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“Sato, tell me again why we’re doing this,” Catra asked with a loud groan, shielding her face as best as she could.
It was a beautiful and sunny summer day at the park, and that meant Catra and Asami were suffering like the sad goths they were as they were dragged along by the ever cheerful Korra and Adora.
“Because we love them dearly,” Asami huffed, exhausted from the heat, “and we can’t just keep them inside all summer.”
“Ugh, are we going on a picnic with our girlfriends here, or walking our dogs?” Catra complained.
As if on cue Adora and Korra turned to look at them, energetically waving at them as they finally found a nice place to set up. Their smiles were so bright that Catra was happy she had put on sunscreen earlier.
“Both,” Asami said, adjusting her sunglasses.
Slowly they walked up to the over excited duo. Thankfully the two of them managed to find a nice patch of shade they could set up under, and not have to melt under the sun like a couple of angsty popsicles.
“Blanket?” Adora asked, promptly taking the leading and organizing position she was born for.
“Check!” Catra replied, getting a cheap picnic blanket from her bag.
“Water?”
“Check,” Korra answered, taking several bottles of water from her backpack.
“Sandwiches?”
“Check,” Asami said, before adding, “I made them.”
“And sodas?”
Korra shoved her arm back into her backpack and began yanking all the soda cans out with far too much enthusiasm. The three of them stopped and glared, getting her to stop before she could slam the cans down...again. As hilarious as it would have been to watch Korra accidentally spray herself again, they actually wanted to drink their sodas this time.
Adora gave them all a satisfied nod, before proudly declaring, “and with that, our picnic date is ready to start!”
“Wow, so romantic, Adora,” Catra rolled her eyes, “nothing makes a girl feel more special than a bunch of checklists.”
“Well I appreciate it when a girl comes prepared,” Asami countered, giving Adora a kiss on the cheek for support.
“Of course you do, Sato,” Catra shook her head and rolled her eyes.
The two of them stuck their tongues at each other for a bit, in what their girlfriends could only assume was their more...unique approach to flirting.
Deciding now was a good time to change the topic away from those two dorks, Korra approached the trio with her arms behind her back.
“Hey, Adora,” she called, earning a glare from Catra, who had nearly patented that line, “you sure we aren’t missing something?”
Adora checked her list a second time, even rereading the things she brought there herself, “I don’t think so?”
Korra smiled as she brought her hands forward, revealing the football she had been hiding behind her. Adora’s hands flew to her mouth to contain a gasp, and looked up at Korra as if she had just whipped out a wedding ring. Catra and Asami were extremely unimpressed.
They barely got to finish setting up before those two darted off to go run around and throw that ball like the pair of adorable goofballs they were.
“Looks like it’s just the two of us again, Applesauce,” Asami commented, sitting comfortably in the shade.
“Yup,” Catra nodded, sitting next to her. She allowed a long pause to pass by before adding, “wanna makeout?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” Asami replied, scooting closer and hooking her arms around Catra’s neck.
Catra leaned in, lips slightly parting as they came closer to Asami’s… before being so rudely interrupted by Korra clearing her throat. The two edgy idiots looked up at her, seeing her and Adora standing over them with crossed arms.
“Don’t we do this every day at school?” Korra asked, brow raised in annoyance.
“Yeah,” Catra replied, refusing to move away from Asami, “your point?”
“This is a date,” Adora added, hitting them with her most powerful puppy dog eyes, “can’t you guys please play with us for a bit?”
Both of them groaned and looked at each other. Asami looked ready to give in at the slightest hint of that adorable face, but Catra had years of experience with saying no to it.
“Yeah, I’m not doing that,” Catra answered.
“Oh well,” Adora sighed, “you asked for it.”
They were barely given a moment to process what that meant, before Korra and Adora hoisted them up, and tossed them over their shoulders like sacks of potatoes. Asami yelped loudly, but accepted her fate. Catra, on the other hand, kicked and screamed the entire way, nearly punching Adora in the face more than once.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” She shouted, “put me down, or I fucking swear!”
Adora simply laughed as she carried her girlfriend along to the nice open space where they were playing just a moment ago.
“Only if you promise to play with us,” she replied.
“Fine!” Catra yelled, “just put me down!”
Adora gently put her down and shot her a beaming smile. Oh she was lucky she was so cute, or Catra would have kicked her ass right now. Instead she just adjusted her clothes, fixed her hair so it would be the correct kind of messy, and huffed.
“So what exactly are you making us play?”
“We don’t need to play an actual game,” Korra answered, “we just wanted to have fun with you guys.”
Catra seemed unconvinced. They should have known she wouldn’t participate if she couldn’t make a competition out of it.
“Okay, how about this,” Adora offered, “we split into teams of two, and we try to just toss the ball between team members without letting the other two catch it. Whoever keeps the ball with their team the longest wins. Sounds fun for you?”
Catra pondered for a moment, seeming satisfied with these terms of engagement she declared, “I’m on team Korra!”
“What!?” Adora exclaimed, her expression one of utter and absolute betrayal, “why?”
“She’s the tallest one here,” Catra explained, casually, “it’s an obvious tactical advantage.”
“By an inch!” Adora countered, still stunned that Catra would ever abandon her like this...again.
“Don’t worry, Adora,” Asami said, putting a hand on her shoulder for reassurance, “we’ll make sure she regrets that”.
Oh no. Korra and Adora looked at each other as they both realized that they may have made a terrible mistake.
What followed was easily the most intense game of keepaway any of them had ever played. Though intensity was just about the only thing Catra and Asami were providing for this match up. Not that the other two minded much - they were genuinely just happy to play with their girlfriends for once - but they were starting to worry one of them was gonna end up doing something stupid.
It wasn’t long until they were proven right. Catra caught a ball meant for Adora and instead of throwing it to Korra, she decided the best strategy was to just run for it. The three of them watched stunned as she bolted off into the park like she was being chased by the hounds of hell. Asami gave chase soon after, so the assumption wasn’t all wrong.
Korra and Adora just stood there, watching as their girlfriends ran after each other, shouting insults at one another.
“We should have known that was gonna happen,” Adora commented with a defeated sigh.
“Well, at least we got them to exercise for once,” Korra offered.
“Yeah,” she nodded, watching those two for just a bit longer before adding, “wanna make out?”
“Sure,” Korra shrugged, “not like they’re gonna be back any time soon.”
Korra leaned back and closed her eyes, allowing herself to enjoy the cool breeze that blew past their little spot. She took a nice, long sip of her soda and let out a satisfied sigh. Yeah, this picnic was just what she needed.
“Water,” groaned the mostly dead girl to her side.
Catra laid there, sprawled face down on the picnic blanket, barely able to do anything but groan, and complain after completely draining herself like that. She couldn’t help but laugh a little, playing with her girlfriend’s hair before handing her the much needed cold water.
The poor girl groaned something sounding almost similar to a thank you, before chugging the whole bottle down in record time and then flopping back to her sprawled position.
“So what did we learn?” Adora asked, with that particular tone she had at times that made Korra wonder if she ever considered becoming a teacher one day.
“Never to exercise again,” Catra answered.
“No,” she corrected, “don’t over exert yourself
“Also don’t wear all black to a picnic,” Korra added, “I’m surprised you two didn’t cook alive.”
“We did,” Asami replied.
“And that’s why we brought all this water,” Adora said proudly as she handed Asami her own water bottle.
“What would we do without you?” Asami praised.
“We wouldn’t have gone out in this fucking heat that’s for sure,” Catra complained.
“Can you do something other than complain?” Asami asked.
“No,” she replied without a second of hesitation, “also scoot over, you’re hogging all the shade.”
“Sorry, Applesauce, but I won. I hold all the shade privileges now,” she proudly declared, earning a weak little kick from a completely burned out Catra.
“Don’t be like that,” Adora sighed and crawled closer to her girlfriend. She ran her fingers through Catra’s hair, scratching her in this very particular way that only Adora knew how to do, and soon it was like angry asshole Catra had never been there, now replaced with just soft asshole Catra.
“Asami is right,” Catra said, sounding so content with everything, “what would we do without you?”
“Oh, are we showing her some love now?” Korra asked, scooting closer and hugging Adora from behind, “mind if I join in? ‘Cause I got plenty.”
Following her example the other two joined in the PDA, Asami leaning against her shoulder, and Catra resting her head on her lap. Adora looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“Y-You guys,” she whined, trying not to crumble into an emotional mess, “I love you so much.”
“We love you too,” Korra answered, kissing her cheek. The others hummed in agreement.
“This means a lot,” she replied, sniffing loudly, “but you’re all really sweaty and it’s way, way too hot for PDA right now.”
Korra and Asami muttered some agreements and promptly moved away, fanning themselves a little to help cool down. Catra, on the other hand, refused to move and in fact even pressed a little closer.
“Are you gonna move?” Adora asked, amused.
“Nope,” Catra replied, “you’re too comfortable.”
Not wanting to disturb this rare moment of peace, Adora accepted her fate, and returned to her duty as Catra’s primary source of scratches.
After that initial burst of energy the rest of the day was surprisingly peaceful. Well, besides a small argument over who had the worst taste in music, and who should or shouldn’t be allowed to have the aux cord. But other than that it was a calm and peaceful day.
Slowly but surely, the shade grew a bit longer and the day grew a bit colder. Night was about to fall, and it was time to move to part two of their wonderful summer date. Milkshakes at the diner. Korra’s kinda sorta aunt Kya ran the place with her wives, so she let Korra and all her friends - and girlfriends - hangout for as long as they wanted.
The four of them greeted Kya before taking their usual table. Catra did not waste a single second trying to sit like a normal person, she promptly tossed her legs over Adora’s lap, and leaned back against the wall, phone already in hand.
“Hey, look at that,” she commented, “Blight dyed her hair purple.”
“Maybe she decided green hair was too straight for her,” Korra joked, “I’m surprised she didn’t go with blue.”
“Well, I think purple works really well for her,” Adora commented, “I mean, all her clothes are already black and purple.”
“All of your clothes are white or red, but I don’t see you dying your hair,” Catra commented, archiving the mental image of redhead Adora for later.
Adora opened her mouth to argue, but was interrupted by Asami, “babe, your hair is wonderful, don’t let her bully you into doing something stupid with it.”
Catra looked ready to throw her phone, “hey, I aint bullying anyone!”
“I see you kids are as cheerful as ever,” Castaspella greeted as she reached them, putting their food on the table, “here are your milkshakes, and the fries are on the house.”
“We really don’t mind paying for it, aunt Casta,” Korra assured her.
“Nonsense, let us spoil you kids a little,” Casta replied, with a wave, “besides, consider this a little thank you for helping our niece get a date.”
“Wait!” Catra interrupted, very confused for a moment, “Amity is your niece?”
“No, silly, I meant Luz,” she chuckled, “she was so in love with that Blight girl that she wouldn’t stop talking to Lilith about how amazing she was. It was adorable.”
Adora blinked a couple of times as she realized that meant that Luz and Glimmer were technically related now. She then vowed to herself to neverr let them find out, their power and chaos combined would be far too much for the world.
“Uh, glad we could help I guess?” Korra offered with a weak smile, completely unaware of the small crisis going on in Adora’s head. Aunt Casta laughed a little at the awkwardness, before leaving to tend to the other tables.
And now that they were left alone it was time to dig in. As usual Adora practically inhaled her food, and had to be stopped by Catra before she choked on something. Also as usual they were all dipping their fries in their milkshakes, with the sole exception of Asami.
“I still don’t know how you guys manage to eat that,” she commented.
Adora loudly swallowed a whole portion of milkshake covered fries in one go - earning an exasperated sigh from Catra - and answered, “it’s good!”
“Is it though?”
“What? Is this unsuitable for your refined palate, princess?” Catra teased.
“It’s…weird,” she replied.
“Hey, I’m weird, and you still love me,” Korra commented, leaning a little closer to her.
“You know what I meant,” she complained even as she leaned back against Korra.
“Don’t you wanna at least give it a try?” Korra asked, offering one of her own fries, “for me?”
That was a cheap trick, and Korra knew it, but it worked. Asami leaned in and took a bite of those fries without even taking them from Korra’s hand. There was a certain romance to eating food from your lover’s hands, or at least there would be if her two other lovers weren’t being little shits and snickering the entire time.
Asami glared at the two of them as she slowly ate her fries, trying to properly savor them, to fully grasp their flavor profile. Adora did a little heart with her hands and blew her a kiss in an attempt to mitigate her annoyance.
It worked better than she would like to admit.
“So how is it?” Korra asked.
Asami swallowed and paused, seeming to ponder her answer for a moment. “It was...better than I expected.”
Korra laughed and shot her a beaming smile, “told you it was good.”
Asami couldn’t respond for a moment as she was too busy being reminded that Korra was a blessing to humanity, and that she was so lucky to be able to call her her girlfriend.
“Well uh...thanks for making me try it,” she mumbled. Trying her best to save herself before Catra and Adora - especially Catra - could make any comments on her loss of composure, Asami dipped one of her fries on her milkshake and offered it to Korra, “here.”
Korra eagerly and happily took a bite off of it.
“That’s so fucking gay,” Catra commented.
“Catra, we’ve all been dating for months,” Adora countered.
“Yeah, your point?” She asked, sticking her tongue out at her.
“You’re the worst, you know that?” Asami replied.
“Complain all you want, princess. You all love me, and you know it.”
The table collectively groaned - Asami burying her head in her hand - all fully aware that she was completely right.
Eventually the conversation died down. It was late and they had spent all day with each other, but they all knew they’d have to part ways eventually. They all knew they’d probably see each other tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and every day for as long as they could. But that didn’t mean they enjoyed bringing the date to a close.
Adora especially seemed extra clingy today as she gave all three of her girlfriends tight, rib-crushing hugs. The others were far more subtle about it, but it was still there. In the lingering touches after a hug, the yearning looks after a kiss. It was that unspoken want to stay just a little longer, to never let go.
Maybe one day they’d all walk together to their own home, and cuddle together in their own bed, but today they all had different places to return to and they had to go their separate ways. In the end only Korra was left standing in front of the diner.
“Hey, kid,” aunt Kya called, “you want a ride back to your parent’s place?”
“You really don’t--”
“What did Casta say about letting us spoil you?” She interrupted. There was no arguing with her.
Next thing Korra knew she was in Kya’s car, watching the lamp posts pass by them as she took her home.
“You should bring them over more often,” Kya commented.
“I’ll try,” Korra replied.
“I’m serious,” she insisted, “you know we all love when you bring the girls over. It reminds us of the good old days.”
“The good old days?” Korra asked, somewhat amused.
“Back when we were your age,” she explained, “back then it wasn’t exactly okay for a girl to want to be with another girl, let alone two. But even then we knew we wanted nothing more than to be together, just the three of us, for as long as life would let us.”
Korra thought back to that idea of sharing a place with them, living every day with them, making days like this the norm. It all sounded so wonderful.
“Yeah,” she replied, “I think I get it.”