Chapter 9: Discussions
Morpheus pulled the latch and threw open the door to his room. The heavy door swung back slowly revealing darkness. Morpheus reached over and taped the light switch. It pulsed in response to his touch bringing the room lights up to a bright pitch before fading slightly. Raven hung at the entrance surveying the cavernous room.
The walls were pitch black preventing an accurate gauge of the room's dimensions. Paintings of various styles hung on the walls highlighted by ceiling lights. Morpheus turned to his guest who was stranded at the doorway. "You can come in, I don't bite." He gave a slight smile then turned and made for the bed that lay on the far side of the room. Raven entered cautiously as Morpheus sprawled out on his bed.
"So this is the room of the god of dreams?" Raven cautiously said.
"An immortal with realm over dreams; your kind has outgrown the gods label," Morpheus explained. "The dream thing was my Dad's idea. He wanted mortals to experience the darkness of death in their sleep to prepare them for the underworld."
"That's pretty depressing." Raven countered. She knew how overbearing fathers could be.
"Yea, but my Mom gave me a paint set that allowed mortals to add color to their dreams," Morpheus countered.
"Your parents seem like complete opposites," Raven commented. "How do they get along with each other?"
"Oh they get along great. You know the old saying, opposites attract," Morpheus answered.
"You're lucky; my parents could never get along. It was kind of like a one-night attraction thing with them," Raven countered. She never really felt comfortable discussing her parents' odd relationship.
"Hey it's not all fun and games here. My dad works long hours and he's hardly ever around," Morpheus mildly complained. "He's usually in a good mood while my Mom's here but she's only here for part of the year. My Dad's miserable when she's gone. Music?" Morpheus fished out a black remote as he swung his feet onto the floor and pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"Sure," Raven made her way over towards a red camelback couch located a comfortable distance from her captor. She sat down on one end then swung her feet up onto the couch and drew her knees to her chest.
Morpheus pointed the remote to the far side of the room and stereo lights flickered to life and the sounds of an acoustic guitar filled the room. Raven listened closely trying to recognize the tune. She looked over to Morpheus who was sitting on the bed with his back to the wall glancing at a large sketch pad. He looked up and noticed Raven's curious look. "It's What You Want. I downloaded it from the band's website." Raven shot him another odd look. "It was legal," Morpheus quickly countered.
Raven shook her head and smiled. "Sorry it's that 21st century thing again."
Morpheus frowned then picked up the remote and tossed it onto the couch at Raven's feet. "You can pick the next song." Morpheus said. He picked up his sketch pad and flipped through the pages quietly inspecting his work.
Raven sat contentedly listening to the song then picked up the remote just as the song began to fade out. Upon inspection she noticed it did not have any visible buttons on it. "How does this thing work?"
Morpheus continued to flip through the pages of his sketch pad. "Just concentrate on a song and it should play. Nothing too loud or you'll blow my speakers out. It's a lame system but my Dad confiscated the last one."
"Why?" Raven inquired.
"It was too loud; it interrupted my Dad's card game," Morpheus casually answered.
"What?" Raven rested her chin on her knees as she considered Morpheus' offence.
"When my Mom's out my Dad likes to play cards. It takes the edge off his temper," Morpheus explained.
"Ok, who comes here to play cards?" Raven became mildly interested.
"Just a bunch of demons, your Dad sometimes. Immortals love to gamble," Morpheus casually answered. "Song's up, your turn."
Raven held up the remote and the stereo began to play her selection. She tossed the remote back to Morpheus hitting the bed with a soft thump. Morpheus looked up and listened to Raven's selection then shook his head. "This guy's a major head case. I liked him better when he was with The Smiths." Morpheus turned his attention back to his sketch pad.
"What do you mean?" Raven said mildly annoyed with his comment.
"Come on, the boredom with life, the wishing for bombs and Armageddon to come and end everything. It's positively depressing. I'll never understand why so many mortals have death wishes," Morpheus added.
"So you hate it?" Raven replied.
"No, I like Morrissy," he replied.
Raven frowned at his response then rested her chin on her knees. "What's my Dad like?"
"Deranged, morbid, moody; he's pretty much like the rest of the demons down here. He can also be very quiet and calculating; a good card player according to my Dad. I try and stay away from their card games; they can get pretty nasty with all of the cheating and drinking." Morpheus began sketching on his pad.
Raven smiled. "So my Dad took your Dad to the cleaners?"
"Yea, that's part of the reason you're here. My Dad settled his debt by taking you hostage," Morpheus explained.
"Figures," Raven coldly replied. "So how long am I stuck in purgatory?"
"Hey, I thought I was a pretty good host," Morpheus replied slightly hurt by Raven's comment. "Don't get too down; others have made it out of here. Your friends are on their way; you may get out of here yet."
"My friends?" Raven asked with slight hope.
"Yes. If there's one thing you've done right to this point in your life it's choosing great friends," Morpheus replied as he continued to sketch on his pad.
"Song's up, your turn," Raven announced as her song faded out.
Morpheus picked up the controller and an acoustic guitar again broke the room's silence. Raven didn't recognize Morpheus' song selection. "What's this?"
"Trouble; it's the title track from some guy from Maine. He apparently woke up on day and decided to become a musician. At least that's what his website says." Morpheus continued to sketch on his pad.
Raven looked over and noticed Morpheus sketching. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Morpheus looked up and smiled.
Raven swung her feet on the floor and approached Morpheus. She stopped and held out her hand demanding to see what he was working on.
"It's not completely finished." Morpheus handed her the pad. Raven turned it over and saw a rough sketch of her riding the Nightmare. "What do you think?"
She paused and looked at his work in more detail. "I like it," she replied. "Why are you drawing me?"
"Why not? Morpheus snickered and gently took his sketch pad from her. "You're an interesting subject. Plus you've got great eyes; very dark and calm." Morpheus looked up seductively then went back to his pad and continued drawing.
Raven blushed and quickly lowered her eyes. She went back to the couch, resumed her position and listened to Morpheus' selection.