Work Text:
"You need to stop taking pictures of me."
Alex squirms slightly and drags her gaze from her phone to the woman across her. Lena isn't even looking at her; she is busy typing away on her laptop—which makes sense, since Alex dropped by L-Corp far too early during the evening. It's mildly amusing how Lena, a CEO of her own company who could forgo work any day, has longer hours than Alex herself. The agent frowns. "I wasn't," she mumbles.
"Oh yeah?" Lena seems to finish the sentence she is typing first, then pauses and lifts her gaze to meet Alex's with an eyebrow raise that's supposed to be intimidating. Alex just finds herself licking her lips at it. Lena reaches across her desk with an open palm. "Can I see your phone then?"
Alex looks at Lena's hand, then back to her phone. She pouts. Lena smirks in victory.
"I can't believe you're lying right in front of my face," she teases.
Alex scoffs, taking offense at the woman's words, and lifts her phone, showing a thumbnail to Lena. "I wasn't," she repeats. "It's a video." She beams. On her phone is a ten-second clip of Lena, a face of concentration as she types what Alex guesses is a scathing email to another executive on her laptop, until the CEO had caught her.
Lena rolls her eyes but the smile on her face is far too obvious to hide. "That's stalker behavior," she quips, but Alex just shrugs.
"I'm just appreciating my girlfriend's lovely, lovely face," she says dreamily, double-checking that she has saved the video before pocketing her phone. When she looks up at Lena again, the woman is staring at her. "What?"
Lena bites her lip. "Nothing," she says. She types again, just for a few seconds, and Alex is more than content to watch her, but she finishes after a while and closes her laptop. "Come here and appreciate all of me, then."
Alex flushes slightly at that. "I wanted to take you out for dinner."
Lena's smile grows more bashful. "Really?"
A part of Alex aches; no matter how many times she has taken Lena out in the course of their relationship, it astonishes her in every way how Lena always seems like she's dreaming when she looks at Alex.
"Yes," the agent confirms.
Lena bites her lip and tilts her head, studying Alex curiously. The agent squirms at the attention. Lena hums. "Okay," she replies. "Appreciate me for dessert?"
Alex coughs violently.
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Alex leads Lena to the parking lot. "Are we taking your bike?" Lena asks as they neared the area where numerous two-wheeled vehicles are parked, and before Alex even turned she could already see the pout on the CEO's face. "Baby, you know I love you, but I think I have enough threats in my life so you'll excuse me for not wanting to ride that death trap."
The redhead laughs. "You're exaggerating, and you know I drive very safely," she says, but does point to a black car parked a few slots away. "But no. I did bring my car," she assures.
Lena grins and sneaks in a kiss on Alex's cheek. "Love you," she says, and a part of Alex aches; in a good way, at least—it never fails to astonish her how there is still that breathless rush that makes her smile when she hears those words, despite how many times Lena had said them or how many times she had said them back.
"I love you too," she says. She opens the door for Lena and runs to the driver's seat. She drives them to a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the outskirts of National City that Alex had heard about from Vasquez. Lena plays her Florence and the Machine songs in the car and they drive with the windows open, the CEO singing to the wind in the growing darkness of the night, free to just be her with Alex now.
There's an urge to take a photo of her but she only laughs as Lena tries and fails to reach a note. Lena laughs too, scrunches her nose in that adorable way that makes Alex miss her even if she is right there.
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They arrive at the restaurant. Lena gasps in awe of its rustic exterior, and Alex grins.
"Heard they have the best wines in National City," she says as they get out of the car. She gives the car keys to the valet.
Lena raises an eyebrow. "You really think they could serve the best wines in National City without me knowing?"
Alex shrugs and offers her arm to the woman. "I'm just saying, you don't know everything."
"Is that a challenge, Alexandra?" Lena shoots back, even if she loops her arms around the woman's.
Alex chuckles. "You're on, Kieran."
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A tipsy Lena is softer around the edges, more beautiful in ways Alex doesn't know how to describe. She giggles at something Alex doesn't even know she said, but the sound makes butterflies come to life in her belly—or maybe it's the wine talking.
Regardless, she is intoxicated in everything Lena Luthor is.
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They stay until the restaurant empties out and fruit juices have finally washed away the intoxication from their veins. Lena had finished explaining how she would redo the Fleischmann–Pons experiment herself, and Alex had taken numerous photos of her.
"You really need to stop taking photos of me," Lena laughs. She tilts her head at Alex. "You see me all the time."
Alex shrugs. "It's for times when I don't see you."
Lena smiles, soft and wonderful, like Alex is a dream in front of her eyes. "You're lovely, you know that?"
Maybe she is, but Lena is lovelier.
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When they get out of the restaurant, it's to greet the almost midnight sky. They wait for the valet to arrive; Lena stands a step ahead, looking at the night sky, and Alex watches her. Without really noticing she finds herself taking photos of Lena again, finds herself smiling at her phone as she did so.
"Alex," Lena singsongs. Alex just grins at her phone before glancing to Lena, except the woman is lunging towards her, wrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck. "Put the front cam on," she says.
Alex makes a small noise of protest. "I want pictures of you."
Lena just hums. She presses a kiss on Alex's cheek. "And I want pictures of us."
Alex glances at Lena at that. The woman looks at her expectantly and Alex gives in, puts the front camera on, and just as she takes the photo Lena leans in and presses the softest of kisses on the corner of her lips, like any further pressure and Alex would break.
It feels oddly like a promise, and when Lena pulls away when the valet arrives, she takes Alex's hand and never lets go until they arrive at the redhead's apartment.
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Lena stays over. Alex wakes up first the next morning, her limbs tangled with Lena's, soft skin against soft skin. She hums and pulls Lena closer to her, noses the back of her shoulder. She brushes her lips against the constellations on pale skin and Lena stirs.
"Morning," she grumbles, then turns in Alex's arms. The redhead is greeted with the sight of Lena's lovely face, expression soft from her fleeting dreams, alabaster skin framed by dark hair. Alex smiles to herself; for a self-proclaimed morning person, Lena could sleep in on days she finds herself in Alex's warmth. Alex thinks she's beautiful, and even that word is such a modest way to describe the way Lena's features seem like she is carved by god herself, but she supposes words aren't meant to describe how Lena makes her feel. It would be an injustice.
There's an urge that builds inside her to capture this moment in a photograph—to freeze this moment in time for eternity, for her to have for always, because who knows what tomorrow may bring? There is fear that finds its way in her heart sometimes; fear that Lena would leave like those who came before her, fear that life would take over and take her away.
"You're thinking way too much for such time in the morning, baby," Lena grumbles, as if she knows what runs in Alex's mind. Alex chuckles as Lena scoots ever closer, burying her face in Alex's neck. "Go back to sleep."
Or maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, the universe has deemed her worthy of happiness this time around. That she does not have to struggle to capture moments in photographs because she will always have Lena.
Alex hums. She kisses Lena's temple and closes her eyes again, only for a moment, before pulling away slightly and looking at Lena once more.
"Lena?" Alex whispers, as if checking if Lena is awake. The raven-haired woman hums. Alex smiles. "I love you."
Lena opens her eyes, and Alex drowns in green eyes more vibrant than life itself.
"I love you too."