and moved toward the kitchen, only to be stopped by Jim placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling him back. He gave the younger man's shoulder an affectionate pat.
"Thanks Blair. I really do like the toys."
A big grin spread across the younger man's face at his Sentinel's confession. "Thanks, man. I'm glad you like them. Now, lets get some food into you before you fade away to nothing."
With one final pat, the Sentinel let his Guide go. Moving as one, the two men went into the dining room to eat, leaving a pair of toy spirit animals watching over them.
