Valkyrie's fingers hovered over the keys of the piano, flexing slightly. She pressed one finger down lightly on a single key, and then another one at random. Skulduggery scoffed. She raised an eyebrow at him, placed both hands on the piano and began to play.

"Oh come on, don't look so damn surprised." Valkyrie huffed with a smile.

Skulduggery was speechless. "I...I never would have imagined..."

"What? That I could play piano? Please, what d'you think I was doing for the first 12 years of my life before I met you? Sitting around waiting for you to smash through my uncle's house window? I had a normal life, in case you'd forgotten."

"Of course, of course. Piano lessons, the lifestyle of most children these days."

"...You say that like it's a bad thing."

Skulduggery ignored her. "How long were you learning for?"

"Oh, just a few years. But I guess I'm a pretty quick learner." Valkyrie winked.

"Mmm, I'm sure I would know all about that."

Valkyrie squinted. "...Pardon-?" She began.

"-Say, Val," Skulduggery cut her off.

She glared at him. "...What?"

"How would you like it if..." He rested his skull on his hand in thought. "I gave you piano lessons?"

Valkyrie pretended to consider it, then grinned. "You give me piano lessons in return for dancing lessons? Deal."

"Ah, so the dancing lessons haven't been forgotten about?"

"Unfortunately for you, nope."

"I see. Well, I'll be looking forward to both of these lessons nonetheless."

"Me too Skul, me too."

There was a sort of awkward silence when they both met eyes and immediately looked away- Valkyrie looked at the piano and Skulduggery rested his gaze on her.

"Okay, you've told me Mr. Froggy's backstory," She said, trying determinedly to keep her eyes on the piano. "and since I'll soon be playing it regularly, I want to know about this beautiful piano here." Val looked back at Skulduggery, who in turn switched his gaze to the piano before she could catch him watching her. She walked up to him standing by the piano and trailed her hand along the painted wood.

He watched her carefully, forcing himself to try and focus on the piano, and not how close to him she suddenly was. He could feel her warmth from standing in the sunlight pouring through the window, and he suddenly longed to hold her, any part of her. He frustratedly settled on resting his hands on her shoulder and placing his chin on them in a nonchalant way, hoping she wouldn't find this gesture strange. Thankfully, if she did, she didn't show it.

"I found her, a long time after the war, maybe a few decades? Can't for the love of my un-dead life remember where, but I found her when she was counting her last days." He said, with an air of nostalgia.

Valkyrie nodded and "Mhmm"ed appreciatively, and Skulduggery could feel her hair brush against his hand.

He continued, not looking up from the piano. "She was rather sad looking, just resting outside an old shop, reminiscing of the days she had been used to play wonderful music. She appealed to me immediately, and until today I still cannot fathom why. I just knew that there was something...magical- if I may- about her."

Valkyrie frowned ever so slightly. He spoke about the piano with such an air that made her think he was telling the backstory of how he met someone he had once been in love with. Valkyrie shrugged to herself, she didn't get why he was fawning over an instrument so much. It was just some piano, right? Like, who cares? It can project holograms in your brain, so what? Big deal. And the piano didn't even do the magic, Charles the Frog did...geez.

She glanced at the dull, white piano and narrowed her eyes. She glared at it for a little, until she felt satisfied. The piano stood there unmoving- Valkyrie gave a small nod of triumph.

She listened half-heartedly as he went into great detail about how the piano caught his eye one gloomy afternoon, after he had a fight with his wife. He had taken a walk in the village, not wanting to anger her any more, and needing to cool down, himself. He had walked aimlessly through the streets, his mind replaying the argument over and over again.

He told Valkyrie that he couldn't even remember what they were arguing about, that it had all vanished from his mind when he saw the piano. He didn't know why he had been so drawn to it, or why he had longed to play it when he had never touched a piano in his life before.

"There was just...this aura of beauty surrounding it, Valkyrie. It was...it was spectacular." He said in a voice that was barely over a whisper, as if his complement was not directed towards a piano.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

She listened with slight bitterness as he retold tales of how he fell in love with the piano. How he fell in love with it the moment he saw it, how it was love at first sight, blah blah blah.

Valkyrie stopped suddenly. Did she really just say "blah blah blah" in her head? She rubbed her face with her hand as her eyes widened in disbelief. Valkyrie didn't want to admit it, she didn't even want to believe it herself. Was she actually jealous of a piano?

She shook her head in bewilderment. She didn't think it was actually possible for someone to be jealous of an inanimate object. But she was so head over heels for this Skeleton that she was basically jealous of any other girl he spoke about, although she would never, ever admit that out loud. She realised all at once how truly in love she was with Skulduggery. This is bad. Real bad. She thought.

Skulduggery's velvet voice pulled her out of her imagination.

"Do you want to know what I named her?" He asked.

Valkyrie sighed out a distracted "Sure..."

"I named her...Grace Kelly"

Valkyrie whipped her head around at him. "Oh for god's sake-"

He raised his hands up defence. "I'm joking, I'm joking! I didn't name her Grace...Although Grace is a lovely name, and it is a lovely piano..."

Valkyrie breathed out an irritated sigh.

Skulduggery turned his head affectionately towards her. "It is a lovely piano, so I named it after a lovely girl."

Valkyrie muttered under her breath.

He paused slightly, then told her, "I named her Valkyrie."