Love Bites

Chapter 5: The Book Of Promise

Dream's body is heavy with comfort when he drifts into some semblance of awakeness. The cool sheets of George's mattress welcome him, and before he can question why he's not on the couch, the thought hits him. Oh right. Dream looks down at his own hands, afraid of what they could've done if he hadn't kept enough control last night. That happened.

The cozy little bedroom is warm thanks to good insulation, and it's certainly welcomed to Dream, who was so used to sleeping in the cold, windy, or muddy forest, the only protection from the elements being his attempts at houses in high tree branches. It didn't do much.

Falling asleep next to someone was a nice change, too. Even if it was for a bad reason.

George. Dream whips his body to a sitting up position as he notices the vacant bed. Did he leave?

He runs a hand over the space where he remembered the human laying before, and it still radiated lightly with warmth. He must've recently gotten up. He wouldn't leave, right?

A clink of dishes against a counter sounds from the house. Dream sighs with relief. Okay. He's still here.

Now the problem is - how is he going to explain all of last night away? If George is still here, he must not look too obvious yet to be hungry, he should still have his normal pupils at least for the time being. That would take a long time of not eating to happen.

Dream tries to ignore the clenching of his stomach at the thought of food again. I'm gonna need to do something about that eventually.

But right now, he has to decide on how to approach George. Dream had indirectly done himself a huge favor by being naturally flirty, even if it was a little harder to keep it up now that George must be getting suspicious. He could easily explain away his clinginess as flirting, yeah, George didn't have to know. He'd believe that. If he didn't, well...

Dream doesn't want to consider the thought.

He crawls out of bed and walks into the hall, entering the living room, lingering a hand over the door frame as he passes it.

He walks behind the couch, where George is seated with a leather notebook in hand. His hair sticks up just above the back cushion.

"Boo."

George flinches, and turns to face him. He cracks a smile, turning back around and setting the notebook on the coffee table. "Oh. Good morning." His tone is more pleasant than Dream expected. That was a good sign.

"Good morning." Dream says, leaning back against the counter.

"You were cuddly last night." George says calmly, his back still turned away from Dream.

Dream's tongue is caught in his throat. "Sorry about that." He laughs a little in an attempt to mask his fear. Is his calmness sourcing from accusation, or confidence?

"I didn't move away." George smiles mischievously back at him. "You seemed to like that."

Dream's face was on fire. It's definitely confidence. "I- yeah." George was probably the only human in the world that could make him feel like he was the prey. He hates the times when George knows the effect he has on him. Dream isn't sure how he feels about being vulnerable to a human like that. "Did you like it?"

George stands. "If I didn't, I would have left."

Curiosity trickles down Dream's spine. "So you do like me, then?"

George pauses, and grins. "I like you more than other people."

"Is that so?"
"Don't push your luck, idiot."