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arplis · 5 years ago

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Arplis - News: Great seat, so-so service: A review of KLMs business class on the 787-9 from Amsterdam to Toronto

TPG Rating

80 100

Pros

Beautiful, comfortable seat and bed; ample options for inflight entertainment; greatly improved lounge at Amsterdam airport.

Cons

Slow, disjointed meal service.

16/20 Ground Experience

26/30 Cabin + Seat

12/15 Amenities + IFE

15/20 Food + Beverage

11/15 Service

Dutch flag carrier KLM is a major presence in the U.S. and Canada, with year-round flights to Amsterdam (AMS) from 14 cities. It sends across the Atlantic pretty much all of the airplane types in its long-haul fleet: the Airbus A330 and Boeing 747, 777 and 787. The last one is the only one offering business class with direct aisle access for all seats, while the other types feature configurations with seats in a 2-2-2 layout.

Its a much different story on the 787s, which began joining the fleet four years ago and sport a 1-2-1 configuration in business class, with seats laid out in a reverse-herringbone pattern. On paper, its a totally competitive offering across the Atlantic, at least in terms of seat.

KLM is also a member of SkyTeam, the alliance that includes Delta Air Lines, so flyers can earn and redeem Deltas SkyMiles on all flights, as well as Air France and KLMs own Flying Blue miles.

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Weve reviewed KLMs business class before several times, including the classic upper-deck experience on the 747. Every time, we found it to be a good, but not great, way to fly at the front of the plane.

What would we find in 2019, which also happens to be the 100-year anniversary of KLM, the worlds oldest airline?

Booking

The Flying Blue program has become complicated lately, but youll be able to navigate it easily using our guides. You can also get Flying Blue miles by transferring points from Citi ThankYou Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

When we found a great award fare from Amsterdam to Toronto (YYZ) for 45,375 Flying Blue miles plus $226.15 in taxes and fees, we went for it without hesitation. We value Flying Blue miles at 1.2 cents each, making this a transatlantic flight in business class for $750.65. You can pay a lot more in coach!

On the KLM app, I was able to select my seat in advance not my meals, unfortunately and I was off for one of the cheapest premium-class Atlantic crossings of my entire frequent-flyer career.

Ground Experience

TPG Rating

16/20

PH-BHP

Tail

1yr

Age

11%

Late

h 16m

Avg. Delay

17:45

Departure

7h 37m

Duration

Amsterdams Schiphol Airport is one of the easiest airports in Europe to navigate. Connections are a breeze compared to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) or London Heathrow (LHR), getting there from the city is easy with plenty of trains and the airport itself is well designed.

When I arrived at the departures hall at 2:40 p.m. for the 5:35 p.m. departure to Toronto, I found the check-in area and departure gate already displayed on the monitors.

Biz-class passengers and elite members of the SkyTeam alliance could check in using a separate gated area, indicated by the SkyPriority logo.

Within this area were both traditional, staffed desks and self-service kiosks, useful if you dont have baggage to check. KLMs institutional blue color, with accents of Dutch orange, appeared in tasteful touches.

Despite having already checked in on the app, I got a paper boarding pass from a desk employee you never know when you might need it. Then I used the priority access to security and the departure gates, clearly indicated within the gated area.

After a quick and painless security and passport check, I was out in the departures area, headed to a duty-free shop for the delicacies I always make sure to bring home from the Amsterdam airport stroopwafels, salty licorice, Gouda cheese and then to one of the KLM lounges.

Even without lounge access, I would have had plenty to see and quiet areas to sit in. Schiphol is a nice airport to be in if you dont have lounge access. Its also a quiet airport, with no announcements on loudspeakers.

TPG contributor Eric Rosen has reviewed in depth the renovated KLM Crown Lounge, one of the two at AMS (the other one is within the area restricted to flights within the European Unions passport-free zone.) Eric explains in detail what you can find there, but I can sum up my time in it with one word: Wow!

This was a far cry from the cavernous, rather boring space it used to be. It had been completely transformed into a large, world-class lounge.

Immediately upon entering, I could see things had changed from my previous visits.

As befits the name, it now had lounge chairs. And much, much better food options, including an la carte restaurant on the second floor, called Blue. (Too bad it was not free, unlike the food and drink in the lounge.)

I spent a delightful hour exploring, and liking, the buffet food and the decor. Another reason to pick a transfer at AMS over other European gateways.

Monitors in the lounge included a mention of how long it took to walk to a specific gate. Armed with that knowledge, I could maximize my time in the lounge and timed my arrival at the gate just four minutes before the start of boarding, long enough to admire the beautiful blue 787-9 that was to fly as KL695 to Toronto.

KLM names its 787s after flowers, and this one, a year-old Dreamliner, was called Tulip. How much more Dutch can you get?

Priority and general boarding lanes were clearly marked, and nobody was crowding the boarding area. At 4:50 p.m., boarding began right on time.

Cabin and Seat

TPG Rating

26/30

1-2-1

Configuration

81in

Bed Length

Lavs

KLMs 787-9 has 30 business-class seats, in a single cabin. The longer 787-10 has 38.

It was, even at first sight, a huge improvement over the 2-2-2 biz classes of previous KLM birds. The reverse-herringbone layout and that particular seat type have been around for years, but in KLMs incarnation, they exuded quiet elegance.

Of course, as is usual on this aircraft: No window shades! 787 windows are dimmed electronically, with the touch switch under them.

The inflight-entertainment screen swiveled out with a press of the blue button to the left.

Headrests were adjustable in height and angle, and had adjustable wings. The seatbelts had airbags, as happens more and more in premium seats.

In the lie-flat position, the 22-inch wide seat turned into an 81-inch bed. Though a mattress pad for sleeping was not available, the bed offered enough space in the footwell to move comfortably. The only thing I didnt like about it in bed mode was the clunky airbag belt, and the pillow could have been firmer, too.

When sleeping under a blanket or comforter, fasten your seat belt over it. That way, if theres turbulence and flight attendants come to check if youre buckled in, they can just take a look and not bother you and youll make their job easier, too.

The armrest on the aisle side could be lowered with the blue button. Flight attendants asked passengers to keep them in the lowered position for takeoff and landing.

It would not have been possible to store large electronics like laptops or tablets anywhere other than the overhead bins, but the closed storage cubby next to the IFE remote was ideal for wallets, phones and other small items. Headphones for the IFE were hanging in it from a hook.

I especially liked the clever mirror inside the door, in classy KLM blue.

An international power outlet and powered USB outlet were under the armrest by the window, with a sign indicating their location.

The tray table extended from the same armrest with the press of another blue button. It was a bit small, but still OK for a 15-inch laptop, and once extended it could slide forward, letting the seat occupant get up during meal service. This is a key element that not all airlines get right; for example, Virgins swanky new Upper Class forces you to stay seated when the table is out and a meal is on it.

The seat controls were intuitive, and I didnt see any other passenger have to ask a flight attendant for help figuring things out. From the top, the four buttons are: slide seat forward and back, bed mode, seat back up and overhead light.

Besides the overhead light, which could be controlled from the remote too, there was a reading light built into the seat. Two adjustable air-conditioning vents were above the seat, the latter a feature not found on all aircraft. (Some European airlines, like Lufthansa, are notorious for keeping cabins far warmer than what Americans are used to.)

The bathrooms were more or less normal, save for a KLM classic, the Delft-house decorations. Theyre found all over its branded materials, and even on the escalator to the Crown Lounge.

Amenities and IFE

TPG Rating

12/15

16in

Screen

250

Movies

200

TV Shows

Live TV

Tailcam

As customary, I found pillow and comforter already on the seat, and headphones in the mini storage locker. Amenity kits were distributed later.

The amenity kit by Dutch designer Jan Taminiau, featuring the colors of the Dutch flag, was distributed to each passenger just after flight attendants closed the overhead bins prior to pushing back from the gate. It had the basics for a long-haul flight: socks, toothpaste and toothbrush, eye mask and earplugs, moisturizer, lip balm and a pen useful for immigration forms.

More toiletries were found in the two bathrooms exclusive to business class, which were spotless throughout the seven-hour, 40-minute flight. Hair gel, body mist and hand-and-body lotion were a limited edition by Rituals for KLM. Besides the pillow and comforter, I didnt receive any other amenities like slippers or pajamas.

These KLM aircraft feature crisp, 16-inch screens, with about 250 movies to watch in at least 14 languages, and a gorgeous moving map: this was a good IFE, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Wi-Fi internet disconnected a few times, but was otherwise quite usable. I paid 18 euros ($20) for the whole flight, a much better deal than the other choice of 8 euros ($9) for one hour. (If you just wanted to send or receive text messages, that was free.) The Speedtest app kept timing out, but the internet was fast enough for videos, albeit with some buffering.

The headphones supplied by the airline were of the fairly rare three-prong kind, with OK not outstanding sound quality.

The beautiful 3D moving map could also be loaded on the smaller display in the remote, which retained full pinch-and-zoom functionality.

The cockpit-view function is increasingly popular in IFEs, and for aviation geeks its a delight every time. After our takeoff on schedule at 5:45 p.m., I followed on the screen our climb from sea level straight to our initial cruising altitude of 36,000 feet in 25 minutes which happened in near silence, despite my position just in front of the righthand engine.

The flight unfolded entirely in darkness. In late June, say, the views out of the window would have been spectacular, one long sunset seen from the edge of the stratosphere, but in early November we flew at night from start to end.

Food and Beverage

TPG Rating

15/20

Meals

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rserve

Champagne

Dine on Demand

Are you even flying on a Dutch airline if youre not offered a Heineken? Of course not, and a can of the national beer of the Netherlands was on the tray that a flight attendant brought down the aisle as boarding finished. There were also Champagne, orange juice and water. (Incidentally, the two stripes on the flight attendants sleeve identified her as a senior cabin attendant in the KLM rank insignia system.)

At my seat, I found a menu and wine list, with the KLM logo inside a Delft-porcelain motif. The airlines Champagne may have been a midrange Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rserve, but its taste in graphics was impeccable.

On the wine list, I noticed a cocktail described as a special lighter, crisper version of a Negroni, with Dutch genever (a typically Dutch kind of gin), chosen because both KLM and the Negroni were born in 1919. When the drinks cart arrived at my seat, half an hour after takeoff, I asked for it, with a small bowl of nuts and sparkling water.

The nuts should have been warm and the drink in a wider glass, but those are minor quibbles to have at 36,000 feet, and the Negroni-ish was indeed lighter and crisper than the original, a true pleasure.

For dinner, I could choose among two appetizers, three entrees and two desserts. For the appetizer, I had tomato soup over the other choice, salmon and spicy mango with hazelnut-cucumber-pepper-and-mango dressing.

All three main courses featured potatoes, in an apparent nod to a classic Dutch staple food. My choice was panfried cod and Dutch prawns with herb potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes and broad beans in a mussel gravy. The other two entrees were miso-marinated chicken thigh with carrots, potato puree, Brussels sprouts in an orange beurre blanc sauce; and beef stew with red cabbage, potatoes and cornichons.

For dessert I could have a cheese plate blue cream cheese, Klaver Roem and Leerdammer Caractre, all Dutch cheeses, served with crackers and grapes or sweet bites: brownie with ganache, a chocolate-caramel tartlet and a lemon cheesecake with raspberries. I went with the cheese, and a glass of New Zealand riesling from a simple, five-wine list. It also featured a Chilean chardonnay and three reds: a grenache from France, an Argentinian malbec and a South African shiraz.

Things sounded promising on paper. But when dinner service began, they went awry.

The galley ran out of the salmon appetizer for everybody who wanted it, and flight attendants proposed alternatives to at least two passengers. This happens, I said to myself, no biggie. Space on board is limited, and not everybody gets their first choice on every flight. In any case, I had the tomato soup, which was very good, and though the salad was a bit wilted, it came with a zingy beetroot dressing that was as cheeky as the salt and pepper shakers in the shape of Dutch clogs.

But then I waited 30 minutes between the appetizer and entree, and the flight attendant assigned to my aisle got confused and thought I had ordered the chicken, not the cod.

They hadnt loaded enough cod anyway, he said, seeming a little confused about what was going on in his galley, but after some inquiry he turned up one stray cod entree for me. And good thing he did, because it went beautifully with the riesling.

The silverware had pretty inlaid handles, and the carts were ornamented with the same motif as the menus.

With dessert, the flight attendant brought around a box of chocolates in the shape of, you guessed it, Delft houses. I had two, and I could have had more. They were excellent, and so were the cheeses. By the time I was done with all of it, though, it had been a 90-minute dinner, and when your flight is under eight hours and at night, you may want a service flow that maximizes sleep instead of time spent eating.

A half hour later it was lights out in the cabin, when we were already nearing the southern tip of Greenland, four and a half hours out from Toronto.

Ninety minutes before landing, after some sleep, it was time for the second meal service. The appetizer was a sweet-potato salad with white cheese and pomegranates, followed by either a cheese quiche or an Angus beef burger with cheese, and then by an apple pie. The meal was served with pepper jelly and deep-fried onions on the side. I got the burger and a Coke, which proved to be a good choice. And the apple pie that followed was perfectly warm.

KLM did not let me go hungry. It wasnt top-quality, but it was perfectly competent airplane food, in abundant amounts.

Service

TPG Rating

11/15

Extra Pillows

Turndown Service

Would you like a house, Mr. Riva? the flight attendant asked me after the last dish had been removed from my tray. On any other airline, I would have thought that a weird question, but in KLM business class it could mean only one thing. It was time for the distribution of the miniature Delft porcelain houses filled with liquor, which the airline gives away as souvenirs to business passengers.

The one distributed on KL695 that day wasnt any old house, either.

Its the house where our king and queen live, he said.

According to the booklet that came with it, Huis ten Bosch is the residence of King Willem-Alexander, Queen Mxima and their children. Thats the very king who occasionally moonlights as a KLM pilot, but there was no royalty at the controls on my flight: His Majesty is qualified on the Boeing 737, not the 787.

That very nice interaction with the flight attendant and the story behind the Delft house ended the flight on a high note for me, but overall, the service was OK, not great. There were moments of slight confusion during meal services, and dinner lasted way too long.

Overall impression

You dont need to be an aviation enthusiast to see how pretty this 787 was on the inside and out, and even a casual flyer notices the Dreamliners smooth, quiet ride. Add a very good biz-class seat, and you have the makings of a very nice Atlantic crossing.

Coming off the flight on a cold night in Toronto, I reasoned that Id just flown in a better biz seat than most Delta One seats, certainly better than any Lufthansa seat short of first class, and on par with the best seats offered on KLMs sister airline, Air France. It would just have needed better service to compete for greatness. That said, you would not be disappointed if you redeemed a reasonable number of miles for KLM biz class on the Dreamliner.

All photos by the author.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/great-seat-so-so-service-a-review-of-klms-business-class-on-the-787-9-from-amsterdam-to-toronto

0 notes

leaughrilke · 8 years ago

Note

So how do Lena and the kids handle things when Kara gets hurt from a fight with an alien or something?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAH WELL

i mean when they’re little, the kids aren’t super duper aware?? and the adults around them keep a p good handle on everything when shit goes down so they usually remain p blissfully ignorant when kara gets hurt

like they get that kara has a sometimes scary job where she has to protect ppl but its like aunt maggie or aunt alex’s jobs and sometimes she walks in the front door moving a little stiffly and sometimes they have to go see her at the deo, sitting under these bright lights that make maia and finn feel a little weird, a little dizzy, a little powerful, and they hurt stella’s eyes (or maybe that’s not why there’s this heavy pounding at the back of her skull? she’s so little, she doesn’t have words for it) but it doesn’t rlly.....idk sink in??

that said: lena is quietly a Wreck. bc the kiddos respond to how she responds, she can’t rlly fall apart (not that she ever rlly did?? but she was able to cry abt it and drop everything to rush to the deo and fuss over kara) so she gets v quiet abt it, all hurried crying with the sink running, bathroom door locked. she gets v good at hiding the evidence that anything is wrong

one time, when finn is abt six or so and maia is four and stella isnt quite a year old, kara gets Hurt. like big time, holy shit, lena we’re doing everything we can for her hurt. and lena’s stretched so thin already bc kara’s been gone a lot in the week leading up to this, trying to catch this trio of aliens (one rozz escapee, two that got caught up in his schemes) bc they made a direct threat to that pretty luthor you seem so interested in, isn’t she married supergirl? so she just—she can’t imagine not being with kara at the deo but she can’t make their three little kids spend the night in uncomfortable chairs either and she’s exhausted and terrified bc for the first time in a long time she’s not like one hundred percent sure kara’s going to be okay?? and she can’t do this alone, she can’t raise their children on her own, this was always a partnership and she can barely keep them all on schedule for a week how on earth can she do that for the rest of their lives?

and god bless the superfriends, they all step the fuck up. they’re all sick with worry, obviously, but these kids are still pretty sheltered, still dont have any idea of what their mother does, who she is, what she risks to protect them every day, and everyone pulls it together a little, just enough to take shifts with the kiddos.

maggie takes mornings, gets finn and maia up and off to school, makes sure they have packed lunches and healthy breakfasts and sends lena little text updates, a picture every morning of the kiddos grinning in their carseats

james covers afternoons—winn picks the kiddos up and drops them at catco and listen, they love their uncle james to no end and he comes up with a million and one games for them to play. cat usually emerges from her office at some point bearing sweets and the offer of cartoons on one of the many tvs on her wall

lucy flies in on the weekend and hosts a sleepover at her apartment in the city, promises that she’ll make sure they eat their fruits and veggies and then immediately gives them just about as much sugar as they can ask for. they watch the incredibles and finding nemo and the aristocats (abt 37 times, lucy counted)

eliza stays at the house, helps take care of stella when lena needs to sleep. she and alex understand The Most, and they stay the closest; eliza cooks meals and moms the hell out of lena and alex sits right next to her at the deo, squeezes her hand whenever she starts to cry and cries along with her

its not good and its not easy and those six days are the Longest of lena’s life but the kids dont even remember them rlly, just a hazy sort of fog of hanging out with their cool aunts and uncles and finn’s the only one that kind of remembers?? but he only rlly remembers kara coming home and them eating a lot of potstickers

UNDER THE CUT BC I KEEP CRYING UR WELCOME

it’s a completely different story when they’re older. i would say the first Big Scary Moment comes when finn’s ~10, maia’s around eight, and stella’s just turned five. stella only rlly remembers it bc emotion sort of sharpens all of her memories??? and there were a fuck ton of emotions happening

stella’s at a sleepover and maia’s at a girl scout overnighter and finn’s at a sleepover too (nice attempt at date night kara and lena, too bad evil waits for no happily married couple’s first night alone in months) and kara has to leave bc there’s something happening uptown and lena’s happy, a little warm from the wine and says something like hurry back and she turns on the news, bc she always does when supergirl has to save the day and it’s around six, so it’s the regular evening news and its on in just about every home in national city and the counselors at maia’s camp are watching just to kill time

so everyone gets to watch in hd as supergirl gets shot out of the sky in a hail of kryptonite bullets

stella’s hysterical, so’s maia (no one ever said the kids were any better at secret keeping than kara), finn’s the only one that rlly keeps it together long enough to fake a stomach ache and ask to call his mom to come get him. lena’s numb, rlly, has to focus on keeping her voice steady when she’s got maia and stella on speaker, assuring them both that she’s on her way to get them, she’s just picked up finn

alex’s already had one of the break rooms near medical set up with cots and lena nearly cries then and there in relief, because she sure as shit isnt leaving the deo without kara and she sure as shit isnt calling a babysitter for her hysterical children, not when stella’s hanging onto her and maia’s tucked up against her side and finn, oh god finn’s trying so hard to keep it together, keeps looking at his sisters, keeps looking at lena and setting his jaw and he’s so much like kara it hurts for lena to see

kara’s in surgery for a long time, long enough that the kids eventually pass out. they have separate cots, but finn asks lena to help him shove them all together and it makes a surface big enough for the kiddos to curl up together, stella sandwiched between her big siblings, finn’s longer arms just barely reaching over maia’s shoulder, keeping them all together and lena can’t sleep so she pulls up her cot as well and watches her children sleep, watches them draw their breath in sync, as a unit, and she’s not sure how long it is, but then alex is stepping in, exhausted, and she just nods at lena and it’s enough

stella must sense the mood shift bc she’s awake first, squirming to get free of the dog pile theyre in and waking her sibling in the process and then they’re all looking at lena, wide eyed, and it’s maia, the boldest of the three, that asks when can we see mama?

alex answers that she’s resting, that she needs to rest a little longer, but if they’re very quiet and very careful they can go in and see her right now and lena’s not sure if she’s ever seen her children so entirely subdued, but they shuffle into kara’s room very quietly and very carefully, lena just behind them and kara just barely blinks, just barely smiles at them before it all changes again, before stella’s whispering something in finn’s ear and finn’s nodding and asking alex if they can kiss kara and kara’s eyes are shining and lena’s very nearly openly crying

kara kind of cuts alex off with a hoarse c’mere kiddos, i feel like i haven’t seen you in a week and then finn’s wrapping his arms around stella’s middle and he and maia are bouncing off the ground lightly, floating over to kara’s side and their kisses are kind of messy, a little snotty probably, considering how much crying they’ve been doing, but it’s okay, it’s so much better bc kara’s laughing and smiling and sharing a look with lena when stella insists on putting bandaids on her bc you’ve got a lot of booboos mama

it changes as they get even older, obviously, as they get a better understanding of why their mom is getting hurt, and maia gets very angry with kara for a while bc she gets wanting to protect ppl, she gets being a hero, but what, are you just going to leave us?

one time kara gets p hurt and maia storms out of the room when the family gathers around her and she wont talk to lena, wont talk to alex, and its against several warnings not to that kara gets out from under the sun lamps and goes after her. it’s not an easy conversation, not by any means and maia’s angry at a a lot of things and kara’s only one of them, but she gets the brunt of it, gets the why don’t you ever think about us? and the broken i don’t want you to die that comes after a fair amount of yelling and crying

kara doesn’t have a lot of answers that will satisfy maia, she knows, bc maia’s young still and hasn’t had much reason to see the good in people, doesnt have the same idealistic world view like finn, like kara, but what she lacks in solid answers, she makes up for in a hug that clocks in around twelve minutes at least and it’s not the end of the discussion, but its the end for now bc then maia’s remember that holy shit, my mom just got thrown through a building and is ushering kara back to the sun bed

finn’s so gentle, his heart just breaks every time kara gets hurt. he cries for days in college once bc kara blows her powers in the middle of a fight and just keeps going bc back up wasnt coming and there were civilian lives at stake and he wanted to fly home to help, he wanted to, he wanted to so badly, but he couldnt, he was rooted in place watching the fight on the tv in the lounge, too afraid of the power he had to move

he feels a lot of guilt for that for a very long time, even after stella intervenes (she doesnt v often, only when she thinks it’s necessary) and kara talks to him, assures him there’s nothing for him to feel guilty for. it takes years, rlly, for him to ever really forgive himself for not helping her, for not stepping in

mostly tho he steps in and fills the gap while kara’s down, takes maia to the demo room when her hands start shaking with rage, holds stella’s punching bag, stops by lena’s office when he’s on his way home from school to drop off a sandwich or salad or something just to make sure she eats. bless him, he rarely confronts his own feelings about his mother’s second job, the risks she takes. he can’t, you know? they’re hard, difficult to handle, difficult to reign in, so he avoids thinking about it too hard until he’s forced it, then my sweet son just breaks down at the oddest moments, like in line at the grocery store or folding laundry or playing video games with his best friend. just fucking sobs—its usually weeks after kara’s been hurt, and kara’s learned to be on the look out for him around this time, learned to keep half her attention searching the city for her son crying and when she hears it she just drops whatever she’s doing and goes to collect him. they usually go get ice cream or maybe pizza, or sometimes take a walk along the pier. sometimes kara will ask finn to teach her how to play whatever game he’s rlly into and she will act like she absolutely has no idea how to play it at first (even though she totally plays them)

and stella !! stella, little stella always feels it the hardest, always takes her pain and grief and anger and fear and multiplies it, carries the weight of her family with her everywhere she goes. even if she’s not watching kara fight off whatever evil is lurking in national city, she knows when it’s gone wrong bc lena always watches and the two ppl stella can feel the easiest, strongest, loudest are kara and lena. she always feels it first

and then it’s agonizing hours of pain, wave after wave of horror and fear and it gets worse the more time she spends around her family—its always the worst from alex and lena, she gets flashes of what happened from alex, gets blood and the crack of bone, the echo of kara getting slammed into a wall or a truck or the pavement. she gets these bits and pieces of horrible what ifs from lena, gets black suits and questions about kryptonian funerals. it’s awful. she doesnt want to be alone when its like this, but stella can hardly stand being around other people, like her own shit is hard enough to deal with, she doesnt need this too

she toughs it out every time tho, bc she’d rather live through it with them all, rather be right there when her mom wakes up than to be somewhere else. her peace of mind isnt worth that much

eventually it spills over bc it has to, stella cant swallow these feelings forever. it’s a few days after the latest scare and stella’s the only kid still at home, the only one that didn’t have to get back to school, so she’s spending the rest of her spring break on the couch with her mom while she recovers, while she recharges. it’s fine one second, then kara gets up to get more popcorn or something and stubs her toe and since she’s still powerless, she actually winces and then stella’s thinking about it, thinking about how close they all came to losing her again and the thoughts and emotions sort of push their way into kara’s mind and stella knows the moment they do bc then kara’s stopped and is giving her this terrible, soft look

by this point, kara knows stella’s patterns like the back of her hand, knows that she wont talk about it until she’s ready, but that she’ll be ready a lot sooner now that kara knows what’s going on. so she doesn’t say anything, just gets more popcorn and makes stella some tea while she’s up. when she comes back to the couch, she pulls her daughter into a tight hug bc the sensory thing—that usually helps when she gets overwhelmed like this, too

i’m sorry you’re carrying this, kara tells her. i’m sorry i can’t help.

stella nods. i know

its almost enough to know that her mother would carry it if she could

#this is v kara and the kids centric tbh #supercorp #supergirl #kara danvers #lena luthor #superbabies #anonymous #human interaction

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