royal amnesia | dreamnotfound

4- new friends

dream leads me straight into the celebration; people walking through the carnival-transformed town, eating food, playing games, looking at booths, and listening to whatever group happened to be playing.

my hand never leaves his as we approach a man about my height standing among the chaos. he was people-watching.

many people wave to me and say hello as we walk past, others reaching out to touch me, like i'm some sort of celebrity. an old woman stops dream, on our approach of the "people watcher", to say hello. he bends down to hold her wrinkled hand and smiles.

"hello granny. how are you today?"

she nods her head politely and says, "oh don't worry about me. how are you?"

dream chuckles softly. "i'm doing well."

"are you eating well? you look as skinny as ever."

"i am. don't worry. they feed me right in that big castle."

the old woman, granny, seems to finally notice me.

"oh georgie," she grabs my hand and pulls me closer to give me a soft kiss on the cheek.

i smile at her. "hello."

"georgie, is dream treating you right?" she half whispers.

i look over at dream for guidance and he nods his head with a smile.

"of course. he always does."

she shows off her pearly whites. "good, good." she slowly let's go of my hand. "you two have fun. not too much fun." she winks.

"you too," dream responds, with a light blush gracing his cheeks as he teases the older lady.

he pulls on my hand and we head towards the man who seemed to be our original destination. when he sees us approaching he breaks into a grin and walks over to us.

"george!" he quickly envelopes me in a tight hug. i'm shocked at first, but quickly wrap my arms around him lightly.

he pulls away, grabbing at my shoulders. "how are you? i'm so glad you're okay."

dream tugs the man away from me lightly. "sapnap, hold on a minute."

"what? i can't greet my best friend?" he looks offended.

dream looks at the man, sapnap, with dejection. he pulls sapnap a little closer and mutters, "he's got amnesia."

sapnap looks over at me with shock and i stare back sorrowfully. "i'm really sorry," i quickly apologize, "-that i don't remember you. it's sapnap?"

sapnap nods, getting over his initial shock. "how did this happen?"

dream shrugs his shoulders. "i think it was the spell. when he was put to sleep, the longer he stayed asleep, the more memories he lost."

sapnap looks confused.

"it was two years sapnap..."

he looks at me, and then to dream, and back to me. "so you don't remember me?"

i shake my head slowly.

"that means i can retell all the same jokes?" sapnap seems to be trying to turn the solemn mood into something less suffocating.

dream punches his shoulder. "sapnap, no."

he smiles mischievously. "sapnap, yes."

i break into a grin. i like this guy.

"so question," sapnap says. "did you have to kiss him awake then?"

i break into a blush while dream splutters, "i-i... well, yeah idiot."

sapnap laughs, a nice hearty laugh that makes me smile.

how could i forget a man as friendly as this?

dream smiles at the both of us as our laughter dies down.

"well, sapnap. you just gonna keep standing here?" dream asks.

sapnap nods. "i'm on duty until the banquet tonight." when he sees dreams upset face he says, "don't worry. i'll be having some fun tonight at the ball."

dream pulls a small smile. "fun? you better have the best night of your life. you deserve it."

sapnap shrugs. "i don't know if i deserve it, but i'll do my best 'your majesty'." he says the last part with mock formality.

dream chuckles.

"you two go enjoy yourselves. i'll see you at the banquet yeah?" sapnap waves us off.

"'course," dream replies.

i smile at sapnap as dream starts to move away. "it was nice meeting you. i look forward to getting to know you again."

sapnap laughs. "fix george," he calls to dream. "he's never been so formal in his life."

dream laughs silently as he drags me away. we walk back towards the castle.

"i like him," i admit to dream.

he smiles at me. "i'm glad. you guys were best friends."

my smile slowly fades.

***

the day goes by fairly quickly. dream introduces me to a couple other important people; his other good friend darryl, who was a smiley chef at the castle. i met a few other servants, tommy, the boy who took care of clementine, and some guy they had nicknamed 'foolish' because he could never remember anything, and a young servant who was called callahan. he was in change of the laundry and sometimes helped darryl in the kitchen. he was mute and apparently when we first met, i thought he was rather sassy and we became friends.

it was bitter sweet, meeting all the old friends that i didn't even know. dream repeatedly told them about my amnesia and i apologized over and over again. it hurt my feelings to forget such lively and wonderful people that must've had such a big impact on my life. i'm sure it hurt their feelings much more.

when it was finally time for the banquet, i was exhausted. dream could tell and he pulled me aside before entering the massive dining room full to the brim with people waiting to eat.

"george?" he pulls on my arm and i look up at him tiredly. "you okay?"

i stare into his big green eyes and feel like melting into a puddle.

"i'm a little overwhelmed," i admit.

he looks concerned. "if you need to sit out for the banquet, everyone would understand. get your energy back up?"

"no, no. it's okay. i just- need a minute."

dream nods and pulls away to leave me alone.

"wait-" i grab his sleeve. he stops and turns around. "can you- stay with me?"

dream pauses and looks at me. his lips lift upward slightly. he moves and we sit up against the wall, on the floor. i shift my legs up to my chest and sigh deeply. dream watches me.

"i wish i could just remember," i whisper into the silence.

dream seems shocked. i am scared to look at him. his eyes stay glued to me.

"i wish you could too," he admits after a long pause. "it will take time though."

"i know," i murmur, tucking my chin onto my knees.

we stay like this, shoulder to shoulder, silently sitting on the floor, very unprincelike, for another minute.

dream sighs and stands up. "you ready?" he holds his hand out to me.

i take it and he heaves me onto my feet.

"yeah."

the both of us walk into the dining room.

******

a/n:
thanks so much for reading! ask me any questions in the comments and i'll answer it.
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