Note: The original and extremely detailed request from sarra's-sorceress: requestish thing being something about deryn and alek with bovril wondering about how much the loris actually understands (and possibly with deryn being especially worried about what exactly does bovril mean by saying all the time)
And I apologize for the incredibly lame pun in the chapter title... brain fail. :)
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"Ohayou gozaimasu," the loris says.
Alek stares, surprised, while Dylan starts laughing. "Blisters! That's a mouthful. Who taught you that one, beastie?"
Bovril tilts its head and looks imploringly at Alek. "Japan."
"Indeed, that's where we're going," Alek tells Bovril, picking it up and settling it on his shoulder. To Dylan, he says, "I wonder if it's been talking to the other loris. Perhaps one of them was listening to Dr. Barlow, or Captain Hobbes?"
"Aye, maybe," Dylan says, sounding dubious. He looks closely at the loris. "Or maybe not. They really are clever, aren't they?"
"Mimicry and, er, perspicacious tendencies aren't signs of true intelligence," Alek says. "And I believe I heard something said once about fabricated creatures not possessing human reasoning."
Dylan nods. "That's one of old Charles Darwin's rules. One of the most important."
"There you are. Surely Dr. Barlow wouldn't violate her own grandfather's rules," Alek says firmly.
Bovril chuckles. Unreasoning mimic or clever animal, it's certainly chosen an unsettling moment to laugh.
Alek and Dylan look at it somewhat askance. It blinks its enormous eyes and flicks one rounded ear side-to-side, adorable as can be.
"Well. It can't be that intelligent," Alek says after a few seconds. "Look at how it says your name."
Dylan coughs and adjusts the knot of his tie. "Aye, that's – Aye. No telling what it's on about with that."
Bovril stares straight at the midshipman and says, "Mr. Sharp."
"You must admit, that's rather peculiar," Alek says, noticing without really heeding the fierce glare that Dylan shoots the creature.
"Peculiar," Bovril says. Chuckles. "Mr. Sharp."
"Dr. Barlow thinks it might be broken," Dylan says in a rush. For some reason he's turning red. "From what happened to it as an egg."
Alek frowns, thinking about it, one hand absently scratching the loris' head. "I suppose that makes sense…"
"Or maybe it's just spent too much time around you," Dylan adds, grinning. The expression seems slightly strained. "All you Clankers are cracked in the attic."
Alek knows his friend too well to take any sort of offense. Instead he thinks for a moment and comes back with, "What does that say about you, then, Midshipman Sharp?"
Dylan laughs, Alek grins – and, largely unnoticed, Bovril giggles and murmurs, "Darwin's rules."
