It was late.
Catra was sitting on Adoras bed in the barracks, knees pulled up slightly, arms wrapped around them. Her tail was swishing back and forth madly behind her as she rested her chin on her knees. Her ears caught every sound, amplified them and her mismatched eyes shone in the dark.
It was late and Adora wasn’t back yet.
She grumbled to herself, pulling her knees up a little higher. What was taking Adora so long?
“Catra,” Lonnie groans “I can hear you worrying from here, she’s fine, she’s probably showering or something, the water is actually tolerable today,”
Catra rolled her eyes and ignored Lonnie. She was right though, the water in the showers HAD been particularly warm today, maybe Adora was just taking advantage of that.
Another hour passed and Lonnie drifts off. Catra doesn't though, not without Adora back by her side. She always slept better knowing Adora was right there, just an arms length away.
The door slides open.
“Catra!” Adora whisper shouts
Catra turns her lamp like eyes on her relief washing through her and Adora grins, waving her over. Catra silently gets to her feet and pads towards Adora, slipping out into the hall and allowing the door to shut behind her.
“Where were you?” Catra asks, crossing her arms and jutting her hip out.
“Aw were you worried?” Adora teases
Catras cheeks heat up “Was not. Just didn’t want you to wake me once I fell asleep,”
Adora smirks “Sure, sure,”
Catra rolls her eyes fondly. She had been worried of course, but she wasn’t about to admit that.
“Anyways, Im sorry for worrying you but look what I got,”
She pulls something up out of her bag slightly to show Catra, peering around for guards.
“You stole wine??” Catra says
“From Shadow Weaver,” Adora says
“You stole wine from Shadow Weaver?!”
Adora grins broadly, cocking an eyebrow and dropping the bottle back into her bag “You wanna drink it with me?”
“Fuck yeah,” Catra agrees, laughing with a toothy grin
Together they sneak through the Fright Zone and end up outside in an abandoned lot, lit by a single bulb far above.
There was a patch of grass nearby, weird for the Fright Zone, but Adora didn’t seem to even comprehend that as she plops down on the ground and begins to wrench the wine bottle open with a knife, digging the cork out piece by piece. Once its open, she takes a drink and pulls a face.
Catra sits beside her and takes the bottle when Adora offers it, taking her own drink.
“God thats disguising,” Adora says, taking the bottle back and drinking some more.
Catra giggles, bumping her with her shoulder and causing her to spill some down her chin.
“Then why are you still drinking it?” She laughs
“Dunno,” Adora says, wiping her chin with the back of her hand.
Catra leans back and looks up at the starless sky, the moons and clouds high above. A cool breeze blows by and she shivers slightly.
“Here,” Adora says.
She places the bottle down on the concrete and sheds her jacket.
“But wont you be cold?” Catra asks. She already has the jacket half on though, so the question was more or less pointless.
“Nah, I have a long sleeve, plus I don’t get cold often, you know that,”
Catra nods and snuggles into the oversized jacket “Thanks,”
“No problem,”
Adoras hand comes to rest over hers and she blushes. They haven’t properly held hands since they were small. It felt somehow different now.
Catra takes another sip of wine and lays back in the grass, Adora flopping back with her, curling her hand entirely around Catras.
“This okay?” She asks, looking to Catra and squeezing her hand gently.
Catra looks back to her with a smile, cheeks rosy.
“Yeah,” She says
They lay there together for a while, passing the bottle back and forth between them and talking.
Eventually, Adora sits up “I have to pee, Ill be right back,”
She stands and disappears back inside.
Catra sits up, taking another sip, the buzz in her head travelling through her skin. Her hand felt strangely empty now that it wasn’t holding Adoras and she frowned, looking at it and flexing her fingers.
She sets the bottle down and pulls her arms into Adoras coat, taking a deep inhale and closing her eyes. The coat smelled like Adora, and Catra couldn’t get enough of it. She hears the door slide open but doesn’t remove her head from the jacket.
“Its hits you so hard when you stand up,” Adora says with a giggle as she wobbles back to Catras side “I fell into that big scorpion lady,”
Catra lets the coat drop back onto her shoulders, stretching her arms back out through the sleeves. “You fell over and a big buff lady caught you?”
Adora giggles, her face beet red “Yes,”
“That must have made your day,” Catra teases
“Being with you made my day,” Adora says earnestly with a smile
Catra blushes, her mouth falling open slightly.
“Really?”
"Really Really,”
Catra bumps her forehead against Adoras chin as she hugs her, blush coating her skin. Adora hugs her back and they just sit there, holding each other until Adora starts to wiggle strangely.
“What are you doing?” Catra giggles
“Dancing,” Adora whispers into her hair
“Dancing?” Catra says with a laugh “‘Dora, theres no music,”
“Yeah there is, listen,”
Catra listens, but only hears the whirring and groaning of the machinery that powers the Fright Zone.
“Do you hear it?” Adora asks
“No,” Catra deadpans, her ears turn out slightly, thinking Adora was trying to trick her.
Adora pouts and gets unsteadily to her feet moving away from the grass to stand under the light. She starts dancing, if you could call it that, and Catra can’t help but laugh.
It was the most uncoordinated thing she’d ever seen. Adora was flailing her arms around and spinning, it was honestly a miracle she was still on her feet.
“God you’re such an idiot,” Catra laughs
Adora grins as her hair falls loose during a twirl. She comes to a stop and pushes her hair behind her ears with both her hands, her cheek are rosy and her eyes are bright in the moonlight.
Catras heart swells with love and it spill out into her fond smile. Adora hurries over to her and grabs both her hands, pulling her to her feet.
“Woah!”
Adora lets go of her hands. She stumbles as the liquor hits her all at once, and Adora has to catch her before she falls to the ground.
She spins them in circles, hands on Catras waist, feet taking wide lumbering steps, rocking them from side to side. Catra grabs onto Adoras shoulders, her head falling back as she laughs loudly, the sound being lost to the night. She pulls her head up and wraps her arms around Adoras neck, cheek resting against Adoras. The two of them stumble as they giggle and spin around, tripping over each others feet but somehow managing to stay upright.
That is until Adora steps on a loose chunk of concrete and send them both down, Catra on top of Adora with Adoras arms still wrapped tightly around her middle, squeezing her for dear life, Catras tail winding around her wrist.
“Ow!” Adora cries out, giggling immediately after. She reaches under herself and pulls a rock out, tossing it aside before returning her arm to Catras waist.
“God I love you,” Catra giggles, her forehead dropping down to rest against Adoras.
Catras heart freezes in her chest. She hadn’t meant to say that. The drink was affecting her in more ways than one.
“I love you too Catra,” Adora says, hugging her tightly “You’re the best friend a girl could ask for,”
Catra is simultaneously relieved and disappointed by Adoras response. It could have been a lot worse if Adora had been more sober with more of a clue. It also could have gone better for the exact same reasons though.
Catra hugs her back as Adora sits up, causing her to have to straddle the blondes lap. Adora gets to her knees, then gets her legs under her and then, very precariously, gets to her feet. This leaves Catra clinging to her like a small child, wide eyed and slightly worried for both their safety.
“Adora!” She cries, giggling with her forehead pressed to the side of Adoras head, her loose hair tickling Catras nose. Adora giggles as she stumbles back towards the grass, dumping them both back down next to their almost empty bottle.
Catra picks it up and finishes it off.
“Hey!” Adora whines “I wanted some,”
“I don’t think you need anymore,”
Adora giggles as she leans into Catra. Catras tail wraps loosely around Adoras waist, the tip brushing the bare skin where her shirt had ridden up.
“This is fun,” Adora says “We should do this more often,”
“If we do this more often one of us if going to end up dead,” Catra says
“Yeah, you’re right,” Adora says “Probably me,”
“Probably you,” Catra agrees
Adora laughs, the laugh morphing into a yawn “Im tired,”
“Do you want to go to bed?”
Adora nods, closing her eyes as she snuggles against Catras side.
Catra helps her to her feet and she takes Catras hand, the two of them shushing each other and giggling the entire way back to the barracks. Thankfully they arrive without being caught, another thing to add to the list of miracles that have occurred tonight.
They stumble in to the barracks, and despite their attempts to be quiet they wake everyone but Kyle, who manages to sleep though it. Nobody wants to deal with them through, so they're left with the illusion of secrecy thinking themselves sneaky and silent.
They fall into Adoras bed and Adora kicks her shoes off. Catra climbs fully on top of Adora, snuggling her head against her chest, their legs tangled together. Her ear presses to the blondes chest, her heartbeat in her ear soothing her. Adora, struggling to get it out from under them, pulls the blanket up over herself and Catra, enveloping them in warmth. Catra hums happily as the sheet of black behind her eyelids spins around her slightly. Adora slides her hand up into Catras hair scratching at her scalp and ears, drawing deep sleepy purrs from her as all of her muscles relax.
They both fall asleep with dopey, happy smiles on their faces.