AN: I thought of this and had to write it. I haven't written in ages so this'll be a bit weird for me. Any mistake is mine, i apologise in advance if there are any. I hope you guys enjoy it, tell me what you think! Feedback is most certainly welcome.
I don't own Orphan Black, obvs.
"Bloody hell, Cos, hurry up!"
"Sarah, just a sec I need to find my-" said Cosima, looking through the mountain stack of clothes on her bed.
"COSIMA NIEHAUS!"
"-glasses." Cosima held it up in triumph with a fist bump and put it on. "Come on then Sarah, don't want to be late do we?"
Sarah rolled her eyes and turned towards the door, "I swear to God Cosima, you're a handful."
"Oh you love me. Now c'mon," Cosima ran down the stairs waving Sarah to follow her, "the museum isn't far from my apartment."
"Oh yeah? That's probably why you got it," Sarah said, "you little nerd."
"Woah, hey, if you didn't wanna come with, then you should've said so," Cosima opened the door, shuffled around a few people and made her way to the museum.
"I didn't want to come, you forced me!"
"I did no such thing. Besides, you owe me." Cosima paused at the entrance, considered which queue would take less time and lined up.
"What are we here for anyway? Is there some kind of special event?" asked Sarah, looking around helplessly and wanting to be anywhere but lining up for a walk around a museum.
"Nothing in particular," shrugged Cosima, "I just wanted to visit. Everyone in my class has been talking about it and since I've been busy with my dissertation, I haven't had time to look around."
"You little shit, you dragged me here for nothing?"
"It's not nothing Sarah, it's science, you'll learn a thing or two. Plus, you need it." Cosima said, her hands animating her excitement. Cosima stepped forward and greeted the guy selling tickets with her wide grin.
"Hey-" Cosima squinted at his nametag, "-Jake, can I get two tickets please?" she asked, her smile becoming even wider when she noticed Jake gawking at her.
"Hellooo, earth to Jake?" Cosima waved her hands in front of Jake. Sarah shook her head and sighed, she's used to people's jaws hanging for Cosima's charm and this one isn't a surprise.
"Uh, yes, of course," with his cheeks flushed, Jake turned for the computer and printed off the tickets, "here you are Miss."
"Thank you Jake." Cosima collected the tickets, passed them to Sarah and paid, "Have a nice day!"
Cosima walked off and Sarah, who was already regretting giving in to Cosima, followed her. Cosima saw a model of DNA and practically skipped over. She wanted a good look of the model.
"Did you know that if you're an identical twin, you're technically a clone?" asked Cosima, her hands moving at a fast pace while explaining to Sarah. Science has always been Cosima's favourite, fascinated by how the world works and questioning why things are the way they are. However, biology is Cosima's baby and in high school, Cosima have always been bullied for that but now that she's in college and with people who actually want to study the same thing as her, she's more comfortable with her peers, with the exception of Sarah's name calling at times.
Cosima explained the advantages and disadvantages of cloning to Sarah, "Don't you get it? There are so many advantages!" Sarah just nodded her head, knowing that she wouldn't be able to make Cosima stop from one of her tangents. "For example, transplants, you wouldn't have to wait for a donor but then there are questions on how ethical-"
Cosima felt the wind knocked out of her lungs as she collided with someone and stumbled back a few steps, the careless person who'd ran into her falling backwards onto the floor with a painful grunt. Confused, Cosima looked down to see a girl her age with golden blonde hair cradling her shoulder.
"Merde!" the girl cried.
"Oh my God, I am so sorry," Cosima rushed to the floor to help the girl but when she offered her hand and the girl looked up, Cosima's breath was stolen out of her lungs for the second time. She stared at the girl's soft hazel eyes and tried to say something but she couldn't seem to make sounds out of her mouth.
Perplexed, the girl asked, "Can you help me up?"
Cosima got out of her embarrassing speechless moment, "Yes, of course," she shuffled closer and offered her hand again, "here, lemme help you." She grabbed her hand and something clicked inside Cosima's brain. She felt connected to the girl somehow and when their hands touched, she swore she could feel her heart beating faster.
Cosima pulled the girl up but she got greeted with a loud yelp.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch."
"Holy watershed, are you okay?" Cosima kneeled down to get a better look, she glanced behind her to see Sarah sniggering. She gave Sarah a glare but that only served to make Sarah laugh more. She gave up with her and turned her focus back to the girl.
"Je n'ai sais pas," the girl started to speak but then seemed to remember that Cosima asked her in English. "I don't know." The girl started to move her shoulder but stopped immediately. "I- I think I may have broken my shoulder, or maybe dislocated it, I'm not certain."
Cosima looked at her with worried eyes and stretched her arm out, "May I?"
"Bien sûr – um, of course," the girl nodded her head quickly, her lips pursed and her nose crinkled.
That must have been the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Cosima thought.
Cosima touched her shoulder gently and the girl gasped. Cosima's hand recoiled back beside her. "There's definitely something wrong with it."
"Well duh, doesn't take a doctor to know s'thing's wrong with it." Sarah said sarcastically from behind. Cosima was startled, she forgot Sarah was even with her.
"I think you need to go to the hospital," Cosima looped her arm around the girl's torso and held her, "here, let's get you standing up."
The girl groaned but she managed to get on her feet. Cosima loosened her grip and took a step back. "I know you're hurting, but are you okay?"
"Oui, I think so. Thank you for helping me up."
"Why are you thanking me? I just dislocated your shoulder, or worse, broken it." Cosima thought that the situation was absolutely ridiculous. What are the odds that I'd bump into a golden goddess and dislocate her shoulder?
"It was not your fault, I was running and I did not look where I was going," the girl apologised. "I saw the model of the DNA and I got really excited." She looked at Cosima sheepishly and her cheeks flushed.
Is this even real? French, beautiful and smart. Cosima thought. "Still though, I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I'm Delphine by the way," she held her hand out and Cosima took it straight away.
"Cosima."
"Enchanté," said Delphine, smiling at Cosima. Cosima grinned, her tongue poking through her teeth, "Enchanté."
Delphine laughed at Cosima's butchery of the French accent. Cosima though she was going to die at that moment, Oh my God, that accent, and that laugh, and her hands! They're so soft…
Cosima let Delphine's hand go from her grasp and instantly she felt the loss of heat and wanted to take it back. Pull yourself together Cosima, you just injured her.
"So, shall we go?" Delphine asked, "My shoulder does really hurt," her hands motioning towards the exit. Cosima turned her head towards Sarah, "I'll take her to the hospital, you don't have to come."
"Are you kidding me? I'm really enjoying watching you put your foot in your mouth," leaning on the wall and with her legs crossed, Sarah smirked. "but, I do have to meet Cal so I'm gonna go even though I haven't seen you this flustered since your last gir-"
Cosima cut in, "Okay! Delphine, we're leaving. Bye Sarah, I'll see you soon." She helped Delphine walk out of the museum.
"See ya geek monkey!" Sarah shouted before Cosima could escape her sister's wrath.
Cosima flushed and walked even quicker. "Your sister's nice," mentioned Delphine, glancing at Cosima. "She is your sister right? You look the same but I've been wondering why she has a different accent."
"Oh she's ridiculously exasperating," Cosima hailed a cab and opened the door and helped Delphine get in. "and yes, she's one of my sisters, we're triplets. We were separated at birth, Sarah was a foster child, she was raised by a British woman called Mrs S, I've met her and she's fantastic. Meanwhile, I was raised in San Fran and my other sister, Alison, she was raised in Canada and lives in Toronto with her boyfriend.
"Wow, that's… well, that explains Sarah's accent."
"Yeah, pretty surreal right? We only got in contact 2 years ago, I wasn't particularly looking into my biological family, but I saw a picture of Sarah from my cop friend, and well, I started investigating after that."
Delphine listened to Cosima's story with serious concentration, watching the dreadlocked girl's hands wave around -like it had a life of its own- as she continued with her story. Delphine was mesmerised by Cosima's enthusiasm and the way she talked, Delphine's never met anyone quite like Cosima.
Delphine grabbed one of Cosima's hands. Cosima glanced at their clasped hands and looked at Delphine with amusement in her eyes. Delphine turned crimson and took her hand back and motioned outside the cab, "We're at the hospital."
"Oh, well let's get going, you're probably in so much pain right now." Cosima took out a wad of cash from her pocket and gave it to the driver. Delphine captured Cosima's hand for the second time in less than five minutes. "Cosima, no, I'll pay for it."
"What are you on about? I injured you, I'm paying for the cab." Cosima told Delphine, glancing at their connected hands. "D'accord, but next time, I'm paying." Delphine acquiesced.
"There's gonna be a next time huh? Is this your way of asking me out?" Cosima asked playfully with a raised eyebrow as she opened the door for Delphine and saw her turn red. Cosima chuckled and shook her head.
"Uhm, I- I'm not-"
"Relax Delphine, I'm totally kidding with you," Cosima said, walking through the hospital doors and into the Emergency Room. "You're cute when you're all flustered." Cosima flashed her signature grin and Delphine laughed.
"You're very cheeky, has anyone told you that?" asked Delphine, completely amused by Cosima.
"Hmm.. Funny that you mentioned that, a beautiful French lady had told me once." Cosima replied smoothly. Nice one Niehaus.
"And how did you meet this French lady?" Delphine joined Cosima with her charade and looked at her with a questioning look, a grin threatening to burst on her face. She can't believe how bold Cosima is. Mon dieu, she's so charismatic.
"Wow, where to start? We met in such an odd way!"
Delphine couldn't keep the grin that was threatening to burst from her face anymore and she started laughing. Cosima laughed along with Delphine and people started giving the pair weird looks which just made Cosima laugh harder, causing Delphine to snort.
"OH MY GOD! Did you just-" Cosima couldn't stop laughing, her stomach hurt from the action. Delphine's face turned so red and she put her hand over Cosima's mouth trying to stifle her laugh but it was no use, she only had one arm to do it. Cosima took Delphine's hands in hers and finally Cosima started to calm down although, her grin still visible and amusement sparkled in her eyes.
"I can't believe it," Cosima said, chuckling and lead Delphine towards the seats. "You actually just snorted."
"Mon dieu, I'm so embarrassed," Delphine hid her face in her hand and giggled. She can't believe it either, she can't believe she just snorted in front of Cosima. She'd always been teased about it when she was a child, she thought she'd outgrow it, but obviously not.
Cosima took Delphine's hand and made her look at her. "Hey, it's okay, it's totes adorable."
Delphine looked at her confusedly, "Totes?"
"Sorry, it's slang for 'totally', I forgot you're not fully used to the English slang."
"I'm used to it, I'm just not used to 'Cosima slang'," Delphine teased.
"Ha, funny. Anyway, sit tight, I'll get you your paperwork." Delphine watched Cosima sashay to the front desk. She saw the nurse perk up when Cosima interacted with her, in fact Delphine noticed that everything seemed to brighten; Cosima gives the ambiance of life. Delphine find this very fascinating about Cosima. She just met her hours ago but she felt like she's known her for years. Is this feeling normal? I feel so comfortable with her. Delphine couldn't say that she doesn't find Cosima attractive, because she totally does. The way her dress hugged her, showing her enticing curves, but what she finds attractive about Cosima the most is her clever mind and her cheeky smile. Mon dieu, her smile, I could look at it forever.
Delphine never thought of sexuality, not for herself anyway, but meeting Cosima today, well, it made her think. She thought that she'd never laughed more before today, granted, she'd never had a dislocated shoulder either. Delphine's enthralled by how Cosima carries herself, confident but not arrogant, bold but not coming off as too forward. She liked how passionate Cosima becomes when she talks about something she loves, she liked Cosima's laugh, she liked Cosima's smell, and she liked Cosima's eyes. Merde, what am I thinking? I don't even know if Cosima likes women…
She heard Cosima's laugh, intrigued, she looked at what's happening. It looked like Cosima was having fun, the nurse slipped her a piece of paper and winked. Delphine felt a pang of jealousy and this annoyed her, Cosima isn't hers, she's allowed to flirt with whoever she wants. Still, Delphine found it irksome that the nurse is openly flirting with Cosima. As if Cosima felt Delphine staring at her, Cosima turned around and grinned, she waved goodbye to the nurse and made her way towards Delphine.
"What's with the scowl Del?" Cosima asked, sitting down next to her and handing her the papers she had to sign.
"Del?" she asked.
"You don't mind me calling you Del right? I mean, your name is totes beautiful and if you'd rather me call you Delphine then tell me…" Cosima saw Delphine's scowl turn into a smile.
"I'm talking too much aren't I?" she asked, also smiling at Delphine. She's glad that the scowl's gone, Delphine's too pretty to be scowling.
"Non, I don't mind, you're very cute when you ramble on," Delphine said nonchalantly, taking the papers from Cosima and filling in the necessary spaces. "And to your question, I don't mind you calling me Del. In fact I haven't heard anyone call me that for a while, only my parents and my closest friends did, and they're all in France so…"
Cosima watched Delphine write her information with gracious handwriting, it's very different to her messy scrawl. Her professors were always telling her she needed to make it readable but she can't help that her mind goes a million miles per hour and her hand just can't keep up with her thoughts.
"Cormier…" she whispered. What a gorgeous surname.
"Gorgeous you say?" Delphine looked up from the papers and watched Cosima's reaction and couldn't help but smirk.
"Huh?" Cosima seemed to wake up from her trance and blushed. "Uhm, yeah, you have a gorgeous surname." I can't believe I said that out loud! Great, nicely done Niehaus.
"Merci," Delphine took the compliment and thought she'd be nice and not tease Cosima because she looked very embarrassed. "Well, since you know my surname, how about you tell me yours? It's only fair."
"Niehaus," she replied, glad that Delphine decided to move on from her embarrassment.
"You have German blood?" asked Delphine.
"Well, I don't know, I'm adopted remember? It's my adoptive father's name." Cosima said casually.
"I'm sorry, of course. Well, anyhow, you have a beautiful surname," Delphine said, turning her concentration back to finishing her paperwork. "Co-si-ma Niehaus, it rolls on your tongue."
OH MY GOD, I never knew anyone could say my name as sexily as Delphine and holy watershed, she just said tongue in the same sentence. I think I'm going to explode. Breathe Cosima, breathe.
"Cosima? Are you okay? You're looking a bit flushed." Delphine touched her forehead and looked at her with worried eyes.
"I'm okay, you shouldn't worry about me," Cosima said, taking Delphine's hand away from her forehead. "How's your shoulder?"
Delphine entwined their fingers together and Cosima noticed how perfect their hands fit. She wondered if Delphine even noticed that she did it or if she did it without knowing.
"It's aching, but it's bearable," she shuffled closer to Cosima. "I'm okay, just tired." Delphine sighed and placed her head on Cosima's shoulder. Cosima stiffened for a second but let herself relax against Delphine.
"Better make ourselves comfortable right? Who knows how long we'll be here waiting," she joked. Cosima can feel how warm Delphine is and snuggled closer to her without seeming too obvious to anyone.
"Hmm." Delphine closed her eyes and nestled her head in Cosima's neck. Delphine felt so comfortable with Cosima and she doesn't know why, she's been trying to figure it out, trying to figure out Cosima, but Cosima's like an enigma so she came to the conclusion that she'll never find out and decided that she should just enjoy it.
"Miss Delphine Cormier?"
Delphine opened her eyes and saw the same nurse that's been flirting with Cosima earlier. Her brows furrowed and her previous relaxed mood vanished.
"Oui, that's me." Delphine started to stand up and she saw the nurse look at her fingers entangled with Cosima's and her smile turned into a grimace. Delphine knew she shouldn't be happy about the change in the nurse's demeanor but she is.
Delphine inhaled sharply, she felt a shot of pain on her shoulder. "Delphine, be careful!"
She chuckled, "I'm okay Cosima." She looked at the nurse, "It's okay for Cosima to come right?"
"Yes, of course. Follow me," The nurse lead them to a bed and Delphine sat down on it, waiting for the doctor to come and fix her shoulder.
"Hello, I'm Dr Lewis. What have we got here?" Dr Lewis asked and Cosima explained their problem. He nodded and looked at Delphine, asking her for permission to look at her shoulder. Delphine winced and held Cosima's hand tighter.
"Well, it seems like you've dislocated your shoulder Miss Cormier, but we'll take an x-ray just to be sure nothing else is wrong. Is that okay?" Delphine nodded and she was lead to the x-ray room, she was sad that she had to let go of Cosima's hand and missed her warmth.
Cosima waited outside and hoped that nothing else is wrong with Delphine's shoulder. Dislocation is bad enough; she doesn't want it to be any more complicated and more painful than it already is.
Delphine walked out of the room and they made their way back to the hospital bed. A few minutes later, Dr Lewis came back with the results.
"Good news, nothing else is wrong, bad news, we've got to put your shoulder back in its socket and it's going to hurt a lot."
"Wow doctor, loving your bedside manner," Cosima joked. "Don't worry Del, you can hold my hand while he does it."
"I'll take that offer, thank you," Delphine said, closing her eyes.
Dr Lewis placed one hand on her shoulder and one hand on her bent elbow, "Ready?" he asked.
"Oui, I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Delphine waited for the pain and held onto Cosima's hand very tightly.
"On three, 1, 2-" Dr Lewis jerked her arm up and her shoulder popped into place, "-3."
Delphine yelped and Cosima grimaced by how tightly Delphine's holding her hand. "Always better when they don't see it coming," said Dr Lewis. "Well, you're done now, I'll let Nurse Williams get you a sling, here's a prescription for painkillers."
"Do you give prescription for marijuana?" Cosima asked, flashing him her pearly white teeth. Delphine playfully hit her arm and glared at her. "What? I'm kidding, jeez Delphine."
Dr Lewis shook his head and gave Cosima a small smile, "No, I don't have that power." He gathered his stuff and turned to Delphine, "I wish you well Miss Cormier, be careful around that one." He gave a pointed look at Cosima and Cosima feigned innocence, he waved them goodbye and went to look for his other patients.
Nurse Williams put her arm in a sling and told Delphine that she's done and rolled in a wheelchair. Delphine gave it one look and refused to sit, "Non, I am not sitting on that."
"Come on Delphine, just sit, I'll roll you out the hospital."
"Miss Cormier, it's hospital policy, everyone has to be rolled out the hospital on a wheelchair," informed the nurse.
Cosima gave her an amused smirk and pointed at the wheelchair, "Sit," Delphine caved in and sat on the wheelchair with a frown on her face. Cosima chuckled and wheeled her out, "You're like a puppy."
Delphine glared at Cosima, "I am not a puppy…"
"You so are, you have that fluffy curly hair of yours and those soft hazel eyes," Cosima teased, she can see that Delphine isn't very delighted that she made her sit. "Add to all that, you obeyed my command to sit, you're totally a puppy."
Delphine sighed and laughed, she can't stay annoyed at Cosima for long. She got up from the wheelchair and waited for Cosima to hail a cab. She thought about what Cosima said, she did obey her, one look from those brown eyes and Delphine had to do whatever Cosima asked.
Cosima, chivalrous as ever, opened the door of the taxi for Delphine and followed her in. Delphine turned to face Cosima with a smile on her face.
"So, about that next time I was on about…" Delphine started, searching Cosima's face for any bad signals, "Would you like to have a drink with me?"
"No." Cosima said straightforwardly.
"Non?" Delphine felt like she's been slapped in the face. Have I been reading her all wrong?
"No," Cosima couldn't take Delphine's sad and shocked puppy face anymore. She grinned and said, "Because I'd like to ask you if you'd like to have dinner with me."
Delphine whacked Cosima's arm and scowled at her. Cosima just started laughing, "Ouch, that hurt."
Delphine's scowl shifted into a smile, "Well, you deserved it you brat."
"So, is it yes for dinner?" Cosima asked with a hopeful face.
"Oui, it's a yes." Delphine nodded and if it was even possible, Cosima's face beamed brighter. Mon dieu, she's dazzling. Cosima took Delphine's hand in hers. What a crazy day, and such an odd way to meet someone new, she thought.