"You do realize you just let two teenagers loose in what could be considered the city's largest mall with access to your bank account." Maggie clarifies around the end of her drinking straw still keeping an eye on Alex's retreating back as the teen weaved her way towards the escalators with an obvious spring in her hurried steps. The same time Lena was contemplating going over to give the much more hesitant Kara a few more coaxing words of encouragement as she shuffles off in the opposite direction from her adopted sister.
The four-person group having stopped for a pre-shopping trip snack before sending the younger members off with at least instructions to pick up at least a weeks' worth of clothes during their visit with only a mild added joke of "or two weeks but it's your choice." As the preloaded cards were handed out.
They didn't know just how long the Danvers sisters were going to remain out of time as it were and after a quick phone call to Eliza admitted that most of her daughter's more teenaged era wardrobes had been gifted else wear at the insistence of the then older Alex and Kara.
"I did put a limit on just how much they could spend." Lena answers however distractedly. It was true but the limit had been more J'onn's idea than Lena's before he'd allow the suggested shopping trip.
"Do I even what to know how many other numbers follow said limit?" Maggie teases then giving a small pout when her cup seemed to run dry of her chosen fizzy drink.
Lena only shrugs one shoulder with a cool "Sometimes being a Luthor has it's perks." All this without once taking her eyes from the still retreating teenaged Kara Danvers. "and does that mean you don't want your own shopping adventure, Detective Sawyer?" the dark-haired CEO asks when it seemed Kara had found a shop that interested her easing a little of Lena's worry to finally look away and back towards the woman sitting opposite her in the bustling food court.
"You're kidding right?" Maggie asks deadpan.
Lena only raises one delicate eyebrow before quietly pulling out a third preloaded credit card from the pocket of her jeans. "Does this look like me kidding around?"
Maggie's eyes threatened to cartoon bulge out of her head as she looked at the taunting rectangle of plastic. The thing even had her name printed on it.
"Come on Maggie, just let me have this one." Lena pleaded when she guessed the still quiet detective was about to turn her down. "Would it help if I said I matched the amount of all three cards with donations to the three separate charities in each of your names? That does get her interest, but Maggie holds back on asking just which charities had been picked.
After a few more beats of quiet internal wrestling with herself, Maggie takes the card, but Lena can see the cop is also schooling her expression as her fingers trace the raised letters of her name then Maggie's soft gaze finds Lena's own making the Luthor think just for a moment that it was the cop across from her that had been turned back to her teen years. "Thanks, Lena."
Lena's smile rivals one of Kara's when anyone offers her potstickers as she gets to her feet. "Shall we?" she questions
"You do realize I'm making you carry at least half of whatever I pick up." Maggie questions.
Lena's smile only widens as she rolls her eyes at that. "Shall we?" she asks once more.
They find the sisters sitting cross-legged across from one another in one of the many toy shops in the middle of an intense-looking game of rock'em sock'em robots.
Alex is on the blue side. Kara taking red.
It's only at Alex's wounded "what am I chop liver?" and a second rush of wind that either of the more adults of the four-person group noticed Kara's initial absence at all. The younger blonde reappearing seconds later still munching contently on the end of a churro whilst offering a warmed soft pretzel to her now grinning older sister.
"Thanks, Kar." Alex smiles gratefully with a soft hum that had she been her proper age would have had Maggie's legs turning to jelly as she pulls off her first tentative bite of the snack food. As it was Maggie only chuckles at how cute the teenaged Alex was being as she like Lena watches the back and forth. "also…." Alex says as she chews delivering a hard uppercut to Kara's robot ending the latest matchup. "I win."
"We're changing colors." Kara pouts almost dropping what was left of her churro into her lap in sulking shock at the loss.
"Really want to push your luck, sister mine?" Alex gloats taring a larger piece of the pretzel as she holds Kara's wounded expression with a pleased one of her own.
Lana clears her throat loudly startling both as she makes her, and Maggie's presence known to the bickering sisters. Mostly because despite her best-efforts Lena could also see the start of orange seeping into Kara's expressive blue eyes behind the glare of her glasses. She also knows how unintentional it was considering her talks with the older Kara on hiw difficult controlling her powers had been for her in her younger years.
"Kar found a sale at one of the pop-up booths when we met up outside one of the clothes shops." Alex says changing topic and also earning a low giggle from a much happier looking Kara at the obvious nervous edge to her older sister's tone.
It seems Maggie like Lena had spotted a familiar red, blue and yellow as well as a black and electric blue color choice to the sister's chosen bags. Kara had chosen a larger backpack-style canvas bag more suited for camping trips whilst Alex had picked out a much more military duffle-style look to her pack. Both seemed to be ladened with newly purchased items. Or maybe what had drawn Maggie's gaze was the pink, purple, and blue stitch work of Alex's name embroidered against the dark black of the side of the duffel.
"Beats lugging around all those bags, that's for sure." Alex sighs tugging the duffle closer against her side. At that Maggie finds herself wondering if current teen Alex had folded her new clothes into a more military-style to maximize her space as she'd seen the more adult Alex do countless times since the couple had begun sharing a closet once again.
"Great minds then." Maggie shrugs shifting off her own bag. A near match to Alex's own only for the 's' patch Maggie had chosen to have stitched onto the side where a name would have gone.
"And who is that cutie?" Lena questions spotting a plushy tabby-looking cat once again leaning against Kara's crossed legs after the sisters had traded sides on their chosen game.
"Alex got him for me." Kara mumbles scratching the fluffy black cat gingerly behind one soft-looking ear.
"You said it reminded you of the one behind the house." Alex defends trying and failing to sound indifferent yet Maggie and Lena both noticed she was also attempting to hide a plushy of her own.
"Gertrude?" Maggie guessed with a teasing smile kneeling enough to run her fingers over the top of the stuffed animal's head.
"How'd you know?" Kara rather than Alex asks amused her fingers carding ever so carefully over the side of her sister's 'pet' the same time Alex herself gives a defensive "Yes it's old school but it was the name of my Nana's dog."
At this Maggie pauses in shock. She'd always meant to ask about the rather old-school name choice but had never gotten around her own gentle teasing to actually go through with voicing the question. A glance towards Kara proved this was the first she was hearing of this as well, so Maggie wasn't so upset at being left out of the loop. Lena had chosen to give the others some semblance of privacy and had at least pretended to become enamored with a shelf of child-worthy science and build your own themed toys close to where the Danvers sisters had decided to play their game.
"I loved that dang dog." The teenaged Alex goes on now tugging the plushy dog completely into her lap, her fingers rubbing therapeutically against the toy's ear
"Well, duh Eliz had to luminal, laminal however you say it." Kara interjects then seems to deliberately stumble over the word considering the teasing laugh it earned from her older sister. "She saved that picture cause you carry it everywhere."
"Laminate." Lena helps out now examining the backs of two different 'build your own' kits.
"Thanks." Kara says and even Alex notices the blush dusting her sister's cheeks at Lena's answering smile as the blonde teenager cuddles what both Lena and Maggie knew to be a plushy stand in for Streaky as Alex rolls her eyes in an attempt to keep up her bravado despite the obvious moisture pooling in her eyes.
Maggie starts when she feels the warm weight of a hand sliding into her own before Alex takes a steadying breath and continues talking. "but one night, just before my ninth birthday Gertie got out of the yard." Even Kara winced at the sadness cutting Alex's voice now. "she was a lot like you. Not a fan of storms." Kara had moved over enough to allow her older sister to pillow her head against the blonde's shoulder and still allow Alex to hold Maggie's hand.
"I'm almost afraid to ask." Lena exclaims now balancing an intricate 84-piece 3D wooden puzzle kit in her lap. A glance at the front showed when put together it was a combination moving solar system as well as a music box.
Instead of giving an answer, Alex hides a pained sniff against Kara's shoulder. "the only good thing was she didn't suffer after the car hit." Alex confesses as her hands tighten around Maggie's before she lets go in order to hug the plushy dog even closer against her chest
Lena was quicker than Maggie this time wrapping her arms around the crying teen.
Maggie herself rather than give even the smallest hint of envious jealousy over the attempted comfort chose to look towards Kara instead only to find the blonde-haired teenager once more absent with a soft 'whoosh' of speed. Maggie only needed to blink before Kara had reappeared this time holding a small balloon.
"Really, Kara?" Alex sniffs from Lena's arms. "The Chipmunk option." Maggie and Lena share a curiously puzzled look between themselves. Certainly, this 'Chipmunk option' was never something the elder Danvers sisters have ever mentioned.
"Really," Kara answers flatly dropping back to her knees in front of the other three. The neatly tied balloon around her wrist swayed with an echo of the motion. "Any requests?" Kara asks as the balloon was untied from her wrist and pulled downward.
Again, the two adults shared a puzzled glance.
"Yeah, this time don't hog it all." Alex answers all but a few lingering traces of her earlier upset lingering in her voice as she tugs the balloon from her younger sisters fingers.
The following minutes finding the back corner filled with helium changed voices of all four members of the group.
Mostly Alex and Kara doing their own rendition of "The Misers Song" from Year Without a Santa Claus.