The night sang a solemn tune as the moon turned its gaze upon a dimly lit Dublin. She could hear the window panel creak as she climb through her bedroom window amongst the silence of the night. It was one of those happier days- no bad guys threatening to destroy the world, no broken bones though there was the occasional bruise and no constant death to be seen.
Her feet landed on the floor softly and she turned around to gaze at the skeleton which floated at her window, empty sockets and glistening bone giving no clue towards his thoughts. Sometimes she hated that.
She offered a small sad smile to him.
"Goodnight then" he said and manoeuvred to drift away from she was quicker than he was. Her hand caught a bony wrist calmly.
"Stay" she said softly and a little too meaningfully, she covered it up with a stupid smile, "You can sing me a lullaby again"
Skulduggery was quiet for a moment and for a split second she almost feared he might refuse her, leave her feeling 'unattractive' as he so described it but it was eased when she saw him place his hands on the window pane and crawl in. She smiled and left him moving into the bathroom to get changed.
She didn't know when they had realised that there was something more between them, all she knew that when she realised the feelings that Skulduggery had for her she found out that she felt exactly the same way for him. Wasn't that supposed to be romantic? Valkyrie felt her eyes water needlessly as she put on a pair of shorts.
She knew Skulduggery knew how she... felt about him and he understood that she knew how he felt about her too but still neither of them said anything. They continued to play along day by day as the arrogant, aloof and egotistical detective and his young attractive dangerous partner without resolving anything between them at all.
Valkyrie understood why she just didn't understand why.
She came out of the bathroom and found Skulduggery sitting on the floor like he had the last time when he kept by her in case she shunted off into another reality. She smiled at him and moved straight for the bed. Once she was comfortably under the covers she stared at ceiling with big sad eyes.
"Sing me a lullaby please" she said softly but with enough volume to be heard.
Skulduggery started.
"Me and Mrs Jones
We got a thing going on
For a moment Valkyrie let herself immerse with the sound of his voice and half closed her eyes.
"We both know that it's wrong
And then it was if Valkyrie started to remember why. Why they could say anything to each other about their feelings, why they couldn't hold on to each other and just forget about the problems the world seemed to impale them with.
"But it's much too strong to let it go now
Because if they let their souls intertwine anymore they would not be able to let each other go. And they were going to need to when Darquesse finally came. He would already give up the world to save her, he would already give his life to stay with her, if she was to be forever contained. Why did they need to make him give up both?
"We meet everyday at the same cafe
6:30 and no one knows she'll be there
And she what would she do if she felt anymore strongly about him that she did already? What would Darquesse do?
"Holding hands, making all kinds of plans
While the jukebox plays our favourite song
Darquesse would know and knowing that Skulduggery was the only person that could make her strong enough, to want it badly enough to overcome her, what would she do to him? Valkyrie did want to know. A hot tear ran down her cheek.
"Me and Mrs, Mrs Jones, Mrs Jones
We got a thing going on
Both know that it's wrong
For a moment Valkyrie thought she heard a sob. But it was probably just her imagination
"But it's much too strong to let it go now
She let her eyes close squeeze out the remaining wetness in her eyes as Skulduggery's dulcet voice lulled her to sleep.
"Me and Mrs Jones
A/N: Luckily I know my jazz and luckily when Skulduggery mentioned singing Me and Mrs Jones as a lullaby for Valkyrie I went 'OHMYGOSH DOES DEREK LANDY KNOW THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT SONG!? DOES ANY OTHER TEENAGE APPRECIATE JAZZ ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT THAT SONG IS ABOUT!?' So as usual I went on a rampage.
I'm just confused now honestly, because the past books haven't really supported the whole Valduggery cause but the most recent book is absolutely filled with it (while being inconspicuous of course).