If he had still been wearing a face, Gabriel would have seen nothing but disbelief on it. Of course, as things stood, he might feel that disbelief anyway, radiating off the detective in waves. There were very few times a good-hearted joke managed to strike Skulduggery completely and utterly speechless, and this was one of them.
He was stunned. There wasn't really another word for it. Skulduggery was flat-out stunned, and not just because of the hat-slap or being compared to a pig. Gabriel's last comment had him almost completely floored. It was one thing for Gabe to insist Skulduggery was worth wading through the mud for. It was a completely different thing for the Archangel to imply that he didn't even mind the mud.
Necromancy, millions of people dead, the constant need for Skulduggery to carefully control his emotions because of what might happen otherwise. Gabe believed it was worth looking past all of that.
Gabe had sacrificed a lot to save him. And for once, the thought didn't bring with it more guilt.
"Did you just..." Well, look at that. Tongue-tied without a tongue. Skulduggery almost fancied he had a throat, and that the throat was dry. "Did you just call me a wallowing pig?" He hesitated, trying to determine if his voice was back under his control. "Did you just call me a wallowing pig in an American accent?"
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If he had still been wearing a face, Gabriel would have seen nothing but disbelief on it. Of course, as things stood, he might feel that disbelief anyway, radiating off the detective in waves. There were very few times a good-hearted joke managed to strike Skulduggery completely and utterly speechless, and this was one of them.
He was stunned. There wasn't really another word for it. Skulduggery was flat-out stunned, and not just because of the hat-slap or being compared to a pig. Gabriel's last comment had him almost completely floored. It was one thing for Gabe to insist Skulduggery was worth wading through the mud for. It was a completely different thing for the Archangel to imply that he didn't even mind the mud.
Necromancy, millions of people dead, the constant need for Skulduggery to carefully control his emotions because of what might happen otherwise. Gabe believed it was worth looking past all of that.
Gabe had sacrificed a lot to save him. And for once, the thought didn't bring with it more guilt.
"Did you just..." Well, look at that. Tongue-tied without a tongue. Skulduggery almost fancied he had a throat, and that the throat was dry. "Did you just call me a wallowing pig?" He hesitated, trying to determine if his voice was back under his control. "Did you just call me a wallowing pig in an American accent?"