Chapter Text
i.
The flower caught Kara’s eye that morning as she flew the scenic route home from the desert DEO base.
(Scenic is being too kind for a desert that pretty much has nothing in it. Alex had said the DEO chose the location for that exact purpose: less chance of people finding them if there’s nothing to explore.
Still, there’s something about the cool night air, the quiet of sound, the way the sunrise reflects off the sand just right to shroud the world in red and for a few minutes, Kara doesn’t feel like she’s lost her home.
And then the sun rises higher, its yellow undeniable, and Kara keeps on flying.)
Except for this morning, when Kara was reaching the outskirts of the desert and happened to see a gorgeous whitish-red flower unlike anything she’s ever seen before sitting on top of a tiny cactus ball.
Lena would love it
Kara has long since accepted that beautiful things always bring Lena to mind. She just gathers the cactus in her cape, careful not to break the delicate petals, and takes off.
Kara’s meeting Lena for brunch later. She can give it to her then.
It’s how she ends up here, researching cacti in her apartment at 8 o’clock in the morning. Like how often to water it, if the pot she fished out from under her kitchen sink that must have been one of Alex’s rejects from when she moved out would make a good home, how much sunlight do they really need, can people keep them in their homes, are they poisonous and for the love of Rao, please let them not be because the last thing Kara needs is to send Lena to the hospital.
Okay, she’s overthinking things.
She’s nervous.
Lena makes her nervous.
Not in the I’m nervous because you’re a Luthor way (like the world) but in the I’m nervous because you’re Lena and you make my heart beat inhumanly fast way.
(Kara Kara Kara)
Friends give each other gifts for no reason all the time, especially when the item makes them think of the other.
Right?
Right.
She just won’t tell Lena the details, like how the soft white makes her think of Lena’s wide smile when Kara does something dorky or the red-tipped petals that remind her of Lena biting her lip in that attractive way she does or how the surrounding pink is the same shade as Lena’s blush when it travels down her neck to her-
Yeah, she’ll keep that part to herself.
She’s sure Lena will like it. Lena loves flowers and Kara’s giving her a flower.
She has nothing to worry about.
//
Kara feels like an idiot.
She’s giving Lena a cactus.
A cactus.
She showed up to brunch with a prickly, dangerous little plant that’s probably going to die soon because she plucked it out of its home just so that she could give it to her billionaire best friend, who probably would’ve bought a thousand cacti if she wanted, which she clearly does not since she doesn’t have any.
And of course, Kara realizes what a monumentally stupid idea it is once Lena has already walked into the restaurant and made eye contact with her and the “gift”.
The stunned look on Lena’s face has Kara sinking into her chair in embarrassment, silverware badly dented in her grip.
Of course she’s shocked. Why didn’t I look up what it means? You probably give it to someone when you never want to see them again because it’s such a dumb-
“Kara? What…where on Earth did you find this?”
Lena’s looking at the flower with such wonder, fingers lightly brushing against the petals and a brilliant smile forming on her lips.
Her gaze lingers before she remembers to answer. “Oh! I was just around and…and it was there?”
Kara’s eyes scrunch shut at her lame half-truth but thankfully Lena’s too taken with the flower to notice.
“Do you know how rare these are?”
“Oh, are they?” Kara didn’t know that.
What Kara does know is that the five pages of cactus care notes she has in her purse are looking pretty useless in the face of Lena’s knowledge of all things botanical.
“Very. They don’t bloom often but when they do…” Lena trails off, distracted.
“So you like it then?”
“Like it? It’s extraordinary, I- you got this for me?”
Kara nods. “I did. It reminded me of you.”
It’s heartbreaking, the way Lena tenses at her words, eyes trekking back and forth from Kara to the flower as if wondering how something so pretty could remind her of Lena.
So she tells her. “It’s breathtaking.”
It crosses a line, Kara knows this. But seeing the way Lena blushes and how she can’t stop smiling all throughout their meal –the mimosas might also be a factor- she thinks it’s a line they should cross more often.
//
They walk arm in arm through downtown a few hours later, Lena pleasantly buzzed and Kara mimicking her, laughing as they talk about nothing while enjoying the cool autumn breeze.
When they pass by a flower shop, Lena tugs them to a stop and Kara goes immediately still so that she doesn’t fracture Lena’s arm.
They don’t need a repeat of the Jeremiah incident.
And that’s not how she wants Lena to find out she’s Supergirl.
“So,” Lena starts, “when you were at this exotic flower palace whose name you for some reason refuse to tell me…”
Kara’s not successful in hiding her smile.
Lena looks down at the plant in Kara’s hand before giving her an indescribable look. “I’m curious, did they tell you what the cactus flower means?”
There’s something in Lena’s gaze, in the way she cocks an eyebrow and licks her lips like she’s expecting for Kara to do something that has red rushing to Kara’s cheeks as she shakes her head.
She has a feeling Lena’s next words could change things between them.
It’s just too bad Kara doesn’t get to hear what they are.
Lena’s barely opened her mouth when someone far too close for Kara’s comfort starts yelling at Lena.
“Seems fuckin’ right, you out here enjoying yourself while your family just spreads misery and shit. Meanwhile, us good people have to suffer ’cause of it.”
Kara’s in front of Lena at unexplainable speed, having seen Lena completely shut down after hearing the words.
The man in front of them is…well, he’s huge.
Kara’s still going to knock him out if he takes one step closer to them but she takes in how he’s a foot taller and three times as wide and yeah, that’s definitely going to raise some questions.
A quick use of her x-ray vision shows a gun in his breast pocket and she pales when she thinks of what could’ve possibly happened if she wasn’t with Lena right now.
“-better off without the Luthors!” Kara sees him reach into his jacket, feels Lena pulling her shirt insistently, and uses her super speed in order to give her time to think.
Kara looks around. Everything’s still. The crowd, the street, the man, Lena. All of them frozen in time.
Okay, there’s an audience and he’s still too far for me to reasonably disarm him. What do I do what do I do what do I-
Oh
Oh, that’d probably work
Kara hurls the cactus at him, hitting just right of his chest and he falls to his knees, howling.
“Ow, ow, what the- did you just throw a fucking cactus at me?”
Kara doesn’t get a chance to respond because Lena knees him hard in the gut, making him whimper before passing out.
There’s a moment of quiet as everyone processes what the hell just happened.
Then the usual cheers before people get back to their lives, used to the quirks that come with living in National City.
Lena’s in front of her, hands on Kara’s shoulders and frantic eyes looking her up and down.
“God, Kara are you okay? Don’t do that! I thought he was going to hurt you, I…”
Kara hugs her. “I’m okay. I’m just glad I was here.”
Lena nods, holding for a bit longer before letting go and looking guiltily at the downed man.
“I’m so sorry. I put you in danger. You never should’ve-”
“Hey, hey, none of that!” Kara tells her. “I’m the one that should be sorry.”
Lena looks at her in disbelief. “How so?”
Kara holds up her hand and Lena sees the flower, looking a bit worse for wear but still alive. “I accidentally wrinkled the flower when I pulled it off.”
Lena stares at it, eyes twinkling and she pulls Kara in for another hug.
“You’re my hero, Kara Danvers.”
She smiles. “We’ve established that.”
“I can’t believe you threw a cactus at him.”
“Honestly, I can’t either?”
//
Later that night, just as she’s about to fall asleep, Kara remembers she never found out what the cactus flower means.
She pulls it up on her phone.
The cactus flower is a symbol of lust and sexual attraction between two people.
Kara screams into her pillow.