GOLIATH: And How, Exactly, Do You Plan To Stop Me?

New official art of Goliath!

"And a Hunting We Will Go"

Summary: Elisa gets a rude awakening

Words: 433

2/3

Warnings! Animal Death, mentions of gore

Unfortunately- 

It didn't stop there. 

Before the tendrils of light crossed her face and the coolness of the early, early morning breeze forced her awake, an odd, rancid smell did.

Sluggishly she willed her eyes opened-then screamed. In her rush she nearly toppled off the bed to scramble away from the dead rat placed on the pillow next to hers.

"Mama! You're awake!" It was Adair, all bright eyed and bushy tailed "look! Look! What I caught! It was in the kitchen, so I got it! You like it! It's a present for you!" 

He nudged it closer to her, hopping on his toes, his long, dark curls bouncing as he did, glee written all over his cherubic face. He was the picture-perfect aura of childlike innocence. Which only awakened her suspicions because her son was a devious little trickster. 

And what was he doing in the- 

Never mind, it's way too early and she's had no coffee yet to rejuvenate her system.

Honestly, he put Puck to shame sometimes.

"Mama!" 

"Oh! Uh…." she eyed the dead rat with not much enthusiasm, that she tried to hide, not sure why she felt so squeamish. It's a rat, she's seen plenty-both dead and alive. 

I mean she just spent the previous night haggling an under covered body. With part of their head missing and brain bits blown all over the floor. Which had long mingled into the matted rug they found the poor bastard on.

The stench of a four-week-old body left to rot and cook in a stuffy, rundown New York apartment just did not compare to the smell of a freshly killed sewer rat. They both stunk, but unfortunately the rat body was in her bed, on her sheets soaking them in rancid, diseased blood and bodily fluids.

"Thank you, baby" Adair's bright smile only widened as he picked it up and plopped it right in her hands. Elisa did her best not to cringe away from the smell, or the spongy, mush of dead rat carcass between her fingers.

"Did I do a good job, mama!?" 

"Of course, a very good one-" she moved the gory mush to one hand to pat his head full of dark curls "look at you, my little hunter" 

He grinned wider, teeth, and fangs and all. She couldn't help, but feel a swell of pride, despite the morbidity of everything.

Elisa could only sigh and shook her head. This is what you signed up for, better get used to it. But she's definitely going to have a long chat with Xanatos about his pest control.

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Tell me I’m wrong though.

“And a Hunting We Will Go”

Summary: In retrospect, Elisa should’ve seen it coming- 

Words: 1,324

1/2

Warnings! Blood, Animal Death

  A03:

In retrospect, Elisa should’ve seen it coming- 

 Working a twelve hour shift straight was a bitch. Exhaustion crept to every little corner of her body, her arms and legs felt like lead, her back was stiff, her eyes burned red from the lack of sleep. When she finally got home, she jumped straight into a hot bath to soak. The steam and heat were heaven on earth as she sunk low into the bathtub. She wanted to exist here forever. 

 "Mommy!“ the door to her bathroom thundered open, the hinges squeaking as it hit the wall. Elisa repressed a groan but kept her eyes closed sinking lower into the hot water. As they say-a woman’s work is never done.

 "Yes, baby?” The excited taps of bare feet slapped against the tiles.

 "Look what I caught!“ The smell hit her before her eyes popped open and another word left her lips. With a loud, violent splash, hot soapy bath water smacked her right in the face. 

 Coughing and sputtering, Elisa struggled to wipe the water out of her eyes, groping in the dark she leaned over the tub to grab a dry towel.

 There was a moment in all the silence where time stood still-after getting the suds out her eyes, she opened them only to be greeted by dark, lifeless ones. Beak hung open; a dead pigeon’s carcass sailed the currents of her now bloody bath water.

 Elisa froze for a brief second.

 "See!” Aila yelped excitedly, hopping up and down” I got it all by myself!“ Elisa managed to tear her eyes away from the dead animal to catch a glimpse of her daughter’s bloody face and bloody fangs which had tatters of feathers stuck in between them. 

 Yeah…… She really, really should’ve seen it coming. 

 Goliath was teaching them how to hunt. Elisa didn’t think it was necessary. But, he protested, saying that it was. What if they were caught in a situation where they needed to catch their food in order to survive? 

 He had a point. Better safe than sorry. 

 Besides, every hatchling is taught to hunt, regardless. It’s tradition. Elisa left him to it. It gave the kids an extra outlet to expend energy anyways. By the time they came home, they were absolutely exhausted which made putting them down for nap time far easier. 

 Elisa didn’t think much of it, well, until there was a dead pigeon swimming in her bathtub. She wasn’t mad (why would she be?) or anything just startled. Dead things really shouldn’t bother at this point, especially concerning her own career.

 "Baby, where did you get the pigeon from?" 

 "Outside!” Vague answer. Did Goliath take them hunting? It was pretty late last she checked.

 "Where’s daddy?“ 

 "Don’t know! I did it by myself!” Elisa frowned a little.

 "Aila, you’re not supposed go hunting without daddy" 

 "I wanted to do it myself. See! I’m a big girl now, I can do it" 

 "I know, baby, but you could’ve gotten seriously hurt. You’re all cut up" 

 "I only got some scratches, but it doesn’t hurt" she held out her arms, oblivious to the alarm in her mother’s voice “and-and I didn’t cry either. See I’m big now" 

 "I can see that-” the scratches along her arms and face didn’t seem too bad. Nothing a little antiseptic cream and some bandages can’t fix “but, honey, you need to be more careful" 

 "But I’m okay!” she argues then reached up to rub her wounded cheek “see!" 

 "I know, but still-" 

 "Elisa!” Goliath barreled through the bathroom door, she nearly spat her beating heart out. She sometimes forgets how fast he can move despite his massive size.

 Also, the door to the bathroom was broken.

 "I smelt-Aila!“  He was by her side in seconds, lifting his third born up to inspect her injuries "what happened?!”

 "Hi, daddy! Look!“ She pointed to the bath water once again blind to the anxiety she was causing both of her parents "I caught it all by myself!” She chirped excitedly, wings and tail fluttering in glee.

 "I-what?“

 "The pigeon” she says.

 "Pigeon-“ his eyes drift over to the poor avian floating in the bathtub "oh.” He replies softly.

 "I caught it, daddy!“ 

 "Ah, I can see that, but you are quite the mess, my daughter" 

 "It scratched me, but I fought back really hard!" 

 "I checked the cuts” Elisa intervened “they’re too shallow to be anything serious" 

 "Are you going to cook it, mommy?" 

 "Cook it?" 

 "I caught it for dinner. I wanted to help" 

 "Oh! Well, sure” Elisa pushed some wet hair from her face side eyeing the dead bird. 

 Right.

 "Yay!“

 After the fear had vanished from the room, Goliath helped their daughter to a well needed bath. Elisa tended to the pigeon, the poor bastard didn’t see it coming, and wrapped in an old, tattered bath towel. 

 ‘Guess I’ll have Owen dispose of it. Somewhere’

"Ow! Daddy that stings!" 

 "It means the medicine is working" 

 “Can I have the hello kitty Band-Aid?" 

 "Yes, daughter you may” father and daughter were housed in the master bedroom. Aila was scrubbed head to toe. Squeaky clean. Goliath was treating her scratches while she watched intently from her perch on the edge of the bed. 

 "Aila?“ 

 "Yes, daddy!” It gets a smile from him before he changes his demeanor.

 "You know you’re not supposed to go hunting without me" 

 "But daddy-“ 

 "There are rules in place for reasons; they are there to ensure your safety." 

 "But daddy-" 

 "Aila-”

 "But daddy I’m not little anymore.“ She cuts him off again.

 "Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean my rules no longer apply. You may not be so little, but you are still learning, any number of things could have happened. You’re lucky a couple of scratches are the only thing you received."  

 Her ears fell back behind her head "Are you angry?" 

 "No, I just want you to be safe”

 "Okay….“ she says a little dejectedly "I’ll wait for you" 

 "That’s all ask” he gently pats her head.

 "Will you cook it for dinner?“ 

 "What?" 

 "The pigeon daddy!" 

 "Oh, right-” he glances over to Elisa “uhh-" 

 "Of course, sweetheart.”

 "Okay!“ 

 "Can I have cake?" 

 "Not until after super” Goliath answers.

 "Can I have strawberries then, the ones mommy bought?“ 

 "You may-” in her excitement she tried to scramble from her father’s grasp to the kitchen “now wait a minute. You’re still dripping wet” it took a while to pat her dry, as she kept squirming.

 "Am I done now?“ 

 "Yes, daughter you’re dry now” she hopes off his lap to make way for the kitchen.

 "Puts some clothes on first!“ Elisa shouts after her.

 "Yes, mommy!” But then she comes running back to their room “you guys gonna cook the pigeon, right?” She asks, double checking.

 "Of course,“ she lies through her teeth again.

 "Okay!” She chirps before prancing back towards her bedroom. Goliath waits until he knows Aila’s out of earshot to ask.

 "Are you truly going to cook…that?“ 

 "Are you?” She shoots back at him.

 "Perhaps-“ he trails off to give the dead bird another incredulous glance "but I doubt it would be safe to consume" 

 "God only knows what kind of diseases it’s carrying” she grimaces.

 "Agreed, but you did promise to cook it, why lie?“ 

 "I didn’t. We’ll just have Owen burn the poor bastard and replace it with a chicken. It’s not like she’ll know the difference" 

 "That is true, but we shouldn’t lie to the child" 

 "It’s just a little white fib, besides pigeon kind of tastes like chicken anyways" 

 "Still-” he wants to argue.

 "Do you wanna tell her we threw her prized catch away?“ 

 He frowned "No." 

 "Then that settles it, we’ll just snatch a chicken from the freezer and cook it” Elisa was right, Aila didn’t notice. She beamed at the table, happily recounting her tale about how she caught dinner to everyone as they ate.

Gargoyles production art by Frank Paur.

Yeessssss???

Elisa stop

ELISA STOOOOPPPPP

yessss here we go, tell her how you feel!

OMG ITS HAPPENING

DAMMIT ELISA!!!!! STOP SHUSHING THE MAN HES TRYING TO DECLARE HIS UNDYING LOVE FOR YOU

Mossy Edge

"And a Hunting We Will Go"

Summary: Someone does some fishing. Some very expensive fishing.

Words: 1,191

3/4

Warnings! Animal Death

~Beep!~

~Beep!~

God, someone please shoot me! 

~Your call may be put on hold~

Elisa couldn't help but roll her eyes.

The disembodied, dial up music on the other end of the line almost made her see red. Two hours, two damn hours! She's been on hold since four in the afternoon! 

‘Come on, come on, dammit, let's go already!’

~Beep!~ 

~We're currently busy at the moment, but a representative will speak to you shortly~ 

~Beep!~ 

‘Shortly my ass!’

The music played again, like a hellish melody.

'I hate tax season. Hate it!' Bored, Elisa snagged her pen tapping it harshly against the kitchen table. 'Next time I'm hiring some smuck to do this shit' 

'If I can afford' 

The tapping stopped for a minute.

~Beep!~ 

~We're currently busy at the moment, but a representative will speak to you shortly~

'I'll make it fit'

Somehow.

Another twenty minutes past before someone finally, finally picked up the damn phone. But, despite the blessing the call just added to her frustrations.

"....how many dependents did you say you have again…...?" 

Her lips tightened, doing her best to not snap- "Three. Three kids" she can't remember how many times she had to repeat that now.

This was stupid, beyond stupid. She just wanted the call to end for god's sake, the man over the phone kept droning on and on, in a hush wispy, barely audible voice about tax deductions or something, it was very obvious that he hated his job and sounded like he wanted to be anywhere, but on the phone with her.

It was like pulling teeth. 

One by one by one.

Sitting on the couch watching Teletubbies with the kids was starting to sound like heaven right about now.

After a while, her mind drifted. ‘Whoever wrote tax laws ought to be shot.’

She heard something squeak in between the irritated tapping and clicking of her pen. Ignoring it, she leaned against the kitchen chair before switching the phone to her other ear.

Another squeak. Sounded like wet shoes sliding against a tile floor.

She ignored it again, clicking her pen.

'I need a drink after this. Maybe I can raid Xanatos stash without him noticing'

~Squeak~

'Ugh, what is that?!' but she didn't feel inclined to worry about it. The castle was riddled with strange noises. It used to freak her out, but she had gotten used to it over the years. And besides, she wasn't the only resident lurking around.

~Squeak~ 

"Maza, a word if you may" Elisa rolled her eyes again.

"I'm busy Xanatos, bother me some other time" 

“I believe it may interest you”

“You can’t hide from Fox forever Xanatos”

“I’m not, but this isn’t about her”

~Squeak~ 

'Okay! That was getting annoying!' she snapped around her chair to level Xanatos with a glare and find the source of that ungodly sound only to stop and freeze.

Xanatos was drenched head to toe. His characteristic ponytail was undone. Hair was in his eyes, slopped around his shoulders and he smelled like fish and algae.

He looked completely disgruntled. Which was also rather uncharacteristic. And the jacket of his suit was missing.

"Wha-?" 

"Hi, Auntie Lisa!" 

Then she looked down. 

Two giddy kids were tucked under his arms. Alex's eyes gleamed, shined really, his long dark, red curls stuck to his face. And there was Aodh, wrapped in Xanatos' jacket, not giddy, or mischievous, but unperturbed as she munched on a half-eaten koi fish.

They were a wet mess.

The crunch of bone and flesh invaded the quiet for a second.

"They raided the koi pond" 

As if the half-eaten koi fish didn't give her a clue. Elisa didn't know whether to laugh at the spectacle before her or sigh. Wasn't Owen watching them?

"You didn't say we couldn't play in it, dad!" 

"Please tell me that wasn't expensive"

"The pond's fine. The fish on the other hand-" Xanatos glanced at her daughter, he seemed almost amused despite his obvious veil of exasperation "well I'll leave that to your imagination" 

'Well, isn't that just peachy' Everything in this building was outstandingly expensive to suit Xanatos opulent tastes. He's right on that matter, she didn't want to imagine what that fish might cost her, if he were a pettier man. 

"Why do you have a Koi Pond just laying around anyway? Inside a building. Where anybody can just trip and fall in it" 

"I like the aesthetic." 

"Sure." Right. Of course.

"It's not like I expected two troublesome kids to try and make it into their personal fishing spot." 

"Ah-huh" 

"Nor was I prepared for one of them to actually eat the koi fish" 

Elisa smirked a little "Oh really, and here I thought you were always prepared for the impossible" 

He looked disgruntled again. The shock faded, but damn did he look miserable.

That suit had to be worth more than anything she's made in the past five years. She can't help but snicker-

-who would've thought that all it took for him to lose his cool was a bunch of unruly kids.

Karma was beautiful in its own way.

"Can I have my own Koi fishpond then, dad?" 

Xanatos refined from a sigh.

"I'll think about it" 

"Yes!" It definitely wasn’t a yes, but Alex interpreted it as one.

“David!”

There was something akin to fear in his eyes “Ah,” he cleared his throat “In the kitchen, dear.”

Fox walked-waddled into the room; they saw her belly before they saw her “Are you hiding up here again-” Xanatos turned around on instinct.

“Hi, mom!” Alex waved.

Fox blinked a few times before she broke down into hysterical fits of laugher.

“Fox, please” she had to hold onto the threshold to hold herself up.

“He fell into the pond trying to fish the kids out” Elisa supplied as flatly as possible. Fox snorted.

“I did not fall.”

“Had a nice swim, David!?”

“I guess you now know what it feels like to swim with the fishes, huh, Xanatos?” Elisa couldn’t help herself. Fox had a conniption fit.

“The children could’ve drowned”

Now both women were laughing.

“I can swim, dad, Aodh too, you know that, and Puck was with us.” Corrected by a child.

“Speaking of Puck-Owen, where is he?” she asked in between fits of laughter.

“He scampered off, after I-collected the children”

“Left you for dry, huh?” Elisa got the impression that he wanted to roll his eyes at her. But forced himself not to for whatever reason. Instead of saying anything he placed Aodh gently on the floor. The sudden jostle of movement hardly interrupted her eating.

“We’re still playing, dad!” Alex protested.

“Both of you need a bath” he squirmed out of his father’s grasp “Alex.”

“We can take a bath together! Come one, Aodh!” he grabbed her fingers, and dragged her along. Aodh simply followed without much fuss towards the baths. Alex knew the castle like the back of his hand, as he led them away.

She was still eating the fish.

Elisa shook her head; hopefully, that was the extent of today’s excitement-

~Beep!~

‘You’re call has been disconnected’

Dammit.

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