It wasn't raining, for once, like it usually did during the winter seasons in London. It took Johanna two weeks to realize her futile crush on the Dream Lord himself was not going to work out. It took her 13 out of those 14 days to even realize she liked him the way she did. And once she realized, she knew she needed to get him out of her head as fast as possible.
Which is what led her to to this mid tier restaurant at 8pm at night with the most uninteresting date she had ever had. It's not that there was anything wrong with him, he was just boring. Basic job, basic life, and nothing about him stood out.
"But basically after she had asked me to do that, I replied 'Katie I'm not doing your work for you, you can't trick me that easily.'"
He laughed after that. So she did too, a light and very fake one, but he didn't seem to care or notice. Their waiter came and dropped off the bill, he reached for it to pay and she thanked him quietly, then they stood and walked outside. The wind was sharp and cold, and Johanna found herself wrapping her coat more tightly around her.
"Can I walk you home?" He asked.
"No, that's okay really."
"It's dark out, you don't live too far. I insist."
"No really, I'll be fine. Thank you for dinner."
"No problem."
She had hurt his feelings. She could tell by the way his face slightly dropped as he turned to catch a cab home. She should feel bad, but she didn't. Not really. He was good looking enough that another pretty girl would come and actually want to go out with him, meanwhile Johanna was stuck trying to figure out why nobody interested her. Girls, guys, no one.
She audibly groaned before starting to walk towards her apartment. Less than halfway there a loud clap of thunder boomed overhead. Johanna paused and looked up just as the first few raindrops fell.
"Grea-"
It started pouring. There it was, that London rain. She ducked her head and started moving forward faster when lighting flashed overhead. She looked up just in time to stop herself about 3 feet in front of him. His dark trench coat, blue eyes, dark hair, and his umbrella. She could almost laugh at the sight. I mean Morpheus standing in the middle of a sidewalk with an umbrella looking kind of lost. He held it out, just enough where she could stand under it, and she happily took it.
"What are you doing here?" She said, squished with him under the umbrella.
"It's raining."
"No shit sherlock, but why are you here?"
"You're soaked from the rain, and cold."
She scoffed, "I'm not cold."
"You are soaked in 50 degree weather and harsh winds. You're cold."
"So you're here because I'm cold? I don't believe you."
Morpheus didn't respond. They stood there in the rain staring at each other for a minute before it hit Johanna.
"Oh my god. You missed me!"
"No."
"Yes! You did! Wait how did you find me? Are you spying on me?"
"No, I'm not spying on you."
"Is Matthew?"
"He's not... spying on you."
"You're lying."
"He's watching over you."
"That's the same thing."
"He's protecting you."
Johanna raised her eyebrows, "Really? From what exactly?"
"Just in general. Making sure you stay safe. Or don't do anything stupid."
"I exercise demons for a living. Matthew's not gonna stop any stupid decisions I make."
Dream stared hard at her. His eyes unmoving. She heaved a big sigh.
"Why is it so hard to admit you wanted to see me? To walk me home in the rain?" She mocked him slightly with that last line.
"I was checking to make sure that guy wasn't an ass to you. As it stands he left you to walk yourself home."
"I told him to."
Morpheus's eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"
It was Johanna's turn to freeze. She could just as easily lie to him. He'd definitely know, but he might let it slide if she insisted. However, she found she didn't want to. She found she wanted to tell him that every person she had talked to didn't interest her at all. That she's grateful he showed up here in the rain. That she was actually freezing and would be more than happy to let him warm her up.
And the better part of Johanna told her to stay silent. To tell him a half truth. Instead she kissed him. She didn't know what propelled her to, only that one minute they were inches apart, and the next her hands were on either side of his head and she was kissing him.
He was shocked at first, she could feel his body tense, and then relax as he realized what was happening. Then she felt his free hand on her waist pull her closer. His body was warm and helped to ward of the freeze that was starting to overtake her nerves, and she felt herself lean into him to try and savor it.
Another loud clap of thunder finally broke them apart. It startled Johanna. She jumped away quickly before realizing it was just the weather when the lighting followed overhead.
She let out a half chuckle, "Uhm, you're right I'm cold. Let's go back to my apartment."
She looked back at his face. It was flushed with color, and his once cold eyes had a new warmth in them.
"Morpheus?"
He came back to himself, "Sorry, yeah we can head back."
She held his arm as they walked back and she leaned into him. It was peaceful, the pounding sound of rain muffling all other noises.
Once back at the apartment she showered quickly. When she walked out she saw that he had set up tea for them on her coffee table. He sipped a cup idly while looking through one of her many books she had around the apartment. She sat down and without looking at her he started talking.
"Endless Beings and Their Summoning Rituals. Odd."
"Yes, that's odd. Not the fact that you actually exist and can be summoned."
He set the book down and turned to look at her, "What you find odd is simply beyond what your view of reality is."
She shook her head, then gently grabbed his free arm and lifted it. She placed it around her before leaning into him and closing her eyes. She could feel his body tense, his uneasiness of what to do.
"Relax. You're warm, I'm still cold."
She heard him scoff, but she also felt him lean into the couch. The rain pounded outside and fairly quickly she was asleep. When she woke up in the morning she was in her bed under the covers. Dream was gone, but he had left a note on her nightstand, and she swore she could feel a warm patch on her forehead where he may have kissed her before going. She picked up the note and read it.
'Sweet dreams. I'll see you soon.'
Johanna smiled. An odd relationship this would be, but she was ready for a challenge.
~~~~~~~~~~
It's giving Taylor Swift Sparks Fly. Also them and rain. It just fits.
