"I thought it was a wonderful gift," Gabe said with a pout and a suspicious twinkle in his eyes. "And I could always give you a massage back, if you really wanted to use that oil."

"Hey, you stole my tease," Rafe grumbled.

"I know. That was the point. Now you can't use it against me."

"Unfair, bro. Totally unfair. S'pose I'm not allowed to tease you about the 'back' part?"

"No."

"I'm sure someone'll pick it up for me."

"Back?" Dexter repeated, looked at Skulduggery with his eyebrows raised and open glee all over his face. "Back?"

"Back," Rover confirmed, rolling over to lounge against Anton and holding up a finger. "We saw it. And when I say 'we' I mean 'I', and 'it' being 'snatches' because Descry was a killjoy. Skulduggery, you must have made an adorable blushing virgin. I think I got cavities watching you fumble, and this was with the knowledge that you were a father."

Descry had a hand over his eyes, and he was trembling with silent laughter. He took the wig from a spluttering Saracen and shake it out, uncovering his eyes to put it on his son's head. It took a moment for him to say anything at all, and when he did his voice was hitched with the laughter he was trying to speak through. "If I weren't already dead you'd all be the death of me."

"You'd better all get on with your assignment, then, before Hopeless dies twice over," Corrival said gruffly.

"Not yet," Gabe countered. "This is a delicate spell. It's not ready yet, and in the event something needs repairing while I'm not available to do it, you're going to need someone who can. We'll have to wait until Solomon wakes up and can actually pay attention."

Solomon was still fast asleep beside the desk, but there was something a little more relaxed about his sleep now. The lines on his face had smoothed about, and while he wasn't exactly smiling, he didn't look far from it, either. Corrival shrugged. "I can wait. Tipstaff might complain about the lack of paperwork that gets done, though."