Cosima Niehaus doesn't talk about Clone Club (geekmonkey) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-08-26 14:18:00 |
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Cosima was nervous. Probably a lot more than she should be. But it was kind of a big deal for Jemma to meet Sarah and Felix. First off with her and Sarah being clones and all. Second being meeting family kind of makes things really official in the relationship world. Though Cosima was less worried about taking the step and moreso what Sarah and Felix may potentially ask Jemma. Considering Cosima’s monitor in her dreams was a scientist, she was kind of expecting some tough questions from Sarah and Felix.
Which was why she’d ensured to have a couple bottles of wine on hand. And Cosima had cooked. It was simple Italian, lasagna with Italian bread and vegetables for the side, but she had still cooked. The lasagna was still in the oven, timed to be done roughly twenty minutes after she told everyone to be there.
Unlike Cosima, Felix was not so nervous. He was only vaguely worried that Cosima’s new girlfriend would turn out to be just like Delphine. While it was true that Felix hadn’t actually met Delphine in his dreams yet, it was only a matter of time before bad things started happening if she was in fact Cosima’s Monitor. Of course he knew, realistically, that it was very unlikely that most of the stuff in their dreams would turn out to be real, but Felix had been accused on occasion of having an overactive imagination.
“So, what do you think she’s like?” He asked Sarah as they approached Cosima’s door, “Perfectly normal or undercover spy for an evil organization?” He also hoped that this girl didn’t hurt Cosima cause he could barely handle taking care of drunk Allison in the dreams and had no idea what sort of sad drunk Cosima was.
Having warned Cosima in the dreams against getting involved with her monitor and having Cosima ignore her Sarah was a little more anxious than Felix. She liked Cosima a lot, considered her to be her sister and didn’t want anybody to hurt her.
“Either way she’ll be super smart, she’d need to be with Cos” Sarah said, “But I’m gonna be keeping a close eye on her” Because you never knew how close the dreams were to reality.
Jemma was barely running on time. She’d been distracting herself with work to try and deal with the emotional bleed over from the dreams. Out of Hydra, and back to SHIELD, yet nothing that felt right. Just the continuous guilt over surviving, as well as how Fitz treated her and how there was always something wrong. Ward had escaped. No, it was better to try and put her focus on things that might help those in Orange County and not on trying to make sense of the mess her dream life was.
As it were, she had managed to notice the time early enough and all but rushed home to change, do minor touch ups and then it was to Cosima’s. Oh, she was nervous, extremely nervous. She had never gotten to the ‘meet the family’ stage before in a relationship. Add in the complicated matter of the dreams and knowing that Cosima’s monitor (that was what she’d been told as well as worked out) was both a scientist and worked from whatever organisation was behind the clones? It was a more than a little nerve wracking.
Arriving to Cosima’s floor, Jemma blinked as she noticed the two people outside it.
“Oh. Hello. You must be Felix and Sarah.” Might as well be polite. It was also fairly easy to make that connection given the whole clone thing and Sarah looking exactly like Cosima. So instead she just held out her hand and smiled, “I’m Jemma, it’s nice to meet you.” It was all going to be okay. She would just have to keep telling herself that.
Just like her dream self, Cosima was ever the optimist, always believing in the good in everyone. Which could most certainly be a fault at times. Her relationship with Jemma, setting the dreams aside, was a good one. Of course, that’s what Cosima had thought about her previous relationship, until her ex had broken up with her out of no where. But Cosima was not going to think about that, about her ex-girlfriend. Not when she was totally into Jemma, and she seriously hoped Felix and Sarah would like her.
Cosima checked the time again. And she was getting even more nervous.
“Calm down, Cosima. Seriously. It’ll be fine. Everything will be fine. These aren’t your dreams.” And Jemma was definitely not Delphine. She just hoped that Felix and Sarah would be able to see that.
At the sound of a voice behind them, Felix turned towards it, a small smile crossing his lips as the girl introduced herself. “Well aren’t you adorable.” There really was no other word for it. The woman standing in front of them was absolutely adorable and he had a hard time picturing her being evil. Then again, wasn’t that exactly what someone who was evil would want everyone else to think? Not that Felix thought she was evil, but if she was then that would be a perfect cover.
Sarah turned too, and had to admit her brother was right. She was rather adorable but that simply served to make Sarah a little more suspicious. Her dreams were obviously making her a little more paranoid than she had thought. “Good to meet you too” she said, “Good timing” she added as she knocked on the door to let Cosima know they were here.
“I. Um. Thank you?” Really, Jemma wasn’t used to being called adorable to her face, so it left her flustered. Cosima did, usually an adorable kitten which made the scientist to scrunch up her nose in annoyance and swat at her girlfriend. Which apparently just made Cosima amused and prove her point. As Sarah mentioned that she had good timing, Jemma nodded, “I was worried I was running late, though it seems to have been a misplaced worry.”
Because rambling. Rambling when she was nervous. It was a thing.
Hearing the knock, Cosima felt her heart leap into her throat momentarily before she managed to calm herself down. These weren’t her dreams was probably going to be her mantra for the evening. She was seriously hoping conversation would be good and friendly. But knowing Sarah and Felix were further along in the dreams than she was, she was more than concerned they may be hard on Jemma. She’d try to mediate as best as she could, and deflect when needed.
Right. Answering the door. Cosima opened the door and was surprised to see all three of them standing on the other side.
“Oh wow, talk about being on time,” she commented with that trademark slightly crooked smile of hers. “Please, come in, come in!” She moved out of the door to let them all in.
“Either we’re all on time or we’re all late.” Felix said, smirking just before the door opened and he turned to see Cosima standing there wearing the same smile that he saw on Sarah far more times than he could count. “Well that answers that question.” Felix lifted the bottle of wine that he’d brought with them and held it out to Cosima, “Bad manners to come to a dinner party empty handed.”
“Of course we’re on time” Sarah said offering her own crooked smile in return. “And that’s why I bring him because he remembers shit like that” Sarah joked hugging Cosima in a hello as they entered, “Just breathe” she whispered in her sister’s ear before pulling back with a smirk. She could tell Cos had been worried and no doubt working herself up a little too much.
And oh look, there was the door opening. Well, that was a relief, less chance of making a rambling fool of herself in the hallway. Though, the night was still young so who knew what might happened. But right, not thinking about that and getting herself worked up. Because that would no one good. Instead she just smiled to her girlfriend.
Though of course in her rush to get there on time, she had forgotten to bring anything. Wonderful first impressions. Just wonderful. Mentally berating herself all the while appearing calm, Jemma just nodded in greeting as she stepped inside. It was nice to see that despite the strange circumstances of the dreams, Cosima got along well with Felix and Sarah and that they already were family.
“Oh thank you, Felix. Totally didn’t expect that, but definitely welcome!” Wine was always good, and she looked at the type just to see if it would go with dinner or if she’d open it after. Though she smiled and hugged Sarah back, grateful for the reminder. Because it was necessary. Sometimes she tended to get a little too worked up. And then she grinned at Jemma, closing the door once everyone was inside.
“Please, make yourselves comfortable. I made lasagna, I hope that’s alright? It kind of felt like one of those things that most people would like.” She glanced at the clock as she set the bottle of wine on the counter in her kitchen. “It should be done shortly. So. Guess I don’t need to make introductions,” she said a bit teasingly coming back to the living area. Her apartment was open plan, the kitchen, living room and dining area flowing into each other. And it definitely had a hipster vibe in the decoration. It fit Cosima’s personality.
Felix smiled as Cosima took the bottle from him, “Is there anything better to bring than alcohol?” As he stepped into the apartment, he glanced around, taking in the various accents and things that marked it as Cosima’s. “Nice place. Sarah and I finally found a new place. Did she tell you that?” It had taken them awhile, but they had finally found the perfect place for themselves and Kira and now all that was left to do was pack and move. Then unpack and decorate. But decorating was one of the things that Felix enjoyed doing and with a bigger space, he was sure that it was going to be much better than his current place.
Sarah would have definitely been able to pick the home out as Cosima’s, it had aspects of her all over and it suited her perfectly. “We did, finally. It was harder than we thought it would be but we got there in the end. Kira is excited, especially after Uncle Felix told her she could chose how to decorate her room” It would be good for all of them and it felt good to have a home for the three of them.
And given they were all discussing a house, Jemma didn’t have much to add to the conversation. Which was fine. She and Cosima saw one another enough that she was used to the house and it was clear this was the first time Felix and Sarah had been there. So letting them discuss it seemed to be a good idea for the time being. Give her time to decompress from work and collect her bearings since she’d rushed to make sure she was on time.
“Did you? Oh that’s totally awesome. Congratulations! You’ll have to have a party when you guys are settled in.” Cosima grinned. She then went about opening the bottle of wine Felix had brought, then grabbed four wine glasses and poured some wine for them all. She then handed them out to everyone, smiling warmly at all three of them. “Now we can relax, dinner should be ready in a few.” And she hoped it turned out alright. She didn’t make lasagna that often.
“As if there was ever any doubt that we’d have a party. Parties are only what I do for a living.” Felix smiled as he took the glass from Cosima, “And it’s true, I did tell the monkey that she could do whatever she wanted. So once we move in, we’ll take her to the store and she can choose whatever she wants.” Oddly enough, Felix was looking forward to the painting part of decorating despite the fact that he had never really painted before, but since his dream counterpart appeared to be an artist, he had been getting the urge to try his hand at doing something artsy. He was sure that he was going to suck, but it was worth a try.
Taking a sip of his wine, he turned to where Jemma had moved to, “So, tell us about yourself.” He was very curious about the girl that Cosima was dating.
“It’s going to be the best party you’ve ever been to” Sarah added with a grin, but it was true. She was ridiculously proud of her brother. Sarah was actually looking forward to the decorating too, it would be fun she was sure of it.
“Mmm yes, we want to know everything” Sarah agreed, turning her attention to Jemma too.
And suddenly the attention was on her. Wow did Jemma suddenly feel like a specimen under a microscope. It wasn’t even that she wasn’t used to attention being on her. She’d done a few lectures back in England for the scientific community, the things from her dreams. But this was a bit more daunting given it was her girlfriend’s family. Dream tied or not, they were still family and that just upped the ante in all of this.
Even so, she just sipped her wine before shrugging.
“There’s not much to tell. I grew up in Devonshire, started at Cambridge when I was 16 where I got two PhDs from, worked at the BBSRC until this past February when I was given the opportunity to work for Stark Industries so I moved here in March.” And that was when things had started to get interesting given the dreams. Those of which were similar and yet different all at once.
She knew about Delphine from Cosima, but she really wasn’t sure just what to say to prove she wasn’t like the woman from the dreams the three shared. And now for another sip of wine.
And then Cosima was anxious again, mostly as she didn’t know what Felix and Sarah would ask Jemma. So she just sipped her wine and moved over by Jemma, hoping to provide some moral support. And it was at that point that it hit her that she was the only non-English person in the room. That was...a little odd, and slightly amusing, but this was why she had refrained from mention the 4th of July overly much to them. Except for taking Jemma to see fireworks because fireworks were pretty.
“Jemma’s a total genius, too. Also kind of an adorable nerd.” Cosima said with a grin at Jemma.
“Sarah and I are originally from London too.” Not that that wasn’t obvious by their accents or anything. Between the three Brits in the room it appeared that Felix had been in the US the longest since Sarah had only moved out there with Kira a few months earlier, “Which do you like better?” He took a sip of his wine as Cosima spoke and he nodded, “I told her in the hall that she was rather adorable.” So far Felix wasn’t getting any evil vibes off of Jemma.
It was fairly obvious, Sarah especially used a lot of British slang when she spoke, more so when she was drinking. But she was thinking the same as Felix, no evil vibes so far. “He did and she is” Sarah interjected before listening to Jemma once again.
Even if it was fairly obvious, the comment seemed to relax Jemma and she smiled a bit more easily than she had before. Even if her cheeks coloured from the fact that the whole adorable thing had been mentioned. She was prodigy with an above average fashion sense and while she knew that fact, it didn’t change the fact she was currently flustered. But right. The question.
“It’s only been a few months, so I find myself still adjusting. It’s very… bright… here.” If there was one thing Jemma missed, it was weather and rain and not the constant beating down of the sun. She wanted to see the world, yes, but currently it was more one area. “It is nice here, though.”
Cosima did grin at hearing Felix and Sarah agree that Jemma was adorable. Yes, that made her relax more and she gave Jemma an adoring look because she couldn’t help it.
“She’s definitely totally adorable.” Even the color on her cheeks was amazingly adorable. Sometimes Cosima was still in awe that she’d crossed paths with Jemma, let alone actually get her attention enough to have started a relationship with her. She well knew she could be awkward, and she hadn’t been confident in the relationship department after the way her last one had ended.
“Orange County is definitely bright. I prefer San Francisco, but I’m probably like way biased in that opinion.” She laughed. Cosima always did love her hometown.
“I don’t mind the brightness. It’s better than rain all the time.” Felix took a sip of his wine, “Sometimes I think maybe I should have moved to San Francisco instead. Might not be quite so single then.” From what Felix had heard about San Francisco, it had a very large homosexual community; not that Orange County didn’t and he definitely hadn’t been lacking in the hookup department over the last few years, but nothing had stuck yet and if he were honest, as much as he enjoyed partying and hooking up with random guys, he wouldn’t mind having an actual boyfriend one of these days.
Sarah made a mental note to talk to her brother later, after all that was quite a revealing statement for him. He’d always been happy to love ‘em and leave ‘em before. “I like it here, Kira does too. The weather is definitely a bonus but I think we’re also kind of finding our place too. Making our mark so to speak”
An annoyed nose scrunch was the response to the adorable comment from Cosima, though that was more just because it was how it usually went with them and her girlfriend would recognise it. Though Jemma turned her attention back to the conversation about weather and nodded. She could appreciate the weather. It was just bright and she wasn’t so keen on the weather. But to each their own. Not to mention there were more pressing things about Orange County than the weather. Which of course were the dreams. But those were better left unspoken about unless absolutely necessary. While she had been excited about them initially, now she wasn’t so much. A shame, really. So for now, it was taking a sip of her wine.
“I should totally take you to San Fran sometime. It’s definitely an awesome city.” Cosima said, mostly to Felix, but it was open to all three of them. Except considering the whole Cosima’s parents lived in San Francisco and that wasn’t quite a topic she would put onto Jemma yet. That would be for further down the line if their relationship was still going strong. “Orange County is definitely cool. I mean, Disneyland is here, for one thing. How can you go wrong with that?” Cosima grinned. She then looked at Jemma, just giving her that cute smirk of hers in response to the annoyed nose scrunch she was given.
“I wouldn’t say no to that.” Felix grinned and grained his glass before going back for another, “I haven’t been to Disneyland in awhile.” He’d gone after he’d first moved to Orange County, but hadn’t been back since. “We should take Kira.” He said, turning to Sarah. “Maybe we could all go.” Of course they’d have to figure out how to explain Sarah and Cosima being identical if they were to bring Kira too. Eventually she’d have to know, but that was up to Sarah when and how she wanted to tell her.
“Kira would love that” Sarah agreed with a nod, “A group outing sounds like fun too” She had plans to introduce Kira to Cosima very soon, she was hoping she’d react much as she had in the dreams and just accept Auntie Cosima, she had a feeling Kira would.
The smirk was met with an affectionate eye roll and slight shake of her head before Jemma took a sip of her wine. So far, nothing too horrible was happening in this meeting. She appreciated that given the general nature of the dreams the three had and the overall desire to make a good impression.
“I actually haven’t been yet.” And then they were discussing a group thing and Jemma fell silent. Put her in a situation where there was science, a lab, whatever, and she was fine. Job interviews? Easy. Family meeting situations? And suddenly she was awkward. Brilliant. Really. No matter, it wasn’t uncomfortable and that was the important thing.
“I haven’t actually been to Disneyland yet either. Not since coming here, anyway.” Her parents had taken her once when she was younger, but that was about it. “But we should totally do that!” Cosima would also love to meet Kira, but she wasn’t going to press the issue. It would take a little bit of explaining why she and Sarah looked exactly alike.
And that was when the timer went off in the kitchen. “Ah! Yes, lasagna’s ready. So, shall we eat?” Cosima said with a grin, happy that things were comfortable thus far. She reached over and gave Jemma’s arm a reassuring squeeze with an accompanying smile before she got up and went to get the lasagna out of the oven before it got burned.