"A halo for my Angel…" He smiled with childish delight as she slowly unwrapped the shining piece and held it up to the light. Squealing with glee, she hugged him fiercely. "You remembered! That night after the Trials, when the humans had their fair! You remembered, and you got it just for me!" She kissed him with ferocious pleasure, her eyes radiant as he slipped it on to rest above her high, intelligent brow. As he had envisioned it, so it fit perfectly, holding back the rich cascade of sunset-touched hair. "Perfect, my Angel… So fitting, that its beauty enhances your own…"
He was so smooth with his words, so serious and yet so thoughtful, and he was utterly delighted with her reaction. She smiled gently up at him, leaning into him for a more gentle, if no less provocative hug. She felt him stiffen a little and look down to her in surprise, but then relax and draw her closer for a lingering kiss. Oh, and his lips, as smooth as his honey-drenched words! No matter what her clan-sibs thought, this one was hers… He was said to be, despite his awe-inspiring brawn, too quiet and withdrawn for his own good. He was, as second-in-command of the entire Wyvern clan, revered and respected for his leadership skills, but seemed too bookish and introspective for the role. As one of the only third-generation gargoyles who could read, he was considered stuffy and overly scholarly, never playing any of the games the youngsters cavorted in unless coerced into doing so. However, on the rare occasions when he did play, he inevitably always won, and that spurred another kind of discontent, which forced him further into his shell of solitude.
Having lost his parents early on, he was everyone's child, and yet no one's – much as she was. She had, stories told, been found on the shores one night, a washed-up foundling left to die on the rocks. The clan leader – at the time, Goliath's father, - did not wish to leave her to die, so he accepted her formally as clan, even though his people never really made room for her. His son, as they grew up together, was the only one that had not laughed at her odd accent and strange features, features that were elven and soft rather than raw-boned and prominent. She wore only one thing that bore any resemblance to her homeland, and it was a bracelet of beaten gold the same as the tiara, twisted into the formed of a serpent with two heads instead of a head and tail. The heads met, golden tongues touching in an eternally cold kiss, at the top of her left arm. She never took the bracelet off, not even to bathe, and would often stare at it, trying to recapture the memories she thought it must hold.
She glanced at it now and it brought back a single memory of the time when she and the young male who now clasped her so closely had first met. She had been looking for a place to sit, away from her taunting clan-sibs, to gather her thoughts, wandering into what seemed to be an unused and dirty room, filled with shelves packed with large and dusty rectangular things. Ignoring the strange sights, she had crossed to the window and perched upon its sill when someone had cleared their throat, giving her a nasty surprise. Spinning around, she had spoken haughtily, demanding to see the miscreant who had frightened her so. He had stepped out, a large tome still held in one hand. She had recognized him instantly and had fled, but somehow, after her initial embarrassment had faded, she was drawn back to the room, and to him, later that night. They spoke until dawn and slept there in that room they had shared their secrets in that day hands entwined as they faced the sun. From that night on, she had returned there to him, to that strange room she was later to know as the 'library', being with him as he slowly emerged out of his lonely shell and she just as gradually learning what the strange things called 'books' were, and how to use them.
But tonight… She gazed up at the young male who held her, her eyes gentle and happy. Tonight, he had far surpassed any delight he could have given her with his stories. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, then took his hand and led him to the parapet.
From there, she led him out into the night so as to thank him properly… and privately.