[Hayley rolls her eyes and steps back up to the window. She pushes it open a little more, about three-quarters now, and then reaches out to take the coffee from him. The girl stares for a moment, wondering with a sort of detachment at how she has arrived at this ludicrous situation with a skeleton hovering outside her window and bringing her coffee. Then she turns away, returning to her bed to leave him to enter on his own.]
[He manages it with about as much grace as a flying skeleton can manage, which is quite a bit more than one might expect - though he does knock his head on the sash before he makes it properly inside.]
Your window sticks. You might want to get that looked at.
[She gives him a pointed look, one that says she knows that he knows that it was deliberate and his comments are entirely unnecessary. Hayley sits on the foot of her bed, pulling her legs up beneath her to sit cross-legged and giving a nod at the chair at her desk not too far from where she sits. Her hands hold the cup of coffee between them.]
I'll tell you the same thing I told Solomon. The fancy entrance is cute and all, but if you want to visit me? Use the door like a normal person. This place needs more normal.
[Hayley acquiesces, knowing he's telling the truth. She stares down at her coffee for a solid few seconds before finally taking a sip of it. Then she looks over at him again.]
Imagine that dead people stay dead and there's no magic and no ghosts and no spooky shadow creatures or whatever. Then imagine you meet a talking skeleton who can fly up to your window. It's weird.
Thanks. [The reply is sincere, bordering on heartfelt. The girl allows a long silence between them, shifting her gaze between Skulduggery, the coffee, and random objects about her room. Finally, eventually, she continues her rare bout of honesty.]
I didn't even mind arguing with Raine that much, but then Solomon said I was acting like a kid and to stop. [A beat.] I thought he'd be on my side.
[Skulduggery nods once. Twice. Clears his lack of a throat.] If I were a more vindictive man, I'd say Wreath's been known to switch sides whenever the mood takes him. Since I'm not a more vindictive man, I'll just say sometimes the best way to deal with him is to tell him he's right. It throws him off-guard enough to stop him from arguing.
[Hayley smiles at Skulduggery's noncommittal judgment of Solomon. Although she likes the man overall, in this moment, she's still angry with him and it's nice to hear that maybe it's not just her. Except then he says that she's torn about whether to believe he means it or whether he's saying to agree because Skulduggery genuinely believes Hayley to be wrong. She assumes the safer option.]
Thanks for telling me. Maybe I can use that next time. [She huffs a small sigh and takes another sip of her drink, absolutely expecting a next time. If they can even recover from this time enough to have one.]
I know I'm a kid and I have a lot to learn, but I'm never going to learn if no one takes me seriously, you know? Clark did. And Bart and Bruce and Kon and Mark and Dick and Tony and a ton of other people who are all gone now. Now it's like.. I'm just a kid again and half the time I expect Solomon to pat me on the head and give me a piece of candy. I hate it.
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Your window sticks. You might want to get that looked at.
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I'll tell you the same thing I told Solomon. The fancy entrance is cute and all, but if you want to visit me? Use the door like a normal person. This place needs more normal.
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Does it? [A neutral invitation to say more.]
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Did you seriously come here to pick a fight?
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Imagine that dead people stay dead and there's no magic and no ghosts and no spooky shadow creatures or whatever. Then imagine you meet a talking skeleton who can fly up to your window. It's weird.
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I didn't even mind arguing with Raine that much, but then Solomon said I was acting like a kid and to stop. [A beat.] I thought he'd be on my side.
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Thanks for telling me. Maybe I can use that next time. [She huffs a small sigh and takes another sip of her drink, absolutely expecting a next time. If they can even recover from this time enough to have one.]
I know I'm a kid and I have a lot to learn, but I'm never going to learn if no one takes me seriously, you know? Clark did. And Bart and Bruce and Kon and Mark and Dick and Tony and a ton of other people who are all gone now. Now it's like.. I'm just a kid again and half the time I expect Solomon to pat me on the head and give me a piece of candy. I hate it.