"Not even if it's a matter of perception?" Solomon asked, amused and fascinated by the strong resonance that rippled between the pair of sorcerers in that moment. He didn't know what they'd done, but it was so strong as to make Solomon wonder, nostalgically, if he and Skulduggery had ever had the same.

"I can too be mature," Gabe grumbled.

"Immature?!" Rafe squawked, laughing. "Gabe? We're talkin' about the angel who followed--"

"I don't think we needa talk about that," Gabe interrupted, cheeks a bit pink but mostly mild. "'Sides, it was part of my job!"

Rafe looked at him pityingly. "Gabe, even Michael agreed that Dad tellin' ya to get Jonah swallowed was just Him seein' how far you'd go to do what He asked."

This time Gabriel very definitely went red, so much so that his light looked like a sunset. "You're not much better," he said defensively. "You put Samson's strength in his hair!"

"It was a logical choice!" Rafe protested. "Nobody cut their hair back then! Rapunzel did it too!"

"You did it to Rapunzel," Gabe corrected.

"That was just an encore."

"If we leave them now, how long do you think it would take for them to notice?" Solomon asked the air rhetorically as Merlin, snorting, took his arm to lead him off the curb and nearer to Fletcher.