A/N- This is a short Supercorp AU, just something small and sweet, happy holidays. Title is from 'First' by Cold War Kids.
Kara was taking a study break. Or more aptly, she was taking a sister break. Alex and Maggie had been holed up in the library for what felt to Kara to be at least the last month (but was in reality just the last week) studying for finals. Despite her insistence that she didn't really need to study that much, she mostly had final papers instead of exams anyway, she had been dragged along with the couple for yet another late night study session.
So she was hiding. She was sitting in the bathroom, playing an extremely focused game of Candy Crush. She was content to stay there for as long as she could get away with it before Alex came in to physically drag her out and back to their table tucked away in a corner.
Just as she was celebrating finally beating a particularly tough level, she heard the door open and shut, but rather than hearing the new entrant go into a stall, she heard the sound of a bag being thrown onto the sink area followed by cursing.
"Stupid, mother fucking no good, son of a bitch, piece of shit-" The rant was cut off by the sound of the hair dryer kicking in.
Against her better judgement, Kara flushed the toilet and made her way out of the stall. The sight before her made her stifle a laugh. It really shouldn't be comical, but it was. A petite brunette was hunched over the hot air dryer, something clutched in her hand as she tried desperately to dry it.
Kara moved to the sink, washing her hands as she tried surreptitiously to get a better look at the brunette. She was striking, all hard planes and soft lips, wearing leggings, and a National City University sweatshirt under an oversized jean jacket. Kara wanted desperately to know if her pale skin was as soft as it looked.
She finished washing her hands and stood, awkwardly looking between the brunette and the hand dryer. The other woman seemed to finally notice Kara and her stream of curses under her breath died out as she blushed.
"I'm sorry." She said, quickly stepping out of the way, and Kara finally got a look at what the woman had been trying to dry.
It was a cigarette. A single cigarette.
The woman noticed Kara's curious gaze and her blush merely deepened, "It's my last one and I'm working on this terribly stressful final project for my biorobotics course, and I don't normally smoke except around finals because well, apparently excessive amounts of caffeine, lack of sleep, and unhealthy eating clearly aren't enough bad habits for one month. But I dropped it in a puddle of melted snow on my way to the lab and the only store around here that sells cigarettes is the minimart on the corner and it's closed because it's nearly midnight and the next closest is the gas station but it's like five blocks away and there's literally a blizzard outside-" The brunette ran out of steam as she noticed the easy smile crawling across Kara's face at the explanation, "And this is way too much information for someone I just met in a bathroom in the library while I'm trying to dry out a cigarette under a hand dryer." She finished with a small embarrassed smile.
Kara chuckled, "It's not too much information."
"It is, but that's kind of you to say."
They stood quietly for a moment, smiling at each other before the brunette seemed to shake herself out of the trance. She pushed some hair behind her ear and grabbed her bag from where she had thrown it down on the countertop and slung it back over her shoulder. "Well, I should go." The brunette said, biting her lip and rocking up on her toes, "Good luck with finals."
Kara nodded, "You too, good luck with- well everything."
Just as the brunette was about to leave, Kara felt herself pitching forward, a gentle hand going to the shorter girl's arm, "Wait!" The brunette turns with a question on her amused lips, she quirked her eyebrow, and Kara lost her momentary spur of confidence, "I'm sorry- I just- what's your name?"
The brunette smiled, "Lena, what's yours?"
"Kara." The woman- Lena- looked down at Kara's hand on her arm. She immediately dropped it, shoving both hands resolutely in her back pockets, "It was nice meeting you."
"Likewise." The woman appraised Kara one final time, seemingly thinking something over before shaking her head minutely and turning to go, "I'll see you around."
Kara waved briefly, muttering 'bye' under her breath even as the bathroom door swung shut.
…
It was almost exactly five months later, finals season again- this time it was Spring. Lena had spent the last sixteen hours straight in the lab. Sixteen hours hunched over her lab bench, her eyes glaring in concentration, lip caught between her teeth, sodering, programming, and wiring with everything she had. Well, sixteen hours punctuated with occasional trips down the hall to the small kitchenette in the student labs to refill her coffee, or outside to the curb to smoke.
Some time around three a kind professor had done a lap of the labs with some cold pizza- the leftovers from a department meeting- and Lena was able to snag a slice of mushroom. The only good she had eaten since the peanut butter and jelly she had made on her way through the dining hall that morning.
Sixteen hours today, plus nearly twenty hours yesterday, and similar time put in over the last week, and it was taking a toll on her.
Lena shrugged into her old jean jacket and made her way out of the dungenous labs. As an accelerated student, she was granted acess to the advanced labs- nicer equipment, less students, less noise, but it was the basement of the building with no windows and no natural light. It was quite frankly, depressing.
On her way out, Lena passed the other labs, spotting students similarly bent over projects, busily working. It was nearly midnight so there weren't many students still working, but a small number were present. She saw her friend Jess, and waved with an encouraging smile before finally making it out of the building.
Lena stood beneath the lamppost nearest the entrance to her lab building and pulled out her pack of Camels from her pocket and her lighter. In a practiced motion, she flicked open the lid of the Zippo and swiped the lighter against the leg of her jeans, igniting it and lighting her cigarette.
She smoked in peace for a while, enjoying the warm May evening, her hair stirred by a light breeze as she looked around campus. It was mainly empty, the lights of the nearby library were on, breaking up the darkness of the night. One figure was visible, walking down the path towards her.
As she drew closer, Lena appraised the other woman. She was tall with long curly blonde hair, and Lena could have sworn she knew her. The blonde stopped beneath the street lamp by Lena and smiled winningly. She was backlit, the lamp casting her hair in a soft glow that had Lena practically melting.
"Hey, Lena right?" She asked.
Lena nodded, inhaling deeply from her cigarette. She felt the smoke curl in her lungs and waited for the lightheadedness that should follow such a move before raising her chin and exhaling over her shoulder away from the blonde, "I'm sorry, have we met?"
The taller woman blushed, "Yeah, last finals period. We met in the library." When Lena seemed to show no recollection, she continued on, "You were trying to dry a cigarette under a hand dryer."
Lena laughed in embarrassment, scratching behind her ear, "Oh yeah. Not my best moment. You're Kara?"
"Yeah." The blonde smiled.
They stood in companionable silence, Lena took another drag, and tried to get over how devastatingly pretty Kara looked under the street lights, "Are you the designated coffee girl?" Lena asked, gesturing with her cigarette at the tray of cups Kara was holding, she recognized the logo from the gas station down the road.
Kara blushed the smallest bit, "My sister and her girlfriend dragged me out to study with them, and I had to escape, hence to coffee and slurpee run."
"Slurpee?"
"Yeah, studies have shown Sour Apple slurpees are the best possible study drink to enhance brain function." Kara said very seriously.
Lena couldn't help but chuckle, this woman was without a doubt adorable, "I'll have to take your word for that."
"You don't have to!" Kara replied excitedly, "I just mean you could try one- together- with me. We could get slurpees together sometime." She explained stutteringly.
Lena felt her smile widen against her will, this girl would be the death of her, "That sounds nice."
"Yeah?" Kara beathed in disbelief.
"Yeah." Lena confirmed, "I would love to get slurpees with you."
"Awesome." If Lena thought that a stuttering Kara was adorable, it was nothing on Kara beaming as though she had just won the lottery, "Great! I'll see you soon then!"
"I look forward to it." Lena watched Kara walk away down the sidewalk. She took another inhale from her cigarette, counting in her head.
She got to five seconds before Kara jumped, suddenly remembering something, spinning on her heel and practically running back to Lena, "Your number! Can I have your number? You know so we can get those slurpees."
Lena laughed, "Yeah, give me your cellphone."
Kara patted her pockets comically before her lips twisted in a frown, "I left it in the library, yours?"
"Left it in the lab." Lena replied, "Hang on." She pulled a sharpie from her pocket and leant in to the drink carrier Kara was carrying. She scrawled her number and name on one of the cups, "Text me."
"I will." Kara confirmed, her bright smile returning. She turned and once again headed off down towards the library, peeking back over her shoulder at Lena.
Five minutes later saw Lena back at her lab bench, a small lingering smile on her face, and Kara winding her way through the stacks to the corner table Alex and Maggie had procured. She set down the drink tray, hardly acknowledged by the two older girls. But she didn't care, she was still beaming from her interaction with Lena.
She was only drawn back when Maggie took a sip of her coffee then looked quizzically at the younger Danvers, "Who is Lena, and why did she draw a little heart on my coffee cup?"
Alex's head snapped up so quickly it was a wonder she didn't get whiplash, "What?" Her gaze ran between Kara and Maggie looking for an explanation.
Kara blushed, and the only reply Alex got was Kara gasping and snatching at Maggie's cup, "She drew a heart!?"
"Kara, who's Lena?"
The blonde ignored her sister, excitedly retrieving her phone from her bag and putting in the number.
"Leave her, the kid is finally getting some ass." Maggie smirked, patting her girlfriend's arm reassuringly.
Alex paled, "My baby sister is not getting ass! Kara! Tell Maggie she's wrong." When she didn't get a reply, Alex's panic just got worse, "Kara!"
A/N- Let me know what you thought :)