Barliman says thanks for the compliments and the belly rubs. He also says, “Somebody save me from the furry psychopath on the other side of the door!!!”

Rizzo is NOT a happy boy. Doesn’t care for this “brother” business at ALL. He’s fine when he’s away from the bedroom door and forgets what’s going on, but give him any reason to remember, and it’s time to STARE. We let them interact a little bit yesterday, which was probably a mistake. We wanted to show Rizzo what the “IT” in the other room was. So we let Barli explore the downstairs with Rizzo sitting at the top of the loft stairs. My husband sat at the bottom to run interference. Lots of staring, but no hissing or anything. So later, we propped the door open just a tiny bit so that they could see each other. Rizzo charged, hissed, and swatted. (no claws, I don’t think) This made Barli make an awful howly-growly sound. So, back to closed doors. Since then, they’ve been sitting on either side of the door staring, just waiting for the shadows underneath to move. Unfinished business, I guess.

I feel bad. My baby is all traumatized! Barli is adjusting really well to his new digs (aside from the Rizzo thing), so we occasionally swap rooms, and put Rizz in the bedroom. Every time we do so, Rizz goes into the new room with HUGE eyes, slinking around and thinking, “Where is it?! I know it’s in here somewhere!!”

Oh well. Patience, I tell myself.

Barli is a sweetpea. My brother-in-law and his girlfriend came over to meet him last night, and he settled right in, submitted to being petted, and purred for them. What a great guy!