Diary of a Teenage Taxidermist (8 page)

“Why, will I meet Mr. Tumnus behind that door?”

“Or his mouse cousins.” Ethan let go and gave Robert a tiny key.

Robert blinked. Was it actually lockable? That was so creative! A small tingle of excitement spurted in his temples, and he nodded, gently pushing the key into the lock. It was such an eerie feeling. Even with Ethan’s serious little face so close and his permission, Rob felt like an intruder to a world he might not understand at all. Ethan’s world.

Inside was a land of mice, with a tiny house, with an even tinier balcony. Everything, including a miniature tree and a bench underneath was white. “Pull the little cord on the side,” Ethan said with excitement, squeezing close to Robert. The touch of his warm body sent sparks up Rob’s arm, and he pushed his fingers inside the neck of the elk, pulling on the thin cord with two digits. The world inside the elk’s head lit up with bright white light from a tiny sparkling chandelier hanging from the top. It illuminated the scene, showing more detail. There was a mouse in a white dress looking out from the balcony, while another sat in the milky moss and read a book, a top hat with a white feather on its head.

Robert couldn’t stop staring at all the gorgeous detail. It was like finding a whole world where one would least expect it, but it wasn’t just about the idea. Ethan’s craftsmanship was remarkable. Rob would hardly expect to find something this meticulous and creative in a garage in his home town.

Ethan sighed. “I called it
Of Mice and Elk
. There’s lots of stuff I still want to tweak. I’d like to add some stairs in that moss, but cutting wood is a pain now, they all come out uneven. But practice makes perfect, I suppose.”

“No, it’s fantastic. I had no idea you were doing things this... grand.” Robert shook his head and crooked his neck to see more. “Do elks dream about mice?”

Ethan stared at him and blinked a few times before a soft smile stretched his lips. “Maybe after they die?” He lay down on the concrete and also looked inside.

Robert lowered his hand to Ethan’s back, just letting it rest there, in the warmth of Ethan’s body. “What inspired you to make this?”

“It’s a mixture of things, it doesn’t have some Freudian meaning or whatever. I just love the visuals of it. The black and the white. The massive and the tiny. The grand and the dainty. I like that you can interact with it a bit, not just watch it. I plan to install a mouse on a swing as well. The viewer will be able to push it.”

Robert felt his mouth stretch into a smile. The vision of a stuffed mouse on a swing worked like a large gulp of beer. Was it that strange that he found it somewhat cute? “I’d love to see that.”

“I’m gonna be like Scheherazade, adding pieces, so you have to keep coming back here.” Ethan poked Rob’s bicep with his forehead.

Robert swallowed and pulled Ethan a bit closer. The boy was too sweet for that sentence to sound stalkerish. He just said what came to his mind, not really filtering any of it. For a moment, he wanted to tell Ethan he preferred for him to stay male, but he bit his tongue.

Ethan stared at Robert, and his brows gathered into a slight frown. “Sorry. Was that creepy?”

Robert shook his head.

“Good. You wanna see my workshop?” Ethan picked at a thread coming out of Rob’s sleeve.

“Is that the den of dread?” Rob asked with a grin, but switched off the chandelier and locked the door in the elk’s neck. He wanted to be a polite guest.

“Please don’t call it that.” Ethan winced and got up. “My parents do, and it makes it sound like it’s something silly. And this is really important for me.”

Robert got to his feet. “Sorry, I thought it was just... you know, teasing.”

“It is teasing. And I hate it.” Ethan was too serious for his own good.

“Oh, come on, why does it bother you so much? You know that what you do is...” He gestured to the elk. “It’s amazing.”

Ethan scratched his head and opened a door in the back of the garage. “I’m not stupid. Everyone laughs at me at school because of it, and the crazy vegans hate me.”

“So? This is great stuff. This is art.” Robert couldn’t help himself and looked back at the elk. One had to appreciate it as an artwork.

“You like it that much? I haven’t shown it to anyone but my parents yet.” Ethan turned on the lights only to reveal a narrow corridor leading to the basement. Robert didn’t like those steep stairs at all.

“I’ll go first, okay?” he asked, putting his hand on Ethan’s shoulder to stop him. “And yeah, I like it. It’s awesome.”

Ethan gave him a crooked smile but let him pass. “See, I’m not completely useless.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt on my watch. You’ll get distracted and fall. We don’t want that,” said Robert, descending down a narrow staircase that smelled of concrete and disinfectant. He sure hoped the den wasn’t as creepy as Ethan’s parents suggested. They made it sound like their son was a serial killer. Of rats.

Ethan put a hand on Rob’s shoulder and followed. “You must feel so guilty.”

Rob exhaled, focusing on the gray stairs beneath his feet. “You think?”

“‘Cause you treat me like porcelain now. Can I get a piggyback ride?”

Robert frowned. Was Ethan making fun of him now? Because it was not funny at all. “Not here.”

“Why not?” Ethan followed him down the stairs into the large, well lit basement with too many little details everywhere to take in. A large table was full of art supplies, sketchbooks, jars of pencils and brushes. A freezer and fridge stood next to industrial shelving units and a cupboard with drawers with a few stuffed rats posed on top of it. The smell of chemicals lingered in the air, but that was to be expected.

Robert shrugged, walking over to the rats. This place wasn’t nearly as creepy as he had imagined. Actually, Ethan’s room was weirder, this space was a proper workshop. “Are you serious or not?”

Ethan shook his head and unraveled his hair from the bun, which left them wavy. “Nah, don’t be silly.”

“I don’t know what to expect of you.” Robert crooked his head and gently brushed his finger over the fine fur between the rat’s tiny ears. He would have never suspected it was done by someone his own age. Ethan had lots of expertise.

“Well, you wouldn’t do it anyway.” Ethan walked over to the freezer and opened its door. “I keep some rats and stuff here. They’re my favorites.”

Robert frowned but didn’t comment on the piggybacking. He’d totally do it in the right circumstances, but he wasn’t going to tempt Ethan. “Where do you keep the rest then?”

“I only have a few at the moment. But there’s this guy who’s gonna get me quite a few squirrels soon.” Ethan brushed his hand against Rob’s in passing, making him turn and stare at Ethan.

“Okay...”

“I have this little online store.” Ethan walked up to a wall full of necklaces hanging from nails. “I’m planning a whole new collection with squirrels.”

“You
sell
this?” Robert raised his brows, surprised, though it was only to be expected for someone with talent like Ethan’s to take advantage of it. “More jewelry?”

“Yeah, I’ve had people from all over buy them. I thought I could make some hairpieces with the tails… I’m still sketching out ideas. Is this too morbid for you? ‘Cause I get it if it is…” Ethan had this attentive stare, like he was always switched to the ‘on’ setting.

“I will tell you if I think you’re overdoing it.” Rob smiled and peeked at the labels on bottles and jars in a high but narrow block of shelves. Did Ethan use all of this? No wonder the skin on his hands was so dry.

“Don’t open those, some are toxic,” Ethan warned him and stayed with his mouth open, as if he wondered whether he should go on or not. “Rob… you’re a lot more open-minded than I thought you’d be,” he eventually said with a small smile.

Robert snorted. “I just look like a caveman.”

“And I look weird, but I’m actually nice, right? So we even out?” Ethan bit his lip and clasped his hands together.

Robert frowned. “You don’t look
that
weird.” He knew that what Ethan wanted him to say was ‘yes, you are very nice’, but it wouldn’t be the whole truth.

“I’m gonna have to work on it then. Get some eyeliner going and stuff.” Ethan walked up to a tiny top hat with a skull on top of it. “I could wear this to school.”

Robert sighed. He wasn’t in favor of the idea. “I don’t know...”

“I’m just messing with you.” Ethan poked Rob’s chest. “This one’s sold already anyway.”

Robert leaned back against a table and scanned the space, debating how to express what he wanted to say. Eventually, he settled on, “Will you take a break from it when you go to college?”

“I-I wish I wouldn’t have to. I would love to just expand my business.” Ethan pointed to the stairs. “You wanna go back?”

Robert shrugged. “To the elk?”

Ethan laughed. “You must really like it. No, back to the house. It’s kinda chilly down here, and I didn’t turn on the heating.”

Robert scratched Ethan's nape, just to feel the soft hair at the base. “I think your parents have had enough of me for one day.”

Ethan opened his lips in a way that immediately reminded Robert of how amazing it was to have them wrapped around his cock. He chuckled and flattened his palm over the slim neck. “Will you walk me to the car?”

“Y-yeah, sure, absolutely!” Ethan rushed up the stairs only to trip and climb up the last few on all fours.

Robert didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him or laugh. “Why are you running from me?” he asked, following Ethan up the stairs.

“I just didn’t want to keep you waiting.” Ethan scrambled back to his feet and covered the elk with the plastic.

“Why are you so nervous? Chill out.” Robert switched off the light on the staircase and closed the door, watching Ethan, who behaved as if he left a soufflé in the oven back at home.

Ethan swallowed, glancing at Rob over his shoulder as he passed the Chevy. “I just don’t know how much I can touch you. I don’t want to offend you. Obviously you must have some boundaries that I’m not all that acquainted with yet. I’d want our thing to work as well as it can.” It was one of the worst babble-moments Ethan had ever had.

Robert reached him in two steps and pulled him back. It took a slow twist of the slim body to get Ethan standing flat against the wall, facing away from Robert, who melted into him, pressing his shins against Ethan’s calves. His hips were against Ethan’s lower back. It was enough for heat to start simmering just beneath Rob’s skin. With a sigh of relief, he smelled Ethan’s hair.

“Not many boundaries then?” Ethan choked out, stiff as the elk head.

Robert smiled against his scalp and moved his face lower, brushing his nose over the temple, ear, jawline, neck... “No.”

“I… Oh. That’s nice. I’ll try to ‘chill out’,” Ethan whispered as his body lost some of its tension. Even the cold air from outside wouldn’t cool Rob down. With the smell of the forest so intense around them, Rob would love to just let nature take its course. Ethan was so
available
it was dangerous. It was good that Robert was too nervous about Ethan’s dad popping in at any time because he would try to get into Ethan’s pants again otherwise.

Ethan slowly turned in Robert’s arms and wrapped his arms around his waistline. “I really enjoyed today,” he whispered into Rob’s chest. “I think we’ll have fun until graduation.”

Robert’s heart went aflutter but he didn’t move, just holding the fluffy head against his chest. “Yes... it’s interesting to try out new... things.”

Ethan chuckled against Rob and hugged him tighter. “My parents would kill me if they knew what is going on. But after a near-death experience, I don’t really care anymore.”

“My mom wouldn’t be happy either, but she won’t know.” Robert rubbed his chin over the top of Ethan’s head and relaxed to signal Ethan could slip away once he was ready.

When Ethan finally stepped back, he had a wide smile on his face. “It’s perfect. A little fantasy world no one needs to know of. Like we’re little mice inside of an elk head.”

Robert swallowed and patted him on the back before walking out of the garage. His car was right where he left it, but it didn’t seem all that tempting. “See you at school, yeah?”

Ethan nodded and followed him like an overeager puppy.

Robert opened the door on the driver’s side and slumped inside. “Thanks for the food and the blow job. The best I had.”

Ethan put his hands in the pockets of his soft hoodie and smiled with a blush creeping up his neck. “Food or blow job?”

Robert bit his lip. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful but Ethan deserved the truth. “Blow job, but I appreciate what you did with the bread.”

Ethan glanced at his house before leaning down to Robert. “It’s ‘cause you have an awesome dick,” he whispered and straightened up again.

Robert’s eyes went straight to the front of Ethan’s fly, and he grasped the door, knowing he had to leave soon if he didn’t intend to stay. “I owe you one.”

“I can’t wait till next Wednesday then.”

Robert wasn’t sure, since Ethan only had one eye, but he could swear Ethan winked before turning around and going back to the house. It took Rob a full five seconds to force himself to stop staring at Ethan’s ass, but eventually he started the engine and fled for home without looking back.