*The Oath*

by Freya-Kendra

Jim was halfway to the door to the loft when he picked up on his roommate’s anxious, one-sided conversation.

“So what you’re basically saying is that I’m screwed,” Blair said to someone presumably on the other end of the phone line. “Seriously, man, this is just so-- No. No, just-- No, I said-- Would you-- Just stop for a minute and listen to me. I told you, I have been out of the country. I had no idea any of this was going on. I couldn’t possibly have-- Yeah, well that’s not going to do me any good right now, is it?”

By the time Jim closed the door behind him, the conversation had ended and Sandburg had taken up pacing in the kitchen. It was clearly an insufficient outlet for his pent up anger. Despite Blair’s peace-loving tendencies, Jim figured a punching bag would probably do him a world of good about now.

“Trouble with the bank?” It was a question Jim should never have asked. As unappreciated as it was unnecessary, his partner responded with a glare so anti-Sandburg it almost made Jim’s skin crawl. The little, psychotic laugh that followed was even worse.

“You could say that. Yeah,” Blair answered, pacing more furiously than before. “They’re putting a hold on my account to prevent additional charges, and they’re not going to hold me accountable for the five thousand dollars that jerk managed to hack out of my funds.”

“Good. So what’s the problem?”

“What’s the problem?” Another psycho-giggle. “The problem is they’re charging me a forty dollar fee for every single one of those transactions. Forty dollars, Jim! Each! That’s got to be illegal. I could get a better deal out of a loan shark.”

“Well don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“The loan shark thing. Just ... don’t.”

“Jim, I am not going to a loan shark, man.” Yet in a moment of hesitation, Jim was sure he saw gears turning in his partner’s hot, little brain. “At least,” Blair added then, “I hadn’t thought of that before. But now that you mention it--“

“No,” Jim said with as must force as he could, adding a glare that was intended to be as dark as his partner’s had been moments earlier.

“Yeah, well, I might have to.” The sigh that followed seemed to release every last bit of nervous energy Blair Sandburg had been expending to that point. He sank into a chair at the table. “With the hold on my account and all those extra fees,” he added in a voice softened by resignation, “I couldn’t even buy a cup of coffee right now, let alone pay the bills that are coming due; and that includes paying you for last month’s rent.”

Jim sat down beside him. “Well I think I could forgive the extenuating circumstances. And....”

Blair’s gaze back at him was cautious as he waited for Jim to continue.

“And,” Jim repeated, “I might even be convinced to front you some money to pay those bills and buy that coffee.”

A mix of relief and disdain muddied the otherwise hopeful features so typical of Sandburg. “You know I really hate this.” He shook his head as though disgusted with himself. “But you also know I’ll pay you back.”

“With interest, of course.” Jim smiled.

Blair’s responding smile turned accusatory. “Oh, I get it. You’ll give me an offer I can’t refuse, right?” He shook his head. “Man, and you said you didn’t want me to go to a loan shark. I’ll bet Uncle--”

“No betting,” Jim interrupted. “And no uncles. I’m serious, here. Just a little loan among friends. Capiche?”

“So is your last name Corleone, now? Just what, exactly, are you going to charge me in interest if I take you up on this little offer?”

“No money, my friend,” Jim said in his best Brando impersonation. “Just I do something for you, and then you do something for me.”

“Okay, here it comes. Who gets the horse’s head?”

“Don’t be a goombah,” Jim responded once again as Jim. “I’m not talking about horse’s heads, here. I’m talking about you taking a little oath.”

“An oath?”

“An oath. I lend you the money, you promise to avoid these month-long expeditions into some jungle god-knows-where so far away from civilization that I don’t even know if you’re still alive, let alone in one piece.”

“You were worried about me?”

Jim shrugged. “I may have been a little concerned when you started getting all those bank notices, but it’s not my place to open your mail, especially when I couldn’t even reach you if I had to.”

Blair smiled. “You were worried about me.”

“Look, Chief, the thing is, this is a partnership, here. A partnership requires a certain amount of responsibility to one another.”

“You know that cuts both ways, don’t you?”

“What, are you saying I don’t hold up my end?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying. How many times have you gone on some late night, wild goose chase, not even bothering to let me know why the loft is still empty at two in the morning?”

“So you’re getting in at two in the morning and not even bothering to clue me in that you’ll be late? It’s probably a good thing I wasn’t home to--”

Blair started laughing. “What is this all about?”

“What this?” Jim asked, still fuming.

“This. Here. What we’re doing. We’re arguing like a couple of.... Well, like a couple, man. This is way bizarre, Jim. You’ve got to admit.”

A moment later, Jim smiled back at him. “Yeah. Bizarre is probably the right word. But the point is--”

“I get the point, Jim. I really do. And you’re right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. This is a two-way street. We do have a responsibility to one another. And besides....” Blair shrugged. “I have to admit jungle excursions are losing their appeal, especially when they have absolutely nothing to do with my sentinel studies.”

“So...?”

“So I give you my oath. No more archeological expeditions, unless they are sentinel related. Deal?”

“Almost.”

“Almost? What more do you want? To seal it in blood?”

“No bleeding in my kitchen, Chief. But there is one thing to add to your oath.”

“What?”

“No more archeological expeditions, unless they are sentinel related, and then we go as a team.”

Blair’s eyes lit up with a broader smile than Jim had seen in a long time. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jim answered with a casual shrug.

“I can handle that.”

“Then it’s a deal?”

“It’s a deal.”

Jim softly whacked the back of Blair’s head as he rose from the table.

“Hey. What was that for?”

“That, my friend, was for giving that hacker all that time to mess with your bank account. You’ve got to pay attention to these things.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“Well?” Jim said from the doorway, his keys in hand.

“Well, what?”

“Are you coming, or not?”

“Coming where?”

“You said you wanted to buy me a cup of coffee.”

“Funny. Very funny. I said I couldn’t afford a cup of coffee, Jim.”

“And I said I’d float you some funds. So let’s go get some coffee.”

”We could make coffee here. It’d be much cheaper.”

“Ah, but we can’t get fresh baked bear claws here.”

“Bear claws? Those are worse than cinnamon rolls.”

“And you can’t get those in the jungle either.”

“What’s that got to do with--”

“Sandburg, just get off your lazy ass, get your coat and join me on this little expedition, would you?”

“Expedition, huh? Is it sentinel related?”

“As long as I’m going it is.”

“I can accept that.” Smiling, Blair did as he was told. He had made an oath, after all.

* * *

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