"Oh," Gabriel murmured, and didn't stop the discomfiture from flickering across his expression, "I see." Now that Valkyrie had said so, Gabriel realised he really ought to have wondered how a girl her age had had such free rein. Perhaps he'd been assuming that her parents knew about her magic.
He hadn't imagined that she might be allowing this, all this, to overtake her life to such an extent that she wasn't even living it. How long had it been since she'd sat down with her parents herself, rather than as a reflection? Too long, he could read in her soul, just looking into her eyes. Too long, because she took her family for granted, that they would always be there. And now he was providing one more excuse for her to be elsewhere, one more reason for her to not realise that all that she learned at school, from friends, from family, was far more important than anything Gabe could say.
More than that, it was a lie. Her parents thought it was Valkyrie with whom they ate, spoke, laughed. It wasn't at all. It was just a reflection.
Gabriel smiled at her as gently as he possibly could, but there was an air of firmness about the expression which removed any possibility of argument. "I think it would be good for you to go home soon, Valkyrie."
Skulduggery's return interrupted before the conversation could go further, but Gabe hoped that Valkyrie would take his advice. The Archangel looked to Skul and his lips twitched in response to the detective's obvious amusement.
"I thought," he said with utmost innocence, "that it would be more prudent to see our rescue through than stick around to correct his assumptions. Priorities, partner." The last was said with his Midwestern drawl. As if that was the catalyst the grin finally broke across his face, a shining of pure amusement. "Oh, I remember him. He's an actor and musician. We do look rather similar; I can understand why Ms Sorrows would assume a relation of some kind."
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He hadn't imagined that she might be allowing this, all this, to overtake her life to such an extent that she wasn't even living it. How long had it been since she'd sat down with her parents herself, rather than as a reflection? Too long, he could read in her soul, just looking into her eyes. Too long, because she took her family for granted, that they would always be there. And now he was providing one more excuse for her to be elsewhere, one more reason for her to not realise that all that she learned at school, from friends, from family, was far more important than anything Gabe could say.
More than that, it was a lie. Her parents thought it was Valkyrie with whom they ate, spoke, laughed. It wasn't at all. It was just a reflection.
Gabriel smiled at her as gently as he possibly could, but there was an air of firmness about the expression which removed any possibility of argument. "I think it would be good for you to go home soon, Valkyrie."
Skulduggery's return interrupted before the conversation could go further, but Gabe hoped that Valkyrie would take his advice. The Archangel looked to Skul and his lips twitched in response to the detective's obvious amusement.
"I thought," he said with utmost innocence, "that it would be more prudent to see our rescue through than stick around to correct his assumptions. Priorities, partner." The last was said with his Midwestern drawl. As if that was the catalyst the grin finally broke across his face, a shining of pure amusement. "Oh, I remember him. He's an actor and musician. We do look rather similar; I can understand why Ms Sorrows would assume a relation of some kind."