Neither app-vim/cream-0.34 nor app-vim/cream-0.36 can find its help files. For example, the faq help file for cream-0.36 gets installed here: /usr/share/doc/cream-0.36/html/faq.html . But cream wants it to be here: /usr/share/vim/cream/docs-html/faq.html. The ebuild can take care of this by putting these files where cream wants them or by setting up a symbolic link. Or, I suppose, this could be fixed in a configuration file. It might be best to upgrade to cream-0.38 and see if the problem is fixed there. My bet is that it isn't and that the symbolic link approach works best. In any event, sparc is holding off stabilizing either -0.34 or -0.36 until this is resolved; cream really needs to be able to get at its help files.
Whatever this was, today the symbolic link I mentioned does indeed get setup. I have no idea why the build yesterday did not establish the link, but now it does, as it should. I wasn't dreaming then, but it's working now. So I am going to close this; whatever was going on, it wasn't a problem with the cream ebuilds.