Project K-9

Chapter 4

Dream remained silent for the entire ride, and George decided not to start any conversations till they reached his apartment.

I will get you to talk, if it's the last thing I do, George thought with determination.

When they arrived, George gave him a short tour before leading him to the extra bedroom. He had wondered at first why his new apartment had two bedrooms, but now it made a whole lot of sense.

"There isn't anything here yet, but tomorrow I'll pick up clothes and other supplies for you. Anything in particular that you need?" George asked.

"Just one more set of casual clothes, and two sets for sleeping. Other than that I should be fine," Dream suddenly said, surprising the brunette

Well, that was easy...George thought.

The blonde's voice was husky and rough. Probably from not being used in a while, but it still made the agent's day.

"So you can talk, why didn't you say anything back at the agency?" George inquired.

"Too many people..." The blonde replied.

"Well... I'll lend you some comfy clothes that you can change into before starting on dinner. Are you allergic to anything?"

Dream shook his head.

"Very well then, you can go ahead and use the shower. I'll give you the towel along with the clothes.

Dream nodded and did as the brunette requested. When he stepped out of the shower, he found the towel and clothes by the sink. He quickly dried off, then shrugged on the white t-shirt and gray sweat pants.

He found George in the kitchen, cooking up some food. When the brunette turned to look at him, he let out a little giggle, causing Dream to quirk an eyebrow in confusion.

"You need a haircut, I'll help you with that after we eat." The brunette said as he set down their plates. "I'm not much of a cook, but it is filling."

"It's better than anything they served us at the training facility..." Dream commented after taking a bite.

"What exactly do they feed you there?"

"Cereal or bread in the morning, along with water and fruit. Lunch is usually some kind of meat with vegetables and juice, then soup for dinner with some dairy product."

"No wonder you're so thin..." George commented.

"Oh no, they serve us the right amount of food. I just didn't have much of an appetite."

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but do your violent outbursts have anything to do with what happened in your past?"

The blonde nodded, "It's just leftover trauma."

After dinner, George led him back to the bathroom, where he grabbed some scissors to start snipping at the blonde's hair. "You'll need a razor as well for that stubble, I'll buy you one tomorrow unless you want to keep it?"

"No, I prefer a clean face..."

"Okay then...and done!" George stated cheerfully as he brushed out the blonde's hair before letting Dream see the final result.

It did look much better, and could easily pass off as work done by a professional barber.

"Did you use to work as a barber or something?" Dream asked.

"Nope, but my mom did own a salon, and I picked up a trick or two. By the way, Dream is not your real name is it?" George asked.

Dream suddenly felt the world go silent, and his ears started ringing. Images of horrible memories flew through his head. The hard beds...the metal bars of their cells...that horrible table that they all laid on, as those sick scientists did as they pleased...blood...so much blood...then a voice, one that once brought him comfort now all he felt was pain...

How about Dream? Do you like it? The voice spoke cheerfully before turning strained and labored, Dream...don't cry, it's not your fault...

Dream! Dream!...the voices kept calling over and over. He quickly pressed both hands over his ears, but they didn't stop. His breathing became labored as he struggled for air... he was already starting to see black at the corners of his eyes.

Suddenly he felt a stinging pain on both of his cheeks. It took him a minute to realize that it was because George had hit his cheeks hard to cup his face. "Dream look at me..." he commanded. "Focus on my breathing, and don't you dare take your eyes off me..."

Dream started to calm down, matching his breaths to that of the brunette's, till his body went limp and he slumped into George's arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories." George apologized, before slowly lifting the blonde to his feet, and leading the man back to his room.

"We should take this off, you'll sleep much better..." George stated as he gently touched the blonde's collar.

"It won't come off unless you unlock it with your phone..." came the reply.

George quickly pulled out his phone and went back to the PK-9 app. "Is it this one?" he asked pointing to the left button, and the blonde nodded.

George quickly tapped it, and the collar let out a beep before unlocking.

"It needs to be charged regularly, the charger is in the case." Dream informed.

"I'll take care of that, now you get some rest..."

The blonde nodded and said goodnight, before dozing off. George quickly retrieved the charger and plugged it. He then returned to his room to read the guidebook but ended up drifting off to sleep halfway in.