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“Nope.” She says confidently, legs swinging joyfully back and forth from her perch on the wooden kitchen counter.
“But, Catra, come on–”
“Do you not hear how tacky that sounds? You can’t be serious, Scorpia!” Catra doesn’t mean to lay on her signature dismissive tone so thick, but it just kinda happens whenever her best friend gets a little too rowdy with her ideas.
“Wha– I don’t know, I thought it sounded like a fun time, honestly. I know Valentine's Day isn’t, like, yoouuur–” Scorpia takes a second to mull over her next words carefully as the face staring back at her becomes dangerously squinty-eyed, “never mind.”
“Mmmhmm?” A single raised eyebrow. Catra hopes she doesn’t need more than that to convey the words she just really doesn’t have the energy to put into the world right now.
“Well, I love costume parties, so I’m going. You can sit here all night and pretend you’re tooooootally fine by yourself, but this gal won’t.”
Catra scoffs. She always makes sure to scoff whenever Scorpia does that annoying double thumb point at herself. Especially when whatever she’s saying happens to also be a little bit too true. So annoying. Of course, Catra can never let her know that she actually finds it endearing, no. Scoffing suits her just fine.
“I’m hungry, are you hungry? I could really go for some burgers…”
“Fine! I’ll come to the stupid party!” Catra lets out with her arms crossed defiantly across her chest.
“That’s great! Oh, I’m so excited, Kit Kat! What a great night this’ll be, just two besties out on the town–”
“Scorp, it’s a house party. It can’t possibly be that crazy. Besides, I don’t even have a costume, so I’ll probably just turn home once I’ve had a few drinks. What are you doing? Stop that” She points to the worryingly over-the-top smile Scorpia is sporting while standing up to grab something from the shopping bag she left on the other side of the counter.
“I got you a costume!” Catra barely registers the words coming out of her mouth before she’s staring at a mildly suggestive skirt-and-top combo in green and gold on a clothes hanger, proudly held high with one hand. In the other, a clear plastic bag with what looks to be a miniature bow and quiver, golden bracers and a floral wreath.
“I…” with her mouth ever so slightly agape, Catra only manages to squeeze out that single syllable.
“Do you like it?” Scorpia is beaming.
“I don’t– what is even– Scorpia why do you have this!?”
“For the costume party, silly, what else?”
“No, I mean, like, did you–”
“Obviously, I knew you were gonna say yes eventually, yeah.” Now it’s her turn to don a smug crooked smile.
“But I don’t even know if it’ll fit–”
“You think I don’t know your size? You mock me!”
“Scorpia, I can’t wear that! It looks so skimpy!” Catra can’t decide between hiding her face in her hands and pointing incredulously at the costume that Scorpia is still, for some reason, dangling in front of her. Her hands decide to do one each.
“What, it’s Artemis! You love Artemis!”
“Ugh, yes, but that’s not the point. Nobody else is gonna know who I’m dressed as!”
“Everyone knows Greek mythology, Cat,” she all but shoves items into Catra’s arms, “stop making excuses and let’s get something to eat before we leave, I’m starving . I promise, you’re gonna find someone who’s as big a Greek mythology nerd as you.”
“Mmmph…” She grabs the costume with feigned reluctance and puts it on the counter next to where she’s sitting.”
“So, burgers?”
The streetlights are just turning on. There’s still a slight hint of sunset behind the treeline. Catra kinda misses the warm comfort of Scorpia’s cramped apartment, but the fresh air is not too bad, she thinks. There’s something serene about this exact time of day. She hasn’t seen fireflies in what feels like forever, but they decided to poke their heads out tonight. She almost lets herself believe that it’s fate, or whatever. Do fireflies symbolize good luck or anything? She doesn’t dwell on it, but it’s a nice thought.
“Come on, Cat, you’re gonna be a popsicle when we finally get there if you don’t keep up.” Scorpia always walks with her back fully upright. Stupid, correct posture. Weirdo.
“At least a popsicle doesn’t look this stupid,” she notices the pout on Scorpia’s face before she can say anything, “the costume’s great! I just can’t remember the last time I wore one. It feels strange.”
“Eh, you’re a natural. Besides, nobody’s gonna think you look stupid when they see me!” she raises her sword in the air and bangs her fist against the $3 plastic breastplate, her curly haired wig almost slipping off.
“It honestly suits you very well.” Catra can’t help but grin at the oaf next to her.
“Yeah, I thought I’d really put the ‘ her’ in Hercules , you know?”
“Oh god, I know you’re planning to say that to everyone you meet at this party tonight, Scorp, but please, never say that to anyone again.”
“Bah, I can’t believe you’d think–”
“Scorpia.”
“Fine…”
The hills are getting steeper. They’ve long since left Catra’s neighborhood, and she hasn’t been to this part of town before. It’s very peaceful, she thinks, with the subtle roar of the ocean blending into the soundscape of car engines and rustling palm leaves. Scorpia had said that her friend lives near the sea, but she didn't expect a hill top with a view like this. The sun has almost set, the tinge of orange bleeding into the clouds on the horizon.
Just a little ways ahead of where Scorpia looks to be doing lunges up the hill, a level of energy she absolutely cannot relate to, Catra spots the gate into what must be this so-called Sea Hawk’s mansion-looking house. It’s decadent, almost cartoonish, with braziers adorning the pillars on either side of the gate and a cobblestone driveway approaching the steps to the front door. It looks almost as if the whole house were carved out of a single slab of marble.
“How on earth do you know this guy, Scorpia,” she pushes her hands against her knees for the last stretch uphill, catching her breath a bit, “his house looks like a super villain’s or something.”
“Oh, he’s on my rowing team! He’s actually very nice, no super villainy at all!”
“Hmm, I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Scorpia rings the buzzer and almost immediately a loud yelp blares from the intercom. Catra laughs in confusion for a few seconds while whoever is on the other side figures out how to use the machine.
“Were you leaning against it!?” A high pitched voice comes through.
“No, I–” Catra barely gets a word in before a second voice is heard.
“Oh my god, I must have! I didn’t mean to make it ring like that.” Catra feels a wave of calm wash over her at the sound of it - as if that voice was the one thing missing in her mind at that moment.
“No, dumbass, someone is ringing the doorbell.”
“Oh.”
“Hi, dumbass, can you let us in?” She doesn’t know what comes over her, but Catra feels like that’s the right thing to say.
“Ha, ha… My name isn’t actually dumbass, for the record, it’s–”
“Just let them in, please!”
“Fine! Calm down, Glimmer, I was getting to it!”
A bit of rustling and the distinct sound of different buttons being clicked later, and Catra and Scorpia are through the metal gate. Catra eagerly paces up the stairs and doesn’t bother knocking on the front door before opening it. Something tells her she needs to find whoever ‘dumbass’ is, and her best bet is being fast.
When they finally get inside, there’s nobody leaning against the intercom, or even near it. Weird, she thinks. Maybe there’s another one somewhere else? It wouldn’t be too far-fetched for a house this big. And god, is this house big. She’s never had this much air between herself and the ceiling before. The entire side of the house facing toward the ocean is just floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows. Makes sense, she thinks - if you’re this big a fan of the ocean view, what’s a few fortunes more for some big windows so you can actually see it.
“Pretty neat place, huh, Cat?” Scorpia nudges her with her elbow to get her attention.
“Neat!? This place is a fucking palace! I’m pretty sure we could live here together and never meet each other again.”
“I know, right!”
Only then do they notice that there’s actually other people in this house. It’s not packed like a nightclub, but certainly more people than Catra is used to being around. She doesn’t recognize a single face, so the crowd sort of just blends together into a mass of people. Surely Scorpia knows these people, right?
“Oh hey, it’s Sea Hawk! Hey, Sea Hawk!” She waves her sword over her head.
“Scorpia! Ahoy! I mean, ahem, hi there! I love the costume.” All Catra sees is a mustache and a hook hand approaching them from the living room.
“Thank you! I figured I’d put the ‘her’ in–”
“Oh my god, I can’t believe you!” Catra laughs to herself as she leaves the foyer, “I’m gonna get myself something to drink.”
“Help yourself, Catra!” Sea Hawk half-yells at her before returning to what Catra can only assume to be a riveting conversation about their Hercules and Captain Hook costumes.
“Thanks!” She doesn’t feel too bad about not introducing herself properly to the host of the party, she knows she’ll see him again soon anyway, he seems like the type to mingle.
As she makes her way to the kitchen, she tries not to feel too awkward about not knowing anyone there. She smiles politely at the people she walks by, but doesn’t really have in mind to talk to any of them. Luckily, there’s a perfectly good can of hard cider staring at her from the fridge that she can use to calm her nerves a bit. So far, she hasn’t seen anyone wearing anything resembling Greek mythology - mostly a mish-mash of comic book characters and horror villains. At least nobody’s commented on her outfit, so that’s something, she supposes.
She’s leaning against the counter next to the fridge while sipping her drink as she hears a voice somewhere behind her, “-- don’t you think, Glimmer?”
The voice belongs to a guy, it’s not the angelic from the intercom, but at least she recognizes the name. She walks through the hallway where she’s sure she heard him, leading her out to a side entrance away from all the noise. It’s like a little bubble of hardwood floors and closet doors before an uncharacteristically quaint door out into the cold. She doesn’t hesitate to open it, faintly hearing conversation outside.
“-- know what to tell you, it’s–” The guy whose voice she heard stops in his tracks as she walks outside.
“Hi, I’m…” she waves awkwardly as she sees his eyes turning toward her. And then she spots her. Leaning her shoulder against the side of the house is the most gorgeous sight she’s ever laid her eyes upon. Seeing her rosy cheeks, pink flowers in her blonde hair, elegant wooden sandals and what is unmistakably the white, pink and golden garb of the Greek goddess of love, Catra utters the only word that her mind can produce at the moment, “Aphrodite.”
It takes a while for her brain to catch up to the fact that three people are currently staring directly at her.
“No, I’m Aphrodite. You’re Artemis.” Catra is sure that if she had said those words herself, they would have come off snarky and annoying. Not so much when they come from who she has now decided for herself is the actual Aphrodite, flesh and blood, standing right in front of her.
“Right, umm, yeah.” She rubs the back of her neck awkwardly as the goddess keeps smiling that disarming smile.
“So, I’m Glimmer.”
“And I’m Bow!” The two of them wave innocently at her.
“And I’m–”
“Dumbass, right?” Catra hates that she just said that. She immediately grabs the door handle and opens it again, one foot swiftly inside, “I gotta go, my friend is looking for me.”
She only barely senses the puzzled looks aimed her way as she disappears inside.
The living room crowd is like a maze. Catra feels weird. She doesn’t quite understand why she rushed out of there so fast. All she knows is that her heart is racing a mile a minute. Where is that damn front door? Her right hand continues gripping her drink just barely not tight enough to crush the can between her fingers. Finally she spots her friend, still somehow talking to Sea Hawk in the foyer.
“Scorpia, we gotta go.” She raises her voice just a little louder than she intended. She blames the anxiety.
“Huh? Why, Cat?” Scorpia barely utters before being dragged back out the door.
“What’s going on? It’s been five minutes, come on!”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, we–” Scorpia stands her ground and tugs on her friend’s hand, “can you just tell me what’s happening?”
“I found her, Scorpia. The girl from the intercom, I found her. And she’s… Ugh! She’s way too out of my league, and I made myself look like a fucking idiot, and she’s dressed as Aphrodite! I just…”
“Hey, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Scorpia sits down on the steps out front and pats, gesturing for Catra to sit next to her, “she probably thought it was funny.”
“Oh, she definitely did. Just, y’know, not in the cool way. They’re probably laughing about me right now.” She takes a sip of her drink.
“Hey, mind if I sit?” There’s that voice again. Catra feels the hairs on her arms stand straight up.
“Sure, I’ll just…” She barely notices Scorpia getting up, and suddenly her heart feels like it’ll burst out any second again.
“Hi.”
“H- Hi.”
“You okay?” An ever so slight shoulder bump.
“Yeah. Sorry about that. That was super weird, huh?”
“Eh, I’ve seen weirder. I thought you were cute.” She brushes the blonde locks of hair that were hanging down the side of her face behind her ear. Catra wishes she had been the one to do that.
“Did you just…” She turns to look at the goddess that just called her cute, but those rosy cheeks make her forget whatever she was about to say.
“Did i… what?” She’s smirking. Catra can’t believe the gall of this woman. She knows exactly what she’s doing to her.
“Wow. Okay.”
“For the record, yeah. I did.”
A few moments pass by in a peaceful silence, both with their hands trapped between their knees. Catra decides to finally do something and takes a sip of her drink.
“So, what should I call you, Artemis?” She leans in closer.
“Right, I’m Catra. And you’re…?”
“Adora,” she says, the words taking up all the space inside Catra’s mind, echoing pleasantly as she tries to make sense of what’s happening. She suddenly notices her fingers warming up as Adora cups her hand in hers, “do you wanna head back inside for the big Valentine’s party?”
“Absolutely.” She says before she can even think.