Supergirl Is My Roman Empire

Right now, Nancy’s mind was fuzzy. Content. She had to search through the haze of exhaustion to clock where she was. Her room, yes, but there was something notably different. A living space heater was wrapped around her like a vice.

Her eyes fluttered open, landing on a slash of golden sun that leaked in above the curtains. It had to be afternoon, then, or damn close to it. Nancy jolted, taking a slow breath in. She didn’t sleep in. Never had she dozed past 10am. Even on nights they spent tracking Hopper through broken radio signals as they crawled in a world parallel to their own, she would wake- albeit sore and disgruntled.

Even now, she didn’t want to move. Arms were wrapped around her waist, one lanky leg wedged between her own. She could feel the rhythmic breath on the back of her neck and it raised goosebumps across her skin in a delicious, exciting, way.

Right. Robin had slept over last night. She didn’t want to be alone in her empty, cold, house. Her parents were elusive, and so was Robin when she was asked about them. So, Nancy fought all of her natural investigative tendencies, and didn’t ask. She didn’t hesitate, either, when Robin sheepishly asked if she could spend the night.

They were so tired, straight to the brittle bone. She’d slept walked through brushing her teeth, and startled to find Robin sprawled out on the floor next to her bed. “What are you doing down there?”

Robin floundered, a bunch of disjointed syllables that didn’t truly amount to anything. But Nancy had taken note of the soft heat that settled across Robin’s face. Her brain was working slowly, but not that slow. She and Robin had sleepovers on more than one occasion, and she’d never once taken the floor.

“Yeah, I- well” Robin swallowed hard enough for Nancy to hear it. “thought it would be more appropriate for me to stay on the floor. Don’t even worry about it Nance, it’ll be good for my back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, we’ve shared a bed before.”

Robin blinked owlishly at her. “But before you were…”

Nancy’s brows furrowed. Robin was picking nervously at the carpet, taking a few threads between her fingers and twisting them until they stuck straight up like Mike’s hair when he rolled out of bed. Nancy had the urge to soothe her nervous habits, but had learned long ago that it was best to let Robin work through the roiling feelings.

“Before Jonathan and I broke up?”

Robin made a quiet noise and gave her a sharp nod. She hadn’t said it. Not out loud. But, Nancy couldn’t let everything lay like a sleeping dog. She’d tentatively pieced everything together about a month ago. How Steve just wasn’t Robin’s type, how Robin wasn’t his either. How she’d tensed up and then softened when Mike had gathered them all in the main room of the radio station.

Before that, she had seen something she filed away for later. Robin pushed up against a candy-striper that looked vaguely familiar. Humming into her mouth, smiling against her lips- and Nancy had felt a lot of things in that moment but jealousy outweighed them all.

Sure, the prospect of dying in weird Upside Down goo had spurred her into finally breaking that taut chord that tethered her and Jonathan together. But, there was something else there too. Something that resembled yearning. Nancy had ignored that little voice in her head while cautiously poking and prodding Robin over spit-warm beer on her roof. She ignored it even more when they were the only two in the command room under the WSQK.

“Get on the bed, Robin.”

“Oh, okay.”

She had scrambled onto her habit-designated side of the bed and Nancy joined her. But, Robin kept a solid inch between them, her entire body tensed and her breathing measured as if she were hyper-focused on it. And Nancy understood, because there was this pressure between them that one of them had to break.

So, Nancy broke it.

In a singular, smooth movement, she tucked her nose into Robins throat and braced her arm across the girls midsection. Robin froze, Nancy was patient enough to wait until she finally breathed out and relaxed in her grip. Neither of them said a word. Neither voted to turn out the small lamp next to the bed- much preferring a bit of light to the unknown in the dark.

They must have shifted in their sleep. Nancy had never been the little spoon before. Steve was a warm sleeper, warmer than Robin. He’d sweat through his shirt in Nancy remained tucked into his side. He still liked touching her in some capacity; arms nuzzled up, his head against her spine. Pinkies touching. Anything to let her know that he was still there.

With Jonathan, things were different. He was skittish for the first part of their relationship, too afraid to do something wrong that he didn’t do anything at all. His movements were cautious, and he’d settle just long enough for them to curl up on the couch for a movie. Now- they slept with their backs to each other, vaguely aware of one another’s presence.

Robin was warm. Oh, so fucking warm. Nancy was beginning to feel something akin to safety, but she wasn’t foolish enough to run with it. Hope was too fragile and she couldn’t handle another glass breaking. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy being in Robin’s arms. Just for now.

She expected Robin to sleep like she was awake, all chaos and limbs and frantic movements. Instead, she was stock-still. Her arms tightened around Nancy, pulling her  flush against her front. Nancy could feel Robin’s fingers twitch against her mid-section. In rest, they had crept past the hem of her shirt and rested against the expanse of skin on Nancy’s abdomen.

Nancy’s mind wandered inexplicably to the fight they’d had in the command room. It was the first time she had seen Robin genuinely angry. Nancy had apologized and apologized again for being the one to spur it on. It came out of fear, she had realized, shockingly late to Robin proclaiming as much. In the moment, all Nancy felt was her own rising discontent.

Robin had been right to snap at her. Nancy had been reckless, had nearly died in the basement of the credit union. She swallowed now, her throat still raw all these months later. Her voice held the same rasp, something she believed would be a constant reminder of that bank vault, of those chemicals. Of how the last thing she thought about before she gulped in fresh air, was Robin.

“Mm, you’re thinking too loud.”

The words nipped at the back of her neck, a rush of hot breath this close to her skin made Nancy fight off a shiver. She ignored it in exchange for turning in Robins arms, thankful that the girls sleep-addled mind hadn’t caught up with her yet.

And god, this might just be her favorite look on Robin.

Her hair was mussed from sleep, her cheeks dusted with red. She was wearing an oversized Boy George shirt that Nancy had gotten a few Christmas’s ago, and a pair of her boxers. Nancy wouldn’t ask- would never ask- she may be lacking some social cues on the prospect of an investigation, but she left it up to Robin to tell (or not tell) her what rested between them.

Robin stretched, and Nancy certainly didn’t pay attention to the strip of well-muscled skin that was halfway between the base of her shirt and the elastic of her boxers. She made a noise that was half a whine, half a purr, and all fucking adorable. It made up for the loss of heat that found Nancy, but was quickly replaced by Robin’s hand on her hip.

“You’re bold this morning,” Nancy rasped.

“Oh!”

She moved to retract her hand, but Nancy clamped her own over it first. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”

Robin tried to hide her blush, turning her face into the pillow with a humph. But the more she tried to hide it, the more it deepened. Nancy made a content noise in her throat and curled closer into the girls chest, right where she could smell the wet earth and sandalwood scent that Robin always harbored.

“Nance you should know-“

Nancy could hear Robin’s breath stutter, the creak of her jaw tightening. Suddenly, her eyes were on Nancy, analyzing her. Dissecting her in a careful way that didn’t feel invasive. Her eyes were clouded with an approaching storm. That slate color reminded Nancy of thunderclouds: cold, steady, so full of life. She could drown in them, if she allowed herself.

Nancy didn’t push, and Robin didn’t speak. Her eyes fluttered into a blink, opened again, and seemed to flick towards Nancy’s lips. Her breath stuttered, and Nancy lifted her chin just slightly in a move of permission. Robin didn’t need to say anything.

“Just once,” Robin’s voice was barely above a whisper, her exhale warm against Nancy’s lips.

Nancy can’t be sure who closed the embrace. Perhaps it was a desperate movement between them both to feel something. And suddenly, she felt everything. Robin’s lips pressed to her own, their teeth clacking together before Nancy oriented herself.

She hadn’t realized how starving she was. Nancy had known hunger, a low vibrating force. Her entire relationship with Jonathan had slowly taught her how to ignore the aches and pains. But now, with the source of hidden desire flush against her right at this moment, she would eat and eat and eat until she was full.

The low, breathy moan that Robin let out before finding her way back to Nancy’s mouth was indication that she felt the same. A hand was cupping Nancy’s neck, the other planted firmly on her waist. Nancy nipped at Robin’s bottom lip, not too hard, never too hard, but enough to remind  Robin to breathe.

Their foreheads were still pressed together, panting in an effort of shared air. Robin’s laugh was broken-winded, tinged in a disbelieving giggle. Nancy was laughing too, she realized, without any force. A pure exhumation that she just let herself feel.

“Just once?” Nancy nudged her nose against Robin’s playfully. “You’re sure?”