Disclaimer: As much as I wish I had some partake in Orphan Black, I alas do not. I own nothing but the imagination of the story.
Apologies for any errors! This is chapter one of a multi-chapter story. Please favorite and review, I promise, they will help muse me into adding chapters faster. The chapters will alternate every so often between Cosima and Delphine's POV, but it should be pretty easy to follow. Enjoy!
Cosima scanned her surroundings carefully behind her thick-rimmed glasses. The airport was massive and packed with busy commuters and leisurely walking vacationers. She couldn't help but smile as she tapped her feet anxiously while seated in the holding area for her flight. It is the first time Cosima has ever left the country and she couldn't wait to board the plane and start her amazing summer in Paris. For the past few weeks, she's dreamed about walking the early morning streets of Paris, stopping in at bakeries, the Eiffel Tower! It was a dream Cosima never thought would be possible until an email from her father appeared in her inbox with an order confirmation for a round-trip ticket to Paris. Things were just starting to get good again with her then-estranged parents and herself, but she needed to leave, at least for little while, to find her own way and have some well deserved relaxation.
Grasping her ticket in one hand and a book on developmental biology, she thumbed through the pages until finding her bookmark and set off reading to kill the time. Cosima, so engrossed in the literature, almost didn't hear the attendant call seat rows until she made the last call. She quickly gathered her things and busied herself to the gate entrance.
"Kinda always late." She mumbled nervously, apologies written all across her embarrassed face. "Kinda always sorry." The flight attendant didn't even bother to look up or address Cosima while he scanned her ticket and handed it back to her.
Upon boarding the carrier, Cosima glanced at the ticket for her seat number.
"Twenty-three D, twenty…three, ah!" Just there in front of her was her seat next to the window (which she silently thanked her father for because, hey, who doesn't want a window seat when flying over France?) Thankfully, the seats were in pairs, not threes, so she didn't have to disturb two people when shimmying her way to her seat. The person who occupied the aisle seat was wearing a dark hooded sweater and seemed to be listening to music, their head turned towards the window and out of Cosima's view. Cosima chewed on her bottom lip nervously, before gently tapping on the stranger's shoulder, making her jump.
"Sorry! Oh God, my bad. " Cosima exclaimed. The person turned their head, the hood falling and revealing a tumble of blonde curls and a very surprised, but gentle-faced, woman. Cosima impulsively gasped at the sight of the woman who was apologizing herself in a very thick, airy French accent. Cosima felt her heart starting to race as she locked eyes with the woman
"Sorry sorry, it's just…that's my seat and I didn't want to disturb you but I had to get through and just, wow, okay yeah I'm sor-"
"Non." She waved a hand dismissively, smiling at the dreadlocked woman. "It is fine. Please, sit." She tucked her legs in close to her body, making ample space for Cosima to shimmy past and take her seat, still muttering sorry along the way. Cosima tidied her stuff into the backseat compartment and finally breathed, her heart still racing from the stranger next to her. She brought her attention back to the blonde, who took out her earbuds and stowed her phone away, blatant fear written across her face as she nervously tapped her fingers on their shared arm rest, chewing on her bottom lip. Cosima took a breathe before finally opening her mouth.
"I'm Cosima." She stated simply, praying that her neighbor didn't catch the suppressed stutter and she extended her hand forwards. The blonde looked her way, seeming to calm down at the sight of her smile, and lightly grasped her hand to shake.
"Delphine." She replied sweetly. "Enchanté."
Cosima could help but smile as the woman. Delphine, she thought. The name rolled through her mouth like velvet, as if it was suddenly the most beautiful word Cosima ever heard. Delphine's hands were soft and clammy, obviously from the blatant fear. Cosima opened her mouth to reply just as the plane began moving, causing Delphine to inhale a sharp breath and grasp Cosima's hand, which was now resting on the armrest between them. Cosima felt as if her hand had burst into flames, sending electric shocks down her body
"Oh, je m'excuse. I'm sorry. Planes, they frighten me." She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. Cosima could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she bravely turned their hands over and began stroking Delphine's palm with the pad of her thumb, a feeble attempt to soothe her that seemed to be working. Cosima frowned, feeling an ache in her heart as she watched this stranger face an apparent deep fear. She watched Delphine, trying to take mental images and stow them away for a later time. This woman, whose she's known for all of a handful of moments, made Cosima's stomach fill to the brim with butterflies, swelling her heart with emotions. Cosima had the undying need to comfort the French woman and her anxiety.
"Hey, hey. It's alright. Look. We're already in the air." Cosima cooed softly. She watched as Delphine tentatively began to slack on the tight squeeze she had on her eyelids, a smile creeping upon her face at the sight. Delphine peered out the window at the quickening sunset across the clouds, not even bothering to move her hand away.
"Take off. It scares me more then-" The plane hits a small air pocket as it travels through the clouds, causing the carrier to tremble ever so slightly. This commotion elicits the smallest "Merde" from Delphine's lips as she tightens the grasp on Cosima's hand. "Turbulence." She sighs, relaxing her body once more. "I apologize, ehm, Cosima. I am sure you weren't expecting to take an international flight with a person like me." In actuality, Cosima thanked the high heavens that she was physically holding hands with the most beautiful woman her eyes have seen, she knew she was blushing wildly, but didn't even care anymore. She cherished the way Delphine pronounced her name, suddenly thinking she was the only person she ever wanted to hear say it from then on out.
"Ha, totally fine. Believe me, I'm not complaining." Cosima smiled, thinking of a way to relax the woman next to her, deciding to strike up a conversation was best. "So, I take it you're from France?" she asked, adding a nervous giggle.
Delphine nodded, "Oui. I am returning home to Paris now, I was on, how do you say, holiday."
"Oh cool, yeah. I'm headed to Paris, too. Little solo vacation." She grinned as she watched Delphine's face light up for the first time since they met, causing Cosima to match the toothy grin and avert her eyes away in a sudden shyness. She didn't understand, she wasn't a shy person! Cosima was one of the most outspoken people in her friend group in college. It's as if this woman cast a spell on her. No way, Cosima thought. She's a stranger. Pull it together, Cos.
"Really? You're first time, yes? You are going to love it." Delphine boasts. She pulled her hand away from Cosima, suddenly making Cosima's hand feel empty and cold, to reach for her travel blanket stowed under her seat. "Sorry," she apologizes meekly, "planes are always so cold." Cosima watches as Delphine kicks off her shoes and crosses her legs in an indian-style on the chair, draping the blanket across her and then, to Cosima's surprise, across both of their laps. "Your hands were cold, so I just assumed. Please. It's large enough to share." She offered, Cosima thought for just a moment she heard maybe a hint of a hopeful desperation in Delphine's voice, but decided that her mind just wanted her to hear it and brushed it off.
"Yeah, ha. Thanks! It is chilly, I didn't even notice." Cosima mimicked Delphine's actions, kicking off her shows and crossing her legs under the blanket. She didn't even notice Delphine had lifted the arm rest between them up between the seats until she felt her bare arm be brushed by Delphine's, causing a deep shiver down her spine that not even the blanket could warm.
"So, Cosima. You said you are hear on vacation, yeah?" Delphine asked, tilting her seat back to a more comfortable position.
"Uhm, yeah. Just needed some time to myself to veg out" she explained.
"Veg out? I do not think I know it." Delphine questioned quietly, Cosima could almost hear the gears grinding in her head as she tried to figure it out.
"Oh! Yeah sorry, American vernacular must suck. I mean just to relax and enjoy whatever. I'm studying in university right now, so I'm like, mega stressed with everything."
Delphine's face seemed to light up at his as she turned towards Cosima. "What are you studying?" she asked with a genuine interest.
"Biology, focusing on EvoDevo." Cosima replied proudly, wiggling her eyebrows. Delphine smiled widely at this, as if Cosima had just released the secret to the meaning of life."
"Cosima! That is a wonderful field, ev…evolutionary development, right?" Cosima nods excitedly, toying with her bottom lip between her teeth. Not many people ever know what she's talking about when it comes to her field of study, so Delphine's remark made Cosima light up like a Christmas tree inside. "I'm going to begin studying for my PhD in Immunology in the upcoming semester. Host parasite relations, to be more specific." She adds, making Cosima's heart swell. She opens her mouth to respond, eager to continue dorking out about science with her new flight friends, when the plane seams to take a significant dip into an air pocket, causing the plane to go through a series of shakes and trembles. Delphine curses under her breath and grabs Cosima's arm under the blanket, gripping it firmly. Cosima once again feels the electric shocks radiating from Delphine's touch. Her eyes flutter closed as she rides the wave of sensation going to her bottom, sinking her upper teeth into her lip to suppress squeaky moan.
She almost didn't even realize that Delphine had somehow managed to hook her arm around Cosima's, pulling herself closer to the dreadlocked, bespectacled girl beside her. Cosima could feel the rapid rise and fall of Delphine's chest as she tried to regulate her own breathing. The turbulence was unsettling, especially when it was pitch black outside and they were flying over an ocean.
Eager to distract her, Cosima dipped her hand of her free arm into the pocket of her sweater, pulling out a white wire that eventually let to ear buds. Thankfully this airline had tv monitors in the seats and were showing in-flight movies. Cosima quickly flew through the very limited number of channels before landing on something that look relatively interesting. It was in French, of course, but she assumed Delphine would know it.
"D-Delphine. It's okay, we're through it. It's over." She cooed to the stranger. Delphine clicked her tongue, feverishly apologizing for her behavior, but not letting her grip slack on Cosima's arm, not that Cosima was complaining. "Here, look. Let's watch." She offered, dangling on of the earbuds towards Delphine.
Delphine smiled, and placed it in her ear, Cosima doing the same with hers. The movie looked like it took place in the 1950's era in France, but that was only a guess. The subtitles were in a language that was definitely not english, so Cosima absent-mindedly started making up her own story line as the film progressed.
A million thoughts ran through her head as she pretended to watch the film that Delphine seemed to be completely engrossed in. Feelings and emotions were coasting through Cosima's mind and body at a pace she simply couldn't keep up with. It was all too much as Cosima caught herself blinking back pitiful and embarrassing tears, pursing her lips together. This was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to go to France, eat french food, hook up with french girls, drink french wine, and enjoy being single and in a foreign country. Cosima didn't think she'd be sharing her earbuds with her seatmate, let alone befriend them and dare she think, falling for them. She surely didn't think they'd be sharing a blanket and watching a movie. Like a date she thought to herself. No, Cos. God. So not a date. She found herself not wanting to leave Delphine, almost as if they'd get off the plane together and go home, like they knew each other their whole lives. Cosima didn't even book a hotel for her stay! She figured she'd be bouncing around through France anyway, so she'd take it a week at a time and shitty hotels throughout the country. But now as she closed her eyes and let her mind wandered off, she imagined herself in this exact position with Delphine on a couch, or a park bench…or a bed. No, Cos. Cut it out. She's a stranger. She could be a complete psychopath! As much as Cosima tried to rationalize with her own self, it was to no avail. She let her mind wander the way it always does, accepting her predisposition for jumping to conclusions happily.
Cosima felt her eyes started to heavy as she stifled a yawn into her palm. She turned to Delphine to ask if she could close the blind on the window, and finally noticed that at some point during the film, Delphine's body had turned to face Cosima, her head dropped lazily onto her shoulder, sound asleep. Cosima grinned, bravely nestling her head atop Delphine's, hoping not to disturb her. Instead she felt Delphine nuzzle her cheek into Cosima's shoulder more, her forehead pressing against her neck and quietly mumbling before falling silent against. It was too good to be true, and Cosima begged her mind not to be playing a trick on her, and to just let her enjoy this moment. She didn't even bother closing the window shade, the plane's lights were dim enough not to be a disturbance to either of them. Thank God for turbulence Cosima thought before, she too, let sleep take over her.
So there's chapter one! I know it's short, I usually write much longer chapters but it's just the beginning of a long journey. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a line in my inbox or tumblr, .com