crack_van | A Long Time Looking, by Anna S. (NC-17)

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ:

eliade
Author Website: http://www.drizzle.com/~eliade/
Why this must be read:

Jim Ellison isn’t a man prone to lengthy conversations about feelings, but I think many of us agree that he has the capacity, at least, to be deeply introspective. Anna taps into the too-often unexplored facet of his personality in this story.

In “Long Time Looking,” Jim and Blair spend some peaceful time together on what I like to call an ‘it’s not a date.’ In his own quiet way, Jim spends the time reflecting on his life, his job, his place in the world, and how Blair relates to all of them.

They shuffled into seats near enough to the rear wall that Jim's ears wouldn't bleed, and Jim settled almost immediately, stretching out, working his long legs into a soft pretzel of approximate comfort, while next to him Blair detached from his backpack, turned, bounced on the seat, wriggled, and in general made a lot of himself. He quieted down just in time to avoid a rude comment from Jim, and slouched his own more compact frame down into the seat. The previews started and Blair's hand extended into Jim's lap for popcorn. Jim felt self-conscious again, as he did on such occasions, with the disorienting thrill of proximity. When had they stopped buying their own popcorn? Within the last year, maybe. Even a detective couldn't trace every change in the routine of everyday life. The first time they'd shared a single bottle of beer. The first time their dirty laundry had mingled in the wash. With popcorn he'd once enforced the one-man, one-bag rule with a strict disregard for economy, a masculine boundary line that Blair had never argued. Yet somehow the rule had dropped from use, like so many others he'd once thought inviolable.

In the dark, with previews flashing across the screen and Blair's hand reaching for popcorn, Jim allowed himself to feel almost what he wanted to feel. Almost was the nature of his relationship with Blair. He wanted something like this, but better. Not much better, because this was damn good, but more honest. This was so close, though, in its imperfect way; they were close, Blair's arm moving across his lap, Jim tipping the bag, neither of them intent on the other but with gaze to screen, the motion of Blair's fingers in the popcorn carrying in tiny shifts through the bag, the clumsy rhythms of foraging transmitted to Jim's thigh, the smell of butter and Blair's nearness, nearness like a date. He could have put his arm around Blair's shoulders, but would never dare.

The writing is slow, gentle, and absorbing, as is all of Anna’s work. You feel wrapped up, safe, when you’re in this world she’s made for Jim and Blair. It’s the kind of story that leaves you with a warm and pleasant feeling after reading.

It’s a good read for a lazy Sunday afternoon, a nice trip through the tangled hallways of Jim’s mind.

Go, read. You won’t regret it.
A Long Time Looking

A Long Time Looking, by Anna S. (NC-17)

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