Palooka by Pares (NC-17)

[magician113.livejournal.com]

(isn’t this icon delicious? courtesy of elaine)

It has been such a pleasure chauffeuring you around the Sentinel neighborhood.  Thanks for all the kind comments and encouragement – I’ll definitely be back for another drive.  My last rec is perfect reading for a Sunday afternoon (or even a Blue Monday). It’s from the dependable Dawn Pares, who always writes our guys sweet and hot. Cheers!

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: 40K
Author on LJ:kormantic
Author Website: http://www.kormantic.com/

Why this must be read: Because is there anything better than the smell of freshly baked bread?

That’s what Blair smells like after he gets laid, as Jim finds out in this sexy ode to the sense of smell. Pares takes us on a sweet funny journey of self-discovery as Jim, through his nose, learns that he can detect more than pheromones and that he might actually want some of what Blair is emanating:

Blair and Tina seemed to be hitting it off. He wasn't home much on the weekends, and he smelled like beeswax all the time.

He brought Tina around for dinner one night and she was a knock out, taller and darker than Sharita, with complicated hair, bleach blonde, divvied up into squares that ended in little twists.

*That's* what the beeswax was for.

For a while Jim had been thinking she had some kind of crazy hot candle wax dripping fetish.

And thinking about what his roommate was doing with his girlfriend on his own time wasn't something he wanted to spend a lot of time doing.

He got used to the smell of beeswax. Since Blair had a pile of meditation candles, it wasn't hard to integrate. It was even kind of pretty, relaxing. Also, there was the smell of a happy roommate who was getting laid regularly.

For Blair, that meant he smelled like fresh bread all the time.

The funny thing was, that ever since he'd flashed on the mental image of Sandburg with his shirt open, and his mouth open, making little gasps as fat drops of melted beeswax splattered his chest, Jim hadn't been able to really get rid of it.

Did you know that most people, when questioned as to which sense they could do without, choose smell? Very few think about the consequences. Smell is a large part of taste, and how joyless life would be without  it! Luckily for Blair, and especially Jim, neither one of them has to find out in this spicy little tale. Enjoy!

Palooka

        (one last reminder to send feedback – authors/artists really, really appreciate it!)

Comments

[gardendoor.livejournal.com]

I hadn't seen this one before! What a treat! It's hard to find first-time PWPs in Sentinel that don't feel cliched, but this one really stands out. Thanks for reccing it.

[magician113.livejournal.com]

I like her work so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know.

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all the great recs - it's lovely to be reminded about things I haven't read for ages as well as the newer stuff.

[magician113.livejournal.com]

it's lovely to be reminded about things I haven't read for ages as well as the newer stuff.

I feel the same way myself when someone mentions a wonderful "classic". I also sent each CV link with an LOC to every author, since I'm trying to do better at sending feedback myself. I was amazed at how gratified the authors of the older stuff were. I would have thought the accolades would be old hat for them, but not at all. Pares said that "Palooka" was her favorite of all the TS stories she's written.

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. I'm so glad that you liked my picks! Can I persuade you to sign up for a month? ::bats eyelashes:: Our fandom is in short supply of drivers.

hooray, recs!

[kormantic.livejournal.com]

You're so splendid. And hey, people still like this story! A lovely thing to know.