Chapter Text
Your eyes flutter open, and the first thing your eyes see is a sunset colored sky.
“Oh ho ho~ What pretty human has wandered into my kingdom today…” A gentle voice echoing from all around you laughed.
You sit up immediately. “Uh- Where am I?” You question, nervousness entering your tone. Directly in front of you, you see a nearby white sanded beach, ocean waves gently lapping at the shoreline. In the distance, there’s a nearby cliff, and a castle perched on top of it. A tropical forest with colorful blooming plants surrounds the area. It gave off a tranquil feeling, but unease churned in your stomach.
“You’re in my kingdom, my dear.” The voice is now to your right.
You glance over, and you see the source. A tall man stood directly next to you, a soft smile on his face. His skin was pale, almost as white as a sheet of paper, and his short hair was a deep maroon. Ghosts of a beard were on his chin. He wore attire not dissimilar to royalty that you’d see in the manhuas you read as a guilty pleasure, and a small golden crown with rubies encrusted in the leaf-shaped points encircled his head. The shine of his crown and jewelry appeared dulled, and his hair unkempt. Interestingly enough, half of his face was covered in a permanent shadow and his eyes were glowing white dots.
Your eyes widen. “You-your highness, I’m so sorry to intrude on your private property, please forgive me.” You bowed, shame settling in your bones.
The man let out a laugh. “Don’t worry dear, you’re forgiven. I’m the one who brought you here.” He grabbed your arm, and gingerly helped you stand up. “You don’t need to bow. you know. I’m not a king or a prince. And I don’t need all the formalities”
He brought you here? Why would he do that? Was he going to turn you into one of his servants? Admittedly that didn’t sound that bad to live in this little slice of paradise, but servitude did not sound fun. But what was he?
“Who are you?” You finally asked, after a moment of uncomfortable silence, well, uncomfortable for you.
“Me? I am the Marquis,” He did a fancy curtsy, “but you may call me Mar-Mar if you’re feeling casual.”
You gulped, anxiety still seeping into your bones. “...why am I here?”
“That’s the big question! Why you are here. I’ll explain everything in just a moment, but I don’t think the beach is the best place for that. Let me take you into my castle.”
You hoped he didn’t try to turn you into a-
“Before you think of it, no I’m not turning you into a servant. That’s not my thing, don’t worry.”
You let out a sigh of relief that you didn’t know that you were holding, until you wondered how he knew that.
He grabbed your shoulder, interrupting your thoughts. “Alright, to the castle.”
In a rapid blur of movement and colors, you were inside the castle. It obviously was far larger on the inside than on the outside. The room you were teleported inside appeared to be a comfortable lounge, with you sitting on a soft couch with nearby pillows, and the Marquis on a loveseat directly next to you. A large and squishy looking beanbag laid in the corner. The room felt more like a cozy hang out spot instead of a place in a royal castle.
Marquis leaned forward towards you, clearing his throat. “Let me make several things crystal clear from the start. One, you are asleep, and dreaming. This isn’t your real world, despite it feeling very much like you’re awake.” His tone was more serious, but not unkind.
You blink, not expecting that information. If you were to be rational, a perfect castle in an idyllic spot should’ve tipped you off immediately. Along with the lack of people doing general upkeep.
He continued. “Two, I am not a demon in disguise trying to trick you into selling your soul. I am not a malicious thing, I swear.” His voice faltered for a minute, as if genuinely upset by the idea of being perceived as evil.
He likely was bothered by that anyways, you mused.
“Three, I can somewhat see into your mind, but not much. I did a general overview of your thought processes before I came into your dream to see your preferences, and all the things to make sure you weren’t too uncomfortable.”
“...does that mean you saw my search history?” You say after a moment of now mutual uncomfortable silence.
He nodded, having the gall to look sheepish. “Yeah…I did. But not everything. I only saw quick flashes of things you had a particular interest in.” He held up a hand to silence the incoming barrage of questions you had. “Let me explain what I am and then you can ask me all the questions you want. Fair?”
You nod. “Fair.”
“Good. If it’s not obvious already, I’m not human. I’m a creature called a Somnihost that lives inside the dream world people’s minds visit every night. Since I’m native to the dream world, I do have full control over your dreams and what happens in it. It’s that way because Somnihosts like me have to feed off a certain emotion to continue to live, and if we can control the dream, we can cause the emotion we need to eat without much trouble. The kind of emotion varies from individual to individual, but some can consume the same feeling. Now, some like to hijack a human’s dream right off the bat to immediately eat. I prefer not to do that. I like to talk things through with my humans.”
Oh. That oddly…makes sense. “What do you feed of off?”
A smile poked at the corner of the Marquis’ face. “I’m glad you asked! It ties in with the reasoning why I chose you. My preferred emotion is happiness. Specifically a relaxed, blissful kind of joy that you seemed very interested in based upon the little bits of memory I saw. Especially done by hypnotism.”
Oh.
Oh.
A bright red blush spread across your cheeks, and your ears. If one could melt into a puddle from embarrassment, you’d be the largest puddle around. “I-I just think hypnotism is interesting, okay? But not in a sexual way-”
“I don’t judge anyone’s kinks-”
“It’s not a kink!!” Your voice rose an octave.
“A kink isn’t always sexual.”
“Just…please give me a moment to collect my thoughts.” You covered your tomato red face with your hands, and flopped down on the couch, loudly groaning.
Marquis nodded, opting to not chime in about anything. It wasn’t his place to do anything drastic just yet.
Meanwhile, your mind curled into itself with the horrifying realization that Marquis likely knew every dirty little thing in your mind, and the fact you couldn’t hide it from him, no matter your objections.
“…so you know I’m interested in the concept of hypnotism non-sexually. Now what do you want me to do?” You narrowed your eyes
“Nothing just yet, we need to discuss some things before we move forward.”
“…you’re making this sound like we’re in a high-level business meeting.”
“Because it is important.”
You sit up. “None of this has been helpful! It feels really awkward to discuss a hidden secret of mine so openly with someone I barely know, and claiming it’s a kink of mine.”
Marquis went quiet for a moment, as if thinking to himself, before wincing, “You’re right,” He spoke, “I probably shouldn’t have been so blunt at the start and telling you that I know your deepest secrets.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Awkwardness hung in the air like humidity sticking to one’s skin in the ensuing silence.
You fidget with your thumbs, looking at him. Admittedly, you felt bad at yelling at him, though it wasn’t without reason in your opinion. “Hey, listen, I’m sorry for getting so worked up earlier, I didn’t mean to full on yell at you.”
He glanced at you, shame in his expression. “It’s…understandable, I likely shouldn’t have led straight into kink talk without pretense.” His earlier flirty personality was gone. It likely was just a façade of his. “But, considering I have you here for more reasons than just talking, why not we try something different.”
Before you could answer, he clapped his hands together, the scene changing from a comfy lounge inside a castle to a small cafe in a small town. “Let’s have a genuine conversation about ourselves and boundaries for the future.”
You nod reluctantly. It was likely this conversation was bound to happen one way or another.
“First order of business, what’s your name?”
You hoped he wouldn’t ask that first.