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Lena extends her an invite, one afternoon, to drop by L-Corp the coming weekend. L-Corp—mostly Lena—is holding a carnival at the parking lot to raise money for the Luthor’s Children Hospital. It’s an annual thing, the CEO says, and there would be a lot of fun booths, rides, and food, most if not all Kara’s favorites.
The last part is what had Kara coming that Saturday. Also because Lena invited her herself. She arrives with the Superfriends in tow—Alex, Maggie, Winn, Lucy, and James—and she’s in awe at how Lena—well, L-Corp—had managed to dress up the parking lot into a full-blown carnival. The noise is what she first notices: Laughter, screams, the sound of sizzling and popping, and the whirring of machines. And the smell. Rao. There's burning rubber and the butter of popcorn and sweat. Classic striped booths with colorful signages line the space, offering various games and food. There’s a man walking around carrying several sticks of cotton candy and when he passes by Kara, the blonde snatches one and throws him her payment with a grin. Over at the back are various rides; there’s a ferris wheel, a carousel, a small caterpillar roller coaster, and a mechanical bull.
“Want to bet who’d last longer on that one?” Maggie asks with a challenging smirk over at Alex, and the agent just crosses her arms against her chest.
“You’re on, Sawyer.”
Lucy also got in on the bet. Kara isn’t quite sure who to bet on but she does put her money on her sister, if only for the way she glared at her. It was hard to hold back laughter as they try to stay on the bull—it was harder than it looks, Alex says, but the smug look on Lucy’s face when she wins and takes their cash is something that would probably haunt Kara for the rest of her days.
“Not surprised she’s an expert at riding,” Maggie says over at James. The tall man coughs violently but Lucy smirks. Winn looks mildly scandalized at the comment and Kara just mainly tries to ignore them altogether as she looks around for Lena.
They get hotdogs as they walk around. James stops in front of a strongman hammer game, where strengths are supposed to be tested. They disqualify Kara from joining, much to the blonde’s disappointment, but they all give it a shot. Alex seems to put her frustration about losing the bet earlier on the game, hitting the bell in one go, but James does too.
Maggie wins with Alex at the marksmanship game, and the agent’s annoyance at losing or being tied with someone seems to vanish when Maggie hands her the unicorn stuffed toy she won.
“You are so gross,” Winn comments, but the death glare sent his way has him withering.
“I hate all of you,” Kara says with a huff. “Why can’t I join in on the games?”
“Unfair advantage,” everyone but Winn says. The man mutters you’ll kick all their asses under his breath. Kara beams at her.
They finally find Lena at one of the booths. Kara isn’t the first to see her, so she whips her attention to the mentioned location when Maggie announces, “Is that Lena Luthor on a kissing booth?”
Kara finds that yes, that is indeed Lena Luthor on a kissing booth. It’s a one-person booth decorated with cut-outs of hearts and lips, and on top of it is a sign that says “Pucker up!” Manning it is a smiling Lena, ever so beautiful and elegant, her lips painted her trademark bright red. She’s wearing a white t-shirt—something Kara has never seen the woman wear—that has For the children written on the middle in red. Her hair is on a loose ponytail over her shoulder. Kara smiles at the sight of her, casual and carefree, and when Lena leans up a bit, the blonde notices that her shirt is tied up at the front. Kara flusters at the sight of her flat belly and pale skin, but she frowns when she realizes why Lena leaned in: she’s kissing a tall, blonde man, on the lips no less. It doesn’t last more than three seconds, after which the man dumps a dollar on the fishbowl beside Lena on the counter.
There’s a line that forms in front of the booth: Kara could count at least seven people, but then a group of three teenage boys pile up at the end. The blonde growls. Shouldn’t they be in school or something?
“A dollar for a kiss? Sounds like a steal,” Lucy says with a small laugh. Kara just scowls at her. She likes Lois so much better now.
“What?” The younger Lane asks with a knowing smirk.
“Jealous much, Kara?” Alex says as she comes up beside the blonde. The agent playfully bumps her shoulder against Kara’s but she whines in pain when the heroine doesn’t move, having Alex take the brunt of the force. “Wow. That’s a yes.”
“I’m not jealous,” Kara hisses.
“You sure, Little Danvers?” Maggie chimes in. “You’re two seconds away from shooting lasers at that line—wait. Is that Vasquez?”
Kara drags her attention from where Lena is kissing another guy in his military attire to somewhere in the middle of the line. Susan Vasquez stands there, munching on some popcorn. Maggie laughs and jogs to the agent. She’s followed by Alex, then the rest of her friends. Kara groans.
“Seriously?” Kara exclaims as she follows them, ducking so as not to draw attention to herself. When she chances a glance at the booth, Lena is still kissing that stupid military man and really, shouldn’t he be off fighting in a war or something? She could easily throw him to space. She wouldn’t even break a sweat.
“It’s my day off,” she hears Vasquez say. Kara used to like her. Right now she wonders how many ways she can ruin her pretty hair without her noticing. Probably three ways, and then some, given her super speed. When Kara turns to her and Maggie, the cop is grinning.
“Right? Besides, it’s all for a good cause.”
Kara glares at her, again, and Lucy snickers. The major shrugs when Kara looks at her, but it’s Winn who finally speaks.
“I’m all up for a good cause,” he says as he gestures to the end of the line. He withers yet again at the death stare sent his way by Kara this time—it means literal death if he insists—so he stays still, maybe even hiding behind James.
“Sure you’re not jealous, Kar?” Alex says beside her. It’s much softer this time, like she doesn’t want anyone else to hear. Kara deflates at her words and she glances at the booth again. This time, it’s a woman in the shortest shorts Kara has ever seen that takes up the front of the booth. Is there a fabric shortage somewhere? When Kara dares listen in, she hears the woman giggle. Lena thanks her for her donation when she’s done. When Kara focuses on the CEO, she notices that her heartbeat is slow, relaxed. The blonde knows what this means—that this whole kissing thing isn’t doing anything for her, not really; it's just some gig she has to do for the better of the world, but still. Kara is jealous. She wants everyone to leave the stupid line to the kissing booth or better yet, she wants to take Lena in her arms and fly away with her somewhere they can’t be disturbed while she makes Lena’s heart race in the best of ways as they kiss and kiss and kiss.
She wants Lena for herself.
“I’m not jealous,” Kara says again, but it’s said in a softer way, too. Alex smiles at her.
“Alright.” The agent looks up at their friends and shrugs. “Who wants to win all the prizes at the shooting range then donate them to the kids?”
//
The group decides to test out every single game booth in the carnival. They also try out every single food—most of it is Kara eating her feelings away. There had been massive burgers, footlong hotdogs, green- and blue-colored cookies, and tons of candies that at the end of the day, the group had been complaining of being entirely too full.
It was a good distraction, Kara decides. Still, when they walk past the area where the kissing booth is, there’s still that stupid line in front of it. She watches Lena raise a finger and hears her tell the teenage boy in front one moment. Kara’s mood doesn’t get any better when she sees Lena take a lipstick out so she could retouch before she’s kissing the boy again. Her fishbowl of donations is half-empty but she knows it probably has been emptied several times during the day.
“You should go, Kara,” Maggie says. There’s no teasing in her voice, just helpful advice, and Kara sighs.
“You should,” Alex and Lucy chime in. “If you don’t, I’m definitely going up there,” the major adds. James lets out a sound of protest but Kara just ignores him. Alex shoves a wad of cash on her hand then pushes her, barely even making her move.
“You’re Supergirl,” her sister says. “This should be cake for you.”
Kara thinks that no, this isn’t piece of cake. This is a piece of Kryptonite, something that she doesn’t really want to face, but as she keeps watching Lena kiss a bunch of strangers—whether or not it’s for a good cause—she begins to accept that yes, she’s jealous. Her little crush for the CEO has spiraled out of control and this certainly isn’t helping.
With another useless shove from her friends, Maggie this time, Kara clenches her fist around the cash in her hand and shuffles to the end of the line. The carnival is about to close soon so some people are catching up with the other booths.
Kara glares at the young man who walks up behind her to line up at the kissing booth. He scurries away and she sets her attention back on the shortening line in front of her. Her own heart is starting to race, thundering against her chest and her ears, and when the last person in front of her walks off, she’s met with a pleasantly surprised Lena, still so beautiful and elegant and radiant despite being boxed off in the booth for the duration of the afternoon.
“Kara,” Lena breathes out. The blonde isn’t sure if the racing heartbeat she hears is hers or Lena's, but she’s smiling at the CEO.
“Hi,” she greets back.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” Lena says. Her red lips twitch up in amusement and she pushes a stray hair behind her ear. “You in a kissing booth? The other booths bore you?” There’s teasing in her voice that has Kara chuckling nervously.
“No, I…” The blonde shrugs but doesn’t continue. “How have you been? Busy day?”
Lena chuckles and tilts her head slightly. “Well, yes. But it’s for the kids, you know, and really, the worst I had is a teenage boy who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.” The CEO laughs for a second before she’s biting her lip bashfully. “For all the lips I’ve had to kiss though, I haven’t been able to kiss the one I’ve been waiting for.”
Kara is sure now that it’s her heart that skips at that. She licks her lips and meets green gaze that looks as nervous as she feels. She manages a smile. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Lena echoes. She shrugs. “She’s here now though. I’m sure it’s worth the wait.”
Kara doesn’t make her wait any longer after that. She leans forward, just enough, and she lets Lena close the distance between their lips. She wonders if the carnival also featured fireworks because she definitely hears them, sees them behind her eyelids, feels them on the tips of her fingers. There are hands cupping her cheeks and it takes conscious effort for Kara to not float when Lena pulls her closer to her.
Lena pulls back, moments later, with a dreamy sigh and a bashful smile. “There are children around,” she whispers. Kara steals another kiss.
“Do you have to man the booth tomorrow?” Kara whines. Lena smiles and presses a soft kiss on Kara’s lips that has the blonde forgetting her question.
“I think Jess can manage,” the raven-haired woman says. Kara lights up at that, but she lights up even more at Lena’s next question and she wonders how mad Alex would be if she just scoops Lena out of the stupid booth to take her somewhere more private where they could kiss and kiss and kiss.
“Can I take you out for a date tomorrow?”