"Sudden changes in things you're used to can do that," Gabriel agreed, watching Skulduggery and Valkyrie's backs, and not bothering to suppress a smile at the way Valkyrie kept looking over toward her mentor. "But it can be fun, too. It means you get to see something different, and that you can be surprised." He grinned at Fletcher. "I rather like surprises."

At least, he liked them were they were nice surprises. The surprise of the wager hadn't been as fun, but most of the surprises he got were good ones, so he still had little reason not to like them.

"Have you met Valkyrie's parents before?" he asked, and then raised his voice so Valkyrie could hear him too, amusement in his voice. "Should I know their names before we meet them? I think I should probably know their names before we meet them."

Not that he couldn't find them out himself, but the Archangel always preferred it if people told him things, rather than him assuming them just because he saw more deeply.