I've been wanting to write a second chapter to obsessions because if Alek has to deal with Deryn's obsessions then I think it's only fair that she should have to deal with his.

On a random note, here are a few interesting things I learned/learned about yesterday: Red Vines, Chameleon Circuits, The Oxford Comma, Initialism vs. Acronym, King Henry Died Monday Drinking Chocolate Milk, Venn Diagrams, and that there is a soda machine in Singapore that will give drinks if you hug it.

"Calendars are for careful people, not passionate ones."
- Chuck Sigars

Deryn bit in to a carrot stick, chewed for a few moments, and then frowned. Her eyes narrowed as she nudged the curtain covering the kitchen window aside with a finger. She stared out in to the yard for a few moments before letting the fabric fall back into place.

A few seconds later she repeated the action. Then she sighed.

Alek was in the back yard tinkering with one of his many mechanikal projects, blissfully unaware of the fact that he was being watched.

He seemed to think that their backyard was his own personal storage space for all things mechanikal and brought in something new every week.

Nearly every inch of the lawn was covered in spare parts and Deryn had decided that it was time she had a talk with Alek. After all, she was only returning the favor. She had followed the dietary advice he had given her only the week before; hence the carrot she was currently chewing.

She picked up the bottle of salad dressing off the counter top, tipped it sideways, and dipped another carrot into it. Alek, being Alek, always told her to use a bowl when he saw her doing that, though today it was a fight that would have to barking wait until later. Deryn thought he should just be happy she was eating something besides potatoes.

Her bare feet slapped on the cool tile as she crossed to the back door. She grappled with the knob momentarily, hands full, but did manage to avoid spilling salad ingredients all over the back porch.

Once she had her feet planted firmly in the soft grass she grimaced. The yard always seemed worse to Deryn when she was actually standing in it.

There was a metallic clang from the Stormwalker that was crouched in front of her and Alek's head and shoulders appeared out the top hatch. He had on a pair of mechanik's coveralls and there was a smear of grease across his nose.

His eyes fell on her and he smiled.

"It's almost finished." He said proudly.

Deryn had to smile back. His enthusiasm was catching; he was like a child at Christmas.

"That's barking grand, Alek." She said. "Really, it is. What about the rest of the yard, though?"

He looked confused.

"What about it?"

She gestured around her with the bag of carrots. There were mechanikal parts strewn everywhere; walkers, pieces of walkers, a few runabouts, and a golf walker, not to mention the Stormwalker he was currently working on.

The patio had been liberally cluttered with boxes of glow plugs, spare gears, wires, and other odds and ends that Deryn couldn't identify.

"What about it?" He repeated.

Deryn rolled her eyes.

"Don't you think you should clean this up a wee bit; maybe throw some of them out?"

Alek looked momentarily horrified at the thought and disappeared into the walker, the hatch clanging noisily behind him. A few seconds later he dropped out the belly hatch and descended the chain ladder.

"Throw them out? Every one of them is a work in progress." Alek defended valiantly as he approached. "I almost had the golf walker working last week."

"Aye," Deryn agreed. "Then one of the sodding legs fell off."

Alek crossed his arms, indignant. "I said almost."

"Yes, but then you managed to lose the barking leg on top of that." She pointed out.

Alek stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"It's just a leg, how far could it have gone?

Deryn tried a different tactic.

"The neighbors are starting to complain. They think we're either running some sort of junk yard – or preparing for a barking invasion, Alek."

His eyes narrowed in concentration and Deryn could almost see the gears in his head turning. She dug a toe into the dirt as she waited to hear whatever idea he was thinking up.

"I've got it. We'll put up a fence." He smiled as if he'd just announced the solution for world peace.

Deryn rolled her eyes.

"Barking brilliant, Alek," She deadpanned. "We can hide this scrap yard behind a nine foot privacy fence and the neighbors will be none the wiser."

Alek's green eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Never come between an Austrian man and his mechaniks." He told her teasingly.

*The golf walker is from one of Julia456's DALEK week entries; obsessions I do believe.