CHAPTER 2

The rooms were already set up with furniture, and the inside was modest but quite nice compared to the rest of the building.

" This will do quite nicely indeed" Deryn was glad to have a room to herself again, and even a small bathroom that was attached, with only a toilet and tub. But it was more than enough. She hadn't experienced this kind of privacy ever since boarding the Leviathan.

Another pang hit her heart. It had only been about a month since she saw the great airship for the last time, and her throbbing knee missed the soft drum of the air beasts skin and the barks and quails from all beasties living aboard. The warmth of the ship's skin… Deryn felt a tear rolling down her cheek, but instead of wiping it like a soldier, she let it run. She missed her home in the sky but no amount of being tough would make her into a soldier again.

" Dylan? Are you... Are you decent?" Alek asked as he rapped on the door. Deryn rolled her eyes and smiled, wiping the rest of her tears away. Alek didn't need to see all the unsoldierly parts of her, not yet.

" Yes you barking ninny, I'm decent" Deryn opened the door laughing, taking Alek by his arm into the room, and closing the door behind her.

" Good." he didn't say much and continued to not say anything at all, avoiding eye contact with her, his eyes roaming around the room instead.

" Did you come about for any particular reason or are you just her to make an inspection of my room?" she laughed, sitting at the end of her bed. Alek could be such a prince sometimes, always concerned with the propriety of things.

Alek cleared his throat uncomfortably and made no notion of sitting with her " well, I was getting quite bored in that room all alone, and bovril was asleep…"

" What is wrong with you Alek? You're acting as if we've never been in a room alone together" Deryn couldn't get the smirk off her face if she wanted to and bit her lip to contain her laughter.

Alek shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and continued to stare at the floor." yes, well that was when we aboard the Leviathan and there were always people around, and …" he looked up at her then, his eyes intently set on hers " and, well, you were a boy" Deryn wasn't laughing anymore. Instead, she was the one blushing, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks and up her neck. If she was worried about being like a lassie at a dance before, she was doomed to that fate now more than ever.

Deryn stood and took Alek's hand, her rough fingers intertwining with his " … yes, I was a boy, and to some I still am… but now, with you… " she felt the heat of Aleks face getting closer to hers, his nose brushing hers, their lips close enough but moving slowly toward each other, the air of impropriety hanging around them until -

" Hello? Mr. Sharp! Are you there" a loud knocking came onto Deryn's door and she and Alek sprung apart, both their hearts racing, cheeks heated and pink.

Frustrated, Deryn sighed and opened the door. " yes Gibbins? What is it? " Gibbins was there, holding his cat whose name they learned was Aldo, as he had found the cat when she was already quite old. He was holding Aldo in one arm, a package in the other.

" This just came in for you. From Nora I suspect. Good luck" Gibbins pushed the package into Deryn's arms and walked away, and Aldo took advantage of the extra space to cuddle into Gibbins fully as he carried her. Closing the door, Deryn moved herself and the package to her small desk on the far end of her room by the window.

" What is that?" Alek asked, moving closer to examine the box, both him and Deryn forgetting about the broken moment from just minutes ago.

"I'm not sure. I guess we're about to find out " Deryn pulls her rigging knife that she still keeps on her and slices her way into the tightly sealed box. There was a note inside, that Alek took as Deryn continued to examine the contents of the mystery box.

" It says " Good day, Mr. Sharp, and Mr. Hohenberg, I suspect that your impatience has already led you to open the box, revealing its contents. I pray you have done so gently, and with care. This piece I have sent you is for your eyes only, and for your use only. I expect to see you in good health for our next meeting. Good day and good luck, sincerely, Dr, Nora Barlow. " That's all. Alek shrugs and puts the note down.

" But how? I mean I know the lady boffin has some tricks up her sleeve and is usually pretty vague about such things, but barking spiders! What could be so secretive about a plain globe!" Deryn picked up the globe and examined it closer. It was moderately sized, quite small for a globe, and made from fabricated wood, making it light. The engraving and images were beautifully carved.

" it looks like the ones I used to see at the Austrian national library. Their collection is quite old, but this is too small to be one from a place like that `` Alek pondered and took the globe in his own hands.

" aye. And it's fabricated too. I doubt your clanker country has too many fabricated, well, anything lying about. " Alek nods his head at this, his fingers roaming over the groves of the beautiful engravings.

" I suppose we can ask more about this at the next meeting. And maybe Volger has an idea. He said he would be back in a couple of weeks. "

Deryn bit her lip to hold back any snide remark. She wasn't the fondest of that sneaky boots, Volger, but he was important to Alek and would do anything to protect Alek. That alone was enough to keep him in Deryn's good graces.

" So it'll just be us for two weeks, aye?" Alek looked up at Deryn, his ears turning red, her words reminding him of what had almost happened in the close quarters of her room before Gibbins had interrupted.

"I suppose, yes." Deryn almost cursed herself for bringing back this new, unventured air into the room. She and Alek were best friends. But going from best friends too, well, whatever they were now, was just so barking complicated sometimes! Everything between them was still so new, and they were so young that sometimes neither she nor he knew what to do in situations such as these. On one hand, she wanted to just run up and kiss Alek silly, but on the other hand, she knew how Alek felt about not so much being proper, but as looking proper. And he was extremely respectful of her space and *ahem*... virtue. Which was wonderful but could at times get in the way of their other moments. Moments she wanted to happen, mind you.

Deryn shook the thoughts out of her mind. She and Alek could figure all of that out later, but now, Deryn was hungry and nothing was going to stop her from spending the rest of her money on a big fat, juicy meal for her and Alek.

NOTES:

Sorry that these first two chapters have been so short. It's just easier for me to figure out a story route I like when the first few chapters are shorter. Gives me more room to breathe, in a sense. Also I'm still getting used to posting any of my writing. Yay! Anyway, stay safe and have a great day! :))

P.S: I'm so excited to get to write the actual missions. I mean, i'm also excited to write the fluff cause I personally love fluff but this is not exclusively a fluff fic.