By JudyL

September 1, 2003

This one is dedicated to my cousin, Cheryl, who gave me the idea.

Disclaimer: I'm sharing, I promise.

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Blair was bouncing and talking, nothing unusual there, Jim Ellison noted with a wry grin. They were waiting for a table at one of the nicer restaurants in town and Sandburg had launched into one of his observations.

Jim looked around, nodding at the appropriate times, wondering how long they were going to have to wait. The reservation had been for seven and it was almost eight now. The restaurant was full and he saw no signs of a table clearing any time soon.

"So we did this experiment," Blair continued, waving his hands and still bouncing excitedly, completely enthralled with the subject.

Jim shook his head in amazement at what he was hearing and looked around again. His grin faded a bit as he realized heads were turning and more and more eyes were focusing their direction.

The Sentinel returned his attention to his Guide and took in the full picture. Blair wore a nice pair of black dress slacks with a matching jacket over a pale blue shirt. His hair was loose and bobbed with each movement Blair made. The younger man's face was lit with excitement, his eyes twinkling as he spoke. Hands gestured punctuating key points and he kept bouncing on his toes.

Ellison regarded his friend for a moment, no longer hearing the content of his oration, just the tone and volume which seemed to be within a normal range. He perused the growing audience again, wondering what had caught their attention.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw Blair take a breath, bounce and continue talking. He shook his head fondly and placed a hand on Blair's shoulder.

"Dial it down, Chief."

The bouncing stopped, confused eyes blinked and stared up at him. "Huh?"

"I said dial it down. You're drawing a crowd." Jim tilted his head toward the interior of the restaurant.

"Oh," Blair said, flashing a smile that direction, then returning his attention to Jim. "What did you mean by that?" he asked, amusement barely contained.

"By what?" Jim asked nonchalantly.

"Dial what down, Jim?" Blair hissed.

Ellison tried to contain his grin, but a quick bounce from his Guide, blew his control. Jim chuckled. "You're gonna have to work on your control, there, Chief. I see lots of tests in your future."

The Guide sputtered and glared at his Sentinel who was saved by the maitre-de.

Once they were seated at a table and drinks had been ordered, Blair leaned forward and stared at his partner.

"What?" Jim asked, eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Mind telling me what you meant by that?" an equally amused Blair asked.

Jim shrugged. "I figure it's only fair. You're always telling me to dial it down. Now I just have a dial for you to work on." An unrepentant grin formed. "I may be able to come up with a few others. Let's see… the Bounce dial… the Verbal Spillage dial…"

"Verbal Spillage?!?" Blair spluttered.

Jim continued blithely. "I'm sure there are a few others. Maybe I should check with Simon on this…"

"Jiiimmm…"

"Oh, yeah, the Whining dial…"

"Ellison! I'm smelling lots of new, painful tests in your future," the Guide grumped.

Jim chuckled, not at all fooled by his friend's snit. "And the Test dial, definitely have to get a handle on that one, turn it all the way down and break it off."

Blair laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Not gonna happen, Jim." His leg started to bounce as he sat forward again. "In fact, you just gave me a great idea…"

"Dial it down, Sandburg!" Jim growled.

Blair's laughter filled the restaurant.

The end.

Comments are always welcome, please let me know what you think. Judy

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