Page 11 of Mountain Orc Daddy

“I do not know about the gentle part,” Uzul tells me. “I try to be patient. It sort of comes with the territory. My father helped me learn how to speak when it is necessary, not so much when it’s not necessary. “

I wanted to ask him about the violence and volatility orcs have been famous for. Of course, I did not. The silver light of the moon doing sonatas up and down those gorgeous arms was lulling me toward wanting hugs, not answers.

“Oh. I am not void of bellicosity,” Uzul adds. “If I am upset, I channel the rage into protecting my tribe first, sort out any questions after.”

“Another lesson from father?” I ask.

“My entire life as Chieftain stems from lessons from my father.”

“I can see that,” I tell Uzul. I want to ask him something that causes him to look off into the distance again while searching for the answer. This will give me a chance to view his chest, arms, and tree-trunk-strong legs. I need to look. We’re practically touching!

“I can see you love being Chieftain,” I continue. “I can see you’ve been Chieftain for a long time. But you don’t look tired. You look like you are forever in the morning of your power, always in the dawning of your day. How do you do that?”

“That is the best question I have heard in a while,” Uzul tells me. Then he gives me what I want before speaking again. His eyes stare away into the purple-blue horizon. There is heat coming from his oak-like body. I take it all in. I feel subtle as a rock troll. Uzul finally answers me while I stare. “How I do it and not burn out is not difficult. Each member of my tribe, when I look at them, I look for something to love. The warriors, the complainers, it doesn’t matter. I see love. I look at each one and home in on what there is to love there. There is always plenty to love.”

The evening crickets go quiet. The night birds go quiet. Only my heart is beating noisy drums. My family is asleep behind us. I watch Uzul sense the same stillness and paucity of sound as I do.

This is when Uzul scoots closer until our legs are completely pressed together. Our shoulders touch. Leaning my head against his darling and massive arms would be so easy.

“We should talk quieter now,” he tells me. I am completely surprised at how quiet an orc can be. “Noisy guests are not my favorite. I imagine your family is the same.”

“You’ve been a gem,” I tell him. “You charmed the whole group before you spoke a word. The very sight of you.” I won’t tell him about the part where I got butterflies in my stomach just seeing the slightest inkling of a smile from him. And I won’t tell him he has kind eyes. The shyness-jailer is strong right now.

What I do, however, is kind of look off into space the way he does when he’s thinking of an answer. Through the periphery of my vision, I watch to see if he does what I did, which was steal glances of that statuesque frame while he’s not watching. He sure does steal glances. More than I did. He is not nearly as clandestine either.

I stifle my laugh at knowing I have better voyeur skills, honed from years of being in the periphery, unnoticed in the background.

“You’ve been the best part of this right here,” Uzul says. “You know how to listen. You know how to listen, and you know how to be interested.”

“The same can be said about you,” I tell him. “I would know. I love my family, but I am not well heard with them. I am not only in the background, most days, I become the background for them.”

“I know how it feels to not be heard,” says Uzul. “It feels rotten. I hear you. I am also glad we came up here.”

“I can sense you really mean that,” I tell Uzul. I apply just the slightest lean. My leg into his leg, his arm into my arm. I want so badly for only one moment, if not more, that my being flows into him and he into me.

“I have enjoyed this talk because it has reminded me that my tribe is ready for a change,” says Uzul. He is looking me up and down again, but this time not stealing the glances. He is obvious. “Maybe I am, too.”

8

UZUL

I’m not sure what to make of my current situation. This closeness I feel with Blair, this natural harmony I have with this darling human-witch is doing to me what the autumnal equinox does to melons. The melons burst open, and the sweetest nectars pour forth.

“I have enjoyed this talk because it has reminded me that my tribe is ready for a change,” I tell Blair. I was drinking in her beauty a moment ago, but now I am gulping. I gulp like a vampire with a mortgage. “Maybe I am, too,” I add. She is stirring something in me I can’t ignore.

“Isn’t that what this evening breeze that carries contemplative silences is all about?” Blair asks me. “This evening and its breezes are marshaling in change?”

“Perhaps,” I tell her. The wonderful part is the closeness I feel with this young human-witch of witches. I want to say more. I want to tell her that before the sun had set I could see that her eyes are a certain green beauty I have only seen when the northern lights dance. This rush of emotion is so out of place for me. I have never cared for such romantic matters beyond knowing I need a son at some point to pass my Chieftain mantle to. “What I notice right now is that you and I have more in common than I imagined. Natural harmony, too.”

“I am curious to hear what you’ve seen that makes you say that?” Blair tells me. Blair has her face aimed right at me. The freckles that cross her cheeks and nose are there, buried beneath bands of moonlight. Yet this whole scene is blinding me and lifting me. I feel more like myself than ever before. This human-witch-blossom is unlocking things. What’s been hidden and forgotten for so long is coming to the surface.

“I like how you speak when it is of value and necessary,” I carefully tell her. “You are quiet otherwise. I am the same way. I will speak when it is necessary, otherwise I will stay quiet.”

“Yes. But you can probably tell that my quietude comes from a few too many years of practice listening when others speak, and then not being heard or getting a chance to speak when it’s my turn.”

“I also like how even though you blend into the background silently and fluidly, you are fearless and cunning. I can tell you hide your wit and courage but will break it out when needed. I really like that.”

“Are you trying to boost my spirit or flirt with me? Which is it?” she asks me.

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