I CAN believe I wrote this haha it isn't finished though, so better not read if you don't like drabbles that cut off abruptly…

Deryn pedaled at breakneck speed down the gravel road, laughing ecstatically as Alek tightened his death grip around her. Open pasture and fields passed as a silver blur in her periphery like the sea under the Leviathan's belly. The wind mussed her hair in a way she'd come to associate with the purest form of joy, and Alek's warmth against her back was no bother either.

"Why are we going so fast?" Alek asked frantically.

"I miss flying!" she shouted back at him.

"You were flying last week!"

Ignoring him, she let out a wild whoop as they careened down another hill. For a second she worried that Alek would slip off the back of her bike, but she'd ridden out this way countless times with her brother, always without injury. He'd be fine.

"Almost there, love."

"Gott sei Dank."

Smiling, she took the bike down a narrow side road, slowing down and bringing them to a copse of trees that must have seen centuries of secret lovers stealing away in the dead of night. Lightning bugs flitted about, reminding Deryn of the paper lanterns in Japan.

They left the bike on the road and walked hand in hand under threadbare moonlight, picking their way around outstretched branches that glowed like worms. Alek ran his fingers over the trunk of an old oak that was decorated with hearts and carved initials in eternal pairs. For a second he wondered if they would ever represent themselves on that ancient testimony, and decided to bring a knife with him next time.

Good grief, next time. He didn't even know what he was doing out here this time.

Past the oak, a flawless replica of the midnight sky was captured in water and cradled in bulrushes and cattails. An old tire hung over the creek, and Alek could hear frogs singing in the grasses.

"Me and Jaspert used to come here as kids," Deryn was saying. "Then we grew up and he started bringing his lass out instead. That's them." She pointed to one of the numerous carvings.

"So this is where all the indecent Glaswegians go," Alek concluded.

"Aye, that sounds right." She flashed him a smile and headed down to the water's edge. "Shall we go for a dip?"

Alek frowned. "You didn't tell me we were going swimming. I didn't bring a suit."

"Indecent Glaswegians don't need suits," she said simply, unbuttoning her blouse and tossing it aside. She was slower pulling her camisole over her head, giving Alek a bit of a show and glancing knowingly at him as he gawked at her luminous skin. It often startled him to have the careful illusion of her androgyny shattered, as it was with her telltale anatomy exposed to the night air.

He stepped out from the trees as she kicked away her shoes and slid off her trousers and pants. His breathing had become considerably shallower, and before he knew it, she'd split the moon's reflection in a fluid dive.

After a moment Deryn surfaced a couple metres off and shook diamonds from her short hair. Neck and shoulders brushed with silver, she beckoned to him like a nymph in a sailor's song. He didn't need much more convincing than that.

Alek undressed and slipped into the water—not too chilly after the scorching day—and caught sight of her biting her lower lip before he went under.