Chapter Text
You wake up, well, jolt awake from the unsteady sleep you have fallen into a few hours ago. You feel your skin, laced with sweat, sticking to the bedsheets, your throat begging for water. The half-closed blinds are letting in just a smidge of moonlight into your dingy apartment, you barely have enough money to rent and energy to clean. You rub sleep away from your eyes, reaching for your phone to check the time and get your bearings.
It was only Wednesday, when you stumbled into your house remembering with the quickly fleeting consciousness to lock your door. You threw your things haphazardly on the floor, taking your shoes off and almost crawling to your bed. The thoughts of the awful day behind you and the even worse days in front of you were quickly melting away as your eyes slammed shut.
In your sleep you escaped the god-awful job that was draining life out of you, the quiet buzzing of the glow lamps driving you insane. You didn't have to worry about how you performed in your studies, the endless pages of information you had to absorb and then regurgitate just to stay afloat, and to impress who? You stopped knowing a long time ago. Always striving to be better, stronger and for what?
You often felt like existence wasn't supposed to feel like this, like there was more to life than just... well, this . An endurance test that started with your birth and was to end on your deathbed.
You didn't have to answer phone calls, texts, e-mails and god knows what else. You could just drift mindlessly through the magical realm of peace, wishing that life could be this easy. The often occurring nightmares proved to be an obstacle on your often tedious journey into the land of slumber. And just as with countless others, you battled this one with defiance.
4:44 AM. "Ughhhh..." You groaned to no one in particular. You didn't get much sleep, despite it being the most pleasant part of your miserable existence. Your body was aching from the undoubtedly uncomfortable position you were in while asleep.
Getting out of bed, you turned on the closest lamp, partially to fight the night, up until dawn washed over but also, to get rid of the paranoid thoughts induced by the nightmare. Your heart was still pounding from it. The horror slowly escaping your mind as you stretched to hopefully relieve some of the pain. The stuffiness of the room drove you to stand up and crack open a window.
There was no point in going back to sleep. Noticing the sunrise and subsequently, the fast-approaching need to get out of the house you gathered your things and went to take a shower.
The water, on days like these, couldn’t be too hot or you were doomed to fall back asleep and undoubtedly crack your skull open while falling in your stupor. The thought of blood slowly seeping out of your battered body, being washed away by the steady stream of lukewarm water, that was to turn cold after a while, while something that would scare you not far back, right now seemed like a good opportunity to get some rest.
Before you could start imagining your corpse being discovered and buried, you decided to occupy your mind with a mental list of priorities for today until you could hear the first birds starting to chirp over the white noise of the water hitting the shower floor.
You finished the rest of your routine, put your clothes on and got out of the bathroom. When you opened the door you could smell something akin to a meadow after it rained mixed with quiet regret and baseless hope.
He was staring at you with a blank expression, completely unreadable. You froze.
You were waiting for him to move, to even twitch at the slightest disturbance in the air but he never did. You turned to the entrance door calculating how fast he could realistically reach you if you just ran out and started screaming for help. Your hand didn’t even touch the lock before he spoke up.
“Do not be afraid.” Sounded out the timbre of his voice, doing little to calm you down. The fear paralysed you to the point of no return and it seemed like he knew that. You turned to face him, still ready to throw the nearest object at him as a distraction. His pale face was being illuminated by the rising sun and yet, unnaturally shrouded in darkness. His black, nightmarish strands sticking out in all directions, still, somehow, making a coherent hairstyle.
It almost looked like he was wearing a cassock sans the clerical collar, his long coat being lightly swayed by the wind coming from the open window that suddenly picked up in intensity. He noticed your wandering eyes, his expression somehow softening. You took it as a prompt to speak up.
“Get out of my house.” You meant for it to sound stern but your voice broke a little at the sheer tiredness, surprise and fear you were feeling right now. “Please.” You exhaled trying to suppress the tears that were welling up in your eyes, threatening to spill.
He had an aura of authority far beyond simple threats or intimidation. Like he was something eldrich, something far beyond your comprehension that was only masking as human. He was still unmoving but looked more concerned, somehow.
“If you would be so kind as to take a seat, I’d appreciate it greatly.” You didn’t need to be told twice. Sitting down on your still unmade bed, you did your best to not look him in the eyes. His gaze was trained on you, assessing.
“I’m not here to force anything upon you but simply to make an offer. Whether you choose to accept it or not, I shall respect that decision.” You were bouncing your leg absentmindedly, trying to soothe your anxiety. Concerned about your state and hoping his sister wouldn’t come along, he continued speaking.
“I am Sandman. I wish to give you a place of refuge in my realm.” He paused to let you digest the words. “I promise to keep you safe, if you choose to stay in the Dreaming.” You sat in silence not sure what to make of all of this, of… him. Just when you were about to speak up he interrupted. “You shall want for nothing.”
Maybe it was just the part of your brain longing, screaming for rest that spoke the words that came out of your mouth next. The reasonable part of you was aware of Fae and how dangerous it was to make deals with them but then again, he wasn’t of Fae, at least… he said he wasn’t? What if he was just a creep playing with you? Maybe you were swearing your life over to some higher being trying to trick you?
Your mind was swimming in those thoughts but ultimately what took over your tongue was just a simple ‘yes’, spoken so quietly, most wouldn’t hear it. But of course, he did .