Next of Kin - SuperCorp

Next of Kin Part 11 - Don't Talk With Your Mouth Full

"Kara!" Alex smiled brightly and hugged her sister, issuing Kara into the apartment. "I'm glad you made it. Look, I bought pot stickers." On the table was an array of food. There were several boxes of Chinese food and two pizza boxes. "Also, I have two tubs of ice cream in my freezer."

Kara eyed the spread suspiciously. "Am I here for dinner or moving in?"

"Dinner and conversation," Alex replied, heading off to the kitchen and grabbing herself a beer from the fridge. "What do you want to drink?"

"Whatever," Kara replied, pulling a slice of pizza from the box and putting it on a plate. Then she began to dig into the boxes of Chinese food, her mood shifting to the positive as calories began more than a future promise to her alien metabolism. "So, no Maggie?"

"She said she'd try," Alex replied, walking in with a beer in one hand and a soda in the other.

"Thanks," Kara replied, taking the soda. "Thanks for the food too. I haven't been eating enough. I sneak out whenever I can and grab food, but I don't want Lena to see how much I eat, especially since she can't eat anything at all. Right now she's just graduated to drinking water. She takes these tiny sips, so she doesn't choke. They've still got her on an IV."

"That will change though, Kara. She'll be upright and eat and drinking normally soon enough. This changes her life, but it doesn't define her. You get that, right?"

Piling a bit more food on her plate, Kara nodded but a bit errantly. She took her plate and wandered over to the couch. Picking up one of the pot stickers, the blonde seemed to be considering it before she took a bite. Her chewing seemed purposeful, thoughtful.

"What's going on in there?" Alex asked as she sat next to her sister, a plate with two pieces of pizza in hand.

"Lena doesn't let anyone or anything define her not even her last name."

"Good attitude on both your parts," Alex replied, hiding her smile in a bite of pizza. She chewed, smiled, and then asked, "So what's your next move?"

"Next move?" Kara asked among a mouthful of food.

"Don't talk with your mouthful."

"Then I'll never talk."

"Some days that would be a blessing."

Mouth open wide, Kara stuck out a tongue covered in pot sticker guts at her sister.

"Ugh, that's disgusting Kara. You've always had the worst table manners."

The girl of steel giggled in response. She took a sip of her soda to cleanse her mouth and answered with a bright grin, "It's couch manners right now."

"True," Alex said smiling back, happy to see some good humor from her sister. "What's your next move with Lena? Are you thinking about...? You know."

"I know?"

Alex made a popping motion as she feigned pulling glasses off her own face.

"Ah." Kara nodded. "The big reveal. I want to. I do. I think she deserves the truth, but right now I feel like her plate is piled even higher than mine." By way of example, she held up her plate of food nearly overflowing with pizza and Chinese food. "I don't want to add to what she has going on. She doesn't show it, but she must be about ready to crack. She's strong, but she doesn't bend easily. That makes me think that if she takes on too much, she'll break. I just wish she'd let me help shoulder some of that burden."

"I know your shoulders are broad, but didn't we just discuss how much weight you're already carrying?"

"This is different. I feel more stressed watching her go it alone right now. It would honestly be a relief if she'd just let me help her."