Dreaming a dream as someone who hates dreams but needs sleep

Aiasted had to admit that he really truly hated that he had to leave. But he could not forego his duties as a sovereign. Even less so when it would mean not only his realm but also this realm would suffer greatly. He opted instead to hokd her close for as long as he could, the question makin him scoff softly. "Don't fight your sleep .. you need your rest," he reminded her. As she eventually gave into her slumber he would gradually release her, just as to not wake her, before he headed out. It was a bittersweet moment, but he knew she would be safe, and Lucienne was on her way. He left, returning to his realm where he buried himself in work once more, just to distract himself.

Outside in the hallway there was a bit of noise from moving, a few grunts could be heard before something heavy was dropped. "Fuck," George muttered to himself, placing a hand on each hip as he looked at the mess he had made. The rain had really sucked when it came to moving. Especially because cardboard and water did not mix well. Taking a second to regret his life decisions he eventually got down on his knees, salvaging the objects that were now scattered across the hallway. He just hoped he wasn't pissing his neighbours off already. He would probably do that enough with his weird work hours anyways. Not to mention that he liked listening to loud music, but he had gone ahead and bought a decent pair of headphones. Clearing the mess took a bit of time, some of his new neighbours checking in on him. Gods why were people so nice? This was a huge step up from where he had been living before. Granted the down payment for this place had been hefty, but the rent was actually decent. And it was cheaper in travel costs for work.
He managed to gather everything and sorta push it into the apartment, the cardboard box, or rather what was left of it, discarded into a large trash bag he had. Huffing a little he sat down in the hallway, taking his phone out to see how far along one of his mates were. He was going to help carry up the couch and bed. As well as a small table. George didn't have a lot of possessions to begin with, so most of his stuff fit in a handful of cardboard boxes. But he couldn't carry larger furniture up by himself.

He was scratching his lower lip with his thumb, slapping his phone against his thigh a little absentmindedly before he heard steps and a voice. He looked up, seeing a rather pretty young woman who asked a question that made him chuckle, nodding as he got up on his feet. He took her greeting hand, "yeah, uhm, I'm George," he introduced himself, popping his phone in his pocket as he felt it vibrate. "Nice to meet you," letting go of her hand, moving it up to his hair to mess with his hair that had gotten a little longer than usual. But with moving and work, he hadn't really had the time to get it cut. "Sorry for the noise, I-" he said, gesturing to the bag with the broken down cardboard box inside, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as he shook his head no, "seems like I wasn't fast enough so the box got too wet."
He then noticed what she was wearing frowning a little, "you do know it's raining really much, right?" He asked, gesturing to himself where his shirt was sticking to his body and his pants as well, though in jeans it was harder to see of course. He sighed, moving into his apartment briefly before emerging with an old umbrella. "Not the best, but it should do the job," he said, handing it to her with a slight smile. He wasn't taking no for an answer, practically forcing her to take it. "You can just place it against the door when you come back - no big deal," he smiled in a friendly manner before another guy appeared. "Yo, Sully, you ready to get this thing done?" He chuckled, quite a big fellow but he had more the personality of a teddy bear. "Right, uhm, nice to meet you Mari," George said before heading with his friend down to grab the furniture from the van parked outside.

He thanked her before he had to go do his part of the moving. Luckily he didn't have too much heavy lifting, but his friend was rather nice in that he was basically strong enough to lift it all, so long as George went in front hand helped guide them. It took them a while to get things up the narrow staircase, but in the end they succeeded. They were sitting amongst packing paper and boxes having a beer as there was a knock on the door. George looked confused, snuffing out his cigarette in the ashtray before getting up. Beer still in hand he opened the door to see none other than his sweet neighbour. "Mari, hi," he smiled, taking the umbrella as it was offered just dumping it in a basket inside his hallway. He could find a proper place for it once he had gotten more stuff unpacked.
Looking to the bag of take out he was a bit surprised, at first not taking it but if she pressed hard enough he would give in. He stood for a while, his clothes a little sweaty from moving before he stepped aside, "can I offer you anything? A beer? Soda?" He wanted to at least show some hospitality. He hadn't been raised to have manners, but it had sorta been beaten into him during his adolescent. His friend got up, finishing his beer and placing the empty bottle on the floor. "I gotta go, Sully, duty calls," he chuckled pulling George into a bro-ish hug before letting go. He nodded politely as he passed Mari, giving George wide eyes as to say he should go for it.

"Wait, your food? You haven't eaten yet?" He asked, why wasn't she hurrying back before it got cold? Strange but then again people around here seemed so different from where he had grown up. "How about you go grab it, and we can eat together?" He suggested, knowing that it perhaps was a bit bold. He flashed his boyish smile that had a bit of charm to it even if it was crooked. Never had he been referred to as being handsome, but he made up for that with charm. "I mean, eating alone can be a bit boring, right?" Maybe she preferred to eat alone but he was a social eater. He looked down at the bag in his hand, "I mean I just gotta dig out a couple forks and we'd be set," he chuckled, looking to her with hopeful eyes. He could clearly need to get to know his neighbours. Especially as he was planning to stay around for a while. It was a nice place to live, so he didn't want to take it for granted and isolate himself. Not at least until he knew who the assholes were in this building.

As she went he got to hunting down some forks, and as she returned asking for a glad he hummed, "I think my glasses are rather far down," he said apologetically before heading to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water that was unopened, "would this do?" He smiled. They settled down on his couch, as that was pretty much the only surface in his apartment that wasn't covered in other stuff. Opening the box he was surprised to see all the food, but dug in after thanking her. Free food was better than no food in his opinion. Humming as she of course had to know a few things he chewed before swallowing, following the act with a sip of his beer. "Mainly because of the neighbourhood," he admitted, mixing the onion in with the sauce. It was actually really good food as far as take out was considered. "I have a couple of siblings in the foster system .. I'm allowed visitation, but I really wanted them to be allowed come visit me," he explained with a slight shrug. To him it wasn't that big of a deal. It wss his daily life. And while it sucked, he knew that he wouldn't have been able to support them in the long run. "A good place to live means a higher chance of that coming true," he sent her a slight smile. He continued to eat before he got curious about her as well. "So what about you? Have you been living here long? Roommate, boyfriend, girlfriend staying with you?" He asked, which was perhaps a bit forward, but he wasn't looking to mess up someone's life. At least not someone who was seemingly as kind as Mari was.

She hummed at the mention of the glasses being too much of a hassle, so when he presented a water bottle, she gladly accepted it. "Thank you." she smiled. She mixed her rice and sauce, letting it sit for a bit as she asked him her question. His answer made her hum softly. It did seem like a good neighborhood.  She also liked how it was a bit closer to her work than her old apartment. She wouldnt have to be using the underground, which would be better in the long run.
He didnt seem shy to share his story as he mentioned his siblings in the foster system. She frowned a little but listened and nodded. She knew that a few of her classmates had been fosters before she went to St. Jules, but that didnt feel relevant to the conversation. "Well yeah." she hummed. It made sense.
He returned the question and she sighed a bit as he was asking a fair few questions at once. "I have been here for a couple of weeks now." she said to start off. "The guy I'm seeing... We're working things out. But he's a busy guy with work and all." she said with a small smile, looking down at her food. "So you cant ask me about the people here. I know that there's another George down the hall often fights with his girlfriend out in the hallway." she said, trying to think of something else to say. "The lady in front of my apartment has a nice cat. Blunder. A weird name for the sweetest cat in the world."

So she was seeing a guy. Bummer, but it also didn't sound too serious if they were trying to work things out. Or was that indicative of a serious relationship? George honestly wouldn't know. His track record wasn't the best if he was being honest. Mentally he noted down the people that Mari mentioned and the mention of a cat made him frown a little surprised. "Blunder?" He repeated before he chuckled softly. He supposed animals were always given strange names. "We had a rottweiler growing up that was named Pony, so I suppose weird names make good pets," he chuckled a little lightheartedly. He had emptied his beer at this point, moving over to place it in the recycling before grabbing another one. He wasn't looking to get drunk, but it would take a good amount of beers to even get to that point. No if it was shots he was a lightweight for sure.
He returned to her, sitting down as he ate some more. "So what do you do for a living?" He didn't suppose that her partner was the only breadwinner. No she seemed way too lively for that. Perhaps she looked calm outwardly, but he could sense that spirit within her. It was just something you got to learn doing over time. "Unless snooping on your neighbours is a full-time job," he teased with a grin to match.

"Rottweilers are terrifying. All dogs are scary to me, but rottweilers probably score high on the list." she had to admit, but then again, she did have an unreasonable fear of dogs in general. He finished his beer and she was calmly eating her food, feeling quite relaxed despite George being someone new. He seemed rather calm and collected, charming and nice. It was a good mix. She opened the water and took a light sip. She was feeling a little nauseated from the food; It maybe had been a craving to have exactly this, but she wasnt really feeling it after all. His question made her hum thoughtfully. She wasnt really doing much beside working. "Gotta pass the time somehow." she argued with a shrug. "Also it's hard to ignore the other George when I'm reading in silence while they're out there yelling." she had to defend herself. "But I work at a coffee shop normally. The one a few blocks down if you're familiar in this area." she said, pointing in the direction she believed it would be if they walked.

All dogs were scary? Well not when you had met Pony, but that dog had died years ago at this point. He wasn't going to argue about what other people found scary, because he probably had a lot of things he was afraid of that other people could easily ridicule. What he did like about her was the fact she wasn't afraid of talking back. He liked that. It wasn't just having a one-sided conversation. Chuckling at the remark about other-George he listened as she explained her workplace. He hummed before nodding, "yeah it's the one that always decorate for the seasons, right?" He asked. There were a lot of coffee shops, but that was one he had taken notice of. At least because right now passing it you were almost guaranteed to fall over a pumpkin of some kind.
"I work a few blocks away from that shop at a restaurant - I mostly do evening and night shifts," he hummed as he finished up his tray, leaning back for a bit. "During the daytime I have a tutor job at the Institute," it was decent money and he liked what he was doing. Besides he was mostly doing it to get food on the table and a roof over his head. He was quite driven as a person, and working multiple jobs weren't that big of a deal. "Before this I lived down in Southern .. quite the commute just for work .. so I'm excited to be this close to everything," he chuckled.

She was surprised that he pointed out the seasonal decorations, nodding and grinning a little excitedly, "Yeah, that's the one!" she was quite clearly happy that it seemed to have something noteworthy about it. He mentioned his own work and she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as she tried to think of where that could be. There were a few restaurants in the area so it was just about which one. "Not the one with that one fish specialty with that weird sauce?" she asked, hoping not. Though it would be funny. "You really keep busy." she remarked at the mention of a day job. She had put down her food, not wanting more as it was making her feel a little sick. She instead drank some water and tried to remove the aftertaste completely. "Oh geez, it really is a good thing that you moved here then. Must save you a lot of travel costs as well?" she said, wondering how much time it would take to even get to her work from Southern. Frankly, she hadnt ever been South if she had to be honest. Or North for that sake, except once or twice to walk classmates home. "You said you tutor. Have you been studying at the institute since you tutor there?"

As she mentioned the fish specialty he wrinkled his nose shaking his head no, "luckily not!" He chuckled, trying to explain a bit more in depth where he worked so she hopefully had an idea. It was rather well known for having long opening hours and that they served almost around the clock. It was hard work, but night time paid the best. Shrugging lightly at the fact that she called him busy he didn't see anything wrong in that, "well I do have days off like today and tomorrow as well," he nodded. He didn't think he had it too bad work wise. Noticing she was done with her food he gestured as to ask if he could take the rest. If he could he wouldn't really hesitate because he would rather eat it than throw it out. Old habits die hard. "Yeah, I mean I was using the Pipes, and delays there can be horrible, so I'm saving money and time .. mostly time because this rent is a bit more expensive than the one I had in Southern," he explained. But time was another form of currency when you thought about it.
She asked about his tutoring and he hummed, finishing a mouthful of food before speaking. "Well I did enroll and I have finished some classes, but life got in the way so I didn't really get to finish my degree," he shrugged. He was content with the life he had right now. School wasn't going anywhere, and the more he saved the less he had to work if he eventually went back to it. "I know I might not look like it, but I'm a huge science nerd," he chuckled.

Part of her was relived to hear that it wasnt the fish restaurant; or the fish specialty restaurant was the right word. Especially as it seemed to be a favorite. That had to mean that you eventually would just reek like fish. And he wasnt giving her fishy vibes either way. He explained and she quickly hummed and nodded, knowing exactly what place he was talking about. "Oh, do you cook, clean or serve? Or all three at once?" she asked, tilting her head lightly.
He mentioned day offs and she nodded, but he was still working two jobs regardless. Had to make him a little busy. She gestured for him to just go ahead. The less she had to think about food she didnt like, the better she felt. She had had enough to just need a small snack before she slept, which was good. "I hate delays more than anything. And I wasnt even going that far." she scoffed. It was probably worse for him on busy days.
He mentioned classes and she just hummed and nodded. She of all knew how life really could just get in the way. But she didnt want to think too much of that now. He made that easier for her when he mentioned science. She frowned a little as if she wasnt sure she really could believe him. Narrowing her eyes, she slowly nodded. "Yeah. Now that you say it... I could actually imagine it now that I look at you." she said, before she smiled with her tease. "You definitely look like a nerd." which wasnt true at all. She at least wouldnt have guessed. "But how much of a science nerd is science nerd? Is is all the theories or do you just really like math?"

"I do a bit of everything besides serving," he explained. He was basically all over the restaurant but he wasn't dealing with customers. No, he had seen first hand how awful people could be to a waiter. A waiter who would rely on those tips sometimes and then just get spit in the face. George liked to work, but he also knew his worth in that regard. "Cooking and cleaning I can do, so that's what I'm sticking to when I'm there," he chuckled. He wouldn't say he was gourmet inspired. No, the place he worked for was more akin to a diner or just the standard restaurant. Nothing too fancy, a few dishes that they were known for but that was about it. Perhaps more people came there because they served drinks as well. "I do bartend on occasion," though it was usually when the restaurant was really busy. Mixing drinks wasn't a problem, they had a pretty easy menu card after all. Nodding along he agreed with her sentiment of public transportation. Here he could just get on a bike or walk to work with no real trouble.
He couldn't help but scoff, rolling his eyes as he finished up her box of food as well, packing it all away as she kept on teasing him. So this was how it was going to go? He grabbed his beer, leaning back with a nice full belly as he looked at her with a smile just beneath the surface that he was clearly trying to suppress. He knew he didn't look nerdy. Maybe it was because of the way he carried himself? He didn't get to ponder it for long as she asked a rather interesting question. "Well I'm a sucker for theories; I was going in the direction of astrophysics just because it's cool," he admitted shrugging lightly, "There's something called theoretical astronomy; basically it would mean thinking up models and forms to explain the universe." Yeah, very nerdy. He liked numbers and figuring things out from observations and putting theories to it.

Cooking and cleaning and then bartending from time to time. Seemed pretty solid. She was pretty much all around at the coffee shop, but it probably wasnt even close to a restaurant. He finished her food too and she was happy that it was gone.
Her tease hadnt really been that serious, but she did think that he somehow did look smart in a way she couldnt explain. Like the way everyone would be asking him for the answers in class sort of thing maybe. She wanted to know more about this so called nerdy side of him as he had called it himself. She nodded at his response, but didnt really know theories like that. "When you say astronomy, all I think of is zodiac signs." she said to pinpoint that she would have no idea what any sort of theory within that field would be. "But that's cool. I think it's cool that you like science." she said, before she looked at her wrist, seeing the time. She drew in a short breath. "I hope that dinner suited your tastebuds. I have a meeting in the morning, so I'll have to go handle that." she said, though she had to admit to herself that she wanted to talk more. "Uhhh. Maybe coffee some day when you're more settled in?"

"Well I suppose the zodiac is a science that I'm not too familiar with," he admitted with a slight chuckle. She didn't have to understand what he liked, but it was sweet that she was trying to relate to some degree. As she looked to her wrist he already knew what she was going to say and he hummed, "yeah, it was pretty good," it hadn't been the best but it was far from bad. It had been filling and that was the important part. He got up, cleaning up after them, humming at the suggestion. "Coffee would be great," he nodded with a charming smile on his lips. After cleaning up he followed her to the front door. "By the way, thank you for welcoming me like this .. it means a lot," he said, and while he was a bit proud to have even admitted to it, he also felt like it was safe enough to confess as much. Especially when she was this sweet. He had a feeling he could get a good friend in her. He bid her goodnight, even joking about escorting her home, but he just stood in his door until she had reached her door. A little strange, but it was also kinda cute, right? Heading back into his apartment he got started unpacking right away.
It did take him a few days to settle in, but he finally managed to get the boxes unpacked and the furniture in such a position that it fit the floor plan of the apartment. The rain had been coming and going during the last few days, but he liked having the window open, playing loud music during the day as he was fixing up the apartment. He hung up some pictures and framed posters. He had even bought a nice rug to be placed with the couch. It at least would provide some heat for the colder months ahead. Walking around he was singing along loudly to the song playing, some old fashioned rock song that he knew by heart. The door of his apartment slightly open as he hadn't quite figured out how to close it all the way without locking it.

When he eventually was done he went to go out with some trash, only then noticing the small package and note. Picking it up he scoffed, a smile on his lips as he unwrapped the doorstopper and tested it out. It sure worked well, nodding a bit impressed with this tiny gadget he took the note, pinning it to one of his boards before heading down with the trash. Returning he had thought about that gift, and part of him wanted to give her a treat. Maybe it was stupid, but he appreciated what she had done. However in true George Sullivan fashion, it was also going to be a bit silly. So as he went out that afternoon, he bought a few things that he put in a box for her.
Once he returned, he fixed the box up with a nice bow, writing a note that truly displayed the fact that he was a tutor, but at least it could be read. Placing the box in front of the door he made a light knock before returning to his apartment to start making dinner. In the box was a new pair of underwear in his size, a pair of cheap binoculars and a note that made a bit of a joke of the situation. The note read: I for one am disappointed you didn't get to see my underwear, so here you have a taste. As for your peeping Tom career I got you something to kickstart it. Looking forward to the coffee too. I'm free this Friday if you are?

She was eating a light dinner by the time she heard the knock on the door. Walking over to check the peeping hole, she frowned as no one was there. She opened to see the box, chuckling a little as she could almost guess. She took it inside and read the note before opening, frowning a little at first as she didnt quite follow but as she then opened the box, she started laughing. Okay, that was pretty funny. She had to dry her eyes a little before she decided to go with the underwear to his door, knocking softly. If he opened she would smile at him. "Friday's good." she said before she handed him the underwear. "I'm keeping the binoculars. I feel as the now official peeping Tom, I should expand my horizon and spy on the apartments across the street too." she giggled, to then gesture that she was going, heading back to her apartment. She did miss Aiastes quite a bit and somehow she felt that stronger now. She went and found the pendant, looking at it, touching it softly before she sighed deeply.

He had always been a bit of a trickster, even back when he had gone to school, and this playfulness was a good reminder for him that life didn't always have to be that serious. He had just sat down to eat as there was a knock at the door. Leaving his plate on the table he went and opened, being handed the underwear he wiggled his eyebrows teasingly at her. He liked that they could do it this Friday, it would be a nice time he thought, as he found her really funny to be around. The giggle made him smile, "well I'm happy to have helped you in your career advancements," he teased with a slight chuckle to follow. She seemed like a pretty cool woman to be around and he definitely wanted this friendship to work out. As she went back towards her apartment he yelled for her, "hey! Next time just commit to peeping, alright?" He was liking this back and forth they seemed to have. Closing the door after himself he went to eat his dinner and just relax before he had to go to work that night.