"Mature soldiers?" Corrival snorted, long and loud. "I was your commander for a century, boys. Even Shudder turned from a responsible warrior into an under-sexed fool when you lot got together, and we're talking about a man who managed to get a camp full of three hundred people to stand by their allotted housekeeping duties."
Gabe was giggling madly, leaning on the back of Skulduggery's armchair. Melissa had a hand pressed to her mouth, not quite hiding the smile as she looked at Skulduggery, quite obviously imagining him all made up.
"You can laugh," Corrival grumbled, "but it was Hell on Earth getting three hundred people to stand by their duties and not go around swapping and switching and pretending they forgot to dig the cesspit." He cracked a smile almost reluctantly. "But I can't deny it was worth seeing Meritorious with his face in his hands and laughing like a loon. First time he had in a decade."
Corrival himself had been ready to rip them a new one when they came in late, halfway during his report. He'd never gotten the chance, after seeing their faces when they all filed in as if there was nothing strange about their get-ups. Except for the fact that Hopeless had needed to be led surreptitiously to his chair, none of them had let on that there was anything to laugh about.
"First time who had who in a decade?" Dexter asked, wandering back into the room with the ambling gait of someone whose knees were about to give up on them.
"Where's Wreath?" Corrival demanded.
"Dropped him off at Shudder's Hotel. 'Scuse me." He picked up the finished paperwork on Erskine's lap, put it neatly on the floor, and flopped across the man's lap with a groan. "He's an awful leader," he said, his voice muffled by the chair's arm. "He didn't stop me when I stupidly made one more object than I should've and still expected my legs to hold me up. Don't suppose I could get a massage while you're up there, Reveller?"
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Gabe was giggling madly, leaning on the back of Skulduggery's armchair. Melissa had a hand pressed to her mouth, not quite hiding the smile as she looked at Skulduggery, quite obviously imagining him all made up.
"You can laugh," Corrival grumbled, "but it was Hell on Earth getting three hundred people to stand by their duties and not go around swapping and switching and pretending they forgot to dig the cesspit." He cracked a smile almost reluctantly. "But I can't deny it was worth seeing Meritorious with his face in his hands and laughing like a loon. First time he had in a decade."
Corrival himself had been ready to rip them a new one when they came in late, halfway during his report. He'd never gotten the chance, after seeing their faces when they all filed in as if there was nothing strange about their get-ups. Except for the fact that Hopeless had needed to be led surreptitiously to his chair, none of them had let on that there was anything to laugh about.
"First time who had who in a decade?" Dexter asked, wandering back into the room with the ambling gait of someone whose knees were about to give up on them.
"Where's Wreath?" Corrival demanded.
"Dropped him off at Shudder's Hotel. 'Scuse me." He picked up the finished paperwork on Erskine's lap, put it neatly on the floor, and flopped across the man's lap with a groan. "He's an awful leader," he said, his voice muffled by the chair's arm. "He didn't stop me when I stupidly made one more object than I should've and still expected my legs to hold me up. Don't suppose I could get a massage while you're up there, Reveller?"