Alek had only ever seen a Tigeresque once before, back when they had flown through Russia for supplies on the Leviathan. Though, that was from a distance.
"It can sense fear, you know."
Deryn was standing next to Alek, her arms crossed and an amused smile bearing on her face as she watched the former clanker prince. Alek knew that he would have to continue to work on getting used to such fabricated creatures, but being so up close and personal to a creature so… ferocious-looking brought on a heart rate faster than he felt he could control. But he wouldn't let Deryn have the upper hand on this one, and smiled to cover up his squeamish feelings towards the strange mixture of tiger, wolf, and who knew what else.
" Please, I've seen bigger and scarier…" the Tigeresque moved throughout the zoo containment area slowly, watching them closely as its body rubbed against the fence that contained it. " although the distance had been a bit more… significant."
"C'mon don't be a monkey Luddite, he won't hurt you. Can't even touch you."
Deryn grabbed onto Aleks's hand, dragging him closer to the fence which contained the beastie. There was a thin shield of glass in between the gaps of the fence, most likely to keep small children, or reckless zookeepers from sticking their hands where it could be nipped off by the Tigeresques inside.
After a moment of comfortable silence, hand in hand as they watched the beasties, Alek cleared his throat, wondering if this was a good time to bring up lingering questions from the past few weeks in London.
" Deryn?"
"Yes, your princliness?"
" Did you find out anything more about your theory? About the potential second behemoth?"
Alek, on the Leviathan, had always been of use due to his extensive education, knowledge of clanker politics and machinery, and most importantly, his princely status. Though now that he was on Darwinist soil, and a part of the Darwinist cause and possessed little to no authority, it seemed that he would have to make himself useful in other ways - being informed, and giving a clanker perspective where he could.
" Not yet. It's still a bit of a mystery. I'm working on it though. The lady boffin is pretending as if I never saw a thing - not even hinting at it. Dead silence. I tried to bring it up, but that of course came with a quick change in subject. "
Deryn's frustration was becoming apparent to the young prince as she began to shift her knee - the one she hurt before meeting Pancho Villa - the one with all the buzzing that got louder as she grew tenser.
It seemed that Alek wasn't so immune from the frustration of dead ends either, both of them grew tense as they remembered all of the things left unanswered since they had joined the zoological society. Would they ever go on a mission in the way they had been told when first agreeing to join? What did that stupid tiny globe mean that doctor Barlow had given them? And what in the hell could Dr. Barlow be hiding from them? She had let them see a potential behemoth only to never bring it up again?
" I think, Mr. Sharp, that it is time that we took matters into our own hands. A lack of authority has never exactly stopped us from discovering the truth before."
It was unlike Alek to suggest schemey schemes, with only a few exceptions, so the enthusiasm for a stealth mission on Alek's part made Deryn giddy with excitement. Alek and Deryn smiled at each other, a plan forming in their minds, and reminding them so fondly of their escapades aboard the Leviathan. Though before they could forget, Deryn brought up a very important point.
" All right, your princliness, I'm with you. But we have to do this tonight, before the Count returns."
Bovril was comfortably sniffing the air from Deryn's shoulder.
" aye, you smell all your new friends dont ya'?"
Deryn watched with amusement as Bovril stood on his hind legs, keeping his balance on her shoulders and most likely smelling all the other beasties he had become acquainted with during their time at the Zoo.
Deryn wanted to laugh at Bovril's little snoot, wiggling around but Alek shushed the both of them as they snuck down the now dim hallways that they had been in only a few hours ago. Dr. Barlow's office wasn't too far now, and its growing closer made Alek all the more nervous of being caught.
" Having second thoughts?"
Deryn whispered, poking an already on guard Alek.
He had to admit that his nerves lately had been a bit astray. Nevertheless, he was determined to fight through them and simply focus on not getting caught.
" not entirely. I just hope Dr. Barlow is the kind of person to keep her important documents in obvious places. "
This made Deryn snort before she covered her mouth in sneaky delight. This, to Deryn, was loads of reckless fun. Really, she had become quite nostalgic for the adventures she and Alek had experienced together aboard the Leviathan and in Instanbul. Not to mention it was all so bloody exhilarating.
" Alright, your princliness, move aside"
Quietly, Deryn moved past Alek and proceeded to pull out a hairpin she never actually used for her hair and stick it into the little keyhole that locked the lady boffins office.
" do hurry, I'm not really sure I want to know what they would do to former Austrains princes who try to sneak into the High ranking boffins offices"
Alek was staying steady in his nerves for the most part. Though the slight pittering of his fingers and the slight bob of his leg up and down, gave Deryn the impression that the week of worrying for his men, in particular Vulgor, had been getting to him more than he had been leading on.
Still concentrating on getting the last bump in the lock that would lead them into the lady boffins office, Deryn tried her best to dampen the fire in his fingers and legs with a little teasing which had always helped him before - although that only really worked half the time.
" well, your princliness, if you do get caught, at least you know your safe from any tiqureses roamin' about… although that is if they dont throw you in there with em' "
Deryn smiled when Alek glared back at her, bringing about a small smile that he fought strongly against. Although the both of them were soon distracted from the jokes, Vulgar, and the possibility of impending doom, when Dr. Barlow's office doors clicked open, much to the satisfaction of Deryn and her pickpocketing skills she had picked up from Jasper.
" Alright, you stand guard."
Alek was about to enter the doctor's eclectic office when Deryn grabbed his elbow.
" what?! Why me? "
Deryn was not about to stand guard - she may have been adept at getting along with the soldierly type, but stuffy boffins seemed more up Alek's ally in case they were caught. Maybe he could charm a boffin with his knowledge of Latin, and the crests of royal families.
" because you got to sleuth last time we did this. Now it's my time to sleuth, and your time to risk your neck."
Deryn rolled her eyes, her bangs getting in the way. She would have to remember to cut it later before it got too long for her disguise.
" Oh please, I was the one under that madman's bed. From my perspective, my neck was the one close to being stepped on by that wanker."
Alek couldn't deny the truth in her fear, but he saw the exchange of roles as only fair. This would be a good lesson for her. He figured this would not be the only occasion in which she would have to charm stuffy boffins in the case of a sleuthy emergency.
After a less than 30 second staring contest, they both relented, and Deryn motioned for Alek to hurry inside before she closed the door again, and found her way to a safe lookout spot.
Inside of Dr. Nora Barlow's office, there were a plethora of books, and jars of specimens and plants, all lined neatly against the wall - giving the comforting yet intimidating parallel to a thriving jungle mixed with a scholarly office, much like the ones occupied by his own tutors during his private lessons (but with more madness).
" Where to look first, Bovril. That certainly is the question."
Bovril had scampered off Deryn quickly when they had managed to unlock her office. It was Deryn and Alek's theory that Bovril (and most likely his companion loris as well) could smell a mischievous plan in the air. The thought that they thrived on those mischievous plans was objectionable to sensible minds like Dr. Barlow, though to Deryn in particular, it wasn't just a thought but rather an observable fact.
While Bovril scampered up high on the shelves, picking up little nic-nacks here and there, Alek made his way back over to the bookshelf. Dr. Barlow had used one of the books on this particular shelf to open up the hidden room behind one of the cases. Moving as quickly as he could, Alek began tipping books forward to see which one of them would be the key to opening the fabricated bookshelf.
" Perhaps this one Bovril?"
It was one of the only ones he hadn't pulled and Alek had a strange feeling that the small turtle engraved into the spine was a good sign.
Alek's heart began to race when he heard a click from inside the case and a shift in the room begin as the wall started to open up for him. Although his heart never really came down from its rampant pace once the secret room revealed itself in full. This feeling of uncertainty and fear had become more of a recurring thing for Alek since he had moved to London. Alek had begun to realize that although being in London is where he knew he belonged, there were still parts of his old self and life that began to take their toll on how he handled the world around him.
As Alek quickly looked around the lady boffins mysterious room, the things that were alive, or had been, that the lady boffin was keeping in jars and boxes on the shelves adorned around her office, made Alek feel self-conscious - as though they were staring at him down - reminding him that his life had been more metal and rigid than this organic and chaotic room that someone like Deryn would have an easier time adjusting to.
Yet out of the chaos, something caught Alek's eye. It was a notebook with leather bounding more simple and quite a bit dirtier than anything Alek had seen before among Dr. Barlow's possession. Though before he could untie the leather straps that kept it close, Alek began to hear voices.
" Well, Yes, Dr. Barlow. You see, I came to ask you more about . . . Uhm, Russia! Have you ever met the Tsar? Do the fighting bears of Russia really share DNA with Mammoths? Or is that a Myth? Have you ever even seen a Mammoth? Or at least the skeleton of one? In all my readings…." Alek could hear Deryn doing her best to ramble on in order to distract the lady boffin and give Alek time to hide. But there weren't many places to hide, despite the clutter of living things. Yet there was an obvious answer. Alek moved fast to shut the secret entrance, trapping Bovril and himself inside.
" well, let's just hope there's a way out of here from this side "
He whispered as a very quiet Bovril scamped up onto Alek's shoulder once more.
" I am sorry Mr. Sharp, but I am afraid that I simply do not have time to answer your questions. I have affairs of my own that I must be attending to."
Alek, hiding in the dark of the room, could hear the shuffling of papers, and the sound of two pairs of feet walking around just a few feet away from him. When he heard a small sniffing noise that wasn't coming from Bovril, the fear of being caught became all the more intense. Is this tHE kind of feeling Deryn had experienced when trapped under Tesla's bed that night?
" Yes, but - "
" no, no, Mr sharp I simply can not -"
Alek inhaled a sharp breath and held it in when he heard Dr. Barlow gives out a quick shush, following with small footsteps coming closer and closer to the door, no doubt exactly where Dr. Barlow's Loris had been sniffing around. What was that word that Deryn had become so fond of after leaving the Leviathan? Oh right - shite. That summed up this scenario perfectly to Alek.
" who exactly is in here with us, Mr. Sharp?"
Alek had never heard the lady boffin speak so forcefully to Deryn before. He couldn't imagine what was going through Deryn's mind as she tried to come up with a cover.
"I'm not entirely sure to what - "
" dont lie to me Mr. Sharp."
She said nothing other than this, and Alek could hear Deryn curse under her breath but then give a big sigh. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant until Alek could hear the clicks of the secret door on the obvious bookshelf. And although he expected to find a furious Dr. Nora Barlow, he came to be shown a boffin with something resembling a smile on her face.
Alek couldn't exactly understand where her tight and aggravated smile had come from until he saw what she was looking at - the leather notebook bound tightly in his hands.
" you two always were quite good at getting involved with other people's state affairs, as far as I can recall."
The only noise that interrupted the awkward tension was the small whispers of the two lorises.