"Just a moment; these need to be uninterrupted." The first spiral was nearly finished, and with a final arc which linked the tail end of the sigils to beginning, the Archangel pulled the chalk away and turned to see what Skulduggery was talking about. He wasn't quite expecting what he found, given how much Skul apparently loved his hat; offering it as a drinking vessel wasn't exactly dignified. "You know," he said quietly and with a smile that was radiant in its gratitude, "I think it would. Thank you, Skul."

Gabriel pocketed the chalk and accepted both hat and rosary, murmuring the prayers, kissing the cross and dropping it into the hat. There wasn't an outward reaction, because there never was, but for those who could sense such things there was a difference. A resonance, almost, or a sort of light which only the sensitive could see. Gabriel plucked the rosary back out, shaking it off gently, and handed it back to Skul.

Then he curled the brim to contain the water and lifted it, drinking deeply from a very unusual vessel. But it worked more than well enough, and the water, to Gabriel's great relief, was as soothing as if Raphael himself had cast a healing spell. When the hat was empty Gabriel lowered it and held it out, his quiet gratitude still written all over his face.

"Thank you," he said again, and this time he spoke at a normal volume--a normal volume which still, very faintly, suggested a recent strain, but one which was no longer there. "This will make the crossing much easier."