It was, admittedly, something Gabriel had been overlooking, not necessarily because it hadn't occurred to him, but because he subconsciously knew there was no reason to worry. Skulduggery had it covered. Any kind of twinge or wondering was immediately dismissed under the force of that certainty.

Gabe buckled in and leaned forward to rest his arms on the back of Skulduggery's seat. "This a thing now?" he wondered with strains of his Midwestern accent. "I think it's becomin' a thing. I think you're lookin' at a hat."

~~~

"Don't be putting yourself down too much, boy," God said gruffly. "And you're thinkin' of Gabe as a burden. Skul's not gonna be happy, but not 'cos he feels shortchanged for his time. It'll be because he wants the best for Gabe. What he's not gonna get is that right then and there, he was the best for Gabe. More than Me."

That last fact was stated simply and firmly. Not overbearingly, not in any way to deliberately make Ghastly feel as though he'd been chastised, but with a finality that said God knew exactly the dynamics of what had gone on in that room, and Ghastly didn't, and He knew what Gabriel had needed in that moment in time.

And that it hadn't been Him.