Disclaimer: I don't own the Sandman world, let alone Bast. This story was written for pure entertainment only. Jtoasn was the beta reader for the story. Also it was Jtoasn who sowed in my head the idea I could write it. This idea stems from our talk about Daniel becoming the potential love interest of Bast with whom the old Dream was only friends. This story refers to the talk between Morpheus and Bast in Brief Lives, in which the kitty headed goddess asks him why they never came to become lovers. The answer appeared in my head instantly and I decided to use it in this story. Tashenubaste is the character of Bast: Eternity Game being a spin off to Sandman. Bast herself appears very rarely in fanfiction while as for Tashenubaste, to the best of my knowledge it's the very first time when someone posts a fanfic in which she appears. Enjoy.
Dream's Answer
The winds of eternity, as dry and warm as the sand stretching into the distance, blew over this place which stood beyond space and time. The silhouettes of deteriorating pyramids and crumbling statues of the long fallen gods lay half buried in the tawny sand, casting shadows on the two figures, strolling amidst them. The only inhabitants of this deserted world, besides those two, seemed to be cat ghosts rubbing their legs against them and small brown scorpions hiding in the ruins. The coarse grains crunched beneath their feet, as they shone delicately in the rays of the red ball of the setting Egyptian sun. Like the grains of the sand from the pouch of the Sandman; the Dream King and the Prince of Stories.
The one, who was just sharing one of those stories with her companion, was a humanoid female whose well proportioned, graceful body, covered with delicate grey fur, was crowned by a shapely feline head. Her companion was a human teenage girl with long fair hair blowing in the gusts of the wind, which made the sand swirl in the air, and with green eyes, similar to the ones, pair of which shone in the face of her friend. If any entities other than the scorpions and the pale ghosts of long dead cats accompanied the majestic feline lady treading with royal grace and the human in their stroll, they could see that the eyes in the face of the latter were cat eyes. In the warm desert air there still seemed to resound the echo of the ancient prayers and hovering over them, the slightest hint of the luxurious perfumes and exotic condiments from the epochs which were long gone.
The atmosphere of the long dead Bubastis was stirred by the musical laughter coming out of the mouth of goddess Bast, the cat headed lady. Her long delicate fingers rested on the slender arms of her mortal companion in an intimate gesture.
"You want to hear the next story of Dream?" – asked the cat lady gracefully, squinting her emerald eyes in the hot rays of the sun which made her grey fur glisten. She waved her tail and even this movement, like all about her, was full of subtle grace. From her throat came a purr full of contentment at the fact of having a companion after many thousands of years. A companion who was now helping her restore the faith of herself among people, so that the goddess could arise once more in her whole glory, making her kind take over the world. But it was the matter of the future, now it was the time for laughter, friendship and women's intimate confessions.
The aforementioned one, was once an ordinary human girl named Lucy, now a kitten put in the body of the dead teen, endowed with the name of Tashenubaste by the one whose high priestess she was. She giggled and lowered her eyes which for this short moment made her look completely human. With her cat eyes, so unusual in a human face hidden now, she could be a perfectly ordinary young female, demanding from her best friend to tell her everything about her newest boyfriend.
"I saw Morpheus for the last time eleven years ago, only a year and a half before his death. He was looking for his brother then and came to me thinking I would know of his whereabouts. It was in a dream that he sent for me. No, not this kind of dream you may be probably thinking about, you naughty girl"– Bast said smilingly, raising her slim hand, at which Tashenubaste giggled once more and covered her mouth with her hand. "It was a perfectly decent dream. But there indeed was a bed in it."
Tashenubaste giggled once more, blushing. Bast waited for her young companion to stop giggling and started again. "It was a canopy bed he conjured up for me from dreams, a dream bed, bed dream. I lay on it, longing for him to be mine. Mine, as I wanted to be his. He was my best friend, my dearest friend, but I wanted something more from him. Oh, how I felt at this very moment, little one. The air seemed to vibrate the atmosphere of love. I wanted him to be my tom, to run with me in the light under the moon. In my eyes Dream was the most beautiful male I had ever seen. I loved him and I knew he loved me back. He never spoke any words of love to me but I knew he felt for me the same way in which I felt for him. He had to. I knew this. Women know such things."
Bast finished and looked at her companion. The girl cat's cheeks were covered with an intensive blush. Her eyes glittered, wide open, the same as her slightly parted lips. Tashenubaste seemed to try almost not to breathe, not to drop any word from the story of her mistress which set her in such a romantic mood.
"And what did you do then?" – she whispered.
"I decided to reveal my feelings before this fabulous male. I bent down towards him and trying to make my voice sound as seductive as I could, I said: Ah, Dream, I love you. You always make me laugh. Why weren't we ever lovers?"
Tashenubaste's romantic heart fluttered in her breast. Her breath got faster with excitement. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine this scene. A luxurious bed in the middle of desert and lady Bast lying on it, trying to seduce her beloved one. How romantic it was! How wonderful love adventures her mistress had!
"And what was later?" – she asked. - "What did he say?"
"And then Dream said something I will never forget." – said the goddess with a sight. She raised her cat head, looking to the sun. Her whiskers moved, as if the feline lady was trying to catch the smells of the past which may have lingered there. "The memory of this moment will always stay with me, my little one."
"But what did he say?" – insisted romantic Tashenubaste. She was so excited that she couldn't wait for Bast's reply. "You asked him why you weren't ever lovers but what was his answer?"
The goddess stopped to look at the sky and then looked at her young priestess once again. "I will never forget his answer" – she repeated. "Even if I tried, I couldn't do it. It will always stay with me. And I won't ever forget how his face looked like when I heard his answer:"
"Because I'm not into zoophilia, kitty."