A/N: I don't own Skulduggery or Valkyrie. Yes, Val is still a guy. He's in his 20s here. This is set a few days after Chapter One.
Skulduggery had been in a good enough mood to stop for some fast food and now we were sitting at the kitchen table. He was watching me as I ate, grinning hugely as I licked the sauce off my fingers in between bites. "You know, Val, I don't think the idea is to get half the sauce all over your fingers."
"Yes, it is, that's half the fun of this burger. Two patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese. It is supposed to go everywhere." I said, stopping again to lick. I mean really, he paid for the burger, so why waste the sauce? I paused for some coffee, trying not to notice that he wasn't so much watching me eat as he was having fun watching me eat.
"Well, you try one then." I said, feeling myself flush. He was so fastidious he probably would be able to eat one neatly. He shook his head, propping his chin in his hand in open amusement. "They probably make videos like this." He purred.
"Skulduggery!" I yelped and he laughed. I felt myself flush bright red again. Then he seemed to catch himself.
"Sorry, Val. But you really are more cute than anything doing that. It's like watching a baby eat." I tried to glower at him, I really did, but giggled instead. I noticed he had as yet to eat his own sandwich even though his full body façade was activated.
"You gonna eat that?" I asked, cocking a brow. He looked at it, seemingly nervous. "Skulduggery, you can take your gloves off, you know." I said, amused. He nodded and did, then opened the box.
"Knife and fork." He said, starting to rise, but I grabbed his hand.
"No way, Skulduggery. You're a man, pick it up and eat like one. Unless you're chicken." I teased. His eyes flashed then he looked at me smugly. He picked the burger up, staring at it. He took a bite and I tried not to laugh as sauce escaped. He actually looked dismayed.
He put the burger down, looked at me, then at his fingers, then at me. "I don't suppose you'd-" He held out his hand. He wasn't being a perv, I could just tell the idea of licking his fingers was seriously freaking him out. Then I remembered he hadn't eaten much in the last four centuries and my heart softened towards him.
"Like this." I said, licking my own fingers. "Like a cat." I did it again and he nodded then copied me, looking dismayed that he, yes, he, had actually managed to get sauce on himself. It was cute watching him clean himself and I realized why he'd been happy to watch me. "You're right, that is adorable." I agreed and he flushed slightly.
"Well of course, I'm adorable." He said smugly. "But you are too. Speaking of being adorable, I expect you to be downright cuddly when our friends call. They will be eager to give you tips on being a good husband, never mind the fact that none of them have ever been married. If we could do more of this, that would be nice." He added, licking his fingers after another bite.
"I know they will, that's what I love about them. They would rather chase cute guys forever, but they all get so mushy about weddings." I said with a grin and Skulduggery grinned back. He deactivated his façade after our meal and we drifted in to watch TV. At least that was the idea.
But as I got settled into his strong embrace Skulduggery turned me over so I was staring into his expressive eye sockets. I grinned at him, waiting for him to lean forward, which he did, pressing his teeth to my lips firmly. He was careful not to hurt me, he always was, because he loved me, but his impressive strength was one of the things I loved about him.
Skulduggery shifted, holding me tighter so that I could feel his ribs pressed up against me, and feel the hardness of his hips as they jutted into mine. I was almost fainting from the strength of his arms wrapped around me, it just meant so much to have the man I was so in love with holding me, and I think he knew it. I smiled shyly down at him and he grinned smugly up at me then flipped me without warning to land on top of me with a pleased smirk.
I grinned up at him, totally enjoying myself when his mobile rang. We both sighed and he clambered off, holding a finger to me so I'd wait where I was. But from his shoulders as he listened I knew something was up so I sat up beside him, listening as he grunted his way through the conversation. He finally flipped his mobile shut and turned to grin at me. "We have a case, a stakeout of sorts. How good are you at pretending you like theme parks?" He asked.
"We get to go to a theme park?" I asked excitedly. "I mean, I liked them as a little kid, yeah." I corrected myself at his amused grin. Skulduggery laughed and ruffled my hair fondly.
"I can see this will be a real stretch of your acting talents. Come along then, I'll get us a funnel cake or whatever else they have while we pretend to be enjoying ourselves and hunt our quarry." He said, standing and holding out his hand to me. I took it with a grin and soon we were on our way. "Seatbelt." Skulduggery murmured as we settled into the Bentley.
I complied then looked at him as he drove. He had to wear the façade everywhere now and I didn't think he realized how happy he looked. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I asked, happy he was looking forward to a day of fun, even if a case was involved.
"I am, I get to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, while you get to enjoy the rides. We both get to enjoy the food of course. Ah, before I forget, I got you something. I'm well aware you can't possibly do enough cardio to keep up with a growing skeleton, so here." He handed me a black velvet box and I was touched. He'd gotten me an engagement ring just a few days ago and now this?
I opened it to see a thick silver chain necklace inside with a laser cut skull-shaped pendant. I grinned, flipping down the visor so I could use the vanity mirror to put it on. "Skulduggery, I love it." I said happily, leaning over to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek.
He smiled. "I thought you might. As you may have guessed you can eat whatever you like now. There's no point in you starving yourself while I can have whatever I like. And I fully intend to feed you there, if we can mix you going on rides and eating, that is."
"We can go on sedate rides, Skulduggery." I offered and he nodded. The truth was I liked the idea of slower rides since half the fun would be being cuddled up to him. I knew a theme park was most likely beneath his considerable dignity and he probably thought they were tacky places to go, but duty called and I knew it partly called because he wanted to indulge me.
And it was because I knew how good he was to me that I worked up enough bravery to reach inside my jacket. If Skulduggery had a hard time giving gifts, he was worse at getting them, but I hoped him being in a good mood would help, even though according to him I wasn't allowed to buy him anything, ever.
We'd pulled up to a drive through to grab coffees and I slipped the ring into his suit pocket. I knew he noticed it, so did the guy handing us our coffee who grinned hugely at us and waved to us as we left. Skulduggery looked touched and once we were on the road he glanced over at me. "You didn't have to, you know, but thank you. It's staying there until after the park, I'd hate to loose it. You can put yours in there too, if you want. I honestly didn't feel you do it. You're becoming a regular Kitty Softpaws." He teased and I blushed, then settled in to enjoy the rest of the ride, happy I'd made him happy.
This might go on, maybe. It helps tons if people comment. It wasn't supposed to become a full-fledged story, but it seems to want to be. And yes, I was watching the "Americano" vid for Kitty and Puss all day, lol!