The Purple Haired Craze

In Which Erskine Throws A Hissy Fit

Skulduggery lead her to a table where she saw Anton and Liv perched, Liv cheerily chatting to him, Anton unabashedly staring at her, occasionally responding to her questions. They both sat up when Skulduggery and Valkyrie sat down, Anton looking slightly sheepish and stopped gazing at Liv so openly.

"Val, I lost you at the door! I'm glad you found Skulduggery without much problem."

"Where are the others?"

Liv pointed at Ely and Lena who were being escorted over by Dexter and Saracen. "They are coming over now and September is over there." She pointed in the other direction at Twinkle who was chatting with Ghastly, dawdling over.

"What about Erskine?"

"With Sorrows," Anton remarked, a sneer in his voice as he said China's name, pointing out the two who were waltzing on the dance floor dramatically. Erskine looked absolutely infatuated with her, but China kept looking away from him, looking slightly disgusted as he tried to kiss her.

"Ew," Val grimaced. "Not a good sight."

"Nope," Liv agreed.

The others finally came to sit down at the table. Valkyrie turned to Lena and Ely asking what Dexter and Saracen were like.

"They're okay, I suppose," Lena said, looking at the two boys who had sat at the other end of the table together. "It's just clear that they like each other and only really asked us two out because they knew us and we were available."

"They purposely keep passing each other on the dance floor to make eyes at each other," Ely told her. "It's quite cute really, but it does mean that they aren't really that interested in us."

They all laughed. "We should really try and get them together," Twinkle decided.

"I don't think that is possible," Valkyrie told them. "Skulduggery told me that whilst they like each other, they are natural flirts and he doubts they would ever settle down together."

Ely shrugged her shoulders. "We can always try. But, he has a point. We live for so long that dedicating ourselves to one person only for the rest of eternity would probably be difficult."

"Some people manage well enough."

"They don't have the same personalities as the boys though."

"Good point."

They made small talk, giggling at Erskine as he tried to come onto China again and how she slapped his face and walked off behind the curtain, probably to sit down in a dark corner. They all watched as Erskine staggered over, slightly tipsy after drinking some alcohol, and slumped into the empty seat in between Skulduggery and Anton, starting to talk about how mean China had been for the entire evening.

"She likes you, Skulduggery," he was beginning to shout and Valkyrie realised in slight horror that Erskine was very angry. She stood up, watching in disbelief as the Dead Men laughed at him, not really noticing Erskine's rage that was building up. Marching over quickly, she pulled Erskine out of his seat and away from Skulduggery. He was about to turn around and punch her, but his reflexes were slow, giving Valkyrie enough time to dodge the blow and pull him into a headlock.

"Calm down. Skulduggery isn't interested in China."

The others were all silenced at the sudden turn of events and watched as Valkyrie calmed Erskine down enough to release him from the lock. They all looked a bit baffled, Skulduggery watching her closely, trying to work out what had just happened.

"I'll take him to his room to cool off," Valkyrie told them. "I won't be long."

She linked her arm around Erskine's, half-dragging him out of the ballroom, not noticing China watching in the shadows.

"What just happened?" Ely asked Skulduggery.

"I don't really know," Skulduggery replied, watching Valkyrie and Erskine leave the room. "Should I go after her?"

Liv gave a snort. "Did you guys not noticed how angry Ravel was getting?" she asked them.

They all shook their heads.

"Typical. Erskine was clearly jealous of you, Skul, because China likes you, not him. How could you not notice that?"

"Erskine isn't known for being faithful," Saracen remarked. "I've never seen him so bothered about a girl."

"But he gets jealous. It is a natural thing for people to feel."

"Wait, where did Dexter and Saracen go?" Ely interrupted.

They all looked around, trying to spot where they had got to before Lena started to giggle.

"Found them," she said, trying to stifle her laughter whilst simultaneously attempting to point out the two boys who had managed to tuck themselves in a corner behind a fold of the curtain, but despite the fabric blocking their view slightly, it was obvious that the two were kissing each other rather aggressively.

Ghastly sighed. "They do this every time," he muttered, standing up abruptly. "Just a second."

They were all struggling not to laugh as Ghastly marched over to the pair, pulled them apart and dragged them back over to the table.

"Hi guys," Saracen said, as they both sat down in their seats, slightly ruffled with swollen lips. "How have you been?"

Lena let out a chuckle that she had been keeping in for some time and at that moment the flood gates opened. They all sat laughing hysterically, except Ghastly, who was still trying to look at them disapprovingly.

"You could at least have the decency to tell your dates that you aren't interested before you go and have sex in a corner." But even Ghastly couldn't maintain stony faced and they all succumbed to their mirth.