Hob Startled Awake A Few Hours Later, To The Sound Of Gasping Breaths. Dream Was Sitting Up, Curled Up

Hob startled awake a few hours later, to the sound of gasping breaths. Dream was sitting up, curled up against the headboard. He had his face hidden in his knees as he desperately tried to be quiet, reluctant to disturb Hob.

He was going to slip out of the room soon. “Dream, you’re okay. It’s June 1st, 2019, you’re safe, you’re with Hob Gadling. Can you repeat that for me?”

Dream shook his head once, jerky and anxious, and his trembling became worse.

Hob blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes, and pulled himself closer. He wrapped his calloused hand around Dream’s dainty ankle, but Dream flinched at the initial contact. Hob winced internally, but chose not to pull it away. Somehow, he had the sense that supporting Dream’s bad ankle would help ground him.

“You’re alright, Dream. Breathe with me?” He counted out loud — four to inhale, seven to hold, and eight to exhale. He tapped out the beats with his thumb, and slowly but surely, Dream’s breathing calmed.

“Calm down, Dream. It’s okay. Slowly, yes… good job. You’re doing well. You’re doing so well.”

@dreamlingbingo

Favorite Sandman Episode:

The Sound of Her Wings

Because I enjoy making myself sad apparently I've decided to headcanon that Dream's whole "making it rain when he's sad" thing started out as a self-soothing gesture.

Like when he was young (or, y'know, young for an Endless) he would get upset and unconsciously make it rain because he loves the rain. He would listen to it patter against the palace walls, or go outside and enjoy the cold, clean air and the water against his face, maybe splash in a puddle or two if no one was looking, and it would help him clear his head and center him and then he felt better.

But then, he overheard and/or maybe someone said to his face something like "oh thank GOD you're feeling better so the rain's finally gone, it was so dreary/depressing/inconvenient/annoying/etc" and Dream was like. Oh. I did something Wrong. I'm being a bad ruler. It doesn't matter if it makes me feel better it's more important to take care of my subjects and make sure they're happy.

So Dream tries his very very best to metaphorically sit on his hands when he's feeling bad but it's hard, it's not something he's fully in control of, and it actually gets worse because now instead of enjoying the rain and feeling better fairly quickly, he feels guilty and frustrated and ashamed which makes him feel even worse which makes it rain more and it turns into a vicious cycle.

I'm not sure if he tells Hob all this or if Hob just puts the pieces together himself, but I think he starts being very open to Dream about how much he loves the rain too (and he's not lying or anything, he really does love the rain, he's just a little louder about it when Dream is around). I think he also gives an impromptu lecture about the value of stimming and how people should respect it (under the guise of something with a student or something idk) and maybe Lucienne and Matthew get recruited to help too, and I haven't figured out how it ends but it ends with Dream learning to enjoy the rain again and wait shit oh goddammit now I have another wip fuck me

Arrogant, prideful, and positively stinking of old money and connections, Dream of the Endless perfectly embodied the type of dancer Hob hated with all his heart.

The worst part?

He was good enough to justify the arrogance.

Trained since the minute he could stand, Dream was graceful, strong, and had developed a style that was so uniquely his that even one performing the exact same choreography couldn’t hope to even compare.

He had already been at the studio for hours before Hob signed in, soft music playing as he worked at the barre. Hob had tried to go say hi, but a loose floorboard had him stumbling and bumping into Dream.

“Kindly attempt to manage your own body.” Dream snapped as he picked himself up, before Hob gathered his wits enough to apologise, let alone offer a hand.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to introduce myself.” Hob smiled sheepishly. “Since we’re going to be working together and all.”

“Perhaps reconsider your method of introduction, going forward.” Dream moved away from Hob, crossing his arms. He clutched the shoulder Hob had bumped, but Hob knew he hadn’t pushed so hard that he was injured.

Unless he already had a preexisting injury. In that case… Shit.

@dreamlingbingo

are you fucking kidding me what about 'i don't want to be on twitter' do you not understand

You love to see it. (Not the destruction of trees, obvs, but shitheads meeting their oncoming comeuppance at the hands of trees.)