***A Story From Dr. Erasmus's POV***
William Erasmus sighed as he reached a hand into a message lizard tube, trying to free a beastie that had become stuck somehow. He gritted his teeth as the little blighter wriggled around more, slipping out of his hand and further down the tube. Barking spiders, how had this thing become so stuck anyway? William strained to extend his arm, stretching his fingers out in a hope to get a hold of the lizard's tail or one of it's rear legs.
"How goes it, Dr. Erasmus?" laughed a voice from behind him. William glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at Dr. Nora Darwin Barlow. He wondered how he must look, shoulder-deep in a message lizard tube.
"It's really in there, Dr. Barlow," he replied tersely, doing a wiggle in an attempt to force his arm deeper into the tube. He could here it squawking snippets of conversation.
"You bum-rag!" it shouted in a boy's voice, with a heavy Scottish accent. "It goes into the loop!"
"Maybe you should take the lizard's advice," suggested Dr. Barlow with a smirk. William glared at the woman.
"I'd like to see you do any better, missy," he snapped then winced. He sounded so old. Nora laughed again.
"Did just call me 'missy', Dr. Erasmus?" she snickered. "My, my, you must be older then you look!"
"I'm only several years your senior, Dr. Barlow! You'll be talking like me soon enough!"
"Somehow, I doubt that, sir."
William's fingers finally closed around the message lizard's tail.
"AHA!" he said loudly, giving the beastie a quick tug. He stumbled back into Dr. Barlow as his arm was freed. He nearly fell onto his bum- and on Nora- before he righted himself. He straightened, grinning triumphantly as he held the squirming lizard. He saw Dr. Barlow wander over by the tube and pick something up off the ground before he turned and gently put the lizard in another tube.
"Don't get stuck this time, beastie," he said sternly as the lizard scurried away.
"Is this your wedding band, Dr. Erasmus?" asked Dr. Barlow's voice as he turned around. William blinked as she held out a gold colored ring to him. He glanced down at his hands and frowned. He gently took the ring from her and slid it back onto his finger.
"Thank you, Dr. Barlow," he said.
"You're welcome," she replied. Then they lapsed into a awkward silence. As William walked past her, a certain loneliness fell over him. He didn't interact with the rest of the crew much, except when they needed a lizard problem fixed. He talked more often with the other boffins and the captain. He realized he was a lonesome man without his family.
"What's your family like, Dr. Erasmus?" asked Dr. Barlow curiously as she followed him. William glanced at her over his shoulder, skeptically. He arched an eyebrow at her but didn't speak.
"I mean it, William!" she snapped. William smirked at her, amused. He sighed.
"Wife, child, child, child to-be," he said simply. She glared at him.
"That's not what I meant," she huffed. William rolled his eyes at her.
"I think that's all you need to know, Nora," he said coolly. Dr. Barlow glared and rolled her eyes, snorting in disgust.
The alarm bell klaxon rang out in triplets, signaling an aerial attack. William ran as fast as he could to the lizard room. He had a crucial position, getting the messages to their intended recipients.
He lunged into the lizard room and began to pull lizards from their cages before putting them into the tubes that allowed them to go throughout the airbeast. His hands never faltered as he received lizards, quickly sending them to their destinations.
William soon noticed lizards weren't coming from the tube that led to the engines. He groaned swore darkly. If a lizard was stuck, he had to go and fix it. The engines were an extremely vital part of the ship. He also had to stay and direct the other lizards though. Damn it!
With a growl to himself, Dr. Erasmus sprinted down the corridors towards the engine pods. The ship kept listing to either side, making William stagger and nearly lose his balance on several occasions. He saw Dr. Barlow stumbling down the corridors, struggling to stay upright.
"Dr. Barlow!" he shouted, struggling to be heard over the roar of the enemy's engines. She turned and gave a nervous smile.
"Hello, Dr. Erasmus!" she called as he grabbed her elbow. "Where are you going?"
"Engine pods! Lizard jam!"
"Again?"
"Aye! What are you up to?"
"Well, I'm trying to get to my quarters!" She gave an anxious laugh. "But as you can see, it's not going very well!"
"I would escort you," said William. "But I have a job to do!"
Suddenly the ship jerked beneath them and sent them sprawling to the floor. William landed on top of Dr. Barlow and automatically wrapped his arms around her, shielding her as a stream of bullets broke through the gondola's windows.
"Ho, barking spiders!" he cried breathlessly, cursing uncharacteristically. He got to his feet and pulled up Dr. Barlow. "That was bloody close!"
"Bloody close, indeed!" the other boffin said loudly. William couldn't help it.
"Dr. Barlow, a lady of your caliber shouldn't go about swearing in that manner," he teased as they struggled down the corridors.
"Don't you even, William!"
He only laughed a little. He thought of his family anxiously, as he did with every battle the Leviathan engaged in. He glanced at Dr. Barlow and wondered what was going on in her head. She wore a hard expression. Not a worried feature on her face. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide.
"William! Get down!" she cried and she fumbling over her own feet, falling.
William didn't hear her warning over the roar if Clanker engines.
"Dr. Barlow, what's-"
Hot bullets and glass sliced into his skin. He stood stock still.
"-wrong?"
He blinked down at himself dizzily. He touched his stomach. It was wet, dark red blood seeping out of his body. He stared at his crimson hand then crumpled on his side. Waves of agony swept over him and he coughed blood, feeling tears well in his eyes. He didn't want to die. He wanted to be with his family again when this great, bloody war was over.
But William knew that would be impossible now.
"Oh," came the sharp intake of breath. Nora hurried to his side and sat on her knees beside him. "Oh, no." William blinked up at her tiredly. She was blurry despite her closeness.
"Tell my family I love 'em, okay?" he slurred jerkily, gasping for air.
"Be quiet, William," she said, her voice trembling.
"Please..." He gazed up at her, his wide blue eyes pleading. Her expression softened and she nodded, squeezing her eyes shut before opening them.
"I promise."
"Thanks... A million..."
William went limp.
It was a strange feeling, dying. The light was fading to black and numbness was creeping over him. He felt so cold.
Then it was the end.
~X~X~X~
Well, I had to end it SOMEHOW or else it would never end. I'm running pretty low on ideas too. Dammit. Well, this was a request from hamaiasa! :3
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Oh look. An end note.