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Catra woke up a fright. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead , her labored breathing filling the room, with just a soft ‘mrrpt’ to interrupt. A lithe chocolate brown cat, a bandage wrapped around his thin tail leapt onto the bed, rubbing against his owner’s arm to offer comfort. Catra looked down at her furred campanion and sighed. She gently lifted the feline and placed him in her lap. “Guess I worried you again, huh Nipster?” she whispered to him as she stroked her fingers along his spine. She was rewarded with loud rumbles and an arched back, placing a calm smile on her face. The dark brown haired woman turned to the window, groaning at the constant pitter patter against her window. It’s still raining, she thought, hugging the cat that was resting in her lap. The cat replied with another mrrpt. “ Looks like you’re with me for another night,” She she muttered out as she slowly lay down on her pillows, her the cat still resting in her arms. Her eyes grew heavy, the constant purring easing her anxieties. Her breathing, once shallow and erratic, now slow and evenly paced. I gotta be at the corner by three tomorrow, she pondered. Three… the football team would be practicing around then. She could possibly check out their new formations and tactics. Maybe she’d be there, she allowed her mind to indulge in the possibility, then pulled her companion closer. Just one quick glance at her and that’s it. No daydreaming. With the new resolve, her mind drifted off, and her body began to rest. The rumble of her phone and it’s constant glow woke her. She groaned softly and looked down into her arms. Her trusty companion, his tail curled over his nose as he calmly purred in his sleep. A small smile rested on her lips. He looked so much better than when his mom gave him to her. The memory flooded her mind- a calico tabby suckling a small chocolate kit while his siblings played roughly around him. He was the runt of the litter. Just like me, Catra thought, gently scratching his head, being careful enough not to wake him. She slowly sat up, stretched her limbs, grunting with every pop along her back, and slid out of bed to walk towards the window. She placed her hand one the window pane and watched as a steady breeze blew against the tree branches. The window was cold to the touch. It’s probably cold today. She walked towards the direction of the bathroom, but stopped in her tracks at the sound of a startled mrrpt. She looked to her feline friend, reading his pleading expression. “Catnip. I’m going to bathe.” She said plainly. She was met with a defiant mrrow . “Well I can’t lick myself like you do!” Another mrrow followed, this time a bit louder than before. “I’m going to bathe you clingy furball.” She continued her trek into the bathroom, grabbing the necessary toiletries as well as a change of clothes with her. She flicked on the light in the bathroom. She started up the hot water for her shower and placed her things on the accompanying sink, allowing the steam from the shower heat the room. She began to remove her tank top, showing off her slender build, her toned stomach littered with scars and old bruises of past escapades and repressed memories of when she angered her adoptive mother. She found herself tracing her finger along the line of a scar that went diagonally across her upper abdomen, the one that required stitches. She remembered that one- she was short just by a couple of bucks because she decided to take pity on a junkie. When she tried to explain herself, that bitch just took a knife and left an angry cut. If it wasn’t for Scorpia waiting on her outside of the bitch’s apartment to drive her to the emergency room, she probably would have bled out. That was just a couple months ago. I could never please that woman , her glared at her scar through the reflection of the mirror. Her mismatched eyes met the ones glaring her down in the mirror, reflecting the bitterness she gave. A soft mew broke the staring match, causing her to face the source of the gentle noise. Her blue and yellow eyes met his mismatched eyes, and her gaze softened. She let a chuckle escape her lips. “What, you want a shower too?” Catnip lashed his tail and bared his teeth. Catra laughed. “I’m kidding! But,” she tapped the counter space between wall and the sink, “wanna guard my things for me til I get out?” another mrrpt met her question before hopping onto the empty space, sitting upright while puffing out his chest and neatly wrapped his thin tail around his paws. She rewarded him with gentle scratches under his chin. “Thanks, bud,” she replied before stepping into the hot water. She breathed a sigh of relief as the heat of the water rushed against her skin. She categorized everything the day entailed for. It’s boring but it keeps the intrusive thoughts from doing their job. She listed things to do based on necessity. Cats and humans have a lot of things in common and one of them just so happens to be the need for food to live. She’ll need to go to the store for that, they ran out of eggs and cat food last night. Misty needs to be checked up on. That sassy calico may give her some lip but damn if she isn’t the sweetest thing ever. Plus she does need to hear how much better Catnip is doing. Shit, she also has to be at the corner at three. That means she should check in on the escape routes and see if anything new has been added. Damn, she thought she might have time to see the football team- The football team.. Her mind pondered. She thought about how exciting it was to watch them practice. How cool it was to see a perfected play they were practicing for weeks. The football player… Her mind began to wander. Her blue-grey eyes filled with determination, that chiseled jaw of hers tightened around her mouth guard, seeing her charged straight for the goal. Her hair pulled into a ponytail, sweat glistening from her forehead, slowly tracing the side of her cheek a big grin plastered on her face. Just one peek and then I’ll go straight for the corner! No daydreaming! , she settled with the logic voice in her mind. What harm could a peek do? Within forty-five minutes, she was dried and clean from her shower. She gave Catnip a kiss on the top of his head as a thank you and got dressed in her morning attire: a pair of black sweatpants, a faded band t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. She put on a pair of black socks and wandered out into the living room for her worn Converse sneakers. Catnip darted in front of her with an object lodged between his jaws. Catra lifted him up to inspect what he was holding. She furrowed her brow and pouted her lip when she realized he was holding her toothbrush. She walked into the kitchen and sat him on the counter, gently prying the toothbrush from between his jaws. “You could’ve said it nicer,” she retorted before walking off to the bathroom. She returned after ten minutes, remembering to grab her phone along the way. She sat on the couch to put on her sneakers, Catnip hopping from the counter to sit in front of her with a new object in his jaws- her wallet. He dropped the wallet in front of her and she responded with plethora of head kisses and chin scritches, giving him many “good boys” before picking up her wallet and walking towards the door. She grabbed her keys from the hook next to the doorway and turned to Catnip. “Lock the door for me, ‘kay?” She asked before stepping outside. She closed the door behind her and waited a few minutes before hearing a click, then walked down the stairs. The air was a lot cooler than she thought it would be, but still refreshing nonetheless. She put her earbuds in and searched for a song. Feels by Pharrell began to play, and she began to hum the words.
No nothing ever lasts forever no
One minute you're here and the next you're gone
She made it to the supermarket. Her mind cooked up the image of the football player as she walked inside, imagining her smiling at her like she just scored a goal. Her face began to heat up a bit, the tune of the song intensifying the mental montage. She walked down the dairy isle, the pile of carton of eggs sitting next to the cartons of milk.
Do you mind if I steal a kiss
A little souvenir, can I steal it from you?
The song started to get infectious, getting her to dance a bit to the beat. She picked up a carton of eggs and sauntered over to the pet aisle.
To memorize the way you shock me
The way you move it here
She made it into the aisle and did a little twirl in front of the cat food. She grabbed four cans and stacked it on the carton of eggs. She did a small shimmy while humming the words.
Don’t be afraid to catch feels
Ride drop top and chase thrills
She tried to do a moonwalk, but her sneakers friction was a little too much and left her stumbling into someone and dropping the carton of eggs and cans of cat food. The eggs broke due to the force and the cans of cat food rolled everywhere. She turned around, flustered and ready to blame someone for her mistake but her words were caught in her throat. The person she stumbled into had black joggers on, a crop top hoodie that showed off their toned stomach, and had the very same chiseled jawline, pretty blue eyes, cute blonde ponytail, and those thick brown eyebrows that were now furrowed to aid in her concerned expression.
I know you ain’t afraid to pop pills
She found herself lost for words, her mouth kept opening and closing but not a sound came out.
Baby I know you ain’t scared to catch feels
“I...I..” she started to say, her cheeks burning red.
“Are you alright?” the woman asked, filled with concern.
Feels with me
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Catra fumbled over her words. She wasn’t supposed to be here, why is she in this supermarket? Did she live nearby? What made her choose this specific market? “Hello? Miss?” the football player called out to her. It was enough to snap her out of her thoughts.“U-uh.. y..yeah..” she managed to sputter out. The football player reached her hand out to help Catra up. Catra graciously grabbed her wrist and managed to push herself up with little to no effort due to the football player’s strength. She brushed off her hoodie and looked down at the broken eggs in an attempt to avoid eye contact and to hide the blushing red on her cheeks.“I’m really sorry about the eggs,” the football player apologized. Catra wanted to say something but was cut off. “How bout I get you another carton? It’s on me.”Catra plucked up the courage to look at her again. “ N-no it’s fine! It was my fault, I can just grab another one.” She mentally patted herself on the back for being able to say that without hesitation.But the football player was already on her way to the dairy section. Catra quickly turned around and grabbed the cans of cat food that fell, her mind racing a mile a minute.Get the cans and bolt to the register dummy, her sense of flight screamed at her.No, wait for her, grab the eggs, and say thanks, but you pay for it, her pride commanded. Her sense of fight nodded in agreement.When she picked up the last can, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whipped her head around to see the football player. She was holding a new carton of eggs, a gentle smile on her face. Catra felt her face heating up a bit. Her sense of fight and Pride were telling her to grab the carton of eggs. Her sense of flight yelled at her to walk to the next aisle to cool off. But she only managed to respond to her sense of freeze, staring at the eggs. The football player’s brows furrowed, her eyes trying to read Catra’s expression.“You okay?” she asked softly. It was enough to snap Catra back into reality.“O-oh.. yeah!” She finally responded. She managed to give a nervous smile, “Y-y’know, you really don’t have to do this.” The football player gave a reassuring smile. “ I don’t mind! Besides, it’s the least I could do since your other one took a tumble.”“T-then...” Catra was trying to formulate a sentence, or at least say something resembling gratitude. “Then let me buy something for you!” Another mental pat on the back for that one. The football player’s smile turned into a smirk, an eyebrow raised. Catra’s heart thudded at the sight of her expression.“You wanna buy me something?”the football player asked as if she had heard a tall tale. Catra tried to regain her composure and shrugged. “I mean, you’re getting something for me. Why can’t I return the gesture?” she responded cooly. She was mentally coaching herself to not blow what little composure she managed to scrounge up. The football player looked down and bit her bottom lip, then looked up to Catra.“So… you’ll buy anything I want?” she asked. Catra was worried about where this line of questioning will go.“Any one thing yes,” she replied. The football player had a smile plastered on her face again.“Could you buy me fruit snacks?” the football player asked, a slight hint of excitement in her voice. Catra let out a small giggle.“If that’s your ‘something’ then sure,” she replied with a small smile. The football player’s smile grew grew a bit wider.“Meet you at the register? I can hold on to the eggs for you till you’re done,” She said, changing her handling position on the carton. Catra’s eyes stared hard at the carton, wishing that she would’ve listened to her pride.“B-but how will I know where you are? Or what register you’re in?” She asked. Maybe she’ll get her eggs back and make a beeline for the register, make her purchases and bail.“We’ll call out each other’s names in the store,” The football player replied. Catra blinked as if she just heard a dumb question.Alright that’s a great plan if I knew your fuckin’ name, her sarcasm spat out.“Right, you don’t know my name,” the football player spoke sheepishly. She reached out an open hand towards Catra. Her smile never left her face.“My name’s Adora,” she said.“Adora…. That’s a cute name” Catra replied a little too loudly. Catra looked away from her, blushing. Adora’s cheeks became a very light pink.“Thanks!” Adora answered, “How bout you?”“Huh?”“What’s your name?” Adora asked. Catra tentatively clasped her hand in Adora’s.“C..Catra..” She answered, “My name is Catra.”“Catra?” Adora replied, letting the name settle in her mind “ Heh, I like it! It suits you pretty well!”“Thanks,” Catra replied awkwardly. She continued to avert her gaze, opting to look towards the pet food, flinching a bit when she heard an amazed ‘whoa’ escape Adora’s lips. She managed to make eye contact with her, a confused expression on her face.“Your eyes…” Adora said quietly. Catra looked away again.“Y-yeah, what about ‘em?” Catra asked, looking at the ground.“They’re so cool,” Adora quietly replied. She unknowingly pulled Catra closer, causing the girl’s face to heat up, “and pretty…”Catra’s face began to burn. Not only is the football player, nicely named Adora, in this same supermarket throwing her off her edge and making her feel like a high school dweeb, she’s here buying her breakfast, saying she likes her name, and calling her eyes pretty. She tried to flex her hands to help her distract herself, but realized that she was still holding adora’s hand. The failed action helped Adora come to the same realization, her eyes flickered to their hands.“O-oh .. uh…” she whispered. She let go of Catra’s hand, fast enough to respect the overstepped boundary, but slow enough to trace her fingers along Catra’s own. “S-sorry,” she apologized, her cheeks now a more pronounced pink. Catra’s heart kept thudding in her chest. Her fingers tingled where Adora’s had left a trace.“I-I’ll go grab those fruit snacks,” Catra spoke briskly. Adora nodded in response, fiddling with her fingers. Catra nodded, then walked into the next aisle. Her body started to loosen up more, the breath she didn’t know she was holding finally released. Her mind started to race again, trying to make sense of the situation that transpired.She thinks your eyes are cool, her pride spoke up, making her confidence shoot up a bit.Yeah, but now you gotta buy her fruit snacks AND meet her at the register! Her sense of flight shot out. She looked at the shelves, anxiously searching for those damned fruit snacks. She saw them sitting right next to her second favorite snack, cheese cracker sandwiches. She debated if she should grab them along with the fruit snacks, her pride telling her she earned those friggin cheese cracker sandwiches while her flight told her it would only slow her down .Catra awkwardly walked out of the aisle, balancing the box of fruit snacks, the box of cheese cracker sandwiches and the cans of cat food. She heard a chuckle, and a loud clack, coming from her left side. She looked to see Adora, a smile on her face.“Having some trouble?” she asked. Catra grunted.“Mind kicking that basket over here?” she strained a bit. Adora gently nudged the basket over to Catra, to which she replied with a grateful nod. She dropped her groceries into the basket and stretched, popping noise coming from her body.“You all set?” Adora asked, her eyes trying to reach Catra’s. Catra nodded quickly, her eyes trained on the basket. She reached down to grab the handles, inspecting the contents in the basket further.
Gatorade? Well duh she's an athlete. Of course she'd get Gatorade! Hot pockets? Doesn't have enough time to make food or someone else cooks.. that or she likes low tier calzones. Let's see what else we have here-
“Catra?” Adora called out. Catra lifted her head up quickly.“Yeah? “ she replied. Damn, was she too obvious?“If it's too heavy for you, I can carry it,” Adora offered with a smile. Catra gave an awkward smile.“N-no! It's fine! I just... got distracted is all,” she quickly replied. She lifted the basket by the handles and walked towards the football player. “now let's find an empty register,” she muttered.“Oh! I saw one on my over here!” Adora spoke excitedly. She grabbed Catra by the wrist, causing her to jump a bit. “Follow me!”She's...pretty touchy... Catra thought nervously. Maybe she's just really giddy. Or just easily excited. Kinda like a puppy…Just as Adora promised, they approached an empty aisle, a cashier looking overwhelmingly exhausted quickly straightened himself up as soon as he made eye contact with Catra. Catra shrugged and stepped in front of Adora with the basket in hand.“I'll get all my stuff out of the way first,” Catra offered. Adora nodded and began handing her the items she grabbed, starting with the cans of cat food. The cashier quickly rang the items up, anxiously waiting for Catra to pay. She couldn't figure out why, but for some reason the cashier wouldn't make eye contact with her. She tried to get a good look at him, but was interrupted by Adora clearing her throat a bit. Catra flinched at the noise and whispered “sorry “. She reached into her pocket for her wallet, looking down at her sweater.“How much?” She asked.“F-fifteen eighty-five,” the cashier managed to get out. Catra opened her wallet and pulled out a hundred dollar bill, eyeing the cashier, then slowly handed him the bill. The cashier looked at the bill and took it quietly, placing it in the cash register, gathering her change, making sure not to make eye contact with Catra whatsoever. Catra started to fidget with her earbuds, but stopped once adora began to speak up.“So...you like to dance?” Adora asked her. Catra blushed a bit and looked toward the floor. Adora continued on, “ I just wanted to ask if you were interested in some songs.”Catra casted a glance at her, “I'm interested.”Adora smiled and reached into her pocket to grab her phone, “You have Spotify?”Catra smiled back at her. “Yeah. Why?”Adora tapped on her phone a couple of times, then handed Catra her phone. Catra saw the Notes app open and on a new page, the cursor blinking, waiting for her to type.“Write your username. I can send you some songs!” Adora smiled warmly at her, causing her to feel a bit more at ease about her accident earlier. She quickly typed out her username and handed the phone back to her, looking at the candy bars and fiddling with her headphone wire.At least..., she began to think to herself, finally receiving her change and grabbing her bags to move aside for Adora. She watched her smile at the cashier as he rang her up. At least I can make her smile… so it's not too bad right? The girls made their way out of the store, discussing the differences between a perfectly baked calzone and a half assed frozen excuse called a hot pocket. Adora, wiping the tears from her eyes, couldn't stop giggling at Catra's strong disgust for Hot Pockets, and Catra started to feel more comfortable with Adora.“I'm just saying, if you're really that desperate for a calzone, why waste money on a sad version when you can buy the real thing?” Catra couldn't help but smile at Adora and her uncontrollable giggling. When Adora finally caught her breath, her smile began to fade. Catra spotted the change in her expression and wanted to ask what was wrong. Adora beat her to the punch.“I gotta turn on this corner to finish my run,” Adora said with a small smile. Catra replied with a soft “oh”. Adora reached into one of her bags and handed Catra the carton of eggs. Catra held them in the crook of her arm and grabbed the box of fruit snacks to give to the football player. She then placed the eggs in the bag. Adora pulled out her phone one more time, tapped on it a bit, and handed it to Catra again. This time, Catra was greeted to the phone app.“Hard to text you without your number, right?” Adora smirked. Catra blushed and a smile worked its way onto her face. She quickly typed in her phone number, then handed the phone back to Adora. Adora tapped her phone a couple more times and slid the phone back into her pocket. “Also, if you really want to listen to a song that can make you dance, I'd go with Lucky Strike by Troye Sivan. He's a hell of a listen.” and with that, the street light changed, and Adora jogged across the street, waving goodbye to a blushing Catra, before she turned to her right and jogged away. Catra paused, then took her phone out of her pocket. She went to her online music app and searched the song Adora mentioned to her. She placed her earbuds in and played the songOh, I want to know just how to love you The jewel of California
Oh, I want to skip stones on your skin, boy
And drown me in your water
Catra felt another smile tugging at her lips as the song continued to play. She put her phone back in her pocket and turned towards the direction to her apartment.
And my boy like a queen
Unlike one you've ever seen
He knows how to love me better She crossed the street, the song slowly consuming her as she walked home.
A hit of dopamine, higher than I've ever been
He knows how to love me better
Images of Adora danced into her mind, her laughter and her smile lingered. Catra felt her cheeks heat up a bit.
'Cause you're safe like spring time
Short days, long nights, boy
Tell me all the ways to love you
'Cause you taste like Lucky Strikes
You drag, I light, boy
Tell me all the ways to love you
Tell me all the ways to love you
Tell me all the ways to love you
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You doin’ okay, Wildcat?” a tall, muscular woman asked, her voice conveying her confused expression. She had a scar splitting the base of her jawline on the left side of her cheek, her attire consisting of a grey t shirt, a maroon jacket with a dark brown scorpion on the back, black denim jeans and worn down white sneakers. “You've been fiddling with your phone since I got here.” “I'm fine, I'm fine,” the brown haired girl replied. She kept refreshing her messenger app, hoping for a new number to appear , only to see the same frustrating texts from her “mother”, telling her that she better get every single dollar from tonight. She was ever so tempted to delete the message chain, block and delete her number, but she knew what would happen: Rogelio and Lonnie would drag her to the bitch's place, turn their backs to not watch her get her teeth kicked into her lower intestines by the old hag, and watch as the monster put her number back into her phone. She sighed angrily and picked at her eggs, while listening to Catnip hopping onto the counter, licking his maw from eating the cat food. He put a paw on Catra's wrist and purred, getting a side glance from her. Catra lifted her hand and scratched under his chin. “I'm fine guys. Really, I am,” Catra replied, finally taking a bite from her eggs. She relaxed a bit, letting the texture and flavor of the eggs, lightly salted to her liking. She continued to eat the delicious yellow pile of sustenance, casting small glances at her phone. Scorpia made eye contact with Catnip before moving closer to the smaller woman. “Yeah see, I'd believe that, if you weren't checking your phone every five seconds, “ Scorpia replied, taking the chair next to Catra's in front of the counter. She gently nudged Catra's arm with her elbow, “What's on your mind, Wildcat? You seem jittery. “ “Its nothing,” Catra replied coolly. Or at least, she attempted to before her voice cracked. Scorpia's brows furrowed. “You nervous about tonight?” She asked, “there's no drop, just us dealin’ y'know. We'll just hang out on the corner and-” “I'm not scared bout tonight dude.” Catra interrupted, irritation slowly seeping into her voice. She lowered her head to avoid eye contact with the woman, as if she was a child getting caught breaks a priceless object. Scorpia tilted her head. "Then what's the big deal?" The larger woman asked. Catra's eyes stayed glued onto her phone as Catnip pawed at her finger gently. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I... uh...met someone today…" Catra managed to sputter out, her face becoming more red than usual, "and I...kinda, sorta ...gave her my number.." Catra stared at her eggs with much more intensity than usual. She was unaware of the ever growing smile plastered on her friend's face. "Atta girl, Catra! Gettin' back in the game!" Scorpia happily replied, giving the smaller girl a pat on the back. Catra gave her a sheepish smile in return, picking up her fork to play with her eggs. Her mind went into a daze, remembering her voice, her laugh, the way she'd smile at her- "Damn, you're lovestruck, aren't you?" Scorpia observed. Catra flinched, her cheeks going beet red. "I am not! I like, met her today, how can I lovestruck, dummy?!" Catra shouted at her defensively. "Well, I've been pining for a girl since I met her, so…" Scorpia replied coolly. Catra's brows furrowed as she crossed her arms. "That's because you have the loving heart of a puppy," she retorted. Catra went back to her phone, and saw she had a new message. She quickly typed in her passcode and scrolled down her header, her heart getting caught in her throat, only for it to drop past her chest and into her stomach. It was her stupid "mother", telling her that the time moved from 3 to 2. She angrily scrunched up her nose and hissed maldita sea under her breath. She tossed her phone onto the counter and picked at her eggs, muttering swears that would make a sailor blush with embarrassment. Scorpia flinched and furrowed her brows. "Im guessin' Weaver had something to say? " Scorpia asked tentatively. Catra ran her fingers through her hair, sighing she leaned her head back. "We gotta be their by 2 instead of 3," She hissed. "Why?" Scorpia replied. Catra picked up her phone to play a game so she can calm down. "Bitch is probably mad at me because I was a couple minutes late the last time we were running the block," she opened up SpinTree, the soothing sounds of the artificial birds tweeting away from her phone. She heard the larger woman shift uncomfortably in her chair and the guilt from her temper outburst set in. She slumped and tilted her head to face Scorpia, who was awkwardly staring at the counter and tapping her fingers, and poked out her bottom lip just a bit. "Scorpia? " "Mm?" "...I'm sorry…" Scorpia looked at Catra and offered a small smile. "She has been a bit bitchy lately, " she replied. It was Catra's turn to smile. She gently nudged Scorpia's arm and went back to her phone, receiving a gentle pat on the shoulder by her taller friend. It wasn't the first time Catra's temper got the better of her, and it wasn't the first time Scorpia's reaction to it made her feel like shit for it, yet it still feels just as bad as when she lost it that first time: maybe she could've approached the woman better, or could have kept her hands to herself. Either way, Scorpia shouldn't have to see her knuckles bleed like that, and Catra shouldn't have to need her "mother's" help hushing things. "Should we head out?" Scorpia asked, a bounce in her voice. It made Catra's thoughts simmer. She looked at the counter to see Catnip greedily eyeing her eggs. "Yeah, I lost my appetite anyway," she picked up her furred companion and cradled him, kissing his head many of times. Catnip purred, blinking slowly to return her affection. "You can eat the eggs Nipley, but there better not be a crumb left." She received a soft 'mew' as a response, then placed him back onto the counter. She picked up her keys and walked to the door, causing Scorpia to quickly give Catnip a scratch under his chin and rise from her chair to leave with her. "Later Catnip!" She shouted happily, squealing to Catra about how he gave her a slow blink as well (" that's a kiss in cat language, right?! " she sputtered) before closing and locking the door. Unlock. Tap. Tap. Lock. Unlock. Tap. Tap. Lock. Catra was chewing her lip, constantly checking for a new message from an unknown number as the hours kept rolling by. While she did get texts from unknown numbers, they were either spam numbers, or offering a deal from her phone plan. She looked at the time on her phone and sighed. It was 10 p.m.. Her day had been muddled with because "mommy dearest" wanted to move up when she had to work. She saw Misty at least. Apparently, she was worried about Catra, seeing as how she kept grooming her and purring against her leg as she sat down. She wasn't able to check the spot thoroughly beforehand, so its a gamble if they get caught. She pulled out a stick of gum, opting to chew on it rather than her sore lip. You should've ate the eggs, dipshit, she thought bitterly. They were sitting in an alleyway. It split into three different directions, one of the directions having a gate put there to prevent stray cats from running into the streets (a design flaw, in her humble opinion, since the gate was kinda dented with a hole for them to squeeze through). Scorpia was sitting on a crate a couple of feet away from the gate, with Lonnie sitting on a box right next to her. Catra was positioned at the opening of the alley, sitting on a crate, looking out for potential junkies, and cops. Scorpia's words were fading in and out to her, but she was trained for this. She'd tune in to how much her "mother" thought about what failure she was ( moms usually work in a drug cartel because they have no options, not because they want to suck the boss's dick, "mother"!, she'd shout in her head), she'd tune in only when it was necessary to hear about the next job. Scorpia was talking to Lonnie about her work out. She didn't know why Lonnie needed to stay, and when she asked, Lonnie playfully shoved her and said she didn't feel like leaving. Bullshit, you wanna talk to Scorpia, you thirst bucket, she thought as she looked at the two chattering. She saw how Lonnie would cast glances at Scorpia's hand, how she'd blush when the tall woman would smile warmly at her, how she'd ask Scorpia to tell her about her day. Catra scoffed. Lonnie was a lovestruck dummy and Scorpia was just too much of a bumbling airhead to see it. Apparently the scoff was a tad too loud, because both women turned to face her. "What's the matter dickhead? You tired already?" Lonnie teased. "Shut the fuck up, punk," she spat back. She heard Lonnie stand and walk over to her. "Who you textin', " Lonnie asked, leaning over her shoulder to peer at her phone screen, "is it Laura? I remember you said you only fuck with her because she knows how to-" "It's not Laura, you nosey shit," Catra interrupted. Lonnie leaned closer. "Ooooooh, it's a new girl!" Lonnie shouted, "What's her name? Is it Cherlene?" "Lonnie, go sit the fuck down," Catra said, struggling to not smack her head. Scorpia giggled, causing Catra to shoot her a glare. Scorpia smiled back, only for her smile to drop from her face. Catra's eyes followed where she was looking, and understood completely. There was a squad car pulling onto the street corner, the driver looking at them with the intent of stopping and questioning them. Lonnie leaned into Catra's ear. "The 'Ops?" She whispered. Catra nodded slowly, not looking away from the car as multiple officers left the vehicle, walking toward them. Lonnie walked back to where she was sitting with Scorpia, Catra casting a side glance to see if she was looking at her to watch for the signal. Catra stood up slowly, and stretched her back, causing Scorpia to stand up. "Hey missy! Can I speak to you for a moment? " was all the officer could say before Catra darted for the gate. Lonnie, apparently ( and i guess thankfully, she thought) was already at the top of the gate, helping Scorpia get up there. When Catra leapt onto the gate, Scorpia was at the top grabbing her by the forearm and pulling her up. Lonnie hopped down from the gate, tucking and rolling as to not hurt herself in the process. Catra and Scorpia followed Lonnie's method and ran to catch up with her, while the police were in pursuit approaching the gate while shouting at them to 'stop' and 'freeze'. The three women banked left and bolted down to the end of the alley where they hit two routes, one a dead end with piles of garbage bags, and one that lead to the street. "Street or dead end?" Lonnie gasped. Catra, eyes darting back and forth from both routes in a panic, was trying to catch her breath. "Dead end," Catra finally replied, heading over the garbage bags. Scorpia followed suit, while Lonnie hissed something under her breath. They hid themselves among the bags so they wouldn't be seen, trying to slow down their breathing so they wouldn't be heard. Minutes after, Catra heard the jingling footsteps of the officers through the blood rushing in her ears. She watched as they cast a glance at their direction before running in the direction toward the street. They waited a bit, ensuring that they, in fact, lost the officers, before she spoke up. "We lost 'em," Catra sighed. "Not gonna lie, I thought you was gonna fuck us up when you said dead end," Lonnie said between breaths, "nice save though." "Yeah, " Catra replied. She pulled out her phone, in a vain attempt to see if she finally got the text, only to be met by her empty lock screen background of when kitten Catnip sleeping in one of her beanies. She let out a defeated sigh before looking at the other two, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice . "The block's too hot right now. We gotta call it a night," she said, putting her phone away. "I'm seeing Weaver tomorrow. I can take the money in for you guys, " Scorpia finally spoke. Catra handed her the roll of money held together by a rubber band. It's not as thick as she would've liked, but its thick enough to make the bitch happy. Lonnie handed her roll of money to Scorpia as well, offering her a warm smile. "I'm heading home fam. I'm sweaty and I smell like a rotting banana, so a hot shower sounds really fuckin' nice right now," she gave Scorpia a hug, in which the taller woman happily returned, and gave Catra a handshake-hug, " text me when ya'll get home, I'll do the same. " "Bye Lonnie! " Scorpia happily shouted as Lonnie walked towards the way they ran in. "Later Lonnie, " Catra said quietly, looking at the ground. There was nothing better from a night of disappointment than a hot shower, a big sweater and some loose fitting shorts while looking at the news and drinking an Angry Orchard hard cider and sitting on the couch. Upon her return, Catnip refused to give her any affection due to her smell, so Catra made sure to bathe and put on some nighttime wear while throwing her other outfit in the wash. Now Catnip hopped onto the couch next to her to give her his attention. "Oh, so I have to smell like Tropicana and bubble gum for you to love me, huh?" She chuckled as she scratched under his chin. She picked up her phone and opened up the messages app again. She got the text from Lonnie, stating that she's home and she bathed, followed by a video of her dog Roxie, a German pitbull mix, happily wagging her tail and blocking the camera view as Lonnie sings her many praises. She replied with a selfie of her and Catnip sitting on the couch with her holding up her bottle of hard cider, the caption reading "home sweet home". She forwarded the photo to Scorpia, who sent her a photo of the TV show she was watching, her bunny slippers being in the photo as well. Catra backed out of the message chain and sighed looking at her phone. She just took your number to humor you, dude, her thoughts started up again, did you really think she was into you? She took a sip from her bottle and linked her phone to her speaker. If there's any artist who knows how to soothe her heartache, it was Khalid. She picked a song by him, called Better, and waited for the song to load. As the song started playing, she took another sip, then leaned her head back, mouthing the lyrics.
Love to see you shine in the night. like the diamond you are
She looked down to see Catnip sleeping. She stroked his back gently, as he slowly turned to lay on his side, showing his stomach to Catra.
No one's got to know what we do, hit. me up when you're bored
'Cause I live down the street, so we meet when you need it, it's yours
A push notification sound briefly interrupted the tune,followed by her phone vibrating, showing her an unknown number. She unlocked it to read the message. Her eyes widened when the message was her name followed up with a question mark. She replied back:Me: Yeah? Me:Who's this? Unknown: Its me!Unknown: Adora! Unknown: the girl from the supermarket Unknown: this morning! Catra's heart thudded in her chest. She finally texted her! She has her number! She quickly saved the number, giving the contact name 'Adorka', then replied back,trying to play it cool. Me: o shitMe: Hey Adora Adorka: i am rlly srry for taking so long!!!Adorka: i was working and doin hw and stuff b got hungry Adorka: so i made a hot pocket and it made me think abt uAdorka: then i was like "..frig!!" Catra laughed, her body feeling lighter than usual. She had a lopsided smile glued to her face. Me: Im flattered that u think of meMe: but the fact that Im associated with hot pockets hurts my feelings Adorka: wellAdorka: i ate all my fruitsnacks while I was doing hwAdorka: so hot pockets .Adorka: did u like ur eggs Me: yesMe: and 2 answer ur follow up question Me: yes i did think of u 2 while I ate them She got a reply filled with hearts and thumbs up emojis. Me: btwMe: i rlly like that song Adorka: aaa im glad!!Adorka: i was listening to it while doing hwAdorka: b i didn't get much done bc i was jammin to hard u kno? Catra was wrong earlier. There actually was something better than a hot shower, a big sweater and some loose fitting shorts while looking at the news and drinking an Angry Orchard hard cider and sitting on the couch. Texting Adora, that warm fuzzy feeling she gets from reading her texts. Finding out that she thinks about her. It was this.
All I hear is
Nothin' feels better than this
Nothin' feels better
Nothin' feels better than this
Nothin' feels better, no, no
We don't gotta hide
This is what you like, I admit
Nothin' feels better than this
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Adorka: morning! <3 Me: how are you a morning person? Adorka: Im only a morning person mon-wedAdorka: then im like "dont talk to me till noon" Me: lmaoMe: id stsb someone who woke me up early tbhMe: *stab Adorka: D:Adorka: wud u stab me??? Me: noMe: ur coolMe: id be mad p make coffee and deal Adorka: awwAdorka: im cool 2 u? Me: dont push it dork Adorka: Catra thinks that im cooolAdorka: :DDDD Me: >:p Catra had been texting Adora for three weeks now, and each message sent was enough for her to send her into a happy daze. She wasn't given any more jobs, not since that night. She didn't mind, she had enough money stored for a rainy day, and she'd rather be lazing about with Catnip while texting 'Adorka ' anyway. Their messages usually range from one girl ranting to the other about something to philosophical questions that were so outlandish Catra would wonder if she was dipping into her supply. This Tuesday morning was the typical "good morning" texts that Adora would send her. While normally a morning text would fill her with dread because of her "mother", Weaver, these past three weeks got her excited for the morning. Adora's texts were morning motivation, next to a cup of coffee and Catnip cutting off her air supply by sitting on her face because he was hungry. She yawned and stretched, loud popping noises coming from her arms and back while Adora sent her another text. Catra opened it up to read it. However, instead of a soft smile and chuckle, her heart dropped to her stomach as she read the message. Adorka: soooooAdorka: Ive been meaning to ask this b i got worried abt how ud reactAdorka:b screw it rii?Adorka: i wanted to ask if i could vid chat w u Catra's body started heating up while her heart rate sped. Fuck, she thought, fuck fuck fuck! Okay relax dummy! J-just uh….play it cool! She ran her hand through her hair and wiped her face before replying. Me: awwMe: Adora misses my faceMe: lol Heh heh, she thought smugly, bet she's gonna her sweet time on that one. Catra got up, phone in hand, and walked towards the bathroom when she received another text. Her excitement got the better of her and she quickly unlocked her phone to see who it was, only to be disappointed with the realization that it came from Weaver. It was a text telling her to drop by around 8 p.m. and not a minute more. She groaned as she replied back with nothing more than a 'k' when her phone vibrated again. She backed out of the chain between her and her 'mother' to see that Adora sent her reply. She quickly clicked on the message , her face burning red at the response. Adorka: maybe i do Catra fumbled with her phone, trying to type a sensible response. She could barely write out a sensible reply. Me: dont u have class or smth??? Catra let go of a breath she wasn't aware that she was holding. Her phone pings, and she opens the message. Adorka: it got cancelled Adorka: thats how im talking to you this fast Shit! Okay, Catra was in full panic mode. Her mind was scrounging up an excuse as to why she can't call her, but she didn't know what to tell her. I can't call because I'm cleaning! No… I'm taking a shower? No, she'll just say to call her afterwards…. Damn it why is talking to her so fucking hard?! She's just a damn girl! You've talked to pretty girls before! But Catra didn't want to admit to herself that Adora was different. She'll be damned if she said she was love struck, but she can admit that maybe she does have a small crush on her. She can also admit that maybe she was worried that Adora would get a closer look at her and ghost her. Wait, she's been up close to my face before, that'd be dumb…. It could still happen though… shit shit shit! Another ping broke her from her thoughts. She looked at the open message chain to see that Adora sent her a photo. She was smirking, her eyebrows raised with half lidded eyes. Catra's heart got caught in her throat. Another message followed. Adorka: What's the matter~? Chicken? "Excuse me? " Catra said in a somewhat offended tone. ' Chicken'? The insult was enough to give Catra the push to call her. She tapped the call icon, then scrolled up and tapped the video icon. She squeaked upon seeing a black screen representing Adora. "Was that you?" Adora asked, fumbling noises coming from her end of the video. Catra blushed hard and furrowed her brows. "N-no that was the bathroom door! " she replied, her voice cracking. "Uh-huh," was all Catra managed to hear through the fumbling. "What the hell are you doing? It sounds like your phone is in your pocket," Catra said, glazing over the topic. "It kinda is, I'm looking for my headphones. "Adora replied plainly, sounding more preoccupied with her search. I can use this to my advantage, Catra thought nervously. "Well, I can leave you alone so you can find them and I can call you back when you do," Catra managed to say with a decent amount of confidence, only for it to be ripped away when Adora's face showed in the screen, her formerly missing earbuds resting in her ears and an accomplished smile on her face. "No need! Found 'em!" She replied. Catra noticed that Adora was squinting at her and began to nervously look around. "What? Were you expecting me to have a new face or something? " Catra retorted. Adora shrugged. "No, just checking out your awesome eyes again," Adora said before her eyes widen as if in shock of her own words. She covered her mouth and turned pink. Catra let out a chuckle finally. "Aww, Adora's too shy to compliment me! How cute," Catra teased. Adora pouted, causing catra to giggle. "Says the one who was scared to call me!" Adora shouted back. Catra shot her a glare that left her with a satisfied smile. "I wasn't 'scared' to call you, genius, " Catra replied, setting her phone down to prevent the risk of her dropping it with her shaky hands, "I'm getting ready to take a shower." "That's a load of crap." Adora replied. "I'm in the bathroom, dipshit " Catra shot back. "Prove it then," Adora said smugly. Catra lifted her phone and tapped the camera icon to flip it. She watched as Adora's face flushed pink. "This is the toilet where I usually pee," Catra began, using a nasally voice. Adora snickered as Catra swung her phone to show her sink, "look Adora! It's my sink," she gasped loudly, " and is that…. ME in MY mirror?" " I get it, you jerk," Adora managed to say through giggles. Catra turned her camera back to face her, a little more confident now that she managed to make Adora laugh. Adora looked away and shrugged," I can call you later if you need to go shower, if that's okay." Catra felt her heart sink a little. She ran her fingers through her hair, looking away from the camera. "I mean," she began, her cheeks turning into a light pink, "we can keep talking, if you want to." Catra shot a quick glance at her phone to see Adora's expression. Adora's eyes lit up in response, causing Catra to stare just a little too long. "Okay," Adora replied, "tell me what you're up to."
"I am not a dork!" "You are, though,"Catra chuckled. Adora huffed and pouted through the phone screen. "Just because I like fuzzy pajama pants and fun size snacks instead of the actual size doesn't mean that I am a dork!" She shouted back at Catra. Catra smirked in response. Time to go for the jugular, she thought as her smirk grew into a lopsided smile. "Alright, but can I call you cute instead?" Catra asked, lowering her eyelids, looking back at Adora, hoping that she could elicit a reaction from her. Her hopes came true as she watched as Adora's face turned as red as the sweater she was wearing. Catra cackled until she looked at the clock. She blinked in disbelief when she saw 6:30 p.m.. Adora called her around 10:30 a.m. . Have they really been talking for nine hours? "Oh dang," Adora said, disappointment in her voice. "It's 6:30 already? " "You got something planned?" Catra asked, hoping that Adora would be the one to make the choice of ending the call. "Just a study group for the quiz tomorrow," Adora sighed and pouted,"I don't wanna go though…" "You probably should though," Catra replied, "don't wanna run into a question that was covered in the group, right?" Adora tilted her head back and groaned. "Fine," Adora gave in,"but you have to text me to make it interesting." Catra shrugged. "I got you. Now go get ready, " Catra said. Adora smiled and stuck her tongue out at her, before finally hanging up. Catra found herself missing her voice already. "Is that the girl you like?" She heard someone ask from behind her. She shrieked and turned around quickly, only to relax her muscles at the sight of the mystery person. "Scorpia, how the hell did you get in here?!" Catra yelled, running her fingers through her hair. Scorpia lifted her keychain up to show two keys with a distinctive 'C' carved in the base. "Spare keys you gave me, remember? You said that they're if you're not able to come home for Catnip or if i need to get in when you're not here. Kinda didn't hear you till I came in and saw you on your phone, " Scorpia replied with a grin. Catra's cheeks went a light pink. "I'm gonna go shower," Catra said, walking towards her bathroom, "Lonnie's downstairs, right?" She asked, looking back at the larger woman. Scorpia nodded. Catra shook her arms out and continued her walk towards the bathroom. "Head downstairs. Let her know I'll be there in twenty."
"Weaver is gonna beat our asses for being late, " Lonnie hissed through her teeth. Catra was too busy looking at her phone in the backseat of the car. Scorpia was driving them to Ms. Weaver's apartment, with Lonnie sitting in the passenger seat, worrying about the old woman's temper . "What the hell were you doing to make you take so damn long?" "Was on the phone, then forgot that I needed to shower,"Catra replied plainly, too preoccupied with texting Adora to give Lonnie her full attention. Lonnie turned a bit in the passenger seat, an annoyed expression on her face. "What the hell were you doing that you couldn't be ready to go when we got there?" Lonnie yelled at the girl. Catra shrugged while typing out a reply to Adora. Apparently, at Adora's study session, some chick named Glitter got so stressed out about the potential essay questions that she pulled out a giant bottle of wine and some dude named Bow got into an argument with her about where she got it from. She sent a text asking if Adora was going to drink too, to which Adora replied with a crying emoji, followed by a wine glass emoji. Catra chuckled and started to type a reply. Suddenly, the car hit a brief, hard stop, causing the girl to squeal and fall onto the floor of the car. Catra groaned, sitting up with her phone in her hand, glaring daggers at Lonnie. "What the hell was that about?!" Catra yelled at the woman, who in return was giving her a smug look. Catra scrunched her nose up in annoyance, climbing back into the seat and putting on her seatbelt. "Fix your face before I come up there and fix it for you." "Come up here and try it," Lonnie taunted before casting a glance at Scorpia and reading her expression. Scorpia had a look of worry resting on her face, as if her thoughts were getting the best of her. Catra began to notice, motioning her head in her direction to Lonnie, as if to ask her to snap the large woman out of her trance. Lonnie tentatively placed her hand on Scorpia's knee. Scorpia blinked and shot occasional glances at Lonnie. "Did I do it again? " Scorpia quietly asked. Lonnie nodded while Catra squeezed her shoulder in response. Scorpia took in a deep shaky breath before speaking, "I-I'm sorry guys, I just keep worrying about what Weaver could do. We haven't been on the job since three weeks ago, a-and I know she wasn't happy when we had to cut our time short. What if she sends Hordak's boys after us? What if she told Hordak and he's so upset he places a hit on us, or worse: send us to 'Beast Island'? Or what if-" Scorpia felt tight squeezing both on her knee and her shoulder. She slowed the car at the next red light, sighing and loosening her grip on the wheel. "It'll be okay Scorpia, " Lonnie reassured her, a small smile on her face , "lots of jobs go bad because five-o get a little curious. Weaver's gotta understand that. " "And even if she was upset, when isn't the wrinkly bitch upset about something? "Catra said casually, " she could have a million dollars and eight keys and she'll still be bitter if someone had a penny in their pocket." Lonnie rubbed her thumb against Scorpia's knee, smiling at Catra. "You know she would tear your ass up if she heard you saying that," she replied, chuckling. Catra gave two pats to Scorpia's shoulder before flopping back to her seat. "She's been beating my ass. At this point, she might as well have a world record for most unnecessary ass whoopings." It was a dark topic to joke about, but it earned a couple of chuckles from the two girls. Scorpia rested her hand on top of Lonnie's, causing her to blush. Scorpia smiled warmly at Lonnie, then to Catra. "Thanks guys," Scorpia spoke softly, before pressing on the gas pedal. Lonnie nodded in response, a smile fighting its way on her face as Scorpia rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb. Catra smirked and looked at her phone, reading Adora's latest message. It was two "content" emojis followed by an "okay" emoji.
"Late as usual," the older woman sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She had small creases at the corners of her mouth, accentuating her frown, letting her disdain and annoyance drip from her voice. "I expect this kind of… disrespectful behavior from my 'daughter'," she motioned towards Catra who, in response, rolled her eyes, "but Lonnie, Scorpia… I expected better from you." Weaver walked over towards Catra, her heels clacking against the tiled floor. She grabbed Catra's chin tightly, earning a scowl from her," You just have to drag others down with your worthless situations, don't you?" She sneered. Catra scoffed. "Good to see you too, mother," Catra spat back, "nice to see how excited you are to see you miserable daughter." Weaver raised the back of her hand as a means to threaten Catra into silence. Catra hated to admit that it worked, the gesture causing her to look away and hold her tongue. Silence fell into the room, before Lonnie spoke up. "Actually, Weaver, I was the reason why we were late," Catra looked at her with complete shock, but Weaver began to stalk towards her. Lonnie unconsciously started talking faster, tripping over her words, " R-Roxie had a bit of a stomach problem, s-so I wanted to make sure she was okay before Scorpia got me." Weaver raised her hand, causing Lonnie to instinctively flinch. Scorpia spoke in response. "B-but we're here now! We're also really sorry for being late, and it won't happen again!" Catra watched as Scorpia held a breath as Weaver's gaze rested on the large woman. Scorpia quite literally tower over the woman, and yet Weaver's sheer intimidation could still strike fear into all of their hearts. Catra's eyes bounced from Lonnie to Scorpia, thankful for Lonnie taking the blame and Scorpia for defending them, but angry for putting herself in that position. All it does is give Catra a grim reminder: she's a liability. Catra snapped out of her thoughts due to a sharp pain in her stomach. She keeled over and gasped for air. She tried to steady herself by resting her hand on the floor, Weaver's shoes being the only thing she could see. The realization dawned on her: Weaver had punched her in the stomach. "Your incompetence has rubbed off on your partners, it seems," she grabbed Catra by her hood and lifted her up to stand," if you have any sense of remorse for being the cause of their mistakes, you'll listen carefully," as Weaver turned her back to her, Lonnie stood closer to Catra so that she could steady herself. Weaver held out her tablet, tapping multiple times before sighing, "The three of you will be booked all week, Saturday being the most important night." "What's Saturday? " Scorpia asked. Catra was standing upright, silently grateful for Lonnie's assistance. "Saturday night, we're going to close a deal with a hotspot location for those looking for a… 'boost' when they go dancing, " Weaver replied with a smile on her face. "Wait," Lonnie started to speak again, " Are you talking about the Crimson Waste? I heard the boss there don't mess with the Horde!" "Precisely, " Weaver said casually, "But this time, the boss may be willing to listen." "What are you planning, Weaver?" Catra asked, her voice adding to her feelings of mistrust. "Perhaps you may have some use after all of these years," Catra hardened her glare at Weaver, her fists tightening up at those words, "You're going to close the deal." Catra's eyes widened in shock and fear. Sealing the deal meant that she'll be in thicker bullshit than she'd like to be, which could cause her to be swimming in the rivers along "Beast Island", but blowing the deal meant ending up six feet under. Either way it's a death trap and way more grief than she'd need. "Can't you drag some other punk into this? This is too much of a high risk to throw me in, "Catra was speaking a half truth. This, in the best case scenario, expand the Horde's reach across the network. Worst case scenario, Hordak has a brand new rival and the "soldiers"' lives are at risk. Weaver's smile turned into something sinister. "Then I guess you better brush up on your communication skills," she replied plainly. Catra's mind whirled. She'd be wrong not to assume that her 'mother' wants her dead, or, at the very least, proven right on her being the weakest link. A huge liability. Catra could see Weaver's lips moving, but she couldn't hear a sound. Her heartbeat was the only thing that filled her ears
The drive home was an awkward silence. Lonnie kept looking back at Catra, searching for at least a small hint at what was on her mind. Scorpia kept drumming on the steering wheel. Catra looked expressionless, staring at her missed texts from Adora. She knew Scorpia and Lonnie wanted to talk about it, but didn't want to press on. Still, she could feel Lonnie's gaze. Catra's trance broke as the car pulled up to the apartment building where she lived. She sighed, Catnip must be excited to see her again. "Catra," Lonnie called out at her as she left the car. She turned to face the brown girl, who climbed out of the passenger side to give her a tight hug. Catra stiffened, before relaxing a bit and hugging her back. "We got your back, " Lonnie whispered in her ear. She pulled out of the hug and held her by her shoulders, "no matter what. " Catra watched as Lonnie climbed back into the car, before speeding down the road. Lonnie's words replayed as the memory of her taking the blame flashed in her mind. She felt her shoulders relax and a smile worked its way to her face. She got her keys out and head to the door of the building, her head just a little bit clearer for the night.
Catra woke up to see that instead of missing one text from Adora, she had missed seven of them. She sat up and unlocked her phone, opening up the message tab to see what was so important. Her cheeks turned a bright red when she saw what Adora said. Adorka: morning! <3333Adorka: so uhAdorka: we were doing a truth or dare thing and i chose dareAdorka: and umAdorka: do u wanna go out this Saturday??? Adorka: u don't have to say yes if you dont want to aaaAdorka: i mean it be cool but aaa Catra stared dumbfounded at her phone. She started to text, but stopped at the sight of a speech balloon in the corner of the app. Adorka: o jeezAdorka: did I make it weird Adorka: aaaa im so sorry DDD: Catra quickly texted back, hoping to ease the football player's mind. Me: u didn't make it weird Me: i just woke up Adorka: oh oki Adorka: phewAdorka: butAdorka: would u want to? Catra felt her heartbeat picking up in pace as she wrote her reply. Me: I cant this Saturday Me: i gotta do a thing for work Adorka: ahAdorka: thats alright Me: butMe: Im down for next Saturday Me: if ure down for it Catra clenched her jaw, fearful that the one Saturday that she had to work had spoiled her chances in dating her all time crush. Her phone pinged, reading the message that caused her heart to flutter. Adorka: of course! Adorka: we can go out or chill and watch hulu if u want Catra laughed and hopped excitedly out of her bed. She grabbed her phone and her towel and headed for the bathroom. She opened up her music app and picked a song, Stir Fry by The Migos,then started the shower. The song began, the sound bouncing off the walls, as Catra began to strip out of her night clothes to prepare for her shower. I just gotta make it to Saturday, she thought, just make it to Saturday.
Dance with my dogs in the nighttime (wroof)
Trap ***** with the chickens like Popeye's (Popeye's)
Wednesday night. Catra, Scorpia and Lonnie are at the same corner they were before, making much more progress. A couple of guys tried to cat call Lonnie, calling her "a nice piece of chocolate ", only for them to be scared off after Scorpia politely threatened them. ("Please don't call her that, fellas! Otherwise I'd have to snap your spines from my Scorpion hug. And trust me, I give great hugs! ")
Money changin' colors like tie-dye (tie-dye)
I'm just tryna get it, I ain't tryna die (no)
Thursday night. They were doing great. It was a spot by the corner store. They made enough profit to not only grease the store owner's palms, but enough where Weaver couldn't complain. It was fine, Catra thought, until the cops got too curious. They had to bail through the back and make a beeline for an alleyway. After Scorpia called that the coast was clear, Lonnie opted to call it a night, Handing her share to Scorpia. Catra did the same, walking home afterwards.
Who told you come around? (Who?) This that trap sound (trap)
Designer clothes (clothes), fashion shows (shows)
Friday night. Scorpia was holding down some snake tongued bastard who tried to scam them out of their money. Catra was originally punching him across the face and taking pot shots at his stomach, before tagging Lonnie in and going on her phone, texting Adora.
Trap house (house) made of gold (gold)
Control the bag now (control it), no need to brag now (no need)
Ayy, put the mask down (mask), we livin' fast now (fast)
It was Saturday night. 6 PM to be exact. Catra was putting on a red collared shirt, black jeans, her blazer, and her Chuck Taylor sneakers. She checked her phone to see Lonnie's message, saying that Scorpia and Lonnie were downstairs, and Scorpia was on her way up. Catra grabbed her wallet and keys, putting the necessities in her pockets just as Scorpia walked through the door. "Ready to go? " she asked. She was wearing a burgundy shirt with her black jeans and black and white sneakers, the look tied together with a black leather jacket. Catra nodded, walking towards the door to head outside.
Finest hoes (finest), wrist froze (hoe)
We can go (we can) coast to coast (coast)
Catra came out of the building to see Lonnie leaning against the car, wearing black skinny jeans, red and white sneakers, and a dark red collared shirt. Catra would be lying if she'd say that her eyes weren't lingering on the woman. Lonnie gave her a smug smile. "You gonna close the deal by fuckin' the boss?" Catra's face flushed pink. "What makes you think that?"Catra asked, trying to hide the pink on her cheeks. Lonnie went up to her and straightened her collar. "Because you're looking like you're dressed to be doing a little more than impressing " Lonnie joked, entering the passenger side of the car. Catra blushed and rolled her eyes, opening the door to the back seat. As Catra buckled her seatbelt, she spotted a 45 millimeter gun in the seat beside her. She looked at Lonnie with a bit of confusion, while Lonnie smiled back at her. "Just for reassurance," Lonnie spoke plaintively. Catra nodded in silence, staring hard at the firearm.
Keep watchin' me whip up
Still be real and famous, yeah
Dance with my dogs in the nighttime (woo, woo, woo, wroof)
In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like it's stir fry (whip it)
In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like it's stir fry (whip it)
In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like it's stir fry (whip it)
In the kitchen, wrist twistin' like it's stir fry (wroof)
The car pulled up in front of the entrance to the Crimson Waste, the building glowing a bright red light from the sign, popular song lyrics barely muffled by the door with music blaring loudly from the inside. The valet quickly ran towards the car as Scorpia, Lonnie and Catra stepped out onto the street. Scorpia handed him a twenty dollar bill and patted him on the shoulder, while Lonnie stood on Catra's right, looking at the sign with her. "It's 7. The boss will be in the private lounge at 9," Lonnie's gaze turned towards Catra, "You think you're ready?" Catra shrugged, trying to hide her nervous energy behind a cool facade. "Do I have a choice? I fuck this up, we all feel it," Catra replied, sucking in a breath as Lonnie nodded, Scorpia standing on Catra's left. "Besides, we got a job to do, whether we want to or not." Catra walked towards the entrance of the building, nodding at the bouncer while waving the other two to go through. The bouncer held the door open as they passed through, the lights from the inside flashing out of the doorway, the bass of the music shaking the room, drowning out any other sound in the space. Catra tapped Scorpia and Lonnie and nodded in the direction of the bar. Lonnie followed while Scorpia broke away from the trio to mingle on the dance floor. Catra raised to fingers and was met with two glasses filled with a clear liquid and ice. Catra slid a glass to Lonnie, who immediately took a sip while eyeing the dance floor where Scorpia was. Catra pulled out her phone, realizing that Adora had texted her. She opened up the messages to see what she missed, when Lonnie hovered over her shoulder. "The new girl you been texting? " Lonnie asked. Catra took a sip from her glass ( thank god, its vodka, she thought) and nodded. Lonnie shook her glass gently, causing the contents to swirl, "what happened to that football player you've been obsessing over? " Catra pointed down at her phone, causing Lonnie to give a smirk. Catra idly scrolled through her messages before taking another sip. "She wanted to go out tonight, but this came first," Catra shouted at Lonnie so she could hear. Lonnie took a long sip, giggling in her cup. "What does she look like?" Lonnie shouted the question. Catra showed her a screenshot of the video chat she and Adora had a couple days earlier. Lonnie looked and nodded approvingly before aiming her focus at the entrance. Catra went back to looking at her messages and realized that Adora had sent her a photo. She was wearing a red one shoulder backrift dress, her pulled into a ponytail and finished the outfit with black flat shoes. Most of Adora's expression was hidden behind her phone, but her half lidded eyes had a bit of something behind them that made Catra's stomach flutter. She saved the photo to her phone and downed her drink, when Lonnie tapped her shoulder. "Catra? "Lonnie called. Catra looked at the woman expectantly. Lonnie's eyes never left the entrance, "Is your crush wearing a red single shoulder dress?" Catra's brows furrowed, nodding slowly. "How the hell did you know that?" Catra asked, confused. Lonnie turned Catra's stool around so that she could see the entrance. "Oh I don't know," Lonnie started up. Catra's stomach dropped at the realization . Lonnie took another sip and motioned for another glass, "Lucky guess?" Catra's heart was caught in her throat. Here her crush was, with a few other people who she assumes are her friends, in a scantily clad outfit, in a club where she has to close the deal with one of her boss's biggest competitors in terms of drug dealing. To make matters worse, she just made eye contact with Adora, is happily waving her arms and guiding her friends to the bar. Where Lonnie and her are station to meet the boss. "Oh, fuck," was all Catra could say.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Oooh, Bae's on her wayyy", Lonnie teased in Catra's ear. Catra ordered two more drinks, watching as Adora weaved through the crowd, a train of her friends right behind her. Catra picked up another glass and took another long sip before turning her head to Lonnie. "You wanna bail and go with Scorpia? " she asked her, the troupe of Adora's growing closer. Lonnie shook her head. "I wanna see how this shit plays out," Lonnie replied with a smirk. Catra rolled her eyes as Adora finally broke through the crowd and clung to the counter as if any moment she could be swept away. Catra dared to look at her, noticing how muscular her arms were in and out of the sleeves, her curvaceous body well defined by the dress, the hem of the dress hugging her beautifully toned legs, all of it accentuated by her chiseled jawline, and ocean blue eyes. Catra was feeling dizzy, and she was convinced that it wasn't from the drink. Catra finally noticed Adora's friends swarming around her. "Jeez Adora! Remind me to go with you whenever I want to bail out of a crowd," she heard one of them shout. She had pinkish purple hair and light brown skin, and wore a pink sleeveless top that was held up by her neck and draped down, a pair of white skinny jeans that showed off her curves, and a pair of white wedges. Adora smiled at her awkwardly while trying to sit on the stool away from Catra. Another girl, this one with darker skin and teal hair done up in a single braid and wore a black top with a large V split in the center, showing off her chest and black leggings, came behind the pink haired girl and rested her hand on her shoulder. "She's a quarterback, remember Glimmer? " she said. Catra took a sip of her drink. So that's Glimmer, Catra thought. She noticed a guy with them, the same skin tone as teal haired girl with a fade haircut wearing a black crop top and some blue jeans. He kept looking excitedly at the dancefloor, making Catra giggle in her cup. "Guys, there is an entire dancefloor just waiting for us to be on it! Can we go, please? " he begged. Glimmer gave him a smirk before looking at Adora. "Not yet, Bow," Glimmer replied. Adora's cheeks grew redder as Glimmer stared at her, making her stare at the counter, "Adora said she saw Catra here, and you know we have to meet the girl who can easily get Adora's full attention. " Catra's attention snapped back toward the entrance, her heart rate picking up in speed. She could feel her face heating rapidly, as Lonnie chuckled and leaned into her ear and whispered. "I think they're talking about you, girl." Catra slapped Lonnie's arm, causing her to giggle when she heard the group start up again. She turned her head slightly in their direction. "So where are they, Adora?" Bow asked, looking around, "You never showed us what they looked like. " "Yeah," Glimmer chimed in " All you said was that they had really cool eyes and was really hot." "Glimmer! " Adora shouted before burying her face in her hands to hide from her friends. Lonnie nudged Catra's shoulder, chuckling. The teal haired girl was looking and pointing in their direction. "Well if all goes to shit and Catra bailed, there's two hotties over there," she spoke in a deadpan tone. Lonnie leaned into Catra's ear again. "Y'hear that? We're hotties!" She whispered, earning a chuckle from Catra, before she took another sip. Glimmer nodded at the teal haired girl's comment. "Mermista's right. You should talk to them," Glimmer said, nudging Adora's arm. Adora's face and shoulder turned redder. She shook her head vigorously. Glimmer rolled her eyes and started shoving her towards the duo. Adora started sputtering. "No Glimmer you don't understand i can't do thi- Hiiiiii there," Adora said when she arrived in front of them. Catra let the vodka in her system try to ease her nerves as she gave a side eyed smile to Adora and Glimmer. Lonnie looked at them with half lidded eyes and a smirk. Catra could hear Adora's gulp as she spoke, "So, um my friends and I were chatting and uh," Catra's grin grew wider, "well...um…" "You guys think we're 'hot' ?" Catra replied, finally turning her head to face the two girls. Adora found the floor to be more interesting to look at as her face was hot with embarrassment, while Glimmer couldn't hide the shock on her face. Catra and Lonnie laughed as Mermista and Bow walked over. "You're Catra?! " Glimmer shouted. Catra raised the glass to her lips before winking at the girl. Glimmer's cheeks turned a light pink. "You were right Adora, " Bow said, looking at Catra in awe, "she really does have cool eyes." Adora seemed to shrink from the never ending amount of embarrassment, which admittedly, Catra enjoyed seeing. It was too cute to see her this flustered. "You were right about her being hot, but you never mentioned her having a hot friend, " Mermista added. Adora looked at her hotly. "It's because I didn't know she had a hot friend!" Adora shouted before her eyes widened in shock of her words," Oh my god I said that out loud." Satisfied with how Adora was humiliated by her friends, Catra turned her stool to face the group, her eyes half lidded and sliding her second glass to Adora. "Well, from what I've heard, you all heard of me," Catra began, placing a had on her chest,"I'm Catra, " she pointed at Lonnie, who gave a small wave, "this is my 'hot friend', Lonnie. " "Hey," Lonnie replied, winking at Mermista and Glimmer. Both girls blushed, causing Lonnie to chuckle. She patted Catra's shoulder before hopping off the stool and walking off towards the dance floor, Mermista following behind her. Catra was about to finish her drink, before she watched Adora down hers in one sip. Adora put the glass back on the counter, then called the bartender over to order another drink, unaware of her friends' and Catra's stare. The bartender nodded at her then walked away, leaving Adora with a dumbfounded group to answer to. "What?" She asked, climbing up on the stool Catra was standing next to. Catra went back on the stool she was sitting on, ready to order another drink, this time, she'd get whatever Adora got. Bow and Glimmer still gave Adora shocked and confused looks. Adora responded with an awkward smile, " You guys know i drink!" "Yeah, but like, wine and champagne. Not…. Sorry, what was in that cup, Catra? " Bow asked. Catra smiled, amused. "Vodka " she replied. Glimmer's jaw dropped. "Vodka?! You downed a glass of vodka like it was water?!" Glimmer shouted. Catra cackled, as Adora shrugged it off. "I can tolerate it. Just hate the flavor," Adora answered casually. The bartender returned with seemingly a hard hitting fruity drink. The glass was shockingly large enough to last someone the whole night, with whipped cream and cherries topped generously in the glass. Catra got the bartender's attention and pointed at the drink Adora had. The bartender nodded in understanding and stepped away, while Adora took a sip of her drink and scrunched up her face. Catra raised an eyebrow. "Too strong for you?" Catra teased. Adora stuck out her tongue. "No, i wasn't expecting how much would be in here," Adora replied defensively. Bow kept yanking Glimmer away, trying to walk towards the dance floor. "Apparently, Bow really wants to party, so we'll be out there!" She shouted, slowly being dragged away, "Adora, text me if you need me! " "Will do!" Adora called out with a smile, seemingly glad that she and Catra were alone. Catra knew what was coming next. The question was practically a low hanging fruit, waiting for Adora to grab it. "So,"Adora spoke, playing with a cherry stem, " what 'thing' do you have to do here?" There it was. The only thing that was holding her up was how should she answer it. She could tell Adora the truth, scare her off, put her life at risk, cause Adora to never want to be around her because no college athlete wants to be caught dead with a drug dealer. But, Adora trusted her enough at this point, enough to open up to her about her friends. Still, wouldn't it be easier to lie? Lie so that if anything goes down and she does get into some deep shit, Adora can get out okay? The bartender put Catra's drink in front of her. Catra responded by handing them a hundred dollar bill and waving them off when they reached for the pouch that held their change. Adora stared at her, a little bit of shock in her eyes. "Dude!" Adora exclaimed, "What job are you doing that gives you hundreds?!" Catra bit her lip and stared at the counter. Here it goes , Catra thought. She took a deep breath, then turned her head to Adora, "I...work at a club," she started to say, finally attempting eye contact with Adora, "I'm a bit up on the tier with Lonnie and our friend Scorpia. " Catra looked at the counter, unable to maintain eye contact with Adora after spouting out that sentence. She took in another breath, "He um….sells on the side, " she leaned closer to Adora, "not really supposed to talk about it," Adora nodded slowly as Catra continued, her eyes widening," he scrapes a bit off the top and adds it to our checks. Y'know, to keep us quiet. " Adora looked at her drink while Catra sipped at her own. It wasn't entirely a lie, she thought, Just replace 'club' with 'gang' and you're not far off. Adora plucked a cherry from her drink. "And the job you're doing here?" She asked, plopping the cherry in her mouth. A bit of whipped cream lingered on her lip. Catra took her thumb and dragged it slowly across Adora's lip, making the blonde's cheeks turn red. "Boss asked me to talk to the owner here," she replied casually, feeling Adora's gaze on her, "he wants to form a partnership. It goes bad: we got some intense rivalry. If it goes good, " she brought her thumb closer to her, licking off the whipped cream she swiped away,"we will have just expanded our business." Catra looked at Adora, a smile resting on her face upon realizing that Adora is turning red at her simple yet suggestive gesture. She pulled her drink closer, "Consider it payback for the photo you sent me." She took a sip of her drink and watched as Adora tried to look away from her, noticing that the blonde kept casting glances at her thumb and her lips. Adora opted to drink, taking a long sip before facing Catra again. "So, um.." she seemed to look for the right words to say,"do you like doing that?" Catra looked confused. "Doing what?" "Working with your boss? Y'know, after seeing what he does? Do you think it's good for you? "Catra looked at Adora, not sure what to say. Sure, she didn't need to worry about rent or utilities, working for Weaver and Hordak paid off everything. She also had money saved in case she can't work that night. But was it worth it? She'd been in the hospital for bullet wounds because someone wanted to con them. What if she gets killed? Not to mention that working for them mean dealing with her "mother", emotional baggage included. Catra took a long sip from her drink then looked at Adora. "It pays the bills, I guess," she finally replied. She felt hands slide up her arm and rest on her shoulder. She looked to see Adora giving her a soft smile. Catra smiled back and played with a cherry in her drink. "So, Adora, " she lifted the cherry and slowly licked the whipped cream off, "what brings you to the Crimson Waste? " "We finished our exams yesterday," Adora replied cheerfully, "Glimmer and Bow wanted to celebrate and Mermista suggested here." Catra nodded in understanding. "Drinking and dancing? Sounds like fun," Catra placed the cherry on her tongue and started eating it. She looked at Adora with a smirk, "Why aren't you dancing with your friends? " Adora blushed lightly, smiling. "I uh… wanted to spend some time with you," she replied sheepishly. Catra figured that might be the reason, yet hearing the words leave Adora's mouth like that sent butterflies in her stomach. Catra tried to fight a smile, but with the bubbly feeling in her gut and the amount of alcohol she consumed, she wound up blushing and laughing, facing down at the counter and closing her eyes, letting a warm feeling take over her. Adora had a bemused look on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked Catra. Catra looked at her, eyes half lidded and a huge smile on her face. "That's the cutest thing you've said all night,"Catra replied, causing Adora to blush and slide a strand of hair behind her ear. Adora smiled and looked at the counter before gathering the courage to look at Catra, letting the hand she rested on Catra's shoulder slide down to her forearm. It made Catra's lower region tingle just a bit, while sending a shiver up her spine. Catra started looking at Adora from head to toe, subconsciously biting her lower lip, as if her body was trying to calm her excitement. One of Adora's fingers were tracing circles in her inner forearm as gently as she could, bringing back the tingling feeling. "You um," she spoke up, taking her time to make eye contact with Catra, looking at her shirt where some of her button were exposing her chest, then pausing to look at her lips, before finally reaching her mismatched eyes. Catra swore that Adora was looking at her with a look that isn't suitable for the public, "you wanna… dance with me? " Catra thought about it. She thinks that it might be the alcohol, but Adora seems kinda into her. If she plays her cards right, maybe she can see if there's more than just the beer goggles making her feel this way. The only thing preventing her from finding out, is the fear of missing the meeting. Catra checked her phone for the time. 8:00 p.m.. she locked her phone and slid it into the inner pocket in her blazer, then slid out of the stool. She offered a hand to Adora, a smile resting on her face. Adora blushed and took her hand, slowly sliding off the stool so her dress wouldn't slide up her legs. She pulled Catra into the crowd on the dance floor, giggling in what Catra can only assume was excitement. They weaved through the crowd, the beat of the song pulsing through their ears, stopping somewhere in the center. Catra knew this one, it was This is What You Came For by Rihanna and Calvin Harris. It seemed like the song had about two minutes left into it. Adora started to shake her hips to the beat, holding Catra's hands to encourage her, while Catra decided to just rock with the beat.
Baby, this is what you came for
Lightning strikes every time she moves
Yeah
Adora shimmied along with the rhythm, giggling and smiling at Catra, who couldn't take her eyes off of her. She blushed a little bit, then started to shimmy with her.
Baby, this is what you came for
Lightning strikes every time she moves
Adora swayed her hips and moved her shoulders much more freely, the blue strobe lights making her movements appear as if it's frame by frame. Catra stopped to stare at her, captivated by the blonde. A crowd started to form around the two, cheering them on.
And everybody's watching her
But she's looking at you, ooh, ooh
Adora reached out her hand to Catra, which Catra grabbed and lifted into the air, twirling the other girl around until she was close enough and facing her. She grabbed Adora by her hips and pulled her close, their faces inches apart. Adora blushed and giggled, wrapping her arms around Catra's neck and moving with her. The crowd continued to cheer them on, Catra spotting Bow in the crowd, calling out Adora's name and screaming wildly.
You, ooh, ooh, you, ooh, ooh
You, ooh, ooh, you, ooh, ooh
You, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
When the song ended, everyone hollered at the top of their lungs, yet it wasn't loud enough to drown out the sound of Catra's heartbeat. Adora held Catra's gaze, breathing softly with the kind of hunger in her eyes Catra couldn't, or "wouldn't" to accurately state, place correctly. They were both stuck in a trance, Catra's breathing mimicking Adora's. The DJ's voice managed to snap them back into reality. "Hope ya'll got a partner for this one," he shouted, " cause it's gonna get real spicy in here!" A couple seconds, the song began, this one being Dance to This by Troye Sivan. Adora looked at Catra excitedly.
Young ambition
Say we'll go slow but we never do
Premonition
See me spendin' every night with you
"You up for another one?" She asked Catra, wrapping her arms just a little bit tighter around her neck. Catra chuckled. "I can go for another one, " she replied, twirling Adora around so that her back was facing her. She grabbed Adora's hips and pulled her in, the blonde's rear against her waist. She watched Adora's shoulder turn red, before tentatively leaning against her chest. Adora began to move, Catra following behind her.
Oh, yeah, under the kitchen lights
You still look like dynamite
And I wanna end up on you (yeah)
Oh, don't need no place to go
Just put on the radio
You know what I wanna do
Catra twirled Adora around before pulling her back in, shaking her hips along with the beat and giggling with Adora, who was happy to lean her back against Catra's chest again. They could hear Lonnie and Glimmer shout from the crowd. "Yeeeahh! Get it Catra! " Lonnie cheered. Catra leaned her head in the crook of Adora's neck and laughed. "Oh my God, look at Adora!" Glimmer screamed with excitement. Adora giggled, guiding Catra's hands back to her hips. Catra saw a light and looked for the source, only to find out that it came from Mermista, who was recording the pair dancing. "Go Adora! " she shouted at them. Catra leaned into Adora's ear. "You got some supportive friends," she whispered into Adora's ear. Adora chuckled in response, swaying her hips against her. Catra felt shivers going up her spine, tightening her grip on Adora's hips.
We can just dance to this
Don't take much to start me
We can just dance to this
Push up on my body, yeah
Catra slowly gyrated her hips against Adora's rear, while Adora put her arm around Catra's head. The two kept grinding against each other, to the enjoyment of their friends that were watching.
You know we've already seen all of the parties
We can just dance to this
We can just, we can just
Dance to this
Catra could hear them scream louder in response, Lonnie shouting "that's my best friend! ", mixing with Bow shouting "kill it Adora! ". Glimmer screaming in disbelief seemed to overpower them. Catra and Adora giggled and leaned their heads closer to each other.When she gyrated her hips again, she could have sworn she heard a small moan from Adora.
Dance to this, love
Dance to this
We can just, dance to this
Dance to this, dance to this
We can just dance to this
Catra found herself feeling dizzy again. She wanted to chalk it up to the alcohol, but part of her knew it was because she was dancing like this with Adora. She rested her head in the crook of Adora's neck again, taking in her scent and closing her eyes. How did she get from watching Adora practice on the field, to having her pressed up against her like this? Catra felt Adora's fingers run through her hair, gently rubbing at her scalp. Catra leaned into her touch, while Adora slid her other hand on top of Catra's. Catra couldn't hear the music, tuning out everything but Adora. Adora kept grinding into her, giving Catra all kinds of tingly feelings from her lower region. Catra fought off the moan sitting at the back of her throat, opting to let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't notice that the song had ended until Adora turned around in her arms. Adora wrapped her arms around Catra's neck again and leaned in close to her face, while a song meant for slow dancing played. Adora's face was red, giving Catra that same look she received before they started dancing. Catra swayed slowly, still holding onto Adora's hips, while Adora leaned into Catra's ear. "Nice moves, Chicken," Adora whispered. Catra scoffed at her, raising her eyebrows. "Says the one who needed her friend to shove her to me to say 'hi'," Catra retorted, earning a swipe on the shoulder from Adora. Catra chuckled and smiled, before noticing Lonnie trying to get her attention. She watched as Lonnie unlocked her phone and lifted it for her to see. Catra squinted at the phone to see the time. It was 8:50. "Shit,"Catra hissed as she furrowed her brows and frowned, which visibly worried Adora. "Did I do something wrong?"Adora asked. Catra shook her head and grabbed her phone. "No, I gotta go to that meeting," Catra sighed, looking at her phone to see if her "mother" texted her. To her relief, it only showed the time, 8:52 PM. She felt her chin being lifted. Adora looked into her eyes, cupping Catra's cheek and running a thumb over her lips gently, gaining the dark haired girl's full attention. "Come back when you're done," Adora said, looking at where her thumb was placed, "I can wait for you. " Catra's face blushed a bright red. She nodded, slowly tearing away from her embrace to walk off the dance floor. At the edge of it she saw Lonnie, Scorpia, and two unknown women, one tall and lanky (though shorter than Scorpia, Catra noted) and one short but had a bit of weight to her. Lonnie reached out her hand, which Catra grabbed graciously. Lonnie smirk at Catra, while Scorpia was beaming from ear to ear. Catra knew why, blushing harder and looking away from the two in favor of straightening out her shirt and dusting off her blazer. "Are you Kathleen Sanchez" the taller woman asked. Catra nodded at her pseudonym. She understood why that name was used off of the blaring dance floor. The music drowns out a single person's voice unless you're within that bubble. But a bit away from the dance floor, a fly on the wall can hear your conversation better. A fly can remember a name. It's why Weaver had them select pseudonyms before going to school, and before going on the block. It's a name that doesn't have to stick with you. Not much of a help but it can be useful for places that are a little "infested". The two women guided them to the back room entrance, where it was extremely dark and the noises of the dance floor had a hard time reaching them. The shorter woman tapped something against the wall strip, making a section turn green. There were two clicking noise, before the door open. Inside the room was a large red couch with a wide coffee table in front of it,facing a large desk that was decorated with neatly arranged trinkets and a desk lamp on it. Behind the desk was a comfortable swivel chair. Which was filled with a tall, lanky person sitting in it, a frown resting on their face. They wore a black turtleneck and two gold bracelets on one wrist. Catra took the lead, followed by Lonnie and then Scorpia. The three women sat down on the couch, facing the desk where the unknown person was sitting, the door closing tightly after they entered. All of the nervous energy Catra seemed to have gotten rid of seemingly hit her at once. Her leg was shaking a lot, while her palms went clammy. Her face, however, was stone cold, trying to keep the little bit of composure she had left together. This is it, she thought, any moment now, the Boss is gonna walk through that door, and I'm gonna have to talk for my life. The person at the desk in front of them began filing their own nails, sighing. "I'm assuming that the three of you are waiting for Weaver to arrive," they spoke. The three women looked at each other confused before looking back at them. They looked back at the trio confused, their nail filing slowed, "What? Is Weaver not coming?" "No...she sent us," Lonnie replied, Catra and Scorpia nodding slowly. The person frowned, placing the nail filer on the desk. "Then what's the codeword?" They asked. The color seemed to drain from Catra's face. "The 'codeword'? " Catra asked. Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her chest as the person sighed then spoke. "I told her that if she, as a representative of Hordak, doesn't arrive, it would be assumed as an insult to us and consequences will happen. I also told her that if she sends someone, " they eyed Scorpia and Lonnie, "or 'someones' in her place then she must tell them the codeword. Otherwise it will be taken as an insult for her lack of arrival and whoever she sent must be executed as they may have been exposed to information that was vital to the Crimson Waste. " words spoken so causally made Catra's blood run cold. The person stood up, getting ready to make their way to the door.She watched as Lonnie spoke, trying to defend them, but she couldn't hear her. She could only hear a loud beeping noise as Lonnie's voice was muffled. Suddenly the room grew warmer as Catra's thoughts began to cluster in her mind. She sent us here to get killed! one screamed. We should've known she wanted us dead! another shouted. That bitch… that bitch… "That fucking bitch!" Lonnie stopped speaking and turned to her. The person stopped midway to the door and looked in her direction. She felt Scorpia's eyes on her. Catra's blood was boiling, her fists clenched tight enough to make her knuckles go white. She glared at the floor, "that bitch wanted us dead from jump. She knew the consequences and made us think that it was all on us!" Catra was taking in shaky breaths while Lonnie inched closer to her "Catra, chill," Lonnie began. Catra looked at her, anger and rage surging through her. "'Chill'?! She set us up!" Catra practically shouting at this point, the veins on her neck popping out, "she knew we could die here! She knew if she skimped out on important information it could make a difference between life or death, and I'm supposed to chill?! Ever since Hordak put that bitch into power she's been doing shit to anyone she doesn't like, going as far asto make them vanish! Then if Hordak asks questions, she blames it on them, saying that they were weak! It was only a matter of time before it was us!" Catra flinched at the sound of a sudden clapping noise. She looked for the source, only to see the perpetrator with a smug grin. "Well now, that was the most entertaining thing I've seen all day," they casually walked back to the desk, sitting in the chair, "and who would've thought it would've given some interesting information!" Lonnie looked at Catra in horror before the person shook their head. "Don't worry darling," they said sweetly,"it won't effect any of you." "So...you won't kill us?" Scorpia finally spoke with so much fear in her voice. They shook their head again. "No, though i would've if, Catra was it? I would've if Catra didn't lose her temper and open up to me," Catra's blood ran cold again, realizing she might have made a mistake. She felt a tight grip on her forearm and saw that it was Lonnie, giving her a stern look, before she faced them, giving Catra the side eye. "What are you talking about?" She asked. They looked up at her with a grin. "I didn't know that the Horde had infighting! And so much mistrust for Weaver," they sighed, resting their chin on their palm, " delicious. " Catra took her forearm away from Lonnie and walked closer to the desk. "Don't you trust Weaver? That had to have had a hand in why your boss wanted her to come, other than that 'representative' thing." Catra watched as they laughed. "Goodness, no! You think this is the first time she let this happen? Why do you think that my boss wanted nothing to do with the Horde until now?" The idea dawned on her. Everytime someone rising up to the higher ranks of the Horde goes to the Crimson Waste, they never come back. Their relationship worsens. Weaver tells Hordak that they screwed up. He believes it and Weaver keeps her job. The cycle starts over again. "Holy fucking shit…" she hissed. "There it is, " the person replied. Catra looked at them, furrowing her brows. "Then why don't you kill us now since you got your information about the Horde? " she asked. Lonnie hit her on the arm, a look of anger and worry on her face. The person leaned back in the chair, their smile never left their face. "Because, especially after that display, I trust that the three of you want to do away with Weaver," they replied, leaning forward to grab something under the desk. They lifted up a steel suitcase and placed it on the desk, opening it with a few clicks,"and what's a better way to do away with her than to have a successful meeting with the Crimson Waste that she anticipated to be a failure?" "What?" The trio asked in unison. The person shooed Catra back. "Sit, darling. We have a lot to discuss," they spoke nonchalantly, staring inside of the suitcase. Catra went back to the couch, pulling Lonnie down with her. The person finally looked back at the trio smiling, "First and foremost, I am the representative of the boss of the Crimson Waste. My name is Demetrius Tavari, I run business relations that are of this matter," Demetrius looked at Catra, pointing a finger at her, "From what this handsome woman has told me, you are Catra, pseudonym Kathleen Sanchez, correct?" Catra nodded. Demitrius pointed at Lonnie, "you, handsome?" Lonnie blushed and cleared her throat. "Lonnie, pseudonym Leshawna Thompson," she spoke. Catra could hear Scorpia taking in deep breaths. She looked at the larger woman, grabbing her forearm and squeezing tightly. "We're okay, "she whispered to her. Scorpia looked back at her and nodded slowly, before Demetrius grabbed her attention. "And you?" concer flashed on their face for a second,"Oh goodness! You look as if you're on the verge of tears, " Demetrius got up, their heels clacking against the floor with a tissue in hand and quickly walked over to Scorpia. Scorpia blushed and looked away as they dabbed the tissues in the corner of her eyes. They smiled at her and patted her shoulder, "what's your name, beautiful?" Scorpia's cheeks turned redder. Catra could hear a grunt come from Lonnie. "Scorpia, pseudonym Audrey Smith, " she replied, a small smile on her face. Demetrius nodded then walked back to the desk. Catra looked at them, taking her hand away from Scorpia's forearm. " is 'Demetrius' your pseudonym?'" She asked them. They nodded, taking stacks of money out of the suitcase. "Yes, though for trust reasons, I won't tell you my name until after I've discussed this meeting with my boss," they put the last stack of money down, the pile being large enough to cover half of their face,"after all, we're not that close yet." "And the stacks? " Lonnie asked. Demetrius grabbed three of them and tossed one to each of them. The trio looked at them, confused. "A little 'welcome' gift from the Crimson Waste,"Demetrius explained before looking away at the wall, "that, and I lost a bet with my boss. I figured that no one in the Horde would catch wind of Weaver's mistakes and she said 'I think they will', one thing led to another and, "they gestured to the trio, who were now looking at their own stacks, "here we are." Catra looked at the money, distrustful of how easy it was. "What's the catch?" She asked. Demetrius smiled. "You'll report to Weaver as normal," they leaned in again, their eyes half lidded," But the Crimson Waste will only do business with you," they looked at Lonnie, then Scorpia, "well, the three of you. You guys understand that I'm using the royal 'you', right?" Lonnie lifted up the stack. "So this is a 'welcome partners' kinda thing?" She asked. Demetrius nodded. " Yes darling, and you can expect that biweekly," they spoke excitedly. Scorpia sat up with a bright smile. "Seriously? I can finally sign up again for new matches!" Scorpia looked at her clothes, making plans with the money she would earn,"I could put my gym membership to use again, get some much better training clothes-" Catra interrupted her with an elbow to the arm. Demetrius giggled and pulled out a stack of papers. "So, are we ready to begin?" They asked. Lonnie nodded, along with Scorpia. Catra bit her lip. "If we do this," she started up,"we rise in the ranks. We get one step ahead of Weaver. " Lonnie looked at her in shock, understanding the weight of this decision. "Another couple of inches deeper into the shit," she said, reading what Catra was thinking. Scorpia fiddled with her fingers. "I say we should," Scorpia spoke firmly. Both girls looked at her with an annoyed face. Scorpia shook her head, "Not just for the money, although it's a plus. Weaver's been making calls around that affects us. But not just her, it's also Hordak. Weaver and Hordak know that the Crimson Waste is the ultimate sweet spot, right?" Lonnie and Catra nodded. Scorpia continued,"so to have the sweet spot you gotta do business with the big wigs. Demetrius is one of them. If we do this,not only are we ahead of Weaver, we've gotten a leg up on Hordak! " Lonnie looked down as if to think about the potential, while Catra's eyebrows raised. Scorpia was right: she could easily piss off her mom by surviving. But to actually do her job better than her? Even to have key access to a location that Hordak desperately wants? Catra heard Demetrius giggle as a smirk developed on her face. "So," they spoke again, "are we ready to begin?" Lonnie nodded. Scorpia nodded. And, with a smug grin, Catra nodded.
The three girls made it to the dance floor. Scorpia said she had a lot of pent up nervous energy and Lonnie offered to dance with her. Catra cut through the dancefloor and headed for the bar. She sat down on the stool facing the counter and called the bartender over, ordering five shot glasses and the fruity drink from earlier. She handed them a hundred dollar bill and shooed them away. She wanted to save the anxiety, regret and realization of her actions for the next morning, when her hangover would be. Suddenly her vision went dark, causing her to flinch. "Guess who~!" A voice sang. All of Catra's muscles relaxed. She grabbed the hands covering her eyes and pulled them lower to her chest, while the mystery woman squealed. "Hey Adora," Catra replied, a smirk on her face. Adora giggled and nuzzled Catra's cheeks while the bartender place her drink in front of her. Adora stumbled and pulled herself into the stool next to Catra. She rested her head in her chin,leaning into the counter while staring at a confused Catra, who was giggling at her display. "You're drunk, aren't you?" Catra asked, sipping her drink. Adora pouted. "No, I'm just having fun," Adora slurred, taking Catra's drink from her. The bartender slid the shot glasses over to her one by one, getting a raised glass from Catra in gratitude. She drank two of them before looking at Adora again. "Wanna hang at the bar?" She asked the girl. Adora spun around in her stool excitedly. Catra giggled and enjoyed the moment. Tomorrow morning would be the start of her finally getting even with her "mother".
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
" Get up, you worthless brat!" Catra flinched away, huddled up into a bloody ball, covered in small cuts and bruises. A clean knife laid at her feet, while her "mother" towered over her, a bloodied knife in her grip. Catra sniffled, crying and whimpering.
"I don't wanna do this anymore, " she sobbed. Weaver angrily sighed and picked her up by her hair.
"You asked me to help you defend yourself, and I took valuable time from my day to give you these lessons, and here you are: whining about simple cuts," she leaned in close to Catra's face, her face contorted into a snarl, " so if you were in the least bit grateful for all that I've done for you, you will stand on your feet and defend yourself you miserable waste of effort. " she dropped Catra down on the floor, waiting expectantly for her to stand. Catra struggled, her knees buckling from fear and pain. Catra fell back on the floor, crying trying to huddle back into a ball before receiving a hard blow to her ribs from Weaver's shoe. Catra coughed at wheezed as her mother stepped over her, the loud clacking of her heels again the floor echoing in the room.
"A worthless little brat like you would only serve as dead weight," her mother hissed at her. Catra's vision began to blur as her "mother " continued to berate her, "you're nothing more than a mistake. A liability. "
Catra opened her eyes to see a concerned Catnip sitting on the….living room floor? Catra sat up quickly, only to immediately regret her choices, a wave of nausea and a splitting headache crashing down on her like a high speed truck going downhill. Catnip picked up a bottle in his jaws and eyed the couch carefully. He then leapt onto his owner's chest and dropped the bottle in her lap. She smiled and went to pet him, but he leapt down onto the floor and darted into the kitchen, vanished out of sight as Catra watched in confusion. She then heard tiny dragging and sloshing noises, before she saw that Catnip was trying to bring her his water bowl. Catra chuckled, then winced, rubbing her left temple. She slowly stood up from the couch then walked into the kitchen with the bottle in hand. Catnip noticed and stopped in his tracks, abandoning the bowl and leaping onto the stool then hopping on the counter. Catra reached into her refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water and closed the door. She read the bottle that Catnip gave her while scratching under his chin. Ibuprofen, she smiled and kissed his forehead. "Sweet baby boy," she cooed, him rewarding her with a loud, rumbling purr. She popped open the cap on the bottle and dumped two pills out before putting the cap back on. She popped the pills and chugged enough water to wash them down, before downing the whole bottle. She let out a burp, before placing the water bottle in a plastic bag with the others. She scratched behind Catnip's ear, lost in thought. That dream...that memory … I hadn't...dealt with it since Laura… Catra thought. She remembered back when she was in high school, when she was starting out. Laura convinced her to graduate. Laura told her she was worth loving. Laura showed her that she was capable of being better and opening up her heart. Then, she showed Laura everything: who she worked for, why she didn't feel like she was worth anything. She showed Laura the parts of herself that were supposed to be locked away forever. And as soon as she saw the door open, she flew out like a bat outta hell... she stopped scratching Catnip's ear, balling her empty hand into a tight fist, she was laughing it up with her friends the next time I saw her, calling Scorpia and me "low lives"… Catra's blood boiled at the memory. She could hear Laura's condescending laugh, see the way she looked at them, her eyes filled with pity and disgust. Then she said those words to her. "Y'know Catra, it's a shame that we didn't work out but it was for the best," Laura spoke matter-of-factly, while Catra tightened up her fists. She could barely hear her next sentence through her heartbeat, "I needed your protection and rep and once we graduated, I didn't need you anymore. At that point, all you were, was a liability." Catra saw red. She could only see blotches of her actions through her fury, seeing how Laura's pale skin turned black and blue as Catra hit her face multiple times with brute force,a sickening thudding noise coming from the victim of the onslaught, possibly meaning that her nose had broken. Catra's nails raked across skin, her hand feeling warm and sticky. She felt something dragging her away from the woman and roughly pinning her down onto the ground. Rage still shot through her veins like fire as the mysterious force pressed down on her back while she writhed and struggled to break free.
"Let me go!" She screamed, her voice sounded guttural and pained. She tried pushing and rolling, fighting to wriggle free from the force's grasp. It just placed what felt like a palm to the side of her head, her letting out a scream filled with blood thirsty fury.
"Let me go!" Catra screamed again, her breathing speeding up "let me go! Let me go! Let me go-"
"Mrrow?" Catra flinched and looked down at Catnip, noticing his worry. She looked at her fist, opening her hand wide, just to feel sharp pains in her palm. Her nails had dug deep into her palm, her knuckles gained color again, the blood flowing freely through her hand. She sighed and picked up Catnip, cradling him like he was a kitten again. He purred comfortingly, rasping his tongue against her chin. She looked down at him with loving eyes, until she realized she was wearing the same button down shirt from the meeting last night. She put catnip back on the counter as gently as possible, much to his many protests, and unbuttoned her shirt, throwing it at the couch and groaning when it was a couple inches short and landed on the ground. "What do you say i treat us to some breakfast after I shower? "She asked the feline, earning an excited meow. Catra walked towards her room, when Catnip darted in front of her, blocking her route. Catra giggled, stepping over him and grabbed the handle of the door. "Look, you don't have to wear clothes. I just put you in them so that Lonnie and Scorpia knows who's the cutest baby," she said, chuckling. She opened her room door and went straight for her dresser, grabbing her hoodie and her shorts, and took a towel, when she heard a snoring noise. Catra turned around to see a figure sprawled out on her bed. She rummaged through her drawer, slowly and quietly pulling out her handgun. She pointed the gun at the bed and slowly walked to the head of the bed, inching closer and cocking the gun. Catra aimed it perfectly at the pillow, before noticing loose blonde locks slid from underneath it. It was Adora. Catra let out a sigh of relief, lowering the gun and relaxing her muscles, before tensing up her muscles again at the sound of Adora stirring awake. She panicked, opening up the bedside drawer and tossing the gun in before slamming it shut, making Adora jump up. "I'm up! I can do it!" She screamed. Catra looked at her up and down. She was still in her dress from last night, just her ponytail is undone and her hair being a mess. Catra pieced together half of how they got here: Adora and Catra were sloshed, and made their way to Catra's place. She'd like to know how but she could guess it was through Scorpia or Lonnie. Only they would've known how to drive to her place. Catra looked back at Adora, only to see that she was distracted by something on Catra. She looked at Adora, confused. "You okay? " she asked tentatively. Adora's gaze trailed lower, her face getting redder the longer she looked. Her eyes stopped at, what Catra assumed, Catra's waistline, her pants being the only thing that prevented Adora from ogling any further. Catra chuckled, snapping her fingers, bringing Adora back to reality. "Huh?" She said, making eye contact with a smug Catra before going red. Oh i could enjoy this, Catra thought. Not only did her crush think her eyes were hot, but she just caught her checking her out. Catra wanted to take it all in before leaving the room. She just has to make it to the bathroom and she can geek out and squeal like a dummy. Catra placed a finger on Adora's forehead, smiling at her. "How'd you sleep, dork?" She asked her. Adora smiled before yawning and stretched out her muscles. Catra watched as each of her muscles flexed at bulged against the dress, making her swallow hard. "The bed was super comfy," Adora finally spoke, running her fingers through her hair, "I could go for another hour taking a nap." "What's stopping you? " Catra asked her. Adora grabbed her by her waist and stood up , making Catra blush. "I have a class tomorrow morning," she replied, pulling Catra just an inch closer to maintain her balance," and I got a paper to finish. " Catra looked at Adora's chest, avoiding her eyes and blushing, gently shoving her back on the bed . She went back over to her dresser and opened it again, pulling out a sweater and a pair of shorts and tossing them at Adora. She then walked over to the bathroom, turning to look back at Adora, who seemed confused. "I, um," she found herself blushing and stammering, trying to spit the words out, "I'm gonna shower, I can grab you a towel when I'm done. " Adora nodded with a grin. Catra went inside the bathroom and closed the door, locking it just to be sure. She then silently flailed her arms around in excitement, trying her hardest not to squeal. She looked in the mirror and saw herself mid flail, and immediately stopped, shrugging her shoulders and turning on the shower. The sound of the water must've been a switch for her brain, as the memories of the night before came rushing in: the secret plan between her crew and Demetrius, how they almost died because of Weaver- Weaver… Catra balled her fist again. She could bet that the wench didn't send her a text this morning. Probably thought the guys offed us because of her "mistake", she thought, her brows furrowed. Finally, a smile wormed its way on her face as she began to strip. Imagine her shock, knowing that I lived, the meeting went well, and only Scorpia, Lonnie and I have it on lock. As she stepped into the shower, the hot water pouring on her back, she remembered Demetrius's words before the meeting ended. "Weaver's power is stagnating the reach of the Horde's influence, all because she's afraid of a little forward thinking. Now normally, the three of you would be dead. But, I think there's more use for you than Weaver intended," their grin widened as the three of them stood up, "this plan stays between you three, myself, and my boss. So, let's redistribute some power, huh ladies?"
Catra walked out of the bathroom to see Adora and Catnip, curled up together on her bed. Adora was cooing at him and giving his head kisses, while Catnip kept purring in her arms. Catra stood and watched, a warm feeling rushing over her, one she hadn't felt in a while, mixed with embarrassment and jealousy. Jealous of Catnip getting called a good boy instead of her, and a little embarrassed for being jealous. She hyped herself up mentally and leaned against the door frame, keeping her eyes half lidded, letting a smirk rest on her face. "Hey Adora," okay, admittedly, her voice came out huskier than she expected. But, it got both Adora and Catnip's attention, so it still worked. Adora blushed, giving Catra a sheepish smile. "Sorry! He was sitting on the floor and then just leapt up and started rubbing against my hand and next thing I know I'm snuggling this sweet baby boy, " Adora explained, rubbing under Catnip's chin. Catra chuckled. "It's alright. Catnip knows that he's a charmer." Adora giggled. "'Catnip'" she asked as Catra walked towards her dresser. She grabbed a towel and walked over to Adora before handing it to her. "Yeah, he's catnip for the ladies," Catra replied, dragging out the pronunciation of ladies while shimmying. Adora raised her brows "Oh really?" She said, seemingly unamused. Catra sat down next to her with a smug smile. "It worked on you," Catra retorted, before being playfully hit by Adora with a towel. Adora stood up, walking toward the bathroom where Catra came from, Catra watching Adora's hips swayed, how her thighs and rear were perfectly outlined in the dress. It took Catnip pawing at her thigh to get her to take her eyes off of Adora, who was looking back at her, blushing lightly. "Catra? " Adora called out. Catra looked back up at her, confused. Adora's cheeks turned red, "could you help me with the shower?" Catra stared at her for a bit. "Huh?" Catra asked before it hit her,"oh! Right! Fuck, sorry!" She got up and walking over to the doorway way where the blonde was standing and moved past her into the bathroom. She felt Adora followed close behind her, hovering over Catra as she knelt down, having her hand on the faucet. "So this thing," Catra began to explain, holding the handle above the faucet,"gets your water running," Adora placed a hand on her back, causing her to flinch a bit, before relaxing into her touch,"the right is 'cold water' and the left-" she felt Adora gently rubbing circles on her back, which she is sure Adora thought would be a calming gesture but all it does for Catra is tempt her into hiking up that tight dress of hers and make a mess of her bathroom. She let out a shuddering breath and continued, "l-left is h-'hot water'." "And how do I turn it to 'shower'?" Adora asked, still rubbing circles. The tone of voice let Catra know that there wasn't any sign of hidden agenda, to her slight dismay. But the circles, oh God those circles. Catra felt her body heating up, a multitude of that addictive tingling feeling coming from her pelvis and spreading to her chest. If Adora was calling her, Catra could barely hear over the blood rushing in her ears. She started to bite her lip and close her eyes, sensing that she was just two more minutes worth of circles before finally tipping over the edge, until the circles suddenly stopped. Her eyes shot open and her hearing started to clear. "Catra? Are you okay?" She heard Adora asked. The stale air hit her once again. Shit! Was I about to…. In front of… Catra's face went hot from embarrassment. She awkwardly stared at the faucet, not daring to face Adora. "I'm fine! " she squeaked,"just a little hungry is all!" She stood up, still facing away from her. Adora touched her back again, causing Catra to shiver again. Catra tried to wriggle her way to the doorway, but Adora stopped her. "Wait! How do I turn on the shower?" Adora asked. Catra pointed to the tiny module on the faucet. "Pull that up after you turn on the water and the shower will start," she answered. She watched as Adora looked from the faucet to her, which made her blush harder. She looked at her feet to avoid eye contact, clearing her throat before speaking. "I'm, um...gonna make breakfast," she looked up at Adora, who wore a confused expression,"you want me to make you anything in particular?" Adora gave a small smile and shrugged, looking away. "I'm down for some eggs, if that's okay," she replied. Catra nodded and stepped out with Adora closing the door behind her. Catnip looked up at Catra, purring loudly. Catra smirked at him, walking towards the doorway of her bedroom. Catnip followed behind her. "Don't try and be all cute with me, little man," she said as she walked into her living room. She sighed and looked down at Catnip, who was rubbing against her legs and purring. She smiled and knelt down to gently scratch his head. "Guess we're having eggs again, Nipster."
Catra had successfully made scrambled eggs the way the omnipotent ones had desired: light, yellow and fluffy. She took Catnip's bowl and gave him a spoonful of eggs, mixed in with his cat food. "Can't have you too adjusted to people food," she told him as he gave a soft mew. As she put the bowl down on the ground, she heard footsteps entering her living room. That must be Adora , she thought. She stood up to see Adora walking toward the couch in the living room, taking a seat at the end of the couch while drying off her hair. Catra couldn't take her eyes off of her. The sweater was a bit too small for Adora, hugging her arms and waist, showing off her muscles while her breasts were outlined for her to see. The shorts, she noticed, were a bit loose on her. Her eyes looked at Adora's legs, noticing how muscular her calves were, her thighs were thick and toned. Adora dropped the towel in her lap, her hair hanging loosely. Catra swallowed hard, making a plate for herself and Adora and grabbing two forks before walking over to the couch. She handed Adora her plate before she took a seat at the center of the couch. She handed Adora the TV and Firestick remotes, before setting her plate down on the coffee table in front of the couch before picking up her phone. She saw that she missed texts from Lonnie and Scorpia. She unlocked her phone to see Lonnie's text first. Lonnie: yoLonnie: Weaver shot me a txtLonnie: she wanna know how the meeting ended Lonnie: i told her to hit u upLonnie: b ready Catra sighed and looked at the messages Scorpia sent her.
Scorpia: Catra?Scorpia: you better be drinking water Scorpia: and asking for consent!! Catra dropped her phone on the couch, blushing hard. Oh God Scorpia did drive me home, she thought. She leaned over to grab her plate, when she saw that Adora's plate was on the coffee table, completely cleared. Catra looked at her, raising a brow, causing the blonde to notice and blush. "That good, huh?" Catra asked, smiling. Adora looked at the chair arm,seemingly embarrassed. "I was hungry," Adora replied . Catra motioned her plate over to her with a warm smile. "You want mine?" Catra offered, finally getting Adora's attention,"Checking out my messages kinda...soured the mood for me." Adora shook her head. "You gotta eat too," she replied. Catra put the plate down on the coffee table again. "I'll be fine, " Catra said, ignoring the small growls coming from her stomach. Adora moved closer to her so that she could grab the plate. "Catra, you need to eat food," Adora said, her voice filled with concern,"It's a good thing that I'm here. I usually just assume you eat whenever we text." She put the plate in her lap and picked up the fork, filled with eggs, and motioned it towards Catra, "here, take a bite. " Catra leaned away. "No," Catra replied. Adora's brows furrowed. "Eat it," Adora said sternly. Catra pouted. "No!" "Catra…" "Make me," she shot back before covering her mouth, blushing at the realization of what she said. Adora smirked. "Alright, fine," she replied. She placed the plate back on the table then creeped closer to Catra, who fell backwards onto the couch in response. Adora hovered over her, spreading Catra's legs open so that she could be on top of her properly. Catra's face went red in complete and utter shock. Her body started to heat up as Adora's face came closer to her own. Oh fuck, was all Catra's mind could muster as Adora pinned her wrists above her head with one hand. Adora's legs kept her own far apart, her body smaller and thinner compared to Adora's larger, wonderfully carved, stockier frame. Catra felt a knee approaching her nether region, just stopping a few centimeters short from giving her the pressure she'd need to finish from earlier. She could feel the pressure on her wrists, sending shivers down her spine. She knew how close Adora's thigh was, and yet she was being denied the release. If she wanted to break free she couldn't, due to Adora holding her down. Adora had her right where she wanted her, and if you took the blonde's half lidded eyes and smirk into account, she knew it too. With the exception of one girl, this would normally piss Catra off. But at the moment, all it did was turn Catra on. Catra started to breathe heavily, the anticipation of Adora's next move exciting her to no end. Fuck, she thought as Adora hovered over her, God, just fucking do something, damn it! Catra closed her eyes, the excitement inching her closer to insanity. She felt something press against her lips and opened her eyes to see. It was the fork filled with eggs. Catra glared daggers at Adora, while the blonde giggled back at her. "Now, say 'ah', " Adora said sweetly. Catra growled, then opened up her mouth. She noticed Adora's cheeks turned red when looking at her teeth. She heard the blonde swallow hard, before sliding the fork into Catra's mouth. Catra closed her mouth as Adora slid the fork out. "Good girl," Adora cooed, making Catra blush. She leaned back quickly and grabbing another forkful,hovering it over Catra's mouth. She growled at Adora, who was poking out her lower lip. "Now that's not very nice," Adora said, still using a sweet tone. She moved the fork closer to Catra's lips, "C'mon. Say 'ah'." Catra turned her head away refusing to give her the satisfaction. Catra felt the distance between Adora's thigh and her center shrink, causing her face to turn red. "Catraaa~" Adora sang. Finally Catra turned her head and opened her mouth. Adora slid the for into her mouth a lot slower than before, making Catra shudder. She pulled the fork out of her mouth with a smile, "You're such a good girl." Commands usually piss her off, so why is hot when Adora does it? Seemingly confident in Catra not moving.Adora leaned back slowly get another forkful, giving Catra an opportunity to squirm free. She took the chance and feebly tried to break free, bucking her hips, before she heard a small klink and felt Adora pressing her hips down. She shuddered, feeling the heavy pressure so close to where she needed it most. She looked at Adora with defiance and a hint of want in her eyes. She figured Adora saw it, because her cheeks were red and her eyes widened, responding with a soft "oh". Adora returned the look, catra could feel Adora's spare hand playing with the hem of her shirt. She kept looking at Adora's eyes, feeling that devilishly placed thigh shift closer to her center. Catra bit her lip, waiting expectantly for Adora to give exactly what she wants- They heard a ringtone blaring loudly and vibration noises. Catra angrily sighed, yet again being denied by some dickish omnipotent force. However, Adora caught by surprise, angrily swearing under her breath. Apparently, the ringtone came from Adora's phone, seeing as how she angrily picked it up and looked at it with a scowl. I'm right with you there, Catra thought as Adora sat up and let go of her wrists. Adora motioned her head to the hallway between her room and the guest room, Catra nodding in response. She waited until Adora was completely out of the room before taking the plates into the kitchen. She didn't want to eavesdrop, okay maybe she did so she can learn who's ducking up her opportunity to be topped by Adora, but she's going to be the bigger person and play musical to drown out their conversation. She connected her speakers to her phone through bluetooth and found a chill song, Empty Cups by Charlie Puth. She turned the volume up enough to ignore Adora but low enough so she can finish her phone conversation. As the song was starting up, Adora shouted out into the living room. "Catra you better be eating your eggs!" Catra rolled her eyes before putting the empty plate in the sink. She then picked up her plate and started eating the rest of it,her cheeks turning red. I'm only eating them cause I wanna she thought, putting the now empty plate in the sink. Upon further inspection, she realized she should probably do her dishes.
Oh, the way that she dances on me makes me not wanna leave
You wanna go upstairs but you don't wanna sleep
Catra was cleaning up pan, trying to hum the lyrics to ignore the memory of Adora and her on the couch.
Oh, right now we're in a rhythm
Your boyfriend is no competition
Turn off your phone and blame it on your battery, hey
The beat was bouncy enough to get Catra to dance with it, cleaning out the bowl she used to scramble the eggs. She didn't even pay that much attention when Adora reentered the room.
Oh-oh-oh-oh
We're getting real, real close
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Can't let this moment go
She felt someone wrap her arms at her waist and looked behind her, her heart rate picking up slightly when she saw that it was Adora. She rested her head in the crook of Catra's neck, moving with her. "I see that you ate your eggs,"Adora whispered in her ear. Catra rolled her head and continued with the dishes, swaying her hips to the beat.
As long you party like there is no one at the party
Just me and you and these empty cups
If you want it like I want it
Let me take you to another room
So it's only us
Catra felt Adora dancing with her as she was washing a mug. A smile worked its way on her face as she kept humming.
Turn my television up so nobody can listen
As long you party like there is no one at the party
Just me and you and these empty cups
Adora pulled Catra away from the sink and spun her around, dancing with her in the kitchen. Catra just laughed and danced with her. Adora pulled her in close wrapped her arms around her nose, while Catra put her hands on Adora's hips.
As long you party like there is no one at the party
Just me and you and these empty cups
If you want it like I want it
Let me take you to another room
So it's only us
Turn my television up so nobody can listen
As long you party like there is no one at the party
Just me and you and these empty cups
Adora and Catra stood still, giggling after the song ended. Adora lifted Catra's chin, catching her by surprise. Catra's eyes widened as she saw Adora lean in, leaning in as well. They were centimeters apart, ready to close the space before Adora's phone rang, ruining the moment. Adora sighed and chuckled before pulling away from Catra to answer her phone. Catra looked for her phone and spotted it on the countertop, noticing that the music stopped due to her missed texts. She turned on her lock screen to find out who sent them. Her stomach instinctively dropped upon seeing the name "mother" on the screen. "Hey uh..Catra? "She heard Adora call. She looked at her, keeps her phone down. Adora looked a little bummed out about something, it seemed. Adora looked down , a small smile on her face,"Glimmer and Bow are downstairs in the car and uh...I uh," oh, Catra thought somberly. She sighed, understanding what Adora meant. She then walked over to the blonde was standing and hugged her by her waist. "How's 8 sound to you?" She asked. Adora looked confused. "It's a nice hour I guess," She replied, wrapping her arms around the brown haired girl's neck again, "Why?" "I wanted to know what time to pick you up Saturday," Catra answered casually, "y'know, for our date." Catra grinned as Adora's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. She looked down at Adora's feet and realized that she's barefoot. "You're not going going out barefoot are you? "She asked. Adora shook her head. "Glimmer and Bow brought me my sneakers and a pair of socks," she answered. "Should I ring Glitter and Bowie upstairs?" Catra asked. Adora nodded sheepishly as Catra rolled her eyes,"tell one of them to stay in the car I'll buzz them up," she said walk to the intercom by her door, "apartment 4 D okay?" Adora nodded, texting the information to them. Ten minutes went by before Catra heard her intercom ring. Catra pressed the answer button. "Who?" She called out. "Hi Catra," a male voice squeaked. Oh, it's Bow. "It's me, Bow." "Ringing you up," she shouted back, pressing the buzzer button. Adora giggled at Catra's annoyance, beckoning her over with her finger. Catra walked over, only to be stopped by Adora's hand covering her mouth. She watched as Adora kissed the back of the same hand, just before hearing a knock on the door. Adora walked over to the door blushing lightly, leaving Catra in complete silence. Catra heard Bow's voice at turned to him. "Heyo! I hope Adora wasn't too much trouble, " he said smiling while Adora was rolling her eyes and putting on her socks and shoes. Catra shrugged and smiled back. "Not really, "she replied, watching the two of them leaving, "8, right Adora ?" Adora blushed harder and nodded. "See you then!" She said, closing the door behind her. Catra waited until she heard them go down the stairs before calling Weaver. She heard the phone ring a couple of times before the sound of clacking heels echoed through the phone. "My my, I guess you found a way to work through your hangover," Weaver said through the phone. Catnip trilled, landing on the counter top looking at Catra with concern. Catra frowned as she heard her sigh, "you still have that disgusting creature in your home?" "I thought you only cared about the meeting Weaver," Catra shot back,"not how I live." "Then speak," Weaver replied sternly. Catra hated how much the wench made her flinch, even through the phone, "be useful for once." Catra grit her teeth. "The meeting went well," she started, "I can't go into detail just yet, but we secured the Crimson Waste ." "Good. I want to hear the full report tomorrow night. It's nice to see you're good for something." Catra balled her hand into a fist, remembering Demetrius's words. "the Crimson Waste will only do business with you," "the Crimson Waste will only do business with you,"
"the Crimson Waste will only do business with you,"
"Hello?" She heard Weaver say, "not listening again I see. Tomorrow night, understood?" "No," Catra growled. There was a pause on the other side of the phone. "'No'?" Weaver repeated. Catra took in a deep breath. " I have information about the meeting with the Crimson Waste that you want," Catra replied coolly, leaning against the wall next to her intercom. She looked at the ground, her brows furrowed, "you want the information? You'll see me on my time." "You insolent brat-" "Watch your tone, 'mother', wouldn't want Hordak to think that there are some things you can't control." It may not have seemed like it, but Catra's fear was through the roof. Her palms went clammy, her leg wouldn't stop shaking, and her heart rate was moving a mile a minute. She heard a sigh come through the phone. "When should we meet? " Weaver asked through gritted teeth. Catra looked at Catnip, raised her brows. "Saturday, 6:30," Catra replied. "Fine," Weaver said begrudgingly, hanging up shortly afterwards.Catra immediately texted Lonnie to bring her bike over to her place Saturday night around 5, putting her phone in her pocket afterwards. She then walked over to Catnip and picked him up, cradling and petting him with a smile on her face. "Looks like we're gonna be running shit now," Catra told him. Catnip purred in her arms.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Nippy would you please help me pick out my outfit?" Catra asked her furred companion exasperatedly, "Lonnie is gonna be here in like 20 minutes with my bike and I need to look good!" Catnip yawned at her, baring his teeth before licking his muzzle and blinking sleepily. It was 5:10 on a Saturday evening, and Catra was excited about her date with Adora. She planned out the perfect restaurant and the right hang out location. She noticed ever since the stint on the couch with the blonde that Adora started getting a little… bolder during their text conversations. Catra would attempt to mess with her, and admittedly, it would work. What she didn't expect was Adora to fire back. Catra was digging into her dresser, looking for her ripped skinny jeans while remembering the conversation.
Adorka: he acts like since he dates so many girls
Adorka: that hes better THAN ME at making them get there
Me: lol
Me: "get there"?
Adorka: you know what I mean
Adorka: >///<
Me: bust a nut?
Me: cum?
Me: dont b shy just say it lol
Adorka: hush you
Me: make me
Me: >:p
Adorka: u know i would
Me: what
Me: u gonna make me "get there"? Lol
Catra felt her face heating up, remembering the next line of text Adora sent her.
Adorka: if you're a good girl
Adorka: maybe i will.
Catra drew in a breath, trying not to imagine the titillating implications of Adora's words. She kept digging and eventually found her jeans. She showed it to Catnip, who was lazily cleaning his paw. Catra groaned in annoyance, putting on her jeans and looking for her top. She heard her phone vibrate, picking it up to see who it was. It was Lonnie, letting her know that she was downstairs. Catra sighed and picked up a black top from her drawer, the design of a cat with sunglasses and a stack of money fading slightly, the words saying 'All About My Papurr', then threw on her leather jacket and some black socks. She grabbed a pack of mint gum, her wallet and her keys and darted out of her room, running to the front doorway before stopping at her pile of shoes.
Alright, do i go for combat boots, sneakers, or heels. I'm going straight to Adora's after so no heels. The sneakers are comfy, but I wanna make a statement. Maybe combat boots might scare her though, she already is worried about the whole "club thing",
her brows furrowed,
and that was just a lie… what's gonna happen when she finds out that I'm a part of the Horde? Would she be afraid of me? Would she…
Of course she would!
A voice shot out. It sounded familiar,
Why would she stay with some lowlife drug dealer and risk it for you?!
Catra sat on the floor, allowing the voice to talk down to her.
Why would anybody want to stay with you? You'll drag them down, remember? You're a
liability
,
the voice spoke. Catra stared down at the ground, zoning out while staring at the divets in the tile floor. She thought about Adora, how her heart would thud just at the thought of talking to her. She smiled , remembering how they danced together in her kitchen, causing the belittling voice to quiet down. Then, the memory of Adora putting her hand on Catra's mouth flitted into her mind, specifically her kissing the back of her hand on her mouth. It replayed over and over into her mind, making her blush.
What did that mean,
she thought, playing with the socks on her feet. Her mind began to wonder as the action kept replaying over and over again. She snapped out of it at the feeling of her phone vibrating. When she pulled her phone out, she saw Lonnie's face and number on the screen. She hissed under her breath and answered.
"It's 5:45, what are you doing? " she heard Lonnie speak louder through the phone. She held her phone to her ear using her shoulder and grabbed her combat boots.
"Give me a minute!" She replied putting on her boots.
"I gave you 15 minutes! " Lonnie shot back.
"Then you can spare an extra one!" Catra retorted. She stood up and dusted off her pants and unlocked her door. She looked back into the living room and took a deep breath before walking outside of her home and locking the door.
Catra was on her phone, searching up the meaning of Adora's actions, when Lonnie's whistle caught her attention. She was in a dark violet sweater, black jeans and black boots, leaning against her motorcycle, a sleek, black supersport motorcycle with blood red highlights.
"Mmm, mmm, mmm. All of this for me?" Lonnie joked, making Catra blush. She motioned to Catra's motorcycle, holding out the accompanying helmet to her with a smirk.
"She give you any trouble? " Catra asked, taking the helmet from her. Lonnie shrugged in response.
"No more than the trouble you give me," she replied as Catra mounted her vehicle, strapping on the helmet and looking over to Lonnie.
"You getting on or not?" She asked her. Lonnie raised a brow and hopped onto the bike, wrapping her arms around Catra's waist. Catra revved up her engine and pulled out of the spot they were parked in. Catra was en route to Lonnie's apartment, speeding through several green lights, before stopping in front of a red light. Lonnie squeezed her waist briefly, getting her attention.
"Talk to me dummy, " she spoke.
God, am I that easy to read?
"What's on your mind?" Catra bit her lip, sighing.
"Lonnie…" she started up, looking away from her, "Lonnie, what do you think of me?" Lonnie blinked, a bit surprised by the question.
"Well, I think you're an asshole," she replied matter of factly , earning an annoyed look from Catra, "and a dumbass, a punk-"
"Alright, I get it," Catra interrupted. She heard Lonnie giggle, which strangely made her smile.
"Let me finish!" Lonnie shouted. She leaned into Catra's back, hugging a bit tighter, "I also think that you're resourceful, tough, and someone who got the power to run shit." Catra felt her helmet grow warmer at Lonnie's praise, looking down and blushing, "but, you got some major trust issues, and something about you opening up more apparently gives you hives."
And there it is.
Catra rolled her eyes and leaned back into Lonnie, waiting for the light to turn green. Lonnie took the opportunity to lean her head on Catra's shoulder,"Look, I don't know what trash Weaver likes to whisper in your ear, " she hugged Catra tighter, "but you're better than that dude. I mean, you got the Crimson Waste! " Catra laughed.
"
We
got the Crimson Waste, " she corrected her. Lonnie shrugged.
"Demetrius only listened to us because of you." Lonnie said. Catra sighed and looked down, remembering that night. Lonnie scoffed at her and gripped her jacket, "you did something that Weaver was too scared to try,
and
you lived to tell the tale! You got some power in you, dude," Lonnie said. Her constant praise made Catra blush and squirm, giving Lonnie a laugh, "I wonder if your new girl knows that you got a praise thing goin'on," she said, earning a scoff from Catra.
"Shut up Lonnie," Catra replied, chuckling, revving up her engine and riding through the now green light.
Catra pulled up in front of Lonnie's apartment. She took the keys for the motorcycle from Lonnie and turned off the bike, holding the bike steady for the darker woman to dismount. Catra followed her as she walked around the vehicle to get to the sidewalk, Lonnie stopping in front of her. She took off Catra's helmet, her hair fluffing out. Catra looked up at Lonnie to see her smirking.
"Look Catra, you're a mess," she began to explain, "but you're a mess that can organize itself when it needs to." She ran her thumb across Catra's cheek, before putting her helmet back on her head, "and you got a squad who puts their faith in you. You just gotta put that faith in us dummy." Catra smiled at her and nodded, strapping her helmet on.
"Head upstairs, okay? Tell Kyle and Rogelio I said hi, " she looked down and started up her motorcycle again, setting up the bluetooth on her helmet and her phone. Once they were both connected, she looked back up at her with a smirk, " I'll tell you how everything went when I get home." Lonnie nodded and headed to the apartment building.
"See you later, Starboy," Lonnie shouted out at her before walking into the building. Catra chuckled, then looked down at her phone. Her music app was open, waiting for her to pick a song.
'
Starboy', huh?
She thought. She searched for the song, Starboy by The Weeknd. She tapped on the song and the music began to play as she pulled out of the spot. She sped down the block, street lights whizzing by.
I'm tryna put you in the worst mood, ah
P1 cleaner than your church shoes, ah
Milli point two just to hurt you, ah
All red Lamb’ just to tease you, ah
Catra revved her engine up, making sharp turns around each corner she had to turn at, the song and the risks of falling giving her adrenaline.
None of these toys on lease too, ah
Made your whole year in a week too, yah
Main bitch out your league too, ah
Side bitch out of your league too, ah
She was coming up on incoming traffic, caused by (what she assumed) some entitled asshole in his porsche on his phone. Catra whizzed by the other cars and pulled up to him, lifting up her visor to talk to him. He looked at her and hung his phone up, a smug grin on his face.
"Hey gorgeous," he revved up his engine and wiggled his eyebrows, "impressed?" Catra scrunched up her nose.
"Not in the slightest," she said, her voice as flat as possible, making his smile vanished. She revved up her motorcycle again, the sound louder than the man's car, "by the way, the light's green,"she shrugged her shoulders,"move your car dipshit, people got better things to do than to look at your 'insecurity'," she motioned her hand at his car before putting her visor on and driving off. She could have sworn that in her rearview mirror she saw the man flustered before making a turn.
House so empty, need a centerpiece
20 racks a table cut from ebony
Cut that ivory into skinny pieces
Then she clean it with her face man I love my baby
Catra made a left on the next corner, taking a deep shaky breath. Her body seemed to know this street all too well.
I'm getting close,
she thought.
You talking money, need a hearing aid
You talking bout me, I don't see the shade
Switch up my style, I take any lane
I switch up my cup, I kill any pain
She pulled up into the spot, turning off her helmet and motorcycle while looking at her phone. 6:25. She carried her helmet on her hip and dismounted her bike, walking up to the door to the building. It really was puzzling how Weaver was a professor, but it made sense to her. Once Catra left, she'd need other people to manipulate.
Other people to control,
she thought. She watched as college students passed by her, some staring at her in awe, some in fear. There were few that were looking at her, their cheeks turning red and looking away. Catra walked over to the elevator, pressing the button while standing next to a group of girls. They were chatting but stopped when she arrived, taking in her appearance. One of them, a girl with a white blouse and blue skinny jeans, tapped her on the shoulder.
"Do you um… go here? " she asked, blushing. Catra looked at her, the girl's eyes going wide upon seeing Catra's face.
"Nah," she replied, her voice a bit huskier than usual, "here to see someone though." The girl smiled and looked down.
"They must be really lucky," she said. Catra smirked as the elevator door opened. She stepped inside and pressed the 4 button, looking back at the girl.
"I doubt it," Catra replied as the door closed.
Catra watched as a tall student walked briskly out of Weaver's office. Their face was filled with confusion and worry.
She must've conned them into selling something,
she thought. She remembered that look. The inner battles with your morals. The desperation. The amount of will being shattered.
She should know, because it happened to her. She was just as vulnerable as that kid, looking for an out. She was looking for a window for freedom. She should have known that it was just another web spun out by Weaver. She can still remember when she was new to the game, when her "mother" played her like a pawn.
Catra hated coming home from school. It meant being away from Lonnie. It meant being away from Laura. It meant….
"Maybe we can hang out just a little longer?" Catra asked Laura, laying in her lap while her girlfriend played in her hair. Coming home late meant another beating, but at least it'll be closer to the next day. Closer to where she could escape again. Laura giggled. God how she loved her laugh.
"You know I have to go home, babe," Laura replied, running her thumb across Catra's cheek. Catra sat up, looking away. She didn't want her to see her disappointment. Laura turned Catra's face back to her and gave her a peck on the lips. She smiled, cupping her face, "I'll see you tomorrow though. If you get up early enough to get to homeroom. " Catra scoffed as she watched Laura stand up and dust off her rear, before walking down the stairs, her dark curls bouncing with each step. She stopped at the last stair, looking back at Catra with a warm smile.
"See you tomorrow, hon," she said, before leaving. Catra watched as she left, wanting to leave with her, to never look back at this wretched building. Once Laura left her sights, Catra felt a stab in her gut. She knows what comes next. She turned around and walked up the steps, entering the apartment building.
"Late to school again!" Weaver shouted, slapping Catra as hard as possible, her cheek an angry red. She fought back the tears welling up in her eyes. She won't give the bitch the satisfaction. She felt her shirt being yanked towards the taller woman's face, the faintest smell of alcohol on her breath. "All you do is bleed me dry and waste my time," she hissed at the young teen, tossing her on the floor before giving her a hard kick in the stomach. Catra wheezed and coughed, gasping for air. "Mother" must've gotten her report card. Catra tried to crawl away from the onslaught, but was stopped by a shoe pressing into her back. The heel felt sharp and heavy, as if it were digging through her shirt and into her skin and flesh. She could hear the disgust in Weaver's voice.
"I've given you a roof over your head, clothes on your back and feed you the best i can, and all you do is squander every viable opportunity your presented with, " Weaver snarled. Catra felt the heel leave her back, overwhelming her with fear. She knew what it meant, that Weaver was just getting started on discipline. She watched as her heels came into her field of vision, before another swift kick landed in her stomach.The pain was strong enough to make Catra vomit, fueling Weaver's fury. She knelt down and threw a punch at Catra's cheek, making her head hit the floor. Catra's head throbbed in pain as Weaver threw another punch that landed on her mouth , splitting her lip. She groaned, trying to lift herself up, the room swirling around her. Weaver grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up . Catra staggered onto her feet, trying to find her balance.
"Let's not mention how late you've been coming home," she heard her "mother's " voice echo. The clacking of her heels sent Catra into a panic. She couldn't take anymore of the beatings. She could hear her heartbeat picking up in pace, her body trembling. The tears were working its way back to her eyes. She shut her eyes tight and balled her hand into a fist.
"I want to get out!" She screamed. The clacking stopped. Nothing but the sound of her breathing remained.
"'Out' you say? " Weaver asked. Catra heard her walk closer to her, grabbing her face. Catra opened her eyes to see Weaver glaring at her, " What ever do you mean by 'out'?" Catra swallowed hard, the vile flavor of vomit still on her tongue.
"O-out of h-here…" Catra answered, her voice filled with fear. Weaver chuckled, before punching her nose, causing blood to gush out. Catra staggered backwards, hanging her head low with her hand over her nose. She daringly glared at her "mother", her eyes filled with hatred.
"I'm afraid you're going to be stuck here for the rest of your life," Weaver spoke sweetly. The colors from Catra's face disappeared. She watched as her "mother " walked over to the living room, where she had a glass filled halfway with brown liquid waiting for her. She picked up the glass and swirled the contents around, "unless…"
"'Unless' what? " Catra hissed. Weaver turned around and smiled. Catra felt a chill run down her spine.
"You can leave. I'll buy your own apartment. It will be as far as you want it from here. If…" she trailed off. She had Catra's full attention.
"If?" She asked.
"If...you work one job for Hordak." Catra's blood ran cold. She can't mean that crazy bastard! Her "mother" chuckled into her glass, "if not, you follow under what I say, under my roof, for the rest of your days." Catra looked down. It was either die working for some drug lord, or die by her own "mother's" hands. Either way, she couldn't escape. She looked back up at Weaver, blood pouring between her fingers.
"I'll...I'll do it…"
The sound of heels clacking against the floor brought her back into the present. She didn't even realize that she was gritting her teeth. She walked inside Weaver's office, noticing how neat and organized the wench kept it, especially her desk. Catra went on high alert. Not knowing where the bitch is with a low guard isn't safe. If how you end up with a bullet in your back. She should know, that's what Weaver did to her when she started out.
She felt a presence behind her back and spun around to see Weaver, holding a glass of wine. It sucks that Catra is shorter than her, it makes it harder for her not to be afraid of the devilish woman. Weaver took a sip from her glass and glared at the smaller woman.
"You're late," she spoke with an annoyed tone, walking to her desk.
Those heels,
Catra thought
, always those damned heels.
Catra looked at the empty chair resting in front of her desk and opted to go sit in it, but Weaver stopped her, motioning to the door.
"Close the door. I don't want anyone hearing this," she told Catra. That sentence brought up memories that Catra didn't to confront at the moment. She went and closed the door, then walked over to the chair and sat in it, putting a leg up on the chair arm. Weaver scrunched her nose, "you could never sit in a chair properly. "
"It's a weakness, " Catra replied, "there was some shit head in a Porsche holding up traffic. It's why I'm late. "Weaver seemed to nod in response. If there's one thing the two of them could agree on, it's that men in expensive sports cars are a species to be hated.
"So," Weaver spoke, taking another sip, "tell me about the meeting."Catra held her helmet in her lap.
"It was discussed that the Horde will be using the Crimson Waste as a location for securing product and a point of base for future meetings. In turn, the Crimson Waste wanted something ," Catra sighed before continuing, " protection by the Horde: if the pigs get too close and Hordak bails, the Crimson Waste wants Hordak to bail em out too." Weaver nodded, beginning to rise out of her seat. Catra motion for to sit,"they also wanted to be exempt from debt collection by the Horde, stating that 'this deal is repayment enough'."
"Ridiculous! " Weaver shouted. Catra shrugged.
"They also requested fifty percent of the profit from any product we secure at the location," she finished. Weaver was seething.
"This is highway robbery! "She hissed. Catra looked calm, but her anxiety was skyrocketing. Weaver directed her ire to her, "You agreed to this?!" Catra took in a breath and sat up, facing her directly.
"You trusted me to make this deal. This is the agreement that we came to," she replied plainly. She smoothed her hair back,"To be honest, I think they're being
generous.
The Horde is asking a lot out of a business that had a low level notoriety from the police." Weaver slammed her fist against her desk.
"That has nothing to do with us!" She shot at Catra.
"It has
everything
to do with us! " Catra shot back, "the place is already bugged to high hell and back! Even considering this deal with us puts them at a higher risk! We're lucky they're only asking for profit from the deals
there!
We can live without a couple extra dollars from them!" Weaver rose from her desk, causing Catra to stand, putting her helmet on her hip. She stalked over to the smaller woman, glaring daggers at her.
"And who gives
you
the right to make
that
decision? " she growled at her, her gaze hardening. Catra gripped her helmet tight, giving Weaver the same hardened glare.
" Apparently,
you
did, Weaver,"Catra replied, her voice a low growl, "next time, don't make a choice you're gonna regret. " Catra felt a flicker of satisfaction in watching shock appear on Weaver's face. She stood there, expecting a slap across her face. It's what usually happens when she makes a comment like that. Instead, the two of them stood there, glaring at each other, until Catra turned to the door, setting up her bluetooth on her phone again.
"Where do you think you're
going
?" Weaver called out to her as Catra was opening the door. Catra was opening up her music app, before looking back at Weaver.
"Got a date tonight, " she smirked at her, shrugged her shoulders, "can't be late, y'know? " Weaver- brows furrowed. Catra put on her helmet and lifted the visor, "you understand right?" Catra lowered the visor and headed down the way she came in, resuming the song that was playing earlier. She smiled as she heard it start up again.
Look what you've done
I'm a motherfuckin' starboy
Look what you've done
I'm a motherfuckin' starboy
Look what you've done
I'm a motherfuckin' starboy
Look what you've done
I'm a motherfuckin' starboy
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
She was a mess. Every time her room was organized, she'd lose one thing, and back to the hellscape tornado it was before. Tonight, of all nights, is the worst to lose something. It was 7:30 and she couldn't seem to find her custom varsity jacket. Damn it damn it damn it! She thought,rummaging through her closet, it was hanging right on the door! As if on cue, there was a knock on her door. "Come in!" She shouted. The door clicked open, a pink haired woman peering in. "Adora? Are you-whoooaaa this is wild," she said, stepped into the room. Adora groaned and tossed her head back. "Glimmer, I'm losing my mind!" Adora whined,"I know I had my jacket in here! It was practically in my face when I didn't need it. But now that I do, it's gone!" Glimmer leaned against the doorframe. "Is she looking for her varsity jacket?!" The girls heard a voice shout out. Glimmer leaned her head out the door frame. "Yeah, have you seen it Bow?!" Glimmer shouted back. "Hallway closet!" Bow shouted back. Adora shot up in surprise. "What?!" She shouted walking to the door. Glimmer moved out of the way. "I put it in the hallway closet, " Bow replied plainly. He seemed preoccupied with watching Bob's Burgers. Adora made her way to the closet with Glimmer following behind her, a tad worried. "So you're going on a date with Catra," she began while the blonde was rummaging through the closet, "isn't it a bit too soon?" Adora leaned her head out to look at her smaller friend. "Why would it be too soon?" She asked. She looked back into the closet, sliding hangers around, "You and Bow said 'three weeks is a good enough time to wait.' Not to mention that you guys dared me to ask her." Glimmer leaned against the wall next to the closet. " I didn't dare you, Bow Mermista and Perfuma did, and I said 'three weeks or more !'" She clarified, "and didn't you say you used to see her during practice hanging out by the gates? " Adora shrugged. "Well yeah, but I don't see why that's such a huge issue," she replied, halfway through inspecting each hangar individually. "Well, didn't you say she works for a club where the guy does some illegal stuff?" Glimmer asked. Adora leaned out of the closet again, raising her brow at Glimmer. "What does this have to do with tonight?" She asked. "What if you do something that she doesn't like and then she sends some goons after you?" Glimmer asked her. Adora chuckled. "That's a reach," she replied. Glimmer grabbed her by her arm, getting the blonde's full attention. Adora held Glimmer's gaze, her purple eyes filled with concern. "Adora," she began, taking in a deep breath, "I don't want you to get hurt. I mean, we've been seeing a lot of Horde activity over here lately, and it just seems a bit suspicious that Catra works for a guy who does that kind of thing." Adora looked down, thumbing the sleeve of what she assumes by the soft fabric to be a sweater. She met Glimmer's gaze again, a small, comforting smile resting on her face. "I'll be okay, Glim," she replied, holding Glimmer's hand, "and hey, I'll even text you to let you know that I'm okay. " this seemed to satisfy the smaller woman, smiling softly. Adora looked in the closet again and saw her varsity jacket wedged between Bow's petticoat and Glimmer's puff coat. She sighed in relief as she grabbed it off of the hangar and put it on. She faced her front to Glimmer, holding her arms out wide, a nervous smile on her face. "How do I look?" She asked. Along with her jacket, she wore a white t-shirt with a camo design in the center, beige skinny jeans and white and grey socks. Glimmer rested her chin in her fingertips, pondering, the anticipation causing Adora to rock on her heels. "Like a high school jock," Glimmer finally answered. Adora smiled and rolled her eyes. "Is it good or bad?" Adora asked. Glimmer replied with a thumbs up. Adora gave a sigh of relief and made her way down the hallway to the bathroom. Once inside, she looked for her mascara on the sink counter, which was a bit cluttered with her brush, a blow dryer, her tube of toothpaste and her toothbrush. She found the mascara lying underneath her blow dryer and began applying it to her eyelashes. When she was satisfied with the results, she looked in the mirror, staring with uncertainty at her reflection. She took a deep breath and looked back into the mirror with a determined smile. This one will work out, she told herself, I'm gonna go on a date with Catra, maybe get to know her better, and I'm gonna have fun. Her smile faltered as her mind began to wander. What if she's not interested in you? The thoughts started to hit her all at once. What if she thinks you're not good enough? She looked down at her hands, her eyes filled with worry. Or maybe she'll see how boring you are. Or how you won't have enough time for her. Or- Three knocks broke her out of the cycle. She looked at the doorway to see Bow, a worried frown on his face. Adora sighed as he walked over to her, placing a palm on his shoulder. "Couldn't help but notice that you seem a little bit..on edge," he spoke softly. Adora leaned against the counter, looking down at her hands. She felt Bow rubbing her upper back gently, "You thinking about Catra?" Adora casted a small glance at Bow. "That obvious? "Adora asked in a flat tone. Bow shrugged. "I took some context clues out of the conversation with you and Glimmer," he replied, earning a sigh from Adora. He patted her shoulder, keeping his voice low, " What's on your mind?" Adora bit her lip and looked up at him. "What if… she doesn't like me?" Adora asked, " I mean yeah we were texting and there was the club, but there was like," she did a small gesture with her hand "some kind of thing to fall back on, y'know?" She drummed her fingers onto the counter, her eyes darting around, "Like, I guess she might've been interested, but that could've been the alcohol talking, right?" Bow crossed his arms and leaned his side against the counter. "Well, what happened when we were on our way to pick you up?" he asked Adora, who suddenly looked at the ground. Her face went red as she remembered pinning Catra to the couch, remembering the look she gave her. She could have sworn that Catra wanted more than some eggs. "Adora!" Bow snapped his fingers in front of her, interrupting her thoughts again. Adora looked up at him, confused. He pointed at the entrance to the bathroom, "I think Catra's here." Adora jumped. "What?! How do you even know?" She shrieked darting out of the bathroom and into the hallway leading to the living room. Glimmer was leaning her head out of the window. She poked her head back in the apartment looking at Adora. "She's downstairs," she said casually, peering back outside and leaning back in, "I think she has a motorcycle." "Dang it!" Adora hissed under her breath, running to the front door to put on her sneakers. She was surprised by a helmet being put on her head as she was tying her laces. She lifted the helmet up and turned around to see Glimmer with a smile. "Safety first!" She exclaimed. Adora blinked at her, confused. "When did you get a motorcycle helmet?" She asked. Bow walked up behind Glimmer with the same look of confusion. "Yeah, when did you get a helmet? " he chimed in. Glimmer shrugged. "I was plotting to get a motorcycle at some point, so I bought a helmet ahead of time, but my mom caught on and stopped that plan dead in its tracks. After a while I forgot to return the helmet," she replied plainly. Adora stared at Glimmer, trying to ponder how she could have possibly snuck a motorcycle past her mom, until her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out to see that she received a text from Catra, who was nicknamed "Snacctra". Snacctra: Hey Adora Snacctra: i here Adora started to text her back, Glimmer's helmet in one hand and her phone in the other. She made a slight groaning noise while typing out her message. Me: aaa im omwMe: im sorry >.< Adora quickly slid her phone into her pocket and stood up, reaching for the door handle. She took one last look back at her friends with a small smile. "I'll be back later, okay?" She said excitedly. Bow and Glimmer ran to give her a quick group hug. "Text me if you need to get out of there," Glimmer replied. Adora giggled and nodded. "We better hear all about it when you come back," Bow added in. Adora hugged both of them tightly in response. She felt their grip loosening up, giving her the signal to follow suit. Adora turned back to the door and unlocked it, opening it wide enough for her to slide through. "Lock the door for me!" She shouted at them, before walking outside into the outer hallway and descending down the flight of stairs.
"Hey Adora," she heard as she closed the front door to the building. She felt her face grow a little bit warmer from the greeting, turning around with a somewhat confident smile. "Hey Cat-" she managed to say before squealing from tripping on the uneven sidewalk. She managed to steady herself but watched as Glimmer's motorcycle helmet fell away from her. The loud "clunk" made her visibly cringe, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the next "clunk" noise, which seemed to have taken forever to happen. "Lose something?" She heard Catra say. She opened her eyes to see Catra holding Glimmer's helmet with a smirk. Adora went hot with embarrassment, looking away from Catra while fidgeting with her jacket. Nice job, Adora, Now she's gonna think you're a total dweeb! Adora thought, chewing on her bottom lip. She felt something pressing against her forehead. She looked up to see a finger resting there, her eyes following the arm it was attached to, stopping at the brown haired woman's face, a warm smile greeting her. "You gonna stand there blushing like a dork or you wanna get on this bike and go?" Catra asked, removing her finger. Adora chuckled nervously, taking the helmet back from Catra. Catra smiled and walked over to a motorcycle. It was a shiny black bike with some dark red highlights. She watched as Catra mounted the bike, leaning against the bump part of the bike. "She's a beauty, huh?" Catra said with a smile, looking down at the front wheel. Adora looked at the woman and the bike, her brown curly hair resting against her back and shoulders, her black leather jacket, her ripped jeans hugging her legs wonderfully and the black combat boots tying it altogether. Adora's cheeks grew warm as her eyes worked their way up to Catra's face, looking at her split eyes. "She sure is, " Adora sighed with a gentle smile. Catra patted the seat behind her, giving Adora a small chuckle. "You gonna gawk at it all night or hop on?" Catra said, smiling warmly. Adora felt a stone drop in her stomach. "O-on the bike?" She stammered. Sure, motorcycles are cool to look at in a movie or show, but in person she only knew them to be double unicycle death traps. Her eyes kept inspecting every inch of the vehicle, causing a lump to grow in her throat. Oh goodness, she thought, there's no seatbelts, no large metal casing to protect us, only us and this flimsy helmet! What if someone brake checks us on the highway? Or someone tries to run us off the road? What if some asshole rear ends us or some piece of shit driver T Bones us?! What if- a soft "oh" broke her out of her endless thoughts. She looked up at Catra, unknowingly chewing her lip. The dark haired woman was looking back at her with a soft expression and motioned Adora to come closer with her hand. Adora complied, walking slowly to the vehicle. "Never rode a motorbike before?" Catra asked. Adora nodded, breaking eye contact with her. She felt Catra grab her hand and gently rub the back of it with her thumb. Adora felt her face heat up. "Hey it's alright," she heard Catra reply softly, "not everyone is eager to hop on a motorcycle for the very first time. "Adora worked up the courage to look at her again, her heart skipping a couple of beats when she looked at Catra's face, beautifully split eyes with a gentle smile. She walked towards her, Glimmer's helmet resting in the crook of her arm, and attempted to mount the space behind Catra on the motorcycle. The bike swayed a bit, due to her miscalculation of how high her leg was. Then, the bike leaned to the side due to her trying to gain her balance. She felt her face grow hot again as she heard Catra giggling. "You need help with that helmet?" Catra asked. Adora shook her head. "I-I should be fine! Besides, it's a lot like putting on a football helmet," she replied enthusiastically. She slid her head into the helmet and gave Catra a double thumbs up, feeling thankful that she managed to do at least that task without embarrassing herself. Catra chuckled again. "Put your feet on the pedals and hold on to my waist, dork," she instructed. Adora nodded and placed her feet on the designated pedals on each side, before wrapping her arms around Catra's waist a little tighter than she intended. Catra put her helmet on and revved up the bike, causing it to start up and vibrate underneath them. Adora sucked in a breath and bit her lip. Oh God, she thought, we're actually riding this thing… oh jeez please don't let me get hurt on this thing! Oh jeez oh jeez oh- "Adora?" She managed to hear Catra through her thoughts. Adora noticed her arms felt a little worn. Was she squeezing her this whole time? Adora felt something grab her arm, making her jump a bit. "Hey, take it easy" Catra said soothingly, "I got you, I promise." This managed to ease Adora, like a weight being lifted from her chest. She leaned her head against Catra's back and breathed slowly as they pulled out of the parking space.
"Hey Adora," Catra said, tapping on Adora's arm, "we're here." Adora looked up to check out her whereabouts. There were bright lights and fancy restaurants surrounding the streets, with expensive cars lining each curb. Adora was confused and amazed altogether. Everything looked so clean and beautiful. Adora nearly squealed once she felt the bike moving underneath her, only to see Catra holding the handle and dismounting the vehicle. Adora followed suit, stumbling a bit onto the street. Catra kicked out her bike stand and took off her helmet, shaking out her hair. Adora was mesmerised, watching as each of her dark, thick, curly locs fell into place, her dual colored eyes opening calmly with an amused smile resting on her lips. "You gonna take off your helmet or you want me to do it for ya?" Catra asked teasingly. Adora's face flushed. Had she been staring again? Oh goodness, Catra must think she's a total dweeb! Adora tried to take off her helmet, but all she did was grunt and make her head hurt. Mild panic set in as she continued to struggle with getting the helmet off. She felt hands grabbing her wrists and looked to see Catra looking at her, her gaze giving her a sense of calm, almost as if her eyes were telling her to relax. Suddenly, she felt the helmet slide off of her head. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, hearing a small chuckle come from Catra. "I'll take that as a 'thank you'," she said, handing her helmet to her and walking to the door of the restaurant they were in front of. She looked back at Adora with a smirk. "You coming?" she asked. Adora was dumbfounded as she kept looking from the window back to her date. "We're...eating here?" Adora asked nervously. She suddenly felt underdressed, everyone else was wearing fancy dresses and suits and business casual outfits, yet here Adora was, jeans, a t shirt and a varsity jacket. Not to mention that eating at this place must be expensive- "Yeah.. I wanted to grab another spot, but every other place was a bit overbooked," Catra replied, opening the door. Adora caught up to her, fidgeting with the hem of her jacket as Catra was talking, "it's also pretty handy that I know the people who run this shop, heh." "You know the people who run this place?" Adora asked, amazed. Just what connections does Catra have? "Yeah, a lot of rich shop owners come to the club to chat with our boss and we keep a watch for their shop as an exchange," Catra replied while entering the restaurant. The interior had low, warm lighting, filled with people dressed and done up in their best with smooth jazz playing in the background. The waiter looked as if the stereotypical snobbish servant hopped out of a sitcom and got a job at this place. Adora felt out of place, even more so when the waiter looked at her and turned up his lip. She looked down at the ground, fidgeting with her jacket again, daring to cast a glance at Catra, who looked as if something offended her. Her stare was filled with a lot of anger, but she wasn't sure where it was aimed, until she looked back at the waiter, who was more interested in the book on the podium. Adora bit her lip as she watched Catra walk over to the waiter, following behind her nervously. "Hey, dipshit," Catra began, crossing her arms, "you got a problem with my date's outfit?" The waiter's eyes never left his book. "We don't serve teenagers ma'am," he replied with a sneer. Adora's eyes flitted from the waiter to Catra as she watched her date's expression shift as she crossed her arms. "Teenagers, huh,"she heard Catra hiss, before her tone turned into something more nonchalant, "alright, fine. C'mon, Adora." Adora blinked in confusion as Catra walked over to her. The waiter's face went pale and his eyes shot open. He immediately lifted his head and stared at the dark haired woman. "Did you say, 'Adora'?" The waiter asked nervously. Adora raised a brow. "Yeah, that's my name," she replied, very concerned about the fact that her name made him nervous. She watched as Catra, still facing her, had a devious smirk grow on her face while the waiter rushed up to her. "Ah! Madam!" The waiter panicked, "I am so very sorry for my behavior! You must be the one named Catra!" Catra winked at Adora and dropped her smirk before turning to the waiter. "Why yes I am," she replied, placing her hand on the chest. Adora put her hands in her pockets, biting the inside of her cheek to avoid giggling. The waiter bowed in front of Catra before standing upright again and gesturing his arm to the main dining area. "Right this way ma'am!" He replied, guiding Catra to the table. Catra waved her arm for Adora to follow, Adora quickly walking behind Catra. They walked by many other tables, each one with people in clean suits and fancier dresses than the last table. Adora kept looking around, realizing that the further they are in the restaurant the more extravagant the table setting seems to be. They stopped at a booth, donned with an extravagant bouquet and two battery powered candles, and two menus neatly closed on the table. Adora's mouth was slightly agape. H-how did she afford all of this on her salary?! She thought as the waiter bowed again . "I shall tell Mr. Dovial that you have arrived," he said. Catra nodded and handed him what appeared to be a rolled up ten dollar bill. "Thanks, I'll try to forget that little moment at the entrance for ya," she replied. As he walked away, Catra nodded at Adora, who decided to finally sit in the booth, still in awe by where they were seated. Catra sat down and opened her menu as Adora stared at her in confusion. Catra looked up from her menu and raised a brow. "Everything alright? " Catra asked. Adora leaned in, keeping her voice low. "How can you afford this place?" Adora asked. Catra shrugged. "I saved my money," she replied plainly. Adora furrowed her brows. "For how long, seven years?!" Adora retorted. Catra snickered. "No, but taking some hush money actually helps," she replied again. A waitress walked by and placed two very expensive looking glasses of champagne on the table before nodding politely and walking away. Adora was still perplexed by Catra's response, staring at her glass. "You'd need a lot of hush money for here," she replied back while Catra was taking a sip from her glass, "As far as I'm concerned you'd have to be either a trust fund baby, a big name company dude, or a drug dealer to afford this place!" Catra coughed a bit, catching Adora's eye before waving her hand at her. "Stupid drink went down the wrong pipe," she sputtered. Immediately after the coughing fit calmed down, Catra went back to looking at the menu, earning a glare from Adora. "Catra…" Adora said, causing the woman to lower the menu enough to show her eyes. Adora took a breath to prevent herself from giggling, "are you...a trust fund baby?" Catra scrunched her nose up. "You think I'm one of those spoiled brats who throws a tantrum whenever they can't get the latest Ferrari? " Catra replied with disgust. Adora gave a smirk. "I mean, it is a possibility" she mused. Catra scoffed as a waiter walked over to them, looking extremely nervous. Both girls looked at him. "H-hello, my name is R-Ron," he managed to get out. Adora looked over at Catra , who seemed to look like she was unimpressed. Ron took a deep breath and continued, "I'll be your waiter for the n-night." Adora watched as he looked at Catra and went pale. Catra cleared her throat. "First night?" She asked him. Ron looked down at his feet and nodded. Catra chuckled. "Take it easy fresh meat, I'll just take a water." Ron quickly straightened up and wrote down what Catra had asked for. He then looked at Adora, who let out a shocked "oh" as she realized that the focus was now on her. She looked at the menu in the drink section and flinched. Everything was egregiously expensive, the least expensive thing, besides a glass of water, was a small glass of rosé wine, which was $25 dollars alone. Adora looked up and down, debating on getting just a glass of water to avoid making her first date a financial nightmare. Okay, just get a water, she mentally planned, it's practically free and you can still contribute to the meal and stay within budget! Ooh, is that Merlot? She took a look at the price and her palms went clammy, $53? Alright we can easily forget about that. But maybe we can get Cabernet? It's a middle priced wine. Ugh but its dry, like REALLY dry. Maybe I should just- "Hey Adora, " she heard Catra say. She looked up at Catra to see her looking back at her with a soft smile. She blushed and looked away. "S-sorry, I -" she began to say before Catra cut her off. "You see anything you'd like to try? " she asked. Adora looked down at the word 'Merlot'. "The Merlot sounds really good, but-" "She'll have the Merlot in one of your largest glasses," Catra told Ron without a hint of reservation in her voice. Adora's eyes grew wide as Ron wrote it down and bowed quickly before walking away. Adora tried to call out to him, but he was already on his way to wait on another table. she looked back at Catra in shock, while Catra was finishing off her glass of champagne and browsing the menu. She must've felt Adora's stare because she looked at the blonde in confusion. "Something wrong?" She asked. Adora was at a loss of words, unsure of how to respond to the dark haired woman. Catra's expression changed into one of panic, "oh, did you not want the Merlot? I'll call him back so you can get a different wine-" Adora managed to cut her off. "It's not that,"she replied. That seems to calm Catra down. "Oh, then what is it?" She asked. Adora leaned in close to Catra. "It's really expensive! " she hissed, "especially when it's in a huge glass!" Catra waved her off and went back into the menu. "Don't worry about it," she replied casually, " the only reason why I'm not drinking is because I'm driving, so I want at least one of us to drink the way we want to." Adora looked down at her lap, a pit growing in her stomach. She wasn't sure how she could feasibly help with this meal now, it was way beyond her budget. "Adora, " Catra said in a concerned tone. Adora looked up to see Catra's eyes, easing her mind once again as she continued to stare. She felt something holding her hand, assuming it was Catra. She felt her body relax completely as Catra spoke, "it's okay. I promise." Adora nodded, using her free hand to drink her complimentary champagne, before looking at the menu again. "So," Adora spoke up, trying to spark a conversation, "what made you decide to come here?" She asked, looking at her date. Catra shrugged, eyes glued to her menu. "I was in the mood to stop by again," she replied plainly, "plus I wanted to make a good first impression, and what better way to do that than to take my date somewhere fancy so she can feel like a princess who met her prince charming?" Adora gave a sarcastic chuckle. "You're my 'prince charming'?" She asked in mocking disbelief. Catra's eyes lowered, making Adora regret her tone and choice of words for a second, fearing that she may have offended her. A sly smile appeared on her face as Catra looked Adora up and down as slow as possible, Adora's face growing redder with each passing second. "If you want me to be, Princess," Catra replied, her voice resembling a low purr. Adora felt her body heat up, taking a sip of the champagne to cool down. As far as she could remember, she hated being called 'Princess'. When the boys on the schoolyard did it ( "girls can only be princesses!" She'd hear him say), she knocked their baby teeth out for them and got called into the principal's office. When the popular girl in high school did it( "you're nothing more than a scared princess" she'd listen to her say), she angrily fought her in the locker room. Hell, even at football practice when that dumb piece of shit Derek would mock her on the field and in the locker room, she had to refrain from shoving her cleats up his ass because he called her 'Princess'. But when Catra said it, oh God when Catra said it. She'd let Catra call her 'princess' all night if she wanted to. "Oh!" Adora finally spoke up, remembering a question she meant to ask, "How did the meeting go?" She watched as Catra's expression changed from relaxed to surprised. She raised an eyebrow as Catra's eyes darted around and her brows furrowed. "What...meeting?"Catra asked. Had she really forgotten about it? "The meeting...with the owner?" Adora clarified. Did she really forget? Catra's eyes widened again, as if she realized what Adora was talking about. "The Crimson Waste? " she asked. Adora nodded, Catra replying with a drawn out resounding "oh!" Before she could reply, Ron had returned with their drinks. Adora was dumbfounded by the size of the wine glass. It was big enough to be a prop on one of those Lifetime Movie Network movies that Bow, Glimmer and her like to watch on Sundays, filled a quarter past the halfway point of the glass with the red, alcoholic beverage. Her eyes widened with fascination. "Holy crud, this is a lot.." Adora muttered. She could hear Catra snickering across from her as Ron stood up straight with his notepad. "And what can i get you two to eat?" he asked with a bit more confidence. Catra smiled at Adora. "Wanna go first, princess?" She offered. Adora blushed and looked at the menu. Her eyes saw the filet mignon, which sounds really great with all of this wine, but- Wait, she thought, her expression beginning to relax, Catra said it was fine! Her brows knitted again, Though, I don't want to be a huge strain. Its really nice of her to do this and I- "I'm guessing she wants the steak but doesn't wanna say anything " She heard Catra say, causing her to flinch. She watched as Ron wrote it down, muttering "filet mignon" so he understood what Catra was talking about. He looked at Adora with a smile. "How would you like it cooked?" he asked. "M-medium," she replied. Ron nodded and scribbled it down, now looking at Catra. "And for you?" he asked. Catra shrugged. "I'll do the steam salmon with a side of steak," she replied. Ron wrote the order down, took the menus, gave a quick bow, and walked away. Adora looked down at the table, her face feeling extremely warm. "You're really going all out, huh?" She said, twiddling her thumbs. She watched as Catra's hand rested on top of hers. She looked up to see her date giving her a relaxed smile. "It's no problem, honest. I just want us to have a good time," she shrugged, "and you gotta admit, it's ten times better than hot pockets ." Adora gave a small chuckle. "Okay, what is your vendetta against hot pockets? " she asked jokingly. Catra rolled her eyes and knitted her brows. "Well first , let's talk about their bullshit claim on one hundred percent 'natural ingredients'. It's not! Does sodium stearoyl lactylate sound 'natural' to you? I don't think so! And another thing," Catra began ranting about the topic, keeping an amused Adora's attention. She was smiling, enjoying her date's fixation on her hatred of hot pockets, even if she was a bit on edge about the restaurant, or about how the meeting went- The meeting, Adora thought, her smile faltering. She looked at Catra, who was still passionately ranting about the nutritional content within Hot Pockets, and smiled again, resting her chin in her palm. I'll ask her about it later, she thought.
Adora and Catra were somewhat silent as they worked through their meal. The steak was amazing, seasoned to perfection, cooked medium, allowing it to be juicy and flavorful, accompanied by the softest seasoned baked potato cubes, salted and buttered immaculately. She had to hold herself back from moaning with each bite. She was hoping the other woman wouldn't notice, until she looked up to see where her date's true focus was. Sure Catra was eating her salmon, but she was more focused on her phone. Adora grew a little bit worried, seeing as how Catra would furrow her brows every time she looked at her phone. Adora sat up in her seat. "Everything alright?" She asked. From the way Catra flinched, she probably wasn't expecting Adora to notice. That would be a dumb assumption, she thought, at least hide the phone in your lap or something. Catra looked up at her, flipping her phone over. "Just some shit with my boss, " she muttered. She was picking at her food, her mood seemingly soured by whatever happened on her phone. Adora looked down at Catra's phone before looking up at her again. "Do you...have to take care of something at the club?" She asked her. Catra started to bite her lip, making Adora worry. "Was it about the whole meeting? I had hoped that it went okay but Iwas afraid to ask and I got a bit worried too and…" Adora trailed off as Catra's gaze hardened at her phone. She paused and sighed, before smiling and looking back at Adora. "How bout I ask you something, Princess ," she began. Adora felt a weird pit in her stomach develop in anticipation, "Suppose you've been under management by some asshole. Someone who seems like before their day is right, they have to make you feel miserable." Adora looked down at her hands. She can already picture the kind of person Catra is describing. His douchey attitude. His snide remarks. His lesbophobia. His disgusting pride in making her look like a fool on and off the field, especially to potential scouters and their coach. Adora balled her hand into a tight fist around her steak knife. Derek… she thought angrily. She heard Catra chuckle lightly. "Now, what if you finally had a little... leverage on them?" She asked, picking at her fish curiously. She picked up a sizable chunk with her fork, slowly inspecting the chunk, "now, their position could potentially rest in your hands. One more snide remark," Adora watched as Catra ate the portion off of her fork, understanding what she meant. Catra lifted her glass of water, her eyes flitting over to Adora, "what would you do with that kind of power?" Adora looked at her fork, pondering the question. It'd be pretty shitty of me to something like that to someone, she thought, especially when the said person is vulnerable. Her eyebrows rose then knitted, as she rethought the question. It's not just anyone though, her grip returned to her knife, it's Derek. As far as I'm concerned with him… "I'd use it." Catra blinked. "Hm?" The split eyed woman replied. Adora added more conviction to her tone while cutting her steak. "I wouldn't tell them about the power, but I'd use it. Knock them off of their damned high horse so they can't abuse their position anymore," Adora stopped as she began to hear the knife scrape against her plate," and if that doesn't work? Then at least they'll know I'm not taking anything from them anymore." There was a silence between the two of them, bringing Adora down from her brief thought of spite and into her current space, her cheeks turning red. I can't believe I lost my cool, in front of Catra no less! She thought, ashamed. She looked up to see Catra's reaction, only to see her calm, her eyes half lidded and a single brow raised. Adora was confused. A smile appeared on Catra's face. " Interesting ," Catra replied, sending a cold chill down Adora's spine. Catra chuckled lightly, suddenly finding her appetite and began eating her salmon. Adora just watched, a small pit in her stomach developing. Why did it feel like I just… started something? She thought nervously. She looked at her plate and looked up at Catra,who was fanning her tongue, causing her to relax for a bit. It was just a dumb hypothetical, she thought again, putting her nerves at ease, I'm sure nothing will come of it.
Adora held Glimmer's helmet iin the crook of her arm as she watched Catra stretch in front of the entrance, holding her helmet up like a torch, while they were walking out, giggling a bit. The wine had made her feel a bit bubbly and warm, and Catra stretching while making sounds that resemble an impression of a cow dying was making it hard not to laugh. Catra turned her head around to face Adora, a playful smirk on her face. "Something funny, Princess?" Catra asked. Adora blushed and shook her head. "It's just the wine," she replied, not entirely lying. Catra seemed satisfied with her response, shrugging and stopping in front of her bike. Adora stopped right behind her, a tad confused. "You okay? " she asked the dark haired woman in front of her. She turned around and smiled. "That helmet there," she pointed at Glimmer's helmet, "does it do bluetooth?" Adora looked down at the helmet, slowly shaking her head. "Uh...I don't think so," she replied. She looked back at Catra, confused, "Why?" Catra took the helmet from her and placed it on top of her head. Adora tried not to giggle, while Catra held her hand out. "Can I check out your phone? I wanna try something," she said. Adora shrugged, took out and unlocked her phone, handing it over to Catra. She heard Catra snicker, which caused her to raise an eyebrow, but the gesture was lost due to Catra slid her helmet onto Adora's head. "I picked out a song for you to listen to while we ride," she said while holding up the phone,"You like Troye Sivan right?" Adora nodded. Catra tapped the left side of the helmet Adora was wearing. "The play and pause button," she explained. She slid the phone back into Adora's pocket, "press it before I pull out of the lot, kay?" Adora nodded again. Catra smiled and held down the handle bars and mounted her bike. Adora followed suit, only a bit more graceful than earlier but still causing the bike to sway nonetheless. "That's it," Catra spoke while adjusting Glimmer's helmet on her head,"I'm gonna take you to an arcade so you can practice riding this thing." Adora chuckled softly. Catra turned around and gave her a warm smile, before sliding the helmet on completely. She listened as Catra started the bike, feeling it rumble underneath her. Adora held an arm around Catra's waist and pressed the play button, doing as Catra instructed earlier. As the intro began, Adora wrapped her free arm around her driver's waist and rested her head on her back. As she listened to the words, she could feel Catra pulling out of the lot.
Remember when we first met?
You said "light my cigarette"
So I lied to my mom and dad
I jumped the fence and I ran
Adora shut her eyes tight as the song played. Her breathing went from deep breaths to a calm, steady pace.
But we couldn't go very far
'Cause you locked your keys in your car
So you sat and stared at my lips
And I could already feel your kiss
She shot her head up, blushing at the word "kiss". She looked at Catra her cheeks growing warmer.
Long nights, daydreams
Sugar and smoke rings, I've been a fool
But strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you
Adora looked around her, the streetlights whizzing by as dazzling yellows, blues, greens and reds. They rode through a metropolitan area, the dazzling lights growing in size and numbers, mystifying her.
Headlights, on me
to 60, I've been a fool
But strawberries and cigarettes always taste like
Blue eyes, black jeans
Lighters and candy, I've been a fool
But strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you
They pulled onto a highway, making a quick right turn. Adora looked to her right, seeing a glowing city across the water from the highway. Her breath was caught in her throat as she hugged Catra tighter.
And even if I run away
And give my heart a holiday
Still strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you
They got off the highway, stopping in front of a red light. Adora recognized the neighborhood, understanding that she was nearly home. Catra pulled up in front of Adora's building, kicking out the bike stand and turning off the bike. Adora watched as Catra took off the helmet, watching her hair flow out as she shook her head. Adora took off the helmet she was wearing,letting the music play as she carefully dismounted the bike, walking onto the sidewalk. "This is it," she sighed, looking at her living room window. She looked back at Catra, who was leaning against her bike with her arms crossed, a disappointed frown on her face. I guess we both don't want the night to end, she thought. Adora gave her a small smile. "I had a really great time tonight," she spoke softly. It managed to get the woman to smile. "I'm glad," Catra replied. Adora could feel her cheeks grow red as she fidgeted with her zipper.
You always leave me wanting more
I can't shake my hunger for
Strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you
"I'd uh…" she started up, begging for the words to find its way out her throat, "I'd love to um.. I mean if it's alright with you… I mean you don't have to-" "You asking me out again? " Catra asked, her smile turning into a smirk. Adora chuckled nervously. "I guess I am, heh" she replied, looking back at Catra. She watched as Catra's expression changed, her eyebrows raised, her cheeks turning red and her smirk vanishing.
Yeah, they always taste like you
You
Long nights, daydreams
"O-oh…" Catra replied softly, "okay." Adora's smile grew a bit more. "Is next Saturday okay? We can hang out at my place." She asked. Catra gave a nod and a smile, a small sharp tooth poking out from under her lip. It was probably also the wine, but Adora was giddy with excitement. "Okay! Same time okay? " she handed Catra back her helmet and took Glimmer's from her. Catra nodded again, the two smiling at each other. Adora's cheeks grew hotter as she worked up her courage.
With that sugar and smoke rings
Always taste like you
"I-I almost forgot…" she said, giving Catra a bit of confusion. She leaned over to Catra's cheek and closed her eyes, before giving her a quick, soft peck. She moved back to see a dumbfounded Catra, before heading over to the front door. "Text me when you get home okay? " She said as she unlocked the door and entered the building.
Headlights, on me (And even if I run away)
Racing to 60, I've been a fool (And give my heart a holiday)
Still, strawberries and cigarettes always taste like
Adora waited until she was at the top of the staircase on her floor before she started excitedly punching the air and squealing. Her first date was a success! She even scored a second date! She can't wait to tell Glimmer and Bow! She may have to wait till they wake up but it's still good news! Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. She turned around to see Bow and Glimmer in the doorway, Glimmer casually leaning on the door frame with an amused expression, Bow behind her with a smile. "Uh…." Adora spoke. "Judging by you not texting me and all of that , I take it the date went well?"
Blue eyes, black jeans (You always leave me wanting more)
Lighters and candy, I've been a fool (I can't shake my hunger for)
Strawberries and cigarettes always taste like you