Lily Pads.

"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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I can't stop thinking about Fox and Elisa getting pregnant around the same time and bonding over having the same type of carvings.

I’ve always liked Angela :>

Goliath, de Gárgolas, vaya como pegó fuerte el tema oscuridad en los 90s que hasta Disney no quiso quedarse fuera. Muy grata serie. #inktober2018 #gargoyles https://www.instagram.com/p/BpHThEfloIi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qetzjmwijjj9

Who is your favorite gargoyle?

Goliath! He's big, wise, fatherly and compassionate, and is also a big dummy sometimes. It's hard not to love him when he looks like a Greek God that's come to life. Also, facts being facts, Keith David's tallent as a voice actor breathed an authentic life in to Goliath that still to this day I haven't seen in any other cartoon. Something about Goliath felt so real, even above the other characters, and despite being an 8ft tall lavender bara monster.

Official character sketches of Gargoyles “Seeing Isn’t Believing”

Short drabble,

Adoh: Oldest daughter of Goliath and Elisa

A/N: Nothing, just something ridiculous came to mind

"You don't think my dad and Demona….." Alex awkwardly gestures with his hands "ya know…...did things..do you?" 

Aodh casts her childhood friend a scathing glance, disgust clear in the way her nose wrinkled "how the hell am I supposed to know that!?" 

"I don't know!" Alex raises his hands "I mean they were partners in crime at one point" 

"Ugh!" Aodh snaps her head away. That is not something she wanted to picture! Ever!

"I mean anything's a possibility." He follows "though now that I think about it, that technically makes a Goliath a cuckold"

She turns back to him with a rather deadpanned expression".....Please stop talking.." 

"Knock Twice, well......"

Summary: Sequel to "Please Knock"

Words: 1,234

Warnings! Some mild Sexual Humor!

A/N: Do Gargoyles bathe? I don't think that was ever answered in canon as far as I know. And if they did where exactly did they get the means to do so. Unless their stone sleep does something about that, but meh. I find this more interesting to write about.

They find a hose and a plastic pool. And some soap. How? Goliath isn't sure where or how the trio had conjured up the materials, but at least they had something to use to bathe themselves. 

Unfortunately, he had come to understand that within the massive city of glass and iron that there weren't many bodies of water to wash in. Clean water that is. There is the harbor and the Hudson river, but as with any lake or pond, they were not secluded. Too public, too open for prying eyes. New York as he had come to know was known as the city that never sleeps. 

Humans were everywhere; working day and night without stop. Nothing ever stops, nothing is ever quiet for a moment. Cars, trains, planes, buses; the many means of transportation that this new world uses to travel from one place to another within a blink of an eye are loud. He's not used to all the noise. Or all the lights. So many lights. At times he feels overstimulated by all the commotion and sensations. 

Hudson complained; the trio were enthralled by it. They were young and curious, entertained by all the things this era had to offer.

For him-It took awhile to grow accustomed to the constant commotion.

In any case they were fortunate in one thing-

Lexington's newfound passion for tinkering gives them access to hot water. He discovered some way to heat it without burning the clock tower down. It's an odd contraption created out of stove parts and electricity. While unorthodox it worked, that's all that truly mattered in the long run. 

-

Goliath was alone when he decided to not just bathe but attend to some overdue laundry. Not that he had much. His loincloth was the only clothing he possessed. Now, that he thought about it-it was his only material possession. Not that he owned much of anything per se living in Scotland, but what little he did have was probably gone. 

A thousand years is a long time. 

Time erodes. 

Things decay.

A long, drawn sigh leaves his lips. He blinks and looks around the makeshift bathroom, the harder he stares, the stranger his surroundings feel, the more alien it is to him. 

Brick instead of stone.

Lights instead of fire. 

Automobiles instead of horses. He can hear them through the walls.

The noise is still hard to get used to. He wonders how Elisa can stand it. All the loudness, all the commotion, and moving and flaring lights. 

She's lived here all her life, he argues, she's probably so accustomed to it that it barely registers. 

Goliath frowns, but shakes his head. He continues what he was doing. The belt buckle of his loincloth clinks in his ear, as he unlatches it. It slides away easily without needless complications.

He could never understand why Hudson desired full body clothing. It seemed like a chore to dress and redress. 

But, to each their own, he supposes. 

He fumbles with the old leather to wash it-grabs a washbasin, slides the belt from the loincloth's loopholes. 

After being blown up, attacked, shot at, he's surprised that it had managed to remain in one piece, though some of the edges were singed, burnt black by fire. 

One of his sisters had sewn it for him. Try as he might he was never apt for the craft. His hands were far too large to carefully maneuver such a thin needle. Nor did he have the patience and nimbleness needed for such a long, tedious process. But, his sweet, kind sister went out of her way to make this one as sturdy as possible.

Back then, long before his days of being titled second in command, he had developed a habit of tearing his clothing in battle. A sword or spear flying far too close for comfort, slicing through paper thin fabric. He wasn't embarrassed in the least, but the castle soldiers, especially, did not appreciate the unintended view. 

"Goliath" his old friend called "I'd appreciate it if ya dinna flash everybody every time we go to battle" Goliath scowled at the memory. Humans were puzzling when it came to the very idea or presence of nudity. He never truly understood it, back then and now. 

"I think they're just jealous" the captain slurred as he sipped from his mug of mead. 

"Jealous?" He blinks. He was just barely out of adolescence then "jealous of what?" 

He laughs, merrily drunk "eh, not everyone's just got a mighty sword laying about, lad! No one likes a show off!" His skin flushed an interesting shade of lavender underneath the fire and moonlight. 

He ignores the pang of melancholy the old memory brings with it.

To his kind sister's credit, it lasted the longest. It remained sturdy and weathered every ordeal until now.

Some pieces of leather were flaking off it. The more he washed it, the more wears and tears he found in it.

Perhaps, he should start investing in a new one soon. But, finding materials on the other hand were easier said than done. Not to mention the sewing.

Maybe Elisa might know where to acquire some. But, he hesitates, Elisa has done more for his clan then necessary. He didn't want to burden her with more requests.

But he also didn't want to end up in a situation where he was without some form of modesty. His clan of course would not care in the least.

But, Elisa might take offense to it. 

After a thorough cleaning, he hangs it from a clothes line to dry. And puts his belt aside. He heats the water before dumping in the plastic swimming pool.

He feels ridiculous sitting in it. It's bright pink and far too small for his lumbering body, but he finds away. He uses the bar soap and his talons to scrub away at his skin. 

First his body, then his wings and tail and finally he struggled with the thick monstrosity that was his mane of hair. 

It felt like hours, combing, washing, soaping and picking through knots and tangles. It was quite the pain in the ass, but the last thing he wanted for it was to get matted. 

Or invite lice.

His head felt significantly lighter after he was finished. He felt refreshed. Rising from the makeshift tub, he shakes lose the excess water. They had nothing to dry with. 

A creak is heard behind the door. Goliath doesn't really pay it any heed, it was probably just his clan. Instead he made his way to the ceramic sink to splash some cool water on to his face and to scrub away the grime and dirt. 

"Goliath-" the rush of water had dampened his hearing. Blinded, he snapped his up to follow the call of his name only to freeze upon seeing Elisa in the doorway red head  to toe. Her mouth hung slightly open, whatever she was going to say died on her tongue in light of-

Her eyes were wide-

-they flickered from his face down to-

Oh.

Shit. 

It wasn't like him to swear. But it was appropriate to the situation.

"Imsorry!" She blurted, slamming the door shut, as she scrambled to flee from the sight of his naked body. It echoes. Then everything goes rather eerily quiet.

Well. 

So much for making sure Elisa did not see him nude. 

Snuggle by *Snufflin