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‘Why did we think this was a good idea again?’ Catra’s standing outside of the apartment complex wearing an oversized t-shirt, with Adora next to her. The comfort the shirt gives isn’t enough to compensate for the pain in the ass being ready at eight am on the weekend brings.
Yes, that’s right. Ready at eight. Sunday morning. For no fucking reason.
‘Because it’s fun!’
Catra grumbles. She firmly believes that Adora wakes the sun up, not the other way around. That’s the only logical explanation for Adora being here, and being happy about it.
No eye bags in sight, only their beach bag.
To be fair, Catra has been playing modded Minecraft until one in the morning just about every day this week. But it wasn’t her fault that she got reintroduced to the magnus opus that is Project Ozone 2. That dirt was 100% on Entrapta and Entrapta only.
Speaking off, she could use this time to play it, but no. Sea Hawk has been wasting Catra’s precious time since the moment she met him. Right now, he’s only enforcing that belief by making them wait for- she checks her phone- twenty one minutes now?
She crossed her arms once more and leaned her head on Adora’s shoulders. ‘Your friends are shit.’
Adora took her chance and put her arm around Catra to pull her closer. ‘They’re your friends too.’
‘Not for long.’ Catra deserved at least twenty minutes more sleep time. Even more than that, since Adora did her thing and made sure to wake her up before her perfectly timed alarm. Y’know, the alarm that allowed her to sleep five minutes after the last possible moment she could stay in bed.
Guess that the world wasn’t fair sometimes.
Catra nuzzled closer in the crook of Adora’s neck. At least she was the perfect cuddling height. Not too tall that Catra couldn’t reach her, and not too short that she got a weird crick in her neck.
That also explains why Adora has blond hair; she’s the goldilocks of humans.
Hell, Catra could and would go on a tangent explaining how Adora is even better than that, but let a woman rest. ‘I think this is a sign that I should stay home.’
‘They’ll be here soon.’ Adora said. Her arms squeezed her closer, ruining the tiny bits of inner peace Catra had gathered with overwhelmingly gay thoughts.
Damn it.
Catra moved her head from her hiding spot and saw Adora send a text back. Glimmer had typed stuff in all caps and the last message readable was “B THERE SOONNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!”
‘But at what cost?’
Adora lifted up the hand she had around Catra’s shoulder and pushed Catra’s head back in the crook of her own neck. So much for answers.
Well, the mystery wasn’t reason enough for her to stay awake. Catra must make most of her time, especially for the squad brigade arrived. She closed her eyes, enjoying all that is Adora. Her warmth, her smell, her hold.
Trust her, a part of Catra had common sense. A feeling luring her into the uncanny thoughts that said that maybe, oh maybe, she shouldn’t let herself get attached onto Adora that much.
But… Adora has clung onto Catra before… especially when she was drunk, that one time.
No matter how much Catra twists and turns all that had happened in her head, she can’t wrap her head around it. Adora seemed to… be “attached” to her in some type of way. And fuck, Catra wants to gobble up every piece of Adora that she gives to Catra. She wants to learn all of Adora’s internal dynamics to uncover the enigma that says sappy shit when she’s drunk.
The enigma that says sappy shit when she’s not drunk.
Adora… so kind, so smart and also so dumb. Not in an annoying way, even. More in an enamouring way. So much so that it became kind of bothering, actually.
Sigh.
The only thing that’s bad about being friends with Adora is that Catra wants more, and has wanted more for longer than she would like to admit. Catra has been dreaming of what things could be for so long, that it feels more like memories. Sometimes when she squints just right, she lets herself float along on her delusion.
Thinking back on every interaction with Adora only manages to blur every line, every inhibition that Catra has had.
And god, it feels so amazing to be over the moon like this.
But fuck, is it scary.
The main exception to Catra’s ignorant bliss settles like cement in her nose. There’s always the possibility that Adora doesn’t want the same.
Yes, Adora has conveyed several times now that she likes spending time with Catra in some sort of way. But to what degree does Adora want this?
Don’t get Catra started on the bureaucratic mess that dating- and that is in the unlikely scenario that Adora feels the same way- her roommate will also bring.
It’s been a good while since so many thoughts swarmed Catra’s brain, and it’s messing with her head. She used to be so good at repressing. A world-wide champion.
And now her videogames barely manage to distract her enough.
What has happened to her?
It was a golden rule, written in the stars: preoccupy the mind and no thought comes in! To all good things come an end, apparently, since now Catra’s brain is plagued with invader thoughts. Always at their highest sap-level when Adora comes knocking on her door to check on her and ask if she’s been drinking enough water. One time Adora even asked if she could do her own thing in Catra’s room too. And why?
Because she had “missed her vibes”.
Is Adora just craving company and is Catra seeing this all wrong in the same wave? All things she can find out, if she wasn’t such a coward.
Breathe, Catra.
She inhales and exhales, trying to find peace in her mind palace. It was actually more akin to a maze, with all the broken down pieces obscuring the paths she used to know.
It’s time for a change, a new route, a new… adventure.
Because Adora and everything that she’s made her feel is also an adventure.
For real though, what the fuck did Catra do? She was supposed to use her precious time to catch up on some sleep, not overthink. She takes a calming breath once more and grows limp in Adora’s arms.
And she’ll be damned, this vertical bed is better than her horizontal one.
(That may or may not have been the cause of the blonde holding her, but Catra just decided to stop that train of thought in all its totality.)
So comfy.
She might fall asleep right here, right now.
Adora makes her feel like she’s in a birds nest, one with-
bweeeEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHP
-a fucking predator, apparently.
A horn blared.
Not just once, the whole fucking time, like a continuous form of misery.
Which fucking idiot thinks it’s okay to fucking blare their stupid ass claxon in the middle of the morning? It was fucking eight. Not even the frogs are up at this awful time and Catra can’t properly think.
Her body is still full of the shock of her startling awake. Oh, she is so ready to just give the best stank eye that’s ever been giving in the history of stank eyes- when she sees familiar faces in a dark blue SUV.
‘Don’t tell me I know those idiots.’
Adora is waving with her free hand indicating that yes, unfortunately, they do know those idiots. They have been waiting for said idiots.
At eight in the fucking morning.
The SUV parks right in front of them with half a donut and all of the sleep in Catra evaporates in an instant.
Window rolled down and with his head poking out, Sea Hawk said, ‘anyone waiting for a ride?’
Catra and Adora almost get hit in the face by the door, as Scorpia walks out and squeezes them to death in a way that in some alternative universe should probably be considered a hug. Perfuma and Bow also walk out of the car.
‘Let me get that for you.’ Perfuma says, grabbing their bag and opening the tiny trunk of the car. Bow is kind enough to put the seat forward so Catra can sit in the third row of the car, when she’s eye to eye with none other than Glimmer.
Glimmer, the sparkling fuck that holds a smug smile (at eight in the morning).
(On a Sunday too.)
‘No, no way. There is just no way.’
For good measure, Glimmer pats the seat next to her. “Don’t you want to sit next to me, Kitten?”
‘Oh, fuck off!’ Catra turns around and her face hits Adora’s chest.
‘What’s wrong?’ Those upturned eyebrows emit so much innocence, Catra would almost forget the sparkling problem. That, and the consequences of having no leg room for three hours. And no shoulder room. And getting a whole ass person in her space whenever the car takes a too sharp turn.
Almost.
Out of the car sounds a ‘Catra’s being a little bitch!’ from Glimmer and the trance Adora put her in gets broken.
‘Sit in the middle seat yourself, coward!’
‘I was here first.’
‘I didn’t choose the carpool order!’ Otherwise I’d skip out on you, Catra thought. She’s heaving at this point. ‘You should sit there, since you’re smaller.’
‘I’m sure that you and your big ass ego can manage to fit. Otherwise you should stay home. I think I can speak for all if I say that we would prefer that.’
The disrespect. Catra did want to stay home, so bad, but to give Glimmer the satisfaction of caving in? No fucking way.
Catra opened her mouth to exclaim the worst insult she could think of (which was really, really bad), when Adora spoke again.
‘What’s wrong with the middle seat?’
‘Are you serious?’ Glimmer asked.
‘I mean… yeah? That’s where you get all the extra’s.’ Catra tilted her head to the side. Adora counted out on her fingers. ‘You can sleep on someone’s shoulder, you get head pats, someone makes sure nobody wakes you up, you’re the snack gatekeeper-’
***
Adora’s hand went through Catra’s hair, somethings she’s been doing for most of the car ride. Glimmer has been glaring at them for just as long. Luckily, Catra doesn’t notice anything of the nasty side glances, as she’s napping on Adora’s shoulder.
Thank goodness, that Adora’s monologue was effective immediately.
Adora likes Catra (a normal amount), but she can get grumpy in the morning. (Okay, Catra being cute and moody is one of the reasons why Adora likes Catra.)
(A normal amount of course!)
‘Maybe we should consider changing the seating arrangements on the way back,’ Perfuma said. ‘I do feel that the chakra’s are suboptimal.’
Mermista looked into the rearview mirror. She’s been giving Adora and Catra looks and unsubtle side glances the past hour. ‘Just say that Glimmer and Catra aren’t vibing.’ Perfuma shrugs. ‘Besides, they were the only ones small enough to fit in the back.’
‘Hey!’ Glimmer said.
Catra cracked open one of her eyes, looked around and closed it again. ‘I’m insulted.’
‘Good.’ Damn Mermista.
Catra wanted to open her mouth, but before she gets any sound out, Adora’s hand is gently smothering her mouth. Catra opens her mouth and contemplates licking Adora’s hand, but the realisation that that means that Adora would pet her with a hand full off saliva… Yeah, she gives up the need to talk real quick.
As predicted, Adora proceeds to pet through her hair.
This will be the last bits of morning peace Catra can get, so she does not protest much. She does, however, settle better in Adora’s arms.
For the first time since making the plans to go to the beach, Catra thinks she’ll be all right.
***
‘Yay!’ Sea Hawk said as he jumped out of the car. They finally made it.
The sun is warm, but not scorching yet. Still, the sun being on the verge of unbearable at 11 am is kind of a red flag.
Adora opened the trunk. The tiny space was packed to the brim with only bags. Naturally, Adora tried to carry all of them.
At the same time.
Honestly, Catra tried to stop her. She mentally made the notion that, yes, she should help Adora from injuring herself.
The only downside was that all those mental motions erased from her mind as soon as she saw Adora’s arm muscles straining under the weight of the bags. She had a backpack on, three normal bags in one hand and in her other she was carrying a duffel bag.
Hot damn.
Adora started power walking to the beach and Catra followed her with her eyes.
‘Gay.’
Catra’s eyes snapped to the source of the sound. Mermista was standing next to her.
‘Shut up.’
Mermista rolled her eyes. ‘Then stop thinking so loud. We all know you want a piece of-’
Nope nope nope nope nope.
Catra was not dealing with that rabbit hole today. She grabbed the only remaining bag and walked away.
The beach was not packed, but it did seem sprinkled on by humans. For the better, since Catra was not feeling the absolute mortification of beach interactions today. She threw the bag on the pile that Adora had made.
Adora gave her that smile. ‘Excited?’
‘To be outside and cooking in my own skin? Never.’
Adora smiled wider.
‘Adventure!’ Sea Hawk screamed. He ran with all his might, totally undeterred when sand got in his sandals. Every step he made, let sand fly in the air.
Sea Hawk ran up to the point where the sand meets water and further until his kneecaps were submerged.
He bended his knees and winded himself up… The idiot wouldn’t-
The whole squad cringed when Sea Hawk took a dive. Well, all except Mermista. She just rolled her eyes. If you’d look really closely, you could see a tiny smile in the corner of her mouth. No one paid attention to that, because Sea Hawk was still underwater.
The sun melted Adora’s frozen shock, and she took off to the ocean and beyond. ‘Sea Hawk!’
Two steps into the water and boom. Sea Hawk stood with a big grin, the water trickling down from his moustache. ‘Adventure!’ He raised a fist in the air.
Mermista and Catra had walked closer to all the shenanigans.
‘Bruh?’
‘Yup.’ Mermista said. ‘He’s special. This is either the reason, the cause or both.’
Sea Hawk had walked closer to them again. Each word out of Mermista’s mouth multiplied his happiness. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. ‘My love, shall I build you a throne deemed worthy for your vigour?’
‘Sure.’
And off he sprinted to the sand.
‘That was-’ Adora said.
‘Mhhmm.’ Mermista walked over to see what Sea Hawk would build.
‘I’ve never seen him so… happy? In his element?’ Catra said.
‘That’s true. He kind of looks like you when you’re gaming.’
Catra’s head snapped to Adora. One of her eyebrows quirked up. ‘You look at me while I’m gaming?’
The sun burnt Adora’s cheeks in a nanosecond, as they were painted red. That, or she was just blushing like a normal person. Either explanation has plausible deniability.
(That’s what Catra told herself.)
‘Not in a weird way.’
And that was not a denial. Damn.
The sun caught Catra too.
***
‘So, what exactly are you doing?’ Bow asked Sea Hawk. He’d just finished talking with Scorpia about baking and other frolics.
Sea Hawk had put heaps and heaps of sand on a pile. (Good that they were on a beach, then.) He was shaping it into… something? ‘I’m building my love a throne.’
‘From sand?’
‘Yup.’
‘Does that… sit nice?’
Sea Hawk patted some more sand down, so that there was a place to put a butt down. The rest of the sand was just… well, sand. He patted it twice. ‘Take a seat.’
What’s the worst that could happen? Getting sand in his shorts? That was already on Bow’s agenda. He walked over and sat down on the relatively firm surface.
‘It’s just sand.’
Sea Hawk put his finger in the air. ‘Who can’t appreciate the small, can’t appreciate the big.’ He waved Bow away. ‘Let me make art.’
When Bow stood up, he saw the seat was a little bit dented. Figures.
Bow kept looking and was captivated by whatever Sea Hawk was adding now. Something akin to a… backseat? With firmer sand.
He stared as Sea Hawk kept adding, and adding. Eventually patting it all down so it looked like a chair. That wasn’t the end of it all, though, as he was… sculpting?!?
‘Is that a mermaid?’
‘No, it’s my one and only muse.’
There, on the side of the throne was a figure with a bored expression. The Mermista look, limited edition only. Still, that was not the end of it. ‘I can clearly see a fishtail?’
‘In every universe is my muse my muse. Art comes in many forms, and I shall try with all my might to depict my love’s beauty.’
Damn.
Bow was kind of shook by the speed Sea Hawk was sculpting the figures, too. How much free time did this man have, and most of all, how much did he spent on learning this skill? When the Mermista mermaid (or should we say, Mermaid) was done, Sea Hawk walked to the other side.
Bow put down his towel and decided to look. Observe. And see.
Sea Hawk dug his hands in the sand, going deep enough that the sand was firm and slightly damp. Some big scoops later on the left side of the chair and it started to look like… another mermaid? The face that they saw wasn’t that of Mermista however, it was from…
‘Is that Sea Hawk?’ Glimmer stood next to Bow and quirked her head to the side.
Too mesmerised, Bow could only nod.
‘As a mermaid?’
He nodded some more.
Glimmer blinked so loudly. Or it felt so loud, as it was the only thing travelling through his brain.
‘I think I’ve had enough Hawk for today.’ She walked away again.
Okay, even Bow could admit that to some it was kind of weird to see someone sculpt themselves as mermaid. But, the gentle care Sea Hawk put, the way he kneaded the sand? Bow wasn’t even sure what he was looking at. He saw the way Sea Hawk’s shoulders moved as he made the moustache of Sand Hawk, obscuring partly the view from the sculpture.
Not seeing everything made Bow more tempted to keep on looking.
Sea Hawk shoulders slumped and he turned around to face Bow. His forearms were covered all the way in sand. He stepped to the side and showcased the throne with his arms. The term throne wasn’t deemed worthy for what he had made out of sand, though.
It was so much better.
The place where Bow sat around half an hour ago is the place his glutes yearns for.
Mermista came walking by. Before Bow fell into the rabbit hole that was appreciating art, he saw Mermista looking once or twice from afar.
Sea Hawk bowed and wanted to grab her hands, only to find his own covered in sand and dirt. Instead, he put his forehead to Mermista’s hands and kissed the backs of her hands.
‘For you, my love.’
‘You’re stupid.’ Her tone wasn’t the stoic one, no. The best Bow could explain it, was there being about 0.01% affection laced into her voice. In Mermista-terms, she was more than head over heels.
Sea Hawk beamed brighter. ‘Also for you, my love. I’m stupid because you make my heart feel so full and my brain redundant.’
Mermista rolled her eyes and Bow tried not to cry.
He’s not afraid to show emotions, but crying at the beach would be a first for him. They would be happy tears instead of sad tears, though.
***
Catra is prepared for today. She’s not one big for travel, so she has to make sure that her time spent here will be enjoyable. Phone and headset charged, she’s ready to crush it.
(Yes, it was in her pre-requisites when Adora pleaded for her to join their squads beach outing. One of her main arguments was that it was time to chill, for once. She argued back that her best chill times were online. Adora then assured her that that was no problem, so she agreed on basis of that statement alone. It had nothing to do with the thought of Adora being happy, and then being blown away when Catra saw her beaming.)
The one thing Catra wasn’t ready for, was Adora. (Does it even come as a surprise anymore? This is happening a lot, lately, she should get her shit together for once.)
Adora, who was in her bikini putting on sunscreen, her back facing Catra. Adora’s hands moved over her muscled biceps and the sun made her arms glow.
Fuck, she was almost drooling.
Her eyes followed her every move. Adora tried to cover her back too, but the idiot had spammed lat raises too much in the gym. The surface area was simply too big for her to reach it all.
Not to be gay on main, but damn. What a sight for sore eyes.
‘You can help her, you know!’ Glimmer screamed from the side. Catra looked at her and saw her doing some beach yoga with Mermista and Scorpia, all lead by Perfuma.
The idea of touching those muscles is too good to be true. Like, okay. Rationally speaking, Catra has already touched those muscles while hugging, but there was always a layer of fabric between her and those ooga boogas. But to be able to trace every curve? Feel the firmness under her skin?
Yeah, it made Catra flustered. ‘Shut the fuck up!’
The evil gremlin burst down in laughter, breaking her flamingo pose. She pointed at Catra. Only then did she notice that her hands were in fists pointed downwards, and her jaw was filled with more tension than a family dinner on the holidays.
Only then did Adora notice the ruckus and scheming behind her and turned around. She saw Catra’s stance and walked over. ‘Hey, are you alright?’
So kind too, to check up on Catra. ‘Yeah, I am. Just… had a moment, y’know?’
‘Okay…’ She quirked one eyebrow up. ‘Just checking!’
Catra released the breath she was holding.
Adora walked away again.
‘Ah, are you still enamoured by your roommate?’ Entrapta sounds from the discord call on her tablet speakers. Oh yeah, they were just about to play some mobile legends together, before she was rudely interrupted. Entrapta was also asked to join the beacg outing, but she was at some weird science conference that would officially start tomorrow. ‘Or, I believe the correct term is “thirsting”?’
Catra has never grabbed her Bluetooth headphones as fast as this. Once she heard the sound that it made when it was connected, she looked around for damage control. It seemed that nobody had heard this.
Pfooh.
Going outside was not good for her health. Physical or mental.
Entrapta was still rambling on about Catra’s “infatuation” and such, which sounds a bit extreme.
Catra just sighed. ‘Let’s just go. Wanna do mid-lane?’
***
Catra is just about the entrepreneur of good plans. Amazing plans. Awesome plans.
But even she can’t escape the cruel faith of trial and error.
Using her phone in the scalding sun for a pretty heavy game made her device, as scientist would say, hot as balls. It wasn’t anything she couldn’t predict, which made it all the more sour.
If her phone was a laptop, she’d be sure that it’s fans would be louder than the screaming kids in the distance, who are splashing each other by the sea.
Instead of overbearing fans, she had the joy of a drained battery. (The necessary brightness levels of her phone also didn’t help with that. Her corneas were cooking for sure.)
All these accumulating instances made it that in the middle of her ult, her phone fell out.
Gone was Entrapta telling her the stats and strats.
Catra was left with nothing. Her headphones don’t make any sound, not even the sound of silence.
She blinked twice and slowly put off her headphones.
Two warnings messages before her phone completely dies are not enough! The first one you just swipe away, just like the second one. What’s the point?
If only she could swipe away the hollow feeling in her heart.
She looked around, and it’s like she’s seeing the real world for the first time ever. She was in her own cocoon, detached from the rest. It was where she felt save, and could ignore all the sand in places that they shouldn’t be.
Sigh.
Adora sat far away from the shoreline, so that the waves don’t crash into the sandcastle she’s building. She had that concentrated look on her face when she tries to form one of the four pillars in the corner.
She pushed a strand of blonde hair back that sat loose in her pony tail. Her hand brushed her cheek, leaving some sand behind.
Damn. What Catra wouldn’t do to put her hand on Adora’s cheek to gently brush it off.
Too sappy, too sappy. Catra looked around some more.
Sea Hawk and Scorpia were running around with a kite. At least they’re happy, having the most fun of their life, it seems like. Scorpia is holding the string, and the rainbow kite follows after her. Today’s mostly sunny though, no wind, so the kite almost drops down. A quick turn of Scorpia and the kite is saved.
She passed the string of the kite along to Sea Hawk, and he looks happy too. (Not that that was a rare sight.)
Looking at them distracts Catra enough from her own heartache.
She truly should’ve brought a powerbank.
Oh well.
Catra had used her time gaming to recharge some of her introvert energy. She might as well socialize to give off the impression she cares about those goobers she calls friends.
(Okay, fine. Catra does care about her friends, but tell no one.)
Sea Hawk is tried his best to keep the kite up high again, but to no avail. He ran and ran faster, until-
Bffoogghhh.
Adora looks defeated. Sea Hawk crashed into the sand castle she was building.
Catra had sworn on the day that Adora made soup for her, to disintegrate everyone who’d even consider hurting her. (To be honest, it was way earlier than that, but Catra would argue that there’s only one truth she’d accept. A little spoiler, it’s not the true truth.)
To his credit, Sea Hawk did look guilty. Scorpia, standing next to him, was already apologising in multitudes.
Catra moved her butt from the sand and walked towards Adora. She put her hand on Adora’s shoulder while she stood behind her out of solidarity.
‘Sea Hawk.’ Catra said.
He huffed. ‘I know.’ Even his moustache droops when his mouth forms a pout.
‘It’s- okay.’ Adora said.
Up close, Catra can see that that is not the case in the slightest. The place where a fine sandcastle was, is replaced by Sea Hawk’s butt print. Nothing from the original castle is visible anymore.
‘Nothing I can’t fix.’ She added, her shoulders tensing. Catra started to massage her.
‘I can help.’
Adora moves her head backwards to look at her. ‘But didn’t you want to…?’
‘Nah.’
With one firm squeeze in Adora’s shoulders, Catra sits next to her. Scorpia and Sea Hawk share a look with each other, but they make the grave mistake to also share it with Catra and Adora.
Their faces are full of Bow’s puppy eyesTM, patented since 1921. (Bow isn’t that old, it just runs in the family.)
Adora starts digging in the sand, and soon they all are. In the gravelly sand, Catra’s finger bump against some smoother things. She digs it out and sees at the centre of the castle shells in a circle.
The amount of care Adora puts into something as simple as a sandcastle shouldn’t be so attractive. But there Adora is, sitting next to her and trying to rebuild the walls, and Catra has never seen a more beautiful sight.
***
Sand has never felt this good. Forget all about architects and interior designers, they have no idea what they’re doing. They’re forgetting the most essential part of a good vibe in any home: sand chairs.
Think about it, no need to vacuum or clean sand in your house, because you can add it to the chair. A different butt shape than the previous chairsitter? Just mold it to perfection. Is the seat too low? Add sand. Seat too high? Remove sand.
The only thing stopping Bow from making a business selling sand chairs is that he is not a fan of capitalism.
Bow is in heaven. His eyes are closed, he’s comfortable and warm. If his friends would leave him here, he wouldn’t be mad.
He’d be grateful.
Bow would dedicate the rest of his life to making a sand chair, just so his last act on earth could be to sit in it. He doesn’t have to, though, because Sea Hawk is not only a master of the sea.
His sun time does get interrupted by a shadow looming over him. The light shining partly through his closed eyelids gets blocked. Only when he hears the coughing from a throat, he looks up.
‘Oh… Hi Mermista.’
She narrows her eyes slightly.
All of Bow’s life preservation skills spring in action. He jumps out of the chair. He pats the seat twice and lets out a nervous chuckle. ‘All yours.’
Mermista never stops glaring at him as she sits down and grabs her phone.
He gulps loudly and sits on a deserted beach towel next to her. Glimmer looks down at him and shakes her head.
Oh.
She saw that.
‘Oh Bow, you’re lucky I love you.’ Glimmer sits down next to Bow and interlaces their pinkies. It’s too hot for a full-body cuddle, but they like being close together.
A phone rings.
Mermista picks up, keeping the phone at arms distance. ‘Uhhhh, hello?’
‘Hi! Is Catra here?’ A cheery voice said.
‘Who are you?’
‘Oh! Sorry! I’m Entrapta. Is Catra here?’
Mermista raises one of her eyebrows and looks to her right, where Bow and Glimmer are sitting. ‘Do any of you know who this is?’ She turns the screen and they see Entrapta’s face up close. Entrapta moves backwards again to make her long, purple ponytails visible again.
‘…no?’
‘Oh! We game together. Her phone fell out. Is she here?’
‘Still… why do you have my number?’
‘I found it.’
‘Bitch, where?’
Entrapta blinks twice. ‘With my computer.’ She tilts her head. ‘I could have tried several different numbers of phones in close vicinity, but from the data and intel I’ve gathered from Catra’s stories, I determined that you had the highest probability of picking up. I wasn’t wrong.’
Off screen, one of Glimmers eyebrows quirks up in the air.
‘So please, enlighten me. Is Catra well?’ Entrapta says again.
‘See for yourself.’ Mermista turned to her back camera, perfectly capturing Catra’s gayness in the distance. Yes, she’s making a sand castle along with Sea Hawk, Scorpia and Adora, but then, Adora chuckles and her hands still to focus her attention to Adora. Catra’s mouth moves and Adora laughs even louder, which can be heard all the way over to where Mermista’s sitting. All Catra does is stare at Adora, a smitten smile painted on her face. ‘Gay idiots.’
‘That is true. My data says that they show all the signs of being in a relationship together, but Catra denies it. Adora does too.’
‘Ughhhhhhh, tell me about it. This morning she literally napped in Adora’s arms on the drive over here. That girl never sleeps.’
Glimmer scoffs. ‘They kissed like, at least twice and it’s still “just platonic”.’
‘With matching phone backgrounds like that, nothing is platonic anymore.’ Bow said. The cat hoodie picture was still going strong.
‘Not only that, Adora sometimes visits her while she’s gaming. They both seem to enjoy being in the same room together.’
‘And I thought only Perfuma and Scorpia could be this disgusting. Catradora isn’t even official and they’re gross like that.’
‘Says you. You and Sea Hawk are also disgusting.’ Glimmer said.
‘We have that NRE, duh.’
‘Haven’t you two been dating for about… three years now?’ Bow said.
‘That’s why we have a stoplight relationship, duhhhhhh.’
‘Hey! Bow and I are plenty of romantic. He knows my coffee order by heart. A venti-’
‘-half-whole milk, one quarter 1%, one quarter non-fat, extra hot, split quad shots (1.5 shots decaf, 2.5 shots regular), no foam latte, with whip, 2 packets of Splenda, 1 sugar in the raw, a touch of vanilla syrup and 3 short sprinkles of cinnamon.’ Usually Bow feels bad enough to ask the barista to make this. By now, barista’s recognise his face and he’s allowed to stand behind the counter to make the contraption Glimmer calls coffee.
‘Did you know you can get unlimited free coffee?’ Entrapta said. ‘By making a stamp and using it.’
Glimmer jumps up from her sitting position and yanks Mermista’s phone out of her hands. ‘Wait, you know how to do that?’
‘Of course! I have a stamp for all coffeeshops.’
‘Haha. Hahahaha. MUhahahahAHHAHA!’ Glimmer’s laugh turns maniac. ‘Get wrecked Catra!’ She shouts.
Catra looks up and flips her off. Glimmer does the same.
Under her breath, Glimmer mutters ‘oh, this is gold.’ She turns her full attention to Entrapta. ‘So…?’
***
The sand castle is becoming more of a sand fortress as the hours pass by. The beach got even more crowded and hotter, but it’s not a problem for Catra and Adora. They’re the only two dedicated enough to keep on working and building on this project. The focus helps them block out any other sound.
‘I’m glad you’re here.’ Adora said. She’s digging a ditch around the forth with her bare hands, shovel left at home. Catra sits next to her, doing the same.
‘Well, you see me all the time, dummy.’
‘I know, but it means a lot to me that you’re here, even though you hate going outside.’
‘Pfffffh, you make it sound like I’m a hermit crab.’
‘Well, aren’t you?’
Catra rolled her eyes. ‘And you’re a lobster.’
‘Not yet.’
They chuckled.
Adora has such a nice time here on the beach. There’s something special about the calm and the white noise of happy people. They’re close enough to the water, so that there’s a light breeze accompanying them.
The world feels peaceful like this.
‘Hey!’ A dude yelled towards them.
Jinxed it.
Both Catra and Adora look up. A ball bounces off their sandcastle, flying towards Catra’s face.
Oh, damn it.
Not on Adora’s watch. Her arms grab Catra and pull her closer towards her.
Whoosh.
The ball flew right over Catra’s nose. That could’ve been bad.
Real bad.
Adora’s arms were surrounding Catra’s waist, and she doesn’t want to let go, ever. She might also need the mental support for herself. The sandcastle went from its sand-y goodness to a sad-y goodness. Or badness.
Oof.
The guy walked up to them, clad in only a neon pink swimming trunk, sunglasses and a backwards cap. ‘Whoa.’ He said. His eyes roam over Catra, and Adora felt her fists clench. ‘Blonde girl-’ he wasn’t looking at Catra, which was as much of a relief as a pain, ‘-wanna date, if you know what I mean?’ He lowered his sunglasses to give a wink.
Catra’s hands peeled Adora’s ones away. She stood up and pointed at him. ‘What the fuck? You’re not even gonna say sorry? Are you insane?!’
‘It’s okay, Catra.’ Her right hand found Catra’s left, the one she isn’t pointing at the dudebro.
She squeezed once.
The guy puts his fingers in a v-shape to touch his chin. He purses his lips. ‘You’re a fiery one,’ he makes his sunglasses fall down lower on his nose bridge, ‘wanna join?’
Oh he did not just say that to Catra.
‘Excuse you?’ Before she knew it, Adora was also standing up and moved up in his face. ‘Where do you get the audacity from? Can’t you fucking read the room? No one is waiting for your crunchy ass. And besides, she’s taken! So move your pathetic self out of here, before I make you.’ Adora hadn’t noticed that she had walked closer to him with every word. The sheer proximity was enough to make him lean back, however.
From behind him, someone from his friend group yelled. ‘Just go bro, it’s not worth it.’
‘Aight dude.’ He jutted out his chin and took a couple steps backwards. The dudebro almost tripped on the remains of the sandcastle, to then turn around and walk away with his posse. His friends gave him some friendly slaps on the back.
Catra and Adora kept standing there, until the group walked past the volleyball net they were first occupying. Only then Adora feels like she can breathe again.
‘I really don’t get people like him.’ She said. Adora looked at Catra, who was still staring off into the distance.
‘Some things, you don’t have to get.’
‘True. What I do want to get is, well- did you just get mad on my behalf?’ Adora elbows Catra in her side. She can’t help but smile at her own question.
‘Oh, shut up.’
‘You so totally did.’
Catra elbows her too. ‘Shut up.’
‘Wanna admit you care about me?’ Adora has to elbow her back as well.
They keep on elbowing each other, their movements becoming more abundant each and every time. Adora stumbles back on the sandcastle they built. She tries to latch on to Catra for balance but they-
They both fell in the sand, Catra’s head on Adora’s chest. ‘Auch.’
‘You okay?’
‘Yeah, Adora.’ Catra props her elbows up slightly, her body warm on top of hers. Despite the heat the sun provides, Adora isn’t ready to let go. She puts her arms around Catra. ‘I think now would be fit to discuss real matters, though.’ The corner of Catra’s lip turns up. The glint she gets in her eye whenever she’s about to tease Adora is so captivating. It makes her wonder if life is even real. ‘Did you say I was taken?’
Adora splutters. ‘Pffhh, I- no. No. Of course not. Ha! What are you talking about? Everyone knows… knows you’re single. Haha.’
‘Hmmm… pretty sure you did say so, princess.’
Anything, anything but that nickname. Adora became too aware of all the ways their bodies are touching each other. Of course they’ve hugged, but it’s different when their stomachs are touching and Catra’s face is so close to her face and she’s so pretty.
She loves all her capabilities to breathe.
Why did they leave her now, of all moments? All the air in her body seems to be evaporated.
And fuck, this is such a good moment to be honest. To tell Catra how she feels, but-
Adora can’t. Physically can’t.
Her heart is beating loud enough, she’s sure that Catra can feel it through her chest. ‘Taken for granted, I meant.’ Voice breezy and light, throat coarse and dry. ‘No one is more annoying than our professional gremlin, so we need to cherish you.’
‘Pretty sure that’s Glimmer…’ Catra bit her lip and buried her head in Adora’s shoulder out of shame. Her next words were softer and muffled. ‘I wouldn’t mind if you cherished me, though…’
Was… was Adora supposed to hear that? Her whole body tensed up, and Catra lifted her head up. She quirked an eyebrow, and then her eyes became bigger. Startled, she tried to escape out of Adora’s arms as fast as possible. ‘Catra, I-’
She groaned. ‘Take me out?’
‘For dinner?’
‘With a gun.’
‘Oh…’ What a whirlwind of happenings. ‘I was hoping for dinner.’
‘Of course you did, you like food. Love food. I’ll just-’ She pointed a thumb behind her, not really aiming at anything. Catra leaned backwards this time, and Adora got up too. Catra was essentially sitting in Adora’s lap now, especially considering Adora was too stubborn to let her hold go.
‘I’d love food with you, too. Or more. I mean-’ Adora coughed. ‘Like. Like food. A normal amount.’ Her brain was empty for words, but her mouth didn’t listen. This time, it was Adora’s turn to bury her head in Catra’s shoulder. ‘Please tell me I’m dreaming.’
Catra chuckled.
Of course, her crush would laugh at this terrible display of Adora’s communication abilities.
Too bad that the housing market is astonishingly hopeless right now.
‘We’re terrible at this.’
All of Adora’s neurons were already firing at the same time. Catra’s words did nothing to stop it.
In fact, her words had quite the opposite effect.
‘This is a nightmare.’
Catra was still chuckling. ‘Says you, I can’t believe you’re asking me out when your butt is in a ditch.’
The sheer absurdity of it all made Adora laugh. ‘You got me there.’
‘And I can’t believe this was everything I wanted.’ Her voice turned softer.
‘What- I- Catra!’ What in the fuckery was happening right now? ‘There’s literally sand in my ass crack.’
She laughed again. ‘Idiot! We could’ve had a sweet, romantic moment or something.’
‘Deal with it. I’m planning to become your idiot.’ Adora blushed. ‘Or at least- well-’ She sighed. ‘You’re not getting rid of me that easily.’
‘Good.’
Okay, what the heck happened there? Adora’s body functioned and got words out, but she must be having heat stroke, as her brain processed absolutely nothing.
Nothing apart from-
Holy shit.
Did they ask each other out on a date just yet?!?
By the look in Catra’s eyes, that did happen.
And my oh my, just seeing Catra in front of her, gives Adora enough energy to radiate.
The sun shines, but Catra and Adora shine brighter. Catra gets closer, so close that their foreheads touch each other. She caresses Adora’s nose with hers and her smile doesn’t waver.
Goodness grace, Adora wants to kiss her so bad. After knowing what it was like, after feeling Catra’s lips that first (and second?!) time, Adora has been craving it. Craving her. Not just her kisses, but also not not her kisses.
She’s close enough.
Close enough to-
Adora wraps her arms around Catra and stands up. She works out for a reason, but in this moment she found out the reason was to be able to carry Catra around. Catra clasps her legs around Adora, while Adora put her hands underneath Catra’s legs for extra support.
‘Let’s celebrate this.’
This is one small step for Adora, but a giant step for her to stop pining. (But then the good outcome.)
Catra looks behind her, where the waves were caressing the shore. ‘Adora, no.’
‘Adora, yes.’
‘Don’t do it.’
The sand is wet underneath Adora’s feet. ‘Wait, do you have your phone with you?’
An easy out, for if Catra really doesn’t want to. Or has her phone with her. One of Catra’s great passions is gaming after all. It’s so fascinating to see how submerged she can get when she’s busy.
Catra sighed, more defeated than ever. ‘No.’
And onwards Adora goes.
‘Adorah!’ Catra laughs in her ear. Her hands are softly thumping on her back. Whatever pleas Catra wanted to make, it’s not enough. She’s submerged until her stomach, Catra’s dangling legs also making contact with the colder water.
And she throws her in.
Catra, the sneaky bastard she can be, pulls her in too. The sounds of the world around her get muffled and their legs knock into each other a couple of time. She gets above water and Catra does too.
The water is dripping of Catra’s hair and she should look like a drowned rat, but she doesn’t. She’s nothing short of a goddess and Adora’s gay little heart goes wild.
Combine all of that with the fact that the water only reaches Catra’s chest.
‘You’re so cute.’ Adora said.
All of her brain functions are jamming. Stuck. Not going according to protocol.
Most of her inhibitions have the same problem, apparently.
‘I am not.’
She folds her arms, but it just looks like she’s leaning on the water.
Adora inches even closer in the water and holds her waist. Her eyes divert to Catra’s lips. They seem to form a small smirk, as if that’s not luring Adora even closer.
Catra leans in too, and soon their foreheads are touching. Adora’s eyes flick upwards to Catra’s. Is it weird that they seem even more beautiful than ever? Maybe it’s the soft gaze she’s giving Adora. Or maybe it’s that her arms are holding her tighter.
Their noses touch and breaths intermingle.
Catra’s face gets closer, just mere inches away from Adora’s lips.
Adora’s eyes flutter close, her heart is full with anticipation.
This is what she dreams about when she closes her eyes at night.
But then-
Catra diverts her face to kiss Adora on the cheek. So light, it’s more a brush of her lips, actually.
Her heart sinks, slightly.
‘I don’t want to fuck this up.’ Catra whispered in her ear.
That sounds… reasonable. As much faith Adora wanted to fester in their skills, this was all… new, fragile and frail.
What she had was Catra was special. However, saplings don’t grow into trees in one day. ‘Me neither.’
Who in their right mind invented that actions needed to have consequences?
Adora could curse. At herself, and at the fact that they lived together. It literally brought them together in the first place, but now it seemed like they were going to need to navigate this hurdle too.
‘Let’s go out first, okay?’ Catra had cupped Adora’s cheek. ‘Besides, we would never hear the end of it.’ She nodded her head back to the beach where their friends were.
Pfffft, as if they weren’t teasing them non-stop already. Catra said it, as if they couldn’t see them intertwined in the sea. She said it, as if their friends haven’t heard and seen her pining. ‘Okay.’ Adora swallowed. ‘That’s… probably better. Especially because I’m not sure that if we started, I could stop.’
‘God, Adora. You can’t just say these sort of things.’ Catra’s smile told quite the opposite though.
With pain, Adora removed one hand from Catra’s waist up to her forehead. She saluted. ‘But it’s the truth and nothing but the truth, your honour.’
Catra’s jaw hung wide open.
Adora held her even tighter. They’ve bared a lot of their heart today already, so it was time for a breather. She put her chin on top of Catra’s head and swayed her gently from left and right.
Miracle above miracle, Adora’s yearning levels were on an all-time high.
But the greatest miracle of all? It felt like she was close to realising it.
The ocean did nothing to sooth the energy rushing through her. All of that was fucking terrifying, but… Catra and her were going out, one of these days?
Is today even real?
Meanwhile, Catra’s veins were also filled with this gay revelation. Adora liked her back! Enough to go out on a date!
The worries would inevitable come later, but for now? There was so much adrenaline still in her body.
Every time she snuck a peek at Adora, her insides became jelly. She was so giddy inside.
Adora was beautiful on a normal day. This was not a normal day though, with the sun shining on her face and waterdrops dripping.
Fuck.
Did Catra die and went to lesbian heaven? That could be plausible… if… well, Catra hadn’t been so Catra in her life.
Still, she managed to stay cool, calm and collected like she always is. (This time with her heart running haywire and her body burning up from the inside because of Adora’s close touch.)
Even when Adora was biting her lip, and her eyes followed the movement.
Just… a little bit of indulgence wouldn’t hurt, right?
She cupped Adora’s face with her right hand, perched upwards in the water and leaned in. Not to give Adora a kiss on the lips, no.
Catra didn’t cave that fast.
Just a kiss, on the corner of her mouth.
This is why Adora should not tease Catra. Conscious or unconscious.
Get wrecked.
Adora’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled, of all things. Such a sweet smile too, that Catra did not feel worthy of in the slightest.
Adora’s smile turns into a fake pout, but Adora couldn’t keep her mouth down. ‘You’re mean.’ she said. ‘And goes against our rules.’
Ah, yes. Their flimsy, newborn rules.
‘We barely have any.’
‘So…’ Adora leaned in closer to reach Catra’s cheek.
‘Nuh uh.’ She deflects that by putting her hand on her face. ‘You can’t just call me mean and expect more.’ Catra poked Adora’s shoulder. ‘You have to earn more.’
‘Oh?’ Adora rolled her eyes. ‘And however will I ever do that, malady?’ Adora held Catra by her waist.
Catra looked back towards the beach. If she held eye contact with Adora for second longer, she’d cave. Her eyes lingered on where the remains of their sandcastle laid. ‘I’ve got just the idea.’
***
Those losers that destroyed Adora’s sandcastle were indeed losers. They left their volleyball in the sand, alone and deserted.
How sad, pout pout.
Luckily, the friend group could find some good use out of it.
Sea Hawk caught the ball Catra served from behind the net, bouncing it towards Adora.
‘Hawk!’ Adora yelled, passing the ball along to him.
He jumped up, and from the centre of the field he smacked it over the net.
Too bad, fortune was not on his side.
Well, fortune that was called Scorpia, as she was the one from Catra’s team who bored it into the ground. Bow, their third member also cheered.
Twenty-one to five.
Sure, Catra’s team had an advantage in numbers, but Sea Hawk and Adora shouldn’t have bragged so much about their volleyball skills while making the teams.
In Adora’s defence, the most physical activity she’s seen Catra do was when they played Wii-fit together.
Glimmer, Mermista, Perfuma (and Entraptra on the phone) cheered them occasionally on the sidelines. (That sand chair was too good.)
Although, the shame hit so heavy on Mermista’s chest that she stood up out of her chair. She cracked her hands in front of her and walked up towards the field. She poked Sea Hawk in his chest. ‘I taught you better than this.’
‘Are you joining us?’ Adora’s eyes sparkled with joy.
‘No, I’m saving you from utter demolishment.’
‘Awesome!’ Adora said.
Catra huffed from the other side of the field. ‘Even Mermista can’t save you now.’
Mermista pointed two fingers to her own eyes, then pointed them to Catra. ‘Be careful, or get smashed.’
Look, it was not that Catra was scared or anything, but… she hoped the chill that went through her body (from the cold, obviously) was subtle.
Scorpia clasped her hand on Catra’s right shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got it.’
‘Yeah we do!’ Bow said, doing the same movement as Scorpia, but on Catra’s left shoulder.
‘Alright.’
***
Mermista was a force of nature, that much is clear. Even in the scorching sun and after, she gave it her all, jumping left and right. Smashing the ball with all her might into the sand, so hard that the ball dug a hole in the field.
She was good. Hell, she was one of the best volleyball players out there.
Adora’s team really needed her as a deus ex machina, and damn did she deliver.
Too bad for her that volleyball is a team sport of all things, with rules that only enforce that fact.
So, the end score? Adora’s team lost to Catra’s team.
Eighteen to twenty-five.
Mermista groaned, threw the volleyball into the sand and walked away while Sea Hawk chased after her.
Meanwhile, Catra grinned to Adora. ‘Seems like you just lost, princess.’
And there was that stupid pout again.
Fuck, it should look stupid on a twentysomething old, but Adora only made pouting look cute. Catra was tempted to give her what she wanted, to kiss her again.
Properly.
(There were too many friends around them for Catra to really do it, but it was the thought that realised that she is hooked.
Damn it.)
‘So… what now?’ Adora said, as she walked closer to Catra.
Rookie mistake number one, she forgot to set a prize when she won. Luckily, Catra has always been fast to adapt. ‘Don’t worry, I know a fitting consequence.’
Adora quirked her eyebrow up.
***
So… Adora was destined to sit in the middle seat.
The day on the beach has started to slowly fade away, so the friends thought it would be a good time to go back. Which, all in all is a very good development. Walking, jumping and running around, Adora wasn’t aware of how tired she gotten.
And, honestly? Sitting in the middle seat was actually a blessing to Adora. She was embraced by Catra, who petted her hand softly through her hair. This felt more amazing than anything else. With the car and its air conditioning, the soft music and Catra’s affection, Adora began to drowse away.
Life was good.
The last bit of fight in her that tried to keep her eyes open faded away completely.
Adora fell asleep.
***
‘Okay, what the fuck did you smoke and why didn’t you share any?’ Glimmer said to Catra.
‘Hmmm?’ Catra looked up from where her gaze was stuck on Adora. She looked so peaceful when she’s asleep.
Glimmer gave her an eyeroll. ‘You keep smiling. It’s concerning.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the little things in life.’ Perfuma said.
Mermista said, ‘maybe for you. From her, it’s freaky.’
Oh.
Catra wasn’t aware of the fact that she was smiling, honestly. She was too focused on Adora, and how her chest expands and contracts with every breath. Seeing Adora so serene… it made her-
‘You’re doing it again!’
Glimmer always knows how to turn her peaches sour.
‘Shut the fuck up.’
‘Please, let’s keep our calm, peace and serenity.’ Perfuma said. ‘Let’s all breathe with me.’ She began to excessively inhale and exhale, fluffing up more than hot air balloons.
‘You know what? I think I will.’ That… coming from Glimmer was more alarming than Catra showing signs of genuine happiness for once. ‘With my new friend Entrapta and her coffee stamps.’
Oh fuck.
Glimmer with unlimited coffee is like opening a Pandora’s box but worse. It’s already public knowledge that Glimmer should not, in any case, be doused with loads and loads of free caffeine. There was a golden ratio where Glimmer was tolerable, and it was exactly the caffeine intake of one Venti and a Grande.
Mermista said, ‘don’t forget about me.’
Catra made a fist of one hand until her knuckles became white. Following Perfuma’s advice worked for once, or it was taking a glance at Adora’s peaceful face again. These were the friends that Adora put up with, and Catra should probably learn to do so too. Wasn’t that part of the reason why Adora dragged Catra’s ass out here in the first place? Getting to know their friends. ‘You know what, fine. It’s not my problem. Have fun getting kicked out of Starbucks.’
‘You’re not even gonna be mad?’ Glimmer asked. ‘Damn, I think we took the wrong Catra with us. Don’t go back though, I think I can actually be friends with this one.’
‘Glimmer.’ Bow used his rare stern voice.
‘In your dreams, Sparkles.’ Catra flipped her off with her free hand.
The rest of the ride was spent in relative peace.
At the very least, Catra was at peace, as she fell asleep with her head resting on Adora’s. What a weird irony, was it. Adora could be stressing about so many tiny things in life, but she helped Catra find her “inner peace”, as Perfuma would say it.
(That, or Adora is just a very comfortable pillow.
Well, what’s the difference anyway?)
***
Bonus scene
Thank god for apartment elevators, because everything hurt.
Yes, Adora meant everything.
She has done all in her might to prevent a sunburn; she got the highest SPF sunscreen, applied every hour on every part of her body. That includes special sunscreen lip balm.
But no.
Life has proven to have a grudge on Adora.
What did she do to bestow such a faith? Was it the one time she didn’t help that grandma cross the road? (To be fair, that grandma was screaming some racist slurs at the time, so that couldn’t be it.)
Whatever.
Adora will never know. At least she can feel every, excruciating second of her punishment though.
Seriously splendid.
(Just for clarification purposes, it was not.)
Her whole face, arms and back was a good shade more red than usual. Her legs too. (Okay, to be honest, Adora has had worse, therefore all the prevention.
It was just about the principle of it all. Almost all of her body had a slight sunburn. It didn’t hurt too bad, just a slight pinch, but she was so prepared this time and still got a sunburn. She felt warm all over, and not in the way she had felt with Catra in her arms.)
She grabbed the aloe vera and moved the soothing gel along her arms. Adora couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh.
Two knocks were on her bedroom door and then Catra walked in. Her hair was still damp from her shower. ‘Hey, I just wanted to say, thank you for invi-’ Adora looked at her as a dear caught in headlights. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, of course I am!’ She winced. Damn it.
‘I didn’t know you’d take being a lobster so seriously.’ Catra snickered.
‘Trust me, I tried my best.’
Catra also knew that, she was there when the sucker applied sunscreen every hour. ‘Best to get burnt to a crisp.’
‘In contrary to popular belief, roasting me even further will not sooth the burn.’
‘You’re right.’ Catra observed how Adora applied the gel on her sunburn. When Adora tried to do her back and winced even more when trying to go beyond her lower back, Catra made two grabby hands. ‘Gimme.’
‘What?’
‘The aloe vera, dummy, ‘cause this isn’t working.’
‘Oh, yeah.’ Adora handed over the bottle, and lifted her shirt slowly up, over her lower back, her upper and then she removed it completely. ‘Thank you.’
Thank you, was Catra’s similar thought when she saw all of Adora’s back muscles. She swallowed and put some aloe vera in her left hand. She clasped her hands together and softly trailed Adora’s upper back, right above her sports bra, with her finger.
Adora sighed in relief.
Damn.
How can one person be so perfectly sculpted? Catra saw all of this on the beach too, today, but now it was different. More intimate. Catra was allowed to touch her. Hell, she was supposed to.
Adora chuckled.
‘Hmmm?’ Catra said.
‘You can use your whole hand too.’
‘Oh.’ Adora was art. Someone to put behind glass and admire. ‘I knew that.’ Catra said. She used the opportunity and began mapping out the mountains of muscles Adora held.
With some more aloe vera, she trailed to her lower back, softly rubbing her hand palms on both sides of Adora’s spine. When the underside of her palms touched the rim of Adora’s shorts, she heard Adora exhale.
It was in no way fair to hear such a lovely sound.
Sadly, Catra was almost done. She put some more on her index finger to trail all the way down Adora’s spine.
‘I… think that’s it.’ Catra said.
They stood like that for a second, which both worked out in Catra’s favour and not. Adora’s back muscles, now glistening in the room light, managed to render Catra speechless. What would she say if Adora turned around? Hell, what could she say?
And then, Adora turned around to face Catra and held her hands. ‘Thank you.’
That gaze held so much sincerity, too much, but Catra couldn’t look away.
‘No problem.’
It felt like something more. Especially since Adora’s arms slowly wrapped around Catra’s frame. Her head found a place in the crook of Adora’s neck. Despite not being in Adora’s arms too often, this felt like home.
In a way, it was.
Isn’t home the place you are most comfortable?
Catra and Adora would have a lot to navigate, with their relationship changing. But they’d work it out, Catra was sure of it.