#may be projecting on Dream just a liiiiittle bit

[tj-dragonblade]

FLUFFBRUARY 2023: Feb 4

Prompts: daydream snow rest

On AO3

"What's wrong, love?"

Dream glanced again at the table across the pub, off to Hob's right, and his expression soured a little further. "That student is. Daydreaming, of me."

Oh? Curious, Hob snuck a surreptitious look; there was a young person at the table in question with books and papers spread around them, doing schoolwork to all appearances, but apparently their focus was not so single-minded as it might appear.

He looked back to Dream. "No harm in that, is there? Unless." He frowned. "Are they imagining violence?"

"No. They perceive my form as pleasing, and they would imagine themselves my lover."

Ah. "Don't tell me you're offended that a lowly mortal dares dream of one such as you?" He was joking, mostly, poking at wounds far enough in the past that he could lend them a little levity, but also he couldn't be entirely sure that wasn't why Dream looked so broody.

But Dream shook his head, a spare movement to one side and back. "It is not...offense. These thoughts are private so far as they know, and it would be a poor thing indeed, to. Police, the fantasies of others."

"Then what is it, dove?"

"...I would not enjoy it, the way they dream of touching me. The things they wish to do with me. And it is...discomfiting, to be subjected to it."

That made sense, actually, though Hob couldn't say he'd ever thought of it before. "So is it, ah...discomfiting, when you catch wind of my daydreams?"

The corner of Dream's mouth tilted up. "No, Hob. Yours are welcome; yours are pleasing. I wish to share intimacy with you, and you are well acquainted with the many ways that I enjoy it."

"So mostly it's because they're a stranger, but having, ah. Extremely familiar thoughts about you?"

"...Yes."

"Can't you just, I don't know, cut it off? Take it away? Make them stop?"

Dream frowned. "It would be an egregious abuse of my duty, to banish a daydream simply because I mislike it." Unspoken was the implication that once upon a time he would not have hesitated, but he was trying to be better these days.

Hob nodded in sympathy. "Want to get out of here, then?"

Dream, surprisingly, again shook his head. "This is our tradition, Hob. I would not give it up simply because I am uncomfortable."

No matter how often they were seeing one another these days, June 7th they always met here at their table in the New Inn (every year, now!), a standing date in honor of their history. Hob was absurdly touched that Dream counted that the most important factor at the moment. He smiled, slow and warm, all the love he held for this marvelous creature before him curling soft in his chest. "Well." He reached to touch Dream's hand across the table between them, light and affectionate, curling their fingers together. He rested his chin in his other hand, elbow propped on the table, and gazed at Dream with half-lidded eyes. "I guess I'll just have to distract you, then."

Dream arched an eyebrow, his expression shifting into something that Hob would've labeled 'resignedly curious'. Probably thought Hob meant to out-sexy the stranger across the pub. Well, hah. Hob knew how to read a room, thank you very much, and he could tell that would not be the most effective approach right now.

He settled into his own mind, collecting himself to craft a proper daydream. Idle thoughts and fleeting images weren't enough; it had to be spun with focus for Dream to see it easily. So he focused—on the slender hand clasped in his, the crystal blue eyes watching him—and he imagined.

The day was warm out, a bit muggy, and the fans were struggling to make a difference, so...maybe something completely opposite, then. A nice cozy little cabin, tucked away in the mountains, snowed in and secluded. A cheery fire, burning bright in the hearth. A plush sofa, big enough and soft enough that he could snuggle back into the corner of it with his legs up along the length and Dream nestled in between them, back to chest. An anthology book in his hand, semi-forgotten, as Dream told him about how the stories within had been conceived and written and brought into being. A quiet evening resting in each other's company, Hob listening spellbound to Dream waxing rhapsodic about these aspects of his duty that he loved best.

Hob blinked, keeping the daydream active in the back of his mind as he focused on Dream before him again.

Dream was staring at him, eyes shining and red-rimmed, mouth curving up in a brilliant-if-slightly-watery smile. "Hob." He squeezed Hob's hand gently.

Hob squeezed in return. "Better?"

Miraculously, Dream's pending tears stayed put through a fluttering blink. "Yes. Thank you."

Hob smiled softly, brushed his thumb over the back of Dream's knuckles. "'Course, dove. Anytime."

And in the daydream, he threaded his fingers through Dream's hair to keep him close against his chest, bowed to press a tender kiss to the crown of Dream's head, basking in the warmth of the moment shared.

#Dreamling #Sandman #Fluffbruary 2023 #TJs Fluffbruary #TJs Fics #a proper ficlet this time #wordcount over 500 #may be projecting on Dream just a liiiiittle bit #Ace-adjacent