Work Text:
The break-up was amicable, if Lena says so herself. But if anyone asks her, the week she spends halfway across the world right after is totally for business. Business meetings. Business-related CEO stuff she has to do. (She says halfway across the world, but really, it’s only Ireland.) Important business halfway across the world that she spends doing business stuff. Totally not holing up for a whole week in her private apartment.
When Lena comes back to National City, Kara is nowhere to be found. It goes on like that—total radio silence—for about a month, when finally, on the 32nd day after their break-up (which Lena is totally not counting) Kara comes barging into her office with three servings of potstickers, all obviously for herself since there’s only five minutes left in Kara’s lunch break.
“Hey there,” Kara says with a sheepish smile, dragging out her syllables. At least she has the convincing puppy dog eyes mastered, so Lena can’t find it in her to be angry at Kara.
“Kara Danvers, in the flesh, finally,” Lena says, a teasing smile on her face. “And here I thought you didn’t want me in your life anymore.”
Kara’s face reddens at that. “I—I have a perfectly reasonable reason for that,” she stutters. “Remember Barry? Fastest guy on Earth? I was roped into helping him for a whole month and…”
“And?” Lena encourages with a raised eyebrow, even though she knows this little titbit of information already – James had informed her right after she got back to National City.
“And I kind of left my phone there? I only got back yesterday, so.”
Lena laughs (she doesn’t know if she’s laughing because of the happiness bubbling in her at seeing Kara again or because of the empty feeling in her chest at seeing Kara again). “Kara, you don’t need to explain yourself. We broke up before you left, remember?”
Kara looks away, her gaze now focused on the vase on Lena’s desk. She wonders for a brief moment if Kara’s glasses are the only thing stopping her from incinerating the vase. “Oh,” is the only thing she says after a few beats of silence, “right. I… I think I’ll go now. Have a nice day, you!”
Kara doesn’t even look back before shutting Lena’s door on her way out.
.
[Winn & Lena’s Incredible Chat Group for Incredible Things]
Amazing Luthor: you know I’m starting to regret letting you name this chat group
Amazing Luthor: and why do we need a chat group anyways it’s just the 2 of us
Got Schott: idk it seemed like a good idea
Got Schott: hey are you free tomorrow?
Amazing Luthor: yeah, why?
.
Lena is eternally thankful for Winn’s existence. He’s a total sweetheart and he gets her like no one else. And he doesn’t mind when Lena recites unnecessary factoids about the movie they’re watching. (Sometimes he reminds her of Lex, with his warmth and understanding, and how his eyes sparkle when Lena is talking his ear off about something she’s passionate about, but Lena berates herself for even going there with her thoughts.)
“Thanks again for coming with me, by the way. I felt like I needed a pick-me-up after a rough week, you know?” Winn beams brightly at Lena, falling into step with her as they exit the theatre together. They’re both still holding onto their jumbo colas.
“Oh, no,” Lena chuckles, “it’s about time I re-watch A New Hope anyway.”
Winn’s about to respond, but stops in his tracks when he sees Kara with a bucket of popcorn cradled in her arm and waves at her. “What are you doing here? I thought you had work.”
“Oh,” Kara says with a bright smile that Lena tries not to stare at too hard, “Snapper gave that article to someone else so I thought I’d catch a showing of that Star Wars movie since the last three were pretty good.”
Winn tilts his head to the side, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Th-the last… three?”
Lena lets out a laugh. “Kara here watches from Episode One.”
Winn’s expression goes from confused to incredulous in under one second. Lena almost loses herself to the hilarity but she’s in public so she just smirks at Kara. Kara catches her look and immediately crosses her arms on her chest. In her haste, she nearly drops the popcorn but manages to hold onto the bucket with one hand. She still goes for a petulant look on her face, though.
“Well if they’re not meant to be watched in that order why’d they call it episode one?”
“They retroactively changed the names, K,” Lena says with barely concealed amusement, a familiar warmth bubbling in her chest. Kara doesn’t respond, just stuffs popcorn into her mouth.
“We were just going to grab some lunch,” Winn says, then, gesturing between himself and Lena, “do you want to join us?” Winn gives Lena a look, silently asking if it was okay for her to be in Kara’s company. Lena doesn’t know why he does that, since he’s already invited the blonde, but whatever. The sentiment is appreciated.
Lena smiles at Kara, then, a warm and inviting grin, challenging her to say no to Winn’s hopeful expression.
“Alright,” Kara says in a small voice, hesitant.
The trio resume walking towards a nearby restaurant in silence for a few minutes before Winn suddenly asks Kara, “I thought you didn’t like sci-fi since they were too unrealistic?”
“Oh,” Kara visibly blushes, sharing a look with Lena, “they kind of… grew on me, you know?”
Lena has to hold back her laughter—of course sci-fi had grown on Kara; in the three years they’d dated they frequently watched movies of the genre and more often than not Lena would end up in Kara’s lap and they’d be kissing each other senseless or just fucking on the couch, movie forgotten in the background.
(Lena discovers the hard way that moving on from Kara would be harder a task than she’d first expected.)
.
[Lesbifriends ft. the Bi Lane]
Lucy Left Lane: sorry guys something came up I can’t come to girls night tonight
Better Danvers: do you guys still wanna do this? kara got called away on some journalist workshop
Dimples Sawyer: of course!!! lena doesn’t have anything else to do
Amazing Luthor: ???
Dimples Sawyer: i said what i said, luthor
Dimples Sawyer: ok i also. have nothing else to do
Amazing Luthor: I don’t want to be a third wheel to the two of you though
Dimples Sawyer: aw lena didn’t know you felt that way
Amazing Luthor: so are we on or??
Better Danvers: of course we are im kicking your asses at jenga
Dimples Sawyer: aw sweet cheeks not if I kick your ass first
Lucy Left Lane: pet names are for private chats, assholes
Better Danvers: asshole is also a pet name, luce
.
“God, my eyes are dry,” Lena moans, blinking her eyes repeatedly in hopes that her tear ducts will miraculously moisten her eyes. She’s on the couch in Alex’s apartment, phone in hand while she’s scrolling through her texts and replying to a bunch of work e-mails. Alex is picking out a movie while Maggie is preparing popcorn and drinks. There are Jenga pieces scattered on Alex’s coffee table after Alex rightfully kicks both their asses.
“That’s because you’re on your phone all the damn time,” Alex deadpans as she debates between The Conjuring and Carol.
“Oh my god, please,” Lena’s tone is whining but she has a smile on her face. (Alexandra Danvers caring about her came to her as a surprise when they first became friends—at first Alex had to care about Lena because Lena was dating her sister; over time Alex came to care about her for her. Now, Alex’s affection—and soft spot for her—becomes one of the things she cherishes the most.)
“Who are you texting, anyway?” Alex asks, an eyebrow raised in curiosity, finally looking at Lena. She holds up the Carol DVD and Lena nods, and Alex puts the disc into her DVD player. She turns to Lena, again, when she’s only met with silence. There’s a visible blush on Lena’s cheeks and Alex can see it from where she’s sat on the floor. There’s an amused smile creeping on Alex’s face. “Oh my god, who are you texting?”
“No one!” Lena exclaims, far too loudly, far too quickly to be convincing.
“Uh, pretty sure Cheerful Danvers isn’t you or Eliza, babe,” Maggie says from behind the couch Lena’s sitting on. (How the hell did she get there? For a fleeting moment Lena considers buying a bell for Maggie.)
“Jesus fuck, you two need to calm down, we’re friends of course we text.” (The confident Jesus fuck would have been more effective if Lena wasn’t flushed from her head to the tips of her toes.)
Alex has a shit-eating grin on her face. (The same one Kara has when she’s teasing Lena, she notices. Then she frowns because she’s supposed to be moving on from Kara and exes aren’t supposed to notice their ex’s smile on said ex’s sister.)
“Friends, huh?”
.
[Lesbifriends ft. the Bi Lane]
Lucy Left Lane: are you still at alex’s
Lucy Left Lane: im unexpectedly done with my thing already
Lucy Left Lane: you gays
Lucy Left Lane: hello???
Lucy Left Lane: im coming over, i don’t care
Lucy Left Lane: I better not walk in on Alex and Maggie making out half naked like last time
Lucy Left Lane: I still demand compensation for that one, my eyes haven’t been the same
.
They’re halfway through Carol when they hear a knock on the door. There’s a muffled “Alex and Maggie better be clothed” coming through the other side.
“Will you go get that before she actually knocks down the door,” Alex says, pointing a sock-clad foot in Lena’s direction. She’s cuddling with Maggie under a soft blanket. It’s a wonder how neither Alex nor Maggie are sweating out all the water content from their bodies.
Lena gets to the door, but not before sticking out her tongue at Alex.
“Hey lesbifriend,” Lucy greets with a huge smile. “Are you guys watching Carol again? That’s so cliché.”
“Shut up, it’s a good movie,” Maggie says.
“It is, it is,” Lucy easily agrees, heading towards Alex’s fridge to grab a beer. She then sits on the couch, next to Alex.
“Hey,” Alex says, prodding Lucy’s thigh with her foot. “So what was so important you almost skipped girls’ night?”
“It’s this weapon we’re testing for the new task force,” Lucy frowns, “it’s really powerful but it overheats easily and we can’t figure out a suitable cooling reagent for it… the nerds were taking a long time so I kind of bolted?”
“What?” Alex asks, incredulous. As if Lucy Lane would be that irresponsible.
“I hadn’t gone home in a week, alright? I, for one, thought I deserved a break.”
“That cooling reagent?” Lena interjects before Alex and Lucy get into another argument (friendly debate, they would constantly say), “you should totally ask Kara about it—I think we once talked about coolants that they used on Krypton? I think she said something about a substance on earth similar in quality… I’m not quite sure though. Let me ask her…” She trails off when Maggie and Alex share a look of amusement between them. Lucy is just there, beer can to her mouth, not quite sipping, looking at Lena with a strange look on her face.
“What?” Lena asks.
Lucy looks at Alex and Maggie, looking for an answer.
“Yeah,” Maggie stage-whispers, knowing full well everyone in the room can hear her, “apparently, Lena and Cheerful Danvers are quote-unquote friends.”
Lena furrows her eyebrows. “Please, not this again. We are friends. As if exes can’t be friends,” she says wistfully. She can feel her chest tighten, thinking about Kara in that way. (She’s getting better at separating Kara the ex from Kara the friend, like she can Kara Danvers from Supergirl. It’s gotten a little complicated now, she thinks, but she’s Lena Luthor, former child prodigy, current holder of the most degrees in her family, so she figures she’s got this under control.)
“Do you guys want to order pizza?” Alex asks, thankfully changing the subject. She gives Lena an understanding smile. “I have more gay movies queued up after this.”
.
[food-looking gym buddies]
Tolsen, James: there’s a new café 2 blocks from the gym
Tolsen, James: wanna join me?
Amazing Luthor: sure, order me my usual coffee?
Tolsen, James: ok, see u
.
Lena and James have a weird relationship, for lack of a better word. At first they’d been wary of each other—James being Kara’s ex and Lena being, well, a Luthor—but then they ran into each other in a small gym just outside of the city limits (cagey frowns were exchanged) and then again in an obscure restaurant where they served “the best gourmet ice-cream” in town, this time with Kara (it seemed that whenever she ran into James at a restaurant or a café, it was always with Kara, which made things… weird).
In three years, however, they’d become great friends who would share beautiful photos of food that went through three rounds of Photoshop (James), new workout regimens based on the latest research (Lena) and disgusting “healthy” smoothie concoctions (James and Lena, much to Kara’s chagrin).
Add to that the fact that Lena’s now Kara’s ex—another check in their list of similarities. So, yeah, weird. It’s nice, however, to be able to relate to another person on such a deep level, and over the month that Kara’d been away they’ve bonded more over obscure food trucks around National City.
(It’d been a week of PR nightmare when they were photographed together around the city—for all the public knew Lena and Kara were still dating; why would she be seen with another man?)
“Hello? Earth to Lena?” James asks, snapping his fingers in front of her face. Her thoughts were drifting away, she realises.
“Oh, sorry,” Lena says with a chuckle. “You were saying?”
James lets out a chuckle. “I mentioned Kara and you just sort of… went away. Are you okay?”
“I guess?” She manages, takes a sip of her drink and savouring the taste before swallowing, hoping James would drop the subject immediately. He’s still looking at her, however, and she sighs. He’s not giving up. “I… I’m not quite sure.”
“Hey,” he says, settling his hand on top of hers, a comforting gesture she never thought she needed. “Breathe. Collect your thoughts… is this about Kara?”
“Yes?” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Yes,” she repeats, this time daring herself to look at James’s eyes.
“Okay, what about her?”
“I don’t know. I—I thought I’d have moved on by now… but I haven’t had one private conversation with her without—without all of this—happening.” She gesticulates wildly in her general presence, and puffs out her cheeks in annoyance. She heaves a heavy sigh, then, and drinks what’s left of her drink in one go.
“What? Feelings happening?” James asks with a small smile. Lena nods. “I used to be the same way, but look at us now, you know? We’re really good friends.”
Lena stays quiet, letting James talk as she takes in his words to be processed.
“… and you’ve only been broken up for a month and you’ve only seen her in person, what, twice last week? These things take time. You need to let your head wrap around the fact that you’re not together anymore.”
“You’re right, maybe I’m rushing things,” Lena says, and takes back her hand from James’s grasp when their waitress comes to their table with their food. “I’m glad to have met you, you know that?”
“Me too.”
“Before I forget, I found this great hobby shop near my apartment in Ireland, and I saw that they had a huge collection of kitchen ingredients, I was wondering if you wanted to recreate that dish from the diner we went to years ago…”
.
[food-looking gym buddies]
Tolsen, James has sent a picture to the group.
Amazing Luthor: that coffee looks so good!!! Lucy’s gonna be so envious when I show her
Tolsen, James: she is, she’s been stuck in her office for so long, she probably misses real coffee haha
Amazing Luthor: you know what. I’m gonna taunt her
.
It’s three in the morning and Lena hears a loud thud coming from her veranda, followed by a muffled “shoot, no” coming from the caped figure outside. Lena opens the doors just as Kara’s about to launch herself in the direction of her apartment. “Kara?” She asks, stopping the blonde in her tracks. “What are you doing here?”
“Lee, I’m so sorry—I—I got so used to going straight here after missions I forgot we broke up I’m so sorry…”
Lena watches as Kara motions with her hands while she speaks; her actions are subdued, taken over by the exhaustion evident in the slump of her shoulders and the bags under her eyes. It’s pretty jarring to see this side of Kara after a whole month of nothing.
“I’ll—I’ll go home now, sorry to bother you in the middle of the nigh—”
“Nonsense, Kara, we may be broken up but I’m not going to let you fly in this state; you can take the guest bedroom. You should change into something more comfortable—actually, your side of the closet is still intact, so…”
Kara’s eyes widen. “Oh no, I totally forgot to pick up my stuff… gosh, this break-up thing is so new to me, I’m so sorry,” she says, pacing back and forth in front of Lena, and then the blonde stops to look at her. “I’ll totally pack up my stuff and I’ll be out of your hair in the morning.”
“Right… I’ll get the boxes.”
The sun is almost up and Lena hasn’t slept a wink. When she walks out to the living room, Kara’s still there, taking inventory of her things, making sure she hasn’t forgotten anything.
“Hey,” Lena says, sitting on one end of the couch, as far away from Kara as possible. “We’re—we’re good, right?”
“Of course we are, why would you think otherwise?”
“It’s just—we haven’t hung out, just the two of us. As friends, I mean,” Lena says. She’s blushing now, she’s sure of it. She hates being like this, being vulnerable, having Kara see right through her. (But, her brain reasons, she trusts Kara with her whole heart—so maybe she doesn’t hate being vulnerable in front of the blonde. Whatever. She doesn’t have the time to deal with that can of worms right now.)
“I—” Kara stops to think about what to say next. “Funny story, actually,” she continues sheepishly, one hand on the back of her neck to scratch an itch that definitely doesn’t exist, “the other day I came to your office to, you know, have lunch with you. Like always. And then you said we broke up and I thought maybe… I was overstepping some kind of boundary. Sorry, human customs still escape me sometimes.”
“Kara, you only had five minutes left before the end of your lunch hour.”
“I totally forgot about that, oh my gosh, you’re right!” Kara laughs. Lena’s chest tightens at the sight. She reminds herself that they’re friends. They’re friends—they’re friends; they will see each other frequently, and she’ll get so so so many chances in the future to make Kara laugh the same way she did when they were dating. (And, although she can’t figure it out now, in the future this will be enough.)
“You’re still welcome to spend your lunch hour with me, if you’re so inclined,” Lena says. “As are our other friends. Maybe you’d like to bring them as buffers.”
There’s a few beats of silence as Kara mulls over what Lena’s said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
.
Kara shows up almost every day the next couple of weeks with one of their friends with her. (She’ll always be in awe of how Kara managed to bring Lucy along—Lucy, who’s almost always out of town or in her office. Lena suspects Kara’s puppy dog eyes and signature pout were involved. She should’ve known absolutely no one is immune to that.)
Lena steps out of the elevator the third week to find Kara sitting at Jess’s desk, discussing with her the importance of colour-coding their bosses’ schedule. (It’s nice to see Jess so animated and passionate—Kara has that effect on people.)
“No one else today?” She asks with a playful grin. (Her heart is stuttering. She knows that Kara knows. She trusts Kara won’t hold this against her.)
“Nah, I didn’t feel like sharing the last box of potstickers with anyone else.”
.
fuck nut el: hey lena want to hang out?
Amazing Luthor: ew. no