"Hell-ooo? Earth to Kara," Winn is saying impatiently, waving a hand in front of his best friend's face.
She's looking past him, fixated on Mon-El as he leans back in his office chair and plays with an action figure he's swiped off of Winn's desk. He's been doing a decent job, she realizes, posing as Mike. He'd only jumped at the sound of phones ringing twice now since the start of the week. "They're so much like the alarms they had on Daxam to signal for the servants," he'd said, half-amused. "Kind of takes me back to the bad old days, you know?"
"What? Uhhh— sorry," Kara says sheepishly, clearing her throat. "You were saying something?" She refocuses her attention to Winn, who is fixing her with raised dark brows.
"Um, yes. Game night? Are we still doing that? 'Cuz I know this situation with James and the Guardian just came to the light and things are kind of weird right now with the Super friends, but—"
"Of course they're weird," Kara interjects, shooting him her best incredulous look. "Do you think I wanted to find out my two best friends are sneaking around behind my back playing vigilante? You didn't just break my trust, you broke the D.E.O.'s." She lowers her voice at the last part, glancing around CatCo warily as she utters the secret organization's name. "And you're being reckless."
"Reckless?" Winn asks, touching his chest. "You think I'm being reckless, and you throw yourself in front of a full-throttle alien-shaped train on the daily?"
Kara crinkles her brow, looking down at the paperwork on her desk irritably. "It's not a joke, Winn. I have powers, you don't. One wrong move or trigger pulled too quickly and you die."
Just as Winn opens his mouth to interject, the two hear a crashing noise and immediately turn their attention to Mon-El's desk.
The Daxamite is scrambling to pick up the fallen papers and books scattered across the floor, and Winn's action figure lies a few feet away with an oddly twisted arm. "Look, I was trying to move his hand, and then suddenly he was vaulting through the air and just—"
"Um, excuse me," Winn objects, snatching the figure from the ground and dusting it off. "This is my prized special edition Superman action figure, newly-improved and with an up-to-date supersuit. If you put your grubby little fingers on it again, you owe me twenty dollars."
Kara almost isn't surprised but is still a bit weirded out. She hadn't found herself paying much attention to his action figures before, but now he mentions it, it definitely looks a lot like Kal-El.
"You have a toy of my cousin?" she teases, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Cool, Winn. Very cool."
"I hope you're serious," he says, righting Superman's arm with a small tweak to the figure. He perches it back in its spot next to his keyboard. "Because when the Supergirl figures roll out, you can bet I'm pre-ordering one of those puppies."
"Puppies?" Mon-El asks, looking flustered. His glasses are askew from picking up the fallen contents of his desk. "To my understanding, puppies are the young of this household animal humans call dogs, right?"
Unlike Kara and Winn, who had been speaking in lower tones for the duration of the exchange so far, Mon-El doesn't exert the same kind of volume control. Winn looks at him uneasily, leaning on his desk and glancing around to see if anyone in the office is watching. "Keep it down, man. Do you really want people to hear that Mike doesn't know what a puppy is?"
"Guys," Kara interrupts. "We'll do the game night. Just come to my place after work, alright? But take care of your stuff before Miss Grant has our heads."
Winn breaks a small smile, looking pleased. "You won't regret this, Kara. Super friends are the best friends."
xxxx
Mon-El is the first person to arrive for game night, and Kara is slightly amused to see how nervous he looks. "Is this— is this what the Earth tradition for courting is?" he asks as she holds the door open for him to step into her apartment.
"W-what? No, I— what do you mean courting?" Kara stutters, finding herself at a sudden loss for the English language. She can feel the tops of her ears turning pink, and it's only more mortifying.
Mon-El is looking at her, baffled, with his hands fiddling in his pockets. "Courting? Courting friendships with others? Laughter, drinks—"
A mixture of relief and something she thinks might be mild disappointment settles in her stomach with a flutter. "O-oh," she says agreeably. "Uh, yeah, it's like that. A bunch of friends, gathered in one place, playing board games or watching movies—"
A knock at the door interrupts them, and Kara takes it as a welcome interruption. When she moves to get it, she's soon being enveloped by the familiar sandalwood-and-soap scent of Alex.
"Sorry we're late. Late day at the D.E.O.," the older Danvers sister is saying, releasing her. Maggie Sawyer is just behind her, beaming a greeting smile in Kara's direction.
"No, no, it's fine, glad you guys could make it," Kara says agreeably, leading them from the foyer to the living room. "Sit down, sit down. I'll get the drinks. You guys want to play Pictionary?"
"Probably the best idea," Maggie grins, taking a spot on the couch next to Alex. "The last time we played Monopoly together it almost split the Danvers family in two."
"Split your family in two? Is this Monopoly serious?" Mon-El asks from the other end of the couch. "Is it like death-match in the pit serious, or—"
"No, no, no, no one's dying," Kara rushes, but cracks a grin when she meets Alex's eyes and witnesses her baffled expression. "Monopoly is a classic, uh, board game on Earth. You buy and trade properties and all of this other stuff, but it's make-believe. None of the things that happen in board games are real. Live entertainment is less of a thing here." She feels for all of the world that she's talking to a child sometimes when educating Mon-El on Earthly customs, but it's somehow almost a bit endearing and comforting. She'd always wondered what it might be like if she'd fulfilled her duty to watch over Kal-El like she had originally been intended to.
"Ah," Mon-El nods knowingly. "Trading properties. Incredible. Now, what is this 'Pictionary' you mentioned?"
Alex and Maggie are exchanging amused looks when Kara goes to answer the next knock on the door.
"Heyy, game night," Winn rushes excitedly, a smiling James just behind him as he crosses the threshold. "What's it gonna be this time? I kind of forgot Monopoly, so—"
"Pictionary," Kara interjects, giving James a tentative smile over Winn's shoulder. Things had been tense between the two since the revelation of James as Guardian, and part of her did want to get things back on track between them, even if they were a bit awkward.
"Riiight," Winn says, and seemingly taking a hit, makes his way over to the group in the living room.
It leaves Kara and James in an awkward silence for a few moments, but she clears her throat. "So, uh— how have things been? Outside of the vigilante thing, and—"
"Vigilante? Really, Kara?" James sighs, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Look, can we start over? I'd rather just spend some quality time with my friends tonight and leave the Guardian-Supergirl discussion for a later time."
Kara swallows, nodding. "Yeah. I'm sorry, James, I just— it's hard seeing you and Winn—" She pauses, looking down. "Forget it. Let's just get over there and play Pictionary like normal people and normal friends for the night, okay? I'm calling a temporary truce."
"Sure," he says finally, nodding. The smile he offers her is genuine. "That's... exactly what I want, actually."
"Guys, are you coming?" Mon-El calls, holding up the whiteboard the game includes excitedly. "I'm about to draw a hurricane."
"What? No, Mon-El, you don't say the thing you're drawing, that's the entire point," Winn says in exasperation, snatching the board from him.
Kara follows James over, grinning. She was starting to realize she had needed this; a normal, stress-free night with her family.
xxxx
By about twelve in the morning, they're all reasonably drunk and on their last round of Pictionary.
"Why is that guy getting crushed by a lollipop?" Mon-El slurs, pointing to the board in Winn's hands. He's already attempted a guess at the drawing a whopping four times now. "That looks... like a bad time."
"It's— it's a set of weights," Winn finally says, exasperated. "Is it really that bad?"
"Alright, if you guys aren't taking it," Maggie pipes up, crossing her legs as she sits back in the couch. Alex's arm is snaked around her, snuggling the girl closer. "It's 'exercising'."
Kara bursts into a fit of giggles, pointing at Mon-El accusingly. "You said it was a guy getting run over with a bike."
"Hey, in my defense, he can't draw work-out equipment to save his life apparently," the Daxamite protests, raising his eyebrows at Winn.
The night of Pictionary continues, until finally James is the first to leave and Alex and Maggie follow shortly thereafter. Winn helps Kara clean up the alcohol and board game pieces before he leaves, but Mon-El winds up passing out on the couch with his head tilted back in the cushion and his mouth hanging open.
After Winn finally exits and she closes the door behind him, she figures she should wake Mon-El up, but she doesn't. Instead, Kara pulls a spare blanket from the closet and carefully tucks it around him. He looks blissful and younger in his sleep, his hair ruffled and his handsome face relaxed. She finds herself in a zen place, curled up on the couch next to him after a long night with friends. She realizes maybe the time she's spent teaching him the ways of Earth has been something that's good for her too. It's the last thought she has as she, too, slips into a deep sleep.
xxxx
When she wakes, she's unexpectedly entangled in Mon-El's limbs. Kara has a moment of confusion when she blinks the sleep out of her eyes, the events of the previous game night slowly coming back to her. She can feel the Daxamite's body warm against hers, spooning against her as his arms rest over her midsection. She flushes, instantly feeling hot all over. His breath is hot on her neck, and it's coming slowly enough that she determines he's still asleep.
When she starts to try and weasel her way out of his grasp, he rustles, groaning. His right hand moves up her side, brushing her hips and ribcage as he brings it up to rest on her shoulder and snuggle further into her. She feels electric where he's touched her, a heat filling her groin that she doesn't entirely expect. He is handsome, she realizes, thinking of his beautiful face.
But the two of them— together? A Daxamite and a Kryptonian?
The thought is sobering to say the least, and she pulls away from Mon-El to stand up. Clearing her throat, she brushes her hair out of her face as she watches him come to.
"Uh, morning sleepyhead," she greets, trying her best not to sound like she's feeling awkward in any way. He doesn't seem to realize they'd been embracing yet.
"Oh, god," he says finally, sitting up. "I fell asleep. Kara, I'm so sorry, I just—"
"Don't worry about it," she shakes her head, waving the concern away. "Just get out of here so I can get some real rest, alright? Game night got a little crazy. And long."
He leaves not long after. But when he goes, Kara finds herself remembering how he felt pressed against her back. The thought won't leave her.