Gabriel shook his head, and couldn't help the slow spread of a smile across his face when it didn't immediately pound into complaint. He opened his eyes again, directing that smile at Skul, and it took a gentle edge. "No. I want to meet him. Losing one's name ... it's awful. One of the worst things I can imagine happening to any living person--to a broad definition of living."

The last he added on with a pointed, but amused, look at the skeleton, before Skulduggery could twist the word. "I want to see if I can do anything for him. I mean, if ..." The Archangel's brow furrowed a little, his tone turning hesitant. "If I'm allowed to?"

He hadn't forgotten his promise to Skul, and the fact he felt better now might only encourage him to forget it. Stopping Skulduggery had been an emergency; what did helping Myron qualify as?

~~~

"Well, hello, Ghastly," said Dad amiably, holding out his hand. "Good meetin' you. I'm here 'cos here's where I am." He laughed. "Naw. S'been a while since I was around these parts, and I felt the need for a return. Just to look around, see how things have changed, y'know?"

He nodded sombrely, the kind of sombre which was entirely affected--a whimsicality which could well have come from tipsiness. "There's magic in this place. Magic everywhere, of course, but there's special magic here. Just gotta look at those fields and that coast to know it."

Another drink, raised and gone in a heartbeat.