Requiem: Chapter Thirteen...

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There was one glaringly obvious problem as they stepped into their hotel room. It really was just a room. There was a TV on the wall opposite the double bed and a small balcony. The door to the tiny bathroom was to the left, next to the narrow wardrobe. It was nice enough, and the furniture was new and clean, but it was tightly packed. The bedroom had a large mirror on one side and glass doors on the other, meaning every inch of the room was reflected back at them. The bathroom was barely big enough to stand in, and the door opened inwards, making it awkward to squeeze round so it could be closed.

"Oh," Valkyrie said as she looked around.

"This is much smaller than I'd thought it would be," Skulduggery answered.

"Who booked it?"

"Dexter."

"He knows we're not actually dating, right?"

"He does."

"Then why did he book a room with one bed and no privacy?"

"I believe this is his idea of a joke." Skulduggery looked around the room again. "A bad one."

"Remind me to strangle him when we get back."

"I'm afraid you'll have to get in line." He put their small cases on the bed and frowned at their surroundings. "Could you change in the bathroom?"

"I can barely even stand in the bathroom," she answered. He poked his head inside and she saw him sigh. He pulled out his phone and dialled a number.

"Dexter? I am going to kill you." He paused. "Why do you think? Of course it's the room." He scowled as he listened to the reply. "It's not funny." He sagged. "Fine. You'd better hope I don't get back before you leave for Australia," he growled. The line went dead and he looked back at Valkyrie. "Don't hit me."

"Why would I hit you?"

"Just say you won't hit me."

"Fine, I won't hit you."

"Dexter won't change the room. We're stuck here."

"What are we gonna do? I'm not getting changed in front of you. And I can't sleep with you in the same room, I'll feel like you're watching me."

"Why would I want to watch you sleep? You're boring enough when you're awake."

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome." She hit him. "You said you wouldn't hit me."

"I had my fingers crossed."

"Traitor," he muttered."Unfortunately we're going to have to make the best of it."

"You'd better keep your damn eyes shut while I'm changing."

"I don't technically have eyes."

"Don't be smart."

"I'm always smart."

"Do you want me to hit you again?"

"Alright, alright," he put his hands up to ward off her anger, grinning again before he glanced around and frowned. "There's nowhere to sit. Even the balcony doesn't have a chair on it."

"What kind of hotel room doesn't have a chair in it?"

"This one, apparently." He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wardrobe. "I can't even sit somewhere else and meditate while you sleep to make you more comfortable."

"The only place to sit is the bed," she groaned. "This is so awkward."

"Unfortunately we'll have to suck it up. If we waste time returning home until a new room can be booked somebody else could die."

"You're right. We can make this work. It's only a few days."

"Exactly." He checked the time. "And our first suspect should be heading to his favourite bar this evening, so we'll be out until later on anyway. His name is Bones McCleaver."

"Bones McCleaver? Seriously?"

"Yes. It's a ridiculous name. Hopefully he'll be an equally ridiculous man." She nodded, tucking her red hair behind her ears as she unzipped the suitcase and put her clothes in the wardrobe. When she was done she did the same with Skulduggery's things while he went through the manila folder he had on the three suspects. The facade made it feel like she was wearing an uncomfortable body suit, so she shut the curtains and let it go.

"I don't know how you wear your facade so easily," she said. "It feels weird."

"I've had years to get used to it. Also it will feel different for me because I have no skin for it to cover." He looked back down at the folder before speaking again. "You should change into something suitable for a bar. If we go soon we can get there before him."

"Alright." She opened the wardrobe and took out a pair of tight jeans and a red crop top that she'd never worn. After a minute she pulled out her short leather jacket and the black heels she also never wore. "Turn around," she warned. He raised an eyebrow and did as he was told. She changed as quickly as she could, almost stumbling as she shimmied the jeans over her hips. "You can look now." He turned back and cocked his head.

"Why do you even own clothes you don't wear?"

"You can't seriously tell me you wear every single one of your suits."

"I certainly do."

"You have a problem."

"I think the word you meant was style." He unfastened his tie and slipped off his jacket as he spoke. She turned away to read the file he'd been holding as he changed his own clothes. "You can turn around now," he said eventually. As he fixed his hair it was Valkyrie's turn to raise an eyebrow. He looked like one of the guys she'd seen in the cologne adverts on TV. He wore a pair of distressed grey jeans and a close-fitting white t-shirt, with black boots and a black leather jacket. His usually neat side-parted hair was mussed, with a few strands falling over his forehead. In his new clothes his broad shoulders were more prominent. She felt that strange flip in her stomach again."What?"

"Casual weirdly suits you." She activated the facade again and began putting red lipstick on her unfamiliar lips.

"Everything suits me."

"Moron." He flashed her a grin, showing his perfect teeth.

"Am I presentable enough to be seen in public with you?" he asked.

"You'll do." He chuckled and made a move to leave the room. "Are we not taking weapons?" She applied mascara as she spoke.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I have nowhere to hide a gun, and your quarterstaff doesn't exactly fit under your jacket."

"Yeah but we're off to go stake out a potential criminal."

"Stake out. Not attack." She rolled her eyes and put the makeup away. "Stop complaining and hurry up." She followed him out of the room and through the hotel. He offered her his arm as they walked, playing along with the dating couple thing they'd started. She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, marvelling again at how solid his arm felt.

"This is cosy," she grinned.

"Don't be an idiot," he answered, but he was smiling.

"What's the plan then?"

"What do you think we should do?"

"Find somewhere to sit, order a drink and wait for him to come in. If he stops too far away from us I can say I'm going to the bathroom and then stop closer to him when I come back. You can join me afterwards."

"Sounds good to me." They walked in companionable silence until they reached the bar in question. The glowing sign above the door told her the place was called Bar Red. The bouncer ushered them in without asking for ID, and Skulduggery guided her to the bar. "What are you drinking?"

"A beer is fine," she answered. He bought their drinks and they took a booth in the corner that offered them a good view of the space, choosing to sit on the same side as one another so they could both see. Skulduggery angled himself towards her to hide the fact that he was observing people. "This is weird," she said.

"You're saying that far too much lately."

"It is though. You're not wearing a suit."

"Hmm. I suppose that is strange. But in a place like this a suit might be out of the ordinary, don't you think?" She glanced around at the faded posters on the walls and the tattooed and pierced people sat nearby.

"Yeah, you'd stick out like a sore thumb." He chuckled, surveying their surroundings even as he maintained their easy conversation. She found herself actually beginning to enjoy the night. She loved being an Arbiter, and the excitement of another case was massive for her, but she also found she liked spending time socially with Skulduggery. He made her laugh and he was interesting. More interesting than most people she knew, actually.

"He's here." She followed his gaze subtly and found a man with a bald head and a beard had entered and walked to the bar. He had tattoos that were meant to look like his skin had been torn to reveal the bones underneath, and he was covered in rippling muscle.

"This guys strikes me as an 'openly punch you in the face and take your stuff in broad daylight' kind of guy. Definitly not somebody who'd lure people into a dark park and rob them," she said.

"He does look like he prefers to smash things."

"We're gonna have to get closer if he stays over there."

"Let's wait and see what he does." They waited for another ten minutes before deciding he wasn't going to move.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom then. I'll meet you by the bar." He nodded as she got up and headed to the toilets. As she passed, a burly man with a lip piercing leered at her. She avoided his gaze and ducked through the door, glad to find the bathroom empty. She looked at herself in the mirror. With her pierced ears and red lips she looked even more unfamiliar. The facade stared back uncomfortably. She waited a minute or two before heading back out.

"Hey pretty girl," said a low voice as she left, and a hand on her arm made her turn. "Haven't seen you here before."

"I'm not from around here," she said warily. It was the man who'd leered at her on her way into the bathroom. She glanced around for Skulduggery but he wasn't in the booth.

"Have a drink with me. Maybe I could show you the sights." He winked, taking a step closer to her. She backed up automatically but the wall was behind her. "You're awful pretty. You got any other tattoos on that body of yours?"

"None that I want to show you," she answered. She could take him if she had to, but starting a bar fight would blow their cover. He took another step towards her.

"Aww don't be like that. I'm sure you'd like me if you got to know me."

"The only person she'll be 'getting to know' tonight is me," said a velvety voice from beside her, and then Skulduggery was there, leaning over her protectively with his arm braced against the wall beside her head. "Beat it."

"And who are you to tell me to go anywhere?" Skulduggery's eyes flashed as he sized up the burly man.

"Her boyfriend. If you'd like me to make you leave I'd be happy to. Of course, you may not have as many teeth as you did when you came in." The stranger narrowed his eyes, considering his options before scowling and walking away. "Are you alright?" Skulduggery stayed close as he turned back to look at her.

"I'm fine. I could've handled that you know."

"Not without punching somebody. Men like that don't back off if they don't feel threatened. And dressed as you are, you look anything but threatening."

"Oh. Well then thanks I guess."

"My pleasure." He smiled again and Valkyrie marvelled at how young he looked. In fact, all the faces she'd seen him wear were young.

"Why do you always look twenty two?" she asked. He blinked, surprised by her question.

"What makes you ask that?"

"I dunno. I guess seeing you like this just makes me wonder."

"Like what?"

"You know. Casual." He arched an eyebrow, but humoured her.

"I looked this age when I died," he explained, keeping his voice low so that only she could hear. "The facade is tuned to my aura, which in turn remembers my physical condition at the time. The body of the facade is an exact replica of my own. It's only the face that changes. It wouldn't make sense to have a young body and an old face."

"Hmm. I suppose that's fair," she nodded, satisfied with his answer. He slipped an arm around her waist and led her to the bar, shooting a smug wink at the idiot with the lip ring as they passed. "Don't goad him."

"I couldn't resist." They sidled closer to their target and Valkyrie leaned back against the bar, keeping him in her periphery. Skulduggery kept up the ruse, staying close to her as he faced her, one hand resting on the wooden surface very close to her waist. She ignored the goosebumps that rippled across her skin, concentrating instead on what the bald man was saying.

"It doesn't sound like he's saying anything noteworthy to his friends," she said, making sure she couldn't be heard by anybody but her partner.

"No it doesn't."

"I'll be honest, I don't think this is our guy. I'm not getting that vibe from him."

"Neither am I, but I've been wrong before. We'll wait a while, tail him when he leaves and if we don't hear anything of interest we'll find suspect number two in the morning." He cocked his head. "The sooner we find and observe each one the better. It gives us more time to double back and observe them again later if we have to." The bald man glanced over at them and Valkyrie laughed and tucked her red hair behind her ears, touching Skulduggery's arm. He caught on quickly and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "This is very strange when you don't look like yourself."

"Are you saying it wouldn't be strange to fake flirt if I did look like myself?"

"Flirting with you would always be strange because you're terrible at it."

"I'm excellent at flirting."

"Who told you that? Because they're wrong." Skulduggery fell silent for a second, still listening to McCleaver, who was talking about a golf trip with his friends.

"He doesn't look like the kind of guy to play golf," Valkyrie mused. "He looks like casual murder might be more his thing."

"As opposed to formal murder?"

"Shut up."

"I can't. Then we'd be stood here in silence looking very strange."

"You already look strange. I think I prefer you in a suit."

"I prefer me in a suit too."

"At least you got to wear boots." She could still hear McCleaver talking about golf, and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, choosing instead to flash a smile at Skulduggery. "I got stuck in these stupid heels."

"Nobody told you to wear them."

"Do you really think my armoured boots would go with this top?"

"I don't think armoured anything goes with that top. There's hardly any top there."

"It's not that bad. It feels weird to have my stomach out though." She glanced down at herself. "Although it's not really my stomach. I don't have freckles." They continued chatting and listening like that for several hours, until McCleaver finally made a move to leave. They waited a minute and then followed. Valkyrie twisted her fingers through Skulduggery's and he reciprocated like it was the most natural thing in the world for him.

"I'm surprised how easy you're finding this considering you haven't had a girlfriend for years," she said.

"I told you I'm still capable of having relationships. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"I guess it isn't anymore really," she answered. "It seems natural to you." He smiled.

"It isn't, if I'm honest. But it's getting easier to get used to it now." McCleaver disappeared around a corner and he tugged her along a little faster than before, pausing as they reached the junction. They let go of one another and followed him in silence after that, focussed on tailing him until he reached his home.

"Well, that was disappointing," Valkyrie said as the bald man disappeared into his house.

"Indeed it was. I don't think this is our man. So tomorrow we'll flag down suspect number two." They stayed near McCleaver's house, concealed in the shadows until his lights flickered off, then headed back to the hotel together. Valkyrie's feet were throbbing by the time they got back to their room.

"I hate these stupid shoes," she muttered, kicking them off and letting the facade disappear as she flopped onto the bed. Skulduggery chuckled and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the back of the door before turning to face her.

"Once again, nobody told you to wear them."

"I didn't have any others." She propped herself up on her elbows to look at him. "So who's the second suspect?"

"Emmet Slight."

"The one that's been living as a mortal?"

"Yes."

"Why have the Sanctuary decided he's a suspect?"

"Haven't the foggiest, but we agreed to work with them so we have to go with their leads first. If they don't pan out then we can follow our own."

"And what if he's another strike out like McCleaver was?"

"Then we follow our third man. If he also turns up nothing then we start again and tail them for longer. If that doesn't work then we ignore them completely and do our own thing."

"That could take weeks."

"Then we'd best hope one of these three is our criminal." He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wardrobe again, a faint ridge forming between his eyebrows. "In the meantime I suppose we should discuss our...situation."

"What do you mean?"

"This is a very small room."

"I know that."

"And I don't really fancy standing in the corner the whole time." She sat up and chewed her lip.

"I didn't expect you to," she said eventually. "What do you want to do?"

"Personally I'm not particularly uncomfortable around you."

"And that means?"

"We're adults. If you're happy for me to take half the bed then I will. If not then I'll meditate on the floor."

"Is there even enough room on the floor?" she asked doubtfully, eyeing the thin strip of space around the edges of the bed.

"I'm sure I'd manage."

"Don't be stupid. I'm just concerned about waking up next to a skeleton and having a small heart attack."

"I'm not going to be removing the facade while we're here."

"You aren't?"

"No. If somebody were to wander in while I was meditating and you were sleeping, like the hotel maid for example, that wouldn't be the best would it?"

"I guess not." She considered it for a moment before shrugging. "Sure, alright then. But keep your hands to yourself."

"Don't be an idiot, Valkyrie."

"But that's why you love me," she grinned. He chuckled, shaking his head as he pushed away from the wardrobe and unlaced his boots. "Did you bring anything to sleep in?"

"I don't sleep."

"You know what I mean, moron. Did you bring anything to wear to bed?"

"I have a pair of jogging bottoms that will do." She turned away while he changed, checking her phone in case she'd missed any calls. There was a message from her mum telling her to have fun, and one from Tanith saying she'd broken the microwave. She groaned. "Everything alright?"

"Tanith broke the microwave," she answered, turning automatically to speak to him. Her eyes widened. He was stood with his back to her, tying the waistband of his joggers to keep them up, his torso bare. He'd said the body of the facade was an exact replica of how he'd looked when he died. If that was true then he'd looked good. She turned away quickly, her cheeks turning pink in an instant. The image of muscles rolling languidly beneath his skin was burned into her eyelids even as she tried to blink it away.

"She's been alone for five minutes," he said, his voice muffled as he pulled a shirt over his head. "Ghastly will have his hands full if he ever asks her to move in with him."

"It's probably safer for him not to ask. She might burn his house down," she mumbled.

"Are you alright?"

"Sure," she said quickly. "I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm concerned that my new apartment is going to be destroyed when I get back," she lied.

"I'm sure it'll be alright." The mattress shifted beside her and she allowed herself to look back at him as he settled against the headboard of the bed. Her heart was racing and her cheeks still felt hot, though if he noticed he didn't comment. She cursed inwardly, unable to ignore the ridiculous reaction she was having to him. It's just the facade. It's just because the facade is attractive. That's all. But even as she told herself that, she knew it wasn't true. It was all of him. Somewhere along the line, she'd developed feelings for Skulduggery.

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