Archangels would have a variety of lesser angels under their command, that much Skulduggery remembered. But it was so difficult reconciling the image of the warrior-like Archangels with Gabe that he had a hard time imagining the gentle Gabriel as any kind of general. The thought was fascinating, though. "How many angels are under your command?" Skulduggery asked. "Or is that taking it too literally?"
Maybe it was a good thing psychics here wouldn't be praying to Saint Gabriel. Gabe had enough to be worrying about - and enough healing time to deal with - without a stack of important prayers vying for his attention.
~~
It was strange, Skulduggery mused as he led Gabe through the dark square to the tattoo parlor. He never felt this level of concern when he was taking Valkyrie to meet new people. Well, unless said new person was dangerous. But Valkyrie also wasn’t an injured Archangel trying to hide her identity from most of the world, and something about the repercussions of that made Skulduggery slightly more worried with every new place they went. Finbar, who really was a good psychic, could know any number of things about Gabe and what he’d been up to before the angel even arrived on the tattooist's doorstep.
Skulduggery hesitated before knocking, wondering whether or not more warning was called for. Then he came to his senses and decided that handling this the same way he handled everything – making it up as he went along - should be more than sufficient.
Finbar looked slightly nonplussed when he answered the knock, but that expression cleared as soon as he recognized Skulduggery. “Skul-man! I haven’t seen you in ages! Where have you been?”
That was another thing about Finbar. He knew so much about the future that he tended to forget what happened in the past. Skulduggery had a theory that the wife he kept talking about was actually someone from his future, and he kept mistaking it for the present. “I was in the Faceless Ones’ dimension,” Skulduggery reminded him.
“Hm? Oh, no, I knew that. C’mon, give me some credit, Skul-man. I meant what took you so long to come find me?”
"It's been a day, Finbar."
"Exactly!" Finbar looked Skulduggery up and down with a weird sort of affection that hadn't ever been there before. "You look good. New skull?"
"Yes, actually." Skulduggery's subsequent head tilt was full of pride. "I finally tracked it down."
"Good for you, man. Good for you." Finbar nodded happily, fell silent for a moment, and then turned to Gabe. "So which one are you? Are you Mike? No, wait, hang on." He hesitated, looked back at Skulduggery with a flicker of fear that quickly dissipated. "Naw. He's not Luci. You wouldn't be hanging around him if he was."
Skulduggery had given some thought to changing the way he handled things. Maybe now, he managed to think through the haze of surprise, would be a good time to start.
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Maybe it was a good thing psychics here wouldn't be praying to Saint Gabriel. Gabe had enough to be worrying about - and enough healing time to deal with - without a stack of important prayers vying for his attention.
~~
It was strange, Skulduggery mused as he led Gabe through the dark square to the tattoo parlor. He never felt this level of concern when he was taking Valkyrie to meet new people. Well, unless said new person was dangerous. But Valkyrie also wasn’t an injured Archangel trying to hide her identity from most of the world, and something about the repercussions of that made Skulduggery slightly more worried with every new place they went. Finbar, who really was a good psychic, could know any number of things about Gabe and what he’d been up to before the angel even arrived on the tattooist's doorstep.
Skulduggery hesitated before knocking, wondering whether or not more warning was called for. Then he came to his senses and decided that handling this the same way he handled everything – making it up as he went along - should be more than sufficient.
Finbar looked slightly nonplussed when he answered the knock, but that expression cleared as soon as he recognized Skulduggery. “Skul-man! I haven’t seen you in ages! Where have you been?”
That was another thing about Finbar. He knew so much about the future that he tended to forget what happened in the past. Skulduggery had a theory that the wife he kept talking about was actually someone from his future, and he kept mistaking it for the present. “I was in the Faceless Ones’ dimension,” Skulduggery reminded him.
“Hm? Oh, no, I knew that. C’mon, give me some credit, Skul-man. I meant what took you so long to come find me?”
"It's been a day, Finbar."
"Exactly!" Finbar looked Skulduggery up and down with a weird sort of affection that hadn't ever been there before. "You look good. New skull?"
"Yes, actually." Skulduggery's subsequent head tilt was full of pride. "I finally tracked it down."
"Good for you, man. Good for you." Finbar nodded happily, fell silent for a moment, and then turned to Gabe. "So which one are you? Are you Mike? No, wait, hang on." He hesitated, looked back at Skulduggery with a flicker of fear that quickly dissipated. "Naw. He's not Luci. You wouldn't be hanging around him if he was."
Skulduggery had given some thought to changing the way he handled things. Maybe now, he managed to think through the haze of surprise, would be a good time to start.