Lena hated birthdays. Well, that might not have exactly been a fair assessment, because she didn't hate birthdays. Not really anyway. In fact, she had always liked celebrating people's birthdays. She enjoyed fawning over people; buying them gifts, taking them out for dinner, and just overall spoiling them. She liked to make people feel special, probably because growing up she had never really had people whom she could make feel special, and so she enjoyed it so much more now that she had friends that she could spoil. She liked people to know how important they were, and so, she didn't really hate birthdays. In fact, she had always rather loved birthdays. It was just the one in particular of which she so disliked.
Her own.
She couldn't recall when it had all really started. Even as a child, she could never remember really being excited for her own birthday. Maybe it was because Lillian had always resented her growing up, and so why then would her adoptive mother ever feel the need to celebrate the birth of her existence in the first place?
It also wasn't like she particularly had a lot of people to celebrate with anyways. Growing up, she had always been the black sheep of the family, so to speak, and so she had never had a lot of friends. Because of her adoptive heritage, she had never really felt at home at the Luthor manor. The rest of the world had always simply viewed her as an illegitimate heir, and thus not a true Luthor. She had always wanted nothing more than to feel like she belonged. How ironic it was then, that those very same people were suddenly so willing to accept her into the Luthor name after Lex had gone to prison.
She guessed she got her wish.
Of course, there was always Lex. Every year her brother would go out to the family garden and pick her an armful of plumerias; tying a lilac coloured silk ribbon around the stems, and presenting her with the bouquet for her birthday. She could still picture him beaming brightly as he presented her with the flowers; a smudge of dirt still smeared across his cheek from rummaging around in the garden. He had always had this sort of charm about him.
Looking back, Lex had always tried to make her feel special. But maybe that was the thing. She didn't feel special. She had never felt special; Lillian had always made sure of that fact. And maybe the fact of the matter was that she simply didn't feel as if she was worthy of feeling special. And if there was any doubt that she felt this way as a kid, the notion had only been more firmly rooted into place when her brother had been arrested.
And so no, she had never really celebrated her birthday growing up. The tradition had only carried over into adulthood.
Things were different now. To the vast majority of the population, the Luthor name was still very much considered a taboo; but things had changed recently. She was now the C.E.O of a highly successful multi-billion dollar company that manufactured her own ground breaking technology, and the owner of another that was widely considered to be one of the biggest and most successful media empires in the world. She had more or less made up with her mother; who had now seemed at least a little bit happy to see her whenever she made her regularly scheduled prison visits. She had friends, family, the best girlfriend in the world. Life was more or less good.
But she still hated celebrating her birthday.
She blamed society. She had always been a very quiet person. She didn't like parties or big social gatherings; much preferring the quiet and comfort of her own home. It was societies fault that birthdays had been made into this big, giant celebration where you had to go out and actually do things. What was wrong with wanting a night in to herself?
Really her social skills weren't the best anyway. Even when she was dragged out to such things, she didn't really know how to make proper conversation, and constantly had to think of things to say. The whole ordeal was frankly exhausting. Not to mention that she had always been a very private person. She didn't like putting herself on display up on some big pedestal above everyone else. That wasn't her.
Perhaps part of it was that she simply didn't like the attention. Hell, she didn't like speaking at press conferences about her own technology, something she was actually passionate about. If she was uncomfortable with being in the spotlight in a work setting, then the thought of someone giving her their undivided attention for something in her own personal life was frankly terrifying.
Of course, perhaps her overall discomfort had simply stemmed from the fear of the unknown. She didn't like doing press conferences, but she had been doing them for years. Just because she didn't like them, didn't mean she wasn't good at them. She had definitely attended more press conferences than birthdays, and if she was still uncomfortable with the former, then she was definitely uncomfortable with the latter. Experience is everything, and when it came to birthdays, she had none.
Of course she could really come up with any excuse that she wanted. Lack of experience, time constraints, alien abduction. But the reality was, it was really much simpler than all that. The fact of the matter was, deep down, she still had that underlying thought lingering somewhere in the back of her skull that she simply didn't deserve it. Maybe there was a small hidden part of her that did actually want to celebrate, but she simply felt as if she wasn't worth the effort; that people shouldn't waste their time on her. One couldn't exactly blame her; the notion had been repeatedly drilled into her head since childhood. Old habits die hard.
So no, she didn't really celebrate her birthday. In fact, if it was up to her, she would just forget about it entirely. And honestly, if it were, that would realistically be a totally obtainable goal. She put in so many hours at both L-Corp and CatCo combined that she just tended to lose track of time. Her internal body clock worked on a day-to-day basis. She never knew what day it was anymore; only when she worked and when she didn't; when she needed to be at CatCo, and when she needed to be at L-Corp. So really, she could have realistically missed her own birthday completely by accident without even actively trying. It was the perfect decoy.
PING!! - she glances at her cellphone.
There was just one little hitch in her master plan.
'LENA IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!!'
Kara .
Kara never let her forget her birthday. Even so, she couldn't help but smile softly down at her cellphone screen as she typed out a response.
' Why thank you. You've only reminded me about 5 times today.'
The responding ping of her phone is almost immediate.
'Just making sure you don't forget!! ;)'
She rolls her eyes, shaking her head affectionately; her eyes crinkling at the corners with her accompanying smile.
'I couldn't even if I wanted to...'
Kara sends her a single smiley face emoji in response.
As if she could ever forget. Kara reminded her twice weekly for the duration of the month, and then every day once the week was upon them. And then of course who could forget the several scattered messages throughout the entire day when it actually arrived. Unless she actively just slept through the entire month, it was physically impossible for her to forget.
As if Kara's last message had somehow sounded some silent alarm, a barrage of pings suddenly began to sound from her cellphone. Birthday messages.
Alex, Winn, James. Even Sam and Jack.
She supposed the one downside about having friends is that they never forget your birthday...Lena sighs.
And so it begins...
-
"Jess." Lena greeted, nodding towards her secretary in acknowledgment as she exited her office. The woman in question sat at a small desk stationed just outside of her office, hand still positioned atop her computer mouse, as if she had been mid-scroll upon her entrance. Her secretary, who was decidedly no longer staring at her computer screen.
Jess didn't move.
"Jess??" She sounded again, this time slightly concerned. Her secretary stared, looking her up and down, towards the computer screen, then back at her. Lena frowned. What was wrong with her? Was she ok?
Jess blinked.
"Ms. Luthor, it's not even 6:00. Are you headed out already?"
Oh .
She supposed she stayed late so often that it was rather unprecedented that her secretary would see her actually leave on time. Lena smiled lightly.
"Yes, I thought I'd head out early today."
This only seemed to confuse the poor girl even more, the Luthor not missing the suspicious glance that was thrown her way, as if her secretary was seriously contemplating the involvement of mind control.
" Early ?" Jess repeated, looking thoroughly perplexed, as if she couldn't possibly comprehend the idea of Lena Luthor going home early . Jess glanced towards the window. "It's still light outside. Is everything alright Ms. Luthor?"
"Is it really that hard to believe that I am actually capable of leaving my own building before it gets dark out?" Jess quirked an eyebrow in response. "You know what? Don't answer that." Lena sighed. "Yes, everything is fine. I just thought I'd head out early today."
Jess still didn't look convinced. Her eyes looked her up and down sceptically, taking in the sight of her boss who now stood before her, coat and purse already in her possession as if she was indeed all ready to go - the same woman whom she would have normally had to practically drag out of the building just to get her to leave at all. She raised an eyebrow.
"Any special reason..?"
Lena sighed, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly in the anticipation that she might actually have to reveal more information. She had to hand it to Jess - her secretary knew her well.
"Well...yes, actually...it's my birthday today, and—"
She didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence. Her words are cut off abruptly when a force suddenly plows into her, just about knocking her off her feet; her secretary having swooped across the room in a blur to envelop the C.E.O in a hug.
"Oh my god happy birthday!" Lena rolled her eyes, but returned the embrace, the barest hint of a smile twitching at the corners of her lips.
"Thank you, Jess." She takes a step back.
"I didn't know it was your birthday today." Jess says, almost accusingly. Lena shrugs.
"Yes, well I just don't like making a big deal about it. That's all."
"Well whatever the case I'm glad you'll at least not have to spend it at work. Do you have plans for the evening?"
Jess sounded so hopeful; she really was too good to her. Lena smiled lightly.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
-
She was no sooner out the door when her phone buzzes once again.
" You're still coming over tonight right? I want pizza !!! "
Lena smiles before typing out a response.
" As if you need me to help you eat pizza "
" No but I DO need you to come keep me company ;) "
She didn't get the chance to respond before anothertext is coming in.
"... Also it is apparently not socially acceptable to order 5 pizzas for one person. .."
Lena rolled her eyes before typing.
" I'm on the way ."
" I can't wait! :D "
-
And it had appeared that Kara had really taken that last statement to heart. She must have been waiting by the door, or at the very least had used her x-ray vision or super hearing to keep tabs on her, because she had no sooner raised a hand to the door when it was suddenly thrown open. The Luthor catching just the tiniest glimpse of a blur of bouncy Kryptonian before she is almost knocked off her feet, the alien in question having flung herself across the gap between them to envelop her in a bone crushing hug.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" is squealed somewhere into her left shoulder as she is lifted off the ground and spun around in a circle in the middle of the hallway — She swore that Kara was the walking embodiment of a confetti canon. She returns her embrace.
"Thank you, Kara." She giggles, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she is placed back on the ground again. "Well sOMEone was eager. I didn't even get to knock on the door." Kara feigns ignorance.
"Pft, What? I was just making sure the pizza delivery guy didn't get lost finding the right apartment is all. You can never be too careful you know. Was just watching out for the pizza." She says matter of factly.
Lena raises an eyebrow.
"Right. You mean that pizza over there?" She gestures past Kara's shoulder to a large stack of pizza boxes currently sitting atop the kitchen counter. Kara grins.
"Ah, you got me." She rests an arm comfortably around the shorter woman's waist, pressing a quick, featherlight kiss against the tip of her nose. "I missed you."
Lena laughs. "You saw me at CatCo this morning."
"Yeah, but that was hours ago! That's way too long!"
"God forbid I ever have to go on a business trip overseas..."
Kara only holds her tighter. "Well, then I suppose it's lucky you have a girlfriend that can fly across the world in a matter of minutes."
Lena raised an eyebrow. "Minutes?"
Kara shrugged. "I was being considerate of the people who probably wouldn't take too kindly to having their houses destroyed by a sonic boom."
"Fair enough." Lena smiled, glancing just over Kara's shoulder and towards her kitchen. "So do I actually get to have one of those, or have you eaten them all already?" She jabs a finger in the direction of the aforementioned pizza boxes.
"Nope, I definitely ate them all." Kara shrugs nonchalantly, trying to keep a straight face, but ultimately ends up failing when a smile breaks out across her face regardless. "Nah, I'm just kidding." She bows her head and offers her an escorting arm. "Would you care to join me in the consumption of the delectable cheese slices?" She gives a waggle of her eyebrows. "Imported all the way from the far off land of Main Street."
Lena laughs, taking her outstretched arm. "Why, I would be honoured."
Kara smirks as they walk through the front door. "Only the finest grease for m'lady."
She liked how Kara got it. How Kara got her . She didn't make her birthday into this big event like everyone else. Kara understood that Lena was uncomfortable with the aspect of her birthday, and she had respected that. She hadn't tried to push her into going out or doing something fancy. She hadn't tried to throw her some big party or dazzle her with expensive gifts. Instead, she had opted for a quiet night in. There was no roaring crowds or fancy foods. Just cheap takeout and an endless supply of Disney movies.
She had respected her wishes not to turn her birthday into a big deal while still ensuring that she felt special by being there to support her.
This is why she loved Kara.
"You sure there isn't anything you want for your birthday?" Kara had asked sometime later, both having stocked their plates with pizza, which left Kara the job of setting up the DVD player.
Lena paused. Her reflex response would have been no, she didn't want anything. That was always her response whenever people asked. As she had stated, she didn't like being the centre of attention. She didn't want people to go out of their way just for her.
Really, she had never been one for material possessions anyways. At the end of the day, it was the overall thought that mattered the most, not the object of which the thought had conjured. Material possessions were mundane, or mortal in a sense. At the end of the day, that expensive diamond necklace is nothing more than a lump of rock and metal that serves no purpose other than to flaunt one's wealth. That designer dress is really a piece of glorified fabric that will eventually break down and turn into nothing. Material Knick-knacks like sculptures or candles or carvings would do nothing but sit on a bookshelf collecting dust. The giving of flowers had always been a universal gesture, but even their beauty is finite. Flowers wither and die, leaving nothing but a shrivelled husk as a tomb for their once beautiful radiance.
And so, it is not the object that one desires, but the thought from which it derives. The object is worthless, no matter the cost, but it is the thought behind it that tells a persons heart, and it is this that of which is truly priceless.
In that sense, there was nothing that anyone could give her; nothing material that she wanted. She had no need for useless bobbles or fancy trinkets or expensive jewelry. And yet, Kara hadn't asked what she could get her. She had asked what she wanted.
And what did she want?
She looked at Kara. Really looked at her. At the laugh lines that creased the corners of her eyes and her gentle smile that had warmed the hearts of many. At her broad shoulders which carried the weight of the dying worlds, and her hands that had selflessly saved the lives of innocents and otherwise not. At her strong arms that would hold you so tight it would mould all of your pieces back together again, and make you forget what it ever felt like to be broken.
Kara was the type of person that cared too much and loved too deeply. She would give you all that she had to give without leaving anything for herself, and she would do it with a smile on her face. She knew she would do anything for her. Kara would have gone to the moon and back if she asked. She smiled.
"Just one."
"And what would that be?"
Lena looked up from her spot on the couch to where Kara was still fiddling with the wires of the DVD player; the softest hint of a smile lightly playing against her lips. "You ."
Kara laughed lightly. "You already have me, silly."
"Yeah, but you're too far away." She feigns a whine as she lazily swipes an arm across the empty space between them, as if mock-trying to reach her from all the way across the room.
Kara rolls her eyes, finally fitting the last wire into place, before walking across the room to take a seat next to her on the couch; pulling her close to her chest and enveloping her in a warm embrace. "Better?"
Lena wraps her arms snugly around the taller woman's stomach; tucking her head just beneath Kara's chin. She sighs contentedly. "Better. And...Kara??"
Kara glances down at her, allowing her head to loll gently to one side. "Hmn?"
Lena smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Thank you ."
Kara beams brightly, pressing a firm kiss against her temple. "You know I love you, right?"
Lena smiles. "And I love you."
And Lena had always hated celebrating her birthday with anyone. But then, Kara had always been the exception to everything.