Work Text:
Catra had never really experienced the cold much in her life. The feeling itself was almost completely foreign to her. Growing up in the Fright Zone, the fortress felt like an oven most of the time, filled with a deep sweltering industrial heat, not to mention it was already in the middle of a barren wasteland. But even still, it was something Catra felt naturally more comfortable in.
The few times Catra had seen the cold was when she'd been dispatched on missions when she was finally promoted to Force Captain, such as her infamous trip to the Northern Reach. But the war was over and thus, Catra was now living in Brightmoon, the winter solstice soon approaching in the months that followed. The trees lost their leaves, snow fell from the sky and icy winds swept through the kingdom, bringing the chill of winter wherever they went.
Adora, it turned out, had gotten quite fond of winter and wanted to show its wonders to Catra. Glimmer in particular was eagerly getting ready for the Solstice that would be approaching in a few weeks, a time of gift-giving and merriment for all. Apparently, Glimmer’s aunt really liked to give everyone knitted sweaters, Catra hoping hers wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.
But in general during this time, Catra felt better staying inside. Sure, snowball fights with Adora and her friends were fun, but Catra found herself preferring to be wrapped up by the fire in a cosy blanket, hopefully sharing it with Adora. Which was how she was one morning in her bed, both her and Adora coccooned in their blankets as Catra saw yet another day of snow falling down from the sky outside the castle.
It was already far too cold to get up and being snuggled in a blanket cocoon seemed like the best way to spend the rest of the morning. As Catra rolled over, seeing the sleeping Adora next to her, she reached closer and kissed her girlfriend on the forehead, stroking her long blonde hair, threading her fingers through the golden locks. "Good morning, Adora."
The blonde murmured, waking up as well and nuzzling into Catra sleepily. "Good morning~", she said with her tired voice, always full of love. With what little strength she had that early in the morning, Adora wrapped her big beautiful arms around Catra and cuddled her close. As Catra's form was pressed against her own, Adora felt something was... different. Catra felt warmer than usual and her fur, as Adora nuzzled her face into it, seemed a lot fluffier.
On the outside, Catra's fur wasn't super long. Even though her entire body was covered in it, her fur was also the same colour as her skin so to some people, it took them a moment to even notice she even had fur in the first place. They usually noticed her eyes, ears and the tail beforehand to realise she was indeed a Magicat. But now though, Catra's fur had obviously grown a few centimetres longer, especially on her arms and legs.
Adora giggled and nuzzled into the fluff on Catra's shoulder. It was very apparent how still sleepy she was and Catra wouldn’t have been surprised if she fell back to sleep, as she often did at this hour. But instead, Adora was still clinging on to what little awake she was as she kept nuzzling her face in Catra’s fur. "You've gotten all floofy!"
Catra blushed, having not noticed any of this until now. She pulled away from Adora's embrace and sat up, looking down at herself. Indeed, her fur had grown. She tracked her finger down her arm, watching it get slightly lost in the longer coat of fur that now covered it. She placed her hand on her belly, usually where her fur was softest and indeed, the fur there was a good deal longer too.
"You're right! I am more fluffy this morning," Catra realised. "But... why? What's going on?"
It was then that Catra began to panic. This had never happened before. Would her fur get even longer? Was this some kind of sickness? Was there a way to stop this? And to make Catra's life even worse...
"Hi girls!" Glimmer chirped with energy as she teleported into the room in a bright sparkle of light.
Catra covered her eyes, having been blinded for a moment. "Gah! Sparkles, I told you not to do that so early in the morning!" The felid then blushed in embarrassment, knowing Glimmer was going to have such a rise out of her current state, as she always did when misfortune befell her. After all, teasing Catra was one of Glimmer’s favourite things in the whole universe.
Glimmer looked at the two of them. "Sorry, I just heard you talking and wondered what was up.”
"Catra's fluffier!" Adora sleepily declared.
"Adora, don't tell her that!"
"But it's trueeeee!"
“But it’s Sparkles! You know what she’s like!”
Glimmer reached down, Catra still looking away with her cheeks a deep shade of red. The pink-haired Queen placed her hand upon Catra's belly fluff... and her already sparkly eyes sparkled even more. "Oh my gosh, you are fluffier!" She giggled, rubbing her hand up and down Catra's belly. To anyone other than Glimmer and Adora, touching Catra's belly in such a manner would be considered a death sentence.
"You're so cute and cuddly now!" Glimmer teased. "So much for your reputation as a badass tough girl, Horde scum."
"S-Shut up!" Catra fumed as she kept blushing furiously. "Do you know what this is? Something is probably wrong with me, I know it. My fur is not supposed to be this long!"
"Oh you're fine, Catra!" Glimmer reassured her, rolling her eyes. "No need to be dramatic about it. You've just grown a winter coat. It's a thing Magicats do in the winter to keep themselves warm. I'm surprised it's never happened to you before."
"Well, it never got cold in the Fright Zone."
"But then you've also never been in a cold place for too long before. You were in the Northern Reach for what, a few days? Now you're in Brightmoon and we get some pretty long winters here. Guess your body felt like it was finally time to grow that longer, fluffier coat! And may I say, I think it looks adorable on you."
Catra just looked away, deciding it was probably best to endure the torment. But then, the very sleepy Adora then yanked Catra back down under the covers, Glimmer giggling as Catra was quickly entrapped, as Adora wrapped her whole self around Catra, snuggling her as closely as she could. Catra tried to wriggle free, but there was no escaping Adora when she was like this, as the blonde nuzzled her.
"I'm not gonna complain... you're so cuddly," Adora sighed, kissing Catra on the cheek. "Your new coat... really soft... can't resist a snuggly girlfriend."
"Sparkles, help!" Catra pleaded.
Glimmer giggled more. "Why? I don't see anything wrong. I'll bring you both up some breakfast, since it doesn't look like you're going anywhere anytime soon." She then teleported away, leaving Catra to Adora's affections, much to the felid's dismay.
But eventually though, Catra sighed and accepted her fate. She rolled back over to face Adora and wrapped her arms around the blonde, accepting the cuddle. She wasn't going to lie... she felt the safest place in the whole universe was in Adora's arms, not that she would admit that to anyone else. Adora squeezed her tighter, Catra letting out a little squeak before she relaxed again. And then the purring started.
Perhaps having a longer coat in the winter wasn't such a bad thing after all, especially if Adora was going to snuggle her like this. One thing was for sure… they definitely weren’t going to be getting up that morning.