Stonewall

At eleven o'clock at night, two gargoyles admired the view from the Statue of Liberty's torch. "Lexington?" the tall white one said softly. "When are you going to tell the rest of your clan? About us?"

"W-what are you talking about?" The small green gargoyle had hoped his lover wouldn't bring this up, though he knew deep down it was a false hope.

"I'm not asking for them to know all the gory details." said Staghart. "But, Lex, you made it a point since I got here not to touch me more than necessary when members of your clan are around. I didn't say anything at first because I was just happy to get to see you again. But, Lex, I can't be asked to live a lie."

Lex gulped and nodded. Already Amp had given up his clan for Lex. That was a huge sacrifice for any gargoyle. Lex couldn't demand more from him. "Amp, I love you, I really do."

"There's a 'but' coming up, I can feel it." Staghart sighed.

"Look, it's just...I'm kinda not sure how they'll react."

"Lex, they're your clan. They love you. They'll accept you as you are. I make no secrets about my preferences among my clan and they accept it."

"Amp, your clan had a chance to move with the times. Mine was transported from the Dark Ages. Goliath and Hudson have some pretty old fashioned ideas."

"Goliath has a human girlfriend, so it's not like he has a lot of room to judge."

"Yeah, that's true."

"And the others, do you really think they'll turn on you over something like this?"

"I-I hope not. Broadway's pretty easy-going. And Brooklyn, well, he's been through so much that I don't know if this will even make him blink. Angela might get mad, though."

"What, Angela? I refuse to believe that a bird who cries at the end of /Rent/ would be a homophobe."

"Well...she might be upset that I kinda used her."

"You told me you were a virgin."

"Not like that!" Lex waved his arms frantically and blushed. "It's like this, when Angela first got here, Broadway and Brooklyn were both falling all over themselves to impress her. I was afraid it would look weird if I didn't try flirting with her a little. and besides," Lex trailed a talon over the railing. "She really was kinda nice. Most of the gargoyles I knew before the massacre treated me like a hatchling, even though I'm the same age as Broadway. Angela, she treated me with kindness and respect. I wanted to be her friend, since it looked like my friends were ignoring me in favor of her."

"Did you lie to her?"

"Well...I sorta forgot to tell her that the only time I flew a helicopter it crashed. Broadway and Brooklyn were having a bragging contest and I decided to join in."

"No, Lex, what I mean is, did you make her any promises you didn't intend to keep?"

"Nah. The only promise I made to her was to stop flirting with her when I realized it was annoying her. She was very forgiving about the whole thing."

"Then, she has no reason to be angry with you." said Staghart. "All you did was a little flattery and boasting. All you asked for was some attention. You didn't use her, lie to her, break her heart."

"Sounds like you know about this kind of thing."

"His name was Ulric." Staghart said, gazing at the moon. "He told me he loved me, that he never felt that way for anyone. He promised me the moon and stars. He told me I was all he'd ever need. Then I caught him with his paws all over Hazel."

"That witch!" Lex hoped some word play would lighten the mood.

"Ulric told me that it was all an experiment, a buddy fuck, just 'fooling around' he called it. It didn't feel that way to me. Coco was there for me with a pint of Haägen Dazs. I told her I'd never fall in love again." Staghart shrugged. "Looks like I lied."

Lex smiled at Amp's indirect confession of love and took his hand. "You know, I used to have a crush on Goliath."

"I can see where you would. Handsome bloke, him. And that voice could melt butter!"

"It was a long time ago, like when I was 28 or 29. I'm over it. Don't know if my clone is."

"Beg pardon? Clone?"

"Yeah, I got a clone named Brentwood running around. Don't worry about confusing him for me if you run into him. He's purple and dumb as a rock. He ran off with Thailog, Goliath's evil clone. I dunno, maybe my clone is gay too."

"There's two of you...." Amp smiled and scratched his chin as he thought of all the entertaining possibilities.

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter!" Lex scolded.

"What? All I want is to be the meat in a Lexington sandwich. Is that so wrong?"

"Oh, that's sick!"

Amp chuckled and hugged Lex from behind, wrapping his wings about him. "Why don't you tell me more about your little crush on Goliath?"

"There isn't much to tell. I admired him. He was tall, strong, brave, everything I wanted to be. Even before Hudson made him second-in-command, Goliath was just someone who made you feel safe when he was around. He could be tough and fierce, but he could be kind and gentle just as easily." Lex smiled and leaned against Amp. "I remember this one time, I was looking at a catapult the Captain of the Guard just got. I wanted to see how it worked and, well, I got my hand jammed in the gears somehow."

"Ouch." Amp said sympathetically.

"I screamed like a mandrake! It was loud enough fro Goliath to hear me, wherever he was. He managed to pull back the lever enough for the gears to part so I could take my hand out. It had swollen up and turned some very interesting colors. Then, Goliath was holding it, trying to see how bad the damage was. I had dreamed about Goliath holding my hand so many times it was almost worth the pain. Then he told me two fingers were broke and he'd have to set them for me."

"Ooh...I had to have my leg set once when I was a nipper." said Amp. "I did /not/ like it."

"It hurt like hell." said Lexington. "He gave me a stick to bite down on while he set my fingers. I broke it. I was trying really, really hard not to cry in front of Goliath, shaking with the effort. Then...he put his arms around me. He told me everything was going to be alright. He'd bandage up my hand and the sun would heal me. Goliath isn't what you'd call a huggy person, but he seemed to know what I needed. Of course, once the bandages were on, he started lecturing me about toying with things that shouldn't be toyed with. I think, in the end, he felt the same way about me that you do about Lunette. It was pretty clear he only liked females. I knew I didn't stand a chance. Even after he and his mate broke up, I knew better than to go after him."

"What caused the break up?"

"She and Goliath just grew apart, had differences of opinion. Of course, it was all over when she pulled a bazooka on him."

"Ah yes." said Amp. "A relationship is pretty much over when you start breaking out artillery."

"Come on." Lexington took Amp's hand. "There's a place in Chelsea I wanna show you." The two dove from the railing, hand in hand, spreading their wings as they glided on the wind together.

It looked like an unassuming brick building on Christopher Street. "The Stonewall Inn." said Lexington, as the two of them stood on a rooftop across the street.. "Back in 1969, a riot broke out here. The gay people who attended the club were just sick of being pushed around."

"!969...." Amp thought for a minute. "I was only 11 at the time. I don't remember hearing about Stonewall. I sort of remember hearing about a human walking on the moon." Amp chuckled. "Me, Coco and two of our siblings, Bernard and Arline, had a bit of a row over what the moon was made of. They thought it was made of green cheese!" They both laughed. "Coco and I knew better. We told them it was made of vanilla custard!" Lex laughed. "Then Bernard hit me over the head with his teddy bear."

"Too bad for the bear." said Lex. "Wouldn't your antlers have torn it up?"

"Not at age 11. From the day I hatched, I just had these little bumps on my head. Then, one day, I hit puberty and...." Amp made sprouting motions with his hands over his head. Lex smiled at his lover.

"What do you fags think you're doing?" The voice came from the streets below. Amp and Lex saw a gang of three tough looking men surrounding a pair of well dressed men who were fairly clinging to each other.

"What if a kid had been watching, you sick freaks?" another gang member demanded.

"It's nearly midnight." Lex grumbled. "What kids are out?"

"I think we better intervene." said Amp, spreading his wings and approaching the ledge.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." said one of the pair.

"You found it." laughed the third gang member, raising a fist, only to be knocked down by a pair of cloven hooves to his head.

"What the Hell?"

"It's one a them gargoyles! Shoot it!"

Before the gang member could pull his gun, he was tackled to the ground by a green creature with glowing white eyes. The gun skittered across the pavement where the last standing gang member picked it up. Before he could draw a bead on the green gargoyle that was wrestling with his buddy, he felt a piercing pain in his side as he was thrown ten feet. Gasping in pain, he tried to reach for the gun, only to have his hand stepped on by a cloven hoof. He looked up to see a white stag with baleful glowing eyes. "Never. Do that. Again." the stag said evenly. The other hoof came for his face and everything went black.

Lex managed to knock out the gang member he had been fighting. "Amp!" he called out to the shadowed alley he had seen him run into. "Amp, are you OK?"

Amp stepped out into the light, blood tinging the tips of his antlers. "I didn't break one of my antlers, did I?" he asked.

"Uh, no, you just got blood on them."

"Damn." Amp grumbled distastefully and rubbed at his stained antlers.

Lex noticed the two men who had been accosted were still clinging together, pale and panting. "Either of you guys got a phone?" asked Lex. "You should call the police."

"You-you're a gargoyle!" said one of them.

"Ding ding ding!" said Amp, suddenly imitating a game show host. "That's right! We're gargoyles! Tell them what they've won, Lex!"

"You have won," Lex went along with Amp's gag. "These fabulous new guardians of the night!" They both struck "Vanna White" poses. "Yes, these guardians are not available in any store and cannot be bought for any retail value!"

The other half of the couple laughed. "They're funny, Lyle! And they're on our side!" He took out his camera phone. "Let me get a picture of you guys?"

"But, wait, that's not all!" Lex was still in TV announcer mode. "If you call now, the three hoodlums who bothered you will get an all expense paid vacation in the downtown lock-up! Back to you, Amp!"

"Forget it." said the one called Lyle. "The cops don't care about what happens to a couple of fags like us."

"Ask for Detective Elisa Maza." said Lex. "I guarantee she'll care."

"Please let me take some pictures, guys?" asked Lyle's boyfriend. "This is so going in my newsletter! Oh, I'm Roy Conley." He offered to shake hands. Lex shook his hand as did Amp. "I publish a newsletter called /The Rainbow Connection/, it's about gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans interests. If I could get a few photos, that would be super!" Amp and Lex looked at each other, smiled, shrugged and struck a pose, arms on shoulders. "Love it!" said Roy, taking the picture. "Lyle, get in the picture with them!"

"Come on, Roy...."

"Oh, go on!" Roy posed with the two gargoyles and even managed to smile. "Great! Now get one of me with them." Lyle handed the camera to Roy and posed with the gargoyles. More pictures were taken. Staghart knelt on the back of an unconscious thug and held his head up as if posing for a hunting magazine. Lex got the thug he had wrestled into submission into a sitting position and gave him "bunny ears". Staghart posed the last one into a compromising position, laying against him. Lyle gave him a Newport to add to the affect.

"Funny thing." Amp gave Lyle the unlit cigarette back. "Where I come from, /this/ is called a fag."

"OK, boys," said Roy. "Give me Vogue!" Lex and Amp struck a cool pose. "Now give me Fosse!" They put on a more flamboyant pose. "Now give me Hail to the King!" Amp took Lex in his arms and dipped him seductively.

"Hey, we can't thank you guys enough for stepping in." Lyle gave them both handshakes. "Most people wouldn't."

"Most people would yell 'Ack! Monster! Get it away!' instead of thanking us." said Lex.

"Do you have a mailing address?" asked Roy. "I'll send you a free copy of /The Rainbow Connection/ as soon as it's printed."

"Send it to the Eyrie Tower." said Lex. "With 'Attention Lexington and Staghart'."

"My friends call me Amp!"

"Only I call him Amp." Lex reminded him. "Good-night."

"Good-night, and thanks again!" Roy called the police, asking for Detective Elisa Maza as the two gargoyles scaled the wall of the Stonewall Inn.

As soon as they were on the roof of the building, Amp took Lex in his arms and pressed him into a tight hug. 'Hey, Amp! Ribs!" Lex gasped. The hug loosened just enough for Lex to breathe properly. Lex snuggled against his lover. He loved being held by Amp. Soft fur, strong arms, firm muscles. He could hear Amp's heartbeat. It was going so fast just now. And the strong body was trembling. "Amp, is something wrong?"

"I'm usually so calm even while fighting." said Amp. "Old Pog warned me that all Americans had guns. When that thug started aiming at you...."

"Hey, how do you think I felt seeing the gun pulled on you?" asked Lex. "Hope you're not gonna fall apart every time that happens."

"Practically no one has a gun in London. The local hooligans make do with knives, bats and beer bottles."

"Welcome to New York."

Amp ran his knuckles over Lex's brow ridge. "I want you, Lex."

"What, right here?"

"Why not? No one can see us up here."

"But, um, don't we need oil or lotion or something?"

"We'll try other ways." Amp pulled Lex closer so he could feel the erection that tented the spandex one piece Amp always wore.

"Ever consider wearing a loincloth?" Lex asked as he caressed the lump with one hand. "It's a lot easier to take off."

Amp just undid the snap and peeled the garment off with a little help from Lex. Lex remembered something he had seen in an on-line porno and got to his knees. He took Amp's cock in hand and rubbed his cheek against it. "You want me to suck it?" he asked seductively. "Should I suck this pretty cock of yours?"

"Language like that will get you a smacked bottom." Amp replied.

Lex trailed his talon tips through the fine fur on Amp's inner thigh, causing the bigger gargoyle to shiver and lean on the ledge for support. "What do you want me to do, hot stuff?" Lex asked, weighing Amp's testicles in his hands.

"Lex, please...." Amp gasped.

"Please what?" Lex found he liked the roll of the sexual wanton. "Do you want me to lick it?" Lex took a few slow licks of Amp's penis. He ran the tip of his tongue over the tip, tasting a salty tang of pre-cum. "Such a sweet cock. I think I'll kiss it." Lex covered the cock in soft kisses.

"Lex, please, suck me!" Amp was begging for it.

"Well, since you ask so nicely." Lex took it into his mouth and suckled. Amp was giving soft moans and whispers of appreciation as he stroked Lex's head. A finger stroked the edge of Lex's ear, causing him to hum in pleasure. The hum caused a vibration all along Amp's penis.

"LEXINGTON!" Amp screamed into the night.

Roy and Lyle heard the scream as they sat in wait of the detective Lex told them to call. "Think they're in trouble?" asked Lyle.

"Oh, don't tell me you didn't hear the passion in that scream!" chuckled Roy, nudging his boyfriend.

Lexington was delighted to hear his name screamed out like that. He started humming the theme to /Star Wars/ as his hands caressed strong, furry legs. Amp was panting and moaning as Lex's hands reached up to his buttocks and started squeezing. Lex teased one finger around the opening. "Oh, God, Lex, what are you doing to me?" Amp could feel sweat build under his fur as his blood singed with rapture. He gave a little gasp as he felt a finger invade him, but allowed it to stay. Another finger was making its way in, teasing him and stretching him. Amp gave a few gentle pelvic thrusts to encourage it. Then, those fingers found that sweet spot inside him. Amp's mind and body could do nothing but writhe in intense, hot pleasure as Lex worked on him. "Lex! I'm cumming!" he announced as his gut tightened. Lex responded by giving a low, tingling hum. "I'm going to cum, Lex! I'll cum...right in...your mouth.... OH LEEEEEX!"

Lex gulped down the issue eagerly. After he swallowed a good deal of it, he lapped at the softening cock until it was clean. Amp slumped against the ledge, unable to stand up any longer. He took Lex in his arms and held him close. "That was amazing, Lex." he whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Amp." Lex sighed as he cuddled close. Soon, he was aware of Amp's hands trailing over his thighs and under his loincloth.

The hand was squeezing him, pumping him. Amp's thumb slipped over the head of Lex's penis on each upward stroke. Lex sighed with pleasure and leaned back against his lover. He threw back his head in a wordless groan as the hand worked up and down his shaft. "Mmm...faster, Amp." Lex muttered. Amp obliged, pumping faster until Lex hissed with pleasure. Amp's free hand was teasing the sensitive base of Lex's tail. Lex moaned as he felt the pressure build inside him and shouted when an explosion of joy went off inside him. He slumped against Amp's body, feeling completely relaxed.

For a long time, they stayed like that in each others' arms, neither moving nor talking, only enjoying the feel of warm bodies and the sound of heartbeats. "We better get going, love." Amp said, nuzzling the top of Lex's head. "If we're going to make it back by sunrise."

"Yeah, we better." Lex sighed. They both stood, stretched and leapt into the night sky. "Amp, I made up my mind." Lex said as they glided side by side. "As soon as we get back, I'm coming out to my clan."

"Good on you, love!" said Amp. "I promise, it won't be nearly as hard as you think it will be."

"Yeah, well, I'm still not sure how thrilled Goliath and Hudson will be. There's the little problem of gargoyles pretty much being an endangered species, and neither of us with a working uterus."

"You've been a good role model for Nash." said Amp. "Taught him how to play Magic the Gathering and all that. Once little Egwardo is born, he'll have a whole clan who wants to take care of him, and that includes you and me. Same goes for any third egg they may choose to have and whatever eggs Broadway and Angela may have."

"Yeah," said Lex. "Much as Goliath loves Angela, he's still pretty big on the communal raising of hatchlings. Like I said, old fashioned."

"It's tradition." Amp said with a shrug. "That's how it's done in London as well."

"There's this other thing I've been wanting to do that Goliath might not like since it kinda defies gargoyle tradition." said Lex. "I've been looking at the schematics for this new computer software that Xanatos is planning to make public."

"He let you look at that?"

"I kinda sorta-um-hackedintothefiles." Lex said a bit shamefacedly. Amp just chuckled. "It's not a bad design, but it's got some bugs to work out. I could do it. It would be a simple matter of stabilizing the internal ROM processors."

"I get so hot when you speak in technobabble." Amp flirtatiously stroked Lex's hand.

"Whoa, hey! Gliding here!" Lex reminded him. "Anyway, what I'd like to do is help Xanatos design some better software for the open market. If the software he has planned now gets the bugs worked out using my plan, it could create something that would blow both Macs and PC's out of the water!"

"I say do it!" said Amp. "Show that Gates bloke who's the boss. I'll put together a PowerPoint presentation to help if you'd like."

"Thanks, Amp. But, capitalism isn't exactly the gargoyle way."

"Tell that to my clan. Into the Mystic has been open for nearly 70 years now. Keeps food on the table and /Dr. Who/ on the telly."

"We're nearly there." They came upon the parapets, where Brooklyn, Katana, Nashville, Broadway and Angela were already waiting. Lex and Amp came in for a landing. "Hey, guys, there's something I have to tell you." All eyes turned on Lex. Lex stood up straight and cleared his throat. "OK, I want you all to know the truth about me, and this may come as a bit of a shock, but...I'm gay." No reaction. "Uh, you guys heard me, right?"

"Yeah, you're gay." Broadway said with a shrug. "We knew that."

"We were just waiting for you to be able to admit it." said Angela.

"You...uh...knew?" Lex was blushing.

"Well, it took me awhile to figure it out." admitted Brooklyn. "I figured you'd want to be the one to come out and say it."

"What's 'gay' mean?" asked Nashville.

"I'll tell you later." said Katana.

"Aww...that means you'll never tell me!"

"Nearly sunrises, lads and lasses." said Hudson, joining them on the parapets.

"Hudson," Lex said eagerly. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What, that you're gay?" Lex's mouth dropped in shock. "I was a soldier lad! Ye think I cannae tell when one lad wants to play Hide the Dagger wi' another lad?" Lex blushed. "I may be blind in one eye and cannae see out t'other, but gimme some credit, lad!"

Goliath swooped down and started to take his usual stance on the highest parapet. "Goliath," said Lex. "I have something important to tell you."

"Make it quick, Lexington." said Goliath. "The sun will be up shortly."

"OK, quick, I'm gay."

"Well, that's...YOU'RE WHAT?" Goliath turned to stone with a look of shock frozen on his face.