Sparks

KNOCK KNOCK!

“Oh, for fuck’s sakes…” Catra grumbles when she’s rudely awakened by the constant loud knocking on Adora’s door as she turns over and buries her head under one of Adora’s pillow, the blonde still sleeping soundly, the magicat mumbles under her breath, “Should have fucken stayed at my place last night…”

KNOCK KNOCK!

“Nope!” Catra pokes Adora a little, trying to wake the blonde up, “Adora. Adora! Wake up!”

“Quit it…” The blonde grumbles as she grabs onto Catra’s hand and holds it against her chest, “Mm… it’s too early…”

“Adora!” Catra whisper shouts, “What happened to not having your friends bang on the door so early in the morning?”

The blonde makes a sound like I don’t know, as she wraps her arms around Catra, “Shh… sleeping time…”

“That’s what I’m trying to do…” Catra grumbles as she nestles herself deeper into Adora’s front, “Though whoever is still knocking better watch the fuck out when I get through with them…”

Adora grabs onto Catra, pulling the magicat closer to her chest to stop the her from getting out of bed, whispering out groggily, “Just ignore it. Maybe they’ll go away…”

Being held in Adora’s arms has the magicat melting a little as she gives in easily, “Fine.”

The blonde grins into the back of Catra’s short hair and then rubs her face against it, “Mm… you smell so nice…”

A purr inadvertently erupts from the magicat’s chest as she tries to tamp it down, “You feel really nice.”

Adora giggles when Catra nuzzles into her chest, “Your fur tickles…”

“I’ll show you what really tickles…” Catra threatens lightly as she starts to really tickle Adora with her fingers, attacking the blonde’s sides, making Adora squeal out with laughter as she tries to tickle Catra back, though with the way the magicat’s got her positioned under her, it’s to no avail.

“Stars! Stop! Stop! Catra!!!” Adora laughs out trying to grab at the magicat’s hands to stop the onslaught of tickling, “Catra! Cat-Catra! St-Stop! Oh my… Stars!!!”

“Ahem!”

The pair both freeze at the unexpected and rude interruption, the magicat’s ears twisting back towards the sound, Adora peeks around Catra who’s still on top of her, the blonde’s eyes widening at the surprising presence in her bedroom no less as she manages to squeak out a sheepish, “Hey Glimmer…” she looks to Catra, “Uh, Catra. This is Glimmer. My… my other best friend.” Adora eyes Glimmer, “Glim… this is Catra. My… my uh… neighbour…?”

“Neighbour?” Catra repats a little stunned, “I thought…”

Adora watches as Catra gets off of her and then subsequently off the bed, “Hey. What…?”

“I’m going home.” Catra declares a little gruffly as she grabs her keys from the bedside table, “See you around, neighbour.” she says as she heads out, but not before she pauses next to Glimmer, “Sparkles. Nice to meet you. I’m sure your dude is waiting outside too, isn’t he? Don’t answer that, I already know he is by the nonchalant whistling out there.”

“Cat! Wait!” Adora gets out of bed, ignoring the fact she’s still not exactly dressed, chasing after the magicat to her door, managing to slam it shut when the Catra starts to pull it open, “Stop! Please!”

“I’m going home Adora.” Catra repeats, “It’s obvious that I’ve read everything wrong if I’ve been downgraded down to… neighbour.”

“I didn’t…” Adora’s eyes widen in shock at her mistake, “No, wait. I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Then what did you mean?” Catra says crestfallen, looking away from Adora.

Exasperatedly, Adora sighs and leans her forehead against Catra’s, “Your more than just my neighbour. You’re… you’re… you’re so much more than that.”

“Sure.” Catra breathes out with a shake of her head, “So much more that what?”

Adora takes in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, “I want to be more.”

“Uh huh.” Catra scoffs, “I don’t think I can keep taking all these… mixed signals. And I’ve already been headfucked more times than I can count. I just didn’t think you’d do the same thing.”

“I’m…” Adora starts and then frowns down at herself, groaning out frustratedly at herself as she grabs Catra by the shoulders, “No more mixed signals.”

“What is that supposed to… mmphf!” Catra’s words are cut off by Adora’s lips pressed hurriedly into hers, the blonde’s eyes shut tight as holds her position, her lips not moving just… there. Catra’s eyes stares at the blonde, the look on Adora’s face, even with her eyes closed portray hope as the magicat rolls her eyes and finally kisses the blonde back, reveling in the soft gasp from Adora as she holds back a smile before pulling back, “You’re such an idiot.”

“I am.” Adora nods, her forehead still against Catra’s, “Stay? Please?”

Catra moves her arms around Adora waist, bringing the blonde closer to her as Adora rests her head in the crook of Catra’s neck and sighs, “Only if you kiss me again without your friends staring at us.”

Adora giggles out at that, nodding her head as she breathes out, “Come back to my bedroom?”

“Can I carry you?” Catra suggests with a tease.

The blonde rolls her eyes, but nods again, yelping out when the magicat lifts her up into a bridal carry, she shivers a little at the feeling of Catra’s hands on her bare skin, Adora pats Catra on the shoulder for the magicat to stop for a moment, “Hang on.”

Catra stops next to Glimmer and Bow, Adora still in her arms.

“Can we meet you guys later at brunch?” Adora asks, wrapping her arms securely around Catra’s neck.

“Uh, sure buddy…” Bow replies looking away from the amount of skin on display from the blonde, “We’ll… uh, let ourselves out.”

“You owe us an explanation at brunch.” Glimmer firmly says to her friend, “And, yes, it was nice to meet you, Catra.”

“We?” Catra turns to Adora.

“Yes, we.” Adora confirms, ignoring her friends momentarily, grinning out her response, “You’re coming to brunch with me and my friends.”

“Yeah, Catra.” Glimmer taunts, “Love Adora. Love us. Get used to it.”

“Awe! Love! I love Love!” Bow coos out as he grabs Glimmer’s hand, “See you guys later!”

Once the door shuts, Catra stares at the blonde in her arms, “Love?”

“Ignore them.” Adora blushes, “They… they’re just…” the blonde laughs awkwardly, “It’s not… uh… far from the truth… I guess…?”

Catra’s eyes widen at that thought, “It… it isn’t?”

Adora shakes her head, the blush going down her face and her neck to her collarbones, “You’re my spark.”

“And you’re my light.” Catra says almost automatically and then readjusts Adora in her arms and declares, “I’m still going to take you back to bed.”

“Onwards!” Adora points and then laughs as Catra speeds up to Adora’s bedroom, dropping the blonde down unceremoniously on the bed, “Hey! Not cool, Cat!”

The magicat pounces on top of the blonde and grins, “So… where were we before we were rudely interrupted?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Adora gasps when Catra pins her arms over the top of her head, “What are you…? Catra… don’t… you… Ah!”

Catra tickles the blonde once more, one hand pinning the blonde’s hands down while the other one attacks Adora’s sides and stomach, “So… are you still… just my neighbour? Princess?”

“Oh my stars! Catra!” Adora gets out between breaths and laughter, “No! I’m… I’m… yours!”

Catra stops her tickling, the last word has her shocked, “You’re… mine?”

Catching her breath, Adora nods, a smile on her face, “Well… only if you’ll have me.”

“I’d love to… have you, princess.” Catra smiles down as she presses her lips onto Adora’s.

“So… what’s stopping you?” The blonde challenges, quirking an eyebrow up at the magicat.

“I need you to be sure, Adora.” Catra releases her hold on Adora, “I need to know that my spark is for your light.”

“It is.” Adora cups Catra’s face and then sighs, “And I’m going to prove it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” Adora declares before she groans out, “Just… can we keep kissing?”

Catra grins, “Of course, we can.”

The blonde pulls Catra back down in for another kiss before sighing out, “Come with me to brunch.”

Catra rolls her eyes, “I already said I would.”

Adora smiles wider and brighter, bringing Catra in for more kisses until it’s time for them to get ready to go to brunch.

“My friends approve by the way.” Adora nudges Catra’s shoulder as they stand side by side in the lift after coming back from brunch with Bow and Glimmer, “They really like you.”

Catra hums out a response, taking Adora’s hand in hers.

“So… what are you doing tonight?” Adora asks squeezing the magicat’s hand, turning to look at Catra for a response.

“Having dinner with you, hopefully.” Catra replies as the door opens to their floor.

A soft smile appears on Adora’s face as the magicat leads them out and towards the blonde’s door, “Do you want to come in?”

Catra shakes her head, “I think a little time apart will do us good before dinner tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” Adora quirks an eyebrow up at the magicat, “But… what if I don’t want to be apart from you?”

Catra steps forward, forcing Adora to move backwards until she’s up against her door, a smirk firmly on her face as she presses her lips on the blonde’s for a less than PG rated kiss. Adora moans out softly as she feels the magicat’s hands run up and down her sides.

Pulling back from the kiss, Catra’s smirk back on her lips as she sees the effect she has on Adora as the blonde remains dazed with her eyes closed from the kiss. The magicat leans in, nipping at Adora’s ear lightly, “Patience makes the heart grow fonder, princess…”

“But I’ve waited so long already, Catra…” Adora pouts, her eyes still shut, “I’ve waited my whole life for my spark…”

Catra chuckles, kissing the pout off Adora’s lips, turning it into a smile as the magicat presses a few extra kisses along the blonde’s cheeks and neck, growling as she pulls away, “I’ll come pick you up at 6pm.”

“Uh… do I need to wear anything…?” Adora starts to asks feeling a little dazed still as Catra chuckles.

“It’d be nice if you could wear something…” Catra looks Adora up and down seductively before finishing her sentence, “…comfortable.”

And with that, Catra leans back in for one more kiss before backing up to her own door, the blonde huffing out dissatisfied, “Don’t be late.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, princess.” Catra purrs back, “I’ll see you at 6.”

Knock Knock

“Coming!” Adora calls out as she hastily makes her way to the door, still struggling to put her left sock on as she finally makes it to the handle, “Who is it?”

“Catra.”

“Oh, hang on.” Adora unlocks the door and swings it open, a smile on her lips as she greets the magicat, “Hey, Catra.”

“Hey, Adora.” Catra replies, crossing her arms and leaning against the door whilst checking Adora’s outfit out, “You look… wow.”

Adora rolls her eyes, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“I know.” Catra replies with a chuckle, smoothing down her maroon suit and then running a hand through her hair, “I love the dress, princess. Didn’t think you were a ‘dress’ kind of woman.”

“Sometimes I am.” Adora bites her bottom lip at the way Catra is openly ogling her and then clears her throat, “Dinner?”

“Definitely.” Catra agrees and holds her hand out, “You coming?”

“Yes.” Adora takes the magicat’s hand with a soft smile before remembering, “Oh, let me put on my shoes.”

“You’re not seriously wearing sneakers with a dress like that, are you?” Catra jests, “Don’t you have like… heels? Or… I dunno… sandals?”

“I have boots…? Will that work?” Adora throws out and then looks around trying to find said footwear, “I don’t own heels, the ones I’ve borrowed really hurt my feet. Never really liked them.”

“Neither.” Catra nods, “But then again, I don’t generally wear shoes unless I need to.”

Adora looks down and realizes tat Catra is indeed, not wearing shoes, the magicat wiggling her toes teasingly, “Oh, hey! Why does it matter if I wear sneakers or not?”

“It doesn’t.” Catra grins, “Thought it’d show off your legs better with heels or something.”

“Nope. Sneakers it is.” Adora declares defiantly, putting the sneakers on her feet, “Guess you’ll have to deal with my fashion choices if you really love me.”

“Love?” Catra’s eyebrows raise to the roof.

Adora eyes widen at the slip up, “Uh, I mean… like…?” the blonde starts to feel herself heat up as she tries to backtrack before realizing that she really doesn’t want to, “You know what… no, not like. Love. You’re going to deal with my fashion choices if you love me.”

Catra grins, a slight chuckle leaving her lips, “Yes. I guess I will.” The magicat holds her hand out once more, “Now, come on. Shake a leg so we can get dinner.”

“Okay.” Adora grins back, she’s not going to ask if that means Catra loves her or not, not just yet anyways, but maybe later if things go well at dinner, “Where are you taking me?”

Catra just smiles back as they head to the lifts.

“Uh… okay…” Adora says as she takes in the place Catra has brought her for dinner, “Isn’t this… like… an all night diner?”

“Sure is.” Catra replies tugging Adora forwards, “Best pancakes and waffles in town.”

“So… you’re taking me for breakfast for dinner?” Adora asks once they’re inside, standing by the sign that says; Please wait to be seated.

“Nothing better than brenner.” Catra shrugs as a waitress leads them to a booth, handing the pair a menu each and then heading off to grab some water for them while they peruse the menu.

“Do you come here often?” Adora asks looking over the top of the menu and noticing the magicat not even opening hers, “What are you going to get?”

“Waffles.” Catra replies, “With a double side of bacon and maybe an egg, sunny side up. Oh, and ice cream on top.”

“Ice cream with bacon and eggs?” Adora quirks an eyebrow up at the magicat.

Catra nods and importantly adds, “With waffles.”

“Huh.” Adora nods, putting her own menu down, “Make that two then.”

“You look really… wow.” Catra compliments her blonde date as they sit back with their milkshakes once their plates have been cleared, “Like… really wow.”

Adora rolls her eyes at the magicat as she sips her drink, “Do you always dress up to come to this diner?”

“I have on occasion come her in casual wear.” Catra replies, “But in answer to your question, yes. I’m usually here after work finishes if I haven’t had dinner or lunch or breakfast…”

“That… that kind of makes sense, but also… why are you missing so many meals?” Adora nods in understanding at first before her question, “Do you have to wear a suit for work?”

“No.” Catra replies with a grin, “It’s kind of like a thing for me, you know?”

Adora shakes her head, “Not really…”

“Okay.” Catra leans forward, getting closer to the blonde sitting across from her, “When I was growing up, I wore second hand clothes or hand me downs all my life. And it was never the good hand me downs either. Usually stuff that was stained, had rips or holes in them and generally made me smell pretty bad.”

“Okay…” Adora nods, gesturing Catra to continue.

The magicat sits back, “So, call it vain or whatever… but when I had enough money, I went out and bought a suit. And instantly, I felt better. Like… I wasn’t going to get looked down on because my clothes were torn or dirty.”

“I’m happy it makes you feel better about yourself, Cat.” Adora says genuinely, “And you look really handsome in any suit.”

“Thanks.” Catra blushes a little at the compliment and then continues, “Also, it helps dressing up better when doing job interviews. My first job was as a doorperson. Literally opening doors for the residents of an uptown apartment.”

The magicat chuckles at the memory while Adora props her head on her hand as she leans on it over the table, “My first job was at a supermarket. Stock filler.”

“Someone’s got to do it.” Catra shrugs with a smile.

“How’d you get from doorperson to… where you are now?” Adora asks curiously, “What is your job anyways?”

“I’m just a runner.” Catra replies, adding to Adora’s confusion, “I get called in to help out as an extra pair of hands.”

“You make it sound like you’re a grunt, which you clearly aren’t.” Adora points out.

“Well, I can be a grunt when they need me to.” Catra replies nonchalantly, “I’ve been working at that venue for nearly a decade now and know the place inside and out. Scorp and Traps have offered to hire me full time, but, I don’t really want to have that much structure to my life.”

“So… you’re… casual?” Adora concludes unsurely.

“I’m there whenever they need me.” Catra replies with another shrug and then grins mischievously, “So… weird ‘shifts’ will be something you’ll have to get used to… and deal with… if you love me.”

Adora narrows her eyes at the magicat, throwing her own words back at her, “Or… maybe I can talk to your friends and make sure they don’t take advantage of your so called… good nature to be on call whenever required.”

Catra laughs, “You make it sound like they do it all the time.”

“Don’t they though?” Adora asks with a raised eyebrow, “I mean, you got a call the other day and literally agreed to go in within a few hours.”

The magicat nods, “That’s… true.”

“Not to mention doing that really long shift the first night I met you.” Adora adds.

“I volunteered to do it.” Catra shrugs out the answer, “But they also closed up, so it wasn’t a super-dooper long shift.”

The joke falls flat as Adora stares at the magicat with concern on her face, “I care about you, Catra.”

Catra nods waiting to see where this is going.

“I care about your well being.” Adora breathes out, “And… I know we aren’t… well, we kind of are dating… uh like… right now and all…”

“Uh huh.”

“Well as your… future… uh…” Adora waves her hand around trying to find the word she’s looking for.

“Wife? Mate? Light of my life?” Catra provides with a teasing grin, “Girlfriend?”

Adora nods, a blush on her cheeks at hearing all the synonyms thrown out by the magicat, “All of the above.”

“Okay.” Catra sits back with the same grin, “As my future… everything…?”

The blush on Adora’s face deepens more as she takes a moment to sip her drink and regroup and then goes for a different tact, “As my future long term… spark, I think I have a duty to make sure that you are looked after.”

“In what ways exactly, princess?” Catra smirks, “Are we talking… physically as well?”

“Stars… of course you’d go there.” Adora scolds lightly, kicking at Catra’s shin with her sneaker.

“Or are we talking mentally?” Catra asks instead, rubbing her shin.

“Yes. Your mental well being is important to me too.” Adora declares, “As well as the physical stuff too… later on that is. Actually, your physical well being is also very important to me. What were you saying to Huntara about unloading an entire truck alone?”

Catra feigns ignorance, “I don’t know what you’re talking about… and it wasn’t a whole truck.”

“Catra.” Adora sternly says and the magicat throws her head back exasperatedly, “You have to look after yourself too. And if that means I have to put my foot down… well, so be it.”

“You’d do that for me?” Catra asks as she flops her head back and see Adora nod her head sincerely, “Why?”

“Because… maybe I want to be selfish with you.” Adora admits, “Even if you don’t work ‘normal’ hours, you shouldn’t be burning yourself out at both ends of the candle. Physically or mentally.”

“Well… you could burn me out.” Catra jests, the blonde rolling her eyes once more with a smile, “But, okay. I’ll… I’ll reel it back a little. Okay?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Catra agrees, “Guess I’m going to have to start saying no, more often.”

“You could just have a chat to them. Set some time aside for yourself.” Adora suggests.

Catra gets up from her seat, much to the surprise of Adora and pulls out the chair next to her and sits down, pressing a kiss onto the blonde’s cheek, “I knew you were trouble, princess.” The ensuing laugh has the blonde relaxing next to the magicat as Catra wraps an arm around Adora, “I’m glad I met you, Adora.”

“I’m glad I met you too.” Adora smiles back.

“I’m going to have a chat to Scorp and Traps Monday.” Catra says pulling out her phone and tapping it a few times before pocketing it once more, “They’ll just have to deal with me not being there all the time.”

And just before Adora can say anything, Catra’s phone rings.

The blonde looks at the magicat when the ringing continues in her pocket, “Well? Are you going to answer that?”

“Nah, I’m on a date with a very beautiful woman right now.” Catra reaches into her pocket and silences the device, “That can wait until…” Catra’s phone rings again, the magicat sighing, pulling her phone from her pocket and seeing Scorpia’s name pop up on the ID, “It’s Scorp.”

“Answer it.” Adora says, “It might be important.”

The magicat groans as she answers the phone, “Scorp. I’m on a date, you know…”

The resulting squeal in the background has Catra covering the speaker part of the phone, until she hears Scorpia say, “Oh, I bet she’s on a date with Adora!”

Adora giggles as Catra puts the phone on speaker, looking around the fairly empty diner to make sure no one cares, “You’re on speaker.” The magicat tells her friend just in case she plans on saying anything embarrassing, “Why are you calling me on my date?”

“Oh! I’ve got Perfuma here with me too!” Scorpia beams.

“Hi Catra!” Perfuma greets with almost the same energy as Scorpia, “How’s the date going?”

“It’s fine.” Catra replies.

“Better than fine.” Adora corrects and Catra just stares at the blonde a little stunned.

The magicat clears her throat, “Again, why are you calling me?”

“You texted me first, Wildcat.” Scorpia points out, “And you know how hard it is for me to text.”

“Yes. Yes, I do know.” Catra agrees.

“Anyways.” Scorpia gets back on track, “We’re happy that you’re going to take care of yourself more. I always feel so bad calling you for some of those shifts.”

“It’s fine, big gal.” Catra brushes her friend’s concerns off, “It’s not like I was busy…”

“No. We need to use the staff we already have on hand.” Scorpia declares and then adds a little gruffly, “Even Huntara from time to time…”

“Oh, sweetie!” Perfuma says with such affection, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Scorpia breathes out, “I don’t know what it is about her that just…”

“We don’t need to call her if you aren’t comfortable with her.” Perfuma offers, “We can always hire more staff.”

“Or use Emily.” Catra provides happily knowing the resulting twitch she can definitely sense happening with Perfuma’s right eye, “Traps would love to… test her.”

“No. Absolutely not.” Perfuma shuts down that idea.

The magicat laughs out, “Okay, no Emily then.”

“I’m okay with Huntara.” Scopria declares, “Just as long as she doesn’t do that… weird flexing thing she always does when you’re around.”

“She doesn’t…” Perfuma starts.

Only for both Catra and Scorpia to simultaneously say, “She does.”

“Okay. Fine.” Perfuma gives in, “I’ll have a word to her about it.”

“Thank you.” Scorpia says and there the sound of a kiss, “Okay, Wildcat. That’s all. Enjoy your date! It was nice to talk to you too, Adora!”

“You too!” Adora replies with a smile.

“See ya, losers.” Catra says in lieu of a goodbye, “I’ll be in at 4pm on Monday.”

“Bye Catra!” Perfuma laughs, “We’ll see you Monday to chat more about shifts and so forth… not that you really need to do any shifts… just let us know when you want to work!”

“Sure.” Catra laughs as well, “Monday it is.”

“Bye!”

Catra turns back to Adora, “So…” a smirk comes across the magicat’s face, “Wanna go back to my place and see how… casual I can get?”

“Yes.” Adora replies happily, even pulling Catra up and to the register to pay.