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Extravagant dinners and dances were decidedly not Catra’s thing.
Maybe it was the people. Big events like that drew crowds, and the guest list for the dances held in Bright Moon was probably at least a mile long. Maybe two. She wasn’t fond of crowds. Something about a room full of strangers made her uneasy, but she put up with it for Adora. She was She-Ra, after all. Her attendance at those sorts of events was expected, and as her girlfriend, plus one, or whatever, Catra’s presence was expected too.
But despite how… honestly, oblivious Adora could be, on the night of what felt like the millionth dance after the end of the war, she stopped Catra before she could drag herself up to change into the suit that she recycled for every single one of these events. She should probably invest in at least one other, but Adora seemed to like that one, and Catra didn’t concern herself with anyone else’s opinion.
“Hey,” A gentle hand came up to cup Catra’s jaw, and she glanced up carefully to meet a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Adora was smiling, but that was nothing new. She basically always smiled. She looked beautiful; dressed to the nines in a new flowing ball gown. “I know that you’re getting a little… burnt out with all of this. If you wanted to skip tonight it would be okay.”
Catra paused, her grip already slackening on the maroon suit jacket. “It would?”
“Yeah. I mean, I know you’re not used to all of this stuff. I wasn’t, either.” Adora paused, tapering off and frowning quite adorably to herself. But the bright blue eyes stayed shining with happiness, so that was what mattered. “I’m still not, really, but you’ve always been less of a… people person? I don’t even know if that’s the right way to put it, but I know that all of this meeting and greeting people is tiring you out and if you want to just stay here that’s totally okay, because I know you feel like you have to come to these things for me but…”
Admittedly, Catra tuned out of her girlfriend’s nervous rambling. In the back of her mind, the offer seemed fake. Rationally, when she really made herself think about it, she knew Adora wouldn’t say something just to make her walk into a trap. Adora was the one person Catra knew she could always trust.
“…and you’re not listening to a word I’m saying, right?”
She jumped instinctively when she caught the words and looked up to bright blue eyes again. They were shining with amusement, and Adora’s mouth was tilted up into a smirk.
“What?” Catra scoffed, shaking her head. “Of course I was listening. You were rambling.”
“Maybe, but you had that cute zoned out look,” Adora’s gaze softened, and she scratched that spot just behind Catra’s ear, the one that always made her purr even if she didn’t want to. “I know you. But my whole point was that you don’t have to come with me tonight. You can take some time for yourself.”
Melog let out a loud growl for attention, and Catra’s gaze flicked over to them, laughing quietly. Adora smiled and made sure to quickly add, “And Melog. Time for yourself and Melog. Bonding time!”
“We’ve already bonded,” Catra’s hand absently scratched behind Melog’s ear, the same point that Adora had touched on her. They let out a rumbling purr. “I’ll come. It’s okay. The food is always good, and it’s never as bad as I make myself think it’s going to be.”
“Okay, let me rephrase really quick,” Adora slowly pushed her down against her bed – their bed, now. “You’re going to stay here and take some you – and Melog – time. I’ll tell people you’re sick.”
Catra crinkled her nose in disgust. “No, you’ll tell them that you’re stubborn and you’re making me take me time. Whatever that is.”
Adora looked at her a little funnily, and Catra didn’t know how to read it. It made her nervous, the fur on the back of her neck pricking up, but Adora’s gentle hand smoothed it back down. “It can be whatever you want it to be. You could rediscover some hobbies! I know you used to like to draw.”
“Yeah,” the word came out a little bitterly, “until Shadow Weaver burned everything and told me if she caught me drawing again, she’d break my fingers.”
“Catra,” The mattress sank under Adora’s added weight, and she felt a soft touch to her hand. Her claws retracted again – they’d unconsciously made an appearance at the thought of Shadow Weaver – and she linked her fingers with Adora’s, sighing. “Hey. Shadow Weaver is gone. She can’t hurt you anymore, and I know you don’t want to let her, but I won’t push you. If you just want to stay here and rest, that’s fine too. But you’re not coming to the dance. You know how stubborn I can be when I want.”
“Yeah, I know,” Catra finally sighed, and an automatic smile tilted up the corners of her mouth as Melog jumped onto the bed to join them. She smiled properly, scratching behind their ears again, and finally gave in to Adora’s request. Really, it was what she had wanted, but sometimes she felt that she had to join Adora and her friends with all of their princess stuff. “I guess I could stay here. Hang with Melog. Be ready and waiting for your SOS call when you get bored of the princessy company.”
“There’s my girl,” Adora grinned, and she bumped against her gently. “Maybe you can use the free time to invent some crisis that She-Ra needs to fix immediately and would conveniently happen to take up the rest of the dance.”
“If anyone’s going to be able to make something like that up, it’s me,” Catra said, and she was genuinely surprised when it came out more joking than self-deprecating. “Get going before I change my mind.”
“Okay, okay,” Adora stood up, but leaned down and pulled Catra in for a quick goodbye kiss. That would never get old. No matter how many times it happened, Catra would never get tired of kissing Adora. “You better keep your communications pad nearby. That SOS call might actually happen.”
Catra rolled her eyes as Adora slowly backed towards the bedroom door. “I know you. You’re a social butterfly. You’ll come wandering back in the middle of the night after a little too much wine and try to snuggle me.”
Adora smirked. “And you’ll let me.”
“Tell nobody,” Catra pointed a clawed finger at her, “but yeah. I will. See you then, dummy.”
The smirk melted into a tender smile. “Bye, Catra. Enjoy your you-and-Melog time!”
Catra watched as the bedroom doors closed behind her idiot girlfriend, not bothering to fight down that stupid lovesick smile she always gets whenever she looks at her. Or thinks about her. Adora existing in any capacity basically equalled smiling Catra. That was just how it worked.
She leaned back against the pillows. To be honest, it was hard not to lean back against the pillows, because there were about thirty thousand on the bed. Upon first arriving in Bright Moon after the end of the war, Catra had taken to sleeping on the floor with Melog. Even Bright Moon’s floors were more comfortable than the beds in the Fright Zone, but it was at least a little bit similar to what she was used to. Adora had been the one to make her come up to the bed, slowly coaxing her.
“Come on, it’ll be like when we were kids,” Adora had said, “You can even sleep by my feet if that would make you feel better, but I just… I feel weird with my girlfriend sleeping on the floor.”
Catra had made a show of it – obviously – with a big eye roll and a loud sigh, but she clambered onto the bed next to Adora. Adora’s arms had looped around her waist, her fingers tracing down Catra’s spine, making the purr rumble deep in her chest.
Sleeping like that had taken a while to get used to, but now she couldn’t imagine going back to sleeping on the floor. Even Melog had their own pillows, in a big corner of the room. They slept better than Catra had for the majority of her life.
“Maybe,” Catra voiced, looking over at Melog, “maybe Adora had a point. Maybe I could draw… just to pass the time. It’s that or sleeping, right?”
Melog let out a quiet meow in agreement, and Catra reached out to scratch them behind the ears. “Yeah. Adora is an idiot, but she’s a smart idiot. Sometimes. Don’t tell her I said that.”
Slowly, Catra moved from the bed, her feet light on the floor. She knew she didn’t have to creep around like that in Bright Moon, but there was a part of her that couldn’t break the habit. There were a lot of old habits she wasn’t sure she’d ever break.
There were some scraps of paper on the dresser, along with a couple of pens. It was more than she’d ever had in the Fright Zone; at one point, Catra had taken to scratching little doodles into the walls with her claws. Shadow Weaver hadn’t been happy when she discovered them. Catra shuddered and did what she could to push the thought from her head. Like Adora had said, Shadow Weaver was gone and couldn’t hurt her anymore. She picked up the pen, and grabbed one of the scraps of paper, focusing on that. Only that.
She would never tell her, but Adora was right. Drawing helped. Spending time with herself – and with Melog’s comforting presence in the room – helped too. Catra felt better than she had in a long time as she drew, letting the ink flow onto the paper, and letting her feelings out with it. Maybe it was easier because she wasn’t telling an actual person how she felt. That had always been hard for her. Catra was telling the paper, and it helped more than she knew.
She startled when the communications pad let out a loud beep, her fur standing on end. Melog flared red and growled at the device, and Catra placed a gentle hand on their head to calm them and picked up the ringing device with the other. The time was displayed in the corner of the screen, and Catra hadn’t realised how long she’d been drawing for. Hours had passed since Adora had left for the dance.
She answered the call, expecting Adora’s face to pop up on the screen, but it was Bow. He flashed a sheepish smile, the one she’d grown to understand meant something isn’t right. “Hey, Catra.”
“What’s wrong?” Catra asked immediately, hackles already rising, because if something was wrong with Adora, whoever made it that way would have to answer to her. “Is Adora okay?”
“Hah, wrong? Nothing’s wrong…” if anything, Bow’s sheepish smile just grew, and when Catra raised her eyebrows, he sighed. “Okay. Adora had a lot of wine. Like, maybe too much? More than usual, anyway. She can’t walk without falling over. And you might need to come and pick her up, because any time Glimmer tried to teleport with her, she’d jump away and ask for you.”
“Okay,” Catra answered instantly, then wondered if she was whipped, and realised she didn’t really care if she was. “On my way. You’re in that stupidly big ballroom on the other side of the castle, right?”
“Oh,” Bow looked surprised that she’d just accepted her responsibility as Adora’s babysitter for the night, “Yeah. Yeah, we are. Glimmer’s waiting outside with her already. We thought it was best if we stopped her before she tried to give a spontaneous karaoke performance.”
Quietly, Catra probably would’ve let the karaoke happen first, just so she could laugh at Adora about it when she sobered up, but she wasn’t going to admit that. “Yeah, good call. I’ll be there soon. Keep her on a tight leash.”
Catra ended the call and tossed the communication pad aside. She told Melog to stay, and quickly slipped out of the bedroom, winding her way through the castle corridors. Catra had always been good with navigation; unlike Adora, she didn’t have to rely purely on sight. Hearing, and more importantly, scent, were the two things Catra relied on to find her way around. It wasn’t hard to find the ballroom, even though she hadn’t been in Bright Moon for too long. Sniffing out that many people was easy.
Adora was outside the grand, golden doors to the ballroom, with Glimmer keeping a tight grip on her arm. Catra understood that; Adora was a wandering drunk. “Hey, Adora.”
“Catra!” Adora exclaimed, and she broke free of Glimmer’s grasp to pounce on her. Catra could’ve dodged it if she wanted; Adora’s movements were slow and clumsy thanks to all the wine, but she let the blonde jump on her in a tight hug. “You came! Wait, I told you not to.”
“Bow called me because you’re like, ninety percent alcohol right now,” Catra said, her voice muffled in Adora’s shoulder. She looked over at Glimmer and said, “I’ll take it from here, Sparkles.”
“Look after her, Horde Scum,” Glimmer smiled teasingly, deciding not to contribute any help to Catra’s attempt at peeling Adora off of her. “I’ll tell Bow she’s in good hands.”
Catra managed to get Adora to stop suffocating her long enough to throw a nod and a thumbs-up Glimmer’s way, and as the sparkly princess slipped back into the ballroom, Catra slowly began her task of getting Adora back to their room and ready for bed.
“Alright, drunk ass,” Catra slowly walked the two of them forward, “Let’s get moving.”
“You came to rescue me?” Adora smiled hazily. Her blue eyes were a little clouded, but she was still so genuine and happy. Even though Catra didn’t particularly like dogs, Adora reminded her of a golden retriever. But in a cute way. “My hero.”
Catra snorted, but her body betrayed her real feelings when her tail flicked happily. “I thought you were the hero.”
“I might be everyone else’s hero,” Adora murmured as Catra mostly carried her down the corridor, “but you’re my hero.”
Catra nearly dropped her when she heard that, but she’d never been more thankful for her sharp reflexes when she caught her. She could pass that off as a drunken stumble on Adora’s part.
Her heart was racing. Yet another thing she could never get under control. Heart rate, her tail, and purring. The three things Catra could never get a hold on. “I’m not a hero.”
Adora – beautiful, perfect Adora – just smiled. “You saved me. That’s pretty heroic.”
Catra didn’t give that a response. She didn’t think she could. All she focused on was walking them forwards through the glittery, winding corridors, slowly but surely, making their way back to Adora’s bedroom.
Their bedroom.
Whatever.
“Hey,” Adora poked her shoulder, giggled, and then poked her again. Clearly, she wasn’t satisfied with the silence. “Catra.”
Catra fought the automatic smile back. “What?”
“Did you know…” Adora leaned in closer – if that was even possible – and whispered, “you’re a cat.”
“Really? I had no idea.” Catra deadpanned. “Not like it’s in my name or anything.”
“Mhm. Yep. I picked that.” Adora bopped her nose with a finger. “Catra Applesauce Meowmeow.”
“I swear to god, if you ever tell Bow or Sparkles about that, I’ll dump you.” It was an empty threat, and Adora’s sparkling blue eyes and upset pout made her cave. “Fine, I won’t, but… your total lack of subtlety is our little secret, okay?”
“Hm, yeah,” Adora yawned, “secrets, secrets. Like that time I realised I like liked you. That was my big secret.”
“Like liked?” Catra laughed. “You had a crush on me? That’s so embarrassing for you.”
“Hah, okay,” Adora snorted, stumbled, and nearly fell into the wall. Catra caught her again, but this time, Adora just kissed her on the tip of her nose and said, “You love me. You always have. That’s embarrassing for you.”
“Shut up, dummy,” Catra elbowed her lightly, wrapping an arm around her waist to secure her. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”
“Snuggle?” Adora asked so cutely that there was no way Catra could’ve resisted. She smiled to herself. Idiot. “Please?”
“I don’t know, I think you might need to convince me a little bit more,” Catra felt the smirk tugging up the side of her mouth, but she really didn’t expect Adora poking one of her fangs with her thumb, then muttering ouch and frowning. “What did you think was going to happen there, Adora?”
“I don’t know, I just think your little fangs are cute. Like, you’re just cute.” Adora pulled one of her ears gently, and the growl that rumbled in Catra’s chest was only half real. “Hah. Pointy ears. Cute Catra. Cute Catra Applesauce Meowmeow. I love you.”
Catra huffed, carrying her down the hallway, relieved that their bedroom was close. Adora was heavier than she looked. Or maybe not, considering she regularly transformed into an eight-foot warrior princess. “I love you too, dumbass.”
“You always have.” Adora said, and Catra should’ve expected her to never let her live that down. “But I always have too. You and your face and your pretty eyes and your hair and your tail. I love you. Did you know that one of your eyes is yellow?”
“Wow, what?” Catra answered with dry surprise. “No way!”
“Yeah way!” Adora said and leaned in like she was going to tell Catra her deepest, darkest secret. She dropped her voice to a whisper and added, “And the other one… is blue.”
“You don’t say,” Catra watched as her dumb drunk girlfriend’s smile only grew, not picking up on the easy sarcasm in her voice, “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t just told me that. Next time I looked in the mirror, I might’ve just like, died. Of shock.”
“Don’t die, please,” Adora stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, but it didn’t last long. Her face brightened a second later. “Ooh, we should go on a picnic.”
Catra laughed, because she had no idea where that came from, but just nodded. Might as well entertain her. “Okay. You can make all the food though.”
“I will. For the honour of grayskull!” Adora punched a hand in the air, laughed, and then rolled her eyes. “No sandwiches appeared.”
“Yeah, what’s the point of being a magical princess if you can’t make sandwiches appear out of nowhere?” Catra sarcastically responded, bumping open their bedroom door with her hip and helping Adora inside. Melog mewled affectionately upon their return. “Actually, if there is a princess out there that makes sandwiches, I might have to ditch you for her.”
“Catra,” Adora poked her arm, “mean.”
“You know me, loser. You signed up for mean,” Catra rolled her eyes, fingers toying with the zip of Adora’s dress. “Okay. Bedtime. Can I take your dress off?”
Adora smirked. Catra figured it was supposed to be sexy, but she exaggerated it so much that it just ended up looking pretty funny. “You can always take my dress off.”
“Okay, I’ll do it in the middle of the next council meeting, now I’ve got your permission,” Catra joked, unzipping her and taking the extravagant ball gown off. She was careful with it – she had no idea how much it cost – and placed it aside. Carefully, she got her girlfriend into her pyjamas, ignoring the dumb, teasing innuendos Adora kept making.
She tucked Adora into bed and wasn’t surprised when her girlfriend pulled her into bed, despite the lack of warning. Her hands wrapped around Catra’s waist, and even though she was drunk, she was still so gentle. It had taken Catra a while to get used to all of the touching, and sometimes her body still jumped on instinct.
She wasn’t wearing her pyjamas, just her usual clothes, but she could deal with that until Adora fell asleep. Adora slipped her hand up Catra’s shirt and her fingers started trailing up and down her spine. A purr rumbled in Catra’s chest, some stupid visceral reaction, and her tail flicked out affectionately. Adora was still wriggling around, probably trying and failing to find a position where the room wasn’t spinning. Carefully, Catra tethered herself to her, gently wrapping her tail around Adora’s ankle.
“Hey, Catra.”
Adora was squinting at her, already half asleep. Catra just smiled. “Hey, Adora.”
“Did you know that you’re a cat?”
It was another time where she couldn’t help but laugh. She stifled her smile and managed to keep the purring under at least a sliver of control when Adora scratched that spot behind her ear. “We covered that one already. Go to sleep, dumbass.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Adora announced, but bright blue eyes closed of their own accord and her mouth tugged up into a sleepy smile. “Catra?”
“If you’re going to tell me I’m a cat again, I will dump you.” Catra said, but her body seemed to betray her on its own, because she found herself nuzzling into Adora and asking, “How was the dance?”
“Stupid without you to dance with,” Adora murmured tiredly, “Hey, Catra?”
Catra entertained the question. She justified it because Adora was a cute drunk, and she sounded like she was on the brink of falling to sleep. It was hard not to, in a bed as comfortable and warm as theirs. “What?”
“I love you, Catra. And you deserve it, you know?” Adora punctuated with a yawn. “I know that sometimes you still feel… you know, but without you, I couldn’t have saved everyone, and I just want you to know that I love you and you deserve good things. Because you really are my hero. Even if sometimes it’s just saving me from falling over drunk.”
That meant more to Catra than Adora could ever really know. She could tell her. Maybe she would, one day, when she could really believe in the things Adora had said. But for now, Catra just let herself smile and feel safe in her girlfriend’s arms.
“I love you too, idiot.”