"I just…its weird that you've never done this."
"Well, I didn't exactly get the opportunity to on the Leviathan."
"But not before?"
"You think I did anything like this when I was in Vienna?"
"You were a prince weren't you? I'd imagine you could've done whatever you damn well wanted."
"I still don't see why-"
"Barking Spiders Alek! Don't grip too hard I wont let you fall in!"
Alek gave Deryn a menacing glare, but the way his wet hair clung to his scalp made his ears and eyes appear cartoonishly large, making Deryn snort again. She was having far too grand a time with this, she knew. It would never fail to be amusing to see his princeliness so flustered.
"You're shaking like a colt," Deryn added, a little gentler.
"Its cold," Alek snapped, "And these ridiculous clothes don't make it any easier."
Once again he pulled at the seam of his bathing costume, wincing as the fabricated fibers clung back to his skin. It baffled Deryn that barking Prince Aleksander of Hohenburg had never had a swimming lesson. Didn't any of those tutors care whether or not he fell off a flagship or something? Not that they suspected he'd fall off a flagship. Emperors of Austro-Hungary probably had fancy staterooms far away from the railing where there'd be no chance of loosing their footing. Assistants of the Lady Boffin, however, do not. So if, perhaps by some chance, Deryn had jokingly shoved him into a pond expecting to see him bob back up to the surface with a sour expression, both she and everyone present were met with an unpleasant surprise.
"We're already at the pool on a sunny day," Deryn said, squinting up at the clear sky, "What did you expect, for it to be like a big bathtub?" She looked suddenly aghast at him, "Were your bathtubs this big back home?"
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous." Alek mumbled, but didn't sound too convincing.
"Well I'm not getting in a bath with you, no matter how princely you are." Deryn said with a smirk, making him roll his eyes, "I'm going to let go."
"Don't!" Alek said, suddenly gripping her arm, "No I'm going to-"
"You're going to use all the hot air in your skull to float, you ninny," Deryn said, "Or rather, in your lungs. Think that's how it works anyway, one…two…"
On three Deryn pushed him out into the water again, a secret knee under the small of his back to stop him dropping like a rock. Alek splashed and spluttered and gripped onto her shoulders.
"That wasn't fair!" he gasped, "You promised you wouldn't-"
"We've been at this for an hour your princeliness," Deryn sighed, "And soon the kiddies will be rushing in from Sunday school. Do you really want a bunch of sniveling brats to see you clinging to a bloke in a public pool."
Alek sighed and loosened his grip, floating back some. Deryn floated alongside him, still holding his fingers to keep him up.
"Don't struggle, you wont sink if you don't think you're going to sink," She said, not knowing if that was bleather or not. After all, she had always known how to swim.
With another deep breath Alek slowly managed to release her fingers, keeping himself upright by paddling his hands and feet.
"Well, you aren't sinking," Deryn said, "But you look more like what I'd expect from Bovril."
There was no answer from his Princeliness. He was too busy swimming like a dog.
"I'll take what I can for now," he said, managing to tread water on his own.
Now that he no longer threatened to sink into the abyss, Deryn instructed him to open his eyes underwater. It seemed a ghastly business without goggles, but Alek obliged. No sooner had he forced his eyes open, then he noticed for the first time that his swimming costume wasn't the only one that clung to him in an almost indecent manner. The revelation caused him to cough out his breath underwater, and have to be brought gasping for air back to the surface.
"Are you trying to drown?" Deryn demanded upon dragging him to shallow water.
"No," Alek said, wiping water off reddened cheeks, "But for some strange reason, I think I'd like to try that part again."