"Draw me like one of your French girls"
"Draw me like one of your French girls" Lena said to Kara suddenly.
Kara gaped at her, she didn't say a word, just opened and closed her mouth like a fish.
"What?"
"I said, draw me like one of your French girls."
"But- but why?"
"What do you mean why?" now Lena was the bewildered one.
"I- I" Kara stammered.
"Okay, well at least I managed to distract you from your little nervous spiral" Lena smiled at her girlfriend.
"Pfff, I was not spiraling" Kara replied, puffing her chest to appear confident.
"Darling, you almost ran a crater into our kitchen floor by walking in circles."
Kara laughed nervously, "okay well, maybe I was spiraling a little bit, but the fact that we're supposed to host Christmas this year, is nerve-wracking."
"But why are you the one who is nervous? I should be nervous, it's your family!"
"Hey no, it's *our* family."
Lena smiled a small secret smile but more towards the floor than towards Kara, because the idea of being part of a proper family made scared. It was easier not the directly look at Kara and show her that even though she was scared, she was also excited.
"Okay fine, but back to the topic", Lena said trying to get Kara's attention back to the important request she made.
"And what topic is that?" Kara asked.
"Draw me like one of your French girls" Lena said with a shit eating grin.
"Wait what?? I thought that was a joke to distract me from my nerves."
"Love, I don't joke about art or naked women."
Kara realized Lena was being serious and instead of getting her canvas and paints she just started fake laughing nervously and rubbing her neck.
"Funny story actually..." Kara cleared her throat as Lena looked at her confused trying to figure out why her girlfriend was being so weird. She expected her to be really excited, she loved painting Lena and painting her naked? What could be better than that.
"So ehm, I already did" Kara said sheepishly.
"What do you mean, you already did?" now it was Lena's turn to be confused.
"You drew me naked? When? How do I not know this? Was I asleep?" Lena had so many questions.
"Hey wait, no, I would never draw you naked whilst you were asleep. That would be so creepy!" Kara exclaimed.
Lena just shrugged, she wasn't sure if it was creepy, certainly a bit weird to do it without asking, but oh well, they've been together for three years, it's fine.
"Okay, but when did you do a naked portrait of me?"
"Well, it wasn't a portrait... You weren't home, when I drew it. I drew it from memory." Kara explained.
"That's- that's kind of romantic actually" Lena smiled shyly.
"Yeah well, my therapist told me to do something that calmed me, when I was nervous and I said drawing or painting helps, so she suggested to paint something that would ease my nervousness." Kara was so nervous her eyes refused to meet Lena’s and explained it more to the wall than to Lena. She wasn't sure why she was so anxious or embarrassed about this. Maybe it was because she didn't tell Lena before or she did it without asking, but it wasn't like she planned to draw Lena, she was just trying to draw something to calm her nerves and then she stood in front of a painting of a naked Lena. It just happened.
"When did you even have time to draw an entire painting without me noticing?" Kara didn't use her super speed to draw or paint, she liked taking her time, it was helping her be patient and the calming effect lasted longer if she was doing it at human speed.
"Do you remember when you were in Tokyo and Alex told me they would propose to Kelly?"
"Yes, of course. You were so excited and called me immediately after they told you," Lena remembered that night fondly, Kara called her in the middle of the night and told her, Alex was going to ask Kelly to marry them. She was so excited for the couple and for Kara who was already crying happy tears even though her sibling hadn't even popped the question yet.
"Okay, so after I hung up the phone, I was taking a walk in the park and then suddenly my excitement shifted into anxiety. Questions started to plague my mind, what if Alex realizes that when they marry Kelly, they don't need me anymore-"
Lena opened her mouth to interrupt Kara and tell her that Alex will never not need their sister, but Kara shook her head.
"I know, I know, but let me finish my story."
Lena nodded and gestured at her girlfriend to continue.
"So yeah, anxious questions were taking over my mind. What if Alex and Kelly move away once they get married and yes, I know, I can fly, but it wouldn't be the same."
"Why didn't you call me again? I could've helped you through it" Lena asked.
"I actually thought about it, but it was the middle of the night for you and I already had interrupted your sleep for several hours, I didn't want to add to it."
"It would've been fine," Lena assured.
"I know, but you had your big presentation the next day and I knew how important that was to you. Also, I kinda thought that if Alex was gonna get married, I should learn to cope with my anxiety by myself" Kara admitted.
"You will never have to cope with your anxiety alone" Lena raised to the tips of her toes to give Kara a kiss on her forehead and engulfed her in a hug. A whispered "thank you" came back as a response and Kara took a moment to center herself in her girlfriend’s arms and then continued her story.
"Anyway, so then I thought maybe painting will help and I thought about what to paint and then I thought about you and et voilà. It just happened, one moment I was painting and the next I was standing in front of a painting of my naked girlfriend." Kara hid her face in Lena's hair to embarrassed to look her in the eye.
"Can I see it?" Lena asked.
"What? Why?" Kara was returning to her confusion from the beginning of their conversation.
"Well, my super" Lena pushed a pouting Kara out of her arms to wink at her. It was her favorite joke to call anything Kara did 'super' and then wink at her, Kara found it incredibly adorable, but she learned the hard way not to point that out to Lena. That’s why she acted like it annoyed her and pouted every time Lena made this joke. But she knew that Lena knew her actual thoughts about it and that Kara was just humoring her. "…talented girlfriend painted a naked portrait of me, of course I want to see it," Lena continued. "And don't even try the whole, it's not even that good spiel, your art is amazing and you know it."
Kara tried to continue to pout at Lena, so she wouldn't have to show it to her, but her small smile at the compliment ruined that for her. Lena gently pushed her in the direction of Kara's drawing room. Kara rolled her eyes, threw her head back, groaned and dragged her feet to the drawing room like a teenager in an exaggerated show of her suffering. Lena just laughed at her antics and shook her head, waiting for her girlfriend to return with the painting.
Suddenly she was feeling a bit nervous, she already knew what the painting was, but she also really didn't. Whatever she was imagining, she wasn't prepared for the actual art piece Kara held up for her to look at. The only thing she could come up with was a whispered 'wow'.
It took Lena another whole minute to actually form thoughts.
"This- this is incredible!" She moved to touch it, but then stopped unsure of what to do.
"You can touch it," Kara assured her, seeing her inner battle.
Lena followed the lines of her face on the canvas.
"It's so beautiful" Lena looked up at Kara with tears in her eyes.
"It's all you," Kara replied with a smile. "I only captured how I see you."
Lena smiled at her with tears slowly falling down her face.
"Thank you." Lena didn't know what else to do except for thanking Kara for painting her, for showing her the painting, for *seeing* her, for loving her.
Kara knew what her girlfriend was trying to say with those two simple words. She carefully leaned the painting against the couch and pulled Lena into her arms. She smiled at her and then pulled her even closer to kiss her deeply. Lena then hid her face in Kara's neck and Kara gave her a kiss on the head
"I love you" Kara said smiling and placing her head on top of Lena's. They stayed like this for a moment until Lena raised her head again, forcing Kara to raise her head as well. Lena smiled at her and then started laughing.
"What? What's so funny?" Kara asked.
"This wasn't what I imagined when I asked you to draw me like one of your French girls."
Kara snorted and shook her head chuckling.
