Welcome to Gaia! ::

It would be too easy to lose himself again, to just keep kissing that cold pale skin, warming it with his touch like the dragon melted his heart. He wanted to stay in this moment forever; he never wanted to leave Gabby’s side. Even though they hadn’t been dating long, Efflo had fallen hard, every minute he spent out of Gabby’s touch felt like an eternity. When he slept in his room at night, alone, he was too warm, he longed for the chilly arms of his boilfriend, the one person that he was quickly finding it harder and harder to live without. He knew that, as much as he wanted to, however, they couldn’t stay like this forever. A picture was the next best thing and Efflo mentally praised Calder for suggesting it. When he was lonely, he could just flip open his phone, and calm his nerves seeing Gabby’s smiling face.

He forced himself to look up when Gabby said he was ready, steadying his hand then pressing the camera button with a click. It beeped, then flashed and the memory was made.

“Sure,” he said, fiddling with his phone. “It might… Take a minute though.” He found Gabby’s name and the scrolled through the options, selecting text. He knew how to do that much. Now, where was the attach picture option? He fumbled through some settings before eventually finding it, and adding the picture to his message. He tilted the phone away from Gabby for a moment, so he wouldn’t see what he was typing. ‘To many more pictures together ☺’ he wrote.

When he was done, Efflo turned to Gabby, noticing he’d fallen quiet. He found him staring, with such a sweet expression on his face that it made him blush.

“B-beautiful?” he asked, incredulous. No one had ever said something like that to him before. He never felt especially beautiful, not with his scars and various injuries, he wasn’t the stunning sleek steed he wanted to be. But Gabby thought he was beautiful and suddenly none of his insecurities mattered. No one else mattered. Gabby made him so happy, his face threatened to crumble into tears. But boys didn’t cry, so his held back his feelings with a soft sniffle, pressing his phone into Gabby’s hand.

“You take it. Please?”

He nodded, firmly clasping his phone in his hand.

Efflo tried to not move too much, wondering if he was supposed to pose. Should he smile? How big should he smile? What if it looked forced? He didn’t want to take a bad picture for Gabby. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. He just needed to be himself. That was whom Gabby liked, anyway. That last thought, as it turned out, did make him smile, a precious little upturn of his lips from feeling so adored.

Efflo smiled again in response, easing himself down onto his back and wrapping both of his arms around Gabby, hugging him in tightly. He stared up at the sky, watching as the vibrant oranges and yellows gave way to the soft purples and blues of the approaching night.

“It’s getting late,” he said, sadly. “It’ll be too dark for pictures soon.” That meant he’d have to go back to his dorm soon too, and that meant leaving Gabby. He was sure they would see each other again before long but it didn’t matter, he didn’t want to go. He huffed softly, pouting, his warm breath blowing the wispy strands Gabby’s hair.

Bright green eyes wide, Efflo stared at Gabby. He didn’t have to go? The fact that he was getting to stay made him ridiculously happy, he didn’t even mind that Gabby had thrown him over his shoulder, carting him off like some prize he’d won. Efflo would never admit it, but Gabby had totally won. Efflo was completely his.

Still, it was probably a good idea to act a little indignant. He didn’t want to feed Gabby’s ego too much. “I have my own legs you know! What will people think?” he whined, but he was laughing. He didn’t care what anyone would think, only what Gabby did. He wriggled against his captor, playfully kicking his feet in the air as Gabby carried him inside.

He slid inside the door just before it closed, glaring at Gabby, so much for his knight in turtleneck.

Yet, chivalry aside, he looked crestfallen when the dragon said he couldn’t stay over. He guessed Gabby had the right idea, staying over might be moving things too fast anyway. But they didn't have to do... stuff... They could just sleep! His ears drooped and he stared mournfully at the boil, making the most puppydog-like face he could manage.

“We could always go to my room then,” he suggested with a grin.

Then it was back to puppy dog eyes, puppy dog eyes, and more puppy dog eyes. He sidled up to Gabby, even throwing in a whimper for good measure. “Pleeease?” he pleaded, as his eyes swept over the dragon’s room. So this was where he lived. It was as sparse as his room, filled only with the essentials. Except was treasure really essential? He glanced curiously at his boilfriend; he was learning all sorts of new things. His favourite in particular was how to get him to cave.

“Please Gabriel? Pleeeease? We don’t even have to sleep together; I can just curl up on the floor! I won’t be any trouble, promise!”

That was a lie. He was always trouble. But if Gabby was really worried about it, Efflo was sure he could find a spot far enough away that the dragon wouldn’t be tempted. It was enough to just stay in the same room with him, to know he was near.