Opinionated was a rather mild way of putting it. Inexplicably volatile were the words Skulduggery would have used, if he wasn't at least trying to stay on the Professor's good side. "I don't know," he answered Gabe truthfully. Kenspeckle had plenty of reasons to distrust him, of course, but as no one except Gabriel knew about those, Skulduggery was still at a loss most of the time. "He seems to have a different reason every time I visit."
Ghastly sighed. "Professor Grouse is a very peaceful man. Skulduggery was one of the leaders in the war against Mevolent. We were all forced to do things we regret, but Skulduggery just happens to be remembered for them."
Thank god, Skulduggery thought, that isn't entirely true.
"He thinks Skulduggery's a bad influence on me," Valkyrie pointed out quietly.
Fletcher, who had managed to remain unnoticed until this point, scoffed. "What, because he's all hit first and ask questions pretty much never? Sorry, but I have to agree with the Professor there."
"You did bring a whole army of Cleavers here once," Tanith reminded him as Valkyrie shot Fletcher a glare. "And the Diablerie."
Skulduggery nodded. "All valid points. Which is why we shouldn't stay here any longer than we have to. Good luck. I'll be through in a minute."
Valkyrie turned back, suddenly alarmed. "You're not coming? What are you doing?"
"Nothing dangerous, I promise. I'm just going to give China a call, and then..." He paused. "Well, then I'm going to switch out my head. So maybe a little dangerous, but I should be fine. Run along now. You won't want to miss this."
"You want us to tell Kenspeckle?" asked Tanith. "When you don't even know how he's going to react?"
"To be honest," Skulduggery told her as he started in the opposite direction, "he might take the whole thing with a tad more geniality if I'm not in the room."
Valkyrie shook her head. "What makes you think he'd even believe us?"
Skulduggery shrugged. "Have Gabe give a demonstration. Reveal his wings. Turn water into wine. Just stop him from smiting the whole building." It had been a joke, but after a moment's consideration, Skulduggery turned back around, concern weaved through his tone. "Gabe, don't overexert yourself. If he doesn't believe you, he doesn't believe you. We'll figure something else out."
And with that, Skulduggery left the room, free hand instinctively reaching into his pocket for his mobile before he remembered he didn't have one at the moment.
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Ghastly sighed. "Professor Grouse is a very peaceful man. Skulduggery was one of the leaders in the war against Mevolent. We were all forced to do things we regret, but Skulduggery just happens to be remembered for them."
Thank god, Skulduggery thought, that isn't entirely true.
"He thinks Skulduggery's a bad influence on me," Valkyrie pointed out quietly.
Fletcher, who had managed to remain unnoticed until this point, scoffed. "What, because he's all hit first and ask questions pretty much never? Sorry, but I have to agree with the Professor there."
"You did bring a whole army of Cleavers here once," Tanith reminded him as Valkyrie shot Fletcher a glare. "And the Diablerie."
Skulduggery nodded. "All valid points. Which is why we shouldn't stay here any longer than we have to. Good luck. I'll be through in a minute."
Valkyrie turned back, suddenly alarmed. "You're not coming? What are you doing?"
"Nothing dangerous, I promise. I'm just going to give China a call, and then..." He paused. "Well, then I'm going to switch out my head. So maybe a little dangerous, but I should be fine. Run along now. You won't want to miss this."
"You want us to tell Kenspeckle?" asked Tanith. "When you don't even know how he's going to react?"
"To be honest," Skulduggery told her as he started in the opposite direction, "he might take the whole thing with a tad more geniality if I'm not in the room."
Valkyrie shook her head. "What makes you think he'd even believe us?"
Skulduggery shrugged. "Have Gabe give a demonstration. Reveal his wings. Turn water into wine. Just stop him from smiting the whole building." It had been a joke, but after a moment's consideration, Skulduggery turned back around, concern weaved through his tone. "Gabe, don't overexert yourself. If he doesn't believe you, he doesn't believe you. We'll figure something else out."
And with that, Skulduggery left the room, free hand instinctively reaching into his pocket for his mobile before he remembered he didn't have one at the moment.