Merlin may not have known who Solomon Wreath was, but he didn't have to. The Archangels' care, their words, the man's own reactions and the sheer peace in his body said enough. His injuries were horrific; there was something viscerally terrifying about one like that especially. It had obviously been healed with magic, but not completely--the loss of his eyes had left the lids sagging into the sockets, his flesh red and raw just like a wound mostly-healed but still tender.
The Ancient had lived a very long time. Merlin had seen injuries like that before, and didn't fear them. That didn't mean he wanted to be present, particularly since he didn't know the man and the professor was quite right in suggesting Solomon deserved some privacy.
Besides, Merlin rather felt the children could use a distraction. Images like that lingered in the head. So he talked to the children, asking them questions about themselves and their lives and their universe, trying to keep them both attentive. The meeting with Clarabelle had been rather an amusing delight; few people were as free as that girl, Merlin saw almost at once.
There were ulterior motives. It let Merlin distract the children, let him learn the layout of the facility, and let him learn about them. Gabriel had given Skulduggery his name. Gabriel was going nowhere. Archangel or not, Merlin wanted to know that he'd be alright in this universe for the foreseeable future. At least it would stop Michael from making a trip over if they could report back in the optimistic.
In the meantime, Merlin learned a great deal, and more than the children suspected. He learned that Valkyrie was unaware that she was abandoning her family for the sake of the excitement of a job a child should not have, and that sooner or later she would discover, to her very great cost, what a mistake that was. He learned that Fletcher had grown up alone, knowing no one could be trusted to look at him on his own merits, and therefore assumed he had to draw attention in his own way and his own manner--to his own detriment.
He learned that Gabriel's presence had already begun to change them both. Typical of angels, really.
Eventually they meandered back toward the exam room, just in time for Skulduggery and Gabriel to emerge. Gabriel glanced up at him and smiled, but there was an edge of worried resignation in that smile. Something more had happened during the trip to the Temple than a mere blackmailing, then.
Amused, Merlin watched as Skulduggery systematically thwarted each of Valkyrie's attempts to tease. Gabe, his cheeks only slightly pink, finally said, "If I didn't know any better, Skul, I might think you were ashamed of me."
There was a tease in the quirk of his smile, though. A tease, and a shine in his eyes when he looked at the detective which Merlin had never seen on any angel who remained an angel.
Quietly, still standing back from the trio enough that a conversation wouldn't draw their attention, Merlin asked, "What do you think of Gabe, Fletcher?"
no subject
The Ancient had lived a very long time. Merlin had seen injuries like that before, and didn't fear them. That didn't mean he wanted to be present, particularly since he didn't know the man and the professor was quite right in suggesting Solomon deserved some privacy.
Besides, Merlin rather felt the children could use a distraction. Images like that lingered in the head. So he talked to the children, asking them questions about themselves and their lives and their universe, trying to keep them both attentive. The meeting with Clarabelle had been rather an amusing delight; few people were as free as that girl, Merlin saw almost at once.
There were ulterior motives. It let Merlin distract the children, let him learn the layout of the facility, and let him learn about them. Gabriel had given Skulduggery his name. Gabriel was going nowhere. Archangel or not, Merlin wanted to know that he'd be alright in this universe for the foreseeable future. At least it would stop Michael from making a trip over if they could report back in the optimistic.
In the meantime, Merlin learned a great deal, and more than the children suspected. He learned that Valkyrie was unaware that she was abandoning her family for the sake of the excitement of a job a child should not have, and that sooner or later she would discover, to her very great cost, what a mistake that was. He learned that Fletcher had grown up alone, knowing no one could be trusted to look at him on his own merits, and therefore assumed he had to draw attention in his own way and his own manner--to his own detriment.
He learned that Gabriel's presence had already begun to change them both. Typical of angels, really.
Eventually they meandered back toward the exam room, just in time for Skulduggery and Gabriel to emerge. Gabriel glanced up at him and smiled, but there was an edge of worried resignation in that smile. Something more had happened during the trip to the Temple than a mere blackmailing, then.
Amused, Merlin watched as Skulduggery systematically thwarted each of Valkyrie's attempts to tease. Gabe, his cheeks only slightly pink, finally said, "If I didn't know any better, Skul, I might think you were ashamed of me."
There was a tease in the quirk of his smile, though. A tease, and a shine in his eyes when he looked at the detective which Merlin had never seen on any angel who remained an angel.
Quietly, still standing back from the trio enough that a conversation wouldn't draw their attention, Merlin asked, "What do you think of Gabe, Fletcher?"