Friday came before Edam was ready. Soon enough him and Jerry were in the nice open field, spreading a blanket on the damp grass.
As the blanket settled on the ground Edam heard it.
A voice.
A tiny sounding squeak coming from under the sheet. "It's squishing me! Get it off!" the panicked voice cried.
Right when Jerry was about to plop down on the blanket Edam snatched it away in a flourish and frantically began scanning the grass with his eyes.
"Why'd you do that?" Jerry grumbled. He looked at Edam crossly, expecting an answer. But the groundkeeper just bent down and picked up something that had been clearly under the sheet. Something small.
He turned around and Jerry saw a fuzz ball of a mouse resting in his palm
"How did you see that with the blanket there?" Jerry asked in awe. And Edam didn't know what to say. Truth be told Edam hadn't seen the mouse. If the mouse hadn't talked to him… well it wouldn't have been a good night.
But he wasn't going to tell Jerry that. He fumbled for a story. "Uhh… I saw him before you put the blanket down," he said trying to make the story sound believable but it still came out as more of a question than a statement.
Edam could tell that Jerry didn't quite buy his story but to his immense relief the other man just nodded his head and let the matter drop. He collected the blanket and spread it out on the ground.
"Anymore mice?"
Edam shook his head.
"Good," Jerry sat down. "Are you going to sit down?" he asked looking up to Edam. The man was still holding that mouse. And it looked like… No… it couldn't be… Yeah it was definitely kissing Edam's thumb. Over and over again.
The mouse kept kissing and thanking Edam, but he still managed to fumble into a seated position next to Jerry. Deciding to break up the little love fest the mouse was having with his hand Edam tried to coax him off saying, "You can go now."
"Can't I stay with you a little longer?" It asked in its little squeaky voice. Edam gave a short nod and looked over to Jerry, who was now laying back and looking at the stars. He set the mouse down next to him and lay back, getting more comfortable. The mouse scrambled up onto his chest and laid there.
Jerry saw the tiny fuzz ball make itself at home on Edam's chest and inwardly pouted. Never in all his years had he ever imagined he'd be jealous of a mouse, but as he watched the thing, curled up and content on that incredible man's chest he knew that's what he was. Jealous of a stinking mouse. How pathetic.
But then, he has a crush on Edam ever since he first saw the man. At first it had been attraction to the lithe man's features. The feathery soft black hair and light grey eyes. The dusting of freckles that covered pretty much all of the man's visible skin. Jerry wondered if the rest of Edam was just as speckled. Yes, he had been attracted to Edam's appearance immediately.
Once he got to know the man he could honestly say things changed. He was absolutely smitten. The longer they stay together the more Jerry came to love the man.
And it hurt that the love was one sided. But for how straight forward Jerry was about just about everything else he couldn't bring himself to tell Edam how he felt. He feared the rejection and loss of friendship that could result from the confession. Edam's friendship meant too much to risk it.
He didn't even know if Edam was interested in guys… girls or anything at all really.
Jerry focused his attention to the sky to the sky, hyperaware of the warm body laying comfortably to his right. For a while they just watched the stars in companionable silence.
There was a quiet squeaking and a muttered "bye," from Edam and Jerry just knew he was talking to the mouse who was scampering away into the night. Alone at last.
Edam scooted a little closer to him. Their arms were almost touching. He welcomed the warmth the closeness brought but still gave the man a questioning look. He clearly wanted something. Edam licked his lips. "Tell me the names of some of the constellations," he requested softly.
Jerry gave him a strange almost disbelieving look. For how often the man was outside, he assumed Edam would know all about the stars. And Jerry had learned the names of at least the basic ones in school. "Do you know any of them already?"
"Just the bears," Edam admitted, clearly embarrassed by his lack of knowledge.
"How did you not learn them in school?" Jerry asked, not trying to be mean, he was just shocked that he only knew two.
He watched the other man sit in silence the steady rise and fall of his chest the only movement in the still night. Edam heaved a sigh. "I… was taught different names for the constellations growing up. I know the bears because they're pretty much the same," the groundskeeper explained.
Jerry found that explanation curious. He thought everyone was taught the same basic star arrangements. What were his constellations called? He decided he would like to know that very much. To know something so constant in the man's life would be amazing. Stars didn't change like so much around them. "Will you teach me some of the constellations you know?"
He was rewarded by a huge grin and a swift nod of the head.
Jerry decided he'd start the little exchange of knowledge and began searching the sky for a constellation that was easier to locate. He quickly found the large cross in the sky and showed Edam where it was. "That's called Cygnus. It's a swan."
"Ah. Yes! I see it. What's the bright star near it called?" Edam asked excitedly.
Bright star? Oh he was probably talking about… "Vega. That's actually part of Lyra, the lyre."
"Oh… I don't know a name for that group." Edam admitted. "But the name I was taught for Cygnus is Slaktarefiskus." Edam glanced over at his friend and laughed at the wide eyed expression on his face . "Yeah. Cygnus is just a little easier to say," Edam said smiling kindly.
"And spell," Jerry added. I he had that word on a spelling test in elementary school he knew he would have had points off. "What exactly does Slak- Slakter-
"Slaktarefiskus?" Edam spoke the word with practiced ease.
"Yeah that. What's its story?"
And so Edam happily told the abridged story of the constellation. "Well, it's a fish killer. But depending on who you talk to it's either a vicious and terribly heroic cat or an extremely monstrous fish that slays pretty much anything that moves."
It was getting chilly. Edam moved closer to Jerry for warmth, totally unaware of how uncomfortable he was making the other man. "What's your favorite one up there?"
Jerry let out a strangled laugh. "It's kind of embarrassing how common it is"
"Why would that be embarrassing?" the other man asked perplexed.
"Astronomy's what I specialize in at school," Jerry explained.
Oh. Okay. That made sense then. "Well… I won't know it anyway. So teach me about it," Edam ordered smiling at the other man innocently.
So Jerry told him about his favorite constellation. And Edam soaked in every word the man spoke. The deep voice was steady and soothing as it spun a tale of a vain queen who was placed in the stars upside down for most of the year as punishment for saying her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereid. Which apparently was not true.
Edam sighed content. There was a comfortable moment of silence where he just let himself take in everything around him. The gentle breeze that was blowing the grass. A family of bats eating bugs. He was shaken out of that state when Jerry's arm brushed against his. Butterflies were flying cyclones in his stomach. Heat flooded to the area that Jerry had grazed.
It was official. He liked Jerry. A lot. Still he was hesitant to act on his feelings. What if Harvey was wrong and Jerry was just trying to be friendly? What if that's all Jerry ever wanted of Edam? Friendship.
"What's your favorite?" the man asked.
Edam looked up at the stars. Which was his favorite? There were so many to choose from.
Jerry watched Edam, waiting intently to learn more about the man. Then after a couple minutes Edam finally pointed to a group of stars. Gemini. Castor and Pollux. "What is it called?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Just Cat. It's a very important constellation. It represents everything good and bad and just plain strange about cats." Edam explained. "It's the first constellation I learned."
"So… you like cats," it wasn't a question. It was clear that Edam was fond of cats. His gentle expression said more than words could ever convey.
"I wouldn't be who I am today if it hadn't been for my cats," Edam spoke with conviction.
They lapsed into silence.
"Oh look!" Jerry pointed toward a section of sky. "There's a satellite moving over there. It's faint there it is," he followed its path with his finger.
"Where?" Edam asked sitting up to apparently get closer to the sky.
"There," Jerry pointed still following the little moving dot. He sucked in a surprised breath as Edam crawled partially on top of him still looking for the satellite. He just couldn't find the object in the sky.
Edam abandoned his search for the moving object and looked down at Jerry. And he realized he put himself in a slightly embarrassing position. He was really close to Jerry. Almost lying on top of him. But he didn't make any move to change their position.
Jerry's gaze met Edam's and the satellite was forgotten. All the stars in the sky were forgotten. In all their celestial beauty, they could not match the shining beauty of the man in front of his eyes. Before he could stop himself he placed the hand that had been following the satellite on Edam's cheek, caressing it gently. He inwardly cringed at his action. This definitely crossed the invisible line known as friendship.
Edam couldn't believe this was happening. Jerry hand was touching his face. In more than a friendly manner. His heart was hammering in his chest. Maybe Harvey was right. Those butterflies from earlier were practically creating a vortex inside of him. He found himself focused on Jerry. More specifically Jerry's lips. They looked so kissable. Edam hadn't even realized he was inching closer to those wonderful lips until their noses touched. The small contact caused Edam to jolt backwards, shaking his head to rid himself of his lustful thought trail.
Jerry sat up and coughed awkwardly. That was too close for nothing to happen. He wanted something to happen and he really had thought Edam was going to kiss him. His gaze flicked to Edam when the man cleared his throat. "I still can't see it," he whispered, voice heavy with what Jerry was hoping was arousal.
"Oh well, there's roughly 3000 of them up there. I'll show you one some other time." Jerry promised.
Edam smiled upon hearing the other's words. He was glad that he hadn't blown their friendship with that almost kiss.
Jerry stood up and offered a hand down to the groundkeeper. "Come on," he said gently, "let's get back to central camp."
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