" good. " andrea smiles with a shark's cold teeth, all on display & hungry. it gives way into a smirk. she's satisfied, lips pulling into a purse barely concealing the boast of her gloating while her brow separates itself higher up her forehead. " i've put a lot of work into who you see before you here, today, lena. "

she studies her nails, all fire engine red, flawless, sharp.

" & frankly, it's about time that you pulled someone like me in. " when she laughs it tumbles out of her throat, rich in amusement. " my goodness, lena. what have you been thinking towing around sam arias at the top of your company? & kara danvers? " andrea looks at lena directly.

" you've been surrounding yourself with golden retrievers, " wrinkles her nose. her lip riles up at one side. " no, no. it simply will not do. pulitzer or not. " turning those curled nails back, she jabs one in lena's direction, punctuated, calculated, deliberate. " what you need, lena, is a rottweiler. of course, with a little more taste, " she adds, flitting her fingertips through the air as though that is a given in their discussion.

" calling me in for catco is the best business decision you've made since coming to metropolis. late, but i supposed you've been ... distracted, no? "

she's worked with both — had her time surrounded by sharks biting at the mere hint of blood, and those that take the softer approach. she's sat through board meetings with Iex at the helm, and with sam by her side, and she's not deluded to what she prefers. (sam. any day. her strengths far outweigh her weaknesses, and at least then, she doesn't have to worry about the misappropriation of funds and channeling of cashflow into ridiculous megalomaniacal off-beat projects.)

but what she needs right now is someone who's spent the past twenty years sharpening their teeth. andrea, through all her flaws and the history between them that lays bubbling just beneath the surface, has exactly the right thirst for blood that knocks morgan edge right into the goddamn waterfront he wants to expand on. catco is a business built on bitching, and while she'd rather focus her energies on what matters more (innovation, creativity, sustainability, affordability) having a guaranteed cash cow isn't a bad place to start.

"i didn't call you here to criticise me, andrea." she's starting to sound more like IiIIian. if she really wanted to hurt her, dig her nails in and tug at those licked-over wounds, she'd remind her of that — one time, they said that they'd never be like their families. one time, Iena might've believed that too. but for now, she shuffles papers until they're uniform, and she places them back down between them.

andrea hums twice: once as if to refute the notion that she's being anything but. nice. she plays fair. nice is for school girls & for people who spend all their time daydreaming. they're her consumers. the second time is contemplative, a settling hm.

" i hadn't thought of it that way. " the gears are turning. catco is a powerhouse of media & publicity. she's seen cat grant stealing the spotlight, spinning her way all the way into the whitehouse. there's dazzlement on every wall, spectacle on each glossy spread. space for ad revenue folded neatly into every issue.

just the right amount of prestige.

obsidian north needs the extra boost of attention. & the location ... it's rife with tech start-ups & established organizations like lord tech & edge global. but a fresh perspective, backing from the headlines about her new venture on the dawning of a product launch? it all spells good news.

she takes in a breath & parts her lips, ready to propose a set of terms. but lena catches her off guard. & so, that carefully painted-on poise, that viciousness that quietly underpins every calculated business move, falters. the twist of her brows, the purse of her lips, give way to an softness that she rarely exposes ( that she only has ever shared with lena ).

some   may   be   nsfw   and   /   or   be   triggering.   

01    :     TOUCH .

❝ i love this [ FABRIC ], it feels satisfying. ❞

❝ your touch. it leaves me breathless. ❞

❝ your touch is unlike any other. ❞

​❝ have you ever felt anything more comfortable? ❞

❝ feel this. what does it feel like to you? ❞

❝ i wanted to see what it felt like. ❞

​❝ touch it. i dare you. ❞

​❝ you felt ice cold when i touched you. ❞

​❝ you feel warm to me. ❞

​❝ i love the feel of [ FABRIC ] against my skin. ❞

​❝ i love the feel of your skin against mine. ❞

​❝ i would never touch anyone else. ❞

​❝ i love the feel of your hair between each of my fingers. ❞

​❝ don’t you dare touch me. ❞

​❝ i want to feel your lips against my own. ❞

​❝ i can feel your pulse. it jumped. ❞

​❝ let me give you a massage. ❞

❝ you feel like home to me. ❞ 

02     :      TASTE .

❝ i love the taste of you. ❞

❝ i can never forget that taste. ❞

❝ fair warning, it does have a bitter taste. ❞

​❝ no offense, you just aren’t my taste. ❞

❝ can i have a taste of that? ❞

❝ i have yearned for the taste of your lips. ❞

​❝ that tasted pretty good actually. ❞

​❝ it just left a really bad taste in my mouth so no thanks. ❞

​❝ nothing taste better than chocolate. ❞

​❝ i’ve got something you might want to taste. ❞

​❝ i will forever savor that taste. ❞

​❝ blood has such a metallic taste. ❞

​❝ my taste buds are mad at me after eating that. ❞

​❝ how’s it feel to get a taste of your own medicine? ❞

​❝ you didn’t even taste it. ❞

​❝ trust me, you’ll want to taste this. ❞

​❝ i think it has a bit of bitter sweet taste. ❞

❝ so you tasted it, did you like it? ❞

03     :      SIGHT .

❝ i see you. ❞

❝ i’ve never seen things so clearer than i do now. ❞

❝ it’s too dark, i can’t see anything. ❞

​❝ how can you see anything? it’s pitch dark. ❞

❝ i’ve looked close enough and i see you for what you are. ❞

❝ please, just look at me. ❞

​❝ stop staring at me like that. ❞

​❝ get that light out of my face. ❞

​❝ it’s so bright outside today. ❞

​❝ what’s wrong? what did you see? ❞

​❝ you’re scared, you must have saw something. ❞

​❝ what i saw, you’ll never believe me. ❞

​❝ i’ve never seen you before. ❞

​❝ have we seen one another before? ❞

​❝ you see me for what i truly am. ❞

​❝ i didn’t see anything. ❞

​❝ did you see that? ❞

❝ i can’t believe my eyes. ❞

04     :      SOUND .

❝ shhh, i just heard something. ❞

❝ did you hear that? ❞

❝ what is that sound? ❞

​❝ i missed the sound of your voice. ❞

❝ do you hear me? stay away from me. ❞

❝ i hear you, loud and clear. ❞

​❝ i’m sorry, what was that? i didn’t hear you. ❞

​❝ i’ve heard that sound before. ❞

​❝ you didn’t hear anything at all? ❞

​❝ can you hear what they’re saying? ❞

​❝ aw, i love the sound of music. ❞

​❝ i never said i could hear them. ❞

​❝ wait, hear that? something is coming. ❞

​❝ i could hear screams … ❞

​❝ i heard you all the way upstairs. ❞

​❝ you didn’t just hear that? that sound? that noise? ❞

​❝ trust me, you’re going to want to hear this. ❞

❝ please, just hear me out. ❞

05     :      SMELL .

❝ what is that smell? ❞

❝ i have missed your smell. ❞

❝ you smell nice. ❞

​❝ it’s unlike anything i’ve smelled before. ❞

❝ i smell the food cooking from here. ❞

❝ do you smell that? ❞

​❝ how are you able to smell that? ❞

​❝ no offense but it really smells. ❞

​❝ it’s starting to smell. ❞

​❝ tell me, you’ve smelled this before. ❞

​❝ i know that smell, it’s the smell of lies. ❞

​❝ i can smell you from here. ❞

​❝ are you smelling me? ❞

​❝ i missed the smell of your hair. ❞

​❝ i need to step away, get some fresh air. ❞

​❝ do you smell that? that’s the smell of freedom. ❞

​❝ i could never erase your smell. ❞