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TOM STURRIDGE as Dream of the Endless The Sandman 1.01: “Sleep of the Just”
do yourself a favor and read this story while listening to earned it by the weeknd... you're going to feel morpheus's kisses on your neck... it's so spectacular
under-negotiations
morpheus x reader. no use of y/n. fuck, with feeling, aka smut (rough-ish) unedited (eve babitz would understand)
“I know about Nada,” you tell Morpheus when he reaches for you. His hand halts, hovering over your cheek. You long for his cool touch against you on this hot summer night. Even at midnight, the warmth of the day remains ever present.
But you also know about Nada.
And that more than anything frightens you. Already, you were aware of who he was. Just because he appeared to you as a man, did not make him flesh and blood. And yet knowing all that, being aware of his severe reputation in the supernatural community, had not stopped your attraction to him blossoming into more. You had grown fond of the melancholic and surly man.
In the stories, it always went badly for the mortal.
Keep reading
por favor to the all writers Please could you write more stories about tom sturridge x reader? Please i need more 🥲
Hi can you do a Tom Sturridge with prompt “For me, we would have already married.” with actress singer reader?
"Oh my God, do you write for real people now?" Yes, if it makes my readers happy I do.
20. “For me, we would have already married.”
The new interview with Tom and Y/n is having a great success, apparently they are "everyone's goal couple" even though they still haven't confirmed that they are a couple.
"Thanks for putting these two together in the cast!"
"Damn my bisexual ass is messed up as fuck!"
"The way Tom looks at her..."
"The way they always manage to touch each other is everything to me"
"I hope they take over this relationship soon"
"Can you imagine how lucky their kids will be? Damn, the most beautiful and talented parents ever.
"Y/n's new song is about 'Blue Eyes', this is for Tom for sure!"
"They're saying my new song is about you." Y/n says sitting next to Tom with his cell phone in his hand.
"And it's not?" Tom approaches Y/n's face with a smile, and kisses her cheek.
"Is it?" Y/n teases her boyfriend who rolls his eyes and pulls her in for a kiss.
"What else are they saying?" Tom says hugging Y/n's waist, and leaning his chin on her shoulder.
"You would know if you had social media." Y/n laughs and Tom laughs along.
"I hope they take over this relationship soon, well, For me, we would have already married." Tom says making Y/n hold her breath and feel her cheeks heat up.
"Stop it!" She says pushing Tom laughing with her cheeks still flushed.
Well, imagine if she knew that he has a certain little box hidden in his things, proving that it has nothing to do with time, but with the person.
───────────────────────────
I love Mathew
𓅨 An Offered Apple
An Offered Apple: You, a mortal and a librarian, have just died and Death has come to guide you to the afterlife. Unfortunately for Death, you are too stubborn to give up your library life. So one deal later, you are a permanent resident in The Dreaming and a librarian for Dream. Dream has taken a liking to you and after an innocent gesture, you find yourself drowning in embarrassment.
Warnings: Morpheus is Looking for an Excuse to Make a Move (Reader Inadvertently Gives Him One), Oblivious, Naive, & Meek Reader, Morpheus is Head-Over Heels in Love W/ Reader, Segmented Reading, Reader Accidentally Asks Dream of the Endless to Marry Her.
To Note: Morpheus/Dream x Librarian!FemaleReader, this idea is from this convo, here you go @wickedly-grim.
Word Count: ~8.3k
When you had died and Death came to lead you to the afterlife, you hadn’t wanted to leave. In fact, you had refused. Books were your life as was the library you had worked at, you weren’t going to give that up just because you had died. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but you loved books more than anything in your entire life. So you had made a deal with Death, and was dropped off in a place called The Dreaming. Then you were introduced to Dream, Death’s younger brother, Lord and King of The Dreaming. It was disturbing to know that he had seen all of your dreams, but the moment you had been shown the library… all thoughts of Dream of the Endless had flown from your mind and you had started geeking out over the endless rows of books. You had happily spent the last three weeks as Lucienne’s personal assistant, which made her very happy because apparently, Lord Dream had been gone for 106 six years and there was plenty of work to be done around the palace. She was busy and couldn’t do everything herself.
At the moment, you were organizing some books that had appeared. Humming to yourself as you walked through the library, you rotated the large books in your hands to look at the spines. W. You looked up at the nearest aisle, which had a gold R on the dark wood shelf. Close, but not W. Moving further down, the library shelves shuddered as they shifted and changed to the W section. From there you turned down the nearest aisle and peered at the spines of the books: Walder, Wash, Water, Web, Webber, Webbins, Whigg… You walked along until you reached where the top book in your stack needed to go. Taking the book from your stack, you rose up on your toes and pushed it in place. The bookshelf shivered in happiness at another book being accepted to its shelf and you moved on to shelve the next one.
“Y/N! Y/N, where are you?” Lucienne’s voice cut through the tune you were humming and sliding book in place, you trotted out from the aisle to see Lucienne with a harried look on her face.
“Yes, Lucienne?” You asked, blinking at her before frowning at just how stressed she looked. “Is something wrong?”
“We’ve just received a larger than usual influx of books and I do not have the time to both shelve them and assist Lord Morpheus in his research.” The harried head librarian rushed out. You hadn’t seen her this stressed since arriving.
“I’m almost done shelving these books, I can start with the new order if you need me to.” You offered. Lucienne quickly shook her head.
“No, no I think I will take care of the shelving.” She spoke, eyeing the unending aisles behind you. Then Lucienne gestured to a stack of books on a nearby table. “Will you please take these books to Lord Morpheus, for me? He should be in the throne room.” She wanted you to do what? Your jaw open and closed a few times, no words coming from your mouth for a good minute.
“I beg your pardon, Lucienne but are you sure that I—“ Lucienne looked over her glasses at you.
“Y/N, are you afraid of Lord Morpheus?” You gulped and looked away from her piercing eyes.
“No…” Her eyebrow rose at you and your shoulders deflated. “Lucienne, he is an Endless. What isn’t there to be afraid of? I’m a menial little human and his gaze is intimidating.”
“Y/N,” Lucienne chided, giving you a look. She inclined her head towards the stack of books Lord Dream wanted. “Books, throne room, now.”
“Yes ma’am,” You squeaked out, setting the books you had been in the processes of shelving, down, and picked up the books Lord Dream wanted. You scurried out of the library with your tail tucked firmly between your legs. Lord Dream was scary, Lucienne was terrifying.
Clutching the books to your chest, you walked through the palace while your eyes flittered everywhere. You spent most of your time working in the library, and when you weren’t working, you were in your cottage, parked in front of your fireplace, reading. You didn’t know much about the castle and hadn’t taken the time to figure out where everything was. The palace changed periodically to Lord Dream’s whims and desires and to be frank, you were still having a hard time wrapping your head around the realm. Trotting down the hallway that would open up to the throne room, you came across Mervyn who was lumbering his was out of the throne room.
“Hey, Y/N, Loosh got ya runnin’ errands?” Mervyn spoke as you came to a stop next him. You nodded and looked down at the large books you had pressed against your chest.
“We just got in a rather large influx of books that need shelving,” You explained, nodding your head in the direction of the library. “I offered to shelve them since I was almost done with the W’s, but I think Lucienne was stressing about them and wanted to do them herself.” You then patted your hand against the bottom book in your arms. “I’m to deliver these books to Lord Dream.”
“She upgraded you from devoted follower to errand girl, congrats,” Mervyn said, his jagged mouth curving at the side. You scowled at him.
“I am not a devoted follower Mervyn!” You exclaimed sharply, shooting the pumpkin headed janitor a dirty look. “I just really love books!”
“Yeah, I got that, kid. You eat, sleep, and breathe books… just don’t let Loosh wear you ragged, kid. It’s nice to have you around.” Mervyn replied before lumbering off in the direction of the east garden. Letting out a huff, you turned back to the entrance to the throne room and steeled yourself. You could do this, it was just a delivery of books, Lord Dream probably wouldn’t even give you a second glance. Marching forwards with a tight grip on the books, you entered the throne room… only to come to a screeching halt and all but blanch at the magnificent stained glass windows rising to the eaves of the room behind the throne. Light flooded through the colored glass and illuminated the depictions. Then your eyes trailed upwards to see swirling glass overhead, morphing between shapes.
First is was a blue and purple swirl of colors, shifting into a woman with wings that sparkled like a dark nebula. Then those dark and mesmerizing colors swirled into an orange red. A man with a hat appeared, he had a large smile… but before you could really figure out what he was, the glass shifted once more. An explosion of greens appeared, depictions of plants, trees, and flowers rotated and twisted. You hadn’t realized that your attention had been completely absorbed by the glass until a voice spoke from the ground.
“Hi there!” You took a step back in surprise before dropping your gaze to see a raven standing in front of you. The raven shifted it’s wings.
“Hello,” You replied quietly, your head tilting to the side in curiosity. Lucienne had explained that Lord Dream had a familiar, a raven, named Matthew. “You must be Matthew.” Matthew hopped in place.
“Oh! You’ve heard of me?” You could have sworn that his chest puffed up proudly. “Yes! I serve Morpheus… or at least help him out.” The raven explained. “And you must be Y/N, the new librarian Lucienne is very territorial over.
“Territorial over?” You repeated in confusion. “How is Lucienne territorial over me? I’m just a librarian…”
“Oh that’s because she likes having you all to herself, you know, helping with the library… just don’t tell her that because she’ll pluck all my tail feathers out.” You made a face at the image and nodded in agreement. Lucienne would pluck Matthew’s tail feathers out if she was pushed to that point. “Lucienne’s already chased off several residents trying to get to know you.”
“She has, has she? This is the first I’ve heard of it.” You mused quietly, your eyebrows pinching together. “Never mind that, Lucienne has tasked me to bring Lord Dream the books he requested.” Your eyes looked up to the throne and you saw the Endless in question, sitting on the curb stairs to the throne. Star filled blue eyes rose to meet yours and you let out a noise in the back of your throat. You dropped your eyes and stared at the floor, glancing at Matthew. “If you will excuse me, Matthew, I should make my delivery and get back to the library.”
Like a frightened mouse, you scurried up to the steps, cleared your throat, and offered the stack of books to Lord Dream.
“The books you requested, Lord Dream.” You squeaked out, trying your hardest to keep your hands from shaking. He closed the book he had been reading and set it aside, then took the stack of books from your hands. You nearly jerked when his fingers brushed against yours. But rather than jerk back like he had burned you, you waited until Lord Dream had a good hold on the books and then retracted your hands to your chest. “Is there anything else I can do for you while I am here?”
“If you wouldn’t mind returning this book to Lucienne for me, I would be most appreciative.” Lord Dream answered, offering the book in question. Nodding obediently, you took the book from him and turned to step back down. “Y/N…” You froze in place, a rush of worry and dread filling your body.
“Yes, Lord Dream?” You hesitantly asked, your mind thinking over the worst case scenario’s in rapid succession. You could feel him wanting you to look at him and ever so slowly turned around to look at him. He didn’t look mad or irritated, his face actually looked tender and concerned.
“Will you not address me as Morpheus?” Your eyes widened and you stuttered to reply.
“Well— I’m mean— I’m— surely I am… not in a position to address you with such familiarity…” You softly sputtered out, holding the book you were to return to the library against your chest as a shield. “I’m just an assistant…” A pitch black eyebrow rose in amused question.
“Are you,” Lord Dream echoed, his eyebrows then bunched together. “Will you still be resistive to the notion even if I ask you to address me as such?” Your mouth opened and closed repeatedly while you struggled to reply.
“I— well, if my lord demands so…” You whispered out, chewing on your lip and curling your fingers into the hard cover of the book.
“I do not demand so, Y/N, I simply wish you to call me by my name.” Lord Dream— Morpheus, spoke, still just as calmly and softly as before. “While I am the king of Dreams and Nightmares, that does not mean I cannot be friends with those that reside in my realm.”
“You wish… to be friends… Lord Drea—“ You cut off when his eyebrow arched once more, and you corrected yourself. “Lord Morpheus.” Further amusement flickered in his eyes.
“I do, should you be so inclined. I do not think myself to be in a position to force you into something you do not want.” You blinked at him and once again struggled for words.
“I— well, my lord, I mean… yes, I think I would like that,” You managed to get out. “I don’t have a lot of friends and Mervyn says I spend to much time with Lucienne or with my nose stuck in a book… so, yes, I would like to be friends with you… Morpheus.” There, you said it and he didn’t look like he was going to smite you where you stood or blast you into oblivion. If anything, he actually seemed to be pleased with your answer. The barely there smile on his lips was reassuring and your tense shoulders relaxed slightly. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, I think that should be all, Y/N. Thank you.” You bowed your head and turned around to head back to the library. Rather than bolting from the room like a scared mouse, you strode at a more relaxed pace while your mind replayed the short conversation over and over in your head. It was hard for you to wrap your mind around it. Everything you had learned about Dream of the Endless seemed to be wrong, or at least different than what you expected. Marching into the library, you paused at a table and looked down at the spine of the book in hand to see where it should go. It was a F. As you moved towards the aisle, your mind thinking of the F aisles, there was a flap of wings. You paused and looked towards the sound. It was Matthew.
“Hello Matthew, do you need something?” You asked. The raven fluttered over to a nearby bookshelf and landed on top of it.
“Hi Y/N!” Matthew chirped, his voice slightly higher than that of how it had been in the throne room.
“Are you alright, Matthew?” You asked, peering closer at him. Matthew shook his head and ruffled his feathers, almost like he was trying to shake something off.
“Perfectly fine, just thought I’d see how you were doing.” Matthew chittered, his voice still a little odd. He shook his head again and hoped once more. “Lucienne told me about you…” You flushed in embarrassment and Matthew scrambled in place. “Nothing bad! Just that you struggle with confidence… and I know Morpheus is kind of intense.” The raven let out a squawk and hopped several paces across the bookshelf.
“Matthew?”
“I’m fine! I’m fine,” He responded. “I’ve just been dealing with a... headache… that comes and goes.” It must be a bad headache if it had him hopping around like that…
“Maybe you should ask Lucienne about it then? I’m sure she’s dealt with headaches like that before being that she was Lord Dre— Morpheus’s, first raven.” You offered. Matthew’s head bobbed.
“Yeah, yeah, good idea, good idea, we should do that,” He muttered to himself. Your eyebrow twitched at his words, but you didn’t question what he meant by ‘we’. You weren’t exactly well versed in how being Morpheus’s raven worked. “Anyways, not to point it out or draw attention, but are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” You said while moving forwards, you needed to shelve the book as soon as possible. “I’ve heard a lot about him from Lucienne and Death.”
“You talked with Death?” Matthew asked, coasting between shelves as he followed you through the aisles. You reached the shelf where the book needed to go and stretched up on your toes to slide the heavy tome in place.
“Once, right after I died,” You explained, looking at Matthew with a small smile. “I may or may not have gotten into an argument with her.” You chuckled wryly as you turned back to Matthew, your fingers brushing over book spines. “I didn’t want to stop tending to my library… that’s how I ended up here.”
“You argued with Death!?” Matthew exclaimed, his wings flapping as he struggled to keep his laughter in. “How!? No offense, but you look like you have the confidence of a bunny!” You flushed in embarrassment, your face heating up.
“I like books, okay! I wasn’t going to let death stop me from enjoying my first and only love.” You said in your defense as Matthew cackled.
“For a human as timid as you are, you sure pick weird battles!” Scowling at Matthew, you huffed and moved back towards the tables, the shelves shifting behind you and Matthew.
⸺⸺⸺⸺
You were neck deep in a book in the library. It was a rare moment where you got to relax in the library. You and Lucienne had completed shelving all of the books that had suddenly appeared and done the normal ones that appeared on a daily basis, which left you with nothing to do for the afternoon. This book happened to be written by Lucienne herself, and covered the history of The Dreaming. You were using every chance you had to learn about the Realm that was now your home. Turning to the next page, you started reading more about Fiddler’s Green.
“Lucienne?” You perked up at the voice of Morpheus ringing out through the silent library. Closing the book, you rose from your seat as Morpheus appeared. His eyes met yours.
“Lord Morpheus,” You greeted quietly. “If you are looking for Lucienne, I am afraid she is not in the library at the moment… is there anything I can help you with?” Morpheus’s brow crinkled as his eyes glanced at the book on the table.
“I do not wish to interrupt your reading…” Morpheus spoke, his head lowering ever so slightly. You waved off his words.
“Nonsense, my lord,” You replied. “I am a librarian and I am here to help. Are you searching for a book? What is the title?”
He blinked at you and you saw his lips twitching. Your eyebrow rose.
“Well?” You further prompted him.
“I am in need of a book of dreams, Robert Spencer.” Your mind started thinking of the S section and walking into an aisles, you heard Morpheus sigh. “I do not wish to drag you away from your reading Y/N…” You aired out a snort, your eyes running along book spines. You found the book you were looking for and pulled it from the shelf. Turning around, you walked out of the aisle, appearing on the other side of the narrow room and closer to Morpheus. “You seem to be very invested in your research…” He trailed off.
“This is my job, my lord.” You announced from behind him. Morpheus turned in place, clear surprise on his face. You held out the book. “Robert Spencer, book of dreams. Can I find another book for you, my lord?” Morpheus took the offered book and stared into your eyes. You almost felt like shrinking back, but you were in your territory this time. You weren’t going to be intimidated.
“No, that is all, thank you,” You returned to your seat, picking up your book and resuming your reading once more. Before leaving, Morpheus studied his newest librarian once last time. You were an interesting creature he was enjoying getting to know, but you were still quite reserved. Surely ‘my lord’ and ‘Lord Morpheus’ was an improvement from Lord Dream. The timid human who had gone against Death, was a refreshing change around the palace, and Morpheus wanted to see how much he could pull you from your shell.
—————————
“Does it ever get monotonous?” You turned your head away from the sunset to see Morpheus standing not that far away, watching the kaleidoscope of colors on the horizon. “Being a librarian, you are always shelving books, shifting them around, retrieving and returning.” You considered his words. Yes, it sometimes got monotonous, especially when you had such large stacks of books to shelve.
“At times, sir,” You replied, holding his gaze. “But at the same time, Lucienne and I get to read the books that appear and there is nothing like the excitement of a new book who’s pages have not been turned.” Morpheus nodded in understanding.
“Are you happy here, Y/N?” You didn’t hesitate in your answer.
“More than happy, sir.” Sir. That was an improvement. It had taken weeks to get here, and Morpheus was glad to see the progress… but still, he wanted more. He desired more. He would get you there. Eventually.
⸺⸺⸺⸺
It was your day off and you were wandering the market in the village, picking up produce for dinner tonight. You were planning on fixing dinner in the palace tonight in celebration of Matthew’s birthday. As the only humans within the palace, you and Matthew had grown close, and since discovering Matthew’s birthday, you had decided to at least celebrate in a way you would both appreciate. Matthew had once said that chicken scallopini was his favorite dinner, so that’s what you were going to make. Abel and Cain were going to bring the wine and chicken and you were going to pick up the rest of the ingredients. The market in the village had the best produce you had seen in your life and you were eager to get your hands on what you could.
You had gotten all of the ingredients for dinner and were now just picking out fruit for the desert tart you planned on making as well. Excitement for cooking and baking added a pep in your step as you picked out several apples, oranges, plums, and peaches. You probably ended up with an excess, but you were excited to do something so mundane and human, as cooking. Wandering in the direction of the bridge of the castle, you hefted your basket against your side and looked down at the blackberries. They looked wonderfully fresh, just like everything else in the market. You ought to get some, Matthew did say they were one of his favorites to snack on and that tart recipe you had found written by his grandmother…
“It seems that you are aware of Matthew’s love for blackberries.” Your head snapped to the right in surprise. It had never crossed your mind that Morpheus would leave the palace. Smiling, you nodded and bought two cases, adding them to your basket before turning to Morpheus.
“We’ve been reminiscing about our favorite foods from when we were human,” You explained as you slowly moved in the direction of the palace. You had everything you needed. Morpheus fell into step beside you. “Matthew’s second love after hotdogs, is blackberries. He mentioned that his grandmother use to make this blackberry tart and he repeatedly got scolded for snacking on them.”
“Then I suggest hiding them unless you wish Matthew to eat them all.” Morpheus lightly teased. You giggled at his words and patted the edge of the basket.
“Not to worry, I don’t plan on letting Matthew know what I’m up to until everything is finished. He can gorge on the rest of the blackberries after I’ve finished the tart.” You replied, smiling up at Morpheus. “As it turns out, his grandmother made a cookbook and her recipe is in the library. All I have to do it not mess it up and he should be a very happy raven.” Morpheus returned the smile, albeit with a much smaller one, but a smile all the same.
“I am sure that he will appreciate the gesture regardless of how it turns out.” Morpheus had a nice smile, it was a shame that he didn’t do it more often. Speaking of which, you had another question to ask Morpheus… but you weren’t sure if you were within your rights to ask. “You wish to ask me something?” Your eyes flickered up to his in surprise. No, you shouldn’t be surprised, he was aware of everything.
“I’m not sure if it within my rights to ask,” You spoke slowly, your eyes examining the stone cobbles underfoot. They disappeared as you reached the bridge connecting the village to the palace.
“And if I inquired you of your question… regardless of its nature, will you ask me?” Morpheus challenged back, his voice and tone, as always, revealing nothing about what he was currently thinking. You came to a stop in the middle of the bridge and looked up at him and his returned gaze. Morpheus fully turned to face you, looking down at you with eyes that swirled with galaxies.
“Do Endless need to eat? Or is it a needless task that you only partake in when you feel so?” His eyebrow rose and lips twitched in amusement.
“We do not experience hunger, nor do we need to sustenance to maintain life… but my siblings occasionally consume human food.” Morpheus explained. “Death is partial to street food in her travels to complete her job.” That was understandable, you bet she covered a lot of ground everywhere. The food she came across was probably the most diverse… your mind started running on its hamster wheel.
“When was the last time you ate something?” You then questioned, your head tilting to the side. “Is it something you enjoy? Or does it not really cross your mind because you don’t need to eat?”
“It has probably been centuries since I last consumed human food and… no, I suppose I do not really think about eating since it is not necessary to sustaining my life.” Morpheus answered. “You yourself do not need to consume subsistence and yet you still partake.”
“I think it is out of habit, and I enjoy eating…” You replied after a pause for consideration. “I can see why you don’t. It’s not something that is necessary. Though I do think you are missing out on the beautiful produce here in the village. They taste extraordinary.”
“If it will please my librarian, I should think I could try one.” He answered, much to your delight. You reached into your basket and felt around, finding one of the delicious apples, you brought it out and offered it to Morpheus. Morpheus froze in place, as still as one of the statues in the gardens. You quickly backtracked and turned back to the basket, this time making sure to look at what you were grabbing.
“If you don’t like apples, I can—“ A hand closed over your retracting one, holding onto the apple and your fingers. It was your turn to stiffen. Had you done something wrong? You turned back to Morpheus who was staring at the apple with an indescribable look. “Morpheus?” His eyes lifted to yours and his rigid face relaxed. Then his fingers gently took the apple from yours.
“No, I— like apples.” Morpheus answered softly, holding the apple in front of him like it was a precious thing, like it was made of gold. It was just an apple… Perhaps he really likes apples? Star blue eyes rose from the red fruit and gazed into your confused ones. “I will treasure this apple, thank you, Y/N.” Relief flooded your veins and you beamed at him.
“Good! I should probably hurry back to the palace,” You spoke, looking back at the palace and patting your basket once more. “I need to get dinner on before Matthew catches me with the blackberries.”
“Shall I escort you to your destination to ensure that my raven does not catch sight of your treasure?” Morpheus offered, a sparkle just hinting in his eyes. You smiled once more.
“I would appreciate that, thank you.”
⸺⸺⸺⸺
Matthew had gobbled the blackberry tart until his black feathers were bathed in fruit juice… and then when you had shown him the left over blackberries he could have, he pretty much face planted in the remaining case in happiness. The raven had been unusually happy since then and you were in near tears at one point because Matthew had essentially put himself in a food coma after Abel had a batch of blackberries delivered to the palace as a belated birthday present. He ate them all in one sitting.
It was late evening about a week after Matthew’s birthday that you found yourself sitting in the northern garden of the palace, watching the sun sink lower and lower after a long day of work in the library. There was a strong breeze that rushed through the area you were sitting in, every once in a while blowing your hair in your face and sending a chill up your spine. Lucienne had said that while Morpheus usually kept the realm at a specific temperature of comfort, he had been introducing an idea of seasonal change to give the residents something new to experience. You were sure appreciating it, but you were also fairly sure that you didn’t have the clothes to weather through colder temperatures. Certainly not in this moment. But the view was just too extraordinary to leave. Another shiver rattled your bones and you grasped your upper arms, feeling the prickle of your skin.
Something was placed around your shoulders, blocking out the wind.
Looking upwards to your left, you saw Morpheus standing behind the little stone bench. His usual black long coat was gone, now around your shoulders. You went to remove it and he placed a gentle hand on your shoulder.
“I believe you are in greater need of my jacket than I, Y/N.” Morpheus spoke as he slowly stepped to the side and walked around the end of the bench. He then gesture to the empty space next to you. “May I?” Your fingers grasped his jacket and pulled it closer to your body as you nodded at the space.
“It’s your bench, Morpheus.” You reminded him. He countered your words with an eyebrow raise before speaking.
“And yet you are the one it cradles,” He returned with a teasing smirk. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes and gesture to the space next to you with your head.
“Please do,” Morpheus took a seat in the space next to you as you crossed your wrists over your chest and held his jacket against your skin. It was radiating heat. Your mind started to wander, particularly about all that you had learned about Morpheus. Rays of fading sunlight hit your face and your eyes squinted slightly. “Does it ever get overwhelming?” Morpheus looked you, his eyes trailing on the rays of sun illuminating your face. “Feeling everything, that is. Experiencing so many dreams… you carry the emotions of all life in the universe on your shoulders, how do you not get encompassed by it?”
“Practice.” Morpheus answered, his eyes not leaving your face. Your eyes turned away from the dying light to look into his. That blue was glowing with starlight, echoing the twilight that surrounded you. Another strong gust of wind blew though the garden, this time you didn’t feel it, Morpheus’s jacket keeping you nice and warm. Your hair, however, was a different story. It blew in your face and covered your eyes. You reached up to drag it back into tameness, only to find Morpheus’s fingers delicately doing the task for you. Even after he had cleared your face of hair, his touch lingered on your face. “I’ve had eons to do so, and yet, I still find myself learning something new.”
You were trapped in place by the soft glow of stars in his eyes, the sunset entirely forgotten.
⸺⸺⸺⸺
Lucienne was working overtime, once again, for a project in the village. You had jumped in and forced her out of the library to take a much needed break, taking over her work in researching the development of a naturally occurring phenomena that bordered the village. She couldn’t do two things at once or she was absolutely going to run herself ragged. Then again, you were burning the midnight oil yourself, so you couldn’t exactly chide her on that…
Closing the book you had just ran through, you swapped it out for another and dived into numerous pages once more. Your pen scratched away at paper, scribble after scribble, note after note. You would do anything to ease Lucienne of the workload you knew she pushed upon her shoulders. A burn settled in your eyes, and you rubbed at them ferociously, trying to stay awake. You had to get this done for Lucienne. You could do it, a few hours more should be more than enough time to do so…
Morpheus knew that you had kicked Lucienne out of the library hours ago due to his head librarian overworking herself once more… but now it seemed that his little librarian was determined to follow the same path. It was well into the late night that he found himself walking through the dimmed halls of the library, heading in the direction of a brighter light. Emerging in the space where Lucienne often conducted her research, he found you siting at the table, head against the open book in front of you and hand resting against a paper you had been writing on. You were fast asleep.
He didn’t know if it was Lucienne was rubbing off on you, or you trying too hard to find your place.
Morpheus slowly gathered you from where you slept soundly at the table, drawing you into his arms and cradling you gently. You were a very precious addition to his little family and with your brazen, and yet entirely inadvertent proposal, he was determined not to lose you like he had with his previous lovers. You moved in his arms and Morpheus looked to your face to see if you had awakened. You hadn’t, you were more interested in snuggling closer to his body, slinging an arm over Morpheus’s shoulder and burrowing your face closer to his neck with a comforted sigh. Your soft sigh was almost unheard, but he could feel your gentle exhale against his neck before you lapsed back into fitful sleep.
“You’ve over worked yourself, Y/N,” Morpheus sighed as his sand swirled around his body, transporting the both of you to your little cottage in the village. Your cottage was moderately sized, a small kitchen, a place to eat, a little bedroom… the bulk of the space was the library complete with a fireplace and seating area where Morpheus knew you spent almost all of your personal time. He carried you into your little bedroom and tucked you underneath your covers, trying not to chuckle when you sleepily complained of the loss of body heat. Pushing back wayward strands of hair from your face, Morpheus let his fingers linger on your face. “Sleep well, my dream.”
⸺⸺⸺⸺
Your pen was rapidly tapping against the sheet of paper you had been writing on. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. You weren’t playing attention to the tic in your hand, your mind wandering as you stared into space ahead of you. Thoughts of recent events were all consuming within your mind, and you could not stop thinking about how different Morpheus had been acting lately. Why was he so touchy feely with you? Why was he spending so much time around you when you weren’t working period. Scratch that, it seemed like Morpheus went out of his way at times to drop by and say hello. Don’t even get you started on all of the times you had spent burning the midnight oil to get research done for Lucienne… only to wake up in bed at your cottage, come morning. Only one person in the palace could do such a thing, but why.
A hand descended on your rapidly moving hand, stopping the continuous tapping. Your eyelashes fluttered and looking at the the hand pressing down against yours, your eyes rose up to see Lucienne staring down at you with a concerned look on her face.
“Y/N, you have been entirely distracted and unfocused this last week. What is going on?” Lucienne asked. You swallowed and retracted your hand from hers, holding it against your chest and staring at it with conflicting. “Y/N?”
“He’s been acting strange, lately, has he not?” You whispered in question. Lucienne’s head cocked to the side and her eyebrows rose as she sighed.
“Indeed, which is why I am asking what is wrong with you. Has something happened between you and Morpheus?” Lucienne pressed on with her question. “Are you aware of why he has changed in recent?”
“I—“ To be honest you didn’t even know what to think of it yourself. Lucienne knew him far longer than you had so shouldn’t she be the one to know why his moods change? You waved your hand slightly. “Morpheus, well, he’s been acting weird ever since he walked me back from the market on Matthew’s birthday.”
“Weird?” Lucienne repeated. “And pray tell what do you mean by weird?”
“I don’t want to say touchy feely because I feel like that would be an insult to one such as Dream of the Endless… but he’s been around a lot more, often checks in on me, brings me back to my cottage when I fall asleep in …the middle of research…” Lucienne’s eyebrows rose and she peered at you over her glasses. Strange indeed, Lord Morpheus never acted that way unless he was with his current lover. Lucienne’s suspicions deepened and she gazed shrewdly at you.
“Y/N, what happened in the market? Granted he’s been tip toeing around you like you’ll spook if he so much as moves the wrong way… Did something strange happen between you?”
“Strange?” You repeated before shaking your head and shrugging in confusion. “Nothing that I can think of, we only talked about the eating habits of an Endless… though he did seem rather shocked when I offered an apple to eat…” Lucienne choked on her spit and was momentarily rendered speechless. Y/N had offered Morpheus an apple!? By the gods did the once human have any idea what that meant? Clearly not.
“Good heavens, Y/N!” Lucienne exclaimed, her mind whirling in contemplation. You gave the head librarian a confused look. “Did he accept it?” You nod in further confusion, wondering how that mattered… let alone why it was such a big deal.
“Well… yes? He got kind of possessive with it when I offered to exchange it with another fruit… though he never actually ate the apple.” You softly mused, twirling your pen between your fingers once more. “All it’s doing is sitting in his study… I’ve told him that he’s meant to eat it, you know, before it rots. Told me that it is far to precious to be eaten…”
“Oh Y/N,” Lucienne sighed, fully understanding the situation you had put yourself in. It was clear to everyone that Morpheus had a special spot for you. When Morpheus fell in love, he fell fast and deeply. In fact, you had him wrapped around you finger and you didn’t even know it. It was best for you to figure out what she had done sooner, rather than later “Do you not know the meaning behind giving someone an apple?”
Your eyebrows drew together in confusion. There was a meaning behind giving someone an apple? Sure, you loved to read and probably read a little too much, but you hadn’t heard about this before.
“No,” Your voice came out in a whisper, dread filling your veins. Had you done something grievous? Had you done something worthy to getting banished from the palace? No. You would have been long gone it you had. If anything, Morpheus had been closer than ever. Yes, softer, closer, more delicate, caring…
“I will not meddle in your affairs with Lord Morpheus,” Lucienne spoke softly, her hand reaching out to touch your shoulder. “But might I suggest that you research the meaning behind that action? Surely then you will understand better. It is grecian, I would start there.” You nodded ever so slowly shortly before the head librarian strode away.
⸺⸺⸺⸺
It had been nearly three days since Lucienne had pushed you to researching why Morpheus had changed… and the answer you found was one that made morbid embarrassment flush through your veins. You had proposed to the King of Dreams and Nightmares! Your boss! Good heavens you didn’t know when you were going to be able to face him again but it certainly wasn’t going to be anytime soon. Book on Ancient Greek traditions pressed tight against your chest, you had stayed huddled in your favorite chair in your library at home, in front of your wood burning fire. How could you have been so stupid!?
Chin dropping back to your knees, you gazed into the crackling fire and wished you could burn up into nothing like the frequent embers that floated free of the inferno. This second life of yours would stretch out for eternity, at least until it was finally time to move on from this universe… but that wouldn’t be for eons. Eons of living in the realm of the King you had inadvertently and naively proposed to. You weren’t sure you would be able to do it. There was a taping sound at your window and shifting your gaze, you saw Matthew standing on the sill. Rubbing your red and puffy eyes, you unfolded yourself from your huddled position, grimacing as your joints ached from remaining still for so long. You set the book down and stiffly rose to your feet, huffing over to the window to let the raven in.
“Wow, you look like crap, Y/N,” Matthew said as he hopped in.
“Yeah, I know,” You mumbled in response, leaving the window cracked so he could leave. You shuffled back over to your seat and proceeded to aching get back into that awkward folded position. Matthew fluttered over to the table beside you, his head cocking side to side.
“So… you haven’t been by the castle in several days and we established that you look terrible, what’s up?” Matthew asked, leaning forwards and pecking at the sleeve of your jumper. Your tired eyes shifted to Mathew.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve committed a cardinal sin, Matthew.” You mumbled at him, wrapping your arms around your knees and hugging them tightly to your chest. “Or at least the version of that here in The Dreaming.”
“Oh really? I highly doubt that, Y/N,” Matthew responded, hoping closer. “You’re the nicest person I know, how could you have committed a cardinal sin.” You wilted where you huddled.
“ImayormaynothaveaccidentallyproposedtoMorpheusandIhavenotideawhattodobecausehe’sanEndlessandaccordingtomyresearchheacceptedandI’mfreakingout.” Matthew blinked at you for a few moments.
“Sorry… what was that? It sounded like you said something about a proposal and Morpheus?” You aired out a whimper and pointed down at the book Matthew stood on.
“I didn’t know that giving Morpheus an apple was essentially a marriage proposal.” You whispered, your nails digging into your legs.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, you proposed by giving him an apple?”
“It’s a greek thing apparently.” Matthew nodded in understanding.
“Greek, yeah, I’ll remember that… so you accidentally and unknowingly proposed to Morpheus, that’s not the end of the world, right? You like him don’t you?” You managed to give Matthew a dirty look, and rubbed your red eyes once more.
“Matthew, he’s my boss.”
“Yeah and we’ve all been pretending that he hasn’t been pursuing you for the last three months.” Matthew stated frankly. “Y/N, it’s been kind of obvious that he has had a thing for you since the start, you’ve just been off in your own world, completely oblivious to him… I think Mervyn and Lucienne have a bet going on right now on how long it will be until you figure things out. Pretty sure Lucienne won that one.”
“Matthew,” You rushed out, your face hot with embarrassment. “Please, I beg you, stop, it’s morbidly embarrassing without the reminders.”
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? It’s not like he refused.”
“That’s precisely the problem! I’m—“ You couldn’t finish that sentence. You were just supposed to be his librarian, that’s all. That’s the deal you had with Death, the deal you had with Dream himself. You were never supposed to be anything more. You didn’t deserve to be anything more, not when all his previous lovers had been such prominent women. “I’m just a librarian.” Matthew picked at your sleeve one last time.
“You know… we miss you at the palace, you make it a brighter place.”
⸺⸺⸺⸺
It was day five of your self imposed exile from the palace and you were feeling more than antsy. Surely you should return to the palace to assist Lucienne with the pile up of books that had accumulated. It was wrong of you to shirk your duties in this state of moping. You pulled yourself from your bed and trudged into your kitchen to fix yourself a caffeinated drink to hopefully put a pep in your step. You couldn’t go to back to the palace looking like this.
You chose coffee to get a nice hit of caffeine, that should put life in your eyes where exhaustion had overstayed it’s welcome. You wish you could have said that you had slept in the last five days, but you had been crippled by your embarrassment. It also didn’t help to know that you were technically engaged to Dream of the Endless. Coffee in hand you were about to inhale a large sip when someone knocked on your door. You eyed the heavy wooden door scrupulously, contemplating whether or not to see who was there. With a sigh, you trundled over to the door and dragged the door open. You froze in place, coffee half way to your lips.
“Y/N,” Morpheus greeted softly, his eyes soaking in your disheveled state and noting just how exhausted you looked. Your eyes were red and filled with fatigue, and Morpheus knew that you hadn’t spent any of the past five days caring for yourself. “May I come in, or is this a bad time?” You blinked at him like you had seen a ghost and silently stepped to the side. Morpheus stepped into your cottage and shut the heavy door behind him as you shakily raised the coffee to your lips. Morpheus stopped you from taking a sip. “I doubt you need caffeine right now.” You reluctantly let him take the coffee from you and gave it a mournful gaze as Morpheus set it on your dining table.
“I was going to drink that,” You softly croaked out. Morpheus aired out a soft snort and reached forwards to brush his fingers against your fatigue riddled face.
“You need sleep, not caffeine.” Morpheus corrected you, his fingers lingering over the bags beneath your eyes. “Why have you not properly rested.” Your eyelids fluttered before you looked away.
“I haven’t been able to sleep,” You answered scratchily. It was a pathetic excuse. You knew it. Morpheus knew it. You swayed in place and rubbed your eye. “I apologies for my absence, sir, I’ll be back to the library as soon as I can.” Morpheus grabbed your hand and pulled it away from your eyes, maintaining a light hold.
“I am not here to question your absence from the palace, Y/N, I am here… because I fear that I have chased off my beloved librarian.” Exhaustion dampened your reaction to his words as Morpheus cradled your face in hand.
“’m just a human.” You mumbled, leaning forward and pressing your face into his chest. Morpheus wrapped an arm around your back and hugged you closer.
“Perhaps, but you are my human,” Morpheus replied gently, his arms snaking around your body to gently pick you up and cradle your body in his arms. “And my human needs to sleep.”
“But— but—” You weakly protested.
“Y/N, we will talk later.” Morpheus spoke into your ear, his nose brushing against your messy and matted hair. “I wish for you to rest.”
“But I can’t...” Even as you drowsily spoke, you found yourself drifting off to sleep.
⸺⸺⸺⸺
“I am not above hitting you with this tome, Matthew,” You warned the cackling raven, hefting the heavy book up. Matthew hopped several paces away, getting out of hitting range as he reigned in his cackles.
“I’m sorry I just can’t,” The raven chortled. “Did you really not see it?”
“Clearly!” You snapped back, thumping the book down on the table. Your cheeks were blazingly hot. “But you don’t need to rub it in!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop, I’ll stop,” Matthew huffed. He still looked like he was struggling not to laugh. The raven added one last jab. “Your majesty.”
“MATTHEW!!!” The raven aired out another loud cackle and quickly flapped his wings to fly far, far away from you and your fuming state. You watched as his tail feathers disappeared. “Stupid bird.” You grumbled, your fingers scraping against the wood of the table. Arms slipped around your waist and a face nuzzled into your neck.
“Matthew teasing you again, my dream?” You huffed as your eye twitched and leaned back into Morpheus’s embrace.
“Your raven is asking for his feathers to be plucked.” You said grouchily, settling your hands against the ones that encompassed your waist.
“He’s happy that you are happy,” Your snorted in disagreement.
“That was morbidly embarrassing and I wish to erase that incident from my mind.” You bit out. Morpheus brushed his lips along your neck.
“Why? No mortal has ever been so brazen with their actions towards me yet entirely oblivious at the same time.” You groaned loudly, in complete misery from the repeated teasing you were bound to endure for eternity.
“I told you it was embarrassing! How was I supposed to know that giving you an apple was asking you to marry me?” Morpheus chuckled into your neck and pressed several kisses against your flesh.
“Embarrassment aside, it worked did it not?” With cheeks still burning hot, your eyes glanced down to your left hand where you had a set of rings wrapped around your ring finger. The main stone mounted on the engagement ring swirled in the color of Morpheus’s eyes and was a constant reminder of how you had blundered your way into a relationship with Dream of the Endless. An innocent offer of an apple had landed you on the throne of the realm you now resided in.
“This was not how I was expecting my second life to go.” You sighed out. “But seriously, Morpheus, get control of your raven before I cook him for dinner!”
Date Published: 10/2/22
Last Edit: 10/2/22
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