❝ Our greatest glory is not in never falling ❞

[returnanew]

{ but in rising every time we fall }
💮 gaja 💮 nam 💮

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[returnanew]

Gaja appreciates the unspoken reasons as much as the spoken ones. Nam is one of precious few he counts as a friend. It's difficult to make friends when one lives forever and little else does. There are some long-lived creatures out there, but most choose to remain hidden and solitary. It's only by coincidence that Gaja met Nam.

A very happy coincidence, Gaja thinks.

"I'm not so egotistical to think my time and company are gift enough to properly honor the river's guardian," Gaja snarks. Even as he speaks, he reaches into the bag he often carries (specifically to stow gifts for Nam in). He wit draws from it an ornate box of rosewood with his gift for the dragon inside.

[flumen]

And Gaja is the only one who Nam counts as a friend. It really is difficult to make friends when one lives forever. To befriend anyone or anything that doesn't just feels like a waste. Their lives are but a drop in the bucket to something immortal. It's hard to want to get attached when the friendship will end before it ever really began. And then for someone like Nam who can sometimes take several human lifetimes to start warming up to someone, it's simply not worth it.

Add onto that the fact that Nam so rarely leaves his river (making it difficult to even meet anyone who doesn't already know where he is or doesn't just stumble across him) and that most only seek him out to request things from him...

The bird is his only friend and he finds he's quite okay with that.

Nam's eyes drop to the bag, and the box that Gaja pulls out of it. He's seen that bag plenty of times before and he knows the sorts of things that come out of it by now, but he's not presumptuous enough to assume that it's something for him. He doesn't reach for it and instead waits for Gaja to hand it to him. He runs his fingers over the box, taking in and appreciating the beauty of it. Had the gift been no more than the box, itself, that dragon would have been grateful for it. And he's about to express as much when he opens the box and sees what's inside. His eyes light up in a way that they only ever do for Gaja. The gift is truly remarkable. Beautiful works of art. He slips them onto his fingers and then holds one hand out toward his small fire, watching the way the light reflects on the metal claws.

"I think you've outdone yourself."

[returnanew]

One might think Gaja's favorite hobby is adorning this 'plain' human shape of his friend's. One might not be wrong. Even as stunning as Nam's chosen human form is, it doesn't have the beauty and obvious power of a dragon. That is something Gaja's determined to correct. With jewels, with things that shimmer a shine in every form of light, with items to make this human shape seem more like the gorgeous and fearsome dragon he truly is.

What's a dragon without its claws? These especially reminded Gaja of claws and, well, wouldn't Nam's human body look more appealing with claws of his own? Something sharp to match the sharp look in Nam's eyes. Dangerous, but beautiful. Don't mind Gaja getting distracted by the light dancing over the details of those claws. He's a bird, after all.