I'll Cover You

Author's Notes: This chapter is a bit late due to technical difficulties, plus a lot of RL stuff like Christmas and finals. (I'm finally a college graduate! Yay!)

Aindreas and Jophiel laughed as they came back from their hunt. "Those rabbits must've had a death wish tonight!" said Jophiel. "That last one practically jumped onto my spear!"

"Aw, it felt sorry for you." said Aindreas. They both laughed as they reached the back steps. "Not so fast, Jophiel! You know how Katherine feels about dressing game inside the castle."

"But, Aindreas, we just scrubbed those steps last night!"

"Well, since we're cleaning these rabbits so everyone can have some stew tonight, maybe we can talk someone else into doing it. Maybe we can get Angela to do it!"

Jophiel laughed and shook his head as he drew his hunting knife. "No, she cooks and that gets her out of cleaning."

Aindreas drew his knife and got to work skinning one of the rabbits. "You know that girl won't even touch meat until it's butchered to the point that it doesn't look like an animal? She'd never make it as a hunter."

"Well, that's why she's a cook." Jophiel peeled the skin off the carcass and chopped off the head and feet. "I remember that time Angela got sick when she saw a deer carcass getting drained."

"Where the Hell does she think meat comes from?" Aindreas cut off the rabbit's feet and started to toss them.

"Don't do that, it draws flies." said Jophiel.

"Oh, alright. Quiteria!" Aindreas whistled for the beast that had been lying on her back some feet away. She bound to her feet and ran up to the two hunters. "Want a rabbit foot, girl? Want it? Want it?" Quiteria's prancing and drooling indicated that, yes, she did want it. "Go get it!" Aindreas threw the foot, which was chased and chomped by the beast. "Well, like I was saying, I hope she doesn't do something foolish like try to live on vegetables. Gargoyles just weren't meant to live on rabbit food." Jophiel started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Well, you remember that time Camaela caught a rabbit in her garden and she started chasing it all over hither and yon with a hoe? Screaming bloody murder the whole time? Imagine her chasing Angela like that!"

Aindreas laughed. "With long ears and going hippity-hop, hippity-hop!" Aindreas imitated a hopping rabbit, making Jophiel laugh more. Aindreas quickly decided the sound of Jophiel's laugh was his favorite sound. Lost in the music of laughter, Aindreas tried to kiss him.

"Aindreas, no!" laughed Jophiel. "I'm covered in rabbit guts!"

"Aw, come here, you're mine!" Aindreas made a grab for him.

"Hello, lads." Gabriel came upon them. "How was hunting this evening?"

"And then I cut the deer's throat!" Aindreas said, motioning across Jophiel's throat with his knife, acting as if Gabriel had just walked in on a story he was telling. "It crashed to the ground dead and while its meat fed the clan, its horns and hide were mine!" Aindreas turned to Gabriel. "Oh, hi, Gabriel. I was just telling Jophiel how I caught the biggest sixteen point buck I ever saw."

"Lying about it, you mean." Gabriel said good naturedly.

"So, Ophelia finally untie you from the bed?" asked Jophiel.

Gabriel flushed a bit. "We-uh-we have been joined at the hip a bit lately, haven't we?"

"Literally." said Jophiel.

Gabriel laughed. "Well, even mates need time apart." he said. He sighed. "Seriously, being mated is wonderful. I don't just mean the sex. It's, well, it's just the knowing that there's someone who truly cares about me. Knows me inside and out and loves me anyway. I'm no poet, I can't find the right words. But Ophelia is the best thing that ever happened to me. You lads should consider finding mates."

The two shared a look. "Eh, I'd just as soon be a bachelor, thanks." Aindreas said.

"Yeah." Jophiel laughed. "Who wants to be chained down to one female?"

"Well, when the Breeder's Moon comes up, you might start thinking differently." laughed Gabriel. "Mind if I help you with those rabbits?"

"Um, no, go right ahead." said Aindreas, not able to think of any reason Gabriel couldn't. Gabriel drew his hunting knife and started skinning rabbits.

"I see you lads like going throat to groin." Gabriel remarked.

"Uh...what do you mean by that?" Aindreas asked nervously.

"The rabbit skins." said Gabriel. "You give them a throat to groin slash. Me, I find it easier to start in the middle and work the way out." Gabriel worked his knife around the girth of the rabbit's middle. "By the way, I talked to Magus, and the Breeder's Moon might be closer than we think."

"It's ten years off, isn't it?" asked Jophiel.

"Ten years Outside World time." said Gabriel. "An hour on Avalon is a day outside, remember? We crunched the numbers. For every year in the real world, 365 hours, roughly twelve days go by on Avalon. That means, for all of us here on Avalon, the Breeder's moon will be in just 120 days."

"One-hundred and twenty days?" echoed Jophiel.

"More or less." said Gabriel. "That's 120 days. That's 17 weeks. That's four months. If you want any little ones running around, you better get to hopping." Gabriel smiled. "Ophelia and I have already started thinking about names. If it's a boy, she wants Angel, Angelo or Angelus. I'm fine with anything but Archangel. Too...clunky."

"Why does she want a baby named after Angela?" asked Aindreas, hoping to get off the unnerving topic of the Breeder's Moon.

"Oh, she helped us get together." Gabriel said as he beheaded another rabbit. "I liked Ophelia an awful lot. I was starting to see her as more than just my favorite hunting partner. I was falling in love. Trouble was, I could talk to Ophelia about hunting and fishing and the nightly gossip, but I couldn't talk to her about my feelings. I'd just, you know, choke up. It's nerve wrecking, wanting to voice your true feelings but not knowing how." He noticed the two were silently nodding. "You both know what I mean? Then there are two lucky females out there! Well, anyway, I told Angela how I felt about Ophelia and how I couldn't find myself able to say anything to her about it. I guess I was afraid of what Ophelia's reaction might be. Remember how she drop kicked Uriel that time he peeked up her skirt?"

Aindreas laughed. "And the time Israfel tried to serenade her?"

"Is it true," asked Jophiel "that she once slapped a squirrel for watching her pee in the woods?"

"I don't know about that!" Gabriel laughed. "But, Angela told me she'd talk to Ophelia for me, try and find out how she felt. Well, Ophelia admitted that she really liked me and found me attractive. She thought that I only thought of her as 'one of the boys'. She even thought maybe I fancied Angela! Imagine!"

"Well, so did we." said Aindreas.

"What, me and Angela?" Gabriel laughed at the thought. "Oh, she's my sister and I love her, but, that's as far as it goes. Now, Ophelia, I'm /in/ love with her. Yeah, she talks tough and she's a bit of a tomboy, but I like her that way. One of Ophelia's concerns was she didn't think she was pretty enough for me. Can you imagine? I mean, she was just the most beautiful thing in the world on our wedding day. But, in her everyday outfit, with her hair streaming free, those leg muscles pumping as she runs, her slender arms shooting those arrows, those lovely wings and that long tail...."

"Stop it before we dump a bucket of water on you." warned Jophiel.

"Yeah." said Aindreas. "You think she's sexy. We get it."

"Sorry, I was waxing on a bit, wasn't I?" Gabriel apologized. "Well, Angela told us we should get together and just be honest with each other. Well, you know the rest. We thought of possibly naming a daughter after her, but two Angelas on the same island would be too confusing. Maybe we'll go with Angelina or Angelique if we have a girl. Or maybe Urielle or Uriela. That Uriel's a cut-up. He always makes me laugh. Well, we still have time to decide."

"Hard to imagine Ophelia having an egg." Aindreas commented. "I mean, it's such a...girly thing."

Gabriel laughed. "That's puting it mildly! We talked it over. She'd actually love to be a mother and she told me she thinks I'd make a good father. I hope I'd be."

"You would." Jophiel assured him. "You make a good leader."

"Thanks." Gabriel said with a smile. "We haven't figured out yet if the pregnancy would last six months or six days. Guess there's only one way to find out!"

"Are you done butchering those bunnies yet?" they heard Angela call from inside.

"We have to rip out their hearts and show it to them first!" Gabriel called back.

"Oh, Gabriel!"

Before long, the three males brought the cubed rabbit meat into the kitchen. Angela was at the table, chopping up some carrots. "I have the water simmering on the fire." Angela nodded towards a smoking cauldron. "Just dump it all in." Gabriel and Jophiel scraped the meat off the cutting board into the hot water. Aindreas mouthed the words "Watch this!" and showed them a rabbit's head he had hidden on him. Gabriel shook his head but did nothing to stop Aindreas as Jophiel smothered a giggle.

Aindreas snuck up behind Angela, who was engrossed in chopping vegetables. Aindreas placed the head at Angela's shoulder and said in a squeaky falsetto "Hello, Angela! Can I have a carrot?" Angela turned her head and shrieked at what she saw. The boys had a laugh at Angela's panic.

"Never," Angela panted, holding a hand over her palpating heart. "never, /never/ do that to me again! Especially not when I've got a knife in my hand!"

"She makes a good point, if you'll pardon the pun." said Gabriel. "Most accidents happen in the kitchen."

"Oh, /Ga/-bri-el!" Ophelia sang from the doorway, striking a very flirtatious pose.

"Later!" Gabriel said with a huge smile, just before he left with his new mate. Aindreas and Jophiel started to leave as well, until Angela stopped them.

"Hold on, you two!" Angela called. "Gabriel gets out of helping me because he's a newlywed. You don't get that privilege."

"Ah, but we hunted and butchered the meat!" said Jophiel.

"And I thought you didn't trust us to boil water." said Aindreas.

"Boys, it's really very simple." said Angela. "All you have to do is run down to the cellar and pick up a few things for me. I even made you a list." She held up a slate that she had written some things on. "Your hands clean?" Angela insisted on clean hands from kitchen help. Aindreas and Jophiel showed her their hands. "Good. The sooner you get those, the sooner we can all have dinner."

"Garlic, onions, dried marjoram, rosemary...." Jophiel read the list by the light of the candle Aindreas was carrying. as they went down the stairs to the cellar. "Bay leaves, turnips, mushrooms, red peppers...."

"Yuck, I hate those!" said Aindreas. "Let's tell her we couldn't find any."

"Still upset over that trick Uriel pulled on you?" Jophiel laughed as he gathered some garlic cloves from a shelf.

"Yeah, I was thinking about that the night before last."

"Night before last? You mean when I was giving your ass a good fucking?"

"Jophiel!"

"Just want to know who you're thinking about when I'm doing that."

"Well, I wasn't thinking of /Uriel/!" Aindreas made a face. "Just because I like males doesn't mean I like /all/ males."

"Do you think of Gabriel then?" Jophiel's tone was teasing.

Aindreas blushed. "I'll admit, he is attractive. And, maybe I used to fantasize about him a bit, but, you're the one I love."

"I love you too." Jophiel said, rubbing his lover under the chin. "But, we have to be more careful. Gabriel nearly caught us out there when you were flirting with me."

"Really?" laughed Aindreas. "What about last night? Eistir walked in on us hugging and you put me in a headlock and threw me to the floor! Tried to make her think you were teaching me how to wrestle."

"Well," Jophiel held up a jar of honey. "I know just the way to make it up to you."

"Jophiel, what are you thinking?"

"Put that candle down and I'll show you!"

Aindreas put the candle down on a nearby shelf. Jophiel knelt down and undid Aindreas' belt buckle. "Jophiel! Not- not now! Not down here!" Yet, he made no move to replace his loincloth.

"Here, now." Jophiel coated a finger in honey and slipped it in Aindreas' mouth.

Aindreas sucked the sweet fluid off Jophiel's finger. He gasped as Jophiel poured a line of the sticky substance over Aindreas' chest and belly, dripping down to his testicles and rapidly rising penis. He shivered as Jophiel started licking him, moaning his appreciation of the sweet taste, nibbling a bit at Aindreas' flesh. "No marks!" Aindreas breathlessly reminded him. "I don't want to have to come up with a reason why I have fang marks on me."

"Tell them you were attacked by a mad rabbit while hunting." Jophiel lapped up a drop that had strayed to Aindreas' thigh.

Aindreas' back bowed as he let out a low moan. "A-a mad rabbit? Jophiel, that's ri-ridic...Jophiel!" Aindreas could no longer form a straight thought as Jophiel dipped his hard member into the jar of honey.

"Hey, boys, what's taking you so...." both were completely of guard when Angela opened the door and stopped in the middle of the staircase to see what her brothers were doing. Aindreas and Jophiel froze in shock, their erections starting to deflate. Angela clapped her hands over her eyes and ran back up the stairs.

"You think she saw?" asked Aindreas.

"We'd better think of a good explanation." said Jophiel.

Angela stood with her back to the cellar with her hands over her eyes. /I did not see that./ Angela told herself. /I did not just see my brother dip his-his...thing into a jar of honey. I did not just see my other brother on his knees helping him. Oh, who am I kidding? I did see all of that!/

"Um...Angela?" Jophiel cautiously tapped her on the shoulder.

"Jophiel," she said evenly. "I believe I have gone hysterically blind."

"Try taking your hands of your eyes." Aindreas suggested. "I'm fully dressed now."

Angela took her hands away and took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of herself. "Well," she said with a smile. "I'm sure there was a perfectly good expla-JUST WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO DOING?" The sudden change in tone and glowing red eyes made the two jump.

"Now, now just calm down, Angela." Aindreas said gently. "There is a perfectly good explanation for what you saw! We were...uh...we were just, um...Jophiel, you tell her!" /I had to come up with the explanation last time!/

"Well, Angela," Jophiel began. "You see, Aindreas and me were, um, well, we were going to...ah...." Jophiel slumped in defeat. There was no explanation. He sighed. "The truth is, Angela, I was going to suck him off."

"You were going to /what/?"

"Oh, come on, Angela." said Aindreas. "You might be saving yourself for either true love or unicorns, I don't know, but you're nearly 40 like the rest of us. You're not that innocent! Surely you've read stuff in one of those books in the library you're so fond of."

"Well, yes, but why would you...?"

"Why are Gabriel and Ophelia doing much the same?" Jophiel asked as he gently took Aindreas' hand.

"You love each other." Angela realized.

"Yes. Yes we do." Aindreas put an arm around Jophiel's waist. Jophiel gave Aindreas' hair a stroke. "You understand, we couldn't let anyone know."

"Angela, please," said Jophiel. "Please don't tell anyone. Especially not Katherine."

"I-I don't know." Angela found herself in a quandary. "I really don't like the idea of lying to Katherine."

"Thia isn't lying." said Aindreas. "It's just...not telling. Like how you promised not to tell anyone about us oiling the back steps."

"That was different." said Angela. "You could take it back by scrubbing the...." Suddenly, Angela realized something. "You didn't really oil up those steps, did you? You used the oil to...you know others have to eat that!" Angela gave an agonized groan. "And the honey! It's ruined now. And after poor Finella got stung in three places trying to collect it!"

"Um, does that mean we can have it?" asked Jophiel.

"Fine. Keep the jar." Angela sighed and rolled her eyes. "We just won't be having barbecue for a while."

"Angela," said Aindreas. "Seriously? Please, don't tell."

"It's not like we're hurting anyone." said Jophiel.

"Well, no." agreed Angela. "No, you're not hurting anyone." She looked at her brothers, the way they clasped hands together hopefully. The glance they exchanged. They shared the same love and tenderness Ophelia and Gabriel shared. It was true love, like Angela had read about and dreamed about maybe having someday for herself. So what if they were both male? That book, /The Karma Sutra of Gargoyles/, had acknowledged that such relationships were fairly normal. She and Raphaela agreed that such a book must be hidden from Katherine, lest the shocking pictures cause her to demand the book's destruction. It wouldn't be a lie, it would be a secret. "Alright. I won't tell anyone. But, please, try to be more discreet. And stop stealing from the larder! No one wants to eat something you've stuck your-your-whatever into!"

"The medically accepted word is 'penis'." said Aindreas, remembering what he had read in /The Karma Sutra of Gargoyles/. "But other terms include cock, member, pecker, dick, goose neck...."

"Alright, I get it." said Angela.

"Jock, manhood, bauble, one eyed snake, stiffie," Aindreas continued. "Worm, weasle, slab of meat, key to the treasure chest...."

"I get it!" yelled Angela. "And I'll keep your secret. Just remember, though, Katherine isn't stupid. You can't keep this from her forever and if she asks me outright, I won't lie."

"You let us worry about that, Angela." said Jophiel.

"I swear." Angela said, shaking her head in sorrow. "I'm going to have gray hair before a year has passed!"

A/N: Angela's a bit of a prophet, isn't she? Remember the episode "Grief"?
If I mentioned any food or spice that wasn't available in medieval Europe, remember, they're on Avalon, a magical island where anything can happen. The books in the castle library were written and/or collected by several members of the Third Race. Also, forgive me if my calculations for Avalon/Real World time are off. I didn't major in mathematics.