Descry threw up one hand. "Can I claim that I wasn't thinking? I did make oversights occasionally, you know. It's just that most of the time I could just bluff them away."
"And now, if anyone asks, you can say you're just bluffing away being dead," Rover said cheerfully as Rafe flopped on his feet and rolled onto his back to demand a scratch. Descry grinned at him.
"Exactly. And yes." Descry glanced at Skulduggery, wearing that slight, knowing smile, and then back at Paddy. "Yes, I can, but it's not something all dead souls have. It's something with which I was born. Which is why my parents left me at a monastery." He huffed something ironic. "General consensus was that I was either possessed, or a demon in human skin outright."
"To be fair," Anton observed, turning and leaning up against the arm of a pew, folding his arms. "To say you're possessed isn't entirely inaccurate. Your Roverisms have been particularly marked since you've been back."
"I'm an ism!" Rover beamed, scratching Rover's belly in one wild rush of movement and then straightening up, nudging the be-dogged Archangel off his feet. "Off, you coffee-coloured lump of lard. You're going to make my legs go numb." Rafe lolled his tongue out, panting happily, and didn't move an inch. "You know, I used to have a dog in Ballinasloe," Rover grumbled. "I'm pretty sure Anton ate him."
"It was winter. I was hungry."
"You vile betrayer." Something in Anton's expression flickered, and while it didn't otherwise shift there was something in it that seemed a little harder. Rover just grinned unrepentantly at him. "Have I ever told you I missed puns? It's no fun making puns when no one in Heaven gets annoyed by them."
"Eighteen hours," Anton said evenly.
"Working on your stamina, Shudder?" Dexter flopped down in a pew, his grin reminiscent of Rover's. Very slowly, Anton turned to look at him.
"He's been back on Earth for eighteen hours and I feel the need to punch his face in."
"I wasn't trying hard enough," Rover decided.
"Finished," Merlin announced, tying off the spell with a flourish. There wasn't any visual change, but there was the faintest hum as he did so, that prickle of anticipation in the air.
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"And now, if anyone asks, you can say you're just bluffing away being dead," Rover said cheerfully as Rafe flopped on his feet and rolled onto his back to demand a scratch. Descry grinned at him.
"Exactly. And yes." Descry glanced at Skulduggery, wearing that slight, knowing smile, and then back at Paddy. "Yes, I can, but it's not something all dead souls have. It's something with which I was born. Which is why my parents left me at a monastery." He huffed something ironic. "General consensus was that I was either possessed, or a demon in human skin outright."
"To be fair," Anton observed, turning and leaning up against the arm of a pew, folding his arms. "To say you're possessed isn't entirely inaccurate. Your Roverisms have been particularly marked since you've been back."
"I'm an ism!" Rover beamed, scratching Rover's belly in one wild rush of movement and then straightening up, nudging the be-dogged Archangel off his feet. "Off, you coffee-coloured lump of lard. You're going to make my legs go numb." Rafe lolled his tongue out, panting happily, and didn't move an inch. "You know, I used to have a dog in Ballinasloe," Rover grumbled. "I'm pretty sure Anton ate him."
"It was winter. I was hungry."
"You vile betrayer." Something in Anton's expression flickered, and while it didn't otherwise shift there was something in it that seemed a little harder. Rover just grinned unrepentantly at him. "Have I ever told you I missed puns? It's no fun making puns when no one in Heaven gets annoyed by them."
"Eighteen hours," Anton said evenly.
"Working on your stamina, Shudder?" Dexter flopped down in a pew, his grin reminiscent of Rover's. Very slowly, Anton turned to look at him.
"He's been back on Earth for eighteen hours and I feel the need to punch his face in."
"I wasn't trying hard enough," Rover decided.
"Finished," Merlin announced, tying off the spell with a flourish. There wasn't any visual change, but there was the faintest hum as he did so, that prickle of anticipation in the air.