Before you read this awesome Leviathan fanfic xD all the credit to the edit and why the plot makes more sence it due to the awemazing editor skillz of mable the wacky tree! 3 thank u very much!

Open Doors. FIVE

The sound of shuffling fabric made Alek open his eyes, weak to the new light. He was wrapped in warmth, and he didn't want to leave it, not yet. "D-Dylan." His voice sounded dry and parched.

The figure in front of his eyes turned, jacket hanging on his elbows. Alek had disturbed Dylan in the middle of dressing. Dylan jumped a little and quickly threw on his jacket.

"Morning Alek. I need to leave for duty, but you can stay here."

Alek rose up, and the warm blanket that covered him slipped down. But it wasn't his. He realized Dylan had lent him his blanket to keep him warm. The small, quiet act of kindness surprised him, but at the same time, it didn't really. That was just the sort of person Dylan was. "Thank you, but I might as well leave too." He got up, immediately regretting it. The room was cold without the blanket.

"Alright then, I'll take you back," Dylan said with a smile, but it was a worn one. Alek saw Dylan was still tired, and not at all happy at the prospect of facing the cold outside.

The two dressed and folded the blankets, deciding to leave them in the machine room, and Dylan began walking Alek back to his room. Alek watched the dark, gray clouds outside the window. They were stuck in a cloud, or maybe hiding from enemies. Alek still wasn't quite awake, and his brain couldn't process his thoughts.

"I have to go straight to my cabin and change into my flight suit, so here," Dylan said as he opened the door and guided Alek inside.

"Wait, Dylan."

The boy stopped.

"I need to speak to Volger, so . . ." Alek trailed off, hoping Dylan would catch on.

The boy did. "Aye, hurry up then."

Dylan left, closing the door, but Alek knew he was waiting outside. Finding his pilot jacket and a fresh shirt, Alek stepped outside his room, seeing Dylan waiting by the window. He hopped up when he saw the returning prince. "Come on, I'm already late."

Dylan began down the hall, taking hurried steps. Alek followed, but when Alek could find the rest his own way, Dylan left for duty. The prince looked at the door to Volger's stateroom. Alek hadn't seen the wild count since he had been confined to his room. From what Bauer and Klopp told him, Volger had shut himself up and refused to let anyone enter, except for food.

He took a nervous breath and knocked.

"Enter," came Volger's voice.

Alek opened the door and shuffled inside the stateroom. "Volger. . ."

The man looked up at Alek from his table, writing something German on a piece of paper. "Prince Alek, good morning. Glad to see you're well." His voice was flat and formal. Alek had trouble figuring out what to say. Why had he come to Volger's room in the first place again?

"Oh, um . . .you as well, Count." Alek felt stupid. Volger was one of his men, the last family he had left, but he'd gone and sounded like a child in front of a headmaster. From the tightening of Volger's eyes, Alek was sure a scolding would come sooner or later.

"Alek, we must talk." Volger turned in his seat, legs crossed and face steely. Perhaps that scolding would come now. Alek didn't know what else there was to speak about. Well, other than yet another plan to escape from the Leviathan. The boy sighed, but he supposed it was for the best. He'd already put Dylan's name into enough suspicion. Alek would have to do something about it before he actually got the airman in trouble.

"About what, Volger?" Alek asked, keeping his voice level.

The old count eyed Alek, pausing to collect his thoughts. "Alek, how would you describe yours and Dylan's friendship?"

And it was such a ridiculous and unexpected question that Alek couldn't help but let out a laugh. Bovril, who was perched contentedly on his shoulder, repeated the same noise, only a little higher. Alek tried to ignore the way it sounded a little like Dylan's laughter. "Volger, you know well that this is my first friendship, how am I supposed to compare it to something? To anything?"

Volger looked mildly surprised by Alek's answer, but the boy shrugged it off. "Is this really that important?" Alek continued, but his thoughts were already drifting off to other matters, such as the engines out on the sides of the Leviathan. He could be manning one right now. Of course, his only other choice of occupation was tossing more paper balls in his stateroom and watching Bovril chase them around.

Volger was not finished satisfying his curiosity, however. "Perhaps I worded it wrong," he said slowly. "Fine, how is this?" Volger got up and towered over Alek—not by much, but it still made the prince take a step back. "How close are you and Dylan?"

Alek frowned in puzzlement at Volger. Why was the count acting this way? "Very close, I'd assume. I've told him everything, even about my heritage and what I could become. Why the sudden interest? I've told you before, Dylan Sharp is an honorable man, and he would never betray my trust."

Maybe it was from being in his room too much? Or being on the Leviathan? Alek couldn't think of other reasons as to why Volger was being strange.

"I was speaking to Dr. Barlow, about that . . . thing." He pointed to Bovril, disgust on his aged face. "She was curious about why it'd taken a liking not only you, the first person it saw, but your friend as well." Volger circled around Alek, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on its ends. Where was this going?

"Mr. Sharp. Aleksander." And more giggling.

Alek shushed the creature when Volger frowned in disapproval. Bovril giggled again, running up Alek's shoulder to the top of his head. "Hey, get down," Alek hissed. "This isn't the place—"

Before Alek could reach the beast, Volger grabbed his shoulder.

" has already explained it to me, Alek. The only way this creature could bond with two people . . . is if the people are an item. A couple, if you will." There was a dark emphasis on that word, and Volger stared Alek straight in the eye.

Alek winced, his mind racing. Truthfully, he had already known that Loris' only bond to couples. Both he and Dylan knew, as a matter of fact, after had asked them her own questions. But then the woman simply marked him and Dylan as very close friends, enough to make Bovril believe Dylan was his other parent.

"Dylan and I are close as friends, but nothing more," Alek repeated, although it was embarrassing that he had to do so. What was Volger assuming about him? Surely the count, who practically acted as a replacement father, was not misunderstanding things. Surely Volger didn't believe that Alek was—

He shrugged off Volger's hand and started for the door. "I do not understand it fully myself. Bovril simply believes that Dylan is its other parent, and that is that! Dylan's the only friend I've had and—"

A door slamming open cut Alek off. At the entrance was a huffing Newkirk. "Alek! It's Sharp, something happened! One of the engines was making weird noises and he tried to fix it!"

Alek felt his throat constrict. When the other midshipman started to babble nonsense, Alek grabbed his shoulders and shook the words out of Newkirk.

"What happened to Dylan? What did the engine do?"

Newkirk was wide-eyed and looked about ready to collapse, but Alek's grip on his flight suit held him up. "O-One of the pieces shot out like a bullet! Into his chest!"

Alek's rage boiled over. He should have been there, not wasting time listening to Volger's mortifying inquisition. The prince shoved the boy out of his way and sprinted to the medical wing, ignoring the calls from Volger as he ran off. Whatever Volger wanted to speak about, it'd have to wait.