#karanite

     how dreadfully optimistic of her to say. Lex makes a sound like he's trying to clear a lump of phlegm that's caught in his throat. " don't you patronize me, I get enough of that from your cousin, " he replies haughtily, pointing at @karanite with the same hand that's wrapped around a glass of mulled wine as if in warning. the gesture is short-lived, however. " coal gets a bad rap, you know. it's an energy source, one that was rather essential in keeping homes warm during the winter in ye olden days. " there's certainly worse things one could be given (and associated with) that are neither as practical nor as useful as fuel.

     he raises his glass as if to give a toast. " here's to being a good enough boy this year that santa claus is gifting me a druse of kryptonite, instead. "

     Lex can tell she doesn't appreciate the sentiment.

" wait, " he suddenly calls out when supergirl turns away, presumably to take off like a speeding bullet. when she looks back at him, Lex merely holds her gaze for a handful of seconds, as if hesitating. before he can put either one's patience to the test, he motions to the festivities taking place down below. " aren't you going to come inside and wish my daughter a merry christmas? not as supergirl, but as her... friend. "

he  enjoys  coming  to  look  at  the  lights,      it  reminds  him,     unexpectedly,     of  𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.       while  the  city  is  its  own  labyrinth  of  astonishing  sights,      robb  finds  that  he  misses  the  pale  vastitude  of  𝓦interfell,     buried  in  colorless  snow     — —      he  thinks  of  a  snowglobe,      shaken  in  his  hands  just  so  he  can  peer  inside  and  take  a  look  at  the  snowscape  that  invades  his  dreams. 

robb  lifts  his  head  at  the  cry  of  his  name,     similar  to  that  of  a  hound  darting  after  the  sound  of  a  whistle,     breaking  into  a  smile  of  delight  when  he  catches  𝐿𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒂  in  his  arms.      he  is  distracted  by  the  dampened  spray  of  snow  to  her  curls    &    nearly  misses  his  chance  to  respond,     hurtling  his  christmas  greeting  as  one  would  a  snowball  to  the  head,     ❛❛     happy  christmas     !       ❜❜       much  too   loud,      a  small  family  nearby  startles,     swiveling  heads  to  blink  at  him.       ❛❛      for  me    ?      what  is  it,      should  i  guess, @karanite    ?       ❜❜

" 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀 ---- ! " lois is a speeding bullet through the air ... excitement further destabilizing the, frankly, already loose grip she had on her newfound abilities. upon approaching @karanite, she slows, rather than collide at mach - ten. ( things still hurt. she found that out the hard way. ) lois takes her by the hands, and spins them both into the air. kara was one of the people she was absolutely dying to share the news with.

okay, she had that not so subtle note of sarcasm coming – in truth, maybe she shouldn't throw around sentences like 'the files are protected by an asymmetric encryption algorithm' without immediate clarification. after all, she doubts kara's interest lies with figuring out technical jargon. it's more about what's on the other end of it. & well... that's kind of the problem, isn't it ? " what i'm saying is, i might grow a white beard & start rounding up my reindeer before i can get in. it'll take me some time. " another glance at the foreign screen on her desk before blues land on kara, the air of mystery that still very much surrounds the conversation finally rattling the curiosity right out of her. " you know, i'd probably work faster if i knew what poor sucker is missing their laptop right now. i mean, whoever it is, i'm sure it's first name blank, last name scumbag, but some specifics would be thoroughly appreciated. "