"It's blue."

Blair looked up from his laptop and over at his roommate. Jim had been sitting peacefully reading his paper and satisfying his sweet tooth from a bag of candy-coated chocolates. Now he was holding one of them in front of his nose, eyeing it with the kind of suspicion usually reserved for suspects.

Zeroing in on the candy, Blair agreed, "Yeah, it's blue. So?"

"When did they start putting blue ones in these?"

"Man, where have you been? Don't you ever watch the tube?"

Jim regarded Blair with a look that said, don't start, and tossed the candy in his mouth. "Taste just caught me by surprise, that's all," and he went back to reading.

"No way, man."

"No way, what?" Jim muttered, not looking up from the paper.

"No way you can tell that was blue by the taste."

Raising an eyebrow, Jim didn't answer and raised his paper higher to shut off the conversation.

Intrigued, Blair shut down the computer and went to sit next to his partner. Taking the bag from Jim's hand, he poured a few of the sweets into his palm. Picking one, he closed his hand around it, and said, "Close your eyes."

"Hmmm," was all Jim said from behind the paper.

"Come on, you can't make a claim like that and expect me to ignore it. Close your eyes."

Lowering the paper to half mast, Jim glared at him, "I'm reading here, Sandburg."

"How long can this take? Close 'em!"

Apparently admitting to himself it would be easier to give in and do it than to have Blair talk him into it, Jim grimaced, but shut his eyes and opened his mouth.

Blair quickly popped one in, and Jim chewed. "Orange," he said promptly.

"Right," Blair answered, bouncing on the couch. "Here, another."

They repeated their actions, this time ending with Jim announcing it was brown. In rapid succession he correctly named orange, red, blue, orange (you got a thing for those, Sandburg?) and yellow.

Opening his eyes, Jim pulled his paper back up, "Satisfied, Dr. Sandburg?"

"I should do something as a control. Let me think a sec." Snatching a few more from the bag he looked them over. How to change or hide the flavor? An idea snuck across his mind, and he grinned impishly. A fragment of self-preservation told him that Jim wouldn't find it amusing, but seeing him try to figure it out might be worth it.

Making sure Jim was still behind the paper, he licked one of the pieces of candy, then said, "Open."

Automatically, Jim did as he was told, dropping the paper again, and Blair fed him the altered piece. Almost immediately he looked up, still chewing. "You changed it."

"Added something. Can you still taste the color?"

A look of intent concentration covered Jim's face, and, just as Blair was about to reach for him to bring him out of a zone, he focused on his roommate and announced, "Yellow. With something like that herbal tea you were drinking earlier, and something..." He trailed off, becoming uncertain.

Not wanting him to think about that too hard, Blair ordered, "Shut your eyes." He quickly slipped a piece past his own lips and sucked at the shell, to take off as much of the green color as possible. "Now say, ahh."

Jim didn't chew this time, but sucked on the sweet bit himself, opening his eyes to look at Blair reflectively. "No color taste this time, just the herbal tea and the other thing." Eyes narrowing, he studied Blair, who was trying desperately to look innocent. "That other thing wouldn't happen to be you, would it, Chief?" His voice was very, very, mild.

Nervously Blair jumped up from the couch, throwing the rest of the candy into his mouth as he did. 'Hey, would I do something that disgusting to you?" he muttered around the mouthful.

"In a heartbeat, if you thought you could get away with it."

Blair turned and nearly choked. Jim had gotten up and followed him moving so quietly, he had literally gotten right behind him without him hearing. "Come on, Jim," he said defensively.

"Sandburg, if you deny it, I'll be forced to look for the evidence to prove my case."

Feeling his stomach plummet and his heart leap at the same time, Blair wondered if he was hearing the teasing, loving tone in Jim's voice wrong. Taking a deep breath, he challenged, "I don't see a search warrant, Detective Ellison."

"So report me," and Jim jumped him, fingers running lightly over Blair's ribs and up to his armpits.

Yelping, Blair darted away, but couldn't move fast enough to get past Jim's long reach. Snagging him, Jim pulled, but Blair had momentum on his side, and he managed to jerk the bigger man off balance enough for him to dance away. Jim pursued him around the room - he was the faster, but Blair was more maneuverable - until Jim caught a handful of shirt. Tugging hard, he brought Blair close enough to get a tickling digit into the vulnerable neck area.

Ever resourceful, Blair turned tables, turning to hurl himself at Jim, successfully knocking him off his feet, backwards and onto the couch. He nearly wriggled away, but Jim wrapped both arms around him and bodily turned, capturing him against the back of the couch.

"Resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, endangering said officer with toxic..." Jim intoned deadpan.

"Toxic!" Blair blurted. "Jim, you trade more spit in an open mouthed kiss than I gave you with on that tiny bit of candy."

"Ewww, gross, Sandburg."

"What? Trading spit? Like you never," and he stuck his tongue out impudently.

Jim grinned wickedly. "Oh yes, thank you for reminding me. I was looking for proof that you tampered with my snack. Let's see, the best thing to do would be..." He eyed Blair speculatively, face turning serious and the tiniest bit apprehensive, "to compare samples."

Eyes growing big, Blair stared up at him, letting all the fight drain away until he was lax and soft, molded against Jim in the subtlest of invitations. It had crossed his mind more than once that Jim might be approachable this way, but he'd never had the nerve to try. Heart already racing from the chase, his pulse still managed to pick up the pace, and Jim reacted to that by smoothing a gentling hand over Blair's back.

Moving slowly enough that Blair had plenty of time to decide, and holding him lightly enough there was room to run, Jim brought his head down to Blair's, stopping just short of touching his lips with his own. "No play, now, Chief. For me, this is serious."

Closing his eyes, Blair took a deep breath, knowing that this was one of the most important decisions of his life. It only took a moment; his heart already knew. He only had to admit it to himself. When he opened his eyes again, they were clear enough to see forever, if Jim wanted to look.

He did. And then he closed the tiny distance between them and sealed Blair's mouth with his own.
 
 

"It was green."

"Hmmm?"

"The last candy. It was green."

Blair lifted his head from Jim's bare, sweaty chest, brushing a lock of hair back from his face as he did. Jim was lying on his back, still breathing somewhat raggedly, but with the most peaceful expression Blair had ever seen him wear. Smiling, Blair ran a fingertip over the huge hickey Jim had on the curve of his shoulder.

"Well, was it?"

"Was what, what?" Blair muttered, deciding the hickey needed a mate on the other side, and promptly started its construction.

Jim moaned, but went on doggedly, "Was the candy you ate the color off of green?"

Blair lifted his head and forced his thoughts onto the words. After a second, he answered, "Yes. You *cannot* know that from kissing me, James Ellison. Not even you are that sensitive."

Satisfied with the affirmative answer, Jim had started work on his own set of love bites on Blair, in roughly the same spot. "Uh, uh," he mumbled. "Deductive reasoning."

Sighing, Blair tilted his head to let Jim have better access to his neck, "Reasoning?" he managed.

Jim pulled completely away, a broad grin breaking out. "Come on, Chief. Everybody knows the green ones make you horny."

The End