This conversation was going from bad to good to worse to just plain weird. Valkyrie couldn't help laughing at Skulduggery's obvious discomfort when her father leaped to conclusions, as well as, once again, stupidly trying to picture it. Her imagination always seemed to grind to a halt whenever she thought about the skeleton aspect, thankfully. But she stopped laughing when her mother spoke, and tried to work out if she'd just been insulted or not.

"Not every man," Des protested with an air of offense. "What am I, chopped liver? Besides, I thought we were supposed to be finding her a husband. Men are scared off by that sort of thing."

Skulduggery leaned over towards Valkyrie, an impressive expression of worry on his face that made Valkyrie believe she must have imagined the scowl from earlier - an expression of worry that she wasn't entirely sure was genuine to start with. "What's the most important thing I told you to remember?" he asked quietly.

Valkyrie grinned and shook her head. "Do what you say, don't follow your example."

"Excellent. Just making sure."

"Gabe does have a point, you know," she informed him. "And you know that, or you'd still be arguing."

"Nonsense. We're here for your parents, not to argue."

"So you're, what, taking the high road?" Valkyrie crossed her arms. "And when has that ever stopped you? Admit it, you lost."

"I didn't lose," Skulduggery grumbled, and finally, there was the frown. A real, proper frown. "I'm conceding this battle and conserving my strength for the war. Your mother seems to appreciate it."