Chapter Text
“Hello, Anya,” Dream gazed softly down at the little girl who’d just entered The New Inn with her parents. “What are we working on today?”
“Anya has to write a story!” she exclaimed, settling into the booth where Dream usually tutored her in language arts.
“Ah. And do you know what the story will be about?” he asked, sliding in across from her.
“Penguins!”
“Of course. How will your story start?”
“One day, Anya and Papa went to the aquarium,” she dictated slowly, clumsily printing the words in her notebook. “A…”
“Q… U… A…” Dream continued prompting, as she laboriously spelled the long word.
Hob slid into the next booth over, bringing the drinks Loid and Yor had ordered.
“You wanted to talk to me?” he smiled.
“Yes,” Loid began. “We want to apologize for taking advantage of your babysitting services. We’re usually not such irresponsible parents. That first time, when she ran away from Franky…”
“Not to worry,” Hob winked, “you were obviously otherwise occupied.” He enjoyed the lovely blush that spread across Yor’s face, and was that a matching one on Loid’s?
“Then the next time, we were in the park together, and there was a car accident. I’m a doctor, so I went to assist, but I asked Anya to wait for me on a nearby bench. When I came to look for her, she had already headed over here to find you.”
“It was no problem!” Hob insisted. “Better here than watching a car accident being cleaned up! That could have been traumatizing!” It was a better excuse than Anya’s “Papa had to work” or Loid’s vague “Something came up,” at the time, Hob thought, but it still didn’t explain why Bond left Anya’s side, nor did it really cover the cut on Loid’s arm.
“Yes,” Yor picked up the conversation, “and last time, when I brought Anya so early on a Saturday, my coworker had an emergency and they called me at the last minute. I’m sorry, I was so tired I didn’t really notice how tired you were as well.”
“Anya had a lovely visit with Dream and his sister, who was visiting that day!” Hob brushed off all their apologies. Even though he’d been 85% asleep at the time, he still remembered Yor’s sharp alertness, the way she was watching behind herself as if for danger even as she thrust Anya at him. He was pretty sure the only true part about that excuse was that work had called her in at the last minute, and he wasn’t interested in speculating about her work—not since that first day they met, when she vaulted over a table and he saw his life flash before his eyes. He abruptly decided he was going to call them out, just a little.
“After all, all families have secrets.”
“Oh, no, no, we’re just a normal family!” Yor protested, thereby confirming Hob’s suspicions. There was nothing like a protestation of innocence to confirm guilt. Loid, meanwhile, wondered why Hob had just as much as admitted to them that he and Dream had secrets as well.
“Yes, of course,” Hob agreed. Their secrets were none of his concern, and he wasn’t even sure why he’d brought it up.
At that moment, Dream and Anya joined them from the other booth, Anya tucking herself under Loid’s arm and Dream taking Hob’s hand under the table.
“We were just talking about secrets,” Dream disclosed, “and we heard Hob mention them as well. Anya has decided that there’s something she would like to tell her parents.” Hob smiled warmly at Anya, glad that she’d finally decided to share the secret he and Dream had discovered by accident.
Anya leaned forward to look at both parents and said solemnly, “Anya can hear your thoughts.” Loid and Yor reared back, identical looks of horror on their faces. Then Hob watched as comprehension began to sink in and they started nodding as pieces fell into place.
“So that’s why you watch Bondman all the time!” Loid exclaimed.
“And why you are never upset when I come home with blood on my clothes!” Yor added.
“And why you kept trying to get us to kiss!” Loid continued.
“And why you always seem to know what Bond wants!” Yor declared.
“Anya also knows about Operation Strix,” Anya said, and Hob watched Loid and Yor exchange a worried glance. Oops, they probably didn’t want him and Dream hearing about that one.
“Now, Anya,” he reminded her, “your parents have secrets that aren’t yours to share.”
“Dream can help!” Anya protested. Hob looked curiously at Dream. It wasn’t like him to get involved in another family’s affairs. Dream nodded.
“This is one that aligns with my realm, Hob.” Now it was Loid’s turn to look questioningly at Dream.
“Well, if we’re going to share secrets, maybe we should go somewhere more private,” Hob suggested.
The two families adjourned upstairs to the kitchen in Hob’s flat, where he nervously made them all tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. He put a tin of biscuits on the table and took the chair beside Dream. Loid began.
“I’m not sure why I should trust you, but Anya does, and well, I guess if she’s a telepath that does explain why she’s such a good judge of character. Will you exchange secrets with us, as a pledge of trust?” Hob glanced at Dream, who nodded solemnly. Apparently this was very important to him. Hob nodded back and took a deep breath.
“I’m immortal,” he said, “I don’t age, and I can’t die.” Loid and Yor looked shocked again. Then Loid looked at Anya.
“I begin to understand why she started this sharing of secrets.”
Dream let his eyes grow dark and starry, a hint of his robe fluttering around his chair.
“I am Dream of the Endless, Lord of Dreams and King of Nightmares. I am the Prince of Stories and Master of the Dreaming.” Loid and Yor looked truly stunned this time, Hob thought. That would stroke Dream’s vanity. Not that he didn’t deserve a little awe, he was rather impressive even with just a touch of his less human form peeking through. Loid cleared his throat and smoothed back his hair.
“Yes, well. I can see why Anya thought you might be able to help! I’m afraid I can’t compete with that! Dreams… if you know our dreams, you probably know our secrets already too.”
“Yes,” Dream confirmed, “but Hob does not. I would ask you to speak them aloud, for his sake.” Loid nodded.
“I am a French spy. The French government does not desire war with the English at this time, so I was sent here to ingratiate myself with a powerful politician who is using his influence to promote war between our countries. Operation Strix is our plan to enter his inner circle though our children—his son Damian is in Anya’s class.” He shook his head wonderingly at Anya.
“You knew all that, didn’t you? So much weight for such a small child to bear.” Anya nodded at him, took a bite of her biscuit, and leaned comfortably against his arm. Yor leaned forward and picked the story up.
“I am an assassin for England, and our goal is also to prevent a war. When Loid asked me to marry him and become Anya’s mother, neither of us knew the truth about each other.
“It actually came out fairly recently, shortly before we met you, in fact. I received a dossier from my boss directing me to find and kill the spy, Twilight.” Yor and Loid exchanged a very warm glance, and Hob suddenly realized that Loid must be Twilight.
“It took some time for me to find Twilight. He is the best spy of our age. Imagine my surprise when I finally tracked him down, and he was my very own husband!” Loid chuckled and took over the narrative.
“Imagine my surprise, after we finished tucking Anya in bed, when my wife came into the living room and put a knife to my throat!” He took Yor’s hand as she blushed furiously again.
“Well, then Loid and I had a long talk, and we decided that we are both on the same side—no war. I explained to my boss about Twilight, not revealing who he is, of course.”
“Anya doesn’t like war,” Anya added. “War is scary.” Hob thought sadly about all the second hand memories she’d probably seen of war, never mind whatever it was that had brought her to Loid and Yor’s family. Surely, “no war” was a good goal. But how did all this relate to Dream’s realm? He turned to Dream, who was already preparing to speak.
“One of the scientists under this warmonger you speak of is dreaming of experimenting with changing people’s sleep. He wants to prevent his enemies from sleeping, or torture them with nightmares, or brainwash his own lackeys in their sleep. This line of research cannot be allowed to continue. If he loses the support of your politician, his work will be discontinued.”
Anya jumped down from her chair and walked around to take Hob’s hand as Loid, Yor and Dream leaned in to start making plans. Hob led her into the living room and settled on the couch with her to read The Little Endless Storybook together again (after meeting Del and Joe, it was her current favourite).
“Will they stop the war and keep the children safe, Hob?” Anya asked, when the story was done.
“I hope so, Anya. They are all very good at what they do, so I think they have a good chance. I really hope they do.” She settled against his arm with a sigh.
“Good. Anya is happy.”