"Well, here we are..." Cosima sighed, pulling the car into park and engaging the handbrake before taking her seatbelt off. She stared for a moment out at the other cars parked in the lot and the students briskly heading to classes or trudging slowly to their vehicles. It almost felt like a regular day, "Delphine," Cosima put her hand on the woman's shoulder, "time to wake up."
Delphine groaned, lifting her head and rubbing her eyes, "5 more minutes?" She asked.
Cosima gave a half smile, "You've been asleep for like, 12."
"Does not feel like it..."
"I know I know," Cosima replied, leaning over and releasing the seatbelt, "But we've got work to do."
"Is the incubator ok?" Delphine asked, rubbing her eyes and pulling the visor down to consult her reflection.
"Yep, and it's going to look pretty weird carrying it into the lab but oh well."
"Do they not have their own here?"
"Oh they do, just this way we can put a big 'DO NOT TOUCH' sign on it and hopefully no one will mess with it."
Delphine looked at the box in the backseat, "It looks like a microwave..."
Cosima gave the incubator a glance, "I guess so... maybe from the back... Come on, let's get going, are you okay to walk?"
"Yes," Delphine flicked the visor back up and stiffly opened the door, "Ohhh but it does hurt!" Delphine hissed as she stretched her sore body and tight muscles.
Cosima gave her a look of empathy as she closed the drivers side door and opened the back one, "You know, I have something that might help?" Cosima pulled the incubator out of the car carefully and closed the door with her hip.
"Mmm?"
"Pot."
Delphine just gave her a look, "Still trying to get me 'baked'?"
Cosima grinned, "Well yeah," She said sarcastically, "but even if it doesn't help with the pain, it can make it a lil easier to cope with things and make the pain more bearable."
"Sure, why not?" Delphine replied, her arms around her waist as if it could some how soothe the aches.
Cosima moved around the car to stand by Delphine, "Left pocket," she instructed.
"Hm? Wha-oh," Delphine reached into Cosima's pocket almost hesitantly and found the zip lock bag containing the shorter woman's stash, "Merci."
"Nooo worries," Cosima replied, regripping the incubator and moving off, "We'll have to go to another lab, Scott will ask too many questions."
"I think he likes you," Delphine nudged her arm with her elbow as she flicked her cigarette lighter.
"And you! Did you see the way he looked at you?"
"No but I saw the look you gave him," Delphine said pointedly as she replaced the zip lock bag in Cosima's pocket.
"Hmm..." Cosima replied noncommittally, "So, any idea how long this will take?"
"Hopefully just a few days to a week. There are a few specific tests I want to run first on both you and the samples we have before we attempt to cure you."
"Sweet... but, will you be alright? Your body is still very raw and you can barely stay awake for a few hours and the pot won't help you with that..."
"We'll manage, I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Delphine winked, "But you should stop smoking, it's only making you worse and it will decrease our chances of success in curing you."
Cosima looked a little glum at the prospect, "Yeah... I know, unfortunately."
"Where are we?" Felix asked.
"Doesn't matter, but we're safe here," Sarah replied as she reversed down an overgrown driveway.
"Who owns this place?" Felix asked distastefully as he looked around the old unkempt property and the shabby house that resided on it.
"I do." Sarah said matter of factly.
"You?" Felix asked incredulously, "How is that even possible?"
"Shut up Fe, it's from an old score."
"Oh, so you took some old lady's house?"
"No. It wasn't like that," Sarah said harshly, "the guy who lived here deserved what he got."
"Okay okay," Felix replied, backing off, "But this place needs a lot of TLC."
"Feel free to do some gardening or paint the walls," Sarah replied sarcastically, "We're here kids," Sarah said as she exited the car.
Elissa and Kira were looking out their windows, Kira was unimpressed with the place but Elissa's curiosity at all the different styles of the world captivated her attention more than repulsed her.
"Are there snakes here?" Kira asked.
"No Monkey, it's winter, they'll be underground or looking for somewhere warm." Like our car...
When Elissa hopped out of the car, she found the weeds were taller than she was. A smile formed across her face as she reached out to touch the plants, rubbing the leaves between her fingers.
"Elissa?" Felix called.
"Here!" The girl replied, one hand on the car at all times as she moved around the vehicle to where she heard the voices.
"Alright, stay together girls, wouldn't want you getting lost in the front yard," Sarah replied, a hand on each of their shoulders as she guided them to the front door and left them at the doorstep while she went to retrieve the key. She returned quickly, moving up the grey concrete steps with ease as she figured out which way up the key was supposed to go.
"What's that?" Elissa asked, pointing to Sarah's back.
Felix and Kira looked to where the blonde girl pointed, "Ah!" Felix screamed and jumped back.
"What is it?" Sarah asked turning around.
"It's a spider!" Kira replied, moving down a step.
Felix searched the ground at his feet to make sure there were no other creepy crawlies near him.
"Where?!" Sarah asked.
"Stay still!" Felix yelled.
"It's on me?!" Sarah returned, her back going ridged.
"C-can I touch it?" Elissa asked, moving forward and reaching a hand out to Sarah's back.
"What type is it?" Sarah asked quickly, shuddering slightly as she now felt the spider move up near her right shoulder blade- right where she wouldn't be able to do anything to get rid of it.
"Uh um," Felix was useless to answer properly.
"It's a wolf spider," Kira replied, having seen them before at Ms. S house.
"Be gentle with it Elissa," Sarah warned.
"So I can pick it up?" Elissa asked with hope.
"Yes yes just get it off me," Sarah said impatiently, closing her eyes and holding back any noise of displeasure and dislike as the spider took a few more steps.
Elissa stepped up, one hand on the rail to steady herself as she reached up, going up on tippy toes and placing her hand on Sarah's shoulder just above the lightly hairy spiders thin legs. It shuffled back and Sarah raised her shoulders in a cringe as she felt it's movements.
"Hello spider..." Elissa said as she moved her hand to follow the spiders movements as it crawled onto her little hand, barely able to fit with the length of its legs. Elissa giggled, "It tickles!" She said, turning around to show Felix and Kira.
"Yeah, yeah, just uh- keep it away from me. Please," Felix said, moving back further when Elissa held out the spider.
"It's gone?" Sarah asked and then shuddered visibly, shaking her shoulders and jumping about, "Uhhhh creepy things. Creepy, creepy creeeppyyyy things."
Elissa slowly and carefully made her way down the stairs, Felix and Kira moving as far out of her way as they could.
"Aww," Elissa said when the eight legged creature leapt from her hand to the relative safety of the tall grass, "Bye bye spider!"
"Yes, 'bye bye' indeed..." Sarah mumbled, still shuddering at the thought of the spider on her back as she opened the door and peered in to check for more spiders or other animals before actually entering.
Kira stuck right by Sarah's side, holding her hand while she looked around the dark, old house.
Felix stayed as close to Sarah as he could too without stepping on her feet, meanwhile, Elissa bounded off and searched the house to her hearts content.