Deryn and Alek, naturally, hadn't spoken for days. She supposed she should be angry at him for the way he was ignoring her, but all she could feel was a hollow cavity where he used to fill her heart. She went about her everyday duties, for they were a good distraction, but even oblivious Newkirk noticed her lack of fervor as she scaled the ratlines to feed the flechette bats.
At this particular moment, however, she found herself shuffling down the hallway, half dragging a drowsy Tazza who had been, there was only one word to describe it, shoved from his nap and into her calloused hands by the lady boffin. The image was very ungraceful, to say the least. This was no duty for an airman, and one serving on the Leviathan, to boot! But the boffin insisted, and they all knew who really ran the ship.
Things had been lazy lately, and Deryn was at least glad for something to keep her mind of him. And that was why she didn't even hesitate to run back to Dr. Barlow's quarters, deposit the grateful-looking thylacine, and sprint up to the spine the second she heard the bells go off.