An Unlikely Match (Catradora AU)

Chapter 17

Adora walked quickly through the airport, with Glimmer running to keep up behind her. She could hear Glimmer heavy breathing but Adora just kept walking. She was too excited. They were finally here in New York. It had been 5 weeks of short phone calls and late night facetimes and Adora couldn't wait to wrap her arms around her girlfriend. Even still, she wouldn't be able to see Catra until tonight since the show was in a few hours. Still, she power walked through the airport, keeping her eyes peeled. Glimmer yelled behind her and she slowed her pace a minuscule amount so her friend could catch up. Finally, Adora's eyes settled on a tall blonde who was wearing pink platform sneakers and a bright floral dress. Another woman was beside her with a long dark braid wrapped around her shoulders. This girl was dressed almost entirely in black but with large blue wave earrings and massive headphones. She looked incredibly bored until her eyes met Adora's.

"Adora!" The girl cried out. The blonde jumped and followed the other's gaze. Suddenly they were all running towards each other, screaming with glee.

"Ahh!" The blonde wrapped Adora up in a big hug and lifted her off the ground. Adora yelped in surprise at her friend's strength and started chuckling.

"Perfuma!" Adora said fondly, eyeing the blonde. The other gave her a small smile. "Mermista," Adora continued, pushing past Perfuma to wrap the other in an equally large hug. Mermista groaned but otherwise didn't pull away. Glimmer was catching her breath but eyed the pair with shocked eyes as she approached.

"Oh wow Adora," Glimmer was shaking her head, "This is how your art friend's dress and you still chose to wear khakis?" The whole group laughed and Adora blushed, giving a shrug. Perfuma gave Glimmer kind eyes and pulled her too into a hug as well.

"You must be Glimmer," Perfuma said happily. Glimmer accepted the hug, still looking confused at the three of them. Mermista gave her a brief "hey" before focusing her attention back on her music. Adora and Glimmer followed the pair out of the airport, their chatter flowing naturally.

Perfuma and Mermista led them out and into a cab heading back to their place. Adora tried to keep her jealousy at bay as she listened to everything the girls were up to. They seemed to be extremely busy and trying to keep everything in order between painting schedules and art orders and helping run the museum. "You wouldn't believe some of the art these students have put out. It's wonderful," Perfuma was holding one hand in the other and looking adoringly off into the distance. Mermista gave a curt nod.

"They're fine. We were better," She added, giving Adora and Glimmer a wink.

The cab pulled up to a large brick building and the pair led the traveler's up to their tiny apartment. Adora's mouth hung open when they walked through the door. It was much smaller than Adora and Glimmer's and everything the pair owned was stacked into piles to keep the space, but the window was what caught Adora's eye. She walked to it instantly to admire their view of Brooklyn. Her heart raced as her eyes fell to the student art museum just a few streets over. Mermista joined her, following her gaze.

"We're renting out a space above it for our painting studio. We get a break on rent since we both work there. I'm moving more towards digital art now but it's nice to have the space anyways."

Adora nodded silently, her arms crossed, and her lips pressed tightly. Mermista placed a hand on Adora's shoulder and Adora jumped. "There's room for another if you ever wanted to join us. It'd be great to split the rent between three people instead of two," Mermista gave her a soft smile. Adora stiffened.

"I can't," She said simply. Mermista furrowed her brows but didn't question further. Instead, she pulled out a key and wiggled it mischievously in front of Adora.