She sat down next to him. And for the first time in his life, Pretty Boy Dthrip put his arm around someone else’s shoulder while they both cried—him for all the years of being untouchable, her for the lost kitten.
It was a strange name to hang on any child, let alone one as delicate as a porcelain doll: Pretty Boy Dthrip. His real name was Dorian Thrip, but the "Pretty Boy" had stuck since he was old enough to toddle down the gravel paths of Cinder Lane. With hair the color of wet straw and eyes like two chips of summer sky, Dorian looked like a Renaissance cherub who’d wandered into a coal-mining town. pretty boy dthrip
Two days later, the kitten came back. Fat, happy, and wearing a collar made of twisted silver thread that no one could explain. She sat down next to him