@saunteringvaguelydownwards / saunteringvaguelydownwards.tumblr.com
I don’t always have time to make complete comics. I work. A LOT. But this was a really interesting idea I wanted to explore. And @luthoring encouraged me, sooooo… here you go.
Beyond the cut is the result, expanding on this comic. Written entirely from Lena’s perspective.
Fair warning: there is violence, injury, and angst.
inspired by this fantastically angsty gifset of a supercorp AU. happy supercorp sunday yall
thanks x
---
The days transform steadily, selfishly, into weeks. Until the weeks have amounted to six months of nothing. Nothing between them but a phantom line of what they’d been to each other, once upon a time.
There is a crater in Lena’s heart, a botched excavation of the way she’d willed herself to forget Kara, to protect the two of them from the ruthlessness of her family. So she’d cored herself first, hoping to beat her brother and mother to the punch. Yet Kara had dug herself further into her heart, straight into her marrow.
So she failed, in the end, to rid herself of the woman she’d loved with her whole being.
But it’s gotten easier, in a way, existing in this reality where she had to deny herself the chance for happiness if it meant her happiness could live.
Her family has continued to terrorize her, but she’s acclimated. Expected it, really. Their efforts of trying to eliminate the few people who have been able to reach the fortress of her heart have now since changed to recruiting her into the fold of the family business.
She now only functions to keep L-Corp as an entity of good despite her family’s best attempts at compromising her work. It’s fine, because she has accepted that her work will be her life. Her love—her grief—has become the shape of late nights in front of her computer, of half-filled decanters as she oversees expense reports, of dry-cleaned power suits and a lethal red lipstick as armor worn in superfluous business meetings.
It’s worth it, she reasons, when she catches sight of Supergirl zooming past her window to save the day once more.
Lena knew this was going to be a bad one. She was making dinner when she glanced up and saw that the Lakehawks game had been interrupted by a breaking news report. There was a fire on the south side hills, flames raking the side of the building as they reached hungrily for the sky, as if to consume the stars themselves.
Rushing to the balcony, she could see it, an angry red glow on the edge of the city. It was a bad place for a fire. It was out of control and the brush and vegetation nearby was dry; all of Southern California was under drought conditions and a fire watch. Everyone in the city would be glued to their televisions; a helicopter thumped overhead, sending a downblast over her as it thundered towards the fire.
Lena watched with her own eyes, briefly spotting the red and blue streak across the night sky. She couldn’t see the fire itself but she could imagine Kara slicing through the air at full speed, dousing or something the flames in some clever way. True to form, the glow died down quickly. Lena didn’t need to turn back to the tv to know the fire was was contained and would soon be out.
She waited patiently on the balcony, leaning over the railing and letting the crisp night air sweep through her hair. She looked up when she saw that familiar dash of red and blue slow and descend beside her, cape billowing out behind Kara as she landed.
Her face and hair and suit were streaked with soot and her eyes were downcast. Lena said nothing as she placed her hands on Kara’s big shoulders and led her inside. As soon as they were in, Lena closed the doors and pulled the curtains, then swiftly turned and undid the clasps that held Kara’s cape to her shoulders, sweeping it over the back of a chair. From the set of her back and the way her head hung, she knew at once that something as wrong.
She didn’t ask. Kara was never cruel to her, never snapped at her, but Lena had learned to read her and knew that she needed a little bit of silence to process after something happened.
A kind of ritual had been created between them. Lena parted the skintight suit to reveal the hidden zipper and pulled it down, exposing the honeyed skin of Kara’s broad back. She wore a crop top and boxers under the suit, and shimmied out of it, gathering it and the cape.
Kara turned to head towards the bedroom, and Lena caught her with a hand resting softly on her forearm.
“I wasn’t fast enough,” Kara whispered, as the tears began to fall.
Lena took the suit from her and the cape and laid them reverently across the chair.
“Don’t worry about me,” said Kara. “I’ll be fine.”
“You will be, but I’m going to worry all I want.”
Lena pressed into her and Kara wrapped her arms around her, nuzzling her nose into the crown of Lena’s head. Kryptonian super-senses. She was taking deep breaths of Lena’s pheromones and feeling the beat of her heart against her own chest. Kara smelled like sweat and burnt drywall, but Lena didn’t care.
“Eat your dinner. I’ll be okay.”
Lena let her go, but put away what she’d been making; the chicken could brine for up to a day anyway, and she wanted to share this meal for Kara. Lena wouldn’t admit that she enjoyed feeding Kara, whose body seemed so incapable of gaining any weight which was not muscle, but she knew she did. Not to mention the little thrill she got from introducing her to new tastes.
She had a protein shake instead, waiting for Kara to come out of the shower. Kara would wash her suit and cape herself, so Lena left it.
When she stepped into the bedroom, Kara had changed into a loose, threadbare t-shirt and was fluffing her hair with a towel. Eventually it would dry into flawless waves with loosely curled, salon perfect ends; apparently Kryptonians also had super styling amongst their repertoire of scientifically implausible abilities.
Kara flopped on her side on the bed, sighing.
Lena crawled aboard behind her and wrapped her arms around Kara, and Kara immediately sank back into her embrace with a soft sigh. The bed erased their height difference and Lena sheltered Kara with her body, tucking her head against her chest. After a while, she began slowly running her fingers through Kara’s damp hair, and her tuneless hum became a half-remembered lullaby her mother had sung as Kara let out a quiet sob and shuddered.
Sometimes, the biggest person needed to be small, and the strongest woman in the world needed someone to be stronger. Eventually, Kara told Lena what happened, yet another invisible scar she’d carry forever. Once again Lena bitterly thought that Kara didn’t deserve to live like this, bearing the guilt of two whole worlds on her shoulders.
But she did, so Lena would help her carry it.
rating: m (chapter 3 has smut)
word count: 11,394
chapters: 4/4 (complete!)
summary:
It starts with a low-res, poorly cropped screenshot of a screenshot of a screenshot. The picture displays a photoshopped Google search result, detailing how everyone needs eight “maintenance hugs” per day, and twelve daily hugs “for growth.”
look, lena !!! Kara captions the image when she texts it to Lena. have YOU gotten your 8 maintenance hugs today?
And thus begins Kara’s sudden, intense interest in touch-based alternative medicine for Lena.
---
a comprehensive medical review of the health benefits of platonic gal pal-ery, told in four acts. inspired by this post.
AU: the one where kara realizes she can’t lie to lena anymore.
oh no. now I have more fic ideas. Also, this will allow us to bypass that awkward-ass Lena dating James shit that went on way too long. They had zero chemistry.
Lena’s head ached, her thoughts sluggish, and she felt cold. Far colder than normal. Because of this, she struggled to parse what had happened to her. She could feel the cushions under her, their soft leather feel seemed like her office, which didn’t make sense. James and Kara’s voices whispered near her, and a fan blew more cold air from a vent above her.
She opened her eyes a slit. The lights were far too bright, and she closed her eyes with a slight groan. The whispers abruptly stopped.
“Lena?” Kara said, hesitantly.
Lena cautiously opened her eyes again. Kara squatted next to her sofa, and James sat on the armrest by her feet. Both watched her with pensive, worried expressions. A gap existed in her memory, which alarmed her.
Hadn’t she walked onto the balcony in her office with a cup of coffee from Eve? Hadn’t it been daylight outside when she took that sip? The windows showed the lights of the city sparkling in the night. What the hell happened? She recalled vaguely intense pain, then the sensation of choking.
Oh, she had dreamed Kara Danvers flew her somewhere before waking freezing on the sofa of her office.
Slowly, she swung her legs off the sofa and sat upright. James dropped down next to her, one hand on her back. She leaned forward and pressed a hand against her temple. Sitting up invoked an intense bout of vertigo, and she had to take a deep breath, her eyes on the floor, until the fit passed.
“I… I had the strangest dream,” she said, her voice sounding weird to her ears. She felt woozy and exhausted. “We were flying and you were carrying me.” She looked up at Kara, unable to hide the wonder in her voice. Surely it had been just a dream?
Kara’s expression however held no amusement over her ‘dream.’ Instead, she took a deep breath and tilted her head downward, as if ashamed. “Well, actually…” She sat down on the sofa across from Lena and lifted her head to meet Lena’s gaze.
Next to her, James vigorously shook his head, his hand still on Lena’s back. Lena looked between the two, confused, her brain irritatingly slower than normal.
Kara clasped her hands between her knees and a look of earnest worry and hope creased her lips and brow.
The realization dawned like the sun rising in the morning.
It hadn’t been a dream.
Kara Danvers had flown her somewhere.
Lena’s hand dropped from her where she’d been rubbing her temple, and she gazed at Kara, uncertainly. “It’s… you…”
Kara took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. It’s me.” She paused for a moment as if to gather her thoughts. “I… I’ve been wanting to tell you for awhile. But then I thought it’d keep you safe if you didn’t know. And I really liked being just Kara with you, but…” Her voice broke, and she teared up. She took off her glasses and rubbed at the tears.
Without the glasses, the truth burned all the brighter. Lena couldn’t look away. The dawn had spilled forth its rays, the puzzle pieces clicking together.
“… since you were poisoned,” Kara continued. “I… I had to get you help. So I took you to my sister. She’s a trained medic.”
“I… was poisoned?” Lena struggled to parse what Kara was saying, her brain incredibly uncooperative. “You took me where?”
“Lena, you almost died,” Kara leaned forward, her lips twisted as if in pain almost. “I didn’t know where else to go. So I took you to the DEO. Alex got to work immediately, but the poison was fast-acting.” Kara’s cerulean eyes shone with tears. “I… I had to use my ice breath to induce hypothermia, so the antidote could clear it out of your system.”
Kara used ice breath to save her? After she’d flown her to help?
“You saved me.” Lena stared at her best friend, stunned. Like a jigsaw puzzle she sometimes assembled to clear her mind, the odd quirks, misspoken words like 'flew on a bus’ and uncanny swiftness joined together with the times she fell and Supergirl caught her or when Kara vehemently defended her, or when Supergirl showed up just in time - all merged into a three dimensional portrait. One she’d somehow missed. “You’ve saved me those other times, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I did,” Kara ducked her head with a small smile. She rubbed at her tears again. “To be honest? I listen for your heartbeat sometimes.”
“You do?” Lena didn’t know what to do with that piece of information. “Why?”
“Because you’re my favorite person,” Kara said, fervently. “And you… you keep nearly dying on me. Dying is not allowed.” Kara reached out, palm up, but she didn’t immediately take Lena’s hand. Instead, she waited, a look of hope and worry pinching her face, her eyes still shining with tears. It tugged at Lena’s heartstrings.
She reached over and grasped Kara’s hand. Part of her felt that she ought to be angry. Kara had been lying to her off and on for years, and yet, her thoughts hovered over the fact Kara had saved her life again.
James shifted at her side, and only then did she realize he was even still in the room. Everything had faded to just Kara. He stood after squeezing her shoulder and quietly walked away. For which she was grateful. She needed to parse this truth.
Kara was a super, a Kryptonian, an alien. She had lied and yet continued to save her life. Continued to defend her against all odds. Continued to invite her to watch silly movies, to bring her lunch out of fear she’d forgotten to eat again, to persist in such adorable ways to be a friend.
Yet, was it all real?
“Is Kara your real name?” Lena asked with a hint of desperation. She squeezed Kara’s hand tighter.
“Yes actually. Kara Zor El Danvers is my full name. I… I took the last name of my adopted family.” Kara grimaced and with her free hand rubbed at her tears again. “I’m sorry, Lena. I should have told you ages ago.”
As much as she would have preferred that, she wondered how many people knew the truth, but more than that, why would Kara tell a Luthor her secret?
Lena sighed and tugged on Kara’s hand. Tentatively, her best friend stood and sat down next to Lena. She refused to let go of Kara’s hand. It was warm, and she was so, so cold still. “You defended me even when the world turned on me.” Her voice wavered. “Was that real? Is Kara Danvers real?”
“Yeah, yeah, it was real. I’m real, and I’ll always defend you, Lena. You’re such a wonderful, pure, beautiful soul.”
The intensity in Kara’s voice and expression shook Lena deeply. She’d never had anyone say such things to her, and yet Kara kept saying them. Lena trembled, the urge to refute Kara’s words on the tip of her tongue, but Kara preempted that.
“ You deserve love and care no matter what anyone says.” Kara kept going, as if not realizing how each word unraveled Lena, tugged at her deepest desires, and warmed her heart in a way nothing else in her life had. “And whoever did this to you? I won’t rest until we find them.” Anger tinged Kara’s words, her jaw set tightly, and her gaze hardened – for a moment she looked just like Supergirl when the hero had her mind set on something.
How had she overlooked this?
Lena reached out and gently pulled Kara’s hair out of its bun. She trailed her fingers through Kara’s locks, and realized how simple the disguise was. How utterly obvious, and yet it had worked so well. Hiding in plain sight. Her fingers trailed down Kara’s temple, over her cheek, and along her jawline. “Thank you,” she whispered. When Kara blushed, Lena dropped her hand, only then realizing how intimate the gesture had been.
Still, she didn’t let go of Kara’s hand. Exhaustion permeated her body, and she leaned her forehead against Kara’s shoulder. “I think I know who it was,” she said, her voice still hoarse from her ordeal.
“Who?”
“Morgan Edge.” She felt the stirring of anger. No way would she let his attempt on her life stand, the bastard. She tried to stand, but her body refused the movement, and she sat back down on the leather seats, her shoulders shaking far more than she liked. She was so damn cold still and her head and body ached. With a grumble of frustration, she tucked herself closer to Kara’s warmth, her friend’s arm tightening around her.
It occurred to her that Kara’s hugs and cuddles being overly warm now made logical sense. As a Kryptonian, her body temperature would run higher. Likely Kara needed a higher calorie intake, so no wonder she was always eating. Maybe she could invent a meal powder to help Kara meet those caloric needs without the need to constantly eat?
After she gave Morgan Edge what he deserved though.
“You need to rest still,” Kara said, gently. “Let James and I deal with Edge.”
James’ voice came from behind. “Yeah, we’ll handle this. Don’t push yourself right now.”
“I can’t let him get away with this,” Lena said with gritted teeth. She tried to formulate a plan, but her brain felt sluggish still, and her body had other ideas. She leaned into Kara further. “Just am so damn cold.”
Kara wrapped her up in a hug then, and Lena allowed it. She closed her eyes, her face resting in the crook of Kara’s neck, and she breathed in Kara’s sweet scent.
Maybe she’ll be angry about this tomorrow, but tonight? Tonight she just wanted to be held by her best friend. Even if her best friend happened to also be Supergirl.
“Take me home?” she whispered. “And stay.” She pressed a hand against her temple, that vertigo back and the shivers from the deep cold that lingered in her bones overtook her again.
“Of course.” Kara swept her into her arms, holding her bridal style. Lena tucked her head against Kara’s chest. “James, I got her tonight. Let’s meet tomorrow morning, okay?”
“All right. I’ll start digging.” He opened the balcony doors.
Kara stepped through and shot up into the sky. This time Lena was awake for it, and the sensation increased the vertigo. Kara’s warm arms kept her secure, while she kept the steady flight. How gently Kara carried her invoked a feeling of safety and care that began to burn away the cold.
The city spread out below them, and the stars loomed closer above them. Not a dream, but instead, she tumbled deeper into the gravity well of Kara. A sense of wonder overruled the stirring of anger, and she clung tighter to Kara, not wanting to be let go.
Kara had saved her life yet again. Did it matter that she was also Supergirl?
Lena closed her eyes and thought through each interaction. Each moment where Lena slowly, cautiously opened herself under the tender care of Kara’s unwavering support, of her determination to be present, and the moments she’d aided Supergirl. How Supergirl would pause, right before she took to the skies, to look at her, and for a brief second, the stoic expression would fade into what had almost looked like affection. Then she’d vanish into the air.
Kara landed, the jostle only slight, and a door opened. When Lena finally opened her eyes, she realized that Kara hadn’t taken her to her place. Likely because Lena had never invited anyone there.
Instead, she had been tucked into Kara’s bed, her shoes taken off, her jacket removed, and a blanket tight around her. Kara held a glass of water in her hands and sat next to her, that worried crease still in her brow. “I… I didn’t know where you lived exactly, and it seemed safer to take you here. Is that okay?”
Lena nodded. The exhaustion swelled like the tides, and she struggled to stay awake long enough to sip the water Kara insisted she drink. “I’m going to that meeting,” she mumbled, “don’t you dare do it without me.”
“Worry about that tomorrow, please?” Kara tucked the blankets closer around her, and Lena caught her arm. She tugged on it again. Kara came without preamble and wrapped her arms around Lena. “Just rest now. You’re safe.”
For once, Lena believed it. Hadn’t Kara proven that so many times?
“Kara Danvers,” she murmured, her eyes closing, “you’re my hero.”
As sleep claimed her, she missed Kara’s gentle smile and light kiss pressed against her head.
Awakening (Kara character study, small part supercorp softness)
“But why can’t I be matched to Tali, mom? She’s my best friend!”
Alura turned to Kara, her jaw tensed with frustration with the stubborn child. “Kara, you know better than this. Stable matching can only be achieved if there is a true bijection between disjoint sets-”
“We don’t even have a true bijection because the population is constantly changing, we don’t sort according to all possible preferences, we don’t even have-” “It is not in our nature, Kara,” Alura said, with a dangerous tone in her voice. “We are not Daxamites.”
“But-”
“The answer is no.”
---
Kara is thirteen Earth years the first time she’s called “dyke.” She doesn’t know what it means. She had only been to school for a couple of weeks. Before that, the only substantial English she had spoken was the couple months with Eliza, Jeremiah, Alex, and Kal.
Clark, not Kal. Saying “Kal” would put her baby cousin- her older cousin- her cousin in danger.
Alex’s face flushes, and her eyes almost burn with anger, as she shoves Jake Howell against a locker. Kara could do it easily herself, but showing her newfound strength to humans would put her in danger too, somehow. Kara doesn’t think asshole is a nice word, given how Alex growled it. But she suspects dyke isn’t a nice word either.
That night after dinner, Eliza sighs, and hugs Kara gently - and Kara resolves to never get called dyke again.
---
“She’s gorgeous, she’s smart, she smells nice. Hell, I want to date her.” Kara flushed with discomfort, as the words came unbidden from her lips. But Alex didn’t remark on the odd statement, and Kara shoved the thought away.
Just weeks later, awkwardness would turn to tension as Lucy growled. “You and Hank, why do you all lie?”
“When you are an alien,” Kara choked, “You’re willing to sacrifice anything, everything, betray your fundamental instincts - just to fit in.” Something tugged in Kara’s soul at that moment. That she had always tried to fit in, long before she became an alien. But there simply hadn’t been time to linger.
It was only weeks later, when Lucy was saying her goodbyes before leaving National City to rejoin the military, that Kara felt the uncomfortable spike again. “I do know what it’s like to hide,” Lucy confessed.
Kara tilted her head, questions like why? and what do you mean? floating through her mind. But she thought it would be kinder not to ask. “I hope someday, you can be all that you are.”
Lucy gave a small smile. “Me too.”
---
She hadn’t expected meeting Lena to feel like lightning in her veins. The younger Luthor was quick-witted, and beautiful, and playful. Kara felt herself flush with the gentle teasing during their first coffee, and found herself marveling at never quite having a friendship like this before.
---
“So… so she’s gay?” Kara asked, the word heavy in her throat. “And are you saying, you’re gay too?”
Alex sighed and paced in front of Kara, her frustration just as apparent as her confusion. How can you not know if you’re gay?, Kara wondered, at the same time feeling strangely allergic to the conversation. Wouldn’t it be obvious? “What’s changed?” Kara asked.
---
Yeah, he was… immature. Irresponsible. But they connected - orphans of a lost planet, who spoke the same tongue, who had the same bewilderment in their first moments on an alien planet with newfound powers. And if being in his bed brought her pleasure, it was only proof of their connection, that a good relationship could come of it.
Sometimes there were those flashes - Mon-El had been confused by Alex’s coming out, not understanding the concept. The more the merrier would ring in Kara’s head, and she’d chase away the image of Lena’s face.
---
“I couldn’t have done it, Kara.”
Kara’s chest heaved as she gazed down at Lena, hearing Kal’s words flash through her mind. Lena clung to Kara’s arm as Kara hovered above the reservoir, and some corner of Kara’s mind knew that she should go land, that the danger was over. That Lena was safe. That the city was safe.
But she could only stare down at Lena, whose heart hammered in her chest, whose panting breaths from her climb had not yet slowed. I almost lost her, Kara thought, forlorn. I couldn’t lose her…
It was that moment that her world came crashing down, that realization made her feel like she was drowning. That romantic love wasn’t merely a combination of friendship and lust. That shared experience didn’t mean a shared connection. There was something that ran deeper.
She was in love with Lena, and she could no longer deny it.
---
It was a drunken movie night, after Lena’s breakup with James, when Kara heard I love you fall from Lena's lips.
“It was always you,” Lena confessed, her words slightly slurred from the alcohol as Kara finished pulling the covers over her. “I just wanted to be close to you.”
Kara stood back, feeling her heart pound as she watched Lena slip into slumber. I wish I had told you, Kara thought, her mind flashing to a moment long ago in a forest. I wish I had told you, before…
Kara spent a fitful night trying to sleep on her couch, and Lena’s eyes flashed with shame the next morning as she woke. But they left for Noonan’s, leaving the conversation behind.
---
It felt impossibly brief, that window of time after Kara had revealed her secret, where everything felt almost right with the world. Maybe someday, she and Lena could finish that conversation.
But she found herself in a kryptonite shell.
The universe ended soon after, and even magic couldn’t fix how they had broken. Until the day Kara finally found her hands in Lena’s, vowing together to take down her brother, and Kara felt again that hopeful wonder of what a future with Lena could hold.
And then she found herself in the Phantom Zone again, the words ringing in her head, I wish I had told you.
---
Sleep had eluded Kara in the weeks back from the Phantom Zone. So she was already wide awake at 2am, when she heard Lena’s heart begin to hammer.
Kara tensed, rushing to her window and ears tuning in as she prepared to fight off an assassination attempt or catch Lena as she fell.
But as she shot into the sky, she nearly tumbled when she realized that Lena wasn’t in distress. The shaky breaths and small laughs caused Kara’s chest to tighten in anguish. She’s fine, Kara thought, feeling tears prick the edges of her vision. She’s fine.
---
“Are you okay?” Lena said, when she finally found Kara in the Tower, sitting on a step. “Alex said she couldn’t find you - you were in the Fortress?”
Kara glanced up from the steps. “I just, um. I was reading in the Fortress, I fell asleep there.” It had the benefit of being true. The Fortress was far enough to drown the sound of Lena’s heart out.
Lena shuffled next to Kara, taking a seat. “I don’t remember seeing any beds there.”
“I float in my sleep,” Kara shrugged, staring at her hands as she let silence fall.
Lena shifted, uncomfortable with the quiet. “Are you okay?”
Yeah, Kara almost said, but something stopped her this time. Perhaps it was the poor sleep. Perhaps it was the litany of I wish I had told you that would replay in her mind.
How many more times am I going to do this?, Kara thought. How many more times am I going to carry that regret? “I love you,” Kara said finally, sensing Lena tense up next to her. “I know… I know that door is closed. But I love you. I should’ve told you so long ago.”
“You… you heard me last night,” Lena wondered softly. “So you went to the Fortress?”
Kara grimaced. “I stopped listening as soon as I realized,” Kara said, fighting a panic. Will she be angry? “I never meant to- to invade your privacy. I’ll be more careful.”
“The door isn’t closed,” Lena said. “If you don’t want it to be.”
Those words made Kara brave enough - or maybe just confused enough - to finally tilt her head up to meet Lena’s gaze. “But- last night-”
“I’ve been trying to get over you. Not very successfully,” Lena added, with a wry grin.
“Really?” Kara smiled.
“Really.”
---
The matching laws had been long dismantled by the time a smiling Alura officiated their marital rites. Kryptonians didn’t have concepts like best man or matron of honor, but that didn’t stop the two women from inviting Alex and Kelly to stand at each of their sides as they said their vows.
Kara never imagined that it’d be a woman’s wrist she’d place her wedding bracelet on. Though she supposed she never imagined marrying on an asteroid of her father’s creation, or marrying for romantic love, or marrying someone her people would call Hero of Argo for the creation of a black rock.
She never imagined finally telling Lena her secret. She never imagined Lena’s forgiveness. She never imagined the feel of Lena’s lips pressed against her own, hands tugging at her robes, as she whispered zhao against Lena’s lips.
And she never imagined being the one to make Lena’s heart race.
“You didn’t jump,” Kara said.
Lena glanced up from her lo mein container, chopsticks in hand. “Jump?” Lena asked curiously.
Kara nibbled her lip thoughtfully, staring down at her potstickers. The evening had been a quiet one - a welcomed change of pace, after a wonderful and chaotic afternoon at Alex and Kelly’s wedding. When all was said and done - after the couple had left for their honeymoon and the party had quieted, after Eliza had taken Esme home for a fun week making chocolate chip cookies with her grandmother - Kara and Lena had found themselves in Kara’s apartment, settling down in their pajamas with a dinner of Chinese takeout.
“For Kelly’s bouquet,” Kara said. “You didn’t jump.”
Lena shrugged, digging into her food with her chopsticks again. “It wasn’t heading towards me.”
“You could’ve used magic,” Kara suggested, thinking of how a certain other super had used her powers to yank the flowers midair.
“And start a duel with Nia?” Lena grinned. “Seemed unwise. Besides, she has a likely candidate.”
Kara smiled.
“At least I was there,” Lena teased softly. “I didn’t see you in the crowd.”
Kara shrugged. “It’s a human tradition.”
Lena tilted her head. “What did Krypton have?”
Kara grimaced. “Genetic testing. AI matching. Rules about guild marriages,” she said, “My uncle destroyed the AI, at least. But romance was secondary on Krypton.”
“What about now? On Argo?”
“Romantic love is… still an alien concept, on Argo,” Kara said thoughtfully, popping another potsticker in her mouth. “It existed in some of our stories. But our upbringing, our culture- we had to squash a lot of that down.”
“And now?”
“Now it’s like…” Kara’s voice had lowered to a murmur, and Lena noticed a pink tint rising in her cheeks. Kara cleared her throat, staring into her food. “Now it’s like they’re marrying a close friend,” she continued. “I wouldn’t say they have romance like Earth does.”
“Like marrying a friend,” Lena mulled.
Kara quietly picked at her food.
“And what about you?” Lena said, partially curious, partially… well. She knew Kara could hear how her heart had started pounding, as much as she wished she could hide it.
“Me?”
“You grew up there. But you’ve been here for so long. Where do you fall?”
Kara’s brow crinkled. “I think I…like all the little things,” she murmured. “Giving flowers and chocolate. Kissing. Holding hands.”
“But?”
“Not a but,” Kara said as she glanced up - still avoiding Lena’s eyes, but looking thoughtfully ahead. “It feels so alien to me, but in this wonderful way. Exhilarating. Strange. I feel like I have this chimeric type of romance in my head - not Earthian, not Kryptonian. Like romance is…”
Kara grew quiet, turning her head to her food again, staring silently as the blush on her cheeks seemed to deepen.
Lena watched for a moment, taking in the unmoving kryptonian - the hint of tightness in her posture, the unusual muteness and stillness. “What is romance for you, Kara?” Lena whispered.
Kara slowly tilted her gaze up to meet Lena’s. “My perfect partner at a game night,” she confessed quietly. “Knowing someone so well that it feels like magic when we’re together.”
Lena let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.
Kara nibbled nervously at her lip. “You- you don’t have to see it that way,” Kara said, her voice cracking. “It’s not- it doesn’t have to change anything. But I’ll understand if it’s too much…”
“I feel it too,” Lena whispered. “When I’m with you. It always feels like magic.”
“Really?” Kara said. “You could want- you-”
“I didn’t want to catch the bouquet unless it was for you,” Lena confessed. “I just- all I want is to be with you.”
Kara smiled wide, and Lena watched on as the tension seemed to melt away from the still-blushing kryptonian’s frame. “I love you, Lena.”
Lena smiled back. “I love you too.”
Okay, I know I already reblogged this, but can you just IMAGINE the shenanigans we could have had if the CW actually planned out the witch!Lena arc and didn’t just throw it in haphazardly at the end of the show? Lena “PLEASE don’t say ‘magic’! 😡” Luthor and Kara “DARK magic! 😳” Danvers having to deal with Lena being a powerful spellcaster. Lena saving the day with her magic, being absolutely GRUMPY about it the whole time. Lena constantly trying to rationalize increasingly irrational magical shit and pouting about it when she can’t and Kara is just goo-goo ga-ga about Lena being magical and Esme calls Lena her “fairy godmother” (and, ok, MAYBE Lena likes that part, just a little bit…) and everyone praises the “magical member of the superfriends” while Lena’s just grumpy because she still loves her SCIENCE!!!
Lena: *reluctantly casts spell to defeat the villain of the week and then proceeds to pout* “🙄😡”
Kara: *hopelessly awed by and in love with her magical wife* “🤩🥰”
Lena’s “supersuit” is just a regular shirt and a pair of booty shorts with “There is a rational and scientific explanation for all of this” written across the ass.
Anyhoo, in my version of things, eventually - with Kara’s beefcouragement (beefcake encouragement) - Lena would come to terms with the irrationality of magic and even find a bit of science within it all and incorporate her inventions in with her spells to be a dual-threat. But she’d still pout whenever she’s called upon to cast a spell (“ugh… 🙄”) to save the day.
I mean… that is basically my Confession and Unraveling Realities fic… just saying.
But truthfully, I love this headcanon of magic!Lena.
in honor of supercorp canon in brazil
this gif
You’d be surprised the things you could get me to do for you when I’m obsessed with you.
fuck okay you win yeti
Lex: i’m trying to kill you
Kara: LENA
OMG FOUND IT
— My heart is my own now, and I want you to have it - c.k
