The train connection was smooth, though she found herself using one of the public interfaces - booking a rental vehicle for when they arrive. They sit in the dining car, both starving by the time they board the train in Syl. The transport hub had been busy, and distracting but she'd guided Cosima through it as quickly as possible to make a quick train connection.
Cosima eats, though she's darkened the windows, seemingly as hungover as Delphine. A tray of food sits in front of her: pastry, fruit and porridge. Cosima is ravenously devouring her meal. She's starting to look warm from the thermals, they should probably both change. It's nearly summer on this continent and they're dressed for the station. Luckily this train is equipped with air conditioning.
"You should eat Delphine." She hasn't said much since they left the station, but Delphine hasn't volunteered any information either. She intends to make it difficult for Aldous this time. She'd called a taxi in Syl as she boarded the train - a false trail. She knows he'll be tracking her.
"I'm making our travel arrangements." She doesn't make eye contact, her rental vehicle now secured for when they arrive in Merrick. They are still five hours away, even by train. If she does this properly it should take Aldous several days to locate them. Even so, it's not looking good for her future at this moment. She pushes those thoughts back down, they don't go well with a hangover.
Cosima pushes her plate towards her, "You still need to eat."
"I know," She reaches for a pastry and bites off the end of it. She stops to eat, they have a few hours anyways. Least the food is decent, for train food.
"Where are we going?" Cosima asks between shoveling spoonfuls of porridge into her mouth.
"Somewhere safe." She stops for a moment realizing that is not enough of an answer, "They told me to take two weeks of leave, starting immediately."
"So you stole me out from under Leekie's nose?" She snorts with laughter.
"Not exactly, he was considering allowing me to bring you - I just didn't wait long enough for him to make a decision." Or reduce my high security clearance, she adds quietly to herself. She plays with her hands, she's unsure of what to do with them just now.
"So it's not a real escape plan." Cosima reasons through it, "It's temporary at best."
"No. It's... a reprieve." Delphine takes a moment to decide on a word.
Cosima pauses glancing down at her breakfast, "Still, you didn't leave me behind. Thank you."
She turns back to the practical, "You should change out of those thermals when you finish eating. It's nearly summer on this continent."
"How long until they find us?" Cosima finishes eating just as she begins. Delphine hadn't realized how hungry she was.
"A few days, maybe a week. It depends." There are no clear answers about that anymore. She's not even sure if Leekie will send someone after them, or just let this play out - like one of his games.
"So what's the point?"
"I don't know. I just couldn't leave you behind. Not with Leekie; you cannot trust him. Not for a minute. And it's not just him, you may not know this but the guards - there are some terrible rumours Cosima."
Cosima interrupts her, "I already know." At Delphine's horrified look she continues, "No not me - they go for the easy targets."
"I'm sorry." Delphine shakes her head, reaching a hand across the table for Cosima's. She doesn't care who sees them here.
"It's not your fault. No one cares enough to stop them. I mean you lump clone-fucking in with beastiality but everyone turns a blind eye if a guard wants to rape one."
"Where did you hear that?" Delphine needs to know the answer. Though she fully intends to bring this up with Leekie when she returns, assuming that she still has any standing at DYAD whenever she returns.
"The guard who took me out of your room this morning." Cosima drops her voice low, "He had some interesting things to say about you."
"Oh." She's not sure what Cosima's heard but it cannot possibly be any good.
"I don't care, you know." Cosima shrugs, "I'm going to go back to our car and change."
"Alright." Delphine nods, returning her attention to her breakfast. Cosima turns and walks back through the train to their compartment.
She follows as soon as she's done breakfast. Everything in this train is grey, from the carpets to the narrow corridors to the doors to the compartments.
Cosima sits alone in their compartment, bare legs crossed beneath the dress. Her head is tipped back against the seat in sleep. She knows, there's nothing underneath the dress. They'll have to stop in Merrick to pick up supplies anyways. She changes quickly into civvies, though she doubts Cosima will wake.
She sits next to her, curling her own body to partially shield Cosima from view if anyone enters the compartment. She feels safest falling asleep with one arm around Cosima, no one will take her without Delphine waking.
She wakes a few hours later, Cosima is awake if her breathing is any hint, they're curled together on the bench seat. Her face in Cosima's neck and an arm flung around her. She presses a sleepy kiss to Cosima's cheek.
"Ah now you wake up." Cosima giggles, reminding her of where she is.
"I'm not really awake yet." Delphine admits. Travel takes so much out of her. She pulls herself up to a seated position. At least her hangover is faded. She glances at the clock, pleased with how long they slept.
"You're not missing much. Nice scenery. No one's come in. Not since I've been conscious anyways."
"It's not long now. We get off in Merrick."
"What's in Merrick?"
"You'll see." Delphine answers with a smile as she checks through her belongings.
They find their way off the train easily, the train continues on to larger and more interesting cities. According to their tickets they are still on board. Delphine navigates the station easily, Cosima trailing slightly behind.
The rental vehicle is small, and runs on ethanol - she puts her duffle in the small trunk and climbs into the driver's seat, adjusting position for her long legs. She hasn't driven in months - but these vehicles are fairly idiot-proof.
"It's so small." Cosima comments as they drive through town, pulling up to a grocery store. The small downtown has a few cafés and various stores. There's honestly not much here, but it's popular with retirees and outdoorsy types.
"Yes. It is."
"Where are we going to stay? Is there even a hotel?"
"Hmm there might be one." Delphine glances around the parking lot, "I'm going to get food, do you want to come with?"
The store was fortunately one of those crazy large ones that had a bit of everything, allowing Cosima to purchase a few items of clothing. A large amount of groceries and a large cooler purchased later and they're back in the car - Cosima helps her load the cooler in the trunk, placing the duffle on top of it. She doesn't change though, even being commando, she is just cautious to cross her legs as she sits. She starts the car again and looks over to see Cosima yawning.
"It's a bit of a drive. You can sleep if you need to." Delphine reaches a hand from the steering wheel to give Cosima's a gentle squeeze.
Cosima is just waking as she pulls up to the cottage, "Wake up Cosima." She calls, encouraging her to fully wake.
They climb out of the vehicle, Cosima approaches to get a better look at it. She takes it in, the large windows, the wooden construction, the simplicity of it. Her little house in the middle of nowhere. She enjoys watching the look on Cosima's face, surprise followed by pure delight.
Cosima finally speaks, "Who does this belong to?"
She finds herself unable to stop smiling, "It's mine. I purchased it from a former colleague about two years ago." She remembers it well, it was offered to her and she decided to take the advice to buy some planet side property. Aldous still refers to it as "that shack".
Cosima helps her lug the cooler to the front door, where she enters the key-code easily and the door swings free. Cosima wanders around the great room while she packs the food away in the fridge. She looks over her kitchen, it doesn't seem any worse for wear, perhaps in need of a good clean.
"So it's all one room?" Cosima looks from the cozy living area with it's fireplace to the eat-in kitchen. A loft hangs out just above the kitchen area, the bedroom is upstairs, open to the rest of the great room from above. One large bed on a low platform dominates the small space. The closets along the sides are open, already containing a fair amount of Delphine's clothes.
"There's a bathroom past the kitchen at the back," She pauses, "And a small bedroom." She finds the tap and lets it run several minutes until the water runs clean. She makes a mental note to let the water run in the washroom as well.
"You have this and you never get down here?" Cosima's incredulous now, she seems to love this house as much as Delphine does.
"Almost never." She admits. She glances at the produce she's purchased. It's enough for the week, or it should be without having to drive the two hours back to town. She begins cooking, a quick veggie curry and some rice. Nothing overly complex.
Cosima's gone off to shower. When she returns she rests on the couch, exhausted from their trip. She's tired too, but the desire to eat something wins out. She wipes down her counters and checks her cupboards assessing things. Anything to help keep herself awake.
"Delphine?" She can just see Cosima's face now, popping up over the brown fabric of her couch.
"Yes." She looks up from her cooking, it's nearly done now.
Cosima blurts it out, "I want to know everything." There it is, a list of unspoken questions she'll inevitably have to answer.
"That would take you many lifetimes of study," Delphine jokes back uncomfortable with exactly what Cosima is asking. She directs her attention to the rice, taking it off the heat and turning off the stove.
"No. I mean about you. And DYAD. And Leekie." Cosima sits up on the couch.
She sighs, preparing two plates of food and bringing them over to the dining table, "Sit down and eat something."
Cosima comes to the table, taking her fork in her hand she begins to eat for a few moments. Delphine watches the smile spread across her face as she tastes the food, "If you can't tell me everything at least tell me more about you? Or where you learned to cook."
"I learned to cook as a child, it was mandatory at my house. Everyone had to learn to cook." Delphine smiles at the mental images this brings to mind. She turns her attention to her own plate and begins to eat.
"Ok. That's a start." Cosima nods and pauses to eat herself, "Well I know you left earth when you were fifteen."
"Yes. I was sent away to school." This is easy, she can tell her this much.
"At fifteen? Scary. So your family are they still on earth?"
"My parents, yes, they are very old now though. It's awkward. I spent about fifteen years in cryo and -" Delphine hesitates, "It's strange to see them looking so much older than I remember. We don't talk often."
"Fifteen years later you wake up all alone in space." Cosima looks at her again, almost tenderly, "Must have be lonely."
"For a time, but I adjusted," Delphine smiles, "I finished school and became a doctor. I was interested in immunology and that let me to DYAD, I've been there ever since. I earned my PhD as an employee. "
"How long ago was that?"
"Been at DYAD five years, my PhD was finished two years ago." She's proud of that at least. She'd worked hard for that, regardless of what some of her coworkers would imply.
Cosima's not done asking questions though, "And the... thing with Leekie?"
Delphine swallows, taking a long drink of water, "Almost five years." She answers quietly, willing herself not to cry again. She knows it's not fair to pretend that it's not happening, not to someone who's growing ever closer to her. Regardless, there are some things too difficult to share.
"You never talk about it, do you? Were you coerced? Does he have something on you?" Cosima's tilted her head again, reaching a hand across the table intending comfort.
She's not blushing but incredibly flustered when she finally says, "It was my choice, at first." A stupid decision, but it had been hers to make. They sit and eat in silence for several moments.
Cosima seems to take it in stride, "Ok. That was five years ago. And now?"
She decides on honesty, "I've tried to end it twice." Leekie knows far too much about her and has far too much power over DYAD as a whole. It's not time to tell her everything. Not yet.
She sees something shift on Cosima's face, wondering for a moment if she'll dig deeper, try to uncover everything she hides. She wonders for a moment if she'll let her.
"I'm sorry." Cosima apologizes and returns her attention to her food.
"Me too." She finishes her meal in relative silence. After they finish she takes Cosima's plate away to the dishwasher with her own, "Go sleep upstairs. I'll take the other bedroom."
"You sure?" Cosima glances up the wooden stairs to the loft bedroom.
"Yes." She's not sure why she finds herself hovering near the stairs after finishing cleanup. She doesn't want to leave Cosima alone. She doesn't want to be without her either, she admits to herself.
She showers again, scrubbing more enthusiastically at her skin than she'll want to admit to later. She hesitates at the door of the smaller bedroom, she glances in. It's as she left it, a small bed and closet. Perfectly serviceable and yet she finds herself climbing the stairs to the loft.
She notes Cosima sleeping soundly, curled on her side. She changes into pajamas and crawls in beside her and is immediately taken over by exhaustion.
