bakerstreet | Denny's

[Honestly, that's how Johanna feels about it too. Being idle really does nothing for her. always moving, thank you.]

[he focused on him for the moment, a small hmm given in response.] I don't know, dreams seem to always be a mess for me. I do suppose it is better to get to wake up from them and not be in total pain.

[She's casual about her topics of conversation, even if some seemed rougher then others. Best to see flippant over it then concerned though. He had at least soothed the one that really bothered her. That was helpful, honestly.]

[She did try to peek out, eyes squinting a bit to scan outside the window, taking a good long moment before seeing his small black figure... and smiling. She nodded, sitting her mug down.] Pancakes are good. I hope he enjoys them. I'll have to say hello before I leave.

[The flippant tone didn't bother him. Everyone had their coping mechanisms. He knew her dreams of course, had delved into her psyche in the sleeping world as he did all beings who dreamt. He knew hers were rarely pleasant, and that dreams were only part of how humanity overcame their trials.]

Dreams are in part a reflection of one's waking world. I've yet to meet a person, human or otherwise, that didn't have an element of mess to them. Though the degree does change, depending on the person and their current situation. What would you dream, if you could choose?

[He saw the smile at the mention of Matthew as he dared to take a sip from the cup. He tried it more because he found being wasteful distasteful, but there was an element of curiosity as well that he didn't want to admit. He was trying a little more of what the waking world had to offer.]

I'm certain Matthew would like it if you did say hello. He's rather fond of making... friends. [The chatty, gregarious bird baffled Morpheus, as did any that outgoing, but he'd come around to the bird's unending loyalty and pluck.]

[She really could do with out dreaming sometimes though. Then again she did push herself to the edge of being worn enough to get around the dreaming thing. Still, it has her dreadfully curious about him now.]

That's because most beings, human or otherwise, are a mess. [She said with a nod of her head, as if his words were just logic. But at the question she took a breath, and held it a second, to consider.] Hmm, that's a hard question. [She said as she looked down at her own mug, her slender but slightly burned hands curling around it carefully.]

As much as I love the cold streets of home, I suppose I would consider choosing something more... open. Brighter? Perhaps a field but that seems so cliché. Oh! Wait, no...

[She lifted a finger to point, as if she had the right idea.] A little country cottage, with all the books and warm blankets and sweaters stashed in it. Real cozy. Out back is a field to laze around in, but out front, just down the long drive is a small town. Real small. Like tavern and post office and a few buildings kind of small. Some place peaceful and bright but still has a place to go get smashed. That would be more ideal, I think. Simple, I know, but I'm a simple kind of girl. [No she's not.] Might even be a bit of a boring dream, but I'm so used to constantly be moving that that simple thing seems quaint and mysterious.

[She chuckled a t herself, shaking her head. Not at all a normal dream for her. But she glanced out the window again, nodding. Maybe she will go say hello to the pretty bird before she takes off. What can it hurt.]

The questions worth asking often are. [Hard, that was.]

[He stayed silent as she spoke, spinning what she thought would be an ideal dream for herself. Perhaps it was, or at least, perhaps she genuinely thought it to be as such. A hint of a smile crossed his face at her mention of the word simple, though even the most complicated of beings had baseline needs. If nothing else, what she mused to him was telling about herself. He took another sip of the coffee, not warmed up to its flavor yet, letting her finish before responding.]

It seems to be a common trait among humans. To crave novelty, while finding comfort in routine. Rare is it when a balance between the two is found.

[...] It sounds like a lovely dream, Constantine.

Hard questions are almost always the best questions too. [She had murmured at some point to that, but yes, for the most part she pondered the simple dream.]

I suppose it's not a bad thing, novelty and routine. Though, honestly, I'm surprised that it's not something craving adventure out in a snowy mountain while hiking up a dead pass or something adventurous or even creative, like I don't know, surfing an purple air narwhal through a cupcake war.

I'm sure you've seen that cottage set up billions of times before. How often does a dream surprise you? [She mused, returning to nursing her coffee and watching him. What HASN'T he seen?]

The dream itself, or the dreamer? [Two distinct things.] Certain dreams attempting to defy me have come as a surprise. At the time at least. [The Corinthian going rogue hadn't shocked Morpheus. He had been created with the seed of such perversity and rebellion within him, and rather than being nurtured into a proper nightmare he had unleashed torment upon the humans he was meant to help. The next time Morpheus created the Corinthian he would craft a better job of it. Fiddler's Green though had come as a surprise, as had Gault to an extent in a different way. However, in the latter two cases, he'd come to see their point. Change was inevitable, perhaps even desirable at times, even if it still did not come easy to one such as him.

As for the dreamers themselves, and what they experience while they slumber... [He considered the question, for it wasn't an easy one.] All of the Dreaming, every item that someone encounters while they sleep, was created by me for you. The collective you. In that sense what turns up in a dream is never foreign to me. I have control over your dreams, to the extent that they do not consume or destroy you. What people do with their dreams outside of that, however... sometimes I am surprised, or saddened, or impressed with the depth that people divulge. Their compassion, or contentment, or depravity. I suppose it is more the dreamer themselves that can surprise me, by what they reveal, and the dream's context is more a canvas for that display.

Does that happen often? Defiant dreams? [What a curious thought that was, to build dream being and have it turn on you. Also, I'm sorry, you have her interest on this, and she is leaning here listening to everything. Demons she can handle on her own, Dreams seem so... vastly different.]

[When he spoke of dreamers though, she seemed to be very focused on what he was saying, mentally mapping it out. So he builds the dreams, all of it, and humans experienced them. His saying he has control at first made her brow raise, like she didn't want anyone to control her dreams, unless they were just removing them. But then the 'consume or destroy you' part had the other brow lifting to meet the first. Mental pin in that note. All the little details of what he sees and can do seem to interest her. She sips slowly on her coffee as he talks, eyeing him.]

So you of all beings in existence and beyond existence ... know humans best. Or know a being best of all, via their dreams? Do you just have infinite knowledge of all beings who dream? Or do you have to pause to look it up or wait until they sleep to see anything? When you looked at me for the first time, did you just know me and who I was?

That is... a lot of questions. [It gave him a moment's pause to try and figure out how best to go about answering her. What he felt comfortable to share and say, what could even be put into the confines of words.] Defiant dreams do not happen often, no. [That he blamed mostly on his having been captured and not around to oversee his realm. The sting of that lingered, both the blow to his pride as well as the guilt over the seeming abandonment. A part of him couldn't help but feel he shouldn't have gotten caught, and that he should have found a way out faster.] I wouldn't presume I know you better than everyone in existence. There are many powerful beings that exist in this world and beyond, after all. [Possibly Destiny was the most powerful with regards to knowledge, at least of the Endless, but it all really was a matter of perspective. Certainly Death had humbly shown Morpheus that he could do better with getting to know the people whom he served.] Should I need to find someone, I have ways. If you're worried I'm fixating on where everyone wakes up in the mornings, I assure you I am not.

[Though he was trying to understand people during their waking lives better. He knew what they brought into the dreaming with them, but it was another thing to witness and experience their waking lives firsthand. Hob had creaked open the door to such exploration for him, but he was treading a touch further.]

I would have known you anyway when looking at you. You quite resemble your ancestor. [He leaned forward a little.] I believe it’s my turn to ask a question now.

I'm a damn curious creature. [She said with an almost apologetic look on her face. The words not really apology, but also a bit of one. She didn't expect him to answer it all.]

[What he did answer though was interesting, and she took each of these things carefully in her thoughts.] Good to know. [About all of it, really. About the dreams and how much he knows of everyone, or her, and such. She can't imagine just knowing everything or being everywhere when you wanted. That had to make life boring, right? Where is the mystery?]

[But he mentioned her ancestry and asked about his own question, and she chuckled faintly. She too leaned forward, just a bit, matching his motion.] Oh now, this should be good. Fair is fair though. Ask away.

[Was he turning the tables in part to get the focus off himself? Perhaps. No, most certainly. Yet there was an element of genuine curiosity, too. Not about the mechanics of what she did, he'd met exorcists and demon hunters in the past. He'd met demons and ghosts who had been exorcised as well, knowing the situation from the other side. No, it wasn't her job that held fascination for him. It was something else.]

You asked if I know humanity best, if I have infinite knowledge of them. I would ask in turn, do you think anyone can know all there is about a person? Are people nothing more than their encyclopedic pasts and current thoughts?

I know I'd get a very different answer depending on whom I asked. For now though I am curious where you stand on it. Figuratively. [Given they were both seated.]

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