Page 80 of The Toymaker
Kit’s heart pounded. He wasn’t tattling everything, and why would he say Kit didn’t think? He wasn’t stupid.
“What has he said about leaving?” asked Trig.
“He’s just mentioned starting a toy shop, Master,” said Kit. “That’s it.”
“What else?”
“Nothing. He likes dolls, Master.”
“You think I don’t know about his stupid, fucking doll obsession?” Trig clenched his fists. “He’s got a new obsession and thinks he can live on his own and start a business. You’ve been here long enough to see how he is. Do you really think he can do it on his own?”
Absolutely, and it’d be a whole lot easier without Trig trying to drag him down.
“He’s in his room and having a meltdown because I told him no. Do you think he’s mature enough to cope on his own?”
Kit squeezed his legs and remained hunched on the floor. Riju didn’t cry over a simple no or refusal. Even with him crying over the fair, Kit had heard their voices in the sitting room. They’d spoken about it, and Trig had acted rather like an asshole.
Looking back, his dismissal of a thing Riju liked was disrespectful, and Riju must have caught it. The fair discussion certainly hadn’t been the first time. Trig didn’t want to go with him at all anymore, thought it was stupid, dismissed his feelings, and tried to forbid him from going with someone else too. It was why Riju had grown upset, and with certain things in the past years, it made sense he’d start crying.
Riju had mentioned the majority of his meltdowns had one common factor. It was Trig.
“Well?” demanded Trig. “Are you going to stare at me like an idiot? You tend to do that at times.”
“I’m not an idiot, and neither is Riju, Master,” Kit dared to say. “He is mature enough to live on his own. You just don’t want him to go, Master. You make him feel like he’s dumb, and you try to drag him down. When he gets upset, you poke at him and say stupid shit too.”
His stomach tightened at the bold contradiction. Even though he was the slave, it didn’t mean he had to agree with anyone’s thinking in his head.
“You think a customer is okay with a shop owner crying over something stupid?”
“He cries because you upset him, and I bet you’ve done it a lot. You interrupt him and a bunch of other little things. They build up, and it’s you who makes him cry! The physician was a different th-thing.” Kit stuttered to a stop as Trig’s face darkened.
“I don’t upset him. He upsets himself. What bullshit have you been telling him? I know it’s you getting him riled up since he’s been spending more time with you, and I guess he’d rather fuck you now too.”
Was he jealous? “Why can’t you give him a chance, Master? He’s an adult, and he does well overall with running the shop with you.”
“Yes, with me!” yelled Trig. “Not on his own. He can’t live without someone to keep him focused.”
“He does work without you telling him anything, Master! I’ve seen him, and when he has a task, he’s able to focus on it and do a good job, Master. He also makes amazing dolls, and you’re not keeping him focused when he's working on them. He does it entirely by himself. You don’t even like his dolls.”
“I’ve taught him what to do. That’s why he can focus on them.”
Then why say Riju needed another to keep him focused? Kit felt like he’d fallen into an argument he’d never win because the other would say whatever in retaliation even if it contradicted the first thing.
“It’s the same if he goes out,” said Trig. “I’d tell him to come back by noon at the fair, and he’d finally return midafternoon.”
Maybe he didn’t need Trig to tell him when to come back. He was a damn adult.
“I want to know what you’ve said to him.”
“I want to know why he screamed at you to get off of him!” Kit suddenly snapped. “How come you won’t answer? You made him scream, so you did something wrong, and you don’t want to say it.” He shut his mouth when he realized what he’d done.
Trig pursed his lips. “You’ve got a long day ahead of you, and you’ll stay there until I decide. I think you’ve been telling him a bunch of crap, and that’s what’s got him all in a twist. You’re warping his damn brain.”
“I haven’t, Master. You upset him because you don’t want him to go-”
“Shut up, and don’t talk about what you don’t understand.”
Kit made a frustrated noise. “I want out. I’m done with this. You’re upsetting him, I don’t know what you did to him, and you’re acting like I made Riju upset. I’m not going to sit around like nothing's wrong while you abuse him and make him feel like shit! You’re just trying to control everything, and I’m done!”
