morpheus x reader oneshots & headcanons

capable of change

Summary: Morpheus has a daughter that he hadn't been a good father to. But he vows to fix that after he escapes his cage.

Morpheus wasn't a good father. He knew that, and so many of the people who cared about him knew that. He wasn't good at emotions, or selfless love. And honestly, for most of his long life, he was scared of learning how to be good at that.

Because of that, he wasn't present in the lives of his children. His son had lived and died tragically, hurting Morpheus more than he thought it would. He hadn't been in his son's life, but it still sliced open his heart when that life was over. For a moment, his cold exterior cracked and the pain of fatherhood hit him.

After that, he swore to avoid fatherhood. Never letting himself feeling that ever again. After all, he reasoned with himself, he would only bring pain to the child. He knew he wasn't able to look after a child like they would need someone to look after them.

He thought he would be able to escape fatherhood after that, thought Orpheus had been the end of that.

But then he had a fling with some Fae woman, not even worrying about anything. Not worrying... until that former lover called on him telling him that she had just given birth to a healthy baby girl. A girl that she had created with him.

Morpheus had a daughter. He had promised himself to never sire any more children and now he had a daughter.

Once again, the King Of The Dreaming got scared of someone needing him. Distancing himself from his daughter and his former lover, not learning the lesson he should have learnt from the life and death of his son.

But there were times where he would watch over his child, named (Y/N) by her mother, from a long distance. Observing her growth, trying not to smile when she accomplished something. He stopped doing that eventually, recognizing that it would only hurt him.

Away from him, (Y/N) grew up in the Fae Realm. Only meeting Morpheus a few times when he visited to King and Queen. He had been curt when they spoke, asking professionally about her education or her hobbies. Then he would leave, and (Y/N) would try and push down the hurt she felt from his dismissive attitude.

It took a while for her to stop taking it personally. Finally recognizing that he just wasn't capable of letting people in. She figured he would never change, so she shouldn't care.

While (Y/N) had grown up in the Fae realm, she always had a soft spot for Earth. For the little humans that her father served. And when she grew up, she began living in the Waking world permanently. Living among the mortals who had always been so interesting to her.

She was at the park, feeding birds and people watching. It was routine for her at that point, her way to unwind after every day. But her relaxing evening was slightly ruined by the man appearing in front of her.

She had looked up to greet the stranger, until she realized who it was.

"(Y/N)." His voice was as just raspy as she remembered it. Morpheus looked slightly uncomfortable with her gaze on him, but he just nodded towards the bench. "May I sit?"

She nodded, not fully realizing why she was giving him any of her time. He sat down beside her. Not looking in her direction, focusing on the birds in front of them.

"I heard you went missing. Trapped by a Magus."  (Y/N) said after a few moments of silence.

"Yes." Morpheus nodded. "For a while. Over a century."

"I know. I thought about coming to save you, but..."

"But what?"

She shrugged. "But would you have come to save me? If Roderick Burgess had imprisoned me?"

The silence after her question spoke volume. But finally, Morpheus looked at her. Looking over his daughter for the first time in almost two centuries. "I don't know." He told her.

Honestly, she was just grateful he was being honest. But he continued. "But if you were imprisoned now, I would come after you."

"Well, it's nice to know that you've developed some empathy for once in your life." (Y/N) scoffed, returning her gaze to the birds. Maybe getting locked up had done him some good after all.

But Morpheus just chuckled, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Perhaps you're right. I realize that I've change a lot in the time after I escaped."

"Good for you."

"And so have you." Morpheus remarked. "You had never been cold with me before.

(Y/N) turned to him harshly. "Well I learned my lesson. I stopped waiting for you to care." Years of fearing that Morpheus had never come for her because she was unlovable. Because she wasn't good enough.

"That was smart." Her father admitted. "You would have wasted your life waiting for me. I wouldn't have come for you."

"Then why are you here now?" (Y/N) asked, trying not to hope.

But he sighed, looking at her. "Because I am not what I was back then, my time since escaping the cage has let me know that-"

"That you're gonna die alone and friendless?"

He chuckled at her cruel words. "That I was scared. Of friendship, of... of fatherhood. I should have kept you close, but I didn't. And when I was imprisoned, that was one of my greatest regrets."

(Y/N) couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What are you saying?"

"Come to the Dreaming, with me." She listened, frozen as he said the words she had been wishing for since childhood. "I should have taken care of you... and I wish to attempt that now." He gave her a soft smile. "To the best of my abilities."

Morpheus stood up, standing in front of her and offering her his hand to help her up.

Part of her wanted to reject him, to let pride take over and tell him that she was just fine without him. But that was the exact behavior that made him abandon her for all those years. So she nodded, taking his hand and letting him take them both home.

Perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps he was capable of change after all.