Dream x Reader - The Price of Mercy
Pairing: Dream x Reader
Warning: Spoiler season 2
Summary: Desperate to save his realm, Dream seeks help from a powerful, feared being ... you. Instead of demanding a painful price, you surprise him with a strange request. Flustered but out of options, he agrees.
Part I - The Price of Mercy
Part II - Dinner with a Goddess
Part III - Coffee, Confessions, and Choking
Part IV (End) - The Dream He Dared to Shape
The Price of Mercy
The Dreaming was bleeding.
Dream walked through its corridors, his palace of thought. The sky above cracked with silent thunder.
All because of what he’d done.
A moment of duty. A moment of justice. A moment of blood.
Family blood.
And by the ancient Law, that was enough to summon the Kindly Ones. They were not kind. They would come. They always did. And they would unmake him.
He had exhausted every path.
There was only one door left.
And even he feared it.
You.
He had seen you once, long ago, walking through a Roman temple as if you were bored by time itself. A creature of eerie calm, elegant and still like a mirror pond untouched by wind. Beauty in a form mortals could never survive, but you walked among them like you barely noticed the difference. You had looked at him once, just once, and Morpheus had felt… something.
He didn’t dwell on it.
Destiny had warned him then.
"Do not cross her. She is the unknown chapter, the untethered clause. The Law listens to her in silence. And she charges dearly."
But he was out of options.
So, he descended through layers of reality, past dreams and gods and concepts, until he reached the threshold of your realm, an impossible space suspended between choices and probabilities, colored like dusk and rimmed with the soft laughter of stars.
Your domain was quiet, but not empty. Lanterns floated, casting soft golden light against a midnight backdrop. You sat on a couch made of impossible geometry, legs crossed, sipping tea that shimmered between blue and gold.
You felt his arrival and smiled without looking.
“Took you long enough.”
Morpheus stood still. Tall, still robed in night and regret. His face impassive.
But his eyes… hesitated.
He looked at you, truly, and something ancient and strange twisted behind his ribs. Your beauty was… disarming. The kind that wasn’t trying to seduce or impress. Just was. Effortless. Alive. You were elegance without vanity, danger without cruelty. And you smiled at him like a cat with a secret.
He straightened. His cloak curled behind him like a shadow offended by the light.
"You know why I’m here."
You circled him slowly, watching how his shoulders tensed, how his jaw clenched when you got too close. A flicker in his gaze. He wasn’t used to this. Being seen.
"I do. You want a law bent. A rule rewritten. A leash placed upon the Kindly Ones before they tear you and your precious realm to ribbons."
"Yes."
"That’s not usually something done without consequence, Dream. The Laws of the Endless are older than even your melancholy. You’re asking me to interfere."
He stepped closer, tone taut, restrained.
"I have tried all other paths."
You sighed, the sound somewhere between weariness and dramatic flair.
"Of course you have. And now you’ve come to me, expecting pain. Sacrifice. A price so sharp it leaves your soul limping."
He stiffened. His heart beat once, too loud in his ears.
"I will pay what is necessary."
You tilted your head. Your voice shifted, becoming cool, detached. The same script you’d used with gods, devils, and fools alike:
"The favor you ask comes with cost. Not of coin. Not of blood. But of truth. Of surrender. Of something irreplaceable. All who have bargained with me have walked away different. Most do not walk away at all."
You turned. He was waiting for torment. For agony. His black eyes, so often hollow, held a flicker of dread.
And you were…
Bored.
Gods, they’re all the same. Expecting doom and torment. Never just… asking what I want. Not even a ‘how are you’. Tch. And that restaurant just opened too…
And then it hit you.
The restaurant. The one you had tried to go to last week, only to be turned away at the door because "no singles allowed."
So here he was. Tall. Brooding. Rather unreasonably handsome, in that haunted, starving-poet sort of way.
And available.
You grinned.
"I’ve decided your price."
He braced himself.
"There’s a new restaurant in the Waking World. They serve the best lobster this side of the galaxy. Problem is, it’s couples-only. And I want to try their spicy citrus-butter crustacean."
He blinked.
"…I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me." You walked towards him, hands folded behind your back, voice playful. "I want to go. I want their lobster. Their chef is a magician with butter and fire. But they don’t allow singles. I tried to bring my pet snake, but apparently that ‘violates the vibe’.
He frowned. "You… wish to dine with me?"
You smirked. "I want the food. They require a partner. You’ll do."
His brows furrowed. He searched the shadows for a trap. “That’s… it?”
You stepped closer, voice a whisper of amusement.
"What? Were you expecting I’d demand your memories? Your voice? Your first love’s heartbeat in a jar? Please. I’m not that cliché. I’m just bored. And hungry."
Morpheus hesitated. "You wish me to… date you?"
"Call it what you want, honey."
He choked. "…Honey?"
You leaned in, lips close to his ear.
"Too much?"
He straightened instantly, clearing his throat.
You watched, delighted, as his eyes flicked in every direction like he expected a trap to spring. “I—I don’t…”
“Relax. I won’t bite. Unless the lobster’s bad.”
His lips parted. Words failed him.
“So,” you continued, voice low and amused, “what’ll it be, Dream? Date or death?”
"I… accept. The terms. I choose the… date."
"Oh, how romantic," you teased, spinning on your heel. "Now. You’ll need to dress well. This place is fancy."
You turned, finger raised.
"You’ll need to pick me up. I expect you at eight sharp. No shadows. No sand. No ravens. Knock on the door like a normal being."
His voice was faint, nearly stunned.
"I… see."
"Do you?"
You stepped close again, smile playful, eyes glittering.
"You sure you’re okay with the price, Dream of the Endless? You seem a little… flustered."
He looked away quickly. "I am… simply surprised."
His ears turned faintly pink.
"Hm." You leaned back. "You’re cute when you’re trying not to blush."
Silence stretched, thick with something unexpected. Not doom. Not dread.
Anticipation.
"So," you said, extending your hand. "Do we have a deal?"
He stared at it, then at you.
There was no trick. No hidden malice.
Just you, beautiful, kind (against all rumors), and maybe a little lonely.
He hesitated. Then, slowly, solemnly, placed his hand in yours.
It was warm. Surprising.
“We have a deal.”
You smiled.
He turned to leave, half-floating, half-fleeing, his mind a storm of confusion.
And behind him, you laughed softly.
The Kindly Ones would be kept at bay. Your price was paid.
And perhaps… you wouldn’t be so bored after all.
You smiled. "Excellent. I’ll see you Friday. Don’t be late, honey."
He flinched again.
He stepped back through the veil, heart pounding like a mortal’s.
The Law had been bent. The Kindly Ones halted.
And all it cost him…
…was a date.
He touched the place on his hand where your fingers had rested.
Your laugh still echoed in his ears.
He could not stop the small smile that formed at the corner of his lips.
This is the first part of 4 delicious chapters, ehehehe, enjoy!
