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Valkyrie waited as China poured two cups of tea, rolling her eyes at the dramatics of it all.
"I just came to ask what Skulduggery and Solomon's deal was, with their whole..."
She trailed off, waving her hand in the air in a gesture attempting to encompass what she was asking about.
"Like, Solomon came over yesterday - for my birthday, you know - and the two of them were so.. weird about it. Like they have some sort of history.”
China smiled a little at that, and Valkyrie's eyes widened.
"Wait. Do they have- oh my god. I knew there was tension, but... China, tell me everything. Wait, I need to call Tanith, she needs to hear this."
Valkyrie ignored China's long-suffering sigh and pulled out her phone, dialing Tanith.
"Val?”
"Tanith. Skul and Solomon have history. China's about to tell me all about it.”
"I fucking knew it. Hi, China. What's their deal, then?”
"If I tell you two, you cannot tell either of them I did so. Alright?”
"Fine, whatever. So?”
China groaned.
"....During the War, the two of them were... involved.”
"They dated?!"
The exclamation came from Tanith and Val simultaneously.
"Oh, no. That would have been far too easy. No, it was.. purely physical, shall we say. Or, at least, that's what they convinced themselves. As I recall, the Dead Men ran a bet as to when Skulduggery would actually realise his feelings. Ghastly won, I believe.”
"But they're obviously in love, right? Like, we all can see it!”
Valkyrie sounded exasperated.
"Oh, for sure, Val. Maybe.. we just need to give them a push?”
"Girls, I wouldn't recommend-”
"You're so right, Tanith! We should set them up!”
China didn't bother interjecting again as Valkyrie and Tanith planned this.. set-up.
<---------->
At the same time as Valkyrie began to grill China, Skulduggery stood outside Wreath's hotel room. It was fine, he was just here to warn that Necromancer bastard away from Val again.
He knocked sharply and the door swung open. Wreath sat at the desk, working on... something or other. The shadow tendril that had opened the door retracted back into his cane as Skulduggery entered.
"Pleasant. I'd say it was nice to see you, but I'd be lying.”
"Don't worry, Wreath, this isn't a social call. I'm just here to remind you that if you keep trying to poach Valkyrie-”
"Last I checked, Detective, she is not your property to be "poached", she is a person capable of her own decisions.”
"Not when you're manipulating her."
"Bold words, skeleton. I'm not manipulating anybody. If she likes me better, well.. I am the more.. stable choice.”
Skulduggery's jaw clenched as Wreath calmly pushed his hair out of his face and turned back to whatever paperwork he was doing. How dare he ignore him like that! His temper flared.
"Don't get all high and mighty now, Wreath. You certainly weren't stable when you crawled into my be-”
His words were cut off by the shadow that suddenly clamped itself firmly over his mouth, holding his jaw shut.
"I think you've outstayed your welcome, Pleasant.”
The shadows dragged him out of the hotel room, dumping him outside the door unceremoniously. As the door slammed shut, he forced himself not to give in to the overwhelming urge to apologise. These damned.. feelings. So very inconvenient.