House Rules
When faced with Jim's ever growing list of House Rules (capitalized and underlined twice) Blair grinned and nodded and went on his way.
Not that Blair purposely set out to break every rule Jim set down, and he didn't ignore them exactly. He knew they were there and for the most part knew what they were. But somewhere along the way Blair decided that Jim didn't really want Blair to follow all the rules.
You see Blair had a theory.
The grad student had spent one week, seven whole days, following every single House Rule. Every grumping, grousing complaint Jim had ever had was noted and fixed - in the proper Ellison way.
His keys went in the little basket by the door, food was stored in the correct color Tupperware and placed in the assigned fridge space. Blair picked up his wet towels, cleaned the bathtub after his shower and made sure his dirty laundry was done and put away.
Now if Jim sincerely wanted Blair to follow the rules this behavior would have been encouraged. Instead as the week wore on Jim settled into a foul mood. Not that he'd admit it but the cop became decidedly pouty and sullen in turns.
Because Jim liked to fuss.
The older man didn't really mind that Blair's weird fruits were in the wrong container and while hair in the shower was annoying it wasn't that big a deal. It was all about roles really.
It gave the older man an illusion of control. Much like how the 'one week' stay had turned into 'just a month'. Which had led to a half hearted attempted at rental shopping with Jim tagging along pointing out the obvious horrors of each place. Until the older man put his foot down refusing to look at any more 'death traps', stating very firmly that the next time they went out apartment hunting he would pick the list, that way they wouldn't waste the entire day.
Jim had sprung for pizza on the way home and let Blair pick a documentary to watch, not once complaining. They never had gotten around to looking at apartments again.
And if anyone ever asked he was doing it for Blair's own good, certainly not because Jim liked having the younger man under foot. Nope, not even.
It was a carefully crafted cover. One that suited Blair just fine. After all the loft was a great place to live - it was comfortable, not too far from campus, access to a wonderful bakery right in the building. He only had to pay half utilities and buy half the groceries. He even had a room that would make a stellar office. You know, once he moved up stairs.
Blair might not have been a Sentinel but he wasn't deaf and he had plainly heard Jim muttering about his totally inappropriate girlfriends of the week. It wouldn't be too much longer before Jim decided that Blair was safer in his bed, out of the clutches of the evil, psychotic women the younger man attracted. Once again for Blair's own good.
Blair wasn't going to complain. He'd get to trade in the futon for the big squishy bed, and he wouldn't have to worry about being cold at night since Jim put off heat like a furnace. And if the rumor mill was even close to true Jim was fantastic in bed.
So Blair smiled at the House Rules continuing to leave just a bit of chaos in his wake. All for Jim's benefit, of course.
-END-
Click to join twin_swords