Dreaming a dream as someone who hates dreams but needs sleep

The second slap was perhaps deserved and he just laughed it off. It was a bit fun to tease her with the truth. "But that job doesn't guarantee happiness, does it?" He asked almost as a reminder. Sure, being successful could be important to some people, but George frankly just wanted to live a good life. And if he had a decent job that could pay for the bills then he didn't really complain. "I mean I would much rather be happy and uneducated than miserable and educated," he shrugged. As clever as he was he wouldn't let it be a hindrance to a good life. Money wasn't everything.
Her laugh was pretty cute, chuckling with her before she spoke of her body peaking. He shrugged, "honestly I wouldn't bat an eye .. I mean any guy I've ever spoken to don't really care what their partner's body looks like .. my gender is incredibly simple; we see boobs and vagina and our brains go into monkey mode," he scoffed. Finishing up his cigarette he looked up at the sky. It looked like it was going to start raining soon. He nodded for them to head inside, moving up to their floor. "Your place or mine?" He asked, just wanting to know what she preferred.

His TV was of an average size, but he wouldn't say it was big. Either way she seemed to settle on going to her place. It was a bit funny to see how the apartments matched, though of course the interior setup of furniture was very different. He could see the traces of someone else living there, but it was very faint. Like an extra coat hanging in the hall way and stuff like that. He didn't think too much of it. They were just growing a friendship, so there really was nothing to worry about. Of course it didn't change that he was attracted to her, but that didn't have to mean that he was forced to pursue her. "A beer would be nice," he smiled, finding it a bit funny that she had those given her state, but perhaps it was her boyfriends? Regardless he thanked her as she came back.
Her excuse made him chuckle shaking his head no, "you don't gotta justify yourself in your own home," he argued with a smile on his lips. He sat down in the couch with her, humming at the question. "I'm feeling like a movie if I'm honest .. a game another time?" Yeah this wouldn't be the last time they hung out, he was sure of it. He looked around at the things decorating the walls, finding it a bit odd that there weren't really any pictures. But maybe they were modern and just had pictures on their phones. "Or if you're up for it, there's a recording of one of my favorite comedians' show that has just been published?" He knew that it might not have been considered a movie, but he liked to laugh and he really did want to hear her have fun as well.

"I'll dip in the fridge if I need anything, don't worry," he chuckled, adjusting himself on the couch, leaning back in the seat, resting his opened beer on his thigh as he was handed the remote. He hummed, "well then you're in for a treat," he smiled, hoping that she would like what he put on. The humor could be a bit crude at times, but overall it wasn't raunchy or misogynistic so that was perhaps a change. Once he had finished his beer he placed the empty bottle on the table and reached for a blanket. He placed it over himself and stretched it over to cover her feet and legs. He was laughing a lot, clearly enjoying the show, but of course he did when it was someone he deemed a good comedian.
"What do you think of him?" He asked as there was a small intermission. If she disliked it they could always find something else to watch. If she did like it they could finish the show no problem. Regardless he slumped down in the couch, relaxing as his body was slowly generating heat under the blanket. The sound of rain outside was suddenly overshadowed by a large rumble. A few seconds passed before it lit up outside. "Thunder and lightning, huh?" This weather was full of surprises. He smiled, pinching one of her feet under the blanket, "now this is the kind of weather I like."

Of course curiosity got the better of her, but before he could even reply she seemed to need to run off to the toilet. He didn't really mind, turning the TV over to some music channel and turning the sound down a little. He liked having music playing, it filled up the silence that he didn't like about being alone. When she returned he thanked her for the beer, taking a sip as she got comfortable once more. Repeating her question from before he smiled and chuckled softly, "I just really like the noise," he admitted. "I don't know, the anticipation .. like when you were a kid and counted between the thunder and the lightning to guess how far away it was," maybe it was a bit silly, but he stood by his statement. Ever since he had been a kid he had loved thunder and lightning, and perhaps also the rain that usually accompanied it. "I like that it insinuates cozying up; that it's a time for huddling together and whispering secrets," he smiled, nodding a bit to himself.
Taking another sip of his beer he closed his eyes, listening to the thunder as a happy smile spread on his lips, counting out loud to see how far away it was before the apartment was lit up by the lightning. It wasn't dangerously close, but the counting made it feel exciting to him in a sense. Not like an adrenaline junkie type of deal, but that nature could be scary and beautiful at the same time. "Did you know that if you're outside during a thunderstorm and you start to smell chlorine bleach, it means that lightning will strike the area you're in?" A strange fun fact that he knew, but it made sense when he liked it so much.

"Yeah .. between me and my siblings if we wanted to confess something we had done we would do it during a time like this .. because after a thunder and lightning the air feels clearer and cleaner, and that is also sorta what it feels like to air out secrets," maybe it was a bit of a reach, but to kids it made a lot of sense. When he had finished up counting she seemed confused. He frowned, unsure if she was joking with him, but when he could see she was not, he opted to explain it to her. How it was a way of guesstimating how far away it was, and that it wasn't precise, but rather something to do for fun or just to pass time. It was also a way to calm down kids that might've been scared of the weather, giving them some power to know that it was moving away from where you were located.
Humming he nodded and agreed that it was in fact rather scary, but he also found it fascinating. Of course he knew why it smelled as such, but saying that out loud might've made him sound more nerdy than he wanted to come off right now. She asked for more facts and he chuckled, taking another sip of his beer, turning and pulling his feet up on the couch, facing her so that he didn't have to turn his neck. "Well not really anything interesting," he admitted, "I haven't really got a list." Chuckling he smiled at her, tilting his head to look at her. "I mean I had my first kiss during a thunderstorm," he shrugged, but that was perhaps not really a fun fact and more of a strange thing in his past.

"I honestly can't remember why it happened, but I guess it was because her parents wouldn't be able to hear us making out," he shrugged with a light chuckle. He could feel her cold feet and just stretched his legs so she could warm herself against him. Honestly he didn't mind, he was quick to heat up either way. "I did end up getting chased out into the rain because her father was very strict," he chuckled, clearly not traumatized by it. No, a lot of fucked up shit had happened in his life, and what he spoke of was just the tip of the iceberg really.
She mentioned her own first kiss and he frowned, "well an idiot to be sure," he nodded. But of course that was easy for him to say right now. "But I guess guys that age really can't give a shit about stuff like that, huh?" And while he was aware that it was indeed something that some people brought into their adult lives as well, he had at least seen a handful of people change for the better the older they got. "Was it at least a nice kiss?" Although he couldn't really imagine a 13 year old boy having too much experience. And then again he had seen some boys that age knock up a girl and it be a whole other mess.

"I was a wild kid," he chuckled, not taking any offense in her remarks. In fact it felt good to just be called out on stuff like that. Her question made him shrug a little, "she wasn't really the type who wanted a boyfriend .. in fact I'm pretty sure the reason her father was so strict was because she had a lot of boys over," he admitted. Either way he had been a stupid kid and not really understood the implications. "And she was a couple years older than me .. not creepily much, but enough where I know looking back that I shouldn't have been in that situation." He wasn't regretting it, but being an adult now he understood that if things had been just a little bit off, then it could've ended very badly for him.
Her question made him hum, pretending to count on his fingers before just slinging a random number out, "I would have to do the math properly to give you a more precise result," he chuckled. When she mentioned braces he winced, gritting his teeth as he couldn't even imagine how bad that must've felt. Not to mention that her mother had dragged her all the way to the doctors only for the truth to be revealed. Clicking his tongue he shook his head, "yeah, not worth it in my opinion," he grimaced. No, that didn't sound pleasant at all. "But back to the whole idiot thing; I don't think it's you, but perhaps who it is you feel attracted to .. I mean maybe you just have a thing for guys who are emotionally unavailable?"

"Oh, so that's why you keep giving me beers?" He smiled, clearly not taking offense at all. He liked alcohol, at least beer every now and again, but drinks he got drunk off way too quickly. A few beers were really nothing to him at this point. But he wouldn't say he was emotionally unavailable when he was sober. But then she went ahead and spoke of the guy she was seeing. He frowned, just listening to her a slight bit worried, but it wasn't his place to really pass judgement. But then again, fuck it, he didn't know the guy. "I mean you said so yourself that he's a hard worker," he just said, or maybe she had more alluded to the fact that he was gone more than home. "Sometimes men can get stuck in their heads, you know, thinking that they have to work and provide even though it would actually be best to just stay home for a bit more." He nodded, but it was clear he wasn't much better himself. Well of course he thought the guy she was seeing was just any other normal guy.
"You're not really good at being alone, are you?" It was more of an observation he had made rather than a question he asked her. He sighed, placing his half drunken beer on the table, reaching his hand over to take hers. "I'm not judging you, I get it," he assured her. Yeah, being in an apartment all alone when you had lived with so many people before was a bit daunting. "Why don't we have a sleep over? I mean sure we're adults, but if you don't mind then I don't."

He pulled his lips up into a smile as she seemed to go with the suggestion of a sleepover. It was silly, but it was fitting the situation they found themselves in. "Alright .. but a sleepover calls for something very important," he said, still holding her hand as his free one dug under the blanket, grabbing his phone from his pocket and pulling it out. "Take out and snacks," he chuckled, flicking through an app to order just that. He handed his phone to her, getting up, "see if you find something you like; my treat," he said, moving out to the toilet. It was a little funny to him how even the bathrooms in their apartments were very much the same.
Finishing up he came out to her once more, looking over her shoulder to see if she was finding anything of interest or if she was just snooping around his phone. She wouldn't really find anything interesting, save for a few dating apps that looked pretty unused, but not deleted at least. "I'm in the mood for pizza, but I'm not the one with pregnancy cravings," he teased, because why not make light of a situation that seemed so heavy for her? He wanted her to feel at ease about it, at least not feel awkward around him with it.

He could agree to her paying for the snacks, that only seemed fair. She started listing different cravings and he had to admit that not even in his most desperate of times would he have tried that. Though for some reason pasta and mayo didn't sound too bad, perhaps because it was a condiment. Still not something he would want to try. Moving over to sit down on the couch again he hummed at the notion of no fries. That was completely fine with him. "We could just share a pizza? I mean I'm not too picky," he suggested, mostly because the place she had picked had listed quite big pizza sizes. The different options were plentiful and he usually just went with a plain cheese pizza.
When they had placed their order he just put his phone down on the table in case the delivery guy arrived earlier. The game she was suggesting made him frown and his eyes looking at her as if he was trying to figure out if she was playing with him. But she seemed legit enough. He hummed, nodding as he thought about it for a while before wrinkling his nose. Oh yeah, he had just thought of something horrific. "Alright, you know that trick with putting gummy bears in vodka, right? How they soak it all up and become huge?" He asked, if not he would explain the ordeal to her. "But of course, being pregnant you can't have vodka .. instead you substitute it for pickle juice."

He began laughing as she seemed to think his strange craving through, because the look on her face was priceless. He just leaned back in the couch after grabbing his beer, flicking through his phone as he was making an order from a grocery store for their snacks. The good thing about Central was that everything could just be delivered to your door. Then the suggestion came to try and a devilish smile spread on his lips as he turned the phone to reveal that he had indeed placed both ingredients in the virtual shopping bag. "Of course we need to try it!" He agreed. He clearly wasn't phased by how gross it could seem. "We deserve to know," he added, handing her the phone to add the snacks that she felt for as well.
Once that order was placed as well he moved his leg under the blanket, frowning as he felt her feet still cold. "Okay, you are too cold, come here," he said, lifting the blanket so she could come over to him. "I'm not risking you getting sick while your boyfriend's out of town," he said in a protest, pulling her close. She could lay just fine between his legs with her upper body against his. "Fuck, even your hands?" He shook his head, wrapping the blanket tightly around the both of them just to make sure she could steal as much of his heat as was humanly possible. "You nees to tell me stuff like this, alright?" He rolled his eyes smiling at her. He was really valuing her as a friend.

He grinned at her scoff, "hey, I'm not trying anything alright," he defended himself. Sure he liked her, but for now it was more friend oriented. He could've been a scumbag and made a move, but this was honestly how he was with most of his friends. Besides being pregnant probably fucked with her hormones and even if she found him attractive all of that would maybe slip away as soon as she had given birth. Risking that and the relationship she had wasn't worth it in his eyes. And while he was usually the type to just go for it, he wasn't going to fuck up a family. He just let her get comfortable, grabbing the remote he hummed as he flipped through the channels to see if there was anything interesting on.
The mutter made him look at her, a grin on his face still as it felt like he couldn't stop it when he was around her. "It's alright, you can call me hot in a platonic way," he teased her, wrapping an arm around her just to be sure she wouldn't start to slip from her position. He didn't really say much else, turning his attention back on the TV as his body just relaxed. It had been a while since he had just had someone to sit and hold. It felt almost strange but in the best of ways. "But mentioning your boyfriend .. when he gets back into town I want to take the both of you out to dinner at the restaurant I work at .. I get like a crazy discount," he smiled. Sure it had been a bummer that she was in a relationship to begin with but now he was starting to get to know her as a friend and not just another booty call. It was refreshing to say the least.
Soon there was a knock on the door, or at least it felt like no time had passed when in reality it had been like half an hour to an hour since placing their orders. He helped her untangle herself from him, wrapping her up in her blanket before getting up to greet the deliveries. The pizza he placed on the coffee table, the rest of the bag he brought out to the kitchen. Packing stuff away he grabbed a good set of napkins before joining her in the couch once more. Opening the box he saw the different toppings had indeed not been packed separately,  but he barely seemed to bat an eye, lifting a slice and ate from it. He probably looked crazy, but when it came to stuff like this he had what he had dubbed grave mouth. He couldn't really taste the bad when it was covered in cheese, or so he told himself. He just didn't have the best sense of taste. Maybe that was why he didn't like sweets and preferred salty treats.

"Yeah yeah. I'm just pointing out that it's nice of you." she shrugged. No she wasnt accusing him of anything. No there wasnt really much to worry about where there? They were getting to know each other and they got off on a good foot. She liked his company and it surely helped at a time like this where she felt a little alone. His tease made her raise her brows at him. "I probably would have eventually. But now I'm not going to." she remarked with a a crooked smile.
She turned her attention to the TV as well, though she had to admit that laying close like this and her being as sleep deprived as she was, was making her a little tired. There was just something about having her head on his chest, following his breaths which were calm. He mentioned her boyfriend and she hummed softly. "Is this some ploy for you to deem whether he's acceptable or not?" she asked, obviously teasing. She didnt think that he would care what guy she was seeing.
When there was a knock on the door, her eyes felt heavy and she got up to move. He tucked her in and it was just so tempting to drift off in all that warmth she was surrounded by now. George returned with the food and she sat up, frowning a little as the pizza wasnt how it was supposed to be. "Oh gods. I'm so sorry." she muttered. It probably didnt taste that great for him. But she knew she would like it. He did surprise her when he just grabbed a slice and began eating. "Oh wow. I guess you never got to be a picky eater?" she chuckled. She was a bit picky, but her parents had always just let her as well.