Chapter Text
Adora yawned as she entered her bedroom. Her hand lingered on the round, brass-colored door knob. She pulled it closed behind her. She lived alone. She didn’t really need to shut it, it wasn’t like anyone would just wander into her room while she slept. She did it more so out of habit than for actual privacy.
And maybe, just maybe because she had heard that it was safer to have your door closed in case of a fire during the night. But she wouldn’t admit that. Glimmer had made fun of her once for bringing it up when they had lunch one day. She never dared to broach that subject with Catra. And it wasn’t like Catra had ever asked. If she did, she might explain her reasoning to Catra but even then… it could potentially ruin the image of herself that she had been so desperately trying to build up for Catra.
Instinctively, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and checked the time.
2:47am
It was Friday night. Or well… was... She supposed that it was technically Saturday morning now.
She had only been home for maybe an hour. She already showered, brushed her teeth, and switched to a fresh pair of pajamas. Soft, grey fleece pants and an equally soft grey fleece tank top. The weather was pretty warm. A nice contrast to the winter they had experienced earlier in the year. Although she still believed that the summer was
entirely too hot sometimes. Especially when she had to try and change that stupid flat tire for Glimmer a few weeks ago.
She had been away all day. So the AC in her apartment had been off all day, leaving the apartment feeling hot and muggy. As soon as she closed her front door, she dropped her backpack and made a beeline for the control panel for her AC and immediately turned it back on. It only took a few minutes, but those minutes felt as though they took forever.
She yawned again and pulled the comforter and sheets back as she crawled into bed.
She pulled them back over, and fought the temptation to just burrow underneath. Once she was settled, she immediately reached over and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. A small lamp illuminated her small room in a dim glow. It was enough for her to see by and not feel as though she was being blinded.
She didn’t have much in her bedroom, or in her apartment. She only kept the bare necessities; things she absolutely couldn’t live without… Or things that others said she couldn’t live without… Despite her insistence that all she needed was a simple hair tie and maybe a pocket knife (she got anything else she might need from her job), her friends and family seemed to always be gifting her some new accessory that she knew she didn’t actually need. There was a seldom used hair dryer tucked away in one of the bathroom cabinets. But according to Glimmer it was important and technically a tool, so it stayed. Plus she always felt guilty whenever she tried to discreetly donate or chunk anything she had been gifted.
She didn’t need much. She never had. And in her line of work, she never knew when or if she might have to move. Her job could ask…
...No…
Demand that she move anywhere. She was lucky. She was currently stationed in Bright Moon right now. Or rather in a small town just outside of Bright Moon.
Thaymor.
It was a small town. But it was home to one of the Etheria’s many Air Force bases. She had been in the service long enough now and ranked just high enough that she wasn’t forced to stay in the dorms with the other unmarried soldiers. She lived in Bright Moon and made the drive almost daily to the base out in Thaymor.
A small, red trunk in her closet was filled with the few keepsakes from her childhood. Or prized reminders of events she had gone to. Somewhere in that trunk was a ticket stub from a concert she had gone to with Catra a couple of months ago.
Other than the red trunk in her closet, all Adora had furniture-wise in her bedroom was her bed, a wide dresser with a vanity on it, and a nightstand. Across from her bed was a single window that overlooked the parking lot of her apartment complex. She had a short, long dresser pushed against one of the walls.
She turned her phone on and tried to stifle another yawn. She opened up the messages between her and Catra, not even bothering to see if Catra had sent her anything. It was late. The last message that she sent Catra was just a quick:
Home
She typed it as soon as she reached her front door and sent it just after she stepped inside her apartment. It was a simple message, one that Catra made her promise to send as soon as she was back.
She opened her photos and searched for ones to send Catra. They took a few over the course of the day but she didn’t want to flood Catra’s messages with photos. And so, despite her exhaustion, she decided to look for ones she thought the magicat might want.
She scrolled through the photos taken of their hike. There were some of the woods they trekked through. There were a few shots of a creek they crossed over. In a few of the shots, she was actually able to capture the little minnows that swim around. She felt a slight swell of pride at those pictures. They were standing on a bridge and she was using her phone to take them. Catra might like those. She selected a few of those to send and continued scrolling.
Soon she came across the selfies of the two of them together. They were almost squished together, trying to fit within the frame. Even with her long arms, Adora had barely been able to get them both in the photo. She snapped a few of them (maybe around ten or so). They were both smiling brightly. In a few of them, they were throwing up peace signs for fun.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the best photo taker, so only a couple of these seemed worthy enough to send to Catra. Some of them were so out-of-focused or they only got half of one of their faces… She selected the best of this selection and scrolled some more, immediately coming to a much better selection that some stranger on the trail was nice enough to take. Those at were a lot better than the ones she took.
***
She swiped through them, trying to decide which ones to send. Her and Catra each with an arm around the other, throwing up more ‘peace’ signs with their free hands. Her and Catra with their arms around the other’s waist. Catra on her shoulders, with both of them once again throwing up ‘peace’ signs (seriously, why did they do that, she thought with a silent chuckle)... Her placing a kiss on Catra’s cheek… She stayed on that one for a bit, her gaze lingering on it. Catra’s eyes were closed, her face in a rare smile.
It was hard to catch Catra smiling. But sometimes Adora noticed it. Sometimes she would catch those moments. Moments she was certain Catra didn’t know she caught. Her face broken out in a thin, amused smile whenever Adora did something kind of dumb. Adora promised herself that she would continue to do whatever dumb thing it was. She would take the gentle chide Catra would give her with dignity and treasure each “Dummy” or “Idiot” that was thrown her way. As long as it made Catra smile.
A small smile tugged at Adora’s lips now. As her gaze continued to linger on the photo. She didn’t want to leave the picture, but her exhaustion was catching up. She could barely keep her eyes open now and she wanted to make sure she didn’t forget to send Catra these photos.
Yeah…
She definitely needed to send that one to her. She added it and a few others, to her messages with Catra. She didn’t text any words. She didn’t need to. Catra had asked for copies of the pictures of their day together, after all… She hit send, closed the app, and immediately turned her phone off for the night. It was already plugged in, she had done that after she got home, and placed it back on the nightstand, turning the lamp off as well. She crawled under the covers.
It had been a month since Glimmer and Bow’s wedding. Her and Catra still hadn’t had the conversation they needed to have. The one about what they actually were. What their relationship (if they were even in one) was. Adora was pretty sure they were but…
…well…
Sometimes doubt came in. It filled her mind. It lingered..
She wasn’t sure if this would be a long-term thing, or if it was just until she was eventually deployed and sent off to some far off place. She didn’t want to leave Catra. She was perfectly fine with doing a long distance relationship if it came down to it. But she wasn’t the only one who had to make that call. Catra might decide that she doesn’t want to do long distance thing…
Especially with someone in Adora’s line of work…
She frowned at that thought. Adora shifted in her bed, turning so that she lay on her back, and stared up at the ceiling. It was quiet in her apartment. Dark. Even the parking lot outside was still and silent. The bright lights of headlights didn’t flood into her room as they often did at night. Everyone it seemed was either already home or gone for the rest of the night.
She turned her head, throwing a glance at her phone. It was late. Was Catra still awake? Would she text at this hour? Catra usually worked nights, she even said that on her days off, she usually kept the same sleep schedule…
…Maybe…
Adora debated on reaching out for her phone. Internally, she debated on texting Catra. She started to sit up in her bed. Her gaze was set firmly on her phone. She was about to reach out and grab it. She stopped herself before she had completely sat up though. What would she even say to Catra if she texted her now?
Hey. Can’t sleep. You up?
Nah… That was… lame?
You get the pictures?
No…
That was stupid...
Of course Catra got them. And if she opened up her messages with Catra, she would only confirm it, so why would she ask? This was stupid, she decided. She slid back under her covers and turned so that her back was to her phone. Maybe if she didn’t look at her phone, her mind would drift elsewhere.
Her and Catra were meeting up again in the morning anyway. She could go a few hours without messaging her. Talking to her. They were meeting for breakfast. She would see her then…
She closed her eyes and tried to quiet the storm in her mind. She had so much she needed to talk about with Catra and it felt like so little time. Bow and Glimmer were coming back from their honeymoon tomorrow. After this weekend, she would need to divide her time between Catra and her family again… Unless they actually decided to allow their friends and family to know about the other… Maybe she should have that conversation with Catra tomorrow…
She stifled a yawn. Her body was tired from the hike; sore even. Even though she was in excellent shape, she had been determined to let Catra rest for a bit and carried her on her back for a fair bit of the walk. Catra wasn’t heavy but still, they walked a lot today.
Catra told her that she had gone hiking before. She even said that she had gone on long hikes before… but about midway through the hike, Adora realized that they had two very different definitions of what a long hike was.
Catra got tired after about three miles… So Adora figured the least she could do was give Catra a lift for some of the journey, especially since the spot she wanted to take Catra to watch the sunset was still about a mile away.
A smile tugged at her lips as the memory played out in her head. Catra’s gentle teasing as they made it up to the cliff to watch the sunset, she had carried Catra on her back for about a mile at that point. As soon as they made it up there, Catra slid off of her and the look of awe on her face as they watched the sunset… It made the whole walk worth it. Adora slowly drifted off to sleep…
Unaware of what awaited her in the morning…