Of Knights and Aliens

Chapter 23

Lena and Kara change into pajamas that Lena provides on opposite sides of the tent, facing away from each other. Since there isn't really a barrier or even a cloth hanging up, they have to do that so they won't end up seeing each other naked. That still doesn't stop Lena from choking on nothing when she turns around to see Kara in shorts and a tank top. Because gods, her muscles.

Lena clears her throat awkwardly, glad that Kara didn't seem to notice her staring and drooling. What she herself doesn't notice is that Kara is too busy drooling over her to see that Lena's drooling over Kara.

"So how do we do this?" Kara asks once she snaps out of her Lena-induced haze, gesturing to the bed.

Lena shrugs. "I have no idea. What do you normally do when you sleep next to your sister?"

"Usually I sleep on my back and she rests her head on my shoulder. But it's perfectly fine if you're not comfortable doing that, Lena."

"How about... We just get in bed and go to sleep. We can see where we end up during the night." Lena says.

Kara nods. "Yeah, that's fine."

Lena resists the urge to sigh gratefully. She really doesn't want to bother Kara with the nightmares she will inevitably have, and she doesn't want to make Kara uncomfortable if she does something wrong. She smiles at Kara and gestures to the bed.

Kara gives her one of her kind smiles that makes Lena's brain melt into gay mush. Kara gets under the covers and scoots over until she's almost touching the tent. Lena gets in, staying on the other side but a bit more in the middle than Kara, who's evidently trying to respect her personal space. Lena and Kara don't turn away from the middle, instead lying facing each other.

"Goodnight, Lena." Kara murmurs.

"Goodnight, Kara."

Kara uses her super-breath (she really needs to think of a better word for that) and blows out the last few candles in the room. Darkness falls upon them and Kara falls asleep quickly. Lena eventually goes to sleep, her mind still racing at the thought of having a nightmare while sleeping next to the woman she's developing a hopeless crush on.

And of course, Lena's fears become a reality. She wakes up in the middle of the night, her body stiff and unmoving. She wills her limbs to move and nearly sighs in relief before Lena remembers she's sleeping next to someone. She hesitantly opens her eyes to see the minimal light in the tent being reflected off of Kara's eyes. Lena can practically feel the concern radiating off of her.

"Are you alright, Lena? Your heart's racing and you're all sweaty."

Lena tries to wave it off. "I'm fine."

"You're obviously not, you're crying." Kara gently points out.

Lena's eyes widen and she reaches up with one hand to feel the wetness of a few tears falling from her eyes. She grits her teeth and wipes them away, mentally chastising herself. She hasn't let herself cry in front of someone in years. Not even when her mother was being especially cruel.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kara asks quietly, placing her hand down in the space between them with an audible light thump.

Lena purses her lips and allows herself the comfort of placing her hand on top of Kara's.

"I just... It's usually the same dream. Me having to watch as Lex spirals into madness again without being able to help him. Tonight, I..." She swallows and ignores how her lower lip trembles, pushing on. "Tonight, I ended up being the person who had to kill him."

Lena sniffles and internally berates herself for showing weakness. She's a Queen now, by the gods. She shouldn't show weakness in front of anyone, let alone a Princess of a Kingdom she's hoping to become allies with.