By the time Adora gets back to the student flat they share with Glimmer and Bow, it's almost lunchtime. On a Thursday. Which means they've missed a lecture on Sport and Exercise Rehabilitation (which they'll have to catch up on, if it was recorded) and would normally be on their way to Catra's work to grab a coffee before heading home.
But this isn't one of Adora's regular Thursdays. For one, they forgot to tell Bow and Glimmer that they were staying over at Catra's; the whole evening kind of passed in a blur. So, as soon as they open the door, they're kind of expecting an onslaught of questions. That's okay though, they feel prepared for that.
Second, Adora actually woke up at Catra's place with Catra gone. After the initial worry of where she'd got to, Adora found a text on their phone, on top of a pile of other very worried sounding texts from the Best Friend Squad about where they were (that they still haven't replied to), that basically said she'd gone in to work because her shift started early. Catra had also locked her door, posting her key back through the door so Adora could lock the door when they left, and now Adora has Catra's apartment key and needs to drop it off to her at the cafe.
This was all without mentioning that Adora is also currently wearing some of Catra's baggiest, most comfortable clothes. Catra left them out in a small pile next to the sofa. Adora figures that's what they were for, anyway, to be worn. They kind of don't want to give them back. The racket bag is slung over their shoulder, and their tennis kit is in a plastic bag that she found in a pile of other plastic bags next to Catra's kitchen bin.
All Adora can think about is how Glimmer and Bow are about to watch them walk through their front door—wearing a black hoodie that says "It ain't easy being purr-fect" across the front with a little cartoon cat underneath, that definitely doesn't belong to them because otherwise Bow would have had something to do with it if it did—carrying their sweaty sports clothes from the day before in a plastic bag, all without telling them a thing.
It's practically a walk of shame, just without the sex.
Adora's face flushes bright red as their brain puts the word sex right next to Catra.
Which is exactly when Glimmer chooses to open the door.
Adora's blush promptly spreads down to their shoulders, not that Glimmer can see it, but they're still bright red, which Glimmer can definitely see. Adora's caught, and there's no way out of this now.
To their surprise, Glimmer just stands to one side, giving Adora space to walk past, which they do with a small, shy smile. Bow is in their living room sitting on one of the sofas, in front of which there's a– they've set up a chair from the dining room in the middle of the space, in front of the TV. Adora takes a deep breath before they step forward, putting their things down next to the chair and watching as Glimmer saunters back in and sits next to Bow.
'Hi, Adora,' she starts, and Adora winces at how much they can tell Glimmer is holding back right now, Bow's hand on her knee must be helping, 'please, take a seat.' Glimmer gestures to the chair, and Adora nods before sitting in it silently.
They were expecting an interrogation, but they weren't expecting this to be the method Glimmer would use. Adora feels very on the spot, but they know that's exactly the idea. This is how Angella and Micah told Bow and Adora to get information out of Glimmer whenever something weird happens around the flat, whenever anything goes missing, and whenever something new and sparkly appears without a word. Now Glimmer's finally able to use it on Adora, the only person out of the three who'd managed to evade it into second year.
Streak officially broken.
'Do you have anything you'd like to say in your defence?' Glimmer asks, as if she's a judge or a lawyer or something, because she's the picture of smugness right now and had no intention of letting Adora get away from this unscathed.
Adora just clears their throat; there's something they need to say before anything else.
It's time to re-introduce themself.
'Hi,' they say, smiling at their friends, 'I'm Adora. I'm– I'm a lesbian, I'm non-binary, and my pronouns are they/them. It's... uh– it's nice to meet you. Again.'
Bow and Glimmer are still for a moment, but nowhere near long enough for Adora's doubt to set in, and then all at once they have to hold each other down as they start bouncing in place on the sofa, unable to contain their excitement. Adora sucks in their lips, trying not to break out into a massive smile, and looks at the floor between them and their friends while they flounder on the sofa.
As soon as Bow manages to calm Glimmer down enough to stop her from screaming, he clears his throat, and speaks through a barely concealed grin, 'Hi, Adora. It's awesome to meet you again.' Glimmer looks like she's about to interrupt but Bow clamps a hand over her mouth, barely containing a laugh as Glimmer struggles to remove it. 'My name's Bow! I'm bisexual, trans, and my pronouns are he/him.'
Adora really struggles not to burst out laughing as they extend a hand for Bow to shake, which he does with the one that isn't occupied with silencing Glimmer. They shake once, firmly, and the sparkle in Bow's eye tells Adora that they never had anything to worry about.
Glimmer clears her throat next to Bow and Adora turns to face her next, giving Glimmer their full attention. 'Hi, Adora,' she starts, brushing her fringe out of her face, 'I'm Glimmer, also bisexual, and my pronouns are she/her.' Glimmer extends a hand, just as Bow did, and Adora takes it easily. Rather than shaking, Glimmer squeezes and pulls Adora forward and, trying not to laugh, rushes out, 'now tell us what the fuck we missed last night!'
'Glimmer!' Bow chastises his girlfriend through a wide smile, 'give them chance to explain! We did sort of put them on the spot.'
'I know Bow! But come on!' Glimmer whines, turning to face him on the sofa next to her. Adora just rolls their eyes, picking up their stuff from next to the chair. 'You've got to be dying to know what happened just as much as I am.'
'Okay. Maybe I am,' he holds up a finger just as Glimmer's about to burst again, 'buuut we should still give Adora the space to tell the story in their own time. Right?'
Glimmer pouts dramatically at Bow, and Adora uses the distraction to carry the chair back over to the dining table. They sit in it, hiding their face behind their hands as they contemplate what to tell their friends.
A giddy kind of happiness courses through Adora every time their friends use the right pronouns for them, and they take a moment to just bask in how right it feels to be referred to in that way, as well as how accepting and awesome her friends are just in general. Maybe they'll grab them something from the coffee shop when they drop Catra's keys off to her after this.
The sound of two chairs being pulled away startle Adora enough for them to peek through their fingers. They watch as Bow and Glimmer take their usual seats, looking at them with patience. Well, Bow's looking at them with patience. Glimmer kind of looks like she's two seconds away from shrouding the room in darkness and pointing a lamp at Adora to demand the story out of them.
Adora closes their eyes, thinking back to the night before. It was just so... so nice to spend time with Catra like that; and Catra herself was amazing. Just, everything about her. Adora can't help but picture Catra again in her cropped tank and very short sleep shorts, making soft noises while Adora gently pets her ear...
They peek through their fingers again. Bow and Glimmer both have their phones out and are glancing between them, each other, and Adora.
Definitely not suspicious at all.
'Okay,' Adora starts, dropping their hands from their face and lightly tapping some random rhythm on the table, 'just to get this out the way... I'm definitely like, one-hundred-percent certain that I'm in love with Catra.'
Glimmer squeaks, slamming her phone down on the table while Bow gently places his face down, a wide, kind smile spreading over his face.
'I went home with her because I kind of just wanted to hang out with her and relax after I was, well...' Adora sighs, gesturing vaguely toward their face, 'I was punched before my game by the same person who outed me as a lesbian.' Bow's smile drops, and Glimmer's barely restrained patience gives way to boiling-over rage.
'It's okay!' Adora insists, waving their hands in front of them, 'my coach is handling it. Another girl, Starla, told Coach everything she's done and now I'm just waiting to hear what's happening.'
'I hope she gets fucking expelled!' Glimmer seethes under her breath. 'I swear if I ever find out her name...'
'Glimmer,' Bow says, levelling her with The Look, 'we talked about this. No more promising murder on people we don't know.'
Glimmer's eyes narrow, 'so it's fine on people we do know?'
'Within reason,' Bow grins back, and Adora marvels at the way he's able to diffuse his girlfriend by allowing her to imagine murdering people she knows as opposed to people she doesn't know.
After a prolonged moment of Bow and Glimmer just staring at each other, as they seem to do sometimes, Glimmer breaks from the trance and clears her throat to punctuate that the moment is over, levelling Adora with an apologetic expression. 'Sorry, Adora,' she winces, but Adora just shakes their head in understanding. They're in love, they're allowed moments to themselves. 'What happened after the game? We left when Catra said she was staying behind. I hope that was okay. We thought that you could use the time with her.'
Adora notes the meaningful way that Glimmer speaks, like there's some other, underlying reason for them to have left Catra there alone, but they shrug it off as the fond memories from the evening before flood through their mind again.
'After the game...' Adora starts, trying not to swoon, 'I met up with Catra and we... held hands... on the way to her apartment. Which was... y'know, nice. And I showered at her place because I stunk and—wow she has a lot of hair products—but after that I... I talked to her. About what's been bugging me recently. And... I'm sorry that I haven't really been open with you guys, again, but I just can't seem to hide anything from Catra. Being around her makes me want to just tell her everything and... she's so sweet and understanding and makes it so easy. I know you guys would be too but—'
'Adora,' Bow interrupts, his voice gentle and reassuring, 'we're not mad you haven't talked to us. We promise. We're just happy you have spoken to somebody. We're your friends, and we'll always support you, no matter what.'
'Pluuuus,' Glimmer drawls, a smirk settling on her face, 'I kind of figured you'd open up to Catra. You being head over heels for her was not a secret. You're very much an all-or-nothing lesbian.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' Adora scoffs, sitting back in their chair and huffing at their friends. Distantly, Adora realises that's probably why they left Catra with them.
'It means,' Glimmer counters, leaning forward to chase after Adora, 'that you're either in love with them or want nothing to do with them. You were always chasing after that spark, you know? And now you've found it and,' she makes a clawing motion with her hands that Bow just nods along with, 'latched on.'
'I have not,' Adora tries to mimic Glimmer's motions with their hands, 'latched on.'
'You have, but that's not necessarily a bad thing,' Bow says, setting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder to calm her down before she gets too into it. 'What did Catra say that helped? You don't have to tell us, remember. Only what you're comfortable with.'
Adora pauses at that, considering how to proceed. They want to tell their friends, they really do. Adora's kind of been buzzing about it ever since Catra's words just clicked. They decide to stop worrying, to just trust their friends with this part of themself, the same way they trusted Catra.
'Well, first of all she just listened. Like, really listened. It felt good to say it and be heard, y'know?' The bright smile that spreads over Bow's face reminds Adora that, yeah, he does know. They smile back, feeling warm and content with sharing the rest of what they've been worrying about. 'She listened to everything I said and then just said something like: "there's a third option". Which... I hadn't– it was always just I'm a girl, right? I should try to look like one. But at some point, I started to realise that I didn't want to wear only girl's clothes. I prefer shorts to skirts, suits to dresses. I never want to wear heels again. I don't really know how to explain it. Like, wearing the boy's tennis kit and getting my hair cut—those were impulse decisions—but I came out of them feeling so much and... So when Catra said I could be non-binary, it just summarised all of that. I'm not a girl. But I'm not trying to be a boy either.'
Adora had started to fiddle with their hands while they spoke, looking down at the table to make it easier to get the words out. But, when they look back up to meet their friends' wide smiles, they find themself unable to hold back a smile in return.
'So... yeah,' Adora continues, suddenly fighting down the urge to cry under the relentlessly supportive atmosphere that they suddenly feel engulf them, 'I figured that I owed you guys a re-introduction because I finally feel like me. I don't feel confused anymore. I know who I am, completely, and Catra helped me find that.'
Bow and Glimmer exchange a glance, nod, and slowly get up from the table, rounding it to surround Adora on either side with the very welcome, grounding squeeze of a Best Friend Squad group hug.
'Is it weird that she means so much to me so soon?' Adora whispers into the hug after a moment, holding their friends close and tight. Since mentioning Catra's name, Adora couldn't get the image of heterochromatic eyes, or the sound of her beautiful laugh, out of their head. They don't want it out of their head, but it's scary how much they feel. 'It's like– I'm thinking about her, all the time, and I've never felt this strongly towards someone before. Is it okay?'
'Of course it's okay, Adora,' Bow whispers back. They also hear a small hum of agreement from Glimmer. 'You've always been so full of love. You're always taking care of me and Glimmer, without even realising it, and now that you've found someone to fall in love with, it's not too far a leap to say that it might feel a bit overwhelming and intense.'
'You're literally the softest person we know, Adora,' Glimmer adds, and Adora chuckles at the sentiment, 'Catra doesn't know how lucky she is to be loved by someone like you.'
Adora dissolves.
Or, they feel like they do. They know that Glimmer and Bow are being supportive, and they're grateful, but they know they haven't done anything to deserve it; not really. The last time Adora tried to say as much, they were promptly shut down by their friend's kindness and reassuring words. But, as much as Adora wants to believe them, they can't, so they don't object to it, not out loud. They just smile through the few rogue tears that fall without their permission and hold on a little tighter, basking in the warmth of the moment for as long as they can.
Bow and Glimmer eventually pull away to sit in the chairs beside them, Adora takes the opportunity to quickly wipe those tears off their cheeks while their friends just offer them those soft smiles again. They don't deserve this kind of friendship, this level of support.
They don't deserve it, but they'll accept it. To push it away would be to lose it, and they can't lose it.
In an attempt to distract themself from any more of those thoughts, they look between their best friends in the whole world and ask, 'so do you guys have any date ideas?'
They have to cover their ears when Glimmer shrieks.
***
Catra's freaking the fuck out.
Just a tiny bit.
Little bit.
The customer she's serving doesn't know that though, even if they are eyeing her tail a bit more worried than one would normally. There's a chance it has to do with how much she definitely isn't freaking out at all right now. Which makes no sense, obviously, so instead of doing any more thinking about nothing in particular, Catra is just going to keep making this drink and ignore the way Lonnie is just barely dodging her tail as it betrays her. Again.
Frankly, Catra's mortified. She went way too far. She marked someone she hasn't even been speaking to for over a month. She keeps having to remind herself that the months she spent pining don't count as time getting to know Adora. They weren't speaking, she didn't even know Adora's name until a couple weeks ago. Not to mention that the whole of what happened last night was only the second time she's seen Adora outside of work, and even then being looked after while ill-as-fuck barely counts because she wasn't an especially gracious host—
Oh, fuck, now all Catra can think about is the way Adora's hand felt as they pet her ear. So gentle and soft, stroking from base to tip, tugging just so...
Catra has to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from making any strange noises in front of a customer and– oh fuck, now she can taste blood. A quick check with her hand confirms that, yes, she may have bitten her lip a little too hard.
Fuck.
'Um, Lonnie, can you take over? I have to, uh...' Catra gestures vaguely at her mouth when Lonnie glances up at her. The face Lonnie makes means she isn't impressed, obviously thinks it's a stunt to get out of working, and will be giving her shit for it later. However, because Lonnie is a fucking champ she doesn't complain, seamlessly taking over the drink Catra was making and apologising to the customer in that fake-ass voice that Catra knows Lonnie uses whenever her parents call to ask about her boyfriend. Because her boyfriend is actually two boyfriends. Who are also each other's boyfriend. Her parents don't know that yet though, and Catra can only imagine what her parents think Kyelio does for a living for him to get out so much and do so many vastly different things with his time. Almost like he's living a double life. Catra would be sus, that's all she's saying. She kind of wants to be there to film the reaction when Lonnie's parents do find out, but they don't really know each other outside of work so that feels like crossing a boundary. Whatever.
The first thing Catra does when she bursts through the staff room door is dab at her wound with some of their blue hand tissue. Not the most hygienic route, but she lacks the ability to give a shit. The blue hand tissue is "Only to be used for drying hands, thank you" as it says in a note taped to the dispenser, but Catra ignores it to grab some more, wet it under the tap, and then dab it on her lip and chin. She's seen humans cup water with their hands and splash it on their faces, and she's only a little bitter that the action, if she were to do it for herself, would leave her with a damp face for the rest of her shift. So she's dabbing at her face with damp tissue instead, as a compromise.
Which is when the last person she expected to knock (which in itself is weird because no one who works there knocks on the staff room door) does in fact knock, slowly opening the door to peer inside with wide eyes.
Blue irises lock with amber and cerulean, and Catra can't help but notice the scent seeping into the room. It's her's. Adora smells like her. Adora's marked as Catra's. They're also still wearing her clothes, which just amplifies the sensation tenfold.
It takes Catra's mind a second to catch up with her eyes, nose and ears, but when it does she—
'Oh, shit, Adora!'
—forgets to say hello.
'Hey, uh, is this not a good time?' Adora's eyes fill with worry as they take in the scene unfolding at the sink, a damp blue tissue dotted with red in Catra's hand. 'I can go...'
'No!' Catra panics, Adora leaving right now is the absolute last thing she wants. 'I mean, yes! NO! I don't– stay. Please. Stay.'
'Okay...' Adora steps tentatively into the room, the door closing on its own behind them with a quiet click. 'Catra, what's wrong? Are you okay? Is... I mean, are you...?'
'What?' She dabs at her lip with her finger again, even though she knows it didn't even bleed that much and stopped a while ago. Cleaning up was just taking a minute, that's all. She chucks the tissue into the bin and turns back to Adora, only to still be met with beautiful, worried, gorgeous eyes.
'Well I'm just a little... confused? I guess? I thought you'd be happy to see me? I mean I saw you running back here but Scorpia said I should—'
'Adora,' Catra interrupts, because what are they even talking about? 'Slow down. You've lost me. Start from the beginning.'
Adora swallows. Catra hears it, even from where she's standing across the room. She's really hoping Adora will come closer. As bad as Catra feels about last night, Adora being here has already filled her with some kind of giddy warmth that makes her want to just climb the blonde and be held. She wants Adora to pet her ears again.
No! No, she doesn't. Adora didn't even mean to do that last time, and then Catra just pressured Adora into letting her mark them in the heat of the moment and didn't really give them a choice—
'You ran,' are the words Adora says, interrupting her spiralling inner thoughts. It still takes Catra a moment to process them because, what? 'I got in and waved to you but you just ran as soon as I did and I wasn't sure if you'd actually want to see me but Scorpia did see me and insisted that I come back here to find you and—'
'Shut up, Adora,' Catra sighs, a fond smile making its way onto her face. 'I didn't run from you, I just... cut my lip, that's all. I came back here to clean it. I– I didn't even realise you were here, but I'm happy you are.'
Adora's eyes light up immediately, all the worry and concern previously clouding their face suddenly replaced with hope and... something else that Catra swears she's seen in her own eyes when she stares at herself in the mirror, practising how to tell Adora she loves them. Not that she will. Yet. What?
'Really?' They ask, a small smile tugging at the corners of their mouth. Catra has to catch herself when she realises she's staring at their lips.
'Yes, really,' Catra smiles back, marvelling at how handsome they are, even in Catra's baggy sweats. 'Adora, I'm so happy to see you, you don't– you can't– I am happy to see you.'
Adora pauses then, apparently taking in all of Catra. She feels very seen in a way she isn't used to. Vaguely, she registers that her ears and tail are doing things that mean she isn't totally okay, and Adora's watching them closely. Their smile vanishes, their brow furrows, and Catra realises she's been made. No hiding things from Adora, then. Not that she wanted to, but she was probably going to. It's usually easier.
'Then what's happening?' Adora asks, and Catra breaks a little under how well Adora can read her, over the concern and worry that has once again taken over their voice. 'Is it something I did last night? If I went too far with– I didn't mean to touch your ear like that, honestly I didn't! And I'm sorry if I took it too far, I really didn't mean to and I—'
'It's me!' Catra bursts.
Adora blinks at Catra's interruption. 'What? What do you mean?'
She takes a deep breath, centering herself. Something Scorpia mentioned out of the blue recently as an exercise to calm herself down and collect her thoughts. It sort of works. 'It's me that went too far, Adora.' Catra feels a squeeze on her leg as her tail winds around it, and she wraps herself in a hug as some kind of last defence against... she doesn't really know against what, but it makes it feel better. She closes her eyes tight to make saying the next part easier. 'I marked you. I– I've never done that with someone I...' love, '...care about. I guess. So I just. I mean. We haven't even been on a date yet and already I can't control my inst... myself. Around you. I'm sorry.'
A pregnant silence falls over the staff room of Bright Moon Coffee Co., best coffee shop in Krytis, and Catra holds her breath.
Then she hears what she thinks is a sigh of relief from the other side of the room, and peaks through her closed eyes. Adora's smiling, their eyes shining, hands flexing at their sides like they want to grab hold of something.
'Did you forget?' Adora asks, their soft tone of voice making Catra's whole body relax. 'What did I say to you before you marked me?' They start walking forwards, toward Catra, and she drops her arms from around herself in, what she really hopes is, preparation for a hug.
'You—'
'What did I say?' Adora interrupts, stopping just in front of Catra, close enough to barely whisper, 'what were my exact words?'
Catra closes her eyes. It doesn't take much for her to immerse herself in the moment she asked if she could mark Adora. The intimacy of marking, for a magicat, is profound. It's almost sacred, and would probably be described as such if they were alive a thousand years ago. For now, in this time, it's just special. It's important. It's so much more intimate than non-hybrids ever really seem to understand but here's Adora, understanding.
The words Adora spoke come to her easily.
'"I want you to".'
Adora hums their agreement, finally stepping forward to wrap their arms around Catra. When Catra doesn't protest, instead wrapping her own arms around Adora's waist, Adora just tightens their hold for a moment, squeezing, and then gently kisses the top of Catra's head, right between her ears.
Catra's resulting purr banishes the silence in the room as she tries to hide her goofy smile in Adora's neck.
'That's right,' Adora whispers, and Catra melts into the sensation of being surrounded by Adora. She doesn't even give a shit that she's at work, not right now, even though any of her co-workers could walk in. Let them, Catra's not letting go. 'Catra, you... you know how you mentioned we haven't been on a real date yet?'
'What about it?' She mumbles into Adora's collarbone.
Adora squeezes her a little tighter before speaking again. 'I'm free tonight, if you are. And only If you want to, obviously. Just the cinema, something simple, just so that we can, well... I want to spend more time with you. I really enjoyed last night, and I don't have anything I have to do tomorrow so, I don't know. We could maybe spend the day together again? If you wanted? Or, well, not the whole day cause you're still at work and I'm still wearing your clothes... so... oh! Your keys!'
Adora doesn't stop holding Catra, but shifts just enough to allow themself to reach into the pocket of their (Catra's) sweatpants where Catra's apartment key is. Then, instead of just handing it to Catra like a normal person, Adora slips the key into the back pocket of Catra's black work jeans and squeezes her ass in the process.
Catra isn't proud of the noise she makes.
'Adora!'
'Sorry!' Adora giggles, squeezing Catra tighter when she tries to pull away. 'Sorry, was that too much? I'm sorry, I just– I don't know what came over me.'
Catra scoffs, her fight to leave Adora's embrace forgotten. She could get used to being held like this. The thought of getting used to this makes her feel warm and fuzzy inside and she fights down a smile just enough to say, 'I'm at work, dummy.'
Catra can feel Adora smile against the side of her head, their soft cheek providing a welcome weight and warmth that she leans into subconsciously.
'So,' Adora starts, and Catra can only imagine the shit-eating grin they're wearing when they ask, 'it's okay when you're not at work?'
'You're ridiculous.'
'That's not a no.'
'Keep pushing your luck and it will be.'
Adora pulls back enough for Catra to see their face for the first time in a few minutes. They're flushed, eyes sparkling, mouth stretched wide in a blinding smile and their hair...
'Mmmm...' Adora's eyes fall closed and they duck their head when Catra's fingers somehow find their way into their hair, carding through it and lightly scratching at their scalp. It feels so good, so soft, and Adora looks so amazing with their hair like this.
It takes a moment, but eventually Catra realises that she's basically just holding Adora's head right now. It would be so easy to just... to pull Adora closer, to lean in... their lips look so soft, and Catra wets her own lips while just imagining what it would be like to kiss them. She has to chew on her top lip a little to stop herself. No matter how much she wants to kiss them, she wants it to be special. Besides, she already knows that Adora wants to kiss her, she heard them say it themself, but that doesn't mean she's going to make their first kiss be in the staff room of her place of work just because she can.
For better or worse, Adora makes her feel valued, cared for, like no one else ever has before.
So Catra wants their first kiss to be special, not on a whim, or an impulse. She wants it to be the beginning of something amazing, the start line to the three-legged race their lives will become if they stay together. Gods... she actually wants this. She wants to be with Adora. For real. She feels so strongly for this lovable doofus already and they haven't even been on a date yet. Deep down, she knows it's dangerous to let herself get so attached, to latch on like this, but she doesn't really care. Not when it feels this good to hold Adora, to be held by Adora, to be with Adora.
She wants this. More than anything.
'So about that date...' Adora chuckles, and Catra, mortified, realises that she didn't actually give an answer because Adora squeezed her ass and distracted her like the thembo they are.
'Oh! Right,' Catra releases Adora's face from her grip, settling her arms back around their waist and resting her ear against their chest, listening to their heart as it tries to beat out of their chest. Are they nervous of her reply? Is there any universe where she would actually say no to that question? If there is, it isn't this one. 'Yes. Okay, let's do it. A date. With you. Tonight.'
'Okay.'
And just because she has to make sure, Catra asks, 'you really don't mind?'
Adora just smiles into her hair, shaking their head gently. 'About the marking?' Catra hums an affirmative. 'No, Cat, I really don't.'
'Okay.'
'Honestly, Catra, you have blanket permission to mark me whenever you want. I'm not, you know, planning on seeing anyone else, so...'
Catra steps back at that, searching Adora's face for any sign of mistruth or hesitancy, but all she finds is their sincere, sparkling blues staring back at her with such fondness that she almost trills under their gaze.
'We haven't even been on one date yet and you already want to be exclusive?' Catra asks, because yeah she wants that too but she's still worried about them moving too fast and—
'Yeah,' Adora whispers, nodding and holding Catra's eye contact. Holy shit. This is real. 'I do... unless there's someone else you're—'
'You're a doof,' Catra breathes, leaning up to rub her cheek against Adora's jawline, purring when Adora angles their head to give her access. 'Sweet, but a doof. No, Adora, there's no one else. I want to see where this goes.'
'Okay, alright, cool. And um, for the record I've, like, done research? So I know there's certain things you can't help, Cat, and I don't mind. Marking, biting, kneading—whatever you need to do or can't help—I just want you to know that I'm okay with it. I'm okay with all of you, alright?'
Catra almost fucking starts crying. She's never felt so valued before, so seen, so understood. It's a magical feeling, and she can't quite believe it's real. She tries anyway, and whispers into the crook of Adora's neck a small but heavy, 'thank you.'
Adora just plants another kiss into her hair and this time Catra can't stop herself from trilling from how good it makes her feel, her tail lashes as her emotions run wild and, as a treat, she just lets herself be enveloped by them.
'Should I pick you up from here or your apartment?' Adora asks, speaking into Catra's hair and giggling when the feline's ears twitch, thwacking them in the face.
'From m'partment,' Catra mumbles, sensing the beginning of the end of their conversation and leaning further into Adora in an attempt to prevent that as much as possible.
'M'kay,' Adora mumbles, squeezing Catra with a finality that only makes Catra want to hold on tighter.
'Kay,' Catra nods, relenting her iron, vice-like grip around Adora's waist to allow them the ability to breathe properly once more.
'I'll see you later, then,' Adora whispers, untangling themself from Catra and beaming down at her when their eyes meet. Gods, Catra is so, so fucked. How is she supposed to control herself around them? Maybe the night will end with them kissing. She wouldn't mind that. Gods, she really wouldn't mind that. She's kind of hoping, but doesn't want to heighten her expectations too much just in case they don't.
She's still hoping, though.
'I'll see you later, Adora.'
'Bye, Catra.' Adora steps backwards across the room as slowly as they possibly can, really dragging it out. Catra rolls her eyes fondly, still completely enamoured with the absolute dork she's fallen in love with.
'Bye, dummy.'
Catra spends the rest of her shift thinking about sparkling blues and a wide, happy smile. Lonnie even asks her if something's wrong, something about "smiling like she's plotting a murder". Catra just scoffs and rolls her eyes, punching Lonnie on the shoulder when the teasing doesn't let up.
Scorpia, however, just keeps glancing up at Catra now and then from where she's wiping down tables, smiling in that way that tells Catra she knows exactly what she did, letting Adora through to the staff room, and she's proud of it. Catra finds that she doesn't mind. She can't stop smiling either.
She's just happy for a change. Truly, completely, really happy.
(A/N: soft lesbians in love. that's all.)
(Art by EmileeDoodles on Twitter and Instagram, drawn as part of her 12 Catradora AUs art series! Be sure to check out her other works!)