Wearily Jim soaked up the last of the water, put the mop in the bucket, and straightened up to look at the sodden mess that used to be his bedroom. The only consolation he had was that he had *heard* the skylight as it was giving away, and had rolled out of bed and far enough away that he had only gotten wet.

"Why the hell didn't I hear it *before* it was ready break?" he muttered darkly. Morosely he looked up through the hole in the roof, as if to find the answer there.

"When was the last time you were home long enough to do anything but fall face first on the mattress, asleep on the way down?" Blair asked reasonably as he came up the stairs behind him. "Got another load?"

"Not unless we can figure out how to get the mattress in the dryer," Jim answered absently, still scanning the edges of the hole. "Water's probably been seeping in for months, but you're right, it couldn't have been more than a week that it's been bad enough collapse."

Suddenly beyond weary, he rubbed his face, "And I've got at least another week before things let up on the job."

Blair gently caught Jim's sleeve and began tugging him toward the stairs. "Come on, you'd better get what sleep you can. It's nearly 4am; can you go in late tomorrow?"

Letting himself be towed, Jim followed his partner downstairs. "Have to; got to cover that hole until I can get someone here to work on it," he mumbled.

"Do you want the couch or my bed? It's too late to find a room somewhere tonight."

"Huh?" Jim asked stupidly, then visibly shook himself awake. "No hotel; no money unless the insurance is going to cover the repair and damages. Couch, I guess; your bed's the size of a postage stamp."

"Jim, is that a comment on my height?" Blair demanded mock indignantly.

Yawning hugely, Jim sat on the couch, grabbed a blanket the other man had left there, then managed a grin. "More a comment on how seldom you *use* the thing, Sandburg."

"Hey, can I help it if I don't need much sleep?"

"Go away, kid, you bother me," Jim said through another yawn and lay down.

"Not at much as that couch is going to bother your back," Blair answered, but softly since he didn't want to wake the big man up.

The phone rang a little more than two hours later, and Jim rolled off the couch, barely suppressing a moan as his stiffness hit his awareness. Frantically he dialed it down enough to answer, but couldn't seem to find a dial to get the snarl in his voice down. It crept up to a total growl as he listened to dispatch, then stalked off to shower.

Two days later he stood at the foot of the couch, staring at it as if considering pitching it over the balcony. The work on the roof would take at least another day, he'd had less than 6 hours sleep in the past 48, and those 6 had been pure hell on his sore, abused muscles. Consideringly he looked over at Blair's room.

How much worse could that futon be, anyway? Sandburg had disappeared from the station, his latest cutie in tow, not long ago. From past experience, Jim knew he'd probably spend the night at her place, coming home only to shower and change. Where did he get the energy, anyway? Jim wasn't sure Blair had slept *at all* as Major Crimes had dealt with the mayor's latest 'crisis.'

Reluctantly, he drifted toward the French doors and opened them. Blair *had* offered more than once, and it was this or try to sleep amid the attention-demanding noises and smells of someplace other than his home. With a sigh of resignation he began to strip, neatly folding his clothes onto the stack of books and journals currently perched on the desk chair.

The unfamiliar surface scraped on his skin, but the comforting scent of his partner soothed him. He lapsed into a sleep so deep as to practically be unconsciousness.
 
 

Less than an hour later, the fire-escape doors eased open, and Blair crept through them. Long used to accommodating a sleeping sentinel, he kept his movements and sounds to the level Jim seemed to find tolerable and undressed for bed in the dark. Trying not to hurry, but knowing that three days was a bit much even for him, he tugged his blanket free from whatever he had left piled on the bed and dropped onto the mattress.

In the three seconds he had before sleep claimed him, he had barely enough time to wonder what he had on the bed that could be so *heavy.*
 
 

The mammal that would eventually evolve into James Ellison rose up to awareness with a wonderful, arousing scent in its nostrils. His mate was near, very near and ready for copulating. Autonomic responses were activated; heart beat and breathing sped up, hormones were released, and body readied itself for activity.

The increased blood flow stirred the somnambulant brain, and the mammal progressed to primate. Instinct stirred and had the big hands shaping and cradling the smaller form to a perfect fit. Mate accepted the attention passively, which inflamed the primate and woke the sentinel.

Sentinel skimmed over the surface of the information his senses were giving him, first seeking for trouble. When all was found safe, he began eagerly consuming the sensory treats waiting - downy smooth skin under him, fragrant heat surrounding him, tiny pleased animal noises, the throbbing of his own erection.

The last finally gathered the attention of the man, and he automatically began a careful rubbing on the sheets. Opening his eyes, he admired the curved muscles of his pillow - the middle of someone's back. He nuzzled sleepily, then licked the nearest patch of skin. Shivering - the taste was delicious - he began to stroke and explore, savoring the glide of flesh over flesh. The person under him stretched, humming contentedly, and began his own grinding onto the bed.

Hunching upwards, bringing his arousal into contact with the inside lower thigh of his lover, he tasted the vulnerable nape and sucked sleepily on a strand of curly hair. It was better than delicious, it was downright incendiary and he began humping more enthusiastically.

The increased friction and weight made the other man moan passionately, and it was the sound of Blair's voice that brought Jim to full wakefullness. Never stopping his sensual perusal of his partner, he took a split second to judge the situation.

He and his roomie, partner, Guide, Shaman were in bed together, both very aroused, and neither seemed particularly upset by it. Though he had shared with men in the past, he'd simply never thought of Blair in that context, mostly because he'd been too wrapped up in the other aspects of their lives together.

As for Blair - "Babe, are you okay with this?" he rumbled groggily.

"Yeah." Blair sounded equally groggy. Grabbing one of the hands toying with his nipple, he guided it down to a damp, thrumming hard-on. "Can't you tell?"

"Good. I can't stop." Jim began to slowly jack Blair off, keeping the same tempo as his hips against the tempting buttocks his own erection had settled between.

"Don't you dare try.." Blair gasped.

"Oh! Oh! Better hurry... I hafta.. ahh, god ..." De-evolution took the space of a heartbeat, and the mammal thrust hard and fast, shooting its seed in white jets. Its bestial cry of completion was matched by its mate, and the wonderful scent became one of contentment and satisfaction.

This time the trip back to being Ellison was made very, very unwillingly, but even as a mammal he couldn't be anything less than protective of Blair. "You awake?" he asked unnecessarily, but wanting to give his partner a way out if he wanted.

"Ummm. Barely."

"Why did that just happen?" Jim put his weight on his left arm and leg so he could stay on top of Blair without crushing him. He tangled his free hand into the curls at the back of Blair's head and twisted silky threads around and around.

Blair didn't answer, though he sighed lazily. "Part of me is wondering why it took so long to happen," he confessed finally.

"Yeah... it does kinda feel like we've been ignoring the obvious."

"Do we go back to ignoring it?" Blair asked in a small voice, and Jim had never heard him sound so uncertain or shy.

For an answer, he gingerly turned onto his back, trying not to knock Blair off the bed, and dragged his lover onto his chest. When they were face to face, he traced the solemn features with a trembling finger. "I couldn't. But I'll pretend if you need me to."

Angling his head to strop his cheek over the Jim's knuckles, Blair smiled beautifully. "Don't you dare try."

"Good." Jim offered up his mouth as Blair lowered his lips to take it and they shared a sweet, chaste kiss. Slowly they pulled apart, brushed their cheeks together, then kissed again. This time Jim teased along the line of Blair's lower lip, asking to taste, and Blair opened for him.

Groaning, thinking *nothing* could taste better than this, he rolled to put his Guide under him to able to delve as deeply as possible. Realizing instantly his mistake as Blair began to fall, he threw his weight over as well, making them tumble completely. They landed on the floor with him on the bottom, Blair hitting his chest with a heavy thump.

"Whoa!" the other man shouted and sprang up on knees and elbows. "Jim, man, you okay?"

Nodding once, Jim forced a deep breath into his squashed lungs. "We have got," he managed breathlessly, "to find a bigger bed!"

Grabbing a handful of the blankets and pulling them down over them, Blair shook his head. "If you think I'm going anywhere until we're done..."

"Don't you dare try," Jim quoted back at him, reaching up to hug him close.

"Good."

The floor proved to be the only bed they needed that night.

The End