The Christmas Legume

I was going to wait a few weeks before posting this, but... nah.  Happy holidays to my fellow SuperCorp fans.

A special thanks to @AngelaCastro021for her editing skills on this fic.

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Kara walked into the living room, a cup of herbal tea in one hand and a mug of hot cocoa in the other. She placed the tea on the coffee table in front of Lena and sat on the couch as she said, "Okay, the Christmas cactus is dead."

Pausing in the middle of reaching for her tea, Lena turned to look at Kara. "What do you mean, it's dead?"

Kara shrugged as she took a sip of cocoa. "I mean rest in peace cactus; you will be sorely missed. What else could I mean?"

Falling back into the couch again, Lena fiddled with the simple gold band on her ring finger. "Kara, what did you do to the cactus?"

"What, me?" Kara shook her head as she put her cocoa on the coffee table. "Sometimes plants just die, Lena. It doesn't mean I killed it."

"Kara." Lena inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly. "The pothos died in your care. Something mysterious happened to the aloe plant. The English Ivy just... how does one kill an English Ivy, Kara?"

Kara shrugged.

"Kara, you killed a Spider plant. I would have bet a sizeable portion of money on that being safe in anyone's care, but you killed a Spider plant in less than a month. You could have left the cutting in a glass of water and it would have survived. What happened?"

"I... I'm just not good with things that can't tell me they need something. Plants are too quiet, Lena. They're bad communicators."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Kara. Did you over water the cactus? Is that what happened?"

"No, definitely not."

"Then what?" Lena sighed. "Kara, you could have ignored it for a week, and it would have been fine. How can you possibly kill a cactus in a week?"

Turning away from Lena, Kara murmured something incomprehensible as she picked up her mug and took another sip of cocoa.

"What was that?"

"I... I said it was an accident."

"So, it was floral manslaughter."

"Okay, well that sounds way worse than it was, Lena. Can't we just drop it?"

Taking her tea from the table, Lena took a sip before replying, "You're the one who wants a dog, Kara. We agreed that if you can keep a plant alive for a year, you get a dog. So far nothing has lasted a month."

"But plants don't tell you when they're hungry."

Putting her drink back on the table, Lena said, "They do. You just need to pay attention. You're just busy, and then you hurry. Is that what happened to the cactus?"

"I... maybe. Promise you won't get mad?"

Putting her hand on Kara's leg, Lena said, "Darling, when do I get mad at you."

Kara opened and closed her mouth, her lips pursing. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

With a sigh, Lena replied, "Just tell me what happened to the cactus, Kara. I won't get mad."

"Okay. So, yesterday when you made breakfast, I was just coming back from that apartment fire, remember?"

Lena nodded.