Chapter Text
Lena half opens the eye not pressed into the feathery-down pillow. At first, she grumbles when her fingers crawl to the space beside her and curl around nothing but the cool fabric of the sheets. But after a few hard blinks to clear the haze from her still tired eye, she catches a glimpse of deep red on the crest of the adjacent pillow. Lena lifts her head for a better look and a shy hum escapes her. She buries her face into her pillow and wriggles with excitement.
When she collects herself enough to sit upright on the mattress, Lena scans the single rose laid on the pillow. She smiles until her cheeks sore and then she smiles some more. Even without super hearing, Lena picks up the soft tune drifting through the bedroom door and growing louder. It stops as the doorknob turns.
Kara stands in the open doorway holding a tray of morning confections and a steaming cup of coffee. When her eyes land on Lena, her jaw drops open in a way that has Lena taunting her with a smirk and a questioning brow raise. Kara’s eyes feel like a warm blanket draped around her naked body, and Lena adjusts herself to make sure Kara doesn’t miss anything on her slow walk around the bed.
The coffee requires a zap of heat vision by the time Lena gets around to drinking it. With her back pressed against the headboard, one hand wrapped around the warm mug of coffee and the other dragging fingernails across Kara’s scalp in her lap, Lena asks Kara if she’s excited for the day.
“You know,” Kara says, “I didn’t think I’d ever celebrate Valentine’s Day again after the first time Mxy showed up.” She tips her head back and peers up at Lena with a contemplative smile on her face. “I thought it was a sign from the multi-verse that if I ever tried, something horrible would happen.”
“Well,” Lena says and splays her hand across Kara’s breast bone, “it’s a good thing we’re not here to celebrate Valentine’s Day.” She bends over and captures Kara’s lips between hers. “We should probably get going,” she says between kisses, “we don’t want to miss our reservation.”
Even with clear skies and sunshine, the brisk air stings against Lena’s cheeks and she adjusts the scarf around her neck. They’re strolling through the streets of Vienna, arms linked at the elbow when Kara stops walking, her eyes lit up like the sun. Lena follows her gaze above the distant treetops and looks back at Kara to give an affirming nod.
“Luthor family traditions aren’t exactly worth carrying on,” Lena says, “they’re full of things like bribery and corporate takeovers. I promised myself if I ever had a family of my own, that I would create new traditions, ones that didn’t involve treason. Valentine’s Day,” she says with some reservation, “was never a Luthor-friendly holiday.” Kara squeezes her hand twice which sends a fresh rush of warmth through her. “So, I swapped it for Ferris Wheel Day, which celebrates the birthday of the engineer who invented it. I’ve been hoping to visit all of the world’s great Ferris Wheels ever since. Austria claims to have created the holiday, so I thought this would be a good place to start.”
Before she knows what’s happening, Lena’s wrapped in Kara’s arms and swinging in circles. When her feet land back on solid ground, Kara grabs her face with both of her fingerless gloved hands and says, “I love you, Lena Luthor, and I am honored to start this tradition with you.”