I wanted Raven to stay with me so I could keep an eye on her in case Trigon or his children tried to do something. In the cartoon, the Teen Titans were enough to combat Trigon but after witnessing what his minions were capable of, I wasn't comfortable with letting teenagers save the world from damnation. Raven did the heavy lifting anyway.
Besides her potential, she had been on the run for a while now and she needed to rest. That I got to fight some demons and train with a natural empath was also an added bonus. Therefore, I liked having her around, though those weren't the only reasons...
That massage session made it clear that her being here was more tempting than I had thought. I was usually steadfast in rejecting everyone. The thought of being with someone else than Kara didn't even enter my head, but Raven was a bit special to me. I had only occasionally watched the Justice League, but I watched every episode of Teen Titans.
She was my childhood crush and had some influence on my taste of women as an adult. She was the reason why I chose some of my girlfriends. Some of those turned out to be problematic since they had some issues but that was beside the point.
In the end, I couldn't and I wouldn't kick Raven out now. As a fan of the show, I knew what she might have to go through and I felt obligated to help. She desperately needed it. If I abandoned her she would be more than just hurt, she might lose hope and her trust in people. What would I do if I was the reason she turned to her father's side? I rationalized to myself.
I had to be clear about the situation. She now lived with me and I couldn't deny that I was attracted to her physically and emotionally, but that didn't mean I wanted to give up what I had with Kara. In fact, Kara was more important to me than whatever little crush I had or the possibility of what could have happened with me and Raven. And I had to make that clear...for the both of us.
I sighed out and pinched the bridge of my nose when I thought of Kara and her reaction once I told her that I wanted Raven to be around. I couldn't help but feel guilty. Yet another woman she had to fight off, but this couldn't be any different than with Maxima or Felicia. I reminded myself yet again.
...Wait, did Raven even know that Kara was my girlfriend? She knows that some girls want to be, but I think I hadn't specified it yet. Goddamnit! If I wanted her to live with me at the very least she had to know that Kara and I were a couple. Hopefully, Kara already cleared the air.
As I was slowly descending towards my front door, I couldn't help but remember that I had just left them to their own devices. I just wanted to get out of there and the emergency call was too convenient to pass it by, so I just left after my short and insufficient introduction.
I hadn't thought about the consequences of leaving my girlfriend with the unknown female roommate alone in my house. It wouldn't surprise me if the house was a mess...Why was I so impulsive sometimes? I sighed out again.
Hopefully, the two hadn't actually fought with each other. It shouldn't have escalated that way. Raven should have gone into her room after I left. I didn't think that she would be willing to converse too much with Kara, especially if she was confrontational.
I decided to stop worrying and just enter the house. I let gravity take hold of me and just above the pavement, I slowed down my descent and gently landed in front of my front door.
I opened it and found it to be dark. Right, it was still early in the morning, so they should be sleeping. I concluded after looking at the clock on the wall which showed it to be 5 am.
I shouldn't wake them up now. It was probably best if I put the plutonium that was still covered in ki and psychic energy floating behind me inside a paper bag I found on the way into a suitable container first. With that in mind, I went into my gravity chamber and stored it away before making my way up again.
Sneaky as possible, I reached the ground floor. As far as I could see the house was intact. There was still pizza on the table in the living room, so they at least ate. This seemed like a good sign. At least, nothing was thrown around. I decided to head up to the first floor, where I sensed their lifeforces. Raven's lifeforce came from her room, so I just let her be.
Kara on the other hand was coming from the 'guest' room. It wasn't really a guest room, since Kara used it to store all her stuff there and to use the bathroom. It was much more convenient than to share a bathroom when we didn't have sex that is.
Although this was the case, she always used my bed. So, this wasn't a good sign, quite the opposite. It was a gigantic red flag.
I carefully opened the guest room door, peeked inside, and directly recognized Kara lying on her side with her back turned towards the door. As usual, her hair was tied in a loose bun, so her hair didn't get messy and oily at night.
I looked at her sleeping form for a second and decided to let her sleep for a bit longer. I was about to close the door when I saw Kara turn around and lock eyes with me.
Her eyes were strangely standing out in the darkroom. She got out of bed readily as if she had been waiting for me before she quietly walked towards the door. She stepped outside and gently closed the door as I backed away a few steps to give her space to exit the room.
"Hey, Nate. We need to talk."
...
After a few moments of silence, Kara asked, "So what happened at the emergency meeting?" She sat across the table from me in the living room. Usually, she sat beside me to lean into me, but now she didn't, which unsettled me a bit. Additionally, I was pretty sure what she asked about wasn't what she wanted to talk about.
I thought about it and was rather surprised that she didn't know already, but perhaps she just wanted to talk about something else first? "Didn't you watch the news?"
"Not really. Raven and I were getting to know each other, so what happened?" Kara leaned towards the table and opened the party pizza box to put a slice on a plate before giving it to me. I received the slice while glancing at the open book of some fantasy book next to the pizza box.
I might have seen it in Raven's room, at least it wasn't one of my books. I took a bite, but I wasn't really feeling pizza right now, so I put my plate back on the table.
"Not much. Just some nuclear submarine sent out an emergency signal. We went there but their little battle was over before we got there. We met the King of Atlantis that wanted to fight us at first but then compromised to our plea, so we were able to take away the crew.
Then some traitor called Horn took over the crown while plotting something villainous. You know the drill. We helped the king regain his crown as well as save his son and the world. And now he is part of the Justice League."
Kara looked unimpressed by my superb storytelling, "It sounds like you skipped over a lot of details, and are you even sure he was called Horn?"
I shrugged at that, "How would I know how Atlantean people named their children? It has most likely something to do with Atlantean culture. That might just be how they name their children."
"That could be... and what is their King called?"
"Aquaman..."
"Oh him, right. That was his actual name? Huh, maybe they do have weird-" Kara began before I interrupted her.
"...or Arthur Something."
"..." Kara looked at me unimpressed. Afterward, the silence resumed between us. I didn't think we ever had such awkward and grueling silence between us. It's worse than the time we fought because of Maxima's frequent visits and my obsessiveness overtraining.
The difference was that she threw a fit back then, but now she was being silent and I could tell that I preferred when she actually complained, at least then I would know where we stood and could think about fixing the problem.
"...So what did you do while I was away?"
"...We had a lot of time and I showed her around, though she seemed to have taken a look around the property before. The only thing she hadn't seen before was your gravity chamber."
"My gravity chamber?"
"Ahh, yes. I hadn't shown her around yet, but I told her about it. I guessed it would be fine since she obviously would be staying here." I smiled wryly at that. Sigh. I wasn't really too worried that she showed Raven the chamber, it wasn't like I would have kept it a secret from her for long. As Kara said she would be living here anyway, she would come across it sooner or later and it was better if she got to know of it from me, I guess.
Kara took a deep breath before straightening her back as she seemed to resolve herself. Her eyes pierced into me as she stared at me with a slight smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. It wasn't that I hadn't anticipated a difficult talk, but that didn't mean I was eager for the incoming conversation or that it made it any more pleasant.
After seeing her prepare herself to have the talk, I decided to take the initiative by apologizing, "I know it looked bad but-"
"Bad? Nathan, you were massaging another woman who was dressed in a leotard on your couch. Tell me, what would have happened if I hadn't shown up?" She asked calmly, which made her delivery unnerving. I couldn't tell if she was truly mad or just disappointed in me, which made me feel bad.
"Nothing." I responded firmly and I meant it. At least, I hoped that I was strong-willed enough to have walked away in the end.
"Really? I fucking saw you pop a boner." The gentleness that she cursed with made my hair stand up at the back of my head and her piercing glare was offputting.
"Look, I can explain-"
"Go ahead, tell me. How about you start from the beginning? Why did you make her your new roommate?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she waited for an answer.
"It happened a few days ago and she asked the Justice League for help. They had rejected to help her and I decided to give her a helping hand. After I got to know that she had nowhere to go, I couldn't bring myself to leave her to herself, so I invited her here."
"That's it?"
"Yes, that is all to it."
"And why did you invite her to live with you?"
"I told you because she had nowhere-"
"Don't lie to me. You can't be serious if you think that I wouldn't know that there is more to it than what you said." Kara's deadpanned expression looked like she was talking about something she didn't care about.
"I... That isn't something for me to say, only Raven can tell you her secret-"
"What? That she is half-demon?" She said in a condescending tone.
"Wha- you know??" She dismissed my disbelief with a wave of her hand and a snort.
"Yeah, she told me." She leaned over the table and grabbed me by my collar. She pulled me close to her face, "Now tell me why you decided to help her, and don't give me that hero bullshit. We both know that you don't care that much about most people. Was it because she is cute?"
She was upset alright and I knew that I shout choose my words carefully. "No! I- You see when I first saw her. I mean-"
"Get to the point and don't lie!" She scowled at me. I didn't know what it was about how she said it, but I couldn't hold it in.
Something I held close to me ever since we started going out with each other. I had intentionally hid it from her. I had waited for a moment to come clean, but I knew that I would just delay it indefinitely, so I might as well come clean today. I avoided her eyes as I answered, "I knew of her beforehand."
"What...? Wait, that's why...? Didn't you tell her she was only familiar because you had met her siblings? I thought their lifeforce was similar."
That made me stare at her and she knew the look I gave her. She rolled her eyes and took my scouter and put it inside its case in a blink of a moment before we both swiftly entered the gravity chamber. She was the only one that knew I could sense lifeforce without a scouter.
Everybody assumed I could only detect people with my scouter. As for the reason, I hid that fact, it was just a little ace up my sleeve.
It was just in case my enemies tried to kidnap my people and decided to destroy my scouter to prevent me from searching for them. After destroying my 'only' way to detect them, I hoped that they wouldn't be too bothered to hide in any other way that would prevent my ki sense.
I had told her not to mention it with anything around that could communicate with the outside world, in order to prevent any leaks. We moved into the gravity chamber because it was probably the safest place in my house.
I opened my mouth but once again hesitated to explain how I knew of her. She picked up on it instantly and frowned as she stared me down. I sighed out defeated, "I know her from before I came to this universe." That surprised her.
"You mean on planet Vegeta? And how did you know her from another universe? I thought your people weren't that technically versed to pry into another universe. Magic wasn't something your race dealt with either, right?" She questioned clearly confused.
I shook my head at her question, "Not on planet Vegeta. On Earth when I was a human." I had told her that I wasn't from this universe before, but I hadn't revealed my other past life yet and the knowledge I had from there.
I knew it would be difficult to wrap one's head around my situation. It was no doubt confusing and I wasn't fond of talking about it either, my ending on earth hadn't been pleasant either. I had hoped that I would have had more time to get my mentality sorted out.
"Earth? A human...? But- you- I don't understand." She looked confused and when she looked at me it was like she was looking at a stranger. My heart dropped slightly when I saw that.
I didn't know when I would have ended up telling her about this, but I certainly didn't imagine it to happen like it was happening now, "I had two past lives. Before I was a Saiyan or rather before I got the memories of the life as a Saiyan, I was human. Back then I had seen Raven in a story... A cartoon where I witnessed her life unfold."
I could probably have tried to use another explanation and talk my way around the specifics, but I didn't want to. Although the current moment was unexpected, I at least knew one thing. Even if I had all my lies and adaptations to my tale in order and knew what to say, I didn't want to lie, not to her.
I was fine keeping some things from her, but at this point in our relationship, I knew I couldn't and didn't want to lie to her face. Besides any lie wouldn't fly in front of the now highly sensitive Kryptonian anyway.
She looked at me, shocked at the revelation. She didn't seem to know what to say. Even I didn't know what I wanted her to say.
"A cartoon?" It was the only thing that she could ask about, I realized. I had unfolded a complicated topic in front of her, so she obviously grasped at the detail that didn't seem to fit with the rest I had mentioned.
"Yeah, the Teen Titans. In this story, she founded a teenage hero team with some other teenagers to fight crime. I knew what her circumstances were and what she would, no, what she could become, so I felt that I could trust her. In the end, I decided to invite her to live with me, so I could help her."
She opened her mouth several times but in the end, she shook her head before she spoke again, "So, you were a human before you were a Saiyan, but you weren't actually a Saiyan? What do you mean by getting the memories of a Saiyan? Aren't you...Shallot?"
"I...I am not sure. I know everything I knew as a human or as a Saiyan, though I am more of an amalgam, a concoction that didn't mix perfectly. I am more influenced by some things than others and it depends on the situation. I might as well be bipolar." I awkwardly chuckled slightly, "The last few years had been very odd. It's weird to describe..."
After that, she fell silent again, "So, when we met, you were always you?" It took a moment before I figured out what she implied.
"Yes, Kara. Of course. I already told you that my transmigration to this universe happened 3 years before I met you."
She inhaled and exhaled deeply. Her stance bled away from the rigid neutrality she had previously established. Now she slumped slightly. Her shoulders dropped, before she spoke again, "What about me? Was I also just a character in a cartoon? Is that why you wanted to be with me? Wha-" She swallowed heavily and looked at me scared, "What am I to you...?" Kara asked me on the verge of crying.
She looked fragile and insecure. I had only witnessed her like this when I had first met her, back then she lost her entire world, friends, and family. I couldn't keep myself away any longer and blitzed her.
I pulled her close to me. She weakly tried to resist me at first, but I wouldn't let her go. In fact, I embraced her tighter, "Yes, I had known a version of you, but it is you who I love. You are so much different than whatever version I had known. It is you who captivated me and made me fall in love before I even knew what I felt. I love you. The woman I hold in my arms at this moment and I know you are the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life together."
I didn't want to see her this fragile, this broken up. I wanted her to be happy. And I wanted to be there with her, so I just held her and hoped that my feelings were conveyed correctly.
The minutes passed by before I felt her return my hug. She then patted on my back a couple of times before I let her go. She wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes as she snivel chuckled, "...You almost suffocated me."
She then reached to hold my face in her hands before she pulled me into a kiss. We remained in the chaste kiss before she released me again.
"...I believe you. Sorry, I couldn't help it. It's just a lot to take in. That my life or a version of my life was made into a cartoon. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since you already told me of the infinite parallel universes, but I- it's weird to think about my life being shown inside a cartoon and I want to learn more, but we are getting off-topic... So, you watched her story?" Her smile was gentle and a little lost, but she soldiered through.
"Yeah, in fact, she is my childhood crush." Maybe it was the fact that she seemed to have accepted it so readily that I blurted that out without thinking about it and I instantly realized that I should have kept my mouth shut. I was still walking on thin ice. I was one stupid motherfucker.
Her smile froze on her face as she blankly stared ahead. She didn't seem to see me anymore as her eyes turned out of focus. She really didn't need that information.
She took a moment to refocus before she saw me again, "Are you serious?" I hesitated for a moment before I nodded guiltily.
"Why wasn't I your childhood crush?" She asked with a frown on her face.
It was making me second-guess how much I should reveal. "...I hadn't watched much of the cartoon you were in and the show usually focused on the Justice League."
"The Justice League?" Her eyebrows rose as she come to a realization, "Wait, is that why you joined them? Is this like your childhood dream or something? Why do you want to return to...? You didn't want to return to planet Vegeta, but to your other Earth!"
I sighed out, "No, I want to return to Vegeta, but Earth is also a destination that I wanted to revisit. I- My former family suffered a lot because of me and I just wanted to check up on them. I want to know that they were able to manage after my death. As for the reason, I joined the Justice League, well they are at the front row when shit hits the fan and fighting was always something I enjoyed as a Saiyan even more so."
"...I see." She leaned against me with her head resting on my chest as I hugged her. "You know. I didn't think this would result in such a talk." Kara admitted and I could confidently say that it certainly wasn't something that I imagined either.
She continued, "...I was pretending to be mad, initially, I mean. I didn't want you to think that you could just invite any girl to live with you and I would be fine with it."
"You weren't mad?"
"Not really. I mean, I was upset, don't get me wrong. I was even mad at first, but I came to like the girl. In fact, I was quite happy that I met her. My first friend and all that-"
"Wait. Your first friend? What are you talking about? Didn't you introduce your friends to me when I visited your school?" I looked at her but she avoided my eyes as she looked to the side. Her lips thinned slightly before she sighed out.
"You mean the boys that want to get in my pants and the girls that talk behind my back?" I was about to retort but she beat me to it, "And don't call Maxima and Felicia my friends. They are your friends and they only befriended me because they want to take advantage of me to get to you."
"...What about Courtney? I thought you two were pretty close."
"This... Yeah, she is probably the only real one but she kind of dislikes Supergirl, so you could see how that might be a problem."
"She is still your friend, isn't she? And if she knew that you were Supergirl, her opinion would probably change." I meant that. It was easy to create a bias after one had already formed an opinion on someone, but if they were interacting personally, it might change her perspective on her.
"Perhaps, but she didn't seem eager to change her opinion about me when I saved her in costume. I didn't tell her that it was me, but what if she starts to dislike me as well? It's hard, Nathan. To constantly hide who you are and what you can do. I don't want to live this fake life anymore."
I wanted to say something but I wasn't really sure what to say. Kara wiped the corner of her eye with her pajama's sleeve, "You now, Raven and I bonded over you." She grinned slightly as she changed the subject, though her grin felt empty.
"You did?"
"Yeah, like a celebrity crush. Kind of stupid I know. It's my fault I could have steered around that and used another topic to truly befriend her, but I kind of escalated it... Though our conversation made me realize something... I felt so confident in my love for you, so superior to Maxima and Felicia at least in that aspect..." She tightened her hug as she buried the side of her face in my chest.
"...the knowledge of what made you special and so loveable. To get to know that in only four days Raven saw it too was exciting at first, but it made me realize that I wasn't the only one that could love you as I do and maybe I wasn't good for you-"
"Don't I get something to say about it? I love you and no one can compete with you. You are what I need and want. You have to believe me." I turned her chin upwards to me and kissed her. I felt how her lips curled upwards as we kissed, but the tears flowing down her cheeks, salting the taste of her lips made the kiss bittersweet.
"You said it yourself, she was your crush back then. Now that she lives with you... It might only be a matter of time until you do." I was about to refute her, but she shut me up with a peck on my lips, "If you liked a version of herself inside some dumb cartoon.-"
I felt like my jaw was about to break with the amount of force I used to clench it. I really should have kept my mouth shut!
"-It will only be a matter of time until you are all over her... I mean, I can't even get mad about you crushing on her. I already got to know her and she really is amazing. Really mature and tough in the making, smart and well-read too. Her life... certainly more intriguing and fascinating than mine and the list goes on and on. She is so much better than I-"
"That's not how love works and you know it. She is a former crush. A former stupid crush can't compare to what I feel for you! Stop doubting me and putting yourself down! Kara, listen to me. There is no former crush or physical attraction that would pull me away from you. You are stuck with me, whether you like to or not!"
The force I said these things with even surprised me. I felt my hands and jaw clench with unhindered strength that it almost felt like I was tearing my body apart.
She shook her head, "I love you but... I think you two... Maybe it's for the best if that is what makes you happy-"
"Don't be stupid!" That was the final straw. I was more than infuriated. I won't lose her because I was a stupid idiot. "I am Not leaving you for her or anyone! Period! The end! And it makes me miserable if you continue to think about breaking up with me because you believe you aren't good enough! I am sorry for making you doubt me and yourself, but please stop. Stop doubting yourself and Stop doubting me! We will live happily ever after and that's it! Do you understand?!"
Her eyes drifted upwards, "Nathan, your hair-"
I forcefully cupped her face in my hands, squishing her cheeks together, "I asked, do you understand??"
She opened her mouth, trying to say something as her eyes were drawn away from my eyes. She then locked eyes with mine and regarded me for several moments as I felt my feelings burn in my chest extending to my entire torso and into my limbs.
Her eyes were twinkling before but now it looked like they were glowing as she observed me. The tears that accumulated on the corner of her eyes started drifting upwards instead of falling down. Her expression changed to the happiest I had ever seen her as she responded, "...Yes! And you can't take it back! For the rest of our lives!"
"That's my girl!"
I pulled into a hug before lifting her up from the ground which made her release an anguished groan, "Nate, y-you're c-crushing me!"
I loosened my grip on her and put her back on the ground to let her breathe. The excited and happy smile was still on her face as she took several breaths while trying to say something, "...N-Nate! You are a Super Saiyan!"
"...What?"
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A/N: I know some won't like or are disappointed with the approach I had taken but I thought it was appropriate. Initially, I had written that Kara was happy and even eager to have Raven live with Nathan, which I partly incorporated here but to a lesser extent, thought her attitude in that draft seemed off to me and too sudden and too accepting.
So I decided before a harem could even be a possibility, the relationship between Kara and Nathan had to be steadfast, rock-solid first. (Not saying it will be a harem yet, but I am laying the groundwork either way. lol)
Although the relationship with Nathan is a source of strength for Kara, it also is a source of insecurities, especially with any female in Nathan's life. Before she would be truly comfortable with any other woman being constantly near him, she would have to know how important she was to Nathan.
Likewise, Nathan needed to realize how much he cared for Kara. Nathan wasn't completely in the wrong here, but he could have done a lot better and made some rookie mistakes. If he already had that "Oh, shit. I could actually lose her."-moment, he would be a lot more clear-cut with anyone and wouldn't 'forget' to mention that he was already taken and wouldn't act as ambiguous, especially towards women that he liked/admired/etc.
Some also might think that him going Super for her wasn't fitting since usually it is achieved by extreme anguish but I liked the idea that it was Kara and the possibility of losing her (and all the anger of her doubting his feelings and whatnot) was what pushed him to a new level.
Into the future, having gone Super Saiyan for her will certainly give her the necessary push to be more confident and see her firm place in his heart while reaffirming how important she is to Nathan every time he transforms, making the transformation the symbol of his love for her. (Power of love, Universe 2 teaser??? Haha, no.)
Another thing like she said, initially Kara truly wasn't mad, she was insecure, which was why she made some 'small talk' before she got into her role as the angry girlfriend to reprimand him. At least, that was what I was going with. Some parts of the conversation aren't as smooth as I would like them to be, but I tried my best and I think it turned out fine.
Anyway, thanks for reading the chapter and this long ass AN, have a good one.