A/N 1: I took some liberties in this story with what happens at the end of Inch'Allah. But even though I made a key change, I wanted to give a spoiler alert just in case for anyone who hasn't seen the movie.
No Better Find (Than to Find Myself With You)
"So you gettin' laid tonight or what?"
"What?" Cosima hands stilled momentarily as she looped her dreads up in a clockwise bun, practically gaping at the laptop sitting on top of a small foldout table. "Sarah, don't be ridiculous."
The grainy digital image of the punk rock genetic identical smirked. "Mmmhmm. So no hot doctors in your geek orbit then?"
"No." Though, truth be told, Cosima wouldn't mind spiraling with a certain gorgeous blonde physician.
"My intel tells me otherwise."
Cosima continued to move about her small white DYAD tent in nothing but her favorite pair of underwear—predominantly black but with a colorful pattern that reminded her of a stained-glass window. "And what intel is that, exactly?"
"Oh, I dunno, that you wiped out in the rainforest, cocked up your ankle, got fixed up at some clinic and have been hanging around there ever since," Sarah said, ticking off the points on her fingers. "Ring any bells in that brilliant mind of yours?"
"Nope."
Cosima silently cursed Paul and his monitoring, as well as the woman pulling his strings. Even though she knew he was just doing his job, Cosima still briefly fantasized about slipping laxatives in the man's canteen before the next long boat trip, or tampering with Rachel's shampoo bottles. She wondered if her corporate-clone sister would be fond of bright fuschia hair.
"Look, I don't know what Paul's been telling you," Cosima started as she shimmied inside a pair of dark purple jeans, flatteringly snug and form-fitting.
"Haven't been talking to Paul."
"Rachel?" Cosima scoffed. "No way."
"Please." Felix Dawkins appeared on the computer screen, nudging Sarah to the side with a sly smile. "Who needs the S&M fuck buddies when someone's baby daddy is an expert hacker?"
Cosima didn't know what was more incredible-the fact that Sarah somehow convinced Cal to hack into Rachel's files or that Rachel had been compiling the files to begin with. No. Scratch that. She had no problem whatsoever believing control-freak Rachel would have a compulsive need to know everything about everyone during Cosima's trip as a security precaution. DYAD had many enemies. But still…
"Is it really too much to ask for even just a modicum of privacy?" Cosima asked, exasperated.
"Come on, Cos, don't be that way." Sarah at least had the decency to look mildly remorseful. "We only hear from you once every few weeks. We miss you. We want to know you're doing all right."
"And Ms. '62 Margeaux," Felix added, mimicking Rachel's proper pronunciation and cadence, "is so uptight that if we shoved a piece of coal up her arse, it'd turn into a glittering diamond long before she'd tell us anything."
Cosima couldn't help but chuckle while she pulled on a gray and black sleeveless blouse.
"Hold on," Felix said. "Is that what you're wearing?" His dark lined eyes squinted with unmasked disapproval.
"What's wrong with it?" Cosima asked, looking down at herself.
"Nothing," he sniffed. "If you don't want a shag, that is. I thought you said you were going to a party."
"An independence day celebration. Down by the river. Doesn't exactly call for cocktail attire." Cosima sat on her cot to pull on her boots. "Besides, no one is shagging." Unfortunately.
"Right," Sarah cut back in. "So no interest in, say, an Ava Berman or a Valerie Nadeau." Cosima rolled her eyes and ignored her. "How about a Delphine Cormier?"
The scientist's head shot up before she could stop herself.
"I knew it!" Sarah clapped. "Pay up, Fe!"
Felix's eyes nearly disappeared into the back of his head and he slapped several dollar bills into Sarah's outstretched hand. "I'm disappointed in you, Cosima. The willowy blonde? I thought for sure you'd go for the fiery redhead."
"Wait, you have pictures of them?"
"Paul and Rachel are nothing if not thorough," Sarah shrugged and answered matter-of-factly. "Practically have their entire life stories." She raised an eyebrow and gave her a devilish half-smile. "You interested?"
Yes. "No."
"You sure? Your girlfriend had quite the time in the West Bank by the looks of it."
"Okay, one, she's not my girlfriend." Cosima shuffled toward the laptop, her shoes making a zipping sound against the nylon fabric of the tent. She hoped that the choppy satellite connection would help mask the flush on her face and how badly she did want to know everything about Delphine Cormier. "Two, unlike the rest of you, I believe in privacy. And three, I'm not interested in her or anyone else here in that way."
"You are so shit at lying."
Cosima sighed. "Fine, believe what you want. I'll try to call you again later. I've gotta finish getting ready."
Sarah's "Aw c'mon Cos" intermingled with Fe's "The lesbian doth protest too much, me thinks" as Cosima snapped her laptop shut before she could give in to temptation.
It was annoying how, among all of her clone sisters, Sarah -the con artist grifter extraordinaire-was the most perceptive. And it was embarrassing, really, how smitten Cosima was with Delphine in just a few short weeks. She had never formed attachments easily. She was always too busy with her studies and lab work to develop anything more than casual acquaintances and fleeting romances-the exceptions being the bonds she formed with her clones, Sarah especially.
But Delphine…
For the first time in her life, Cosima felt like she had finally met someone who just got it; who got her. Cosima. Not the stick-to-the-science geek monkey. Not 324B21. Not the girl who was dying. Delphine followed along with Cosima's dizzying, stream-of-consciousness tangents, and hardly ever missed a beat. Her eyes didn't glaze over if she dorked out over the extrapolation of murine models. Delphine laughed at Cosima's awful, cheesetastic science jokes and, amazingly, had a wellspring of her own ("What did one cell say to his sister cell when she stepped on his toe? Mitosis!")
Of course, it didn't hurt that Delphine also was just freakin' gorgeous, with her damned golden curls and hazel-brown eyes so mesmerizing that it was like looking at the sun's corona during a solar eclipse. To make matters worse, Delphine seemed completely oblivious to the effect she had on everyone around her, from other volunteers and patients to Cosima herself.
And, truth be told, Cosima wanted her. So badly she thought she would go mad. But she prided herself in managing to resist her genetic predisposition to impulsive behavior. She had no idea if Delphine was even interested in her in that way. But every so often, the doctor would give Cosima these looks. Looks that would have been totally encouraging if not for the fact that they also scared the living shit out of her.
Even if, by some miraculous off-chance, Delphine felt the same way, the fact remained that Cosima would be leaving soon. She had already gotten notice from Rachel that she would be departing within the next week, once one of the private jets could be dispatched to Kinshasa. And then what? Would they stay in touch? Would Cosima willingly bring Delphine into her dangerous world of shadow cabals, military conspiracies, and illicit human cloning trials? Hell, would they even see each other again? Long distance almost never worked and the thought of not being around Delphine….
Cosima shook her head and tried to ignore the sudden pang in her chest. She focused instead on applying her makeup. It was no use getting worked up over possibilities that might never even come to pass.
...
The celebration by the Mbandaka river bank was in full swing by the time Cosima and the rest of her fellow DYAD scientists (plus Paul) arrived later that evening. Although their group eventually splintered to enjoy the festivities, Cosima remained with Scott and Paul as they made their way through the throngs of sweaty, excited residents chatting in Lingala and French. Cosima grinned widely as she took it all in - the various strains of dance music drifting through the air with the staccato beats of a rhumba-esque rhythm, the aroma of grilled fish and roasted goat mixed with the more pungent scent of smoke from the long wooden torches along the water's edge and spent fireworks. It was all, in one word…
"Amazing!" Scott exclaimed, hefting his knapsack higher on his shoulder. "Totally amazing!"
"Beats staying in playing Runewars all night, huh Scotty?" Cosima smiled at him and turned her head around to look at Paul, who was trailing a few paces behind them. "And do my eyes deceive me? Is BDP actually cracking a smile?"
"It's been known to happen," he replied dryly. "So where are your friends?"
"Um, they should be near the bonfire coming up here."
Beside her, Scott nervously smoothed the front of his blue plaid shirt for the umpteenth time and raked his fingers through his side-swept brown hair.
"Dude, relax," Cosima said.
"Easy for you to say," an increasingly nervous Scott said. "Delphine's already head over heels for you. The rest of us aren't so lucky."
Cosima nearly tripped on her own feet. "Wha-what? What are you talking about?"
"Come on, Cosima." Scott rolled his eyes. "Everyone's seen the way you two look at each other."
"And how exactly do we look at each other?" Cosima turned her hands up in askance, already afraid of the answer.
"Like you're about to rip each other's clothes off any second," Paul interjected from behind her.
"That... that's crazy," she said as they approached the crowd gathered around the bonfire. Was she so easy to read to everyone? To Delphine? "We're just… friends..."
It was then that Cosima caught sight of Delphine and stopped dead in her tracks, causing Paul to nearly run into her. In place of her usual scrubs, Delphine wore a slate blue tank top with a pair of khaki shorts. She swayed with sensual fluidity to the surrounding music alongside Valerie and Ava, and Cosima couldn't stop herself from drinking in Delphine's long, slender legs, and the toned muscles of her arms. She had never seen so much of Delphine's skin that she was taken aback when she noticed the doctor's scars for the first time-one long and jagged from her left knee down her shin, the other on her chest just to the right of her sternum. But even with these revelations, Delphine remained as carelessly beautiful as ever, and desire shot through Cosima's body from the top of her head straight down to her toes
"Think your jaw might be on the ground there, Dr. Just Friends," Paul muttered out of the corner of his mouth as he nudged her shoulder.
Cosima would have gladly told her temporary monitor to kindly fuck off if not for the fact that something else grabbed her attention. Something like someone approaching Delphine from behind, placing his hands on her hips, and rocking against her. Cosima recognized him as one of the other MSF doctors at the clinic-Antoine Grenier, if her memory served her well. Short cropped hair, roguish facial stubble, boyish good looks. He was easy on the eyes, Cosima would give him that much. But she had a sudden and irresistible need to channel Helena, her wild-haired, slightly unstable genetic identical, and go all angry angel on him. Unlike some-scratch that, nearly all-of her clone sisters (and brother), Cosima had never been prone to physical violence. And yet, with the sudden onslaught of irrational jealousy swirling in her stomach, she very much entertained the idea.
"Hey you guys made it!" Valerie called out before Cosima could do anything rash.
"Wouldn't miss it," Scott answered in his usual endearingly overeager manner.
Cosima hummed her agreement just as Delphine's eyes snapped open and their gazes locked. Delphine beamed at her and, without a second thought, disentangled herself from Dr. Love's grubby paws to make her way over to Cosima, who managed to not throw a self-satisfied smirk in the direction of the clearly disappointed Grenier.
"Bonsoir Cosima." Delphine kissed her on each cheek and Cosima breathed in Delphine's familiar lilac scent. Delphine greeted Paul and Scott similarly, and Cosima tried not to read too much into the way the doctor's lips had seemed to linger on her skin a few beats longer.
"Now that we're all here, let's get this party started!" Ava said as she picked up what looked like an old, white milk jug from the ground, took several long chugs from it before handing it to Cosima.
"What's this?" The scientist sniffed the rim experimentally and was met with the astringent aroma of alcohol.
"Lotoko," Delphine answered, the Lingala word rolling smoothly off her tongue. "Congolese moonshine."
"I thought that was banned?" Scott's question elicited chuckles from the MSF volunteers. "Because of the methanol content."
"Then it's a good thing you're surrounded by doctors, Scott." Ava winked at him and Delphine smacked her arm.
"The risk of poisoning is present only if it's made from maize," Delphine explained. "This was fermented and distilled using cassava."
Cosima shrugged. "Gotta live a little, right?" She took a small sip and the drink blazed down her throat, causing her to cough violently. There was a reason she was a red wine-only kind of gal. "Holy shit!"
Ava laughed out loud and slapped her on the back. "Atta girl." She wrapped an arm around Cosima's shoulders and pulled her close to whisper, "Get enough of that in you and maybe you and Cormier can finally get it on."
Cosima spluttered as she tried another sip. "Um… what?" She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Ignore anything she says," Delphine said, pushing Ava away and taking the bottle. "She's already drunk." The doctor maintained eye contact as she brought the drink to her own lips for a long, slow pull, and Cosima felt heat pooling in her stomach.
...
The next few hours whizzed by in a blur of dancing and drinking, of laughter and general merriment. Several children from the clinic, recognizing Cosima and Scott, surrounded them with excited shouts of "Les Scientifiques! Les Scientifiques!"
"I dunno guys," Cosima shrugged. "It might be a little late for science experiments." After a few seconds of disappointed whining from the kids, a mischievous grin broke out on her face. "Oh who am I kidding? It's never too late for science!"
She nodded to Scott, who opened the knapsack he had been carrying and handed small wax patties to about a dozen pairs of little eager hands. Cosima picked one up and flipped it in her hand.
"Now, you've got to be careful, okay? Don't stand too close to the fire. Um, la sécurité d'abord!"
The children giggled at her French, but they understood all the same. Standing to the side, Delphine gave her two thumbs up. With Scott's help, Cosima demonstrated tossing a few patties in different places around the bonfire. The flickering flames burst into a multitude of colors, from purple and blue and pink to green, orange and white, eliciting cries of delight from the kids and surprised exclamations from the adults.
"What are those?" An amused Delphine appeared by her side.
"My dad's famous Niehaus fire starters," Cosima said proudly. "He used to make them for our camping trips when I was a kid."
"What's in them?"
"Oh, you know, the usual: some potassium chloride, calcium chloride, alum, some magnesium sulfate."
Delphine laughed. "Where on earth did you find all of that here?"
"We have our ways." Cosima winked at her and pressed one of the wax patties into Delphine's palm, canting her head toward the fire. "Go on."
Delphine smiled at her fondly and suddenly bent down, kissing her cheek near the corner of her lips.
"Merci," she said, and Cosima's heart thudded warmly in her chest.
Eventually, other clinic patients greeted them and offered impromptu lessons on how to dance the popular Ndombolo. And now Cosima would forever have seared into her memory of Paul and Scott awkwardly (but good-naturedly) attempting to copy the moves, which included rapid hip, chest, and shoulder gyrations and thrusts—side to side, front and back, round and round in circles.
As Cosima laughed hysterically, tears forming, Scott rolled his eyes and issued her a challenge, smiling nonetheless. "Let's see you do it, if you're so great."
"Fine, fine," Cosima said, taking Scott's place. "Watch and learn, boys."
It took her a few tries, but she eventually got the hang of the dance, the movements not too radically different from her own flowing freehand style. Delphine, Valerie, and Ava soon joined her. Delphine danced so close that Cosima she could feel the heat radiating off of her body, see the sweat glistening across her chest, accentuating the scar tissue—and the want that had been simmering inside Cosima's all evening threatened to boil over.
After they all boogied until they were out of breath and could boogie no more, they collapsed near the edge of the fire. To Cosima's delight, Valerie seemed quite taken with Scott, even when he began spouting off about the Fibonacci sequence and 1.61803398875 in response to the nurse's simple question about Cosima's nautilus tattoo. Smooth, Scott was not, and Cosima barely resisted the urge to slap the heel of her hand on her forehead.
"What Scott's trying to say," Cosima explained from where she was sitting, arms resting slightly on her bent knees, "is that the spiral represents the golden ratio-a mathematical pattern that repeats itself in nature."
"Right!" Scott bobbed his head up in down, taking the jug of lotoko that Ava was passing to him. "Like hurricanes or how a hawk swoops down for a kill!"
Off Valerie's dubious look, Cosima added, "Or flower petals, galaxies…" She trailed off as Delphine, sitting to her right, turned her arm over and traced a spiral inside her palm with her index finger. Cosima shivered from the feather-light touch.
"The ratio can also be found in our faces, our fingers," Delphine said softly as she lifted her eyes to meet Cosima's questioning gaze. "Every molecule of our DNA."
"Wow that's so beautiful," Valerie sighed, leaning into Scott, who grinned in embarrassed delight.
"Yeah it is," Delphine agreed, her eyes never leaving Cosima's face. Cosima's stomach flipped and her cheeks burned from the adoring way Delphine looked at her.
"And here I thought you probably just liked collecting shells as a kid," Ava spoke up.
"Uh…" Cosima's attention snapped back to Ava, who smirked at her. "That too. I did grow up in San Francisco."
"And the weed?" Ava asked. "Did you like gardening too?"
"Oh." Cosima lifted her left arm and examined the dandelion tattoo etched close to the inside of her elbow. "I guess I like the idea of a species that propagates against all odds."
"Also, Taraxacum offspring are genetically identical," Scott chimed in, waving the lotoko jug, "and Cosima's a…"
"I think you've had about enough of that," Paul interrupted, taking the bottle from Scott and taking a swig.
The discussion moved on from there, but Cosima could hardly pay attention, not with the way Delphine continued to cradle her hand, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
As the evening wore on, and the others paired up and became immersed in their own conversations, Delphine laced her fingers through Cosima's and tugged her up, quietly leading them to the river shore. Though it was dark-close to midnight-Delphine still could make out the outlines of thick clouds rolling in from the horizon thanks to the bright light of the waxing moon. The wind picked up, a welcome respite from the lingering heat as it whipped along their bodies and rippled their hair. They walked in silence, the hearty sounds of the other revelers fading as the crowds began to disperse. It was, in a word, peaceful.
That is, until Cosima nearly wiped out on a slippery patch of mud, saved only by Delphine's quick reflexes.
"I now know how you ended up in my clinic," Delphine teased, steadying Cosima by twisting herself in front of the scientist and wrapping her arms around her waist.
"I swear this river has it out for me." Cosima's hands reached out and gripped Delphine's shoulders.
"I don't think the river is to blame for your accident-prone nature." Delphine knew she should probably let Cosima go, but the way the smaller woman's body fit against hers just felt too good.
"Hey, shouldn't heroes have a bit more sympathy for the people they rescue?" Cosima asked with mock indignation despite the mirth in her dark eyes. "Just see if you get a reward."
"What reward?"
Cosima's face was mere inches away. Delphine unconsciously licked her lips. All she had to do was lean in… but Cosima slipped out of her grasp with an impish smile and managed to stay on her feet long to escape the muck. "Guess you'll never know now!"
Delphine trotted after the scientist, being careful not to lose her own footing in the squishy earth. They walked farther along until they reached the wide base of a baobab tree and rested against its cork-like bark, side-by-side, facing the glimmering river. Low rumbles of thunder sounded in the distance. Delphine was tempted to take Cosima's hand again, but Cosima beat her to it, quickly linking their fingers.
"What are you thinking about?" Delphine asked, lightly squeezing Cosima's hand.
"Oh, you know, causality versus fate."
Delphine shook her head. "Right, of course you are." She stole an affectionate glance at Cosima from the corner of her eye. "Care to elaborate?"
"Like, this moment, here with you." Cosima turned her head to the left to regard Delphine, her expression contemplative. "How much is attributable to our past actions and how much is just inexplicable fate?"
"You mean like a butterfly effect? If I had chosen tea over coffee one morning 10 years ago before class, could that have drastically altered my future such that we would have never met?"
"Yeah. What if by choosing tea, you weren't as alert for that morning's class, causing you to miss a key point in the lecture," Cosima's free hand began rotating through the air, clockwise and counterclockwise, "thereby resulting in a lower final score that affected your medical school choices, which in turn influenced where you interned and completed your residency and generally determined your whole career path."
Delphine let out a sharp laugh that seemed to echo across the water and cut through the mounting scent of ozone from the oncoming storm.
"Okay so it might be a little hard to swallow in the micro sense-this isn't Sliding Doors, right?" Cosima acceded. "So what about in the macro? What if you had decided to bypass med school to get your PhD in immunology?What are the chances we still would have met in the Congo?"
Delphine studied Cosima's eager features for a few beats before answering, "Isn't that operating under the assumption we would have met only in DRC? Who's to say we wouldn't have run into each other elsewhere? If I had pursued my doctorate, maybe we would have ended up as colleagues at DYAD. Would that be so improbable?"
"Maybe not, but the odds of that happening would be astronomical."
"As astronomical as, say, meeting again after you dropped your phone in the river?"
Cosima chuckled. "Right."
"So then maybe we were fated to meet, regardless of our choices," Delphine said, her heart warming, not necessarily from the thought itself, but that Cosima would even consider it. "I didn't think scientists believed in such fantastical notions."
"From a logical standpoint, I don't," Cosima said, turning her head back toward the water.
"And from some other standpoint?"
Cosima didn't immediately respond, seemingly lost in her own head, before she finally continued: "When I was in high school, my mom was completely obsessed with the idea that souls are fated to reincarnate with the same souls, over and over again, until some great life lesson is learned or something. So in a past life, hypothetically, you could have been my father or even my daughter or..."
"Your wife?"
Inhaling sharply, Cosima's head shot back toward Delphine. "Crazy right?" She cleared her throat. "Though, it always made me wonder if concepts like fate are really that much more far-fetched than causal determinism or even random coincidence. I don't know. What do you think?"
Delphine said nothing for quite some time, her thoughts drifting to the lives she had lost and the myriad untapped possibilities of saving them… or not.
"In the West Bank, I had a patient-her name was Rand-she was pregnant with her first child," Delphine began. "We became friends. Sometimes, we'd sift through mounds of garbage looking for… I don't even know what, anything salvageable really." Delphine smiled wistfully, letting the memories wash over her. "Or I'd go to her apartment to watch Palestinian talent shows with her and her mom and brother. Really, aside from Ava, she was my only real friend there."
She let go of Cosima's hand and walked toward the river's edge, folding her arms across her chest. She could feel Cosima's scrutiny along her back.
"It was my first mission with the Red Crescent," she continued, closing her eyes. "And I arrogantly thought I could handle anything. But it was difficult living there." Delphine heard Cosima's footsteps approach and stop beside her, but the scientist remained silent. "One night I went out with Ava to some club, had way too much to drink, and ended up oversleeping the next day. I probably would have kept sleeping if I hadn't gotten a call from Rand." Opening her eyes, Delphine turned to Cosima, who was watching her with rapt attention. "She was in premature labor, in the backseat of her brother's car, unable to get to the hospital because of a military blockade."
Delphine swallowed. No one else knew this story except Ava and a handful of Red Crescent physicians stationed with them at the time. She had never told anyone else, not even her mother. As if sensing Delphine's hesitation, Cosima laid her hands, warm and steady, on both of the doctor's arms, just above her elbows.
"I got there as fast as I could, but… I couldn't get her baby past the soldiers. And he died, right there in my arms, in the middle of a crowded street and no one gave a damn." To this day, Delphine could remember every detail of that day: Rand's agonized screams contrasting with her softer pleading, the angry roar of the overwhelming crush of protestors, the stench of exhaust from idle cars stalled in standstill traffic, the paper weight of the tiny life fading in her hands.
"Rand blamed me." Delphine felt the sting of tears pooling behind her eyes, swallowed against the lump threatening to form in her throat. "A few weeks later, she crossed the border into Jerusalem and detonated a bomb in one of the shopping districts… and I just happened to be nearby."
She turned toward Cosima, who, for the first time since they had met, was rendered speechless. "It's how I got this," Delphine traced a finger over the scar tissue on her chest. "And the one on my leg."
"Delphine." Cosima's hands tightened on her arms.
"Ever since then, I've replayed countless scenarios in my head, wondering if I could have done things differently or changed anything. And if I couldn't, then how could I possibly believe in fate if it can be so cruel-not just to Rand and her baby, but to everyone out there suffering?"
Delphine shook her head. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… when those things happened, for whatever reason or for no reason at all, at the end of the day, they just happened. And whether they're good or bad or neither, those things led me to places where I could maybe help more people than not and where I could meet you." She shrugged helplessly. "And, maybe it's wrong, but I can't help but feel a little grateful. Because Cosima, you're amazing and I…"
Cosima surged forward and captured the rest of Delphine's words with her lips. Delphine closed her eyes and brought her hands up to gently cradle Cosima's face between her palms, steadying herself and deepening the kiss. Cosima responded fervently, her hands releasing Delphine's arms to grip at her hips and pull their bodies together. It was dizzying, the way Cosima made her feel, as if the ground had fallen out beneath them and they were free-floating in zero-gravity. And intense… so intense that when Cosima's tongue trace her bottom lip, Delphine gasped and moved back slightly, resting her forehead on Cosima's.
As they tried to catch their breaths, the rise and fall of their chests syncing in tempo against one another, the first, cool raindrops began to fall-only a few at first, bouncing off their arms, heads, and shoulders, but within seconds turning to into a full-fledged shower. They both turned their faces up to the sky, the rain washing away Delphine's tears. Cosima eventually grasped Delphine's hands and brought them to her lips, drawing the doctor's attention back to her. Delphine smiled and tugged Cosima away from the river and back toward the dirt road that ran alongside the Congo.
"Come," she said simply, and Cosima willingly followed.
Delphine guided her through the rain, past the few remaining celebrators, and along the city's largely undeveloped streets. She wished she could freeze the moment and commit everything to memory: the warmth of Cosima's hand in hers and the increasingly heavy weight of her soaked clothing; the hiss of the rain like thousands of beads spilled on a marble floor and the sweet smell of petrichor emanating from the storm; and the way Cosima's dreadlocks plastered the side of her gorgeously beaming face.
Within no time, they reached a two-story concrete building, large enough to accommodate a number of small apartments. Delphine fished a set of keys from her pocket as they approached one worn wooden door.
"So all night long, you've been leading us toward your place?" Cosima said behind her, molding her hands onto Delphine's hips.
"Yes."
Cosima leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on the nape of her neck. Tingles shivered down Delphine's spine from just the barely-there pressure of Cosima's lips.
"Thought you might have you way with me, Dr. Cormier?"
"Yes."
She shot a playful smile at Cosima and ushered them inside the tiny studio apartment that had been her home for the past 8 months. Slipping out of Cosima's grip, Delphine walked a few steps to the right to the kitchenette, where she turned on a small, battery-powered lantern.
"There's usually no electricity at this time of night," she explained, combing wet strands of hair away from her face and picking up a box of matches. She began to light candles of varying shapes and sizes strewn about the sparse living space, atop the kitchenette's counters, a few built-in shelves, a small table, and a nightstand next to the full-sized bed crammed in the corner.
Once the room was filled with a dim orange glow, Delphine returned to the entrance and switched off the lantern.
"Why don't I get you a towel…?" Delphine started, but Cosima just grabbed her by the waist.
"Don't worry about that," she murmured. "Just c'mere."
Their mouths met in a heated kiss. Cosima's hands slipped beneath the hem of Delphine's tank top, splaying her fingers across the skin of her stomach before reluctantly breaking the kiss and lifting the drenched fabric up and over Delphine's head. She proceeded to take off her own blouse, which ended up getting caught in her dreads. Delphine chuckled as she helped Cosima out of her predicament. But her laughter faded quickly, breath knocked clean out of her chest, as she took in the sight of a nearly topless Cosima for the first time-the soft swell of her breasts above her bra, the taut muscles of her flat stomach.
A delicious ache settled between Delphine's legs and she curved her index fingers through the belt loops of Cosima's jeans, guiding them toward the bed. They shed their shoes and remaining clothes along the way, once again exploring each others' mouths, until they collapsed together on the bed in a tangled heap of passion and desire.
A/N 2: Huge thanks to everyone reading, reviewing, and following this story. It means the world to me! Got one more installment planned and I hope to finish it soon-ish.