Ghastly was prepared to ignore Valkyrie's remark and move on, as he was sure Skulduggery would, and stop Fletcher or possibly even Tanith from responding. It wasn't something he really thought about either; even if Valkyrie was being serious, she would still have expected them all to ignore her. It was a throwaway comment.

Not, apparently, to the Archangel.

After a moment, Ghastly became aware that his mouth was open and quickly closed it. Most of the stereotypes he'd held since childhood were already being ripped apart at the seams - he should really be used to it by now. Gabriel latching onto a throwaway comment about puppies and running with it. Or flying with it, as the case may be. Archangels owning dogs.

If it weren't for certain things - like what happened with China earlier, or seeing Gabriel's true form at Kenspeckle's lab - Ghastly would never have believed it. And, if Gabe's behaviour was any indication, if it weren't for those same certain things, Ghastly wouldn't have believed that Archangels were capable of much more than owning cute puppies, let alone guiding humanity.

Valkyrie, after an initial moment of surprise similar to Ghastly's, was grinning from ear to ear. As was Tanith, Ghastly noticed. The pair made a strange sight, walking backwards together with identical mad grins on their faces. "Do you think I can use this to convince my parents to finally get a dog?" Valkyrie asked, just before hesitating and falling out of step with Tanith. "Wait a minute. Are dogs good with babies?"

Tanith's grin, if it was possible, grew even wider, and her gaze fell on Gabriel. "Can you turn into a dog like you did that dinosaur?"