A Doll's Destiny

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Clara smiled. It was definitely clear that he was enjoying it if he didn't even want to look up to answer. And that was okay. She was glad he did. She would take note and keep it in mind. " That's good," she muttered. A little bit more time went by and eventually someone came into the store. The person started to look around at the shelves so Clara made sure to go behind the counter just in case the customer chose to buy something. It wasn't long until that person had a boon in hand and headed over towards them. She wondered what might happen with Aiden. The lady stopped at the counter and asked for the book. Clara rang it up. The lady the looked over at Aiden.
 
Feeling eyes on him, the toy lowered his comic and glanced over to find a woman had entered the bookstore and was staring at him. Despite his acute anxiety, he put on a bright smile and waved. "Hello, hun, how goes it?"
 
Clara put the book in a bag, but stopped and waited to see what would happen once Aiden spoke. The lady just stared some more, most likely trying to process what just happened. Clara wasn't sure what she should do about it. She didn't want Aiden's feelings hurt.

"Uh, fine," the lady replied. She was clearly very confused. But then something changed on her face, and Clara thought that maybe Aiden would just look like some animatronic to the others. The lady took her bag and then just left.

Clara let out a sigh. "I think she just guessed you were some sort of robot. At least it looked like she had come to that conclusion after a bit."
 
"At this point, I'm good with that. I'm just relieved she at least answered and didn't go into a frenzy. The last thing we want is a horde of people showing up, wanting to see the magical doll," aiden sighed.
 
"Yeah," Clara replied. She really didn't want a horde of people coming to the bookstore. That wouldn't be good. "Maybe it really is just best to say that's what you are honestly. I know it's not the best thing for you because it's not really what you are and you probably want to be accept as you are, but in this situation...I hope you don't find this rude of me to say." As she thought about it, labeling him as some sort of fancy robot might be best.
 
"For right now, yeah, but I wouldn't if one person gets curious and pets me or something. That, I don't mind, just as long as they're not rough," the toy said. "We'll just have to see what happens."
 
"We can always say not to be rough. I'm not sure why someone would be with a robot anyway especially if it was something like you," Clara replied. "I wouldn't because I wouldn't want it to break. But I suppose we'll see what happens. That was the first customer that came in here after all. There will be others so we can see what they do."
 
Nodding, Aiden returned to the comic.
An hour passed, and a tall, young man who was black walked in, smiling as he passed Clara. "Hello."
"Hey, bud, what's up?" the toy grinned, waving.
The man gaped at him. "Uh...hello? What...?"
"It's alright, I won't hurt you," Aiden spoke gently.
He turned to Clara. "Uh, Ma'am... what's that?"
 
When Clara was asked that question, she wasn't entirely sure how to answer. Should she just pass Aiden off as a robot and say that or should she try for the living doll approach. It was a complicated decision to make, but maybe she could feel the guy out first to see what his response might be. "He's a doll," she commented. It was the truth after all. Now, it was time to see if he automatically assumed Aiden was robotic or if he questioned further.
 
"A doll?" the man quirked a brow and moved closer to the doll. Kneeling, he reached out and stroked his head. "definitely feels like it..."
Giggling, Aiden leaned his forehead into the former's hand. "Ooh, that feels good, thank you."
"Uh...you're welcome..." he faced Clara once more. "So...this thing's interactive? Kinda reminds me of one of those voice-activated toys."
 
Clara smiled. She figured if he was going to assume that stuff on his own, then it would be okay. Besides, it wasn't really like she was lying if she said Aiden was interactive because he was. She nodded. "Yeah, he's interactive. He'll respond to anything you do," she replied back. That was true after all.
 
"Hmmmm..."
The man squeezed Aiden's hand, Aiden squeezed back. Then, he picked the doll up and turned him over, prompting some protests, resulting in him being quickly set back down in the chair. Aiden huffed, but grinned, speaking in a voice similar to Mr. Smee. "Easy there, pal. No roughhousing."
 
"Sir, please be careful with him," Clara replied. She had grow rather worried as soon as she started to see him pick Aiden up. She was concerned he might treat Aiden too roughly. "He's a bit fragile and prefers if you ask him before you go picking him up." It might sound strange, but she figured that if the man believed Aiden was interactive, then he might believe that an interactive doll could have a personality.
 
"Oh, sorry," the man said apologetically. Standing, he headed down an isle, returning minutes later with what appeared to be an autobiography. "I'd like to have this, please."
 
Clara smiled, glad that things went well. "It's okay," she responded then let him go off to find a book. When he returned with one, she rang it up and then placed it in a bag. "Here you go. Thank you for shopping here." She gave him another smile as she handed over the bag with the book in it to the customer.
 
"Thank you, have a good day," the man grabbed the bag and exited the shop.
Aiden released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Wow...that went so much better than expected."
 
"You too, sir," Clara replied as the man left the shop. She looked over at Aiden when she heard his sigh and nodded at his comment. "Yeah. I've been really worried each time we get a customer. So far, it's worked out okay, but I just know we're going to get someone who gets freaked out or keeps asking more questions at some point." It was a little scary to think about and each time a customer came in, Clara could feel herself tense up over it.
 
"Me too. A part of me fears someone will come in, see me talking, and immediately assume I'm the doll from Child's Play, and heaven knows what could happen next," Aiden said, returning to his comic.
 
"To be honest...I've been thinking the same thing," Clara replied. It wasn't like the thought hadn't occurred in her mind either, so it was completely possible. After all, a talking, living doll immediately made most people think of Chucky. "There's bound to be a chance that someone does something negative that we don't want. We can't expect everyone to act like it's all normal."
 
Nodding, Aiden kept reading. He briefly wondered what they should do if something like were to happen.
 
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