If there was one thing that perpetually perplexed Alek, it was Dylan's incomperable ability to look cool and disinterested, seemingly without any effort whatsoever. Every time he attempted to do the same, he came off as angsty and broody. While he had been inside the army post stop, Dylan had taken to leaning at the entrance and casually scope the surroundings of the small French village that they had landed in the night before.

The small airship that they had taken to the French-Italian border had landed in the early hours of the morning, far later than they had expected to due to the conflict close to the border. They had been forced to circle around the town for several hours in turbulent airspace until being cleared for landing. The whole experience had left Dylan and Newkirk anxious and feeling helpless. They were not used to being passengers who had no place helping on an airship.

He made his way towards Dylan and gave him a small nod of the head, signaling that it was done.

"You've done it then?" Dylan asked plainly.

"They said it should take a few days, but that's how long it will take to get to the Leviathan anyway."

"Good."

Alek nodded lightly. There was a terrible turning in his stomach. "Am I doing the right thing?"

Dylan frowned. "I think you'll just have to take a leap of faith."

"What if it ends terribly? What if this princess is a horrible person?"

His friend let out a loud snort. "Alek, you're going to be the one with the power, not her. Women, royalty or not, are always going to have less power than men. You could set all of Italy on Fire and there'd be nothing she could do about it but sit and watch."

"I wouldn't set Italy on fire."

"It's an example, dummkopf."

"A rather violent one, don't you think."

Dylan gave him a glare. "A woman could be the world's best airman and still not be allowed to join the Air Force."

Alek grimaced. "That's a bit daft."

"Hmm." His friend agreed. "I knew a girl once who was twice the airman I'll ever be, and she wasn't allowed to join the air force because she wasn't a man."

"I'd like to meet her someday." Truth be told, he never did understand why women were not allowed to join the army. It seemed to him that there were no major reasons why women could be considered weaker. He'd always admired his mother and her fight to be taken as seriously as his father had been.

Dylan smiled a small, resigned smile. "Maybe you will." He said softly.

Alek's chest clenched for a moment. Everyone always said that Dylan was dashing because of his strong, angular features, but Alek thought that Dylan was soft and round. The curve of his lips and the height of his cheekbones. There was a feminine air to Dylan that almost seemed misplaced with his boyish bravado.

"Alek?" He was broken out of his momentary trance. "Are you all right?"

Alek shook his head. "Yes. I'm fine. Just lost in my own world."

"You'll make a good husband, you know."

He was taken aback at this. Not once in his many ponderings on the idea of marriage had the thought of being a good husband even crossed his mind. He just thought about whether or not Yolanda would be a good person, or how he was going to end this blasted war. But being a good husband? He hadn't given it much thought.

"Really?"

Dylan nodded. "You're not an arse, which is definitely good."

There was a pregnant pause. "That friend of yours, the lady airman, is she married?"

Dylan looked to the cobbled stones of the street. "No. She was in love with a boy, but he only thought of her as one of the boys."

"Why didn't she tell him how she felt?"

"She was afraid that if she showed him how she felt, he would have run away."

"She should take a leap of faith."

Dylan turned to him, his piercing blue eyes filled with what seemed like hope. "Aye," he agreed. "Maybe she should."