It started in the office where Opal carefully chose a favorite toy then carried it out to drop in front of Roman who sat in the living room. He looked up surprised and uninterested. She pushed it at him and did a play bow. He got up and walked away.
Opal ran around him and play bowed again. Roman was starting to look a bit nonplussed. "Opal," I told her, "leave him. Roman does not want to play." Her look was unbelieving and she danced around to nudge him. Roman stood still. "Good boy, Roman, stay calm Opal is trying to play. And Opal he said no so let him be," I told them.
Opal jumped on his flanks in an attempt to mount him but Roman was too fast and my "HEY" too loud; Opal scampered out of the room.
I could see Roman had called on all of his reserves in the effort to not be reactive. "Come here Baby Boy," I gestured. He sat in front of me and I stroked his ears and praised his response. "You do know Opal really likes you a lot," I shared.
She came softly back in after some time and sat next to him respectfully.
I directed my comments to my little gem. "Opal, you must remember Roman gets nervous when he is pushed too hard. Please learn that when he says he is not interested that you must notch it down a bit. You can be with him without being threatening."
Opal hung her head. "Sorry, brother, I should have warned you but I thought it might be fun for us to practice Hamlet and Ophelia interacting while he is pretending he is going crazy. And when he cries Get Thee to a Nunnery and makes me go over the edge myself." White Dog stepped between them. "That was very daring of you Opal and I think you got a genuine response. It is a good thing Roman stayed in control and did not get truly angry. From now on, when you are rehearsing please tell both Roman and me so there is no real tragedy."
Roman turned toward his sister. "You were quite convincing. Next time let's work together and we will both be great."
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