Page 73 of The Toymaker
He could stay like this all day, although he’d miss Kit. Why couldn’t they have brought him too? They could have closed the shop for a couple of hours. His Kit would probably love to see kittens.
“Kit, kit, kit, kit,” he mumbled to himself.
The kitten attacking the yarn grew tired and stretched out by him, and Riju gently stroked the one on his chest. It was amazing how their whole bodies vibrated when they purred. What did it feel like to them? Someone was attacking his bootlace, not that he was mad about it.
He let his attention vaguely wander to the two in the sitting room. The guy was talking about plans for the wedding. Riju stopped paying attention until he caught his name.
The man’s voice lowered, and Riju tilted his head. “You’re still with him?”
“Yeah. We're getting married. Not right now, but soon enough.”
“He still doesn’t talk much.”
“Watch it.” Riju barely caught Trig’s words. “I’m working on making him better.”
Riju didn’t catch what the man replied, and he barely cared anymore. Better. The word implied he still wasn’t good enough.Kit never said he needed to be better. He didn’t even say Riju needed to get better at making everything at the same time while cooking.
Why did he have to change for Trig? After this long, Riju was pretty sure whatever was different in his head wasn’t going to “improve.” He’dimproved with certain tasks and abilities, but he was never going to be exactly like everyone else, and he’d never be like Trig who could strike up a conversation with a stranger at the tavern as if they’d known each other for years.
Most of the kittens wandered off to snuggle with their Mummy and nurse. The black one was more interested in the feather. Riju whispered a story to him about a unicorn that he’d made up once, although he kept changing little details.
“Are you having fun?” Trig stepped over the gate and came to kneel by Riju who held up the bent, mangled feather.
“He’s a valiant warrior.”
Trig chuckled and petted the kitten who swished his forked tail and eyed the feather out of his reach. “He’s cute.” He pointed at a faint scratch on Riju’s hand. “He got you.”
“He didn’t mean to.” Riju tickled the kitten’s nose with the feather. “Look at his little paws swiping!”
“I was thinking if you do something, we could take one. I haven’t pushed it lately, but you do need to work on making more eye contact with all of the customers and looking at them the way I do.”
Elira, this again? He didn’t get it. Riju did sometimes, but it got tiring, and it was easier to look elsewhere for the most part. It required less thinking and didn’t make him feel so icky in his head. Even his other trick of looking at their hairline or chin was too much to do all day.
When he did, it still wasn't right since Trig said his stare could be unnerving.
“If you smile more, relax your body, and work on looking at them, you’ll find it’s easier, and you'll soon have no problem with looking at anyone.”
“I do look at them.” Riju gently scritched the kitten’s ears which made him purr.
“Not always. I notice. And staring isn’t appropriate either. We've been over this.”
“Kit doesn’t mind.”
“Yeah, well…” Trig paused. “He also likes repeating words, and I've been thinking he’s a bit…off.”
“No, he’s not.” Riju side-eyed him. Kit was wonderful.
“To you, he’s probably not. I noticed he gets a bit of a blank look like you when I’m talking to him. He pays attention to what he’s told, but…”
“Maybe he's just thinking and focusing.”
Trig raised an eyebrow. “It kind of reminds me of you in a way. Anyway, this is something you need to work on and get better at. With practice, it’ll get easier.”
Riju’s skin crawled at the thought. “No.”
“Do you want a kitten?”
“Not that badly.”
