L is for Linger
China might be one of the very, very few who remember how Skulduggery was while alive. She might actually be the only one who bothers to remember, now that Serpine was dead and his jealousy towards the skeleton with him.
Every time he comes in through her door, even more so with Valkyrie (who looks so much like Penelope, if not in looks then in attitude) at his heels, she is struck by how much he has changed from the raven-haired young man who flirted with her teasingly and wound up in an alley in London as a result. (Alison had been displeased.)
China draws herself out of it every time. "Yes, what can I help you with today?"
Linger |ˈli ng gər|
Verb [ intrans. ]
Stay in a place longer than necessary, typically because of a reluctance to leave : she lingered in the yard, enjoying the warm sunshine | she let her eyes linger on him suggestively.
• ( linger over) spend a long time over (something) : she lingered over her meal.
• Be slow to disappear or die : the tradition seems to linger on we are thankful that she didn't linger on and suffer.
A/N: Alison is the name that Lady Tourniquet(?) gave his wife. I agreed. Penelope is the name I gave his daughter. I happen to like it. (Sorry if I messed tense-shifted, I usually don't write what's happening in the present tense.)