Nothing is mine. Review please.
Uh. I dunno. I've been sitting on this one for a while sooooooo, tear it apart if you hate it, because I'm not too satisfied with it myself. I can't write Skulduggery very well, argh.
Skulduggery really shouldn't be looking at her like that. He really should be focusing on researching the damn case and he's really lucky she hasn't noticed his absent mind, but there are certain advantages not having eyeballs or a face in general.
But again, he shouldn't be staring to begin with.
It's hard though to look away, really hard in fact, especially when Valkyrie is wearing one of those god forsaken midriff shirts, that seem to have sprung into her wardrobe out of no where. Part of him, the four hundred-some years old part, wants to demand she at least put a tank top-or better yet wear a sleeved, full length dress- underneath the damn thing, but he can't, because if he mentions it, then she'll know he's been looking.
How embarrassing would that be? To find out that a man four hundred years older than her was ogling her?
He didn't particularly like to imagine what her reaction would be.
"Shit."
Skulduggery's head jerks up and he finds Valkyrie clinging to a ladder as she tries to replace a book on the library shelf. He stands, straightens his tie and takes a few long strides to her. "Need help?" He asks amused, as she tries to push the book into its slot.
Goddamn, from this angle he could even see the color of her-
Damn it Skulduggery, he growls at himself, you might be insane, but you have more control than this. China's prolonged life is a testament to that.
And then, before he even realizes it, the ladder shakes and Valkyrie's footing slips. He grabs at the air preparing to cushion her landing into his arms, but Valkyrie is not falling. Actually she's defying gravity, wavering in the air as she replaces the book and then waves her arms in slow circular motions until she lands safely and quietly on her feet.
"Valkyrie." Skulduggery says, "You can fly."
She frowns. "I know."
Skulduggery tilts his head. "You aren't going to show off? Smirk at me? Make a snide remark about your superiority?"
"No."
He tilts his head to the other side. "You don't seem to enthusiastic about your advancement in Elemental magic, perhaps because of your other training?"
Valkyrie blinks at him, her dark eyes focusing on his eye-sockets intensely; he repressed the urge to shiver. "What? No, no it's not that, I just wasn't ready."
She gathers her things and sling her messenger-bag over her shoulder, which causes her shirt to hike further up her stomach.
Where the hell are her work clothes? He thinks furiously, though there is no reason for him to not be calm. It's not like he can have physical reactions to these things anymore.
"Weren't ready?" He asks.
"I wanted to show you after I had it perfected. I still haven't figured out how to streamline it, I waste a lot of excess energy, and I can't fly very high."
"I think you might be missing the sheer wonderment in the fact that you, at nineteen, have taught yourself how to fly."
"I don't want to be complacent."
They pass China as they exit her library, Valkyrie gives a stiff nod, and Skulduggery blatantly ignores her. He does however, open the door for Valkyrie, and they descend the concrete staircase, and find their way to the parking lot. It's pouring rain, and usually Valkyrie sticks close to him, allowing him to manipulate the rain around them, but today she walks at a comfortable distance manipulating the air to shield herself.
"If you're worried about complacency then maybe you should work a bit more on water manipulation, if anything it's your weaker element."
Valkyrie frowns and opens her mouth, but before she can utter a word she trips, stumbles and ultimately falls into a pot hole in the parking lot with a splash.
She scowls. "For fucks sake."
Skulduggery laughs, helps her up and then dries her off, and helps her into his car, moaning over the dried dirt she's dragging into his car for a moment.
He enters the driver's side, starts the Bentley and turns on the windshield wipers.
"Seat belt." he says and Valkyrie rolls her eyes, before complying.
He drives slowly, perhaps slower than necessary, and tries to come up with topics of conversation, before he sighs and settles for: "Is everything alright?"
Valkyrie trains her dark scrutinizing eyes on him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, for one you haven't been too annoying lately, not wanting to show off your new found flight, and well..." He clears his throat-something Valkyrie sees as completely unnecessary- before continuing, "there is a matter of your new, ah, wardrobe changes."
"You noticed?"
Was that hope he heard in her voice? "I'm a detective Valkyrie of course I notice things."
Valkyrie nods and took a moment before speaking again.
"I lost my wardrobe rights to Tanith in a poker game."
"Wardrobe rights?"
"Yeah, she emptied out all my black t-shirts and tang tops, and replaced them with this," She pinches her shirt between her fingers.
"That sound silly, but still, you have been acting differently. Are you alright?"
She shrugs. "As far as I know yes. You know sometimes people grow up and get more mature, something you are completely foreign to, I'm sure."
"Are you trying to imply something?"
"I don't know, have you been eyeing my tummy all day?"
Skulduggery freezes.
Valkyrie laughs at him and then leans forward, her hot breath and lips brushing against cool bone. "You're in awe of me aren't you? Jealous of my detective prowess hm? Or maybe just my awesome magical-ness?"
He tries to respond but finds words escaping him at the moment, and then her lips linger on his cheek bone-he's honestly surprised he can even feel it, but it's there, and the air somehow seems sweeter with her leaning in so close- and he snaps his head to her a moment too late; Valkyrie is out of the car and trudging towards her house, not even bothering to block the rain from soaking her shirt and skin.
He stares, befuddled, at her and then she turns, grins a bit too cheerfully at him and raises her arm to wave at him enthusiastically. Her shirt goes with it.
After she disappears into her house he sits there for a long while wondering what the hell just happened, before Valkyrie's silhouette appears in the window and he hightails it out of there, speeding through Haggard like a madman.
For the first time in a long while, Skulduggery is equal parts terrified, and exhilarated.