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At least I could put an end to the dragon’s tendency to force her opinion on me. I cuddled my kitten and woke her up with gentle nudges and scratches. “Garnet, we’re picking toys and nice things for you. Do you want to pick your new tree?”
The kitten yawned, purred, and peered around with wide eyes. Aware she would become a wisp at her whim rather than mine, I put her on the floor to let her explore. “Look around, and once you find the one you like most, come paw me and show me, okay?”
The carbunclo bounded off to investigate the scratching posts, trees, and wheels. She squeaked and bounced around while I laughed at her antics. To my amusement, she went for one of the wheels, pawed at it, and upon discovering it would move, she jumped on and began an elaborate game of chase with the toy out of reach.
After five minutes, I determined the wheel would be coming home with us. I swooped in, snagged the kitten, and cuddled with her. “You can take the wheel home, little baby. Pick a tree you think would be fun to play with.”
I placed her on the floor, turned her in the direction of trees, and set her loose. I quickly determined she lived for toys that dangled, and I realized I’d made a mistake asking a kitten to pick anything.
She wanted to play, play, play.
“I have failed as a kitten parent, but the results are too hilarious to be upset over it. Obviously, her tree needs to have places to dangle toys for her amusement and soft places for her to sleep when she exhausts herself.”
Wanda laughed and pointed at a sizable cat tree with four toys hanging off the platforms. “Put her on that one and see if she likes it. That’ll fit in your home?”
“I don’t have a lot in the living or bedroom, so I can fit the wheel in one and the tree in the other and still have space for my new furniture, but I’ll be seeding the floor with cat beds.” I shrugged. “It seems like a small price to pay.”
Waiting until the carbunclo panted from her play, I scooped her up and set her on the tree Wanda had pointed out. Within a minute, she’d curled up in one of the hammocks and settled in for a nap.
“I think that’ll do,” Wanda said, and she shook her head and laughed. “I’ll find an employee and call the younglings to help get this moved to your apartment.”
I waited for the dragon to leave before picking up my kitten and carrying her. She’d passed out so hard she didn’t stir when I moved her.
Wanda returned with the store employee, pointed out the wheel and the tree, and stated I’d be buying them before asking if they’d keep them at the register while we finished our shopping.
“Carbunclo are much like dragons, and they enjoy having hoards, which is why they are excellent companions for us and our kin. They understand us well. So, I recommend that you have many extra toys, adding new ones to her hoard at frequent intervals. When a toy ages, train her to deposit it into a basket with the understanding you will find a new but similar toy for her. She is wise. Have a second basket for her true treasures so no unfortunate mistakes are made. You will have to set limits, but buying baskets now will help with the inevitable whining when space becomes an issue. She will need a box for her more conventional treasures. A shoebox will be a good start for her. One for stones, one for jewelry, and so on. She will understand the jewelry and gems will have permanence while the toys will come and go.”
The gems and jewelry would bother me, but I would do my best for Garnet. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”
“She will care more about the effort you put in than the value of what you give her. Carbunclo are excellent at understanding intent. On that front, you will have no problems with her care. Is she your first pet of feline inclination?”
“She’s my first pet,” I admitted.
“Ah. This will bring you much joy, then. The toys are as much for her as they are for you to have fun with her.” Wanda dragged me across the store and went on a rampage through the cat toys, throwing a little of everything into the pair of carts. To my horror, she completely filled mine with beds and toys, and hers took care of the other necessities, including cases of wet kitten food, bags of kibble, bowls, water dishes, litter pans, and litter that would tide me over for a while.
Garnet slept through it all, and I managed to rein Wanda in using the requirement to return to my apartment in a timely fashion so everything could be received.
She coerced a few other dragons to help ferry everything to my home, thus freeing me to hurry back to the Gray Ward, wondering how I’d cope with so many invading my space.
* * *
Sunday, April 19, 2167
The Gray Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
The benefit of not owning very much meant I had little to clean, and I had my apartment spotless within ten minutes of arriving home. I placed Garnet’s bottle of milk on the counter as I’d been instructed and put the rest of the leftovers away, making use of my favorite, fluffy towel to create a bed for Garnet on my table. I hoped she slept through the entire process of moving my new furniture in, as while I had her carrier, I disliked the idea of putting her in it.
I didn’t want her to feel like she was being punished. In reality, I would make use of the carrier as soon as my new furniture arrived.
After doing a third sweep of my home for cleanliness, I sat at the table and began investigating the new wonders of my tablet. I began with checking out the one city paper everyone could access without a subscription. I assumed the dragons paid the bill for the newspaper’s general operations.
As a result, I viewed it as biased in favor of the dragons but did a decent job of keeping residents appraised of news in the city.
As I wanted to deceive everyone around me, especially if someone was tracking my tablet’s activities, I began my reading with animal-centric reports. Every week, there were two set articles posted, one that contained speculation on the next rain and the reality of the rains. To my delight, some of the speculations entered the realm of the absurd, rarely aligning with reality.
Dragon Heights News claimed they suspected a rain of mice when we’d gotten lemurs. The week we’d gotten the toads, they had guessed cats or rats.