aestheticdisposition

[aestheticdisposition]

Kara and Lena go the same self-laundry place and Lena takes Kara’s clothes off the washer, puts her clothes in and leaves Kara’s on the floor. Later, they confront each other. (You can find it on AO3 but for some reason the link doesn’t work when I put it here 😅)

It had been an extremely difficult and exhausting day for Kara. She woke up late, realizing the phone charger was plugged in her phone but not in the actual plug on the wall, which meant her alarm didn’t ring, resulting in her sleeping in. Honestly, it wasn’t the first time she’d done something like this. In fact, she’s been doing similar things for about a month now.

She used her super speed to shower and get dressed but she really couldn’t afford to take her time to eat and enjoy a good cup of coffee, which was what really was frustrating about waking up late.

Deciding to fly to work today, she took off from her window and into the sky, already feeling the cool breeze relax her a bit. But it didn’t last long. As soon as she set foot in her office, Snapper barged in and told her off for being late (again). Kara pretended to listen to him and after a while he left with a glare accompanied with a scoff. She was finally left alone to finish a fluff piece about this cat breed that apparently had no fur on them? Don’t get her wrong, she loved animals but she was more of a dog person. Plus, cats in general were scary. She was a bit intimidated but she would never admit that out loud.

Several robberies (some with hostages), three fires, two alien attacks, some death glares from Snapper and only five pancakes later, she found herself leaving the Catco building. Greeting some of her co-workers goodnight, she set off to that self-laundry place she heard of from Alex. She sneezed on her washing machine a few days ago and froze it and she hadn’t gotten the chance to replace it with everything going on.

Alex keeps telling her that she needs to be a little more organized, but can you really blame her? She has two jobs she has to balance and a very demanding stomach that has to be filled every hour or so. It’s not her fault she sometimes forgets things. Or break some other things. Or cry when she sees dogs running, with their cute little ears bouncing up and down. But that’s irrelevant.

So anyway, tonight was the perfect night for laundry. The perfect way to end such a day. Honestly, the only good thing about this situation was getting food while she waited for the clothes to finish being washed. But food made everything better for Kara so it wasn’t that bad. It could be worse.

Somewhere not really afar, Lena was sat in her office. It was nearing 8 o’ clock at night and she was still working. Her day hadn’t been any better. She spent it in meetings with white, rich, sexist men who were looking down on her for deciding to take over Luthor-Corp, L-Corp now. God, they think they know everything, even how the tech that she herself developed works! It truly is infuriating.

It takes years of practice to master self-control at such level and in times like these, she thanks Lillian and her stupid grin for teaching her how to keep a neutral expression and not start throwing punches.

And like all this wasn’t enough, her heel broke. In the middle of her walking. She almost fell straight down her face but thankfully she caught herself just on time. But then she realized that what she had held onto was the shelf where she stores all her drinks. It broke and everything fell down (including her). Thank God she was alone.

Needless to say, her office still smells like whiskey. Anyway, she had to wear her sneakers for the rest of the day.

She also had to do laundry. She couldn’t escape it this time with some poor excuse she usually makes up. It needed to be done or she wouldn’t have clean clothes for tomorrow. Sighing, she decided it was best to leave work.

She exited her building and began walking to the self-laundry place she bought a few months ago. Yes, she bought it. It wasn’t like she tried to get closer to a very pretty girl who worked there and whom she helplessly crushed on or something like that. No, it’s nothing like that (even though Lena cried like a baby when she found out that said girl decided to move cities with her boyfriend).

Lena was a Luthor and Luthors are business people with no feelings and own multiple companies and make even more money. At least, that’s what she tells herself when she feels embarrassed of her decision. Nevertheless, she never had the heart to sell it. She’s become friends with an old man whom she regularly bumped into there. And by friends, she means that he was kind enough to smile at her or even make small talk.

But this very situation right now? It was literally a nightmare.

A fashion nightmare, to be specific. Another reason why everyone looked at her weird. She was a Luthor which meant that pretty much everyone judged her for her family’s doing but now, although she hates to admit it, she can understand why people looked at her direction. I mean, it’s not every day you run into a very rich CEO wearing her usual expensive blouse, paired with an also very expensive skirt and… running shoes. They just don’t go with the outfit. At all.

After a few agonizing minutes, she reached the laundry place. Greeting the old man, she rounded the corner and went to her washing machine only to find out that it was already being used. Looking around, she didn’t see anyone.

“Um, excuse me, have you seen…”

But her words died in her throat when she turned around and realized that she was talking to herself. The old man must have left.

She waited for about ten minutes before she started getting irritated. I mean, this was her washing machine. There literally was a sign that wrote “Lena Luthor’s, Do Not Use” at the top of the machine. Didn’t that person notice it? Wait, was it too small? Maybe she should get it replaced.

But it wasn’t small and anyone could see it. Laughing bitterly, she thinks to herself that this must be another man’s doing. One who is rude and disrespectful towards all women. She could just use another washer, truth be told, but she was done being patient with people who did not seem to have some common sense and were always looking for trouble.

Slamming her purse on the bench she is currently sitting, she stops the washer.

“If you want to be a disrespectful asshole, I can be an even worse one” she murmurs to herself.

She gathered all the stranger’s clothes and dumped them on the floor. She instantly felt bad but, oh well, too late now, what’s done is done. She loaded her own clothes in and started the machine.

The small screen read one hour before it finished, which gave her a little time to go and find a good book in the library. After that, she would definitely return. She has to see that idiot’s face when he realizes what’s been done.

Meanwhile, Kara was getting something to eat. Everything was finally organized. Her clothes were being washed and would be finished in a little while, she was now buying food to eat and she still had time for a good bath and a movie when she goes home. Alex would be proud.

She went for potstickers of course and almost swallowed them whole without chewing them first. It was just so satisfying to be able and treat yourself after a hard day. Her night was a hundred percent better that her day. After relaxing with the help of three more potsticker orders, she decided to leave the restaurant, leaving a small tip for the waiter she had become great friends with.  

Scratching her skin in thought, she chose donuts for desert. Then, she would go straight to the laundry place because she must have taken a bit more time than she initially intended.

She  ended up getting ice-cream too. Three scoops.

But no one could prepare her for what she saw upon entering. She almost dropped her food.

Her poor clothes laid down and wet in the middle of the floor. The washer she had put her clothes in was working but apparently somebody else’s clothes were inside. It didn’t take her long to realize what had happened.

How could people be so cruel? She works so hard to keep everyone safe and they treat her like this. They don’t know she’s Supergirl so it doesn’t really count but still. Has she done so little to show everyone that you should treat others with respect, even if you don’t know them? And besides, it’s not like it has a name written on it or something, this is a public place! Anyone can use whichever they want! (Unless it is already working, obviously!)

At that moment, her eyes begin to water. Her vanilla ice-cream, long forgotten starts to melt and droplets fall onto the floor making it dirty.

This was when Lena returned from the bookstore. Kara of course heard her and turned around and almost forgot about all her problems, including wet and still dirty clothes.

Wow. This was all Kara could think. This woman is gorgeous; long, dark brown hair, almost black, neated in a very elegant bun revealing her sharp jawline, her eyes were piercing green. They reminded her of kryptonite. She was wearing a blue, long-sleeved blouse that showed off her cleavage just the right amount and a pencil skirt that hugged her in all the right places, revealing her curvy figure. She was absolutely breathtaking. (Although something was terribly wrong with her choice of footwear).

The woman looked oddly familiar, though she couldn’t put her finger on it. Was she a model?

On the other hand, the sight of this, very attractive might she add, woman broke Lena’s heart. So it wasn’t some arrogant man. This woman seems small and sweet and kind-hearted and judging by the tears in her eyes and the two very full bags of donuts she is carrying along with some ice-cream which is slowly melting in her hand, she never meant any harm.

Lena almost started crying with her.

Her blonde hair fell down her shoulders in soft curls that made her want to run her hand through it, just to see if it was as soft as it looked like. She could tell her eyes were blue even behind the pair of glasses and were a bit glassy from the tears. They matched the pale blue sweater she wore, which was tacked in a pair of pants. She was adorable.

Yes, Lena was now officially the worst citizen in this planet. In the entire universe.

Kara is still standing there, ice-cream melting in her hand, staring at the woman.

“Umm… hello” the woman says, giving an end to the awkward silence.

“Hi…” Kara replies. “Are you the one who got my clothes out of the washer?” she asks suddenly a bit angry.

“W-what? No, I don’t… Okay, yes I am.” Lena replies. Her first instinct was to dodge the question but really, it was no use. They were the only people in the room.

“Why would you do that?” Kara asks, sniffing her nose. Her night was going so well up until this point.

“Well why would you use my washing machine when you could have easily used another one?” the other woman says while raising her voice a little.

“Your washing machine?” Kara asks with a scoff “Your washing machine? Does it have your name written on it? Have you bought-”

“Actually yes, it does have my name, right on top of it.” Lena interrupts “I also own this place” she adds powerfully, looking at the other woman straight in the eye. (She really does have pretty eyes).

Kara whips her head at the machine’s direction and sees a (rather huge) sign that reads “Lena Luthor’s, Do Not Use”. Crap. This is Lena Luthor. The Lena Luthor? That’s why she looked so familiar! So, the washer was hers and she was right after all… Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she turned around to face the woman once again.

“Well, I’m sorry I used it I honestly didn’t see the sign, but this doesn’t justify why you went and threw all my clothes on the floor.” Kara says, a little steadier and more confident this time.

Now it’s Lena’s turn to be taken aback. Of all the things she expected, this wasn’t one of them. The blonde didn’t even seem fazed by her last name. She expected an outburst of hate, worst case scenario she could have gotten stoned by the donuts she was caring.

“I waited for you but you were taking too long so this seemed like the most logical thing to do.” Lena says emotionless.

“And what was the least logical thing? Just use another darn washer?” the blonde emphasizes taking a few steps towards Lena while also making some motions with her arms.

Lena cringed a bit as drops of now fully melted ice-cream landed all over the floor and one on her shoe too, forming a perfect white circle on her black sneakers. She took a few steps back, mainly to prevent more ice-cream from showering her.

Wait, who uses the word darn nowadays?

“Look who’s talking! You are supposed to be here when the machine is working, but instead you got up and left! And I was kind enough to wait for you too, but as I said, you took too long.”

Now Lena is angry. Who does she think this woman is? Just because she’s-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the washer when all of a sudden, it started making some weird noises. Few seconds later, water came out from under it (along with some smoke from the top of it), making the floor all wet.

“Oh my God now you broke it too!” Lena shouts frustrated with how her night is going.

“I broke it? If I remember correctly it is you who started it the last time before it broke!” Kara shouts equally as loud as Lena.

Lena chooses not to reply. Partly because she is too irritated to function and partly because the woman is right, she couldn’t have broken it. Now she just stares blankly at the washing machine trying to figure out what’s wrong with it.

“A tube must be leaking somewhere inside it” Lena diagnoses.

“What?”

“I said a tube must be leaking somewhere inside this thing.” she repeats.

Deciding that she will have to wear the same clothes tomorrow, she gets up and takes her phone, ready to take over the situation and solve this problem.

At the same time, Kara looks at the mess she’s made with her ice-cream. She could clean it… or she could also just leave it as it is. No, that wouldn’t be nice… Rejecting her last thought, she digs into her purse and finds some baby wipes. She briefly hears the woman speak on the phone with a plumper about the leak. Well, she did say she’s the boss, she’d better act like it. But Alex didn’t mention that Lena Luthor was the owner. Maybe she didn’t know it.

As she was about to get on her knees, the other woman speaks up.

“What are you doing?”

“Um… Trying to clean up?” she says, stating the obvious.

“You don’t have to. I’ll have someone take care of it.”

“Are you sure?” she blinks. “It wouldn’t take more than five minutes” she tries to argue.

“Yes, you don’t have to.”

“Okay…”

Putting the baby wipes back in her purse (after cleaning her hands), she picks her clothes off the floor and puts them in another washing machine. She can feel the woman’s eyes on her the whole time. What’s her problem now? Can’t she do laundry like a regular person?

“What?” she asks flatly.

The woman, Lena, laughs a little without answering. Ignoring her, she makes sure everything is good to go and presses the start button. Then, she collapses on one of the benches, sighing deeply.

Lena silently observes the blonde from her spot. She’s really pretty and she seems masculine. She slaps herself internally.

“No, bad Lena” she mumbles. Oh great, now she’s talking to herself and as if she were a dog. She’s going insane. What’s next? Following Lex’s paths and losing all of her hair? She shivered at the thought.

She copies the other woman and starts unloading her clothes off the now broken washing machine and puts them in the one next to it. The whole time she does this, she’s thinking of how badly she behaved. She’s the boss, she should be good with her clients! They’re giving their money to her!

And more specifically, this woman who is sitting right there (and is probably watching me this whole time oh God oh God please don’t embarrass yourself), who was kind enough and didn’t leave after the freaking boss dumped her clothes on the floor, who was considerate enough and offered to clean up her ice-cream that she herself ruined.

She has to do something. She is Lena Luthor, CEO of L-Corp, a multi-billion company. She is a genius and more importantly, she is a good person. And she is going to prove it right now.

“I’m sorry”

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry,” she states again more loudly and clearly. Seeing she has all the woman’s attention, she continues “I apologize for my previous actions, it wasn’t fair of me to do what I did. It was unacceptable, especially when such behavior is initiated from a person of authority. I let personal reasons cloud my judgement and I guarantee you that it shall not be repeated. I offer you one year of free subscription as a way of saying sorry ” she finishes her little speech with a small, true smile, one not a lot of people have the privilege to witness.

Kara just sits there and blinks. Okay, she did not expect that. That woman seemed so full of herself.

“Umm… wow… Th-thank you for.. for your words. I should apologize too. I should have been more observant. My sister always tells me to be a bit more… put together and I had a really, really bad day today so your words right now mean the world to me, you have no idea, but I couldn’t possibly accept your offer. It’s simply too much. I’m about to get my own washer actually sometime during next week. I just came her today because it… also broke, somehow, I’ll get out of your hair soon, I promise and I am rumbling again I am so sorry.”

Great, she managed to embarrass herself to Lena Luthor. Why couldn’t she just be like her alter-ego once in her life? Wait, was that a giggle she heard? At least she made her laugh. That’s something.

“Well, I’m a bit saddened by the fact that I will not be seeing you around for long.” She did not mean to flirt, why did she flirt? This isn’t going the way she planned it in her head.

“Haha, I’m not sure I’ll be any good news for the place. It’s only my first time here and there’s already a broken washer and the floor is sticky and full of my ice-cream so…”

Lena laughed at her response but decided to put an end to their conversation. Had the conditions been different, she would attempt some small talk, but she was too exhausted and tired to do anything but sit and stare at the wall.

At the other end of the room, Kara is sat at a bench and her donuts are all she can think about. They must be at the perfect temperature right now. She can smell them from inside the bags and they make her mouth water. However, it would be rude not to offer Lena one.

“Hey Lena, um… you do eat donuts right?” she asks gesturing at the bag she’s holding.

“Well, I am human.” Lena replies smiling from her seat.

Kara, like the gentlewoman she is, gets up and offers her the bag so she can choose.

“These are simple, just some sugar on top of them, these are so good, they have marshmallows on top as you can see and chocolate on the inside, but these, oh these are my favorite, the ultimate best. I’m telling you, you haven’t put anything better in your mouth” she explains to Lena. Realizing what she just said, she starts blushing. Oh Rao.

“Hmmm… I think I’ll try… this one. This seems good.” Lena says while examining it in her hand.

“Ah, good choice! I promise you, you will not be let down.” Kara states grinning.

“Thank you…”

“Oh, right, my name is Kara, God where are my manners.” Kara says in a rush while offering her hand to Lena.

But Lena’s hands are both dirty with chocolate so she ends up shaking her elbow instead.

So now they wait for the washers to finish while sitting next to each other. Kara offers Lena another donut but Lena kindly declines, so she ends up eating everything else on her own.

It’s late and both women can’t wait to go home. Kara doesn’t have time for the movie she wanted to watch and Lena is too tired to answer emails instead of going straight to bed. It’s already eleven at night and the city has quieted down. Less cars honking, less motorbikes revving to disturb Kara’s sensitive ears and Lena’s headache.

Kara wishes she could speak to Lena a bit more. She seems like a very interesting woman. She is a Luthor so that means that whatever she’s doing is immediately written in magazines. It’s easy to follow her scientific progress and with some more digging, she’s sure she can find some other facts about the woman sitting next to her.

But she doesn’t want to stalk her, it doesn’t feel right.

This woman deserves more. She is not sure if she is able to give it to her. After all, a Super and a Luthor? But she is willing to try. She can tell the woman is tired by her body language and her heartbeat and she has a sudden urge to make her pain go away, even if it’s just a little.

They have much in common actually. Both carry the weight of the world on their shoulders- Kara with being Supergirl and Lena with her technology that saves thousands of lives. Both betrayed by family, Lena left with a broken name, Kara with a broken planet and both with broken hearts. Both were adopted, despite the fact that clearly Kara had more luck than Lena in this part. The list can go on.

They didn’t start off very well, truth be told, but the start of a journey doesn’t determine its end. And Kara has hope.

But what was she supposed to say? Hi, it looks like you could use a friend and I’m available? That’s rude. She doesn’t even know if the other woman wants to be friends with her. Maybe she could ask what happened to her shoes. Surely, she couldn’t have worn sneakers with this outfit. But what if she did? Lena could get offended if she asked something like this.

Kara opted for silence. It was the safest.

Soon enough, the washers dinged signalizing that they are finished. The women stand up half-heartedly and go get their clothes. In a little while, they will be on her own again.

Ten minutes later, they exit together the (now a bit ruined) shop and Lena turns to Kara.

“So… again, I’m sorry for what I did. Please, do consider my offer of one-year free subscription, it is the least I can do. And thank you for the donut; you were right it was delicious.” Lena states with a tired smile.

“Apology accepted, we were both at fault back there. And I’m sorry too. Um… I will consider your offer although I suppose I won’t need it cause I’m buying a new washer. And you’re welcome. For the donut.” Kara ends grinning.

“Are you on foot?” Lena asks tilting her head a bit.

“Oh no I flew to work today… on-on a bus. Yeah on a bus. Aha. Yup. Definitely. Why?”

“My driver is about to come pick me up and I was wondering if you want me to drop you off somewhere since it’s gotten quiet late.” Lena says while switching her weight from one foot to the other.

“Oh no I wouldn’t want to get you out of your way. I’ll be fine honestly, it’s not the first time. My sister, Alex, she works for the FBI and she has taught me a trick or two so I’ll be absolutely fine, I promise haha, no biggie… and I’m also a good runner I’m sure I can escape any situation and I will uhh… I’ll just stop talking right now…” Kara shut her mouth embarrassed of her word vomit once again. She planned on flying home tonight because firstly, she doesn’t have a car and secondly, even if she did, she flew to work in the morning too.

“I don’t want anything bad happen to you. You may be able to protect yourself from a human mugger but what if an alien decides to show up? It’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”

“Right… because aliens are dangerous and could… seriously injure me... because I’m a human and I most certainly not indestructible.” Kara tries hard not to cringe at this conversation right now. She can hear Alex laughing in the distance somewhere in the DEO.

“Of course not, unless you’re Supergirl,” Lena stares for a moment “but even if you were I would still offer you a ride. I imagine flying must be tiring”

“Haha,” Kara fakes a laugh (horribly too) “I wouldn’t know since I’m not her.” She hasn’t hoped for call from Alex so badly before.

Thankfully, a nice black car with tinted windows pulls up in front of them interrupting their conversation and Kara has to stop her jaw from crashing onto the floor. She’s not a big fan of cars but man is she shocked. Of course Lena Luthor would drive something like this. Why is she even surprised?

“The offer still stands” Lena now fully turns to her.

“Which one?” Kara jokes.

“Both” Lena replies elegantly. How can she be so graceful all the time?

“Well since you asked so nicely I will not decline being taken home” Kara beams.

“Excellent” the other woman smiles back, her eyes wrinkling a bit.

Lena moves forward and opens the door for Kara. Mumbling a shy ‘thank you’, Kara gets in and tries not to gasp. The car is very clean and tidy, too clean and tidy. She almost asks if she’s allowed to sit or if they want her to float instead so that she doesn’t dirty the seats (don’t worry, she stops herself just on time).

The car ride was silent and lasted only fifteen minutes before the driver pulled up in front of Kara’s building.

“Thank you for the ride and for the- for everything actually. Thank you” Kara smiles, expressing her gratitude. She swallows her disappointment and grits her teeth. Why is she such a coward? She’s fought the deadliest of aliens, yet she’s afraid to... do something, anything regarding the green-eyed woman. Just say that she’d like to see her again. Anything! “Goodnight Lena.”

As she is about to get out of the car, Lena speaks up.

“Wait, Kara!” Oh Rao, did I forget something? My purse, my phone, does my cape show?

“Yes?” Kara replies a bit too eagerly.

“I was wondering if maybe… you know… if I could have your number? I really liked the donut you gave me and I would like to buy one myself. I could give you a call and you could tell me where I could find the shop? We can visit it together too if you want? I could also buy you some ice-cream since I pretty much ruined it.” Lena suggests, betrayed by her trembling voice.

“YES! I mean yes, yeah, why not. Sure, we can arrange that.” Kara almost shouts.

“Good.”

“Good!” Kara���s face is about to tear in half because of how hard she is smiling. “Okay goodnight!”

“Wait Kara, you never gave me your number!” Lena says in a rush.

“Oh right, sorry!” Getting inside the car once again, Lena handed her her phone and Kara, careful not to break the screen from her nerves, typed in her number.

“There you go! I saved myself as ‘Kara the donut girl’ in case you forget who Kara is” she says, handing the phone back to Lena.

“That would be impossible; you’re a hard one to forget. In a good way.” Lena adds hurriedly.

“Well, for the hundredth time in a span of half an hour, goodnight” laughing, she slowly backed away from the car and to her front door.

“Goodnight Kara” Lena smiles for one last time before she shuts the door and the car starts moving.

Kara sighs happily and turns so she can enter her building. That night, she slept better than any other night since she can remember. The next morning, she woke up in time and even smiled at Snapper. Needless to say, she had donuts for lunch.