Delightful
Delightful
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; too bad, so sad.
Pairings/Characters: Jim, Blair
Spoilers: S1
Word Count: ~600
Summary: Blair finds a sensory test that Jim wouldn’t mind repeating.
A/N: Written for sentinel_thurs challenge #431, “delight”
Jim gives Blair a distrustful look. “Come on, Sandburg. Do we have to?”
“If you want control, you’ve got to practice,” Blair replies, bouncing from foot to foot. “And you’re going to love this, man, I promise.”
With a snort, Jim says, “I doubt that. I remember the taste test.”
“Hey, the sour milk was a mistake,” Blair admits. “There’s no sour milk anywhere around here, I swear.”
Jim sighs and puts on the blindfold. “Fine.”
“Okay,” Blair says quietly, pitching his voice in just the right tone to send Jim into a light trance. “We’ve been working on identifying trace amounts of ingredients so you can filter it out when necessary, right?”
Even behind the blindfold, Blair can tell Jim is rolling his eyes. “Yeah.”
“You’re going to taste each item, and then I want you to tell me everything you taste, okay?”
Another sigh. “And we can watch the game after this?”
“Sure, man,” Blair agrees readily.
The first item is the non-fat frozen vanilla yogurt with a list of ingredients as long as Blair’s arm, including things that Blair can’t even pronounce. Jim would normally turn his nose up at it just because it’s frozen yogurt, and not ice cream, but Jim doesn’t know what it is.
Blair is trusting Jim’s taste buds to tell him the stuff isn’t any good.
Jim frowns in thought as he rolls the taste around on his tongue, and then he grimaces. “Ugh.”
“So?” Blair prompts.
“I have no idea what’s in this,” Jim says. “Milk? Maybe? At least in some universe.”
Blair grins. “Yeah, I can’t pronounce any of the ingredients either. Next up.”
The next sample is an off-brand ice cream that has more natural ingredients, but not all that many more.
Okay, so Blair is trying to prove a point, but he’s also trying to get Jim to pay attention to his senses, and what they tell him. And he’s trying to prove that they can bring him pleasure, and not just pain.
Jim frowns as he tastes it. “Well, there’s something vaguely reminiscent of strawberries. Milk. Sugar. Maybe a touch of salt. Some other stuff that I probably can’t pronounce.”
“Good job,” Blair replies. “Next up.”
The third sample is a decent brand, with mostly quality ingredients, and Jim smiles. “That’s good ice cream.”
“So? Ingredients?” Blair prompts, knowing that Jim is getting into the zone now. He’s really paying attention, and that’s half the battle.
“Milk, vanilla beans, sugar,” Jim begins, listing off each ingredient slowly. “I’d take more of that, Chief.”
“One more,” Blair promises. “I saved the best for last.”
Jim frowns slightly. “Yeah, okay.” He doesn’t sound as though he quite believes it.
Blair pulls out his ace in the hole-the best ice cream that money can buy, made from all-natural, high-quality ingredients. And, okay, it’s chocolate, which is Jim’s favorite.
He pops the spoon into Jim’s mouth and watches as Jim’s face goes slack with pleasure. “Oh, God,” he groans in delight.
Blair grins. “What do you taste?”
“Give me another spoonful and I’ll tell you,” Jim counters.
Blair laughs. “Never mind. You can take the blindfold off now.”
Jim pulls it off and reaches for the container of ice cream without another word.
Blair grins. “You know, that’s the all-natural stuff, don’t you?”
“If this is what all-natural stuff tastes like, I’ll take it,” Jim replies with a grin. “Where’s yours?”
Blair shrugs. “I only got the one container. I’m not the one with Sentinel senses.”
Jim gives him a look and then shrugs. “Grab a spoon, Chief. This stuff is too good not to share.”
Blair grins. He’d been hoping Jim would say just that.
“And Blair?” Jim says.
“Yeah?”
“Any time you want to use ice cream to test my senses, I’m on board,” Jim says around a mouthful of ice cream.
Blair figures he’d probably move fast if he doesn’t want to miss out.