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scifrey · 3 months

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ART THREAD

I have had the very great pleasure of commissioning some beautiful art to celebrate the release of my new novel Nine-Tenths. I'm going to share them all in this thread (and hopefully add to it if I'm lucky enough to be graced with more) so you can appreciate the talent of these incredible artists.

by Christopher Winkelaar

Nine-Tenths is set in a world where all the nobility in Europe are homo draconis - shape-shifting dragons who have the ability to take human form. Every culture in the world have dragons living among the humans, but the European and Asian nations are the only ones where dragons were historically elevated to the roles of monarchs, nobles, and emperors.

In a world where the American Colonies rejected British rule, this meant they were also rejecting draconic protection--and so while they won their Independence in 1793, they were soundly trounced in the War of 1812, losing all of New England, including New York State, to the British. They were absorbed into the Canadas, except for New York City, which was reclaimed by the Dutch and re-renamed New Amsterdam.

The Canadian colonies expanded west, as they historically did in our world, through a series of broken treaties with the Indigenous peoples of the continent, and the reprehensible colonialist practices which put the settlers in power today. It also means they were able to expand further south, without the Americans to bump up against.

This also meant that the Americans were unable to expand as far south and west as in our world, coming up against Indigenous dragon-protected lands, such as the Oniagara, or Aztec and Incan empires, which grew further north after Spanish contact, and flourished.

Unlike in the current version of Canada, the land was legislatively divided into much smaller provinces than currently exist, each overseen by a hereditary draconic Lieutenant Governor, who report to the draconic Governor of the Canadas, who in turn reports to the House of Lords in England (also dragons). Each province is divided into Duchies, Earldoms, and Marquessates, presided over by a noble dragon family.

As dragons are long-lived, the current Queen of England is Elizabeth (the first one). As she has not yet passed, the Kingdom of Scotland as yet remains separate from England. Ireland too is independent, the Irish dragons having beaten back the English ones. However, Wales remains a satellite colony of England, as the betrayal which brought about it's subjugation and the trickery around the hereditary title "Prince of Wales" still occurred. (This an important plot point).

by @seancefemme

This is the first piece of art I commissioned for the novel, and you'll note it's now become the cover art!

Meet the heroes of our tale: barista and disaster bi Colin Levesque, stuck in the middle of his quarter-life crisis and crushing on his cafe regular, Welsh dragon Dav, the Marquis of Niagara (though of course, Colin doesn't know he's the Marquis, and thinks Dav is just some minor noble with nothing better to do all day than hang out and read).

by @ibrithir-was-here

Colin works at Beanevolence, an indie cafe in downtown St. Catharine's, in the province of Upper Canada (Southern Ontario in our world). It's owned by his bestie Hadi, and he was only supposed to be a barista until he'd graduated. But now he has his Sustainable Tourism degree, and no clue what to do next. He feels completely stuck. Luckily he has Dav to distract him.

Except that one day Dav distracts him too well, which results in a kitchen fire. As an apology for the inferno, and to help the cafe get back on it's feet while the repairs are under way, Dav volunteers as the new bean roaster, creating incredible and (and ultimately social-media viral) coffee roasts with his fire-breath.

by @ibrithir-was-here

Colin and Dav start a flirtation at work.

Which leads to...

by @teejaystumbles

Luxurious dates and late-night smoochies.

by @pinkpiggy93

Which also goes a little bit viral. See, it turns out that the Marquis of Niagara usually keeps a low profile, and his sudden romance with a human has the gossip rags and tabloids all in a tizzy.

But more than that, it puts Dav under the scrutiny of Francis Simcoe. He's the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, a dragon with a hate-on for Dav, and the perfect ammunition to ruin his happiness.

Because, you see, it's against dragonic rules for dragons to be seen to be laboring in service of humans... and Dav's new gig at Beanevolence is about to--forgive the pun--land him in hot water.

➡️ Read Nine-Tenths Here ⬅️

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tryan-a-bex · 3 days

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A masterlist of my Lucienne fics in honour of Librarian Day! (I’ve been reblogging things all day and just now realized only new posts show up in the tag 😭)

Sometimes when you fall, you fly My first Gaulcienne fic, with art by @athymelyreply

Spill the tea A meta discussion of fanfiction by the characters!

Fireflies and a Missing Person Where is Mervyn? With art by @ibrithir-was-here

The Dragon’s Tongue Lucienne has words with Queen Titania of the Fae. Now with an amazing sequel by @lostelfwriting

Eldritch Horrors and the Chaos Gremlin Lucienne tries her hand at matchmaking

The Dragon Rider Gault is the dragon, and after Jed leaves Lucienne cuddles in.

Naga No-Go Lucienne gets called on to help; she’d rather not talk about it, okay?

Trials of a Shapeshifter in Love possibly my sweetest Gaulcienne fic. Gault wants to surprise Lucienne, but Lucienne recognizes her no matter what form she takes.

Murder at the Greenhouse a human au murder mystery based on an idea by @seiya-starsniper

Muhulhu: the introduction helm crack. I’m sorry, and so is Lucienne.

Biker Dream and Traveller Hob human au where Lucienne is a normal everyday heroic librarian

The Library Cat Lucienne’s Library is invaded, first by a cat and then by even more chaos

A Mystery in the Library Why are the unpublished Agatha Christie’s resolutely backwards? (I didn’t set out to make this a detective series and yet here we are)

Categorization Systems Lucienne receives a late night visitor in the library, during the events of Season of Mists. From a prompt by @orionsangel86

#lucienne the librarian #dreaminglibrarianday #dreaming librarian day #tryana find it back

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fishfingersandscarves · 1 year

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I stumbled on a animatic you did for Good Omens on YouTube, didnt see the channel name at first, and the entire time I was watching it my mind was going "Why does this art style look so familar? Am I having deja vu?? Why do I feel like I recognize this I swear I've never watched this before???"

Took me till the actual end of the video to look down and see your name 😅 I audibly went "OHHH!"

I tell you it was like seeing a teacher at the grocery store it felt so strange for some reason to bump into someone I followed's art outside of Tumblr 😅😅😅

Anyway, your art and animation continues to be lovely, and the animatic lead me to an awesome fic so thank you!

ah goodness lol well i'm glad you enjoyed it!! <333

#my asks #fishfingersandscarves #ibrithir-was-here

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twottie-m8 · 1 year

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I want you to know that everytime i look at this panel it adds a year to my life, it should be illegal for something to be this cute 💕💕💕💕

YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE

#ask #twottie talks #its my secret weapon of mass destruction #i add years on peoples lives #jokes aside though eeeee thank youuuuu 💕💕💕#i thought man he do be sitting there #my sona #<- technically?#ibrithir-was-here

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yellow-faerie · 2 years

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Before you take the prompts down, maybe 30 for the Tyelpe and Gil Galad Brothers AU?

I like this, I like this prompt a lot.

From this prompt list.

30 - "Oh, thank all that is good that I found you, did - ow! Why did you do that?"

When the battle was raging in Nargothrond, Celebrimbor had to keep an eye on both Gil-Galad and his younger cousin.

Of course, he managed to lose both.

And when he'd found Finduilas, pinned to that tree, and quite dead, he had feared the worst for his little brother.

"Lord Celebrimbor!" Someone calls as Celebrimbor is helping one of Orodreth's advisors organise the what refugee stragglers they have managed to find and group together.

Analoth is a young elf, born on these shores around the same time as Finduilas, and had been her lady-in-waiting since both of them could walk. She had not taken the news of Finduilas' death well so it is a surprise to Celebrimbor that she looks quite so...alive.

"Lord, I have seen another group of refugees, coming up from the south. They must have been hiding in the woods." Her eyes have a fiery hope in them. "They might have Prince Ereinion with them."

Celebrimbor's whole heart clenches at the mention of his brother but he manages to keep his face straight. Best not to show anything until there is something more substantial than a hope.

Analoth's face falls slightly. "Is this not good news?" She asks, sounding hurt that Celebrimbor had not taken the news as well as she had hoped.

"No, no it is. Anymore people who survived is a blessing." He turns back to Fanaril, who's gone on to make the necessary annotations to their map while he talked.

"I'm going with Analoth to help scout out this new group. We can finish this later."

"Right, my lord." They roll up the paper and tuck it safely in their bag. "Safe journeying."

Celebrimbor nods and turns back to Analoth. "Show me where they are."

"Not far. I saw them while looking for wild mushrooms. Mushrooms are hardy and I thought some might have survived the orcs destruction. I found a good patch not far away and I saw them coming but I didn't want to wander too far unless...unless it was a trick of the Enemy."

"That was wise," Celebrimbor says, checking that his sword is easy to remove from the scabbard on his back. "On both counts: the mushrooms was a stroke of genius I wouldn't have thought of. When we return, please spread the word to keep an eye out for them."

"Of course."

Celebrimbor lets out a soft sigh and smiles imperceptibly. It's by no means a fix for Analoth's grief but Celebrimbor hopes that keeping busy will help her as it's always seemed to help him.

Analoth starts beside him suddenly and speeds up. "Ah, there's my basket! We're here."

She snatches her mushrooms from the ground and straightens up, looking around. The forest is blackened and still on fire in some places but it is not difficult to see far here.

"Analoth, I cannot see anyone."

She slumps down. "Oh. I swore I could..." She sighs and rubs at her eyes like she's about to cry. "...I guess it was one of the Enemy's tricks."

"But you did good," Celebrimbor says softly, reaching out to gently rub comforting circles into her shoulder. "You managed not to fall for it."

"Yeah." She doesn't sound very happy about it. "I guess...I don't know what I guess."

"Let's go back to the camp, alright? We'll take your mushrooms and I'm sure someone can make something warm to eat out of them."

It takes a little bit more coaxing but Celebrimbor manages to steer her back around and they stumble through the blackened remains of the forest to where their small group of refugees have found a place to huddle.

"Ana!" Someone calls as they get closer and Analoth's older sister appears from the crowd.

"Mina?" Analoth says in surprise and is wrapped in a tight hug by Minloth. Celebrimbor steps away to let them have their reunion and looks instead for Fanaril.

Obviously, while they were away looking for Analoth's hallucination, an actual group of refugees appeared which meant-

His eyes fall upon a familiar head of silvery-gold hair, still tied back with the silver hair pins Celebrimbor had made him for his last begetting day.

Gil-Galad is sitting on a fallen log, swinging his legs and looking a little lost as people swirl around him with greetings for each other.

Celebrimbor passes a few people he knows on his way over but he spares them little more than a smile.

"Gil?" He asks softly and his little brother turns around sharply. Celebrimbor can feel muscles he hadn't known were tensed, relax, and he smiles.

"Oh, thank all that is good that I found you," he says, crouching down in front of him. "Did-" he starts but does not get to finish as Gil-Galad aims a really hard kick against his shin. "Ow! Why did you do that?"

"You left me!" Gil-Galad says, crossing his arms. There are furious tears glittering in his eyes. "You promised Atya that you would protect me and you left me."

Celebrimbor hates how much his voice must break when he speaks again. "Oh Gil, I'm-"

"No!" Gil-Galad looks a little surprised by the force of his words but carries on all the same, "I was scared and it was so loud and busy and I had no idea where you were. You're my brother, you're meant to be there for me, you were meant-"

He cuts off abruptly with a hiccup and he starts crying.

Celebrimbor gently takes his hands in his, wanting to just pull him straight into a hug but not sure whether that would really be appreciated right now.

"Gil," he says and his brother looks up at him, "I'm sorry."

There is a moment where Gil-Galad just stares at him, searching his face for something that Celebrimbor can't quite work out, and just as Celebrimbor thinks that his apology is going to be rejected, Gil-Galad sobs and pushes himself right into Celebrimbor's arms.

"Please don't leave again Tyelpë," he mumbles into the front of Celebrimbor's shirt. Celebrimbor rests his cheek against his brother's hair, still fluffy from childhood even as he gets into his adolescence.

"I shan't. Not if I can help it Hánya."

It's more than his promise to Finrod in a back corridor of Nargothrond. It's more than a half-conversation had with his father in the night. It's more than a hundred words said.

It's simply that Celebrimbor loves his brother with all his heart and he would kneel here, in this thick mud among the burned remains of one of Beleriand's great forests forever if it would bring even an ounce of happiness to him.

"I give you my word," he finishes, in barely a whisper, and he knows the seriousness of such oaths.

#does this parentage provide so much angst potential?#Yes #Gil-Galad #Celebrimbor #OC: Analoth #OC: Fanaril #OC: Minloth #Silmarillion #Tolkien #Fanfiction #The Curious Case of the Parentage of Ereinion Gil-Galad #Gil-Galad Curufinrodion #Fae's Stuff #Fae's Fic #Prompt #Prompt List 3 #Ask #ibrithir-was-here

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chickenscratchstudios · 4 months

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I felt compelled to draw the characters from @ibrithir-was-here and Co.'s Blood of my Blood Dracula AU. (Baller AU guys, keep it up)

Tried to stick with Ibrithir's design, but I mayyy have let elements of my own designs slip in there.

(Also, WHY do all of the characters except one have last names starting with 'H' I didn't realize this until I had labeled all them)

#older men are hard to draw #but hey what else is new #i'm oscillating between loving this and hating this #so i'm posting it before i change my mind #dracula #jonathan harker #mina harker #mina murray #quincey harker #arthur holmwood #lu holmwood #jack seward #blood of my blood #dracula bad ending

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themirokai · 1 year

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Hob turned at a landing and his breath caught in his throat. He had never seen this room, of course, but he knew it in an instant. Stone columns, a water-filled moat, and suspended from chains in the middle: a cage of iron-bound glass. Dream was lying in the bottom of the sphere, naked.

After Dream gets stuck in a nightmare of the Fawney Rig basement, Hob and Matthew help him get back to himself.

Seven - A Dreamling & Matthew the Emotional Support Raven Fic by MiroKai

Read Chapter 1 on AO3 or below the cut.

This story is a sequel to Loverboy, and while that isn't required reading, it does set up the relationships between Dream, Matthew, and Hob that I've delved into here.

Back in December I raffled off a ficlet in order to get to know new followers, and @icurlybooks was the winner! She asked for a fishbowl rescue fic, and while I didn't have any good ideas for a straight up fishbowl rescue, I was super inspired by Chapter 11 @ibrithir-was-here's Endless Heirs AU which everyone should go read right now. And instead of a ficlet I ended up with over 7k words and 3 chapters! The other two chapters will go up over the next week or so. Enjoy!

-----

It was getting dark, but Hob wasn’t worried. He continued along the path, using Dream’s pull to find his way through the Dreaming. Dream was probably just dealing with a nightmare, he assured himself.

“CAW!”

There was a flapping in the gloom around Hob’s feet.

“Matthew?!”

“What the fuck, loverboy? You almost stepped on me!”

“Sorry! What are you doing just standing around in the dark?”

Matthew didn’t speak for a moment and Hob squinted to try to see him in the darkness.

“You can feel him, right?” Matthew’s voice was quiet.

“Yeah. He’s nearby. That way.” Hob pointed ahead into the murk.

“Right,” Matthew said. “But I can’t get to him. It’s like… he’s locked me out but without a door. See if you can keep going.”

Hob took a step forward and then another. As he passed Matthew he began to feel resistance, like something was pushing him back. Hob pushed harder and advanced.

“There’s definitely a barrier,” he told Matthew, “but I think I can make it through.”

“Good! Good. Go make sure he’s ok. I’ll - I’ll be here.”

Hob pressed on and the resistance decreased, the barrier apparently traversed. He became aware of the fact that there was a wood floor under his feet and walls around him. Another few steps and he was at the top of a staircase. He could see light flickering at the bottom. That was where Dream was, he could feel it. He took a breath and started downwards.

Dream was lying in the bottom of the sphere, naked.

“Dream!” Hob dashed forward.

Dream flinched at the sound of his voice, then sat up, moving like his muscles had forgotten how.

Hob’s heart twisted at the flinch and shattered when he took in Dream’s body. Hob had seen Dream naked in a variety of forms, but never like this. His lover was all sinew and bone and muscle, as if his body had been stripped down to the least amount of mass needed to hold it together.

“Dream…” Hob whispered, stepping forward more slowly. “My god, love, what’s happened? Where are we?”

Dream brought his knees to his chest and hugged his arms around them, not looking at Hob.

“I was in the Dreaming,” Hob continued, “I saw Matthew and I was coming to find you. Did I cross into somewhere else? Are you alright?”

Dream’s eyes looked wet and he squeezed them shut, then shook his head.

“Can you get out of there, love?”

Still no response.

Hob took a breath. This was wrong. That was definitely Dream in there and he felt certain that they were still in the Dreaming. He and Matthew had both felt Dream’s presence. He had to find a way to fix this.

“Love, will it be alright if I break this? I won’t hurt you will I?”

Dream hugged himself tighter and didn’t respond verbally but in the back of Hob’s mind there was a whisper.

“Binding circle.”

It didn’t happen often, but there were times when Dream couldn’t be bothered to speak out loud in the Dreaming. Usually when they were making love. Hob would just suddenly understand what Dream wanted him to know. This wasn’t quite like receiving direction on how Dream wanted to be touched, but it was familiar enough that Hob didn’t question it.

He looked down at the floor and saw the circle of runes. Hob spit on it, then scuffed his shoe through it, leaving a large gap.

When he turned back to Dream, his lover was finally looking up at him but was now visibly trembling. Hob pressed a hand to the glass.

“I’ve broken the circle, love. Can you get out now?”

Dream stared at him mutely, expression scared and miserable.

Fuck.

Hob took another breath. Okay. Dream had been teaching him how to manipulate the Dreaming. Hob closed his eyes. He knew he wouldn’t be able to disappear the cage, but he could probably get himself a tool. It would have to be something that he could picture vividly. He thought for a moment.

Hob had spent most of 1865 and 1866 in America, building the Transcontinental Railroad. His Cantonese had never been better. He could still smell the dust and sweat, still taste the horrible coffee and beans, and still feel the sledgehammer in his hand. Hob focused on that memory. From the thick calluses on his palm and fingers, to the grain of the wood handle, to the weight of the thing.

Hob opened his eyes to see the trusty sledgehammer in his right hand. Perfect. He raised it and looked back at Dream.

“I’m going to break the glass, love, alright?”

Dream gave a tiny, slow nod. That would have to be good enough.

“Alright, move back a bit, yeah? I don’t want it to cut you.”

Dream scrabbled backwards until he was against the wall of the sphere farthest from Hob.

Hob gave him a reassuring smile, and raised the sledgehammer.

He didn’t have to hit it hard: the weight of the hammer was enough to break through. The tricky part was wielding it delicately enough to open a hole big enough for Dream to get through without cutting himself, and without bringing the whole thing crashing down on them.

He managed it after a minute, then dropped the sledgehammer, which dissolved into shadows before it hit the ground. Hob reached his hand through the hole towards Dream.

“Come on, love. I’ve got you.”

When Dream hesitated, Hob reached further into the sphere. The only part of Dream he could reach was one foot and ankle, but he gently wrapped his hand over the cold skin and stroked his thumb over Dream’s ankle bone.

“Come out, Dream. Let’s fix this.”

Slowly, moving without any of his normal grace, Dream inched himself out of the sphere and Hob pulled him directly into his arms. Dream was only as tall as Hob’s chin, and he sagged his slight weight against Hob’s chest.

“Hob.” Dream’s voice was faint and cracked.

“I’ve got you,” Hob whispered, stroking Dream’s hair and his back over and over. “I’ve got you, you’re okay.”

Dream was still trembling in Hob’s embrace.

“How about some clothes, love?” Hob asked gently, wondering if Dream could manifest his robe of shadows or his star-filled coat.

Dream made a small noise in the back of his throat but no clothing appeared.

“Alright,” Hob soothed, rubbing Dream’s arms, “it’s okay. I did well enough with the sledgehammer, let’s see if I can get something.” He thought for a moment. “How about that throw blanket from my couch that you like? The soft blue one.”

Hob closed his eyes and pictured the feel of the fleece blanket. Saw himself pull it off the couch and wrap it around Dream’s shoulders. When he opened his eyes, the blanket was there, enveloping Dream. Hob allowed himself a momentary flare of pride.

Dream took a breath, and the trembling stopped. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Hob wrapped his arm around Dream’s back. “Should we get you back to the palace?”

Dream shook his head quickly. “The Waking. Please.”

Hob frowned, but considering where they were, he supposed the request wasn’t surprising.

“Of course, love. Can we tell Matthew that’s where we’re going? He said you had locked him out. I think he’s already worried sick about you.”

Dream grimaced and a shudder ran through him. A moment later and the scene around them brightened. It was the same horrible room, just slightly less dark.

“Boss?” Matthew was suddenly flying towards them but nearly stopped in the air when he saw where they were. “Holy shit! Boss! What the fuck?”

Dream flinched and bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Sorry!” Matthew said much more quietly as he landed and hopped towards them. “I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

“We’re going to the Waking,” Hob said, drawing Dream closer. “Matthew, will you tell Lucienne?”

Matthew looked between them, his mouth hanging open before he collected himself. “Yeah, um, of course. Hob, what is going on?”

Hob glanced at Dream then gave Matthew a sympathetic grimace. “I wish I knew, mate. But we’ll figure it out. We’ll be at my flat. Come check in, in a little while, yeah?”

“Yeah. Okay.” The raven’s tone was definitely not okay.

Hob sighed. He knew Matthew was nothing if not resilient so he turned back to his primary concern.

“Dream, if I just wake up will you come with me?”

A tiny nod.

Matthew hopped closer. “Boss, I’m sorry I startled you. I - I just… I just want you to be okay.”

“I know, Matthew,” Dream whispered.

Hob tried to give Matthew an encouraging nod, then forced himself awake.

Hob opened his eyes in his bed. Dream was still in his arms, naked and wrapped in the fuzzy blue blanket. Hob leaned forward to kiss his forehead.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said quietly. “Do you want some clothes?”

“Yes,” Dream whispered. “Please.”

Hob pulled himself out of bed and over to his dresser, where he retrieved a thick sweatshirt and pajama bottoms. He helped Dream into them, then perched beside where he sat on the edge of the bed.

“You don’t need to talk until you’re ready,” Hob said, rubbing Dream’s back. “But if you can tell me anything that you need or want, I’ll make it happen.”

Dream sat with his shoulders hunched and palms pressed into the bed on either side of his legs. “Would you. Open the window?”

Hob glanced outside. “It’s raining.”

“I know.” Dream’s head hung lower. “I … the air. And outside. Please.”

Shit, that damn glass sphere was airtight, wasn’t it?

“Of course!” Hob sprung to his feet. “Of course.”

When Hob returned to the bed, Dream was laying down with his eyes closed. Hob was about to head for the armchair in the corner when thin fingers closed around his wrist.

“Hold me?”

Hob smiled and climbed back into bed.

Hob wasn’t sure how long he dozed, holding Dream’s body against his and listening to the rain.

“There are seven.”

Hob stirred himself. “Seven?”

“Seven people. Living. Who saw me. In the cage.”

Hob was wide awake now and listening intently, his arms tight around Dream’s chest.

“The guards were told that I was a dangerous monster. Trapped in a human form in the cage. But a danger to all mankind if I ever escaped.”

Dream was faced away from him and Hob placed a gentle kiss on his shoulder blade.

“I did nothing to disabuse them of this notion. It was, after all, largely correct.”

Hob pressed his forehead against Dream’s back.

“They all dream of me sometimes.”

Hob felt his breath catch in his throat. He hadn’t thought of that. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Dream had told him that Burgess had been punished, but what of the guards?

“At first I was distracted by the search for my tools and rebuilding the Dreaming and then Rose. And lately their dreams of me are mostly nightmares in which a monstrous facsimile of me stalks and preys upon them.”

Good, Hob thought. He hoped they were terrified to close their eyes.

“But one of them. Dreamed the actual memory of me and I -”

Dream curled into himself, squeezed his eyes shut.

Hob pulled him closer. “It’s alright,” he murmured.

“I got caught in it!” Dream’s voice was a harsh whisper. “Ridiculous and weak. It was a dream! The paltry dream of a mortal human!”

Hob freed one of his hands to stroke Dream’s hair. “It wasn’t just a dream though, was it? It was a memory. Your memory of something horrible. There must be precious few mortals in creation who have ever been able to do that to you. And it sounds like there are only seven - in the entire universe - who can do it now. Of course it caught you off guard, love.”

Hob pressed more kisses to Dream’s shoulder, and Dream gave a shuddering breath but seemed to relax a little.

“I only managed to push the dreamer out and close myself off before I was lost in it,” he murmured after a moment.

“You will never stay lost for long again, Dream. I promise you.” Resolve tightened in Hob’s gut. He would keep that promise.

Dream squeezed Hob’s arm in acknowledgment, and they let the silence stretch.

“Um, tap tap?”

Hob and Dream both started and looked up at the window to find a very wet Matthew standing on the sill.

“Sorry,” Matthew said, ducking his head, “I would normally tap on the glass but it’s open so… can I come in?”

“Yes, Matthew,” Dream said, pushing himself up to sit.

Matthew shook himself vigorously, fluffing out his feathers and spraying water over the sill. He looked around him with an expression Hob had come to recognize as embarrassment.

“Uh, sorry Hob.”

Hob, now leaning against the headboard, gave a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it.”

Matthew flew to the foot of the bed where he perched.

“Boss? Are you okay?”

“I am… better. Than I was.”

“Good! Good. Um.” Matthew shifted from foot to foot. “Can I … ask what happened?”

Dream pinched the bridge of his nose. “One of the people who guarded my prison dreamed of the memory of me and I was … caught in the dream.”

“Oh shit,” Matthew said quietly, hopping closer to Dream. “That must have been terrible. I’m so sorry.”

Dream grimaced and swallowed, then reached forward to stroke a finger over Matthew’s head.

“Do you know why I was locked out but Hob wasn’t?” Matthew asked.

Dream gave a shuddering sigh. “I did that.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.

“What? Why? Boss, I could have helped you.”

Hob noted with approval that Matthew kept his tone gentle.

“Jessamy tried to help me,” Dream whispered, drawing into himself.

“Oh, Boss,” Matthew’s voice cracked with emotion and he hopped into Dream’s lap.

Dream gathered the raven into his arms. “I could not bear to see you killed, Matthew.”

Matthew pressed the top of his head against Dream’s chest. “I get it. I’m so sorry you went through that, Boss. But I’m here and you’re here, and it’s gonna be okay.”

Hob moved closer to Dream so that their sides were touching, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He leaned over to kiss Dream’s hair.

Matthew looked up after a beat. “I guess knowing your boyfriend can’t die has some advantages huh?”

Hob chuckled. “One or two.”

They sat quietly for several minutes, Hob holding Dream and Dream stroking Matthew, before Matthew spoke up again.

“So how do we make sure this doesn’t happen again? Or if it does happen, how do we get you out quicker?”

Hob cleared his throat. “I have an idea for the former.”

Both Matthew and Dream looked at him.

“The seven people, the ones who are living and have memories of you that they could dream about, do you know who they are?” Hob asked.

“Their books are in the Library,” Dream answered hesitantly.

Hob nodded. “Good.”

Matthew cocked his head to the side. “Why is that good?”

“It’s good,” Hob said, looking out the window, “because I can borrow the books from Lucienne and then I can find those seven people and I can kill them.”

“What?!” Matthew squawked.

Dream shifted away and turned to look at Hob, holding Matthew closer against his chest. “That is not the purpose of my Library, Hob Gadling.”

Hob shrugged. “If you don’t want me to use the books then I’ll find them another way. They can’t be too hard to track down. I’m resourceful.”

Dream’s frown deepened. “You would take greater vengeance than I myself can take?”

“It’s a bit of vengeance,” Hob said, turning to fully face Dream, “but it’s more to protect you from this happening again. You can’t kill mortals who aren’t active threats, but I can.”

“You’re just going to murder seven people?” Matthew’s eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his head.

Hob sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Matthew, I’ve fought in a dozen wars. I’ve been a criminal of various stripes involving a wide range of violent acts. I’ve been in any number of fights that I’ve chosen to end… decisively. Seven people…” he took a deep breath and shook his head. “It’s a drop in the bucket. A big drop, but still a drop.” He reached out to cup Dream’s cheek, locking eyes with him. “And if it keeps you from this pain?” Hob shrugged. “I’ve done far worse for less.”

“Okay, wait.” Matthew hopped out of Dream’s arms and onto the bed where he could face both of them. “Boss, there has to be another solution than letting Stabby McMurderpants loose on seven people!”

Hob decided that he rather liked ‘Stabby McMurderpants’.

“One of them,” Dream said softly, looking down at his hands, “broke the binding circle, which allowed me to escape. He was Alex Burgess’s lover but he was not involved in Jessamy’s murder or the original trap. I would not see him harmed.”

“Well,” Hob reasoned, “if I take out the other six that will greatly reduce the chances of someone dreaming of you.”

“No,” Matthew said firmly. “There’s another way. Boss, you took away Joanna Constantine’s nightmare memory, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Dream said slowly.

“So you can do that with these people, can’t you?” Matthew asked.

“I … would need to touch the dream to remove it from their minds.”

Hob covered Dream’s hand with his own. “Could you get caught in it if you touched it?”

Dream looked away from both of them and nodded.

“Not worth the risk,” Hob said. “Let me take care of it.” He squeezed Dream’s hand.

“But Boss, what if we were there with you when you touched the dream? Couldn’t we keep you from getting caught?”

“I do not know. Perhaps.”

“Well, Bloodthirsty Killerson here seemed to do a pretty quick job of pulling you out once he got to you so if he was there from the start it seems like he could get you right back out again.”

Hob brought Dream’s hand to his mouth and kissed his fingers. “If Matthew’s right and this is a viable way to permanently eliminate those dreams, I could have the sledgehammer ready to go, love.”

-----

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2 is up now!

Thanks to @once-in-a-blue-moon-rising for her encouragement and ridiculously helpful beta reading.

Thanks also to @karalynlovescake and @tryan-a-bex for giving the first two chapters of this an early read when I was craving some feedback.

You can find my master post for the Matthew the Emotional Support Raven series here.

#matthew the emotional support raven #dreamling #the sandman #miro does sandman #the sandman netflix #dream of the endless #hob gadling #matthew the raven #mirokai writes #this one's a little angstier than the rest of the series #but still tons of fluff #and some emotional hurt/comfort #there will be a happy ending

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