"As you please," Gabriel said softly just as Fletcher returned. The Archangel gave the Teleporter a grateful smile before Fletcher took China away, and then finally--unwantedly--Gabriel and Skulduggery were alone in the Church of the Faceless Ones.
Gabriel leaned on Skul and rose, biting his lip to keep in the whimper that wanted to escape. Even as fragile as Skulduggery's command was at this moment, there was something pure and soothing about it--if only for the fact that he still had it despite the closeness of the precipice only minutes ago.
Silently Gabe turned to Skul, his hand still on the detective's arm. The Archangel considered his broken jaw for a moment, worrying at his lip; he couldn't heal that injury, even if he'd had all his power, and yet ...
It was the resignation in Skul's soul that made him choose in favour of a use of magic. The feeling that Skul deserved this. The stoic acceptance. Besides, it wasn't as if adding Skul's pain to his own could possibly make it that much worse. Gabriel lifted his hand and cupped the skeleton's cheek, and took the pain of it into himself. Normally, he could have been able to diffuse it easily; this time it bloomed unexpectedly in his analogous joints and across his jaw. The Archangel's eyes creased with pain and his mouth drew to a tight, trembling line, but he managed to avoid making a sound, blinking away the wetness in his eyes that wasn't completely because of it.
"Is that better?" he asked, his voice a bit raw but tender. His head ached and this time the ache spread from temples to chin, and it was still worth it now he knew just how much it must have been hurting Skul to begin with.
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Gabriel leaned on Skul and rose, biting his lip to keep in the whimper that wanted to escape. Even as fragile as Skulduggery's command was at this moment, there was something pure and soothing about it--if only for the fact that he still had it despite the closeness of the precipice only minutes ago.
Silently Gabe turned to Skul, his hand still on the detective's arm. The Archangel considered his broken jaw for a moment, worrying at his lip; he couldn't heal that injury, even if he'd had all his power, and yet ...
It was the resignation in Skul's soul that made him choose in favour of a use of magic. The feeling that Skul deserved this. The stoic acceptance. Besides, it wasn't as if adding Skul's pain to his own could possibly make it that much worse. Gabriel lifted his hand and cupped the skeleton's cheek, and took the pain of it into himself. Normally, he could have been able to diffuse it easily; this time it bloomed unexpectedly in his analogous joints and across his jaw. The Archangel's eyes creased with pain and his mouth drew to a tight, trembling line, but he managed to avoid making a sound, blinking away the wetness in his eyes that wasn't completely because of it.
"Is that better?" he asked, his voice a bit raw but tender. His head ached and this time the ache spread from temples to chin, and it was still worth it now he knew just how much it must have been hurting Skul to begin with.