!WARNING!: This chapter contains some mild non-con that may be triggering for some. Proceed with caution.
The next night, Goliath and Tenzin resumed their discussion. Goliath spoke of his clan, past and present, and Tenzin wrote it all down. Occasionally, the monk Rinchen came and took notes as well, though he seemed to be awfully irritated to be there. Tenzin needed to call it for a while as two gargoyles barged in arguing with each other and him, some dispute over crop rotations, or something of the like. Goliath had no clue about agriculture, so he stayed out of it, and left Tenzin to deal with the issue.
He had no idea what Elisa and Angela were up to, so he took the chance to walk leisurely through the monastery, observing the monks and acolytes, and stumbled upon a large sparring room where Tsering was instructing the hatchlings.
They all looked rather adorable in their matching robes, and he was immensely amused by their clumsy attempts to follow her moves. She was patient and had a way of correcting them gently. She was a good teacher which Goliath admired. He had never had the patience.
A bell rang somewhere in the temple and the hatchlings all leapt to their feet and scampered out of the room, Goliath had to step aside out of fear he would be caught in the stampede.
"Good evening, Goliath," Tsering said brightly.
"Good evening Tsering. You have great skill teaching the hatchlings," he said, complimenting her.
Her smile widened.
"I don't know about that, but I enjoy teaching them."
"That's why you're good at it," Goliath rebutted. "I am impressed you still continue to have combat drills and hone your abilities even though you never see conflict."
"It keeps us disciplined," Tsering replied. "We can hope our clan is safe, but one day it may not be, and we need to be ready, or the results could be devastating as they have in the past."
Goliath entered the dojo-like room and looked at some of the weaponry on the walls. Mostly staves and spears, but there were a few swords and shields as well.
"Even when you are ready, the results can be devastating, but it's worse when you're not," Goliath rumbled thoughtfully.
"Does your clan practice any kind of martial art?" Tsering asked.
"No. We rely on tactics, strength, and teamwork."
"All good things," Tsering said. "How do you keep your body strong and your mind sharp, then?"
Goliath raised his brows.
"I spend a lot of time gliding...and I see a lot of conflict and fighting," Goliath explained.
"And your mind?"
"I read a lot."
Tsering nodded, and she began to circle him slowly as if sizing him up.
"You know...size and strength can only get you so far," she said.
Goliath tracked her with his eyes, only turning his head slightly when she moved behind him.
"Indeed. It is important to have strategy as well," Goliath agreed nervously, unsure of what she was up to.
"At some point, size can even become a weakness," she said, and she moved suddenly, quick as lightning. Goliath crouched into a low position, ready to block her, but she dropped down unexpectedly, sliding on her knees. She got low, swept his legs out from underneath him, and dropped him like a stone to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
She swept a leg over him and straddled him, her talons were at his neck, and she could easily tear out his throat if she chose to do so.
Goliath lay there stunned at how quickly that had occurred.
"It is not about size, but how you use it," Tsering said confidently, her voice low with double meaning.
Then she looked towards the door, and Goliath turned his head as far as he could to see what she was looking at. Elisa was standing there with a rather shocked look on her face.
Goliath looked back at Tsering and immediately knew what this must look like to her.
"I guess I came at a bad time," Elisa said, her face beet red, and she turned and walked out.
"Elisa, wait," he said as he gently moved Tsering off of him and picked himself up off the floor.
He scrabbled after Elisa, leaving Tsering behind.
"That wasn't what you thought it was," Goliath said once he caught up to her.
"You really don't need to explain it to me," Elisa said as she picked up her pace and tried to walk away. Goliath took a few long strides to catch up.
"Tsering was just showing me some tactics from their martial arts. That's all."
"What you do in your spare time is none of my business, Goliath," Elisa said, attempting to sound indifferent and nonchalant, but it came out a lot more cross than she intended.
Goliath caught her hand and forced her to stop walking and face him.
"Elisa, you care more than you let on, I know we—"
"We? There is no we, Goliath. Get that into your head," Elisa snapped angrily, and she pulled her hand away from him and stormed off, leaving Goliath, who did not follow her this time, looking forlorn as he watched her leave.
Tsering watched him apprehensively from the sparring room doorway wondering what on earth that had all been about.
...
...
Norbu invited Angela to go with him to help with the leopard issue their herds were still having. If they lost any more calves, their herds would be decimated, and the food and wool they provided for the winter was necessary for the clan's survival. Too many lost calves would mean they wouldn't have enough to replace the ones they used for meat, and they'd struggle with genetic diversity to keep their herd healthy. It was really important that they quickly got rid of the leopard that was picking off their herd.
"I don't have much experience with hunting," Angela bashfully told Norbu when he asked her to go with him. "My father is good at it. He can track a deer and take it down quickly, but I grew up on an island where we always had plenty to eat, and I never had to develop the skills."
"Come with me, and I'll give you a few pointers," Norbu had responded flirtatiously.
He had a dazzling smile that made Angela feel all kinds of odd fluttery sensations, and she went very willingly with him.
He was a very attentive male who often complimented her. He'd hang on her every word, and he always tried to find every little excuse to touch her. Nothing obscene, he would bump against her shoulder, his hand would brush against hers, but only in private. Anytime they were with the rest of the clan, he practically ignored her.
She was disconcerted by his coldness when that happened, but when she had his attention, he made her feel...special, and with Elisa occupied with Pema and Goliath busy with Tenzin, she didn't have a lot to do but spend time with Norbu.
Even Bronx seemed to enjoy the company of the clan's beasts to her.
And that's how she found herself hanging out alone at the foot of a mountain with him on the farthest edge of the valley, searching for snow leopards.
It was a little dull, to be honest. They spent a lot of time sitting and waiting with a haunch of yak meat as bait.
"You look bored," Norbu said to her at one point, and she realized she had been staring off into the middle distance, her mind wandering.
"Sorry...I told you, I've never done this before," she said.
He eyed her in a way that made her feel a little uncomfortable, like he was sizing her up.
"You know...there are ways we could...pass the time," he said slyly, and he moved closer to her.
"Like what?" Angela asked a little warily.
He reached out and ran a hand through her hair.
"I've been wanting to do that since I first saw you," he said, his voice thick as his talons glided through her hair.
Angela's heart started racing, and her breathing quickened.
He bowed his head and nuzzled the crook of her neck as his hands glided over her hair.
Angela sighed, and she closed her eyes.
Those same fluttering sensations in her stomach seemed to move further south, and she sighed as his fangs grazed against her shoulder. She tentatively ran a hand over his crown of feathers. They were incredibly soft, and he growled in response in a way that made the space between her legs feel hot and achy in an unfamiliar but enticing way.
And then his hand was on her breast, and she hadn't given him permission to touch her like that.
"Norbu...I don't think this is ok," Angela protested as she gently pushed his hand away.
"It's ok, Angela, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, and he started to nuzzle her neck again, and his tail wrapped around hers.
She let him. She liked the way it felt, she liked his attention, and he was incredibly handsome, but then he started to unlace some of the ties to her tunic, and she roughly pushed him away.
"Norbu! No!" she said firmly.
"Angela, I'm not trying to mate with you," he said, his tone scolding like she was incredibly stupid. "We're not supposed to, but...there are...other things we can do."
Angela raised a brow curiously. Perhaps this was normal behavior for young gargoyles? She let him touch her breasts again, and though it felt nice, she couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling she had. She hardly knew him, after all.
She didn't know much about mating. When Angela and her siblings had started to ask questions about it, Katharine refused to tell them anything, Tom was practically useless and gave them the basic concepts, and the Magus was just as clueless and inexperienced as the rest of them.
When Gabriel and Ophelia had mated, Angela peppered her sister with questions, and she made it sound so romantic and wonderful.
This didn't feel anything like that.
But Norbu said this wasn't mating, so, perhaps it was ok?
All she knew was that she wasn't supposed to mate with another gargoyle unless she wanted to be bonded to them for life.
He touched her wings, and she was surprised by how good it felt. She whimpered at his touch, and touched his in return. He growled in a way that had a decidedly different tone than anything she had heard from any of her brothers before.
Then he tried to remove her tunic again.
Angela growled and slapped his hand away.
"I'm done, Norbu. I don't want this," she said and shoved him away.
"Angela, come on!" Norbu growled, and she didn't like the way he said her name. It sounded dirty in his mouth. "You shouldn't leave me like this."
He gestured at his loincloth and the tent he was sporting.
"No," Angela said firmly.
"Angela," he growled her name, and she definitely did not like the way he kept saying her name like that.
"You can take care of it yourself," she growled back, her eyes flashed red with warning, and she looked around for a place she could get adequate updrafts to glide away, but Norbu grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly back.
She didn't know what he was going to do next. She didn't give him a chance. She reeled back her free arm and punched him as hard as she could across his face. He cried out in surprise and pain and fell back, and it gave her just enough time to climb up a rocky outcropping and glide safely away from him.
...
...
"Angela, have you seen Elisa?" Goliath asked his daughter when he saw her.
"Hmm? Elisa?" she said absentmindedly like her thoughts were a million miles away. "What about Elisa?"
"I can't find her. Have you seen her?" he asked.
"No...I've been...gone most of the night," Angela replied reluctantly.
She was holding her right hand like it hurt.
"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned, and realized for the first time that her eyes were bloodshot, like she had been crying.
"I'm fine," she said unconvincingly. "If I see Elisa, I'll tell her you're looking for her."
Then she walked away.
What was it with the females in his life today, Goliath wondered?
Was Angela upset with him, too?
He knew Elisa was upset with him for certain. He wanted to talk to her, to clarify what happened earlier. That moment with Tsering. Her flirtations with him...flustered him. He had not had to deal with courting in decades, and he felt like an awkward gangly youth again, and not in a good way.
He wanted to explain that to Elisa.
That nothing ever felt awkward when he was with her.
That she made him feel things he never imagined he would ever feel again.
Tsering just made him feel uncomfortable.
Elisa tried to pretend that she didn't have the same feelings for him, but she wouldn't be this upset with him if she didn't care.
He wished she would just say it already and damn the consequences!
If he could just find her, he'd tell her how he felt and put an end to this ridiculous business.
But she was clearly avoiding him.
He looked for her the rest of the night, but did not find her.