Chapter Text
Morpheus floats in a sea of black. Not a pinprick of light. Not a whisper of sound. No living soul he can sense. Was this the dreaming? Has he been cast into another abyss by his mother to think about his decisions? Had he visited her last? He can't recall. How vexing....The times he is trapped in such a predicament as this is when something has ripped him from his domain and he has lost his items of power. Morpheus reaches up a hand to feel for his ruby but, as he feared, it is gone.
The Endless is interrupted from his thoughts when he hears a sultry southern drawl echo in the abyss.
"Time to wake up, darling."
Morpheus opens his eyes, the dark vanishing and becoming the harsh lit world of the waking. He finds himself loosely curled up inside a glass sphere hung above the ground. His clothing and possessions are gone, as they were in the abyss, and the Endless was alarmed to find he could not remember how he came to be in this situation. Morpheus slowly uncurls and sits up, giving himself a moment to take in his surroundings. In front of him, past the ritual circle that secured his prison, were three floor to ceiling windows that looked out onto a city landscape. He truly was in the human world. New York City to be exact.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Morpheus tensed at hearing the voice behind him. Indignation flared within him.
"You dare trap me on this mortal plane."
Footsteps resounded in the empty apartment as his greatest creation walked into view.
"Hello Dream." His nightmare made a show of stepping over the
Morpheus watched the blonde take off his sunglasses and lazily trail his gaze over his nude form, an unnerving hunger displayed across his features. Not the type that his little nightmare revels in, but similar to what he's seen on Hob's face occasionally when the human thinks he's not looking. Corinthian pulls out one of his blades and taps it against the glass.
"Visited the stars recently, My Lord?"
Corinthian phrased it more as a statement than a question which Dream found odd. It's been quite some time since the Endless had dared try entering the gates of Star City...most of them do not welcome him there anymore. He chooses to keep silent and instead watches as his nightmare circles slowly around the globe. Morpheus is still pondering how he came to be here but his memory has been taken or altered in some way. The last he can recall was seeking an audience with Lucienne in the library over some matter. The fact that he can't remember what that matter had been is yet another reason to be on guard. Was his creation working with Desire to take over his realm, or was this just a quick solution to make sure he didn't drag him back to the Dreaming? He was very much aware that his nightmare had left his realm recently, and had been keeping tabs, but he knew Corinthian had not yet harmed any humans so he was mentally placed at the bottom of his list of affairs to sort out.
The blonde scowled when the minutes passed by with no reply. "Come now, darling, am I so worthless as to not be granted a word?"
He was startled to feel his cheeks warm and figured it was because it was odd to hear such a human endearment come out of anyone's mouth other than his sisters. Corinthian observed his reaction closely, a smirk stretching across his face.
"Not used to pet names, Dream?" He laughed, dragging the tip of his knife down the glass, "I'll be sure to save them for special occasions between us."
"You will let me go, little nightmare, now." Morpheus rose up on his knees, placing both hands flat against the glass, and stared defiantly at his creation.
Corinthian leaned forward, face mere inches from the glass barrier, "Now why would I do that?"
Starbursts flashed within his bottomless eyes as the atmosphere suddenly plunged into frigid temperatures. Only Corinthian could make Morpheus lose his temper, knowing exactly how to set him off. He spent so much time perfecting the nightmare to be the perfect dark mirror,
"I have you right where I want you, Dream."
Morpheus glowers at the blonde, "How long do you plan to keep me here? You know what the consequences will be for humanity."
A scornful laugh escaped past Corinthians lips. "How amusing for you to say that, creator, for you did not follow your own rules."
Unease settled in the pit of his stomach that he did not let his nightmare see, "What are you alluding to? What sin are you accusing me of?" He questioned fiercely.
His nightmare waved off his question. "You know, I can't quite recall anymore. It's fading, but honestly that doesn't matter. What matters is that I have you trapped now, Dream." Corinthian pressed the hand not holding his blade against the glass, smiling brightly, "We are going to have so much fun."
Morpheus barked out a laugh, "How will you manage that, with me in here?" He asked derisively.
The blonde's fingers began to caress the barrier between them. "You've already been asleep for many years, darling-" Corinthian smirked at the flinch he couldn't contain this time at the pet name, "and because you have been apart from the Dreaming for so long, well..."
His mouth dropped in surprise, eyes wide, as Morpheus watched his nightmare step back to the ritual circle drawn in red chalk and purposefully drag his foot through a whole section, effectively ending the barrier. Corinthian laughed at his bewildered expression and bent in a mocking bow before stepping out of the circle completely.
Morpheus lifted his hand up, palm locked on Corinthian, and attempted to un-create the grinning nightmare. For a moment he could feel the sand call to him, his powers trembling at the command, but that intimate feeling of the pull was gone. He could sense his nightmare, know where he was, but he was unable to break down the creation and merge it back into himself anymore. His ability to control his sand was...gone. Disbelief and panic started to set in at his newfound vulnerability.
"Now you get it."
"I can still enter the Dreaming once I'm free of this glass prison!" He snarled at the smug blonde.
"Can you?"
Morpheus was taken-aback.
"Let's test that, shall we?"
The Endless scrambled back when suddenly his nightmare lunged forward, back over the broken seal, and slammed his blade into the glass. The glass, thicker than it looked, did not break, however, multiple cracks formed from the impact. Morpheus watched, hypnotized, as his creation repeatedly collided his blade against the globe until finally it shattered. He crashed to the floor in a heap, fragments of broken glass slicing into his bare legs. Corinthian kneeled down in front of him and Morpheus apprehensively watched the man take in his shallow cuts. Tiny blood rivulets trailed down his calves and ankles. He was alarmed to find himself bleeding at all, regardless of being on the mortal plane, and morbidly reached out one hand to trail his pointer finger through a rivulet originating from his knee. He brought it up to his mouth and tentatively swiped his tongue over the digit. A sharp inhale doused the Endless like cold water.
"Oh darling."
Morpheus's ankle is abruptly captured and given a hard tug, causing his body to collapse fully to the ground. On his back now, he's dragged the few inches separating him from Corinthian.
"You really don't need your inflated ego stroked anymore than it is but-" Morpheus attempts to scramble back when Corinthian licks at a smear of his blood, but the blonde tuts at him, lets his ankle go, and proceeds to straddle the dreamlord. Morpheus spontaneously blushes faintly feeling the nightmare's erection press against his own flaccid cock, and has to resist instinctually rolling his hips. Corinthian is no former lover but Morpheus's human form is struggling to differentiate that fact.
He scowls up at his creation, "'But'?"
The blonde leans down, eyes dead-set on his own, "I despise you. You make me weak, Dream, and I loathe you for it. But it's because I long to be seen by you, recognized and favored by you." Corinthian nuzzles the side of his face and brings his volume to a whisper, "Want to know a secret, darling?" He chuckles hollowly, "This hatred I feel for you is really a poor substitute for love."