[-A/N: I'm going to be editing a few things as I go. Mainly Alek's characterization.-]
Deryn stood at the base of the boarding ramp, momentarily frozen by a feeling she didn't get often. She was nervous, and about an airship. As daft as it might seem, she was more than a little scared. She'd flown aboard countless Darwinist ships of ever shape and size imaginable in her service to the London Zoological Society, but had somehow managed not to fly aboard a single Clanker airship. She looked up at the gondola of the SMS Ferdinand; its the unnatural angular shape, the lack of visible life, and the massive envelope hovering above all making her stomach feel more twisted than an airman's knot. "What's the matter, scared?" Alek teased from just inside the gondola. She gave him a dirty look before saying, "I'm not scared! I'm just examining the thing."
She quickly made her way up the ramp, ignoring the Clanker boffins that were whispering about her apparent fear of flight. "Like a good Middy, eh?" Alek asked jokingly. "Ay, like a good Middy." She agreed, keeping her voice steady and masculine. She was playing the part of a man on this mission. "Then lets make for our cabin, Mister Sharp." Alek began down the narrow, wood-lined, corridor that ran the length of the gondola. It was lit by small electric lights in fixtures made to look like candles. Deryn followed, not getting too far behind Alek, very thankful that they didn't have Bovril for this mission. The Clanker boffins that were aboard the ship were dead clever, and the little beasty may have given away more than intended.
Her and Alek were posing as engineers. While Alek's face was well known thanks to Eddie Malone, a fact that nearly got him ousted from the society, he remained in the society. He'd lost a bet and turned up dressed as a girl to a party once, and this gave someone or another the idea to have him pose as a girl. He was dressed in a lab coat over a worn cotton jumpsuit, a bowler hat, and a pair of leather boots. Deryn was dressed similarly. Alek had assumed similar roles dozens of times and this fact created a few odd in-jokes amongst those privy to the knowledge of Deryn's sex and quite a few more amongst those not.
They passed a dozen rooms, including the dining cabin, on the way to their private cabin. Deryn noticed that all the rooms were decorated similarly: stained wood paneling up three quarters of the wall, white painted wood above that, and brass lighting fixtures everywhere. "Why go through all the trouble to dress up the innards of this ship if it still looks like a Clanker war machine on the outside?" Deryn couldn't help asking once they stopped at their cabin. Alek stopped and thought for a moment before giving a shrug. "It's a luxury ship." Was all he said before unlocking the cabin door and stepping inside.
