The Slumberer and His Dream

Part 6 - Studying

George took his time brushing his teeth, fixing his hair, and washing his face. After about five minutes, he stepped out of the bathroom. He was greeted by the smell of bacon, which quickly brought a smile to his face.

He went inside his room, only to see Dream holding his sapphire necklace. "Hey!" He hurriedly snatched it from Dream's hand, who jumped at his sudden arrival.

"Oh-- sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey, it just poked me from where I was sitting and I wanted to see what it was," George said nothing and put it on. "Who gave it to you?"

George turned the stone in his hand, not making eye contact with Dream. "My friend Wilbur. It's sort of like a souvenir to our friendship, for when I go on the journey."

"That's nice," he said softly. "It's a pretty stone. It brings out the color in your eyes, too." George dropped the gem and met his gaze.

"What? How do you know my eyes are blue?" Dream snorted.

"It's not hard to tell when I look at your eyes. Eye contact is a pretty important part of human interaction, you should try it sometime," he teased him.

George scoffed and tried making eye contact, but broke it in a few seconds. Dream chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "Are you shy?"

"I guess you could say that," George said dismissively, yet Dream was persistent.

"Do I make you feel shy? Nervous?" he asked, seemingly very amused. George furrowed his eyebrows and turned to face him.

"No! Shut up, you do not! I just don't like people." George wasn't lying entirely, but he had a hard time composing himself properly around Dream. He was conflicted between hating him for his overconfident attitude and trusting his dreams, in which he was comforted by his presence. It was also hard to be confident around someone who was so self-assured.

"Whatever you say, George," he teased, leaning against the headboard. "So! Should we start reading?"

"Sure." He got the book out from his bookshelf and sat down next to Dream. "Uhh, let's see... I'm pretty sure there are only three chapters left." Dream sat up.

"Sounds pretty easy-- hey, wait, I've read this book! I can help you with chapter understanding and summarizing if you want!" George felt himself smile at Dream's excitement, then he straightened his expression.
"Yeah, that'd be nice."

They read a few pages together before George's mother called them to breakfast. "Boys! Food's ready!" George placed his bookmark on the page they were at, then set the book down and left his room with Dream.

"Wow, this looks great! Thank you, ma'am." Dream said. He sat down next to George. She had cooked scrambled eggs and bacon-- George's favorite.

"Yeah, thanks for the food, mum." He ate his food slowly, a bit nervous over Dream's presence. He didn't like eating in front of unfamiliar people because of his anxiety, but it didn't affect him too badly. He tried to focus on the sound of the rain.

"So, what are you two up to?" George's mother asked, before taking a bite of her cinnamon roll.

"Dream's helping me study for my exam," George mumbled around a mouthful of bacon.

"Oh, how sweet! I can't thank you enough, he has a hard time studying on his own." Dream smiled at her.

"No worries, Ms. Davidson, it's actually quite fun. I happened to have read the book he's reading."

"Oh, a reader, are you?"

"No, actually, I just had to read it for school."

"Ah. Well, that's alright!" She smiled warmly. "I'm just so used to George. He loves reading-- he spent most of his childhood with his nose in a book!"

Dream chuckled. "I can definitely imagine that." George just smiled awkwardly, unsure what to say.

Dream and his mother continued to talk throughout breakfast until she checked the clock. "Oh, shoot, I have a work meeting to go to! I'm going to be late!" She hurriedly set her plate in the sink and rushed to her room. Dream and George turned to each other, then George cracked a smile.

"Heh, she scolds me for forgetting stuff all the time. I wonder where I got it from." Dream smiled back and huffed with amusement, then set his plate in the sink.

"Are you ready to finish studying?" George nodded.

"Yeah."

-

They read and George wrote for the next three hours, then finally they were finished at 10 am. George's mother had already left the house and told them she would be back around lunchtime. George was feeling tired. He didn't feel like brewing tea, and he definitely didn't feel like staying awake any longer.

He yawned and stretched, then laid down on his bed. "What are you doing?"

George hummed and rested his arm over his eyes. "Taking a nap." Dream huffed.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"I am sure you will figure that out."