Anonymous asked: Writing prompt!: Alek dealing with beasties giving birth(again!)!
"Preparing for a birth?" Alek said, dropping the fork he held with a clatter, "But I thought the lorises hatched from eggs?"
Deryn rolled her eyes, princes could be dead annoying with their daft ideas, even retired ones.
"Of course they don't you ninny," She said, flicking the latch of the nursery wing's door, "Lorises are mammals, like you or me. Live birth, just like your Ma did with you."
Alek sniffed indignantly.
"I know that," he said, "But Bovril-the lorises hatched out of eggs, did they not?"
Deryn turned to look at him, had he been blind and deaf to all these months monitoring beasties at the Zoological Society? Or was he being daft on purpose?
"Aye Alek, all beasties come from eggs first," She swung the big door open, getting a wave of smelly heat to the face, "But once they are functional we just let nature take its course."
The boy shivered, as if even this aspect of Darwinism disturbed him, or perhaps it was just the stench.
The London Zoo had a massive nursery for all the wee beasties born in captivity. There was always a bustling of activity in this wing. The room was a buzz with the weighing of young cubs, incubating eggs of the birds and reptiles, and, most recently, spying on a pregnant perspicacious loris.
Deryn supposed it was just lucky that the only other loris to survive was female. At first it seemed inhumane to force Bovril to make a mate out of the other loris, them acting so human in their speech and reasoning, but at the end of the day beasties were beasties, and since the Germans murdered the other eggs, more lorises had to be made.
Bovril had made a father of himself, and as the first of her kind to reproduce, the entire Zoo was waiting on the Lady Boffin's loris as if she were some sort of princess. She definitely acted like a princess, sharing her opinion of the doctors who measured and fed her. "Idiot," and "Imbecile," seemed to be her favorites, and the occasional swear when picked up without warning. Bovril, of course, was not allowed in the nursery, its germs supposedly defiling the other infants. Deryn wondered if the beastie wished he could be there for his mate when birthing their offspring, but of course the idea was ridiculous.
"Mr. Sharp!" the female Loris called out to Deryn as they approached. Deryn resisted the urge to make a rude gesture. Even with all the Boffins treating this stuck up fuzzball like a princess, it gave the beastie no right to be so smug. Still, when the loris stuck out her little hands, Deryn extended an arm to let her climb aboard.
"Oh no," a nearby Boffin, Doctor Grizwalde, said, flapping his hands at Deryn's friendliness, "That wont do, it simply wont do." He repeated like a barking parrot.
"And why in blazes not?" Deryn asked, as a primate, the loris was meant to climb things, even when pregnant.
"This is no ordinary chimpanzee to be played with, this is the first reproduction of an entire species." The man said in his dull drawl.
He plopped the indignant loris back into her pen, all filled with linens and heaters. Dead fancy, this birthing business. Back home, old Daisy would just have her kittens under the sofa. As the loris cursed and rolled over, Alek strode forward to stroke the beastie's head. Perhaps he had a soft spot for these particular fabs, Deryn supposed, and felt herself grin. He was there for the birth of the first perspicacious loris, and here he was again, witnessing the third. This would of course be the only time they would see the Loris until the pregnancy was completed, the Lady Boffin having retired her project to Professor Grizwalde.
The first month old Grizwalde was assigned to the hatcheries for the arachnid parachute weavers. While he said his goodbyes to the staff, there was no suggestion of foul play, but rumor had it he had been slipping the wrong type of pills into the beastie's diet, causing her to lose hairs on her rump. Once again, Doctor Barlow was assigned to the wellbeing of the lorises, and her two henchmen were reacquainted with the pregnant loris the staff had nicknamed Charlotte. Deryn noticed that Alek took up a personal responsibility over her, as if she were not an 'ungodly abomination,' and his own flesh and blood giving birth to a grandson. It was Alek who cleaned her pen, Alek who took her temperatures, and Alek who dragged Deryn into night watches, without the intent of snogging until sunrise.
The second month Deryn thought the boy had gone mad. He had begun to speak directly to Charlotte, more so than he had ever done to Bovril to Deryn's knowledge. He asked her how she felt, if she needed anything, and even chuckled at her attitude when she insulted him, or bit his fingers.
The third and fourth months Alek brought a violin into the nursery. Deryn had never taken him for much of a musician, but she supposed anyone held surprises. She was not surprised. He was dead awful with the fiddle. But the loris seemed to enjoy it, closing her eyes and mimicking the halting harsh plucks of strings. When asked about the practice, Alek merely stated that he thought she needed the company.
Luckily, Deryn had talked him out of this madness by the fifth month. Still he visited Charlotte, and Deryn was beginning to feel a bit left out. Why did he care all of a sudden about some daft beastie's pregnancy? He had a lass with him right barking now and all he cared about was teaching the loris Latin. Deryn stopped accompanying him to the nursery by the end of the seventh month.
The new lorises would be coming at any time. There would be two, by the looks of it, their sexes unknown. Alek brought back his fiddle, without a disgruntled Deryn to be embarrassed for him. He plucked simple tunes to the Loris and she sang along until one say, she stopped. Her words were simple.
"Barking Spiders!"
And just like that a parade of zoologists crowded Charlotte's little pen, preparing for the birth. Alek was shooed from the room, Deryn saw him for the first time in what felt like days.
"Didn't let daddy into the birthing room?" She teased, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice, "Don't be too disappointed, this sort of thing is best left to Boffins."
Alek only looked at his hands, his face blank. Was the bumrag even listening to her?
"Oi, dumkopf!" she said, sliding next to him on the bench outside the nursery, "Lighten up."
Not looking at her, Alek lifted himself and began to pace. Barking Princes…Deryn thought sourly, letting her anger get the better of her. Why did he care so much about Charlotte? The barking loris? For seven barking months he had obsessed over that barking beastie as if they were married. Deryn gave up, slapping her knees with her fists and swinging to her feet.
"I'll be at the flat," she announced to his deaf ears, and swept away.
Why did it hurt so much? Was she really getting jealous of a barking perspicacious loris? As she slid into bed, she tried not to think about the celebration that must be going on back at work. The babies would be born by now, she supposed, and Alek was probably begging to hold one. Just as the cold smirk crossed her face, she heard the door slam from the other room. Perhaps the birth had happened sooner than she thought.
As Alek rushed into their joint bedroom he looked about, as if afraid she wasn't there. So now he barking noticed.
"Deryn?" he sighed when he caught sight of her.
"Aye, its me," She grumbled, shifting to make a spot for him.
"I hadn't noticed you had left," Alek said, his eyes wide with concern, "Why would you leave without me?"
Because you care more about some barking primate than you do your own lass.
"I just felt a bit tired is all."
Alek cupped her face and kissed her. Really kissed her, like he hadn't done in weeks.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I was lost in thought."
Deryn raised an eyebrow.
"For seven barking months?" she said defiantly.
Alek looked at her, astounded, then his face softened into a blush.
"Ah yes," he admitted, "I have been quite the ninny."
They sat in silence for a time. All of Deryn's bitterness keeping her lips tightly shut, and far away from Alek's.
"I suppose it was a bit odd to bring in the violin," Alek offered, looking at her stony expression helplessly.
"Aye. You were barking ridiculous." Deryn said flatly, keeping her eyes away from his face.
"Yes," Alek sighed, laying back, "I was…" be began, then trailed off.
Deryn turned to look at him, her eyebrow cocked.
"You were?" she asked.
Alek cursed and sat up, his face bright red.
"Exercising an idea." He muttered.
Tilting her chin, Deryn felt a tug on her lips, the dark lump of anger in her belly tricking away.
"I…know its odd," Alek continued, "But I… I wanted to think…"
He groaned.
"You really are going to make me spit it out, aren't you?"
Deryn nodded, feeling an old elation whenever she made fun of him.
"I was," he began, "It felt like I was practicing. I kept imagining that the loris want a loris…but…" he coughed and looked away.
"Someone else?" Deryn said, realizing all at once his mania.
"Someday…"Alek whispered, "Someday I want that to be you. Or rather, I want to bewith you when…or if I suppose, it happens."
He grabbed her middle like a child hugging its ma.
"I pretended that the loris was you, that it was ours…" he was choking the words out, sounding perfectly ridiculous. Deryn took pity.
She put a finger to his lips.
"Maybe," she said softly, "But no violins."
With that she kissed him, pushing him back onto the bed. And for the night they lay there, perfectly tangled in each other for the first time in a while, just like the life threads of something new and unnatural, making life in the most natural way of all.