Work Text:
“Nia,” Kara’s voice sounds like an echo. She’s not sure if that’s just how it’s meant to sound or if it’s being drowned out by the beating of her heart.
There’s a rushing in her ears, a tingle in her fingertips, a tremble in her throat that makes it hard to speak. Her lips part and she tries to do more than stare.
And then Kara’s smiling, and leaning closer, and the moment she feels the brush of her lips-
Nia woke up. Scrambling slightly she sat up, eyes wide; what was- was that a dream, or a dream? She could usually tell, and it had felt so real, but…
She blinked, taking a deep breath. Normal dreams never lingered in her mind for long, they were quick to fade, while her visions of the future stayed crystal clear.
Ok, it was probably just a regular dream, but even so that did leave plenty to unpack. Sure, she admired Kara, but that didn’t mean she wanted to kiss her. Not that it was a bad thought. Or that it was at all-
Nia rubbed her eyes. The memory of the dream wasn’t going anywhere. A little tentatively she shifted, groaning as she realised she was on the sofa again. Apparently she’d drifted off there rather than making it to her bed.
“Oh!” she said suddenly, to herself.
Even if it was a dream of the future that didn’t mean it was literal. It could just be a metaphor for working with Kara, or something. Yeah, that had to be a possibility.
With more energy than she usually had, Nia hurried to where she kept her mother’s books. They were meant to help say how to interpret her dreams, common symbolism and such, if she just checked it for any mention of kissing…
Right, the index said to go to page 52; she flipped it back, intent on reading. And then got as far as the heading of ‘Unambiguous Signs of Romantic Partners’ before hastily shutting the book, flushing slightly.
Wait, so did that mean she and Kara would-
She probably should have felt more conflicted about that. Kara was her friend, she didn’t want to rush into anything.
Only she kinda really did.
Nia took a deep breath. Well, whatever kind of dream it was, literal or metaphorical or imaginary, she was sure of one thing. Today was going to be awkward.
Keep calm, she told herself, repeating the phrase over and over in her head like a mantra. She was sure people had weird dreams about their coworkers, spent time having secret crushes, it wasn’t like no one else had been in this situation before.
Ok, most of those people didn’t also dream of things that were going to happen and need to avoid freaking out over a mix of nerves and excitement, but still.
Just be subtle, Nia told herself. She had a secret identity, she could do subtle.
“Hey!” Kara said, walking up to her desk. She dropped her voice lower; “Any dreams?”
Nia screamed.
It took the better part of a minute for her to pick up the things she’d accidentally knocked off her desk, murmuring frantic apologies to Kara. Ok, maybe she was a little jumpy.
“Uh, no dreams,” Nia said, laughing nervously. “Nothing happened. No. Um…”
“That’s… good?” Kara said slowly. “Are you ok?”
“Fine! I’m… fine,” Nia said. Just trying really hard to not think about kissing you. “Is training still on?”
“Of course!” Kara said. “See you then?”
Nia nodded a little too quickly.
Training. Just focus on training. And on work, she was still at Catco. Then after that she could practice being a hero, and not dwell too much on that dream.
Wait. Training. With Kara. Close quarters. Nia swallowed. Not dwelling on the dream might be tricky.
“Brainy!” Nia said.
She hurried over to him. Supergirl was due to pick them up soon, but in the mean time they had a few minutes. There wasn’t really anyone she could talk to about her powers beyond Kara and him, and Kara definitely wasn’t an option this time.
Not that she even knew what to say. Sometimes talking it over with someone could help, or so she was hoping.
“Nia Nal,” Brainy said. “How can I help?”
She hesitated. She was never entirely used to how he kept saying her full name.
“So,” Nia said slowly. “If I had a dream, and it feels like it was… one of those dreams, and it concerns someone I know…”
“Is it urgent?” Brainy said. “Is someone in danger?”
“No!” Nia said quickly. “No, no danger. Probably. I don’t always understand the metaphors, but it definitely didn’t feel dangerous.”
“Then,” Brainy began, only to pause. He tilted his head. “I’m confused. If what you foresaw was not negative, why are you concerned?”
Because she was probably going to kiss Kara! How was she meant to react to that?!
On one hand the dream had definitely made her hastily re-evaluate a few things, finding very little wrong with the whole prospect. On the other, she got awkward enough around crushes, she didn’t need the added pressure of a vision telling her to hurry up.
How to put it delicately?
“I… kissed someone,” Nia said.
“Oh! I see,” Brainy said. “Who?”
So much for delicate… Nia hesitated, dropping her voice to barely a whisper.
“Kara,” she said, barely audible.
“Pardon?” Brainy said.
She had to say it again? Hi, she dreamt of making out with Supergirl, how was she meant to deal with that kind of premonition?!
Before she could repeat herself, there was a whoosh and a blur of red and blue. Nia jumped, just about managing to not scream again.
“Kara!” Brainy said. “Excellent timing, Nia was just about to tell me about a dream where she-”
“Ah, no, it’s alright, it’s alright!” Nia interrupted hastily. “Can we just go to training? It’s not important.”
Brainy looked at her, mystified. Thankfully Kara didn’t seem to notice, or if she did she didn’t mind.
Nia wiped her brow, stumbling away slightly.
She’d never thought of herself as much of a fighter, but then again she apparently didn’t have to be if she knew what was coming. Even if today did tend to be more distracting.
At least she tended to train with Brainy; facing Kara’s strength might have been a bit much, especially this soon.
“So, go well?”
And suddenly Kara was next to her. Nia managed to not drop her water bottle.
“Brainy says I’m getting better,” Nia said. “Definitely feels better.”
“Good to hear,” Kara said. “You seemed, uh, distracted.”
“Wh-hat?” Nia said. “I’m not- I wasn’t- why would I be distracted?”
Blushing ever-so-slightly she looked sideways to Kara and tried not to think about the last time she’d thought about being alone with her.
“Just seemed like your mind was somewhere else,” Kara said. She hesitated. “And you kinda forgot I have super-hearing.”
“Super-” Nia began. What did her hearing have to do with-
Oh. Oh. Kara had arrived awfully soon after she’d tried talking to Brainy.
“Oh!” Nia said, squeaking slightly. “You, uh, heard?”
“I try not to eavesdrop,” Kara said. “But I was listening out to make sure you were where we arranged, it was hard not to.”
“Uh,” Nia said. She hesitated. “Um. Sorry?”
“Why are you sorry?” Kara said.
“I don’t know!” Nia said. “I’m not good with the dreams at the best of times, and I’m even worse with crushes, and-”
“You have a crush?” Kara tilted her head.
Nia squeaked, promptly falling silent. Kara chuckled gently.
“Nia,” she said. “In your dream, did I seem even the slightest bit reluctant?”
“Uh, well, no?” Nia said.
Kara standing there. Icy wall behind her, meeting her eyes, murmuring her name. Leaning closer…
“How about you?” Kara said. “How do you feel?”
“Uh…”
Hands shaking, disbelieving, incredulous, ecstatic.
“Kinda good,” Nia said.
Kara smiled, and rather suddenly Nia’s dream came true. She closed her eyes but her mind replayed what she’d already seen for her anyway.
Kara’s lips were softer than she thought. Girl of Steel and all, Nia had expected more toughness; they were firm, yes, but they still felt warm, still reacted to her lips.
“Wait, is this a paradox?” Nia said suddenly, when the kiss ended.
Kara tilted her head.
“I mean, you only did that because you heard me talking about my dream,” Nia said. “I only talked about my dream because I saw it, and I only saw it because you did that, which means…”
“Relax,” Kara said. “I’m sure I’d have convinced you to kiss me.”
“Oh. You mean you-” Nia began. Her eyes widened. “Wait! You’re smooth. Why are you smooth? How are you smooth? I’ve seen you crush a printer with your bare hands and blame it on a paper jam, how can you possibly be smooth?”
“Hey, my excuse worked!” Kara said defensively. “Besides. I’ve thought about it. Did you…”
“Not until this morning,” Nia said. She hesitated. “Then I thought about it a lot. A lot a lot.”
Kara chuckled slightly; Nia joined her.
Ok. Suddenly things had gotten less awkward.
“So,” Kara said eventually.
“So,” Nia echoed.
There was a pause. Kara glanced at her, meeting her eyes in a way that had Nia remembering the kiss and imagining countless more.
“Sweet dreams tonight,” Kara said. She smiled, a glint in her eye.