A/N: Just a one-shot while I work on finishing up Ascension. Enjoy! :)
Helena sat cross-legged on the low coffee table staring at the checkerboard with intense fascination. Looking up, she saw Kira smile at her. "It is not as tasty to play with the other checkers," she noted in her low Eastern European accented voice. Her fingers waved idly as she thought over the board.
Kira giggled. "You have to move to get more cookies Auntie Helena." She sipped her milk as she looked down at the board.
Helena picked up a Nilla wafer and hovered it over a square. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Kira's face. The little girl covered her smile with her tiny hands as she watched her aunt. Helena chose a different cookie to hop over Kira's Oreos.
"Mine." She exclaimed triumphantly as she took the cookies she leapt over. Helena dumped one into a pocket and curled herself protectively around the cookie in her hand. Unscrewing it, she savored the white cream before looking at the two chocolate cookies. She pushed the rest in her mouth at one go chipmunk like before uncurling enough to look at the board. She looked up startled at Kira who was balancing a large pile of Nilla wafers. "How you do that?" she asked before leaning almost nose to the board.
Cosima shook her head. "I seriously need to find a new place." She opened her laptop and placed it on a table nearby.
Felix frowned as he watched Helena twist another Oreo and methodically plunder it as she looked around under her lashes as if expecting someone to pull it out of her hands. "Monkey, What did we agree to when Auntie Helena came to visit?"
Kira screwed her face up and looked at the ceiling briefly before her face brightened. "Oh. We are supposed to limit her sugar and ca-" She frowned before brightening up again. "Carfreak intake." She looked at Cosima. "What's carfreak?"
Snorting Cosima sipped at her coffee mug. "Liquid heaven." She looked over at Felix. "When is Sarah coming to pick Helena and Kira up for the zoo? I have to get some work done."
Felix aimed his eyes heavenward. "When did this become the Science Corner Clubhouse? I have work, well, a sugar daddy to do." He tightened the belt on his silk robe as he moved around the loft picking up.
Cosima raised her hand as her eyes slid shut. "TMI." She sighed. "I seriously need a new-"
A knock on the door attracted all the eyes in the room. Cosima jerked her head and hid behind a curtain with her laptop as Helena was dragged to the side by Kira who was putting her finger on her lips. "Quiet time," she told her aunt in a stage whisper.
Felix hitched his shoulders and headed for the door. He looked out at an attractive blonde woman in a battered hat. "Can I help you?" he drawled as he leaned in the doorway.
Shay took a step back and looked around. "Am I in the right- I was looking for-"
Cosima stepped out and put her computer on the table. "For me?" She smiled. She had a date coming up with the blonde, but was drawing a blank on when.
Wasn't it tomorrow? Or...
Shay smiled back and stepped past Felix. "Hey stranger."
"I thought we were supposed to meet..."
"Today at ten?" Shay provided. "I'm a little early, but I was..." she shrugged.
"I lost track of time again. Sorry." Cosima's smile spread then froze as Helena came out with Kira on her heels still trying to drag her back. Helena leaned in close and breathed deeply.
"Are you... are you sniffing me?" Shay asked, her hands up as she backed into the doorframe.
Helena pressed an Oreo into her hand. "Have a checker, they are delicious," she ground out.
"Oh." Shay looked over at Cosima who was facepalming. "Okay. Thank you." Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at Helena. "Are you taking vitamins? You are-" she circled her hand over her own face, "you are very pale."
Helena took a step back as Shay leaned in, examining her. "You look so much like-"
Helena took another step back before stepping forward and grabbing Shay's hat. She looked at it closely before putting it on Kira's head and stroking Shay's hair. "Very soft."
Shay smiled. "Thank you. By your accent you can't be sisters. Cousins?" She looked over at Cosima.
Cosima took a breath. "Strong genes right? A little Patty Duke freakiness."
Sarah came up behind them and her eyes widened. Kira's face brightened as did Helena's. "This is my sister," Helena noted as she pointed behind the blonde visitor.
"Twins," Cosima tossed out. "And identical cousin type me and..." She sounded exhausted. Swallowing, she motioned at the window. "Sunny. We should walk."
Helena leaned in close to Shay again. "We are going to the zoo. I wish to pet the scorpion."
Shay's face stilled a moment. "I don't think they let you pet the scorpion."
"Let, don't let." Helena shrugged and moved past Shay roughly and walked out past Sarah who's jaw appeared to be loose.
Shay smiled engagingly. "Can we join them at the zoo?" she asked Cosima. It was obvious that she thought a day at the zoo would be great fun.
Cosima tried to make her mouth work for the longest time before managing an odd vocalization that did not quite qualify as language.
Shay leaned toward Cosima. "One of my clients had a cousin who got tangled in her cord. Is that what happened to her?" she whispered quietly.
Cosima nodded. "Something like-" She looked at Felix who shrugged. Sarah pushed gently into the room and grabbed a bag full of picnic foods and plucking the hat from Kira's head resettled it on Shay's. She gave Cosima a slap on the arm and steered her daughter out the door. "Good luck," she whispered to her science geek sister.