"No." Gabe moved to shake his head, and then changed his mind when even the beginnings of the motion made his temples throb. "But I have some first-person images of gutting Valkyrie I'd really rather not have. I wasn't expecting the rebound off Sanguine's magic, when he was carrying us underground."
That was the part that had made it worse. Up on the surface, in the open air--even in the dungeon, without that cocoon of magic keeping the stone and soil from plunging in on them--he could accept such homicidal thoughts as a matter of expectation from a damned soul and let them pass by.
The weight of Skulduggery's arm around him made Gabe feel almost as if he was being hugged by one of his brothers, wings and all. In the abrupt silence, the comfortable silence, Gabe let himself rest his head on Skulduggery's shoulder with a sigh. Yes. Better. Maybe the magic in the room was even helping things along, but Gabe thought he could almost feel the ache in his head receding moment by moment. Or maybe it was just the inherent calm in Skulduggery's soul which made it more tolerable.
Well. Relatively. There was a ripple there, under the surface, a quiet thought Gabe had sensed previously and left alone because it was so quiet. And, well, because they'd been busy with other things.
He still found himself faintly disappointed when Skulduggery dropped his arm, though he did appreciate the hug. The detective's question, however, made the Archangel lift his head again, surprise and bafflement registering on his face. "Sanguine's soul is nothing like yours," he said, not sharply but definitely. "That's like saying a festering sewer is the equivalent to Crater Lake. You--"
Abruptly Gabe cut off as the byplay between soul and question and intent became clear, and the Archangel peered into Skulduggery's face with a frown. Yes. Yes, he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Gabe blinked. "You've been thinking you've been hurting me all this time? Just by being near me?"
It wasn't exactly an illogical conclusion to draw, Gabriel had to concede. Not given Skulduggery's experience and expectations of himself. But it was so incredibly wrong that Gabriel couldn't quite contain the note of indignant incredulity in his voice. The indignation was all on Skulduggery's behalf.
"Sanguine's soul was like being in the middle of an opera house with sewerage on the floor," he said, "and the orchestra couldn't produce anything more melodious than a squawk, but played just as loudly as if they were in concert. It hurt, and it put things in my head I can't get out of it. You know," he added, smiling lopsidedly, "like when you hear a song and it mentally repeats for what seems like in perpetuity."
The smile dropped, and Gabe's expression with full of earnest seriousness. He knew Anton was there, still. But so did Skulduggery, and he had still asked. And this was not a subject on which Gabriel was willing to wait. "Yours is like a stained-glass window on a sunny day. It's soothing. Almost as soothing as--" he hesitated a beat, decided the comparison was appropriate and damn Skul's insecurities anyway, and finished, "almost as soothing as one of Michael's hugs. I don't know how I could have endured the pain in some moments if you hadn't been with me."
no subject
That was the part that had made it worse. Up on the surface, in the open air--even in the dungeon, without that cocoon of magic keeping the stone and soil from plunging in on them--he could accept such homicidal thoughts as a matter of expectation from a damned soul and let them pass by.
The weight of Skulduggery's arm around him made Gabe feel almost as if he was being hugged by one of his brothers, wings and all. In the abrupt silence, the comfortable silence, Gabe let himself rest his head on Skulduggery's shoulder with a sigh. Yes. Better. Maybe the magic in the room was even helping things along, but Gabe thought he could almost feel the ache in his head receding moment by moment. Or maybe it was just the inherent calm in Skulduggery's soul which made it more tolerable.
Well. Relatively. There was a ripple there, under the surface, a quiet thought Gabe had sensed previously and left alone because it was so quiet. And, well, because they'd been busy with other things.
He still found himself faintly disappointed when Skulduggery dropped his arm, though he did appreciate the hug. The detective's question, however, made the Archangel lift his head again, surprise and bafflement registering on his face. "Sanguine's soul is nothing like yours," he said, not sharply but definitely. "That's like saying a festering sewer is the equivalent to Crater Lake. You--"
Abruptly Gabe cut off as the byplay between soul and question and intent became clear, and the Archangel peered into Skulduggery's face with a frown. Yes. Yes, he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Gabe blinked. "You've been thinking you've been hurting me all this time? Just by being near me?"
It wasn't exactly an illogical conclusion to draw, Gabriel had to concede. Not given Skulduggery's experience and expectations of himself. But it was so incredibly wrong that Gabriel couldn't quite contain the note of indignant incredulity in his voice. The indignation was all on Skulduggery's behalf.
"Sanguine's soul was like being in the middle of an opera house with sewerage on the floor," he said, "and the orchestra couldn't produce anything more melodious than a squawk, but played just as loudly as if they were in concert. It hurt, and it put things in my head I can't get out of it. You know," he added, smiling lopsidedly, "like when you hear a song and it mentally repeats for what seems like in perpetuity."
The smile dropped, and Gabe's expression with full of earnest seriousness. He knew Anton was there, still. But so did Skulduggery, and he had still asked. And this was not a subject on which Gabriel was willing to wait. "Yours is like a stained-glass window on a sunny day. It's soothing. Almost as soothing as--" he hesitated a beat, decided the comparison was appropriate and damn Skul's insecurities anyway, and finished, "almost as soothing as one of Michael's hugs. I don't know how I could have endured the pain in some moments if you hadn't been with me."