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The reason Efflo had waited so long was that Gabby had been burdened with glorious purpose a conundrum that he'd never really faced before. What was he going to wear? His regular jacket felt.. overused. But he really didn't have much in the way of clothing, as it usually didn't matter. But he was self-conscious, for once. He wanted.. to not look terrible. So he'd stood outside of his tiny little closet in nothing but a towel, and wet, dripping hair, and stared at his meager clothing choices.

And stared.

And then he stared some more.

Finally, he'd chosen the beige turtleneck he'd only worn once, when he first applied to Amityville. He let the fabric tighten around his body, and turned left and right, trying to see if it fit him well enough. He was so used to his jacket that it felt underdressed, despite covering almost every inch of skin. He would have stayed to try something else.. but he had nothing else.

So after toweling his hair until it was only damp, he pulled on his only pair of jeans, gave up and stormed out of his room and the ghost dorms. Once he'd exited the doors, the cold hair hit him like a welcome friend, and he reveled in the way it flowed through his wet hair, chilling him to the bone.

Gabby never heard the gasp, but there was no way to miss the sounds of break tree branches and a falling boil. He'd only taken a single step down the stairs when he heard the break, and he looked up just in time to see Efflo soar off of the branch he'd been on, get his pants caught on another branch, and bob there for a moment, eyes closed, waiting for a fall. It would have been hilarious if Gabby's frozen heart hadn't jumped up into his throat in fear. He wouldn't have been in time to catch him - he knew this because his body was already in motion the second he'd seen the boil fall, and he was under the tree far too late to have ever had a chance. But when he saw Efflo hanging there, the branch precariously holding him up, Gabby unfurled his wings and beat them down enough to lift him off the ground, floating gently up into the tree until he was at level with Efflo's gently bobbing form. Gabby wrapped his arms around the boil's waist, pulled his belt loop off the branch, and slipped the boil into his arms. Then he descended, his pace achingly slow as he carefully maneuvered himself out of the tree.

"Hello, baby." Just a drop of sarcasm tainted the otherwise affectionate little greeting, as Gabby carried Efflo, like a baby, in his arms. He landed shortly after, his clawed feet touching the ground and digging in for leverage. "Mind telling me what you were doing in a tree outside my dorm?"

Efflo was a terrible liar.

"Climbing, huh?" Gabby's sarcastic murmur teased him. "Doesn't sound like you. Besides, if you're busy climbing trees next to my dorm, how am I supposed to meet you in yours?" Gabby wasn't buying it for a second. Nor was he letting Efflo go. He just held the boil in his arms, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

As the boil fussed with his shirt, Gabby leaned in and brushed the tip of his nose against Efflo's hair. It was easy to lose track of the moment, when he was close enough to do that. "My shirt?" He murmured, only half-listening. "What's so special about it? It's just a shirt. I prefer your lack of a shirt."

No one could say the boil wasn't honest.

Gabby pulled away just enough to look at him, intrigued by his honest answer. "So, wait. You wanted a picture of me, so you decided the best way to get it.. was to climb a tree?" Gabby had to wonder just what kind of pictures Efflo was trying to take, and surreptitiously checked to see if his room's window was in view of the tree he'd been in. Satisfied that it wasn't, he finally let the boil down and settled one arm around his shoulder. "Okay, then what kind of picture do you want now? Like, just me, or us? Human form or dragon form?" That made more sense.. maybe Efflo had been in the tree to get a picture of his dragon form.

"All you have to do is ask." He whispered quietly, as he pressed his fingers lightly against the boils cheeks. "You know I'd let you take any pictures of me you wanted."

Efflo sure had a lot of requests, but none of them sounded too out of the ordinary. Until..

"Wh.. my - did you just ask me if you could take a picture of my horns?" His hands lifted up and rubbed them both, curiously wondering if they were something special. Then he had to wonder if he should start wearing hats..

"I mean, it's fine, I just.. do you like horns? Are they.. do they.. I mean, for you.." It was Gabby's turn to stutter in embarrassment, and he chose, at that moment, to let the subject drop. "Well, whatever, of course you can. Let's start with the top of your list." The boil wanted pictures of them both. Gabby walked over behind Efflo, wrapped his arms tightly around the boil's waist, and pulled him up close. Gabby's head dipped in to rest on the boil's shoulder, tilted just slightly. He couldn't help but glance at the boil beside him, a soft smirk hinting at one corner of his lips as he savored the moment.

"Well, whenever you're ready."

The look on Gabby's face when that flash went off was pure shock. His cheeks had kissed with color, and his lips had been left just slightly open, but as soon as the moment was over, he growled at being tricked. "One of these days, I'm going to kiss you so hard, so much, you won't be able to steal them back." He threatened, quite seriously, before patting his rear and letting him go. "Fine. Take one of me now. You can't steal anything from me then."

He certainly wasn't going to pose. The fact he was faintly blushing and looked just a little indignant was enough pose for him.

Why, exactly, had Gabby promised this boil any picture he wanted? He wondered this as he simultaneously wondered what the hell a dragon pose was. But of course, he knew what the answer to his first question was, and therefore he pushed it away before his mind could make him think about it. Instead, he tried to decipher the riddle of the mysterious 'dragon pose'.

"It's hard to make a dragon pose when I'm not actually in dragon form.." He muttered under his breath, trying to remember what his pose was when he was in his natural form. He crouched, and turned his hands into claws, holding them in front of him. He looked more like a raptor than a dragon..

"Roar." He hissed out, breathing a puff of frost. "Wait, don't take a picture of this, I feel like an idiot." And looked like one too.