Delphine can't say that she actually saw the vampire leave, but she was acutely aware of the sudden loss of warmth, and stunned by the caress of the breeze created as the door opens and shuts in the blink of an eye; the sound of it slamming causing her to jump. She blinks a few times, still with her back firmly pressed against the wall and her mind a confused mix of voices screaming inside her head, pulling her thoughts in every direction.
Seconds later, the door opens again and she barely registers the perky assistant returning to the office.
"Was that Cosima leaving?" Krystal asks, her neck craned, presumably watching the creature walk down the hall.
Delphine says nothing, still struggling to contain her thoughts, then finally peels herself from the wall and straightens her lab coat with one steady tug.
"Is everything okay?" Her assistant, noticing her disarray, eyes her with a curious gaze.
"Yes," the doctor answers shortly.
"You sure?" Krystal's suspicion grows, Delphine can sense it in the intense stare thrown in her direction. "Because it's not like her to leave without saying goodbye and you look so..."
"Maybe she had somewhere to go," Delphine interrupts her instantly before the other woman has time to voice her conjectures.
"I guess..." Krystal mumbles, not entirely convinced.
"Have any of our other clients arrived yet?" Delphine asks, not meeting Krystal's gaze. Instead her eyes flash to Cosima's open file on her monitor. She saves her updates and quickly closes it.
"Front desk hasn't said anything," her assistant replies as she crosses the small office and clears the desk of the supplies that were used for Cosima.
Delphine continues to feel Krystal's interested eyes on her and she knows she better start to do a better job at hiding her emotions. The cheerful young woman might seem a bit of an airhead, but the doctor knows she's a sharp observer. With no more time to think about what happened, she centers her mind, saving her thoughts on Cosima for later.
The vampire hurries down the street. It's moments like this when she misses having something, anything really, to keep her mind off the thoughts that consume her.
What was she thinking? Was she thinking at all? Her body remains tense, the beast demanding the shift, even after she'd put miles between herself and the doctor. Her fangs are pricking at her lower lip, her heavy breathing having nothing to do with her fast pace. When a distracted pedestrian collides with her, she growls, making the teenage boy gasp and escape in the opposite direction.
She ends up in one of the few hang outs she has. Still too early to serve their usual customers, Nightcrawler is open just the same. It's not like anyone is about to enter this place without knowing where they are. The bar has earned the reputation of being a sanctuary of sorts for all non-human, a place where vampires and lycans, either being on the recovering program or not, get together without creating (many) problems. Said reputation is, most likely, due to the way the owner keeps everyone in check, and if you decide to break the rules the sentence is a swift and permanent ban, with no appeal.
"Cosima, my dear, fancy to see you here so early." The woman greets her with a wolf-like smile that leaves no doubt regarding her nature.
"Hi, S!" Cosima takes a stool at the bar, slouching.
"What's wrong, chicken?" She gives the vampire her undivided attention, slinging the washcloth over her shoulder.
Cosima cringes slightly at the pet name, but doesn't have the heart to correct the woman, who's centuries her junior.
"Is Sarah around?" Cosima asks.
"This early?" Siobhan snorts and shakes her head. "She's sleeping upstairs, of course." She answers, jamming her thumb at the door that leads to their upstairs apartment. "Looking for weed?"
Cosima rises her head quickly, blinks few times after hearing the casually asked question. "Nothing goes on in here that I don't know about," the woman says with a small smile. "And whatever is bothering you, I assure you that getting high is not the answer."
"Ugh..." Cosima drops her head to the counter, at least most of the tension has passed, but now she's feeling the secondary effects of the treatment. "Do you miss it?" She asks after a while, raising her head.
"What?" The other woman cocks a brow.
"The freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want?" She clarifies.
"I never had the pleasure of such a thing." The werewolf laughs, getting back to the glasses she was cleaning. "There were always consequences, as you well know, and we always had to consider them."
"You know what I mean." Cosima rolls her eyes. "When they didn't know about us, there was always more room to maneuver, more gray areas. We knew there were things we could get away with."
"Like making more of your kind?" Siobhan asks with a hint of annoyance. "I'm sorry if I don't think that's a bad thing. I still remember when our species didn't exactly get along as I'm sure you do as well."
It's true that vampires and lycans had not always been on the best of terms; sharing the night between the two sides often led to a blood bath in the old days. Even now, the truce continues to hang in a precarious balance and any little dispute could send them into another war.
These days things seem to be calmer. Humans are in much greater number and with better technology, have imposed their own laws upon everyone. Taking a life, either by turning a human or eliminating someone from another species is tried as murder, and the punishment is applied to vampires and werewolves alike.
"You know I've never turned anyone," Cosima reminds her. "Nor have I ever been at war with your kind. Make love, not war and all that shit..."
The other woman laughs. "A hippy before her time," she comments. "So, what's the matter then?"
"I don't know..." The vampire shakes her head. "I guess I'm just... Maybe this abstinence is getting to me."
"Well... it's not for everyone," Siobhan reasons aloud. "I still don't understand why you agreed to that. You're one of the good ones in my book. Lord knows we could do with more like you in the years to come. Despite the government's attempt, it's not like our species are going anywhere."
"That's because Cosima's an idealist," Sarah butts in, coming through the back door, rubbing sleepy eyes. "She believes that we can all live together in peace and prosperity."
The vampire pays little mind to the youngest werewolf's provocation, having grown accustomed to her cynicism about the program. Neither of the two women had signed on for the treatment; Sarah out of pure principle, and Siobhan refrained to keep her adoptive daughter safe, along with the little girl upstairs, who's a well kept secret from the people they don't trust.
"Don't you think that it would be a better world for Kira to grow up in?" Cosima asks.
"Sure," Sarah snorts. "But I don't expect it to be a real one any time soon. I don't care how they sell it, people in DYAD are shifty as shit and I doubt their intentions are as pure as they claim."
"You suspect everyone, Sarah," the vampire says, with a dismissing wave of her hand. "You didn't even trust me when we first met."
"Hey! That's not entirely true. I still don't trust you," Sarah responds with a smile. "I don't know that one day you're not gonna decide to bite me."
"Dog blood tastes foul," Cosima teases, showing a smirk. "Not that I know from experience, but it's well documented in our community."
"Fuck off!" The young wolf accuses the metaphorical bite, while the older one just lets out a subtle chuckle. "But you have no problems taking my weed."
The vampire shrugs. "It's not too bad."
"Especially since you've been coming around a lot more lately. And I wager it has something to do with your abstinence issues - as you called it."
Sarah talks as she leaves the bar and goes into the private area. Meanwhile, Cosima's left with the other woman, who appears to be focused on the task of cleaning the small tables which later will be filled with patrons.
"So, who do you want to bite?" Sarah asks as soon as she returns, sliding a small bag along the bar.
"Not you!" Cosima answers, using her quick reflexes to stop the bag that she shoves in the pocket of her coat.
"That stuff won't make it go away," Sarah says, finger aiming at the pocket. "Poor substitute for blood, if you ask me."
"What would you know about that?" Cosima's starting to sound frustrated, as she puts a few bills on the counter.
"If it's the same feeling I get when I shift..." Sarah shrugs, counting the money distractedly, not noticing the growing tension in the vampire. "Nothing is quite like it."
Cosima remains silent for a while, knowing that the point the other woman made is spot on. She knows that nothing would even come close to the satisfaction of letting her let beast have its fill, especially when it is fixated on someone in particular. Just the thought makes her shiver, the cluster of emotions coursing through her veins with the fantasy, causing the tips of her fangs to extend slightly with the prospect of something that is more intense than a mere meal.
Cosima grunts a goodbye, and the two werewolves eye her with amazement as she makes a quick retreat. To calm herself, she taps the bag of weed in her pocket, replacing the anticipation of a fantasy with something she can control. Anxiety fills her, and as soon as she gets home, Cosima seems about substituting that for the calming burn of marijuana. Sprawled on the couch with an ashtray on her stomach, Cosima smokes with her eyes locked on the dirty white ceiling until she finally feels her muscles relax and her eyelids go heavy.
At the end of the day, Delphine leaves the office with Krystal in tow. Her persistent agitation hadn't gone unnoticed by her assistant, who, after Cosima's appointment, barely left her side. More than once, the tall blonde had caught the other woman's eyes on her. For her part, Delphine had done her best to keep up the appearance that all was normal, but it was a difficult mask to maintain. Thoughts of the early morning meeting haunted her throughout the day, holding her thoughts captive, making minutes seem like hours. She was eager to reach the end of the day and finally be able to get from under the all-too curious gaze of her assistant.
Still, she doesn't address it, doesn't complain about the shadow that follows her everywhere and acts like she's not noticing. Attracting further attention is the last thing she needs, so she tolerates it, forcing a smile while her mind is constantly demanding space to pull itself together.
It's not until Krystal drives away that Delphine takes the long, deep breath that seemed to have been stuck in her chest for a really long time. She pulls the computer bag strap higher on her shoulder and starts her walk. She tries to make sense of what happened this morning, to find a reasonable explanation for what can only be described as a moment of weakness. Yes, she'd been caught by surprise by the quick motion of the creature, much too fast for her human mind to react. Unfortunately, that doesn't account for the fact that it was Delphine herself who'd initiated contact, who had, rather carelessly, kept Cosima from leaving in the first place.
While only starting her career, this wasn't the first direct contact the young doctor has had with these creatures. However, since her previous encounters with such beasts had been anything but passive, the appeal of vampires had always escaped her. She knows they can be charming - like anyone else - most of them don't resort to force to lure their victims, but she always thought her past experiences had granted her some imagined immunity to their persuasive methods. Cosima strikes her as a different kind of creature though, unlike any other she has ever encountered. Cosima is far more subtle, most likely from her centuries walking this earth. The charm of the experienced vampire seems quite unique; she's effortless in her persuasion, and her appeal comes from how easily she carries herself, how she commands attention without trying, perhaps even involuntarily.
That must be it, the doctor reasons, why her heavily fortified barriers, built over the years, were so easily breached. But now she knows better. Next time she'll be better prepared and won't be caught by surprise.
Delphine is so ensconced in her own thoughts, walking in the late afternoon among the crowd heading to their respective homes, that she doesn't notice the ominous figure following her, shining eyes trained on her while an inquisitive mind wondered what Cosima could've possibly seen in this weak human.
The figure slips unnoticed through the crowd, its compact structure makes it easy to remain overlooked, slightly smirking at the humans who can't even begin to comprehend the danger this world represents to them. Although not today, not now. In this moment only one of the individuals of the weaker species is in real danger, only one of them is the target of unwanted attention.
Delphine approaches a dark alleyway on her left, the icy blue eyes shine even brighter, sensing the opportunity it has been waiting for. The small presence moves too quickly for lazy human eyes to see anything other than a weird shadow, a cold wind passing between the warm bodies. Just as quickly, a hand reaches out, finding a lean wrist and tugging violently.
Delphine flies across the dark alley, crashing hard against the dirty pavement, the air forced out of her lungs with the impact and a sharp pain courses up her arm. With no time to process what had happened, Delphine feels a cold hand wrap around her neck, lifting and pushing her against the chain link fence that rattles with the pressure, the grip closing her airways and lifting her off the ground. The inhumanly bright eyes leave no doubt as to the nature of her attacker, the white fangs not necessary for confirmation.
"Hello doctor!" The voice is like silk, the low pitch freezing the blood in her veins. The evil smirk stretching across polished features would be beautiful if it weren't for the dark intentions painted on them.
Delphine brings both hands to the solid arm stretched to keep her steady, and a searing pain immediately shoots out from the palm of her hand. A shard of broken glass embedded in her flesh is pushed deeper, leaving dark red smears on a muscled arm, hard and cold like marble. Even so, the doctor doesn't care about it; her primary concern is to find a way to bring air to her constricted windpipe.
There's no real fear in Delphine. Somehow she's always known this outcome was a possibility. She simply feels disappointed that she won't have the opportunity to execute her plan. A sort of resignation crosses her expression as she watches her attacker's young eyes, momentarily distracted by the red stain, becoming slightly disgusted. It's a complete stranger, but the disdain with which it looks at her, the hardness in the stare gives Delphine the sensation that this is no random attack, this feels personal.
"I'm curious," the same smooth voice says, an eyebrow arched and the index finger of the free hand tapping the lips a few times as if seriously pondering the question. "Does Cosima know about it or that the poison you've been injecting her with has dulled her senses that much?"
Delphine doesn't respond, even when the grip on her neck relaxes enough to put her down and allow oxygen back into her lungs, presumably to produce an answer. Instead, she smirks with contempt; resigned to her fate. The doctor has no intention to give what her attacker wants. This seems to amuse the creature, who becomes more vile, the hand gripping the neck tenses again.
"You're in luck that I don't like someone else's sloppy seconds," the flawless face gives an unnerving smile. "Of course, that doesn't mean you're not too good to kill."
"Then do it already!" Delphine's voice comes out broken from the strain in her neck, but her stare doesn't waver. "What are you waiting for?"
"Now, now..." An index finger wiggles in front of Delphine's face, admonishing an insolent child. "Where's the fun in killing you without the audience I'm expecting?"