[SuperCorp] Ascendio [Finished]

The Care of Magical Creatures

Alex Danvers' features twitched into a frown when Kara sighed glumly for the third time in as many minutes.

The Danvers sisters were the last two remaining in the library for a late night study session, the others having long tapped out in favour of bed, and sat huddled together around an oil lamp that cast flickering shadows across their work and their faces. Parchment and books piled high in complete chaos around Kara's side of the table, while Alex's workstation was neat and orderly as she worked on a Herbology essay about aquatic plants.

Kara sighed again.

Alex's quill stilled on her parchment and she flicked her sister a look through narrowed eyes.

"What?" she growled, irate.

Kara's head snapped up from her Charms homework, eyebrows arched as she was caught by surprise. "What? Nothing. I didn't say anything."

Alex sighed gruffly and set her quill down in its holder (it was a silver miniature bludger, a birthday present from Eliza and Jeremiah, and one of her favourite possessions).

"I can't concentrate on Professor Isley's homework with you thinking so loud. Go on, tell me already. What's on your mind?"

Kara opened her mouth indignantly, thinking about protesting, but sighed in defeat and dropped her cheek into her palm. Alex was right, of course. Something was bothering her: she just couldn't shake the way Lex had looked at her as he walked away with Lena that afternoon. It lingered in the back of her mind, unsettling her in a way she couldn't quite place.

"You duelled Lex Luthor in class today, didn't you?"

"How'd you know about that?" Alex asked and then grinned. "My victory against the great Lex Luthor is already the stuff of legends is it? Classic jelly-legs jinx. Never fails."

Kara rolled her eyes at her sister and her affinity for that dumb spell. "Sure, Alex. Anyway...what did you make of him?"

Alex ran a hand over her chin thoughtfully and shrugged. "He didn't seem too happy to lose. Said something about how I would regret making a fool of him. It was kind of hard to take him seriously though, what with his legs all jellified," Alex noted, chuckling as she reminisced to herself. "Why do you ask?" she asked, lifting a questioning brow.

Kara sighed, fiddling with the feather of her quill in her fingertips. "No reason. I just...bumped into him today. He gave me a weird feeling, that's all. I don't think he likes me," she said, lips pinching into a pout.

"And if there's one thing Kara Danvers can't handle, it's not being liked," Alex teased, giving her a knowing look.

"Not true!" Kara protested indignantly. "I didn't do anything to deserve the way he glared at me. All I did was literally exist in the same space as his sister, and it was like I had insulted his entire family or something," Kara scowled, remembering the way he had looked down his nose at her with those steely, grey eyes.

"You're friends with his sister?" Alex asked, eyes widening a little.