Delphine finishes the last stitch as Cosima wipes down now-empty holes in Janika's skin from removing several worms embedded her skin, "We'll have to see if she can last the day, but it's unlikely."
"Mmm." Cosima replies, tossing the last of the wipes into the toxic waste bin, "At least now she'll stand a chance.. Thanks for helping her... and making her comfortable." Gesturing to Helena (who returned an hour ago) and Cal, she lets them take her upstairs knowing they're the two who are least likely to disturb Janika and her wounds.
Delphine nods in response, blurting out "It's my.. duty." before she can think twice. It's far too late in the day for her to be up.
Beth looks up at her skeptically before lowering her head drowsily, the many pills she's taken already starting to wear off. She's too exhausted to even realize she's given Janika bad blood.
"Auntie Cosima," Kira questions as she looks over the couch at her, having hardly paid attention to Luka's weekly episode of the original Bill Nye, "Is that lady going to be okay?"
Cosima takes off her gloves and smiles slightly at Kira, "Hopefully. We'll know by tomorrow morning, oka-" Cosima's cut off by a sharp knock at the door. Furrowing her brows, she quickly walks over to it and peeks into the spying-hole, beating her cousin to it before Beth can even take the chance to tell her off and stop her. Unlocking all three of the locks, Cosima opens the door and smiles, "We've been expecting you.. Hi, Maya."
"Daddy says we're staying here and taking a break from school for a little while."
"I heard! Who's your new friend?" Opening the door to let them in, Cosima decidedly ignores Beth coming up to the door.
Delphine pays no attention to the visitor. Expecting nothing more than to receive another round of questioning and interrogating, she simply focuses on cleaning up and grabs a nearby crystal vase that had somehow ended up covered in blood and brings it into the kitchen to wash it.
"Zoe left her kid with me.. After some convincing from Beth, the council gave me custody."
Delphine stops in her tracks, still drying down the vase as she slowly walks back into the dining room, taking her time to try and get a glimpse of the new visitor.
She had to be hallucinating after not getting enough sleep. She's heard that voice everyday in her dreams for the past one hundred and ninety-seven years. He looks the same, just.. older, somehow.
"Oh, that's awesome news." Cosima smiles and crouches down to the four year-old's height, offering out her hand, "My names Cosima, what's yours?"
"Sophie." Peeking out from behind Maya, the little girl quickly shakes her hand before returning to hiding behind her cousin once the attention is off of her.
Cosima stands up and gets further out of the way, giving them more space to come inside, gesturing for Kira and Luka to come and greet Maya in hopes that they'd remember eachother from last Summer's vacation.
"James.."
Cosima glances over at Delphine and leaves the children, quickly catching the vase before it can fall to the floor and setting it on the table, all the while taking a vise-grip on Delphine's wrist before she does something stupid, recognizing the familiar feeling deep in her gut that's beginning to boil. Grabbing onto her shoulder lightly as a safety-measure, Cosima squeezes it to exert any control that she can with both of their current states taken into account, "Don't. Come with me.."
"But.." Delphine falters, her emotional spell seeming to fade when she turns her attention back to Cosima.
Cosima loosens her grip considerably, taking to entangling her hand in Delphine's, "We're all tired. That's not who you think it is. You'll have a chance to meet him in the evening."
Delphine glances back at Arthur (or perhaps James), before looking back at Cosima and nodding almost mournfully, "D'accord.."
"Siobhan can watch Janika until we can.." Cosima lightly persuades, shepherding Delphine down to her room, and helping her take off the bulk of any unnecessary clothes she's wearing. Once Delphine's sweater and boots are off, Cosima guides her to sit down on the bed before taking the time to take off her own, jerking off her pants with little more than a second thought. Taking off her glasses and putting them on the dresser, Cosima helps Delphine lay down under the rough quilt before nestling into her back, pulling the blanket over both of them, and wrapping an arm around Delphine's waist.
"Auntie Cosima."
Cosima furrows her brows and lifts her head from the pillow as she looks over to the door where Kira's voice is coming from, "Keer'? What are you doing up?"
"Sophie can't sleep. Mummy, Daddy, and Tony won't wake up. Can you come and sing to her so we can all get to bed?"
"Uhh... Sure. Did you ask Mrs.S if she could?" Carefully untangling herself from Delphine, Cosima slips out of the covers before tucking them back around Delphine and navigating through the darkness to pull on her robe that Helena left out for her.
"She wasn't in her usual spot. I think she's still in her study."
Janika must not have made it through the day..
"Okay, that's alright, Kid." Shuffling towards the door, Cosima carefully opens the cell door that Kira unlocked before shutting it without making it squeak. Taking Kira's hand, she lets her lead her up to Sarah's old nursery on the second floor, relieved she doesn't have to squint at the low lights being emitted from only two candles.
"What about Arthur?"
"He's with Beth in her bedroom."
"Oh."
Upon entering the room, Kira crawls back onto the full-sized bed where all of the other girls are supposed to be sleeping.
Cosima spots Luka asleep and breathing heavily on the twin bunk-bed above them. Keeping her voice soft and low to stop them from being encouraged to stay up, Cosima sits down on the double bed, "What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid to sleep." Sophie, the youngest of the two children Arthur brought with him, rolls away from Maya to look up at her with an almost-pout on her face, "Mommy always sung to me before bed."
"You know," Cosima smiles down at her and reaches out, lightly looping her finger around a tight curl before moving it away from her face, "I was pretty scared to sleep here my first night, too."
"You were?"
...
Delphine shivers and glances behind her when she realizes she's no longer wrapped up in Cosima's body heat. Looking towards the bathroom, Delphine gets up and leaves what little warmth is left in her bed before shuffling towards the cell door when she realizes she's alone. Heading up into the kitchen, Delphine stops at the sound of light singing coming from upstairs.
"Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, smiles await you when you rise." Delphine tilts her head to the side and follows the noise, quietly walking up the stairs, stopping only a second when she realizes that Siobhan is guarding the door to where the noise is coming from, "Sleep pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby."
Walking up to Siobhan, she nods a wary greeting before peering inside once Siobhan gestures her an invite to do so, "How long has Cosima been awake?"
"Once there was a way.. to get back homeward.."
"Not long. The girls' couldn't settle down for the night and Kira brought her upstairs about twenty minutes ago."
Delphine has to fight not to rest her hand over her stomach, Cosima may have her vocal limits, but she was definitely far from tone deaf.
"Sleep pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby~."
"..When she's done, tell her that there will be a hunt tomorrow evening for Janika's memory." Siobhan turns and leaves, her own curiosity satisfied enough for her to return to working.
The next evening seems to draw close too quickly. The house seems to be abuzz with the energy that'd be used during the hunt. The children, all having two days off from their lessons, spend most of the day outside, supervised in shifts by Cosima, Helena, and Sarah. Cal and Tony leave the property for a few hours, picking out a horse for the hunt. When they return, Delphine briefly spots them setting up several strange contraptions around the property. When it's time, all of the children are inside watching a movie with Arthur and reluctantly settling down for the night.
Tony and Cal seem to be the last of the shifters to leave the house. Cosima remains by Delphine's side, constantly murmuring 'I'm still tired' in order to get out of the hunt when asked. All of the clones leave the woods first, chasing after a buck with great surprise and excitement. There's absolutely no sign of Cal or the prized horse he helped pick out; Delphine suspects he's either caught the horse from inside the woods, or is still taking his time playing with his food. Sarah and Tony are closing in on the buck when Delphine finds herself losing interest in the hunt and instead turns back to glance towards the door where she last saw Cosima. Furrowing her brow in confusion when she comes up empty, Delphine leaves her spot beside Siobhan with little thought, eager to hunt her own down.
Picking up on the scent of Cosima's blood, Delphine furrows her brow and stops infront of the coat closet. Glancing back towards the front door, Delphine makes sure nobody is watching her before opening the door and furrowing her brows when she sees an opened door hidden behind the masses of hung-up coats. Continuing to follow Cosima's scent, Delphine steps inside the closet and shuts the door behind her before shuffling through the coats and forcing her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Spotting a faint light down an empty hall, Delphine watches her footing as she walks down three stairs before following the pathway. Slowing down when she hears a wolf's whining, Delphine takes cautious steps towards an open door to her left labelled "VIEWING ROOM 01". Peering inside after listening for someone lurking in the darkness, she furrows her brows as she walks towards an one-way mirror.
She jumps back, surprised almost enough to shriek when a wolf in the other room suddenly makes it's appearance, snarling and scraping at the mirror in an attempt to reach whatever is on her side of the glass. Delphine stills completely, stopping any noise or pulse her body could make when the wolf bites at the mirror. Waiting until the wolf stops, Delphine slowly leaves the room, checking the hall for anyone before carefully and slowly opening the door to the examination room when the wolf begins to cough violently. Slipping inside and shutting the door behind her, Delphine stays against the wall and watches as the beast coughs up blood, whining when it can get air. Spotting Cosima's clothes piled away in the corner, Delphine quickly returns her attention to her wolf, slowly taking confident steps towards her.
Cosima is sick.
Cosima stops coughing, spotting Delphine once she's almost half-way to her. Lowering her head just slightly and growling momentarily when Delphine moves a few steps closer too quickly, curious to take in the new scent but not wanting the stranger to invade what little territory she has in the room too quickly.
Delphine stops when she hears her growl, settling instead to take a risk, throwing protocol out of the window and holding her hand out to Cosima for her to smell as she watches her stalk left and right along her side of the room.
In this moment, Cosima is more dangerous than she'd ever expected.. and it's stunning.
After a moment of deliberation, Cosima moves forward slowly and sniffs Delphine's hand tentatively, as if she were only a strange piece of meat.
Delphine watches her just as closely as Cosima seems to approach her, allowing herself a simple moment to marvel in the creature before her. Her eyes are the same as they are when she's in her human form; however, Cosima's full coat is much lighter than she expected, with splashes of black running along the top of her, followed by shades of grays and copper that blend into a soft cream. She decides to take the risk of startling Cosima mid-sniff by whispering sweet nothings, slowly turning her hand to expose her palm up to Cosima, who could just as easily decide to permanently disfigure her if she pleases.
Cosima sniffs her palm more intently, tail raised and swishing from side-to-side before tilting her head and tasting Delphine's hand. Pausing, she cocks her head to the other side, taking several steps backwards, before quickly circling to Delphine's back and sniffing her feet when curiosity gets the best of her. The newcomer smells so damn familiar.. As her consciousness slowly returns, Cosima sneezes and rounds back to Delphine's front, lowering her front legs quickly and wiggling slightly in an attempt to socialize.
Delphine stays put, allowing herself a solid second to watch and interpret before chuckling softly, "Are you trying to play with me, Coh-see-muh?"
Cosima yelps, whining playfully as she surges forward and almost pins Delphine to the nearest wall, front paws just above Delphine's shoulder.
Delphine laughs, tilting her head to the side when Cosima nudges her head against hers, rubbing her neck slightly. In this position, Delphine can see how Cosima would be the smallest of her pack, her height still smaller than Delphine's despite her arms advantage. "I see how it is. You're just an overgrown puppy, aren't you?" Delphine chuckles, nudging her back slightly before letting her hands run along the fur on Cosima's back and playfully teasing when she gently grabs her fur, "Es-tu mon petit chiot?"
Cosima's head pulls back for a fraction of a second, meeting Delphine's eyes before sneezing a playful response.
Laughing again lightly, Delphine smiles lightly at her and gently tests her, keeping eye contact and lightly grabbing onto the bottom of where Cosima's chin would be before lightly stroking down her neck, hand cupping slightly and stopping just at the start of her trachea.
Cosima keeps her eyes on Delphine-recognizing the touch and pressure as one that could very well change to kill her. After less than a tense minute of silence, Cosima accepts the gesture and lets her paws leave the wall to rest fully against Delphine's shoulders. Dropping her head once again ontop of Delphine's neck in an act only recognizable as an intention and invitation to bond, Cosima whines quietly.
Delphine follows Cosima down to the kitchen, having been sent to the attic with the others when Cosima refused to leave her side that night. Sleeping near the pack was an entirely different experience. All of them seemed to huddle together, offering eachother warmth and comfort from an instinctual habit that even Helena displayed. It was all eerily familiar, reaching faded memories from well before she was turned. The pack slept away from Cosima and Delphine, yet she could grasp onto the peaceful emotions from far across the room almost as well as she was able to run her hands through Cosima's fur.
Watching her every movement, Delphine keeps close to the brunette, who turned back to her normal form in her sleep upon replenishing her energy stores.
Cosima runs her hands through her locks, separating any that might try to lock up to another before stretching out her arms like a cat and heading over to the tea kettle that's still warm from Siobhan using it earlier that morning. Yawning, she stops half-way, smiling lazily when Delphine wraps her arms around her waist and draws her in, "Mmm.. G'morning, Doctor Cormier."
Delphine chuckles and kisses her cheek sweetly, turning on the stove next to them to boil some water for tea, "I believe we're beyond formal names, non?"
Cosima smiles softly, squeezing the hand over her waist gently before picking tea out from the cupboard, "Right."
"Good morning, Sestra." Helena romps down the stairs, opening the fridge and getting a carton of milk out and chugging he remaining cup-and-a-half down without a seconds thought.
Cosima gives Helena a second glance before pulling down two mugs from the cupboard, "'Morning. Would you like some toast and eggs for breakfast?"
"Always." Helena rinses out the carton and leaves it by the sink-putting in more effort to clean up her mess than usual, "Will you run the course with us today?"
"Probably not." Cosima shrugs, putting toast into the toaster-oven and cranking up the heat before leaving Delphine's arms to get eggs out of the fridge.
"Run what course?" Delphine turns around and looks at Helena curiously.
"Practicing in case of hunter or vampires. All of the clones are required to do it.. except Cosima, Sarah, and I. We beat it many years ago. Sarah and I still like to run it once in a while, though.." Helena hands Cosima a pan when she reaches her hand out for it blindly, "Since the snow has melted for a few days, Cal and Tony set it up."
"So that is what those contraptions are.." Delphine murmurs before watching Cosima curiously, "If I join them, would you follow?"
Cosima snorts, busying herself with cracking an egg and carefully breaking it open above the pan.
"Just take that as yes." Helena waves slightly at Cosima, "She just doesn't like the cold weather, I believe."
Cosima pouts slightly before glancing back at Helena, "I do not have a problem with the weather."
"Well then you will just have to come outside, won't you, Sestra?"
Siobhan chuckles out of nowhere, seemingly coming up from the 'bat cave' that Cosima told her not to utter a word about, "You two are bickering like teenagers."
"Are not." Cosima and Helena groan at the same time.
Helena quickly follows up in a language that is still foreign to Cosima.
Siobhan nods slightly and glances at both Cosima before solely focusing on Delphine, "Cosima, perhaps since you must still be recovering, you should rest in your bedroom upstairs after breakfast.. when you see Tony, tell him that I want him to report to my office."
Cosima winces slightly at the comment, watching as Siobhan quietly heads upstairs.
"What is it?" Delphine murmurs curiously, resting a hand on Cosima's shoulder to try and soothe her.
"Tony's in trouble... One of his jobs is to watch the security feed on the property.. Maybe he just got behind on it and an animal got out of the barn.."
Delphine nods slightly, dread beginning to fill in the pit of her stomach as she remembers the hallway behind the coat closet.
Delphine smiles, standing at the door that leads to the backyard as she watches all four of the packs combined children playing around on the monkey bars and a trampoline. The music on the radio is a little loud for her tastes, but watching all of the kids try to sing the lyrics while either upside-down or bouncing seemed to make up for it.
Today was almost peaceful.
Almost.
Pushing down the knot in her stomach, Delphine finishes the rest of her tea and sets it down on a nearby coaster inside before returning to her spot. In all reality, she could almost have seen herself raising Josette here.
The entire property seems to almost always be serene and peaceful. It was as if the rest of the world didn't exist inside their tiny sanctuary.. as if the hunters, the DYAD institute, and Aldous Leekie didn't exist.
If not for the fact that the property was too small for her to live in permanently, she could easily see herself resting her bones here for the next century.
Turning around, Delphine stops at the sight of Siobhan less than two feet away from her.
"We need to talk in private, Delphine."
"D'accord."
...
Cosima walks upstairs, hesitating when she spots Beth and Tony infront of the door leading to the attic, "Hey, guys.. is something wrong?"
Beth shakes her head slightly, "Nothing to do with you."
Cosima tilts her head slightly in return, looking at Tony, "Siobhan didn't-like-chew you out too much, did she?"
Tony unfolds his arms and nods towards the door, "We need to talk in private."
"Sure, totally." Walking into the attic after Beth, she stops when she hears Tony shut and lock the door behind her. Cosima turns around in panic. Running back to the door, she tries the knob, realizing that someone switched the lock around so it could be locked only from the outside, "What the hell, Tony!?"
Beth follows her back to the door, pulling out a needle and jabbing her in the arm with no warning, "Sorry, Cosima. You'll do something stupid unless you stay with us."
Cosima turns around, already half sluggish as she steps back against the door, "You're a fucking.. bitch.."
"I know. Come on, you little shit, lets get you to lay down before you risk conking your head on the floor." Beth quickly disinfects where she gave Cosima the shot just to be safe. Wrapping Cosima's arm around her shoulder as Tony comes back into the room, she takes Cosima upstairs and over to her bed with Tony's help.
...
Delphine makes it into the kitchen before a wave of nausea and chills hits her. Almost falling into Siobhan, her confusion grows when Siobhan catches her as if she had expected it, "You.. Why?"
"I'd say it was nothing personal; but, I did warn you." Signalling to both of her daughters at once, Siobhan tries her best to help Helena when she's tasked with pulling a hood over head and binding her hands with a foreign alloy of nickel and silver. From what she can hear, Sarah is opening the front door to take her somewhere outside.. without Cosima.
