Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Can I have your ticket please?” Catra said in a bored voice, blowing a large pink bubble with her gum and letting it burst with a loud pop. The booth was way too hot, and this girl was way too perky for a time before noon.

“I don’t know, can you?” The blonde girl raised her eyebrows, smirking. 

Catra narrowed her eyes, leaning forward off the edge of her seat. “What, are you an English teacher or something? Give me the f- give me the ticket already.” She had not gotten very much sleep the previous night and this was testing her nerves at a level she was not prepared for.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to talk to customers like that,” Blondie said, passing the ticket across the counter. “And I’m not an English teacher, I just appreciate good grammar.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Catra waved her hand, then glanced down at Blondie’s Bright Moon University sweatshirt. “Thank you for your business, and have a nice day, Princess.” Catra passed the park wristband over the counter, into the other girl’s waiting hand.

Blondie laughed at that. “You too,” her eyes flicked down to the ticket girl’s name tag, “Catra.”

And with a bright grin, she ran off to join her friends, leaving Catra to deal with the next customer.

“Hey, Wildcat!” Catra’s friend and manager, Scorpia, joined her in the break room, arms opened wide for a bear hug that Catra reluctantly accepted. “How’s your day going?”

“Alright.” Catra shrugged, returning to rummaging through her locker for a hair tie. “They still haven’t fixed the air conditioning in the ticket booth.”

“If it’s not fixed by tomorrow, I’ll do it myself,” Scorpia promised, going over to the communal fridge and pulling out her sandwich. 

“Thanks, Scorp.” Catra finally wrestled a hair tie from her backpack and turned to face her friend with a small smile. 

“So, any interesting customers so far today?” Scorpia asked through a mouthful of sandwich. 

“Well, Entrapta tried to come steal bolts from the roller coasters again,” Catra said as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “Security got her, threatened to cut her hair off if she comes back. Same old, same old. And, uhh…. there was a girl who corrected me on my grammar?”

Scorpia’s body shook with laughter, and she literally slapped her knee. Catra hadn’t thought it was that funny. 

“What exactly did she say?” Scorpia choked out after a minute, wiping tears from her eyes. 

“Um, I said ‘Can I have your ticket please’, and she said, like, ‘I don’t know, can you?’” Maybe it was actually more funny than Catra had realized. “Like, who says that?”

“Oh, gosh, Wildcat, I-” Scorpia suddenly stopped laughing and set her sandwich down on the counter. “Wait, what did she look like? Describe her to me.”

“Blonde ponytail, big blue eyes, Bright Moon sweatshirt, about ye high?” Catra raised a hand to a point roughly two inches above her head. “Why do you want to know?”

Scorpia’s eyes brightened, and a smile spread across her face. “That’s Adora Grayskull!” 

“Her name is Adorable?”

“No, Adora , silly.” Scorpia giggled, picking up her sandwich again. “She goes to my gym. She’s very nice.” Scorpia’s gaze flicked up to meet Catra’s eyes. “And single.”

Catra laughed incredulously, backing away until her back hit the lockers. “Oh, no no no. We are not doing this again.”

“Why not?” Scorpia protested, setting her sandwich aside and walking over to grasp Catra’s hands. “You haven’t dated anyone in forever.”

“I don’t need to date!” Catra snapped, yanking her hands away and walking away from the lockers, picking up Scorpia’s sandwich and taking a huge bite. 

Scorpia ignored the antagonism and followed Catra to the fridge. “Of course you don't need to date. But don't you want to?” 

Catra shook her head, taking another bite of the sandwich. “I'm fine on my own.”

Scorpia grabbed her sandwich out of Catra’s hands and downed the rest in one bite. “We’ll see about that, Wildcat.” Then she glanced at the clock. “Didn’t your break end five minutes ago?”

“Shit, you’re right.” Catra brushed the crumbs off her red ‘Etherian Adventure Theme Park’ shirt and headed for the ticket stand once more. She paused at the doorway, looking back to meet Scorpia’s eyes. “Scorp?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t do anything crazy.”

“I won’t,” Scorpia said with a wink. This did absolutely nothing to assure Catra, but she turned and left anyways.

The next morning at eleven sharp, Catra rolled up the ticket booth window to find Adora standing there, a huge grin on her face. 

“Hi,” she said, stepping up to the counter. The Bright Moon sweatshirt was gone, replaced with denim cutoffs and a hideous blue and orange Hawaiian shirt. Her hair was still back in a Betty Cooper style ponytail.

“Hi, welcome to Etherian Adventure Theme Park, where happiness is guaranteed.” Catra smiled, closed-mouthed, as she unlocked the back door to the booth and stepped behind the counter. “ May I have your ticket?”

“Why yes, you may.” And she looked so pleased with herself that Catra wanted to lean over and smack the grin off her face. 

“You sure you’re not an English major?” Catra asked, bending down to pull out a new box of wristbands and cutting the tape across the top with one long black fingernail.

“Definitely not.” Adora reached over and placed an elbow on the small counter between them, fingers tap tap tapping to a rhythm only she could hear. “I’m pre-med.” She shifted closer, trying to catch Catra’s eye. “What about you? I haven’t seen you around at BMU.”

“I’m at Horde Community,” Catra said as she ripped open the plastic bag and pulled out Adora’s wristband. “I’m an art major.”

“That’s really cool.” It was so innocent, those big blue eyes full of genuine interest. 

Catra looked away, instead lifting Adora’s wrist and fastening the bright red band around it. “Let me know if you need any more help, and enjoy your Etherian adventure!”

“Hey, wait a second,” Adora said, not making any move away from the ticket booth. Not that it mattered, since she was the only one at the park. 

“ What .” Catra responded in a tone flatter than soda left out in the sun for two days.

“Uh, what time does your shift end?” Adora’s fingers drummed against her thighs as if she was playing the piano.

“Why do you want to know?” Catra put one hand on her hip, eyes narrowing. “Wait, you didn’t talk to Scorpia, did you?”

“No?” Adora’s forehead wrinkled. “I mean, I said hi to her at the gym this morning, but we didn’t have a conversation. Why would you think that I had? And how do you even know her?”

God, this girl was obnoxious. “She’s my manager.” Catra tactfully ignored the first question. 

“Oh.” The lines of Adora’s face softened, her gaze warming once again as she propped one elbow up on the counter. “Well then, I don’t suppose you’d want to-”

“Excuse you!” A middle aged woman with a wedge blonde haircut all but shoved Adora out of the way. “My family has been waiting for several minutes.”

“But you only just arri-”

“I’m the one here with three screaming children, and I get priority in this line, young lady,” the woman interrupted Adora.

Catra peered over the woman’s shoulder to find three children standing stiffly in silence behind her. “I’m sorry, ma’am, you can’t just cut in line. Adora was-”

“No, it’s fine. I should probably go ride some coasters or something anyways” Adora flashed a quick grin at Catra, reaching up to tighten her ponytail. “See you around.” And when the woman turned to fuss with her kid’s shirt, Adora mouthed ‘good luck’, those blue eyes sparkling. Catra watches as she leaves, her ponytail bouncing as she runs.

“Hello, ma’am?” This woman actually snaps her fingers in Catra’s face. “I’m over here.” 

“Right, sorry. May I have your tickets?”

But as she’s fixing a wristband onto some sticky child’s wrist, Catra’s mind is firmly focused on her peppiest recurring customer. Why was Adora at an amusement park for the second day in a row, right at the opening, alone? What had she wanted to ask Catra?

And most importantly, was she going to come back?

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Catra whined. She was sprawled across the couch in Entrapta’s basement, her work shirt pulled off and resting across her forehead like an artfully arranged damp towel. Entrapta was still hunched over her interconnected web of monitors and cords, typing at one keyboard with each hand.

“I will offer my advice if you allow me to record you, for posterity’s sake.”

“Ughhhhhhhh.” Catra tossed an arm over her eyes, curling her other arm around her stomach. “Fine.”

“Basement log day 13,” Entrapta said, lifting a small tape recorder to her mouth that Catra suspected had been recording the entire time. “Catra has come to me for advice, troubled by a mysterious customer named-” She paused to look over at Catra. “What is her name?”

“Adora,” Catra mumbled.

“Speak up for the recorder!” Entrapta had already turned back to her monitors, Catra no longer worthy of her attention.

“Adora Grayskull.”

Entrapta spun around in her chair, beaming. “I know her!” She squealed, flapping her hands excitedly. “We went to high school together! She always shows kind intentions toward others.”

Catra lifted her arm off her face, tilting her head back a little and smirking at Entrapta. “Yeah, she’s great, I’m sure. Polished, good grammar, possibly perfect…”

“That sounds like Adora!” Entrapta leaned in close, her attention fully captured now, hand recorder hovering over Catra’s face. “So, what is the issue?”

“There’s not an issue , exactly,” Catra explained, rolling onto her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows, her shirt falling gracelessly onto the floor. “She just… keeps coming by. The first time was two weeks ago, and she’s been by every day since then. She always arrives right when the park opens, and usually she’s by herself. She always says hi to me, and yesterday she even brought me a bagel for breakfast?”

“I do not understand the confusion. It seems as if she wants to be friends.”

“Yeah, but like, why ? What does she want from me?” Catra stuck her tongue out and growled a little. “Last week she even asked when I got off my shift, and I think she was going to ask if I was free. Like, is she some kind of assassin?”

“Based on extensive research, that sounds more like an expression of romantic interest.”

Catra laughed. “That’s obviously not right.” She glanced down to pick at a stain on the couch, and when she looked back up, Entrapta was waving a sheaf of printouts in front of her face.

“According to this pie chart, questions about scheduling indicated that the questioner wants to spend time with the person they’re asking about, and 95% of the time, this is desired to be romantic.”

“Well, Adora is the 5%.” Catra pushed the papers away from her face. “Trust me. She’s some kind of pre-med muscular blonde goddess who spends way too much money at a crappy oceanside amusement park. She’s not someone who would be interested in me.” Someone with a smile like that would never like Catra.

Entrapta watched Catra with unblinking eyes. “Subject appears to display romantic interest in discussion topic Adora Grayskull.”

“Wha- I do not!” Catra retorted, moving to a sitting position and crossing her arms over her chest. “You can acknowledge that someone is attractive without being attracted to them.”

“So, you are not attracted to Adora?”

“Mmm.” 

“Inconclusive answer. Subject is likely trying to push aside affections due to belief that it is not deserving of affection.”

“I’m she , Entrapta, not it,” Catra snapped, picking her shirt up and tugging it over her head. “And as you’re no help, I’ll go talk to someone else.”

“Once again, the subject runs from the truth,” Catra heard Entrapta say as she slammed the door shut behind her.

The day after her talk with Entrapta, Catra for once found herself stationed inside the park. Lonnie was out sick, and Scorpia had rotated the shifts so that Catra found herself scanning wristbands in the line for Etheria’s most popular rollercoaster, Eternia, which looped over the ocean and sent sea spray up into the rider’s faces (according to Scorpia, at least; Catra had never ridden it). Idly, Catra wondered if whoever was stationed in the ticket booth today would find the bag of gummy bears stuck against the underside of the counter. 

And as she glanced up at the darkening sky, Catra wondered if Adora had stopped by. 

“Catra?” 

Catra turned back to the winding line of thrill seekers, at the very front of which stood a familiar blonde, flanked by the two friends she’d come with on the very first day. 

“Hey, Adora.” Catra lifted her scanner, pointing it at Adora's nose until she winced and looked away. “Wristband, please?” 

“Why aren't you at the ticket booth?” Adora asked, holding out her wrist to be scanned. “I brought something for you, but, um. They wouldn't let me bring it in. I thought you might be sick.” She squinted down at Catra. “Are you?” 

“No, I'm fine. Just filling in for someone.” And maybe Catra batted her eyelashes a little, but it was just instinct. “Miss me?” 

“Maybe.” And maybe Adora's face was a little red, but that could have been from roller coaster fear or something. 

“You two are holding up the line,” the short Asian girl next to Adora scoffed, holding out her wrist to be scanned. “Adora, is this the girl who-” 

“Yeah, yeah, this is the girl who works at the ticket booth with the bad grammar, which is all I have said about her, right?” Adora said through gritted teeth. 

“Totally.” The black boy in a crop top next to her winked, holding out his wrist to be scanned. “Nice to meet you, Catra. We have heard absolutely nothing about you!” He winked again, and Catra barely held back a laugh, opting for raised eyebrows instead. 

“No phones, keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, the park is not liable for any injuries including those related to the ocean. Capisce?” 

“Capisce.” Adora smiled, and as she walked past Catra onto the coaster, Catra felt Adora slip something into her free hand. 

Only after the coaster zoomed away did Catra look down at the small plastic baggie of gummy bears. Catra really couldn’t resist smiling at that. Adora had seen her eating gummy bears that one time and remembered it, held it close, and did something about it. 

Maybe, like Entrapta said, Adora did want to be friends.

Even though it started to rain, Adora dragged her friends back to the coaster another six times, right up until the park shut down for the day. 

Maybe, like Entrapta said, Adora wanted to be a little bit more. 

“Catra, hi!” 

She was there again, third week in a row. She still managed to surprise Catra every day, with her bright grin and a drink clutched in her hand.

“You know you’re not allowed to bring outside food and drinks into the park.”

“Yeah, I know.” Adora set it on the counter between them, bouncing with excitement. Catra flushed slightly as their fingers brushed. “It’s for you. I didn’t know what flavor you’d like, so I just went with my favorite.”

Catra took a loud slurp. Strawberry milk tea with boba - not her style, but not something she’d ever say no to. “You don’t have to keep buying me all this stuff. I promise I do actually eat food,” she said as she took Adora’s ticket.

“I want to!” Adora twirled a strand of hair around her finger, cheeks heating. “Hey, Catra, I was wondering if you maybe-” She paused to check behind her for other customers, then continued. “Wanted to go to the park with me sometime, maybe?”

Catra raised her eyebrows. “I go to the park every day, Adora. I work here.”

“Yeah, but not with me.” Adora attempted a casual lean against the wall of the ticket booth, which did not look at all casual but did look incredibly cute. “I thought maybe it could be, like, a date.” Seeing Catra’s widened eyes, she hastened to add, “Only if you want, I mean.”

“I want!” Catra’s face burned. “I mean, um. I would like to go on a date with you, yes. And I’ll pay.”

“You don’t have to-” 

“I want to.” Now it was Catra grinning, throwing Adora’s own words back at her. “Here, give me your hand.” And Catra hated how fastening that wristband on Adora’s wrist made her heart stutter, but maybe she loved it a little too.

“When are you free?”

“Tomorrow night at 7? We can meet here.”

Adora beamed, nearly glowing with excitement. “It’s a date, then.”

“I guess it really is.”

They just smiled at each other for a moment.

And then there were other customers, and Adora was turning and running into the park, and Catra was watching until she was out of sight.

Catra could be alone, she knew, but maybe she didn’t have to be.

Chapter Text

The last time Catra had gone on a date, it had ended with her coming home two hours early and listening to music turned up so loud that her ears rang for hours afterward. A bad date wasn’t the end of the world, Catra knew that, but the rejection still smarted months later. 

Maybe that was why Catra’s apartment looked like a literal dump. 

“I mean, what do I even wear?”

She was video chatting with Scorpia, who was very patiently walking Catra through every step of the preparations. 

“What do you usually wear to an amusement park?”

“Well, usually, I wear my uniform.”

“Wildcat, stop it, you’re gonna make me mess up my nails,” Scorpia guffawed. She was painting her nails a “pale shade of pearlescent pink”, as she had described the color to Catra, her phone propped up in front of her.

“Scorp, come on, you gotta help me here,” Catra pleaded, picking up a graphic t-shirt advertising some kids show from the eighties before tossing it back into the mess with a huff. “I don’t know how to do this. I’m supposed to meet her in half an hour.” She threaded her fingers through her hair and tugged angrily. 

“Just wear something cute and casual, but a little nicer than something you’d wear to lie on the floor in Entrapta’s basement. Like…” Scorpia tapped her chin with one freshly painted nail. “Oh! Wear that shirt you wore to my birthday!”

Catra knew exactly the shirt Scorpia was talking about. A black tank top, cropped to just above the waist, and with a large white graphic of the moon splashed across the chest, it was, possibly, perfect.

“That… might actually be a good idea.” Catra held up her phone and smiled at Scorpia, whose cheeks were the same pretty pink as her nails. “Thanks.”

“Gosh, of course,” Scorpia gushed. “Wow, look at us! Video chatting, picking out clothes, swapping gossip… we’re practically best friends!”

“We are best friends, you dork.” Catra laughed as she dug through yet another pile of clothes in search of the moon shirt. 

“I was so right about you and Adora, too. I knew you’d like her.” Catra never would have thought Scorpia could sound so smug, and yet.

“Uhh, no. I don’t like her.” Catra caught sight of the moon graphic peeking out from underneath the coffee table. “A-ha! There you are.” She tugged the shirt triumphantly from its place, wincing as she smacked her head against the coffee table.

“You don’t like her even though she brings you presents and comes to the park in pouring rain and has eyes that make you think of a coral reef.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I should not have told you that,” Catra groaned. “I only said that because the reefs are dying, just like any affection Adora has for me.” She flipped her phone over and tugged her tank top over her head. 

“I know that’s not the reason you said it.” Catra could hear the goofy grin in her best friend’s voice, bordering on smug. “You like her, or you wouldn’t have said yes to this date.”

“Maybe it’s a pity date.”

“Wildcat, you wouldn’t be calling me for outfit advice if this was a pity date. And besides, that would be too mean, even for you. This girl is one smitten kitten.”

Catra grabbed her very best ripped jeans off the couch and stepped into them, trying and failing not to accidentally put her feet through the holes. “Nothing is too mean for me, and Adora is not smitten. Oh, hey, you finished!”

Scorpia beamed, wiggling her fingers in front of the camera. 

“Very nice.”

“Thank you!” Scorpia blushed yet again. “See, you’re not mean at all. You’re a regular marshmallow.”

“Guess I’ll have to be extra mean to disprove that.” Catra stepped up to her (only slightly cracked) full length mirror and flipped the phone camera around. “How do I look?”

She’d taken the time and energy to use her special curling cream, leaving her hair falling dark and loose around her shoulders. With her tanked top, threadbare jeans, and beat up black Converse, she looked like the less polished version of a twenty year old playing a sixteen year old on a CW show. 

“Oh, Wildcat.” Tears welled in Scorpia’s eyes. “Adora is going to melt when she sees you.”

“Mmm, I don’t know about that. Hair up or down?”

“Up,” Scorpia answered without hesitation. “You don’t want it getting in your face on roller coasters.”

“True.” Catra flipped the camera around, smiling at Scorpia. “Thank you for the fashion advice and the unappreciated teasing.”

“You’re welcome to both, although it seems like you aren’t actually saying thank you for the teasi-”

Catra hung up, breathing out a long sigh. 

Of course Catra liked Adora. How could she not? And it wasn’t because of the gifts; they were nice and Catra appreciated them, but that wasn’t the reason. It wasn’t even Adora’s steadfast insistence on coming to the park every day, as early as possible, rain or shine. No, it was the way Adora looked at Catra: like no matter what Catra said or what she did, Adora was going to respond. That feeling, that sense of someone just wanting her in so many ways… Catra just wanted to dive into it.

It was scary, too, though. Because no matter what Adora’s long looks held, Catra could say or do the wrong thing, and then there would be no more sunshine hair and even sunnier smiles greeting her in the mornings, reaching across the counter and brushing a thumb across the back of her hand. By moving forward, she was risking it all, and even though it had only been a short time, Catra didn’t want to think what a day without Adora could be like. 

Getting attached, truly attached, could break them apart, but it could also bring them together. Being loved was simple, but being known? That was not an easy thing to submit to.

Catra would just have to hope the risk would pay off.

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, grabbed her motorcycle helmet, and headed out the door. The best Catra could do was try, and if she wasn’t good enough…

Somehow, she’d figure it out.

The summer breeze ghosted across Catra’s bare arms as she pulled into the parking lot. It was strange to park in a customer spot, to walk up to the ticket booth and not unlock the back door and step behind the counter. It was kind of nice, actually, to not have to answer some fifty year old white man’s deliberately stupid questions or lead a lost kid back to her parents, but Catra still missed the safety and security of the barrier between her and the rest of the world.

Catra sat down on an old wooden bench, picking at a loose piece of wood and trying to ignore the inevitability of a splinter. She was ten minutes early, and yet she couldn’t stop looking around for Adora. Catra wondered what she’d be wearing, what she’d say, what she-

“Hey, Catra.”

Catra was just about to roll her eyes and say “What do you sound so smug about?” And then she looked up, and she realized Adora had every damn right to sound so pleased with herself.

Sneakers, cutoff shorts, a white tank top, and a blue and white Bright Moon letterman’s jacket. So simple, and yet so perfectly, classically Adora . It made her eyes more blue, her teeth more blindingly white, and the curves of her legs… Catra could barely pull her eyes away. Worst (or maybe best) of all, Adora’s lips were painted the brightest bubblegum pink. Every time Catra looked away, she just wanted to look back at them, to lean closer, to-

“Come here often?” She managed to choke out, standing up so that she and Adora were nearly eye level. 

Adora laughed, her eyes darting down to the thin strip of stomach visible between the hem Catra’s tank top and the waist of her jeans. “Just about every day. Want to get in line?”

Catra nodded, and they made their way to the line on the outside of the ticket booth, snaking across the wide concrete pathway. Catra felt incredibly aware of her body; what should she be doing with her hands? Should they be in her pockets, crossed over her chest, holding Adora’s? She looked anywhere but at her date, instead choosing to focus on the looping red cursive of “TICKETS” across the top. It was starting to peel around the edges, and she made a mental note to mention it to Scorpia.

“So, how do you have enough money to come here so often?” Catra asked after a tense minute of glancing at one another and quickly glancing away.

“I don’t, really,” Adora replied. Upon seeing Catra’s questioning gaze, she elaborated, “My friend Glimmer’s dad - Glimmer, the short girl with the pink hair - he’s the majority shareholder of the company that owns this park, and he has a lot of free tickets he never uses. So Glimmer’s been giving them to me, since I really like roller coasters, and, um,” she caught Catra’s eye and flushed, “other things at amusement parks.”

“Ticket booth girls, maybe?” Catra asked, resting a hand on her hip. 

Adora shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe.” 

They were at the front of the line now, and Catra reached for her wallet, only for Adora to place a hand on her arm and smile that killer smile. “I’ve got this.”

“I was supposed to pay for everything.”

“I’ve got free tickets.”

“I’ve got an employee discount!”

“Free trumps discount, Catra.”

“Someone just hand me the tickets, please?” The girl in the booth tonight was high school age and very tiny, with short, jet black hair. Her name was Frosta, Catra remembered, and she had gotten the job because her dad ran their branch of the park.

Adora slid her tickets across the counter before Catra could respond, grinning triumphantly as Catra crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

“Wristband,” Frosta said flatly, and Catra accepted the bright red strip of paper. She fixed it to the opposite wrist that Adora had, so that if they held hands, the wristbands wouldn’t get in the way. “Let me know if you need any more help, and enjoy your Etherian adventure!”

Catra could hear Frosta scoff “college kids” under her breath as they walked away.

“So.” Adora clasped her hands together and swung them back and forth, and there was that sunshine smile again as she led them into the park. “What do you want to do first?”

“I dunno.” Catra looked around at the flashing lights, the winding tracks of the coasters rising up ahead. “I haven’t really done anything here.”

Adora’s eyes widened, and she stopped dead in her tracks. “ Nothing? ”

Catra thought back, trying to remember any time she’d spent in the park off the clock. “I guess Scorpia and I went on the carousel one time at the beginning of the summer? And I get cotton candy with my discount sometimes.”

“That’s insane.” Adora shook her head. “If I worked here, I’d spend as much time on the rides as I could.”

“I’m usually too tired at the end of my shift to do anything like that,” Catra shrugged.

“That’s fair,” Adora nodded. “But that’s not going to happen today.” A grin split her face, and she grabbed Catra’s hand, tugging her forward. “Come on! I have to show you everything.” And they were off and running, their footsteps hitting the ground in time with the beating of Catra’s heart. 

“So,” Adora started again, drumming lightly against the metal railing. They were in line for Eternia now, and Adora had regrettably let go of Catra’s hand. The experience of the line was unfamiliar, too; Catra had been in lines for things like the grocery store or the post office, but they didn’t hold the same charged energy as roller coaster lines. Everyone was gathered together, waiting for a thrill. The energy was infectious, and Catra smiled despite herself. “You’ve never been on Eternia before?”

“Never.”

Adora smiled even wider, bouncing slightly as they took a few steps forward up the staircase. “You’re gonna love it. It’s my very favorite, and, really, you’re supposed to save the best for last, but I can’t resist riding it first thing.”

And Catra nearly rested her hand against her cheek and swooned, because Adora was just so cute .

“I’m excited,” she said instead, resting a hand on the railing. “I haven’t been on a roller coaster since, like, seventh grade.” Catra left out how she’d thrown up in the bushes afterwards. This time she hadn’t made the mistake of eating two corn dogs and funnel cake beforehand. 

“Wow,” Adora laughed. “I couldn’t live that long without them. It’s such a rush, it’s really like nothing else.”

They were walking forward again, and Catra felt a lurch in her stomach as the employee with the scanner came into view. “There haven’t been any injuries on Eternia, have there?” She asked, her voice a little tight.

“Catra, are you... scared?”

“What? No.” Catra laughed. “I just think it’s important to remain well-informed about one’s activities.”

“Well, I don’t think there’s been a recorded instance of injury in three years,” Adora replied, and they were moving forward once more. Now the cars themselves were visible. “But we don’t have to ride it if you don’t want to. We can do something else.”

“I want to,” Catra said hurriedly. “I’m just a little… nervous.”

“Don’t worry, you can hold my hand.” Adora winked, and Catra was actually glad that they reached the scanner right then, because that meant Adora had to turn around before she saw Catra’s burning face. 

And then there was the beep of the scanner on Catra’s wristband, and she was shuffling forward on autopilot, following Adora into the very second row of the car, which was nearly as bad as the first.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Adora asked again as she pulled the restraints down over her head. “We can still get off.”

“I’m sure.” Catra gulped, looking up at the steep rise in front of them, then pulled the restraint down and clipped it into place before she could hesitate any longer. “Adora?”

“Yeah?” 

“Could I hold your hand?” Catra blushed as the words left her mouth. 

Adora’s eyes sparkled, and instead of responding, she slipped her hand into Catra’s, gripping tightly. 

“Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times,” came the announcement, and then the car began to move, and Catra’s heart was pounding, and she knew her hand was sweaty but couldn’t bring herself to let go.

They were moving up, up, up, the rhythm of the chains beneath them growing faster and louder as they approached the crest of the hill, and Catra could hear the voice of her eleventh grade physics teacher echoing in her ears as she looked out over the park and the ocean, gaping and endless, practically right beside her now.

What goes up must come down.

Suddenly, both faster and slower than Catra could comprehend, they were speeding down the track, and she couldn’t hold it all in her mind at once, just as a collection of moments: salty ocean spray in her face as they zoomed over the water, her hair whipping across her face, her eyes watering from the force of the drop, the hem of her shirt flipping up over her face as they went upside down, the press of Adora’s skin against hers, and most of all, the look on Adora’s face the entire time. If joy could be condensed into a single person in a single moment, it would be Adora in this moment, flushed and starry eyed and smiling the entire time.

“How was it?” Adora asked as Catra tripped on her way out of the car, her legs wobbly and vision slightly fuzzy. They’d let go of one another to undo their restraints, but as they walked down the exit stairs, Catra found that her hand had made its way back to Adora’s. “You were screaming a lot.”

“Can we go again?” Catra asked in response, and yes, maybe her voice was a little hoarse, but she didn’t care.

Adora’s whole face lit up, and she squeezed Catra’s hand, pulling them back into the line.

Little did Adora know that it wasn’t because of how much Catra had liked the roller coaster, but because of that look on Adora’s face. Catra would do anything to see that look again.

And just for that, they went on Eternia four more times.

Finally, they stumbled down the stairs, laughing uncontrollably about the couple sitting in front of them. There was salt crusted in their hair, their clothes damp with sea spray. Their hands were still linked despite the heat of the night, and the sky above them had darkened, constellations of stars beginning to blink into place. 

“He looked so shocked when he stepped off.” Catra was actually giggling, her free arm pressed to her stomach as she nearly doubled over with laughter, Adora just barely managing to tug her to a bench so they could both sit down. 

“I know! He expected a makeout session and instead he ended up on a ninety mile an hour thrill ride. Which might be better than a makeout session, anyways.” Adora glanced up at Catra and even in the low light, Catra could see the red blooming in Adora’s cheeks. “I mean, not that I have anything against makeout sessions. The opposite, really.” 

“Really? Never would have guessed.” Catra smirked, filing that information away for later. “Want to go get some food? The hot dogs here are pretty good. And there’s cotton candy, obviously.”

“Yeah, sure.” 

They stood, and Catra began leading down a path lined with carnival games on both sides. Catra could see the way Adora’s eyes traced the flashing signs, her gaze darting up towards the stuffed animals hanging at the top of every booth, and Catra couldn’t help but smile, to be here in this moment. 

Catra found them an empty table and let go of Adora’s hand to clear the leftover trash from the circular bench; customer service habits die hard. As soon as she did so, she felt the loss of the hand in hers. It was as though Adora had taken all the warmth with her, and Catra was itching to get it back.

Instead of immediately running back to her date, Catra ordered their hot dogs and sodas from a very bored looking Lonnie, who smirked when she caught sight of Adora. “So, this is the girl Scorpia’s been telling everyone about?” She said as she passed Catra her change.

“She’s such a gossip,” Catra grumbled, shoving the crumpled bills into her wallet and then trying to balance two hot dogs and two drinks in her arms. 

“Don’t be such a grouch, Catra,” Lonnie laughed. “The staff needs something to gossip about, and the budding romance of our favorite ticket girl is always a hot topic.”

“Assholes.”

Lonnie rolled her eyes. “Have fun on your date, Catra. Try not to drop anything!”

“If I had an extra hand, I’d use it to flip you off!” Catra yelled over her shoulder, walking back to Adora and setting their food on the table with a thud. 

“Who’s that?” Adora asked, grabbing her hot dog and unwrapping the foil with glee, sighing happily as a puff of steam hit her face. 

“My coworker,” Catra said, grabbing her soda and taking a huge sip. Her throat was sore from screaming. “She likes being mean to me for sport.”

“What was she teasing you about?” Adora said through a mouthful of hot dog. Somehow, she had already eaten half her food, while Catra had only just started hers. 

“You,” Catra replied nonchalantly, squirting mustard onto her hot dog. She only put mustard on, not ketchup, which was another thing Lonnie liked to tease her about. 

“Oh, really?” Adora raised her eyebrows. In the time that it had taken for Catra to put mustard on her food, Adora had finished the rest of her hot dog and was now sipping at her soda. “What about me?”

“Hell if I know,” Catra shrugged, tamping down responses such as “How pretty you are” and “How much you seem to like me” and “How much I like you”. She polished off her hot dog, nearly jumping out of her skin when Adora’s knee bumped hers under the table.

“Want to get cotton candy?” Adora asked, jumping up out of her seat as soon as Catra crumpled her foil into a ball. “I can pay.”

“No, I’ve got it,” Catra insisted, standing up as well and brushing crumbs off her jeans. 

“Catra, you’ve, um. Got a little something.” Adora gestured at Catra’s face.

“What?” Catra’s hands darted up to her face, fingers prodding at her cheeks for any food bits. “Where?”

“No, it’s - here, let me.” And before Catra could so much as breathe, Adora was reaching over and brushing the pad of her thumb across the tip of Catra’s nose, wiping the small bit of mustard off on a napkin. 

It wasn’t a romantic moment, not even close, and yet Adora’s eyes were still on Catra’s face, and Catra had to gather all their trash and throw it away just to get away from that moment, just to be able to breathe normally again. 

When she came back, Adora smiled at her, and they began walking the way they’d come from in search of Catra’s favorite cotton candy vendor. Rogelio always put just a little extra on the stick, and sometimes he would make mix the pink and blue sugar to make purple cotton candy, just for her.

When they reached his stand, he grinned at the sight of them, standing just a little too close together, both their ponytails still messed up from the rollercoaster. 

“ G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D? ” He signed, raising his eyebrows at Catra. She could only read fingerspelling so far, but she was working on it.

She glared at him and was about to respond with “ N-O ” when Adora began signing something to him with lightning speed. Rogelio shook with silent laughter, and when he passed them Adora’s blue and Catra’s purple cotton candy, he pushed Catra’s wallet away. He signed something Catra couldn’t understand to Adora, and then waved them on their way, still grinning. 

“I didn’t know you signed ASL,” Catra said, taking a huge bite of her cotton candy and grinning as the sugar crystals melted on her tongue.

“I took it all through high school,” Adora replied modestly. “I’m pretty rusty now.”

“What were you guys saying?” Catra asked, unable to push aside her curiosity.

“Nothing,” Adora responded far too quickly to be truthful, hiding her red face behind her cotton candy.

Catra decided not to push it. “Hey, your cotton candy matches your outfit,” she said instead.

“I guess it does,” Adora agreed, holding one pale blue sleeve up against the treat. “I wouldn’t even have noticed.”

Quick as a blink, Catra pulled her phone from her pocket and snapped a picture of Adora, whose smile had gone a little soft around the edges as she looked over at Catra.

“Hey!” Adora gasped, trying to grab for the phone. “Delete that!”

“Why!” Cara laughed, holding her phone as high up as she could reach. “You look pretty.”

They both froze a little, realizing what Catra had just said. “I do?” Adora asked, her voice going as soft as her smile. 

“I mean, yeah.” Catra lifted one shoulder, forcing herself to meet Adora’s eyes. “I didn’t say so earlier, but you look really nice.”

“So do you.” Adora took a step closer, and Catra could feel her heart pounding, her gaze drifting to those strawberry lips again, crusted with sugar now. Adora was leaning in, and this could be it, they could kiss right now, they… 

...Were in the middle of a public path surrounded by families and teenagers and more people than should ever be witness to Catra’s affection.

Reluctantly, though it took every ounce of Catra’s willpower, she stepped back, beginning to walk down the pathway once more. 

“Want to play one of these games?” Catra asked, trying to break the silence that had settled over them. “Employees play free.”

Adora’s eyes lit up. “Really?” She was like a kid in a candy store, Catra thought fondly. Everything excited her, and her excitement brought a smile to Catra’s face. 

“Really,” Catra responded, and right away, Adora was grabbing her by the hand and tugging her towards the nearest stand, which was a balloon dart booth. Balloons were taped to a wall several feet back, and after Catra flashed her employee identification card, Adora was given five darts and told to, in the overly cheery blonde employee’s words, “Go crazy!”

Catra, a cotton candy clutched in each hand, watched in awe as Adora nailed every single balloon at the very top of the wall. Apparently athletic skills did have practical applications after all.

“That’s the best string of hits I’ve seen all year!” The employee gushed. “What do you want as your prize?”

And instead of pointing something out, Adora turned to Catra. “Your pick,” she said, and Catra had a sudden flash of wanting to kiss that smug little grin off her face. 

And that’s how Catra and Adora found themselves eating their cotton candy as quickly as possible and throwing the paper cones away while the employee used a ladder to unhook from the ceiling the biggest teddy bear either of them had ever seen. 

“My son,” Catra laughed, flinging her arms wide and hoisting the bear over the counter into her embrace. “God, where am I even gonna put you?”

“Can you carry that by yourself?” Adora laughed. The bear was nearly as tall as Catra, and twice as wide, her face completely hidden behind his plush purple chest. 

“Yes, yes I can,” Catra responded haughtily, tossing him over her shoulder like one might a dead body. 

“I would think you’d be too cool for stuffed animals,” Adora commented as Catra rubbed her cheek against the bear’s soft fur.

“No one is too cool for stuffed animals,” Catra responded. “Besides, didn’t you always want one of these giant ones when you were a kid?”

“Fair,” Adora conceded. 

“Don’t worry, you can come visit him whenever you want.” Catra was the one winking this time, and she noted with satisfaction the blush that spread across Adora’s cheeks. “Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“I came here on my motorcycle, so I can’t bring him home tonight.”

“You have a motorcycle?” Another thing Adora sounded just a bit too excited about.

“Why, are you into that, princess?”

“Maybe.” Adora’s face went even redder.

Catra laughed. “Whatever, it’s fine. I’ll just stick him in an employee storage room. Here, follow me.”

Despite the crushing weight of the bear, they made their way to the grey Employees Only door fairly quickly, and Catra passed the bear off to Adora so that she could dig her I.D. card out of her jeans and let them in. 

“No one ever uses these things except me, so I can borrow Scorpia’s car tomorrow and bring him home,” Catra explained, directing Adora to the least dusty patch of floor, where she gently rested the bear. Only as the door swung shut behind them did Catra realized just how private the room was. 

“So, um, why is it a boy bear?” Adora asked, twisting her hands. Her eyes met Catra’s, then dropped to Catra’s lips.

“Adora,” Catra said quietly, stepping closer so that they were nearly nose to nose, “If you don’t kiss me right now, I might just beat you up.”

“Okay,” Adora whispered, and then finally their lips met and Adora’s arms were curling around Catra’s waist and Catra’s fingers were tangling in Adora’s hair and Catra knew that some of that perfect pink lipstick was going to end up on her mouth but she didn’t care, not even a little bit, because she was kissing Adora Grayskull and no moment had even been more perfect.

When they pulled away, Catra found herself reaching up as if on impulse and tugging Adora’s ponytail loose, using her fingers to comb those blonde locks down from their typical place. Adora’s hair smelled like strawberries, the scent washing over Catra in a single rush.

“What are you doing?” Adora asked, her breathing still a little uneven. One of her hands was resting on the patch of bare skin between Catra’s shirt and pants, and Catra’s breath hitched a little when she realized.

“I wanted to see what you’d look like with your hair down.”

“Well, how do I look?”

“Beautiful,” Catra answered, pulling Adora in for another kiss. She tasted like blue raspberry, grains of sugar still at the corners of her lips, and Catra was tilting her head up to deepen the kiss, one hand drifting from playing with Adora’s hair to run down over the firm muscle of her arm. 

Except now Adora was pulling away, and Catra was groaning at the lack of contact. 

“Adoraaaa,” she whined. 

Adora looked just as disappointed as Catra felt. “Sorry, I promised Bow I’d be home by 10 o’ clock, and it’s 9:45 right now.”

“You have a curfew ?” Catra couldn’t help letting out a small laugh. “Of course you do. Goody two shoes.”

Adora rolled her eyes. Her face was still pink, although her lips were decidedly less so; at least half her lipstick had found its way onto Catra’s lips instead. “It’s not a curfew,” she grumbled, stepping back from Catra and adjusting her hair. “It’s just a time check system we have set up for dates. Bow is my roommate,” she added.

“You sure you can’t be a few minutes late?” Catra asked, watching as Adora pulled her hair up into that perfect Betty Cooper ponytail without even using a brush. She just wanted to keep looking at Adora - at the curve of her neck, the callouses on her hands, the soft dip of her eyelashes.

“Pretty sure,” Adora sighed, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets. “Last time I was late, he almost called the police.”

“Wow.” They stared at one another for an awkward second. “Well, I’ll walk you to your car.”

Every bone in Catra’s body was telling her to move in closer, pull Adora into her arms once more. Instead, Catra stepped to the door and tugged it open, letting it swing shut behind them as they made their way back to the parking lot. 

Adora took her hands out of her pockets, and her fingers brushed against Catra’s once, twice, three times before she finally grabbed Catra’s hand and held it in her own. 

“What should I name him?” Catra asked as they made their way past the ticket booth, where Frosta was playing Candy Crush on her phone. 

“Huh?” Adora tore her eyes away from their joint hands, and Catra barely bit back a laugh at the confused, slightly lovestruck look on the other girl’s face.

“You know, the bear. What should I name him?”

“I dunno.” Adora shrugged. They were in the parking lot now, Adora directing them towards her car. “I’m really bad at naming things. My dog is named Swift Wind.”

Catra nearly choked. “Your dog is named what? ”

“Swift Wind,” Adora repeated, looking a little embarrassed. “He’s really fast, and I just thought… I don’t know. I didn’t want to name him something stupid, like Brandon.”

“Okay, yeah, Brandon is definitely a worse name for a dog,” Catra conceded. “But for a bear…” She tapped one finger against her chin thoughtfully. “That’s not half bad.”

“Catra, please do not name your giant purple bear Brandon.” Adora laughed as they made a right, heading for the back of the lot.

“Too late!” Catra grinned at her date. “He’s already been christened. Brandon Ortega, first of his name.”

“First of his name?”

“Well, obviously I have to come back and win a bear for you, too. I know all the tricks to these games.”

Adora’s face split in a grin so bright it practically glowed in the dark. “So, you want to see me again?” She asked oh so casually.

“Mmm.” Catra pretended to think on it for a moment before smiling back at Adora. “Yeah, I do.”

“Can I get your number then?” They were stopped in front of Adora’s car now, a very beat up blue thing with duct tape over the back window. 

“No, you can only communicate with me from long distances using a telepathic mental connection,” Catra scoffed. “Yes, you can have my number, you dork.”

And Catra could just tell that Adora was holding back a little fist pump as she pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and opened up a new contact page. She passed the phone to Catra, who typed her phone number in and then handed it back to Adora. Peering down at the phone, Catra saw Adora add a heart emoji at the end of the contact name before pressing save.

“A heart, huh?” Catra raised an eyebrow, smirking just a little. 

Adora went red once again. “Only if you want.”

“I want.” The words fell from her lips without Catra’s permission, and yet she couldn’t deny they were true. She was about to step forward to plant a kiss on Adora’s cheek when a cold gust of ocean wind washed over them, making Catra shiver. 

“Are you cold?” Adora asked, her eyebrows scrunched together.

“What? No. I’m fine.” Catra waved a hand, brushing off the concern. 

“Here, take my jacket.” Adora shoved the contents of her jacket pockets into the back pockets of her shorts, then took the jacket off, pulling it tight around Catra’s shoulders.

“Adora, you don’t have to-”

“I want to.” Adora pressed a finger to Catra’s lips before she could say anything else. “I’d better go now. I’ll text you when I get home?”

Catra nodded, her eyes a little wide, her gaze tracing over Adora’s bare collarbone down the length of her arm to her fingertips.

Adora let her hand drop, instead bending to press a kiss to Catra’s cheek. Her hair brushed against Catra’s face as she did so, and Catra sank into that sweet strawberry smell. 

“I had a really nice time tonight, Catra.” Adora smiled, stepping back and pulling her keys out of her shorts pocket. “Call me?”

Catra nodded, swallowing hard as she watched Adora climb into her car. “Drive safe!” She managed to call out, and then Adora was driving away, and Catra was standing alone in the parking lot, shaking her head at her own stupidity

Catra pulled her arms into the sleeves of Adora’s jacket and shoved her hands in the pockets, ignoring the fluttering of her foolish heart as she made her way back to where she had parked her motorcycle. When she reached it, she sat and leaned against it for a long moment instead of starting it. Then, running on impulse, she pulled out her phone and video called Scorpia. She picked up right away, her phone still resting in the exact same spot on her desk. 

“How was it?” Scorpia squealed, clapping her hands together in delight. 

“I think it went okay.” Catra aimed for a response that radiated her usual lack of care for the events of the world, but instead found herself unable to stop smiling. 

“It looks like it went better than okay, since you’re wearing her jacket and her lipstick is all over your face!”

Catra’s face went pink against her will, and she rolled her eyes, trying to play it off. “Fine, it went better than okay.”

“Are you going to go on another date with her?” 

“I hope so.” And as Catra reached up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she couldn’t help but imagine that it was Adora doing so, and she couldn’t help if her smile got a little bigger at the thought. 

“You look so happy, Wildcat.” Scorpia was beaming at Catra, hands pressed to either side of her face and elbows resting on the desk in front of her. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Catra said, but she was still smiling, still relaxing into the pure Adora-ness of the jacket wrapped around her. “I’d better head home now. I’ll text you?”

“Drive safe!” Scorpia replied, unknowingly echoing Catra’s words of just minutes ago. She blew a kiss at the camera before hanging up. 

Catra couldn’t help but to linger a minute more, running through the events of the night in her head. There was so much touching and looking and thinking and feeling, she felt overwhelmed by it all, by the sheer scope of the feelings compacted into each moment. It was dark out now, the sky deepened to nearly black with stars splashed across. Catra thought of Adora arriving home and excitedly telling her roommate about the evening, showing him Catra’s number in her phone, laughing when he pointed out her missing jacket. 

Catra tugged her motorcycle helmet over her head and swung her leg over the side, sliding her keys into their slot and turning. Just before she drove away, she allowed herself a single, satisfied smile, a smile that was just for her. The date had been good, great, maybe even perfect. Adora was maybe even perfect, not as a person but as someone to talk with, laugh with, make out with. 

Catra was starting to fall, and yet somehow, she trusted that Adora was going to catch her. 

She revved her engine and began driving home.

Chapter Text

“Okay, so. Truth or dare?”

“This is a stupid game. What, is this a twelve year old girl’s birthday party or something?”

“You promised we’d play.” The slightest edge of a pout was audible in Adora’s voice, and Catra was powerless to it.

Catra groaned. She had indeed promised to play truth or dare, but it wasn’t fair to spring a question on someone mid-makeout session. “Fine. Dare.”

“Hmmm.” The call fell silent, the only sound the steady rhythm of Adora’s breathing. “I dare you to…” She paused, and Catra could hear a finger tapping against what she assumed was Adora’s wall. “…Put hot sauce on your ice cream.”

“You want me to ruin perfectly good ice cream? Coffee ice cream?” 

“Just a bite!”

Catra grumbled as she tucked her phone into the waistband of her pajama shorts and trudged into the kitchen. She should have known that Adora wouldn’t respect the sanctity of coffee ice cream; her favorite ice cream flavors were cookie dough and butter pecan . 

They’d been on call since ten p.m, and it was almost three in the morning now - no video, just audio. At first Catra had questioned it, but now she understood; it was somehow more intimate to imagine Adora’s face than to actually see it, picturing the sparkle in her eyes as she argued with Catra, strands of hair escaping from her polished ponytail. It made the whole call feel like a sweet dream, made the reality of waking up in the morning seem years away instead of hours. 

Plus, Catra’s phone had shitty video quality.

“What kind of hot sauce do you want me to use?” She asked when she had prepared a large bowl of coffee ice cream. She figured that if it was already going to be eaten, she might as well enjoy some.

“There are multiple kinds?” 

“Duh.” Catra stuck out her tongue, forgetting that Adora couldn’t see her. “I have habanero, green chile, sriracha, Louisiana, chipo-”

“Louisiana,” Adora said quickly before Catra could list any more types. “That’s the kind they use on home fries, right?”

“Ding ding ding,” Catra replied, pleasantly surprised. “Good job, princess. Turns out you know something after all.”

Adora scoffed, the speed of her tapping increasing. “Shut up and eat your hot sauce covered ice cream.”

“Only one spoonful,” Catra warned as she pulled the Louisiana hot sauce from her fridge.

“Only one spoonful,” Adora agreed. “But make it a big one.”

Catra sighed loudly as she scooped her large spoonful of coffee ice cream (she was a bit of a sucker, maybe) and drizzled it with the hot sauce. “Are you really gonna make me eat this?” 

“What, are you too chicken?”

And in her voice, there was just enough of a challenge for Catra to scoff and eat the whole spoonful in one bite.

It burned going down, but once it reached her stomach, Catra found she didn’t mind the aftertaste as much as she thought she would. In fact, it was actually kind of… good?

“Mmmm,” she said, pulling the spoon out of her mouth with a loud pop. “Deeeelicious. What a treat.”

“You disturb me,” Adora said, unable to hold back a laugh. 

“Says the girl who’s eaten a bowl of ramen doused in chocolate syrup.” 

“Yes, but I didn’t enjoy it.”

“Whatever. I get to ask you a question now, right?” Catra said through another mouthful of hot sauce-soaked ice cream. 

“Well, you have to ask me ‘truth or dare’ first, and then I get to pick.”

“Why can’t I pick if you do truth or dare?”

“That’s not how the game works.”

“I think you should bend the rules a little, just for me.”

“Rules are meant to be followed for a reason!”

“There’s a reason to break the rules, too!”

“Which is?”

“To make me happy?”

Adora groaned, and Catra could hear something smack against the wall with more force than she would have expected. “You are such a little snake.”

“As long as I get what I want.” Catra smiled, taking another bite of ice cream.

“Yeah, yeah. Which one do you want me to pick?”

“Truth.”

“Okay, I pick truth. Hit me.”

“I don’t think technology has developed to that level yet,” Catra joked, rewarded with Adora’s laughter. Not the posing kind either, but a genuine laugh, with even a bit of a snort at the end. “Your question is… what were you and Rogelio signing on our first date, at Etherian Adventure?” That had been a couple weeks and a couple dates ago: since then, they’d had a study date at the library, met up for frozen yogurt, played laser tag with Adora’s friends, and now, their almost-nightly phone calls. Yet Catra still hadn’t managed to find out the answer; Adora avoided the question every time Catra brought it up. So maybe Truth or Dare was a little useful, after all.

Adora fell dead silent for a few seconds, not even the sound of her breathing audible.

“Adora…” Catra prompted.

“Yeah, sorry, just trying to remember. I, like, totally forgot! That’s how unimportant it was!” Adora was speaking far too fast for this to be true. Never before had Catra heard her say totally, and she only said “like” when she was trying to hide her nervousness. Adora was probably the worst liar Catra had ever met.

“Is that so.” Catra sat cross-legged on the floor by her mini fridge, placing her phone face-up so that she could see Adora’s contact photo. It was the picture she had taken of Adora at the amusement park, blue jacket matching blue cotton candy matching blue eyes, crinkled at the corners by that smile. Catra still had that jacket, she was embarrassed to say, folded and placed neatly on the center of her desk so that she could brush her fingers against it when she walked by.

“It is so,” Adora said haughtily, and Catra could just see her turning her nose up at Catra, luxuriating in every inch of their height and difference. “And I don’t-”

“Adora!” The sound of a door opening, and a loud whispered voice, getting closer. “It’s three in the morning!” 

“Technically, it’s 2:57 in the morning.” Another voice, this one higher and more awake-sounding. “But it’s still too early for anyone to be having a loud phone call.”

It was Glimmer, Catra realized, the short one who didn’t like her. Which meant the first voice was Bow, who she had severely underestimated until he decimated all of them at laser tag.

“Sorry,” Adora said, sounding appropriately sheepish. “Catra and I are playing Truth or Dare.”

“What are you, twelve?” 

“That’s exactly what I said!” Catra replied, maybe a little too excited for any common ground between her and Glimmer. “Sorry for keeping her awake, guys.” 

“Sleep time now, for both of you,” Bow said, his voice growing louder as he grabbed the phone from Adora, eliciting a loud squeak. “And for me and Glimmer too. Catra, I’m hanging up now, okay?”

“Night, Adora,” Catra said, waving and then stopping when she remembered when they couldn’t see her. It was hard to ever be mad at Bow, even if he was ruining her best chance to find out Adora’s secret.

She heard the clack of Adora’s phone on the nightstand and stood to set her phone on the counter, scooping herself another bowl of the now slightly melted coffee ice cream. She was just about to dig in when she realized there were still voices coming from the phone.

Bow must have forgotten to hang up, Catra decided. She was about to do so herself when she heard her own name.

“So, what was Catra asking you about that you didn’t want to tell her?” Bow’s voice, muffled and eager and definitely him.

“Can we just go back to sleep already?” Glimmer, definitely, grumpy and probably with terrible bedhead. She seemed like the type. “Adora will tell us in the morning.”

“No, she won’t.”

“No, I won’t.” 

Adora and Bow spoke at the same time, and Catra took another bite of ice cream to stop herself from speaking. 

“See, Glimmer? She’s being stubborn!”

“No, she’s not.” Catra could hear the eye roll in her voice. “She’s going to be spineless and tell you in a minute.” A bit of a grin crept into her voice. “Come on already, Adoraaaaa.”

“...Fine, but only because I want Bow’s advice.”

“Not mine?”

“No, Glim, you can go to bed.”

“Hmph.”

“Just tell us already!” He was probably clasping Adora’s hands, giving her the same puppy dog eyes he’d given Catra when he asked her to play laser tag with them.

“Well…” There was a loud thud, and an “Ow!” from Glimmer. “When we were on our first date, we got cotton candy, as you know, and… no, I can’t do this.”

Catra really was this close to screaming “tell them already!” at the phone, but she withheld.

“What’s so bad about it?” Glimmer asked.

“It’s embarrassing,” Adora whined, dragging out the end of the word. 

“Adora, we were there when you bragged to the whole soccer team that you were gonna win the chili dog contest, and then threw up after eating just one. This can’t be worse than that.”

“Yeah, and it can’t be worse than when you saw that girl flashing the stage at a concert and tripped over thin air, and I accidentally stepped on your face,” Glimmer chimed in.

“Yeah, or when you-”

“I thought you guys were supposed to be supporting me, not listing all of my most embarrassing moments.”

“Right, sorry. The point is that we’ve seen worse! You don’t even need to worry about this.”

Catra was definitely filing those moments away for later.

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiine.”

“Spineless,” Glimmer whispered, and there was the distinctive sound of someone (probably Adora) smacking her with a pillow, accompanied by a yelp.

“Basically when we were getting the cotton candy-” Adora had told them about that? “This guy started signing to Catra, just fingerspelling, and he asked if I was her girlfriend, and, uh.”

“Adora, just spit it out already!” Funny how Glimmer had acted so uninterested, but now she seemed as invested as Catra.

“I kind of responded by signing that... I wish Catra was my girlfriend. I don’t think she understood.”

There was a moment of silence as they all processed, before Glimmer burst out with “That’s it? That’s what you’ve been so worried about?”

“Adora, that’s really not that bad,” Bow agreed.

“It completely is! I can’t believe I just said something like that to a random person on our first date! I don’t even know what she wants!”

“You’ve been on what, two dates since then?”

“Three,” Adora corrected before Glimmer had even finished her sentence.

“Right, three. I don’t think she would keep going out with you if she didn’t like you.”

“I think she likes me, probably. But that doesn’t mean she wants to be my girlfriend, and it’s kind of hard to talk about.”

“Do enlighten us,” Glimmer said flatly.

“I’m not good at telling people how I feel, and… I think I like her more than she likes me. She just seems so closed off, I can’t tell how she feels. I just… I don’t know. I’m not good at this.”

Catra ended the call before she could listen to any more, already overwhelmed with the guilt of what she’d just done. Eavesdropping on her…. on Adora’s private conversation, listening to her and her friends without her knowledge.... 

Well, now Catra knew, and now she didn’t know a whole lot of other things.

As a whole, Catra avoided relationships. She wanted to be loved, and she wanted to have fun, but it was difficult to do both. A relationship meant trust, and Catra barely trusted herself, much less someone else. She wasn’t even sure if she and Adora were exclusive, and although her heart stuttered at the thought of Adora being with someone else, she wasn’t sure she was ready to be known yet, to be tied down.

Then again, thinking of it as tied down wasn’t right, was it? A relationship was a bond, not a ball and chain, a bond that could be strengthened or weakened by every choice made by those in the relationship. When framed that way, it seemed more like something Catra would want; not a handicap, but a partnership. And the more Catra knew Adora, the more she wanted to trust her.

Trust didn’t come easily to Catra. It was something that had to be earned, bit by bit, moment by moment, date by date. Instant trust only ended in hurt feelings and cut ties, but holding back often had the same result. No matter what she did, Catra seemed to lose, and she was growing tired of it. Which is why, maybe, she really was considering doing just as Adora wanted. Not just for Adora’s sake, but for her own, too.

The first step, though, was to explain what she’d done and apologize. Even if she didn’t tell Adora right away, the other girl would be able to see it on Catra’s face the second they met up, which was why Catra needed to take the first step and own up to it. The best she could hope for was that Adora wouldn’t be so upset as to leave her, because as short a time as they’d known each other, it was impossible to imagine a life without her.

It was this above everything else that made Catra realize what she wanted to do. And maybe it was just the amount of coffee ice cream she’d consumed, but she’d never felt so awake, and she’d never wanted to see Adora so badly.

Catra walked over to her desk and picked up Adora’s jacket, hugging it close to her chest and inhaling that lingering scent of strawberries and sugar. Then, gently folding it and placing it to the side, she pulled out her sketchpad and got to work.

Several hours later, she pushed her chair back to admire her handiwork, rubbing her eyes and smearing streaks of charcoal across her face. The fruit of her labor was a portrait of Adora the way she’d been on their first date, roses in her cheeks, smiling at the camera. Or, really, smiling at Catra.

The portrait wasn’t half bad, either, managing to capture a fraction of Adora’s warmth and energy, although her nose was slightly off. Not enough that anyone else would notice it, but enough that it was going to drive Catra crazy every time she looked at it. Sighing, she rolled her chair back toward the window and pulled the blinds open, wincing as the sun hit her eyes. It was just barely rising, which meant Adora had probably been out running for an hour or so already. 

She rolled back to the portrait, picking it up and blowing ever so slightly to remove any residual charcoal dust. Then she wrapped it carefully in a thin sheet of parchment paper, moved to tuck it in her bike bag, and… left it sitting on her desk. What, a couple of dates with someone and she was turning into a romcom protagonist? Catra could ask a girl she liked a simple question without making it into some big romantic gesture. She just needed to find Adora first.

Besides, the nose was way off.

Instead, Catra switched her pajama shorts for a pair of leggings (leaving her pajama shirt because honestly, it was six in the morning and she hadn’t slept in almost twenty four hours), pulled on her shoes, and grabbed her keys, off to search for her dream girl. Which was maybe a little romcom protagonist-like, but there was no one around to judge.

It turned out to be a very short search. Adora was jogging only a few blocks away, not a bead of sweat on her brow despite the heat beginning to wash over them. She didn’t notice Catra at first, too busy bobbing her head to the music blasting from her earbuds, and only looked up when Catra revved her engine once, twice, three times. Her hair was back in her perfect ponytail, but Catra noted with satisfaction that several strands had broken loose, falling across Adora’s forehead. She also noted with satisfaction Adora’s arms on full display in her tank top. She couldn’t remember if she’d seen Adora in a tank top before, but they did say it always felt like the first time.

And no, the sun hadn't shined yet, not until Adora smiled. Catra could smack herself for thinking it, but it was true, and she couldn’t help grinning back.

“Hey, Catra, what are you doing here?” Adora said, pulling her earbuds out and tucking them into her pocket. Not a pants pocket, but one of those weird little belts made specifically for holding your phone while you run. Sometimes Catra couldn’t believe she liked this girl. Adora hadn’t stopped running, and Catra slowly pulled her bike alongside her. 

“I wanted to see you. I was hoping we could spend the day together.”

This gets Adora to stop. Catra pulls her bike to a stop, too, planting her foot flat on the road. It’s a quiet neighborhood, and even quieter since the sun has barely risen past the tops of the houses yet.

“Really? But we- we didn’t have anything planned, right?” Her eyebrows scrunched together, and Catra wanted to plant a kiss between them, to get Adora to smile again. God, who was she turning into?

“No, we didn’t have anything planned.” She reaches a hand out, and Adora steps forward, takes it. “Last night - or really, this morning - I realized we’ve never been to the beach together. I remembered you only have one class today, and I’m off work, and I want to take you there. I… I missed you, after our call ended last night.” That had not been part of her planned speech, and Catra’s cheeks colored at the truth of her own statement.

“You mean, this morning,” Adora corrected, grinning.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Catra rolled her eyes. “Are you in or what?”

“Of course I’m in!” 

Catra laughed with relief, tugging Adora closer, groaning as Adora dug her heels in.

“Just, were you planning on us going swimming or something? Because I don’t have anything with me, so I should stop back at my apartment-”

“Don’t be silly, you can borrow something from me. I’m literally a minute away.”

Adora eyed Catra’s bike, raising her eyebrows. “Is this thing safe?”

“Of course, completely safe!” Catra smirked. “What, are you scared?”

“Pfft, no,” Adora scoffed. “Just concerned about public safety. You know me, always so… concerned. About public safety.”

“Well, don’t worry, if a kid runs in front of my bike, you can just knock them out of the way with your belt.”

“Hey! Don’t make fun of my exercise belt!” Adora said, but she was smiling, letting Catra tug her a little closer. 

“Trust me, I tried, but it’s just so difficult. I mean, what does that thing weigh, twenty pounds?” 

“Oh, you are unbelievable.”

“Come on, Adora, are you getting on the bike or not?”

“Not.”

“Please?” Catra dropped Adora’s hand to clasp both her hands in a pleading gesture. “I’ll let you wear my helmet.”

“Fiiiiine,” Adora groaned, gingerly sliding onto the bike behind Catra and yanking the proffered helmet over her head. “Twenty pounds,” Catra could hear her muttering as her arms slid around Catra’s waist, her chin resting on Catra’s shoulder. “What kind of belt weighs twenty pounds? That doesn’t even make sense. If I tried to run with something that heavy on, I’d just fall over.”

“Let it go, princess, and hold tight. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but I’m a bit of a speed demon.” Adora’s arms tightened around Catra’s waist, and her chest was pressed so tightly to Catra’s back that Catra could feel Adora’s heart, beating as fast as much as Catra’s must have been before the roller coaster.

“Catra, are you sure this thing is sa-” Her sentence was cut off by a scream as Catra sent them shooting down the road, putting on an extra burst of speed just for Adora. Her arms were clenching even tighter, Catra’s loose hair whipping in her face as Catra had lacked the insight to put it up in a ponytail, her face buried in the crook of Catra’s neck. It was a very short ride, but Catra made the most of it, barely resisting the urge to pop a wheelie just to get a reaction out of her. She couldn’t help if she wanted to see every expression there was flash across Adora’s face, see everything with her, do everything with her.

“Slow down!” Adora yelled, and Catra took that as a sign to reign herself in both literally and figuratively, pulling to an abrupt stop in front of her apartment complex.

“So, what did you think?” Catra asked, hopping off the bike and kicking off the kickstand.

Adora glared, tugging on her helmet until it popped off, flying several feet to land on the sidewalk. “I am never getting on that death trap again.” 

“What?” Catra laughed, picking up the helmet and clipping it to her handlebars. “And here I thought you were a total adrenaline junkie.”

“Yeah, when it’s safe and government-certified and has a lap bar!”

“Glimmer and Bow told me you went skydiving with them in high school.” Catra felt a twinge of guilt as she said their names, a reminder of the first, and most important, thing she had to tell Adora.

“You’re strapped to a trained instructor the whole time,” Adora replied smugly. “That reminds me, I gotta text Bow, he’s probably worrying already.”

“He’s awake at this hour?” Catra led Adora, who was digging through her twenty pound belt for her phone, up three flights of stairs to Catra’s front door, which she unlocked and opened to usher Adora in.

“He and Glimmer and I, uh, pulled an all nighter. They were still binge watching cartoons when I left to go running an hour ago. Aha!” She pulled the phone triumphantly from her belt, then looked around, seeming to realize where she was for the first time. “Hey, I haven’t been in your apartment before!”

Catra laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, well, it’s not much. Come on, my swim stuff is in my bedroom. I made us some sandwiches too.”

She led Adora through the front room, littered with dirty laundry and food wrappers, to her slightly less messy bedroom, where she directed Adora to take a seat on the bed while she looked through the closet. 

“I know I have some swim shorts in here somewhere, I just need to-”

“What’s this?” 

Catra spun around to find Adora had already made her way to the other side of the room and had picked up a piece of paper. Not just any paper - Catra’s high quality drawing paper. The paper she’d drawn the portrait of Adora on.

“Adora, don’t-”

“Is this me?” She looked up at Catra, her eyes wide, lips slightly parted. “Catra, this is- this is amazing! Did you draw this?”

“Yeah,” Catra muttered. Her palms were sweating now, and she discreetly wiped them on her leggings.

“I can’t believe it! It looks just like a photograph. I had no idea you were so talented. I mean, of course you’re talented, you’re Catra, but this is incredible.” She stared at the portrait for a long moment, then looked back up at Catra. “Is it… is it for me?”

“No, I mean-” Catra cut herself off, catching the crestfallen look on Adora’s face. “It was going to be, but I… decided against it. It’s too much, and it’s - it’s all wrong.”

“Too much for what?”

“I want to ask you to be my girlfriend.” Catra hadn’t meant to blurt it out, wished she could take it back as Adora’s eyes widened, but she pressed forward anyways. Might as well finish the mess she’d started. “I want you to be my girlfriend, and this… it was supposed to be perfect. I was going to ask you on the beach, and explain, and then you were going to say yes, and it was going to be perfect.” Unlike Catra’s bedroom, which was dark and dirty and smelled faintly of mildew.

“I was just talking to-”

“I know, you were just talking to Glimmer and Bow about it.”

“How did you know that?” The smile spreading across Adora’s face disappeared. She seemed surprised into short question responses, unable to process the overload of new information. The only movement she made was to place the portrait of her back on Catra’s desk, her gaze still focused on Catra.

“I overheard you guys. I didn’t mean to, but, the call didn’t actually hang up, and I should have just hung up, but I didn’t, and that was wrong of me. I’m so, so sorry, Adora. I shouldn’t have listened to your private conversation like that, ever.” Catra’s heart felt like it might beat out of her chest as she watched Adora’s face for any sign of an emotion. “I just...” She crossed the room and took Adora’s hand, and Adora didn’t pull away, which was something. “I don’t want you thinking that you like me more than I like you. I know I haven’t been the best at showing it, but I - I really do like you, Adora. So much. Probably more than I should. When you’re not around me, I’m thinking about you, and when you are around me, you’re so… magnetic. I just want to look at you and talk to you and - and be with you.” No wonder Adora looked so blank when Catra could barely understand what she was saying herself.

A long pause, in which the only sounds were the loud fan in Catra’s living room, a dog barking outside, and Catra’s own heart beating.

“You shouldn’t have listened in on my conversation.” Adora finally said. She was still holding Catra’s hand, and she was meeting Catra’s eyes now, her mouth still set in that brutal neutral line.

“I know, and I’m so sorry, and if there’s anything-”

“But,” Adora continued, talking over Catra, who nearly held her breath in anticipation, “I understand why you did it, and I probably would have done the same thing, and-” Now, at last, she broke into a grin, and Catra no longer cared about her gross mildew room when that smile was shining right at her. “I really want to be your girlfriend.”

And of course Catra couldn’t help but to smile back, gripping Adora’s hand so tightly she was sure she was going to break a bone, letting out a breath that maybe she had actually been holding. “You mean it?”

“Did you mean everything you said, in your speech?” Adora countered, shaking loose of Catra’s death grip to curl her arms around Catra’s waist.

“It wasn’t a speech , it was an emotional statement!”

“Really, cause it sounded like you wrote it all down and practiced beforehand. Maybe in the mirror?”

“I didn’t write it down beforehand, dummy.” Catra glared, her gaze softening as she looped her arms around Adora’s neck, pressing a kiss to Adora’s cheek. “And yes, I meant every word,” she added quietly.

“So then, I’m your girlfriend now?”

“Are you really gonna make me say it?”

Adora laughed. “Come on, you know me.”

“You’re the worst,” Catra said, but she was laughing too, reaching up to plant a kiss between Adora’s eyebrows exactly as she had wished only minutes ago. “You’re my girlfriend. I’m your girlfriend.”

“I’m your super cool girlfriend,” Adora corrected.

“You’re my super dorky girlfriend,” Catra repeated in the exact same tone as Adora, shrieking as Adora scooped Catra up into her arms, cradling her like a baby, swinging her back and forth perhaps less gently than one would a baby. 

“You’re my super dorky girlfriend,” Adora said, only putting Catra back on solid ground when she yelled “I yield!” and smacked Adora in the arm. “I can’t believe I thought you were so cool this whole time, when really you’re this… this pining romantic!”

Instead of the affronted gasp Adora was no doubt hoping for, Catra grinned, pulling Adora close to her once more. “Yeah, princess, I’m the big romantic, pining after you this whole time.” She lifted Adora’s hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it and smirking as Adora’s face went red. “You don’t seem to mind, though.”

“Are you going to tease me forever, or are you going to give your girlfriend a real kiss?”

This time, Catra allowed Adora to pick her up, whispering “happy to oblige” before her lips met Adora’s.

And yes, it wasn’t even seven yet and the dog was still barking outside and Adora’s nose was still wrong in that portrait, but Catra had a girlfriend, and they were going to the beach together, and it was going to be a perfect day.