"Yes." There was still a modicum of surprise in his tone, but Skulduggery was already trying a sip of water now. It was harder than swallowing food - mostly because he'd worked out a pattern of biting and chewing beforehand - but at least now he knew how to avoid that painful coughing fit from before. Skulduggery had also forgotten just how bland and tasteless the clear liquid was, and that didn't help.

He did notice how the water almost instantly began soothing the inside of his throat, though. Almost like one of Professor Grouse's healing touches, when the sorcerer felt like admitting to Skulduggery that reducing his pain was possible. The detective had no idea how parched he'd been until that moment; but then, he hadn't had a single sip for two days now. It was another thing he really should have realized, but at least he was making progress.

He swallowed down another small sip, fervently hoping that anything unexpected in the food was a thing of the past. "Thank you."