AN:
Don't forget to vote and comment!

━━━━━━━✧━━━━━━━

With Delirium's directions, Ravenna soon finds herself driving along the road, her eyes focused on the way ahead.

"I JUST MADE BUTTER-FLIES. LOOK, EVERYBODY! LOOK AT WHAT I JUST DID. BUTTER... FLIES..." Delirium sings as multi-colored, magical butterflies appear from her fingertips before disappearing back into the thick air inside the vehicle. "ISN'T IT? ISN'T IT FUNNY? WELL, ISN'T IT?"

Ravenna hums in acknowledgment, trying to figure out if she is driving in the correct direction.

"DO YOU LIKE AIRPLANES, RAVENNA?" Delirium chirps, sinking deeper into her seat and glancing at the woman next to her.

"I hate flying," Ravenna says, taking a sharp turn to the left.

"I LIKE AIRPLANES. I LIKE ANYWHERE THAT ISN'T A PROPER PLACE. I LIKE IN-BETWEENS," Delirium says.

A small giggle leaves Ravenna's lips. "That sounds crazy."

"YOU KNOW THE BEST THING ABOUT AIRPLANES? APART FROM THE PEANUTS IN THE LITTLE SILVER BAGS, I MEAN." Delirium rambles dreamily. "IT'S LOOKING OUT OF THE WINDOWS AT THE CLOUDS AND THINKING, MAYBE I COULD GO WALKING IN THERE. MAYBE IT'S A SPECIAL PLACE WHERE EVERYTHING'S OKAY."

"What about your parents, Delirium?" Ravenna asks as they stop at a red light.

"I HAVEN'T GOT ANY PARENTS. THERE WAS A BIG FLOOD ONCE, AND I GOT REALLY WET IN THAT, ONLY IT WASN'T RAIN, IT WAS THE GUNKY STUFF INSIDE PEOPLE'S EYES. I WISH I COULD REMEMBER WHAT IT'S CALLED," Delirium's voice is low and sad.

"We are the children of Night and Time," Dream grumpily replies to Ravenna's question.

Ravenna raises an eyebrow in confusion before she looks at the Endless, who is still sitting in the backseat with a grimace on his face. "That's interesting. So she doesn't know about them? The parents?"

"I KNOW A LOT OF THINGS. PEOPLE THINK I DON'T. BUT I REALLY DO. I KNOW MORE ABOUT US THAN ANY OF US. THAT'S JUST ONE OF THE THINGS I KNOW." Delirium's blabbering once again fills the air before she cracks the window open and sucks in a small gasp of fresh air to relieve her distress over losing her beloved dog. "I JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE MY DOGGY IS..."

The air conditioning is on, but Ravenna doesn't say a word about the window as she feels sad for the youngest Endless. "We will find your dog, Delirium."

After hours and hours of driving, they end up on a grassy bank. Ravenna regrets not stopping by a gas station for more fuel.

In the hope of getting someone to pick up her vehicle, she decides to share the location of the vehicle with Cedric and waits for Dream's raven, Matthew, who was kind enough to offer his help to find Barnabas from his current location and bring him to them.

"CHANGE CHANGE. CHANGE. CHANGE... CHANGE. CHAAAANGE..." Delirium sings, dancing in the yard full of golden dandelions ahead of them. "WHEN YOU SAY WORDS A LOT, THEY DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. OR MAYBE THEY DON'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYWAY AND WE JUST THINK THEY DO. CHANGE CHANGE. CHANGE. CHANGE... CHANGE. CHAAAANGE..."

Morpheus is standing with his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, admiring the gorgeous sight of hundreds of little golden-yellow dandelions with long thin stalks dominating the whole area.

"You know? Legend has it that if you can blow all the seeds off a dandelion with a single breath, then the person you admire the most will love you with their whole heart." Ravenna picks up a white globe of exposed hairy seeds within the dandelion's layer of flowers and blows the seeds, thinking about the man who stole her heart. To her surprise, she manages to blow all the seeds into the air in one breath. She smiles and turns to Dream, who is staring at her with so much emotion. She picks another puffball and holds it to him, encouraging him to test her love for him.

Morpheus blows on it in one breath for his own complete relief. He isn't sure why he is keeping faith in a dead flower, but it feels healthy for his mind at the moment.

The wind pulls all of Ravenna's hair past her face as she attempts to pour her heart out for him. But her mind is stopping her from such actions, which goes unnoticed by Dream.

"I love you, my Ravenna." Morpheus slides his arms down to hers and interlaces their fingers. Her pulse kicks up at the sound of her name in that deep, slightly husky voice that will keep her awake late at night and drive the butterflies in her stomach nuts. Pulling her hands to his lips, Dream rests his forehead on the side of her shoulder. "You can say it back when you're ready."

Feeling guilty, Ravenna frowns. She is being unfair to him, even after many years of suffering from his broken heart. But he is right. She is not ready.

Their attention is caught at the speed of light when Delirium's squeal reaches their ears. The sight of a German Shepherd and the youngest Endless sibling running to each other meets their eyes in the next moment.

The dog jumps on Delirium with excitement and licks her face, showing its joy at seeing the teenager, which obviously brings a wide grin to Delirium's face. "Hullo. You're late."

Delirium wraps her arms around the dog, embracing it with love. "BARNABAS? I THOUGHT YOU WERE LOST."

"I will never, ever, as long as I live, let you out of my sight again for a single, solitary second." The talking dog hugs back as its front legs wrap around Delirium. "It's not even like they have proper ice cream at Disneyland anyway, running off like that after a chocolate-covered banana... I ask you... It's been two weeks. Two weeks."

"BUT I DID LOOK FOR YOU. ALL OVER," Delirium says in her cheerful voice before they both disappear into the air.

"She is interesting," Ravenna blurts out, still staring at the empty space where Delirium and Barnabas were a few seconds ago. "As twisted as it sounds, I do enjoy her company. But Olethros is still at the top of my favorites list. After you, of course."

"And you haven't met Death yet," Morpheus says softly, his knuckles running up and down her arms.

"I hope I won't this soon," she says, fixing his jet-black fringe that is pressed against his forehead while he relishes her touch.

"You can live a long immortal life if you choose to be my queen." Morpheus rests his forehead against hers, the widest smile on his face. He is filled with joy as he brings her closer by the waist. He loves the way she fits into his grip.

Standing still, she has to look up just to have her eyes meet his. A teasing sparkle brightens her eyes. "Persuading me, eh?"

Dream slowly tilts his head down to gaze back at her, the smile on his face still evident. "How dare you accuse me of such?"

"Shut up." Ravenna rolls her eyes before her lips brush against his. Just as she pulls away, he captures her lips once again, lost in pure bliss. Their kiss is even deeper this time, more urgent than before.

"Everyone has an addiction..." he says in a raw voice as he drops his forehead to hers, his breath coming out ragged. "...mine happens to be you."

"Adorable," comments the long-forgotten raven standing on the ground beside them, witnessing the whole incident. As two pairs of eyes now burn into Matthew, he coughs awkwardly. "Apologies. Should I head back to the Dreaming, sir?"

"You should, Matthew," Dream says, trying to cover his embarrassment with a stern voice but failing as his face turns several shades of red for Ravenna's amusement.

"Have fun, you two," Matthew mumbles before flying away from their sight. Dream blinks, speechlessly, opening and closing his mouth like a fish at his raven's remark.

Ravenna starts cracking into fits of laughter when she sees the hilarious expression on his face. "That was bloody entertaining."

Morpheus scoffs and once again sneaks a hand around her waist. He licks his bottom lip and leans down closer to her ear. "I know better activities that will bring pure entertainment to you."

"Morpheus." She warns and rolls her eyes, ignoring his laughter this time, hiding her face in his chest and not objecting to his fingers gripping her side, pulling them closer.