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thelastandonlyunicorn · 6 days ago

Text

Stitch Sitch

Written for this flash fiction challenge by @ekingston

Prompts: Vignette/Slice of Life, Running, Secret Relationship, A Stolen Object

750 words exactly, for the little extra🤌🏻

***

“I will kill you.”

“No, you won’t.” Emma slowed down a bit, allowing Regina to catch up with her. For someone who claimed to work out on the regular, Regina sure was in terrible shape, not that Emma would dare to say it to her face. “You’ve worked too hard to make them drop the E-word once, you wouldn’t risk earning it again.”

“Try me,” Regina huffed, but her face looked a little less murderous beneath its sheen of sweat. Then again, it was hard to tell. Regina was so red that Emma appeared to have lost all ability to read her.

“You didn’t have to agree to come,” Emma said, feeling a little bad for her girlfriend.

Regina shot her a dirty look. Oh, really, it seemed to say, which, fair. She hadn’t really had much of a choice, not after Emma had loudly proclaimed that Regina would love to join them for their Sunday run.

“I’m sorry.” Emma let her gaze wander to her father, making sure he was still running several paces ahead. She dropped her voice to a murmur. “I didn’t know what else to say, considering you… you know.”

You were in my flat at seven in the morning, wearing nothing but a stolen t-shirt that luckily was large enough to pretend you had pants underneath.

Regina at least had the decency to look contrite. Maybe. Emma thought so. She was still very red, and silent while she focused to keep her breathing at a steady pace.

“Fine,” Emma said, “next time you handle our excuses.”

Regina gave her a thumbs-down, and Emma frowned. What?

“What?”

Regina rolled her eyes. Shook her head, then tapped her wrist, pointed to Emma, herself, and finally David. Her hand made a talking motion.

Emma’s frown deepened. “It’s getting late? I talk, you talk, my dad talks?”

Regina exhaled noisily. “No,” she said, and took a breath. “Next time,” she exhaled, “you and I,” inhale again, “talk to him.” She breathed out, then grimaced. “Ah fuck. Stitch.”

“You gotta breathe in for the same number of steps as you breathe out,” Emma said absently, her thoughts picking apart Regina’s words instead. What did she mean, next time they talked to David? About what? About them?

“But we’re not ready,” Emma protested, and she heard herself how she sounded. Nervous. Evasive. Scared of the confrontation.

“I wasn’t ready to let you see this either,” Regina huffed, gesturing at her shining face. “Yet here we are.”

“I’ve seen you sweat before. We have sex, you know.”

“I was talking about the humiliation of seeing me run, but thank you for that confidence boost, Ms Swan,” Regina said drily, then abruptly stopped running. “Look, if you don’t want to tell people, we wait. Of course we wait. But…”

“But you’re calling my bluff and saying we’re ready now.”

Regina smiled. “We are ready. I love you, and you love me. Why shouldn’t we tell people about it?”

Emma couldn’t help it, she smiled too. “Rub it in their faces, the way they have for the past seven years or so?”

Regina’s mouth curled into a smirk. “I’m thinking we could become insufferable. Truly get them back for everything. You’re their precious daughter. Let me corrupt you in front of their faces.”

A delightful shiver ran through Emma. “You’re atrocious, you know that?”

“And you like it.”

“I love it.”

Emma squinted. Ahead of them, David had finally noticed that they’d stopped, and he was jogging in place, seemingly trying to decide whether to circle back or wait for them. Emma looked at him for a long moment before she shrugged. “Fine, let’s tell them. But both of them – my mom would never forgive me if she only heard it from dad.”

“And Henry,” Regina added. “We should talk to him too.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure the kid knows.”

“What?”

Emma bit her lip. “What can I say, we raised a smart one.” Who recognises the colour of his mother’s lipstick, apparently.

Regina’s mouth actually hung agape for a second before she caught herself. “And he doesn’t mind?”

“That his moms are dating?” Emma said. “Regina, he’s seventeen, I think he has other things to worry about. Oh, hey there, Dad. We were just starting again, Regina had a stitch.”

Behind David’s back, Regina shot her a glare. I will kill you, it said, very clearly now that her face had had time to cool down.

Emma smiled.

Love you too, she mouthed.

#so so hilarious!!!#fic rec #(as usual)#swan queen

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thelastandonlyunicorn · 7 days ago

Note

Hii! If you want to: For the trope mashup: 12. Roommate Au + 63. Mistaken for a couple?

"How does my lipstick look, babe?"

Kelly finishes applying the light coat of plum lipstick onto her lower lip, and turns around for her girlfriend's inspection. Behind her, Alex grins.

"Like it wants me to kiss it off." An arm snakes around Kelly's waist, and she finds herself pressed against her girlfriend's wiry frame. Alex smirks, but she's careful to kiss the corner of Kelly's mouth to make sure she doesn't smudge her makeup.

"You look beautiful, as always. But like I told you, you don't have to look perfect today. It's just my sister." Alex's smile turns sweet, and her eyes soften as her intimate embrace turns into a comforting hug. "Kara's gonna love you, no matter how you look."

Kelly touches her cheek, smiling when Alex nuzzles into her hand. "I know, I just want to make a good impression."

Alex kisses her palm. "This goes both ways, you know. She'll be wanting to make a good impression on you too. She's probably driving Lena crazy rearranging their furniture for the twentieth time today."

Kelly tips her head curiously. "Lena?"

"Yeah. Her roommate." There's an exasperated note in Alex's voice that doesn't go unnoticed.

"Wait, Lena as in Lena Luthor? James's girlfriend?" Kelly's interest is piqued. "I knew Lena was sharing her apartment with a friend, and I know you said Kara had a roommate, but I didn't realize that the two of them lived together. Small world, huh?"

"Oh, it's about to get a lot smaller, babe." A grim smile accompanies the ominous words, but Kelly puts it down to Alex being dramatic. "You'll see."

Kara and Lena's apartment turns out to be a lovely pre-war brownstone in the quieter side of town, far enough away from the noise of the city, but close enough for a short commute.

The first thing Kelly sees when the door bursts open is a wide, beaming smile that's familiar to her from the photos on Alex's phone. Kara Danvers's smile radiates from a cellphone screen, but it's even brighter and lovelier in person.

"Hi, you must be Kelly! Welcome! It's so nice to meet you! I've heard so much about you from Alex and James, I feel like I know you already!"

Kelly barely gets a glimpse of blonde hair and blue eyes before she's swept into a friendly hug amidst the babble. She returns it as warmly, if not as enthusiastically. "It's great to finally meet you too, Kara."

Over Kara's shoulder, Kelly sees Lena Luthor saunter into the room at a much more sedate pace, a wry smile on her lips. "She's a hugger."

"Lena, hi." Once Kelly is released, she reaches a hand toward her brother's girlfriend.

"Hi, Kelly." Lena greets her with a delicate kiss to her cheek and a warm smile. "Always good to see you."

Kara blinks at both of them, looking between Kelly and Lena.

"Wait, you guys know each other...? Oh, right! James. Pfft." Kara smacks herself on the head with a sheepish smile. "Of course, I forgot."

Alex makes the strangest noise at that, something between a disgruntled snort and a derisive laugh. Kara blushes lightly and determinedly avoids Alex's eyes. Kelly turns to her girlfriend, but Alex just shakes her head.

The moment passes, and they're swept into the living room with offers of coffee, tea and snacks. As they move further into the apartment, Kelly immediately notices certain things.

The living room is bright and inviting, with large windows to let in natural light. There's art tastefully adorning the wall. Some rather expensive pieces that Kelly recognizes from the art classes she took in college, mixed with a few pieces that have a "KD" signature on the corners.

There's a lot of photos too, all of them featuring Kara and Lena together. Some framed and hung in places of honor on the walls, like the black-and-white picture of Kara and Lena, obviously taken at a gala, standing close with their arms around each other's waists.

Some are unframed -- like a grinning selfie of them together; a solo picture of Lena standing in front of an arcade booth, shyly tucking her head into a giant plushie; a photo of Kara painting at an easel; and a snapshot of Kara and Lena lounging outside what Kelly recognizes as Lena's summer lake house -- each tacked affectionately onto the refrigerator door with cute little magnets, along with ticket stubs and other mementos.

As the visit progresses, Kelly's observation shifts and hones in on the two women themselves.

Kara is delightfully enthusiastic as she questions Kelly about her job, her hobbies, how long she's lived in National City, how she and Alex met, if she's ever had any pets. There's a genuine curiosity to her questions, eager without being interrogating, interested without trying to intimidate -- as if she really just genuinely wants to know more about her sister's girlfriend.

And she and Lena are clearly very at ease together. They weave around each other fluidly -- Lena passing the mug Kara's reaching for before she even asks for it, Kara gently shifting Lena away from the home espresso machine so she can take over making the coffee.

This really shouldn't be surprising, considering they live together and they've introduced each other as "best friends". But there's something about the naked affection between them that surprises Kelly.

She's known Lena for a couple of years now, has seen her enough times to form an impression of her. When James had first taken Lena home to meet their family, Lena had been perfectly polite and lovely toward them, all smiles and poised grace, a bottle of Cheval Blanc in one hand and a bouquet of their mother's favorite azaleas in the other.

But as affable as Lena had been during each visit, Kelly had the feeling that Lena had never truly relaxed in their company, no matter how friendly they had been. There had never been any outward anxiety or awkwardness, but Kelly had gotten the sense that she was very carefully choosing every word, controlling every move, so as not to make a mistake. And while Kelly is never one for armchair diagnosing anyone -- especially not someone who is, for all intents and purposes, a friend -- her clinical brain had been skimming lightly over 'OCPD' and 'anxiety disorder' whenever she and Lena hung out.

So, to see Lena so comfortable and relaxed, so blatantly affectionate and intimate with another person, is admittedly a surprise to Kelly. Not a bad one, just... unexpected. And interesting.

Kelly observes both women keenly.

Kara joins them in the living room, balancing two cups of coffee in her hands. One she hands carefully to Kelly with a bright grin, and the other she places gently on the table in front of Lena. When Lena turns to her with a grateful smile, Kara bends down and presses a soft kiss to the top of her head. Lena closes her eyes for a moment and leans slightly closer to Kara.

Kelly tips her head curiously at them. "So... how long have you two been together?"

Lena blinks and turns away from Kara to pick up her own cup, blushing lightly. She clears her throat before taking a sip, but Kara just looks at her, grinning widely.

"Oh, we met about a year and half ago, when I did an article on her new nanobot technology. We nerded out so much together that the interview turned into lunch, then coffee, then dinner."

Kara leans toward Lena and nudges her lightly with her shoulder. "She was so brilliant and fascinating, and so passionate about her new projects that we couldn't stop talking. By the time I was ready to leave, I realized the office was empty, and Lena's assistant had left hours ago."

A soft shy smile graces Lena's face, and she ducks her head. "Kara's one of the few people who can keep up and actually challenge me when we're discussing nanotechnology and bioengineering."

On anybody else -- hell, even on the Lena that Kelly had been accustomed to -- it would sound arrogant and condescending. But Lena says it so softly, and she looks at Kara with such genuine adoration, that it can't be mistaken as anything but a sincere compliment. Kara lays a hand on Lena's, squeezing her fingers gently.

"We've been best friends ever since! And we just became so much closer since we moved in together. It's been, what, almost a year?" Kara looks to Lena for confirmation.

"Eleven months next week, darling." Lena says fondly as she stands to refill the pastry plate. Kelly looks between the two women and observes the soft bright gaze Kara sends Lena as she disappears into the kitchen.

"Eleven awesome months!" Kara beams as she takes a bite of her pastry. Across from her, Alex rolls her eyes heavenward.

Despite the occasional oddness, Kelly enjoys their visit. Kara and Lena are excellent company, and they're all having such a lovely time that Kelly and Alex decide to stay longer.

Toward the evening, the four of them end up getting dinner at a quiet little Italian bistro near the apartment.

They're getting into the wine when Kelly finally thinks it's safe to bring up the elephant in the room. She sets her wine glass down and regards Kara with a thoughtful smile.

"So, Kara... James told me that you were his friend, but he didn't tell me you were his meta as well."

Alex chokes on her wine, and Kelly serenely rubs her back. Alex coughs and attempts to hide an amused smirk behind her napkin.

"His what?" Kara blinks up at Kelly, her brows forming a confused crinkle on her forehead.

"His meta," Kelly prompts as clearly and as gently as she can. "You know, his metamour?"

"What's a metamour?" The crinkle on Kara's forehead grows, and she and Lena exchange a bewildered look.

Kelly studies both women closely. "It's the term used in polyamorous relationships for the partner of your partner."

"The partner of my...." It takes a few seconds, but it's clear when the realization hits Kara. Her cheeks bloom a bright red, and her eyes widen. Her mouth drops open, choking out a few stuttering sounds before she can speak again. "Oh. Oh. That's um -- I-I'm not, um-- Lena's, uh--"

Lena is the first to be coherent, and she swiftly snatches her hand back from where it had been resting next to Kara's on the table. Her lips narrow and a blush rises high on her cheeks. "Kara and I are just... friends."

Kara's face is fire-engine red, and she coughs out an awkward, almost manic laugh. "Yeah, no. We're not -- p-poly -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but um-- that's not us..."

Her breathless laugh trails off into a desperate wheeze, and she turns back to her plate of gnocchi, staring hard as if contemplating burying her face in it. Beside her, Lena discreetly throws back half the wine in her glass.

"My mistake," Kelly smiles, contrite. "I shouldn't have assumed."

Thankfully, the waiter arrives at the table, asking how they're enjoying their food, and they all jump at the distraction, assuring him that they find it all delicious. Once the waiter leaves, Kelly redirects the conversation to her trip to Italy a few years ago.

For the rest of the night, Kara makes a valiant attempt at a cheerful front, but it's clear that most of the wind has been taken out of her sails. Lena makes it through the rest of the dinner with a tight smile.

When they all finally part, and Alex slides into the car at the end of the night, Kelly turns to her girlfriend, widening her eyes. "Well. That was..."

Alex bursts out into a laugh, shaking her head. "I know, right?? I told you!"

"Wow..." Kelly shakes her head with a small chuckle. As Alex starts the car, she pulls out her phone and starts typing. Alex looks at her curiously.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm texting my Mom for her peach cobbler recipe," Kelly explains without looking up. "James may like to pretend he's all tough and stoic and unaffected after a breakup, but nothing makes him cry like our Mom's peach cobbler. It's very nostalgic for him."

Alex gives her a curious glance out of the corner of her eye as she pulls out onto the street. "You think my sister's gonna break James and Lena up?"

Kelly gives her a knowing smile. "I mean, babe... I like your sister, Kara seems like she wouldn't hurt a fly. And Lena's a nice person... But given what we saw tonight, I think we both know how that's gonna end up. And I still need to be there for my brother when he inevitably gets his heart broken."

"Fair enough."

...

When they visit Kara and Lena at their apartment again a few months later, nothing has changed.

It's the same cozy, pre-war apartment with large windows and high ceilings. The decor hasn't changed, and the same photos of Kara and Lena adorn the walls and the fridge.

The only thing that's different is that when Kara hands Lena her coffee, she doesn't kiss Lena on the top of her head. Instead, Kara puts down the coffee and gives Lena a sweet, lingering kiss on the lips instead.

While Alex pretends to gag and Kara throws a couch pillow at her head, Kelly smiles and lifts her coffee cup at Lena.

"Glad you finally figured that out."

Lena ducks her head shyly, but there's no carefully controlled tightness, no hidden anxiety in her eyes as she returns Kelly's smile. She takes a delicate sip from her cup.

"So am I."

#this is perfect #supercorp #fic rec

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