~ Evolution ~

Jacob had always known about Charles Darwin's fondness for talking, but he really wished the man didn't talk quite so much. Given the chance, Darwin would ramble on and on about the anatomy of tropical finches and the structures of ancient dinosaur fossils, and a thousand other incredibly boring topics that made Jacob long for Evie to swoop in and save him from the conversation.

"When the stamens of a flower spring towards the pistil, it seems perfectly adapted to ensure self-fertilization," Darwin said, meandering through the Westminster gardens with Jacob following close behind and trying his best to pretend he was absorbing the information. "In fact, it must be the case. And it is well established that planting closely allied forms or similar varieties close to each other results in impure seedlings, so largely do they naturally cross."

"Mm-hm," Jacob said, vaguely, not really listening. "Impure seedlings. Right."

Darwin looked at him wisely. "You're not the least bit interested in the niceties of flower reproduction, I imagine."

"Sorry," Jacob said, sheepishly. "It's not really my forte."

"Oh, very well." Darwin smiled obligingly. "What would you like to talk about, Mister Frye? I don't mean to brag, but I have quite a wealth of knowledge on a variety of subjects. Biology, chemistry, anatomy, sexuality..."

"Sexuality?" Jacob raised an incredulous eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, of course when one studies animals as closely as I do, you must eventually encounter the issue of sexuality." Darwin gestured to a pair of birds nesting in the trees overhead. "Like in birds, for example. I could never note it in my books and observations, you see, for fear of having my work expelled from the academic world - but there were a number of occasions where I encountered male finches mating with other male finches in the wild, and even building nests together. I had never even considered that homosexual behavior might be a natural part of the animal kingdom until I saw it for myself."

Jacob stared at him, feeling oddly unsure how to react to this information. "You think it's... natural?"

"Natural," Darwin confirmed. "Perfectly so. And in fact, I think that perhaps it is much more common in animals than we think."

Jacob dropped his gaze to the cobblestones, and had no idea what compelled him to ask, "Do you think it's natural in people, too?"

Darwin looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, my dear boy," he said. "If my theory of evolution is correct, then we are descended from animals, too. And therefore the comparison is only fair."

Jacob fiddled with a loose thread in his sleeve, suddenly anxious. "But just say," he said. "Just say that it was natural. Surely it wouldn't fit with your ideas about natural selection - about everybody needing to breed, and have children, and continue the species."

"Well," Darwin said, in an oddly gentle voice, "perhaps there is an ecological niche for homosexual animals. Perhaps they adopt the abandoned or unwanted children of heterosexual pairings, and ensure that every child has a home. Perhaps they are just as worthy parents."

Jacob bit his lip, and did not know what to say. Darwin studied him with a strangely knowing look, as though seeing right through him.

"I recently made the acquaintance of a certain Alexander Graham Bell," he said, and Jacob, startled by the revelation, wasn't sure how to feel about that either. "He's quite a clever man. He shares my enthusiasm for scientific pursuits."

"Yes, he does." Jacob had to smile a little; he had to admit that even if Aleck often got to droning on about boring physics and science just like Darwin did, he could listen to Aleck talk about anything and never get bored.

Darwin studied him knowingly. "Do you two know each other?"

"Oh, you know how it is." Jacob tried to keep his voice light, casual. "We have a drink now and then."

"Hmm," Darwin said, playfully. "I find that interesting."

"Why would that be?"

"Because I stopped by his laboratory the other day, and I could have sworn that I observed some of your coats and hats hanging on his coatrack." Darwin eyed him amusedly. "And there seemed to be an inordinate number of your clothes in his closet."

"Well, that's very peculiar," Jacob said, trying hard not to panic; now he knew the jig was up, but he didn't know whether he should laugh or flee the scene in terror. "I haven't the faintest clue how those would have gotten there."

"Of course not." Darwin smiled up at the birds in the trees. "The forces of nature work in mysterious ways, I suppose."

Jacob sighed. I've really got to tell Aleck to clean the house better.