Chapter Text
Catra couldn’t sleep tonight, not after the yelling she was dished out from Shadow Weaver. It’s always over something stupid, she obviously didn’t mean to push Kyle into active heavy machinery equipment. She flipped over quietly to see Adora still resting in front of her, brought to comfort while watching her breathing. She just felt her eyes close again before she heard a quiet conversation from outside.
“Who the hell?” Catra started to mumble, getting up as silently as possible to not wake Adora as she creeped out into the hall…
Two older cadet girls?…
She couldn’t resist following from a distance as they made their way rather quickly to their locker rooms. Catra gulped, she knew she would get in more trouble than the girls if she was found in here, but she followed anyway.
“You know we can’t be followed in here… Especially if you are going to be a Force Captain tomorrow.”
Oh shit.
Catra’s train of thought gets broken when the second girl grabs her wrist, hard.
“I’m not leaving you, Dee.”
Catra’s heart aches at her tone, and getting a perfect view of both of their faces is not helping that sinking feeling in her stomach.
“Stephanie.”
“Don’t you dare call me by my name like that, like you aren’t the person I cherish most in the world. I love you Dina.”
Tears are now flowing silently from the girl named Stephanie, and the other girl’s don’t look too far behind.
Catra is so lost in thought that she almost doesn’t hear the sniffle behind her. But she does, and it takes all her strength not to jump 6 feet in the air before she whirls around. Adora’s reddening eyes meet her as soft teardrops dot her face, barely acknowledging Catra other than holding on to her arm tightly now.
“Hey- shh shh its okay Adora.” Catra whispers, not finding it odd that she would follow as she smooths Adora’s hair back. She turns back to look at the girls again as one of them speaks up.
“We can leave together- I don’t want to lead a team if you aren’t in it with me.”
I get it now. Catra thinks to herself for a moment what it would be like if Adora ever got to that point with her. She shakes the thought out of her mind.
“No we can’t! We’d never-“ Dina begins, before Stephanie pulls her into a kiss.
Catra’s eyes widen. Sure, even though cadets aren’t allowed to be romantically involved, she sees kissing all the time in secret. But this one? Its raw and desperate, mutually demanding. The kind of kiss that only comes with deep love. But oddly enough, this one doesn’t seem to have been something either of them are used to. Catra’s cheeks flush, the intensity of the moment pulling her eyes away. She turns to Adora and sees her eyes locked on the pair, her cheeks flushed as well.
“Adora!!” Catra whispers hastily, a little taken aback at her blatant curiosity.
“Catraa! Come on, aren’t you curious about what the older cadet couples are like?” Adora says with a grin, and it sends Catra speechless enough to turn her gaze back to the couple instead of Adora. Catra leans on the wall next to her as she cranes her head out slightly to watch the girls. The red haired girl, Stephanie, sits the other girl down on one of the benches as she kisses her. One of her hands grips her waist tight and the other on her face, clinging on to her like she worries Dina will slip away. Catra swears that she can hear them occasionally whisper, but shes pretty sure it’s just murmur’s of each other’s names. Stephanie moves down Dina’s throat to kiss her neck, and Catra hears Adora silently gasp as she watches. Catra can’t decide whether to keep watching or look away, but all she does know is that having Adora there with her was making it a lot more intense. She was starting to imagine if she was the one doing that to Adora… She shakes that thought away fast, just as she sees the girl finally get to her knees in front of the other, dipping her head down to-
“Oh!- Nope- Adora!” She hisses, covering Adora’s eyes as she turns both of them back around to walk back to their barracks.
“Catra! What are you- let me go!!” Adora complains a little less quietly, only getting a hurried shush from Catra as they make their way back to the quietness of the empty hallways.
Catra has her arms wrapped up against herself, her face reddened and her tail flicking as she can’t get the idea out of her mind that the girls were doing… much more than kissing at that same moment.
“Woah! Hahaha uhm… Catra have you- have you seen that before?!” Adora asks with a nervously curious giggle, still a little flustered herself.
“…More or less.” Catra mentions, shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to be as nondescript about it as she could manage. She had seen it go further than just that once or twice, but Adora’s blatant curiosity in the moment made it so much more embarrassing to talk about it out loud.
Truthfully, she can’t see any girl couples together without thinking of her and Adora at least a little. She never sticks around as long as she did this time, just because she knows she won’t be able to stop thinking about it the more she sees it.
“Helloo! Earth to Catra?” She blinks back out of her head, turning to Adora quickly. “God, Catra, you are so out of it! All I asked was if you wanted to try it!”
“Sorry I-“ She begins before realizing what Adora said, “You WHAT?”
She doesn’t even listen to Adora as she explains, her mind a whirl of feelings and thoughts about what Adora means.
“I… if you want to sure- I uh-“ Catra mumbles almost incoherently, barely even realizing herself what shes agreeing to before Adora is grabbing her hand and bringing her away quickly from the barracks. It takes her a moment to refocus and realize that there were footsteps behind them. They run up into a dead end, Adora adjusting quickly by opening the door to an armor room and shutting it as quickly and quietly as she could.
Catra doesn’t have to spend the effort catching her breath as much, but Adora lingers with her back against the door, her breath coming in short bursts that slowly fade back into their normal flow. Catra allows herself to stare a little longer than usual, admiring the effort and quick wit she has always managed to have over the other cadets. She reflects on that thought.
I’m not leaving you, Dee.
“…You really could become a Force Captain any day now, huh?”
Adora raises her head fully to look at her, pausing for a moment before realizing her implication. She pushes herself off the wall and toward Catra quickly. “Catra, no, that won’t happen to us. We both know you are just as skilled as me, if not better.”
Catra bites the inside of her cheek, not completely believing her as she plays through that situation in her head. Adora is quick to pull her out of it, reaching up to pet her ear softly. Catra relaxes in her comforting touch, a soft purr emitting from her after a moment as she looks at Adora.
“Whatever you say, Adora.”
She notices a shift now, however, in their usual manner. Coming from a girl she has spent her entire life with, she knows practically everything on Adora’s mind.
“Do you… want to try it?”
Adora’s face flushes, Catra starts to realize just how much she loves it.
“Yeah…”
Catra hesitantly brings her hand through the back of Adora’s hair, resting it on the nape of her neck as she leans in tentatively. Catra kisses her softly, not like how the couple did, like how she wants to kiss Adora. How shes been wanting too.
She pulls back after a moment, her nervousness overcoming her brain’s desire for more. However, she realizes that is a grave mistake as her gaze meets Adora’s adorably sweet widened eyes and tomato-red face. After a slight pause, Catra asks “So?”
“That was… better than theirs. Can we… do it aga-?“
Adora can’t finish her sentence before Catra’s lips find hers again, her other hand pulling her in by her waist.
Adora lets out a little muffled squeak, and Catra pulls back again. “Sorry- do you want to stop?” She asks hastily, searching her eyes for any hint of hesitancy.
“No! I-I mean, not at all. I just wasn’t expecting it- Please keep doing that-“
After a short bit of silence prompted from her eagerness, Catra bursts into a soft fit of giggles, Adora following soon after.
“God, Adora! You’re really finding it hard to speak right now huh? I’ve never seen you this shy before.”
Adora huffs and rolls her eyes. “Shut up Catra! It’s different when you do it okay?”
Their laughter dies down again and the curiosity flares up even deeper now. Adora initiates the kiss this time, curiously pressing her tongue against Catra’s parted lips. Catra’s mind goes fuzzy as Adora’s tongue moves against hers, both of them feeling the intensity of the kiss get much stronger now. Adora’s hands start to wander absentmindedly now, reaching up to massage her ears and play with her hair. Catra’s ear twitches and she lets out a whine into the kiss. She shivers as she recovers from the unexpected sensation, her mind more hellbent on keeping the kiss going than anything.
It feels like too long and not long enough when they finally break the kiss, both of them panting softly for air. Adora wipes the corner of her mouth with an unsteady hand. “I feel all… uhm… hot… now.” She mumbles, shifting her shoulders as if she could shake the warmth out of her.
“Y-yeah… Me too…” Catra responds, pulling her hair to the side to air out her neck.
…
The walk back to the barracks is… quiet… but comfortable. There is a newfound air of excitement and understanding between each other, another secret for them and them only. They are all smiles to themselves as they creak open the door again. At least, until they get into bed knowing sleep will not come easy.
Adora spends the night wondering just how many things she can learn about Catra. Catra spends the night wondering how much she can teach Adora with what she knows…