#i know kara isn’t that high just let me let her sit there no one else was as swaggy

[munamania]

wait ok and then here r some other wins

[biblomaniac]

Supercorp headcanon:

Lena’s sick.

Congested, nose running, fever high, chills, and a cough so severe that her throat burned with every breath.

She called out of work for the first time today. More accurately, she almost fainted getting out of bed this morning. When she called Jess to push back her first meeting, her secretary refused her access into L-Corp, its servers, or her work email.

After Lena accepted she would not be able to go to work (or her living room, for that matter) she laid in bed drifting in and out of sleep until a soft touch along her sweaty brow awoke her.

“Lena? Lee, baby, you’re burning up. You have to wake up.”

Lena stirs, mumbling incoherently before leaning into the warmth of her girlfriend’s hand. When she speaks, her voice is quiet and raspy. “Kar?”

“Yeah baby, it’s me. Jess called. She said you were sick, so I called in to work from home to take care of you.”

Bleary green eyes open, unfocused and searching. “Kar, I’m cold.”

The blonde is still stroking Lena’s warm brow, trying to persuade Lena into leaving the bed. “I know you feel cold, but you gotta get out of the bed. I need to change your sheets and you need to cool off. Come sit in the tub for a bit to lower your temperature.”

“Can’t walk.” Lena whispers.

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be right back,” Kara says, going to run a warm bath.

*************************

When Kara returns ten minutes later, Lena has drifted back to sleep. She looks so unwell, skin paler than normal with a green tint. She pulls back the covers slowly, not wanting to startle Lena. It seems she’s worried for nothing. The brunette doesn’t stir at all, not even when Kara sits her upright.

“Okay, baby, bath time.” Kara lifts Lena into her arms, carrying her to the bathroom. She sits her love on the cool counter, trying to rouse her.

The temperature change works minutely. Lena cracks her eyes open for a moment, humming to acknowledge Kara.

“Lena, open your eyes.” The blond says, tying dark tresses into a top knot to prevent it from getting wet.

“I’m going to put you in the tub, I need you to stay awake for 15 minutes, okay? I’m going to change the sheets and get you some fresh clothes.”

“‘Kay,” is Lena’s only reply.

Kara sets about undressing Lena, then lowering her gently into the lukewarm water.

Once she is assured the brunette won’t immediately fall asleep, Kara sets about putting fresh cotton sheets on the bed and finding a loose set of pajamas. She keeps her hearing trained on Lena, making sure she isn’t asleep or passed out.

With the few minutes she has left, she orders chicken noodle soup, several sandwiches, and sides from her favorite delivery that delivers.

Kara makes her way back into the bathroom, grabbing a fresh rag and Lena’s Milk Honey & Vanilla body wash. She sets about washing Lena’s red face, then apply a lather to her body before she uses the shower head to rinse her off.

“Okay, babe, all done. I’m going to get the towel, just a sec,” she gets the towel warm from the dryer and returns to pick Lena up, wrapping her in the towel and walking to the bedroom.

She sets her love on the bed, drying her off and preparing to dress her in the pajamas she laid out, which Lena promptly refuses to wear.

“Don’t want that. Want your shirt.”

“The one I’m wearing? I wore this to the office earlier—“

“No, in the closet. Bottom dresser,” she croaks.

Kara finds her old Midvale High gym tee amongst an assortment of lounge clothes in the aforementioned drawer. She chuckles, walking back to Lena and helping her into the shirt and a pair of cotton boy shorts.

“You stole my shirt? I’ve been looking for this,” she jokingly accuses.

“No. You left it. Mine now,” comes the raspy reply.

“Whatever you want, babe. Let’s sit on the couch a bit while we wait on the food.”

Kara carries Lena to the living room. Offering to make tea to sooth Lena’s sore throat. As she bends down to set Lena on the couch, she clings to her front like a koala, refusing to let go.

“No,” she whines, “don’t leave.”

“I’m not, I’m just putting the kettle on,” Kara soothes.

“No, carry me,” Lena pleads softly, glassy eyes begging.

Never one to deny her girlfriend anything, Kara tightens her hold and migrates into the kitchen. One arm holds Lena under her butt as the other navigates putting a pot of tea to boil.

The brunette has her head tucked into Kara’s shoulder, laying a kiss there before closing her eyes.

Kara presses a kiss to the side of her head. “It’s okay, princess. Just relax,” the blonde coos, stroking her hand along Lena’s spine.

Before long, Lena’s body has molded to Kara’s own, placid and limp. Kara remains standing, not wanting to jostle Lena by laying her on the couch. When the kettle whistles, Kara turns off the burner, pouring the tea into a thermos to keep warm for later.

Kara carries the thermos to the couch, setting it on the end table, then returning to grab a couple of water bottles and a mug.

Kara intends to let Lena sleep a little longer, but a knock at the door alerts her to the delivery man’s arrival. She lays Lena along the couch carefully, pressing a kiss to her brow before answering the door and paying for the food.

Kara gently urges Lena to wake, “C’mon, baby. Wake up; you have to eat something.”

“No,” she mewls, “don’t want it.”

“Lena, you have to eat so you can take some medicine. You’ll feel much better after. Just eat some soup and I’ll let you sleep.”

The brunette ends up drinking the soup broth and eating a few pieces of dumpling before she refuses anymore. Kara is able to coax her into drinking the ginger and chamomile tea.

“No more, sleepy,” the sick woman mutters, eyes drooping.

Kara sighs, stroking flyaways from Lena’s flushed cheeks. She deposits a tender kiss to Lena’s cheek and forehead before moving to stand.

“Sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake.”

“Wait, kiss.”

Kara lets out a soft laugh, pressing a short kiss to Lena’s lips. “Sleep, princess.”

And with that, Lena drifts off.

[trashpandato]

Magic

“Ah fuck,” Alex growls as the coin clatters on the tile floor.

“Language, babe. You know with Kara here, Esme can still hear you even from her room.”

Kelly’s admonishment is firm but warm, and Lena has to smile when she sees Alex’s frustration morph into adoration for her wife.

“Sorry,” Alex mumbles, before she bends down to pick up the coin to try again.

“It’s okay to fumble a little,” Lena reminds her gently, “the key is going to be to create enough distraction with your voice and words that your subject won’t really be paying attention to your hand.”

They’ve been at it for a while now. It being Lena teaching Alex a couple of very simple magic tricks. Alex isn’t particularly good at learning them, but when Esme came home from preschool a couple of weeks ago babbling non-stop about the “cool tricks” her teacher showed them, Alex promised herself to learn a few so she could keep the glee going at home, too. After she spent a few evenings trying and failing miserably to teach them herself through some YouTube videos, she sent a call for help to the Superfriends. 

And here they are now, Lena sitting in front of Alex, teaching her to hide a coin behind her fingers long enough to pull them out of Lena’s hair.

“You know,” Alex says as she shakes out her hand to get ready for her next attempt, “I know you’re a witch and all, but I never thought Lena Luthor would know these kinds of party tricks.”

Lena laughs. She demonstrates again how to tuck the coin first between and then behind her fingers while Alex watches.

“Lex taught me. Long ago, when we were both young. I think initially, he was trying to impress me, to be the cool older brother. But I saw through the tricks very quickly, so he pivoted to teaching them to me.”

Alex nods. She knows that Lena doesn’t like talking about Lex, especially not about this version of him, the brother who welcomed her into the family when no one else did, the brother she loved. Admittedly, Alex struggles to reconcile what she knows about Lex Luthor with the fragments of stories Lena has shared over the years, but she keeps that to herself. Mostly.

“Alright. Let me try this again.” 

Alex concentrates, holds up her hand, and this time, the coin doesn’t fall. She lets out a loud whoop and gives Lena a high five. The excitement and noise must have drifted into Esme’s room because only a few moments later, both Esme and Kara appear in the kitchen.

“What’s all the ruckus about?” Kara asks.

Alex claps her hands together, beaming. “I learned a new skill. Here,” she waves at Esme to come closer. “Let me show you.”

Esme bounces over to her adoptive mom and Alex directs her to sit down on Lena’s lap. Esme is practically buzzing, kicking her legs out excitedly. 

“What is it, what is it?”

“Hold still,” Alex tells her, and then she focuses on the trick. “See how I have nothing in my hands?”

Alex waves her hands briefly and Esme nods.

“Okay. But you know what? I think you, you might have something riiiight here.”

Alex slowly lifts her hand toward Esme’s left ear and produces the coin. It’s a bit clumsy but the coin doesn’t fall. It sits right in Alex’s hand.

For a brief second, Esme is silent. Then, she frowns.

“You had it tucked between your fingers.”

Alex sighs. She should have known that Esme would see through it. She’s just about to explain that she just wanted to learn a fun trick for her when Lena interrupts.

“I think that was my fault, actually.”

Esme twists in Lena’s lap so she can look at her, and Alex tilts her head in surprise.

“How so?”

“Well, you see, I gave Alex the wrong coin.” 

Lena holds out her hand and Alex places the coin in her palm.

“This one,” Lena continues, “is just a regular coin. We need a magic coin for this to work, so let’s just, let’s get rid of this one, yeah?”

Esme nods, her gaze locked on Lena’s palm. Lena closes her hand, shakes it a couple of times and then opens it again and the coin is gone. Completely gone. Alex tries to see if Lena has it tucked behind her fingers but then Lena turns her hand around and spreads her fingers wide and the coin is nowhere to be seen.

“Now, should we try and find the magic coin?”

Esme nods vigorously this time, her eyes bright and curious.

“Alright. Let me see. Hm,” Lena turns to look over at Kara, who’s been standing a couple of feet behind her, observing. “Ah. I think I know where it is. Kara, could you come over here for a second?”

Kara smiles and steps closer. Lena gestures at her to bend down a little so she is face to face with both Lena and Esme. Then Lena turns to Esme.

“Can you see the coin?”

Esme shakes her head. “No. Where is it?”

“See if it is behind her ears maybe?”

Esme frowns a little but then both hands come up to move Kara’s hair aside. She checks both ears, several times.

“I don’t see it,” Esme pouts.

“Check again,” Lena encourages, giving Alex a quick wink.

And this time, when Esme’s hand moves towards Kara’s right ear to brush her hair to the side, a coin tumbles right into her little hand.

“It’s here!” Esme exclaims loudly, showing off the coin. She hops off Lena’s lap and runs into her room, squealing.

Kara looks a little stunned. “What? How did you do that?”

Alex huffs out a laugh. “You know, it’s not really fair to use actual magic. How am I supposed to keep up with that?”

But Lena just smiles. “No magic involved, Agent Danvers.”

And that leaves Alex just as stunned as her sister. “Wait. Really?”

“Mm,” Lena hums. 

From back behind the kitchen counter, Kelly laughs.

“You’ve always been good with your hands, Lena. Maybe Alex needs a bit more practice?” And then, she smirks: “I’m happy to volunteer as a test subject.”

[swaps55]

That ask about Shiala made me remember a thing I often thought and giggled about - One night the Yang crew went out drinking and dancing and competing over who could get the most people to give them their number (contact info, comm frequency or whatever) and obviously Sam won.

Please enlighten me! How?! Did he actually flirt? Did he make the people think that he flirted? Did he bully them into giving him their number? Did he let them know about the bet and made them play along?

And what did Kaidan think about it? Did he even try to win or did he sulk about Sam charming people all over the place?

And what about Sam? What did he think about Kaidan flirting around?

Ahaha, I have actually tried to write this a couple of times - including as a first kiss AU - and just not been successful. This is in part because Kaidan did get too sulky about it and the tone wasn't right for something that was supposed to be stupid, idiot, squad fun, and part of it because I do not know how to write about hitting on people in bars. XD

But I can tell you this: Sam wins because he doesn't try. He's not interested in anyone but has a lot of confidence and is insanely comfortable in his own skin. So he's a magnet for people who want to get in his pants. All he has to do is turn off the death stare that he uses to repel people.

Aslany is too hostile. If anything she probably winds up with a one night stand and no phone numbers. Clay doesn't win because he he's a quality over quantity kind of guy. At some point, Kara resorts to flashing people and probably nearly gets arrested, which further slows down Clay (though he probably manages to get the number of the person trying to throw Kara in the brig).

And Kaidan is just...not built for this, lol.

Eh, what the hell. This is what I wrote for that abandoned first kiss AU based on the Phone Number Contest:

~

“You know, this may be the first time I’ve been hit on so kindly by someone who would clearly prefer to be hitting on someone else.” The brunette woman sitting at the bar swirls the toothpick in her martini, eyebrow raised as Kaidan sighs and leans an elbow on the counter.

“Sorry.” Someone bumps his elbow trying to get to the bartender, and Kaidan shoots them an irritated look. The Space Bar is flooded with people tonight. Between the asari pop cover band on the stage in the back – humans shouldn’t cover asari songs; it just doesn’t sound right – and the overlapping conversations getting louder with each drink, it’s quickly becoming his least favorite place.

“You don’t do this often, do you?” the brunette asks, lip curving in a smile. She is attractive. No denying that. Beaudoin would be interested. Aslany, maybe.

Interested isn’t the point, he reminds himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shepard laughs as the woman he’s talking to across the room at a high-top table drops her shoulder and leans in closer. Kaidan takes a long, deliberate sip of his drink. The brunette follows his eye.

“He’s quite handsome, by the way.”

“I’m sorry?” The damn music is way too loud.

She nods towards Shepard. “He’s not into men, I’m guessing?”

A flush burns Kaidan’s neck. He’s not into anything, Kaidan almost says, but isn’t so far gone on the whiskey to let that thought slip out into the open. Though, if he drinks much faster, this damned game isn’t going to end with a winner – it’s going to end with someone peeling Kaidan off the floor.

He steals another glance at Shepard, who has parted ways with the woman and is now on his way back to the bar, pausing to waggle a subtle eyebrow in Kaidan’s direction before settling in to wait for the next one. He’s the only person Kaidan knows who can wear BDUs like they were tailored to fit him.

How the hell is he good at everything? Never in Shepard’s life has he wanted to pick someone up in a bar, yet an hour into this fucking game he’s had six people try and pick him up, and those are just the ones Kaidan’s seen.

“It’s, uh. It’s not. He’s not….” Kaidan clears his throat. “What did you say?”

At least she looks genuinely amused rather than ready to throw a drink in his face.

Kara Pendergrass chooses that moment to run up and practically barrel into his lap, nearly spilling his drink. “I fucking got one, can you believe this shit? People will do anything to see a pair of tits. Sex is so fucking weird.”

The brunette’s eyebrows nearly arch off of her head. Kaidan inserts himself between Pendergrass and the brunette, and apologizes. “Please don’t mind her. She means well.”

Pendergrass looks from him to the woman, then leans over Kaidan’s shoulder. “He’s a nice guy who puts up with a lot of shit, and you should give him your phone number. Because if you don’t, Beaudoin is going to win and I’ll have to watch him gloat about it for a week.”

Kaidan sets his drink on the bar, grabs Pendergrass by both shoulders and steers her away, apologizing over his shoulder to the wide-eyed brunette. They bump into at least four people before they find an open pocket that’s even closer to the dance floor and the crooning band.

“Why?” he demands.

“Come on,” she says with a grin. “She was gonna give it to you.”

“Hardly.”

She slugs him in the shoulder. “People like you, LT. Think it’s your face. If you tried not looking miserable, you might have more luck.”

Elsewhere in the bar, someone shrieks. Kaidan looks over his shoulder, fervently hoping he doesn’t know the cause, and sees Aslany standing over a very dismayed serviceman who is now wearing his drink.

“Fucking hell,” Kaidan mutters under his breath, already moving towards her, but Beaudoin gets there first, like he’d been keeping tabs on her the whole time. In the blink of an eye, Beaudoin is buying him a drink, escorting him away, and probably gets his phone number in the process.

…Did they plan that?

Are they a team? His competitive side flares up a little. Maybe more than a little.

[chaotic-super]

The Vampire Woman - 6

“Jess, can you please stop pacing? It’s making me uneasy.”

Kara’s ears pin onto the voice, familiar yet not quite. She’s heard it before, she’s certain of it, but everything is hazy and not quite right. Her eyelids are heavy and her limbs leaden, nothing but dead weight.

She lets out an annoyed groan while she tries to pry her eyes open enough to see who that damned voice belongs to but her eyes don’t make it open before her groan alerts the person that she’s somewhat awake. “Kara? Kara can you hear me?”

Letting out a second groan, Kara gives up on trying to open her eyes. She’s lying down and she’s surrounded by warmth and the cosy softness of some kind of blanket so, for now, she figures that she may as well just relaxing into it.

“Kara, It’s Lena, you passed out.” Sha hears the voice say and then she feels something breaking through her warmth, two cold hands grip her cheeks, turning her head to one side ever so slightly. “Kara?”

“M’wake.” The words are slurred together and thick with sleep but the message gets across all the same. “M’wake.”

Kara manages to crack her eyes open but almost immediately closes them, the soft yellow light way too bright for her unfocused eyes despite it being relatively unbothersome earlier. It takes her a second to acclimatise but when she does, she meets the eyes that have been both hunting and haunting her.

Her vision is blurry but she can see those eyes clear as day. Her view of those eyes is quickly cut off those because Jess slots herself in the space between Lena and the bed. “Kara, how do you feel?”

Jess’s professional voice and demeanour does nothing for Kara’s throbbing head, her migraine coming back tenfold from earlier. “Like crap.”

Kara’s tongue feels too big for her mouth and she struggles with the words, rewarding herself for managing to get two words out by closing her eyes again and sinking back into the bed.

“Hey, don’t close your eyes, come on.” Her arms are grabbed and she finds herself tugged up into a sitting position, eyes popping open from the sudden movement.

She whines, an annoying high pitched sound emanating from the back of her throat and it makes both Jess and Lena wince with the sound of it.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Jess grabs her ankles, twisting her until her legs are dangling over the edge of her bed and she’s fully sat up causing the blanket that had been draped over her to fall down around her waist. “Ms Danvers, you need to drink plenty of water and I will grab you that sandwich to eat.”

“Pizza.”

“Pizza? We have a sandwich, besides it’s not even lunch time yet.” Jess scowls at her, obviously not a big fan of hers now, her indifference from before having soured in her absence, turning into loathing apparently.

“Pizza.” Kara says resolutely, holding eye contact with the shorter woman and not backing down. As far as she’s concerned everyone in the building should be grovelling at her feet, thanking her for donating her blood after everything  that happened.

Jess turns away from her, lips tightened in annoyance and face steeled, a fire in her eyes that is burning bright, her anger stoking the flames. “Ms Luthor-“

Lena knows Jess almost as well as Jess knows her and she can tell that she’s reaching her breaking point, Kara grating on her because she’s still mad about the garlic. Kara bringing it with her, as understandable as it is, isn’t something that she’s willing to look past just yet, too overprotective of Lena to do so.

“Jess, please acquire Ms Danvers some pizza, she deserves it after doing me this favour and seeing as she’s having a bad reaction to it, I think we more than owe her.” Lena’s tone is stern, not particularly pleased with how abrasive Jess is being.

“Yes, Ms Luthor.” The fire in Jess’ eyes dims slightly but doesn’t completely diminish but she does respect her boss and not just because she’s the woman giving her a paycheque every month. She takes her leave, rushing off to go and find some pizza for Kara.

Lena watches her go with a fond smile, secretly loving how overprotective Jess can be of her. Jess has been with her since she started the company and she’s the only person that isn’t afraid to tell her when she’s doing something wrong, a trait that Lena is very impressed by.

Turning her attention back to Kara she gives the woozy blonde a tight lipped smile. “So, are you feeling ok?”

Kara nods, her eyes flickering shut for a brief second, struggling to keep them open. “Yeah, I’m just tired. I don’t feel nauseous anymore, I won’t be sick again I don’t think.”

“I’m happy to hear that.” Lena answers, pressing a water bottle into Kara’s hand. “Drink up, it will help make you feel better.”

“I’ll be right as rain in a minute.” Kara mumbles, lifting the bottle to her lips and taking a massive swig from it, downing half of it in one go. “I’ll have some pizza and then I’ll go home to catch up on some sleep.”

A pang of guilt eats away at Lena. She may not have been fully in control of herself before, but that doesn’t mean that she wasn’t vividly aware of what was happening, that she wasn’t oblivious to the awful thing she was trying to do.

It doesn’t help that she’s the reason that Kara didn’t sleep properly or have time to eat anything before she was brought here and as a consequence of that, the human has thrown up and she’s passed out, albeit only for a minute or two, but it was long enough for her to call Jess in a panic and have her come and check on her, glad that she has someone with at least some first aid knowledge in the building at this time in the morning. It’s not even eight thirty yet.

“Sorry about that.” Lena says glancing down at her watch. Most staff don’t come in until around nine but she knows that some of her employees like to come a few minutes early and she doesn’t want anyone that trusted finding out about her…requirement of blood. “Would you mind if we go upstairs and wait in my office for Jess to come back? The lab will be needed soon.”

Kara slides off of the bed, landing on unsteady feet, hands gripping the edge of the bed until she’s sure she has her footing. “Ok.”

Any blood drips on the floor from her messy feeding have already been cleaned up, it gave her something to do while Jess was checking on Kara and she already tidied away all of the equipment so all Lena has to do is grab the sheets off of the bed and toss them in a specific basket in the corner of the lab so they can be sent off to be cleaned.

Once she’s done that, she offers Kara her arm to lean on to make the walk to the elevator a bit easier and she has to hide her disappointment when Kara’s hand gets half way over to her before she changes her mind and just keeps walking.

There’s a tentative level of trust between them but it doesn’t stop Kara from clamming up and pushing herself against one side of the elevator, nervous about being in such tight quarters with the vampire woman, even after being alone in the lab with her and having her looking over her when she was passed out.

“So, you’re a vampire with a whole ass company?” Kara asks, too awkward to stand there in complete silence.

“That’s not how I would have put it but yes, I do own a ‘whole ass company’ as you so graciously described it.” Lena chuckles lightly.

Kara hums in response, and then changes topics, asking a question that’s been on her mind for a little while. “Did you mean what you said the first time we met?”

Lena does, and the memory of the question Kara asked her while she was being pinned to that wall has been in the forefront of her mind since she asked it, since she let her go because of it. “I do.”

“Have you not been able to watch the sunrise from like, a dark shadow or something? I don’t know, I guess not the most important thing in the world but it is something that I suppose people take for granted, being able to stand out in the open and let the light of the sun wash over you in the morning.”

Lena thinks on it, Kara’s eyes burning into the side of her face while she does so. “Perhaps, but it wouldn’t be worth the risk, it is very painful for someone like me to be out in daylight and if even a tiny patch of my skin comes into contact with the sunlight, it will burn me so I just stay inside. I do miss it, I recall watching the sunrise as a young girl back when I was still human.”

“Wait, you used to be human?” Kara asks, genuinely surprised although when she thinks about it, it does make a lot of sense. She did quite a lot of research after her first attack but she never got a lot of information about where vampires actually come from.

Lena takes in a shaky breath and it doesn’t go unnoticed. “I was, a long time ago. The truth is that I was bitten by a vampire myself, she was going to kill me, just how I was going to kill you but the attack was interrupted and she didn’t take enough blood to kill me and was cut down by a guard where she stood, but after that, I started changing, my heart stopped beating and the sun began to burn me, my appetite couldn’t be satiated until eventually I did to someone else what she did to me, except I didn’t fail.

“My family was very wealthy, we were nobles over in England centuries ago and they are no longer anything other than a distant memory, that’s the worst part of being a vampire, forgetting the people you love because of how much time has passed, knowing with each passing day you’re forgetting them a little more until one day you can’t remember them at all, living completely unaware of the life you once had.”

Lena keeps her eyes locked on the little screen that tracks the floors, watching as they get closer and closer to the top floor where her office is, using it as a distraction so she doesn’t have to look at Kara, scared to see her face after an admission that big, one that she isn’t sure why she announced to the woman.

Just before the doors open Lena feels a warm hand on her arm. “I’m sorry, that can’t be easy.”

The doors open, giving Lena and excuse to change the subject. “This is our floor, it’s just this way.”

Taking that as a cue that Lena doesn’t want to talk about that anymore, Kara keeps her mouth shut even though she wants to hear more, the reporter in her rejoicing with each new titbit of information being thrown her way, each sentence increasing her yearning for more to the point where she’d happily sit in a room with the vampire just to hear her entire life story, which based on the fact that she’s admitted to being centuries old, would be remarkably long.

Kara follows behind Lena closely, impressed by the fancy look to the building, something she didn’t get to admire on the way in since she was brought in from the back alley and then brought straight now to the labs. There wasn’t really time for a guided tour but it would have been nice if they had at least offered it up as an option.

Lena opens up the door to what Kara can only assume to be her office, holding it open for Kara, letting her walk in first, giving her the chance to take in the space, to let her be disappointed by how grand yet boring the office is.

“You have enough money to have a building this big and yet you have the most boring office on the planet. What’s up with the monochrome white look you have going on? This would be a terrible place to accidentally spill our coffee…or your blood, whatever you’re into.” Kara gawks at the place, outraged at the lack of creativity in the place, every bit of inspiration and imagination she’s ever had draining out of her body because of the soul sucking dullness that the room embodies.

What can Lena really say to that? The only excuse she has is that she likes the way her dim lights reflect off of the clean surfaces, the white letting her feel like she’s bathing in the warm orangey-yellow lights.

Even the blinds are white, blocking out any hint of natural sunlight from seeping in. They only get opened when it’s night time and she can go out but even then, most of the time she’s only travelling from her place to work so she doesn’t have them open very often.

“I like it, I don’t like distractions while I work.” Lena settles on.

Kara snorts, an unattractive noise that she doesn’t try to muffle even a little bit. “Yeah, there’s definitely nothing to distract you in here unless you consider the fact that the white of your table is the tiniest touch a brighter shade of white than the shade of white of your couch.”

Lena doesn’t have to look at either items of furniture to know that Kara is just making fun of her, but her tone isn’t harsh, it isn’t even judgemental, it’s light and airy, no malice in her words, just amusement.

Kara saunters across the room, her skin reflecting the light the same way the rest of the room does because her skin is so pale. She drops herself down onto the couch, resisting the urge to kick her feet up onto the coffee table the way she would if she was at home.

“So, I just want to be clear with something.” Kara makes direct eye contact with Lena, regretting it and wondering why she keeps torturing herself with the beautiful green eyes the woman possesses, and briefly wondering if her eyes hold some kind of weird vampire power that she isn’t aware of. “I want to know if we are in agreement that now I have donated blood to you, we are even and there will be no more breaking into my place or trying to attack me or anything even remotely connected to things like that.”

Lena sits opposite her, taking up residence in a chair that she is now noticing that she needs to replace because it is ungodly how uncomfortable the chair is, but then again if she keeps it and just doesn’t sit there herself it will come in handy, any unexpected guests would be rushing out of the door because of it.

“Of course, I never should have expected you to follow through with the agreement from last night anyway, I should have known better than to have Jess come and get you, I should have given you the option to come on your own. I won’t bother you again, Kara, I promise.”

“Thank you, I do appreciate that sentiment and I suppose that it’s not all bad, it finally convinced me to just take the leap and buy a car so I won’t be walking home from work anymore.” Kara presses herself back into the cushions of the couch, finding it surprisingly comfortable but still wishing that Jess would hurry up with the pizza so she can get home and go to sleep.

Lena smiles but it doesn’t even begin to reach her eyes. “That is…yeah, that’s good. There’s a lot of dangerous people around, not just vampires either, as you know, but I am also sorry that I robbed you of feeling comfortable walking home.”

“I was never all that comfortable to begin with, I just didn’t want to spend any money I didn’t have to, it’s done now though so I guess it’s ok.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do to make up for some of the undue stress and injuries I have caused, I would very much appreciate the chance to do just that.” Lena ducks her head, hoping that Kara has something she deliver on, something to ease her guilt.

Kara knows what to ask for but she also doesn’t want to get what she wants to ask for. She’s asking anyway. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this but I work at CatCo Worldwide Media as a reporter so say I were to do an article on vampires, would you let me interview you?”

Lena freezes, a mixture of the shock of Kara asking her for something like that and also a healthy dose of terror, but still only a fraction of that in which she inflicted upon Kara. Kara has the power to expose her for what she is, she has the power to destroy her entire life. She can’t believe that a reporter of all people knows her secret, this is the worst possible job Kara could have.

Kara tries to stay calm, brushing off the startled, deer in the headlights look that Lena has been struck with. Content to wait for her to come to a decision, she basks in the silence. Whatever answer she gets, she’s going to win. If Lena says no then she’ll never have to see the woman again and if she says yes then she gets a new source to add to her ever growing repertoire as she builds up her contacts with her career.

The only problem she’ll face is that if Lena agrees then she’ll have to see her again, she won’t be able to simply expel the woman from her life and she’ll have to put herself in a position where she can be hurt again, or maybe even worse this time.

Lena opens her mouth to speak and Kara ends herself on the edge of her seat, intrigued to see what answer she’s going to get.

Click here to read The Vampire Woman on Ao3!

Click here to read a few more chapters early on Patreon!

[liaromancewriter]

A True Prince

Premise: Ethan brings Cassie coffee, aka the fairy tale comes true.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine) Rating/Category: General. Fluff. Words: 640

A/N: I caught up this morning on the replies/comments to A True Fairytale edit. And it ended up inspiring this short fic. I wrote it quite fast before starting work, so please excuse any errors.

Submission for @choices-november2022 Day 19, “Appreciate the moment”

Ethan Ramsey walked into Derry Coffee Roasters with the self-assurance of someone who knew exactly what they wanted. He looked neither left nor right, just took his place in line, head down as he scrolled through emails on his phone.

He smiled when a notification appeared at the top of his screen. His response was almost Pavlovian as he clicked on the banner to switch to Pictagram. It had been like that from the start, ever since he’d turned on notifications for Cassie’s posts and comments.

Emails forgotten, he scrolled down the feed to read her latest reply to Bryce and chuckled at Varma’s comment. It was a good thing Max and Sienna didn’t live in Boston. He suspected he’d see even less of his wife then.

Ethan knew Cassie was happy about their relationship, but she missed having Sienna in Boston. He remembered her saying she and Max had always lived near each other until she moved to Boston. It had taken her time to adjust, with Sienna filling the gap. And now both her best friends lived in a different city.

As he reread her caption, he thought that something about Cassie brought out the troll in him. He couldn’t help needling her and found himself publicly replying to her post, laughing inside when he imagined her face pouting as she read it.

Little did she know that he was already getting her coffee. After a long morning in the community clinic, he only wanted fresh air and a chance to decompress. He’d thought to take a walk around the park close by. But when he saw Cassie’s post, he detoured to Derry’s.

The customer ahead of him moved away, and Ethan stepped up to the counter.

“Hi, Dr. Ramsey.” The barista smiled, having known him for a couple of years now. “This isn’t your usual time.”

“Special occasion, Kara,” he replied.

“Your usual?”

Ethan started to say yes, but then a thought occurred to him. “Let’s switch it up today. A Cortado for me and a flat white for Cassie, extra foam.”

“Chocolate caramel cupcake?” Kara asked as she rang up his order, well aware of his wife’s addictions.

“You know us too well,” Ethan nodded and took his wallet out to pay.

The door behind him swung open with a rush of air, and he glanced over his shoulder. His blue eyes locked with hers, and he thought he saw a hint of surprise in Cassie’s green eyes. Then she threw him a wink, a teasing grin hovering on her lips as she walked over to his side.

He finished paying for his order, inwardly groaning when he saw the dreamy look on Kara’s face. He took Cassie’s hand in his, and they moved down to the bar to wait for their drinks.

“You really are my prince!” Cassie exclaimed when the barista handed her the cupcake.

Cassie circled her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss his jaw.

Ethan rolled his eyes dramatically, but his smile gave him away. “Your wish is my command.”

Cassie laughed. “That’s a genie, Ethan.”

“As you wish?” He quirked one eyebrow.

“Westley from Princess Bride,” she said, shaking her head in amused exasperation.

“Ah well,” he shrugged. “I never claimed to be a prince anyway.”

“And yet, here we are,” she said softly.

They grabbed their drinks and walked over to the high back armchairs in the corner. Cassie waited for Ethan to sit, then she plopped down on his lap, her legs hanging over the side of the chair.

“You might not be a prince, Dr. Ramsey,” Cassie said, brushing her hand down the side of his face. “But you are mine, and I am yours. So let’s appreciate the moment.”

And for the next half hour, work and emails were forgotten as they did just that.

---------------------

All Fics & Edits: @a-crepusculo @annfg8 @bex-la-get @bluebelle08 @cariantha @choicesaddict5 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @mysticalgalaxysstuff @openheartforeverinmyheart @peonierose @takemyopenheart @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin​ @rosebudde​ @trappedinfanfiction​ @vi-writes-stuff​ @zahrachoices​

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations​ @openheartfanfics​

Ethan & Cassie only: @custaroonie​ @lady-calypso​ @hopelessromantic1352​

[searidings]

this is what happens when @ekingston and i get our hands on the prompt “that's my wife!” and agree that she'll draw my idea for it and i'll write hers (aka hearing kara call it out as she watches lena being wheeled down a hospital corridor)

“Excuse me, you can't go through there!”

Kara growls. The woman blocking her path is short and gently rounded, the kind lines of her face drooping in disapproval above her nurse's scrubs. “No visitor access beyond this point, dear. Immediate family only.”

“Immediate— you're joking, right?” Kara cranes her head, peering through the closing doors to catch a last glimpse of Lena's gurney as it rounds the corner at the end of the hall. “That's my wife!”

The nurse gapes at her. “Your—?”

Kara growls again, louder. It's a good thing she'd blown out her powers twenty minutes ago, or she would not be held responsible for the Kryptonian-shaped hole in NC Memorial Hospital's expensive surgery doors. “Yes, my wi—”

Her snarl is cut off by a hand clamping down firmly over her mouth from behind. Kara's first instinct is to bite it. She resists, narrowly, as the familiar scent of shea butter moisturiser registers in her adrenaline-fogged brain.

“You sure about that?” Alex squeaks around a nervous laugh, voice pitched a half-octave too high. She removes her hand from Kara's mouth, wiping her damp palm on her pants with a wrinkled nose. “Get hit on the head during that fight, did you?”

Kara whirls on her sister, eyes blazing. “Am I sure?” she parrots incredulously. Alex cowers a little beneath the force of her stare. “Unless you're trying to tell me I hallucinated my entire wedding—”

“Supergirl isn't married,” Alex stage-whispers loud enough to be heard in Florida, glancing pointedly down at Kara's ash-caked body and oh yeah, she's still wearing her supersuit.

Right, right.

The nurse – Rosemary, her badge reads – finally picks her jaw up off the floor long enough to speak. Her eyes are wide, sparkling with sudden glee. “So Lena Luthor and Su—”

Kara's hackles rise at the suggestion in her tone. “Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers are happily married,” she interrupts sternly. “You might have seen the wedding photos in last month's Vogue.”

The nurse smirks. At her elbow, Alex drops her head into her hands.

“Kara Danvers, hm? Amazing what a pair of glasses do for you, dear.” Rosemary's brow quirks with impish satisfaction and, oh. Whoops. It would appear that in her haste to quash any potential rumours of Lena's infidelity behind the back of her very recent, very publicly human wife, she'd forgotten about the other delicate matter at hand.

Alex sighs so long and so heavy Kara legitimately marvels that she doesn't pass out from the strain. “I knew keeping a spare NDA in my back pocket would pay off,” her sister groans, thrusting an official-looking, if crumpled, contract beneath the nurse's nose.

“Sorry,” Kara murmurs sheepishly as Rosemary signs away page after page of her right to ever disclose Supergirl's identity in any capacity. “I wasn't thinking, I can't— Alex, it's Lena.”  

“I know, I know,” her sister soothes, frustration dissipating as she reaches out to pull Kara into her side, ignoring the soot and grit that smear across her jacket at the contact. “She's gonna be okay.”

“But what if she's not?” Kara asks and the sobs arrive then, the last remnants of the fight or flight response that had propelled her this far dissipating beneath the weight of her terror. “She stepped right in front of that bullet, Alex! Of all the stupid, reckless—”

“If I recall, she was pushing you back after you shoved her out of the way in the first place,” Alex hums thoughtfully. Kara's tear-filled eyes snap to her face, incredulous, and her sister grimaces. “Right, right. Not the time.”

“She has to be okay,” she gasps, clutching hard at her sister's jacket as her knees threaten to give out beneath her. “She has to, I can't— I feel like I can't breathe. Like my heart's been ripped out.”

Alex clicks her tongue in sympathy, wrapping a firm arm round Kara's waist and guiding her to a nearby row of chairs. Rosemary deposits the signed NDA wordlessly on the hard plastic beside them, reaching into her scrubs to produce a pack of tissues.

Alex accepts, extracting one to dab at Kara's snotty, tear-stained face with her free hand. “Welcome to married life, kid,” she chuckles, pressing a kiss to Kara's matted hair. “It can be a real bitch.”

-

It's a long night.  

It's a long night, a night of anxious waiting and barely-restrained nausea and vending machine coffee so bad even Nia won't drink it. Her family, their family, crowd the waiting room, dozing across the rows of seats as the hours drag on and on.

Alex tries her best, at varying intervals, to force her back to the Tower for a stint under the sun lamps. Every time without fail, Kara sets her jaw, then sets her feet in the middle of the surgical wing waiting room and refuses to budge.

This leads to several arguments, and a lot of impassioned shoving.  

“What if she needs me?” Kara laments tearily, pout activated and puppy dog eyes firmly in place. Alex, mid-football tackle with her arms and right shoulder braced against Kara's torso as she attempts to use her entire bodyweight to force her sister toward the exit, only grunts with exertion. Behind them, J’onn dozes in the corner. Brainy and Kelly and Nia continue their conversation without batting an eyelid.

“No, scratch that, she does need me,” Kara corrects, unaffected by her sister's NFL-worthy body slam. ��She's been shot. I'm not going anywhere.”

Alex, perhaps finally sensing defeat after her fourth unsuccessful attempt, gives one final shove with all her strength. Kara doesn't so much as wobble, and her sister releases her with a huff. “Fine. But for the love of God, change your clothes before you start shouting about your wife again,” she pants, red-faced and sweating as she collapses into a nearby chair. “That was my last NDA.”

That's a compromise she can make. Kara accepts the bundle of clothes Nia presents her with, stripping out of her dirt-caked suit and re-donning her glasses. Thankfully, the only person around to witness Kara entering the bathroom as a superhero and re-emerging as a Catco reporter is Rosemary.  

The updates on Lena's condition are sporadic at best. By the time the first surgeon emerges to say the bullet has been removed from Lena's chest cavity Kara's accidentally cracked three plastic chairs, advanced all the way to Lollipop Land on Alex's Candy Crush, and worn a groove into the waiting room linoleum with her nervous pacing.

When another doctor emerges three hours later to tell them Lena had developed a tension pneumothorax and needs additional treatment, Kara's made it to Rainbow Reef and chewed her bottom lip bloody.

When, at five in the morning, yet another doctor appears to inform them that Lena is being placed on anti-radiation medication to counter the Kryptonite that had coated the bullet, Kara's finished all nine thousand nine hundred and thirty-five levels of the damn game. The doctor leaves, promising to be back with more news soon, and Kara squeezes her sister's hand so hard poor Nurse Rosemary has to be called to administer an ice pack for the bruising, solar flare be damned.

Dawn breaks to find Kara scratchy-eyed and grumpy, worn ragged with worry. The waiting room begins to fill up around them, new patients and their relatives coming and going, and still there's nothing new on Lena. Every time another scrub-clad surgeon pushes through the doors Kara's heart skips a beat, all of them sitting up straighter in their seats, but every time the doctor passes them by.

Kara's just wolfed down six cold breakfast sandwiches procured by Brainy on his sojourn to the hospital cafeteria and is debating the relative merits of starting Candy Crush over from scratch when another young doctor appears. Her scrub cap has avocados on it. Kara likes her already.

“Family of Ms Luthor?” she calls, looking around, and Kara pushes up hard from her chair to the resounding snap of cracking plastic. Whoops.

“It's Luthor-Danvers,” she gabbles as she bounds over to the surgeon, palms sweating. No matter how many times she hears it, it never loses its thrill. “I'm, I'm her wife.”

The young doctor's features soften. “Of course. I've come to let you know that it looks like Ms Luthor-Danvers is out of the woods. She's sedated and still on an anti-radiation drip, but she's through the worst of it.” She appraises Kara, gaze lingering on her chewed-raw lips and clenching fingers, then leans closer conspiratorially. “It's not general visiting hours yet, but you can see her, if you'd like.”

“Yes!” Kara's shouting almost before the surgeon has finished speaking. “Yes, please, yes.”

She hugs them all, Alex and Brainy and Nia and Kelly and J’onn, and leaves them in the waiting room as she follows the doctor's sunshine-yellow crocs down the hall.

They round corner after corner, an interminable maze. Powerless as she is, she can't hear Lena’s heartbeat, and the absence of the steady beat that has become the soundtrack to her existence sets her even more on edge.  

But at last they turn a corner, and there she is. She's pale and bandaged and her eyes are closed, creamy skin streaked with dirt and bruises, but she's there, she's alive, she's Lena.  

The surgeon holds the door open for her with a smile and Kara's across the room in a heartbeat, smoothing a hand over Lena's warm cheek and pressing kiss after kiss to her forehead and hair.  

“I love you, I love you,” she whisper-cries against Lena's temple, tucking her matted curls behind her ears. The smell of blood and dirt and antiseptic is almost overwhelming, but beneath the dust and debris caught up in her hair Lena's scalp smells the same as always. Kara presses her face to the crown of her head and inhales deeply, soaking it in.  

“Why'd you have to be so damn brave?” she whispers, nuzzling her cheek against silky softness. “I love you so much. Please don't step in front of any more bullets. Please learn to be a coward, occasionally.”

The singular relief of having Lena living and breathing and in her arms again is so complete, so compounded by the fear and the adrenaline and the sleepless night and the solar flare, that she feels suddenly that she may crumple to the ground from the force of it all.

Unwilling to relinquish her hold for even a second she appraises the bandages covering Lena's right side, then crawls onto the hospital bed on her left, careful to avoid her many wires and monitors. She tucks herself in beside her on the wide mattress, chin hooked over Lena's shoulder and face pressed to the side of her neck, and lets the tears that haven't really stopped falling since that bullet had left its chamber fall for just a little longer.

Nothing matters outside of the two of them, outside of the warmth of Lena's body and the softness of her skin beneath Kara's lips and the steady thud of her heart beneath Kara's palm. Nothing else in the world exists, so when an unfamiliar male voice sounds from the doorway it takes her a moment to register the intrusion.

“Excuse me, ma’am, you really can't be on the bed with her,” the strange, disembodied voice calls from behind her and Kara frowns tiredly, unable and unwilling to acknowledge anything outside of the woman in her arms.

But before she's even managed to raise her head another voice sounds, the soft tones of a young surgeon in an avocado scrub cap.  

“Oh, honestly, Peter,” the kindly doctor says with gentle reproach, a quiet calm washing over the room as the door is pulled closed and she and Lena are left alone. “Leave them be. That's her wife.”

[thebluewritingbench]

happiness 16 feels so supercorp to me fjdbcksh

happiness 16 from this prompt list!!

“You once watched me spill Doritos on the floor, eat them, and you still came over and kissed me after you brushed your teeth. If that’s not love I don’t know what is.”

Lena’s stilettos are on the floor.

They’re lying in the entranceway of the apartment when Kara walks in, clearly kicked off and abandoned. Kara stares at them as she unties her own shoes and lines them up by the door, then reaches for Lena’s to do the same. There’s no indication that Lena’s home, other than the discarded shoes, no voice calling out a greeting. But the shoes are there, which means she’s here.

Something’s off.

Kara finds her in the living room. Lena’s curled into one end of the couch in Kara’s faded National City University sweatshirt, her knees tucked into her chest, her hair loose around her shoulders. Her hand rests against an empty wine glass on the arm of the couch, fingers drumming lightly. The bottle sits on the table in front of her, at least two-thirds empty.

There are only so many things in the world that cause Lena Luthor to make herself small. Kara’s got most of them memorized, because Lena is generally someone who’s so big in presence, the way she holds herself, her intelligence, her wit, that the moments when she seems small stand out. So, when Lena senses her in the doorway and glances up with a half-hearted smile, it’s fairly easy to guess what’s on her mind.

“Hey,” says Lena, voice hoarse, her finger circling the rim of her wine glass as Kara sits down beside her. The edges of the glass are stained with the remnants of her lipstick. Her lips are stained with the remnants of the wine.

Kara says, “You didn’t tell me you were seeing your mother today.”

Lena gives a small, humourless chuckle. “I didn’t think you’d approve.”

“She’s your mother. You don’t need my approval to see her,” says Kara. When Lena doesn’t respond, she adds, “Okay, I don’t like it when you see her, but that’s only because you’re always hurting when you get back. I do understand why you need to occasionally, though.”

“She wanted to do lunch again,” says Lena, after a long pause, staring into the dregs of her wine. “It wasn’t so bad.”

“The wine says otherwise.”

Lena sighs, leaning forwards to put the glass on the table. “I don’t know. She didn’t say anything particularly awful today. Said L-Corp seemed to be functioning. Told me I looked less downtrodden than usual. It’s just…”

Kara reaches over to tuck a piece of hair behind Lena’s ear. “What?”

“Whenever I see her. It scares me.”

Kara frowns. “What does?”

“It’s—I don’t know. It’s the way she talks to me, about me, about Lex, even about my father, sometimes.” She sits hunched forwards, her hair a dark curtain around her face. “It’s just… I don’t think she’s ever loved a single person in her life. I know she’s never loved me. I don’t think she’s even capable of it. And I get so… so afraid that I’m just like her.”

“Oh Lena,” Kara whispers.

“The Luthors are good at making money. Manipulating people. Getting what we want. Creating things. But love? Not that. It was never important. It made you weak.”

“It doesn’t,” says Kara. “But I’m sure you’ve heard that one before.”

“Mm,” says Lena. “Yeah. It’s a very Supergirl-hope-speech sort of thing to say, isn’t it? Love isn’t weakness, love is strength.” She says the last bit in a high pitch, a poor approximation of Kara’s voice.

“I mean, it’s not wrong,” Kara says. Lena snorts, and Kara squeezes her bicep, runs her thumb across the tense line of Lena’s shoulder. “But… I don’t think that the importance of love is really whether it makes you stronger or weaker. It makes you alive. If you let it, it can make you happy.”

“It comes easier to you,” says Lena, shaking her head. “You, Alex, everyone else. You love everything so much, so easily. I’m not sure I ever really learned how to do that. I’m not even sure I’m capable of it in the same way.”

And it’s true, that while Kara’s life hasn’t exactly been easy, she’s never been lacking in love. She’s had not one loving family, but two. Many, if you count all the other families she’s made along the way. At CatCo, at the DEO, with their shifting pool of friends that come to game nights, with Lena.

Lena, who whispers, “Sometimes I’m afraid that you’ll realize there are people out there who could love you better than I can. People who could make you happier.” She’s not looking at Kara, and Kara sees the pain in her profile, in the way she closes her eyes at Kara’s stunned silence. “It’s selfish, I know,” she murmurs.

Selfish?

“Lena,” says Kara. “Look at me.”

Lena does, her eyes slightly unfocused. She blinks as Kara reaches over and brushes her hair over her shoulder, slides her hand down to lace their fingers together.

“Whatever your family’s like, however you were raised,” she says, squeezing Lena’s hand, “you are one of the most loving people I have ever met.”

Lena makes a sound of disbelief and looks away again.

“I mean it! You pick up my socks whenever I leave them on the floor without ever complaining. You stay up and wait for me every time I’m out late on Supergirl duty, even if you have an early start the next morning. You donate to pretty much every charity I can think of. You’re competitive, but every time we get put on opposite teams at game night you let me win—don’t think I haven’t noticed that.” She nudges Lena’s shoulder with her own, and the corner of Lena’s mouth quirks up. “Just last week, you watched me spill Doritos on the floor, eat them, and you still came over and kissed me after you brushed your teeth. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

Lena laughs, small but genuine. “I brushed my teeth again, after that.”

“You brushed your teeth twice,” Kara grins. “Just for one extra kiss. Don’t you see? You’re not like them at all. You’re warm, you’re loving, you’re you.”

“Yeah?” says Lena, disbelieving, but hopeful.

“Maybe not everyone is capable of love, I don’t know. Maybe Lillian isn’t—I wouldn’t exactly be surprised. But you are. You give so much of it, to everyone around you. There’s no one in the world who could make me happier, or love me better. I promise.”

Lena looks back over, her smile soft and tired. “I really do love you. So much.”

“I know,” Kara says, squeezing their intertwined hands again. “And you do it so well. Perfectly.”

“Thank you,” Lena whispers. “I love you.”

Kara tilts her head to kiss Lena softly on the forehead. “I love you, too.”

[from-a-reckless-writer]

dove down my rabbit hole of wips and one of my wips isnt a wip anymore! so here, have some gay shit....

“Kelly wants to get married in the woods, I want to get married in Midvale. So, apparently, our wedding will just happen via Zoom. Her in the woods, me at the beach. Ain’t that just fucking grand?”

Alex comes through the door like a hurricane covered in leather. Her helmet lands on Kara’s counter loudly. Her keys haphazardly thrown somewhere in the general direction of the bowl by the door.

“Then have two weddings.”

Alex follows the voice and her eyes zero in on her sister’s best friend.

Lena is sitting on the floor of Kara’s apartment, wearing an oversized sweater. Her dark hair spilling down her shoulders softly. A hand wrapping around a wine glass, the other typing on her laptop, not even jumping in the slightest at the commotion that is Alex’s entrance.

Alex plops down on the couch sighing loudly, not even batting an eye at this utterly domestic scene that is her sister washing the dishes with Lena Luthor on the floor of her apartment.

Lena doesn’t comment at the Danvers’ Sisters antics and Alex doesn’t call them out on the ridiculousness that Lena and Kara are still keen on keeping up.

The three of them already well desensitized to one another’s preferred brand of bullshitery.

“You know, sometimes I forget you're a rich-ass bitch and then you say shit like that and suddenly, I remember,” Alex says, smoothly snatching the wine from Lena’s hand.

She finishes the entire glass in one gulp and Lena rolls her eyes. Alex had finally proposed to Kelly the other week and well, that meant this week all of them had fallen victim to the Olsen-Danvers wedding debacle. It seems today isn’t the day that that whole dilemma is going to stop.

The wedding, of course, was still a few months away, but both parties were stressing about it as if it was going to happen immediately the next day.

Kara swoops in then, mussing up Alex’s hair, earning her an annoyed Hey stop it! before putting down another wine glass and pouring for Lena. Her arms are still wet from washing the dishes.

Lena murmurs her thanks and continues what she was saying, “Well, since you’ve finally remembered that I’m a billionaire. Let me pay for two weddings.”

Alex chokes on the wine.

“What? You’re kidding me, right?”

Lena continues typing, ignoring Alex’s shock, you’d think she didn’t just offer to pay for a wedding.

“Well, I mean, I’m never gonna get married,” Lena explains, “but if you let me do this, I can brag around that I’ve paid for two weddings. Not to mention I’m gonna make two brides very, very happy.”

“Or,” Kara interjects, lowering herself on the opposite side of the couch, perfect for Lena to lean back between Kara’s legs and lay her head on the side of her thigh. “You can just wait for Kelly to get here,” Kara says, pointedly. “Talk it out like normal adults and reach a compromise.”

Kara’s hands start to snake their way from Lena’s hair to Lena’s shoulders, massaging, all too aware that Lena won’t stop whatever it is she’s working on on her laptop till everybody gets here.

Lena lets herself melt and closes her eyes, sighing as Kara’s fingers dip at the junction of her neck and shoulder with just the right amount of pressure.

“I don’t wanna get married in the woods, Kara.”

Lena opens one eye to take a peek at Alex, who looks exasperated, her eyes pleading, gulping down another glass of wine.

“Don’t tell me,” Kara replies. “Tell Kelly.”

“The bugs, Kara,” Alex moans. “Imagine the bugs, and the moss and the ughhh.”

She dramatically thumps the back of her head on the couch.

“Imagine the soil. Clumpy wet soil. Eurgh. Ew. What if I fall face first in that? What if I trip over a stupid tree root in my heels? In my wedding dress?!”

“Alex, you don’t even have a dress yet,” Kara deadpans.

“I thought you were gonna wear a suit,” Lena adds.

“You two suck.” Alex pouts.

****

The rest of their friends arrive and Kara finally succeeds in prying Lena’s work laptop away from her. Alex was already teasing the line from tipsy to drunk by the time Kelly comes through the door.

“Let’s get married in Vegas!!!!” Is how Alex decides to greet her fiance.

Kelly laughs, gives her a peck then answers, “As much as that sounds like a very convenient wedding, I don’t think Eliza would appreciate that, baby.”

Alex frowns at being rejected, sags against the couch and crosses her arms. Why does Kelly always have to be right?

“How much has she had to drink?” Kelly turns to Kara.

“Uhh ask Lena. She made her switch to whiskey.”

Lena—who Kelly thinks was way too busy nuzzling against Kara’s neck to even answer her question—mumbles something that sounds like “S’was just two glasses.”

Kelly just shakes her head, makes Alex drink a glass of water. Her ring making a clink against the glass.

“Alright, what if,” Nia sing-songs, eyes sparkling with mischief, “we just settle this whole wedding thing with Charades?”

Nia claps her hands together like some gameshow host and Kelly takes a deep breath through the nose.

She’s been to enough Game Nights to know where this is headed.

Everybody else was intoxicated enough to accept the suggestion as a grand idea, not at all even thinking that: Hey, isn’t this something we should all take seriously?? Maybe ask the brides what they want, maybe???

Kara nods enthusiastically, agreeing immediately, “Oh!! That’s a great idea! Fun and fair at the same time!”

“Olsen vs. Danvers. Brides get to pick their teams.”

Nia pulls a white board out of nowhere, uncaps a marker and writes “Team Danvers”, “Team Olsen” separated by a neat line in the middle.

“Are we really letting Nia take charge of our wedding venue?" She hears Alex whisper from where she has her tucked at the crook of her neck.

Kelly sneaks a glance at the chaos happening before their eyes; Brainy already claiming to be on Kelly’s team, J’onn shaking his head opting to be the game scorer instead and refusing to participate, somebody’s shouting about: NIA, DREAM PROJECTIONS AT CHARADES IS CHEATING!!!!

Guess this is their life now.

Kelly smirks, boops Alex on the nose and says, “Scared you’ll lose, Danvers?”

****

Alex loses by three points.

“How was I supposed to know you were gesturing 'Transformers'!?!” She barks at Kara, throwing her hands in exasperation.

“I pointed at Nia!” Kara huffs, incredulous at the fact that her sister is blaming her.

Nia lost them a point too!

“What does Nia even have to do with it???” Alex’s voice grows higher in pitch. Her brows furrow in a mix of confusion and frustration.

“Trans, Alex. Trans.”

“Oh my God,” Alex groans. “How are you this dumb?”

And that was the story of how Kelly got her dream wedding.

****

The frenzy finally dies down, some time between Nia making up another drinking game and J’onn making her sit back down. A movie that none of them were watching provides a background noise to the almost lazy atmosphere. Kelly and Alex were pressed close on the far end of the couch, enjoying the temporary quiet.

“Guess we’re getting married in the woods, huh?” Alex murmurs.

“I guess we are,” Kelly whispers back. Alex beams at her, grinning dopily at the thought of finally getting the ending they deserve. It would be the perfect day, she has no doubt about that. No matter where they are. It would be perfect because they got there together.

Alex can’t wait.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing.”

Alex continues to smile stupidly, nudges her nose to Kelly’s.

“Just— I don’t really care where we get married, I guess.”

“Oh yeah?” Kelly raises an amused brow at her.

“Mm-hm. So long as you’re the one walking down the aisle.”

Alex presses their lips together, breathes Kelly in deep and for the first time that night, she feels that the future isn’t so scary, even though there is still a very large possibility that she might trip over a tree root on her wedding day.

Somebody interrupts their kiss.

“She’s only saying that ‘cos she lost.”

“Shut up, Luthor.”

****

“Text me when you get home!”

Lena hears Kara call loudly after her sister, before closing the door. Game Night has officially ended and as usual she’s still here. She’ll always be here, she thinks for a brief moment. The thought holding more depth than it should.

Kara didn’t even question her when everybody began filing out and Lena just started picking up the discarded dirty plates and walking them to the sink. They’re well past the point of asking each other if the other would stay over.

It was already some unspoken rule.

Already well past the point of Lena wanting to ask Kara what the hell it is they’re doing.

She’s bent over the sink, scrubbing—Kara doesn’t own a dishwasher for the sole reason that she finds doing the dishes therapeutic—when Lena takes a glance over her shoulder.

Kara is sitting on a high stool near the counter, casually flicking through her phone. It was Lena’s turn to do the dishes tonight. Once upon a time her doing the dishes would have resulted in a fight. “I can superspeed the dishes. Why would you even want to do them?” A statement that would be met with an eye roll.

Kara has learned not to fight her on it again, after around the 7th time that Lena had stubbornly insisted and Supergirl got doused with dishwashing liquid.

And now, it’s become some sort of routine, Kara does the dishes after lunch and Lena does the dishes after dinner. Oh, how the paparazzi would kill for this—Lena Luthor Knows What A Sponge Is?

“Is it true when you told Alex you’re never going to get married?”

Kara decides to break their quiet.

“Yeah, pretty certain about that one, why?” Lena turns around, cocks a curious brow. If she’s being honest she’s beyond certain that she’s not going to get married. She always jokes about how she’s married to L-Corp but it isn’t till now that she realizes how true that is, and...how lonely.

“I don’t know,” Kara murmurs, not meeting Lena’s eyes. “I just like the idea of you getting married, I guess.”

“What?” Lena chuckles at that; genuinely confused but still curious.

“Well, I mean—” Kara wobbles through her words.

“I guess, I just— I like the idea of you walking down the aisle...in a white dress,” Kara muses.

Then, “Or a suit!!” she quickly amends. “If you wanna wear a suit, that is. That can totally be arranged, you know?” Kara waves her hand around and it’s like now that she’s started, she can’t stop.

And Lena’s just standing there, water still dripping from her elbow, unsure of how to feel about Kara imagining her getting married. Quite an incredulous scene isn’t it? Her getting married? What a crazy thing to say, an even crazier scenario to imagine!

She snaps out of it, realizing Kara’s still rambling.

“I have no objections whatsoever with that, if you wanna wear a suit. And yeah, you know? I just— I like that idea. I like the idea of you dancing to your wedding song. The idea of you exchanging your vows, the idea of you-”

“Kara,” Lena decides to put a stop to it, since it’s clearly evident Kara won’t be stopping any time soon. And Lena's feeling way too many things that she doesn’t want to feel at the moment. She’s sure that she’s going to feel more, if she doesn’t put a stop to it herself.

“I’m well aware that it’s the best friend’s job to help with the bride’s wedding,” She says, “but, darling don’t you think you’re putting just a bit too much effort into this? Certainly seems like you’ve thought about it a lot.”

At that, Kara’s cheeks turn a light pink, squirming sheepishly under Lena’s questioning gaze.

Shouldn’t Kara be thinking about her own wedding? How beautiful she would look walking down the aisle. How her blonde hair would look so nicely with her dress. How happy she would finally be after finding someone she could share her life with. Not that Lena's been thinking about those kinds of things. No, of course not. That’d be hypocritical of her at this point. Why would she even— Why were they even talking about this again???

Lena tries to rein in it, tries to focus on Kara again; hands finally finding a dry towel, hesitantly walking into Kara’s space to hear the blonde more clearly.

“Well, I mean- Like I said, I do really like the idea of you getting married,” Kara repeats herself slowly.

And before Lena can come any closer, “Like the idea of you getting married…to me. More specifically,” Kara adds more quietly.

“What?”

Lena stands frozen.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard y- Kara, did you just?”

Lena’s heart is pounding away in her chest. Did she hear her right? Did Kara really just—

Lena’s a step away from her and Kara uses this to her advantage. She pulls Lena closer, tugging at her wrist, the towel dropping from Lena’s hands. Kara summons enough willpower to stare into Lena’s eyes.

“I like the idea of you getting married to me, Lena Luthor.”

“Kara, I’m sorry- What?” Lena jerks away from her, the words finally landing.

“Is that a no?”

Kara lets her go. She can’t focus on Lena’s heartbeat to assess the situation more. Kara’s own heart is betraying her, drumming so loudly in her ears.

“Uh- no, that's definitely not a no?” says Lena hesitantly, eyes wide, breathing nervously. She turns away from Kara for a minute to take a breath, hands fidgeting about.

She whirls around again to face, mutters, “You do realize marriages are for people who are—”

She pauses.

How do you exactly phrase that wedding proposals are for people who are actually in some kind of romantic relationship? And not for people who casually stay over every goddamn Thursday without fail?And okay, maybe sometimes, in a much different reality, would willingly commit fratricide to save the other? And in an also much different reality, willingly expose a secret identity to save the other?

Lena can’t find the right words.

“Oh, I don’t know, Kara,” Lena scoffs, shaking her head disbelievingly. “Marriage is for people who are actually dating each other.”

Kara takes her sarcasm as a good sign and pulls her in again.

“Well,” Kara begins. She can hear Lena’s heart thumping erratically, now that Kara’s gotten her bearings.

“We can always have our first date after the wedding, right?”

Aren’t they well past the point of dating anyway?

She’s got Lena standing between her legs now, her hands wrapping around her waist.

“First date and honeymoon all in one. That sounds great, doesn’t it? I can fly you wherever you want, Paris, Maldives, hell I even have a Fortress in the Arctic, if you’re into that.”

Lena stares at her, blinks once, twice; shakes her head and lets out a noise between a laugh and a scoff.

“Kara Zor-El, you are one ridiculous woman,” She breathes, putting a hand on Kara’s cheek. Because what else is there to say? This whole conversation really is ridiculous. But at the same time Lena feels like she’s floating? Like this may be the best moment of her life, and of course, it’s going to be ridiculous. This is Kara she’s dealing with, after all.

She doesn’t know what she’s going to do if Kara reveals this to be just some sort of joke.

But the way her blue eyes are piercing through Lena’s, so earnest and so warm, argues otherwise.

“So, what do you say? Wanna get married?”

“Are you serious right now?” Lena asks, still unbelieving. This is beyond crazy. They’ve fought aliens and monsters and traveled through time but this? This is just beyond crazy.

“Lena, do I look like I’m joking? And besides, you’d already offered to pay for two weddings, why not pay for our two weddings, instead?”

She shakes her head again, let’s herself fall closer to Kara, lets out a laugh against her neck.

“Mm. You want a Kryptonian ceremony too?”

“Yeah.” Kara’s voice turns shy. “If that’s alright by you.”

“Of course, that’s alright by me. I’d be honored.”

Her heart feels more than full at the thought of Kara wanting to share that part of her with Lena. She’s always had some doubts whenever the topic of Kara’s Kryptonian heritage arises, always half-afraid she’s overstepped on something that isn’t hers.

But looks like there was nothing to fear all along.

“So, we’re getting married, huh?” Kara wiggles her brows, her face breaking into a wide grin.

“Yes. Mm-hm,” Lena hums against her. “I do. I’d marry you. Let’s get married.”

“Seal it with a kiss?"

****

“Hi.”

Lena blearily opens her eyes, follows the soft voice, her bare back being caressed by the sun filtering through Kara’s curtains.

“Hi,” She whispers back. All this feels much too like a fever dream. She’s half-tempted to pinch herself just to check. She’s woken up beside Kara a million times before but she’ll never get used to the sight of soft golden hair and sleepy blue eyes.

Kara gives her a soft peck and the feel of her lips sends Lena reeling.

The previous night was a whirlwind in her mind’s eye. The moment Lena murmured her 'Yes, please.', Kara kissed her passionately. Once they broke away, Kara had zipped around the apartment, Lena too dazed to even ask what it was Kara was looking for.

She watched as Kara tore off a keychain from one of her bags, curled the keyring to fit Lena’s finger and whispered, “This’ll do. For now.”

Kara had kissed her knuckles reverently, her lips making Lena’s blood sing in her veins. The feel of mangled metal fitted just for her left hand is an imprint on her soul. A promise of more to come.

They didn’t make it out of the kitchen the first time. Kara had lifted her by the waist and set her down on the kitchen counter. Which was a good thing, because Lena couldn’t feel her legs after.

They didn’t make it to the bedroom the second time either. She had tackled Kara onto the couch, pinning her wrists together, licking at the shell of Kara’s ear. “My turn now,” Lena had whispered. The way Kara shivered underneath her was enough of a reward. How long had they been waiting for this?

Flashes of last night had her hips bucking slightly unto Kara’s leg sandwiched between her own, but before it could escalate further...

“I have exciting news to share,” Kara tells her.

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm,” Kara hums, now nosing at Lena’s hair.

“What is it?” Lena asks.

“I’m getting married.”

“Oh you are?” Lena plays along.

“Yes. I’m getting married to my best friend,” whispers Kara, almost conspiratorially. “How cool is that?”

Kara looks giddy with excitement and Lena knows she’s mirroring that exact same expression right now.

“Mm. Very cool, darling.”

Kara giggles and they trade more lazy kisses before Lena breaks away to breathe.

“Quite a coincidence though,” Lena husks out against Kara’s lips.

“Oh really? Why?” Kara asks, tries to keep a serious neutral face despite her nose scrunching up in that cute smile that Lena can’t resist

“I’m also getting married,” Lena confides, “To my best friend," she adds, eyes flashing. "Isn’t that great?”

“Very great.” Kara nods slowly, blonde hair falling into her face, a hand running through dark tresses.

“I love you,” Lena whispers, her lips brushing Kara’s softly.

“I love you, too.” Kara kisses her harder then, her hands lazily wandering along Lena’s skin.

They lie there quietly for a few moments, basking in the morning glow and then, “Alex will kill us.”

Lena snorts, twists in the sheets and says, “I think your sister is too busy planning her wedding to even think about plotting our murder.”

read follow-up here.

[kiiiiiim]

4. Couch

Supercorptober 2021 - 1//2//3

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Kara lets out a rush of air, somewhat exasperated by the question Lena has repeatedly asked no less than three times in the last half hour, but she does so with a small smile to show she isn’t irritated at the concern. On the contrary - Kara is thankful for it.

“I’m fine,” She hands Lena her used plate when the brunette gestures towards it, taking the remains of their dessert to the kitchen sink to be disposed of. Not that Kara has left anything but a few sparse crumbs behind, anyway.

Lena sits back down, tucks her legs underneath in a move that is so familiar it almost hurts a little in the center of Kara’s chest. It’s been so long since they’ve done this. She’d often wondered, this last year, if they would ever be able to be this comfortable around each other again, after everything that’s happened. She thought it would be harder, or at least awkward at the start, but… it’s not. It feels like… like coming home. Finally.

Lena fiddles with her hands, bites at a corner of her lip, distracted. “I mean, are you sure you’re alright about… about me? About all of this?” She waves with a circular motion in the air, gesturing to all of herself.

Right. The witch thing.

Kara reaches forward, places a hand on the couch in the empty space between them. “Hey, we don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready. Really.”

Lena nods her head. “I know, and thank you for that, but I just… I need to know if this is going to…” She trails off, and Kara is alarmed to see her large green eyes rapidly filling with sudden tears.

“Lena?” Kara tentatively touches one of Lena’s hands with the pads of her fingertips, barely making contact, but it’s enough to send a shiver down her spine and it’s not… unpleasant. Not even a little bit. Not at all.

Lena takes a shaky breath. “Is this going to ruin us?” She whispers, and Kara’s eyes widen at the unexpected question.

“What? No! No, Lena, why would you - of course it won’t! Why would you think that?”

Lena clears her throat, tries to smile through her tears, and her chin quivers from the effort. “Because it’s magic, Kara. One of the very few things you’re vulnerable to. And I have the power to control it. At least, there’s a possibility that I could. Doesn’t that scare you?”

Lena blinks, rounded teardrops roll down ivory skin, and Kara doesn’t think - she instinctively reaches out and catches them with her thumb, wipes them away and lets the rest of her hand rest on the curvature of Lena’s cheek.

“Lena, listen to me. I trust you. I’ve always trusted you, even when my actions said otherwise. Yes, magic makes me weak - but, Lena, you…” Kara suddenly feels like she’s floating out of her body, like she’s looking down on the both of them from another plane of existence. She doesn’t even know where these words are coming from, but they feel right.

“You make me strong.”

There’s a soft intake of breath, and Kara isn’t sure if it came from Lena or from her own traitorous body. There’s a slight pressure as Lena leans into Kara’s touch, closes her eyes and breathes deeply, and something stirs in the pit of Kara’s belly at the sight.

Oh.

This is… new?

But it’s not. This has happened before. It's happened a lot, actually. It’s been this way forever. And where this realization might have caused Kara immediate distress had it concerned anyone else, instead, it makes her feel… whole.

Because it’s not anyone else. It’s Lena.

Lena opens her eyes again, lidded and beautiful and... Kara crashes back into her own body from on high with the force of a meteor, every nerve ending feels like it’s on fire. Does Lena feel this too? Has she been completely oblivious this whole time?

The apartment door slams open, and the two of them jump in unison. Kara almost flies straight into the ceiling, her heart jackhammering in her chest. Alex has bags of carry-out in her arms, and shuts the door with one thickly-booted foot as she walks to the counter, depositing her spoils.

Kara doesn’t even hear Alex talking, hardly hears anything, because Lena - startled, beautifully breathless Lena, is staring at Kara like she’s never seen her before. Like she’s been just as taken aback by the last two minutes. And then Lena smiles, ducks her head, and stands up to help Alex unload the takeout containers, leaving Kara helpless to do anything except sit there like a dumbstruck idiot.

But also...

She thinks maybe this is the kind of magic she could get used to.

[nsheetee]

One Foot in the Golden Life

Pairing: rich kid!renjun x caddie!reader Genre: rich kid AU, university au, romance, slight angst, mature content Length: 9.7k Summary: this is the story of a boy who is constantly pushed down by his father, a girl who just wants to not live paycheck to paycheck, and how they met on a golf course.  Warnings/Details: includes mentions of other NCT members, female reader, swearing, inaccurate depiction of golf, acts of sexual harassment towards the reader, mature content (unprotected sex, coming inside, oral [female receiving])

a/n: a big thank you to @insomni-writing​ for beta reading this ♡ also, if you are a minor, please beware that there is mature content in this fic!

You thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work at the most well-known country club in the state, but really the only thing your job brought you was perpetual cold to your hands and feet, and entangled your simple life with one of the youngest and richest bachelors at your university.

The only place on top of Mt. Carla is the Augusta Country Club, and it is a sight to see by the regular people who gaze up at it from the city below, like mortals looking up into the Gods’ chamber. The first time you went up the mountain for your job interview at the club, you got lost and were almost late. Thankfully, you didn’t crash your car on the winding roads, and got the job as well.

The Augusta Country Club is equipped with the largest and most expensive golf course in the region, but also has Michilin approved restaurants and the finest saunas and gym equipment any CEO could ask for. Those are usually the type of people that have club memberships: CEO’s, congress men and women, top-notch lawyers, and maybe the odd business owner that made it big enough to afford the price tag.

When you took up the job as a caddie, you had an idea of what you were getting yourself into. You’ve only been working for a month, but there are already a few regular golf players that prefer you as their caddie, which in your book is a success considering the type of high profile people that come to relax here.

However, today is different.

You can sense it when Kara and Mina, your coworkers who have been working here for a year longer than you, walk towards you and your friend, Lia, before your shift today. Mina has a small stack of info cards in her hands and they both hold smug smiles on their faces. The info cards have everything a caddie needs to know about who they’ll be working for that shift, and by the looks of it, today’s game will have a good match up.

“I’m going to be Mr. Huang’s son’s caddie. Don’t even fight me on this, you know I’ll win.” Kara states boldly as the two girls stop in front of you, snatching an info card out of Mina’s hand when she holds them up like she’s playing a card game, flashing the photos and names on the cards at you.

“I call dibs on Mr. Lee’s son.” Mina hums, not even bothering to keep up the act that they just want to be good caddies. “You two can have the old men.” She smiles tightly, shoving the other two info cards into Lia’s grasp and turning on her heel to walk away with Kara.

Considering you don’t even know what they’re talking about, you have no right to be mad at them. There is more confusion clouding your mind than anger at their rudeness. However, Lia does not share the same sentiment.

“I’ll shove these info cards up their-” Lia fumes, her volume rising as the sentence went on, and you quickly pulled her out of ear shot, around a corner by the bathrooms. “-stuck up two faced asses!”

“Lia…” You mutter, her wording making you shake your head at how unstable her temper is, “They’ve been working here for a lot longer than we have, just let them have those clients. Either way, what’s it to you?”

“What’s it to me? ___, they’re talking about Lee Jeno and Huang Renjun. I know I told you about them before.” Lia states like she expects you to have those two names tattooed on the front lobe of your brain already.

“I think I remember them…. They go to our University, right?” You try to regurgitate your friend’s rambles from months ago out of your head.

“Yeah, business department.” She sighs dreamily, as if the business department is the sexiest thing on campus. “This might be our only chance to shoot our shot.” You can’t help but grimace a bit.

“It can be your chance to shoot your shot. Leave me out of this.” You randomly grab an info card out of Lia’s hands, turning it around to see Mr. Huang Lijun’s photo staring back at you. You send Lia one last look, walking around her to go change in the dressing rooms.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” You hear her whine, her footsteps echo through the hallway as she comes up behind you. She almost knocks you into the wall from how forcefully she grabs onto your arm and swings it back and forth like you’re two little kids on your way to the playground.

“Maybe we can shoot our shot at the old men?” You and Lia stop walking, turning to face each other for a moment of silence. You blink at each other as if you’re both considering it, before erupting into laughter at the ridiculous thought and continue walking down the hallway.

You and Lia constantly joke around about finding rich sugar daddies at work to pay for your college tuition, but both of you know you’ll never actually commit to the idea fully. Neither of you will admit it, but you both know you don’t have the guts to do something like that.

By the time you, Lia, and your other coworkers change into uniform and gather your supplies for the Lee vs. Huang game, it’s already 10am. The air is crisp and cool, the signs of fall creep along your skin and taint the deep green trees in light oranges and yellows.

Despite the chill, you and your coworkers still wear skirts, long sleeve v-necks, and puffy vests; the only thing keeping your feet warm is a pair of short white socks and tennis shoes. You don’t mind the chill knowing that once the game starts you’ll be moving around enough to get warm. You stop thinking about your cold toes as soon as the door of the country club opens and the Lees and Huangs walk out.

The first time you lay eyes on Huang Renjun, you think your heart might stop.

You know it’s him because he walks close to his father as they make their way to where you’re standing by the golf carts. He has obviously dyed blonde color, his dark roots proof of that; it’s neatly gelled back in an effortless way with the light wind blowing a few of the locks gently as if an angel is personally moving them for him. His white jacket and black pants are slim and look like they cost more than all of your college textbooks this semester. He walks with his head high, his pretty, pink lips set in a straight line, and his almond eyes gentle.

Okay, so... maybe you understand the hype now.

“Good evening, ladies.” Mr. Lee announces, looking at you and your coworkers. You all politely introduce yourself and state who you’ll be caddying for.

Huang Lijun isn’t as tall as his son, but he looks to be more lively than Renjun, even at his age. He has a permanent smile on his lips and you can feel a friendly demeanor radiating from him when you approach.  

“Good Morning, sir. Let me take those off of your hands.” You politely grab the bag of clubs from him, feeling shy as his gaze doesn’t leave your face the entire time.

“You’re new here, right? I feel like I would remember you if I saw you before.” You’re surprised when he suddenly pinches your cheek, and he laughs at your shocked face. An unsettled feeling plants itself at the bottom of your stomach at the unwarranted touch.

“I’ve only been working here for a month, sir.”

“I think I’ll be coming around here more often, then.” He winks at you and turns to go sit in the front seat of the golf cart. You can’t help but let the feeling at the bottom of your stomach grow at how the older man looks at you. You definitely misjudged his “friendly” demeanor. Your eyes can’t help but glance at Renjun, who’s standing a few feet away from the whole interaction. He gives you a blank stare before turning and following his father.

In the past few weeks, you had gotten many lustful smiles and lewd gazes at your bare legs, but also many dollars in tips just in one morning by letting those smiles and gazes happen. The need to make ends meet justifies it all, and the cash you earn at the end of every shift only fuels this need.

The ride from the club’s main building to the first hole is short, so you quickly recompose yourself. You still have a job to do— a job you’re being paid lots of money for. You believe in your strong will to put up with whatever antics Mr. Huang pulls for the next few hours. Upon arrival at the first hole, you pull the bag of golf clubs out of the cart and follow in Mr. Huang’s quick footsteps, suddenly feeling sweaty from the exercise you’re getting by carrying these heavy clubs. When your group reaches the first hole, you set the bag down on the ground and press your hand over your face, but Mr. Huang’s voice startles you.

“Woah, there.” You jump and face him. “Those clubs cost more than my car, and unlike my car, they don’t deserve to be on the ground, darling.”

“Yes, sir. I apologize.” You smile shyly and pick up the clubs from the ground, your shoulders already straining to keep them up. ‘They weigh as much as a car,’ you huff.

This is going to be a long game.

“You kids can clean the carts today,” Mina suddenly throws a keychain at Lia’s face, she barely catches it before it hits her, “I have plans.”

“Me, too.” Kara quickly says, following after Mina as they both walk away. The game ended right at lunchtime (the Lees won) and now you and your coworkers are back at the club. It’s supposed to be everyone’s job to clean the golf carts after they’ve been used, but it looks like today it’ll just be you and Lia… Maybe.

“___, please. I’m going to be late to the cafe, my boss there is already mad at me.” Lia turns to you and begs with her hands clasped in front of her chest, eyes pleading and feet bouncing. You sigh; you’re hungry and your muscles are sore, and all you want to do is go home as quickly as you can. Still, you roll your eyes and take the golf cart keys from her, making her face crack open into a smile as she hugs you quickly.

“I’ll bring you coffee on Monday!” She screams at you as she practically runs away, leaving you with two golf carts to clean. You sluggishly begin, crawling into the cart the Huangs were sitting in when you find a small notebook laying on one of the seats. Picking it up to examine it, you find out it’s your university’s yearly planner, a book that everyone gets at the beginning of every academic year. Along the binder reads “Huang Renjun” and your eyes widen, immediately looking up to glance at the direction that Renjun walked off to a while ago.

Your legs move quickly through the corridors of the club, moving past changing rooms, saunas, and bathrooms, the planner tightly clutched in your hand. Your head is on a swivel and your lower lip is stuck between your teeth, until you hear a door open and slam shut behind you, making you turn your head to catch Renjun walking out of a changing room.

“Mr. Huang!” You call out.. Renjun freezes at the name, spinning on his heel to see you walking towards him.

“Sorry to disturb you, but you left your planner on the golf cart.” You hold it out for him, but he doesn’t take it.

“How do you know it’s a planner? Did you look through it?” You blink at him, stunned, and then glance down at the notebook. You’re surprised by the sudden questions and at the same time annoyed that Renjun accused you of snooping through his things so quickly. The image you had of him earlier, graceful, classy, and attractive, slips out of your mind as he stares down at you. However, this is the first time he’s directly talking to you, and you can’t help the spark that ignites in your belly from the roughness in his voice. It’s higher-pitched, but unpolished and jagged as he speaks with you.

“No. I go to the same University. I have the same one.” You explain. Renjun’s stare turns into shock.

“Really? Which department?”

“Fine Arts. I study Studio Art.” At first you think that you’re seeing things, but after blinking, you can guarantee that Renjun has jealousy painted on his face. It’s so sour that he looks away, trying to preoccupy his hands by fiddling with his bag. “So, are you going to take this, or…?”

“Yeah,” The bitterness drips from his tone, but you have a feeling it’s not directed at you, “Thank you for returning it.” He finally accepts it and turns to his bag, taking out his wallet. The cards inside look thick and heavy; memberships to places you’ll never step foot in and credit cards with limits you could never even imagine. Your pride tells you that you don’t need anything he could give you, so you silently turn around and walk away.

Renjun shuffles through some crisp 10’s and 20’s, but when he looks up to give you the tip, you’re already down the hallway and halfway out the door. You have golf carts to clean.

The next time you see Renjun is a week after the last game. The chilly weather remains, along with the useless uniform you have to wear, but this time around you’re not Mr. Huang’s caddie, you’re Renjun’s.

Kara walks next to you with Mr. Huang’s heavy golf clubs, her lips straight and head turned away from you to show her annoyance at how the caddie match up situation went this week. You’re sure to get an earful about this for at least the next few days, but you kind of like this revenge that fate dealt Kara. Either way, it’s not like there’s anything you can do about the match up. Renjun requested you to be his caddie this week, and you weren’t going to risk your bosses being angry with you by denying the request.

“Driver.” Renjun’s voice pulls you into the game. You pull out the correct golf club and put it into his awaiting hand, your fingertips brushing with his. “Aren’t you cold?” The words shock you, considering they’re the first words Renjun spoke to you today other than commands for golf clubs.

“I-I’m fine, Mr. Huang.” You respond promptly.

“Don’t call me that.” His tone is icy, and he quickly realizes how unnecessary it is to bite at you like that, “Just call me Renjun.” His father walks back from his shot, looking very smug. Renjun’s face is calm as he trades spots with his father and prepares for his first swing of the day, correcting his posture and loosening his limbs.

You remember the first time you saw him, how elegant and poised he looked. Your cold hands break into a sweat as your chest heats up from the quick beating of your heart. Renjun has only been icy and accusing towards you so far, yet you still feel warm while thinking about him. There has to be something wrong with you.

“Doesn’t my son look like he knows what he’s doing?” Mr. Huang asks from beside you, a small, unnerving smile on his lips.

“Yes, sir.” You reply back with your own, more innocent, smile.

“I taught him everything he knows about golf…. And women.” Mr. Huang leans into you, turning his chest to face you so that his breath is hitting your cheek. You can’t help but swallow to relieve your dry and cold throat, keeping your eyes forward as Renjun swings his club back and forth a bit in preparation.

“Yes, sir.” The only thought on your mind is to stop this man from stepping closer.

“Is that the only thing you can say?”

Renjun swings his arm back, breathing in as he keeps his eyes on the small white ball and his hopes in the green before him. Mr. Huang’s right hand is warm on your waist, but you would give anything to freeze right now.

A sharp crack ripples through the air as Renjun hits the golf ball and sends it flying into the golf course. His eyes are not where the ball lands, but instead on where his father touches you.

Renjun’s mom died when he was not even three days old.

He never got to meet her— to lay on her chest and hold her finger with his whole hand. He’ll never know what advice she would’ve given him when he got his first girlfriend, and he’ll never know how she would’ve reacted to him crashing his first car when he was 17. He only knows that his mom would’ve been there for him through all of that, unlike his father, who was not.

Renjun has had “mothers” through his life; three, to be exact. The first was when he was 5 years old, and she quickly asked for a divorce after Renjun’s dad went on a three month business trip and she didn’t hear from him the whole time. The second “mother” was a bit more mature than the first and with a lot more time on her hands. She wanted to shape 9 year old Renjun into a perfect student, which was something Renjun’s father appreciated, but still divorced her for “being too strong-headed.” Renjun only met his third mother twice when he was 13: once at the wedding and the second time at her funeral. He didn’t ask any questions, he wasn’t very interested in the first place.

These were the type of people Renjun spent his life around, but they really weren’t his mothers. The only similarity he had with those women was his father, and he treated them as poorly as he treated Renjun. That’s why when Renjun looks at you, cowering away from the very man who is his only link to family, he feels sick.

When is his dad going to stop being a fucking predator? How young does he want his next conquest to be? Will Renjun’s next mom be the same age as him? Something swirls in the pit of his stomach when he watches his father and it takes a moment for him to figure out what it is: jealousy. He’s not sure why he’s feeling jealous over someone he just met last week, but the feeling engulfs his whole chest and it burns him to his spot.

Renjun doesn’t even notice that he swung his golf club or that the golf ball went somewhere far into the green, probably an overshot. He only sees you, afraid of the man touching you but not stepping away. Why aren’t you stepping away?

“Nice job, Renjun.” His best friend, Jeno, claps a hand on his back as he steps up, hitting Renjun back into reality and forcing him to walk towards you. As Renjun approaches, his father slyly takes his hand away, and Renjun notices how you let out a relieved sigh. Giving you back his driver, Renjun strategically stands between you and his father, pretending to watch Jeno swing.

“Good job… Renjun.” You whisper, unsure about calling him by his first name so informally.

“Thank you.” Renjun sends a side glance to his father to see the displeased look on his face. “How was that, Dad?” Renjun hopes that maybe he can remind his father of why he’s here (to win against the Lees this week, not to feel up a girl 30 years younger than him) but in this moment, his father is acting like a 5 year old in the middle of a silent tantrum, not a 50 year old who runs the most successful construction company in the country.

“I’ve taught you better than that.” Renjun is sure they’re not talking about golf anymore, the authoritative tone in his father’s voice sends a lightning bolt of surprise and slight fear down Renjun’s back. He hates how he gets scared, he hates how his father can control him. The fury churns in the pit of his stomach as he accepts his father’s words with a bow of his head.

One day, Renjun swears he won’t submit anymore.

After the game ended with the Lees winning once again, you, Lia, and your other coworkers convene at the golf carts after the clients leave to change inside the club.

“You ladies know the drill.” Kara throws both sets of golf cart keys at you before walking off with Mina. You push Lia towards the entrance of the building before she even has a chance to turn around and open her mouth.

“You should get to the cafe before your boss throws another fit.” Lia turns back to face you, her jaw slightly slack and her eyes shining.

“You’re seriously the best. I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, just give me a few extra shots in my coffee on Monday.” Lia laughs at that, grabbing your face between her two small, manicured hands and kissing you on each cheek before hopping off inside. You can’t help but be amused at her antics, turning to the golf carts in front of you to start cleaning.

“They make you clean the carts by yourself?” The voice startles you, not because you weren’t expecting it but because it’s Renjun’s. You turn your head over your shoulder, he’s standing just a few feet away still in his golfing gear from earlier.

“Uh, not usually, no. But my coworkers haven’t been happy with me lately.” You explain, fully turning to him and crossing your arms over your chest to tuck your cold hands into your sides.

“The ones who have been working here for a while?” You nod as an answer, and Renjun nods back in understanding, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. “They’ve been trying to get with me and my best friend for a while...” Renjun trails off when he sees your eyebrows raise at the comment, “... But that’s not what I came here to talk about.”

“Oh? What are you here for?” The conversation has gotten too informal for a worker and their client to be having, but you kind of like talking to Renjun in this casual setting.

“I realized that the past few times we’ve talked I’ve been such a dick.” He laughs lightly as he remembers, “I wanted to apologize for that. I wasn’t in a good mood last week and this morning, and I ended up pushing it on you.”

Renjun feels lots of emotions when it comes to you, despite only having this one proper conversation with you. He feels envy towards you for being able to study something that he desperately wants to. He feels guilt when he remembers how quickly he made you into a thief when you were only trying to return his belongings, and he feels so many other secondary and tertiary emotions in between. His head is full when he looks at you. He finally feels like he’s thinking about something, not just doing the same day to day motions in a constant cycle of ‘when will this end?’

“You’re apologizing?” You ask, stunned when he nods his head in confirmation. Sincere apologies are important to you. You believe there are not enough of them in this world anymore, and his gentle almond eyes are too wholehearted and warm for you in this cold weather. Your heart feels full looking at him, and you curse at yourself in your head for being swayed like this.

“I also have a question… You mentioned you’re majoring in Studio Art and I was wondering if, maybe, you could let me into one of the studios after a class this week? I’ve been needing a quiet place to work since my house has been busy lately.” One of the hands that was in Renjun’s pocket moves to matte down his sideburns while he glances at his shoes. “Was that too forward? Sorry, I just know that you can’t get into a studio without a passcode and you’re the only person I know who’s in Studio Art.” Renjun explains after you stare for a while, blinking at him.

“You’re an artist?” You finally ask, Renjun giving you a weak ‘yeah’ in response. A part of you wants to say no, that it’ll be weird to do something like this for him when you’ve only known him for less than 2 weeks and up until this point, you’ve only been in a worker-client relationship. However, you’re curious about what he’s like outside of this setting, especially what he’s like when his father has no possibility of appearing, since that seems to be the factor that turns his mood up or down.

“Sure. Come by studio 3 after 6pm on Wednesday and I’ll let you in, but... I heard Mr. Lee already scheduled a game for next weekend?” Renjun nods, “Then in return, you can win that game. It’s embarrassing always being on the losing team.” You smile playfully at the end to let him know you’re only joking.

“Deal.” Renjun sends a smile back of the same caliber, holding out a hand to shake with yours. If you thought you were affected by Renjun’s nice presence, his hand in yours sends you into another realm. His touch is warm from staying indoors and from keeping his hands in his pockets, and they contrast to your cold skin. He sucks in a breath through his teeth when your hands connect, turning your hand in his grip to look at your knuckles. “Are you sure you’re not cold? Your hands are freezing.”

“I’ll be okay. I just don’t have any good gloves to wear while working.” He huffs, small traces of white smoke leaves his mouth as he digs through his pockets.

“Wear these.” He replaces his hand in yours with a pair of his own gloves, “Your hands are precious, they shouldn’t be freezing.” Before Renjun can get embarrassed by his own words, he shoves his hands back into his pockets and turns on his heel, walking away, “I’ll see you on Wednesday!”

A knock on the studio doors shakes you away from staring at your painting, making you turn to look at who it is. Renjun peaks through the small window and waves when you make eye contact. You get up to open the door, almost forgetting that today is the day you agreed to let Renjun into your studio.

… Okay, that’s a lie. You definitely remembered that you’re supposed to meet Renjun, but you keep trying to convince yourself that you’re not excited about seeing him outside of that stuffy country club.

“Hey, sorry if I startled you.” Is the first thing he says when you open the door. He’s dressed in slacks, a dress shirt with a sweater over it, and a long coat over that. His nose and cheeks are slightly red from the rough wind outside and his supplies are clutched to his chest.

“Oh, you’re fine. I was just deep in thought.” Something about the studio makes both of you speak in hushed tones. No one else is here, but you feel the need to maintain the peace and quiet the room naturally holds. You and Renjun make your way to where you’re set up, he puts his things down on an easel to your left and takes off his coat, watching you from his peripheral vision.

Those uniforms they make you wear at work are just for show, Renjun knows that well, but that doesn’t stop him from appreciating you in the tight vest and little skirt. However right now, he likes your laid back look consisting of loose jeans and a layered shirt, he thinks it matches you.

“I was going to leave when you got here, but I think I’ll just finish this and head out.” You comment, aimlessly waving at your project.

“Please, stay as long as you need to. This is your studio, I don’t want to kick you out.” He laughs and licks his bottom lip. It’s breathtaking how innocent and nice his smile looks on his face. His eyes scrunch together to form laugh lines and his cheeks rise, he truly looks pretty when he smiles. You think this is the first time you’ve seen him like this.

You mumble back with a mixture of words that probably didn’t make sense and turn back to your work, leaving the room to continue with its peacefulness and quiet. However, Renjun’s presence next to you is too big to ignore. There are so many things you want to know about him and you have no excuse as to why you’re so curious.

“How about a game while we work?” You suggest.

“Sure… How about 20 questions?” It’s like he read your mind, so you smile and nod at his idea.

“You can go first.” You suggest.

“Okay, uh… Why do you work at a golf course if you’re majoring in Studio Art? Shouldn’t you be working at a, I don’t know, museum?” The question catches you off guard and Renjun notices how you stop painting, your brush and your hand floating in the air as you think, “Oh, sorry, is that too personal?”

“No, no… It’s just, normally, the first question people ask in a game of 20 questions is something like ‘what’s your favorite color’ or ‘what’s your sign’.” Renjun lets out a choked and embarrassed laugh, ducking his head down to look away from you. You can tell he’s about to change his question, so you quickly go back to painting and speak before he can.

“I did apply to work at several museums. I didn’t get any jobs, so I had to look elsewhere and Augusta was hiring. I know it’s not very fitting, but it makes good money and rich people know my name, even if it’s for just a few hours.” Renjun nods at your answer as if he could ever understand the idea of being poor, but the insight into your decision brings a fact to light that Renjun wasn’t 100% aware of before: you’re not like him, you need money.

“Don’t you hate the way people look at you there?” The words tumble out of Renjun’s lips faster than he can process the weight they carry. He turns to face you with guilt pooling in his eyes and his mouth opening and closing to find some words to correct the situation.

“No, I don’t like it.” You surprise him with your quick response, “But people like you don’t understand what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, to have to worry about how to pay the bills every month for years on end, always on your toes about money. I bet you think I’m cheap and—”

“No.” Renjun cuts you off promptly before you can continue, “Don’t make me into a jerk. I’m not like that. But the fact that that is the first thing you thought of worries me.” Your eyes widen at that, prompting him to elaborate. “Doesn’t that mean that’s how you think of yourself? Maybe not on the outside, but subconsciously. Sure, I won’t ever be able to understand how you live, but I wish you would not look at yourself as cheap and think of yourself as… beautiful.” Renjun lets the last words linger on his tongue, saying it quietly as if to not startle you.

You stare at him, your paintbrush resting in your hand and your back slouched as you watch him watch you. This is not the type of conversation you thought you’d be having with Renjun tonight, but you have to admit he makes a point. Eventually, you turn to your painting and stare at it some more, making Renjun turn and continue his own work.

“Ah, I asked two questions in a row.” He suddenly breaks the tense atmosphere, making you sigh as you remember you’re just playing a game, “You can ask two questions.”

He allows and relaxes when he sees you go back to painting.

“If you like to draw, why are you a business major?” Now it’s Renjun’s turn to freeze. Maybe if he did ask what your favorite color was he wouldn’t have had to endure this question from you, but he feels like he should answer it since it’s of equal weight to the one he asked you.

“It wasn’t my choice. I will most likely take my father’s place in his company and I need to at least know the basics before that happens.” You nod slowly. He looks so calm when he’s focused on drawing, but it’s not the same calm that you see on his face when he’s playing golf. You turn away before you get caught staring.

“Is that why your mood always changes when your dad is around?”

“Is it that obvious…” He trails off and you nod, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this out loud, but… It’s like everytime I’m around him, or at his office, or at home, my mind goes blank. I don’t feel like talking or thinking at all.” As he speaks, he sets down his utensils and turns to you, making continuous eye contact as he explains. You find yourself feeling comfortable at how easily he’s talking to you about such a deep subject.

“It sounds like… you’re angry.” You turned to face him now too, your paintbrush settled onto your canvas and your full attention on him, “My dad is like that. He gets so angry sometimes that he’s calm. No yelling or fighting, just silence. That’s how I know I messed up when he gets like that.” You nod, remembering all the times he’s been calmly mad at you.

“I don’t know… It’s confusing to me.” He straightens his back and stares at your foot as it moves around aimlessly. “What do I do?” He asks into the air, as if his pencil would suddenly start talking to him like a therapist.

“Just do what makes you happy.” Renjun’s glance over at you makes a smile pull at your lips, “I know it’s easier said than done. But you already know what it is that’ll make you happy, and that’s half of the battle. Why bottle it up?”

Renjun doesn’t know how he’ll ever get the courage to tell his father these things, but the way you’re looking at him as if he can do anything, he starts to feel tingles of confidence trickle into him.

“Oh, and why did you pick me to be your caddie this past weekend?”

“Well…” Renjun plays with his pencil. What is he supposed to say? He doesn’t want you to carry around his father’s heavy golf clubs? He doesn’t like the way his father touches you and gets jealous over it for some unknown reason? Yeah, he’s not going to say.

“Just because… I wanted you next to me.” The way he says it makes it sound so simple and true, but your heart drops to your stomach and springs back up going at 100 miles per hour. You can barely stop your hand from shaking as you pick up your brush, and it’s almost like you can’t see in front of you from the thrill of his words.

“Hey,” Renjun suddenly drops his pencil and turns to you, looking a bit confused and slightly upset, “Didn’t you ask three questions?”

“We’re letting the Lees win again today.” Renjun is in the middle of pulling up the zipper of his jacket when his father drops the news. Renjun’s footsteps stutter slightly at his father’s words and he stops walking next to the older man.

“Again?” He asks as he already thinks up an apology to tell you later when he loses.

“Yes, I need Mr. Lee to be happy when I bring up the new contract to him later in the sauna.” Renjun sighs and continues to walk next to his father. It’s the next weekend, and the third Lee vs. Huang game is starting in just a few minutes.

Renjun won’t lie, purposefully losing to his best friend and his dad every week is not the greatest stroke to Renjun’s ego, especially since Jeno won’t let it down around his other friends.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Lijun swivels on his heel to look at his son, “Have you been requesting for ___ to be your caddie?”

The questions stuns Renjun, making it hard to answer so his father takes it as a yes.

“Well stop it. Dad wants to have some fun.” He claps a hand on Renjun’s back and  smiles. In the past, Renjun would’ve just rolled his eyes and let his father do whatever he wants, but this time his blood boils. He feels true anger when his father struts away with the intentions of doing whatever he wants to someone Renjun cares about. He can barely move his feet after the old man, his mind cloudy as everyone makes it to the golf carts.

“Let’s have a good game today, Mr. Huang, don’t make it too easy to beat you.” Mr. Lee jokes around and the two old men laugh as they settle into their own golf carts. Renjun walks up to his cart and you wave to him, the white gloves he gave you last week snugly on your hands. Renjun thinks his anger is what spurs him into doing what he does next.

He steps close to you, leaning into your ear and wrapping his hand around your covered ones with his thumb rubbing on your exposed wrist, “Keep these on for me, babe. I don’t want you to be cold.”

The amount of jaws that drops after Renjun’s words makes him bite down his smirk and slide into the front seat of the golf cart, pretending to not see the daggers his father is  throwing at him with his eyes.

Your heart beats so quickly and loudly you’re sure Kara can hear it next to you if she wasn’t busy huffing about what Renjun just did. Sitting in the back seat of the golf cart, you watch the back of Renjun’s head on the way to the first hole. What got into Renjun? Why did he all of a sudden call you ‘babe’ and get so close? Not that you’re opposed to it, you’re just shocked.

The game begins once you reach the first hole, and the Huang’s put up a good fight throughout the entire game, keeping the Lees on their toes and the score sheet even. Everytime Renjun comes back from a shot, you smile at him and tell him good job, which earns you a pat on the back from him that warms you up from the inside out.

Renjun can tell his father is getting more and more annoyed with him; how Renjun is keeping you as far from his father as he possibly can, the gentle touches on your waist that you welcome wholeheartedly compared to the ones Mr. Huang would lay on you before. He likes how angry his father gets, especially knowing that he can’t do anything about it right now. Not to mention, you seem to be enjoying Renjun’s attention, which just adds to his confidence.

Now, your group arrives at the last hole of the game. The Lees step up and swing, setting their total score to 357. All Renjun and his father have to do is move the ball around a bit more to get their score to be higher and the Lees will win the game. Mr. Huang is up first, acting clumsy so that the ball doesn’t make it into the hole and brings the game to Renjun.

As he sets up his posture, his hands suddenly go stiff. This shot is so easy to make, he has made this exact hole several times. He breathes in and out deeply, deciding on if he should throw the game like his father said he should, or give his one last ‘fuck you’ to his Dad.

He glances at you and makes eye contact; you nod your head and smile a bit as if to say ‘go ahead, we all know you can do this.’ Renjun then grips his golf club and swings it back to effortlessly hit the golf ball, rolling it along the green and perfectly into the hole.

You and the other caddies clap for the perfectly executed shot and Jeno and his father come up to Renjun to shake hands. They don’t look upset, instead they look pretty happy for Renjun. However, Renjun’s father is deathly silent, not even congratulating Renjun on his win. Renjun wasn’t expecting a whole ceremony for him, but it does feel nice to put his father down a peg or two today, and that’s the thought that fills Renjun’s head as everyone rides back to the country club.

While getting out of the golf cart, Renjun attempts to turn back to you but is promptly pulled away by the back of his jacket by his father. Renjun yelps and pulls away, but that doesn’t stop Lijun from grabbing onto his son’s arm instead and pulling him inside.

“What was that? I specifically told you to lose the game and you did the exact opposite. How am I supposed to talk to Mr. Lee now?” Renjun’s father fumes, his low voice belting out into the corridor and making some of the passing staff turn their heads.

“That’s not my problem.” Renjun shrugs and his father stops shaking, stepping closer to his son.

“Excuse me?” He asks with menace dripping from his tongue.

“I said, that’s not my problem.” Renjun is fired up. He doesn’t see a way out of this now, no way his behavior is being excused, so might as well go all in.

“You did it for that caddie, ___, right?” His father squints his eyes and turns his head slightly. When Renjun doesn’t answer, Lijun laughs in his face, “It looks like I’m right.”

“What?” Renjun asks dumbly.

“It’s okay. You’re just a boy and you can make some mistakes over a girl, we’ve all been there once or twice.” Lijun fixes Renjun’s jacket and pats his shoulder, his angry disposition turning passive. “Besides, you can’t do much for that girl anyway. Is a ball in a hole really all she deserves?”

“I won the game because I could. I won it because that’s what I wanted.” Renjun states, his blood beginning to boil once again when his father says he doesn’t deserve you. What is he thinking? Does he actually think he has a chance with you? He can keep dreaming.

“We can’t always do whatever we want. There are consequences we have to face for doing whatever we want. Are you ready to face the consequences?” At the question, Renjun is reminded about the words you told him Wednesday night.

‘Just do what makes you happy,’ Those simple words are so hard to turn into reality. Renjun wants to be happy so bad. He wants to be away from this man and he wants to be closer to you. The consequences? Sure, he’ll deal with it all if it means he can stop living in the personal hell his father set up for him. Renjun pushes his father away a bit and steps out of the trap his father pushed him into, making Lijun’s eyes widen.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Renjun says and turns around, walking back towards the exit of the building.

“Hey, where are you going?” His father shouts after him.

“To do the thing that I want to do the most.” He yells back and walks around the corner, out of sight from his father. Renjun practically runs through the hallways to get back outside and run to you, but you surprise him by greeting him by the saunas. He stops in his steps and you smile as you walk up to him.

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you did really well today. I know I said I wanted you to win last week, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” You laugh.

“Thanks.” Renjun simply says, afraid of what else could come out if he keeps talking.

“Oh, I also want to give you these back.” You dig out Renjun’s gloves from your pocket, holding them out. This is it. This is the moment Renjun will start to do whatever makes him happy, whatever he wants.

And what he wants right now is you.

He quickly takes the gloves and then tightly grips the wrist of your outstretched hand, leading you down the hallway and around some corner. He hears you exclaim a small ‘woah’ but you let him guide you into a sauna, the door closing tightly behind both of you.

There’s no one else in the room, just the stuffy steam that floats in the small space between you two. Renjun has a tight grip on the gloves you gave back to him and his other hand runs through his hair and messes up the perfect form it held.

“Tell me to stop.” He demands, looking straight into your eyes.

“What?”

“Tell me to stop right now.” He takes a step forward, his eyes full to the brim with lust and his hands shaking with how much he’s holding himself together. You’ve barely been in the room for a minute, but your clothes are already sticking to you from the intense heat.

“I don’t understand,” You reply back as he keeps moving toward you. You take small steps back in return, “I don’t know what I’m stopping you from.” Half of you is playing dumb right now; you know what Renjun wants from you just by the look in his eyes. The other half just wants to hear him say it himself

“I’ll fuck you the way you deserve. Right here, right now.” Renjun’s voice is too angelic to say such nasty words, but he growls them out like he’s a tainted angel. You’re pressed against the wooden wall of the sauna now, Renjun just a step away. You lean into him slightly and rip the gloves out of his hand to throw them to the side.

“Do it.”

It’s all the permission Renjun needs to feverishly connect his lips to yours.

The action is so sudden, you don’t remember how Renjun got close to you so quickly. Despite his forcefulness before, his lips melt into you like chocolate melting over a fire, so hot and delicious that you just want more. His hands hold the sides of your face, pushing back your hair and his body pushing you back into the wall.

He sucks on your bottom lip, softly biting afterwards and making you let out a whimper, and then a moan when his thigh pushes between your legs and further presses you against the wall. Amidst the kissing, you find the zipper of his expensive jacket, unzip it, and pull the piece of clothing off. Afterwards, you pull his shirt off and break the kiss while you’re at it.

“I’ve been thinking about you in this skirt since….” Renjun hums at the thought, his hand sliding up your bare thighs and under your skirt, then he grips your ass and brings your core down onto his thigh, the friction enough to have you letting out a strangled moan.

“Since the day I first saw you.” He finally whispers and connects your lips once again. His hand on your ass doesn’t move, his other hand is placed on your waist as he helps you ride the rough material of his pants. Renjun can only watch your reactions; the way your head lolls back into the wall and your eyes screw shut, holding onto Renjun’s shoulders tight enough he’s sure there will be marks afterwards.

“Fuck— Renjun, don’t stop, please.” He’s mesmerized, absolutely addicted to how you look and sound right now, and it’s all because of him. The thought spurs him along, he removes your jacket and you blindly help him in removing your top and bra. You must look like a mess right now, especially since you’re coming close to your climax just by Renjun’s touch and his thigh. Not to mention the sweat dripping down both of you, a glistening sheen coating your skin that makes Renjun let out a low growl before he leans down and takes one of your nipples in his mouth.

He sucks and swirls his tongue, and you can’t help but moan his name again, digging your fingers into his blonde hair and tugging. Renjun moves from your chest downward, not letting an inch of your stomach and hips go past him without a kiss and a nibble, leaving you breathing heavily. He makes his way down to his knees and folds your skirt up, glancing at  you from his position.

“You don’t wear anything under here except your panties?” You nod, your head stuttering as Renjun applies pressure with his thumb over your slick hole, a wet spot already there to greet him.

“You’re so fucking dirty, baby.” He groans and leans in to swipe his tongue over your center making you shake as a response. He slides your underwear down and throws it somewhere to the side, catching the sigh of your arousal dripping down your thigh. His intense stare makes you shake him, embarrassment crawling over you at how he’s not reacting.

“Are you shy?” You whine, not really answering his question. “You don’t need to be. You’re beautiful.” The softness from his voice contradicts his more dominating tone from before, but you don’t have time to think about it before he dives in. You sigh in content when the pressure in between your hips caused by Renjun turns into pure pleasure. His tongue laps at your essence and his lips suck on your clit, you can tell he’s trying to find what exactly will make you tick.

When Renjun slides a finger into your hole unexpectedly, you jump and whimper a bit but the feeling of him sliding in and out along with his tongue circling and sucking on your clit makes a knot form in the pit of your stomach, tightening up your muscles and making your eyes roll back.

“Right there. Oh my god, right there…” You keep repeating, praying that Renjun treats you good and let’s you come. He adds another finger and you gasp, starting to move your hips in rhythm to his hand, holding onto his shoulders for more stability. He glances up at you, watching your eyes screw shut and your tits bounce as you use his hand to get yourself off. Renjun hums against you, and you can almost feel the ecstasy of coming undone, until Renjun pulls away. You groan, feeling like crying when your orgasm fades.

“Hey..” You whine, pouting when Renjun stands back up and licks your juices off of his lips. He has some on his chin and you bring your hand up to wipe it away, Renjun stopping your hand and kissing the wetness away, then kissing up your arm and to your shoulder, up your neck and to your ear. He tugs at your earlobe, licking the skin under it and biting some more, his hands sliding up your waist at playing with your nipples, pinching a little to get whimpers out of you and making your hips buck up, ready to continue where Renjun left you at.

That’s when you feel the hardness in his pants; it must be painful. That’s why you understand his next words, whispered into the shell of your ear between kisses: “You’re not coming until I’m in you, got it?”

You nod quickly, attaching your hands to Renjun’s zipper and button, undoing them and sliding down his pants.

“But, you’re gonna need to do something for me…” He says, helping you pull down his boxers, watching his angry, red length swing out. You gasp, feeling a bit bad that you just left Renjun like this to eat you out, but you’re sure you can make up to him now.

“What is it? I’ll do it.” Your hands run over Renjun’s sweaty shoulders, moving away some longer hair in the back of his head that’s sticking against his neck.

“You’re gonna have to yell my name. I need you to let everyone know who’s doing this to you— who’s making you feel good, okay?” Your breath gets caught in your throat as the words tumble out of his lips. He tilts his voice higher at the end of every phrase to make him sound innocent, but you’re not fooled.

“There’s people outside…” You mumble back, sending a glance at the door. You know there are several staff and customers walking along the hallways outside. What will they think if they hear you screaming Renjun’s name? Not to talk about what will happen to your job.

Those thoughts melt away when Renjun’s dick slides between your folds slowly, making you turn your gaze back to him and hold on tight as he lubricates himself over your wetness, holding onto your hips so that you don’t move and take anymore than what he’s giving you.

“That’s exactly why I want you to scream. Can you do that for me?” He asks and you nod frantically, doing almost anything to get his dick inside you. You’re not sure what’s going to happen once you step out of this room, but at least you know Renjun is going to give you the best fuck you’ve had in a while, and you know it’ll be worth it for what’s to come after all this.

“Finally…” You moan when Renjun’s length disappears into you inch by inch, going slow as to not hurt you. He sucks in a breath through his teeth as he bottoms out, picking up your thigh to hang it over his hip and wrapping his other arm around your waist to keep you close. You hold onto him, adjusting as he kisses your lips sweetly and carefully, and waits to move his throbbing cock through your velvety walls.

“Go, Renjun, move….” You whisper, and he looks at you confused.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.” He asks, cocking his head.

“Please, move.” You say louder, but he shakes his head and purses his lips as if he still can’t understand.

“I said, fuck me, Renjun. Please, can you fuck me already?” You all but scream out, your voice almost cracking at how whiny you sound. No doubt, if someone passed by outside they would’ve heard you. The thought makes you tense up, but it feels so good to be able to yell out what you want.

“Your wish, baby.” Renjun mutters before he starts rocking into you. You both groan at the sensation, Renjun’s hips speeding up as he gains more momentum. His lips don’t leave yours, kissing you into oblivion while his dick stuffs you. He has you against the wall, his hips powering away and you don’t dare to disturb him, realizing he’s burning all of his anger away as well.

“Yes, Renjun, fuck me just like that…'' You moan loudly to spur him on, now not really caring about who’s outside or who hears you, just wanting Renjun to know you love how rough he’s going. He presses you higher up the wall and pulls your legs apart more, hitting a new angle that literally makes you scream out, tears mixing with the sweat on your face as he relentlessly pumps into you.

There are so many things going on at the same time. Your hard nipples and soft breasts rubbing against Renjun’s chest, making goosebumps rise on his arms. Your hot and sweaty bodies are basically sliding against each other. The clapping of his hips against yours no doubt attracts attention from outside along with your screams and Renjun’s grunts continuously get louder as you both get closer to the climax.

“I’m gonna come… Renjun, come in me…” You’re already fucked out, the words barely leaving your lips coherently, but Renjun understands and moves his finger down to find your clit, circling his thumb fast and steady, just like everything else he’s doing.

“C’mon come on my cock, babe. Let it out, I wanna hear it.” And just like that, you unwind and scream his name as your orgasm washes over and takes control, making you claw onto any part of Renjun that you can reach. Renjun feels your walls deliciously convulse around him and with a few more sloppy thrusts, he comes into you and fills you up, staying wrapped up in you as you both calm down.

Renjun presses small kisses wherever he feels like as your breathing settles down, his softness and the caring way he rubs at your sides and hips where he was holding so hard that you’re sure to have bruises makes you smile hazily.

“___… I don’t regret any of this.” He whispers into your skin, leaning back to look at you properly. “Do you?”

“No.” You answer truthfully, making his eyes shine and you both smile dumbly, your sticking bodies relaxing. The happy moment doesn’t last long before there’s a knock on the door to the sauna. You and Renjun stiffen up as you glance at the door, waiting for whoever it is to announce themselves.

“Renjun? Son?” Your heart drops to your stomach and you cover your mouth at the voice of Renjun’s father on the other side of the door, but when you turn to Renjun, he doesn’t seem bothered. He sends a smile at you and moves some hair from your face before answering.

“Occupied, go somewhere else. We’re busy.”

[supercorpkid]

5th dimension

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Alex Danvers x Niece!Reader

Word count: 2750.

Please check out the notes in the end :)

It’s the first thing that you see when you go downstairs for breakfast early in the morning after the big party. Kara is in her super suit leaning over the kitchen island. Lena is next to her, sitting on one of the high stools, and Alex is on the other side talking to them. This obviously doesn't look good for you, after you just sneaked out the night before.

You honestly thought you would get away with it. If Kara had seen you last night, if Lena had noticed her car was missing, or even if Alex had figured you and Jamie weren’t really in the Fortress, they would’ve done something immediately. They wouldn’t let you enjoy the party in your super suit, then sneak back home pretending you did nothing wrong. Right? It’s what you hoped, anyway.

But when you woke up today, and checked your phone, you knew there’s no way in hell they don’t know. Of course they don’t follow stupid teens on social media, but there were a lot of pictures of you hanging in this party. A lot. An absurd amount. So, obviously, first thing in the morning you got an alert on your phone for a piece called ‘This Super Knows How To Party’.

Ah, damn.

So when you see the three of them, suspiciously waiting for something in the kitchen, you turn around in silence, ready to make your way back upstairs when you hear, “Good morning, sunshine.”

You bite your lip. Ah, crap. You turn around to see all of them staring at you, with not so friendly faces and raised eyebrows. “Good morning, mommy.”

Kara smirks. Well aware you’re using ‘mommy’ to try and make her side with you. Pathetic for someone who was just claiming to be rebellious.

“You, um, what brings you by, so early on a Saturday? I thought you would both be working.” You gulp, walking in a little bit closer.

“Well, we wanted to come in and talk to Alex to make sure it was actually ok for you to stay here.” Lena answers and you raise your eyebrow, wondering if that’s all this visit brings.

“And I was telling them how good it is to have you here with Jamie, and that you two are having a really fun time. Right?”

“Mhm.” You force a smile out of your lips, still scared to do more.

“Why do you think we’re here?” Kara asks, hands on her hips, and a fake concerned look on her face.

You see, they might know everything about you, but you know them very much as well. This feels like a weird, staged play. Kara is standing there with her heart on her throat, giving you a sheepish smile, in a very uncomfortable pose. Lena is looking too soft, which would be a relief if your last two interactions with her weren’t so downright bad, so you know it’s impossible for this sweet little face of her not to be an act. And Alex has her interrogation room face.

They obviously want the truth out of you. But they want to get it without asking, otherwise they would lose their upper hand. And you could just come out and give it to them. But you're still raging at the fact they can come here and stage this little scene, but they can’t be there for you. So no, you’re not going to give them the truth just yet. They want a weird, staged interaction? Sure. You can give them that. You can join their play.

“To be honest, I thought you and auntie were working on the case and mom got lost on her way to L Corp.” You shrug, faking a sense of relief that doesn’t make justice of how you actually feel. “But good to know you took the time to come all the way over here to ask her if it was ok for me to stay, but couldn’t quite do such when I needed attention.”

“Well, if we’re also being honest-” Kara says with a little hint of skepticism with that word. “There is something else we’re here for.”

“Oh?”

“You see,” Lena takes it away and you look at her. “I managed the crisis at L Corp. And Supergirl caught the invisible threat that was terrorizing National City.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah! So we thought-” Kara starts and you’re sure they’re going to ask you to come back home. But you don’t know if you want that yet. Sure, being a rebellious teen doesn’t make any sense if they’re not being absent and aloof, but you thought that if you left they would make a bigger deal about you coming back. You didn’t expect these weird faces and blank stares. You expected hugs and forehead kisses and apologies. “Well, your mom and I thought-”

“That we could go on a little vacation.” Lena completes and you furrow your eyebrows, completely lost.

Did they go totally bonkers?

“Huh?”

“Yeah.” Kara agrees, adjusting the non-existent glasses on her face, then smoothing her hand over her suit when she realizes she is dressed as Supergirl, and not Kara. “We were thinking, you would stay here with your aunts, and we would go out of town and work on our stuff.” She says looking at Lena, and they share a look.

“Wait, wait. So let me get this right-” You probably missed something. There’s no way in hell they would just go on vacation with things this distressing between the three of you. “Two days ago, you weren’t going anywhere with your problems. I needed you both, but hell,” Kara hardens her features at you, but doesn’t interrupt you. “Your problems were too hard. And now that I came to stay with Aunt Alex, then suddenly you handled everything and now are leaving on vacation without me?

You can’t believe this! Here you were, thinking they were going to ask you to go back home, and here you were lying to yourself you didn’t know if you wanted back yet. But now that you know they don’t want you back it’s when it dawns on you, you really just want this to stop and go back home. Snuggle with them on the couch and watch a dumb little family movie. You just want your best friends back. You don’t want to lie anymore. You want Lena to look at you and know exactly what you’re thinking and feeling. You want Kara to tell you that you are her heart, you desperately want that again.

But, apparently, they have other plans.

Lena seems to be considering the information. “Well, you did say for us to deal with our old crappy habits.”

“Do you have to deal with them on vacation? You can do that from home?”

“We could.” They look at each other again, agreeing with their heads. “But, um, kid, there’s more we need to work on. And honestly, we’ve worked so hard this past week, we just want to be trouble-free somewhere far away from here.”

Trouble-free.

Kid-free.

Got it.

“In that case, I’m really happy you two handled your life and death crisis all alone.” You don’t even fake the sarcasm in your voice. You literally gave Kara the means to go after the threat in National City. You gave Lena plenty of ideas of how to deal with the L Corp crisis, and you’re sure she used at least one of them. But sure, they’ve worked so hard, they deserve to be trouble-free.

You feel stupid. It’s a really odd feeling for a genius. You feel like a silly little girl, waiting for her moms to notice her. You broke rules! You sneaked out to a party, took Lena’s car without permission, compromised your secret identity, showed a totally different side of the Supers; you thought this would surely call their attention. Even if it was a bad kind of attention and not the one you actually wanted, still you were sure they were going to see you.

But no, here they are talking about going on a vacation, and leaving you behind. Here they are telling you that no matter what you do, you won’t have their attention. You were so foolish. So, so dumb for someone so smart.

OK, then.

“Well, I’m glad my absence made things easier for you.” You try to hold down the pain inside you, holding the tears that are threatening to fall from your eyes. “I wouldn’t want to make Aunt Alex's life so damn hard as well, so I think it’s best if I just… Disappear.”

Kara looks like she’s about to panic. Her heart beats fast and her breath itches. She holds her hands up, about to launch herself into a ‘no no no’ sequence.

But before that, Lena stands up on her chair with wide eyes. “That’s not what we’re saying.”

“You might as well.”

You know, the thing with being a (dumb) genius is that sometimes Lena thinks she might have shut down an experiment before it was successful, when in reality it was on the palm of your hand, on your phone, this entire time. Coordinates ready, fully downloaded, ready to go.

“But no need to worry, go on to your little vacation. I’m happy to comply.” You’re one touch away to have the portal opening in front of you. “I should go on a vacation of my own.”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Kara finally launches herself into the sequence and you touch your phone, portal opening in one second, you cross it, and one second later it’s closed again.

Let them have a nice fun time without you. You can’t believe you thought they were going there to get you, when they were actually there to tell you they needed more time away from you. Well then, have it. You’re perfectly safe in… You look around. Huh, this sure doesn’t look like Storybrooke.

You look down on your phone to see that somehow you’ve changed the location to where you were going. Oh great. Where the hell did you get yourself now?

“What are you doing here?”

“Mxy!” You scream, hand on your chest, when a familiar figure shows up in front of you out of thin air. You look around the nothingness of the room. “Where am I?”

“Fifth dimension.”

“Uh.” You look at your phone. How did you end up here? “I sure wasn’t aiming for here.” Then you look up to him. “So, um, where’s everything?”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t this your home? Shouldn’t you have, like, I don’t know, at least a chair to sit on?”

“This is pure magic, buttercup. You want a chair? Here.” A chair appears behind you, and he throws in behind, making you fall in it. “Not comfortable? Have an armchair then.” It changes right under you. “Couch? Bed? Trampoline?”

“Ok, I got it!” You say when you feel your body bouncing back on the trampoline. “If you can have all that, why did you go for this all-white, void look?”

“Oh, I’m downsizing.” He shrugs. “And you’re not supposed to be here.” You’re up on your feet and there’s nothing under you in a second.

“I know!” You grab your phone again. “I was going to Storybrooke, but apparently I pressed something wrong on the portal.” You look up to him. “Oh well, it was ok to see you again, I guess. I should go now.”

But you don’t move, no matter how many times you press the button, or switch the parameters, nothing happens.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually that third dimensional science doesn’t work against fifth dimensional magic.”

You lift your eyes at him, looking unamused. “I’m sure I will.” You growl. “Ok then, how do I leave?”

“You know, the good and old fifth dimensional magic.” He gives you a little smile and shows you his fingers. He doesn’t look like he will help, though.

“Hey there, my good fellow Mxytopololik-”

“That’s far from correct but go on. I want to see how this goes.”

“Well, remember that time you took me to the future in another reality and left me stranded there?” You ask and he gives you a chuckle remembering about it. You press your lips, not finding it at all fun. “This would be a good time to help a girl out.”

“Lucky for you, I do have to make it up for people that I wronged.” Mxy rolls his eyes, annoyed. “Stupid 5th dimension rule.”

“Oh, how sad for you.” You fake it, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy it. “I mean, um, can you give me a little hand, buddy? Send me back to the third dimension? You can drop me off on any Earth, really. I’ll find my way back to my Earth.”

“I’m surprised on why you would want to go back there.” Mxy says, snapping his fingers, and a large TV appears in the middle of the room you’re in.

The TV starts playing the scene you just lived. Your moms saying they’re going on vacation, and you standing there looking like you’re about to break into an ugly cry. You were, anyway.

“I wouldn’t want to make Aunt Alex's life so damn hard as well, so I think it’s best if I just… Disappear.”

He pauses on this sentence. And you look at him biting your lower lip.

“You did. You disappeared.” You harden your jaw. Sure you disappeared, but this was far from what you wanted. You wanted to be in the arms of a loving family right now, not in a void from an imp from the 5th dimension. This is nothing like the vacation you said you were going to. “Why would you want to go back to them? They wanted to go on a vacation without you.”

“Maybe they didn’t mean it.” You don’t know if you’re trying to convince him, or yourself. All you know is that right now you’re very sorry you’re stuck here and staying at Aunt Alex’s house looks a lot better than what you’re doing.

“Oh, toots. Whatever you need to tell yourself.” Mxy gives you an evil little grin.

Ah, fuck. Stupid imp is right.

You sit on the floor -since there’s nothing on the room- and you can’t hold the tears anymore. From that point on, you’re just saying a bunch of nonsense in between your tears and hiccups. You’re loud crying, muttering, in a hunched posture. Mxyzplk looks lost, like he has no idea on how to calm you down. You don’t think there’s anything he can say that can do that for you right now.

“You’re right! They don’t even love me anymore.”

“No, no. That’s not what I said! They love you!”

You lay your back on the floor, and curl yourself, in a fetal position, clinching your face, feeling like your erratic breathing is getting stuck in your lungs. “I hate it, I hate all of this. I want to go home. This is the worst day of my life.”

“Now, that cannot possibly be true. You came really close to death a handful of times.”

“But at least I knew they loved me and that they were going to miss me!” You feel the hot tears wetting your pajama’s shirt and Mxy looks like he is about to snap.

“Ok, enough with this.” You’re up on your feet after a snap of fingers. Your tears are dried with another snap. “You won. I will show you their reaction to your leaving.”

“What?” Even though you’re not crying anymore, your voice still comes out small.

“Here. All the possible outcomes from your little stunt. These will show your moms’ possible reactions.” He snaps his fingers again and you see a bunch of tapes on the floor.

“Tapes?” You look completely lost. “May I introduce you to hard drives? You know, even pen drives would make a better job at storing this.”

“You really are your mom’s daughter.” He sighs. “Do you want to watch them or what?”

“Ok, geez. No need to get defensive.” Although you do understand why he is. You are a little bit annoying. A second ago you were curled on the floor crying, and now you’re being a nerd about tapes.

“So what are we watching first?” He asks, and you kneel down to read the titles.

“This one.” You give the first tape to him. He sets everything up. A couch appears in front of the screen, popcorn and soda too. He puts the tape in and looks at you, waiting for your permission. You sit back on the couch, nods, and he presses play.

Notes:

Hey guys, Superkid is in the fifth dimension watching tapes (like momma, like daughter). And I thought it would be fun to write the tapes you would like to read. So here's a list of tapes I thought of, you can comment which ones you would like to 'watch' and I'll write that and post 1 drabble every day next week (total of 5).

Tape 1: Kara and Lena don't care and go on vacation.

Tape 2: Kara and Lena get depressed over SK disappearing.

Tape 3: Lena goes on a solo mission.

Tape 4: Kara goes to other realities/universes.

Tape 5: Lena goes full Luthor and kills Supergirl.

Tape 6: Kara gets maniac and kills half of National City.

Tape 7: Jamie has to tell Maya SK secret identity (good reaction).

Tape 8: Jamie has to tell Maya SK secret identity (bad reaction).

Tape 9: Kara and Lena split up.

Tape 10: Everyone’s reaction to SK disappearing (all of her family and Maya).

Let me know in the comments which ones you would like to read, please and thank you! ❤️💙

[ragingbookdragon]

Don't Bleed Me Then Push Me Away

Kyle Rayner x Batbrother One-Shot

Word Count: 2K Warnings: Explicit Language, Angst

Author's Note: Based off this ask about Batbro being a Lantern! Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

He burst through the door leading out to the roof, one arm wrapped around the man’s back, the other slamming the door shut. Huffing, he set him against one of the overhead vents before hurrying back to the door, yanking something from his belt. He shoved it against the door frame, just at face height and clicked a button, watching a red-light flicker on.

Sprinting back over, he knelt in front of the man who was moaning lowly, pawing at his side; he grabbed the hand. “Kyle, babe, don’t.”

“It hurts,” he moaned, dropping his head; he tugged the jacket away from his side, eyes widening at the crimson blooming larger and larger. “Oh God, I’m gonna bleed out.” He looked up, meeting his eyes. “(Y/N), I’m bleeding out.”

(Y/N) shook his head. “You’re gonna be okay.” Pressing a finger to his ear, he shoved the other against Kyle’s side. “Black Ops to Batman, come in.”

I read you, Black Ops. What’s your status?

“Not good. Green Lantern’s down and I’m not looking too hot either.” A blast sounded from below, on one of the floors beneath them. “We’ve got incoming enemies from the lower floors.” (Y/N) craned his neck, peeking over the side of the building before ducking again. “Tanks are in the courtyard.”

I’m sending the Batplane to your position.

“Negative Batman, anti-aircraft missiles were spotted earlier.” He breathed heavily, mind working in overdrive as he tried to think of a plan, but nothing was coming to him. Kyle’s blood was warm underneath his fingers and with how wounded the Lantern was, not even his ring could heal his injury.

—ack Ops. Black Ops. (Y/N)!

He shook himself from his stupor. “I’m here.”

I’m sending the Batplane.

“You can’t!” he yelled. “It’ll get shot down!”

I’m willing to take that chance if I get you and Kyle out.

“Dad I—” another blast sounded, this time from the rooftop door and he spun, listening to the screams of the men who’d taken a C4 charge straight to the face. (Y/N) yanked out his side arm, dropping the few who managed to survive and come out. He pulled the trigger one more time but all it did was click. Empty. He started hyperventilating, unable to decide if Kyle needed his attention more or if he should worry about getting them to safety.

But where could he take them? They were on the rooftop surrounded by tanks and soldiers. There was nowhere to run. They were at the end of the line.

(Y/N) looked back at Kyle. Sweat dripped down his face, his black hair clinging to his forehead; he looked clammy and ready to pass out. He glanced down at their hands pressed together, Kyle’s atop (Y/N)’s, and his eyes widened. The power ring.

He grabbed Kyle’s hand. “Kyle, gimme your ring.”

“What?” the Lantern moaned weakly. “My ring?”

(Y/N) nodded, slipping it off; he put his hand to his mouth, yanking the strap with his teeth before biting the tip of the middle finger, tugging it off. He slipped the ring on his finger and waited. He swallowed thickly, muttering, “Come on. Come on. Come on.”

“(Y/N),” Kyle whispered, and he looked at his lover. “It’s not working.”

“It has to,” he retorted, tears stinging the corner of his eyes. “I don’t wanna die here.” He leaned forward, one hand coming up to clasp the side of Kyle’s neck, his thumb brushing his cheek as he pressed his forehead to the man’s. “I don’t want us to die here.”

Kyle swallowed, a ghost of a grin on his lips. “I love you, (Y/N).”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t say that now.”

“I don’t know if we’ll get another chance,” he countered, nosing the soldier. “If we die here, then I want you to know that I love you.”

(Y/N)’s jaw tightened. “We’re not dying. Not now. Not today.” A wave of power surged through him, crashing against his soul like a tidal wave. “I refuse to give in. I won’t.” he shut his eyes, focusing on the feeling of Kyle’s skin against his own. “I’ll get us to the other side.”

A flash of green light burst across the sky, followed by an other worldly voice. (Y/N) Wayne of Earth. You have the ability to protect the ones you care for without fear. Welcome to The Green Lantern Corps.

He opened his eyes, the suit of green flooding his vision; a breathless laugh passed his lips and he gazed at Kyle. “I told you.”

Kyle snorted pitifully. “Yeah, yeah.”

(Y/N) grinned. “How do I work this thing?”

“Anything you can think of. If you can will it, it’ll come to life.”

He stood, looking down at the soldiers in the distance. “Any qualms against killing?”

Kyle shook his head. “Rules have been rewritten. Lethal force against enemies of the Green Lanterns has been authorized.” He gasped, leaning down to the ground and (Y/N) held out his arms.

“You need medical attention.”

“I’ll be fine,” he wheezed, shaking his head. “Go.”

(Y/N) knelt. “I’m not taking any chances.” He looked around. “I know who to call.”

“Who?”

He leaned forward, pulling Kyle into his arms. “Try not to move.” (Y/N) stood to his feet, eyes directed to the sky as he shouted, “Supergirl!”

A rush of wind gusted over them, almost knocking him off his feet and he looked over, seeing her red cape billowing above them. “(Y/N)?” she questioned. “You’re a Green Lantern?”

“For the moment,” he answered, holding Kyle up. “I need you to get Kyle to the Batcave back in Gotham City. Now.”

She glanced at the wounded man. “Oh my God, what happened?”

“Mission gone bad,” (Y/N) said. “Kara, please. Hurry.”

Kara nodded, lowering down to take Kyle from (Y/N); he grasped at (Y/N)’s shoulders. “I’m not leaving you.”

He shook his head. “You need to get to a hospital, or you’ll die.” He smiled. “I can take care of this.” (Y/N) met Kara’s gaze. “Go.”

She took off, ignoring how Kyle screamed at her to take him back.

(Y/N) flew to the ledge, standing atop it, and a gun went off; he raised a hand, imagining an aegis and sparks flew when the bullet ricochet off the bright green shield. He felt a renewed sense of strength and took a single step off the ledge, raising his hands high above his head; and the soldiers along the ground all gaped in terror as thousands of glowing arrows appeared in the sky, all the sudden coming down in a fury of green hellfire.

***

Kyle came to with wide eyes, sitting straight up on the med bay bed, though it proved to be a terrible decision as pain swelled through his side and ebbed outwards every which way. He gripped his abdomen, hissing with displeasure.

“Hey, take it easy,” someone commanded, pressing a hand to his shoulder and he cocked his head up, Jason coming into focus beside him.

“(Y/N),” he blurted out. “Where’s (Y/N)?”

Jason shook his head. “He hasn’t come back yet.” Kyle’s face dropped and Jason was quick to reassure, “But he didn’t send the code-word, so we know he isn’t dead yet.”

“What?”

“We’ve got a code-word we’re only allowed to use if we know for certain we’re not going to make it.” Jason leveled Kyle with a firm stare. “(Y/N)’s still out there somewhere.”

Kyle shoved his arm off. “Then I need to be up helping.”

“With what? He’s got your ring.” Jason put his hand back on the other’s shoulder and this time pushed him back on the bed. “You just lay right here and recover. We’ll do everything.”

“I can’t just lie here, Jay,” he retorted, though he made no move to get up. “I need to help you.”

“(Y/N) would want you to rest,” Jason shot back, and Kyle scowled.

“Screw you for using him against me.”

He snickered. “I’m just saying what you know you should be doing.” Jason reached over, pressing a button, and Kyle felt the world slow down, his vision growing dark as sleep washed over him. “There you go. Let the morphine lull you back to sleep.”

“Gonna…kick your…ass,” Kyle slurred before his head dropped down, eyes slipping shut as his consciousness faded, Jason’s amused hum echoing in his ears.

***

Kyle liked to be touched. He found physical measures of affection just as important as verbal ones. And (Y/N) liked to touch. A hand on a thigh, a kiss on a temple, a finger looped through a belt-loop, a toe brushing an ankle, digits carding through hair; he was content to simply be in contact. His favorite way was to touch was when he and Kyle were laying in bed, the latter’s back pressed to (Y/N)’s chest, one of the soldier’s arms wrapped around the Lantern’s waist, the other arm under Kyle’s head, folded back so he could brush through his lover’s hair.

It was uniquely intimate and sweet at the same time, and (Y/N) would simply lie there, breathing in the scent of Kyle’s minty shampoo, brushing the dark strands until they felt like silk beneath his fingers. And Kyle would hum contently like a cat, grunting if (Y/N) stopped. On the rare cases that he did, the Lantern would pout like a child and turn over in (Y/N)’s arms, burying his face in the soldier’s throat, nose brushing his lover’s Adam’s apple, breath warm against his skin. (Y/N) would chuckle, the vibrations rumbling through Kyle as the soldier’s arms twisted, cocooning the Lantern to his chest, legs tangling like ribbon.

It’s the feeling that Kyle had at the very moment, and he blinked blearily, inhaling deeply as he forced his mind to rise above the sleep clouding his brain. The comforting scent of cedarwood and gun metal wafted up his nose, a hint of tobacco hidden within. Warmth spread across his body, hot air puffing against his temple, as he finally felt the pressure over the left side of his body.

He opened his eyes, seeing a familiar set of dog tags and he tried to jerk up when someone’s hand rested on his chest, a comforting deep voice murmuring, “Easy, babe.”

Tears stung Kyle’s eyes and he fumbled for the hand over his heart, clenching the fingers through his own as he whispered, “Fuck you.”

“Hmm,” (Y/N) chuckled lowly. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

“You sent me away,” he hissed, barely restraining the tears. “I thought you were going to die.”

“Not yet.” He retorted, kissing Kyle’s temple. “Go back to sleep.”

“No. I’m mad.”

“Mmm, no, you’re actually relived I’m back alive and spooning you on a crappy med bay bed.”

“Don’t try to change my mind,” Kyle shot back, trying to wiggle, but (Y/N) had him in a tight grip. “I want to yell at you.”

(Y/N) sighed and pulled away, gazing at the Lantern; Kyle opened his mouth to start berating him and he merely leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his lover’s lips. Kyle’s eyes went wide as he made a noise of complaint, but it quickly faded as heat flooded his system.

They pulled away and (Y/N) patted his cheek. “You can yell at me in the morning. Go to sleep.”

Kyle glared at him, though he let his head fall to (Y/N)’s shoulder. “I’m going to kick you in the crotch.”

“Yep.”

“And yell at you for leaving me.”

“Uh huh.”

“Mock me at your own peril, Wayne. I’ll fight you.”

“Ooo, I’m so scared of the green space ranger with fancy boots.”

“You are a major douche.”

(Y/N) nuzzled his head. “I know. You love me though.”

Kyle swallowed the lump in his throat, and he turned, burying his face in (Y/N)’s throat as he whispered, “Don’t ever send me away from you like that ever again.”

He smiled, carding his hand through the Lantern’s hair. “Never again.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.” (Y/N) kissed Kyle’s head. “Go to sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”

[renee-writer]

Take the Wheel Chapter Twenty -Two

AO3

She reaches for his hand as they enter the courthouse. Even though he knows she is doing it out of nervousness, it still feels wonderful. He encloses his around hers.

“It will be alright.” He assures her.

“Yes. Just a bit nervous to see him again.”

“You stand up straight and look him dead in the eye. Let him know he holds her power over you.”

She squeezes his hand and grins.

“Thank you Jamie.” They enter the lift and head up to the third floor. They exit to polished wood floors and benches. The courtroom is a few doors down. He opens the door and follows her in.

She sees him right away, standing stiff and straight. He sees her and frowns.

“Claire, what are you doing here?”

“Surprised, eh? Did you think you could throw away my child without me being present?”

He turns away and Jamie’s heart fills with pride. Good on her!

They find seat near the front. The man takes a seat on the other side. There is hardly anyone else there.

The judge enters and looks sternly down at them. “I see this is a hearing to have parental rights terminated and the father request it? Am I correct?”

“Yes my Lady.” His barrister stands and answers. She frowns.

“Is the mother present?”

“Yes My Lady.” She stands on shaky legs.

“No distention filed?” She looks through to see.

“No My Lady.” His barrister pops back up.

“Why?” she addresses Claire.

“He doesn’t want her. We are doing fine without him. I see no reason to force him to be a father. It would just hurt my child. My Lady.”

“I see.” She turns towards the man. “Stand up.” He does along with his barrister. “She has a lot of class. As Miss Beauchamp has no objections, I must grant the petition. The law allows me room to state my opinion on it though.” She glares down at him, “You are a embarrassment to men out there working their hands off to provide for their children. You wanted the fun without any of the responsibility. You don’t have the stones to be a proper father to your child. I just hope you are smart enough to take precautions to prevent another child from coming into this world without a father. Though I doubt it.”

“My Lady!” his barrister tries to object.

“Hold your tongue Mr. Cowell or I will express, on the record, my feelings about you taken this case.” He sits down, leaving his client to face the crown’s wrath alone.

“Where was I? Right, doubting your intelligent. You, Mr. Randall, are one of the sorriest men that has ever graced my courtroom. Now, I must tell you that when I sign this order, you will have no more rights to the minor child, K B aged twenty months. You understand that?”

“Yes My Lady.”

“You are entitled to no information about her. All decisions about her health care, education and, religion, will be her mother’s. This totally strips you of any rights for the rest of her life. You do understand that?”

“Yes My Lady.”

“You also will have no responsibility towards her care, which I believe was the point of this. You understand that?”

“Yes My Lady.”

“As Franklin Randall has agreed to give up paternal rights to the child, KB and any responsibility towards her care, the Crown henceforth dissolves his natural right as the father of the minor child. The court also orders these records sealed until the minor comes of age. At that time, the child might wish to seek him, God knows why. The Crown will not disallow such a search. So ordered. So done.” Her gavel comes down. “This court stands adjourned.”

“Claire?” They turn and face him. Jamie takes her hand to help calm himself. He so wants to hit the smug bastard. “I never meant to hurt Kara.”

“It is Kiara. She isn’t hurt. She has no need of you. Goodbye Frank.” They walk out, her head high. Jamie is so bloody proud of her.

[ambssssssssss]

“I’m so sorry, Lena,” A harsh cough followed the words and Lena felt her eyes begin to fill with water. She was kneeling in the broken streets of National City at Kara’s sighed, mindless of the destruction around them as the injured woman before her absorbed all of her attention. 

“Hold on, Kara, just a few more minutes.” Lena found Kara’s bloody, shaking hand and grasped it with her own. Kara gave her a watery smile. 

“We could’ve had so much time if I hadn’t been so scared.” There’s a strong current of regret in her tone and Lena feels as if she can’t breathe as she pulls Kara’s hand to her lips and presses a kiss against dirty knuckles. 

“We’ll have time now, darling. All the time in the world.” 

“I thought we promised not to lie to each other anymore.” 

A long, uncomfortable pause followed. Kara’s breath grows more shallow by the second, but her eyes remain the same. The deep blue of her iris shines with that same adoration that Lena had always seen in them, and always felt unworthy of. Kara lifted the hand that Lena wasn’t holding on to desperately, ignoring the way her limbs trembled, to carefully cup Lena’s cheek. 

This is the end. They both know it. 

“No, Kara, please,” Lena can hear the desperation in her voice but ignored it just as resolutely as she ignored the tears falling from her eyes. Tears that Kara barely had the strength to gently brush away. “I can’t lose you again.” 

“You never lost me, Lena, not for a single second.” The conviction in Kara’s voice is broken by the blood that slips past her lips as a cough tears through her throat. She collapses back against the broken asphalt after the fit subsides, landing on uneven ground with a pained groan. “I’ve always been yours, even when I wasn’t.” 

The noise around them barely registers in Lena’s mind. The battle had been over for a few minutes at least, but Lena had paid no attention to the chaos around them. Kara, just as she had done since the day they met, commanded all of Lena’s attention. It isn’t until Kara coughs again that Lena realizes that she hadn’t been unconsciously blocking out anything going around them. 

Kara’s cough echoes of the wreckage of a ruined city around them. If Lena had the strength to pull her gaze away from Kara’s slowly dimming eyes, she would have seen the veritable host of people around them falling to their knees as the consequences of this final battle hit home. They won, yes, but none of them thought that the cost would be so high. 

Lena is dimly aware of another person settling on the other side of Kara, taking her hand and nearly gasping out Kara’s name in a choked cry. Even with the addition of Alex with them, Lena doesn’t tear her eyes away from Kara. 

“I know, darling,” Lena grips Kara’s trembling hand tighter, wrapping both of her own around it and pressing a kiss to Kara’s knuckles again. “I think I always have. I should have said something sooner.” 

“Better late than never,” Kara cracked a smile and just for a second, Lena could believe that she wasn’t watching the love of her life die right before her eyes. “Promise me something?” 

“Anything.” 

“Don’t blame yourself, for any of it.” 

“Kara-”

“Promise me, Lena. None of this is your fault, or mine. It happened, and it sucks.” Kara smiled again as Lena released a rueful chuckle. “But you can’t let this stop you. Promise me that you won’t give up.” 

“I promise Kara,” Lena leans over and seals her promise with a trembling kiss pressed to Kara’s forehead. 

“Good.” Kara’s strength left her completely, her head fell to the ground and if not for Lena’s grip on her hand, the same would have been true of it as well. “Remember, I am always yours. Even when I’m not.” 

Kara turns her head then, to Alex who sits on her left. Words are spoken by both of them but Lena doesn’t hear them. She can’t hear anything over the high pitched sound ringing in her ears and Kara’s last words playing on a loop in her mind. 

They should have had so much more time. They should have had years to be together, truly together. Years without lies and secrets pulling them apart. Years of light and laughter and love, so much love that it would be bursting out of them. The kind of love that couldn’t be contained. They should have had it all but now they only had minutes.

They only have minutes and Kara doesn’t know how Lena feels. A sudden panic seizes Lena as she realizes that minutes are quickly receding into seconds and Kaa still doesn’t know. 

“Kara,” even to her own ears, Lena’s voice sounds so far away. “Kara, I love you.” 

There’s no ignoring the tears now, they fall from Lena’s eyes unbidden. But Kara is smiling at Lena, that special, bright smile that always made Lena feel like she was the one who could fly. 

Kara’s smile remains as her eyes fall closed and her body goes limp. Kara’s smile remains as she exhales, whispering Lena’s name with her last breath. 

Supergirl dies a hero, mourned and celebrated by many. 

Kara Danvers dies to the sound of her sister crying beside her. 

Kara Zor-El dies smiling in the embrace of the woman she loves most.

Lena woke up feeling as if that last image of Kara’s smile had been burned into her retinas. The dream, memory, ends in the same place it always does, the moment before the realization of what she had just witnessed sinks in. Lena wakes with soul crushing despair settling deep in her chest so that her breath in a new day is little more than a broken sob. It takes a few minutes for Lena to gather herself enough to climb out of bed and reach for her phone. The move is calculated. Lena knows that if she had reached for her phone first, she wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. 

Every other day, Lena had been able to push herself through it. She could almost pretend that everything was normal, until she caught herself trying to call Kara and invite her to lunch. Even after two weeks, Lena’s first instinct was still to call Kara. The hope that maybe the dream had been a nightmare rather than a memory and Kara would answer when she called had been all that kept Lena going for the past 14 days. 

The day of Kara’s funeral had pulled that hope to a crashing halt. 

There had been a service for Supergirl the day before. It felt like all of National City had been there, human and alien alike. All the heroes that Kara had worked with over the years were there, a few of them people that Lena had only met briefly before the wave of dark matter destroyed all of their worlds. The Flash had a few words to say. Cat Grant had barely held her tears in. Superman openly cried as he said goodbye to his last blood relative. Lena had watched it all with a blank expression, Alex’s hand in hers. 

Lena had made her way to Midvale on her own and was one of the last to arrive at Kara’s childhood home. Eliza had greeted her with a hug and a far too knowing look. Lena had slept in Kara’s bed and refused to cry until she was sure that no one would hear her. 

Now, Lena pulled on the dark outfit she had selected the night before and made her way downstairs. Alex and Eliza met her at the bottom of the stairs and led her to where Clark and Lois were standing with J’onn. Eliza pulled Lena into another hug while Lois looked as if she was the only one in the room who could understand Lena’s pain. Everyone was treating Lena like she was Kara’s widow and Lena wasn’t sure she would ever recover from that. 

She had Kara had never been together. They hadn’t gone on dates or celebrated anniversaries. They’d never even kissed and yet Lena still felt like a piece of her heart had been broken beyond repair. She wasn’t Kara’s widow but she was Kara’s someday and that was somehow worse. 

How could Lena mourn what she’d never had in the first place? 

Kara’s funeral had been short. She wouldn’t have wanted all of her friends and family to spend hours crying over her. Kara had been a ray of sunshine, a becon of joy. Although tears were shed, everyone wanted to follow Kara’s wishes so it soon turned to a memorial rather than a funeral. As everyone had been distracted by Alex’s story of the first time Kara saved her, Lena didn’t think anyone would notice when she stepped onto the back patio. She nearly jumped in surprise when a masculine voice called her name. 

“Sorry,” Clark said as he stepped up beside her. Lena hummed her acceptance of the apology but didn’t say a word. 

They stood together in silence for a few minutes. If it had been any other time, Lena might have made a joke about a Super and a Luthor but it didn’t feel right with her Super missing. Eventually, Lena can see Clark’s shoulders sag and knows that the silence is about to be broken. 

“She was always so much stronger than me.” Clark speaks in a low, haunted voice. “I’ll never be able to thank her for righting my worst wrong.” 

There’s a heavy set to his shoulders and a distant glint in his eyes that makes Lena feel foolish for forgetting where all this conflict had started. Lex had killed Kara, but it was Clark that turned Lex into a staunch believer in the superiority of man. It was Clark who faced Lex time and time again. CLark who wasn’t strong enough to deal the blow that would have ended all of this conflict. It was Clark’s weakness that had pushed Kara into that position, and Clark’s cowardice that cost Kara her life. 

The urge to hate Clark for his inaction is strong, so strong it makes Lena’s stomach clench and her hands tremble. It would be all too easy to blame Clark for losing Kara, but Lena knows that it wouldn’t be fair to him. There’s plenty of blame to go around but Clark doesn’t truthfully deserve any of it. Lex does. For targeting Kara and dealing the fatal blow, but most of them blame falls on Lena herself. For her own war against Supergirl, for the experiments that gave Lex his powers, for not being strong enough to defeat him on her own. 

Kara would still be with them if not for Lena’s failures. 

“But there is something I can do for her, if you’re willing to help me.” 

It takes a moment for Lena to realize that Clark’s statement had been a request. She looks at him, blinking in askance. 

“Follow me,” Clark, in a move that Lena would never have expected to come from him, gently took Lena’s hand into his own and guided her down the porch steps towards the beach. Agreeing to Clark’s request that she wait there for a moment, Lena tries to settle her nerves. When Clark returns, Lena knows that there is nothing she could have done to prepare herself. 

Clark touches down gently a few feet away from Lena and in the space between them hovers a sleek, grey pod. The black surface on the outside fades to clear and suddenly Lena can see Kara. 

She looks peaceful in death, Lena thinks, like she finally dropped all the weight she had been carrying for so long. 

“On Krypton, when a woman died,” Clark swallows roughly. “It was tradition for the oldest female member of the House to speak Rao’s blessing over them.” 

Clark meets Lena’s gaze evenly. 

“I know that would be Eliza here, or Alura if she had come, but I also know that Kara would have wanted it to be you.” 

“Clark,” Lena hesitated, “Kal, I don’t know.” 

“I know what you mean to her. Meant.” Even though they had been doing so all day, hearing Kara referred to in the past tense hurt deeply and Lena felt the tears welling for what must have been the thousandth time. 

“Okay,” Lena agreed with a shaky nod. Clark handed her a small piece of paper from his pocket and then turned his gaze to the pod containing Kara’s still form.” 

“Whenever you’re ready.” 

Lena was sure that she would never be ready to say goodbye to Kara but there was no sense in waiting. Voice thick with tears and barely above a whisper, Lena began to read. 

“You have been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your way on the journey home. We will remember you in every dawn and await the night we join you in the sky. Rao’s will be done.” 

They stood there for a moment with only the sound of the waves crashing against the beach breaking the still air. Then, with a heavy breath like he was steeling himself for the hardest moment of his life, Clark lifted the casket into the air with him. A moment later, Kara returned to the stars that had brought her home. 

Clark returned to the Danver’s household while Lena remained on the beach by herself. There was a fleeting feeling of Lena wishing she had something to hold on to, a memento of Kara’s. The feeling faded only to be replaced with a much stronger wish to simply have Kara there with her. The feeling was strong that for a moment, Lena felt the soft, familiar warmth of Kara’s hand in her own, their fingers resting together easily. As time stretched on, Lena let herself be lost in the phantom feeling of what could have been, until the sound of a car door closing shattered the dream and brought Lena crashing back to reality. 

A reality where Kara was gone. 

Suddenly, the beach felt just as stifling as the house had been. 

Realizing that her moment with the ghost of Kara’s memory was over, Lena turned to make her way back to the house. 

Only Kara’s closest friends remained at the house. Clark, Lois, and Lucy were sitting together on the couch, the two normally argumentative sisters silent in their grief. Barry and Iris were curled together in a chair, Barry staring blankly ahead as Iris watched him in concern. Caitlin and Cisco sat together on the floor in front of Barry and Iris, their shoulders pressed together. Ava sat in the other chair with Sara leaning against her legs, her fingers idly wrapping a strand of Sara’s hair around and around. The other Legends must have gone back to the Waverider. Alex and Eliza sat together on the loveseat and made room between them for Lena. 

It was odd, Lena decided as she took the seat provided for her, to be surrounded by so many heroic figures and not feel even the smallest amount of hope. The Kara shaped whole in the arrangement could not be ignored. No one said a word as Lena sat down and the silence was no less disturbing the longer it went on. 

“It doesn’t seem right,” Cisco broke the silence with a sad voice. “The most powerful person we know.” 

“The bravest and most caring, too,” Barry added just as softly. “She didn’t even ask for help.” 

“You were all busy,” Alex shrugged slightly but Lena could see the tension in her jaw. “You all had your own villains to face and lives to live. She wouldn’t have disrupted that.” 

“She wouldn’t put all of you in danger like that.” Lena’s voice was hoarse from disuse. Not counting her blessing of Kara at the beach, that was the longest sentence Lena had said in two weeks. 

“I did, with the Dominators and Crisis,” Barry’s expression shone with guilt. “She answered every time.” 

“She was like Oliver,” Sara said, leaning further into Ava as she spoke. “More of a hero than any of us will ever be.” 

“All these powers, even time travel, and we still can’t save everyone.” Iris sighed and dropped her head onto Barry’s shoulder. Barry pressed a kiss against his wife’s forehead. 

“We would if we could.” Barry said. “I’d go back in a second if we didn’t have to worry about another Flashpoint. An event like this is too big to go back and change.” 

“Flashpoint?” Lena asked curiously. Alex looked at her with the smallest bit of surprise and a hint of question in her eyes. 

“One of the first times I travelled back in time on purpose, to save my mom. I ended up changing everything,” Barry explained. 

With everyone reluctant to leave, it took little prodding to get Barry to continue elaborating. A conversation about the difficulty of preserving the timeline arose between the members of team Flash and the two remaining Legends in the room. Lena listened with half an ear but her mind was stuck on the comment that had started this conversation. 

It didn’t feel right without Kara in the room, not only in the sense that Lena personally felt as though she was missing an essential part of her being, but in the sense that something about all of this was fundamentally wrong. The only thing about Kara’s conflict with Lex was that Lex was gone. It doesn’t make sense for him to have taken Kara out with him, especially not without Kryptonite. Lena remembered the final blow in sharp detail. The beam that had exhausted Kara was golden, not green. 

A comment about the natural order of time caught Lena’s attention and she pondered the implications of it. The natural order of time ensured that everyone was at the correct time and place, whenever that happened to be in the linear timeline of their own lives. Barry and the Legends are able to move through time as long as they don’t disrupt the natural time. There were few rules for time travel, but the most important was that one could not be in the exact same place and time as they had been before. A person cannot physically be in one specific time and place more than once. 

But, there were ways to send other things through time. The Legends used a ship, and Barry had once sent a message back in time to himself, warning of things to come. The beginnings of an idea began to form in Lena’s mind. Physical time travel was limited, but that didn’t mean that other forms had the same limitations. Unfortunately, Lena was kept from following that rabbit any further down the hole by the group finally breaking apart for the night. Lena forced the questions and ideas from her mind until she returned to National City. 

[runtedfiction]

nicer

day 1: facade @zelinkweek2021

ao3

* * *

Years later, when Link faces the castle’s crumbling walls, he thinks about the Princess.

* * *

The day King Rhoam announces this year’s Harvest Festival is also the day his subjects know they're doomed. Officially, it’s supposed to be a normal holiday. Unofficially, the language in the announcement—“the last celebration before the fight against Calamity Ganon”, “the last time the palace will be open to Castletown until the fight is over”—convinces everyone that they’re partying in the face of the apocalypse.

“They have no faith in me,” Zelda says, putting down her pen. “Ganon is brewing deep beneath the castle. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows I can’t stop it. This is their last chance to let loose before all hell breaks loose.”

Impa frowns and hands her the final page of raw Guardian data to clean. “You're too hard on yourself. You still have time.”

“I just have Mount Lanayru next week.” She focuses on the Silent Princess above her desk. It's wilting. “Do you think I’ll be wise enough? Maybe Hylia will smite me right then and there for being an idiot.”

“Princess!”

“I know, I know.”

* * *

They wrap up that afternoon’s study, an incredibly useful session in quantifying the powers of the Guardians, to get ready for the ball.

Zelda’s dress is her signature blue, but a bit more fluid and feminine than the one she normally wears. Made for dancing and a summer night.

“Collarbones,” Impa notes, and Zelda laughs. “A little off the shoulder as well! And the subtle constellation pattern in the tulle--how stunning!”

“Don’t act as if you didn’t design it.”

“Guilty.”

Impa’s dress, an even deeper blue, is similarly gorgeous. It’s long sleeved, form fitting, and silky.

“Impa, I just want to say—” Zelda pauses, looking at their reflections in the mirror. When will they ever look this nice again? “Thank you for being my friend.”

Impa' smiles. “Of course. And Princess—if I may.”

“Yes?”

“With all your talk of the world ending, of doom coming.” Her voice gets small. “Do you think it would be worth telling him?”

Zelda stiffens. She thinks of him somewhere in the castle, dressed in his best uniform, walking to find her.

She lies. “No.”

Three quiet, efficient raps sound against her door. Zelda’s heart lurches.

* * *

In the hot, overcrowded ballroom, she can’t stop wondering if he thinks she looks pretty.

There are important people here she needs to talk to: researchers from the Royal Ancient Tech Lab, religious leaders, captains of industry, and so on. She finds her father and tries to reach some common ground on the one night they aren’t preparing for Evil Incarnate. (She fails.) She should find the court poet and give him the dance he’s been writing about for the past month.

But all she wants is for Link to look at her.

He’s indeed in his best uniform. His gloves and boots are blindingly white; his collar sits high and stiff against his neck. He’s uncommonly handsome, and the uniform emphasizes it. When someone pulls him in to dance (technically he should be keeping watch, but that someone really insists), she hates the jealousy that blooms in her chest and takes the hand of the poet. When she twirls, when she makes conversation, when she curtsies--she tries to see it all from Link’s perspective, if he can even find her in the crowd.

“Princess, are you feeling alright?”

“Oh.”

The poet looks at her in the way that a puppy looks at its master. The neediness satisfies and repulses her.

“Yes,” she says, smiling quickly. “Thank you for asking. How are you?”

“Wonderful. I was sitting in the courtyard the other day and...”

It’s easy to tune him out and appear to be interested with the right amount of “mhmm” and “oh?” and eye contact. But every time he twirls her around, she tries to spot the top of a Royal Guard cap in the crowd.

She knows she’s being stupid. Even in the incredibly unlikely scenario where Link’s interested, what could they do? Given that her powers aren’t working, there���s only a sixty percent chance they’ll get through the Calamity. She thinks back to what Impa said earlier. Something about letting him know in the face of impending doom.

(Maybe it doesn’t make sense to do something that would possibly be useless, a tiny voice in the back of her head says. But on the flip side, it’s also possible that nothing will matter soon, so why not tell him?)

She scowls and lets the poet dip her far too low for common courtesy.

* * *

Link is definitely lost in the crowd now. The next song requires that they rotate between multiple partners, and she can’t spot him anywhere. There’s no way that he’d be looking at her anyway, because why would he? He’s the chosen one, kind and strong and handsome and blessed. She’s the failed reincarnation, mean and headstrong and cursed.

If (when) the world ends, it’ll be on her.

Zelda admits to herself, swaying in the arms of someone else who doesn’t matter, that because the world has an uncomfortably high probability of ending, it follows that maybe, possibly, probably it makes sense for her to say something.

A sense of urgency unfurls in the pit of her stomach. Where is he?

* * *

She tries to find him. She doesn’t know what she’d do--ask for a dance? Strike up a conversation? Maybe it's the heat getting to her, but it worries her that she's lost him. She walks the length of the ballroom and comes up with nothing.

There’s no way she could summon him, but…

She grabs a glass of water and walks out the ballroom to the nearest balcony.

Except in this very specific circumstance, it’s infuriating how easy it is for him to find her. Even when she doesn't want to be found, even when she’s actively running away (and nearly dying in the process), there he is. The knowledge that he’s almost always aware of her presence burns.

“Hello,” she says after a respectable amount of time.

He steps out behind her. Unfortunately, the moonlight’s softness makes him look angelic. “Hi.”

Zelda very rarely has no plan. She’s the one always bossing him around, deciding where they’ll go next and how they’ll get there and what they’ll do. She’s at a loss for words right now.

“Ah--hm.” A cooling night breeze passes by. “Are you--are you enjoying the festival?”

“Yes?” He looks confused. And hot, her unhelpful brain adds. Very hot. “Are you?”

“Yes. It’s quite warm inside, but I enjoy the music and the dancing.”

“The band is nice.”

She agrees and scrambles to find another conversation topic. Damn it. Still no plan. Think, think.

“Uh--” he starts the same time she asks, “Are you ready for Mount Lanayru next week?”

He nods, and she hates how she made the conversation about work. But he looks more confident now--talking about work is easier than trying to have whatever kind of conversation she had in mind. “Yeah. I read about the region and it seems relatively safe. We might see Naydra too.”

“That would be incredible,” she says. “I’d love to capture it on the Slate.”

He nods again. A silence passes (a horribly awkward one that eats at her) before she asks: “What were you going to say before I interrupted you?”

“Oh yes.” Link clears his throat, and the fact that he looks a bit nervous sends her heart pounding. Can he tell what her subconscious is trying to do? “I’ve been meaning to ask (oh God, oh God, what has he been meaning to ask)--are you avoiding me?”

She blinks. “What?”

He won’t make eye contact with her. Triforce of courage, my ass. “Are you avoiding me?”

“No?” She’s stunned. Avoiding? All she’s been doing for the past week is pining!

“But, I feel like.” He pauses to look at her briefly. Again, his nerves kick off her own. “Ever since we got back from the desert, you haven’t really talked to me.”

She needs to think. A week ago, what happened?

They were at the Kara Kara Bazaar, and she nearly died because she intentionally (stupidly) lost him. She relives the feeling of it now--the panic that came with facing certain death when she realized it wasn’t Link following her, but the Yiga, then the shock when he appeared out of thin air wielding the sword. His back, so strong and sure. His concern as he helped her get up afterwards.

How once she could process what happened, something kicked in her chest, and everything was so obvious so suddenly.

Then getting back from the desert, what did she do? She wrote a diary entry, spent a sleepless night deciding she had feelings for him that she didn’t want to name, and tried as hard as possible to conceal them. The pining was unbearable, and--oh. Looking at him made her face burn, so she turned away. She never knew what to say around him, so she chose to say nothing at all.

Perhaps she approached her yearning by offsetting it with its opposite.

They really haven’t spoken. Zelda shakes her head, and mentally kicks herself. How can someone like you back if you don’t even talk to them? “I promise, I’m not trying to avoid you.”

He furrows his brow a little. Cute. Unfair. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Ok. If you do--if you ever need more space, let me know.” He smiles a little. “I do have to follow you, but I can do it farther away or something.”

She smiles back. Please always follow me. “Thanks. No need.”

“Alright,” he says. He glances at her arms.“Do you want to go back inside? It’s a bit cold. You’re getting goosebumps.”

She didn’t even notice. An idea is forming in her mind, bright and hot and something that needs to rush out right now or she’s going to overthink it to death.

“Going back inside sounds good. When we do, would you--would you like to dance with me?”

The question leaves so quickly that she’s not too sure if he understood it. She holds her breath; she might throw up.

“Sure,” he says, and the disappointment that she expected to punch her gut doesn’t come; a flood of something wonderful washes over her instead. Sure is yes, her mind sings. “How about I find you before the last song? I’ve been doing a bad job of keeping watch.”

“Sure,” she echoes. Hopefully her excitement isn’t too obvious when she turns back and nearly runs into the ballroom.

* * *

When the band announces the last song of the night, Zelda lets go of the poet and steps back immediately.

“My Princess,” he says, and the normal repulsion she would feel turns into joy when she spots a navy blue cap making its way through the crowd. “I would be honored to have your final dance, if you would have me.”

“Another time,” she says, already turning to pick up her skirt and mosey her way through the last group of people separating her from a flash of sandy blonde hair. “Thank you though!”

She doesn’t wait for the poet’s response because the crowd is gone and Link is right in front of her, handsome and smiling slightly. Her heart is at a million miles a minute when she drops her skirt and steps forward to place her hand in his.

This isn’t like her. He must think she’s acting so strange. Either that, or it’s obvious just from looking at her what she’s thinking. It’s a frenzied array of thoughts, ranging from the obvious (handsome, handsome, smells so good?, handsome, kind eyes) and the embarrassing (The smallest, least repressed part of me has dreamed about this all week.)

The music starts and swells and she’s still dreaming. His hand on her back is firm. Thanks to the design of the dress, she can feel his glove pressing into her. She wonders if he can feel the heat of her skin.

“How are you doing?” he asks when they fall into a rhythm, and she smiles too fast, idiot, calm down.

“Great, how are you?”

“Good,” he says, and they spin. He smiles back. “Good to know you’re not avoiding me.”

“Of course not.” Stupid, you avoided him!

He dips her a perfectly appropriate amount.

She feels brave. It’s the adrenaline getting to her, because the rational part of her can’t stop (giddily) telling her that she’s dumb when she asks, “Why would you think that I'd avoid you?”

“Hm.” He looks away to consider the question. The tips of his eyelashes catch the chandelier light. “I thought that maybe last week was a bit too much.”

She thinks about how warm his hand was when he helped her get up after saving her life. “It wasn’t.”

“It’s ok if it was.”

“No, no, you’re too kind.”

Link clears his throat. “So you’re not avoiding me because I kept trying to follow you through the bazaar when you clearly didn’t want me to?”

She laughs. “No, it’s also incredibly stupid that I tried to lose you. Besides, what would’ve happened if you hadn’t?”

Link clears his throat.

She chooses to change the subject by asking an easy “What did you make for dinner tonight?” in an attempt to soak up the final minutes she has in his arms. He starts talking about mushroom risotto, and she can’t stop smiling.

* * *

At the end of the night, when he escorts her to her room, it’s late enough that silence is acceptable.

She’s decided that she needs to do something, but she doesn’t know what. A hug would be different, but too strange. I like you is simple, but too plain. Thinking about you makes my heart soft is embarrassing. I know I’ve been an incorrigible bitch but now my walls are down and I like you is too honest.

She turns around when they reach her doors.

“Tonight was fun,” she says.

He smiles. Zelda knows romance books don’t lie when her heart jumps at the sight of it. “It was.”

This is the moment. She takes a deep breath as quietly as she can. She has that nauseous feeling again. If nothing matters, tell him. Everyone knows the apocalypse is coming.

“Hey, listen,” he says right when she opens her mouth. He pauses to look at her. If she thought he looked nervous earlier when he asked her if she was avoiding him, it’s nothing compared to now. He does a visible gulp, and—

“I think I have feelings for you.”

She blinks. What?

“And I understand if you don’t feel the same way,” he continues, tense and fast, looking right at her, “especially in light of everything going on right now. But I just had to put that out there.”

What?!

She closes her eyes--what is happening right now--and when she opens them he’s still there. This isn’t a dream.

Holy fuck. “Really?”

He nods. “Really.”

“Huh,” she says. He beat her to it. “Huh.”

“Huh?”

She laughs. He beat her to it, and now all she has to do is the easiest thing in the world.

“I think I have feelings for you too,” she says. It’s so dark now she can’t see the blue of his eyes, but she can imagine it easily.

He’s surprised. “Really?”

“Really. In fact, I was meaning to tell you just now.”

“Really?”

She laughs. “Really.”

She smiles and takes his hand. He stiffens at first, then relaxes as she threads her fingers through his.

“Oh, actually, here, let me—” He lets go. Disappointment hits her briefly before she sees that he’s taking off his glove. Some of his scars are alabaster in the moonlight. He has so many.

(She wants to kiss all of them.)

His hand is warm and rough and lovely when he slips it back into hers.

“This feels nicer,” he says, and his voice is almost shy.

There are a million things she wants to say--what are we going to do if I end the world, what are we going to do if you save the world, how long have you known for, Hylia is going to smite both of us for being fools--but she settles on squeezing his hand instead. He squeezes back.

“Yes,” she agrees. Very gently, she cups his cheek with her other hand and leans in. He’s closed his eyes already. “Much nicer.”