Fletcher's confession only made Gabriel beam and hold out his hands for Fletcher to come sit with him. "Great," he said in pure delight. "Let's run through the words from yesterday, then, and I'll add in one or two new ones."
Gabriel also managed to make it partly a history lesson too, by going into the etymology and usage of the various words they were discussing. He included Valkyrie and even Tanith, but it was fairly clear that Fletcher was the focal point of his attention, and that Gabriel was truly enjoying being able to teach the teen. It proved to be a wonderful distraction, too.
He'd even managed to joke about being a cat without letting on that the concept of Fallen angels being cats might hit home more than it did. After all, he frequently used a cat-shape. And he had almost Fallen. With Skul he wouldn't have had as much trouble with it, but in this church, with these sounds, it was harder.
Nevertheless, by the time China arrived there were tiny, faint lines around Gabriel's eyes. The sound might not have been outright painful, but it was wearing--never-ending fingernails on a chalkboard. He was almost relieved she was there and even managed to smile back at the facade she presented.
Not that he was surprised when she didn't really meet his eyes, either. The panic was still forefront in her presence, but between that and the never-ending buzz it hid much of the details in China's soul. There were others things under it. Something between guilt and shame, both so visible only because they were oddly entwined with the panic.
Gabe could have seen more. Could have pressed. He chose not to. That was something he'd always avoided.
This was Skulduggery's purview. He knew what he was doing; Gabriel didn't. And yet Gabriel still felt compelled to say gently, "I'm sorry, China. I saw a man in your soul whom I'd seen in Valkyrie's too and was concerned."
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Gabriel also managed to make it partly a history lesson too, by going into the etymology and usage of the various words they were discussing. He included Valkyrie and even Tanith, but it was fairly clear that Fletcher was the focal point of his attention, and that Gabriel was truly enjoying being able to teach the teen. It proved to be a wonderful distraction, too.
He'd even managed to joke about being a cat without letting on that the concept of Fallen angels being cats might hit home more than it did. After all, he frequently used a cat-shape. And he had almost Fallen. With Skul he wouldn't have had as much trouble with it, but in this church, with these sounds, it was harder.
Nevertheless, by the time China arrived there were tiny, faint lines around Gabriel's eyes. The sound might not have been outright painful, but it was wearing--never-ending fingernails on a chalkboard. He was almost relieved she was there and even managed to smile back at the facade she presented.
Not that he was surprised when she didn't really meet his eyes, either. The panic was still forefront in her presence, but between that and the never-ending buzz it hid much of the details in China's soul. There were others things under it. Something between guilt and shame, both so visible only because they were oddly entwined with the panic.
Gabe could have seen more. Could have pressed. He chose not to. That was something he'd always avoided.
This was Skulduggery's purview. He knew what he was doing; Gabriel didn't. And yet Gabriel still felt compelled to say gently, "I'm sorry, China. I saw a man in your soul whom I'd seen in Valkyrie's too and was concerned."