Chapter Text
Ding-dong!
Catra shifts from foot to foot as she tries to stand as casually as possible on Adora Gray’s front porch. At least she hopes it's Adora's porch. If not, if the whole invitation to join Sheer Awe (stupid name for a band, if you ask Catra, though it could be worse) was just a joke, then Catra is never going to socialize with anyone normal ever again. Entrapta, her best friend, doesn't count because she's just as abnormal as Catra. Her tail thrashes back and forth, betraying the anxiety she tries to keep pushed down.
It kinda tracks that Adora would live in the most pristine example of the suburban dream that Catra could imagine. Big house, freshly painted white picket fence, loud-ass dog barking somewhere inside, two car garage, pristine garden, and a basketball hoop right by the driveway. Sheesh. Perfect place for a perfect princess. What in the world is Catra even doing here?
The door finally clicks open and Catra forces a lopsided smile. She almost thinks the person who greets her is Adora herself, but after a double-take, Catra identifies him as Adam, Adora's mythical older brother who was a school legend ever since he climbed the gymnasium and planted a jolly roger pirate flag on top of it during his graduation ceremony. Badass!
“Hey, dude!” Adam says as he leans against the doorframe and flips his mid-length hair out of his face. He points his index finger at her. “You're Catra, yeah?”
“That's what they tell me, yep,” Catra answers dryly. “I'm guessing you're Adam?”
“Most of the time!” he jokes. “‘Dora’s in the garage with the others. You can come through here if you want!”
“I've got a bit of stuff to haul in,” Catra says. “Think they can open the garage door for me so I don't bang up the walls, eh?”
He grins and gives a thumbs up. “Sure, sure, just give a whack on the door and they'll get it open for ya!”
“Thanks, bud.” Catra gives a two-fingered salute and trots back down to her shitty van, which she has parked on the curb. Not by the curb. On it. She really needs to work on her driving.
“Any time!”
Well, at least the band invite probably isn't a prank. Catra lugs her guitar, amp, and the shoebox she keeps her couple of pedals in over to the garage door. She can hear some chatting and laughing even through the closed door, so she gives it a solid knock.
“Oh shit, I think she's here!”
“Stay calm, act normal!”
“Okay but calm isn't normal for us…”
“Move, Scorpia! You're in the way of the door contr—”
An intense electric whirring fills the air as the garage door slowly rises. Catra shifts, hefting her amp to the ground so she can give a casual wave to her new bandmates as they are revealed.
The garage itself is decently nice. There’s a workbench, the classic garage fridge, a drumkit, and a tiny vintage car parked in the far corner, half-covered by a tarp. Sick ride! Catra should check it out sometime.
Closest to the entrance stands Mara, the legend herself. She's totally dominated the school talent show four years running. She's tall, brutally handsome in an undeniably feminine way, and the one who invited Catra to come take her place as the band's lead guitarist now that she's about to leave town for college once the summer ends. With a welcoming nod, Mara steps aside to make room for Catra to walk in. “Glad you could make it!”
“Almost didn't survive the trek through suburbia,” Catra replies, trying her best to stay cool.
Off to the side stands Scorpia, her long, naturally white hair pulled back into a loose braid. She waves her namesake claws and smiles broadly. Two years back, she and Adora had been the driving force behind the Bright Moon High Women’s Basketball’s push to the provincial finals, but after the team crashed and burned this last year, they’d jumped ship. Apparently this weird-ass punk band is where they landed. “Hi, Catra! Great to meet you finally!”
Catra gives her a respectful nod. She’d been so certain that Scorpia was as gay as Catra herself, but somehow, she has a boyfriend. Speaking of, Perry walks over and gives a friendly wave while adjusting the strap on his bass. His hair is almost as long as Scorpia’s, and he’s practically a twig compared to his absolutely jacked girlfriend. He doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t have to. Actually, his eyes are super pretty. Huh, that’s not something Catra usually notices.
“Yeah, welcome, Catra!” And there she is. Adora Gray, Catra’s secret crush for the past God knows how long. Her smile still sends butterflies right into Catra’s stomach, and she’s grinning right at her. This isn’t their first time interacting, but it’s probably the only time they’ve talked outside of school. God. Play it cool, Catra.
“Hey, Adora.” Fuck, she’s almost purring already. What part of cool don’t you understand, Catra? Sheesh. Adora’s carrying the prettiest Stratocaster that Catra’s ever seen and it doesn’t even hold a candle to the rest of her. She’s dressed in a Paramore concert tee (great choice) and ripped black jeans. Literally Catra’s dream girl.
Except for one tiny detail. Adora, somehow, isn’t gay. Not that it’s too unusual to be straight around here. Who’s she kidding, this place is a dump, and she can count on one hand how many gay girls she knows. She’s dated them all. It’s a drag.
“I guess we can get started!” Mara declares. “Come on, we’ll get you set up over by the freezer. Randall, that’s Adora’s dad, doesn’t mind the noise too much, but he asked that we keep off his car back there.” She jerks her hand toward the partially concealed vehicle. Dang, so much for checking it out sometime.
“Sick, I don’t need too much space,” Catra says. “Got a small combo amp and so long as I have room for my stompboxes, I’m golden!”
“Ooh, lemme help you get set up!” Adora says brightly as she hurries over. Oh God, she even smells wonderful. So unfair that she’s straight, what the hell.
After a bit of finagling, Catra has her Les Paul Jr. strapped on, her amp cranked up, and everything ready to go. Mara settles into place by the workbench, Scorpia climbs behind the kit, Perry precariously perches as close to his girlfriend as he can, and Adora slots in nicely right near Catra, because why wouldn’t she be there to make Catra even more nervous?
It’s not the best group Catra’s ever played with, and her amp sounds real fucking weird in the old icebox, but they’re a fun bunch. Scorpia definitely has a Foo Fighters kinda thing going on, Perry’s solid, Mara plays like a champ, and Adora could go pro if she wanted. The biggest issue Catra encounters with their first couple songs is just how loud everything is. Fortunately, she always brings earplugs, and everything sounds much more pleasant down a good fifteen decibels.
“You’re a quick learner!” Scorpia yells at Catra as the trashcan ending of the band’s original song Take Off Or Take Back fades into uncomfortable echoes. Apparently the title was going to either be Take Off or it was going to be Take Back, but Adora misread Mara’s scribbled notes so now it's just one long title. Classic.
“It’s just five chords, dude, and I’m not even taking a solo.”
“Still!” Scorpia gives her a thumbs up. A pincer up? Catra has no idea what to call it, but she knows what it means.
“Yeah, you fit right in!” Adora says gleefully. “We might not be doomed when Mara abandons us in August!”
Mara rolls her eyes, setting aside her phone. “You’re gonna be fine. Cool, that’s one song down, at least for a first pass. We don’t have any gigs planned until July, so we can take our time making sure everything is in good shape.”
“Oh?” Catra’s ears perk up. “You’ve got gigs lined up?”
“Not really,” Adora replies. “We played some when we got started last year, but we were still super rough. Perry’s aunt got us booked for a small performance this year at a fair in late July. We don’t know how many songs we’ll be able to play.”
“I wanna start gigging!” Scorpia declares.
“Well, we have to make sure we’re ready first,” Mara cautions. Scorpia wilts and Perry places a comforting hand on her shoulder, which Scorpia holds gently. Gross heterosexual behavior, but it’s kinda cute.
“I mean, what better way to get ready than diving right in?” Catra asks. “Cause like, if you’re interested, I think I know an opportunity we could take?”
Perry and Scorpia immediately perk up and Adora’s eyes go wide. Mara raises an eyebrow and says, “Don’t leave us in suspense! What’ve you got for us?”
With a grin, Catra pulls her phone out. “So, my bud Bow and his boyfriend Sea Hawk are organizers for the Bright Moon Pride events, and there’s a battle of the bands over at Hordak’s pub one night! My nemesis, who also happens to be my ex-girlfriend and one of my best friends, it’s complicated, is playing with my old band, and I really want to kick their asses. Metaphorically.” She pulls up the Bright Moon Pride site and passes it around to her new bandmates. She also watches for everyone’s reaction because she did kinda just come out to them. Not that she's particularly subtle, but still. Adora’s eyes go wide, Mara seems completely unsurprised, and Perry just looks interested in what’s on her phone. Whew, could have gone way worse.
Scorpia gasps. “A battle of the bands?! That’s so cool! Mara, we gotta do it!”
Mara looks at the event page sceptically. “It’s the twenty-sixth of next month. Do we think we could be ready by then?”
Perry looks unsure, Scorpia nods vigorously, Catra gives a thumbs up, and Adora worries at her lip. Hesitantly, Adora asks, “Um, would it be okay for us to play at a pride event? Since we’re, uh, not a gay band?”
Booo. Adora deserves better than being stuck in a not-gay band. Catra should do something about that. She steps forward and gestures to the plethora of lesbian flag themed pins on her guitar strap. “Babe, I’m gay enough for two bands. And so long as y’all aren’t secret ‘phobes and are, like, solid allies, Sea Hawk and Bow would be cool with it. Trust, Bow used to help out with my last band and he’s super chill.”
Adora still looks uneasy, but that seems to have put Perry at ease. Mara shrugs. “If you guys are cool with it, I’m down,” she says. “It’d be nice to perform somewhere that wouldn’t be surrounded by hay bales.”
“I like hay bales,” Perry says with a pout. Scorpia squeezes his hand.
“My allergies don’t, but I am grateful to your aunt for the opportunity,” Mara replies. Perry nods solemnly, respecting the gravity of the allergy situation. Canadian summers aren’t easy on the sinuses.
“So we good? I can text Bow?” Catra asks.
Scorpia and Perry nod, but Adora hesitates. “Um. I’m okay with it. I just don’t want to intrude,” she says, giving a shy smile to Catra.
Catra walks over and gives her a playful shoulder bump. “You aren’t intruding. Allies are explicitly invited, and I’m double inviting you. You gotta come, I need you to sing circles around Glimmer so I can gloat after.”
And with that, it’s decided. They’ll play at the Pride Battle, and Catra has a new crew. Sure, they might be straight, but they’re a lot of fun. Now she just needs to get herself ready to kick Glimmer’s ass.