|
B.J Sandburg Part Seven.
Jim couldn't count how many meals he'd eaten with Blair over the years. In restaurants, at home, on a blanket by a good fishing spot in the woods. They'd broken bread together hundreds of times, sharing conversation and laughter over candle light and wine. But like everything else over the past few days, it had never been like this before. In honour of the blue dress, and Blair's first 'date', Jim had put on a suit and a tie, and even shined his shoes. He was glad he had when Blair appeared uncertainly in the doorway of his room, tugging at the top of his dress. "This was a mistake, right?" he said nervously. Jim held his breath at the sight of those tan arms, muscles flexing gently as he raised his hand to his hair. Goddamn, that was sexy. "I really liked it in the shop, but now..." "It looks good," Jim said lamely. "It feels funny," Blair confided. He was wearing low strappy sandals, and he took a few steps and twirled on the spot. "I feel like I'm naked." Jim's heart stopped. "You're not, are you?" he blurted out. Blair chuckled merrily. "I thought you didn't want to talk about my underwear?" "I don't," Jim assured him. "Then I guess the stuff about me shaving under my arms is off limits too?" Jim turned his mouth down and shook his head. "Let's go before I change my mind," he warned. "Wouldn't want that," Blair muttered. Jim turned to find him shrugging into his leather jacket. Now that his shoulders weren't quite so broad, the thing hung on him. "What?" Blair said defensively. "The underwear and the dress tapped me out. Not to mention the shoes." Blair spent the trip expounding on the iniquities of the price difference between men and women's clothes. By the time they reached the restaurant, Jim knew more than he'd ever wanted to about hats and accessories. They were seated in their usual table and Jim automatically sat down, wondering why the waiter was frowning at him. Realisation hit when the handsome young waiter pulled Blair's chair out and gallantly saw him seated. With a flourish he shook out his snowy white napkin and laid it on his lap, then gave Jim one last disapproving glance before taking their drink order. "And I thought chivalry was dead," Jim retorted when the waiter vanished. "I should be taking notes," Blair said, shaking his head in amazement. "Equality between the sexes is right up there on the top of everyone's agenda, but you're still expected to give up your seat on the bus to a woman." "But is it the woman who expects it, or the man?" Jim plucked a bread stick out of the basket in the centre of the table, and nibbled on the end. "Good point," Blair nodded. He shifted a little, grimacing. "Man, this thing is so uncomfortable. Why would anybody wear this?" "Why did you buy it?" Jim asked reasonably. "It was the most feminine thing there," Blair shrugged, showing off exactly why a man would want a woman to buy a strapless dress. Jim shook his head in disbelief. "Can't do anything halfway, can you? Have to jump in feet first. Strapless dresses, dating strange men." "Are you still going on about that?" Blair shifted again, tugging at the top of the dress self consciously. "Listen," he said, voice confidential. He leaned forward, then glanced down and leaned back, his cheeks reddening. "You'd, uh, you'd tell me if I looked... You know. Odd. Wouldn't you?" Jim leaned back in his chair. "Odd?" he repeated. "You mean for a man who turned into a woman?" "I mean as a woman," Blair stressed. It occurred to Jim that this was the first time he'd seen Blair looking really discomfited by something since this whole thing had begun. So far his reactions had been of wonder and surprise, tinged with a little fear, but now he was glancing around him, hands fidgeting, eyes nervous. "Chief, do you want to go?" Jim asked sincerely. For a moment Blair looked tempted, but then he straightened his shoulders determinedly. "No," he said firmly. "I have to get past this." "Is all this just sinking in?" Jim wondered aloud. That would certainly explain why Blair had taken all this so well up to now. The kid had probably been in shock. "It's not that," Blair wrinkled his nose, then huffed a laugh. "To tell you the truth, it's the dress. It makes me feel..." he broke off, grimacing comically. "Uncomfortable?" Jim guessed. He scanned the tanned bare shoulders, the intriguing hollows of throat, the smooth curve of neck. "Naked? Cold? What?" "It makes me feel like a girl," Blair confided in a rush. Jim couldn't help it, he had to laugh. Blair looked so affronted, so indignant, Jim just laughed harder, until finally Blair's outraged expression turned to grudging amusement. Other restaurant patrons glanced over at them, smiling. "Let me get this straight," Jim chortled. "You bought the most feminine dress you could find, and now you're amazed you feel like a girl?" "Not amazed," Blair corrected. "I just didn't expect to feel so... different. Guess just wearing a t-shirt and jeans today didn't really prepare me for how it feels to have a dress swirling around your legs when you walk." He grinned a little. "I have this overwhelming urge to... swish." Jim took a sip of his drink. "Sorry to tell you this, Chief. But you've been swishing all week." "No," Blair denied. He looked fascinated, then thoughtful. "Really?" "Take my word for it," Jim said fervently. Blair opened his mouth again, but the meals arrived and they both tucked in. "Megan was great, wasn't she?" Jim nodded. "She's a good kid," he agreed. "I might just have that lunch with her," Blair continued, swirling pasta on his fork and leaning over to take a bite. Jim automatically looked away, but it was way too late. Pale golden cleavage was now burned onto the back of his retinas. Great. "I'm really looking forward to having some women friends, you know? I mean, I have women friends now, but I'm a man and they're women. Being friends with women as a woman is gonna be a blast. And what a social experiment!" "Pity you can't ever write a paper on it." "Story of my life," Blair said wryly. "Maybe I'll ask Megan to give me some tips on make-up and stuff. What do you think?" "I don't know, Chief," Jim said, slicing his steak with pleasure. "Are you overwhelmed by the urge to paint your face?" "Not yet," Blair chuckled. "But I guess if I'm going to fit in..." He trailed off, looking a little sad for a moment. Jim laid his knife and fork down with a clink. "I knew it," he said. "You overheard what those cats said the other day." "Probably not as much as you did," Blair shrugged. "But enough to know I wasn't gonna be popular with the ladies. Have to tell you, I didn't expect that." "Pay no attention to 'em Chief," Jim counseled. "They'll get over it." "Most of them seemed really nice. At least, they were nice to Blair." "But B.J is another matter," Jim said wisely. "Think about it, Chief. You walk in there, not a scrap of make-up, dressed about as casual as you can get, and you still looked like a million dollars. Of course you were gonna get some bitchy comments." Blair looked surprised, and then he smiled widely. "A million dollars?" he repeated in a teasing voice. "Gee, thanks, Jim." Jim shrugged uncomfortably. How do you tell your best friend how good he looks as a woman, without sounding like you were hitting on him or something? Blair let him off the hook with a grin. "Anyway, I was really grateful to Megan for being so nice." "Won't it feel strange being friends with her as a woman?" Jim asked curiously. "You used to have a bit of a crush on her, didn't you?" Blair wrinkled his nose again. It was an endearing little grimace. "Not really," he denied. "Well, maybe there was a time I thought there could be more between us, but it kind of fizzled out." "Why?" Jim asked bluntly. He really liked Megan, and he'd been surprised when Blair had seemed so restrained with her. The kid was usually like a dog in heat around the pretty ladies, and Megan was a beauty. "Jim, you've gotta understand. The last few months have been like a countdown to my birthday. Hell, in a way my whole life has been counting down to D Day. It's always been there, in the back of mind. How could I start a relationship with someone, and then just disappear for a year?" "You could have told her," Jim ventured. "Seriously?" Blair said, eyebrows raised. "There's no way I could have told anyone about this. Anyone except you, of course." "Of course," Jim agreed, secretly rather flattered. "Like, all the women you've been close to over the years," Blair defended. "Have you ever been tempted to tell any of them about your Sentinel abilities?" Jim thought about it for a moment, and decided the answer was a resounding no. "I haven't been that close to anybody," he pointed out. "Well, I have. And I've never met anyone I could tell this to. This thing has been hanging over my head my whole life, affecting every decision I've ever made, one way or another. Oddly enough, it's even the reason I'm here with you now." Jim frowned an inquiry. "Well, it was while I was trying to research the family Curse that I stumbled on the Sentinel stuff." Blair smiled. "Tucked away in the Loonies and Oddity's section of the Dewy Decimal System." "Thanks, Chief." "No, seriously. I think it's why I took to being a Guide so easily. My whole life has been just off centre anyway." "Careful, Sandburg, you're turning my head with all these compliments." "As a matter of fact," Blair began thoughtfully. "I actually developed a theory after I met you, that maybe this family... affliction, might have something to do with me being a Guide." "I don't see how," Jim said easily. "What can you do as a woman that you can't do as a man?" "Besides have babies you mean?" Blair chuckled. Jim joined in, chortling at the thought. "Yeah, besides that," he snickered. Then the implications of that struck home and he frowned again, looking up in time to see realisation streak over Blair's face. "Uh, um," Blair said, fiddling with his napkin. "Yeah, I, er..." "So," Blair said brightly. "Where are you taking me to dance?"
End of Part Seven.
|
