ORPHANED

:: one hundred thirty-five ::

he spent a great deal of the trip talking to this little girl, after all, it's not like he had anything better to entertain himself with. at times she almost directly resembled his little sister, but there were also glimpses of her where he was sure even his sister would wish for her to stop talking.

he wasn't as annoyed by it as he thought he'd be. maybe it was because of the soft breathing that accompanied their conversation, it could've been the slower music that calmed him, or maybe she just wasn't all that annoying, to begin with.

somewhere along her ramble, she peered past the blonde's shoulder to observe that george was still sleeping. she brought it up in their conversation but dream didn't have much of an answer to give.

obviously, she wasn't satisfied with his shrug and soon came to a conclusion of her own, comparing the excessive sleeping to that of a disney princess. "beauty sleep," dream had then commented with joy he couldn't contain. it was almost comical how perfectly the analogy fit the man's situation.

outside the window, dream realized the train was slowly approaching the only inner-city stop on this route and regretfully had to end his interaction with the girl.

"it was really nice to talk with you but this is our stop." his free hand came up to rub the back of his neck in sympathy.

her eyes shot open as she seemed to recall the passing of time, "oh my god, i'm so sorry. you were just trying to listen to music, and i, i'm so sorry." she shook her head and he let himself have a silent victory over the discovery of something about her that set her apart from his sister.

"no, it's fine honestly! i wouldn't have had much else to do if it wasn't for you." he contemplated with himself if now was the best time to wake the brunette or if he should hold off until the train came to a complete stop, so as to not interrupt his comfort.

george's serenity would win in any and every situation.

"truthfully you remind me a lot of my sister," a tender smile found his lips and he continued, hoping his next words would give the otherwise unsure girl confidence in herself. "she wouldn't be so quick to apologize like you though."

the girl gave a quick assertive smile and stood from her seat, "it was nice talking to you too." she bowed her head similarly to the way they do in anime. "thank you for giving me your time." they were offered a wave and she backed down the aisle to return from whence she came.

when she was no longer in sight it took only a moment more for the train to jerk to a stop. dream took the time as an opportunity and turned to george. "wake up sleepyhead, we're here." the man didn't stir and his eyes stayed unopened. dream would've been worried if he wasn't caught up in jealousy that the boy could sleep wherever he pleased.

"george," he lulled, squeezing the brunette's hand in a lousy effort to pull him out of unconsciousness. dream watched as the man's eyes darted around behind his eyelids the same moment he had voiced his name. he knew it wouldn't take much more effort after that to wake him up.

lightly he bumped the brunette's shoulder, not enough to push him over, but hopefully just enough to pique his interest in the morning world. the blonde brought their hands to his lips and whispered against the back of the brunette's hand. "oh, george."

dream's eyes flickered up from where their palms met at a comfortable balance, to low blinking eyes that turned out the window and squinted away from the sun. he pressed a kiss to the brunette's hand to earn his attention and turn his newly opened eyes to the violence of bright winter skies.

george gave a smile, wide enough that he had to close his eyes again to contain it, and for a moment dream was sure he was going to drift back off to sleep.

"c'mon sleepyhead." he stood now from the seat that was quickly becoming more and more uncomfortable.

george took one last curious glance out the window before he followed the blonde's lead and stood from their spot. they shared a silent moment to stretch, and dream couldn't help the way his eyes lingered on the brunette, lagging behind with newfound awakeness, and a face so indifferent he looked more like he had been awake for several late hours instead of sleeping hours extra. dream wanted to pick him up and put him in his pocket and protect him from anything that could ever hurt him.

despite fighting off all the urges to pick george up, dream somehow managed to pull them from the train cart and return them to solid ground. it was unintentional that their hands stayed glued together even with no more direct need for it. neither of them seemed to have any problem with it either. it was definitely unintentional.

when they turned back to the train, it was already off on its merry way. he caught a glimpse of the girl he had spent so much of his day talking to and was a bit disappointed he hadn't asked her name. when she recognized them, she presented an eager wave. dream was quick to comply, and only the third of them, of course being the one that was asleep, hesitantly waved back as well.

"who's that?" he wondered but dream wasn't sure how to explain everything that had happened, so instead he just shrugged.

"dunno."

george pulled his arms above his head as they continued their journey to their heavily caffeine scented safe haven, and dream stopped in his tracks as to not rudely pull him along, but quickly wished he hadn't. a groan of relief slipped past george's lips and he briefly blinked back, surprised that he had let it. "you are too comfortable for your own good."

dream knew he was just turning up topics to change the subject but he didn't entirely want to linger on the thoughts and feelings the brunette had cultivated either. so he averted his eyes, sure there was a blush progressively flushing his skin, and led them off into the city.

—

no school today because apparently it caught on fire?? anywho i read "they both die at the end" and i finished it in two days before realizing that it was the first physical book i've read this year. i really wish i would've taken my time with it because now i'm sad that it's over and it's beginning to torment my life. (had my very first dream where i died because of it)