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When they were deciding how to do this, Adora had argued against slashing the tyres. “Just unscrew the cap like the website says,” she told her comrades at the meeting. Bow nodded seriously but Glimmer scoffed. They unscrewed the caps.Then Catra figured out what she was doing that she wouldn't tell her. Adora quickly found that having someone in the group who had claws she could carve concrete with, made slashing an alot more viable method.Pssh, the front wheel of a large car said. Adora rubbed her hands together for warmth and looked up and down the street. Nobody was around. The other tyre was more quiet. When she looked back, Catra was sauntering up to her. A fang peeking out glinted in the moonlight.Neither of them said anything, but as she sidled up into Adora's side, Catra flicked an ear and glanced at the empty windshield. She shrugged minutely. The day before, she'd scoffed and said, “serves em right if they junk the fucking shitpile,” in response to the argument that someone might get hurt if they try to drive with the tyres deflated.Adora looked over at the empty windshield, and back into Catra's glittering eyes. Their sharp, clear colors seemed somehow right in the crystalline cold winter night, like some kind of gemstones and Adora felt an instant of vertigo. Catra's streetlit face flipped through questioning to cocky and Adora felt invulnerable. She grinned at her friend.Standing there being grinned at, not noticing her rising blush, Catra had an epiphany about what Adora's type was. She grinned wider, and then she pulled out one of the flyers from Adora's coat pocket. She was reaching across the taller girl's front to do it. Her body seemed to be radiating warmth, and Catra couldn't help but inhale her scent. Adora looked down on her, awestruck.With a fluttering of her eyelashes, Catra paused momentarily. She could just look up, and Adora's lips would be right there. Adora had a hand against her side. Her tail was batting with unnamed agitation. She glanced up, and Adora's lips are right there, plump, quivering, and with the tinest little gap.But...Like a flash of migraine, mean things Catra told herself when she was alone in the dark and cruel memories made her flinch. She couldn't ruin this one good thing, this is just Adora being weird about Catra being weird. Catra cursed her lying eyes and stupid sexy Adora, and tore away.The chill of the air that took Catra's place still smelled of her, and Adora involuntarily raised a hand after her. “Seems like I gotta do both of our jobs,” Catra said over her shoulder. Her flippant tone sounded a little forced, and Adora suddenly felt enormously embarassed. How had she been able to imagine that Catra had been about to kiss her? The thought was so ridiculous, she felt a little angry on Catra's behalf. She was so kind and magnanimous that she was willing to ignore Adora's weird obsession with her, Adora really didn't deserve to be around her.“Yeah, well, you can't just do the larceny,” Adora shot back. Her voice was unsteady and she told herself it was from the cold. Catra's tail turned and then flicked as she fastened the danger yellow flyer underneath a wiper. When she turned back to Adora, she didn't meet her eyes – not that Adora dared to seek hers much either.A sudden sound made them both start and jump into each other's arms. Holding eachother by the elbows and shoulders and backs, they stared wide-eyed up at... !An thick-coated and bow-backed old lady out walking a small dog, crunching across the frozen sidewalk. She looked up at them and hummed agreeably as she shuffled past. The dog stood attentively facing them for a moment, then went to sniff the base of the streetlight. They pissed at it, and the blonde and the catgirl began to relax (they did not let go of each other).Another few dozen seconds passed, until they as if by previous agreement exhaled ostentatiously, and then laughed. "Good work, lookout," Catra sneered without heat and Adora shot back, "you're the one with the supposedly amazing ears," without hesitating. They felt exhilirated and their private hopes and doubts were back on the up-and-up for the moment. They scuffled and bantered too loudly as they went off towards the next mark.When they met up with Glimmer and Bow, they found that they hadn't been quite so productive as Adora thought they had. The other buddypair of the affinity group Best Friend Squad had let the air out of the tyres of 21 cars in the two hours they had been out, and Catra and Adora had managed 26. It had felt like ten or twenty more but she chalked it up to wasting time and didn't feel guilty at all when she asserted that Glimmer was right and that slashing has it's merits. Catra laughed at their expressions and Adora thought about that moment when Catra was looking up shyly towards her. It made her forget to offer to do the social media post the next day, and then Bow had already taken it upon himself. Adora was too preoccupied with soon being alone with Catra again to care.They went home together. Adora didn't want the walk to ever end. “Oh!” she exclaimed into the dense silence between them. They had kept glancing and finding the other one already looking and looking away and blushing at each other and Adora was desperate for something to cut through the tension. In her pocket, she'd found the cash she'd brought. She pulled out the notes and smiled triumphantly. “Let's get something to eat.” Catra needed no convincing.In the light at the front of the hole in the wall late night eatery, the catgirl felt suddenly shy. She hid at Adora's side, and let her order for her. Adora's vegetarian roll, Catra's fried meat and no pickles. Adora's caffinated soda, Catra's yoghurt drink. Adora felt a wave of protective affection, and put her arm around Catra as they waited. I want to be your girlfriend, she thought fiercly at her friend.The man in the hole smiled conspiratorially at them as he handed them the bag with their rolls. They came by here often enough for him to know that they preferred to bring them with them rather than eating it on the street. He thinks we're together, they both thought, and blushed. The man smiled wider as he bid them a good night.When they approached their door, Catra stopped suddenly. She didn't want the odd closeness in the quiet, lonely cold of the dead of the city night to end. It made her feel like things were possible that ususally seemed impossible and she hadn't done the thing yet. “Wait, Adora,” she said with unsteady urgency as she gathered herself. Adora stopped and looked at her with unbothered surprise. Catra was quietly grateful for her obliviousness in that moment, though she wondered if her counterpart really was that oblivious.Catra's hand still held Adora's between them. She put her other one over it, turning it over and letting her claws catch ever so slightly against the cold-dried skin. “You should wear gloves,” she murmured and Adora made a very small noise. It was practically needy, and when Catra looked up she didn't think Adora seemed oblivious at all.They both straightened towards each other, and neither looked away. “Catra,” Adora breathed and ever so tentatively raised her free hand to brush fingers against her upper arm. Their breath mingled and rose and Adora thought she must be melting the snow around them with how warm she felt. With how much warmth seemed to be flowing out of Catra and into her. Then Catra stepped forward and angled her face up. They closed their eyes together.Catra's lips were heavenly warm. Her claws brushed against Adora's neck and up towards one ear, and she shivered. She had to press her forehead against Catra's and breathe hard before they kissed again, rougher.They went inside and up to their apartment very quickly after that, and only ate their rolls several hours later.