Surprise! I'm alive and well and found some goodies while cleaning out my folders.
Alek and Jaspert end up staying out much later than intended. After leaving the post office, Jaspert spots one of his old schoolmates who insists that he and his funny clanker friend have a round of drinks at the pub. Alek has never had a round of drinks except for a glass of wine at formal functions and has certainly never been in a pub. He is not sure if he is intrigued or appalled but he gathers his courage for Deryn's sake, knowing that the mere thought of him among Scotsmen will amuse her to no end.
It's not past four o'clock but Deryn is at her wit's end. Alek should have been back by now and she's trying not to worry. She's also trying not to let her mother twist her knickers in a bunch. Too many questions about wedding dates and frilly dresses. Her marrying Alek. The thought is preposterous...isn't it? At least right now, with barely enough money between the two of them to get to Glasgow and back. But the thought, as much as she tries to hide her blush from her mother, gives her that sharp, happy feeling in her stomach. And she wants Alek and Jaspert to get home already.
Then Deryn hears laughter echoing up the lane and runs out the door. Alek and Jaspert are walking, no, stumbling side by side, arms slung over each other's shoulders like they were the best of pals. But she doesn't think on this too long. Instead she runs up to Alek and pulls him into a hug. His movements are sloppy and he reeks of ale. He plants a kiss on her neck that makes her giggle.
Suddenly Alek is roughly pulled away by Jaspert, who has him held by the collar.
"What was that for?" He slurs.
"Oh, what was that for?" mocks Jaspert. "We may be chummy now you think you'd still have the decency to mind your manners in the middle of the barking street!" Jaspert appears sober once again. Either he didn't drink as much as Alek or he simply holds it better.
Alek slumps his head onto Deryn's shoulder once again. "My sincerest apologies," he mumbles.
"What did you do to him?" Deryn asks incredulously.
"I ran into my mates and we took him round for a few drinks that's all. You should have told me he couldn't hold his liquor"
"Well Ma isn't going to stand for that! You'll have to help me get him into bed and we'll tell her he took ill."
Alek meanwhile was trying to whisper something in her ear, no doubt something not auntie-approved, but they get lost in the fabric of her jacket. Deryn really hopes he hasn't just called her Dylan. She shoots Jaspert a murderous glance. He sighs and wraps Alek's arm around his shoulder and together they walk him up the lane.
Their Ma is waiting for them in the foyer but Deryn hurries Alek up the stairs as Jaspert begins his bluffing. "You daftie," she mutters to Alek. "I should've told you never drink with a Scotsman."
"I love you Deryn" he mumbles "A great deal." Even his slurred words can't hide his posh upbringing.
"I love you too, dummkopf, though not as much as usual." She hefts him up the last stair and they stumble into her bedroom. She pushes him onto the bed and he collapses into it, already asleep. She takes off his boots and leaves him be for now.
Alek wakes up in the deep blue darkness of some time very late at night. Besides his pounding head, the first thing he notices is the smell. It's Deryn all around him, like starched linen and sky and whatever she puts in her hair to make it lie flat. Through the moonlight shining through the window he can just make out the shapes of the bedroom and realizes that he's in Deryn's room. And on the floor below him is Deryn, sprawled out on a cot, sheets tangled.
He rubs at his eyes and groans. He can taste every single glass of ale he drank on the back of his tongue. As quietly as he can, he slides out of bed and makes his way to the bathroom, hoping that a splash of cold water will make him feel better.
The cold water revives him somewhat and, noting that he also smells as if he'd been in a stormwalker for weeks, wets a washcloth to wipe down with as well. Upon returning to Deryn's room he pauses, realizing the impropriety (and plain rudeness) of sleeping in a lady's bed while she's camped out on the floor. Turning on his heel he shuffles towards Jaspert's room but hears the thundering snores within and realizes he's not keen on sharing a bed with Jaspert either. Chagrined, Alek returns to Deryn's room. He crouches beside the cot and gently shakes her shoulder. "Deryn?" he whispers.
She jerks awake. "What?" she growls without bothering to open her eyes.
"Liebe, you should take the bed." He laughs. "A drunk like me should take the cot."
She blinks a couple times, squinting at him in the dark. Propping herself up on her elbow she says, "Well look who decided to sober up." Her voice is playful, but Alek feels his face grow warm in shame.
"I don't know what happened. I apologize. I was trying to make things right with your brother and now I fear I've somehow made it worse."
She smirks and pats a patch of cot beside her. He hesitantly moves from his crouched position to sit beside her. She puts a hand to his cheek and his entire frame exhales in relief. "It wouldn't be a proper Scottish homecoming if you hadn't, and Jaspert's going to deny it but I think he's growing quite fond of you."
Deryn slides off the cot and stands up, arching her spine. "But I will take your offer of the bed. That cot's barking uncomfortable."
Alek smiles up at her. "I shall bear it manfully." He's about to lay down when she thrusts her hand in front of his face.
"I didn't say you weren't invited." Her voice is soft and determined, with none of the bravado that 'Dylan' usually throws in. This is all Deryn.
Alek grabs her hand and she pulls him up to standing. "I—" he begins.
"No one's going to have your head for it. It's just sleeping." She rests her head on his chest and his arms wrap around her. He's gotten taller since that fateful day on the spine of the Leviathan and her head fits comfortably in the part where his neck meets his chest. "And besides," she mumbles into the fabric of his shirt, "Ma's already planning a wedding." Deryn can hear him gulp.
"In that case," he says as his arm leaves her waist and begins fumbling around his waistcoat. Deryn tenses. Was her Ma hinting at something this morning? "Might I show you this?" Alek pulls out his pocket watch, a gift from Dr. Barlow, and opens it. In the dim light she can just barely make out a portrait of her in her middy uniform. Deryn laughs, but tears prick her eyes; she feels a bit silly.
"It's a good thing you don't play tennis," she sniffles.
"A fortunate thing, indeed," he replied. He pulls her close and she holds him tighter than usual. Feeling emboldened, he leans down to whisper in her ear, his breath ruffling the soft down of her hair. "The ring is back in London in Volger's care seeing as I have a bad habit of flinging valuables over the sides of airships."