The Brightmoon Institution (Catradora Boarding School AU)

Catra's Laptop

Adora woke up at five am, trying to set herself into the habit of going for a morning run. She found it actually rejuvenated her, rather than depleting her energy levels.

Checking her planner as she got ready, Adora made a mental note to clean the dorm up a bit before Catra stopped by for their study session. She knew Catra was going to be judgmental, and might very well snoop around when she wasn't looking, so it was best to put all valuables out of sight while she was around.

Stepping out of the door, she smiled at the image in front of her. Glimmer was draped, rather ungracefully, on Bow, who didn't seem to mind the slightest; his arm wrapped around the shorter girl. Softly closing the door in an attempt to let them sleep, Adora left for her run.

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The knock on the door was the most anxiety inducing experience Adora had ever felt. Taking in a shaky breath, Adora opened it to reveal Catra leaning against the doorframe. She wore the same clean cut pants and loose shirt (albeit slightly wrinkled) from the previous day, but the blazer had been swapped for a loose purple jumper that hung off her frame, and the headband swapped for a ribbon tied into a messy ponytail..

That girl could literally wear a trash bag and I'd-

Adora paused her thoughts before they entered forbidden areas.

"Hey, Adora."

Adora didn't bother replying, opening the door wider as Catra brushed past. Adora watched as Catra's eyes darted around the room, but Adora had been careful. All the sheets were tucked in, and all personal belongings put into drawers or closets. Catra would have to dig deep to find whatever she was searching for.

"Are we studying here?"

They both eyed the two separate desks on opposite sides of the room, and Adora shook her head.

"Nah, let's go to the lounge."

Catra seemed to know her way around well enough, Adora chalked it up to each dorm having a similar layout. Dropping herself comfortably onto the couch, she pulled out her laptop and materials. Adora wasn't surprised at the colorfully coded sticky notes attached to Catra's version of Frankenstein, but she still stared at it for a beat longer than required.

"You really thought I was an idiot."

"I actually didn't. You studied way less than me, but your grades were comparable."

Catra had nothing to say to that, kicking off her shoes to cross her legs on the couch.

"Let's just get this over with."

Adora made a noise in agreement, opening up her own laptop. They'd started brainstorming on paper, but it would just be easier to type than handwrite on a couch.

"Okay, how should we break it up? Netossa said we have to write one cohesive essay as a duo, we have to turn in the same work."

"Easy. I could just do two of the body paragraphs, and you can do the other one plus the introduction and conclusion."

Adora looked up, perplexed.

"Hold on. Why am I doing three paragraphs when you only do two?"

Catra rolled her eyes and Adora felt her blood boil.

"Body paragraphs are way bigger than introductions and conclusions, dummy."

The anger diffused at the old nickname, and both of them seemed to realize Catra used it at the same time.

"Catra! Octavia called me a dumb face."

The child's face welled up a splotchy red in anger.