"Oh no."
"Where'd she….."
"She was just here."
"We went over this. No running off." Alex says mostly under her breath, attempting to calm the waves of building panic when on another twisted turning she had yet to catch sight of her target in the bustle of their fellow zoogoers.
"She's not a child." Tess huffed in defense. Not the first she'd done during this side trip. Then again one more burst of 'Super Zoomies' and they may have to cut this last trip far shorter than originally planned. "Besides." She smiles pointing a neatly manicured finger towards the disappearing splash of guiding purple.
"Oh thank, Rao." Alex sighed considering the first time this had happened after first arrival they'd narrowly found an angered Bizarro cradling a still crying toddler against one side whilst her other handheld the child's confused sibling by their ankle over a nearly emptied tank of whale sharks demanding an apology from the dangling teenager for taking the child's toy away and making the child cry.
Only after Alex had coaxed Kira into letting the teenager down without dropping him to the more non-human threatening shark variety according to Tess that they learn that after letting his sister view the 'ice bears' also sharing the exhibit space favored plushy toy had been lost in the interval and the toy had been about to be searched for when they'd crossed the path of a newly arrived trio.
The incident drew far less attention than Alex thought until she realized that a clever Tess had hacked into the zoo's Wi-Fi and security cameras until Alex had talked Kira down enough to let the teenager and the boy's younger sibling go.
How Tess had managed to talk the teenager down Alex hadn't been able to work out as she'd chosen to take charge of a guilt-ridden Bizarro once properly explained to her.
"Fluffy." Bizarro coos watching her newest form of entertainment twist in play. "Like Streaky." She compares looking at the furry creature to the approaching scowl of one of her chaperones. "Alex, fluffy." Bizarro grins unphased by the show of disapproval.
Not at all the first time the comparison had been brought up since the trio had started their visit, Alex remembers with an agreeing nod and stiff "I see" adding yet another subtle mark to the running collection she'd been keeping.
"Tasmanian Platypus." Tess reads from the information notice at the side of the enclosure, but the rest of her comment trails off when another nugget of information the sign offers catches Alex's eye.
"Hold on this thing doesn't have a stomach…."
"Inside voices Agent Danvers, there are children present." Tess hisses though most of her attention was trained on the fascinating specimen that was the newly christened Kira Danvers.
After she'd calmed following the shark incident many of the zoo's animal inhabitance caught her attention, but none have held it this long as Kiera dropped with incredible care sitting cross-legged now in front of the platypus enclosure with that childlike wonder as she watched the duck-billed mammals at their play. A few children follow her lead much to their tired parent's disapproval.
Tess was once again struck by the longing to use her double's influence to get the other zoogoers kicked out if only to indulge in her want to personally strip away the barrier of sunglasses over those so expressive dark eyes.
Despite their true blackness, there was also a life to them. A spark and a color all their own that Tess was hungry to study.
A giggle of honest laughter bubbles up as this 'Bizarro' is held jealously spellbound.
It should unnerve her just how quickly she finds herself drawn to this strange one with eyes like shimmering onyx and at times a near child-worthy intelligence but at the moment all Tess wants is to draw another happy smile from the giggling one leaning against Agent Danvers's side quietly listening to Alex's retelling of the small tidbits of facts the notice cards dotting the encloser offered not only to Kira but also to the small clustering of actual children gathered around watching the paddles swim back and forth along the separating barrier of the glass.
"You alright, Double Dare?" Alex asks the hand not resting against the entertained Kryptonian's scalp and reaches out as if to touch Tess's arm until Alex seems to remember herself after a glance towards the softly glowing shade of green visible yet cleverly camouflaged through Lena's coal-black tee shirt. "Winn would so be calling you Iron Luthor right about now" The DEO agent chuckles mostly to herself.
"Stark wished he were in my caliber." Tess snickers until a low cracking of laughter from the one snuggling against Alex's braced leg draws her attention.
"Rao and they said I have a bad case of 'love ray' eyes with my girl?" Alex snickers earning a daggered glare from Tess that only has Alex shaking with even more soft laughter. "Easy." She giggles her free hand raised in attempted surrender least she ends up on the wrong end of a Luthor-delivered punch to the jaw. From what she'd seen of Mxy's bruised face when she'd dropped off Clark the Luthor woman had one heck of a right hook. And that was the Lena who simi liked her.
"It's sweet," Alex says noting how another line was scrawled in the growing list of Keria's favorite things the raven-haired woman had taken to keeping as the day progressed.
Another pattern Alex had noticed throughout the day of multiple museum visits, a few play park stops and amusingly a side trip to a library at Bizarro's pouting instance meaning Alex and Tess could only watch in mirrored awe as their energized companion zipped through each section reading every book the place had to offer at blinding speed.
"It's not." Tess snaps slipping her notepad back into her jacket pocket, but Alex can see the dusting of a blush creeping into her paled cheeks when those jade eyes dip back to the one yet to move from her rooted set-in front of the platypus encloser. Meaning it's Tess who notices it first.
The subtle but noticeable dropping of Kira's shoulders. The way her arm dropped hugging her stomach with a flickering grimace crosses her expression.
"Hungry?" the Luthor asks earning what ended up being a guilty kind of nod from the seated blonde.
"About time."
If it hadn't been for the honest laughter behind the words as Alex finished typing out a text on her phone, then Tess would have considered slapping the amused agent across her smiling cheek as she, not Alex offered the now warry seeming Kira a hand up.
"Come on." Alex prods now with a noticeable spring in her step. "I've got a surprise waiting for us."
Instead of seeming curious at this Kira only presses a little closer behind Tess with her grip on the Luthor's hand redoubling in her nerves as they follow Alex's guiding steps towards the promise of food.