Chapter Eleven
Mickey
Over lunch Harlow admitted that she’d noticed us flirting and had engineered Aster moving in with me.
“I wanted to speed things along.” She sipped her strawberry milkshake. “Othwise you two were never going to get there.”
“We might have got there, eventually!” Aster protested. He was in the booth beside me, his thigh pressed against mine.
“Sure, when we’re all old and grey and have bad backs,” Harlow scoffed.
“Maybe...I mean, we did have a moment, or two, already.”
Aster blushed and Harlow picked up her burger. “I love you both, I’m happy for you, but I do not want details, thank you very much.”
“Fair enough,” Aster nodded. “No details.”
On the drive back to the farm, Aster plugged his phone into my truck’s stereo and put on a playlist. A lot of it was new stuff I wasn’t familiar with, but I enjoyed it.
What I enjoyed even more? Aster singing along.
He looked so happy, so content... any nervousness or misgivings I had about being in a relationship with him were gone.
Peace settled over me, the knowledge that I’d done the right thing, and now the world was as it should be.
I did the afternoon chores and checked on the herd. As I walked among them I told them how the day had gone.
“We’re safe. They’re not going to build anything beside us.
No noise at night, no scary construction, nothing.
In fact, once they’ve come and taken away the little marker posts, you should never see them again.
That’s good, isn’t it?” Gus Gus gently nudged my hip and I handed over a carrot stick.
“Yeah, really good, isn’t it, Gus? You get it. ”
He munched the carrot stick. I assume that meant he agreed.
His soft fleece was coming back in. I stroked my fingers through it, soothing myself.
As the day stretched on, most of the herd settled in the shade of the trees on the south side of their field, loafing on the ground like oversized cats.
I wandered the perimeter, checking the fence for weaknesses, until I got to the barn. A tug at my memory. There was something I could do...
Looking at the barn door, I remembered something my dad had done for us when we were kids. I knew Aster would love it. I just had to check the attic and see if the equipment was still there.
Inside the house, Aster was starting to prep dinner. “I found steaks in the fridge, they okay to cook for dinner? I can do steamed veges and fries on the side?”
“Perfect, thanks!” I hurried past him and up to the attic, taking the stairs two at a time.
The attic wasn’t too dusty. I was pretty good at coming up here and evicting crows and bats to keep it neat.
There were boxes, carefully labelled, of Mom and Dad’s old things. Most of their clothes had been donated, but I’d preserved things like Dad’s wedding suit, and Mom’s bridal dress. Plus Dad’s painting supplies, and Mom’s old knitting patterns. A lot of memories were stored up here.
I found the box with the slide projector, and just under that, the exact thing I wanted. Complete with outdoor safe extension cords and a transformer for the power point. I lugged the whole box downstairs.
“Everything okay?” Aster called from the kitchen.
“Yep, just—” I wanted this to be a surprise, but I’d have to admit I was doing something. “Just arranging a surprise for you!”
“Oh?”
I flushed. “Well, uh, you just focus on dinner, and I’ll get this set up for something to do while we eat. Okay?”
“Okay!” Aster sounded dubious but willing to go along with it.
There were deck chairs in the garage, that would be a good option for seating. Or, maybe something more snuggle-friendly?
Couch cushions and hay bales!
That’s what Dad used to do.
Some blankets, some citronella candles, a ton of cushions and we’d have a cozy set up. The candles and hay bales were easy to source. I had them set up in a jiffy, along with a double stack to rest the projector on.
I had to go back into the house for the other stuff.
Aster had put on music and was singing as he made dinner. My heart did a little flutter, he was here, he was planning to stay with me. And he was going to be delighted by my surprise.
I dragged couch cushions and blankets out into the field.
By this time a couple of members of the flock had started to express interest in the hay bales and whatever it was I was doing. I ushered Stitch and Mulan back out to the adjoining field and locked the gate.
“You can hang out with us from here, but I won’t have you stomping around lit candles or powercords, okay?”
Stitch gave me a regretful look.
I was glad Dad was the kind of man with foresight. The instruction manual was stowed safely in with the electronics. The projector was easy to set up, as was the DVD player he’d stowed in with it. Which just left... Aster, food and drink.
No, one more thing, I needed to choose a movie to watch!
Something cute, and romantic?
Something arty that’d make us think?
Something spooky? No, not that. I wanted Aster in my bed tonight but I wanted him to be there because he wanted to be, not because he was frightened of night stalkers.
I went in to look over my DVD collection, started by my parents and added to over the years by Harlow and myself.
The choice wasn’t easy. I wanted to impress Aster a little bit, show him something he might not have seen.
Then I saw Shall We Dance? And knew that would be the one.
There was an American remake with Richard Gere but in my heart the original Japanese version would always win.
It did require reading subtitles, but Aster had mentioned loving foreign film.s Besides, it was about fresh starts and trying something new, and it always warmed my heart.
Perfect. I picked up the DVD and pressed it to my chest.
“Dinner’s ready in five,” Aster called. “Should I put it on trays?”
“Yes please. I’ll be right back to help you carry it.” I ran outside and loaded the movie into the DVD player. I flicked on the projector and was relieved when it lit up the side of the barn. It had been a long few years since it had been used, but somehow the bulb still worked.
A small miracle. I sent thanks up to the universe, hoping in some way, Dad could hear my gratitude.
I went back inside, adjusting my shirt and wishing I could look more handsome somehow.
Aster had made us each a plate of T-bone steak, fries and steamed carrots and broccoli, all drenched in garlic butter. My stomach growled.
“This looks incredible.” I grabbed some bottles of soda from the fridge and took one of the trays. “Now, follow me, if you please.”
Aster chuckled, intrigued. “So formal.”
“Well, it’s our first dinner together as boyfriends and I wanted to make an event of it. I hope that’s not too cringe?”
“Not at all.” Aster grinned at me, his eyes sparkling. “I’m so curious I’m afraid I’m going to wet myself or explode. Maybe both.”
Chuckling, I led the way to the barn.
Aster
To say I was intrigued would be an understatement. The understatement of the century, honestly.
Whatever it was, Mickey had been fussing around outside for some time and I had dutifully not looked.
He led the way to the barn and I stopped to take in exactly what I was seeing. “Is that...?”
“You said something you missed about the city was the cinema.” He set down both trays on a hay bale “I remembered that Dad had a system for setting up a cinema right here on the farm. So, this is our celebration. I picked the movie for tonight, but any time you want to do this again, we can.”
“Any time?” Aster looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
“Weather allowing,” I amended. “We probably can’t do this too much in winter...”
Aster grinned and sat on the cushions, settling his tray in his lap. “I love it!”
I grabbed the remote and sat beside him. “Ready? I chose a Japanese film because you said you liked foreign cinema, but this is basically a romantic comedy from the nineties... sort of? So I didn’t think you’d have seen it.”
“Can’t wait.”
I set the movie going and we started to eat. I moaned softly. Aster had cooked the steak to a perfect medium rare and the garlic butter had melted over the fries. “This is delicious.”
Aster leaned over, careful not to tip either tray, and kissed me on the cheek. “You’re welcome, boyfriend.”
I chuckled. “Say it again.”
“Boyfriend. My boyfriend.” Aster settled back in and focused on the movie.
I tried to concentrate on my food and not the way Aster saying ‘boyfriend’ made me feel.
The film opened with quotes about dancing, and the cultural cringe Japan has, or had at the time of filmmaking, about showing affection to your partner. How embarrassing it would be to dance with them in public.
In some ways, I could relate. As Aster had experienced, society wasn’t always being accepting of trans folks. There were nasty comments online, there were nasty people legislating to make life harder for Aster, when all he wanted to do was live his life, have fun and be happy.
Heck, even gay people weren’t accepted everywhere, and I was gay as they come. Perhaps some of what I was relating to was the lead character’s stepping out of his comfort zone. As the movie progressed I saw more and more of myself in him.
I’d made myself a very comfortable life, living alone, seeing my sister, not really socializing outside of that. Knitting, doing jigsaw puzzles and watching movies was the extent of my excitement.
After what had happened with Pete, I’d been so afraid to try for more.
I’d resigned myself to a life of quiet boredom, and I might have been all right with that... but with Aster by my side, I knew boredom wouldn’t be a frequent companion.
Aster was the spark I needed to step outside of the farm, to try new things and to reconnect with my community. Not just at Christmas when I went into town to sell Christmas trees.
I finished eating and set the tray aside, reaching for Aster’s hand.
He curled up against my side, riveted to the movie. “This is really good,” he whispered, as if worried he’d disturb someone else in the ‘cinema’.