❝ It is one thing to read about dragons ❞

[literaltrash]

{ and another to meet them }
💮 nagai nagare 💮 nam 💮

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[flumen]

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?"

[literaltrash]

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."

[flumen]

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."

[literaltrash]

"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."