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“I wish to take a companion.”
There are better ways to phrase this. Proper ways, full of ritual and ceremony. She never was one for tradition.
And, okay, maybe the timing isn’t perfect either, but Kara doesn’t think the news is worthy of her mother dropping her cutlery in shock. Surely this can’t come as that much of a surprise. Her father only pauses for a moment before continuing to eat his meal, albeit at a much slower pace.
“A companion?” she asks. If Kara weren’t paying such close attention, she might’ve missed the slight tremor in her mother’s voice.
“Are you certain, Kara?” her father asks, his voice even and calm as if Kara had just remarked on the weather.
There’s no hesitance in her voice when she speaks, her gaze falling on him then flicking back to her mother. “Yes, I’m certain.”
“Well, if you’re certain, who are we to say no,” her mother says, picking up her fork and knife, a small smile on her face as she turns to her father and shares a look. Her father only smiles in return. “Do you have anyone in mind?” she asks, nonchalantly cutting into her food.
Kara swallows nervously. Her eyes fall to her plate, busying herself with what’s left. “I do, actually.”
“Oh?” Her mother’s knowing tone has heat flooding her cheeks. “Anyone we know?”
She thinks she’s done herself a service by forgoing tradition. She can’t imagine how deep her blush would be if she were to lay her want bare in front of proper guests.
Kara is as subtle as a snagriff when it comes to her affection for Alex.
Given the depth of her feelings for the human, Alura had thought Kara would have taken on Alex as a companion sooner, if not as a bondmate, so it comes as even more of a shock to learn they hadn’t even been courting. She’d been so sure of their relationship, giving Kara what she thought was necessary space for her to eventually come to her about bringing Alex into their House and give her their name. For Kara to finally proclaim Alex as her bondmate under Rao.
They’re not there yet, apparently, Kara had told her a few days after her announcement for a companion.
Maybe it’s silly of her to keep ruminating on their relationship, but she can’t deny there’d been signs. Whether they were aware of it or not, both Kara and Alex had participated in courting the other. She’s seen Alex give Kara her share of food and Kara hers on more than one occasion. Kara had gone on and on about every instance in which she’d shared a part of their culture with Alex, praising her attentiveness and willingness to learn, asking questions and almost bringing Kara to tears the first time they’d carried an entire conversation in Kryptonian.
Alex had even visited Zor-El. She’d caught her leaving his place of work more than once and asked him about it, concerned about her wellbeing or that of Kara’s, but he’d told her she comes by every so often for help with a project or two, usually leaving with a list of texts she can reference or a set of crystals with all the relevant data she needed.
It all pointed to the later stages of courting. Every act had been more intimate than the last.
How odd, then, that they’d only just begun.
She shakes her head and decides not to give it more thought. She trusts Kara, trusts that she knows what she wants. There’s no point in contemplating further.
Perhaps a walk through the gardens will do her some good. Help her clear her head.
Zor is not one for words. His strength lies in science. So when Alex first walks through his door, he dreads the conversation he thinks they’re about to have. But when Alex opens her mouth, it’s to ask for his expertise on a project her and her mother are working on. The dread he’d felt turns into barely concealed enthusiasm. The more Alex explains, the more animated she becomes, gesticulating as she speaks, eyes bright like Kara’s. There’s genuine passion in her words, intelligence and potential in each line of thinking Alex weaves into her work. He feels warmth swell in his chest with the memory of Kara as a little girl, just as excited as the young woman before him now.
The complications that had arisen are an easy enough fix in theory — there’s materials Alex needs that would take a few days to requisition, but there’s no other hurdles that would set them back. Alex thanks him for his help and leaves him at ease with the knowledge that Kara’s intended is worthy of her near-endless admiration. He sees now why Kara speaks so highly of her.
He doesn’t expect Alex to be back anytime soon, but not a month later, she requests another meeting with him. They end up discussing the merits of Nth metal and inertron at length when she divulges her true interest is to craft a gift for Kara. He won’t presume what it is she’s crafting, but the probability of it being bonding bracelets is high, though he will deny he knew anything of the sort if either Kara or Alura question him. Not everything has to be known.
Though no announcement comes following that particular encounter, he finds himself rather baffled by Kara’s recounting of an outing with Alex over dinner one evening. Apparently, she’d been invited to one of Alex’s matches. Mixed martial arts. A barbaric human ritual that he’d deemed a little too sadistic for his taste, but Kara had seemed to enjoy it for the most part, excitement threaded through her every word. Even if his stomach turns at the thought of watching two humans pummel each other for the better part of 15 minutes, a small part of him is relieved that Alex is brave enough — strong enough to fight back.
How this is considered to be a courting ritual, he will never understand.
He tunes back into the conversation just as Kara mentions the flowers Alex had gotten her.
Marshmallow roses.
He didn’t think they had such a thing on Earth. He makes a note to search through their database on Earth for more mentions of these roses.
“We should be bondmates.”
There are more eloquent ways she could’ve phrased this, but Alex isn’t exactly known for her tact. She probably could’ve been more romantic about it, maybe given a long, meaningful speech about how much Kara means to her and how much Alex loves her and wants to give her the world, but she knows she’d fuck it up somehow. It’s just not her forte and it’s way too late to take it back now.
There’s also no way she’d ever regret watching Kara’s reaction. She’d practically shot up from her position on Alex’s lap, almost taking the hand that’d been carding through her hair, eyes going wide, mouth opening and closing like a fish.
Oh yeah, totally worth it.
“I — um, y — what?”
Maybe words aren’t Kara’s forte either.
“We should be bondmates,” Alex repeats, softer, slower, taking in every micro-expression on Kara’s face. It’s nice not being the one left helplessly rebooting. Definitely worth her inelegant proposal.
“You — Are you serious?” Kara’s hand tightens so hard around the back of their couch, Alex fears she’ll rip it apart.
“I know you know about the bracelets.” Alex raises a brow, daring Kara to deny it. “This really shouldn’t come as that much of a shock.”
“That was an accident, I swear.”
Alex only rolls her eyes fondly and flicks Kara’s nose, watching as her face scrunches up adorable. “Is this your way of telling me it’s too soon because if it is—”
Kara splutters, hands falling to Alex’s, curled in her lap. “No, no, no, no. I — Yes. I do. I want. Bondmates.”
“Bondmates?” Alex asks again.
Kara leans in, forehead pressing to hers. Warm hands cup the back of Alex’s neck, fingers brushing at the short hairs there while her thumbs caress the line of her jaw. “Bondmates,” she breathes out, closing her eyes and letting out a content hum that Alex can feel from her head to her toes. It feels like a dream.
“You’re really willing to put up with all of our unsophisticated courting rituals? You know there’s different ones for marriage, right?” Alex can’t help but tease. She’d endured enough grief about human courting to last her ten lifetimes. She’s entitled to this.
Kara groans. “Don’t remind me.” She leans in a little closer, nose brushing against hers, asking for a kiss. “Though, for you, I’ll endure.”
Alex snorts at the dramatics. “You’ll endure?” Her hands tug at Kara until she’s half on her lap.
“I will succumb to barbarism,” Kara admits readily, beaming as she scoots closer.
“What a tragedy,” Alex murmurs against her lips before pulling her in for a sweet kiss.