al hanisim (regarding the miracles)
(also on ao3 // ko-fi)
lena had clocked her the moment she walked in.
the only other woman in a suit, her masquerade mask a light blue, complimenting the deep navy she wore. her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, and lena could see her impressive jawline from the back of the room.
that was fifteen minutes ago.
now, lena stands next to the drinks table, and her eyes follow the woman wherever she goes. in another lifetime, perhaps, lena would have the courage to go and say hello.
she’s still not sure why she decided to come to the local JCC’s purim party; jess is the only person in national city who knows she’s jewish. maybe it’s because purim has always been her favourite holiday, or maybe it’s because she’s missed all of the bells and whistles of a jewish holiday. who knows. but when she had seen the masquerade theme for the purim party, she knew she had to go; it gave her the perfect anonymity.
oh shit. the cute blonde is making her way over to the drinks table, right where lena’s standing. shit shit shit.
fuck. now she’s standing right next to lena, pouring herself a diet coke. up close, lena can see the way her suit strains against her biceps, the confident smile on her face, the bright blue eyes that peek out from under the mask.
lena feels shockingly inadequate standing beside this woman.
‘cool party, huh?’ she says, and lena’s sure she’s not talking to her, because why would she be???
but there’s nobody else standing with them. so she must be talking to lena. impossible.
‘pardon?’ lena says, ignoring the way her voice cracks like a thirteen year old boy’s.
‘it’s a cool party,’ she repeats. ‘masquerade theme feels more grown up than last year’s theme, and less.... culturally appropriative.’
‘i didn’t come last year,’ lena confesses. ‘i... i don’t have much time for this sort of thing usually.’
‘well i’m glad you decided to come this year,’ the woman says with a confident, flirty smile. ‘it means that i get to talk to a beautiful woman all night.’
‘oh, uh, hah-’ lena can feel herself blushing. thank god for the mask. ‘you think we’re gonna talk for the rest of the evening?’
‘at least, i hope we will.’ she holds out a hand expectantly. ‘i’m kara.’
lena hesitates for just a moment. ‘kieran.’ she shakes kara’s hand.
‘so kieran, what do you do when you’re not at purim parties?’
‘i, uh, i work for the family business.’
‘cool. i mean, super vague and not at all helpful, but still cool.’
a beat. kara sips her drink. lena panics.
‘i’m not good at this,’ she blurts out. ‘small talk. speaking to women. any of it.’
‘i’m not that great at it either,’ kara admits. ‘but... i saw you and i needed to try my hardest. but let me make it easier on you. i’ll talk, and if at any point you decide you want to interject, please feel free.’
kara takes a deep breath. ‘like i said already, my name’s kara. i’m a journalist at catco, i’m a virgo, but i also have no idea what that means. i have an older sister, her name is alex and she refused to come tonight. i don’t have any pets, but i used to have a cat. if i had a dog i know exactly what i would name it but it’s a secret because i can’t have you stealing the best dog name of all time. what else... my favourite food is potstickers and also my adoptive mother’s pecan pie. my favourite romcom of all time is when harry met sally even though i disagree with it’s main thesis regarding the friendship between men and women.’
‘i’ve never seen when harry met sally,’ lena jumps in. she doesn’t know why she chose that specific thing. she has thoughts and comments on almost everything kara’s said so far.
‘wow. okay. i see.’ kara says, a frown on her face. ‘side note: how much are you enjoying this party?’
‘infinitely more since you showed up.’
‘in that case, follow me.’ kara takes lena by the hand and leads her to the food table. she loads up two plates with various snacks and gives one to lena. she takes her by the hand again, and this time they leave the party room and go up the stairs to the second floor.
‘you’re not luring me to my death, are you?’ lena asks her.
kara laughs. ‘when’s the last time something like that happened to you?’
lena wants to say ‘two days ago’ because it’s true; supergirl had managed to save her before her kidnappers had gotten more than two blocks away. but that sort of stuff only happens to a luthor, not to a nondescript kieran.
‘.... just a hypothetical.’
they end up sitting at the very top of the stairs. kara whips out her phone and pulls up her netflix app and loads when harry met sally.
‘we’re just gonna... watch the movie?’
‘you haven’t seen it, i’m due for a rewatch, and it’s a way i can spend time with you without forcing you to talk or listen to me ramble.’
‘i... i like listening to you ramble,’ lena admits, once again very thankful for her masquerade mask as she blushes underneath it. ‘and i would very much like to keep spending time with you.’ she reaches into her bag and pulls out her airpods, offering one bud to kara.
they sit, thighs pressed against each other, watching the small, barely cracked screen on kara’s phone. slowly, rests her arm on lena’s thigh, and lena presses her body closer to hers. it feels as though they’re slowly melting into one another, finding warmth and comfort and maybe something more. time flies by and lena’s torn between loving the movie and loving the way kara quotes the whole thing, as though she’s singing along to her favourite song.
things are cut woefully short about fifteen minutes before the end of the movie, when her bodyguard louis appears at the bottom of the stairs.
‘ms. luthor,’ he calls out, and lena feels her heart sink as kara jolts away from her. ‘there’s been an incident at the offices. you’re needed there immediately.’
lena doesn’t even turn to face kara. she stares straight ahead and very softly she whispers,
‘i’m sorry.’
and then she leaves.
///
she’s balls deep in work. lex had ordered a little drone strike against lcorp the night before and she had been up early that morning to hear the megillah being read for the second time in about twelve hours. so now she’s dealing with what feels like a million problems and on top of it all, she can’t stop thinking about kara. she knows her last name is danvers because she had googled it at some point in the drive from her apartment to the office. she has her email address sitting in front of her, and as she works, she works up the courage to send her a message.
‘ms. luthor?’ jess pops her head in the door. ‘you’ve got a visitor.’
‘jess, do i look like i can handle a visitor at the moment?’
‘that’s what i told her, but she’s... too insistent. she also says she knows you.’
‘again, jess, is there anybody in my life that you don’t already know?’
‘that’s what i said but she says she knows you. her eyes are disgustingly blue and she’s blonde--’
‘kara.’
‘so i should send her in?’
‘fuck.’
she barely catches the smirk on jess’s face as she retreats from the room with a loud ‘you can come in now!’
kara shyly steps into the room. she’s no longer got a mask or suit on, but she does don a pair of thick glasses and buttoned shirt tucked into a pair of chinos. she still looks spectacular. maybe even more so, now that lena can see her face.
‘hey,’ kara says.
‘hi,’ lena says, shutting her laptop.
‘i’m sorry to barge in like this, but things ended weirdly last night and i wanted to make sure you were okay because i saw the thing about the drone attack on the news this morning and--’
‘it’s very kind of you to check up on me,’ lena says.
‘well it’s not completely selfless,’ kara admits. ‘i also just really wanted to see you again. OH! and i brought this with me.’
she holds out a wicker basket.
‘a bottle of wine and some homemade hamantaschen. half of them are strawberry jam and the other half are nutella. mishloach manot. for you.’
‘i... i can’t remember the last time somebody gave me mishloach manot.’ she stops for moment. ‘i want to apologise for last night. i... i felt like i was lying to you, and it’s left me feeling quite guilty.’
‘not lying,’ kara says. ‘hiding your true self. it fits in with the spirit of purim. but it makes more sense now why you couldn’t really tell me anything specific about yourself.’
‘oh no, that’s just because i forgot how to speak. you... you make me very nervous, kara.’
‘ditto.’
‘for what it’s worth: i’m lena. i’m also a virgo, and that genuinely means nothing to me. i have one sibling, he bombed my building last night and somehow that’s not the worst thing he’s ever done to me. i don’t have any pets, but i’m quite fond of the succulent that lives on my kitchen bench. my favourite foods are sushi, but only from this one tiny place in metropolis, and also macarons from a very specific bakery in paris. in terms of national city, my favorite food is probably the avocado toast at noonan’s. up until last night, my favourite romantic comedy was sleeping with other people but now i think it might be when harry met sally, even though i haven’t seen the whole movie.’
kara smiles broadly, and it makes the room brighter somehow. suddenly her head cocks to the side, not unlike a dog, listening to a sound that lena cannot hear.
‘rats, i’ve got to run... look. i don’t wanna be too forward, but um, my friends and i are having a seudah tonight and you’re more than welcome to come.’
‘i don’t think i’ll be finished work in time,’ lena offers as an excuse, frankly terrified of meeting kara’s friends. ‘but maybe we can hang out again later this evening? finish the last bit of the movie?’
‘it’s a date,’ kara says, and lena blushes, this time without the protection of a mask. it makes kara smile even more.
‘i’ll leave my contact info with your secretary.’
‘goodbye, kara. i’ll see you tonight.’
‘and if you finish work early, you’re more than welcome to come to our seudah.’
and then kara’s gone, and lena can feel her heart still pounding wildly in her chest and for some reason she’s already making plans in her head, to push around some meetings and pick up a couple of bottles of wine to take to kara’s party.
she picks a hamantasch from kara’s basket and takes a bit.
it’s fucking delicious.
that seals the deal.
‘jess,’ lena says, pressing the intercom.
‘meetings pushed, scheduled blocked off, evening cleared. your suit’s also been dry cleaned if you want to wear it again. you’re welcome.’
and though it’s only in its very beginnings, lena feels eager to see where this thing with kara will lead. it feels important and fun and special.
damn, she loves purim.
