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Rose walker hadn't initially noticed that The King of Dreams reacted to the world around him more than she thought he did.
Probably because to begin with, she was petrified of him.
After everything that happened to her it made sense. When she encountered that towering pale man she was too busy watching his hands and planning escape paths in her head to pay attention to his face.
Rose knew that Morpheus didn't intend to hurt her or even scare her nowadays. He was reluctant to killing things in general. It simply went against what he was. He had promised she was safe with him and somehow that promise had more weight to it than if somebody else had said the same thing.
Morpheus didn't have the air of a being that lied often.
This still couldn't help the fear in the back of her mind. She had done her best to lock it away along with the rest of her haunting experiences. But there is only so much you can bottle up.
Of course Rose could recognise the obvious expressions on Morpheus, it was easy enough because he was the one deliberately making them clear.
Though instead seeming more open, when Morpheus was decidedly making expression himself, he only managed at adding to his stony exterior.
At some point in the weeks after what Rose hoped was the most eventful part of her life, her desire for the truth overcame her simmering fear and she had chased the elusive Sandman down in her sleep. She had demanded answers to her questions, revealing in Lord Morpheus' bemused expression at her finding her way into his throne room, again.
Primarily she wanted to know what had changed? After Unity spoke of a man with golden eyes the king of dreams had treated her differently. First of all he had finally left her family alone.
Then she noticed that he hadn't.
Jed had told her about seeing the king of nightmares in his dreams again. Apparently he was fun to play with when he infrequently showed up. Rose noticed Morpheus awkwardly liger when he did once cross her path. And Matthew kept her company on lonely days, that was more out of the raven's own choice though.
Once he had even offered Rose an umbrella to escape the British weather and only after he had disappeared did she realise it was Morpheus in the first place.
She still has that umbrella.
Why was he doing this? It wasn't to do with Lyta. Rose had mentioned Dream once around her and she had joked about almost managing to forget him for once. But for Rose he was always somewhere in her mind. Why did he have a vested interest in her and Jed but avoided her other family the best he could.
The king of dreams clarified that it had nothing to do with the vortex, that was over, and instead it had all to do with personal matters.
Demanding him explain himself for once Rose noticed for the first time, a hint that there was more to Dream than just his stoic face.
He had shyly looked away from her and explained how they were related. He picked at his fingers and sleeves whilst he tried to avoid talking about his detainment. He did such a good job at avoiding that part, she still wasn't entirely sure what it meant but knew it had caused the sleepy sickness. Then Morpheus glared daggers at his own shoes when he talked about his sibling taking advantage of his absence.
Due to Morpheus' seeming inability to answer a direct question Rose didn't have the full picture. Clearly it was hard for him to talk about his capture, even if he didn't want her to think so.
What she had understood however was that they were family.
Just the thought that she still had family overjoyed her. One loss after another had weighed on her heart but knowing that this personification of sleep would most definitely outlive her was comforting somehow. Finally she and Jed had a related family member that wouldn't leave unless they asked him too.
Learning you were the great grandchildren of a god, or Endless as Morpheus had said, was cool too. Perhaps the sentiment that her endless great grandparent was willing to risk her life to get at their brother dampened the idea of it a bit. She didn't know if that would affect her life more than it already had but in that moment it hadn't matted.
It was nice realising that this whole time The Lord of stories had only been attempting to make an effort to be in his family's lives. It put a smile on her lips. Suddenly the pale man clad in long black clothes, who likes to lurk in the peripheral of her dreams, was a lot less scary.
Apparently her reaction baffled The Lord Morpheus. He had seemed afraid of admitting the truth, reasonably. To be honest he was probably right to be confused by her response. Being pleased that the man who would have killed you was your family was definitely not predictable.
It just felt like pain she was carrying had risen from her. A few things made just a little more sense. She was relieved to have him.
Only after Rose had learnt she and Jed got to call lord Morpheus, great grand uncle, was she able to reassess how she paid attention to him.
Dream's visits were like organised chaos. Usually he had a lot to do and couldn't stay too long. Other times he would meet Rose at the library or help retrieve her brother after school. She found out he was very skittish when he knew Rose' friends or adopted family were close by. Dream preferred meeting outside the house so if they had the time but not location they would meet in the garden instead of inside.
Morpheus struggled the most at hiding his confusion.
Rose got to know that expression quickly. If Dream didn't understand something his eyebrows would pinch together and his starry eyes would swim as he did his best to figure out what he had misunderstood without asking for a hint.
Rose enjoyed not elaborating on things when she noticed him making this subtle face of his. It felt like giving Dream a taste of his own medicine and he desperately needed to learn its flavour.
He was better at showing his joy. His smiles were fleeting things. As if after the fact he remembers showing he was happy would ruin everything so would drop smiles as fast as he made them. He had been very slowly unlearning that habit, just for the brother and sister. Mostly the corners of his mouth had started to remain slightly upturned when he listened to them talk.
Beyond that Jed was good at making him laugh. When Dream spoke it felt like his words had gravity and his laughter, when it wasn't in the form of a huff, was similarly meaningful.
Rose's great grand uncle wasn't much good at communicating. Usually only saying the things he thought were important. But he was getting better at asking the basic questions to show he was engaged. In exchange Rose had taken it upon herself to communicate his way a bit more. He liked to tell a story or experience related to the subject and liked when she would tell her own in response.
Morpheus also either made too much eye contact or did all he could to avoid it when she and him spoke together. He managed this problem more when he spoke to people that could read him less but when he was feeling feelings he preferred to look away from anyone who might see his face.
Though, If you asked him to look at you, Dream of the Endless was too proud to admit he didn't want to and would have his eyes on you again.
Sometimes Rose thought he didn't realize he did this when they talked.
Then somewhere along the line she stopped asking him to look at her if he didn't want to. Because her uncle wasn't trying to be rude, he just had troubles with it sometimes. It's not like he wasn't listening.
Most people are good at hiding their sadness, Dream was no different. If those emotions roiled enough to break his surface it only showed in the slightest of eye movements or in his stillness.
There were times he visited and was clearly in a bitter mood. No matter how much he put up his front, his little niece and nephew could see it.
He visited when he was like that because he just wanted to have their company and would quite happily stew in his thoughts silently out of the way while the siblings lived their lives around him.
It got easier for Dream to do this once he was more comfortable coming inside the house.
Seeing him clumsily perch himself on their sofa was always entertaining, even if it meant something was wrong and he wasn't going to talk about it. Morpheus liked to press himself into the same left corner against the armrest every single time and pull his knees up so his legs were out of the way in case anyone wanted to get past. It was very considerate even though he sits like an agitated cat flicking its tail. The thing that amused Rose about it so much was that he always respectfully took his shoes off before doing so.
Clearly Dream hadn't forgotten the first time Jed had dutifully told their uncle that shoes shouldn't be on furniture. He had apologized and removed them.
The personification of dreams in her living room wasn't very good at relaxing.
Learning these things about their uncle didn't take forever. The family had built their new relationship out of trust and therefore they attempted to be open with each other. Rose and Jed had an easier route than most to the heart of the dreaming itself. This way they found Morpheus was far more human than he himself realized.
He loved them. He just didn't know how to say it out loud. Rose knew he was scared to.
The last thing she noticed was that Morpheus flinched.
That was ok, some people didn't like fast movement.
But first of all he was the magical endless personification of the human experience of sleep or whatever and second… she had seen that kind of flinching before.
From Jed. He didn't react this way much anymore because now he knew he was safe with Rose and his family. But after going through what he had, it was understandable that a possibly violent movement would cause him to tense up.
What abuse had her great grand uncle Dream possibly have had to endure to make him fear touch the way he did?
What had happened to make him instinctively curl up into himself when a door accidentally gets stamped or something goes clattering to the ground or a hand is raised too fast or a voice is raised?
Why did Matthew tap at the window for her but never for Morpheus?
Why would he pull away any moment they were close? He trusted them and yet he always managed to be out of range somehow. He retreated from touch as if it would hurt him.
Sometimes Dream forgot he was allowed to breathe and would go a while before taking in air again.
Jed had told Rose once that he was terrible at hugging.
'He goes stiff!' the kid had said. She was inclined to believe him because she had noticed the way Dream bristled if he was surprised by contact.
On a few unique chases Rose had held his hand and after a while felt him attempt to stifle the way his cold fingers shook inside her palms.
The young woman did want to know why he was like this, what had caused it, but was also aware that this kind of thing comes from a deep hurt. From a place where you lose your faith in human nature and dragging up such a wound can do a lot more damage than good if that person isn't ready to face it.
And her great grand uncle Dream was still so out of touch with his own feelings.
Rose did get her answers.
Sadly not on Dream's terms but perhaps it was always inevitably going to go down like this.
Dream hadn't had a lot of free time at the moment but tonight he had made the effort to keep Rose company whilst she worked on a draft for her next book. It was just them. Sat next to each other at the kitchen island with the lights dim. Everyone else was either asleep or staying with friends for a couple nights.
Despite being related to the lord of stories Rose had been facing writer's block for the past half an hour and it was obvious she was being obvious about it because not even looking her way, Dream eventually spoke up.
"You should take a break. Powering through the kind of problem you're facing will not work. You have no deadline. You do have time to think." His words, despite the way he muttered them, were clear. And Rose got his message. To anyone listening to him speak Morpheus could have seemed like he was giving an order. Something in Dream's voice still carried its kingly tone, even around his family.
Rose wasn't anyone though, she knew this was the way he spoke to Matthew when the raven had flown for too long or how he tried to gently request something without sounding demanding. He was working on that at least.
The young woman breathed a drawn out sigh and reclined back in her chair, sliding her hand down her laptop to close it.
"Haven't you read my next book by now? Is that how your library works? Can't you just tell me how to get over it." Rose got to her feet and put her hands on her hips,"come on king of dreams, inspire me." Rose couldn't contain her own smirk when she noticed the sly smile that her uncle had inexplicably gained. Chuckling, she stepped passed him over to the kitchen sink.
"You don't need my help Rose Walker-"
"Dream…" She cut in accusingly.
"Apologies. Rose. You have plenty of talent as it is. And no I have not read your book. I over all want it to be a surprise as I am most excited for when you finish it." Was that a hint of pride in his voice? It was hard to tell without seeing his eyes.
"Alright, sure. I guess I don't want it spoiled either. Pass me my glass? I'm gonna have some water."
Complying, her great grand uncle gently picked up her cup and halved the distance between them smoothly. However, Dream misjudged his niece's grip on the glass, letting go of it too soon.
it shattered at his feet.
Whilst Rose herself jumped in surprise, her uncle went completely rigid. "Damn it!" she exclaimed and chuckled a little. "I hope that didn't wake up Daniel." She playfully smiled up at Dream but quickly dropped it when she realised he wasn't looking at her.
He hardly looked like he was seeing anything at all. His eyes suddenly glazed and wet, red around the edges and lips were parted just slightly. The world around them had gone cold and still. Rose thought even the air had stopped moving. In fact it had. Morpheus wasn't breathing anymore. He didn't need to but that wasn't the point.
"Woah it's ok it's just a dropped glass. No harm done." By instinct the young woman reached out to him but the violent way he cowered back from her hand's advance surprised her. He coiled up like a cat on high alert.
Everything Dream did was thought out, this wasn't.
"Uncle?" He wasn't reacting to her. Wait, was he shaking? Woah hold on had her uncle's mind gone somewhere else? Was he seeing something else reach for him?
She didn't know lord Morpheus was prone to attacks of this kind but had there been a time he wasn't safe? Has it had a lasting effect? This didn't look like comforting Jed after a nightmare about rats. This was a full blown PTSD caused panic attack or something similar. She had seen them happen to her brother, she can recognize them in her uncle.
Rose almost wanted to call someone for help. Who? She didn't know. It wasn't in her power to reach people in the dreaming. Nobody she knew would be awake or fully know what was going on. On top of that, after everything she had learnt of her great grand uncle, Rose also knew he would never want to be seen like this by anyone, even family.
"Uncle? Can you hear me?" She tried to stay calm. "Morpheus, I need you to focus on me. Only me. Can you do that?" Rose would have liked nothing more than to grab him if it weren't for his flinching. It took more calling his name before he finally noticed her through his wet eyelashes.
God she really thought knew how much it would hurt to see her family like this. There was agony swimming in the shadow of his eyes and painted on his cheeks with tears that Rose hadn't noticed Dream shed. In his complete silence, Dream seemed so ethereal, so distant.
Just as slowly as her uncle's eyes had moved to her, Rose lifted up her warm hands to his sheet white face. Whilst he didn't pull away he did flinch harshly when she made contact but she stayed steady and wiped under his eyes with her thumbs.
One cold hand lifted to hold hers against his skin "I was there again Rose." Morpheus had never spoken to her with such fear in his voice.
Rose didn't know where 'there' was but hopefully she had the power to stop him going back. "No. You are here with me. Ok Morpheus? You are here. Your home."
That carefully crafted wall Rose had been learning to look through now crumbled to sand at her words.
Dream drew down into himself as the dam broke. He was sobbing into her hands on his cheeks and his own empty hand was curling upward, looking for something to hold. So Rose pulled her great grand uncle into an embrace she hoped he would understand as comfort.
It was unexpectedly easy to move him close to her body. Whilst he was definitely physical and there with her, he was so light. Like picking up an empty water bottle with too much force because you expect it to be full.
For the first time in her life Rose stood taller than Dream, and she hated it. He held so close onto her as if she was a shield.
He clung to her like she was going to disappear. He soaked her in as if she was sunlight and he melted in her arms like he was wax. He cried out in torment she would never understand and begged her to not let go of him, afraid he would be forgotten. Dream's whole form shook from his chest when he cried out that he never wanted to hurt her. A confession Rose had heard before but in such a pathetic state… the gravity of his pained words ran heavy in Rose's brain. Was this a regret he wrestled with a lot? Was the past she thought he had put behind them still a source of guilt? It must have been, if it came to the surface when so much else was plaguing him.
"I know Dream. It's ok. You're ok. I'm safe and so are you, it's alright now." He only gripped her tighter.
As time passed not much changed. Rose didn't expect it to, these things take time. He couldn't stifle his crying and Rose didn't tell him to.
Instead she found them both a spot on the floor to wait it out. She tried not to cry as well when she tugged Dream a little and he whimpered in her embrace. She pulled them close to a wall to sit against, still trying to sooth her uncle.
Every one of her movements made him tense then cling closer to her. Allowing his little niece to feel him shake in her arms. The Endless was putting his trust in her, she knew, believing that she wouldn't break it.
Rose's attempts at comforting Dream left her sitting with her back against a wall, her uncle curled up into her right side holding onto her middle. Her left hand was cradling him as if it could protect from everything and her other hand was running up and down his back.
Even through the dark coat Dream refused to take off she felt the notches of his spine.
That feeling brought her mind to one thought. Malnutrition. Or starvation. Not completely, more like he had been very slowly recovering from it but the thought still dropped her stomach, made her cold for a moment.
If Rose's hand wandered to his ribs would she feel the spaces between them?
Why was her endless great grand uncle Dream recovering from malnourishment? She knows Morpheus. She knows he would never do this to himself. He was stupid but not not that sort of stupid. Dream's condition often had effects on the dreaming and who knows what starving himself would have done. Rose knew he wouldn't do that to his dreamers deliberately.
Oh dear.
If a bad mood could cause a cloudy day in the dreaming Rose feared the weather Dream's subjects must surely be dealing with right now.
In her time thinking, Rose started wondering about Morpheus' mention of being captured. It was only ever discussed when Unity and the sleep sickness was. If his 'detainment' was what caused Unity to sleep for over one hundred years….
How would they keep him?
Dream was alway so hard to keep track of, surely to keep him locked up you would have to refuse him access to anything.
It must have been exactly that…
God.
"Was it the sound of shattering that upset you?" She asked decidedly not looking down at Dream.
Pressed into her side the way he was made him feel so small. After he hesitated, he nodded against her. She hadn't been expecting him to but dream drew in a shuddering breath to speak. "They kept me from my powers with a spell and captured my body in a glass."
A century in a glass prison?
Rose blew a breath out of her nose and thumped her head against the wall at her back. What was she supposed to say to that? His captors must have been the ones starving him.
Dream's hold on her had loosened just a little at her reaction and she realised even now he didn't understand that she wasn't blaming him.
"I'm not mad at you! you idiot!… no I'm sorry now's not the time for that. You aren't stupid or at fault here. Bad things happen for no reason. Worse things happen because of others. I would never be upset at you for something mankind did to its guardian. You are allowed to have trauma. It's terrible but that's just how it works. You don't just wake up feeling ok one day. I don't care if you think this is something you are meant to be above. Nobody should be expected to just be ok after something like that. No animal, person, god or endless. If Unity woke up when you were freed, then you have been loose for less than half a year. That's not a lot of time to recover." Rose tried to explain her frustration to him. Ran her hand up his back once more and then found a place in his hair. Her great grand uncle's perpetual bed head wasn't soft, more glossy like Matthew's feathers.
Better than greasy she thought.
Feeling Dream hug tighter to her again was nice. He got her message. Whether he was too tired to argue against it or just agreed was something she would find out later or not at all. Rose was ok with that she thought.
They stayed like that, on the kitchen floor, for a good while longer. Even after Morpheus' breathing stabilised and his hands stopped quivering and his eyes fully focused and Rose began to feel sleepy. Their spot on their ground had never felt so comfortable. Now, when his niece shifted, Dream didn't unwillingly whine, instead he pressed his weight into her touch when she rested her hand on his form. Distantly, Rose wondered if her uncle knew he was doing that, or if in a similar fashion to avoiding eyes, he just couldn't help it.
"Rose, I-"
"Shut up Morpheus. You don't have to, not if you don't want. I'm also tired, your voice would put me to sleep and then you would have to explain again later anyway. I'll still be here to listen when you are ready." She felt the lightest huff come from her uncle.
Rose did eventually fall asleep on the floor like that. Neither of them had indicated they wanted to move and so they stayed.
In the morning though, she woke up in her bed.
Checking the kitchen showed the shattered glass on the floor was gone and on the countertop, a filled cup had been left out for her. It made her want to chuckle and also sigh, so she did both.
"I never did get my water did I…"
Rose didn't see Dream for a while after. She got her inspiration back and her sleeping was peaceful. If anyone asked where her uncle was she did what she always had, shrugged and said he was busy. And eventually he started dropping by again.
Neither of them said anything about that night and she was ok with that. Soon enough the regular status quo had returned.
Almost.
There was a clear, more airy feeling to spending time with Dream. As if tension had gone from their interactions.
Rose started to notice that Dream of the Endless had become a lot more receptive to touching, for her at least. Nothing other people would really pick up on, but he stopped sharpening at contact, even initiating his own. Her uncle's preference for lots of personal space had become a little more negotiable, meaning Rose was allowed to freely hug him or ruffle his hair.
Morpheus even took the shape of a big black cat when others were home, he liked observing, he had said. But Rose knew that at the end of a hard day he would make himself comfortable on his niece's lap. Honestly she shouldn't have been surprised.
Rose had slowly started replacing her glasses with the shatterproof sort.