Lessons in the Library Disclaimer: All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. I'd also like to mention that the original idea for this fic came from a comic I read in the back of a magazine. I laughed my head off, but I doubt mine is as funny. =]
"Lessons in the Library" by Idgiebay


It was an extremely warm summer night in Manhattan, rendering the normally loud and busy streets unusually calm, save for a few pedestrians and cars here and there. Apparently, most decided it best to stay indoors during this intense heat wave, and no one could blame them; taking a stroll at night in 81 humid degrees of weather was not anyone's idea of a picnic.

Crimes were nothing the cops couldn't handle tonight -- a few muggings and break-ins were put to an end, and it was a good thing, too. Where were our heroes, you ask? They were indoors themselves, behind the stone walls of Castle Wyvern atop the Eerie Building. No, they weren't beating the heat. Against Goliath's better judgment, he agreed to have the clan lay low for a while. With Quarrymen running around the street, bashing anything that looked remotely like a gargoyle, it seemed to be the safest thing to do for now, until something could be done about this dangerous nuisance.

In the television room, Hudson comfortably relaxed in his La-Z-Boy recliner and vacantly flipped through the channels while Brooklyn sat on the floor next to him, his elbow resting on Bronx as he watched the TV with disinterest. Nearby, Lexington sat against the wall, idly pressing some buttons on his laptop. The expression on all of their faces was not at all hard to misread: pure boredom.

Hudson stopped on the Food Network and watched with only mild interest as the chef prepared some foreign food that none of them could pronounce.

"I wonder if Broadway's found out about this station, yet," Brooklyn said, regarding the channel with an unchanged expression.

Although the statement was not directed at him -- or anyone, for that matter -- Lexington shrugged and glanced at the TV. "Wouldn't doubt it." He then looked up from the laptop monitor with a thoughtful expression and tilted his head to the side. "Where is Broadway, anyhow?" he asked. "I haven't seen him or Angela all night..."

"I'd imagine they're in the library, lad. Ye know how seriously your rookery brother takes his reading lessons." Becoming uninterested with the Food Network, Hudson changed the channel to a repeat of All in the Family, which seemed to pique his curiosity a bit.

Brooklyn rose to his feet with a stretch and a yawn, then turned to head out of the room. "Well," he began with a sigh. "Guess I'll go see what's up... maybe they're doing something exciting." Dragging his feet, he slowly made his way out of the television room, down a flight of stairs, into the Great Hall, through the left-hand door, over the river, through the woods, past Grandmother's house, and finally found himself in front of the door that lead into the library. He put his hand on the doorknob and was about to open it when he stopped to listen. Hearing some movement and soft noises coming from inside, he quietly placed his ear against the door. What he heard would have made his jaw drop to the floor, if that was possible.

"Wow, Angela..." came Broadway's dazed voice. "That feels so good... you really know how to work your hands..."

A faint, prideful giggle was heard, followed by Angela's response. "I'm glad you like it. I had some practice on Avalon, you know."

"Heh, no wonder... AH!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I squeeze too hard?"

"Nah, that felt good..."

Brooklyn couldn't believe what he was listening to. Although he still had some feelings for Angela, he accepted that she had chosen to court with Broadway.. but he had no idea that they were doing -this-! The thought kind of... repulsed him.

"Hey, what're you up to?"

Startled, Brooklyn whirled around to see Lexington staring at him curiously. Guess Archie Bunker's twisted logic was too much for the little guy. "Uhh.. nothing," he stammered. "I'm just.. um, well.. shhhh.." He motioned to the library door as he heard Broadway's... 'lessons' resume.

With a puzzled expression on his face, Lex joined Brooklyn at the door and listened.

"Here, lie down on the floor," Angela said. "I'll get on top of you."

"All righty!" A bit of shuffling was heard, and a grunt followed as Broadway presumably lied down on the floor.

Brooklyn glanced down at his rookery brother and saw his face turn from confused to thoughtful to intrigued and finally to pure shock.

"Are they doing what I think they're doing?" Lex whispered.

Nodding, the second in command made a hand gesture to quiet down.

"Mmmm.. Oh WOW, Angela!" Broadway nearly shouted. "Where did you learn this? It feels great!"

"I saw Princess Katherine doing it to Tom once. It looked like it felt good.. I thought you might enjoy it."

"Do I ever! Heh.. funny, I can't imagine the princess doing this to Tom."

"Why would he -want- to.." Lex wondered. It wasn't really a question, but merely a statement to himself. -He- certainly didn't want to imagine the princess doing anything to Tom.. especially since the last time he saw him, Tom was only a boy.

"Ahh! Ooo.. yeah.. do that faster.. ohhh, yeah like that.. AH!"

"Oops, did I hurt you? I'm sorry.."

"Don't worry about it, Angela.. just be a little more gentle.. aahhh.."

"What are you two doing?"

Lexington and Brooklyn almost jumped out of their skin as they heard Goliath's deep voice directed at them. Sheepishly, they turned around to face their leader, glancing at each other as they desperately tried to come up with something. However, all that came out of their mouths were a bunch of 'uhh's, 'um's, and 'well's. Pathetic.

Finally, Lexington gave a coherent response that sounded lame after he thought about it. "Well, we were just.. you know.. listening to Angela help out Broadway.. with his reading lessons, of course. That's all."

Arms folded, Goliath peered down at the duo, raising his brow in suspicion. It was rare that he ever doubted his clan members, but something in Lexington's voice sounded somewhat unsure, causing Goliath to believe it was not the whole truth. "If you wanted to listen, why didn't you go in?" he queried. "Why are you listening out here?" He waited for a response as silence filled the hallway, and five seconds turned to ten which turned to twenty and so on until a long minute passed by.

Brooklyn cleared his throat. "Well, we didn't want to interrupt them."

With a nod, Lex added, "Yeah, Broadway seemed so involved--"

The sentence was cut off by an 'Ooo, Angela..!' from within the library.

Goliath completely forgot the matter at hand as his eyes immediately darted to the door. "What was that?" he growled, taking a few steps closer.

"Quiet, the others will hear you.." Angela whispered.

"Oh, sorry.. it's just.. that was a wonderful feeling! Ooo.. that is, too.. Faster.."

The growl that could faintly be heard rumbling in Goliath's chest grew about ten times louder and his eyes began to glow a ghostly white. He'd thought his daughter made a wise choice when she'd chosen who would be her future mate -- keyword being future, of course -- but what was happening now was far beyond anything he could have imagined. This shouldn't be happening now... they were too young!

"How does this feel, my love?" Angela cooed.

"Angela, you don't even have to ask.. anything you do to me feels great.."

Lexington and Brooklyn wordlessly watched as Goliath dug his talons into the door, ripped it off its hinges, and threw it aside like a piece of scrap. "WHAT IS GOING ON?!" he bellowed, standing in the door frame with his wings spread to their full span, his voice echoing off the library walls.

The scene that lay ahead shocked the duo who'd been listening in. It was not what they had expected to see... Eventually, Goliath calmed down enough to open his eyes and take a look at what he thought would be a horrific sight that involved Angela and Broadway engaged in something that should be reserved for adults.

On the floor, they saw Broadway lying on his stomach with his head propped up on his arms, and standing on his back was Angela.

"Is something the matter, father?" the latter questioned.

Silence.

"S, sorry, Goliath..." Broadway faltered, smiling meekly. "My back was sore and Angela offered to help get the kinks out.. I'll get back to my reading lessons right away."

Boy, did Goliath feel foolish. Out of nothing better to do he nodded and, after a short pause, said, "Carry on, then." Casually, he folded his wings and walked away.

Lex and Brooklyn stared, their mouths gaping. Clearing their throats, they exchanged a quick glance and turned around as well. "How 'bout that Archie Bunker, huh?" Brooklyn asked, changing the subject to the first thing that came to mind.

As they began their journey back to the television room, the smaller gargoyle gave his rookery brother a puzzling look before finally catching on. "Huh? Oh... oh! Yeah, I love the guy."

In the library, Angela was helping Broadway to his feet. "What do you suppose that was about?"

The green gargoyle shrugged in response. "I really have no idea..."

A grin spread across Angela's face as she wrapped her wings around her portly love, gazing into his eyes. "Shall we continue our 'lesson' from last night, then?"

Broadway responded by wrapping his own wings around her and sliding his hands around her waist, grinning in return. "I'm looking forward to it."

THE END

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