When they woke up that morning in Adoras bunk, tangled together and warm, something was off and Catra could sense it.
"You okay?" She asks as Adora sits up, legs crossed below her, and stretches her arms over her head with a groan of pleasure.
"Yeah, why?" She asks, turning to Catra with a frown
"Nothing," Catra says "Come on, we have to eat something before training,"
As the day progresses Catra begins to notice small changes in her friends demeanor, how she seemed to get winded faster, how her hair seemed to be more limp and lifeless than usual, how much she was sweating. Catra easily beat her when they sparred, and afterwards she had dissapeared into the locker room for several minutes before returning, wiping her mouth.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Catra says worriedly
"I'm fine, don't worry about me, I'm just having an off day is all, let's go again,"
Catra was skeptical, her eyes locking onto Adoras tired looking ones before sighing and agreeing.
"Okay, just know I dont believe you for a second,"
Almost immediately, Catra lands a pretty hard hit on Adora and the blonde stumbles, almost falling before Catra grabs her arms and pulls her back to her feet.
Adoras hand moves to her forehead and she sighs, shaking her head.
"You are NOT okay," Catra says, a hand still on Adoras shoudler as she plants the other one on her hip, her tail swishing behind her. She feels Adora shivering below her hand and grips her shoulder tighter "Were going back to the dorms and you're going back to bed,"
"Okay," Adora agrees without argument.
That worried Catra. Adora had be feeling pretty shitty to give in that easily.
Catra wraps an arm around her waist and leads her over to where Lonnie and Rogelio were sparring. They stop when they see the duo approach with Catra supporting most of Adoras weight.
"I'm bringing Adora back to the dorm, shes not feeling well," Catra says, reaching her hand up to pull Adoras arm further around her neck. Adoras fingers grip hers when she tries to pull away, so she just grips onto Adoras hand tighter.
"Alright," Lonnie says, a slightly worried look on her face when she sees the state Adora is in. "You know Weaver isnt gonna be happy if you skip training,"
"Yeah well, she can just shove that so far up her-"
"I get it," Lonnie says cutting her off with a disgusted groan "I'd rather not think about that part of her,"
Catra snickers and turns to Adora "You good?"
Adora nods and together they begin the walk back to the dorms.
When they get there Catra lowers Adora onto her bed, grabbing some more comfortable clothing from her storage. She hands the shirt and shorts to Adora before crouching before her to unlace her boots. Catra carefully pulls them from her feet as Adora changes out of her turtleneck and into a large white tshirt. She kicks off her pants and ignores the shorts, crawling under the blankets in her underwear. Catra stands, a slight blush on her cheeks, and feels Adoras hand grab her ankle.
"Stay?" She asks
"Don't worry, I will. I'm just gonna grab you some water okay?"
Adora nods, retracting her hand back under the blankets, shivering and tucking into herself, eyes squeezing shut.
After she collects the water, Catra takes her clothing off, feeling sticky and sweaty from training, and put on a tshirt and Adoras shorts instead. She pulls her mask off of her face, tossing it aside before pulling her hair into a messy ponytail.
She turns to see Adora smiling dopily at her and laughs
"What?" She asks
"Nothing, you just look cute like that s'all,"
Catra blushes lightly at the statement and Adoras arms extend out for Catra, grabby hands reaching out for her.
Catra giggles and complies, crawling into the bunk. Adora curls against her chest, head rested under her chin, leg thrown over Catras hip so their legs tangled together under the covers. Her hand slid under Catras shirt, warm fingers resting gently against the felines ribs, making her feel like warm energy was bouncing through her fur under Adoras hand.
"God I feel awful," Adora says as Catras hand slides up into her hair, pulling the hair tie out so she could play with Adoras hair. Adoras body relaxes on top of her, melting into her at the gently touch, all the tension leaving her muscles.
"I knew something wasnt right," Catra says "from the moment you woke up,"
"Your instincts are always right," Adora agrees, sniffling lightly "I feel so weak,"
Catras other hand slides across Adoras lower back, thumb sitting on the waistband of Adoras underwear as her hand came to rest on Adoras opposite hip.
Adora looks up at her frowning guiltily.
"I shouldn't have asked you to stay," She says "What if you get sick?"
"I won't," Catra says "and if I do that's okay, it'll be worth it,"
"Really?" Adora asks
"Really," Catra responds "Now, try and get some rest, I've got you,"
"M'kay," Adora agrees smiling softly, her head leaning slightly into the hand in her hair, into Catras fingers gently rubbing her scalp, playing with her hair. "That feels nice,"
Catra hums and presses her face into Adoras hair, the smell of her shampoo enveloping her. She presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head and Adoras sighs contentedly.
"Love you," She says
"I love you too," Catra replies
Neither of them realize it at the time but they both mean it more deeply than either of them really understood or were willing to admit.
But they meant it regardless and knew they always would, no matter what.