Lesson 81- Respect people’s bubble of personal space.

Torin does a cursory check of the ward then sleepily nods and sends Laura home. He seems super out of it.
“Tori, you aren’t planning on driving are you?” I ask cautiously. He shrugs and prop my hands up on my hip.
“No way in hell are you driving like this. Why are you so tired? I know you were sleepy before, but now you seem more tired than before you napped!” I point out. Torin sighs.
“I was on a bit of an adrenaline rush for most of the day. Think of it as the demon’s version of fight or flight mode, except flight isn’t an option. But there was nothing for me to fight so I’ve just been on high alert. But now everyone is gone and my territory is secure again. I’m just… Crashing.” He explains. I frown.
“But didn’t you crash ages ago? You’ve been asleep on my lap for a couple hours at least.” I clarify. He shakes his head.
“I was still on alert. Asleep but not really relaxed. And I was worked up for a very long time. I’m… Exhausted.” He sighs and I immediately want to give him a hug. Screw it, I haven’t done all that well at keeping boundaries between us today, I’ll try again tomorrow. But right now, he needs a hug. I pull Torin into a tight hug, wrapping my arms around his waist. He immediately melts into it and loops his arms behind my shoulders, crushing me to his chest. The longer we stand like this the more he leans his weight into me. Much more and I’m going to topple over. I pull away.
“Come on Tori.” I pull him towards the door behind the bar. He seems confused.
“Where are we going?” He asks.
“You need some sleep. You can’t get yourself home like this. Get some rest here and go home later.” I suggest. He just nods sleepily, I’m not even sure he actually processed what I was telling him. I lead him to my room, mostly because it’s the only place with anything remotely comfortable for sleeping in. I contemplate my options, I can put him in the recliner, or my bed. In the end, I push him towards my bed, help him pull his shoes off and tuck him in. I don’t think he is even aware of where he is, because the shy and awkward Torin I know would definitely object to this. Once he’s settled, I grab a spare blanket and crawl into the recliner. It’s not perfect, but I’ve slept in it before and I can survive a few hours. I flick off the light and let the sound of Torin’s breathing nearby soothe me to sleep.

I wake up to an alarm going off, it’s the one that tells me it’s time to get up for work. How long was I asleep?! No wonder I feel all stiff. I glance over at my bed and see Torin is also sleeping. Or rather he was. The alarm has him groaning and rolling around, trying to figure out where the source of the noise is. I pull myself out of the recliner and turn off the alarm.
“Wakey wakey Tori.” I practically sing. He groans again, then bolts up, suddenly very awake. He glances around the room confused.
“What the hell?” He blurts out, seeming baffled. His hair is sticking up funny and I can’t help but grin.
“You look confused.” I state the obvious and he nods.
“How did I end up here? Why am I in your bed? Did you sleep on the recliner?” His last question comes out with a guilty tone. I perch on the edge of the bed beside him.
“You ended up here because you were way too tired to get yourself home. You’re in my bed because you’re a damn giant and it’s bigger than the recliner. And yeah, I slept in the recliner. But it’s no big deal. I’m totally fine. I’m smaller than you so it’s probably not nearly as uncomfortable.” I add. I’m fairly sure that before I came along, Torin spent more than a few days crashing in the recliner rather than going home.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kick you out of your own bed.” Torin apologises, his cheeks flushing red. I wave him off.
“Seriously, it’s totally fine.” I assure him. Torin doesn’t seem convinced, but he drops it, probably because he’s too embarrassed to keep talking about it further. He checks his phone and sighs.
“We’re on our own again tonight, although Kyle should be here. Catcher is looking after his children and apparently while I was asleep, Laura texted and informed me that she’s burned out from her magic use and will need to take tonight off. I should have realised that last night, but I just… Wasn’t really myself.” He sighs again.
“It's fine, we can handle it.” I smile and almost as if unwilling, he smiles back. I get the impression that he doesn’t really feel like working or dealing with people tonight. He could close up for the night, but after closing last night I suspect that he would reject the idea. Maybe I can at least convince him to close up a little early.

The bar has only been open for an hour and I’m already wishing we could close up. Not only is it super busy because apparently closing for ONE night to do some repairs means that EVERYONE is desperate to come here because heaven forbid they lose their chance to gossip and drink for one night. How much could they possibly have to catch up on? But that’s not what’s really irritating me. It’s Torin. Usually he sits in his spot at the end of the bar while I work, but tonight he’s hovering over me and he is just constantly in the way. I keep running into him. I can tell he wants to be helpful, but I can’t think of anything he can do since no one is actually willing to take drinks from him. He HAS to know that he’s just making my job harder. Every time I run into him he gives an apologetic shrug. What IS his problem? One of the vampires who complains about his drink all the time leans over the bar a little bit towards me. That’s not unusual, it’s busy and loud here. He might have supernatural hearing but I certainly don’t. The vampire leans in to give me his order, then immediately freezes, takes a few swift steps back and returns to his table without ordering anything. I turn around with a sigh to see Torin standing over me, his arms crossed over his chest defensively and a scowl on his face. He’s usually so careful to at least keep his face neutral that the expression looks out of place on him. Also terrifying. No wonder the vampire went running.
“Torin, why are you scaring away your customers?” I ask bluntly. He just shrugs.
“That’s not what I’m doing. I’m just making sure that people keep their distance from you. I won’t have anyone try to kidnap you again.” He says firmly. I sigh.
“Tori, that’s very sweet of you, but you can’t stand behind me and glare at people. It makes this job impossible. Also you should really sit down. I keep running into you.” I suggest. He frowns and shakes his head.
“No way, I need to keep you safe.” He insists.
“Tori, I am telling you now that I need some space. I appreciate that you want to keep me safe, but you can do it just as well from the other side of the bar. So go sit down.” I order. I don’t know when I started to raise my voice, but I’m definitely speaking a little louder than is necessary by the time I finish my lecture. Torin stares at me for a moment, then gives a slow nod and trudges slowly to his usual seat. I ignore all the stares from the very confused customers. Some people look impressed, but most are watching me with a combination of fear and sympathy. They definitely think I’m going to get in trouble. Well… It will be fun to prove them wrong if nothing else.