Chapter Text
Dream of the Endless had many things to attend to. But he had been neglecting some of them in order to ponder over other people’s dreams. Over one person’s dreams, to be more precise.
He had been extremely busy collecting his tools so he could save the Dreaming. And then, he was rather occupied with preventing the Dreaming from falling apart. Now that everything seemed to be right again, he had work to do, dreams and nightmares to create. But he was not spending as much time as he would like doing those things. Simply because he was interested in the dreams of Johanna Constantine.
She had been dreaming about him. And he was intrigued.
Constantine seemed to have the idea that he was in her dreams and, although she was somewhat right, it was not in the way she imagined. He was present in her dreams, yes, but he was not interacting with her in them.
And she was not aware of it.
The content of her dreams were pointing to the premise that she was interested in him. And that this idea was reciprocated.
To say Morpheus was amused would be an understatement. The perception skills Johanna Constantine had were incredibly accurate, and she has gotten this hypothesis only by watching them talk to each other in a dream that resembled their last conversation.
He did find her interesting. And attractive, for that matter. However, he did not believe it to be wise to initiate any type of relationship with her.
Her latest dream, the one where she tried to kiss him—not him, per se, but the image of him constructed in the dream—was quite entertaining. It surprised him when his duplicate did not correspond to Constantine’s advances. In spite of him not considering their involvement something he would in fact pursue, he was not interfering directly in her actions or with his double’s responses. He was simply letting her lead the way and do whatever she pleased.
That only meant that, if her acts were denied, it was only because of her own subconscious. For some reason he did not fully comprehend, Johanna Constantine thought he would reject her.
She had no clue she was utterly wrong.
Some part of him almost felt like it was his duty to make things right, but then he would be going against what he thought was the correct thing to do, which was nothing, in this case.
Perhaps the most appropriate thing to do was to let Johanna Constantine reach her own conclusions.
The only conclusion Johanna Constantine had reached was that she was losing her mind over a sad, emo guy who didn’t deserve her attention and probably didn’t even remember her existence.
She hadn’t dreamed about him anymore. But it was not like she was trying to. She truly thought it would be better if the whole thing was forgotten, since it hadn’t done her any good.
It only left her feeling lonely and horny.
So she decided to meet other people. She went to pubs, got drunk and found someone she could take home, have some fun with and never see again.
It was nice and it helped. She wasn’t feeling as bad, but she wasn’t feeling her best either.
She wanted to set things right somehow, get some closure, maybe. It didn’t make a lot of sense, since she and Morpheus barely knew each other. But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel some sort of connection the night they met.
Maybe talking to him one last time would help? She wasn’t completely sure, but she had to do something, because even though she wasn’t mad anymore, it was still unfinished business. And yes, she could ignore it for the rest of her life, but it would still bother her somehow, even if she didn’t show it.
So she decided she would try to dream about him again. She managed to do it before, so it shouldn’t be that hard. This time, though, she seemed to be making this more difficult for herself. She was dreaming about literally anything else but Morpheus. And that was annoying as fuck.
Her best attempt was when she dreamed about his raven, Matthew, and tried talking to him.
“Matthew,” she’d called. “I need you to send a message to your boss for me. Tell him I need to talk to him, alright?”
But the bird didn’t answer, so she had no clue if it worked or not.
She kept trying, but each night that she didn’t remember her dreams or that she simply dreamed of something else got her feeling disappointed, like it wouldn’t work. Maybe Dream was doing it on purpose, just to mess with her. So, she stopped trying. It was probably a sign for her to forget about this closure she thought she needed.
But the Lord of Dreams thought differently.
Johanna woke up in a room she had never been before. She didn’t remember trying to get there. Hell, she didn’t even recall getting out of bed. So that meant she was dreaming. Great, another pointless dream she didn’t ask for.
“But you did,” a voice said behind her, and she realized she had probably said that last bit out loud.
She recognized it immediately and turned to see Morpheus standing a few steps away from her.
“Fuck, you’re really hard to find, you know that?” She asked, trying to scold him, but in reality she was kind of relieved.
He didn’t answer that. Instead, he stared at her with such intensity that made her almost forget why she was there in the first place.
“I wanted to talk to you,” she explained, not really sure how to bring up the last dream she had about him.
The truth was that she hadn’t planned how this would go. She just wanted to talk to him, but she wasn’t sure which words to say. I’m sorry for trying to kiss you? Why didn’t you kiss me back? That was so childish. Maybe it was all a mistake, maybe she should just go and pretend this never happened.
She was better than that, though.
“I feel like I got the wrong idea from you that time we met in the Waking world,” she started. Yeah, that was good. “I got the impression that, um, you awkwardly flirted with me?” She frowned, not sure how to keep going.
“Awkwardly?” He repeated, taking one step closer. “I thought I was rather obvious,” he admitted.
Johanna didn’t move. “Well, I still figured it out. But honestly, you were a bit rusty. It was still a good attempt, though,” she added, trying to make him feel better. “Considering everything.”
He seemed to know she was talking about the time he’d been away, which would explain why he wasn’t on top of his game when it came to flirting. Not that she had any idea if he was good at it, but anyways.
“And I can assume you were doing the same,” he stated. Not questioned, stated. Smug bastard.
“Now you listen to me,” she said, raising her voice and closing the remaining distance between their bodies. It was like all that rage from what happened was coming back. “You don’t get to do what you did and then be all pretentious about it.”
“And what do you think I have done?” he asked, almost smirking.
She was going to slap that pretty face.
“You got some nerve,” she crossed her arms. “You really don’t know? Or you’re just playing dumb?”
“How dare you imply such a thing about the Lord of Dreams?” He inquired, but his tone wasn’t harsh or anything, just amused.
“Well, you’re the one avoiding my questions,” she shrugged. “And do you really talk about yourself in the third person? That is weird.”
“You are not asking the right question, Constantine,” he said, ignoring her last comment.
Fuck.
She hated him.
“Fine,” she said, exasperated. “I tried to kiss you and you rejected me.”
“That is not a question.”
Johanna let out an incredulous laugh. She didn’t have time for games.
“You know what? Forget it. I’m done here.”
She turned, not really sure where to go. But before she could decide, she felt his hand firmly grabbing her arm, turning her back so they could look at each other once more. This time, though, the distance between them was practically nonexistent.
“I would never have done that,” he confessed, eyes locked on hers.
“But you did!” She wasn’t sure if she whispered or shouted, but she knew he heard her.
“Constantine,” he began. “I was aware of your dreams but I was not in them in the way that you think,” he explained. “It was not me, but a constructed image of me projected by you.”
Johanna tried to take a step back but she felt like she might lose her balance, so she gripped his arm instead, staying in place.
“So you’re saying you watched me make a fool of myself in front of not only you but some hotter version of you that I created?” She was in shock. “That shit is even more embarrassing than I thought.” She wanted to hide her face in her hands but she also didn’t want to let go of his arm. It grounded her somehow.
Morpheus made a face. Probably because of her comment on his appearance—which was a joke, because she resorted to humor as a coping mechanism—but for some unknown reason, he decided to let it slide.
“Yes,” he answered, and she was not sure what he was referring to. “I was only trying to be mindful of your wishes,” he clarified. “It was not my place to intrude.”
Johanna scoffed. “But it was!”
Dream looked like was getting impatient, because of what she didn’t know. “I was only letting your dreams take place, I was not responsible for what you wanted to fantasize about. You were.”
Johanna considered what he’d said. Maybe her first hypothesis was right, after all. Her brain was the one calling all the shots. And, if that were true, she was the one to blame for the whole kiss fiasco. Damn. Does that mean that, subconsciously, she was afraid of Dream of the Endless not finding her hot? That was kind of weird, but considering the circumstances of their first encounter it made sense. She had just lost Rachel, for fuck’s sake. She didn’t want to lose anyone else. Even someone she barely had any association with.
“Yeah,” she finally said. “I guess that checks out. But just to make things clear,” she added, “you could’ve… interfered, if you wanted, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ouch,” she said, pretending to look hurt. “So you admit you didn’t want to interfere. Which is contradictory, since you just told me you wouldn’t have done… that,” she finished, not wanting to mention what happened out loud ever again.
“I did not think it would be prudent to do so,” was his answer.
“And why is that?” She demanded, finally letting him go to put her hands on her waist, in an attempt to look like she was in control. Which she 100% was.
“You do not want this, truly,” he said, and that pissed her off, because how dare he presume what she wants?
“You know,” she started, “for someone who’s supposed to be the King of the Dreaming, you’re not very sharp when it comes to other people’s dreams.”
That seemed to strike a nerve. “Are you implying I am not fit to rule my own kingdom?”
“No, not at all,” Johanna condescendingly said. “I’m just saying that you should’ve paid attention to what I was dreaming of.” She gave him a moment. “It was you. I was dreaming about you, so that actually means you’re wrong to assume what you just assumed.”
She could see his lips twitching to form the glimpse of a small smile before he questioned her. “And are you certain of that?” She nodded, putting her hands around his neck while eliminating the distance between them once again.
“I believe you owe me a kiss, Dream King.”
She didn’t have to say it twice. A second later his lips were crashing against hers and she felt her body melt when he put his hands on her waist, bringing her closer to him, if that was even possible. She pressed her short nails against the back of his neck, deepening the kiss.
They stayed like that for a while before she broke the kiss to confess something. “You know, when I tried to kiss you and you didn’t kiss me back, I thought it was because you didn’t really know how to do it.”
It was his time to scoff. “I believe I just proved you wrong.”
“Um, I don’t know,” she teased. “I’m not totally convinced. Maybe you should try it again, just so I can be sure,” she told him with a not so serious expression on her face.
He had the audacity to roll his eyes, which made her gasp in indignation. She was about to complain when he shut her up with another kiss.
It was funny how she was ready to end it all, even though there was nothing to end in the first place. But now she couldn’t think of anything she would rather be doing other than kissing the Lord of Dreams.
Actually, she had something else in mind. She could only hope he wouldn’t try to stop her this time.