Work Text:
Week 2- Monopoly-Work 1-Romance/Friendship-400 words
Creator: PattRose
Title: Friendship
Fandom: The Sentinel TV
Characters/Pairings: Jim Ellison, Blair Sandburg, Megan Connor, Rafe, Henri Brown, Simon Banks, Joel Taggert
Prompt: Friendship
Word Count: 400
Rating: Gen
Warning: None
It was the 3rd Saturday of the month and that meant it was poker night for the bullpen gang. Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg loved hosting it every month. Their friends were all invited and Blair had made some delicious food for everyone to eat. Truth be told, Jim thought that’s why the group came to the poker parties, for the food. Blair insisted that everyone have a full stomach if they were going to drink beer. In fact, they usually had a designated driver every month. They took turns. Sometimes they all took a cab. It just depended on their moods.
“Jim, are you going to help me here?” Blair asked. “The bathroom is clean enough. You could eat in there.”
Jim laughed and said, “Not hardly, Chief.”
“They’re going to be here in an hour. I need help arranging the food.”
“I’m coming. It smells great in here. They’re very lucky I don’t throw the poker parties because they would get chips and dip and that would be it. You on the other hand make Swedish Meatballs, little smokies, conqueso and tortilla rollups. They love all the food. Where do you want the rollups? Do we have a fruit platter and veggie platter also?”
“Of course we do, Jim. You know how much these guys eat and that includes, Connor. She can eat more than any of them.”
Blair showed Jim where he wanted everything placed. Then Jim plugged them in and they were set.
At 6:30 Jim opened the front door to Simon Banks. “Hello, Simon. How are you tonight?”
“I’m great, Jim. It smells so good in here. I can’t wait to see what Blair made for tonight.”
Jim took his coat and put in on one of the hooks by the front door. When he was done, Megan Connor was at the door. “Hi, Jimbo. I get to drink tonight. We all took a cab. Everyone else is downstairs, taking their time. I, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to get up here to see what Sandy had made to eat.”
“Hang your coat up, Megan. Then go and check out the food.”
“I will, thank you, Jimbo.”
Jim opened the door to Henri Brown, Joel Taggert and Rafe. Megan walked into the kitchen area looking at the food and said, “Hi, Sandy. It looks wonderful. Smells even better. God, I love poker night.”
“You know, if someone else wanted to throw one, in between our poker nights, that would be fine with Jim and I.”
Simon was the first to respond. “No one makes a poker night like Jim and Blair do. I say once a month is perfect.”
Everyone started helping themselves to filling up their plates. They all sat down at the table and ate what they had piled on their plates. When they were all done, they cleaned up and washed the table off.
Simon said, “Everyone ready to play poker?”
Henri said, “I was born ready and I feel super lucky tonight. Y’all better watch out.”
Everyone laughed. This was a friendly game of poker. The stakes weren’t really high. Each chip you bought was worth a quarter. So you got four of them for a dollar. Cheap and friendly.
Simon said, “Blair, have you met that new guy in homicide yet? He reminds me of you. Energetic and hyper. Has anyone met him yet?”
Megan answered, “I met him. He’s really nice. His name is Brett Barker. Everyone in homicide is giving him the cold shoulder. He said, no one talks to him.”
Blair was shocked. “Why don’t we start inviting him to poker?”
Jim thought for a second and said, “What if he’s weird?”
Henri smiled and said, “Then he would fit right in. I say we invite him. He does seem like a nice guy. What do you think Simon and Joel?”
Joel said, “I’ve got a good hand, and we’re talking about Barker instead of playing cards?”
They all laughed. Blair thought a moment and said, “I’m inviting him next month. That way he’ll know someone and if he doesn’t fit in, we won’t invite him again. It never hurts to make a new friend. And he probably needs a friend more than most.”
“I agree with Sandy on this,” Megan said.
Jim said, “That’s fine, but let’s get back to the game. I’ve got a good hand too.”
Blair laughed and said, “Jim, you and Joel aren’t supposed to tell us when you have a good hand. We’re supposed to find out the hard way. I’ll invite him next month and we’ll see how it goes. Let’s get back to the game.”
And the night was exciting and fun filled. Nothing could beat friends.
The end