Introducing An Apprentice Incubus (m) [better] ✭ [ FREE ]

Darith watched from the corner of the dream, invisible, and said nothing.

The first time Leo tried to slip into a dream, he tripped over the threshold and landed face-first in a meadow of screaming tulips. introducing an apprentice incubus (m)

“Just follow the script,” Darith said, materializing beside him on the dream-meadow. His form flickered—an older man, then a younger woman, then back—because he’d been doing this so long he’d forgotten he was supposed to have a default. “You’re overthinking it. Dreams are running on feeling, not logic. She wants to be wanted. So want her.” Darith watched from the corner of the dream,

Leo had practiced the form for hours. Tall, but not threatening. Good jawline, kind eyes, a smile that suggested he found her fascinating. He’d rehearsed his opening line in the mirror of his tiny studio apartment until his roommate banged on the wall and told him to shut up. His form flickered—an older man, then a younger

“No,” she said. “It’s not.”

When Leo finally pulled himself out—leaving Amy with a lingering warmth and a phone number that would dissolve when she woke—he was shaking. Not from fear. From something else. Something that felt suspiciously like joy.

Darith watched from the corner of the dream, invisible, and said nothing.

The first time Leo tried to slip into a dream, he tripped over the threshold and landed face-first in a meadow of screaming tulips.

“Just follow the script,” Darith said, materializing beside him on the dream-meadow. His form flickered—an older man, then a younger woman, then back—because he’d been doing this so long he’d forgotten he was supposed to have a default. “You’re overthinking it. Dreams are running on feeling, not logic. She wants to be wanted. So want her.”

Leo had practiced the form for hours. Tall, but not threatening. Good jawline, kind eyes, a smile that suggested he found her fascinating. He’d rehearsed his opening line in the mirror of his tiny studio apartment until his roommate banged on the wall and told him to shut up.

“No,” she said. “It’s not.”

When Leo finally pulled himself out—leaving Amy with a lingering warmth and a phone number that would dissolve when she woke—he was shaking. Not from fear. From something else. Something that felt suspiciously like joy.