Work Text:
Lucienne could not find any good reason why Lord Morpheus had decided to skulk about her library this morning, but it was beginning to test even her infamously impressive patience.
The dream lord had arrived bright and early, asking permission to have his use of the books in the library, and of course Lucienne had agreed. Next, he'd needed her help finding several of the aforementioned books, and of course Lucienne had obliged in searching the books out and retrieving them for him.
But then he'd given her one of his infamous mopey looks, and declared these weren't the books he was looking for after all, and he needed others. Lucienne had smiled and replaced the books to their places, dutifully searched for the new ones, and delivered them to him. But just as she had regained her seat in her office, picked up her pen to continue her work, Dream swept into the room after her without knocking first or announcing himself.
"Lucienne."
She looked up from her spread of freshly inked paperwork; the reports of their most recent census were sprawled around her in terrible need of organization. "Sir."
"This is not the book I believed it would be, either," he declared, holding the offending book toward her with something nearing contempt, as if it had bitten him. "I will need another."
Numbers and figures screamed for Lucienne's immediate attention, but the scowl on Lord Morpheus' face warned her against arguing with him. Still, she dared: "Might you find the book yourself, my Lord?"
The King of Dreams raised an eyebrow, finally seeming to register his surroundings. He took in her desk, covered in papers, and the two open books propped in front of her. And then, finally, his eyes met hers, intense gaze softening ever so slightly. "If you are busy, Lucienne, you have only to say so."
Lucienne let out a relieved sigh. Progress! Her dream lord was learning, finally. She smiled up at him, folding her hands over one of her papers. "Thank you my Lord, I *am* quite busy at the moment. This census will be our largest report ever, and I must compile it carefully."
Dream bowed his head to her. "Continue with your work then, Lucienne. I will find the books I require for myself."
For a few thrilling moments, Lucienne was able to work in blissful silence, her analytical mind humming as she organized and transcribed, setting order to chaos.
But then she heard Merv's cheerful voice as he greeted Lord Morpheus, and only moments later, the two of them were having a full conversation just outside of her office. She did her best to ignore the noise and focus on her work, but then she heard a familiar flutter of wings, and Matthew's voice as well.
Lucienne tried, she truly did, but the threads of her concentration had been broken. The names and numbers before her seemed to swim about, taunting her, and she felt helpless to put them to rights... at least for as long as there was so much noise in the library.
Finally, she could no longer endure it. She pushed up from her desk and stepped out of her office. With the power and authority that only a librarian will ever possess, Lucienne placed a finger to her lips and gave a mighty "shush!"
Dream’s eyes widened and his lips parted in surprise, but at least the library fell dead silent. Lucienne gave the three of them a little nod, and spun on her heel. She needed a book for her work, anyway, and it would offer her an excuse to avoid her office until the jolly visitors could find a new location for their morning chat.
Somewhere deep in the stacks, Lucienne ran her fingers along book spines of varying ages, searching for one in particular. She could no longer hear conversation taking place in the library, which meant her shush had been a success, no matter how startling it had been for everyone involved. Good. Everything was as it should be.
Casting her eyes up, Lucienne spotted the book she needed on a shelf high above her head. She stood on tiptoe to attempt to retrieve it, but sighed when she couldn't quite reach. She would need to find a ladder.
Before she could make a move, though, Lucienne felt the presence of Lord Morpheus behind her. He stood almost close enough to touch, and extended his arm past her to reach up and easily snatch the book she needed. His arm dropped again, holding the book in offering, but he didn't move away from her. Lucienne found herself suddenly unable to pull in a full breath, trapped between him and the stacks.
"Did you... *shush* me?" Dream's voice was so close to her ear that she shivered. She had long toyed with little fantasies of a moment like this, silly dreams of her own, but had never dared to expect any of them to come true. She did her best to calm her breathing, to control her face, to not look too surprised, or too-
Lucienne turned slowly and looked up at him. For a moment, she forgot about the census, about the shushing incident, even about the library they stood in. She swallowed hard and met his gaze, finding him smug and amused, once again perfectly aware of what he was doing to her, even before a blush crept up her face.
"I did," she said at last, trying to sound confident but finding it much harder now that he was so close to her. This close, it was hard to think of anything but the magnetism of his eyes, drawing her in like a siren call, and that damned raised eyebrow.
"Well then, Lucienne," he said, his voice soft, almost a purr. Standing this close, Lucienne could *feel* his voice throughout her entire being, low and treacherously seductive. Goosebumps danced over her skin, setting off another shiver. "This may be my realm, but you are the queen of this library. And only a fool of a king would disobey his queen."
For a few more dangerous seconds, he remained there, stealing her breath, but then finally her dream lord handed her the book he held and stepped back. He bowed his head to her and swept away, the length of his jacket seeming to whisper around his feet as he moved.
Lucienne let out her breath, leaning back against the bookshelf for support as she tried to process what had just happened. Her mind raced with the implications of such an encounter, and she found herself nervously straightening her clothes, attempting to put herself back in order. She could not afford to be flustered, of course; she needed to return to her work. There was so much to do, and now she would have the peace and quiet to do it.
But as she returned finally to her office, with a spring in her step, Lucienne could only determine one thing for certain: She needed to try shushing Lord Morpheus again sometime.