Dream Tentacled (Morpheusrealm #1)

Chapter 1

Two hours ago, the Morpheusrealm; the Carnival

Daily in their daydreams and nightly in their sleep, dreamers visited the Morpheusrealm and enjoyed the splendors of the Carnival, the soap bubble rides, the eel demon performers making sparks dance along their bodies, and potentially even the food.

Fian, not a sleeper but a demon, enjoyed the Carnival too, except for when it was the meeting place his older brother had suggested.

Not wanting to be criticized for tardiness, Fian had opted to come early.

He had taken his human form, though his kraken nature tickled his skin as he walked past a blob fish demon fortune teller who had set up a multicolored tent, the flap open to reveal their little table and salt-crusted crystal ball bedded on sea anemones in the center.

Fian decided to stop by a food vendor for some deep-fried okra. He checked his watch—it was a human design, one of those smart watches they did these days—and determined there was no need to rush. He approached the counter, and the rotund guppy lady looked up at him.

“What will it be?”

“Hmm,” Fian said. The vegetables were displayed behind glass, waiting to be battered and submerged in hot oil: green zucchinis, pretty purple eggplants, golden corn, and brown and white mushrooms, among others.

Fian was quite fond of mushrooms too, especially those that came in more than one color.

He looked from them to the okra. “Can you…hmm.”

The guppy lady sighed. “I don’t have all day.”

“Can I get a skewer of both, please?” Fian burst out. He had a tendency to do that under pressure.

“Both what? We have cucumber, bell pepper, sweet corn, eggplant—”

“Just mushrooms and okra, please.”

The guppy began sliding chunks of okra and mushroom onto a skewer but gave him a critical look. “One wilts and turns gooey, one goes gooey as soon as you cut it.”

Fian knew, but he still liked them. However, the criticism was of course warranted. He cleared his throat. “And broccoli. Can you add some broccoli, please?”

“Good vegetable, broccoli,” the guppy said, skewered a few florets, and dipped the whole thing in batter before putting it into the deep pan full of sizzling oil.

Fian liked that part most, watching the oil starting to bubble and the batter crisping up and browning.

It was so much better than what lay ahead of him.

Not that he knew exactly why Mikano had asked to meet him, but the prospect of seeing his brother always made Fian feel like unbattered okra being tossed into hot oil.

After all, Mikano was excellent at everything he did—being an agent at the Human Liaisons Unit, maintaining human form, and generally just what humans so often referred to as “adulting.”

Fian accepted the finished skewer from the guppy and paid her a few small shells, then continued on his way.

Mikano had selected the Ferris wheel for their meeting.

It was nice and private, and it offered a good view of the dreamers enjoying themselves, coming out of the House of Seafoam with wonder in their eyes or trembling and shaking when they left Terrors of the Deep.

Fian had carved some of the dolls for Terrors, the shrewd demons and the trembling sailors, and of course that one skeleton he was particularly fond of.

Mikano had never outright said anything negative about Fian’s work, but he called the carvings “droll,” and to call a thing meant to terrify droll was such a verbal sucker punch.

“Also just rude,” Fian mumbled and bit into his skewer, enjoying the oozy goozy gooeyness of it. And the broccoli too. The broccoli was nice.

“Heeello!”

A hand landed heavily on Fian’s shoulder—Mikano. The older demon had snuck up on Fian and was now grinning at his younger brother, black mako eyes bright with humor and superiority.

“H-hi. Sorry I’m late,” Fian said, a reflex like the shifting color of his skin. It had momentarily gone blue, and Mikano made a small, dismissive huff as if he wanted to say, What self-respecting demon cannot maintain their human form? The Human Liaisons Unit would never stumble like that.

“Oh, I think you’re on time, Tickle.” Fian was still ten minutes early, and he loathed that childhood nickname. “And you brought your own food. Good, means I don’t have to share my popcorn with you. What’re you eating anyway? That stuff doesn’t look right.”

Fian cleared his throat. “It’s just some veggies. And broccoli! I have broccoli.”

Mikano lifted one of his sharp eyebrows. He was a beautiful demon on top of everything else, the eyes, the skin that deceptively looked as smooth as silk but was sandpaper rough, the shark teeth that turned the pearliest white in his human form.

“Broccoli. Well, if that does it for you.” Mikano gestured for Fian to follow, then dug into the large bucket of popcorn he’d brought, crunching loudly.

Fian followed, weaving through the crowd of dreamers. Most were from Asia at this time of day, but dreams crossed time zones, and the Morpheusrealm knew no borders. Mikano strode through the people going to enjoy the sights while Fian did his best not to bump into anyone or get bumped into.

Eventually, they made it to the Ferris wheel, built from the metal of ships sunk in dreams and adorned with bright corals and sea glass. A few steps led up to the booth, and Mikano got there first.

Behind the glass, a sea cucumber attendant possibly watched them, but Fian wasn’t exactly sure where they kept their eyes.

“Hi. Me and my brother here will need one of the cars to ourselves.” He pulled out his badge. “We have official business to discuss.”

The sea cucumber mumbled something Fian didn’t catch, but he had no doubt they happily agreed.

To confirm that, Mikano smiled. “Perfect, thank you. Tickle, we can go right through, come on.”

“Yes, right.” Fian jogged to keep up. It wasn’t fair that Mikano’s legs were that long. “Uhm, thank you,” he said to the sea cucumber, who mumbled something back. Fian didn’t catch that response either.

A demonic attendant in a uniform and in human shape so perfect Fian wasn’t even sure what demon he was held the door to a car for them and gave Mikano a nod, then Fian when he finally got on as well, huffing when Mikano relaxed back into the comfortably upholstered seat and crossed his legs.

Fian slumped down, and one of the pieces of mushroom dropped from his skewer.

Mikano tsked. “Ah, Tickle.” He produced a tissue and handed it to Fian. “You should really be more careful.”

“Uh-huh.” Fian scooped up the piece of food, more annoyed he couldn’t have it. Food would calm him while he was forced to listen to what Mikano wanted.

The Ferris wheel started moving.

“Such a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Mikano resumed his popcorn crunching. “What have you been up to lately? Still carving phalli?”

Fian’s skin turned red, then shifted into a purple. “That was for the reconstruction of Pompeii Demonic Design is doing. I have no reason to carve phalli for myself. Why would I carve phalli for myself, Mikano?”

Fian realized his voice had gone a little high, and he also realized that might give himself and his own private dreams away, but he simply couldn’t stop himself.

Mikano’s low chuckle did that. “You and your shifting color, brother. Anyway, I didn’t mean to criticize your phalli. I’m sure they’re beautiful. Dreams know if I had a talent for carving phalli, I would do so and display them all over my living room.”

“I didn’t…I don’t—” Fian shut his mouth, for once managing to keep his colors stable. He ate one of the broccoli pieces from his skewer, hating how al dente it was.

“I didn’t come here to talk about driftwood carvings of male genitalia, Fian.” Mikano beamed. “As a matter of fact, I came here to bring you the happiest of tidings!”

Fian looked up from his skewer. “Are you being reassigned to a distant shore for work?”

Mikano snorted. “Funny, Tickle, but no. I am getting married! To a human.” He leaned forward, spun the old steering wheel in the center of the car so their view turned.

“I met him on the job of course, but he is magnificent. A surfer.” Mikano’s eyes narrowed with laughter. “He thinks sharks are cute.”

Fuck me, Fian thought as he worked to process this. Who would marry this sharp-finned manifestation of arrogance and superiority? Maybe it’s just exasperated defeat? Everything I do for Mikano is born out of exasperated defeat, and I can’t see why else a surfer would fall for a shark.

“We’re having a beachside wedding,” Mikano droned on.

“And on my side, I have decided that you will be my best demon, Tickle. Tom hasn’t decided yet, but we are going to keep the event somewhat small.

Only a few of my work colleagues, you, some surfers.

Oh, and you should bring a plus one, please.

I think if you don’t, Tom will feel obligated to set you up with one of his best friends, and that would be very awkward for the both of us.

So bring someone, yeah? A nice demon. If you don’t know anyone who’d come, I think I can pair you up with one of our agents—just for the day of course. ”

Fian nodded. It was a mechanical reaction to his brother’s tone of voice. He was too stunned to fully process the idea of being set up with some agent so the new human family member wouldn’t set Fian up with someone who might actually be open to the idea.

“You…you’re getting married.”

Mikano gave him a toothy grin. “We are. What do you say?”

“Right. That’s fantastic. So great. I’m happy for you both. Big huge congrats, Mikano.”

Mikano grinned, maybe even blushed a little. “Thanks, Tickle. You can go ahead now and ask me.”

“Huh?”

“Ask me to see a photo of my beloved human who loves me more than he will ever love another shark.”

Fian cleared his throat. “Do you have a photo on you? So I know my, uh, prospective human-in-law.”