California was nice. The weather was nice, the new job was nice, the new place to live was nice. Everything was nice. It didn't feel good or bad to Adam when he thought about it or when people chatted him up about his move from New York. For some reason, people were impressed by the distance of it. To Adam's knowledge, most anyone could get on a plane and achieve the same thing. He didn't feel it was necessary to comment.

So for lack of a better word, California was nice, but it was also lonely.

After leaving New York all on his own, Adam had made it a point to make himself try out new things every day. This became his new routine in a way. He would try out three new things a day, whether he really wanted to or not. Most of his experiences had been good, interesting, or at the very least, educational. Eating ghost pepper salsa that one of his co-workers had made and brought in did not fall into any of these three categories. Going to work events and after work events was tolerable and sometimes even fun. Adam liked most of his coworkers who were scientists and engineers, and were as obsessed with space as he was. Conversations were fun and easy things for Adam now to partake in, and he even got to expand his knowledge on the subjects by being surrounded by such intense individuals like himself.

It was nice, better than what he had before when it was just his father and sometimes Harlan. Adam just wished he had someone at home to share it with, the spaces in his new place too empty and still echoed.

OoOoO

To Adam's dismay when he brought up his current problem, both Harlan and Beth told him to start dating again. Each in turn had brought up getting a 'fresh perspective'. Adam already knew what that entailed. He had gotten one from dating and breaking up with Beth.

Setting aside the advice for now, Adam didn't think he wanted another 'fresh perspective' any time soon. He had just moved into this place and he liked his little cottage out in the woods. It was within walking distance to the observatory, but tucked back enough off the beaten path to not be noticed. The older couple who had sold it to him had called it a 'fixer upper'. Even though he'd had to correct their math about the amount they tried to get him to pay for it at first, Adam appreciated their honesty because that was what he did every day to it, before and after work. It was a challenge from time to time but Adam liked the shape the house was taking under his constant care. He even had a little star gazing garden in the back now.

OoOoO

The advice had not fallen on deaf ears though. Adam thought about dating again on a regular basis. He considered it a lot because he had really liked having sex. The problem was most of the people he knew here in California were his coworkers, or related to his coworkers, or friends of his coworkers. From people watching and witnessing too much drama in the breakroom at his last job, Adam had come to the conclusion a long time ago that dating anyone who was a coworker or linked to a coworker was far more trouble than it was worth. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't date the majority of his social pool.

Excluding anyone from his professional life, that only really left the people he saw on the regular basis at the grocery stores he preferred to shop at and the one Uber driver he trusted, who happened to be the first Uber driver he met upon arriving to California. Mr. Milton, proud owner of a Honda Civic and single father of two, didn't quite get the odd young man who called him stammering from time to time for a ride, but he was quiet, tipped well, and was incredibly punctual so Mr. Milton decided that being handed detailed maps of their route and a little awkward silence was well worth it.

All those new people that Adam was getting used to were working, and even Adam knew it was in very poor taste to ask someone out on a date while they were on the clock and trying to focus on their work. He certainly hated it when people at his job did it to him. Most of the time, the advances flew right over Adam's head, only the truly determined making it obvious to him. In those moments, Adam was proud of himself that he remembered not to be as blunt as he would have liked to with them.

The bitter ones grumbled about his impossible standards while others wondered openly about his type. Adam didn't really have any answers for them. He knew what he liked, and being pulling into endless cycles of drama was not one of them. Besides, he had his cottage to work on, stars to look at, and new things to try. He could stand a little loneliness.

OoOoO

It happened one day when Adam decided to try going a completely different way to work. The observatory was nestled in the heart of a national redwood park so there were many different trails to choose from, his cottage sitting right on the edges of the wood itself. Adam usually took the most direct path to and from work, but just yesterday, Adam had overheard someone say that variety was the spice of life.

As ridiculous as its wording was, it had stuck with him for some reason, enough so that Adam left his cottage earlier than usual so that he could take another route. He doubted he would see anything other than more trees, but at least he knew he had done something different today. If he so happened to pick a path that didn't see a lot of foot traffic, well then he could always appreciate the nature aspect of his journey.

For the most part, the path was his own. The only exception to this solitude was a man who didn't look like he knew what he was doing. He was a tall man with silvering hair, long enough to fall into his bright amber eyes and angular face with its sharp cheekbones and thin lips. His outfit was poorly chosen, a too thin cotton shirt with little dog all over it, the material not enough for the wood's damp misty mornings. His footwear was wrong for what he appeared to be attempting to do which Adam finally concluded was hiking as he watched him pick out a rougher trial than Adam knew was good for his loafers.

By the time Adam worked up enough courage to tell the man this, he was gone, Adam watching the back of his silvery head disappear further down the trail and deeper into the woods. The sound of cursing filled in the man's absence soon after, Adam not recognizing the language it was shouted in. Shaking his head, Adam made mental note to look up hiking boots in case he ever saw the man again. It sounded like he needed the information quite badly.

OoOoO

The man became a regular to the woods and its trails much to Adam's surprise which grew tenfold when he learned one morning while cleaning and checking the lenses of his telescopes that the man began his journey by hiking near Adam's house. What held Adam's attention though was when the man pushed back his hair to wipe away sweat from his forehead. Underneath those tawny silver locks lay a secret in the shape of a star. Adam knew it wasn't really a star, but more like the popular representation of one, like the eight pointed star used by Polaris industries. Adam knew this but couldn't make himself look away from the man's mark, the skin ruined with near perfect mathematical precision.

Adam's new morning routine became getting up on time to have his coffee and track the man while eating his cereal, watching as hiker evolved from his own efforts and explorations. The loafers were traded out for some proper boots and the little dog shirt for breathable layers, the man obviously learning the errors of his ways. A small backpack for water, snacks, and first aid were added to the outfit as well, Adam observing the man fishing out band aids from it on several occasions from a hike gone rough.

Finishing all the bran flakes in time so that he could drink the milk almost flake free, Adam wondered if he should ask the man out.

OoOoO

"Adam!"

Holding the phone away from his ear, Adam realized that he had not missed this trait in Beth, her ability to say his name in that high pitch when she was excited or annoyed. Her next words confirmed she was feeling the later.

"That's super creepy. Why would you do that?" Adam caught in time. He hating talking on the phone, the few meager clues to conversation via facial features completely gone. Phone calls often didn't end well for Adam or carried on for far too long because he didn't know when to say 'good bye' or hang up. Texting was preferable and Adam really liked emoji, but he needed advice. Beth, of course, refused to talk about such matters via texting, claiming it stole character away from the topic of conversation.

"I wasn't trying to be creepy. I was just cleaning and adjusting my lenses. He happened to be in my line of sight is all." Adam began.

"And all the other times afterward?" Beth huffed into the phone.

"O-oh." Adam's defense puttered out.

"Yeah, oh. You need to leave the house and ask the guy out. The worst thing he can say is 'no'." Beth said.

"That's not true."

"Adam, stay on track. Quit being a lurker and ask him out."

"Okay."

"And don't mention the creepy stalking."

"It's not creepy."

"Adam, it will sound creepy. Just don't bring it up."

"Then how am I going to ask him out?"

"I don't know. You'll figure it out." Beth said with a pause full of potential. "Hey, he goes hiking all the time, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there you go. Go pretend you're taking a walk…"

"Why would I pretend that?" Adam asked flatly.

"Okay, scratch that. Remember when you met my folks at the theater. Remember how I set that up, running into them like that?"

"Yes. You lied and it was mostly upsetting." Adam nodded though he knew Beth couldn't see him. Yet another reason he hated phone conversations.

"Do that, but not the lying part. Just put yourself where he can see you."

"And then what?"

"Talk to him. Tell him about the tours at the observatory. I don't know, something along that line." Beth said, wondering why she of all people was having to help her ex with this.

"Okay. I can do that. Good bye, Beth."

Quite used to Adam's abrupt endings, Beth shook her head with a fond smile for her friend, hoping the best for Adam.

OoOoO

"Are you here for the tour?"

Pleased with himself for going with Beth's suggestion, Adam waited for the man's response. He had chosen the perfect spot to wait for him, the crossroads between trails was one of the man's favorite places to take a break and smoke a cigarette. Adam would have been detoured by the habit but the man was always very careful to not flick his butts into the woods or litter.

To Adam's dismay, he realized he must have caught the man off guard by the way he swung around, his hands slightly raised like he was ready to strike. Keeping himself still so not to bother the man further, Adam admired how trim all the hiking had made the man, his long legs especially toned now from all the exercise.

"What?" the man said somehow around his cigarette. He seemed to be calming down though so Adam decided to move his plan forward.

"There is tour in twenty-three minutes at the observatory." Adam offered, trying and failing at eye contact. In a later call of more advice, Beth had prompted him not to stare at the scar so Adam didn't know to put his eyes since he used forehead to cheat. "I can take you there if you'd like. You appear to be lost."

"How do you figure?" the man grunted, leaning back against the railing. He didn't seem ready to leave so Adam took that as a good sign to continue.

"Because of the direction. I would not advise going in the Northeast." Adam said, nodding in the direction the man had been going and happy with himself for memorizing the network of trails.

"Why? What will I run into?" the man asked as he finished his cigarette, careful as always to pack away the filter in to his backpack.

"Canada." Adam informed him. He wasn't sure where else to take this conversation and he didn't want to repeat his offer in case that sounded weird. Prompting himself to remember eye contact, Adam worked up his nerve to do so, making all the stops along the way. Unable to resist, Adam's eyes alighted on the star. It was even lovelier up close, like someone had put the perfect measured and aligned scar into the man's forehead for a reason.

"Your scar looks like Polaris. It's beautiful." Adam said before he could stop himself. The man stared at him with suddenly wide eyes, making Adam's stomach freefall. He was sure now he had something freakish.

"What?" was all the man said.

"Your cranial scar looks like an abstract representation of Polaris, which is the brightest star in the constellation of Ursa Minor. Currently, it is very close to the north celestial, thus making it the North Star…" Adam said quickly, hoping he hadn't offended the man too badly. "I'm sorry. Have I said something insulting or have I been talking for too long?"

"No, no. It's just most people don't say that when they see it." The man laughed, and that was a strangely lovely sound to Adam.

"What do other people say?" Adam asked. He really couldn't imagine.

"Like 'what happened?'. That kind of stuff." The man grumbled, rubbing his rough looking hands over his face. Adam wondered how would feel against his own as well.

"I don't understand. It's obviously a gunshot wound despite its similarities to Polaris." Adam sighed, at a loss. He didn't get how and why people missed the obvious so often or want to talk around it. "That and I have observed that making statements about personal appearance tends to make people angry or uncomfortable or both. I apologize if I insulted you. That was not my intent."

"Well, most people don't do that. Compare this scar to a star or call it beautiful." The man snorted, gesturing to his face.

"I'm not like most people." Adam apologized.

"I'm beginning to see that." The man said in an odd way, all low and touching places Adam didn't know he had, not even with Beth.

"I've said too much." Adam couldn't bring himself stay in longer. He had botched the whole thing and needed to leave right now. In a mess of emotions, Adam retreated to find himself not alone in this, the hiker easily keeping pace with him . "I should go. The tour is starting in thirteen minutes. You could still make it in time."

"No, you really haven't, been talking too much. Don't go. You'll find you can't escape me so easily. Talk with me, walk with me." The man grinned. "My name is Nigel by the way, gorgeous."

"Oh…O-okay. I'm Adam."