.
Danny found himself without human senses or even a rough analogue of a human body. Even so, he still had an understanding of his surroundings, alien senses leaving impressions on his mind.
His body was soft, boneless, rounded, unformed. He was intimately connected to, part of, and entirely surrounded by an infinitely greater being, whom he was dependent on. He was known, all of him, by this being.
If he'd had eyes to cry with, he would have, knowing that he would never be able to know this being as he himself was known.
Amusement and affection – or, at least, things that were like them – pressed into him as the being contracted around him. An object was inserted into the single orifice he currently possessed.
Slowly, Danny became aware of an intense… discomfort in that area. He couldn't call it pain. He currently had no sense of pain. But he could feel it and he didn't like it and it was growing—
He woke up, tangled in blankets, skin slick with sweat, head and teeth aching.
Except, he didn't. He was in the Dream. But if he were in the Dream, what had that been?
Already, many of the details were slipping through his fingers. He could no longer recapture what he had felt, although the general events were still somewhat clear.
He… had sleeping here somehow peeled back the layers of metaphor through which he experienced the Dream? Or had that just been a different metaphor, no truer than this one?
He sat up – or, rather, he tried to. An unexpected weight around neck stalled him. Overnight, the chain of Clockwork's Love for him (and his Love for Clockwork in return) had more than doubled in size. It had also been reinforced by thick, colorful, silk ropes wound in and out of the links as well as other, smaller, chains.
There were also two of them, now, leading in opposite directions. As if Clockwork's Love was simply too great to be confined to a single representation.
More carefully this time, Danny sat up. At least the collar, despite being far, far heavier, was no longer configured like a neck brace. Danny could turn his head to look at things.
The dog, evidently sensing an opportunity, deposited itself in Danny's lap. Danny, not knowing what else to do, started petting it, running fingers through shadowy fur. He had always wanted a dog. Although, he didn't remember telling Clockwork that…
"Maybe I should name you," said Danny. He wasn't sure how he felt about naming a personification of his hate, but he wasn't sure if that's what the dog was, or if the dog was just a container for his hate. It was confusing. "How about Cujo?"
The dog wagged its tail agreeably.
"Cujo it is, then." He sighed and looked around the room. It didn't have a door or any other visible opening. Honestly, in comparison to everything else he'd experienced in the Dream, that was pretty pedestrian. He supposed he'd just have to wait until Clockwork came back.
Maybe he could take a look at some of those interesting objects along the wall in the meantime? Something in his mind whispered that they were his and they were toys. They could take his mind off the pain building in his jaw and temples.
He stood up and walked almost all the way to the edge of the depression in the floor before being brought up short. He stumbled and sat down abruptly. What-?
The end of the chain was buried in the floor at the center of the depression.
Oh. Well. This whole room was part of Clockwork, too, so Danny really shouldn't be surprised. It wasn't like the chain hadn't acted like a chain before.
Still.
Being forcibly trapped in, well, a crib was infantilizing. Not that everything else about all of this wasn't. This just seemed like a step further.
The collar hummed lightly against Danny's throat, eliciting a croon as he reflexively attempted to harmonize. The act settled him somewhat, and he gazed blankly at the runes surrounding the depression. The drop between the depression and the rest of the floor was too high for him to get over by himself anyway… no, that wasn't right… couldn't be… he couldn't see the runes if that was the case, he'd be too short… but the lip there was definitely too tall, he knew it…
He tore his eyes away, squeezing them shut against his suddenly raging headache. The dog, Cujo, padded over to him and sniffed him gently. Danny whined, trying not to cry.
It looks like your horns might be growing in as well, said Clockwork's avatar, running a hand through Danny's hair. Poor baby. Teeth and horns all at once. That must hurt.
"Horns? Like Nocturne?"
Yes. They will help you navigate the other layers of the Dream once they are fully grown. With practice.
Danny let Clockwork's avatar lift his head, resting his chin in its palm. "Layers of the Dream?"
You did not think the Dream was as simple in structure as that place you call reality, did you, little Love? This place you have become familiar with is only the closest layer to that place, no matter how deep you go.
"But—" said Danny, trying to work out how that could be. The answer slotted itself neatly into Danny's mind. "It's… like a tesseract?"
More than that, but essentially, yes. The avatar was gathering blankets around Danny again, swaddling him. Danny squeaked and tried to twist away, but the avatar easily anticipated him, and the fight quickly went out of him.
Danny was carried from the room and brought to a long table covered in bowls. The bowls contained pastel orbs of various sizes and colors. A single piece of furniture shaped like a basket woven of silver strips sat next to it. Clockwork's avatar set him down gently on this piece of furniture and several of the strips peeled off to wrap securely around Danny.
Time for breakfast, said the avatar, happily.
Mentally and emotionally, it was easier to eat the orbs than the obviously alive things of his previous meal. Physically…
Danny asked why the orbs were so tough and difficult to chew. The avatar murmured something about practicing using his teeth. Danny wasn't exactly in a position to refuse, so he was filled to satiation and beyond, until every piece of food on the table had been eaten.
By the time Clockwork's avatar lifted him again, he felt exhausted and disgusting.
"Can I go home now?" he asked.
You are home.
"You know what I mean."
It would be remiss of me to let you go when you are still in so much pain. Besides, sleep is necessary for children such as yourself to properly digest food.
"Don't want to sleep," said Danny, alarmed. He didn't want to go back to the place he was before, where he could not see, hear, smell, taste, or touch.
That is not the only place you may go, said the avatar. In fact, it is rather unlikely for you to return there unless you do so on purpose. It touched the place where one of Danny's horns would eventually bud. It was tender and Danny whined. Which is not something you can yet do. It paused. Perhaps I could guide you to a… cozy layer. One you might find educational. Would you like that?
"I wanna go home. I feel icky."
I will set up a bath for you when you wake up.
Danny moaned and tried to tuck his face into the avatar's shoulder. "Don't want a bath."
You do need one eventually.
"Don't wanna."
The avatar lowered Danny back into the nest of blankets.
Sleep well.
Danny woke up. This time in an actual crib. A mobile with star shapes hung overhead. He reached up with a chubby baby hand. A medical bracelet jingled around his wrist.
With some difficulty, his hands lacking dexterity, he turned the bracelet over. The writing there was incomprehensible and made him slightly dizzy. He huffed and rolled over before pushing himself up onto hands and knees.
The room he was in was dark, and far more defined than he was used to in the Dream. He could see picture frames on the walls and clocks. Every wall had at least one clock.
He grabbed the top of the crib railing and pulled himself up into a standing position. The rest of the room looked normal. Lived in.
The door opened, letting light in. A figure walked through the doorway and picked Danny up.
"You're awake already! Ready for the day?"
"Clockwork?" squeaked Danny.
"Hmm, yes. But there's something else you can call me here, hm?" The figure shifted, light falling on a feminine face and long hair.
"Mama?" tried Danny.
"There we go," she said.
"Where are we?" asked Danny, lisping his words slightly. He wasn't sure he had teeth right now. He put his hand in his mouth, feeling his gums. "'s different here."
"Yes," said Clockwork, walking out into a hallway. It was bright. There were clocks here, too, evenly spaced on the walls. Danny hid his face. "Oopsie daisy. Too bright, baby?"
"Mhm," said Danny.
Clockwork balanced Danny on her hip and fiddled with a dimmer switch. The lights dimmed to a more comfortable level. "I'm sorry, baby. I keep forgetting about your eyes."
"What about my eyes?"
"You're photosensitive. That's what the bracelet is for. You need low light."
"Mama?"
"Hm?"
"What is this place?"
"Ah," said Clockwork, putting him in a highchair. "A world within the Dream. Once," she punctuated the word by clipping Danny into the seat, "it was much like the place you were first born. But we came to understand it completely and everything that thought or dreamed opened themselves to us. We engulfed it, brought it here. Now everyone is happy."
Clockwork put a sippy cup on the little table on the highchair and then several pieces of cereal. Danny didn't recognize the brand.
"Do I have to?"
"You need energy for today," said Clockwork.
"But I just ate so much."
"Not here. Come on, sweetheart. It's just a little bit." Clockwork sat down in one of the chairs at the dinning room table, brushing her hair over her shoulder. She smiled. "Isn't this nice?"
Danny shrugged.
"I know you don't care for the other part of the Dream, that you find it frightening, so… If you like this place, you can stay here. It's just like the other place. The one you like. Would you like that?"
"My friends are there."
"I can bring them here. It'll be difficult, but very possible."
Danny shook his head. Clockwork sighed.
"Well. Let's just see how this day goes before you decide. Maybe you'll like being here so much you'll never want to leave at all. Give it a chance. Just for one day, okay?"
"Okay," mumbled Danny.
"And that means eating your breakfast." She ruffled Danny's hair. "Okie-dokie?"
"'Kay."
Clockwork smiled, eyes crinkling. "We're going to have so much fun today, just see!"
