At first, Kara thinks it’s the Best Thing Ever.
Lena just rolls her eyes and tells her to enjoy it while she can. It sounds a bit ominous but Kara doesn’t pay much attention to it because she is too distracted by the smell of the triple cheeseburger in her hand.
It starts almost immediately after the TV interview where Kara revealed her identity to the world. The next morning, the barista at Noonan’s insists on adding a couple of extra danishes to Kara’s usual order. On the house. Kara is caught off guard but smiles and thanks her for it.
Then, similar things happen at Kara’s favourite pizzeria, at the sandwich shop across from CatCo, at the ice cream truck in the park. Everyone either refuses to take her payment or adds a few extras to her order without charging her for those.
But the novelty of it all wears off quickly. It’s not that Kara doesn’t like the idea of free food. She does. She loves free food. But she knows the places she frequents are usually small, independently owned businesses, and when they continue to give her food without taking her money, she begins to worry about how it might impact their bottom line.
Not to mention, after a while having to do the whole “yes, I’m Supergirl” song and dance every time she just wants to grab a bite to eat gets a little…tiresome.
Which is why when Kara asks Lena out to dinner, as a date, she doesn’t pick the fancy steakhouse or the new farm to table restaurant that Lena told her about.
“I hope this is okay?” Kara asks, nerves audible in her voice. “I know it’s not fancy, and this is a date, our first official one, and you deserve the best, and this place has plastic table covers and only one kind of wine on the menu that I’m pretty sure comes from a box…”
“Kara, darling, breathe.”
Kara does and it helps. A little.
“I just, this is the only place in the city where they don’t care. About me.”
And it’s true. The first time Kara had walked into Mr. Chu’s after The Interview, she half expected a big to-do about it. But Mrs. Chu had simply nodded at her briefly and then returned to the task at hand. They treated her like they always have, friendly, normal, with the occasional extra fortune cookie thrown into her take-out bag, but that was something they did before, too.
A knowing smile settles on Lena’s face.
“It’s perfect,” she says. Like it’s simple.
Lena reaches out to cover one of Kara’s hands with her own. The move makes Kara look up and into Lena’s eyes, and as soon as she does, she understands. Lena knows. Of course she does, having lived her entire life in the spotlight. Kara can guess that public reaction to Lena appearing in a restaurant never quite included free treats, but Lena obviously knows how nice it is to be in a place where no one cares. Where they can just eat their meals, chat about their days, be with each other without interruptions.
Lena orders the (box) wine, steals at least three of Kara’s potstickers and smiles like she’s having the best evening, despite the loud clanking noises coming from the kitchen and the way her arms stick to the table at times.
Kara pays, with a very generous tip, of course, and gets the usual short nod from Mrs. Chu before they step out into the night.
She takes Lena home, and when she drops her off at her apartment, Lena leans in and kisses her. It’s short, light, but tastes like a promise.
“Wow,” Kara whispers, smiling and a little awestruck.
Lena just rolls her eyes, but it’s fond and her expression is soft and warm. “We’ll have to do this again. Soon.”