3. Oh my Darwin
Delphine was awoken by booming thunder and the morning sun shining through the window behind her couch. She heard the rain, eyes not yet open, and felt the sun warm her skin. She couldn't believe it was still storming, a thought that brought her mind to a screeching halt as she recalled last night's adventures – and as she felt the slow inhale and exhale of a small body pressed to her front. Delphine's eyes shot open to find a dark brown mass of hair draped before her and a small warm body sleeping peacefully, facing the opposite direction. How did she end up spooning Cosima? She caught sight of the exposed skin of her neck and collarbone, practically glowing in the sun, defining all of her beautiful features.
She had to admit, Cosima was very attractive. She could objectively appreciate beauty without it needing to be…to be what? More? She thought Cosima was attractive, not that she was attracted to her. She couldn't be, right? She was attracted to her personality, perhaps. She was very fascinating, after all. And what's wrong with that? She could allow herself to make a friend. Maybe that's all this horde of feelings was – a desire for someone's company. She hadn't had a close friend in such a long time, maybe she felt deprived.
Delphine let herself admire the curves of Cosima's face, neck, collarbones, brea-No. She shouldn't be looking at her body at all. Cosima was unconscious and drooling over her body wasn't right. Cosima shifted backward slightly to cuddle further into Delphine. With the movement, Delphine realized her arm was wrapped around the girl's waist, grazing a small sliver of exposed skin where the oversized shirt had ridden up. She quickly retracted the arm, immediately missing the contact. How did they get in this position anyway? she thought again. Delphine didn't remember ever laying down on the couch. The last thing she remembered, they were both sitting sleepily next to each other. They must have maneuvered in their sleep. She wasn't as disturbed by it as she should have been.
Delphine sat up, slowly and quietly so Cosima didn't wake. The American shifted again but looked sound asleep, surprisingly. Delphine walked to the bathroom, checking her watch on the way there – 5:48 a.m. No wonder Cosima is still asleep, she thought. Delphine showered and changed into clean clothes before heading downstairs to finish the chore that was Cosima's only reason for being here. But she seemed to like spending time with Delphine, too? Cosima might not be so upset about having stayed much longer than expected.
What Delphine didn't understand is why she cared so much. She didn't typically care what people thought of her or whether they liked her, but with this woman, Delphine seemed to care a great deal. She reached the basement sooner than she would've liked and retrieved the dry clothing. She got another peek at the skimpy lace underwear and bra. It gave her an odd twisting feeling in her gut she didn't recognize. She tore her eyes away, a similar feeling of guilt like she had earlier while raking her eyes all over Cosima's body.
When she made it back to her apartment, Cosima was still sleeping, turned over and huddled into the couch cushions. Delphine smiled at the innocent beauty Cosima seemed to display at all times (although sometimes it was not so innocent). Delphine took a blanket from her room and covered Cosima up, gently sliding her glasses off and folding them on the coffee table.
She looked out at the rain, barely able to see through it. She wondered if Cosima would have a ride to her destination or if she would need to find other transportation. Who was her friend anyway? Was it her boyfriend? The thought made Delphine's neck heat up, she almost felt something similar to anger. What if Cosima didn't want to be her friend back, Delphine thought next. Why was she being so sensitive and childish about this? Cosima seemed very friendly with her, but perhaps it was just her personality.
Thinking about Cosima's quirky personality, she became distracted with an idea. Cosima wasn't the only one who could be a smartass.
Delphine had spent the last forty-five minutes attempting to prepare breakfast – something she didn't do often. She was grateful Cosima hadn't woken up to see her fail miserably at her first two attempts, but also disappointed that she was still asleep. Delphine was making quite a bit of noise and the apartment wasn't that big, so she was relatively close to Cosima. At this point, her morning shower had been pointless. She was sweating from the heat and had a variety of ingredients spread across her body. Why was she going through all of this trouble for a girl she barely knows?
The idea was to play into Cosima's relentless teasing so the effort she was putting forth was obviously to accomplish…that…whatever it was. Perhaps she was buying her friendship? Who wouldn't want to be friends with someone completely incompetent at cooking an easy dish?
After another ten minutes of slaving over the stove, Delphine finally finished the breakfast and started to clean the rather large mess she made. The dish was fairly simple and shouldn't have made much of a mess, but Delphine had never made it before and was anxious for Cosima to wake up. How is the girl still asleep? She had made an incredible amount of noise – including her own little gasps and shrieks when something went wrong in the kitchen – and it was almost 9:45 in the morning. How late had they stayed up?
She ran through worst-case scenarios for explanations…dead? Delphine set the plate of food on the counter and rushed to the side of the couch to examine further. "Good," she whispered, "not dead. Still breathing," she whispered, out of breath. Delphine didn't want to wake her up, she enjoyed watching her sleep so peacefully. She looked very different without her glasses and with more than only dull indoor lights to illuminate her face. Delphine could make out the sharpness of her eyeliner, the slight curve of her lips, and the little nose ring she didn't notice last night. She moved a stray lock from Cosima's face and placed it behind her with the rest. How was the girl so beautiful?
No matter how beautiful the girl looked, she had to wake her up or she would go mad. Still, Delphine didn't want to wake her up directly, so she turned on the television and flipped it to the local morning news. A meteorologist was explaining the level of the current storm and flood warnings. The woman had barely been speaking for ten seconds before a slurred voice came from behind Delphine. "This is the worst thing to wake up to".
Delphine jumped and turned around, looking at Cosima, eyes still closed but a small smile appearing on her lips. "My apologies," Delphine replied sarcastically with a smile, "What would you have preferred?"
"Hmmm, I'll have to whisper it to you…Mademoiselle..uh…Crêpe," she slurred, eyes still tightly shut, refusing to wake up. "Turn that off real quick 'n c'mere".
Delphine laughed as she clicked off the television, "Mademoiselle Crêpe? That is awful, even for you, Cosima". Delphine walked over to stand next to the couch, smiling like a fool just from hearing the girl's adorable morning voice.
"Mmmm it's early, gimme a break," she poked her tongue out weakly with a smile, squeezing her eyes shut tighter, "come here dude, you won't be able to hear from all the way over…wherever you are". Cosima reached out blindly and found Delphine's thigh. She hooked her hand behind Delphine's knee and lightly tugged, making Delphine erupt in giggles at the poor girl's useless attempts. Even so, she knelt down in front of her on the floor, eye-level and waited.
"Well?" Delphine prompted, unable to calm the enthusiastic smile on her face.
Cosima reached out again, finding Delphine's chin and proceeding to feel and poke around the entirety of Delphine's giggling face obnoxiously. Once Delphine finally captures her wrist, halting the facial pat-down, Cosima opens her eyes and looks straight into Delphine's, which are watering with laughing-tears. "There. Much better than Mademoiselle Weather Channel". Cosima boops Delphine's nose with the tip of her finger before shooting up into a sitting position. "What is that heavenly smell, Frenchly?"
Delphine let go of the wrist she had apparently been holding captive and smiles as she retrieves the plate from the kitchen. "Breakfast," she replies in a chipper voice.
"Oh my Darwin. You – you made French toast. That is effing perfect". Cosima's eyes brightened as she smiled the biggest smile Delphine had ever seen.
"Do you consider Darwin a deity, Cosima?" Delphine asks, bringing two forks into the living room and handing one to Cosima.
"Charlie D? Nah, but the closest I'll come to religion. No offense, if you're religious or anything," Cosima fumbled on her words for the first time since she met the confident woman. Delphine found it…cute. That was all she could describe it as. She reassured Cosima she was in no way offended and they finished their breakfast in a comfortable quietness.
By mid-afternoon they had talked about everything from religion, to evolution, to corporate corruption. They had both stealthily avoided the topic of Cosima leaving, she hadn't even changed out of Delphine's clothes yet. They ate lunch and watched the relentless rain from Delphine's window. Cosima seemed to be a very touchy-feely kind of person. She graced Delphine with numerous arm touches, leg brushes, and bodily closeness that would be considered far more intimate than a close friendship, let alone someone she just met less than twenty-four hours ago. Delphine found her heart fluttering every time her skin made contact with Cosima's, and while she was still confused by the feelings, she didn't question or fight them anymore. She chose to ignore the voice in her head begging for an analysis and instead let herself feel the rush for however long it lasted. As the day went on, Delphine became bolder as well. At one point she had Cosima's arm in her lap, caressing the skin with a beautiful design etched in it. The goosebumps that appeared on Cosima's forearm all the way up to her shoulder didn't go unnoticed by the blond. She was intrigued at her own capability to produce any kind of reaction from someone, especially Cosima.
The woman seemed to have an inexhaustible amount of energy and spoke with passion about every topic they came across. Delphine could listen to her talk all day, surely. The way her hands moved about so mesmerizingly, her full lips moving at the speed of light as she rushed through her thoughts. The most admirable trait, Delphine thought, was that Cosima never once appeared uninterested or bored when it was the blond doing the talking. She was focused and she paid attention like she was in her favorite class. They seemed to skip over talking about themselves, occasionally referencing a childhood memory or event that tied into their conversation. Delphine was exhausted from the continuous flow of information she received from Cosima. She was surely learning more in this one afternoon than she had her entire Freshman year of college.
Cosima seemed to become very comfortable in Delphine's home and with the Frenchwoman herself. Her favorite position appeared to be laying on the couch with her legs over Delphine's lap. Delphine loved the excuse to touch the woman. She would lay her arm over Cosima's thighs, her hand gentle enough to not be so overtly stroking, but with enough pressure to satisfy Delphine's…her what? Desires? She didn't have desires to touch this woman, right? No, Cosima was her friend. Did Cosima think they were friends? She sure seemed to like spending time with Delphine and had no issue with constant touches.
Delphine was very confused. She was confused about the situation, mainly because of how they avoided the elephant in the room. She was confused about the feelings she got around Cosima, both emotional and physical. Most of all, she was completely unsure of how Cosima felt about her. Were her affectionate behaviors a regular mannerism for her or were they something directed specifically at Delphine, and why should she care, really? She didn't like women in that way (arguably she didn't like men that much either). She couldn't process everything that was happening.
"You okay there, Delphine?" Cosima said with genuine concern. It was the first time that day she had called her by her name instead of a French-based alternative.
"Yes, of course. I'm fine," Delphine returned from her reverie, looking at Cosima. "Did you run out of your excellent French material?" She diverted the attention, not wanted Cosima to somehow pry out of her the thoughts of confusion she was having. She most likely had the capacity to.
"Delphine is a beautiful name, it would be a shame to avoid it forever," Cosima half-mumbled, looking down at her fidgeting hands. Delphine thought she could see the tint of a blush on Cosima's cheeks. Although, she wasn't much better off, realizing her face was probably twice as red. At this point, Cosima may just believe that Delphine had naturally pink-tinted cheeks. "Thanks for the authentic French toast breakfast, by the way. I don't think I ever said thank you".
Delphine smiled tiredly, laying her head on the back of the couch, "I don't remember my mother ever even mentioning French toast. In fact, I had never tried it until this morning," she confessed, looking down at her watch – 11:32 p.m. "I've never made it before, and it seemed like a much simpler task online".
"You know, I think it's easy on and offline…" Cosima smiled up at her from her favorite couch position, legs atop Delphine's lap with a curious hand wandering over her knees and thigh. "Is that why it took you three tries?"
"Yeah…Wha–," Delphine snapped her gaze over to Cosima's cocky grin. "How did you…were you awake?"
"Yeah I had been awake for some time," Cosima giggled in self-satisfaction.
"H-how long?" Delphine remembered waking up with the American in her arms. It seemed so long ago, but the memory was burned into her skin.
"Hmmm, well, I was awake for…" Cosima sat up slightly, far enough to reach her fingers up to a strand of rebellious blond curl that sat on Delphine's cheek. She mimicked Delphine's movements from the morning, carefully placing the hair back where it belonged. However, Cosima seemed to be moving much slower, an agonizing pace with her fingertips trailing across her cheek. Delphine felt a quiver inside of her body, involuntarily letting her eyelids flutter shut.
When Cosima finally withdrew her hand, Delphine opened her eyes. She met Cosima's eyes for a fraction of a second before looking down with guilt. "I'm sorry," she mumbled in embarrassment.
"I also remember," Cosima continued, ignoring Delphine's demeanor, perhaps to further torture her, "some sweet gal covering me up with a blanket". At that, Delphine smiled. She could see Cosima wasn't upset with her for pushing boundaries. "Which was very thoughtful after by personal heated blanket left me to freeze all alone," Cosima said nonchalantly, but a knowing grin betrayed her cool.
Delphine could only laugh in embarrassment. She covered her face with both hands and apologized again. "I don't know how we ended up like that. I promise I wasn't trying to…take advantage of you or anything".
"I'm only irritated that you left! I was comfy, man," Cosima whined sarcastically. Delphine could only keep her face covered. There wasn't an inch of skin on it that wasn't stained red. Cosima laughed freely, only worsening Delphine's redness. "Hmmm, only one way to make it up to me, Delphine". Before Delphine could register what was going on, she felt her wrists being pulled lightly down to the couch. She fell to her side, slotted behind Cosima, in the position they found themselves this morning. She freed one of Delphine's hands and wrapped the other one around her waist. "Just don't leave this time and you'll be relieved your debt," Cosima kidded as she huddled further against Delphine.
She didn't even try to come up with a witty comeback, only laughing a small, tired laugh and relenting with a happy sigh, "Okay". She tucked her head away behind Cosima's neck, pulled her closer, and was asleep within minutes. She wasn't sure she wanted her debt to be relieved just yet.