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tamingthemuse2007-09-22 07:20 pm
sunnyd-lite.livejournal.com) wrote in tamingthemuse2007-09-22 07:20 pm
Entry tags:
61 Arctophile Determining Value 1/3 Sunnyd_lite The Sentinel
Determining Value 1/3
Author: SunnyD_lite
Fandom: The Sentinel
Disclaimer: The Sentinel is owned by Petfly and other corporations. No profit no foul right?
Rating: G (pre-slash)
Set: 1st Season between Night Train and Rogue
Word Count: 1,254
Prompt:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
tamingthemuse prompt 61 arctophile (see story)
A/N: This prompt fought me hard. So here's the first part of a mid sized fic. I missed these boys too.
Jim was flipping through the paper as his temporary roommate imitated a tropical storm, swirling around the loft getting ready for his day, when an item caught his eye.
"H'uh."
"What's that?" A streak of flannel whisked past him to grab some containers from the fridge and stuff them into the ever present backpack.
"There's an exhibit dedicated to, get this, teddy bears. What's next? A tinker toy museum?"
"Think there's one in California."
"You've got to be kidding me."
He had to focus as a voice blurred by a tooth brush replied, "No, somebody's basement."
"That's not a museum; that's junk waiting to be cleaned out," he said dismissively. "Are you going be by the station later?"
Blair emerged from the bathroom and grabbed his oversized jacket and ubiquitous backpack. "Yup, no office hours today. Lunch-time okay? Is that the time? I hate 8:30 classes, gotta run!"
And out blew tropic storm Sandburg, leaving a wake of, well, not destruction, but definitely disturbance in his path. Jim put down the paper and quickly scanned the loft observing the books and random shirts which now decorated his once pristine living space. "Temporary," he mutter to himself, ruefully aware it becoming what Sandburg called a mantra. The kid was here for his senses; that's it.
**
"So, Hairboy coming in today?" Brown asked as he snagged a doughnut from the tea girl's tray.
"He's not here for your entertainment." That's not what he thought he was going to say. Jim tried to focus on the report in front of him. The one he'd been staring at for twenty minutes.
Henri's tone dropped, "Not just entertainment. He was giving me advice on Betty."
That was just so Sandburg, spewing advice, solicited or not, in all directions. And Jim was not going to check his watch again to try and figure out what lunch time meant to a grad student.
"He'll be in," he replied grudgingly.
"Great. Send him over and give him a chance to observe REAL police work."
"Great idea, but who you getting to show the two of you how real detectives work?"
Shaking his head, Brown swallowed the last of his chocolate doughnut and returned to his desk.
Calm reigned until...
"Ellison! And is your side kick here yet?"
The sonorous cry of his boss, with a side of frustration. The fact he'd asked after Sandburg was different. He quickly pushed away from his desk and knocked on Simon's open door.
"He'll be here. What's up?"
"I'm hoping this is one case you can manage without automatic weapons coming into play. It's at the museum. A friend of the Mayor's, so it's been kicked to us. I hate politics."
He watched Simon flip through the file then shove it towards him.
"I really don't want to know what the world's coming to," his Captain continued, "when this is a Major Crime."
"When what's a Major Crime?" How the hell had the kid snuck up on both of them like that?
"Sandburg, this is an office. My office to be precise. You have to be invited into my office. Do you see me inviting you?"
"I was by the elevators when you mentioned 'side kick'." Guileless. Jim had heard the term before but had never seen it in action until he started spending time with Sandburg.
"So, crime? What are we working on?"
"'We' aren't working on anything. You're observing a non-life threatening situation involving museum staff and." Jim looked down at the file and stopped cold.
"What? Jim, Simon? Hey how can I help if no one tells me what's going on?"
"Teddy bears." Simon almost spat the words out.
**
Of course this case made him the butt of the jokes all day. "Gang warfare, international assassins, and now teddy bears. Think someone's trying to tell you you're washed up?"
"Just because your biggest active case is the mystery of the missing doughnuts, don't knock those of us doing actual police work." It was a weak rejoinder, but Christ, teddy bears.
"Hey that exhibit had some rare items. I heard they even have a Michtom bear. That's of interest to both political collectors and arctophiles. And two competing sets of collectors? Man that thing is insured for thirty thousand, easy."
Henri spat out the coffee he'd just sipped. "Thirty Gs? For a toy?"
"It's more than a toy."
Jim leaned back in his chair to enjoy Professor Sandburg in action. Where the kid got his information, he'd never know but it was fun when it wasn't directed at him.
"As you know, teddy bears were named after the political cartoon showing President Teddy Roosevelt not shooting a bear. Michtom was the shop keeper who got permission from the President to name a bear doll a 'teddy bear'. So the original ones are key for arctophiles."
"Acto-whats?" And he was glad Rafe had asked the question so he wouldn't have to.
Blair just smiled. "Bear lovers, from the Greek arcto, bear."
"Wouldn't that make this a Sex-crimes case." The confusion on H's face was worth the wet towel he'd found in the bathroom this morning.
"Man, get your mind out of the gutter! That would be arctophilia or those Plushies. This term denotes more collectors and fans."
"Whatever it denotes, we'd better be heading to the actual crime scene," Jim picked up his coat and tilted his head towards the elevators. "Might as well get there before it's trampled by those collectors you're talking about."
That shook him out of professor-mode. "Oh, fresh clues," he said with an attempt at an eyebrow wiggle. Side kick was right. He had as much subtlety as Robin from the Adam West T.V. show.
And that's how the great teddy bear case got started.
**
Man, he'd never really thought about the day to day life of the pi--um police, so working with Jim was a real education. Almost as real as the time he'd been adopted by the Kombia Tree people, not that he'd be telling Jim about that little adventure. Both were brand new societies where he really didn't share a language, except with the police he kept thinking he did.
Like arctophile. He should know better than that. He didn't mean to make people feel dumb, he just got caught up in an idea and the right, the technical terms flowed without him thinking about it. Not that Henri was dumb, just differently educated. Maybe he should be borrowing the police manual so he'd get all the codes down and learn this native language. He was typing enough of Jim's reports that he bet he'd learned half of it already.
"So are you getting out or do you want to observe from the truck?" Jim's wry tone pulled him back to the here and now.
"Wait, wait. Before we go in there which sense are you going to use or will you do a sweep? Do you want me to keep whoever distracted? How do you want to play this?" They really should have their modus operandi done by now, but each situation seemed so different.
"I think we should go in and I'll do the interviews and you try not to touch anything. You good with that, Chief?"
"Well, it's not really a plan." At that point Jim was half way up the stairs leading into the neo-classical grey stone building, so he just locked the door and scrambled to catch up.
It was a feeling he was getting used to.
A/N:the history of the teddy bear is true. The price of a Michtom was not found in my google searches but I believe is greatly exagerated. And I couldn't find a Tinker Toy museum, sigh.
Author: SunnyD_lite
Fandom: The Sentinel
Disclaimer: The Sentinel is owned by Petfly and other corporations. No profit no foul right?
Rating: G (pre-slash)
Set: 1st Season between Night Train and Rogue
Word Count: 1,254
Prompt:
tamingthemuse prompt 61 arctophile (see story)A/N: This prompt fought me hard. So here's the first part of a mid sized fic. I missed these boys too.
Jim was flipping through the paper as his temporary roommate imitated a tropical storm, swirling around the loft getting ready for his day, when an item caught his eye.
"H'uh."
"What's that?" A streak of flannel whisked past him to grab some containers from the fridge and stuff them into the ever present backpack.
"There's an exhibit dedicated to, get this, teddy bears. What's next? A tinker toy museum?"
"Think there's one in California."
"You've got to be kidding me."
He had to focus as a voice blurred by a tooth brush replied, "No, somebody's basement."
"That's not a museum; that's junk waiting to be cleaned out," he said dismissively. "Are you going be by the station later?"
Blair emerged from the bathroom and grabbed his oversized jacket and ubiquitous backpack. "Yup, no office hours today. Lunch-time okay? Is that the time? I hate 8:30 classes, gotta run!"
And out blew tropic storm Sandburg, leaving a wake of, well, not destruction, but definitely disturbance in his path. Jim put down the paper and quickly scanned the loft observing the books and random shirts which now decorated his once pristine living space. "Temporary," he mutter to himself, ruefully aware it becoming what Sandburg called a mantra. The kid was here for his senses; that's it.
**
"So, Hairboy coming in today?" Brown asked as he snagged a doughnut from the tea girl's tray.
"He's not here for your entertainment." That's not what he thought he was going to say. Jim tried to focus on the report in front of him. The one he'd been staring at for twenty minutes.
Henri's tone dropped, "Not just entertainment. He was giving me advice on Betty."
That was just so Sandburg, spewing advice, solicited or not, in all directions. And Jim was not going to check his watch again to try and figure out what lunch time meant to a grad student.
"He'll be in," he replied grudgingly.
"Great. Send him over and give him a chance to observe REAL police work."
"Great idea, but who you getting to show the two of you how real detectives work?"
Shaking his head, Brown swallowed the last of his chocolate doughnut and returned to his desk.
Calm reigned until...
"Ellison! And is your side kick here yet?"
The sonorous cry of his boss, with a side of frustration. The fact he'd asked after Sandburg was different. He quickly pushed away from his desk and knocked on Simon's open door.
"He'll be here. What's up?"
"I'm hoping this is one case you can manage without automatic weapons coming into play. It's at the museum. A friend of the Mayor's, so it's been kicked to us. I hate politics."
He watched Simon flip through the file then shove it towards him.
"I really don't want to know what the world's coming to," his Captain continued, "when this is a Major Crime."
"When what's a Major Crime?" How the hell had the kid snuck up on both of them like that?
"Sandburg, this is an office. My office to be precise. You have to be invited into my office. Do you see me inviting you?"
"I was by the elevators when you mentioned 'side kick'." Guileless. Jim had heard the term before but had never seen it in action until he started spending time with Sandburg.
"So, crime? What are we working on?"
"'We' aren't working on anything. You're observing a non-life threatening situation involving museum staff and." Jim looked down at the file and stopped cold.
"What? Jim, Simon? Hey how can I help if no one tells me what's going on?"
"Teddy bears." Simon almost spat the words out.
**
Of course this case made him the butt of the jokes all day. "Gang warfare, international assassins, and now teddy bears. Think someone's trying to tell you you're washed up?"
"Just because your biggest active case is the mystery of the missing doughnuts, don't knock those of us doing actual police work." It was a weak rejoinder, but Christ, teddy bears.
"Hey that exhibit had some rare items. I heard they even have a Michtom bear. That's of interest to both political collectors and arctophiles. And two competing sets of collectors? Man that thing is insured for thirty thousand, easy."
Henri spat out the coffee he'd just sipped. "Thirty Gs? For a toy?"
"It's more than a toy."
Jim leaned back in his chair to enjoy Professor Sandburg in action. Where the kid got his information, he'd never know but it was fun when it wasn't directed at him.
"As you know, teddy bears were named after the political cartoon showing President Teddy Roosevelt not shooting a bear. Michtom was the shop keeper who got permission from the President to name a bear doll a 'teddy bear'. So the original ones are key for arctophiles."
"Acto-whats?" And he was glad Rafe had asked the question so he wouldn't have to.
Blair just smiled. "Bear lovers, from the Greek arcto, bear."
"Wouldn't that make this a Sex-crimes case." The confusion on H's face was worth the wet towel he'd found in the bathroom this morning.
"Man, get your mind out of the gutter! That would be arctophilia or those Plushies. This term denotes more collectors and fans."
"Whatever it denotes, we'd better be heading to the actual crime scene," Jim picked up his coat and tilted his head towards the elevators. "Might as well get there before it's trampled by those collectors you're talking about."
That shook him out of professor-mode. "Oh, fresh clues," he said with an attempt at an eyebrow wiggle. Side kick was right. He had as much subtlety as Robin from the Adam West T.V. show.
And that's how the great teddy bear case got started.
**
Man, he'd never really thought about the day to day life of the pi--um police, so working with Jim was a real education. Almost as real as the time he'd been adopted by the Kombia Tree people, not that he'd be telling Jim about that little adventure. Both were brand new societies where he really didn't share a language, except with the police he kept thinking he did.
Like arctophile. He should know better than that. He didn't mean to make people feel dumb, he just got caught up in an idea and the right, the technical terms flowed without him thinking about it. Not that Henri was dumb, just differently educated. Maybe he should be borrowing the police manual so he'd get all the codes down and learn this native language. He was typing enough of Jim's reports that he bet he'd learned half of it already.
"So are you getting out or do you want to observe from the truck?" Jim's wry tone pulled him back to the here and now.
"Wait, wait. Before we go in there which sense are you going to use or will you do a sweep? Do you want me to keep whoever distracted? How do you want to play this?" They really should have their modus operandi done by now, but each situation seemed so different.
"I think we should go in and I'll do the interviews and you try not to touch anything. You good with that, Chief?"
"Well, it's not really a plan." At that point Jim was half way up the stairs leading into the neo-classical grey stone building, so he just locked the door and scrambled to catch up.
It was a feeling he was getting used to.
A/N:the history of the teddy bear is true. The price of a Michtom was not found in my google searches but I believe is greatly exagerated. And I couldn't find a Tinker Toy museum, sigh.
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Determining Value 1
Glad they sound them-y! (off to work on part two)
no subject
Nice banter between Jim and H, and Blair expounding about the history of teddy bearsw could have been a scene straight out of canon
"I think we should go in and I'll do the interviews and you try not to touch anything. You good with that, Chief?" Hee, that was just great.
Looking forward to more.
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And that just seemed like such a Jim line. Glad you liked and thanks for commenting!
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http://www.architechgallery.com/arch_info/exhibit_docs/exhibits_2008/toys.html
(technically not tinker toy related, but I bet Blair would know about this) http://paulrudolph.blogspot.com/2009/01/george-pr-foundation-member-from-texas.html
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If you'd like to see what happens with the bear, there is a (mildly) revised version of this story (in four parts) Here (http://community.livejournal.com/sentinel_epic/33119.html#cutid1) at Sentinel_epic. It grew to about 7 k
Thank you for reading and your thougthful comments!