author's note: It's been awhile since I've written anything at all so read at your own risk. I have no betas and I usually try to slam it out before my muse runs away again. Orphan Black has been stuck in my head quite a bit and I always thought that the show could've had more of Delphine in it, at least to explain how she fell so hard for Cosima.
Delphine made the appropriate noises, carefully remembering to rake her nails across Aldous' back at the appropriate times when his grunting and thrusting increased in fervour.
This was a necessary exercise.
She treated this with clinical detachment, considering it at the very most, a tedious chore. Sometimes, Delphine let her mind wander, and today it wandered to the women (predominantly women, anyways) who actually did this for a living, who prostituted themselves and sold their body for payment. The Frenchwoman had no illusions of what she was doing, no fantastical beliefs of affection or love. She was working right now, providing a service in exchange for payment.
A prostitute. In the very basest of terms.
'I do not know if I could survive doing this for a long duration.' Delphine thought wryly as Aldous quavered and made… sounds… over her and she responded in kind. Maybe he was under the illusion that she held extra loyalties to him or had some sort of affection for him, nurtured by their physical couplings. That was, of course, not the case. But she let him think that as he slid out of her, spent and shrivelled, condom thrown carelessly on the floor of the hotel room. He nuzzled into her for that extra contact. She snuggled into him obediently unable from halting a giggle at the thought that a prostitute might have charged extra for cuddling.
Aldous, not being privy to Delphine's thoughts, thankfully, only chuckled breathlessly in response to her little laugh. Probably assuming it was some euphoric after-effect of sex.
"324B21 is yours, now." Aldous murmured into her hairline after he had spent some time catching his breath. "You will have to get close to her, get her to trust you."
"Of course, Aldous."
"We've had trouble with her before." The older man continued and the blonde tried to hide her annoyed frown. She was not a first year grad student that needed her hand held through her first culture.
"I know. This is not my first time running an experiment."
"But this is a special case." Aldous said soothingly, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. At least he was observant enough to hear the offended tone in her voice. "You know I think very highly of you, Delphine."
'That was after I slept with you. Before, you barely gave my research a second glance and instead just looked at my legs.' Delphine wanted to snap out what was going through her head but instead, tipped her head up, nudged the bottom of his jawline with her nose and he hummed in approval. Unfortunately, that little touch had him twitching against her belly again.
Aldous Leekie was an intellectual, but he was also an old white man and the world did not work in women's favour with the glass ceiling firmly in place, especially in the male-dominated STEM fields. So Delphine had invited herself coquettishly to his office and then let him take her in his fashionable workspace. She remembered, as he pushed her face down on his desk, remembered grasping at the edges of the slippery surface of his furniture as he pushed her skirt up and out of the way, entering her frantically with wild thrusts that made her wince and left bruises on her hips for days. Delphine remembered how her thoughts had raced frantically, hoping that this would work and she would finally get his attention and not be pushed to the wayside...
'I have certainly managed that.' Delphine thought, wondering if she should be at all proud of that accomplishment as he rubbed his length against her and pushed his tongue into her mouth. Aldous had continued their… arrangement, discreetly of course.
For an old man, he certainly was virile. Delphine suspected, though she certainly had no-one to share this suspicion with, that Aldous had made… enhancements. Or taken some pills at least. What with his being the face of Neolution, the blonde was certain that the pride of an older man would push him to at least make attempts to keep up with a much younger lover.
Delphine honestly would rather he have the stereotypical sexual stamina of a man his age. When he flipped on top of her again, eagerly reaching for the few condoms he had strewn on the bedside table, she had to bite back a sigh and replace it with a lusty moan. Delphine enjoyed sex and had had many lovers, taking to bed a broad spectrum of male specimen that humanity had to offer her. Aldous Leekie was attractive for his mind only and she felt nothing for him physically. It wasn't so much his age as she had had older male lovers before, but just… the chemistry. She had thought, when she had begun her seduction, that his charismatic, near magnetic personality would make this arrangement at least more pleasurable.
But Aldous made love like he was playing an audience. He preferred one position: on top and missionary, her legs wrapped around him and her hands pulling him in. He had to be all encompassing and overwhelming. He enjoyed not so much the pleasure of his audience but the pleasure he derived from having a captive audience that hung on to his every word or in this case, hung on to his dick and worshipped it like it was the new messiah raining manna from heaven.
As he pushed into her again with a guttural grunt, she held on and buried her face into his neck, letting her mind wander again. Engaging in an affair with Leekie had ensured that she rode on the same elevator he was in, all the way to the top. She no longer had to raise her voice to be heard when Leekie listened attentively and expected others to do so. Delphine was certain she surprised him with her solid research and intellect and knew, with this assignment, that he certainly valued her for more than just her body now.
That thought at least soothed Delphine as Leekie ground her into the mattress and she clung on, matching his movements smoothly.
Delphine's breath caught in her throat when she saw her subject. 324B21. Dreadlocked, spectacled and so tiny… sharp and from what she could hear of her conversation with the man sitting across from her, witty, too. Delphine cast her eyes back into the eyepiece of her own microscope and tried not to grin as the woman told off the young man in a very nice way. The blonde had not expected 324B21 to be so… cute and humorous. When Delphine could see that 324B21 had taken off her glasses and focused on her own microscope, Delphine looked up again to study her subject.
Delphine had seen pictures of course, but whether it was because of the realness of 324B21, the proximity to HER subject… she didn't know why she was so excited. Or maybe she did as the sheer enormity of looking at this EVIDENCE of humanity's ingenuity in front of her seemed to hit the Frenchwoman. 324B21 represented a gigantic advancement that humanity had made, like Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, Dolly the sheep, Norman Borlaug's green revolution, the atomic bomb, the computer…
The vibrating of her phone shocked her out of her intense focus and she picked up the call immediately, remembering her script.
"Delphine." Aldous' smooth voice sounded in her ear. Delphine went through her lines as rehearsed at Aldous' prompt. Glancing up in the middle of her supposedly heated exchange, she noticed 324B21 watched her with an intense curiosity. Most people were drawn to fights and discord, that's why cars slow down to gawk at accidents. It was human nature and it was a sure way to get 324B21's attention.
"I'm sorry." Delphine apologized for her public 'fight'.
324B21 gestured with her hands, almost seeming to physically brush off her concerns. Delphine's heart was pounding, as she gathered her things, leaving behind the necessary paperwork and exited the lab. She took no more than a few dozen steps away, still visible from the door of the lab. With her back to where she had come from, tears were easy to produce.
"Hey… sorry." 324B21 hand on her arm got her attention and Delphine turned to face her subject. Up close, she seemed even more impressive. 324B21 smiled apologetically at her, the dark-haired woman almost seeming to vibrate with nervous energy. Delphine knew possibly she was romanticizing this whole experience but 324B21 seemed to be just bursting with life. "You just… forgot this in the lab. Sorry."
"Thank you." Delphine took the transcript back, tucking it in her bag. First contact made.
"Bbb…" 324B21 came back, nonsensical sounds and a hand in the air, hesitant and trying to get Delphine's attention again. "Full disclosure, I, um, did peek."
Delphine nodded, a little bit unsure of how she should proceed. She had not expected further contact, but it had been a possibility.
"You're French… you've killer grades." 324B21 complimented. Delphine smiled at that. When making her fake transcripts, DYAD used her actual grades from when she was in school.
"Thank you. Um, uh," Delphine wiped at the moisture on her face. "Oh god, I'm not usually, usually like this."
After giving up her story of her fake break-up with her imaginary boyfriend, Delphine almost felt bad as 324B21 nodded and listened sympathetically. The conversation changed to their different areas of study, 324B21's face lighting up, her hands dancing as she talked about 'evo-devo' before stopping herself almost sheepishly.
Delphine held out her hand to 324B21. "Delphine."
"Cosima." 324B21-Cosima took her hand, the warmth of it sending a shiver up Delphine's spine. The name fit the bright-eyed woman. "Enchantée."
The way… Cosima… mimicked her French was incredibly charming and Delphine couldn't help laughing a bit.
"French isn't my first language." Cosima took the laughter in stride. "It's not even my second or third… or… anything. But I do know the odd phrases."
"Oh?" Delphine raised an eyebrow.
"Voulez-vous coucher avec moi." Cosima bared her teeth in a grin that set Delphine laughing and groaning at the same time.
"Oh, non, non, non. That song." Delphine rolled her eyes.
"Oui, oui, oui." Cosima replied impishly, doing an obnoxious impression of a French accent that sent Delphine laughing again and truthfully, it felt marvelous. Like she hadn't laughed in a long time. And though it felt great, because she was so unaccustomed to it, she clammed up, blushing and unsure.
"I'm taking lunch in half an hour." Cosima suddenly announced. "There's a nice place with decent baguettes. If you meet me back here in half, we can go together."
"Do you think that is all the French eat? Baguettes?" Delphine crossed her arms, trying to decided whether to take Cosima up on the offer, thoughts about 'subjects', 'experiments', and her 'objective' gone out the window.
"You guys also eat snails and like, croissants, right?" Cosima's tone was innocent but the mischievous smile gave her away. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"Hm." Delphine shrugged, almost shyly. "Well, I am newly transferred here, so I do not know anyone."
"Perfect opportunity to experience some American hospitality!" Cosima gave a flourish of her hands.
"American hospitality," Delphine made an approximation of a gun with her thumb and forefinger, remembering briefly how one grad student had tried to befriend her by showing her memes that she did not quite understand, but thought would be appropriate for this situation. "Like 'pew pew pew, 'Murica'?"
"That is completely offensive." Cosima said seriously, though the smirk on her face said that she was anything but offended. "So I insist you apologize at lunch. Remember to wear your beret."
Delphine laughed again, taken by surprise at how delightful Cosima-her subject, was.
"Fine. I will… clean up a bit." Delphine wiped under her eyes, hoping her crocodile tears hadn't destroyed her make-up completely. For some reason, she actually felt truly embarrassed to be caught crying. She wanted to have made a better impression on Cosima.
"Take your time. I'll be in the lab." Cosima started walking backwards, motioning towards the lab with a quick flourish of her hands. "See ya?"
"À tout à l'heure." Delphine nodded as her phone vibrated, notifying her of an incoming message.
Did you make contact?
Delphine bit her lip, glancing over her shoulder to see Cosima disappearing into the lab.
Yes.