Gabe's accent was distracting. Even before he spun to challenge Skulduggery's words, Skulduggery was having a hard time keeping his mind where it was supposed to be. It was disconcerting how realistic that accent sounded, to the point where you couldn't even use the word 'realistic' to describe it anymore. Gabe sounded like the very epitome of the American South. It was too perfect. Luckily, 'too perfect' wasn't a phrase often used to describe accents, so they were probably safe for the moment.
It also amused Skulduggery how, without a word, they had all decided Gabe was undercover as an American cowboy. It wasn't that you couldn't argue with an Archangel; it was that no one wanted to.
"Boring?" Des glanced, horrified, over at his wife. "Boring? I own a construction company, and I wear a suit maybe once a year, if that. Why wouldn't Stephanie be telling all her friends about me?"
Des was a lot like Gordon. They had the same sense of humour, the same warm arrogance forming the basis of a lot of that humour. It was easy to tell they were brothers. Skulduggery caught himself from mentioning the similarity, and smiled instead. He liked smiling, now that he could feel it. And it was interesting how every time he did, Valkyrie automatically followed suit.
Skulduggery took up one of the armchairs, leaning back and relaxing into the soft leather. Valkyrie perched on an arm of the couch and grinned at her dad. "Don't worry. I leave out all the boring bits."
Des shook his head sadly. "Obviously, or else Gabe here would know to call me Des." He turned towards the kitchen. "You won't want what I'm having, Gabe. Very alcoholic. Almost dangerously alcoholic. In fact, I don't even feel like having any of it tonight. So I'm going to stick with a scotch and soda. Two scotches, what about everyone else?"
Fletcher and Skulduggery both politely declined anything, and once Des had left the living room, Skulduggery tilted his head - more out of force of habit, since everyone could now clearly see the teasing expression on his face. "I was more talking about your father, true. But you've only recently started defying Him. I'm perfectly able to say some of that is influencing Stephanie." He glanced towards Melissa. "You would like Gabe's father. Most people do. I'm told He's very understanding."
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It also amused Skulduggery how, without a word, they had all decided Gabe was undercover as an American cowboy. It wasn't that you couldn't argue with an Archangel; it was that no one wanted to.
"Boring?" Des glanced, horrified, over at his wife. "Boring? I own a construction company, and I wear a suit maybe once a year, if that. Why wouldn't Stephanie be telling all her friends about me?"
Des was a lot like Gordon. They had the same sense of humour, the same warm arrogance forming the basis of a lot of that humour. It was easy to tell they were brothers. Skulduggery caught himself from mentioning the similarity, and smiled instead. He liked smiling, now that he could feel it. And it was interesting how every time he did, Valkyrie automatically followed suit.
Skulduggery took up one of the armchairs, leaning back and relaxing into the soft leather. Valkyrie perched on an arm of the couch and grinned at her dad. "Don't worry. I leave out all the boring bits."
Des shook his head sadly. "Obviously, or else Gabe here would know to call me Des." He turned towards the kitchen. "You won't want what I'm having, Gabe. Very alcoholic. Almost dangerously alcoholic. In fact, I don't even feel like having any of it tonight. So I'm going to stick with a scotch and soda. Two scotches, what about everyone else?"
Fletcher and Skulduggery both politely declined anything, and once Des had left the living room, Skulduggery tilted his head - more out of force of habit, since everyone could now clearly see the teasing expression on his face. "I was more talking about your father, true. But you've only recently started defying Him. I'm perfectly able to say some of that is influencing Stephanie." He glanced towards Melissa. "You would like Gabe's father. Most people do. I'm told He's very understanding."