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When Jed summoned Dream, he expected it was because the boy had been having nightmares again. He’d been making progress with the therapist Rose had found for him, but healing took time and wasn’t linear.
But no, it wasn’t because Jed was having nightmares.
“Look! They have Superman!”
It was because Jed wanted to drag him to a comic book store.
Dream stood awkwardly as Jed delightedly hurried towards the mentioned comics. He’d never set foot in a store like this. Modern day comics had been introduced while he was still in the Burgess’s basement, but Death had informed him that many people on Earth loved them. Including Jed, it seemed.
“Come on, Uncle Dream!” Jed called over his shoulder.
He silently followed Jed’s path, trying to keep an eye on where he was going. It was difficult with the amount of people in here; his sister had understated how many people liked comic books.
“Look, they’ve got an Iron Man cutout!” Jed pointed excitedly to a standee in the corner of a man wearing a full suit made of red and gold metal. “And a Red Hood costume!” Now it was a stand with a costume consisting of a dark brown coat and a blood red face mask. “This place is awesome!”
“It is… not what I was expecting,” Dream tried to say in a complimentary way.
“Have you ever been to a comic book store?” Jed asked curiously.
“No, I have not.”
“So you’ve never read a comic book?”
“I do not believe I have,”
Jed’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “Then we have to get you one too!”
“I do not need—”
“Come on! I know one that’s perfect for you!”
Jed grabbed his hand and all but dragged him away from the—what was it? He glanced at the colorful covers—Superman comic books, towards another section.
“I thought you wanted comics for yourself,” he remarked to Jed.
“Well yeah, I do. But we can get some for you too! You can’t live your whole life without reading comic books!”
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Dream’s mouth. “In that case, lead the way,”
An excited smile exploded across Jed’s face and he continued tugging Dream towards another section. This one featured covers of a man wearing a grey costume with a bat emblem on the chest, a black cape, and a black cowl over his eyes with ears. Certainly a darker feel than Superman.
Jed picked one up and showed it to him. “Here we go. This is Batman!”
Batman… it sounded interesting enough. “And what are his abilities?”
“That’s what makes him cool—he doesn’t have superpowers! He has a utility belt with all kinds of stuff and is really smart, like Sherlock Holmes! Ra’s al Ghul calls him “detective” because he’s so smart.”
“Really?” Dream mused half-interestedly as Jed handed him the comic.
“Yeah! I think you’d like him. He’s dark and mysterious like you!”
Dream gave the twelve-year-old a rather amused raised eyebrow. “I am dark and mysterious?”
“Well yeah. You brood a lot—that’s the word Rose uses when she talks about you. You brood, you always wear dark clothes like that guy Robbie at school, and you fight bad guys!” Jed suddenly snickered. “You even talk in a deep voice like him.” He spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. “I am vengeance. I am the night. I am the Sandman!”
That got Dream to crack a smile. Okay, if Jed insisted on seeing parallels between him and a fictional vigilante who leapt around in a costume and fought clownish villains… “Perhaps I should read Batman, if we’re so alike.”
It was worth it to see Jed’s excited grin reignite. “Awesome! You keep that, and I’ll get some for me!”
They ended up leaving the store with two bags full of comic books—mostly for Jed, and the one Batman comic for Dream. Jed looked all too excited to pay for them himself with money he’d saved up doing little jobs around his, Rose, and Lyta’s apartment building.
“Don’t you want your…” the cashier gave Dream a confused, hesitant look, “dad? To pay for them?”
“Oh, he’s not my dad,” Jed said, at the same time as Dream saying, “I’m not his dad.”
“That was awesome!” Jed said happily as they headed down the sidewalk. "I'm so glad we went!"
“Why call me to go with you?” Dream couldn’t help asking. “Surely Rose or Lyta would have accompanied you.”
“Rose is at her college class right now and Lyta’s working. And the babysitter didn’t want to leave while Daniel was taking a nap. So I called you!”
“I have duties to attend to, Jed,” Dream tried to say gently. He didn’t want Jed to get the wrong idea. “I cannot always go places with you.”
“I know, but…” Jed glanced around, then leaned closer. “Can you keep a secret?” Dream nodded. “I was kind of… nervous to go.”
“Why nervous?”
“Because… I haven’t gotten comics in forever. Dad never wanted to go and… and Uncle Barnaby never let me go anywhere besides school. And I’ve been trying to make friends like Neil keeps telling me to, but…”
Dream assumed Neil was the therapist Jed had been seeing. “It is difficult to return to normal after so much,” he finished in understanding.
Jed nodded. “Yeah. Neil said it might help to start doing things I used to like again,” he held up his bag, “like reading comic books. But… but I didn’t know if anyone would wanna go with me. So I thought you would go with me, because… you’ve been locked in a basement too.”
Dream’s heart clenched with sympathy. It was a shame the Corinthian had killed Barnaby before he could get to him. He’d seen too many children have nightmares about cruel men like him. “Jed,” he placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “I am honored you wanted me to go with you. But I am certain if you asked your sister or your new friends, they will go with you in the future. Trying to heal and move forward is daunting, but there are people in your life who care about you and will be with you. You need only reach out to them.” He’d certainly learned that himself. “And you will always be able to seek comfort in your dreams.”
Jed thought about his words. “I guess that makes sense.” He looked up at Dream. “Thanks for coming with me, Uncle Dream.”
Dream smiled at him. “You’re welcome,”
Jed suddenly threw his arms around him in a hug. After a moment of hesitation, Dream returned it, reveling in how easily humans like Jed gave such affection.
“We’d better get you home before your sister or Lyta returns,” he said when Jed pulled away (to his secret disappointment).
“Yeah, we probably should.” Jed laughed as they set off down the street again. “Lyta’ll probably think you kidnapped me.”
“Technically, you kidnapped me,”
“I can’t kidnap anyone,” Jed said innocently. “I’m only a child.”
“Of course,”
Later on, when Lucienne entered Dream’s throne room and found him engrossed in the Batman comic book, she raised a curious eyebrow but said nothing.