Page 23 of The Toymaker

In late March, Kit and Riju found a place on one of the main roads after seeing a notice on one of the city boards. The tavern owner wanted a person to take over his business license. While anyone with a business could pack up and leave if they wanted, they wouldn’t get their money back.

Riju had said before how he hated the smell of taverns. Kit thought it was particularly bad when they stepped in. The tavern was mostly empty except for a couple of ladies eating lunch together by one of the windows. Their bowls appeared to contain egg stew, which explained the foul odor.

Riju told the man he’d seen the notice.

“I have three years left of my five-year license, and I’ll transfer it to you if you’re willing to pay me at least three-quarters of what I paid,” said the owner. “I thought my Grandma had a few good years left, but she’s not doing well. I don’t think she’s in any condition to be moved here from West Bay, so I’ll go to her. I’d rather not delay if possible since a neighbor is taking care of her, and I’m sending money.”

“You want seventy-five percent?” asked Riju.

“I think it’s fair.”

Kit noticed Riju was eyeing the large windows. “This might be a good spot. The windows here are a lot bigger than the other building you were thinking about.”

“These would be good for a couple of scenes. It’ll make people stop and look.”

And kids would probably nag their parents to go inside. If anyone came in, chances were they’d buy something before leaving.

Riju turned to the man. “Do you mean seventy-five percent of the entire fee you paid for five years?”

“Yes. I should make something back since I’ll be giving up my business, and I’m not sure what I’ll do in West Bay.”

“If you have three years left, I don’t think it’s fair if I pay so much for the entire time. You had two years to do whatever with every last kop you made.”

“Yes, it is fair,” argued the man.

“Two years are gone,” said Kit. “In three years, we’ll have to pay again.”

“It costs quite a bit to get a new license. They’re not cheap here in Raven’s Landing.”

“The cost for five years is more reasonable when you break it down compared to a one or two-year license,” said Riju. “In The Edge, you can only buy up to two years.”

Kit looked at the walls which needed cleaning and painting. The floor also wasn’t in the best shape which meant a carpenter would have to come in and replace certain boards. “We’ll have to get repairs done, and the place smells like a fart.”

“That’s from the egg stew I cooked. It’ll be gone by tomorrow.”

“I can also smell old ale and cigs,” said Riju. “That won’t be gone in a few days, and I don’t think what you’re asking for is fair. I’ll pay you seventy-five percent of the three years you’ve got left after the total is broken down into yearly increments.”

The man frowned. “I could find someone else.”

“If you do, it might be a while.”

“You’ll be spending money to have someone else watch your Grandma, and you might have quite a bit of trouble trying to transfer your license for that price,” said Kit. “Six months from now, you might be wishing you’d said yes to us.”

“It’s fair,” said Riju. “This may not be a high-class tavern, but I don’t think you’ve been struggling since this road is busy. I bet this place fills up at night. I also have other options.”

“They might not be the best spots for a tavern under new ownership.” The man folded his arms.

“I’m not starting a tavern. Take it, or I’ll go elsewhere.”

The man looked away from Riju’s unwavering gaze. “Fine.”

“Before we say yes, we want to see the entire building. We don’t want to sign anything and realize the basement is full of mold and rats.”

“Yeah.” Kit nodded. “The last thing we need is for kids to run out screaming because a rat’s taken up residence in a dollhouse.”

***

“I almost can’t believe it,” Riju said four days later as they stood in the building.

Kit almost couldn't either. They’d done the signing, received the key, and come to inspect the building more closely since Riju wanted to think about where things should go. It was in decent shape, and thankfully, the basement was free of mold and rats.

“We’re almost there.” Kit giggled as Riju picked him up and swung him around once before hugging him. “You didn’t think it would really happen, did you?”

Riju set him on his feet. “It didn’t seem like it would happen for a long time.” He gave Kit a quick kiss on the lips. “Let’s look in the back.”

Kit wanted to kiss him again, but he followed. Even though they’d been sleeping in the same bed for the past few weeks since a couple of times had turned into every night, things hadn’t gone further.

They’d been a bit stressed while looking for a new place to open up shop. Nothing had been quite right according to Riju. Too small, too big, not in a good location, or too rundown. The last one they’d looked at had been better, but Riju had wanted big windows up front, and its windows had been small and too high for children to get a good look.

The once-tavern was mostly perfect, and they’d be able to afford the rent and tax without a problem if things started slow since they’d sold a good deal of the sex toys back in The Edge. Riju had dropped prices to lure people in, and thanks to his thinking, they barely had anything left. As long as their new business did well, they’d be fine, and Kit was sure it would.

The previous owner had left a small barrel of ale on the kitchen work counter with a note to enjoy.

“I don’t like drinking,” said Riju. “It makes my head feel funny.”

“I’m not much into it either. I suppose we could keep it, and maybe we’ll find someone to give it to.”

The owner had lived in his tavern, and the living quarters weren’t pleasant smelling either since odors from downstairs had drifted up and stuck over the years. Kit and Riju went around to open the windows. A couple of ratty brooms had been left behind, so they set to sweeping.

Kit liked the bedroom upstairs with the privy next to it. Neither would need to go far in the night if it was needed. The basement had high windows, and it would make a good work area. When Kit had finished, he went into the main section. The room looked odd with most of the tables and chairs cleared out.

“We need to paint it,” Riju said as he swept dust into a pile he’d made near a dustpan. “If we air it out for a couple of days, that’ll help the smell. The walls have a few stains.” He paused to glare at a spot in a corner where it looked like an idiot had been stubbing his cigs out on the wall. “Paint will hide those burn marks too. We could do whitewash for our quarters, but I want something different for this room. My favorite color is red…”

Kit shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Riju paused to lean on the broom. “In my mind, it looks nice, but it’s not really a good color, is it? It might be a bit much on the eyes.”

“I went into a whorehouse one time, and the walls were red. It gave me a headache, and we don’t want it to look like a whorehouse.”

“Mm. I suppose we could do white too.”

“Or…How about blue like the sky, and on the ceiling, we can add clouds? If you were a kid, how would you feel walking into a room painted like the sky with clouds all over?”

Riju gazed at him before his face broke into a smile. “Like I’d walked into a toy wonderland.”

“Then let’s do it!” Kit boosted himself up to sit on the counter. “I’ll do the clouds.”

Riju’s smile dropped. “Are you sure you still want to do this?”

“If you don’t like blue with clouds, we can think of something else.”

“No, I mean, do you still want to work with me and-” Riju made a faint motion with his hand. “-do all of this?”

“Why does it feel like you’re trying to chase me off all of a sudden?”

Riju came over and leaned the broom on the long counter before he settled next to Kit. “I know we decided to be together, but just because I’m doing this, it doesn’t mean you have to be stuck in my business. Making toys is my dream.”

“But I’ve really enjoyed making stuff with you and learning these past months,” said Kit. “I didn’t have a dream to make toys, and I didn’t know it could be fun either. It simply wasn’t a thing I thought about before I met you.”

“Is there anything you really want in life but you’re not telling me about? We can still be together even if you don’t want to make toys and would prefer a different job. I just don’t want you to wake up a year from now, or five, and realize you’re miserable and absolutely sick of dolls. I’m not going to be like Trig and keep you trapped with me and pretend you’re too dumb to go out and do what you like.”

Kit swung his legs. “I mean, I’ve kind of had an idea. I wouldn’t say it’s a goal, and I only thought of it in the past few months. I’m not sure if I can do it.”

“Tell me.”

“I like drawing, and you did say my style would be good for children’s books. I’m not sure how to make a kid’s book, and my drawing might not be good enough. You like my doodles. Others might not.”

Riju shifted a bit to face him more. “If you made a couple of small picture books, you could let kids here look at them and see what they think. I bet kids would love them. You like drawing, right?”

“Yeah.” Kit didn’t feel like his art was too crummy to do for fun anymore, so even if nobody liked his picture books, he’d still draw for fun.

“It could be something to turn into money. Or you could do it simply because it makes you happy. If you want to try making books, give it a go. Maybe you’ll find it’s fulfilling for you.”

Kit had never imagined doing anything art-related before. What if Riju was right and he could share his drawings with others? “Maybe I will try a few picture books and see if kids like them. I still want to help you make toys. Just because it wasn’t my dream before doesn’t mean I don’t like it now.”

***

The next few weeks were busy. Riju had pretty much ignored Trig’s rooms beyond taking the bedding and his dirty clothes to be washed. He finally packed up his personal possessions and paid a carter to take them to the prison. When Trig got out of prison later, his stuff would be in storage, and he could deal with it himself. He had his own account, so hopefully, he’d leave Raven’s Landing, and they’d never have to look at him again.

To Kit, Riju seemed lighter in a way with Trig’s stuff gone.

In the evenings, they went to their future shop and home. They cleaned and aired it out. Over the weekend, they painted every room. Kit had never known painting walls could be such hard work. He volunteered to do the clouds, and standing on a ladder while looking up and doing large ones made his arms and neck tired.

It was worth it. Once it was finished, they loved the way the blue and puffy clouds overhead made the room seem brighter and bigger.

A carpenter fixed a few boards and a window frame that had jammed. Riju found dark green rugs secondhand to cover up a few floor discolorations. To Kit, it kind of gave the main room the appearance of having grass.

They had to hire a carter to help them take things over, and they set up shelves in the shop. The windows, which they’d covered with sheets to hide the temporary disarray inside, would be the last thing set up.

Kit loved the little table Riju had made. It came with chairs suitable for small children and was painted a soft green. Riju sat dolls at the table and put a checkerboard in the middle. Kit had painted the circular pieces with various happy faces. He’d never seen anything like it before, and without Trig, Riju had grown more open about sharing ideas he’d thought of over the years.

They even had a dollhouse in the corner, and it was fully furnished. Kit had particularly enjoyed helping Riju make it.

“Toys for toys,” Kit said as they set up a shelf with an assortment of items to buy for a doll, including tiny dolls that were about the size of his pinky finger. “When I was a kid, I had a chipped wooden soldier, and I felt lucky to have a scrap of cloth to tie around his neck for a cloak. A wooden horse for him to ride was a dream, and if I’d asked my Mother to buy me a toy mask for him to wear, Father would have slapped me upside my head.”

“You said he drank, and he sold you for a few coins so he could drink more. Who cares what he thinks?”

“I don’t. I’m just saying. I think someone’s going to copy you.”

Riju stretched. “Is that bad?”

“Not exactly. You’ve got all kinds of ideas. Whoever heard of a chessboard where the pieces have faces on them?”

“Someone decided to collect words and make a book. And then another person did it too. Everything we do has mostly been done by another in a fashion.”

Kit glanced at the shelf. “I’ve never heard of little masks and dolls for your doll. Maybe you’re not the first one to do it, but it’ll seem brand new to the people around here since nobody else has a place like this. You’re creative, and you thought of a way to turn little scraps of wood into something a kid might love to have. They are also not expensive, so parents might not mind buying their kid doll accessories once in a while or children with pocket money will buy things. You found a way to make kids happy and keep their parents coming back. Someone else might want to do it too because they’ll think you’re brilliant.”

Riju stared at the shelf. “No one’s ever called me brilliant.”

“You are.”

Riju looked at him. “It’s odd for someone to believe I can do this besides me. Nice, but odd. Not a lot of people have believed in me for a long time.”

Kit grinned and took his hand. “I believe in you.”

“I know you do. I’m just not fully used to it.” He paused. “Do you want to see my tattoos?”

Kit blinked. “What?”

“Do you want to see my tattoos?”

“You really want to show me?”

“Yes.”

“I would like to see them, but if you feel like you have to, you don’t.”

“You don’t make me feel like I need to always keep something to myself.”

“Nobody has ever told me that, and I think it’s actually a really nice compliment.”

“Tonight,” said Riju. “We have to finish unpacking the boxes now.”

And Trig had acted like Riju couldn't focus on things without another telling him. What an arse.

***

Kit had said nothing so far, not wanting Riju to feel like they had to start having sex.

The corset he often wore gave Kit all sorts of thoughts. He never wore it too tight since it was more intended for looks and not to narrow a person’s midsection. Riju was already thin anyway. With loose linen shirts, it enhanced his figure in Kit’s eyes, and since he’d gotten a couple of new coats without buttons, and they didn’t need to be worn closed, Kit got to look at him in the corset a lot.

It led to him picturing Riju a lot when he jerked off in private.

Once the cock cage had come off, he hadn’t cum a lot or had particularly satisfactory orgasms at first. After being locked up for so long, it was almost like his dick had forgotten how to be a dick.

Things had gone back to normal after a while including his libido. He was a bit surprised when Riju came in that night after bathing in the privy room with nothing on.

The sight of him completely naked was odd, especially in their room which felt quite bare since Riju had packed all of his dolls along with a lot of stuff. Kit couldn’t stop himself from staring. “Hell yes.”

Riju gave him a small smile as he gave his hair a last rubbing with a drying sheet. “Showing you everything feels a bit odd.”

“You can get dressed. I’m not going to get mad.”

Although Kit would miss seeing his bare chest and the thin trail of red hair that drew the eyes down to a certain area.

“I still want to show you.” Riju approached the bed to sit on the edge with his back turned to Kit. He reached back to move his hair.

Kit had occasionally been a little jealous of those who were born with tattoos because he had none, and he’d always thought they appeared interesting. Tattoos typically moved, and the most common were leaves and feathers that drifted around the skin. Some fairies had tattoos that completely covered their arms or torso.

“The tattoo moves, but not from that spot.” Riju finished pulling his hair over one shoulder to completely reveal his back.

Between his shoulder blades, feathers fanned out in a perfect circle to make a single tattoo. The entire thing was done in a rainbow gradient, and it slowly circled. Kit stared at the bright colors that stood out on Riju’s lightly tan colored skin.

“Oooh,” he breathed as he sat up on the bed and inched closer to see. Besides the design, he was the first person Riju had ever completely undressed for. It was like being shown a treasure no one else had seen in its entirety. “Can I touch it?”

“If you want.”

Kit knew he wouldn’t be able to feel the feathers. He still wanted to touch them. Riju’s skin was warm when he laid his hand in the center. The colors had a natural, faint shimmer, and they merged into each other so gradually, it was perfect. Red, orange, and every other color of the rainbow in a never-ending circle.

Kit tried to trace the edge of a feather, although it was hard with the constant revolving. “It’s beautiful.”

“You can touch me. Anywhere.”

And if it was ever too much or he needed a break, Kit knew he’d be able to say so. He inched closer to rub Riju’s shoulders, something he probably hadn’t experienced much in his life if at all.

Riju let out a little sigh as Kit rubbed him and felt his shoulders ease, and since he’d never gotten to fully appreciate Riju’s body, he slid his hands down and around to feel his chest. Riju leaned against Kit and made a faint sound as Kit felt his light abs, the dusting of hair across his chest, and one of his small nipples.

Riju tipped his head back, and Kit kissed his throat on impulse.

“Elira, I don’t want this to stop.”

Neither did Kit. “I can touch you anywhere?”

“Mhm. You make me feel good.”

Keeping one hand on his chest, Kit reached down to palm his hardening cock and stroke it until it was erect. His own was getting there.

“What if I want to sit on your cock?”

Riju tilted his head to look at him with a small grin. “Hell yes, but only if you scream my name when you cum.”

Kit drew back to get his drawers off. He’d barely flung them on the floor before Riju pushed him back on the bed to kiss. Kit wrapped his arms around Riju’s torso, relishing the bare skin against his, and Riju slipped his tongue in.

Kit rubbed himself against Riju’s leg, desperate for stimulation. “I need you in me.”

“Turn over so I can get you ready.”

Riju used his pre-cum and a single finger to start. Kit suddenly giggled as he suddenly thought of something.

“What?” asked Riju.

“Since you’ve got special pre-cum, we’ll save money since we’ll never have to worry about buying oil.”

Riju chuckled. “True.”

It was too hard to think about much else once Riju started rubbing his prostate. By the time he’d moved up to three fingers, Kit could barely wait anymore.

“I need your cock in me. Please, Riju. Fuck me.”

“Then come sit on me.”

Riju moved to sit up against the headboard. Kit straddled him, and Riju lined up the slick head of his cock against his hole. Kit hung onto his shoulders and eased himself down on the thick length.

Riju took his hips and tensed his own like he wanted to thrust upward as soon as he was fully sheathed. Kit wiggled a little and tried to move, but Riju tightened his grip.

“No. Let me. Stroke yourself while I fuck you.”

Riju guided him, and Kit stroked his cock while he held onto Riju’s shoulder with his free hand. After so many months, it was exactly what he needed. Riju jerked his hips as he pushed Kit down like he couldn’t get in deep enough.

“I missed having your cock in me,” mumbled Kit.

“Fuck yourself on me. Show how badly you want it.”

Kit let go of himself, wrapped his arms around Riju’s shoulders, and hung onto him as he moved. Faster he went, damn near slamming himself down. It had been so long, he was sure neither of them were going to last long. Riju’s breath quickened as he dug his nails into Kit’s back.

“You’re so tight,” he hissed. “You feel so good on me.”

The pressure grew, and Kit moaned. Besides finishing, he needed to feel Riju cumming in his ass. “Riju…I’m about to…”

Riju squeezed him and growled in his ear. “Say my name.”

“Riju! Riju! Fill my ass with your cum. I need it, Riju. Please-”

The pleasure snapped and raced through him. Riju gasped as Kit clenched around his cock. “Say it again.”

“Riju! Riju! Riju!”

Riju pushed him down and tensed his hips upward as he filled Kit’s ass. Kit was vaguely aware of his cum streaking their stomachs as wave after wave of pleasure washed over him. The waves lessened, and Riju made a faint noise before he grew less tense and lightened his grip. Kit squeezed around him just to feel his faint flinch.

Riju nipped at his ear. “I knew you’d still be needy even without the cage.”

Kit buried his face into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent. “You were right.”

“You’re still happy here with me?”

“Hell yes.” Kit lifted his head to kiss him before resting once more on Riju’s shoulder. They could worry about moving and cleaning up in a bit. He simply wanted to hold onto Riju and bask in the afterglow.

Riju stroked his back and kissed the side of his head. “My pretty Kit.”