superman } { post-supergirl 201, of coming clean and making things awkward

[impetere]

Cora: [sees those bows and arrows as she sits with the pizza box in one of the lawn chairs the team set out] What are those for?

Stiles: [taking the quiver off his back and setting it against the chair] Archery.

Cora: Do you do a lot of archery at work?

Stiles: I was training some of the younger guys. They're all big, bad gun jocks. No style.

Cora: But that's not a problem you have, because you use ... arrows?

Stiles: I sit behind a computer most of the time. These are for fun. [and after-hours superhero gigs]

Cora: Uh-huh. [and she flips open the box for a piece of pizza] I'll take your word for it.

Stiles: [flops down beside her, reaching over for a slice] I brought it to entertain you, but if you're going to be hating on my bow...

Cora: I'm not hating. I'm just curious how it's going to be entertaining.

Stiles: I was going to let you pick targets you think I can't hit. Moving or not.

Cora: .... Seriously?

Stiles: Seriously. [smirks] Do your worst.

Cora: [she squints at him, before looking out over the skyline as she chews her pizza, before pointing at the top of CatCo.] That. Hit the CatCo sign.

Stiles: [squints] Any particular part in mind, or just the sign in general?

Cora: Let's go with the sign in general. [because it's dark and she doesn't want to make it too hard for him because that's no fun]

Stiles: Alright. [he stands up, taking an arrow out of his quiver and assumes the pose. She will get a nice show of his biceps flexing as he pulls back on the bow, his eyes focusing on the sign, all serious for one moment as he takes a breath in, aims, and breathes out as he lets the arrow fly. It happens to land in the center of the cross of the T]

Cora: [she doesn't see the arrow land, exactly, because she's human in this world and her eyes don't work as well in the dark, and also she may have been distracted by biceps, but her attention is snapped back again when she sees the sign spark] Damn!

Stiles: [she gets his bright smile, because she's happy] See?

Cora: Do that again. [and she will be getting to her feet and coming up to stand closer]

Stiles: Alright. [and he will repeat the motion, focusing a moment before letting it fly. It embeds itself right next to the first.]

Cora: When did you get so good at that?

Stiles: College. There was a guy who lived near campus. Old carney. He said I had "the eye". You know how I used to be able to know everything in a room just walking in, seeing details and shit?

Cora: [she nods. she remembers because it was annoying]

Stiles: He taught me how to use it. To take in the room, and then laser focus on a target. The bow itself was just getting the strength to pull it back and learning how to aim. I had the advanced calculus skills already. I just had to put it all together and do the math quickly in my head.

Cora: [she considers, glancing over the city for a moment, before turning back to him] Could you show me how?

Stiles: Sure. Choose the target.

Cora: [she glances around before deciding to pick something on the roof so that she doesn't injure some poor sucker below them] The door?

Stiles: Good. So, first you take in the room. Figure out how far away it is. Look for a tree or flag to let us know how the wind is moving. The target is stationary so we don't need to figure out where it's moving to, thankfully.

Cora: Okay. [she turns to face the door, and feels the wind lift her hair off her neck] Does my hair count?

Stiles: [looks at her] Yeah. I don't have that feature. [grins]

Cora: [she laughs, before pointing back over her shoulder] So the wind is going that way.

Stiles: Good. So my arrow travels about 250 feet a second. [and he speaks out the math on how that makes his adjust his angle opposite the wind so that it would buffet the arrow into the target]

Cora: [and she understands a lot of it because math is her jam with all that engineering, trying to pay attention to the angles he's talking about]

Stiles: [and once she has that figured out, he blinks] Oh wait, how strong are you?

Cora: Uh. ... I don't know?

Stiles: You may not be able to pull my bow. It's set at 250, so it's like trying to pull 250 lbs with just your fingers.

Cora: Oh ... probably not.

Stiles: [thinks] I can make one quickly. A 3D printer for the bow, and nylon string. How fast does your printer print here?

Cora: ... Seriously?

Stiles: Yeah. How fast?

Cora: ... Ten minutes?

Stiles: Awesome. [and he will pull out his phone and pull up the schematics] Let it print, and we can finish the pizza, then come back and you can have one that will work for you.

Cora: Okay. [and she will grab the pizza head back towards the door and waves her L Corp pass to open the door and let them back down again]

Stiles: [and he will grab his quiver and bow and off they go down and he will pull up the schematic he uses to print disposable bows from] Can I send it directly to the printer from my phone?

Cora: Text it to me first, my phone's already hooked up.

Stiles: I can do that too. [which he does]

Cora: [and she will get the schematics and set the printer up as they head down in the elevator]

Stiles: [and it's a pretty sweet looking bow. Not his bow, the folding carbine custom made one, but it would be pretty]

Cora: [she's not so concerned about aesthetics, just so long as she can use it]

Stiles: [she will be able to. It's a simple longbow style with a beginner's tension]

Cora: [and after they finish their pizza, they're back up on the roof to try this again] Okay. Take two.

Stiles: Okay. [and they quickly go over the math again, and then he's standing behind her.] Feet like this. Relax your shoulders. Deep, slow breaths.

Cora: [and she does as she's told, deep breaths and letting him adjust her stance so that she's doing it right.]

Stiles: Now put three fingers on the string. Don't worry about an arrow yet, just pull back on it slowly. Extend your arm out with the bow until your arm locks, and bring the string to your jaw with the fingers.

Cora: [and she does as she's told, moving slowly and feeling the tension, but also trying not to elbow him in the process as she draws her arm back]

Stiles: [and he's holding an arrow, but is going to walk around in front of her, adjusting her elbow and arms.] Good. Now, release, and do it again, but put the string in the arrow nock, and pull it back with two fingers holding the arrow in place, setting the pointy part on that lip in the bow.

Cora: [and she again does as she's told, this time its a little more wobbly as she tries to balance both the arrow and the string and still keep everything perfectly balanced]

Stiles: Keep breathing slowly. Look over the arrow where it's pointing. Center it, then adjust for the wind.

Cora: [her eyes keep glancing from the line of the arrow to him, continually adjusting as she's not used to the tension of it, and she's trying to keep her arm in place despite her wobbling]

Stiles: Now deep breath, commit to the target, let it out and let it fly.

Cora: [And she rolled an eight, so she loses the tension on the bow, letting go a little too soon and the arrow goes a bit wild, glancing off the door and hitting the ground]

Stiles: [and he smiles] It was a good first try.

Cora: [huffs] Upper body strength has never really been my strong suit.

Stiles: You just need practice. That's all. Just take the bow and practice pulling it into position and letting go. Don't need to shoot arrows to do that.

Cora: I guess. [it's partly that smart child perfectionist, mastered a task before she's even started aspect of her life that's discouraging her, but also] But I don't think you came here to watch me doing strength-building exercises with a 3D printed bow.

Stiles: No, I came to just hang out with you. What we do with it I figured would just happen.

Cora: How about I work on it for next time, and right now we do something more ... cooperative?

Stiles: I'm down for that. What's your plan?

Cora: Want to go see how easy it is to play video games on a super-fast computer server?

Stiles: Hell yes!

Cora: [and with that she grins before they head back down to her office to play some kind of racing/competitive video game on her large HD TV screen]

Stiles: [yeah, he's still 12 years old half the time, and is totally trash talking while playing]

Cora: [and eventually that trash talking might escalate into playful wrestling which is almost comical because Stiles doesn't really have to do much but hold the controller far away from her given that he is taller and has much longer arms than she does]

Stiles: [but he will laugh and hold it away with one hand, using the other on her forehead playfully to keep her back]

Cora: Cheater! [she will keep trying to reach anyway until she loses her balance and starts to pitch forward]

Stiles: Oh. [and he will shift quickly to catch her, falling backwards so that she will at least land on top of him]

Cora: [and it takes her a second to realize she's been caught and where she's resting. She puffs the hair out of her face before looking down and ...] Oh.

Stiles: [and he looks up and gives her a hesitant grin] You ok?

Cora: Yeah. You? I mean, I'm the one that landed on you. [though she's also not making any sign of moving quite yet]

Stiles: Oh yeah, totally fine. I only landed on my spine.

Cora: Oh. Oh, right. [and she starts to scramble off of him] Sorry.

Stiles: No, it's ok. I don't mind...

Cora: [and that gets him a confused look because did he mean that how she thinks he meant that?]

Stiles: I mean, I don't mind. You know, falling on my spine. If it means I get to keep you from falling and getting hurt.

Cora: [oh.] ... It was just off the couch. I would have been okay. [though it's tentative, the way she's saying it]

Stiles: I know. But I just... yeah. [and he's trying not to blush now]

Cora: [and then she's blushing too and as much as she is interested, she also knows that it's a bad idea] Stiles ...

Stiles: Yeah? [pushing himself to sit up once she's up]

Cora: I ... [how to say this without making it seem like it's his fault] ... I just got out of a really bad relationship and ... I'm not really in a place ... to get into another one. And you deserve better than being rebound guy.

Stiles: Oh. I... [well, that's info he didn't know. He just files that away and rubs his neck] I'm sorry? But you're still wanting to be friends? That's not the same kind of relationship.

Cora: Yeah. Yeah of course! Just not ... more than that. [as tempted as she is sometimes]

Stiles: No, that's fine. I wasn't actually... not that I wouldn't want... but it wasn't why I'm here.

Cora: Oh. [she pauses awkwardly] I mean ... I didn't think that either. [and now she's blushing and looking away] Sorry, I didn't mean to make this weird.

Stiles: I've talked about weirder things. [he smiles a bit]

Cora: [smiles as well] You're just ... The best person I know.

Stiles: [and his grin just grows] That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.

Cora: Well, it's true. I'm pretty sure no one else would put up with me being this weird after having vanished after high school.

Stiles: I'm also used to weird.

Cora: I guess that's true.

Stiles: I mean, we grew up together. We're both used to weird.

Cora: Yeah, but my kind of weird and Kara's kind of weird aren't exactly the same.

Stiles: They cross paths though.

Cora: Maybe.

Stiles: [nods] So um... what do you want to do now?

Cora: I ... Don't know. [makes a face] I kind of killed the mood, didn't I?

Stiles: Kinda. I guess if you want, I could get going and come back in a few days and we have our rematch then?

Cora: [she doesn't really want him to go, but it's the thing that makes the most sense] Sure. You're on.

Stiles: [he pointed at the 3D bow] You keep practicing with that.

Cora: I will. I'm sorry, again, for making things awkward.

Stiles: You're fine. I'll text you my next few days off and we can pick one. [and he reaches for his weapons]

Cora: Sounds good. [and she will walk him out of L Corp and spend the rest of the evening kicking herself a little]

Stiles: [and he will start walking home, but the sounds of someone screaming down an alley draw him out and he's off being the superhero in the leather hoodie with a facemask using his bow and arrow to help protect his city]

Kara: [and his sister will catch up with him on one of those calls to be helpful and punch some bad guys]

Stiles: [they are team awesome]

Kara: [they are. And after one call, she grins] What are you doing out? I thought you had plans tonight.

Stiles: Ended early. Got awkward.

Kara: You okay?

Stiles: [and he is going to focus on pulling arrows out of baddies because they aren't endless and he's not rich like you are, Oliver] Yeah. I mean, it could be worse.

Kara: Want to talk about it later?

Stiles: How much ice cream do we have at home?

Kara: .... I'll pick some up on my way home.

Stiles: [nods] Might need two pints.

Kara: You got it. Meet you there?

Stiles: I guess, unless there are more bad guys to shoot.

Kara: [shakes her head] Its been pretty quiet tonight.

Stiles: Damnit. I want more bad guys to shoot.

Kara: Sorry. Not tonight, Hawkeye. [and with that she will fly off to get the promised ice cream]

Stiles: [sighs and he will go rooftop jumping back to the apartment, climbing in through the window in his bedroom to stow his gear and change]

Kara: [and she will do the same, before dropping on the couch next to him with promised pints of ice cream] Okay. Spill.

Stiles: [takes his and a spoon] Cora only wants to be friends.

Kara: And that's ... bad. [she didn't realize that stiles' feelings for Cora were more than that but she recovers quickly, ready to problem solve] Okay. Okay, well ... Did you bring it up or did she bring it up? What did she say?

Stiles: She brought it up. She had a bad relationship and wasn't ready. [he might want to hunt down the guy and shoot him. Was imagining it with all the baddies tonight]

Kara: Okay. So her bringing it up means she's probably been thinking about it too. And her saying she's not ready is good because if you and Cora did become more than that, you'd want it to be something that you're both in together, right?

Stiles: [poking his ice cream with his spoon] Well, yeah.

Kara: To me, this doesn't sound like only friends forever. This sounds like only friends for right now.

Stiles: I just, I've been crushing on her since high school. I thought I waited too long when we went off to college, and I have another chance and some asshole fucked it up.

Kara: And I'm trying to tell you your chance isn't spent yet. But if you can't wait and give her the time she needs to heal, then I'm kind of wondering about your best friend status here. [ she's just saying] Have you even asked her about what happened?

Stiles: [appalled] I can totally give her all the time she needs. Come on, Kara, you know me better than that

Kara: You're right, I do, which is why I'm surprised you're here moping about your missed chance when you should be helping your best friend. [so there] Besides, in all of what you told me? None of what she said is "I don't feel the same way for you." So be her best friend. Help her get through this. And when she's ready, she'll let you know.

Stiles: Well, I don't want to push her to talk about something she doesn't want to.

Kara: You know Cora. Sometimes if you don't give her a push, she'll never tell you anything. She's always been the "won't burden anyone with my feelings" type. Let her know you're there. Because sometimes we need a little nudge to help us remember.

Stiles: [nods, poking his ice cream again] Should I go back now, or is it too late?

Kara: Text her first and see?

Stiles: [nods and pulls out his phone, texting] Hey is it too late to come back? I have ice cream.

Cora: [she went back to work, to try and distract her anxiety brain from texting something along the lines of "did I screw everything up?" because that's a bit how she feels at the moment, but when her phone buzzes in the lab with Stiles' text, she relaxes a little before responding] I'll meet you at the front door.

Stiles: [smiles and leans over to kiss his sister on the cheek] You're the best.

Kara: Obviously. [she grins and reaches for the remote] Should I leave the window open or are you going to actually use the front door?

Stiles: I'm leaving Hawkeye at home, so the door. See you later.

Kara: Got it. Good luck.

Stiles: [salutes as he grabs his jacket and heads out. He stops for ice cream sundaes from a food truck on his way, texting Cora when he is at the door] Hurry before it melts.

Cora: [she's there waiting for him, pushing open the door with a small smile] Hey. C'mon in.

Stiles: [slips in] I got you extra sprinkles.

Cora: You are the best. [and she will lead the way back down to her office and settle on the couch, legs crossed under her.]

Stiles: [and he will join her] So, I also came back because I should have asked you if you were okay. You mentioned something and I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure if you wanted me to, but I also didn't ask if you're okay.

Cora: [she nods, before shaking her head] I'm not. I'm good at faking it sometimes, but it's been ... a lot.

Stiles: I'm here to listen, if you want to get it off your chest.

Cora: [she's quiet for a minute, playing with her ice cream, before she finally starts to spill] So when Lena and I were in Boston, before Lex was arrested, we were trying to start our own tech company, separate from Luthor Corp - Lena didn't want anything to do with the Luthors at all. So we were looking for investors based on some of our initial ideas, and one of them was this guy named Henry. He seemed really interested in our ideas and was willing to invest, and at first it was great. And somewhere along the way, we started to date.

Stiles: [he stays quiet, nodding so she knows he's listening and she can keep going, but he's focused on her]

Cora: Us dating was okay. I mean, nothing really felt out of the ordinary. Then we decided to move in together, and that's when things started getting ... more isolating, I guess. More and more controlling. He started to not like me devoting time to my work, he didn't like it when I spent time with friends, he didn't like ... anything that didn't involve him. It was all about what he wanted and it got to the point where I didn't even want to be home anymore because it would just ... [lead to things that she didn't really enjoy anymore. Even sex got less about them and more about him] But I loved him, so I guess I just ... didn't see the red flags.

Stiles: I'm so sorry, Cora. [if he ever meets this guy, there was going to be an arrow through his eye]

Cora: [she shrugs] It's not your fault. It's mine. And I figured it out eventually, but ... that's why I've been dragging my feet with getting a new place or avoiding going out. I want to make sure that it's secure and that there isn't a lot of ways for him to easily track me down. I mean, he knows I'm in National City because he knows I'm working for L Corp, but I don't want to make it that easy for him to get to me.

Stiles: Hey, first of all, it's not your fault. This guy is a major asshat. He got his jollies off controlling you, thinking it made him more of a man, I bet. You did nothing wrong but love the idiot, and he abused that. And if he does track you down, you've got friends here who will gladly kick his ass right back outta town.

Cora: It feels like my fault. [she's been working on it, but she hasn't quite gotten past that part yet.] And that's part of the reason why it was either here or Metropolis, but I figured Kara's worried face would be easier to deal with than Clark's.

Stiles: Kara's worried face also comes with free ice cream. Then again, so does mine, and I'm cuter.

Cora: That too. [small smile] I'll figure it out, I just ... I need some time.

Stiles: Take all the time you need. Not going to keep me from taking care of one of my oldest and bestest friends.

Cora: I appreciate that. [and she shifts a bit so that she's resting against his shoulder more with her ice cream] And I'm glad that I didn't make things too weird earlier.

Stiles: Nah, that takes a lot of weird, Cora.

Cora: Well, if you ever hit the too weird point, let me know, okay? [glances up at him] I don't know what I'd do if I lost you.

Stiles: If we hit that point, I think you'll know. There's probably going to be dinosaurs involved. [grin] Same here.

Cora: [she laughs] Dinosaurs, huh? So no Jurassic Park?

Stiles: Nope. You see Jurassic World? Those things always win.

Cora: Fair point.

Stiles: Though Blue was a good girl...

Cora: She was. A very good girl.

Stiles: [smiles] Finish your ice cream before it becomes soup.

Cora: [and she will, falling quiet though, because she's not really sure what else to talk about]

Stiles: So, now that we know why you're staying down here, we can start to figure out how to get you back up in the world with a life you want.

Cora: Right now, I have no idea what that even looks like beyond a very high security apartment.

Stiles: So you need a tour guide.

Cora: A tour guide?

Stiles: Yeah, to show you around town and help you find that apartment.

Cora: You sure you want to spend your free time doing that? It might take a while.

Stiles: So I'll have less time at the archery range. I could use a break.

Cora: Only if you're sure.

Stiles: [just gives that full face, you may just regret this grin of his]

Cora: ... I already have regrets. [kidding, mostly]

Stiles: Too late to take it back now.

Cora: Well, that's a problem for future Cora.

Stiles: Eh, future Cora will thank future me.

Cora: We'll see about that.

Stiles: So you have a big super computer. Let's open up Zwillow and see what we can find.

Cora: Okay. [and they will do that for a while, going through different listings to see what's available]

Stiles: [and look, there's one in the same building Stiles and Kara live in]

Cora: [well look at that. and she'll send a message to see if the landlord would be okay with her possibly making some security upgrades should she move in - mostly just a panic room or a personal apartment security system]

Stiles: I wonder if that's the apartment right below us...

Cora: We'll see if they'll let me come check it out.

Stiles: You can always build a secret passage to our place to escape.

Cora: That I think might be more intrusive than what I'm already asking about.

Stiles: Yeah, probably would make us lose the security deposit.

Cora: But at least it's good to know that anything goes wrong, Kara at least will probably hear it.

Stiles: I'm sure we can set up an emergency alert that you can hit that will go off in my room.

Cora: That I will hopefully never have to use.

Stiles: Exactly. Just for precaution.

Cora: And it would be nice not to go out for things like movie nights.

Stiles: Don't even have to put on real pants.

Cora: Or shoes, even.

Stiles: You and Kara can totally pedicure it up.

Cora: I think it'll be good.

Stiles: So do I. [grins]

Cora: [smiles in return] Good. [and she closes out the window] Hopefully they'll get back to me tomorrow.

Stiles: And if you need a reference...

Cora: I will give them Kara.

Stiles: I was actually thinking Lena would be an amazing reference. I mean, no one will want to tell her bestie no.

Cora: She's still a Luthor though. Her numbers are good, but they're not that good yet, as much as I may love her.

Stiles: [thinks, then nods] Kara then.

Cora: [nods before looking up at him] Thanks. For ... giving me a push.

Stiles: Any time.

Cora: [glances at the time on her computer] It's getting late. You probably have to work tomorrow.

Stiles: Yeah, I do. No rest for the wicked.

Cora: I'd offer you my couch, but it probably wouldn't be comfortable.

Stiles: Nah, I'll head home. But thank you.

Cora: [nods and goes to walk him back up]

Stiles: Give me a call when you hear back from the landlord.

Cora: I will. Be safe at work.

Stiles: You too. [and off he goes, a spring in his step]

Cora: [and she smiles at that before heading back down to go to sleep]