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A strong knock sounded throughout a warmly lit apartment. Kara jumped up with more force than intended practically flying to the door. It was moments like this that she was thankful for the reinforced hinges Alex installed when she moved in. It wasn't that she couldn't control her powers, but the excitement of who was on the other side often got the best of her. Forcefully, the door swung open and Kara’s beaming smile was met with a radiant pair of green eyes. “Lena!” the blonde exclaimed bringing her girlfriend into a crushing hug. Lena’s body melted into the hug as Kara all but picked the brunette up and whisked her into the apartment. "Lungs, Kara, lungs!" Lena gasped. Kara put her down with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry," she quietly offered. Lena gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder and gently moved past Kara to greet Alex and Maggie. Both women were seemingly unperturbed by the commotion of her arrival and kept their noses buried in their respective books.
It was Maggie who looked up first, “Hey cheekbones, long day?” Lena gave the detective a slight but deliberate nod. Her non-verbal response piqued Alex’s curiosity and the agent gave Lena a sympathetic smile.
“Luthor, you need a drink. Whiskey?”
"Is this your way of asking me if I brought you whiskey?”
“Top shelf, Luthor, just like that ass,” Alex teased.
Lena rolled her eyes in response before pulling out a bottle. Alex smiled and made her way to the kitchen to retrieve glasses for herself and Lena.
Nights like these were easy now. Gone were the days of pointed comments, grunts of distrust, and wary looks. Not that it was easy, but there were only so many doubts the Superfriends could have after Lena saved Supergirl so many times. That, and they had a literal mindreader on their team.
The four women fell into a natural conversation - Maggie supplied her weekly roundup of arrests gone awry while Alex teased Kara about her own honest blunders. "How is it my fault that the Atlantian was naked?" Kara weakly protested.
"Kara," Alex gave her sister a pointed look that feigned seriousness, "you waited staked her out all night and waited until she was drunk, handsy, and had disappeared into a lead-lined room with her lovers. Only then did you decide to bust her!" Lena and Maggie shared a look before erupting with laughter. "Oh, it gets better," Alex teased much to Kara's dismay.
“Oh would you look at that, it's time to eat!" Kara said a little too loudly. With a burst of speed, she swung the door open and greeted the delivery person with a warm smile.
“Hi Kara,” Tedi greeted Kara with a warm smile, raising the contents in their hands just slightly, “I heard that you were taking a long weekend so this one is on the house!” Since moving into her apartment, Tedi would regularly deliver to the blonde. A particularly rough night for Supergirl resulted in her ordering four times the number of dumplings she normally did. Tedi, the ever kind person they were, didn’t push Kara on the issue at hand, rather left her a small doodle of a corgi in a Supergirl cape kissing Kara, glasses askew and all. Since then, Kara made a point to watch out for Tedi in whatever capacity she could.
“Oh, Tedi, you don’t have to do that! Seriously!”
“Kara, I’m pretty sure you single-handedly keep the business going. Trust me, don’t worry about it.” The blonde lovingly rolled her eyes and turned to the women behind her to help out. It was Maggie that jumped in.
“How does this sound, we’ll let the house take this one as long as all of us can tip you according to our share of the order.” Kara looked grateful for the detective’s suggestion, promptly turning to Tedi with the biggest puppy dog eyes she could manage. They went red which caused a round of laughter and the quiet mumble of acceptance made the four women smile.
“So who’s the lucky girl, Tedi? Kara ratted you out, and said you had a hot date last week!” Maggie handed Tedi some cash with a smirk and Tedi's faced reddened once more.
“Uh -- good! She’s good, so good!” they said a bit too enthusiastically.
Lena gave Tedi a disbelieving look, “Yes, and I’m not exhausted…”
Tedi looked down, their hand flying to the back of their neck indicative of mild discomfort. “She just -- she says my pronouns are too hard to remember. Which like, I guess is fair because I don’t really look like someone who uses they/them pronouns.”
“What do you mean ‘looks like’?” Maggie inquired gently.
“I don’t know. Well -” Tedi faltered and Kara ushered them into the cozy apartment. “People think that nonbinary has this look. Like it’s become a third gender and it’s -- that’s not how I feel. I just don’t like she/her pronouns nor he/him pronouns for myself. It’s fine, though. She’s really sweet otherwise.”
The room was silent for a short while, the women not wanting to cut off any further thoughts Tedi may have. It was Lena that broke the silence. “Tedi, I understand that you are fond of this person, but what makes her worth it if she is constantly disrespecting who you are?” Tedi looked down and mumbled a response, eyes glued to their shoelaces. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
“She’s just -- I,” they began, “I’m the problem here, ya know?”
It was Maggie’s turn to jump in - “Tedi, look at me. You are not a burden. Please don’t feel like you have to conform to someone else’s expectations in order to appease them. It’s only hurting you. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Again, Tedi stared blankly at the floor, but finally, their shoulder’s dropped.
“I know, it’s just hard. I don’t -- she’s one of the few people who doesn't pressure me into sex. I've always felt like I have to pick one - being ace or nonbinary. I don’t get both because it’s just...too much.” Kara fiddled with her glasses, trying to find her own words to offer Tedi comfort.
“I know it’s not the same, but this family,” she gestured around, “will always choose you. Identity is...complicated,” she supplied, "but finding people who honor your iterations is more important than making sacrifices that don't sit right."
“That’s right, kiddo,” Alex chimed in, “you have National City’s best detective, a federal agent, an all-knowing CEO, and a journalist for a worldwide magazine. We’ve got you, even when the rest of the world may not.”
“And when you are losing the battle against yourself, Tedi.” Lena’s words made Tedi sniffle and Kara was helpless to resist her urge to hug the person in front of her. As her arms circled around Tedi, they let out a small laugh.
“Thank you. All of you. I should uhh, probably get back to work now." Tedi released a long exhale and offered a parting smile. The door shut behind them and the four women seemed lost in their own thoughts. It was Lena that broke the silence.
“Maggie, are you -- crying?” Lena looked incredulously at the detective with a soft smile. The detective responded as she padded over to Alex who offered her a reassuring hug.
“Tell anyone about this, Luthor and I’ll arrest you. Again.” Lena blushed which did not go unnoticed by Kara who choked on nothing at the thought of Lena being handcuffed, though in a much different situation. Much too quickly the blonde cleared her throat offering everyone another round of drinks. Returning to the living room, Kara wedged herself between Lena and Alex, receiving a kiss from Lena and a tight hug from Alex. Finally, it seemed, Kara could have it all. So she did.