Panic rose inside his chest, feeling as though his exhibit was closing in on him, the sand piling up around his body, as though he was back inside the hourglass once again.
He raced from the display, absailing down the rope that hung from the front of the diorama, his hands burning, but he needed to get away.
Octavius, who had been on his way to see his blond friend, saw Jedediah running to the bench in the middle of the Hall of Miniatures, disappearing behind one of the bench legs.
"Jedediah?" the Roman called, peeking around the wooden post, spotting the westerner slouched on the floor, back against the hard wood.
He could hear the American's heavy breathing, and knew it had little to do with the running he did; something was seriously wrong with the cowboy.
"Jed?" the general asked once more, crouching in front of the distressed man.
"Octy…" Jedediah breathed, throwing himself onto the Roman, knocking them both over, and pulling the general into a hug. He buried his face into the elder man's neck, and spoke softly, "can I tell you a secret?"
Octavius ran a hand across the cowboy's back and hair, that was now exposed due to the hat flying off of his head in the rush of movement, in an attempt to comfort him.
"Of course." the general assured, shifting his head so that he could see at least part of his friend's face.
"I'm afraid of the sand." Jedediah told him, stuttering slightly on the final word. "I panic, standing in my own display, all because of that stupid hourglass I almost died in!" the cowboy was yelling by the end of his mini-rant.
Octavius thought for a few seconds, making a 'hmm'ing noise, so that the westerner knew he was not being ignored.
"What if we create a good memory you can relate to sand?" was the Roman's best idea at such short notice.
"Like what?" the blond asked, his blue eyes shining, and Octavius swore he'd never looked more child-like than in that moment.
"You'll see." and with that, Octavius got up, taking the cowman's hand, and leading him back towards the Wild West diorama.
After some encouraging words, Jedediah finally climbed the rope up the side of the display, closing his eyes as he saw the sand. His breathing rate increased, but he tried to control it.
Octavius took the younger man's hand, and led him towards a sand area, where none of the other westerners were; they'd all gone off to explore the museum, after seeing their leader leave hurriedly.
Jedediah still hadn't opened his eyes, and was startled when he heard Octavius' voice whispering in his ear. "Can I tell you a secret?"
This caused the cowboy to open his eyes. He acknowledged the sand around him, but he didn't feel very much panic at it; just confusion at the Roman's question.
He nodded, but still looked rather bemused.
The next thing he knew, there were two fingers beneath his chin, and lips pressed against his own.
The kiss was amazing, and Jedediah wrapped his arms around the elder man's neck to prolong the moment.
Eventually they did have to pull away, for breath, but the blond panted out a "Gosh, I love sand."