So. Lena as a stitch witch/thread mage. She spends multiple hours-long sessions with Kara's cape in her lap, her fingers slowly moving across the warp and weft, lingering every painstaking millimeter. Kara sees her do it, Lena tells her exactly what she's doing (imbuing the cloth with protection magicks) -- its not a secret by any means.
A couple months/years later, Lena develops the means for laypeople to see magic. (Think one of those magnifying ring lights that scientists and crafters use.) Kara thinks its dope that her girlfriend is so smart. But then she gets bored, and wanders into the lab alone to poke around. She's idly swishing her cape around her, as one does, until she pauses, recalling those days Lena spent with said swath of fabric.
Kara knows what magic looks like by now-- they've used it on a couple of magical items they've found around the city, trying to track down an unknown magic user. It looked like gentle ripples, undulating over the surface of the object.
As Kara takes a handful of her cape, drawing it towards the lens, she wonders what color Lena's magic is.
The fabric shines so bright under the magnifying glass that it sears Kara's retinas, temporarily blinding her.
"Mother of-- Rao!" Rearing back, she slaps her hands over her eyes, now watering, and tries to blink away the newly won shadows from her vision. "What the--"
The sound of Lena's footsteps rushing to the lab draws Kara's attention.
"Jesus-- me being an idiot happened," Kara grumbles, blinking rapidly to try and focus on where Lena should be. All she sees is a large dark blotch. "Hey, what did you calibrate that thing with?"
"One of Nyxly's artifacts," Lena responds. Warm hands take Kara by the elbows and guide her over to a nearby stool. "I wanted to be able to distinguish between fifth dimensional energy and true magic. Here, can you follow my finger?"
"What finger?" Kara quips. The blotch is already beginning to shrink by a fraction, assuring Kara that the damage to her vision isn't permanent. Her mind spiralled.
Nyxly had had magic unlike the world had ever seen. More powerful than Mxy even. None of the artifacts they'd put under that lens had come anywhere close to producing even half that effect.
"Kara, will you please tell me what you were doing--"
"I wanted to see what your magic looked like," she says, bluntly. "My cape..."
"...oh." Lena's voice is quiet. "Yeah, that--"
"Probably wasn't the best idea. Clearly." Kara tries to grin, but she knows it probably comes up flat. "But my god, Lena..."
"Florence says I have an affinity for magic. Like my mother."
"This," Kara gestures towards her eyes, "is more than an affinity."
She hears Lena swallow. "Please don't be scared. I would never do anything to hurt--"
"Scared? Lena, I'm-- I'm in awe of you."
A beat of silence follows, before Lena's hands settle in hers. "Please don't be that either. I'm just me."
Kara blinks, and smiles towards the hazy silhouette of Lena's hair, in its usual gentle waves. She tugs Lena closer, until Lena relaxes towards her and lets her forehead rest on Kara's.
