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mxliv-oftheendless · 2 years

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Pretty Cute

Morpheus (Dream of the Endless) x male!reader

So I noticed there was a CRIMINAL lack of male!reader fics for Morpheus, and that’s just a travesty if you ask me. So as the saying goes, when you want something done, you do it yourself. To all my lovely mlm brothers/siblings in the Sandman fandom, this is for you! Love you, dearies. *blows kisses* Now enjoy!

(If it’s unclear, you work at a library at the circulation desk)

Since you’re dating the King of Dreams, your relationship with him is very private. And you like it that way... but you’d like it more if your fellow library employees weren’t so obsessed with learning more about him.

There were many things you loved about Morpheus. He was a sweet, loving man behind the cold front. He cared so deeply, despite initially being guarded, not wanting his heart crushed by the person he felt so strongly for. You felt honored, almost, that you got to see this caring side of him. Yes, you loved Morpheus.

The only thing you didn’t love about being with Morpheus…

“Soooo, any plans with your boyfriend tonight?”

… was that your co-workers had become obsessed with him.

Don’t misunderstand, you loved your library job. After a string of jobs with terrible work environments and even worse co-workers and bosses, the library was heaven. Good hours, good pay, and you had become friends with all the other people that worked there. You’d subjected Morpheus to countless regalements of your job, whether it be about the kids you met, your co-workers, or the antics of patrons, and he always listened with a sweet smile.

Your co-workers meant well, you knew that (or at least hoped). You also hadn’t dated anyone in a while before meeting Morpheus, which meant they were overjoyed for you. But that also meant they were curious about the man who, as Tracey the romantic put it, had stolen your heart and carried it with him.

“Don’t you have to go do book drop?” You asked Katie rather than answer the question.

“Caroline’s doing book drop. Now answer the question!”

You sighed. “Yes, we do have plans. He’s going to take me back to… to his place.” You weren’t entirely sure how to say he was going to take you to the Dreaming.

“Oooh, Y/N’s gettin’ some action,” Bek crowed from where they were processing books.

You could feel your face turning red. “Shut up, Bek,”

Bek laughed. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’m sure it’ll be the kind of disgustingly romantic date you deserve.”

“Is Y/N going out with his boyfriend tonight?” Caroline popped up from coming back from shelving books. “Does this mean we’ll get to meet him finally?”

“No, I’m supposed to meet him when I get home,” you replied. In all honesty, you were glad Morpheus never showed up to your job. You could handle your nosy co-workers, but they would definitely ask him millions of questions and you weren’t sure if he would be ready for that.

“Are you going to have a movie night or something?” Caroline asked interestedly.

“That is classified information,”

“Y/N, when are we going to meet him?” Liv asked as they perched on a surface with their water bottle. “Does he have social anxiety? ‘Cause that’s totally valid.”

“Well… sort of…”

“Ohhh, does he just hate people?” Your hesitant silence seemed to answer their question. “Hey, I totally get that. I hate talking to people I don’t know.”

“But we’re Y/N’s friends,” Bek said as they cleared their workspace. “He’s going to meet us eventually, right?”

“Not if Y/N keeps being so secretive about him,” Katie teased. “We don’t even know his name or what he does.”

“I bet he’s secretly a psycho,” Liv stated as they hopped off the desktop. “Like, he killed a bird once and it released so many endorphins that he’s always wondered how to make it happen again.”

“How cheerful, Liv,” you said dryly. “And no, he’s never killed a bird. He loves birds, actually.” You wondered what would happen if Matthew heard Liv say that.

“Oh, sweet,”

“So does he work with birds?”

You sighed exasperatedly. “No, Katie. He just likes them.” Before she could say anything else, you stopped her. “Don’t you have MelCat holds to trap?”

“Oh yeah, I actually do. I forgot about them.”

You watched in relief as she went off to take care of the MelCat holds, and went back to checking your email. The Circ Two desk was usually slow around this time of day.

“So… is he a writer?”

“Katie!” You threw your hands up in frustration and turned to look at where she sat at her desk.

“I’m just asking!” Katie defended herself. “From how you describe him, he sounds like a writer!”

“No, he’s not a writer,” you said firmly. “Just like how he’s not secretly a psycho.”

“Hey man, he could be,” Liv argued from where they had replaced Bek processing books. “Or maybe he’s a writer AND a secret psycho like Ric Madoc. You guys hear what happened to him?”

You only knew his name from how many holds had been placed on his books. They were pretty popular. “No, what?”

“Guy had a meltdown at a book reading and wrote on the walls with his own blood, then told someone he had a woman locked up in his house.”

You couldn’t help balking at that. “Jesus Christ, seriously?

“Okay, to be fair, they didn’t find anyone when they searched the house, but still. Crazy. You sure your boyfriend’s never written with his own blood?”

“I’m sure we all want to know more about Y/N’s partner,” Sara suddenly appeared, much to your relief, “but he’ll tell us when he’s ready to.”

“Thank you, Sara,” you said gratefully, nodding and gesturing to her. “That’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“… But it would be nice to know his name,”

You turned to give her a look of utter betrayal. “Et tu, Sara?”

Sara have you a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Y/N. You don’t have to tell us his name if you really don’t want to. It’s your life, not ours.”

It wasn’t just that. You weren’t sure if you even could explain Morpheus to them. How could you say to your fellow human co-workers that you were dating the personification of all their dreams?

“Listen,” you said, trying to be as gentle yet as firm as possible, “I know you guys mean well, and I know you want to look out for a friend, but Sara’s right. I like my privacy, and my partner likes his privacy too. I’ll tell you more about him when he and I are ready to. But I’m happy; I swear, I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been with him. He’s… incredible. Just amazing.” You didn’t realize that a smile was forming on your face as you thought of Morpheus. “Okay?”

Your co-workers were quiet for a moment, then Katie sighed. “Okay.” She smiled at you. “I’m glad you’re happy, at least.”

“Yeah, you deserve it, man,” Liv agreed, nodding.

“Absolutely,” Caroline echoed.

Your smile widened at their response. You really did love this motley bunch. “Thank you, guys,”

“You’re always welcome, Y/N,” Sara said with a kind smile. “Now Caroline, I think you’re supposed to do the book drop?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And with that, your work day continued. You went on your lunch break, shelved some books, manned the front circulation desk, and eventually returned to the back desk. The whole time, your mind was on thoughts of Morpheus and your date tonight. You missed him… even though you’d seen him a few days ago. But you couldn’t help missing him when he got so busy ruling over the Dreaming. Maybe over the weekend you could visit Lucienne and catch up with your favorite librarian (not that you told the librarians at your job that).

You couldn’t help wondering how he’d react if he knew of his popularity with your co-workers. He no doubt knew who they all were from their dreams. Would he be amused, or annoyed? You felt like he’d be annoyed.

It was the last hour of your shift when it happened. Liv was up at the front circulation desk, while you were once more at the back desk, going over your assigned reports and grumbling about how that damn library was dragging their feet putting the stupid book in transit.

“Hi there!” You heard Liv chirp as they usually did when a patron came up to the desk. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I am looking for Y/N L/N.”

You froze. No… that wasn’t… why was he here?

Your heart began to quicken in pace as you got up from your chair. He’d never come to the library while you were working before.

To Liv’s credit, they didn’t realize who it was at first. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Y/N L/N. He works here.”

“Um… I’m sorry, but I don’t—”

“It’s okay, Liv,” you interrupted as you walked out to the front desk. “I know who he is.”

And sure enough, there he was, standing at the desk in a black pea coat, black clothes, and presumably his black combat boots. Morpheus. He looked up, and his face immediately softened when your eyes met.

Your heart raced even faster, and you smiled back. “This is a surprise,” you couldn’t help saying.

Morpheus gave a tiny shrug.

Liv was looking between the two of you in confusion… then realization dawned on their face. “Is he…?” They pointed at him.

You sighed and nodded. “Yes, Liv. It’s him.”

A grin of pure excitement crept onto their face as they turned back to Morpheus. “It is so great to finally meet you!” they exclaimed. “You’re pretty famous around here! We’ve been dying to know about Y/N’s boyfriend that hopefully treats him like the king he is.”

You had to fight back a laugh at the blank look Morpheus gave them. He blinked once. “I…” he awkwardly trailed off.

“Liv,” you came to his rescue and tapped them on the shoulder, “I think you’re overwhelming him.”

“Oh! Oh, sorry,” they apologized. “Actually, I think that guy over there is coming back with some donations, so… I’ll just. Go. Do that.” They awkwardly waved at Morpheus. “Nice to meet you.”

Morpheus dipped his head at them. Liv respectfully didn’t say anything else and went to go get the mentioned donations.

You stepped closer and gave Morpheus a loving smile, wishing you could kiss him right there in the library. “You’re early,”

A smile appeared on his handsome face. “I missed you,”

“I missed you too. But… why are you here?”

“Do you not want me here?”

“No! God no, I am so happy to see you. But you’ve never come to the library before. I thought you were going to meet me at my house.”

“I was.” Morpheus leaned in closer. “But I missed you too much, my love.”

Your heart fluttered in your chest. “You are amazing, you know that?”

Morpheus’s smile widened affectionately. Then he glanced over your shoulder. “Is it true what Olivia said?”

“What?” You turned around to see Liv’s silhouette in the tinted window that showed the back room. Katie and Corey’s shadows were there too, and Liv was waving their hands around in the animated way they did when they got excited. “Oh,” you sighed sheepishly. “Yeah, they… they’re really curious about you. They get really nosy sometimes, probably more so because I never tell them anything. I’m sorry Liv said that to you.”

“Why have you not told them anything?”

“Well, I know you like your privacy, and I didn’t want you to get overwhelmed by them.” You couldn’t help laughing softly. “They’ve got a million questions about you.”

“Perhaps one day…” Morpheus mused.

You blinked in surprise. “Really?” You couldn’t help the delighted smile. “Great, because I have wanted to brag about my amazing boyfriend for ages now.”

“Is that why you are with me?” Morpheus said in a teasing voice. “For the bragging rights?”

“Well, not the only reason,” you chuckled. You gave into temptation and leaned across the counter to kiss him on the cheek. “I am also madly in love with you.”

The widest smile you’d ever seen so far graced Morpheus’s face. “As I am with you, my love,”

You blushed happily… then remembered where you were. “W-Well, listen, it’s,” you looked over your shoulder to check the clock behind you, “4:40 right now, so I get off in twenty minutes. Do you want to sit and wait until then? Or you can go back to my apartment and wait there.”

“I will wait here,” Morpheus decided. He gave you a soft smile that made you melt. “For you, I would wait for hours.”

“G-Great,” you managed through your wide grin. “Th-The, uh, the mystery section is over there.” You pointed in the direction of the mysteries. “Th-The fiction is before it.”

“Thank you.” He gave you one last beautiful smile. “Perhaps I will ask for a library card.”

You managed a breathy laugh as he turned around and headed for the mystery section.

When you returned to the back desk, you were met with Liv, Katie, and Corey, who all had eager smiles on their faces. “Soooo?” Katie asked.

Your face turned red. “Shut up, Katie,”

“Aww, he’s so red!” Corey teased. “I understand why; he’s cute.”

“Can all of you please stop?”

“So you admit that he’s cute,” Liv said smugly.

“You know what…”

You trailed off, then turned to look out the tinted window in the direction Morpheus had gone. You smiled, and turned back to your endearingly nosy friends. “Yeah. He is pretty cute.”

#the sandman #the sandman imagine #morpheus x reader #dream of the endless x reader #dream of the endless #morpheus #morpheus x male reader #dream of the endless x male reader #male reader #hope this is good!#if it's wrong or offensive in any way please tell me i don't want to make anyone mad #also the library and your co-workers are inspired by my own job #and yes i absolutely wrote myself in here and i regret nothing lol #bonus points to whoever catches the hadestown reference #my writing #fanfiction #hope you enjoyed!#thanks for reading!

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