Delphine couldn't help herself as her eyes drifted over to the seemingly oblivious woman at the other end of the room chewing on the back of her pen, deep in thought, for the tenth time in less than five minutes.
After their… strange, yet, alluring introduction, she had sent the American to look over some of the labs she had conducted over the past few weeks. Although some statistics proved to be promising, Delphine couldn't shake the dilemma concerning the serum's reliability. How could she possibly make the vaccination more dependable, without overlooking the very real threat of poisoning its host?
Cosima could feel Delphine's eyes on her, and she was reveling in it– pursing her lips suggestively as her mouth found its way around the back of her pen, tongue poking out from its cave, navigating every dip and sharp edge defining her pen cap.
Delphine's hazel eyes traced the length of pink flesh probing at the writing utensil, her breath catching at the back of her throat suddenly, when the subject of her complete and utter attention angled her own body towards Delphine, with her eyes still on the data sheets.
"You're working on a vaccination to prevent vampires from using human blood?" Cosima's brows furrowed questioningly, eyes eventually snapping up towards her superior's glazed stare.
"Oh, um, oui… We are working to create a serum that will protect its host from parasitic invasion," clarified Delphine meekly.
"Parasitic being… a vampire's saliva– er, venom?"
"Oui. We are aiming to protect the human subject from victimization while also subduing the offender– the vampire," clarified Delphine, nodding her head more confidently now.
Cosima searched Delphine's face for anything else she may have left unsaid, opting at the last second to use a more acceptable form of attaining information. "What happens to the vampire?"
Delphine frowned, subtly shaking her head in confusion, mind unsure of what Cosima was actually asking. "I'm not sure what–"
"I mean, what exactly do you mean by 'subduing the offender– subduing the vampire?' Is the serum meant to exterminate, debilitate, or maybe even track the… monster?" The brunette's face fell microscopically on the last word, an act that was luckily overlooked by Delphine.
Cosima wasn't so sure why she opted to refer to her own kind as monstrous to this new woman, if anything, she'd hoped that her new friend would think of her genus in a kinder, brighter light, than the masses encompassing DYAD. But what was she thinking? That's what they were, right? Monsters?
"Well, the extent of which our serum will affect… vampires is still being debated. Doctor Leekie believes that any goal is possible through enough trial and error, so that much is to be decided." Delphine smiled brightly at the brunette across the room, meeting her eyes gently.
The distance bothered the Frenchwoman who felt as though the conversation should be taking place no more than an arms length apart. There was something about distance to her that made things colder and less comprehensible. Delphine had grown up believing that communication was rooted just as much in the body as in the words that were spoken. The physical form was always just as, if not more, important than the collection of consonants and vowels tumbling from gregarious lips. Even though she preferred the distance she placed between herself and others, Cosima was just… different.
Delphine bit her bottom lip nervously before deciding to move closer to the cheeky American. As Delphine's metallic stool scraped obnoxiously against the plain, white linoleum floor, Cosima cringed, barely able to refrain herself from covering her ears at the amplified sound.
The Frenchwoman's black heels clicked evenly towards the brunette, who could practically see her superior sashaying her hips in transit in her peripheral vision. Once Delphine's heels relinquished their percussive qualities and the woman came to a graceful stop beside Cosima, the American was assaulted by a whole new wave of repugnance– the woman's scent. The Parisian perfume cloaked the woman marvelously, the tiniest hint of nicotine and smoke mixed with sweet roses, soothing jasmine, and an airy hint of freshly cut grass; Cosima's eyes shut sleepily, feeling as though she were eight again, rolling along the grassy planes of the Golden Gate Park. She opened her eyes and could feel the sunlight embracing her every limb, baptized by the blazing ball in the sky as the breeze blew along the expanse of her tanned-skin. She felt so warm, so free, and so utterly alive– she could practically taste the salt drifting through the air as she so excitedly drifted through nature's playground.
"Cosima?"
But now, all she could taste was the phantom flavor of Delphine's crimson nectar. Cosima's throat burned obnoxiously, her eyes shutting with the hope that the desire to sample the woman beside her would dissolve into something more… tolerable.
"Cosima? Are you alright?" Delphine whispered with furrowed brows, worry flooding into the woman's infernally divine features. Cosima allowed her eyes to open, and peeked from behind her frames at Delphine, questioningly, her left leg bouncing anxiously underneath her desk.
"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine– golden, even." Cosima almost believed herself, the lie slipping casually from behind evidently clenched teeth.
Delphine let it go, offering Cosima a tight-lipped, yet genuine, smile. She placed her hand on the brunette's shoulder and rubbed her thumb soothingly.
"You know, Cosima… here at the DYAD institute, we are experimenting, as you can see, with different vaccinations to help protect people from vampires… and other ailments as well…" Delphine twirled the hand that wasn't perched on Cosima's shoulder in the air, already inheriting some of her coworker's most prominent mannerisms. "As scientists, we have access to the more… stable medications– medications that have been proven to work for the long-term." Cosima nodded her head, meeting the other woman's hazel eyes, watching as they dilated before her. "I recommend you visit the special-divisions clinic and take some. Paris is very safe with DYAD and 'Chasseurs Cormier de la Mort' working within its walls, but that does not mean that you cannot guarantee yourself some extra protection, pensez-vous pas d'accord?"
Cosima nodded, still reveling in the human's touch. "I'll consider it." Delphine replied with a questioning look, unsure of why the bespectacled woman would opt to live sans inoculation. "I'd just like to feel the city out first? Really see if I need to inject something into my body… I'm not afraid of the dead, honestly," replied Cosima casually, head dipping to avoid the Frenchwoman's stare.
There was silence, longer than Cosima felt comfortable being a part of until the Frenchwoman sighed audibly and turned on her heel, back towards her seat.
"You should," spoke Delphine softly, trailing off into the silence. Cosima panned over to the source of the sound and grimaced, Delphine meeting her eyes sadly before her mind was enveloped by blackness.
Suddenly, she was walking, trailing behind another man in a white lab coat. With each step she took, Cosima felt less and less like herself. It wasn't until she passed a collection of glass panels that she noticed the woman in her reflection wasn't exactly her– it was Delphine.
"Delphine, your father is ready to speak to you now," the man in white informed her, grinning weakly before returning to, what Cosima assumed, was the direction of the lab.
"Merci, Allard." Delphine and Cosima exhaled before stepping into Marc Cormier's office. The room was grand and impeccably decorated with various vampire-hunt trophies, ranging from a glass case displaying an assorted collection of fangs to vials of blood from each 'bastardly fiend they had successfully rid the world of.' The walls were adorned with iron, silver, and golden weapons, from pistols to grenades to crossbows, all glimmering within their dimly lit corner of the room.
"Delphine, ma fille, comment allez-vous?" Marc Cormier's voice was deep and oddly soothing to Cosima. She figured it had to do with her being in Delphine's memory because she knew that if it were her in Delphine's place… well, she'd be dead, obvs, probably in one of Monsieur Cormier's display cases. Fantastic.
"Bien." Delphine's gaze fell to the floor. She sounded so… so sad. So wounded. As if she were mourning the death of a beloved or–
"Delphine, I know this must be hard for you. Ton frère est manquant. I understand why your work has been lacking and I am not upset. Leekie, on the other hand…"
"–Why am I here, Père? Colin is fine, he must be… he is supposed to meet me tonight; you'll see, he is fine. He has just been sick– the flu. It's been circulating the office, non?" Delphine offered meekly, her voice a mere whisper among the silence.
Colin… the name sounded so familiar to Cosima. She couldn't shake it; she couldn't shake the chill of recognition the name sparked in her own conscious.
Delphine's father visibly sagged, his posture crumbling with the weight of the information he had yet to divulge to his daughter… his only living child.
Marc Cormier stuffed his calloused hands into his pockets, walking around his desk to lean on its front. The wood whined as a result of his weight, creaking obnoxiously. "Delphine," sighed Monsieur Cormier, "your brother is dead." His words were faint, yet they echoed in the crowded room, seemingly expanding under the tension filling it. Removing his hands from their haven, he clasped them together, rubbing his knuckles and applying pressure to the tendons strained beneath fair, scarred skin. "Colin's body was discovered in a building we've suspected as being a vampire lair for quite some time… it appears he was abducted and…" his voice cracked from the strain of information, his throat dry and closing in on itself. Shaking his head abruptly as if it would remove him from this nightmare, Marc Cormier lifted his head towards the ceiling and took a deep breath. Emotions were dangerous in this field. He needed to grieve, but he needed to stay strong. If his enemies were to see him in this weak state, they could strike again, eliminating the two women his life was brightened by– the only people he cared for; the only people he would do anything for. "The building was burned to the ground. His body– burned beyond recognition… tissue samples and blood remained. Mr. Dierden extracted them on behalf of Doctor Leekie. I am sorry, Delphine. I am so, so sorry."
Even though her body was stiff and her legs had long since lost circulation, Delphine had yet to move– had yet to react beyond her regular breathing. She felt so light… unbearably so, as if she could float into inexistence right there, in an office she remembered playing hide-and-seek as a petite fille with her frère. She could see his small, nimble body buzzing around the office. A boy so engrossed and in love with life, that he studied its counterpart– he studied death. And now? Now he was a corpse? Charred and unrecognizable? No skin, all bone. Painted black from the demonic infernos he was never supposed to be baptized in… so many times, he practiced cremation with the corpses flooding the morgue deep within in the depths of DYAD, eliminating the evidence of tainted humans who acted as midnight snacks for those lacking civil empathy and those who committed the nefarious deeds, damning them to inexistence where their kind belonged.
Cosima cringed at the revelation Delphine's memory offered her, unable to focus on anything other than the paleness of the Frenchwoman's skin. She looked dead, and maybe she was now. Perhaps the news of her brother's death robbed her as much as it robbed him of living.
Time shifted– the office of horrors became a sterile apartment, white and clear of clutter. There was a knock on the door and Cosima watched, as Delphine remained seated on the plain, red couch that matched the pigment of the liquid she swirled around her filled wine glass. A man with a large build, short brown hair, and blue eyes peeked his head through the door slowly, regarding Delphine with a familiarity that did nothing to soothe Cosima's immediately induced rage. The man from the alley… If she was a monster, he was much worse. What was he doing here and why was he looking at Delphine like that?
Kicking off his leather shoes, Paul padded over to the couch, sitting beside the Frenchwoman. "Delphine…" he cooed. Receiving no response, he angled his body to receive her, wishing to alleviate the pain she refrained from releasing. Paul tugged at her free arm, pulling her towards his chest only to have her swat him away.
"Non, Paul. Do not do that," huffed the blonde, shooting him a repulsed look. "I do not need to be coddled; I am not a child."
Paul recoiled slowly, hugging his body awkwardly in rejection. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to–"
"–Exactly, you never mean to do anything, Paul." Setting the, now empty, glass down on the mahogany coffee table, Delphine ran her ivory hands through her unruly, golden locks. "You should leave."
Paul sighed and shook his head disbelievingly. "Delphine, don't push me away because of this… I'm all you have left." As soon as the words left his mouth, Paul regretted them.
Delphine's eyes shot up as she stared daggers at her paramour through red-rimmed eyes. Lip quivering in anger, she stood up and calmly padded to the threshold of her bedroom before turning around to face him for the last time. "You are not all I have left. I have my family. I have my work. I have myself. I do not need you– I do not need a man who parades around France looking for hookups and fucks his corporate superior on the side," scoffed Delphine venomously.
Gaping, Paul wanted to respond but was unable to latch onto anything concrete to say.
"I am not your girlfriend anymore, Paul. I refuse to be disrespected and played as a fool. So do not come here and pretend you care about my well-being when you…" Flailing her hands in the air, Delphine sneered angrily and motioned for the man to leave. "Au revoir, morceau de merde."
Suddenly, Cosima was thrust back into the present with an intense sense of nausea– something she was only acquainted with in times of dire misfortune, when she was forced to feast on rotten meat or ate too much human cuisine. She was afraid to look up– afraid that by doing so, she'd realize that Delphine was aware of their merge… Taking a peek through her peripherals, Cosima noticed the blonde was shaking, her face hidden from view.
Delphine felt lethargic all of a sudden. She had no idea what happened, but the memories she reverted to… they felt so tangible– so fresh– as if the mere thought of them slashed open the wound she worked so tirelessly to heal.
Before she could acknowledge what was happening, Delphine felt herself enveloped by strong, tan arms, smelling distinctly of vanilla and cannabis. As her neck met thick twists of dreadlocks, Delphine almost instantly melted into the American's body. Finding comfort in Cosima's body, Delphine allowed her tears to fall freely– in the company of another person for the first time since she was delivered the news.
As Delphine's fragile frame shook from the weight of her deep-rooted sorrow and chest heaved from her wrecking sobs, Cosima only held on tighter; rubbing the Parisian's arms with the tips of her fingers and humming a tune absently.
Once her tears stopped their decent and her breathing returned to normal, Delphine shivered from the chill circulating the room. "Je suis désolé… I, um, I never do this… I don't–"
"Cry?" Offered Cosima gently with a whisper, her breathy words tickling Delphine's exposed earlobe.
Giggling, Delphine nodded, using her free hands to wipe away any excess wetness. I can't loose control like that in my lab… it's unprofessional and completely uncalled for, thought Delphine.
Unwrapping herself from the blonde, Cosima made her way to sit across from the woman, grabbing all the things from her previous work station so she would not have to move again. "Hey, Delphine?"
Looking up, Delphine met warm, chocolate irises, offering its owner a warm smile. "Yes, Cosima?"
Pursing her lips in thought, Cosima twirled the ruby ring around her finger anxiously. "I know you're my boss and we're working together… but I'm new here… I don't have any friends and… well, I hope you know that if you ever need anything, be it a second opinion on some lab results or book recommendations, I want you to know you can trust me; you can talk to me and I'll listen without judgment." Delphine wanted to cry again at the willingness in which the brunette offered her friendship. Biting her lip, Delphine nodded as Cosima added, "besides, you are far too beautiful, too young, and too intelligent to be so sad."
"Merci, Cosima," offered Delphine genuinely, meeting Cosima's intense gaze before looking away quickly in embarrassment. With flushed cheeks, Delphine opened another folder containing pertinent data before returning to work.
This was going to be much harder than Cosima thought.