LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 39.1
“So, Miss Danvers, what do you think about the house?” The real estate agent asked. The agent was smiling at her, but was unable to hide her exhaustion.
The woman was an older brunet of about forty years, slightly overweight and wearing elegant round glasses. She was also fairly competent, even if she had tested Kara a few times by tempting her with more expensive houses that didn’t meet her initial criteria.
Kara traded a glance with Kori, the happy-go-lucky Tamaranean snacking on a baked cookie. Noticing Kara’s gaze, Kori just shrugged and stuffed a second cookie inside her mouth, starting to look like a hamster in her rush to consume as many of the things before they left the place… Cute.
“Do you have the blueprint for the house?” Kara shook her head and asked, smiling when the woman spread a large piece of paper over the kitchen island. “Thanks.”
Quickly analyzing the blueprint, Kara made a note of the house’s wiring, sewer connection and raw materials. She'd be changing just about everything if she bought the place, but she could save some work with the right house.
The house was nearly perfect, far enough away from the city that the noise was only mildly annoying, if she didn’t focus on it, but still close enough to travel by car in less than an hour if it was needed.
Most of the house’s materials could be reused without much trouble, there weren’t any close neighbors to bother them, and it was large enough to house the both of them very comfortably. The ground was good, without any other subterranean structures and having an easily bypassed sewer system.
There was a wall of trees blocking vision from the street, but the best part was that there weren’t many on the property itself, allowing Kara to easily get enough sunlight for any of her projects.
Janice, the real estate agent, had shown them two other houses that could also work, but one had an aquifer under the terrain and the other was just below several plane routes. The planes would be flying far up in the air but, with her hearing, it would be really frustrating.
“Alright, we’ll take it,” Kara said, rolling the blueprint closed and keeping it for herself.
“You will?” The agent asked almost incredulously, clearly surprised at Kara’s decision.
“Yes, I’ll have one of my lawyers finish the deal, but we’ll be taking this house,” Kara used X-Ray vision to look at her new home in its entirety and couldn’t stop the smile from reaching her face.
Quickly, she signed a contract with the woman, probably making her day at the very large sale.
It was perfect, with plenty of space for Dexter to play and she’d only have to install a single seismic stabilizer before starting to dig down for her new base. One could never have too many underground bases.
After a week, this place would actually be as safe as Mount Justice itself and, in a month, it wouldn’t even be a contest. In truth, Mount Justice was kind of… below her level of satisfaction.
Unfortunately, Batman hadn’t let her install Kryptonian solar absorbers -or any kind of solar panel, really- on top of the mountain, and there was only so much power her crystals could get while underground, making their growth very slow without a better source of energy.
In his defense, it would be a little too obvious if the mountain suddenly sprouted several crystalline structures instead of vegetation, but Kara was already working on solving that particular problem.
“I am glad you have identified a satisfying site for our dwelling, Kara,” Kori said, offering the single remaining cookie. “Here, I have reserved one for you.”
“…Thanks,” Kara said, eyeing the single, small cookie offered.
“I would have reserved more, but it is almost time for the Eating of Lunch and you have yet to regain your zest completely, and you do not seem to have a preference for cookies,” Kori answered, finishing the last of her own snacks.
“I’m surprised you didn’t want to help choose our home?” Kara said. She may hate shopping, especially for such a time consuming thing, but she had wanted more input from her partner. “You sure it’s fine to leave everything to me?”
“I have no complaints, or particular requirements for the location,” Kori shook her head. Sensing the beginning of a frown, she smiled and gave Kara a quick kiss. “I just surmised we could change everything else with ease. Demolishing the house would not be a problem, and you do possess several robots, yes?”
She… wasn’t wrong. Kara was already planning to rebuild the house with more secure materials. And more places to hide weapons and equipment. It wouldn’t be hard to also change its appearance. In fact, that would be the easiest part.
Ugh, why had she been trying to find a great house again? The most important thing had always been finding the right location anyway.
No, she had to find something passable first. Building something from zero would raise far more eyebrows than modifying something already built and she didn’t want to draw any attention. But, once she found a house of about the right size and shape, she could justify several changes with a week of construction.
With a command on her cell phone, Kara started getting things ready and smiled at Kori. “Thanks for reminding me, I kinda narrowed my view there.”
“It is no problem, I am sure that, once your eye finishes re-growing, it will not happen again.” Kori nodded to herself, following Kara out of the house and taking in the location once again with a satisfied look on her eye.
“That’s…” Kara started to say, lifting a finger to correct Kori but then she thought better of it and just shook her head. “Nevermind.”
“I will. Please, do you think I may invite the rest of the Titans once the renovations are over?” Kori grabbed Kara’s arm and stared at her with big, feline-like eyes.
Kara managed to not immediately fall under the spell those eyes cast, for a few seconds at least. Turning to watch the property, she calculated it’s size carefully, none of her underground floors would be ready in only a week, so she’d need to cover it completely from view with one of her holographic disguises.
Yeah, it was doable. She already had a device almost powerful enough ready at the Fortress, it would only take a few hours of modification. “Sure, we can have them over as long as they use my teleporting platform to come so nobody can see it.”
“Joy! Exaltation! I will inform them immediately!” Kori couldn’t stop herself and threw herself at Kara’s arms, causing the smaller Kryptonian to blush as the real estate agent gave them an amused look from a fair distance away.
“Ahem, I will enter in contact with your lawyers then, Miss Danvers?” The woman approached after seeing the two had more or less finished their chat, a small smile on her face. Just as Kara started to protest, the woman lifted a hand. “Don’t worry, I have seen enough young couples getting their first house. Your interaction is downright tame in comparison.”
“Right, thanks Mrs Miller.” Kara said, dismissing the woman. “I take it I can start making renovations right away once the paperwork is done?”
“Indeed, thank you for your efforts, Friend Janice. They are most appreciated!” Kara almost didn’t react fast enough, but she managed to stop Kori, saving the older woman from a back breaking hug.
“It was no problem, and yes, I will file my end today and, barring anything unexpected, I’ll have the keys ready after the inspections are done in a couple of days.” The woman smiled at them before waving goodbye.
Kara watched her entering the car and drive away, moving slowly back towards the center of the city, one of her drones hidden on the vehicle and another, smaller robot clinging to the woman’s clothes.
Kara was mostly sure Janice Miller was a normal human just doing her job, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“So! Ready to have lunch after eating all those cookies? I have to pick up Danny in an hour, so we’ll have to eat out.”
“Oh yes, the cookies were only enough to fill my first stomach,” Kori nodded, hurrying towards their own rented car. “My other eight are completely starving!”
Getting into the driver’s seat, Kara drove them into a fast food restaurant and got herself a burger, and five for Kori, with extra, extra, extra mustard. It was incredibly nice to be able to eat an entire burger without feeling stuffed. Really, every day that passed she was getting better.
“So, how goes the Titans’ training?” She asked, biting into her meal with gusto.
“We have been learning about the disposal of explosive devices with The Green Lantern and espionage from The Captain Atom,” Kori finished her second meal and licked her fingers clean. “It is most interesting, my education never covered such subjects. In Tamaran, we just destroyed bombs with starbolts and, as a Princess, I was not expected to learn about espionage.”
“And the boys don’t complain about it?”
“They do not. Although Friends Robin and Kid Flash do seem bored by the classes,” Kori answered. “Unfortunately, we were supposed to have classes about investigation with The Batman today, but he has been preoccupied with problems in Gotham.”
“So, you’ve got this afternoon free then?” Kara lifted an eyebrow, hiding her annoyance. “What’re you guys going to be doing?”
“Friend Aqualad has been recalled to Atlantis, but I plan on leading the Titans in another battle simulation.”
“Hmmmm, you mind if I bring an expert then? If he’s free I mean.”
“That would be greatly appreciated, yes,” Kori nodded while devouring another meal. then she glanced at Kara with a considering look. “Although, it really would be preferable if this expert did not have any problems with the law.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kara snorted, it seems like Kori knew her too well. “He was actually recommended by Batman himself, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Satisfied, Kori nodded and then pulled out a mustard pack from the bag, biting into it and draining the entire thing. “Hmm, it is unfortunate we did not have more time, I have found the most wonderful restaurant for the eating of pizza and other greasy foodstuffs.”
“Really, since when?” Kara couldn’t help asking.
Kori actually went out far more often than Kara did, going shopping with Amber, the first Earthling woman they had ever met, or Troya at least twice a week, but it was still unusual to think that she knew Fawcett City better than her.
Heck, when had Kara started thinking about humans as ‘Earthlings’? She used to be human once, and there really weren’t that many differences between Kryptonians and Humans, all things considered. Not where it truly mattered.
Was she starting to lose sight of things again? Yesterday had been nice, but she had already started distancing herself from people again… thinking about it, had she ever traded more than a few sentences with any normal human after coming to the planet?
Suddenly, Kara felt Kori’s hand squeezing her arm, interrupting her train of thought. “Kara, you were lost in your own mind again.”
“Huh?”
“Indeed, you are exceedingly cute as you are plotting things, but it did not seem to be the case this time,” Kori said, causing Kara to flush again. “As I explained, I have found the ‘Superbabes’ when strolling through the city with Friend Amber earlier this month. It has a large assortment of mustard packets and delectable pizzas.”