The delicate pink paper unfolded in his hands like a blooming rose. It was a small letter, nearly the size of a pocket watch and fragile as an eggshell. Alek reread the flamboyant script inside one last time and groaned.

Printed in red ink so bright it made him squint, were three flowery words:

IT'S A GIRL!

Alek was worried he'd get a cavity from just holding the note. It was one of those store bought greeting cards that women drooled over at the local candy shop or department store. Of anyone he thought his mother would be above such sugary salutations.

Below the three words were a few more, scratched out in sharp black pen.

So sorry for the disgusting card, but your mother insisted. I've never used a bird to send a letter before, but I suppose our forefathers used carrier pigeons just fine. Hopefully this note finds you well.

The Darwinist doctors claim that the baby will be female, although I have no idea how they would know after only six weeks of gestation. Your mother, of course, is ecstatic and has already picked out a name. Something along the lines of Elizabeth or Emily. I couldn't say why but she really would prefer an English name.

Give our regards to the Count and Mr. Sharp.

Sincerely,

Father.

It was strange, Alek thought, how the card made him more nervous than excited. He looked out his cabin window, examining the snowy landscape of Russia beneath him in silence. The Clanker engines of the Leviathan thundered above him and he could see the wisps of cilia moving up and down the ship's flank outside the glass.

Here he was, stranded on a Darwinist airship halfway around the world while his parents were visiting boffins for pregnancy checkups and sending him letters via messenger falcon. Had the Hapsburgs become Darwinists in this crazy war?

He sighed and folded the letter up again before shoving it in his pocket. What was really terribly strange was that none of this seemed to bother him at all. He quite enjoyed being like a Darwinist.

No, the thing that was really sticking at him like a needle in his side were those same three words: it's a girl.

Not only was the baby a girl, but he had a feeling that someone else might be as well. Especially after the accounts of his last night in Istanbul.

His arms were shaking and his stomach was fluttering like a hummingbird, but Alek tried to ignore it. Finally he pushed away from his window and out of his cabin into the hallway.

It had been a little more than a week since he and Dylan had climbed the rescue ladders up to the airship. The captain had thanked them generously for their actions in Istanbul, but either than that, life aboard the Leviathan had returned to normal. Dylan had gone back to his middy duties and Alek was continuing to teach the Darwinists how to run the engines. He and the midshipman had remained close friends. Every morning they would make time to eat breakfast together at the middy mess hall and Alek enjoyed having a companion to share his time with.

Yet each day he couldn't help but remember something Lilit had said before she jumped off that cliff. He hadn't brought it up with Dylan, not yet, and it had been nagging at him like a biting fly for the past few days. Each hour it grew stronger and stronger.

Now with the letter from his parents happily proclaiming IT'S A GIRL!, Alek found that he couldn't ignore it any longer.

He needed to find out if his friend was a woman.

And it wasn't like he could just ask him. First of all, Dylan would just deny it no matter what the truth was. Plus, if Alek had assumed wrong then he would be deeply insulting Dylan by asking in the first place. There had to be another way to find out for sure.

Quicker than he would have liked, he found himself knocking on Dylan's cabin door.

"It's open!" Shouted his friend from inside. Alek shoved the door open roughly, making Dylan jump in surprise.

"I need to talk to you." He said gruffly. Dylan frowned and looked up from his boot laces that he had been fussing over.

"Aye," Dylan responded quizzically, "you look upset about something. What do you need to talk about?"

"Pardon me, I misspoke." Alek answered. His voice was chattering a bit but he forced himself forward a few steps anyways. "I mean…that is… I need to try something."

"Try something?" Dylan stood up straight and narrowed his eyes. "What on earth are you blethering about?"

Alek was now right in front of him, nearly a hand's width apart. Standing this close it was easy to see the height difference between them. It was only a few centimeters but it was still enough to make Alek cringe. This wasn't going to be easy. He might as well just get it over with.

Without pausing to breath he snatched his hands around Dylan's head and pulled his face toward his own. Alek closed his eyes and smashed his lips against the other boy's mouth.

Dylan struggled at first, obviously shocked by Alek's sudden action, but soon he stopped fighting and seemed to melt into Alek's kiss.

Alek's brain had gone numb for a moment. Now that he had accomplished the task his body seemed to be relaxing and actually enjoying the touch of another person's lips. His heart was now beating to a completely different melody, one of excitement rather than nerves.

Dylan's mouth opened against his and he felt the soft warmth of the other boy's tongue press between his lips. He shuddered, causing his brain to flip back into attention.

Here is your answer. He thought. Would you feel this way if you were kissing another boy?

Smiling, Alek slowly pulled his face away but allowed his hands to continue holding Dylan's head, his fingers entwined in the golden hair.

Dylan's eyes snapped open in horror.

"HOLY SH…I mean…BLISTERS, ALEK! What the hell was that for!"

Alek let go of her head and backed up toward the door.

"I guess I was just curious." He said, grinning to himself and reaching for the doorknob.

"Barking spiders! You were CURIOUS? What is that even supposed to mean? ! Hey…I'm talking to you dumpkopf! Where in the blazes do you think you're going? ALEK!"

He was already halfway down the hallway toward the mess hall, ignoring her screams from behind him.

Lilit had been right all along, it seemed, there was something very curious about Mr. Sharp.

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Thanks for reading everyone! That was the last chapter. Hope you've enjoyed it!