It was almost time for her date with Adora, yet Catra was still standing in front of the mirror fiddling with her hair. Ponytail or no, pigtails, there was no time for braids and they probably would not look good on her.
Adora always preferred having her hair in a ponytail much to Catra’s protests. It was almost over nine years and yet Adora still wore her hair the exact same.
Maybe it was time for Catra’s ponytail era. De-throne Adora as “the one always with a ponytail” and finally force her to try something new. Because honestly, anything that wasn’t a ponytail looked stunning on Adora.
Eventually, Catra decided against the ponytail takeover plan. Quite simply, she just had a feeling that Adora would use it as an excuse to continue wearing hers so they could “match”.
Though, the idea of matching her look with Adora’s did not seem that terrible, on paper, to Catra…
“Alright,” she sighed, patting down her jeans and taking a look at her reflection, surrounded by various stickers of rock and metal band logos stuck to the borders of the mirror’s frame.
Hair down. Tiny bit of eyeliner. That black shirt with a gray skull print Adora really liked for some reason. Lucky bracelet and necklace combo and of course, jeans with actual pockets Catra and Adora painstakingly sewn on to them.
Catra hated having no pockets, and she was not really up for swinging around a bag everywhere either. Unlike certain sparkly someone.
Her phone lit up, showing a text from Adora over the lock screen featuring both of them – Catra flashing an impish smile with Adora right next to her, blurred and with a shocked expression. Unfortunately, the botched makeup attempt was not visible thanks to Adora’s movement, which is what Catra originally wanted to capture. Either way, she walked away with a silly picture of Adora in the end.
It was time to go now. One last look before Catra bolted out of her room and down the stairs.
“...I think she’s just taking her time. You know, she wants to look perfect for her girlfri- Oh, OH! There she is!”
Scorpia pointed her pincer right at Catra who just descended all the stairs and made her way into the hallway. Adora was right next to her.
White top with her signature “lucky” red jacket over it. Black pants and most importantly, her blonde hair falling neatly down on her shoulders.
No ponytail! Catra made a fist shake mentally.
“Hey, Catra,” Adora raised her hand into a wave. The door was open behind her, letting in the orange light of the streetlamp to sneak into the dim hallway, framing Catra’s girlfriend in a cozy light at the same time.
“Hey,” Catra approached Adora, trying to remain cool in the presence of Adora’s radiating beauty, “that’s my catchphrase.”
“Well, it could be your catchphrase,” Scorpia chimed in. “As in, the both of you. Since you are dating now and all.”
“Yeah Catra, it’s our catchphrase,” Adora said with a smug smile as she wrapped her arm over Catra’s shoulders.
“Didn’t know you were ready to start building communism again,” Catra quipped.
Adora only chuckled. Her touch grew more firm, Adora snuck a quick look over Catra – up and down – before pulling her into a hug.
“Heya,” she whispered into Catra’s ear, causing it to jerk up lightly.
“Hey, Adora. Looking good.”
She wrapped her arms around Adora’s waist and Adora returned the gesture.
“You as well. I see you got the shirt.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Catra felt herself blushing a bit, her eyes darted to the side as they pulled apart. “Why do you even like it so much?”
“I don’t know,” Adora shrugged. “It just has good vibes, is all. Anyway, thanks for opening the door Scorpia. Me and Catra are off.”
“Yup, have fun you two,” Scorpia nodded, “I’ll be watching the house for ya. And Entrapta of course. Just in case she comes back tonight. See ya!”
With that, Scorpia disappeared into the living room, leaving both women alone in the hallway.
Catra made her way through the door, making sure to have her tail brush against Adora’s hand as she walked past her.
“We going?”
“Uh,” Adora snapped into focus. “Y-Yeah! Let’s go!”
As they walked towards Adora’s car, Catra poked the blonde with her elbow, “you really like when I do that, huh?”
Adora turned at Catra, cheeks lightly pink, before looking away quickly.
“Well yeah. It’s super cute…” Her voice got lower with every word and Catra was enjoying how flustered Adora got over what was just really a simple gesture. A gesture of affection, but still.
“C’mon,” Catra purred, wrapping herself around Adora’s arm. “We’ve been together for almost two weeks now and I did it plenty of times.”
“That doesn’t make it any less special,” Adora replied, slowing down while she reached down for Catra’s arm to pull her closer. “And it doesn’t make you any less adorable.”
“I’m not, really.”
“You can’t get much cuter teasing me while you snuggle with me. Just let me compliment you!”
Both of them laughed as Adora attempted to rub Catra’s head, but she was quick to unwrap herself and run ahead.
They raced the last few meters to the car before they started circling around it – Adora still bent on getting her hands on Catra.
“Just don’t scratch at the car,” Adora said as she saw one of Catra’s claws hit the car’s hood at a dangerous angle while Catra placed her hands over it.
“Try and catch me then, princess,” Catra said, clearly savoring the word “princess” as it left her lips.
Adora was not about to back down now. “Oh, now you’ve done it.” Not at any cost.
She tried to circle over the front to catch Catra, but she quickly retreated into the back in response to Adora’s movement. Adora was quicker, however, looping towards the back quicker than Catra expected.
The cat released a scared yelp as Adora suddenly appeared before her, like a herbivore about to be caught.
Catra made a desperate attempt to run to the front again, but Adora already had one arm around her shoulders and with the other Adora, scooped up Catra’s legs.
Catra became silent, except for a low rumble of her pur. Hands pulled before her chest, gently curled fists pointing towards her legs as she stared at Adora’s very smug and very proud face.
“Who’s the princess now, huh?” She teased.
“That’s not fair,” Catra fired back, but her words amounted only to a small, flustered whisper thanks to her surprise and the look in Adora’s eyes.
“Oh, it is. Now get in the car.”
Released from the princess carry, Catra wordlessly walked over to the car, opening the door and taking a seat. Adora followed, taking a seat behind the wheel and glancing at Catra.
“So what’s the plan?” Adora asked, still awfully giddy.
Catra looked out from the window. Early in the evening, there were no clouds in the dark sky as far as she could tell. The city lights filled the street around them. It felt warm. Everything painted in that light orange hue. The same light covered the car’s interior and in the dim light, Adora sat right next to Catra. With her lovely eyes and a happy smile, awaiting Catra’s response.
She drank that feeling. Comfort, happiness, love or whatever. Catra was not really interested in slapping a label on it, all that was important to her that she wouldn’t stop feeling like that for as long as possible.
“Surprise me, princess.”
Adora giggled, fastening her seatbelt and turning the keys. The car’s engine rumbled, the dashboard lit up and Adora locked eyes on the road before them.
“Let’s see where we end up then.”