I thought this collection was over, just like the show... but I got so many requests. I hope this chapter lives up to the prompts I got for a little what-what. And yes, I had to make a pun. ;)

Drop me a comment if you enjoy, eh?

"So, are we ever going to talk about your butt plug?"

Cosima gave an involuntary jerk, the twitch of her fingers as Delphine's question surprised her causing the wooden rectangle she was holding to tap against the others, knocking them off balance and sending them sliding in different directions, the entire Jenga tower collapsing on itself with a sudden and decisive racket.

Cosima blinked a couple times and then looked up at her girlfriend over the top of her glasses. Across the coffee table, Delphine's casual gaze was being threatened by a quirk of her lips at one corner, a dimple divoting her cheek and her nostrils flaring. As the exasperated clone continued to stare at her in flat glare of peeved disbelief for a moment, Delphine couldn't help but let out one snort of repressed laughter, her shoulders shaking as she looked down to compose herself, before looking up again with feigned innocence.

"Really?" Cosima asked her, eyebrows rising. "You are such a freaking cheater, Cormier."

"It's a valid question," Delphine pointed out, raising a glass to take a sip of her wine to gain her composure.

"Really," Cosima confirmed, dropping the game piece in her fingers with a disdainful flick. "You are so lucky you didn't pull that when Sarah and Felix are here."

"You think?" Delphine asked, looking exaggeratedly contemplative. "Maybe I'll say it again after they arrive. Anyway, they'll probably have goaded you in much more colourful ways than that."

"You know they can never get to me. I'm the champion of this game. That was just a low blow, you dirty cheater."

"'Low?' 'Dirty?' Are we finally going to talk about the butt plug now?" Delphine smirked, making Cosima groan and clutch her temples.

"I can't believe I just walked into that. I think I need another bowl." She leaned over to retrieve her cannabis imbibing implements from under the table.

"Mm," Delphine nodded. "We all know it's getting just the right amount of high that gives you your nonchalantly steady Jenga hands. Are you sure you want to jeopardize that by smoking too much and veering into giggling uncontrollably or flailing clumsily?" Cosima responded by sticking her tongue out as she began packing her vape with ground flower. Delphine smirked at the terminology her lover used. Having an occasional lapse with nicotine, herself, she could appreciate how using words like "smoke" and "bowl" could feel almost intrinsic to the habit. Instead of commenting on that, however, she added, "Are you going to answer my first question?"

Cosima shot her another look as she watched the temperature indicator on her rig rise. She took a pull when it hit the right number, and they both paused until she let it out.

"You're seriously asking me about my butt plug? Not that those aren't the cutest two words in the world when you say them."

"Oui," Delphine smiled, "I'm seriously asking you, even if it is in a joking way. And you and I both know your sister and brother-sestra won't get here anything less than fashionably late. When Kira doesn't come, game night gets much more, em, loosey-goosey."

Cosima sputtered out the breath she was trying to hold in a burst of laughter at Delphine's accent shaping the colloquialism. She never got tired of that. She had to cough a bit after that, even if she wasn't actually smoking.

"Are you alright?" Delphine asked, then moved on when Cosima waved her hand and nodded. "Honestly, I've wanted to ask for a while, now. This just felt like… a good moment." Cosima raised an eyebrow at that.

"Riiiiight," she nodded, with a half-roll of her eyes. "Nothing to do with cheating." She put her vapourizer back down. "Well, I didn't know this was something you were thinking about. What do you wanna ask?"

"Ah, well, it's just, we've been trying different things, and I've really been enjoying them, and I can tell you have been, too. But I remember the one in your toy box… glass, is it? And it was a while ago that you first showed that to me. So, I thought maybe, maybe you didn't feel ready to show it to me, for some reason. But, eh, I wanted to know if you had it because you liked to use it, or if was more of a… dolphin dildo situation, I guess." Cosima chuckled at that, but Delphine reached over the table and touched the back of Cosima's hand with her fingertips lightly. "You know you don't have to worry about sharing things with me, by now, don't you?"

Cosima nodded, although her eyes focused downward in thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I know. I know." She looked up again. "Although you might want to rethink that for when I reveal my tentacle fetish." They stared at each other for a second before Cosima's tongue poked through her teeth in a give-away grin. Delphine smacked the hand she'd been touching.

"Fille impossible," she accused, and Cosima laughed.

"Okay, okay," the shorter scientist assuaged, "we can talk about it, if you want. I guess I just was, like, working you up bit by bit to the kinkier stuff. I mean, I don't find it that kinky, but some people do, and I have had the experience of a girl being turned off by it." Delphine blew out a little puff of air through pursed lips and shrugged.

"Well, it's nothing you have to be worried about me being turned off by. I mean, I am a doctor, you know. We've talked about this. As long as proper care is taken to keep things safe, I'm fine with them. It is one of the erogenous zones, for many people. You know, sometimes I think you act as though I'm somehow a complete innocent. I have had plenty of adult sexual experiences before."

"Yes, I know, I know that," Cosima nodded, this time reaching out to take Delphine's hand reassuringly with her own. "Please, I mean… yeah, you're right, we've been having a really good time." Her lips began to twitch into a sly grin as lighter hazel eyes met her own, and Delphine smiled in kind. "A really, really good time," Cosima clarified. "In fact, you know I'm still trying to figure out how to get you back for that first night with the strap-ons and the teddy."

Delphine's eyelids lowered slightly, her gaze turning seductive.

"I think you've have 'gotten me back' several times, but I won't press the point, because I don't mind if you keep trying," she said.

"Mmm," Cosima hummed. "Don't mind if I do. But I bet as soon as I start trying now, those cockney asshats will show up. Same with the butt plug discussion. Can we just table it until we have more us, alone, time?"

"Of course," Delphine nodded, beginning to gather the wooden pieces back together. "I just wanted you to know if you'd been avoiding it you didn't have to." There was a buzz and Cosima picked up her phone and checked it.

"It's them, downstairs, of course. See what I'm telling you?" She pressed the button on her phone to open the front door for her family and rose to let them in the apartment door when they arrived. She knew they'd have a minute before the elevator made the trip, so she glanced back at Delphine. "Have you been going to more of those workshops at the toy store, again?"

Delphine smiled, shaking her head, and rose to greet their guests when they arrived.

"Not lately," she informed her love, "but it is something I've done some research on."

"Of course it is," Cosima chuckled, then turned to open the door when they heard the voices of the bickering siblings carrying down the hall.

"Uhnnnnggg," Delphine moaned the next morning, rolling over to find Cosima propped up on one elbow smirking at her.

"Somebody have too much scotch?" the clone asked playfully. Delphine barely opened her eyelids when she rolled her eyes at her. "You were in rare form last night. Gotta say, I never thought I'd see you go toe-to-toe with Sar on drinking. Toe-to-toe. Mano y maaahnooo."

"Uhngh, it was the only way to tolerate her," Delphine mumbled, her voice lower and thicker than sounded healthy. "And I thought you were a brat."

"Ah, but I'm a cute brat," Cosima opined, batting her eyelashes. "She's just, like, the worst of the evil brats, that one." Delphine grunted in response and Cosima chuckled. "She's fucking hilarious."

"Ugh, too many sisters," Delphine mumbled, rolling over and pulling a pillow over her head.

"I thought the best part was when Sarah was pretending to talk like Helena, and then Helena was trying to talk like Sarah, and then Felix was trying to talk like you. But then it got to the moon question!" Cosima started laughing, prompting Delphine to peek out from under the pillow and give her the stink eye.

"It ees the Earth's. EUHn-ly. Natural satellite, Sarah," Cosima cackled, doing a terrible, exaggerated impression of Delphine's accent. "'Ey, Oi haven't got a bloody clue what you're gettin' at, Frenchie," she continued, in an equally awful British accent, cracking herself up. "And the whole time she was just yanking your chain!"

Delphine peered at her, puffy-eyed and yet still witheringly, somehow.

"You know, you always say my accent is sexy, but when you use it, I don't get it," she deadpanned. Cosima snorted.

"Aw, are you feeling a little hung over?" she asked a little more quietly, but still too brightly for her partner.

"Sarah's accent on the other hand," Delphine informed her, "c'est manifique. Sometimes when you're not here I just… listen to her voice mail messages I've saved over and over again."

"Alright, alright, that's enough of that," Cosima surrendered, looking a bit more put out than necessary for a joke. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's take a nice shower and go directly to the diner. Get you a nice, greasy, omelette and some caffeine to nip that business in the bud. Do not pass go, do not collect $200."

"Mm, it sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure I have it in me to get up, just yet." Delphine sighed, pulling the pillow back over her face.

"Okay, you get a half an hour, and then I'm hauling you to the shower. You know you'll feel worse if you sleep too long, too."

"Yes," Delphine mumbled from under the pillow, one hand raising to wave in the air for a moment before it found and patted Cosima's cheek none-too-gently. Cosima snickered and kissed the palm on her face, then got up to stretch and make some coffee.

Despite having started out breakfast looking even paler than usual with dark circles under her eyes, the ham-and-cheese omelette with hash browns, coffee, water and a bloody mary ("hair of the dog that bit ya, although they're not spicy enough here," according to Cosima) seemed to have done Delphine a world of good.

"So, did you want to go see that movie today? We also haven't seen that gallery show with the, bioluminescence thingies." Cosima waved her hands up and down in a slow sweep, wriggling her fingers in little flicks to denote a shimmer. Delphine smiled lazily, just looking at her. "What?" Cosima asked, grinning back.

"What do you say we take a little walk down to the market," Delphine suggested, "and we get some of the fresh bread we like and some treats, and then go home and just hang out, read or watch a movie or something… something quiet, just you and me." She took one of Cosima's hands that had fluttered down to rest on the table and entwined their fingers, her smile spreading softly, golden eyes meeting hazel-brown. Cosima nodded.

"Sounds good to me," she agreed. "If you'll remember, I did all the clean-up last night, so we don't have to do anything but make dinner tonight."

"Yes, I know you did," Delphine acknowledged, knowing this was Cosima's way of teasing her about having too much to drink and moaning at the mess. "I very much appreciate it. And I will make us sandwiches with the bread and that manchego-style cheese you like." Even if her tone was a little teasing in return, it was the praise Cosima was looking for, so the smaller woman poked her tongue lightly between her teeth and rose with her partner.

"Done and done," she pronounced, anchoring the tip under the salt shaker on their way out.

They had been reading quietly, contentedly, when a gust came through the open window and ruffled Delphine's hair and the pages of her book. She looked up as Cosima made a little "brr" noise from her end of the couch and rose, quick-stepping to close the offending sash. Cosima turned right around and rushed back to the couch, but instead of returning to the opposite end from Delphine she picked up a throw and shuffled over to her, clearly looking for her lover to shift so they could snuggle. Delphine smiled and adjusted, leaning back against the armrest and turning her legs lengthwise across the cushions, expecting Cosima to sit between them and recline against her. Cosima had a different idea, however, and began making little jerky motions with her arms, accompanied by expressions and muttered "no, like, that way, like… sideways" until Delphine understood and laid on one side along the length of the couch. Cosima then slotted herself in against her girlfriend like a little spoon, tugging the throw over them and squirreling into it until it covered them both up to their chests. Delphine chuckled and Cosima shot her a look.

"What? It's cold!" she insisted, and Delphine hmmmed, placing her book on the shorter woman's hip.

"Far be it from me to let you get a chill, but it's not so easy reading in this position. Unless you'll let me get some pillows?"

"No," Cosima protested, "then my back will get cold." Delphine regarded her with a small smile, and dropped the book to the floor, slipping her arm around her partner.

"You know, I might think that you were trying to get me to stop reading at all," Delphine observed.

"Hmm. Ya think?" Cosima asked, shifting back a little so Delphine got a faceful of corded hair. "Maybe I just don't wanna freeze to death."

"Actually, I do think," Delphine insisted lowly, moving her lips to the shell of the ear before her so her breath warmed it. "And I also think you know how I love the way the curve of your ass fits right here so perfectly," she said, shifting her arm down to tug Cosima's hips back and press her bum more snugly against her pelvis. Cosima let out a little groan, and ran her palm down the arm squeezing her.

"You also know it always turns me on the way you say 'ass,'" Cosima answered, her voice also slipping lower. Delphine responded by sliding her hand back over Cosima's hip and down to palm one round ass cheek.

"I think you like it more when I squeeze it," Delphine informed her, tightening her fingers around the curve, "or when I give it a little smack." She followed this up with a teasing spank, limited by the crowded area but swift enough to make a little sound. Cosima gasped.

"Speaking of which…" Delphine began, and Cosima started chuckling. She reached behind herself to run her hand down Delphine's thigh took over where her girlfriend left off.

"I can tell what you're thinking, and yes, this is a good opening for you to ask me about my butt plug. No pun intended."

They both giggled a bit, then Delphine propped herself up a bit on her elbow so she could see Cosima's face clearly. "Yes? I was wondering if you didn't want to talk about it, but I thought maybe if you had it, it was for a reason…"

"Yeah, well," Cosima paused to turn herself over so they were facing each other. They were slender enough to both fit, but Cosima hooked her top leg around her partner's just to be safe. "So, right, you know how I like it sometimes when you squeeze my ass, or smack it a little bit."

"Oui," Delphine acknowledged, her eyes fixed on her lover with obvious attraction and intent. "And when I give it a little kiss," she added, giving the body part in question a small pinch.

"Mmhmm," Cosima smiled, after a little inrush of breath, "Well, the truth is that I totally enjoy more than that, I mean, I like a lot of things, you know that. But sometimes there's nothing quite like getting fucked in the ass." The sibilance at the end of the word extended into a brief hiss, as Cosima bared her teeth a little an almost animalistic snarl.

"Aha," Delphine said, eyebrows rising. "Well, if that's what you like, what you want, of course I'm open to… helping you out."

"Oh, excellent," Cosima grinned, her leg flexing and tugging Delphine closer. "I know, you're right, I haven't talked about this before, but as I said, I did have some experiences with other girls not being into it, and I've noticed, well…" She pursed her lips and tugged them a little sideways, thinking, then carried on. "I've noticed that sometimes when I go for your ass you kind of… shy away, or something."

"Ah," Delphine paused for a moment, thoughtful. "I guess… I have no problem with doing it to you, if that's what you like. You're always sexy to me, my love. But… anal sex has never been my interest. For me, I mean."

"Huh," Cosima said, leaning back a bit to look at her. "Have you ever… have you ever tried it?"

"Yes," Delphine said with a small shrug. "I've been with men who enjoyed it, and… sometimes I would do it. But, it never really… aroused me, I guess. It just felt… awkward? Sometimes, uncomfortable?"

Cosima propped herself up on her elbow this time.

"Did it hurt?" She asked, with some concern.

"No, I mean, a little? But we used lube and condoms and first did it slowly. You know, I've never been the kind of girl who would just let something hurt and go on with it. This was more like… I didn't get the appeal, but, if they liked it and I cared for them, it was something I could do."

"Hmm. So, not pleasurable at all?" Cosima questioned.

"Not so much, but if it was someone I really liked, was really attracted to, it could be nice to feel how aroused they got, how much they enjoyed it. It wasn't that much of a bother. Just, for me, a bit of a bore."

Cosima regarded her for a moment, gears obviously turning.

"I'm surprised," she finally said. "I mean, everyone is different, but it is an area dense in nerve endings. And, like, some people are disgusted by butt sex and some like it… and I guess some people put up with something that's annoying to make their sex partners happy… but boring, I wouldn't have thought of. I mean, was it that with your body language when I'd get close to touching you there, was it just like, 'nah, let's keep to what really interests me?' Because I'll admit I was afraid it was more like 'God, please don't.'"

"Oh. No. Not like that," Delphine reassured her, angling herself up to the same level. "I, euh, I suppose maybe there could be a little uncomfortableness in that I don't want to mislead you. It's not a huge deal… but, well, there's just so much else I'd rather do. I'm happy to do it to you, that's no problem. Is it something that is important for you to do to me?"

"Nooo… it's not that." Cosima tilted her head, musing. "For me, I really enjoy it, but if you didn't want to do it to me, we could negotiate it, you know? Like, we could work it out. Thinking about it, I'd be…" she let out a quick laugh "I'd be bummed, I was gonna say." They chuckled together. "But I'd understand. However, if you actually are okay with it, like when you say you'd be 'happy' to do it, then I'd like us to try it."

Delphine nodded.

"Yes, of course I meant it. I love your curves, your bottom. I never felt this way about any men I was with… I mean, I can appreciate a fit man's shape, but with you... I do find myself looking at yours and enjoying touching it. And, you know, when we have vaginal sex, but I'm behind you… I find that really sexy. Partially because it feels good pressing against you, but also because you so obviously enjoy it."

"That I do," Cosima agreed, practically growling, and leaned forward to press a soft, slow kiss to Delphine's lips. She pulled back with a small grin. "But I am curious. I may be biased, but it's hard to imagine anal sex feeling boring, of all things. Then again, you were doing it with straight men…" Delphine smirked slightly at this.

"Yes, I know. I know your opinion on that. And far be it from me to destroy my reputation as a 'budding lesbian,' is it?" Cosima laughed. "Regardless of labeling, since I have only been with one woman and have not wanted to be with anyone else since, our data set is a little small. I still contend that men can be very successful lovers, but that everything is special with you."

"Music to my ears," Cosima chuckled, "and I'm not going to be pushing you towards any other women to check on all this. But my theory that pleasure may have steeper learning curve in some areas of heterosexual sex is still pretty sound. I mean, for people who aren't taught right and don't do enough research, of course. Then again, with all the taboos in this culture… ugh, whatever, let's just go back to you saying everything is special with me."

"It is," Delphine smiled, kissing her nose.

"So, on that note… what if… would you mind if we engaged in a little friendly experimentation?" Cosima asked slyly.

"Such as?" Delphine wasn't going to blindly say yes.

"Can we fool around and maybe see if there's anything you like? And if you aren't in the mood or it doesn't do anything, no harm no foul? 'Cause, well, you know I like a challenge… and it does seem a little like a waste of good real estate, if me being special might make a difference, that is."

Delphine let out a full laugh this time.

"Alright, yes. Only because you are special, and so curious. And yes, I trust you to listen to what I say. After all, our experiments so far have led to some pretty amazing results."

"You mean, like… crazy science?" Cosima asked, tongue poking out from behind her teeth.

"Yes, like that," Delphine agreed, with a roll of her eyes, and pulled her in for a kiss. Cosima responded, but then pulled back, her eyes squinched up in thought.

"Just one thing: what about gay guy porn? You seem to be into it when they do anal stuff there. Is it more, just like, they're into it and you get vicarious enjoyment, even if it's not anal sex, per se, that does it for you?" Delphine nodded in response.

"Yes, I'd say that's accurate. After all, they have prostate glands, so it's more pleasurable than just a feeling of fullness, for them, according to what I've read and heard. I will admit there's a voyeuristic thrill on my part, although, obviously not in a… 'peeping Tom?'" She furrowed her brow in question, and her girlfriend chuckled.

"Yeah, that's the right saying," Cosima affirmed.

"Right, so, not in a peeping Tom kind of way, because I know they're willingly being filmed. I… I do still find the male body can be attractive. I think it might also be you were onto something when you mentioned it is a taboo that subverts the, the prevailing culture of gender, and so on. You and I know men have been having sex with each other since, mm, well, for human history, I suppose. But there is so much resistance to it that we seldom see men being receptive with each other in that way… romantically, sexually… unless we look for it, specifically. And, at the same time, there can be a certain aggressiveness, and the very otherness of it can be stimulating."

"I get that, I think. It's kind of rebellious, in itself, and it's also kind of removed."

"Hmm, maybe," Delphine shrugged. "But, well… is something we have to fully analyze right now? Because I was very much enjoying kissing a certain woman…" She brushed her lips against her lover's, finishing with a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"Um, yes, please, Dr. Cormier," Cosima grinned, returning the favour. She pressed against her partner, and soon their kisses grew longer, more searching, their breaths becoming heavier. Delphine caressed Cosima's bottom through her pants, then moved her hand up to the small of her back, sliding her fingers down beneath her waistband. When her fingers brushed Cosima's crack, the smaller woman shivered a bit, but grabbed her wrist to stop her and pulled back.

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Cosima panted, causing Delphine to look at her with a furrowed brow. "I'm totally into this, but I need to get ready first."

"Get ready?" Delphine ask, clearly not fully emerged from the spell of their makeout session.

"Yeah, like, clean myself, and stuff. Can you wait?"

"Hm?" Delphine thought for a second. "Ah, wait. You mean, uh, to wash yourself out? Like an anal douche?" Cosima let out a bark of laughter.

"Well, there are two words I didn't expect to come out of your mouth. Of course, with the gay porn fixation and the classes with little Miss Trick…" she teased.

"You are impossible," Delphine told her leaning back and giving her a reproachful look. "You are always very happy with what I've learned from my research. So, are you going to do whatever you want to do so I can fuck you in the ass, or not?"

Cosima nearly fell on the floor.

"Oh, wow. Sir, yes sir, ma'am!" she saluted and scrambled upright and around the couch. "Oh, man," she blurted excitedly, and leaned over the back of the couch to give the blonde a rough kiss before running out of the room. "Just make yourself comfortable!" Cosima's voice carried from the hallway she was scurrying down toward the bathroom. Delphine just bit her lip, covered her face with her hands and laughed.

There was just something about seeing her lover aroused.

Of course Delphine had been with lovers before, and the act of looking was pleasurable. Admittedly, she wasn't strongly attracted to some of the men she'd slept with, but it was nice to feel wanted, and even more so when she was with someone she actually liked, maybe even had what could almost be called a relationship with. She was attracted to men, and she still could find men attractive, but with Cosima… with Cosima, it was something more.

Cosima was the whole package. She was insanely smart, smart enough to get what Delphine thought and talked about most of the time, or to have the curiosity and interest to find out about what she didn't understand, just as Delphine was motivated to do for her. Even when she was dopey she was kind of cute, and usually figured things out. She was scientific but oddly spiritual. She was wry and silly, deeply kind, but with an edge when pushed. She was flirty, and mon dieu was she good with her body, her mouth, her hands. She seemed to have very little shame during sex, so of course the dance around the discovered plug toy had been noticeable.

There was something about Cosima. Something about her energy that affected Delphine from the first time they met, but when it came to sex, seeing Cosima turned on: her chest heaving, lips swollen, face and chest flushed, the curves of her body and the grip and reach and flow and thrust of her hands, the roll of the muscles beneath her skin, her petite body compact with strength yet so, so soft, her eyes slightly unfocused when her glasses were off, but looking so, so intently at Delphine with such want and awe, until she squeezed them shut in oblivion; there was something about all these things that Delphine could never get enough of, not even if she'd had a hard day or her arm muscles were burning with effort or Cosima had gotten crumbs in the bed again. ("The Munchies," as far as she was concerned, was not a good enough excuse.)

They had been together long enough now that they didn't expect sex as often. They no longer felt they had to make up for all the times they had been separated from each other or gone without during the harrowing earlier days taken up by murderous corporations, agencies and religions and wild sub-plots. They no longer felt the constant pressure of Cosima's progressive illness, the derailing fear. They had lives, now, mostly normal, sometimes distracting, despite all that, and a real relationship. So, they were grumbly sometimes or they were content coming home to just hang out and maybe talk or do their own thing and cuddle up in bed at night to rest.

But the sex. Whether it was tender love-making, a quick romp or they had both cleared their calendars for something more intense or adventurous, it was great. And there was something about it, something about looking at Cosima and seeing her desires and her fulfilment play across her face, something about bending down to her and enveloping her and being enveloped, being inside her, pulsing and hot, and knowing how it felt to have Cosima inside, as well, well…

It was different. It was better, Delphine thought, than with anyone else. By far.

And, praise be to whatever caused it, she knew, she could tell, Cosima felt the same way.

So, maybe it was a little odd, a little new, but it wasn't awkward, really. Hardly at all.

Cosima had taken her time and then insisted they have a glass of wine and listen to some music. So they had, and they had danced, slowly, to something low and mellow. They kissed, softly at first, then deeply, escalating quickly from when Cosima pulled her into the bedroom and began to undress her. Sometimes they made undressing a show, but this time they stripped each other, taking a moment to appreciate each revelation of flesh, to kiss and stroke. Delphine slipped a thigh between Cosima's legs and Cosima bent one of hers to press against Delphine's sex. They undulated, rolling against one another, Delphine working her mouth down Cosima's neck, to her shoulder, paying attention to her clavicle and the flesh around her breasts, then looking up to meet Cosima's eyes before taking her nipple into her mouth, sucking lightly and laving it with her tongue. Cosima's little grunts and noises gave her a little jolt of pleasure and satisfaction as she did, and they were both moving deeper into the rhythm of it, rocking stronger.

Delphine drew her attention to the other breast and felt a still-wanting sort of satisfaction when Cosima threaded her hands into Delphine's hair and gripped her head, groaning. She obliged Cosima's body signals by taking her breast further into her mouth, sucking a bit more roughly, and running her teeth to the tip, while rolling the other nipple between her thumb and forefinger.

"Shit, baby," Cosima hissed, and arched into her, the spot where Cosima's cunt had been against her thigh suddenly feeling cold as the shift in position briefly parted the contact, the hot wetness touching plain air. Delphine would have smiled if she hadn't had her mouth full.

She worked her hands down and slid them beneath her lover, beginning to knead and stroke the firm curves of her derrière. Cosima writhed more, another guttural moan escaping from her, and in knowing how much Cosima was enjoying it, Delphine felt her own excitement ratchet up, her own pussy pulsing and growing wet.

Delphine took Cosima's buttocks in her hands and squeezed them a bit more gently, just barely pulling them apart, and traced her fingers down, dipping just slightly into the crack between the mounds.

"Fuuuuck," Cosima affirmed, and Delphine pulled her head up and looked at her.

"Tell me what you like. Tell me what you want me to do," she said.

"Uhfff," Cosima let out a breath, closing her eyes, then looked back up at Delphine, her gaze half-lidded. "I'm gonna turn over, okay? Just… just keep touching me… you can, like, touch and massage my sides, my back, and down to my ass. Just keep working me, baby. It feels so good."

Delphine nodded, and pushed herself up on her knees. Cosima flipped over quickly, pushing her hair to one side of her head and exposing her neck. Delphine latched onto it with her mouth, humming, and began stroking Cosima's shoulders, then down to her back and sides, her mouth trailing after to suck and kiss at the nape, the pulse point, shoulder and between the shoulder blades. Cosima moaned, letting herself enjoy it fully, revelling in the attention of the amazing woman she felt so fortunate to have somehow landed. She was fully absorbing the touch of Delphine's hands as they ran down the plane of her back on either side of her spine, neither too firmly nor too lightly to satisfy, the heat and the press of them causing Cosima's erector spinae to loosen and lengthen, then ripple with a flutter than forced something curiously like a purr out of her mouth.

"Uhhhh," she moaned, releasing a held breath. "Yes, baby. I love the way you touch me."

Delphine's mouth twitched into a smile as it continued working kisses down the ladder of her lover's spine.

"Oui?" she teased softly, reverting to her mother tongue both because moments like this brought her deeper self out of her, and because she knew it turned Cosima on. "I love the taste of you. Your back… the curve of your waist to your backside, they're so, mm, lovely. You want me to touch you like this?" She smoothed her hands down to Cosima's ass and gave her cheeks a slow, massaging squeeze, running her fingers into the indentations that formed in the sides when Cosima squeezed her buttocks together in delight.

"Fuuuuck, yeah," Cosima moaned, raising one arm to flail distractedly at the nightstand. "Shit, I can't wait long. Please get the lube, baby, and touch my hole."

Delphine's eyebrows might have raised a bit, but mostly in interest at how responsive Cosima was being, and it was not like her girlfriend could see it. She reached over and grabbed the lube, opening it and applying it liberally to her fingers. If she learned one thing from both the toy shop and her medical rotations, it was to never skimp on the lube.

Cosima was arching her back, now, in a positively primal display, her lithe waist contrasting with the exaggerated voluptuousness of her hips and rear end as she pushed them upwards and back towards her lover. Despite not having had this particular experience with Cosima before, Delphine had definitely, if unexpectedly, felt the pull at her groin now and then when catching sight of this attractive, sensual woman bent over or swaying her hips just so. To see her spread out and aching, bare, pleading with her body language, caused the Frenchwoman to suck her own lip between her teeth in a hiss and bite, just remembering to make sure she'd warmed the lube in her hands enough before sliding two fingers in slow exploration down the proffered cleft. Cosima's little hole was a dusky colour, like her nipples, puckered and clean, expectantly opening and closing in a way that Delphine suddenly found neither basic as a function nor overly private or taboo, but a vulnerable, erotic offering, both somehow cute and worthy of reverence. She found herself intrigued by the feel of the wrinkled ring against the whorls of her fingertips, slippery yet tactile. Cosima's ass pulsed at her touch, the smaller woman's head collapsing into the pillow and another groan being pulled from deep within her to rumble in her throat. Delphine traced the circle softly, with gentle presses to the center just hinting at near-entrance, making sure the lubrication was spread everywhere.

"Uhn, yeah, you can… you can start pressing in… please," Cosima told her, and when Delphine slipped one fingertip through the tight ring of muscle and into the soft heat within, Cosima's hips fluttered, a movement caught between a jerk and trying to stay very still, and another low ohhhhh came out of her. Delphine found herself smiling.

It was slow, but not as slow as Delphine had expected. She worked the first knuckle of her finger in and out smoothly, adding lube as she went, and Cosima responded with soft affirmations and a sheen of sweat breaking out across her back. Soon, Cosima was lifting her hips upward, encouraging deeper entry, and Delphine found herself fucking her love's ass firmly, if at a leisurely pace, with one full finger. The muscles in Cosima's back rippled enticingly, and Delphine felt suddenly moved to flatten her other hand and give one cheek of the rolling backside before her a surprising swat. She was briefly uncertain for a moment as it happened, but then Cosima sucked in a hiss and grunted:

"Yes."

That set them both off.

Soon, compelled by the pleasure and barely understandable verbal guidance of her amoureuse below her, Delphine had two fingers plunged inside, slippery-sliding while undulating in measured waves, feeling the squeeze and press of Cosima's contractions around her knuckles. Delphine had given the round mounds before her enough small but sharp smacks to turn them a pleasant pink, and Cosima definitely was appreciating it.

"Oh, oh… shit… baby, just… please get the plug, now, okay?" The begging tone in Cosima's voice nearly made Delphine jump to the side table in haste, but she remembered just in time to withdraw carefully, first, eliciting an almost bereft-sounding sigh from her lady.

The glass toy wasn't very long, and it was smooth, but it was definitely thicker than her fingers, near the bottom where it flared. Delphine considered it for a moment.

"I… I suppose I should have warmed it up, somehow," she apologized.

"No, no, it's okay. I forgot, too. Could've just shoved it under my stomach," Cosima answered. "Hold on. Here, just give it to me." She turned to look over her shoulder and held out her hand. Delphine leaned down and passed it to her, and watched with widened eyes as the Cosima quickly slipped the whole implement into her mouth to its base.

"Oh," Delphine observed, and Cosima nearly smiled around the mouthful.

"Mm-hm," she replied, darting her tongue out a bit to run it around the thickest part. She sucked on it, pulling it slightly in and out of the O of her lips for a few moments, giving Delphine a low-lidded, lascivious look. Delphine seemed to quite lose herself for a bit, going still as she watched. Then Cosima released it from her mouth with a wet pop.

"Lube it up really well, baby," Cosima told her. "Then put it inside me."

Delphine complied.

It was slow, and indeed slippery. Cosima had to reach around and take control at one point, guiding the toy just so, when Delphine's angle was a little off. But then it was in, Cosima letting out a extended, guttural noise as the widest part finally slid home, her interior walls locking it in place. She looked over her shoulder at Delphine, again, observing how her lover was watching her.

"Do you like that?" she asked the blonde.

"Oui," Delphine breathed. Then, louder: "I love how much you're enjoying it. It's so sexy. C'est… captivant."

"Yeah?" Cosima grinned. "Is that what I think it is? Are you fucking dripping on me?"

Delphine flushed from her roots down, her hips canting automatically to meet the back of Cosima's thigh, where her arousal had, indeed, already made its mark.

Cosima sighed, and squirmed a little, but froze as Delphine pushed harder against her, the French woman's hip pressing against the plug.

"Easy," Cosima hissed. "You can like, move and tap it a little… but I'm kind of sensitive. I kind of like it just being there, right now… being full."

"Okay," Delphine nodded, and shifted her hip away. She touched the base of the toy lightly, shifting it just a little bit, then tapped it. Her mouth moved to the back and side of Cosima's neck again, nipping and sucking, and she slid her wetness against her lover's thigh until the both began to undulate together in a rhythm.

"Ohhh..." Cosima's noise was definitely of approval. She reached behind her, gripping at Delphine's hip with one hand. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah."

Their sweat was mingling now, their movements getting faster. Delphine found herself biting at her lover's neck just below her ear, her free hand clutching at the shoulder in front of her.

"Wait…" Cosima said, slowing, and Delphine obliged. Cosima shifted, rising up a little on her elbows and knees. She held out her hand, and Delphine caught the hint and offered her free hand to be taken. Cosima took command of Delphine's hand and pulled it down across her belly and to the apex of her thighs, pressing the long, pale fingers against her clit.

"Touch me," she said. "Play with me."

Delphine shifted to better reach, then slid her digits through the wet warmth of Cosima's sex, circling her clit, and Cosima keened. The French doctor began to move her fingers in a familiar rhythm against her beloved's swollen bundle of nerves, experimenting just a bit until it seemed a soft, careful press and release against the base of the toy at the same time was what the woman beneath her wanted. She reached lower for a moment, teasing at the entrance of Cosima's pussy, but her lover touched her wrist.

"No, that's too much, right now. Maybe, like, another time. Just my clit, now, though, okay?"

"Okay," Delphine agreed, and slid her fingers back up to tease at the small, responsive button again.

They found a rhythm once more, and Cosima began cursing, and then saying "right there… right there" when Delphine scissored the slippery nub between two fingers, rapidly sliding against its sides. Delphine breathed rapidly in time with Cosima's mounting gasps, grunting a little, as well, as Cosima's cries rose in pitch, cracked, and became breathier, until…

"Yes! … Yes!" A sound more breath and whistle than cry seeped from Cosima's lips as she vibrated, coming. Near the end, she thrust her ass back against Delphine's still-gentle hand, pressing the toy into herself, and her vocalization dipped into a low and raspy groan. Delphine shook a little in response, her clit bumping against her lover's trembling thigh, but she continued to ride out Cosima's signals, slowing her fingers and widening their spread, gentling her touch until Cosima finally rested her pelvis against the cupped hand that had been pleasuring her, her breathing coming deep and slower, slow…

"Uhh," Cosima expelled after a moment. Delphine couldn't see her smile, but could tell she was from the rounding of her cheeks from the part of her face she could see.

"Yes?" Delphine smiled, too.

"Mmm. Yeeessss." Cosima nodded, and chuckled.

After a moment, she shifted a little bit, and Delphine rolled to her side to give her some room.

"I'm gonna take it out," Cosima mentioned, "give me a sec."

"Do you want help?" Delphine asked.

"Naw. I've got this. It's easier, this way. Just hand me the towel." Delphine glanced back to the night table and found the small piece of fabric, and Cosima gingerly removed the toy, allowing herself to relax to do so. She wrapped it in the towel and set it on the floor with minimal shifting, then turned her head to look at her love.

"Well?" she asked. "You okay? You seemed okay with it, for sure."

"Yeah," Delphine nodded, dimpling. She shifted closer to press a kiss to Cosima's lips. "It was very arousing seeing how… hot you got, how much you liked it… and touching you..."

"Mm, excellent," Cosima grinned back, returning the kiss. "Then we can do it again sometime. Thank you."

"Thank you for opening up to me," Delphine said, and she meant it.

"Are you okay? I'm a little… a little spent. That always takes it out of me," Cosima admitted, and Delphine shrugged.

"Yes, but… I think I will attend to myself, for a moment, alright?"

"Please do. Be my guest," Cosima chuckled.

Delphine slid out of bed and extricated the toy box. Out from it came her new favourite vibrator: the one that pulsated in waves.

Cosima watched her avidly, if fairly limp with post-deep-orgasmic exhaustion, while Delphine laid back and brought the electric toy to life between her legs. Cosima enjoyed watching the fluttering of her girlfriend's eyelids, the shifting of her jaw and her lips into an O as she applied the device to her clit, the fingers of her other hand caressing her own chest, breasts and stomach. The French woman's breaths began to come in half-held gasps, and Cosima leaned over to kiss her shoulder, her collarbone, her closer breast, taking the nipple into her mouth and massaging it with her tongue as Delphine's free hand twisted into her dreads and clenched. A shudder of the hips, a sudden, tensing stillness, and an almost-laughing release, and Delphine was done, turning off the machine and putting it aside.

The snuggled for a bit, satisfied and slack. They kissed.

"Shit. That was hot. You're so fucking sexy when you touch yourself." Cosima finally giggled, and Delphine smiled. It wasn't that long ago that she'd worried that Cosima's mastrubating with a vibrator might mean Delphine hadn't been paying enough attention to fulfilling her girlfriend's desires, but now she felt comfortable, and even enjoyed watching and being watched. She just liked learning about all the different ways they could pleasure each other.

"So, with the butt plug, is that how you usually like to do it?" she asked, fondly stroking Cosima's face.

"Sometimes I like more, like, actual in-and-out fucking? Even with a strap-on, maybe. But a lot of the time, I just like being filled up that way. It just hits me in a way other things don't," Cosima explained after a moment. "It's… deep." Delphine met her gaze and took it in, her grin was a little goofy, but her eyes were serious.

"Then we'll do it more often, when you want," she said.

The shorter woman sat up, and grabbed the glass of water by the bed, taking a few gulps before passing it to Delphine, who took a moment to prop herself up enough to sip it.

"I'm going to clean up a bit, baby," Cosima said. "You want to get ready for bed?"

"In a moment. I'll follow you," Delphine nodded, finishing the water, and handing over the glass.

"Okay," Cosima leaned down from where she had stood and kissed her again. "One more thing?"

"Yes?" Delphine asked.

"Will you let me try more with your ass, too?"

Delphine smiled indulgently.

"Yes. Now get ready for bed."

It was sooner than Delphine expected.

It wasn't that it hadn't intrigued her, especially after Cosima had so clearly enjoyed the experience of having her ass filled. It was just that her past experiences had been so lackluster. She could definitely find it exciting in terms of how it got her lover off, now. But for herself…

They made love another time, two days later, although it was shorter, and far more standard. They both had work to do early in the morning. It was sweet, and releasing, and wonderful, as always, but it was not a time for experimentation.

By Saturday night, however, Cosima was antsy.

"What?" Delphine asked her, as she was pressed against from behind, nearly toppling her into the dishwasher she was emptying. She could feel the excited, impatient energy rolling off her girlfriend, and she chuckled.

"Honestly, if I don't get to play with your ass soon, I'm gonna explode," Cosima let out all at once, and Delphine was so blindsided her reactions got confused for a moment and she actually let out a snort.

"I don't think we should pair the word 'explode' with that image," she finally managed, turning around, and Cosima was so surprised and amused she let out an unseemly cackle. Her mind quickly returned to the matter, however, as she wiggled against the tall blonde before her, wrapping her arms around to squeeze the bottom in question.

"Okay, but, so whaddaya think? Are you up for it? Tonight?" She shifted, trying to ease back a bit. "I mean, it doesn't have to be tonight, of course. I just…"

Delphine laughed.

"Alright, yes. Let me relax a little bit, and clean up." She paused for a moment, tilting her head to the side, her eyes unfocusing a bit.

"What? What are you thinking?" Cosima prodded.

"Well, I still don't know if I will find it as enjoyable as I found doing it to you was," Delphine allowed, after a moment. "I suppose I… don't want to disappoint you."

"Aw, no," Cosima insisted seriously, giving a small shake of her head. "You never could. I mean, I want it to be fun. But I won't be disappointed if you don't like it. I just want to try. And if you don't, we'll do something else that you definitely like." She gave a cheeky wink, and Delphine chuckled. "I mean, I'm not gonna leave you hangin'," Cosima informed her, sounding extra Californian. Delphine shook her head with a smirk.

"I'm sure you wouldn't."

She took time to relax. She followed the directions for the anal douche, had a glass of wine, and took a bath. She turned on some soft music and briefly got distracted planning her calendar for the next week. Then she caught sight of a hopeful gaze from the other side of the room and chuckled. She put down her phone.

"Alright. You look so ready to experiment on me."

"With, not on," Cosima corrected. "This isn't the bad old days." They could actually make jokes about that, now, their past at DYAD. They had come a long way.

Delphine easily allowed herself to be led into the bedroom, where they moved into the rising heat of a close embrace and a delicious make-out session. They fit so well together, having picked up on each other's tells from the beginning: when to tilt one's head, when to press forward, when to ease back, to brush softly, to get a little rough.

"God, I love your mouth," Cosima exclaimed, the small smear of lipstick left around her lover's lips matching what had transferred to her own. Delphine surged forward a bit in that way that she did, serious and intent with hunger. Cosima grasped the back of Delphine's robe into a wad before she remembered she could actually remove it, and quickly untied the belt, shoving it off pale, smooth shoulders almost in offense that it existed. She filled her hands with Delphine's breasts, and the bitten-lip intake of breath in response only spurred her forward. Soon she had her long, lean partner on the bed beneath her, open and responsive to Cosima's kisses down her neck and hands massaging her hips. There was always so much she wanted to do with Delphine, so much that tempted her, drawing her attention to different fancies. She resolved to concentrate.

Softly, she guided them both to their sides, Cosima at Delphine's back, running her hands from where her head met her neck all the way down to her bottom, in long, slow strokes. Delphine hummed in approval, curling into it a bit as Cosima took in the constellations of beauty marks on her lover's back, resisting tracing them this time to focus on making more soothing, sensual movements. Over the course of their relationship, observing Cosima had convinced Delphine to add Pilates to her usual yoga routine, and her muscles had begun to be more prominent. Her biceps stood out more, and the long, flexing cords under the pale skin of her back made ripples when she shifted. Cosima appreciated them, while slotting her fingers into the creases in a slow massage, working her way down to the divots in the small of Delphine's back, and rubbing spirals around them with her thumbs. Delphine hummed again, and Cosima could feel the the hips beneath her fingers flexing and loosening. She continued to massage downwards, until her hands were working her lover's glutes into warm relaxation.

"Hmmm," Cosima let out lowly, her thumbs pressing and sliding along Delphine's butt cheeks from the crack outward, spreading them just a little bit more each time. She spread a smattering of kisses across the back of the shoulders before her and down Delphine's spine, shifting lower so she could get a better view of her area of interest. Wetting one pointer finger with her mouth, she gentle traced it from Delphine's tail bone down the cleft of her ass, while kissing one her dimples of Venus. She felt Delphine maybe take in a breath, but otherwise not move much in reaction.

"You know, you've got the cutest little bumhole," she opined, and Delphine let out what sounded like a surprised chuff of laughter. "I'm serious! It's like… totally this baby pink and perfectly shaped. It's like… if Botticelli painted a butthole." Delphine let out a real bark of laughter at that.

"That's… ridicule… I mean, it's very flattering, but I'm not sure it's turning me on," she chuckled.

"Fine, okay, I can see that," Cosima acquiesced, "but it really is almost unfair. It's like your pussy. I've told you it's like some kind of perfectly-shaped, pink flower. Honestly, it's one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. I'd say it should be captured for posterity, but really, it would be unfair to all us other women…"

"Cosima," Delphine reprimanded with a slight blush, "it's just genitalia. Every one is different and special in their own way."

"Yeah, yeah, and they all serve a function. I know that every one is beautiful in infinite variety, et cetera. I mean, from a feminist textbook perspective, yeah. But can I help it if I find yours particularly attractive?" She lightly skimmed the edges of Delphine's outer labia. "And don't tell me you're in doctor mode, seeing just another body organ when you bury your face between my legs. You like my pussy, too, don't you?" She nipped at her girlfriend's ass cheek with a grin, cupping her sex and giving it a squeeze.

"Brat," Delphine mumbled, but tilted her pelvis back to press against her lover's hand.

Cosima responded by stroking her hand from the front of Delphine's sex all the way back and up her cleft, lingering to run the pad of her pointer finger around said roseate ring. Delphine stilled a bit at this, and Cosima found herself repeating the motion several times, her fingers hovering at the rear entrance but not doing more than stroking lightly. She eyed the bottle of lube on the nightstand but didn't reach for it. She seemed to be evaluating, trying to read the taller woman's body language.

"Is that okay?" she asked.

"Yes," Delphine said, but her tone sounded noncommittal to Cosima, and she couldn't see her face from behind her. She paused.

"Are you okay?" Delphine echoed, slightly confused.

"I just… I'm trying to figure out what to do. I was all excited about this, but I'm not sure I thought this through. Now I want to introduce it in a way you'll enjoy it." Cosima rose a bit on her arm to tilt over Delphine's side and look at her. Delphine turned a bit to meet her gaze.

"I'm enjoying being close to you," she offered.

"Yeah but, the fingers on your butt?" Cosima inquired. Delphine sucked her lower lip under her teeth for just a second, then responded.

"It's alright. It feels kind of nice, but…" she shrugged slightly, "I'm not used to it, or… overly turned on by it."

"Okay," Cosima nodded. "Let me… let's try something else." She gently tugged at Delphine's hip until the blonde was on her back, then canted herself over her, pressing a slow, firm kiss to her lips, then her shoulder, then her breast, taking in Delphine's involuntary sigh of pleasure when Cosima took her nipple into her mouth. This was more familiar territory.

Cosima took some time working her mouth and hands over Delphine's breasts, feeling the body below her beginning to move in larger, more dramatic waves. She made her way down her lover's torso, kissing and massaging as she went, to the junction of her legs, which had fallen open in invitation. Before long, she was sliding her tongue over a swollen clit and between those slick, petal-like lips. Again she ran her fingers from Delphine's pubis all the way to her rear entrance, and this time felt the small ring flex with a little pulse, but Delphine's hips lifted upwards, pulling her ass away from contact and tilting her cunt closer. Cosma took this in and then repeated the same motion, but this time with her tongue, shifting her fingers to press against Delphine's clit and ending with a flourish of a lick around the French woman's anus.

"Oh…" Delphine suddenly said.

"Mm?" Cosima questioningly hummed, placing a kiss against her amour's asshole and just pressing lightly at it with the oral muscle emerging from her lips.

"That's… that's nice," Delphine said lowly, after a second of evaluation.

Aha, Cosima thought.

So she kept using her mouth: kissing, moistening the area with her tongue and rimming, pressing, using her hands to spread her lover's cheeks. But it was getting a little uncomfortable, angling down her neck, so…

"Here," she said, twisting at Delphine's hips until she flipped over, then drawing her to her knees. Cosima had no compunction about lowering her head to the task.

Delphine let out small moans, slowly loosening as what felt like an odd situation in comparison with her previous experiences began to feel less awkward and more pleasurable. They picked up in intensity and frequency as Cosima dipped and then slid her fingers into Delphine's cunt and began to fuck her slowly in time with the caresses of her tongue, her thumb slipping against the side of Delphine's clit.

"Ah… mon amour. Ah," Delphine chanted, as the swath of erogenous zones between her legs was lavished with sensual attention in a building rhythm. She could feel it all pulsing, now, her ass warmed and sensitized by Cosima's mouth like it never had been before by other means. She felt the sensation spreading, the sparks and spasms of the orgasm inside her pussy beginning in both complement and counterpoint to the wet heat against her backside.

"It's good…" she affirmed, as Cosma pressed more firmly against the clutching of her weeping cunt. "It's goooodohhhh…"

Cosima rode it out with her as Delphine pressed her hips into the mattress, bestowing little kisses on her lover's ass as it twitched.

They laid there for a moment.

"Yeah? You liked that?" Cosima finally enquired, interrupting her own grin with a kiss to her lover's butt cheek.

"Oui," Delphine confirmed, rolling lazily over and drawing her partner up to hold her and give her a kiss. She thought a moment. "It felt very wet, at first, and… I think I wasn't sure, but then it became very… relaxing, somehow."

"Uh huh," Cosima nodded. They took each other in.

"I liked it," Delphine said again, after a moment, small smiles gracing both of their faces. "I would do it again. It's not something I ever thought of wanting, with anyone else, and I'm still not sure I'm into more penetration back there… but with your fingers inside me, ma chatte? I liked the way you did that."

"Nice!" Cosima grinned. "Score one for rimming."

Delphine rolled her eyes a little in lieu of laughter.

"Thank you for introducing me to something new," she said, tracing the baby hairs at Cosima's hairline fondly.

"Of course! My pleasure," Cosima beamed. "Always happy to learn you're just as much of a dirty girl as I am… although I suspected as much with the guy porn."

"Yes, yes, you're very perceptive," Delphine scoffed lightly. "And I hope my… Bottecellian blossom was all you hoped it would be."

"Uh, that's the bud. The front part is the blossom," Cosima deadpanned. Delphine flopped her head back against the pillow and pushed her girlfriend away with a hand to the face.

"That's it. I'm brushing my teeth and washing up," she informed her love. "And I really need you to do that, also."

Cosima responded with a snort and hopped up to join her girlfriend in the bathroom, barely refraining from making a butt breath joke.

Another night of exploration, and she was feeling good. Everything had been wonderful… in the end.