#uhhh. there are many mistakes. anyone who's far more familiar with writing please do criticize me

[waterdroplet02]

"...And you're expecting me to... keep this just 'cause of that?!"

"Mmm... well, whatever it means to you, perhaps that decision is yours; but to me, Merix, it means I will not be accepting it. A gift must not be traded away."

"I- ugh."

Scoffing, they set down the dragon's gift on the coffee table near them, onto one of the softer parts of the covering. Then, they went to lean onto a bookshelf. "Y'know I'm not the careful type, right? Hell, needed a new phone after droppin' my last one. I'll drop this thing. I ain't takin' care of crap, Thal, let alone a-"

"That," the wizard interrupted, "is only what you think!" He stood suddenly, but calmly, from his chair. "See, you give yourself far less credit than you ought to, my friend.

"That cellphone you speak of; was that not only your previous one? Is your current model not one decade old?" He gave Merix a friendly questioning glance.

The gift victim looked away for a few moments, looking annoyed, then shook their head. "...Irrelevant. I ain't 'special'. Thal, just- just take this. Know you're obsessed with dragons, surely you're droolin' to have it. I don't want it, 'kay?"

Shaking his head, Thal cleverly tried to think of any way to get them to accept. "But what about the dragon? The dragon certainly wants you to have it. I would know, in fact, seeing its behavior when it met you up close."

"...god, I regret goin' with you to that exhibit."

"Why so? Come on, Merix, friend. Did you not forge a special bond with that beast?"

Merix cringed thinking back to that time last week. "I did. Regret it."

"You did, and the dragon evidently befriended you back. Well enough to give you this, of all things! It is truly special to receive such a thing, you know!"

"...just why the hell would it give me one?! Thought they'd be more protective about these?"

"Not this particular species, no; with how many they tend to earn themselves, you'll find they give these away more often with less of a criteria than one would think. But, of course, only to the most trusted of friends."

Merix just rolled their eyes in response. It would've helped if they knew this back in the exhibit before Thal had made them try to 'connect' with the nearest dragon they saw.

"Look," began Thal. He took a step toward Merix, laying a gentle hand on their supposed gift sitting on the coffee table. "You are a more careful and reliable person than you think. Merix, my friend, have you not always underestimated yourself like this?"

They snickered unenthusiastically. "More like the dragon overestimated me."

"Oh, these winged creatures are far more knowing than one would think, you know." He turned around and walked back toward his chair.

Thal then picked up one of the small figures of dragons from his desk, holding it up for both of them to see. "It knew you're capable of possessing such a priceless object, and thus, I know too. Must you dare doubt the judgement of such a being?"

He just receives an unamused glare from Merix.

Eventually, though, they say something in response, looking exasperated. "...God, Thal. Droppin' the act, bein' honest with you here. I don't care about this thing. Didn't ask for it, just saw it dropped in our garbage bin- you're the dragons guy. Me? Gonna get home, stuff this in a cupboard who the hell knows where in our kitchen, not givin' a crap if it falls apart in there. Don't care."

Thal snickered, and gave Merix a very sly look. "Do you, now?"

"Don't. I'll kick this to pieces now for all I care, and I don't."

"Do you?"

"No, I-"

Suddenly, Thal elbowed the bookshelf Merix is leaning on, and a book began to fall out, right above the dragon's gift. It tipped over before either of them could do anything, and...

...Merix quickly slapped it out of trajectory, protecting the gift. It tumbled over onto the floor nearby, and opened to a page about the early life of a growing dragon. "Wh- what the hell, dude?! Are you insane?!"

But Thal only smirked. "Heh, friend. That tome was easily within your range, and I know your reflexes wouldn't let it past-- and if that does not reassure you, I had already enabled a protective spell beforehand." He aptly tries to slap the gift, to Merix's evident horror, but only to hit an invisible forcefield around it.

Thal then somehow gently picked up the object straight through its protection spell, and presented it to Merix. "You do, in fact, care for this, my friend. In addition to my reasons earlier, I have seen it in your eyes since you walked in here with it, and have been noticing as you decisively set it down on specifically my cushioned coffee table."

Merix kept silent, gazing away from Thal and down over to his five coffee tables. They did, in fact, choose to put it on the only one with a cloth covering over it.

"...Do not worry," said Thal, after letting them process some thoughts. He continues, "I, out of anyone, would certainly know how to assist you in maintaining this gift. Contact me for whatever it is you're concerned about, okay, friend?" Thal nodded his head toward one of the books.

"...okay. Fine."

-----

Merix stepped down the porch, as Thal waved goodbye behind them, closing the door. "Can't be too bad, right," they thought to themself, before hearing a little 'crack' come from the gift in their hands.

"...Ah, crap." Having started jogging down the sidewalk, they tried to waste as little time possible finding a nice, suitable environment back home for their hatching dragon's egg.

Sometimes dragons are capable of making friends. To these friends, they give gifts. And these gifts act as messages to other dragons saying “don’t harm this one, they’re special.”