written for Sentinel_THURS

Mar 17, 2008 03:01

Challenge #234 - take back the songfic
Title: Better than you...
Author: banbury
Category: slash
Warnings: none (could 'established couple' be a warning?)
Beta: Jane Davitt (Thank you very much!!!)

That was the last straw - no, really, thought Blair, you can be understanding, forgiving, compassionate, whatever, but when the only thing you hear the whole day is “Leave it here, I’ll do it” you have the right to voice your complaints.

“Anything you can do, I can do better.” Okay, that doesn't sound as confident as I thought it would be. He glanced at Jim.
“No, you can't.” Jim put down his screwdriver and began to rummage through the toolbox.
“Yes, I can.” Blair wasn’t thrilled with the idea of putting together this damn bookcase, but if he had to prove his words...
“No, you can’t.” Jim brought out an electric drill and plugged his ears with earplugs.
“Yes, I can.” Blair tried to shout down the damn drill but Jim's only response was a firm “NO!”
“Yes, I can. Yes, I can!”
“Okay.” Jim put down his drill and turned towards Blair, folding his arms. “I can shoot a … a … a partridge with a single cartridge.”
“Ha! I can use a bow and arrow very well, thank you very much.”
“I can live on bread and cheese for weeks.” Blair saw in Jim’s eyes that those memories weren’t remotely pleasant.
“And only on that?” He got carried away nevertheless.
“Yes.”
“So can a rat!” Oh, that was uncalled for. Blair hurriedly said the first thing that came to his mind, “I can buy anything cheaper than you.”
“Can't deny that!” Jim chuckled and then calmly and with proper pride enumerated, “But I can hear, see, and smell better than you.”
Now he was blindsided and Blair stuttered trying to say something witty. “I c-can say anything softer than you!”
“No, you can't.”
“Yes, I can.” Blair said it with his guide voice and Jim scowled.
“I can open any safe.” Blair had to admit that was true; Jim had done it in the past.
“You crook!” Blair guffawed desperately trying to come up with something appropriate. “I can look better than you and… hmm … and anything you say, I can say faster.”
“Oh, without doubt, without doubt, my dear.” Jim took his turn in roaring with laughter.
“I can do most anything!” Blair held his ground. Not that he had to have the last word in arguments, it was just… he couldn’t pinpoint his feelings exactly, just…
“Can you bake a pie?”
“No.”
“Neither can I.”

Blair pulled up short - stop, stop, stop, what did Jim say about a pie? It sounded too unlikely to be just random conversation; Blair could swear that the words sounded like song lyrics. He began to hum “Yes, I can, Yes, I can!” and then wheeled around, aiming his punch towards Jim’s shoulder. “You bastard! You did that on purpose!”
Jim laughed loudly, fanning Blair off and trying to finish the line. “Anything you can be, I can be greater. Sooner or later, I'm greater than you.”

They collapsed on the sofa, wiping away tears of laughter. Jim put his head on Blair’s lap and chuckled one more time. “You know, I didn’t remember it at first and then it just popped in my head and I couldn’t resist.” He smiled wistfully and nuzzled Blair’s bare stomach where it peeped out of his T-shirt, “Mom used to like it. She sang it to me as a lullaby.”

“I can sing it you tonight.” Blair shifted farther down so that Jim’s head laid now on his chest and giggled into his ear, “That is, if you remember all the lines.”
“Oh, babe, I’ll listen to you even if you only sing one line, you’ll do it better than me, anyway.”

This story based on the song "Anything You Can Do" from the musical "Annie Get Your Gun".
The lyrics is here: http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/anniegetyourgun/anythingyoucando.htm

slash, sentinel_thurs, mobile library, writing, the sentinel

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