( open ) ✘ ❝ i know my call ❞

[advena]

CHARACTERS: kara zor-el & you.
LOCATIONS: around the city.
WARNINGS: physical violence, angst, general Good Times™
NOTE: forward-dated. spoilers up to supergirl 3.09
SUMMARY: as of january 5, kara's come back from her canon update, and she's ready to ... not be here, mostly.

✘ arrival & arrangements.

( her arrival is... sudden, for lack of a better word. she arrives as swiftly as she'd fallen, blood and bruises still prominent even after the city's administration checks her in. no, she tells them, i want to remember. if she must be here, if she must come back, she wants to be herself.

they offer her the belongings she'd left in their trust — things like her keys, filled with access to everything from the off-site townhome she'd registered with someone else to the back door of a business she barely remembers — but she declines them all. instead, kara quietly accepts a temporary assignment in the alpha building, a room they promise she'll find particularly comfortable on the top floor.

is it comfortable? perhaps it could be, if she wanted comfort. but all kara zor-el can ask for is the one thing she cannot have just yet: peace, brought by the knowledge that what horror she's left behind to flourish in her absence has finally been silenced, and that will not happen until she earns her piece here.

charity, they tell her, or intimate kindness. the idea of being intimate with anyone feels impossible. so here she is, lingering in the hallway of the volunteer center, looking considerably worse for wear, trademark glasses and librarian get-up traded in for dark slacks and a deo-issued grey sweater. )

I'd like to volunteer, please. Somewhere quiet.

✘ the sky & the sea.

( in the middle of the night, the sky is milky black and shimmering from the echoes of the stars dotted across; every so often, the occasional speck of a plane or a light in the distance breaks the scene. if you look closely, though, there's more than just clouds and birds and metal in the sky — there's the faint outline of a girl, too, a blur of colors floating in the distance, the outline of fabric fluttering in the breeze. it's neither a bird nor a plane, however; it's just kara, aimlessly drifting over the city.

from the ground, it might be hard to tell exactly who's up there, but if you've got a higher vantage point — like the high floors of a building, or your own capabilities for flight — you might be able to recognize the shape of the girl afloat, though said shape might be the only thing recognizable. instead of her librarian chic getup or the bright colors of her supergirl cape and boots, kara's dressed a bit... less formally.

warm grey cotton, varying shades from head to toe, might not indicate her current state, but the gentle close of her eyes just might. her hands dangle from her side as she floats, the night breeze carrying her to and fro as she slumbers. sleepflying. it's a thing. maybe you'll care to wake her, or to listen as she murmurs in her sleep. )

... the book of Rao... the symbols... please don't...

✘ of fists & fangs.

( sucker punch, with its dim lighting and the inexplicable coating of dust that seems to settle in everything, is not the sort of place you'd expect to find sunshine incarnate kara danvers. really, it's not even the sort of place you'd expect to hear about her, let alone run into her face-to-face. but if you happen to go in on just the right day, at precisely the right time, you might just find her there.

to be entirely fair, it's not exactly kara danvers, human ray of sunshine, who finds herself settled inside the ring. no, the slim, quiet girl with the echoes of bruising across her cheekbones hardly seems a fair comparison to the chipper sweetheart that had left this city just a week ago.

there's a quiet intensity to her now, intent in each strike of fist against the reinforced metal she's hung in place of a punching bag, resolve in each low exhale of breath as she attempts each move in her memory.

when the metal finally gives way, she lingers near the ropes of the boxing ring, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and her everyday attire exchanged for a rather cozy-looking sweatpants and t-shirt combo, looking more like a skittish potential fighter than a girl who could knock out the hulk with a good right hook. it might be easier to practice there. it's only this knowledge that has her turning to the next person who crosses her path, to murmur: )

I need a sparring partner.

✘ free spaces & wildcards.

( for convenience's sake, i've drawn up a few starters! however, anyone who knows her might notice she's not been at any of her usual hangouts — home, criminales, the alluring warmth of wok and roll on unlimited potstickers day, and so on. feel free to call her out on it, or alternatively, if you fancy a chance meeting with the girl formerly known as kara danvers, by all means, have at it.

feel free to pm me or hit me up at semicolons if you want to hash something out in advance, though! )

Comments

[advena]

( his hand smooths across her own, palm warm against her skin, and kara has to fight the urge to pull away. she hasn't been touched, not really, since she'd come here. the last touch she'd felt had been worldkiller's fist across her face and body.

but it doesn't take more than a moment before that changes, too. his hand lingers, and the longer it does, the better kara feels — by the time his hand lifts, she's left light-headed and dizzy, but better, as if the tightness in her muscles and the aches in her bones have been swallowed up by his touch. she's left tired, still, but it's as if time had sped up. what should have been days or weeks or even months of healing in just a few moments.

her response is soft, quiet, half-lidded eyes turned in his direction as she struggles to wrap her mind around the touch. )

Derek... what did you do?

[duelo]

[ The way that her body seems to relax a little, beyond the darkness in his veins and the pain that came with it, tells Derek that it's working. He hadn't been completely sure it would, since he doesn't know how her body's makeup works. He's glad it did and when he answers his voice is soft because she still looks tired and it's reflexive to keep his voice down when she's looking sleepy, still. ]

I took your pain.

[ As the last of it fades, he winces just once more, takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly before smiling a little. ]

And now neither of us is dealing with it anymore. Now maybe you can sleep?

[advena]

Maybe. ( more tellingly, though, is the small smile she manages to give him in return, just for a moment before a soft yawn slips through instead. clearly she's more tired than she realized. ) I didn't know you could do that.

( you didn't have to do that goes unsaid. of course he didn't, but he did, and even in her hazy, muddled brainspace, kara can appreciate a kind gesture. she might not think she's entirely worthy of such gestures, but she knows a kindness when it's offered. perhaps when she's feeling more like herself she'll be able to repay it.

for now, though, kara can only manage a weak thank you, murmured out in the darkness, before she presses two hands to her mouth to stifle a second yawn. )

[duelo]

I can do a lot of things.

[ His voice is still hushed, but he matches her small smile and shrugs his shoulders a little like it's no big deal. Most of it isn't a big deal. Of the things that are, the most impressive is one he won't ever try to do again, out of fear that he'll do permanent damage.

The smile turns sympathetic as he looks back at her when she yawns. ]

Anytime, Kara.

[ He takes a deep breath and then sighs it out softly, eyes shifting up to the moon. ]

You should go get some sleep now. Hopefully, I just made it a little easier.