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Patton felt odd when awareness came back to him.
He was warm, not hot or cold, not humid or dry, just... pleasantly warm. He never felt this good when he woke up. This had to be a dream, it had been a while since he had had a dream at all, he was at least glad this was a lucid one.
His eyes were still closed, but as he slowly ‘woke up,’ he heard the sound of someone around and above him somewhere. He made no move to open his eyes or move, he didn’t want to miss any second of this feeling before the dream moved on to something else.
It had been so long since Patton had felt like this, and the rush of happiness that came from the comfort of the bed sheets and the soft bed and pillows that he felt around him was something he nearly weeped at feeling again.
He drifted for a bit, taking his time, before he finally heard something near him fall to the ground with a thud, hearing the fae, wait no he said his given name was Deceit, Deceit curse under his breath. Patton would’ve flinched in surprise and shock at the sound, but apparently even in dreams his conditioning was so strong he still didn’t react despite none of this being real.
He heard a smaller thud, likely whatever had fallen was being put back into place by Dream Deceit, before he felt the bed he was laid on being disturbed a little. He marveled at how realistic the sensations were. Even in the slight haze of the dream, the feeling was crisp and distinct. Patton listened as Dream Deceit spoke to him.
“I’m sorry Morality if I have awoken you, the drink must be wearing off right about now. Are you awake?” Patton noted how soft and genuine Dream Deceit’s voice was, which only served to remind Patton that all of this was a dream.
Patton sleepily opened his eyes in compliance, not because Dream Deceit demanded or ordered it, but because he thought he should try and see how true the dream was to reality.
And when he fully opened his eyes, he was not disappointed. Dream Deceit looked the same as Patton remembered in reality, except now he was wearing more comfy clothes, the formal dress gone and replaced by a soft hoodie looking get up and a soft pair of shorts that were a combination of black and yellow. The more formal yellow gloves were replaced by a pair of fingerless gloves that were a soft yellow. If this all wasn’t a dream, Patton would’ve been surprised at how informal Deceit was dressed. From the light slanting into the room, Patton knew it was still the same day in the dream, and in the back of his mind he wondered if his real body could still tell what time it was even in sleep.
But the main event always came back to his eyes, and dream Deceit did not disappoint. Patton’s eyes even in this dream were inexplicably drawn to Dream Deceit’s, and in Dream Deceit’s eyes, he finally saw emotions flitting behind his eyes.
Dream Deceit’s eyes looked so beautifully concerned, so genuine. Nothing like what Patton knew he would wake up to, he was probably already bound and maybe gagged, tied up to a post as Real Deceit waited for him to wake. He felt a residual jolt of fear as he remembered what happened after he had drank the drink, how his senses had dulled and he had spilled every thought he had about his capture.
He thanked his lucky stars Deceit hadn’t asked for his name, though he knew Glass would’ve come to stop him, he felt as if in that state he could’ve spilled it without a second thought before Glass could stop him.
All of that ran through his mind in the split second before he clumsily opened his mouth to respond.
“Yes, Dee, I’m awake.” Dream Deceit blinked in surprise at the nickname, and Patton watched the genuine emotions flood across Dream Deceit’s face unhindered, a far cry from Real Deceit’s iron clad facade and eyes.
Something about Dream Deceit’s face bothered Patton, and it wasn’t the general feeling humans had when looking at the unnatural appearance, it was something different, but Patton was too lost in the ebb and flow of Dream Deceit’s face as well as his ever deepening eyes to try and find out what.
“Did I wake you- I mean, startle you awake? The pot was very loud when it fell, I didn’t mean to startle you awake if it did.”
Patton raised his head up just enough to minutely shake his head, his voice cracking.
“No- no, no! It’s alright, I was ‘awake’ or at least more aware before that happened, I know you didn’t mean to.”
Dream Deceit’s eyes narrowed, his expression going from openly concerned to curiously concerned as he scrunched his eye brows together. He looked puzzled.
“You’re... taking this awfully well. I just- I just drugged you with a... I think humans call it a ‘truth serum,’ violating your privacy and forcing you to tell me things you didn’t want to tell me. And you’re okay with that?” Dream Deceit asked incredulously, and Patton was vaguely surprised to feel Dream Deceit clasp one of Patton’s hands in both of his.
It was Patton’s turn to be confused, cocking his head in confusion. Every denizen of Patton’s lucid dream world was always acute aware they were a part of Patton’s dream, it was odd that Dream Deceit apparently wasn’t.
“Well I know none of this is real, so why would I have to deal with the reality of what’s happening when I can let go for the short moments I am able to dream this deep. I’ll admit it’s been a long time since I’ve been comfortable enough to be back here, but you’re the only dream person I’ve met to not realize you’re a part of my dream.”
Dream Deceit fingers stuttered against Patton’s hand, faltering as Dream Deceit’s eyes widened, mouth gaping open. Patton again marveled at how fascinating and beautiful Dream Deceit’s face looked when he was freely expressing his emotions. The few times he had lucid dreamed of his ‘owners’ they had always been nice to him, as all his lucid dreams were, but even then their expression never strayed from what expressions Patton saw on their face.
Patton watched as Dream Deceit’s mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to do. But Dream Deceit suddenly paused, closing his mouth and looking to the side in thought, which perplexed Patton.
After a few seconds, Dream Deceit held tighter to Patton’s hand, but not painfully. Patton physically startled for the first time as he felt the warm sensation of fae magic humming against his palm as Dream Deceit held Patton’s hand.
Patton couldn’t fake that, even in his dreams the feeling of Fae Magic paled in comparison to the fleeting feelings of true and real magic.
That meant- I couldn’t be- This couldn’t be real!
Dream- Real- Deceit responds, voice merely a whisper as his magic hums against Patton’s hand, single tear leaking from Deceit’s eye, his voice sounding completely broken
“This isn’t a dream, Morality. This is real.”