“I have a very well-stocked pantry.” My stall tactic got a skeptical look from him which earned a glare from me that made him giggle. “I can’t remember if I ate the last of the chocolate chip ones or not.”
“Master’s got a sweet tooth.” Nearly dancing over to the pantry, he bounced excitedly and waited for me to open it. “Oh. You’ve got good snacks too.”
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to thank him for that or not, but showing him the cookies seemed more important. “Okay, we do have chocolate chip along with the little striped circle ones and fancy oatmeal ones with raisins.”
Hmm.
“What are your thoughts on raisins in cookies?” I thought it was a logical question under the circumstances but my pretty boy’s blank expression made me question that. “Let me guess, Grandma didn’t like junk food?”
“No.” Cece inched closer to the package and frowned at it. “Do you like them or do you have them because you thought someone else might like them?”
Again…another interesting question.
“I like them but a lot of people have strong opinions on what goes in cookies.” He was right. There really was a lot he didn’t have a broad knowledge on. “How about we make a point of picking new cookies every time we go to the grocery store? That way you can do research over time and make up your mind on the debate.”
“Yes.” He released my hand and threw himself at me. “We found something new.”
He clearly wasn’t getting nearly enough cookies from the coffee shop where he’d been stalking the models from.
He had an Owner now, though, so we’d fix that and anything else that popped up.
****
“I don’t know how I feel about this…he’s angry.” Cece had spent several minutes doing circles around my current project, looking adorable in his nightie and the sneakers he’d needed to put back on to go into the workshop.
He hadn’t liked that at all and had immediately added cute shoes to my shopping list. But this time it was my art that was frustrating him. “Were you angry when you started him?”
Possibly.
“I think I was pouring a lot of negative emotions into him.” Describing the mass of metal as male was interesting and made me wonder how he saw it. “I have a tendency to be influenced by how I’m feeling.”
My pretty boy sighed and shook his head. “Well, we need happy and pretty for your next project or I’m not doing my job as being your doll very well.”
Mumbling something about me being without a doll for too long, my pretty boy finished his circle and shook his head at me. “You’re entirely too talented for sad, Master. That can’t be allowed.”
Really?
“Thank you for worrying about me, sassy boy.” Stealing a quick kiss brought a smile back to his face. “This one is almost done, so you don’t have to worry.”
For some reason I’d just been dragging my feet about finishing the final pieces. I knew what I had to do and I already had a buyer for it, but making myself do it hadn’t been as easy.
“That’s good.” Hands on his hips, he sighed. “I don’t want to have to worry about your mental health. We need to focus on mine. The real world is crazy and you need to be healthy enough to help me sort through all that.”
At least he was honest.
“There is nothing to worry about.” Now that I had my boy. “Come here.”
As he bounced over, I swept him up in my arms which got a giggle from him as he wrapped his legs around me. “Now I know why you’re so strong. You build big things.”
“About half the time they’re this big.” I stole a kiss and got another happy sound from him. “But yes, they’re a good workout.”
He kissed my cheek as I set him down. “I approve.”
“Silly boy.” Taking his hand, I glanced around the studio. “Is there anything else you want to see?”
We’d done a tour of the main spaces and he’d marveled at all the different ways I got my creativity out, but he was starting to sag and was doing his best to hide his yawns. “I think…”
He paused, blinking like his brain was lagging behind, before getting the words out. “I think I want to ask more questions later.”
