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Adora slams her locker door, the green metal catching on the latch. She groans, shoving it again until it finally closes. “High school is the worst! I can’t wait until we go to college next year.” She shakes her head, one of her hands coming up to her temples. She’s probably going to have to complain to the administration about that if she wants a locker that actually works.
Add it to the list of a million things she has to do. Everyone who keeps saying that high school is the ‘best years of her life’ is so full of shit. She’s so busy that she barely has time to handle classes and cheer—it also doesn’t help that villains are constantly plotting and apparently she’s the only one who can stop them.
Next to her, Bow bangs his head against the front of his own locker. “Tell me about it! It feels like I’m drowning in homework.” He groans, clutching papers almost in a fist. She eyes his hand in concern. Adora isn’t sure teachers will accept them crumpled like that, but it’s not any of her business.
Glimmer lets out a short scoff. “It’s all the crime fighting. If the two of you learned the meaning of work life balance, you’d probably be better off.” She shrugs her bag on her shoulder. “You don’t see me missing homework assignments and running on two hours of sleep.”
“You have that internship with the Banana Club, it’s not like you aren’t busy.” Adora points out, her arms across her chest.
“Yeah, but I have a passion for fashion.” Glimmer rebuffs. “It’s what I want to do in college and it’s gonna help me get in.”
Adora rolls her eyes, turning toward the direction of their next class. “Yeah, yeah. We get it.”
Just because she doesn’t want a career in crime fighting doesn’t mean she should stop. It’s a good hobby! It’s a great way to cross train for cheerleading too and there have been a few scouts at her games. Besides, what college is she going to go to if Dr. Hordak vaporizes their town with a ray gun or something?
As they turn the corner in the hallway, Adora sees Catra. She’s looking away, chatting with one of the rugby players—the only person she really seems to talk to in school. Adora holds back a snarl. “I can’t believe we have to go to school with her.”
At school, Catra keeps a low profile—at least socially. She always wears hoodies too big for herself, glasses and she doesn’t get into trouble. She has perfect grades and the teachers say she’s a joy in class. But Adora knows better. When Catra isn’t in school she’s out helping Dr. Hordak in his many schemes to take over the world. She wears skintight red body suits, shaking her dark brown hair out of its bun, she’s mouthy and sometimes she’s one step ahead of Adora. She can’t stand Catra.
“You know that everyone thinks that you’re somehow deciding to be the stereotypical cheer captain that hates nerds or that Catra messed with you somehow, right?” Glimmer adds.
“Well, she does mess with me! Just not at school.” She defends. Honestly, Catra seems a lot more competent than Dr. Hordak and he’s been trying to take over the world for ages now.
“The other option thrown around is that you have a crush on her.” Glimmer gives her plenty of side eye.
“I do not!” She denies hotly. “Catra is evil, Glimmer. How could I even think that?”
Bow looks almost sheepish as he glances over at her. “She’s kind of your type.”
Adora turns to him, shocked. “You too, Bow?”
He smiles apologetically as he takes Glimmer’s hand. “You know you like girls that are uh...rambunctious?”
Before she can decide how to engage with that, she hears the tale tell beep of her communicator. She sighs loudly, ignoring Bow’s comment. She watches Bow perk up as he huddles around when Adora answers it.
“So, what’s the sitch, Trapt?” Adora answers, looking at her friend on the screen.
Entrapta types so fast it looks like even her hair is flying across the keyboard. She barely looks up when she speaks. “It’s Dr. Hordak again. He’s going after something in the warehouses down by the city hall. I’m afraid I’m not sure what though. It looks fascinating.”
She gives Bow a long-suffering look. “Alright. We’ll sort it out.”
“You’ll get me samples?”
Adora hangs up and watches as Bow eyes her nervously. “Um, Adora?”
“Yeah?”
He fidgets, a nervous smile on his face. “Where is Catra?”
Adora looks around and realizes that the girl isn’t around anymore, the other girl she was talking to still in the same spot. She groans. “She clearly has a head start. Let’s move.”
“You have a limited number of absences!” Glimmer yells but Adora and Bow have already booked it, running out of the school.
She’s not sure if it’s better when a villain waits until the weekend to strike. On the one hand, it’s great to not have to be buried under a pile of makeup work for a change. On the other hand, she had plans. She was going to finish her college essay, practice her cheer routine, and then watch at least three hours of mindless television. That’s all down the toilet now.
No, instead she needs to find one of Horde Prime’s latest weapons that’s for auction. Entrapta narrowed the location down, but she and Bow were spotted so now it’s an all-out sprint to get to the damn thing before one of the other villains here does.
Adora can feel her sweat rolling down her back and it’s gross. Still, she keeps running, looking for her target so she can finish this and go home. Maybe cobble together some of her weekend plans.
Her eyes catch something glinting on a raised platform and she runs at it full tilt. She’s about to reach the weapon—a long pointed mechanical syringe attached to a gun—when she feels a boot smack into the middle of her back. Adora careens forward, falling headfirst into the concrete.
She groans shaking off the pain as she whips her head up, just in time to see that Catra of all people has taken off, weapon in hand.
“Catra!” She yells out, running after the brunette.
She grins as she gets her hands on the weapon Dr. Hordak wants, securing it to her hip and then sprinting out of the room. She flings herself off the side of the building, and her hovercraft appears out of nowhere, streaks of red in the air as she uses it to high tail out of the warehouse. “Better luck next time, princess!” She jeers, her evil laugh ringing out.
“Ugh!” Adora groans, throwing her helmet onto the ground in frustration. Bow is trailing behind her, looking defeated. “I can’t believe we let Catra get away with that thing—whatever that is.”
“Well, maybe Entrapta knows what it is now?” He offers hopefully. “We did pick up that flyer advertising the weapon. Which seems like a weird thing for Horde Prime to have done in retrospect.”
“I guess that’s our best bet at this point.” Adora sighs. Sure, maybe they’ll know what the thing does but now they have to get it out of Dr. Hordak’s hands. It’s one step forward, two steps back. And all because of Catra. “I can’t believe we have to see her at school tomorrow and pretend she isn’t a villain.” She grumbles. She can’t keep getting away with this.
“Well, it could be worse!” He grins. “You know she won’t try to kill us then.”
“Yeah. I still have homework to do.” She adds miserably, throwing her head back. She glances up at Bow hopefully. “Do you think Glimmer will let me copy her math sheet again?” There’s no way she’ll have energy for differential equations now.
Bow grimaces and picks up Adora’s helmet, putting it into her arms. “I think you might have to bribe her with something.”
“She always lets you copy her math sheet without a bribe!” Adora protests.
“Not true! I give her so many snacks.”
Adora rolls her eyes. “You give everyone snacks. You act like carrying around nachos and cheese is your full-time job.”
“You can never have too much cheese. And it’s snackage.”
As much as she loves Bow, that’s a dumb word. “Well, whatever.” She rolls her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
“Later!” He calls out.
Adora groans as she thinks of everything she has to do before tomorrow. She shakes her head. She probably doesn’t need that much sleep anyway.
It’s incredible how Glimmer can go off about something for minutes on end, seemingly not needing to even breathe. Adora privately wonders if this is why Glimmer won her debate competitions three years in a row—the only extracurricular she participates in that isn’t strictly focus on fashion design.
She’s fixing Adora with a glare now, one Adora is sure would make any of Glimmer’s debate opponents cower.
“Adora, you need a break—you are class president and cheer captain, and you’re applying to college this year.” Glimmer scolds, her hair flying over her shoulder. “Not to mention all the crime fighting.” She then glances at her boyfriend. “And Bow, you need an extracurricular that’ll actually help your college applications.”
“What? Saving the world isn’t enough?” He demands, tightening his grip on the straps of his backpack. He looks down at his shoes as he keeps walking.
“I don’t think that’s part of the holistic admission process, so no.” She deadpans.
“That’s just lame.” He grumps. “Besides, I have Kowl!” He pulls the tiny owl out of his pocket, his big eyes adjusting to the light and letting out a small hoot.
“I still can’t believe you haven’t gotten expelled for bringing Kowl to school.” Adora throws over her shoulder as she grabs a few textbooks out of her locker.
Bow lets the owl on his shirt, and it quickly perches itself onto his shoulder. “Who can say no to this face?” Bow makes little kissing noises at Kowl.
Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Remind me, who are you dating?”
Bow smiles brightly, wrapping his arm around Glimmer. “Only the coolest future fashion designer that has ever walked the halls of Middleton High.”
Glimmer looks pleased with herself. “True.” She glances between the pair warily. “I just want us to have a great time in the same college.”
“Of course.” He brightens before wrapping his arms around both Adora and Glimmer. “The best friend squad will absolutely be in college together!”
Adora and Glimmer share a look over his head. “Yeah, that’s still not what we’re called.”
Bow groans, hanging his head. “Oh, come on!”
Glimmer seems to take pity on him, bumping her shoulder into his. “You’re right. We’re all going to keep up our chances high by finishing out the school year right. Right?” She sends a glance over at both Adora and Bow, who nod in unison.
They just have to make it through senior year. It’ll be easy.
Adora thinks homecoming will be fun and she’ll finally be able to let loose for the night. She lets Glimmer pick out her dress and do her make up. She even lets her parents take pictures of her, although they are so embarrassing. She looks forward to eating snacks, hanging out with her friends, and maybe dancing.
So of course, after all that, homecoming can’t be normal for Adora. No, Catra has to go and ruin it like she always ruins everything else.
Adora can’t believe her eyes when she sees her. She swallows hard, taking in Catra’s jump suit, a slinky number with a deep vee. That’s, uh—wow. She’s never seen Catra in something like that before.
“You alright there, Adora?” Glimmer asks with a raised eyebrow when she notices Adora freeze up.
“What is she doing here?” Adora can’t help but ask, eyes still latched onto Catra walking toward the punch bowl.
Glimmer follows her gaze and smirks when she finally makes out what Adora is staring at. “Looks like she’s decided to wear something besides a hoodie to school. Good for her.” She says it as if that isn’t their arch nemesis walking around wearing—just … that. Adora shakes her head.
She’s about to reply when she notices Catra’s tail slashing quickly as she glances away, moving toward the back of the room where the exit is. Something about it doesn’t sit right with Adora.
“I’ll be right back.” She mutters as she makes a beeline to Catra.
Catra makes it out into the hallway before Adora manages to catch up to her. She doesn’t look surprised to see her. Instead, she smirks looking Adora up and down in a way that makes Adora hot with anger.
“Hey Adora.” She crosses her arms and Adora can’t help but notice the way her necklace swings in the vee of her jump suit.
“Uh—what are you doing?” She stammers. Not a very forceful start. She needs to take control of the situation.
“Why? Want to dance with me?” She teases.
Before Adora can comment regarding that, Catra catches her off guard, landing a kick on her gut.
She grunts, looking down at the dress. “This is dry cleaning only!” She complains before running after Catra.
She manages to grab Catra’s arm, forcing her to turn and face Adora. After that, it’s a flurry of punches and shoves as Catra tries to get past Adora. Adora is not sure why she wants to go that way—it’s only the IT room and a few empty classrooms—but she’s definitely not letting her get her way.
Catra swings her body weight easier than Adora and she curses her decision to wear a dress now. She kicks Adora again and the necklace winks at her.
“My eyes are up here, princess.” Catra says, her ears twitching in amusement.
“I wasn’t—! It’s the necklace!” She huffs. She tackles Catra into the wall, but the brunette is ready for it. She slips out of Adora’s grasp, ducking around her.
She runs after Catra, holding back a grimace while running with her heels. She’s dealt with worse, but not by much. Catra is fast, but Adora doesn’t fall far behind until they finally get to the balcony where there’s nowhere for her to hide.
“Why are you messing with homecoming?” Adora hisses as she lands another punch when Catra turns around, realizing she doesn’t have any other options. “Can’t you let anyone have anything nice for a change?”
Catra pins her to the ground, shoving Adora down. She pants to catch her breath, looking up at Catra who’s holding her down with her strong thighs. She doesn’t think anything of it until Catra leans down, pressed flush against her.
“I’m plenty nice, princess.” The words and Catra’s breath feathering over her ear leave Adora in a tailspin she’s never felt before, least of all with a villain like Catra.
By the time she manages to unscramble her brain Catra is laughing at her, shoving a pair of handcuffs on her. Adora tries not to think about where she might have been hiding those. By the time she manages to wrestle her way out of the restraints, Catra is long gone.
Bow and Glimmer show up on the balcony too late, clearly out of breath from running around looking for her. “Did Catra get the drop on you?” Bow asks worriedly as he helps Adora up.
Adora can feel a blush rising to her cheeks. “Something like that.” She mumbles, not meeting their eyes. She’s not sure what exactly happened to her tonight, but she definitely doesn’t like it.
She can feel a questioning glance pass between her friends, but she can’t bother with that now. They need to figure out what Catra is up to. She ignores the remaining butterflies in her gut and calls Entrapta.
It takes two days for them to figure it out—rather predictably, Hordak has a new plot that involves some piece of machinery Entrapta can’t identify. Yet, at least.
“If you get close enough, I can get a read on its energy signals!” Even through the screen, it’s clear Entrapta’s eyes gleam at the prospect. “I think it could be a portal, but I can’t be sure until then. You have to get me the data!”
Entrapta sounds a little too enthused with the idea of a portal, but Adora ignores that. “So, we need to go after Dr. Hordak and find out what he is doing with this machine.” Her brow furrows. “But how do we know where he is?”
“I have the location!”
“You could have mentioned that earlier.” Adora swears that Bow is holding back the urge to roll his eyes which she gets. There’s no time for delays in situations like this.
“I forgot.” She doesn’t even look bashful at the slip up. “I just sent you the coordinates.”
She hangs up without saying goodbye and the device pings with the new location. It isn’t too far from where they are and Bow and Adora share a look. It’s near one of the nuclear plants on the edge of town.
“Come on, let’s go.”
The warehouse fits the bill for what Dr. Hordak tends to go for—creepy, dusty, and largely empty. It makes it easy to see the weird machine that’s glowing bright green in the middle of the building. Bow goes to secure the perimeter and Adora is supposed to wait for him before approaching.
She stands at the edge of the room, hidden in the shadows. She just needs to get the device Entrapta gave her near the portal—that’ll help them figure out how to disable the thing, whatever it is. There’s no one there—no real reason to wait for Bow when she can just get a head start.
She’s cautious walking up to it but nothing happens as she gets closer. The handheld device Entrapta gave her to collect the signal starts beating wildly, a loading sign appearing on it as it loads whatever signals the bright green stuff is emitting. She thinks anyway, Adora sure as hell isn’t a scientist.
It’s almost too easy to walk close to the machine, which in hindsight should have tipped her off that something is wrong.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Adora’s head snaps up to the rafters at the familiar voice. Catra is leaning on the railing, grinning so wide her fangs peek out.
She groans at the sight of her classmate and part-time enemy. “Why are you even here, Catra?” It’s a school night and there’s nothing happening here anyway. At least, nothing but Adora trying to nab this stupid signal.
“Whoever says crime never pays clearly isn’t doing it well enough.” Catra boasts.
She vaults over a ledge, landing perfectly on her feet. Catra unsheathes her claws, now standing between Adora and the machine.
Adora tries to get the drop on her, running full tilt and throwing up a round house kick. It sets off a fight as explosive as every other one they’ve had together, neither of them truly dominating the other. Adora doesn’t realize until it’s too late that one of them is winning even if it’s not through the physicality of their fight—Catra slowly pulls them away from the main chamber, the device once beeping in her pocket now silent as it’s out of reach of the signal.
Adora’s anger leads her to throw more punches and kicks, frustration in her every heartbeat. She hates it when Catra bests her. Adora can’t stand how smug she looks and the recognition in her eyes when she sees it all fall into place for Adora.
They’re in an exterior hallway now, fighting in a near endless darkness with only a few overhead lights make it so Adora can make out Catra’s frame. She finally manages to slam Catra into a wall—somehow, she looks relaxed as ever gloating even though she’s well and truly caught.
Adora’s blood is pumping hard, her heartbeat in her ears. She feels almost helpless at the snarled mess of emotions in her chest—she hates that Catra makes her feel like this.
“You’re insufferable.” She spits out. But somehow the words and her actions are at a mismatch, because she leans forward and kisses Catra.
She kisses her with all the frustration she feels, the raw energy converting into sharp nips and wandering hands. She feels Catra deepen the kiss, grabbing Adora and pulling her close.
She isn’t sure she’s ever been kissed like this. Not even by the mean cheerleader who she had a fling with last year. Catra kisses like she’s trying to possess her, making Adora’s mind go foggy and her knees weak.
“Fuck.” She hears Catra pant below her. “I hate that you’re a good kisser.” She states plainly, the annoyance clear in her voice.
“Same.” Adora agrees before bringing her back and kisses her again. It’s another few minutes before they both stop, breathing heavy with their noses still close enough to touch. “We can never do this again.”
Catra scoffs. “Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t want to anyway. So, nothing to worry about princess.”
Adora rolls her eyes and they’re back to fighting again, as if the kiss never happened.
Once they get the information they need for Entrapta and Adora goes home, she doesn’t lay in her bed thinking about Catra’s kiss instead of doing her homework. She doesn’t.
Adora can’t keep her hands wrapped tight enough around Catra. It starts as her slamming Catra against the wall again—strategically, of course—but then Adora catches herself in Catra’s searing gaze and she leans forward, kissing Catra for all she’s worth.
She shivers when Catra’s claws graze her waist and her fangs trace over Adora’s bottom lip. At this point, she’s familiar with so much of Catra—at least of her body.
She knows that if she kisses Catra’s neck she’ll hold Adora tight and close, her tail smacking at her side. That if she holds her up against a wall like just now, Catra’s eyes will darken, making Adora’s gut swoop. That if she lets this carry on for long enough, she might earn a whimper from Catra.
She also knows this is exactly the opposite of what she should be doing.
She breaks off the kiss, flexing her toes in an effort to keep from being drawn back in. “We can’t just keep making out when we’re supposed to be fighting each other.” Adora points out reluctantly. Making out with Catra sounds infinitely more enjoyable than risking another concussion.
She raises her eyebrow before leaning in closer. “What, do you want to fight?” Catra asks, her lips creeping on Adora’s neck.
“No, I don’t. But I can’t let you start that portal.” Adora points her chin in the direction of what Entrapta confirmed to be Dr. Hordak’s portal. Adora isn’t quite sure how it works but he promises it will surely lead to the end of the world as we know it.
Catra sighs. “That’s really unfortunate.” She then elbows Adora’s gut, making her grunt and bend over.
“Give me a minute!” She coughs. By the time she’s upright Catra has a head start, her long hair bobbing around her as she runs. “Catra.” She curses, immediately chasing after her.
Finals are coming up and Adora should be studying. Instead, she’s distracted.
It’s awful how Catra looks so pretty in her oversized hoodie, absorbed in her books with her glasses perched low. She bites her lip as her eyes scan the page and Adora finds herself staring, no matter how much she tries to look down at her own page.
Why can’t she look away? She knows that Catra is no good and yet all she can think about are the butterflies she gets whenever she thinks about being in close quarters with her again.
She can’t remember the last time she fought Dr. Hordak that she didn’t find some obscure corner to kiss Catra in. They’ve never kissed here at school, though.
For a moment, Adora wonders what that might be like—if she could carry Catra’s books to her locker or hold her hand in the hallway. It’s a dumb thought. Just because she’s kissed Catra a number of times doesn’t mean she knows her—doesn’t mean they’d ever be on the same side. The thought makes her frown.
Adora startles when she hears a book slam onto her table. “What are you looking at?” Glimmer is staring down at her with a deeply suspicious look in her eyes.
She decides playing dumb is the only option. “Huh?”
Glimmer’s eyes narrow further. “You were zoned out.”
“Nothing! I just—I was thinking about my math exam.” It’s what she should be doing—she’s definitely going to fail if she doesn’t get her head in the game. “Do you think you could tutor me?”
Glimmer sighs and sits down next to her. “I can help you.” Her eyes darts over to Catra. “But you need to be ready to focus—I’m not wasting my time.” She gives Adora a heavy look, like she can see through her.
“I’m not distracted.” She denies quickly. “I promise I’ll pay attention.” She needs to pass so she can graduate and then worry about college.
“Okay.” Glimmer pulls out their math textbook and sits across from her, thumbing through the pages quickly. “Do you remember how the basic integrals work, or do I have to start from scratch?” She asks, her eyes never leaving the book as she pages through it.
“I remember some of it?”
Really, she stopped paying attention when they’d reached derivatives. They weren’t even supposed to teach this in pre-calculus! Glimmer lets out a snort like she doesn’t believe Adora.
Something slaps her shoulder. She turns to see Catra walking away from her, tail swaying behind her. She furrows her brow—she must have smacked Adora with her tail or her hand as she passed by, but it hardly felt like an accidental brush.
As Catra turns the corner, her eyes flash back, locking on Adora before she smirks and disappearing. Almost at that exact moment, Adora’s communicator vibrates on the table.
Glimmer sighs and closes her book as Adora picks up the call with a sigh. “What’s the sitch this time?”
“It’s Dr. Hordak—I’ll send you the coordinates and you might want to bring your spectrometer glasses. Things are going to get weird.”
“On it.” She has most of the gadgets Entrapta’s made her in her car so hopefully she can find those somewhere beneath her cheer gear. Before she can say much else, the line goes dead and she watches the promised information populate on her screen.
Glimmer waves her hand. “I’ll tutor you tomorrow.”
Adora grins. “You’re the best!”
She runs out and finds Bow quickly after that. As she fights with Catra later that day, she wonders if she’d meant to give Adora a heads up that Dr. Hordak was up to something.
After the threat is neutralized, she tosses and turns in her bed at night, worried about how much she wants that thought to be true.
“We agreed to a minute.” Adora’s voice is almost a whine, as they part. It’s a reminder for herself as much as Catra, that they need to stop and get back to business.
Since that split second in the library, Catra has never approached Adora again at school. It’s clear that was never meant to be a warning to Adora and that Catra is squarely on the side of evil—she can’t be trusted.
She expects Catra to spring away and take advantage of the minute before they could start fighting to gain a tactical advantage. Instead, she looks at Adora through hooded eyes.
“One, two, three...” She trails a claw over Adora’s jaw and it makes her shiver. “Four...” She reaches the end of Adora’s chin and Adora narrows her eyes on the brunette, her heart pounding harder than when fighting any villain.
Adora is almost angry when she locks lips with the brunette again. “You are unfair.” She reports with a scowl before diving back in.
She lets out a breathless laugh when Adora starts to kiss her neck, one hand around Catra’s waist and the other in her hair. “I’ve never tried to be fair.” She reminds.
Adora doesn’t bother telling her she’s right and instead kisses her longer. When she’s in Catra’s arms she can almost pretend that they’re hiding behind a locker to avoid getting caught by one of their teachers and not fighting over something that could very well end the world as they know it.
Eventually they do spring away from each other, each of them playing the part they have to. By the time Adora makes her way home, she’s battered and bruised but also feeling defeated, even though her mission was a success.
The more she sees Catra, the more Adora realizes that she likes her. Catra is frustrating, yes, but she’s funny and smart and beautiful. Adora finds herself thinking about Catra more often, especially after the small glimpses she gets of her at school.
She doesn’t know what to do about it. She knows realistically whatever it is between them doesn’t have a good ending—so long as she works for Dr. Hordak, there’s no possibility of anything else. And in all likelihood, it’s not like she’s what Catra would want anyway.
It’s the first time Adora purposefully goes looking for Catra at school—she’s checked all of her usual haunts except for the picnic table on the southside of school. When she’s close enough to see Catra’s familiar figure, she starts jogging toward her, relief filling her veins.
Her hand lands on the picnic table roughly. “You weren’t there yesterday.” Adora all but accuses with a furrowed brow.
“Wasn’t where?” Catra asks, looking up from the book she’s reading.
“You weren’t plotting evil schemes with Hordak! We got there and he practically ran away on his own.”
It was insultingly easy to foil his plans without Catra there. But her absence left Adora in a spiral, worried about what could have happened to her.
A slow smile crosses Catra’s face. “Are you ... upset that I wasn’t actively being evil?” She raises her eyebrow and looks at Adora.
She feels her face turn red. She’d been so worried about whether Catra was okay that she hadn’t bothered to think about how weird this would look to her. “No! I just—that’s not the ish.” She sputters. “You weren’t there!”
“Were you looking for me?” She coos with a bright smile on her face. “Aww princess, did you miss me?”
Adora groans, hiding her face. “No!”
Catra is quiet for a moment, probably basking in Adora’s embarrassment before she speaks out again. “Well. That’s great then, because I already quit that gig.”
Adora lets the sentence sit for a second before peeking out from behind her hands. Catra is now standing and making her way around the picnic table until they are properly before each other.
“Wait—you aren’t working for Hordak anymore?”
“Nope.” She pops the ‘p,’ a full smirk on her face. “Finally saved enough for college. Can’t get caught committing crimes—admissions are conditional, you know?”
“And you aren’t working for any other evildoer?” She presses.
“No, princess.” She rolls her eyes. “I just said I quit. I need to focus on school and then college. My mom said I could only have a part time job until I got what I needed to pay tuition, and I have that now.” She shrugs, as if she worked as a pet sitter and not the second in command of an evil scientist.
“So ... when are we going to make out then?” Adora asks with a raised eyebrow.
Catra’s eyes widen for a moment before she composes herself. “Is that all you think about?”
Adora grins, sensing that the tables have turned from the way Catra tries to look disinterested but is decidedly not.
“No—I was also thinking that maybe I can take you on a date sometime. If you’re into it, I mean.” She kicks the ground, looking up at Catra with hopeful eyes.
For once, Catra is the one that looks speechless. When she recovers, her eyes narrow. “You aren’t messing with me?”
Adora tilts her head, confused. “No. Why would I do that?”
“Maybe because we’ve been fighting on the opposite side for years?” Catra huffs. “Maybe the kisses were just strategic.”
Adora grins again at how flustered Catra seems. She takes a step closer, bringing them chest to chest. “Yeah, so strategic to just take off with you in a corner somewhere and leave Bow to deal with all the robots.” She bends down, making out the colors in Catra’s eyes. “You’re not saying no.” She points out, hope fanning in her chest.
Catra searches Adora’s gaze before her eyes dip to Adora’s lips. Slowly, one of her hands comes around Adora’s shoulders, her fingers playing with the baby hairs on her neck. It makes Adora’s palms sweat, and she loses her smirk.
Now Catra is the one biting her lip, looking in control of the situation. “Fine. I’ll give you a chance to impress me.”
She tiptoes a little and lets their lips meet. It’s different from all their rushed and heated kisses in the middle of fighting. It’s soft and it fills Adora with butterflies. She wraps an arm around Catra’s waist and the other rests on her cheek.
When the part, the edges of Catra’s smile are softer. “So, where are you taking me?”
“Wherever you want to go.” Adora blurts out before letting out an awkward laugh. That was probably too eager. “We can go this weekend?”
“Sounds good. My schedule recently cleared.” For a moment they stand before each other, just smiling. Catra’s eyes flash in a way Adora knows well—she almost winces, expecting a punch to the gut. “Want to go make out in the library?”
Adora snorts but she reaches out for Catra, intertwining their fingers together. “I thought you’d never ask.”