Jim and Blair

 

I sense he is cold.

This Winter has been too long.

Spring is in the air.

 

 

 

“Whose idea was this?” Blair asked, his teeth chattering as he spoke.  He snuggled down deeper into his sleeping bag, pulling the top over his head as he inched as close to the firepit as he dared.

 

“As I recall, this little expedition was your idea,” Jim stated with just a touch of snark. 

 

Jim and Blair had agreed on taking a well deserved break from work.  Their first real vacation in over six months of non-stop murderers, bank robbers, a few corrupt businessmen and a ring of drug smugglers. 

 

“I believe my suggestion was Hawaii.  But, nooo.  You said why go through all the bother and expense of airline tickets and hotel rooms.  You said, we have the whole of nature right in our own backyard.  It would be a shame to waste it.”

 

“Yeah, well, who knew a freakin’ blizzard would hit now!  I thought we were done with winter!”

 

“You should know better, Chief, we’re never completely done with winter here,” Jim said as he added a few more logs to the fire.  He stirred the embers helping the new logs to catch.  Then Jim stood and went back to their tent for an emergency space blanket.

 

“Open up,” Jim demanded when he returned to where Blair sat shivering.

 

“No, I’ll freeze to death,” Blair declared.  Jim rolled his eyes.

 

“You won’t freeze.  It’ll take me less than 10 seconds to wrap this around you then cover you back up with the sleeping bag.”

 

“No,” Blair said sounding like a petulant child.

 

“Sandburg, don’t make me unwrap you myself,” Jim growled as he loomed menacingly over Blair holding the unfurled space blanket in his hand. 

 

Ocean blue eyes glared up at the ice blue eyes that had long made glaring one into submission a fine art decades ago.

 

“Fine, but if I become popsicle permanently frozen to this spot, I’ll make sure everyone knows that it was all your fault,” Blair shouted as he stood up to unzip his sleeping bag.  Jim instantly had the blanket wrapped around Blair and the sleeping bag zipped back up.

 

“Stop exaggerating, Chief.  There.  See?  All better.  You’ll warm up fast.”

 

Blair snorted.

 

“Besides, if you became a popsicle frozen to this spot,” Jim pointed to where Blair was once again seated, “you wouldn’t be able to blab to anyone.”

 

“I’d have my spirit visit all our friends to let them know what you did to me and then I’d haunt you for the rest of your life.”

 

“You already haunt me,” Jim mumbled.

 

“What?”

 

“I said, your teeth have stopped chattering.  I bet you feel warmer already.”

 

Blair grumbled something that Jim didn’t bother to decipher.  He added a couple more logs to the fire then went to start dinner, a hearty camp soup that would warm Blair’s insides.

 

A couple of hours later, Jim and Blair were watching the sun go down while sipping their soup.

 

“Blair, we’re only about fifty miles from home.  I can have us outta here and home in less than an hour if I push it,” Jim said in a sincere tone.  He loved camping in the forest but not at the expense of Blair’s comfort.

 

“No, we need this.  I need this.  I’m just being a baby,” Blair whined.

 

“You’re not a baby,” Jim said as he sat closer to Blair.  Blair stared at Jim for a moment making Jim snort out a laugh.  “Well, not much of a baby.  It is cold out here.  I’ll make sure the tent is well insulated before we bed down for the night.”

 

“You never seem to feel the cold, do you?” Blair said with awe.  “Are you dialing it down?”

 

“Maybe, I’m not sure.  I’ve always liked winter but this year...”

 

“Yeah, I can’t wait for spring too,” Blair finished off Jim’s thought.

 

“It does seem that this winter doesn’t want to end,” Jim agreed. 

 

They finished off their soup, took care of their nightly rituals then prepared their camp site for sleep.

 

“Geez, it’s freezing!” Blair exclaimed as he jumped into the tent, danced around a bit while Jim zipped their two sleeping bags together then dove into the large downy bag, curling himself up into a lumpy ball in the middle of it.

 

“So you’ve mentioned,” Jim stated sarcastically.  He burst out laughing when the lump poked something up, tenting the bag. 

 

“Shall I take that gesture as you flipping me the bird, Sandburg?”  The lump gave a sideways nod.

 

“Duly noted,” Jim quipped as he turned off the lamp then crawled into the sleeping bag.  The lump obligingly made room.

 

“Come here Chief,” Jim said softly after a few minutes.  Blair uncurled himself, relaxing into Jim’s warm side and then getting tucked under Jim’s arm.  “Better?”

 

“Much.  Thanks.  And thank you for putting up with my bad mood.” 

 

Jim gave Blair a little squeeze.  “No problem, Chief.  You’re not the only one who’s tired of this long winter.”

 

“Thanks, Jim.”

 

“Wait, I almost forgot,” Jim began as he crawled back out of their warm nest.

 

“Hey!” Blair complained as a rush of cold air hit him.

 

Jim rooted around in his jacket pocket for a moment then turned the lamp up a little.

 

“Here,” Jim said as he placed something white and green in Blair’s hand. 

 

“What is it?” Blair asked squinting in the dim light.

 

“A Snowdrop.  It’s one of the first flowers of Spring.  They grow wild just about everywhere.”

 

Blair looked down at the delicate flower in his hand then looked up into the ice blue eyes of his partner that gazed back with such love that made Blair feel warm all over.

 

“Let’s go back to bed, Chief,” Jim said.  Blair nodded.

 

“Wait a minute,” Blair asked.  He quickly dug into his pack for a small collapsible cup.  He then stuck his head outside their tent to scoop up a tiny amount of snow.  He placed the Snowdrop into the cup then put the cup in a safe place in their tent.

 

“Come, Chief, you must be freezing,” Jim said as he held up the edge of the sleeping bag.  Blair dove for the sleeping bag then squirmed around until he was tucked up under Jim’s arm and warm against Jim’s side.

 

“Happy Spring, Chief,” Jim whispered.  

 

“Happy Spring, Jim,” Blair said as he snuggled.

 

As a warm Spring breeze rustled through the forest the boys fell asleep.

 

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