bsumone | ❝ It is one thing to read about dragons ❞

Reaching out to take the basket from the visitor, Nam inspects the contents. Much like the ones the human has brought to him in the past. If Nam had any doubts before that this is the human he's been keeping vaguely aware of, who's been leaving his offerings without trying to get something in return from the dragon, then they are all but gone now. Even the way the food is arranged in the basket has a sort of familiarity to it. The human unlike so many others who's been giving without taking.

Nam pays the rice, fruit and nuts little mind at first, it's the fresh fish that has his interest. He plucks one from the basket then sets the rest down. He looks it over to make sure that this isn't one from his river, that the human didn't somehow manage to trick him. A difficult task, but not entirely impossible though if the humans wish to think it is, he's not about to deny them their beliefs. The fish is perfectly unfamiliar to him, though. He feels nothing when he looks at it. Nothing but hunger. It would be a bold move to feed the dragon his own fish but not one that he would put past a human. Bold and stupid.

Elegant and dignified though Nam usually is, there's nothing dignified about the way he tears the fish open. "See to it that you keep your word." He takes an experimental bite of the torn up flesh. Delicious. The human did well in his choice. An acceptable offering. "I don't particularly enjoy ending the life of those whose lives are already so painfully short, but I won't hesitate to feed you to my river."

"There will be no cause for that."

Well, not yet anyway.

Nagare has rarely been one to trade in currency. Sure, he takes it often enough with running a very elite brothel. But more importantly than that, he trades in favors. He swaps what he can offer for knowledge and magic he doesn't have. Recipes for drugs that can take down even a dragon. Things like that. He didn't really expect to capture the river's guardian with a fishing net.

Drugs the likes of which Nam has never heard of before. He's unaware that such a thing even exists. It's no small feat to take down something like a dragon and most humans are at least smart enough to not even try, so he has few suspicions about the food. Things like human poisons or ones designed for their animals doing nothing to the dragon and he knows of nothing else.

If only he knew of something else.

"Let's hope not. It'd be a shame, really." To have to strike down a human.

Nam rips apart and eats a handful of fish before a really off feeling starts to settle over him. It starts a little slowly, with his hearing and vision losing a little of their sharpness. All the edges become soft and the world gets progressively more muffled. His body starts to feel heavier and heavier. He drops the last bit of food that he was still holding on to as he stumbles to the side a little until he finds a tree to lean against. "You." Nam lifts a hand toward the stranger though almost immediately, it falls back to his side. "You did... What have you done to me?" He slides down the trunk of the tree, all the while trying to keep his eyes on the stranger even as his world grows darker. "What have you done to me...?" Nam reaches for the man again, though this time he can do no more than push his hand across the dirt with Nam, himself, following soon after as he finally loses consciousness and falls face first onto the ground.

"Please forgive the disrespect," he murmurs as Nam slides toward the ground. Nam may actually still be conscious enough to hear the words. In the end, it doesn't matter if he hears them or not. Nagare waits until he's certain the dragon is well and fully unconscious before gathering him up from the ground and whisks him off to his very secret place.

When Nam wakes again, he'll still feel a little groggy, but he'll find himself alone in a private room. A light scent perfumes the air, possibly contributing to that not quite awake feeling. Should Nam choose to explore, he'll find himself free to do so. Outside is a courtyard with a pool for Nam's use. He's a river dragon, after all. Depriving him of a body of water would be cruel. If he exits the room (there is no way out of the courtyard), Nam will find himself in a nondescript hallway lined with flickering lams, opulent draperies, incense censors, and closed doors. It eventually leads to an open room with a a few people milling about. Nagare himself is there, seated at one of the tables and prying the seeds from pomegranate. The others notice Nam first and a soft hush falls over them. Nagare, however, barely looks up.

"Come, sit."

How fitting that the word 'disrespect' is all that Nam hears before he succumbs to the darkness that's quickly taking hold. Were the situation different, Nam might almost be impressed that the human was able to concoct something strong enough to do anything to him. Has Nagare been targeting dragons or is this the first time he's gotten to use his drug? Was it developed just for Nam? How special.

When Nam awakens some time later, it's immediately apparent to him that he's been taken from his river. It feels like there's a thick fog around him and it's hard to make heads or tails of anything, but the absence of his beautiful home cuts clearly through the fog. Please find a way to protect yourself while Nam is gone. He'll make his way home as soon as he can.

For a long while, Nam just sits in silence on the bed, looking around the room and taking in his surroundings, including the very bed that he finds himself on. The bed is quite comfortable. It's hardly a surprise to Nam why so many humans choose to sleep of them. It's a shame that his own first time in one happens to be after he'd been drugged and carted off to who knows where.

Once he feels he's fought off enough of the groggy feeling, Nam climbs to his feet and heads straight for one of the doors. The one that leads out into the courtyard and the lovely pool in the middle of it. Walking over to its edge, Nam crouches down and dips his hand into the water, scooping some of it up only to let it drip back down through his fingers. Naturally, he feels nothing for this man-made body of water, but it brings a small sense of comfort in this strange place all the same. Comfort is the last thing he wants in this unknown place, however.

The last place to go is that second door which just leads further into this strange place. As expected. He's not naive enough to think it was an actual exit. At least that means he wasn't disappointed to learn that it really wasn't. His eyes drift over the draperies and the lamps and the closed doors (others like himself, perhaps? Those brought here against their will?) but none of it truly catches his attention. His main focus is the open area where he can hear other voices. His intent is to demand someone tell him where the human is, but when he enters the space, he finds he has no need. There sits Nagare, seemingly perfectly engrossed in his seeds.

"What is this place and why have you brought me here?"

Unfortunately for Nam, for most of the creatures Nagare's brought here against their will, the disrespect of being drugged will be the very least of it.

Noting that the dragon has not taken a seat, Nagare pauses in his task. He's not rushed in setting the pomegranate aside, in rising to his own feet, in smoothing a wrinkle that gravity would easily remedy with aid from the indigo kimono. If Nam prefers to stand to talk, so be it. He inhales deeply, casting his gaze around the room, shifting slightly one way then the other to do so. And then returns his focus to Nam.

"This place," he practically sighs. This place is his perfect dream. A place safely tucked away from the noise and dangers of all worlds. A place free of (most) suffering, free of hunger, free of (again, most) violence. A place built for pleasure. "This place is called The Red Tent." A name hearkening back to the days when Nagare wandered with naught but a tent and Vala.

"You are here as a part of my collection."

The dragon will not sit to talk. He will not bring himself down to the level of those lounging around. He will not give even so much as the illusion of relaxing by taking a seat. As the human climbs to his feet (there's no sense of urgency to his movements. The human is moving incredibly slowly in the face of an angry dragon), Nam stands up a little straighter, lifting his chin slightly. Though his human form isn't necessarily large, he holds himself as though he's the largest one in the room. In his natural form, he may well be.

"That doesn't answer my question of what this place is." The name of the place doesn't say much, though his senses do tell a bit of a story. An unfortunate story. A story that Nam wants no part of. The dragon narrows his eyes and tips his head to one side.

"I will be part of no man's collection."

"Yet here you are, already a part of it," he replies. He gestures behind Nam, presumable toward some unseen door down some unknown corridor. "You're welcome to try to find a way out. It's a waste of effort, though. This compound is all that exists in this place. You may go outside, but once you leave these grounds, there's only vast nothingnesss. We exist within a hermetically sealed box. Nothing comes in or out of this dimension without my express permission."

❝ It is one thing to read about dragons ❞

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