AN: Not mine.
Unfortunately, it seems Astra's nightmares run too deep and dark to be soothed by tea. It's almost midnight when the screaming starts, but by the time Alex gets to Astra's cell, she's already woken up. Kryptonians don't show physical signs of sleep deprivation, but if they did, Alex is pretty sure that Astra would have circles under her eyes. She doesn't say anything, just leaning against the wall, keeping her distance as Astra's head tilts forward so that thick ringlets of dark chocolate hide her from the world. Their uneasy truce hangs between them in the air, and Alex thinks proximity might do more harm than good at this point. Particularly since she has the strangest urge to wrap Astra in her arms and hold her until the nightmares leave.
"Kara was scared of the microwave."
It's the first thing that pops into her head. Why, Alex has no fucking clue, but she keeps talking anyways. "She used her laser vision the first time I tried to show it to her because she thought it was going to explode. Then the second time, I made the mistake of putting a bag of popcorn in, and the popping noise scared the crap out of her again." She smiles slightly. "I don't think she likes it even now."
"Microwave?" Astra repeats after a moment, her voice slightly wobbly. Alex pretends not to notice. "I am unfamiliar with this term."
"It's an appliance you use to cook food," she explains. "Like a mini stove."
"You know everything about her that I missed. Everything I can never make up for." Astra's hands curl into fists. "Things I should have known if my people were not such stubborn, closed-minded fools." Alex doesn't really know what to say to that, but she's saved from the necessity of speaking when Astra looks up at her with wide, almost hungry eyes. "Tell me about what I missed. I…..I wish to know. Please."
"Let me go grab a chair so I don't have to sit on the floor. I'll be right back." Alex heads to her office, grabbing the rolling chair and a water bottle for Astra. She only hesitates a second before adding the throw blanket draped over the armchair in the room (both gifts from Kara after she found out how often Alex ended up crashing at the DEO after a long night's work instead of making the drive back to her apartment). Kryptonians don't get cold, but maybe it will help anyways.
"If I open the door to give you these, are you going to smell my neck again?" she asks wryly, trying to ignore the flash of heat that the memory engenders. Best not to think about how it's cropped up in her dreams since then. Astra blinks in confusion and then smirks.
"The next time my face is so close to you, it will be because you ask," she drawls, and god, it's not fucking fair how her voice is so…..sexy. Alex all but tosses the water and blanket in and can't quite get the door shut fast enough. Astra downs half the bottle in one go—apparently nightmares make Kryptonians thirsty—and picks up the blanket, rubbing the soft wool between thumb and forefinger. "My people do not—"
"You don't get cold, yeah, I know. But I thought it might help anyways. It's pretty soft." Alex flops down in the chair and shifts until she's comfortable.
Astra eyes her, face unreadable, but after a moment, her expression softens. "If I give you my word to keep my distance…will you come and sit with me? I feel….improper….with you on the other side of the glass when you are doing me such a great service."
Alex considers for a moment. Astra obviously holds humans in disdain and wouldn't think twice about snapping her neck, but if she did that, Kara would never forgive her. There's also the fact that Astra has had the chance to kill her twice now and didn't. "Yeah, I guess not." She turns up the inhibitors just a tiny bit—just to be safe—before opening the door and settling on the opposite side of the cell. Astra shrugs the blanket over herself, and it's hard not to smile at how docile and….cute….she looks. "Well," Alex begins, thinking back years and years to before she even knew how bright and beautiful Kara's smile was, "let me tell you, I wasn't always a good big sister. Kara didn't know shit about Earth, and it was really hard to have to walk around with her constantly asking what a car was and why everyone seemed to like this band so much…."
She talks and talks for hours, telling Astra everything. At one point she leaves to grab her laptop, thankful that Kara has uploaded a bunch of old photos to Facebook of them as kids. It doesn't escape her notice that in order to show her the photos, Astra will need to be seated at her side, and an inexplicable flutter thrills through Alex's chest and stomach as she shifts until Astra is close enough that her hair is almost brushing the human woman's face. The general smells like leather and wind and something else, a sharp, spicy, earthy scent, and Alex licks suddenly dry lips as she fumbles to explain the basics of social media. Astra, predictably, is both fascinated and disdainful—"I have never heard of a species documenting their every waking moment for the enjoyment and approval of strangers"—but when Alex tells her that there are photos of Kara on there, the Kryptonian all but begs to see them. Alex finds herself helpless to refuse.
The glow in Astra's eyes as she gazes at the face of her niece makes Alex's throat close and her heart beat just a bit faster inside her chest. A short while later, Alex is explaining the concept of a snowball fight, and Astra throws her head back and laughs as she hears the story of how Kara and Alex challenged the whole neighborhood to war and won. Alex honestly forgets what she was saying; forgets her name and how to breathe, because Astra's smile is like the sun after a week of rain and she thinks that if she could sit here and look at it forever, then that would be enough. Then she wonders what the hell was in her coffee to make her think that. Keep it together, Danvers.
It's almost 4 in the morning when Alex can barely keep her eyes open and Astra lets out a jaw-cracking yawn. "I should get some sleep," Alex mumbles, closing the lid of her laptop. Walking back to her office sounds like an awful chore, but there will be hell to pay if she's found in here. Even if she really, really wants to stay right where she is, close enough that Astra's scent wreaths around her and she can nearly feel the heat of the other woman's skin. "You can keep the blanket."
"Thank you, Alexandra," Astra says softly. For a split second, Alex thinks she's hallucinating from sleep deprivation, but no, Astra really did use her name. Is that progress?
"It's Alex." She stands and stretches. "Just Alex."
"Alex," Astra repeats. "Your full name sounds much more beautiful, if I do not overstep in saying so."
Alex's heart lurches in her chest (Astra thinks her name is beautiful?) but she tries to pass it off as exhaustion. "Well, only my mom ever uses it, and that's when I'm in a heap of trouble, so it's Alex to you."
Astra's lips curl into a lazy smirk as Alex exits the cell and goes to take the unused rolling chair back where it belongs. "Good night, Alexandra," she says, and Alex barely resists the urge to groan. She does give her eyes a healthy roll as she leaves.
"Being annoying must be a Kryptonian thing," she mutters, although she knows Astra will be able to hear.
The answering chuckle behind her stays with her long after she's drifted into sleep.