A/N: I don't own Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Ghastly, Erskine, Uncle Gordon, Tipstaff or the Dead Men. Val is of course still 21, story is still in her POV.


It didn't take long to get to town, or it didn't seem to take long. Skulduggery was in a mood to talk about her past, something she never did outside her orphanage story, which got better each time she told it. "You know, I don't know how my parents managed, looking back." She said. "There were so many of us, but it was a different time. Ah, here we are. I think you'll like the town, Valkyrie. Breakfast, then we can look in the shops if you like."

"I'd love that, you know I would, as long as we're together. In case I haven't told you, you look beautiful today."

Skulduggery made a small sound of delight as she parked smoothly. "Buttering me up so I'll be loose with my credit card, are we?" She teased.

"No, buttering you up so I get to see you in a dress more often, and I swear, pod people haven't kidnapped your partner. I'll make the waiter cry if you want me to to prove it's still me." I offered cheerfully.

She laughed in delight. "You'd make him cry because you're mean for the fun of it, but so am I. It's a tough world, Valkyrie, and as women we have to be twice as tough. But we can afford to be nice today. I have my beautiful partner with me, so I can wait until our next case, then we can make the bad guy cry."

I laughed and we got out, Skulduggery insisting on coming for my door. I got to watch her graceful movements through the windscreen so I didn't mind in the least. She took my hand and helped me from the car, her head titled adoringly. I smiled and kissed her chastely through the disguise, and she returned the kiss with enthusiasm, her strong arms wrapping around me, and a slight delighted growl coming from her. She grinned at me through her disguise as we parted and offered her arm, which I happily took.

I could feel her straighten instantly and I knew she was pleased with herself when she started humming. She led me to a café, stopping to consider. "Outdoors or indoors, Valkyrie? Your choice."

"Outdoors, I don't think I've ever been to a café before to be honest. I don't think the one in McDonald's counts." Skulduggery laughed in delight and escorted me to a sunny table, making sure to get my chair for me. I thanked her and she pushed my chair in gently.

Skulduggery craned her head up towards the sun once she was seated and I knew what passed for her eyes were closed in pleasure. She took my hand, sighing contentedly. "Doesn't that sun feel wonderful, Valkyrie? I can feel it warming my bones, so soothing."

I grinned broadly at her, then allowed myself to feel the warmth of the sun as well, feeling it sinking into my bones. The day was slightly cool, and the sensation was wonderful. The waiter came and Skulduggery looked at me. "May I take the liberty of ordering for you? Good." She turned towards the waiter at my nod. "Coffee and eggs Benedict for the young lady. Nothing for me, thank you." Skulduggery handed back our menus and the waiter gave us a friendly smile before leaving.

Skulduggery turned to me again. "You'll love this town, Valkyrie. I've often thought of retiring here some day. A stable magical community, lots of little shops to poke around in. You know how curious I am."

I blinked. "But Skulduggery, this place is beautiful. I thought magical communities tended to look-"

"Rundown? They do. But the citizens here chose beauty and certain warding spells. Nonmagical people won't see what we see, trust me the illusion is ten times worse than Roarhaven's reality. We aren't on any known mortal map here either, by the way." She said, fishing for a compliment on her cleverness.

I grinned. "You're more clever than you realize, I haven't seen stickers like that outside of Dublin." A discreet rainbow flag adorned one window, and another was on the door. She grinned hugely and nodded.

"I knew that was there." She said smugly. Sure she did. My mobile rang, Ghastly. I picked up, amused, mouthing to Skulduggery that it was Ghastly, and she motioned for me to put him on speaker phone.

"Good morning, Elder Bespoke." We chorused, drawing a laugh from Ghastly's end.

"Now you two stop that. How are you enjoying yourself, Valkyrie?" The man was fishing, his voice hopeful.

"I'm having a great time." I said happily, and we could both feel him grasping for a clue in my answer.

"Last night went well then?" He asked, his voice anxious and my heart melted. He cared about us both.

"Last night went extremely well, Ghastly. Skulduggery gave me an amazing dinner, more gifts that I deserve, and now we're sitting outside a café enjoying holding hands."

Skulduggery snorted. "You have to be more direct with men, Valkyrie. She's very much in love with me, Ghastly, and she knows I'm very much in love with her. Stop worrying so much."

The waiter brought my coffee, his eyes sparkling with amusement when he heard Skulduggery's words and Ghastly's gasp of delight. I nodded my thanks to him and the waiter withdrew. Ghastly at last recovered himself. "That's wonderful news, and I mean it. Who can I call first with the good news?"

"Well I know Uncle Gordon will be delighted, and anyone Skulduggery wants to know. Erskine and Tipstaff, right?" I asked and she nodded. A happy Ghastly rang off muttering something about letting the Dead Men know and I looked at her.

"How many of the Dead Men knew how you feel about me?" I asked gently and I swore she blushed.

"All of them. Ghastly, Tipstaff and Erskine have known for some time, but they agreed to never tell you. They didn't, did they?"

"Skulduggery, I promise you I had no idea until you kissed me last night. But looking back, you've been giving me hints for years. I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize how you felt, or to admit how I felt."

She cooed softly, stroking my cheek tenderly with a gloved hand and the waiter set down my breakfast, his eyes slightly misty. "On the house, we waited a century before we said anything, and we're still making up for lost time."

He inclined his head to the window and an attractive man waved happily at us. I realized he was the owner, then realized he was waiting tables as well. He came out and wrapped his arm around our waiter affectionately. "It's good to see a couple realize earlier than we did." He said, pausing to smile at his partner affectionately. "So please, enjoy your breakfast. We'd be delighted to see you back for lunch, as paying customers of course." He smiled and they withdrew, leaving Skulduggery and I to the beautiful morning and each other.


Breakfast was wonderful and Skulduggery was a delightful woman to shop with. She was curious about everything, and hearing about my intention to get Ghastly a gift caused her to lead me to a magical junk shop of sorts. "Ghastly loves old junk like this." She said happily, drawing an amused stare from the owner. We roamed separately, and I found a silver pair of shears with golden symbols etched on them. They looked like the rather scary pair Ghastly wielded, but more elaborate.

"How much are these?" I asked the owner and she shook her head.

"You can have those free if you buy anything else. Completely useless if you aren't working with magical material, then only a magical tailor could make use of them, and there aren't many of those around anymore." She sighed wistfully.

Skulduggery had found a small book she liked, and the owner put both items in lovely gift bags.

Skulduggery waited until we were on the street before turning to me in delight. "How did you get magical shears off that woman for free? Do you have any idea how rare they are? Not even Ghastly owns a pair like that. He's going to love you for the rest of your life." She said amused.

We stored our bags in the boot of the Bentley and passed the rest of the day browsing, stopping back in the cafe for a delightful lunch. Soon we were back in the Bentley, headed for home. Our home. Skulduggery started to sing along to the radio as she drove, and I fell asleep to the soothing sound of her voice.


OK, a case would come next, but I had to be nice to these two and give them a place they could be open without judgment. Happily stores the world over can carry small signs the gay community would know such as rainbow flags or a LGBT friendly sign. Dublin, Cork, and Galloway are the most gay-friendly cities in Ireland, yes, I checked.

I want to stress that love is always the same and these rainbow flags or other symbols just reassure a couple they will be accepted and treated like everyone else.