37 sparksStone cracked and crumbled, claws reaching to the sky as the six monsters awoke with roars and screeches.
"Finally!" Elisa muttered, hugging Goliath.
"Elisa?" Goliath hugged her back, careful not to harm her. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not exactly." Elisa smiled. "I just forgot to tell you guys that there's a holiday tonight."
"A holiday?" Brooklyn grinned, his brothers sharing his excitement.
"And something a little scary is about to happen." Elisa checked her watch. "I just wanted to warn you, so you don't think the city's under attack or something."
"What exactly is about to happen, Lass?" Hudson asked.
"You'll see." Elisa sat on the edge of the Clocktower, scanning the sky. "It's starting in just a minute. We'll have a great view from up here."
Still confused, the Gargoyles gathered around their human, trying to spot whatever it was that she was looking for.
Puck grinned, whirling around the room, laughing like only a fey could.
"Does he always get like this during holidays?" Fox asked, watching with amusement.
"Every single one." Xanatos answered. "It's the only reason I take holidays off."
"The only reason?" Fox asked, smiling slyly.
Xanatos thought for a second. "Hmmm... Yeah, pretty much."
"You jerk." Fox rolled her eyes, laughing. "We need to get going, or we'll m--"
A flash of light and they were at the very top of the castle. "--iss it. Thanks, Puck."
"My pleasure, Milady." The elf playfully bowed, twisting in midair to watch the sky. "When are they starting? Are they starting yet? Where will they come from? Are they starting now?"
"They should be starting right about..." Xanatos looked down at his watch.
"...now!" Elisa smiled as bright colors lit up the sky, explosions rumbling like thunder.
The Gargoyles jumped, briefly going into attack stances before they realized everything was safe.
"Wow." Broadway's eyes were wide. "What are they?"
"Fireworks." Elisa answered.
"I think I've heard of those." Lexington muttered, gaze never leaving the spectacle before them. "I didn't realize they were so..."
"Cool!" Brooklyn provided, laughing as the explosions got loud enough to be felt.
Bronx barked and whined, but calmed down when he realized his people weren't scared. He still didn't like whatever was going on, but he was more grumpy than afraid at that point.
"They're beautiful." Goliath decided, watching the fireworks.
"Yes. Beautiful." Elisa agreed, watching Goliath.
"Guys!" Puck complained, watching his humans make out. "Kiss later, you're missing the fireworks!"
"Watch them yourself and tell us about them tomorrow." Xanatos rebuffed, eyes not leaving his lover. When Puck's protests continued, he added, "Or I swear I'll make Owen actually use his vacation days."
Puck's voice cut off like a switch. He sulked for a few minutes, but his attention was quickly caught up by the colorful explosions all around him.
The Third Race had a lot of interesting ways to celebrate holidays, a lot of fun ways, but honestly? None of them were fireworks.
That alone was reason enough to like humans, Puck decided as he watched in wonder. Well, that, and their habit of producing tiny humans who liked games.
Puck's attention briefly turned to where Fox and Xanatos had disappeared back into the building, that look on their faces. He chuckled.
Yes, this was most certainly his favorite holiday, with his favorite species.
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Comments carried over from AO3 (3)
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Okay, so that was chef's kiss! I imagined the gargoyles like cats jumping at some random noise into attack mode! That should definitely have been an episode! Maybe they can work it into the upcoming live action.
Wait wait wait wait -- WHAT????!
THERE'S GOING TO BE A LIVE ACTION?!
(As well, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the fic. 😊)
...man, now I want a whole series of the gargoyles getting introduced to aspects of modern culture that we consider relatively mundane. Things the show didn't think about. Things the characters would interact with in distinct ways, instead of having just a single reaction to.
Hmm, wonder if there are aspects of modern human culture that Puck actually wouldn't know about? Depends on how much he's been flitting around in modern America, I suppose. It's been so long since I watched the show, I don't recall what gets established about his actions after entering the human world for such a long time.
Anyway, this was cute! I liked the idea of Puck going over-the-top for the holidays. Loved the bit about "stop kissing, you're missing the best part!" (I'm right with ya there, Puck -- humans have this weird fascination with shoving their lips together, I don't get it.)
I'm so glad you like my story! Right with you on the idea of the characters reacting differently to modern stuff.
I think Puck might not know about a lot of stuff involving childhood, maybe? He's had to pass as a human adult for like a decade or something, but Owen didn't have to grow up from a child as far as I know.
That makes sense. Also, he might not have much awareness of how the lower classes live, if he's used to working exclusively for rich guys. I suppose you don't have to be fae to have that blind spot, but yeah, the extent to which he understands children would be the amount he's interacted with the children of these rich guys.
Wonder if he'd get distressed over the way some kids live in America? Or does he have enough experience with the squalor of yesteryear (hundreds of years ago, I presume) that he sees our homelessness and low-income lifestyles a bit differently than modern people do? Or perhaps the other way around: having seen how peasants lived a few hundred years ago, he might be more aghast that America allows some children to live in such misery, despite how greatly our average lifestyle has improved over time.
(If you'd ever like inspiration for that, look up "Dollar Street" to get a bunch of photos comparing lifestyles across countries. It's a fascinating look into the different "tiers" of how people live, and what technology or amenities they have access to. Just being able to have multiple choices for food, or having shoes, those are big steps up in the world economy.)
Most people live a lot better nowadays than they did a hundred years ago, though plenty of people are still in horrible situations. Puck's potential feelings about/knowledge of the lower classes would definitely be complex to figure out...
Thanks for the recommendation, Dollar Street sounds interesting.
I agree that the average state of living has gone up, and most people do indeed have access to a lot better stuff than they used to. But in a way, that makes the "left outs" even more of a shame (to the overall group). Or to put it another way, Puck might be less irritated/outraged by the strict quality of life, and more outraged that there are people so far up above it that aren't doing anything (or much of anything) to help those so far beneath them.
I could see him ranting something like "back then, even the king had to use a chamberpot like anyone else, and now you've got billionaires with literally golden toilets???" (...okay, the fact that he serves billionaires might make that a wee bit hypocritical. Hmm.)
Can you imagine the kind of mischief Puck might get up to once he got introduced to anti-homeless design (for benches and places to stay out of the rain and such)? "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Mr. Xanatos. I should like to take a leave of absence for a few hours, if that would be amenable. I see a few... lessons are in order."
Aww! This was adorable, love how giddy Puck is about the fireworks, and the tiny human he's friends are cooking.
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