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There she was, sitting at the table facing the window, the sun shining down on her light golden hair, her eyes as blue as the oceans Catra despised so much. There she was, sitting at Catra’s table. Again.
It had been happening for weeks now. She’d walk into the shop, order her coffee, turn around to her perfect spot, and the blonde idiot would be sitting at her table, in her chair.
All she wanted was to sit in the chair, on that comfy cushion, coffee in hand, and sun warming her fur. However, this woman had made it her personal mission to deprive Catra of the one thing that brought her joy after long days at work.
A short sparkly girl with short pink hair handed her her black coffee, but Catra wasn’t really looking at her to avoid getting blinded by all the glitter. She was still staring at the woman that had ruined her day, scowling and trying to keep herself from baring her teeth at her.
“You know, you should really order something else sometime. Black coffee is becoming kind of a bore to make,” An annoyingly cheery voice piped up that belonged to the barista, reminding her of the fact that she hadn’t stepped away from the counter yet. “As is watching you stare at her.”
She whipped her head around, now bearing her teeth for real, a low growl slipping past her lips. “Fuck off and mind your own business.”
“ As soon as you actually talk to her and solve whatever onesided beef you’ve got going on.” The shorty leaned slightly to her side to look past Catra and at the blonde woman, before meeting her gaze again. “Plus, you’re holding up the line.”
“I’m no-” The woman pointed to the line on Catra’s other side and sure enough there were at least 7 other people waiting there. She stuck her hands in her jacket pockets, before mumbling a quick ‘Whatever’.
One day she’s going to give that blonde idiot a piece of her mind. Then she’ll feel bad and would have to give Catra her table back. All the idiot ever did was work anyway, if she wanted to work so badly she could just sit in some other dark corner and not at Catra’s table.
She was about to stomp over to the blonde, when she slipped over a stray napkin on the floor. As she lost her balance she could feel everyone’s eyes on her, ruining whatever confident facade she had going on.
Her face heated up with embarrassment, so instead she decided to leave the cafe to avoid further humiliation.
—
She ordered a caramel latte, not because that brat of a barista had told her to last time, but because she wanted it herself. When short stuff handed her the latte with a wide grin, she just rolled her eyes at her before heading over to the table by the window.
But just like most of the time, she couldn’t just have what she wanted.
The blonde woman was sitting there with her laptop open in front of her, sipping on a drink that looked like a sugar overdose and cavities. She was wearing a tailored white suit, with a few gold details adorning the cuffs and collar. From the deep frown the woman’s eyebrows were in she guessed she was doing something for work again.
Unwilling to sit in an inferior spot, while watching the woman sit at her table without a care in the world, she decided to go home instead and finish her drink there.
One day
She tried to remind herself as another customer bumped into her.
—
This couldn’t be real.
It had to be some sick joke, just someone trying to mess up this good thing she had going. Like she hadn’t been through enough already.
She was done. After giving Sparkles another small growl, she took her latte in her hand and walked over to the table with confident strides. After placing her coffee on the table with a bit more force than necessary, she closed the woman’s laptop.“This is my table.”
The woman just blinked up at her, tilting her head to the side making the sun catch her golden hair from just the right angle. Her right hand reached up to her ear, taking out an earbud. “Sorry, what did you say?”
Catra’s mouth opened and closed but no words came out, she shifted awkwardly on her feet, the confident demeanor she had had earlier nowhere to be found. She tried to get a hold of herself, but how could she be angry at someone that looked so… kind? Perfect? Sweet?
So she cleared her throat and repeated her sentence in a much softer tone this time. “You’re sitting at my table.”
The woman’s beautiful deep blue eyes flickered from side to side, as if she were looking for the person Catra was actually talking to. Once she met Catra’s eyes again, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Your table?”
“Yeah, uhm-... God, I sound like a dick.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, trying to start over for herself. “I usually sit in this spot. Well, I mean, whenever you’re not in it. Which has been an awful lot lately. Not that I’m shaming you! It’s just this spot is always perfect when the sun shines on it, and it feels great on my fur and-”
The woman moved the bag that was in the seat next to her, giving Catra a small smile that she could only ever describe as dorky, but sweet nonetheless. “Join me?” She said as she put her bag on the floor, putting her laptop in the bag before zipping it up.
She was well aware that her cheeks were a bright red, but she nodded and sat down on the cushioned chair anyway. Her eyes were focussed on the wooden table in front of her, counting the lines in the material when a big hand blocked her sight. She looked up and found the woman staring down at her, blonde lashes fluttering and pale skin tainted with the faintest blush. “I’m Adora.”
Catra noticed that the hand was still held out to her, so she shook the woman’s hand while trying her best to make her blush go away. “Catra.” When her hand touched the woman’s, Adora, the first thing she noticed was just how soft it was and how perfectly it fit into hers.
“Well, it’s nice meeting you Catra.” She took her hand back and picked up what Catra could only guess was another sugar bomb disguised as coffee. “Sorry for taking your table.”
Even if she was apologizing there was no remorse in her voice, instead a cocky smirk had found its way to her lips. “Well, you don’t sound very sorry.” There was no bite to her tone, like there would have been a few days ago. Instead it felt like they were just teasing each other like long lost friends.
“What if I’m not? Perhaps I just wanted to have a chance to finally talk to you.” As soon as the words had left Adora’s mouth a deep red blush found its way to her cheeks, soon followed by her ears and neck. “Sorry, that was weird-”
“You’re good.” She quickly interrupted Adora before she had a chance to ramble, she seemed like the type to word vomit. “You do owe me three weeks of not being able to sit here, though.”
Seemingly relaxing at the jab and friendly banter, Adora took a quick sip of her drink before responding. “Well, maybe you could just join me again tomorrow. Only if you want of course.” She quickly added that last part while rubbing the back of her neck and carefully avoiding eye contact with Catra.
“It’s alright, dummy. You have a deal.” She got up from her chair, downing what little coffee was left in her cup. “I do have to go now, but I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I suppose you will.” Adora gave her another one of her dorky smiles, maybe even cuter than the last one.
“Bye, Adora.”
“See you, Catra.”
—
Maybe it had been stupid of her to think that Adora would actually show up the next day. Because there she was, sitting at the table, alone. No blonde hair and blue eyes in sight. It had probably been too good to be true anyway, she shouldn’t have trusted Adora after all. She sighed, already turning around to put her jacket back on, when suddenly there was a sweet voice coming from behind her. “I hope I didn’t make you wait for too long.”
There, standing behind her in all her natural beauty, was Adora. “Never,” She said, a little too breathless for her own liking. She removed her coat from the seat next to her and placed it on the backrest of her own.
She pushed an iced coffee that was drowned in caramel towards Adora. “As an apology for being a pain in the ass.”
Adora’s eyes widened with surprise as she sat down. “Oh, you shouldn’t have. I was the one stealing your seat.” A nervous chuckle pushed past her lips as she eyed the drink.
“You didn’t steal it, I’m just dramatic like that sometimes. Now try it, I promise I didn’t poison it.” She gave the drink another small push towards the blonde, before grabbing her own drink and taking a long sip from it.
Cautiously the blonde took the drink in her hands and moved the straw closer to her mouth. After she finally took a sip, her eyes seemed to light up like a Christmas tree. The small sip was instantly followed by a few larger sips and a contented sigh as she put her drink back down. “Wow,” was all she managed to say as she stared out the window in front of her.
“Thought you’d like it.” A smile stretched over her lips as she watched the blonde in silence, leaning with her chin on the back of her hand.
When Adora finally managed to snap out of whatever daze the drink had put her, she glanced back over to Catra. A small frown was now between her eyebrows as she eyed the brunette. “Is there something on my face or something?”
Realising she had been staring, Catra quickly looked away. “Nope, nothing.” She mumbled, pictures of Adora’s soft smile already burned into her memory.
“Oh…kay?” An awkward silence stretched over them as the both of them mindlessly sipped at their drinks. Catra was about to get up to go home and save herself from further embarrassment, when the sparkly pink haired barista from before made her way over to them.
When she finally reached their table she gave Adora a quick hug before leaning against the chair she was sitting on. “Babe, you come around here all the time, so please tell me why we haven’t caught up with each other in ages. We should plan a movie night soon or something.”
Adora avoided eye contact with Sparkles, fidgeting with the now mostly empty cup in front of her. “Yeah, I guess. I’ve just been busy, you know how work can get sometimes. I promise we’ll plan something soon, though.”
That seemed to be enough to satisfy Sparkles, who gave Adora another quick hug before walking back over to the counter to continue working. Catra could have imagined it, but she swore she saw the pink haired brat give her a smug grin and a wink after she was finished helping another customer.
That’s when she realised. Babe. Was this obnoxious brat Adora’s girlfriend? Not like it bothered her, it didn’t even really affect her. Yet, she couldn’t help but feel bad for Adora. A beautiful woman like her could do so much better. Like, look at the way she rocks those suits! Not to even mention the way her blonde hair shines like gold in the right lighting. That must be it, she just felt bad.
—
Okay… so maybe she didn’t just feel bad for Adora.
At least, that’s the conclusion she came to after having had a session with her therapist, Perfuma. She hadn’t listened to the woman at first, when she was telling Catra that maybe it was not just that but something more. That was said after Catra had gone on a 30 minute long rant, about why Adora didn’t deserve Sparkles and why she would be a much better choice than the irritating brat.
It wasn’t until after that very appointment and another coffee meeting with Adora that she realised what it actually was. A crush. The realization had her staying up all night, since every time she closed her eyes there was a certain pair of blue ones staring back at her, with a golden halo surrounding them.
The next day when she met Adora at their usual table, she finally dared ask the question that had been consuming her mind for the past few days. “So, you and Sparkles are close?”
Adora was fidgeting with the golden watch she was wearing on her wrist, having avoided Catra’s gaze for most of their meeting. “Sparkles? Ow, you mean Glimmer. I mean, yeah, I suppose you could say that.” From the moment Adora had sat down next to her, Catra had noticed the dark bags under her eyes. ‘Bad day at work’ she had mumbled when Catra had asked about them.
Nevertheless, Adora’s answer to her question didn’t give her much to work with. “And… How long have you known Spa- Glimmer?”
“Since third year of high school I think? She was there for me when I was going through some stuff with my family.” She abandoned fidgeting with her watch for picking at the rims of her nails.
“Oh… Want to talk to me about it?” She didn’t really know much about family, biological anyway, but maybe Adora would want to talk to her about it regardless.
She just shrugged, still avoiding eye contact with Catra. “My mother wanted things for me that… I didn’t really agree with at the time. We fought a lot about it, but Glimmer was always there to offer me a place to stay when things would get bad.” She stopped picking at her nails and finally looked over at Catra with a forced smile. “We’re good now though, I work for her law firm and we don’t fight as often now as we did back when I was still a teenager.”
“That sounds rough,” She put her hand on Adora’s without even thinking about it, stroking her thumb over her knuckles. “I’m glad you had Glimmer to help you through it, she seems like an amazing girlfriend.”
For a moment they seemed to be frozen in time and place, Adora staring at her with the most confused look Catra had ever seen. “Girlfriend?” Then all the confusion shattered all at once, making way for a loud snort and a lighthearted laugh. “You thought- Me and-?”
In that moment there were only a few things going through Catra’s mind. What was going on? Glimmer is not Adora’s girlfriend? And how could a snort be so beautiful and attractive?
“Don’t laugh at me! She literally called you babe, what was I supposed to think?!” Despite her cheeks becoming more and more red with embarrassment by the second, as she found herself joining in on Adora’s contagious laughter.
“I don’t know! Look, I love Glimmer, but I could never be with her like that.” Their laughter started to settle down a little, after Adora gave her a smile that could probably win over anyone. It was probably the way dimples formed at the corners of her mouth, or the way her eyes shined in a way that perfectly matched the curl of her lips.
“And how about you, do you… have a girlfriend?”
The corners of Catra’s mouth twitched slightly, slowly starting to form a cocky grin. “Why? You interested?”
As soon as the comment was made, Adora turned as red as a tomato. “Wha- No, I wouldn- How would you think-” She stumbled over her words as she pulled at the cuffs of her blouse.
“If you are, you can just say so. I get it a lot.” She crossed her arms over her chest, while trying really hard to keep a straight face.
“I’m not- I mean, you know…” She huffed, before taking a long sip from her drink. “You’re not funny.”
“I’m hilarious. Now let's talk about your day, since you clearly need it.”
For the rest of their meeting Adora told her about how much of an ass a new client was and how her work had been piling up for the past few months. Adora had seemed eager to drop the subject after ranting for a good bit, so Catra had provided. She told Adora all about her day, the horrible home made coffee she had that morning, the walk with Scorpia she had gone on, and after all that she had told her about her cat, Melog, that Adora had demanded to see pictures of.
—
Usually Catra wasn’t the type to ask for advice, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “-So now I need to know if she’s interested or not, because otherwise I will in fact be loosing my fucking mind!”
She had been rambling for the past hour to her best friend Scorpia, who to her surprise had been silent for most of the way through. “Wow, uhm, that was… a lot.” Was all she said as she stared at Catra wide eyed. “So what was your question?”
She let herself fall back on her bed, grabbing her pillow to groan into it. “What I should do!” she said into the pillow, the noise coming out muffled. She slammed the pillow back onto the mattress, turning on her side. “I thought I hated her, but then I didn’t, now I like her and I don’t know what to do with myself! She’s just so kind, pretty, amazing, gorgeous, funny, hot-”
“Okay, I think I get it.” Scorpia leaned back a little further in her chair. “Have you tried asking her about it? I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be offended or anything, at least not from the way you’ve described her.”
“But I don’t want to! It will be so awkward if she doesn’t like me like that.”
“Maybe try texting her, or better even, call her?”
Catra averted her gaze, staring at a good spot on the floor near Scorpia’s feet. She muttered something under her breath, before turning over on her other side and staring at a poster on her wall.
“What did you say?”
“I haven’t asked for her number yet…”
They fell silent, Scorpia’s nervous shuffling and Catra’s short breaths filling the room.
“Okay… that is,” She ran her hand through her short white hair. “Not ideal.”
“I know, okay?!” She buried her face in her pillow again as her tail swayed anxiously beside her. “I just… don’t know what to do.”
After a few beats of thinking Scorpia spoke up again. “Have you tried giving her your number? Just write it on a piece of paper and hand it to her, no further explanation necessary."
She was about to give a reason as to why that wouldn’t work, until she realized that she couldn’t come up with one. “That’s actually a pretty good idea,” She turned around again to stare up at the ceiling. “Alright, maybe I’ll give it a try. Maybe. And if it doesn’t work I’ll blame you.”
“I can live with that.”
—
Just like she had done a lot lately, she got to the cafe a little earlier to make sure her and Adora could sit at their table. It had actually surprised her that in the past few weeks the table had always been free for them, but she had her theory about it.
Every time she walked inside and ordered a drink, the sparkly barista would give her an all knowing grin and sometimes she would even catch the barista looking at her and Adora while they would talk. She’d whisper some stuff to the other barista that worked there, a boy that always wore a crop top that should be considered against the dresscode. The boy on his part would always just look at them with hearts in his eyes, like they were the cutest thing on the planet.
Catra hated it.
Adora wasn’t there yet, what had made Catra do something she hadn’t exactly expected herself to do. She picked up a napkin and wrote down her number on it. Today was the day. Trying to muster up some confidence to drown out the pit of anxiety that had started to form, she took a few deep breaths. The latte she had ordered earlier was now almost finished and she still had her meeting with Adora, so she decided to get up and order another drink. Maybe also one for Adora.
That plan, however, came to an immediate stop when she bumped into someone as soon as she stood up. She saw coffee splashing everywhere and could feel herself losing her footing because of this strong ass person she had bumped into. But instead falling flat on her back there was a big gentle hand on the small of her back, keeping her from a hard landing on the ground.
When she looked up to yell at whoever had decided to bump into her, she was met with light blue eyes, shiny blonde hair and the most beautiful smile on the entire planet.
“‘Dora,” It came out as a whisper more than anything, but she couldn’t help it when Adora was looking down at her like that.
“You spilled some coffee onto me,” She chuckled as she pulled Catra further up, helping her stand back on her own two feet. Their faces got close to each other, too close for Catra’s liking who had to do her very best not to look down to those beautiful rose coloured lips.
Finally Catra’s brain seemed to unfreeze. “Oh my God, I am so sorry for ruining your suit.” She desperately looked around, trying to find anything that could maybe clean up this mess.
Adora was quicker than her, though, and grabbed the napkin that was laying on their table, the napkin with Catra’s number on it. Before Catra could stop her the napkin was already drenched with coffee, no sign of Catra’s number left. “It’s alright, I never really liked this suit anyway. I’ll go over to Glimmer to get a few more napkins and probably a new drink. Be right back.” And with that the blonde walked away again.
Maybe she should just give up. She never stood a chance anyway.
—
They were nearing the end of their usual coffee date, by now Catra was pretty sure both of them had a coffee addiction with the amount of time they had spent drinking it the past few weeks. Not that she really minded, not when it was with Adora.
“Where do you live anyway? I mean, we’ve been meeting up for weeks now and I’m just curious. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to, obviously, but-”
“A 5 minute drive from here, between the frightzone and Elberon. How about you?” Catra said, trying to put a stop to Adora’s rambling even if she did think it was pretty cute sometimes.
“I live pretty close, only a short walk actually. Do you know the apartment complex around the corner?” She took a quick sip from her frappe, wiping some whipped cream from her upper lip right after.
“You mean Brightmoon?” Adora nodded in response to the question, taking a bite from the bagel she had gotten because she hadn’t had time for lunch. “The super expensive, beautiful, enormous apartment complex where only rich people live?”
Adora looked slightly ashamed as she admitted, “I actually live in the penthouse… But, like, I’m not rich or anything! It’s just that Glimmer’s mom owns the building, so it was pretty easy to get a good deal on it. I know it sounds pretty snobby, but I promise I’m not like that. Not that there is anything wrong with rich people, however-”
“Adora? Breathe, please.”
The blonde quickly put an end to her ramble, looking up at Catra with those guilty kicked puppy eyes. She mumbled a quick apology, before taking a bite from her food.
“No need to apologize.” She looked over to the counter and noticed that Sparkles wasn’t there, that was weird. She usually worked most weekdays as far as Catra knew. “I have to admit, I’ve always been curious about Brightmoon. The pictures online just have to be too good to be true.”
“Maybe I could take you home with me some time.” As soon as the words left her mouth Adora turned bright red, covering her face with her hands and mumbling out a muffled apology. “I’m so sorry, that probably sounded so creepy.”
“You’re alright, Princess.”
“Princess?” Adora said with a look of disgust on her face.
“Cause you live in a castle, wouldn’t be surprised if you have a few expensive dresses laying around.” Adora was silent, staring at the food in front of her. “You do?” She bursted out into a fit of laughter when Adora didn’t respond again.
The look on Adora’s face shifted from disgust to a cute pout as she crossed her arms over her chest. “They’re for events my mother drags me to…”
“Uhuh, sure.” She managed to breathe out in between small snorts.
“Oh, shut up you…” She pouted as she gave Catra’s shoulder a small shove.
“Never, this is far too amusing.”
That was how the rest of their meeting went, teasing each other, light conversations and a whole lot of laughing and smiles. Then like always it came to an end. The both of them got up and put their coats back on, but unlike most days Adora seemed to pause instead of walking out the door.
“Do you want to walk home with me?” she asked in a soft, nervous voice. The undercurrent of anxiety very apparent.
“If you’re sure?” Catra asked hesitantly, not really sure on what to do.
“Yeah, if you want?”
“Okay,” She said with a kind smile stretching over her lips. Before she knew it they were walking through Thaymore park, the leaves that had started falling from the trees in the previous few weeks were crunching beneath their shoes.
Catra had always loved the fall, the temperature would always be perfect and the weather would make for either cozy days inside or beautiful landscapes like this. Walking with Adora only made it better.
When they finally got to the building she was pretty surprised to find out the building did indeed look a lot like the pictures online, the ornaments on the pillars were detailed to perfection, all the windows seemed to be tinted with pastel colours and the whole building was just a perfect mix between old and new. Just to say Catra was slightly impressed by it.
When they stopped in front of the automatic doors of the building, Catra expected Adora to say their quick goodbyes just like they always did. That didn’t seem to be the case this time though.
“I wanted to ask you something.” She said as she scratched the back of her neck.
“Ask away, dummy.” Catra said as she crossed her arms over her chest, finally looking away from the building and to Adora.
Her lips were slightly parted, gaze flickering all around them and feet shifting their weight every few seconds. What was she so nervous for? “Can I maybe have your number?”
“You want-” She swallowed thickly, Adora was asking her for her number. But what if she just wanted to be friends, what were her intentions, maybe Catra was making it all up, she should just-
“We’ve been meeting up for a few weeks now, and I really like you and it’s possible that this is going to ruin whatever we have going on right now, but-” She paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath both from the anxiety and ramble she was going on. “I would like to, if you want, go on a date, maybe? I could’ve read this all wrong, but it feels like the coffee dates are a lot like date-dates, or I could just be insane. Regardless! If you don’t think I’m a complete idiot by now and maybe feel the same way, would you like to go on a date?”
Catra stared at her, wide eyed and mouth agape. This gorgeous, kind, awesome woman liked her? She wanted to go on a date with her?
“Adora, please shut up before you get sick or something.” She found herself saying in such a calm tone it surprised even herself. Taking a deep breath to muster up some extra confidence, she stepped forward and grasped Adora’s hands in her own. “I would love to go on a date with you. I’ve actually been planning on asking you too.”
Two surprised blue eyes blinked down at her, full of surprise and disbelief. “Are you serious?”
“Yes I am.”
“That’s great, because I honestly wouldn’t have known what to do if you had rejected me. Glimmer would’ve probably hunted you down, though.” Relief washed over her face as she gently squeezed Catra’s hands in her own.
“Probably, but right now I feel like she has been setting us up for the past few weeks.” She let go of one of Adora’s hands in favour of taking her phone out of her back pocket and handing it to Adora. “Put your name in, Princess, so I can text you when and where we’re going on our date.”
A bright flush consumed Adora’s cheeks at the nickname. After she was done putting in her number she handed the phone back to Catra, who immediately turned the name at the top from Adora with a purple heart emoji to Princess with a pillow behind it. “That’s just rude.” She heard Adora pout from behind her.
“You’ll just have to find a way to change it then.” She said as she stepped closer to her, a shit eating grin plastered on her face.
“Oh, just shut up already.” She rolled her eyes at her, before looking back down and meeting Catra’s challenging gaze.
“Make me.”
It had been mostly said as a joke, not really thinking that Adora would follow through. To her surprise though, a big gentle hand rested on her waist and another one on the back of her neck. “As you wish.” She whispered onto her lips, only a small breath away, before leaning slightly more forward and meeting Catra’s lips in a gentle kiss.
There was still a hint of coffee flavour present on her lips, even if it was barely noticeable with the sweet chapstick Adora had applied earlier. It was sweet, gentle, and tender. Everything that Adora was too. It was also something much more.
It was a promise.
A promise of what was to come, the dates that would probably follow, moments like these that they would savor with every fiber in their bodies. And all Catra wanted was to follow through with it.
Slowly the two of them started to part, Catra’s hands still slung around Adora’s neck and her eyes still half lid. “Wow…” Was the first thing that left Adora’s mouth after she had finally opened her eyes.
“Is that all?” She asked jokingly as chuckles bubbled out of her chest.
“What was I supposed to say!”
“Thank you for gracing me with your presence, oh, mighty Catra.” She did a posh accent that managed to pull a small laugh out of Adora.
“I’ll remember that for next time.”
Next time.
She knew it would happen, but still. The reassurance was nice.
Reluctantly she let go of Adora’s neck, the both of them seemingly being disappointed by the loss of contact. “I’ll text you later, alright?”
“Yeah, alright.” Adora breathed out, while looking at her with those adorable puppy eyes.
Before she turned around to walk away, she stood up on her toes and planted a small kiss on Adora’s cheek. Another promise, but this time solely to reassure Adora. She felt like she needed it. “See you later, Princess.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She said quickly before Catra could walk away, the both of them throwing the other a look, a look that the both of them would later understand to be love.
—
Unknown number
i can’t wait, princess
are you free tonight mb?
You
Miss me that much already?
The answer is yes, though<3
Kitty
can’t wait
make sure you wear one of those dresses you've mentioned
You
Only if you’ll wear a suit and pay for coffee tomorrow
Kitty
consider it done
i’ll text you the address later
can’t wait<3
You
Me neither<3