Chapter Text
The second day of heat didn’t go by much differently. Catra had low energy still, and scents still annoyed the hell out of her, but Adora made it better. She was so careful with Catra that it almost annoyed her.
Almost.
They spent all day in bed, although Catra wasn’t as clingy as the day before. She lay curled up against Adora’s side, listening to the blonde talk about her friends, stories about their adventures, things she’d seen, the villages and towns around Brighmoon, about the time she went to Plumeria, and many other things. Catra had one hand under Adora, and the other gently stroking her jaw, over the three claw marks there. She had hardly paid attention Adora speak about Salineas, too focused on why Adora hadn’t healed these. Most injuries could be healed quick enough to not scar, Catra knew, especially with She-Ra.
This was a question for another day.
By the third day, Catra felt like she could handle outside smells, and she had dismantled the makeshift nest, which surprised Adora a little. Catra had a first aid kit under the bed that she had hid there before her heat, which she made sure was still there when Adora wasn’t looking. She decided to brave the trip to her room to get changed and take a bath but ended up needing Adora to carry her down the hallway. She forgot just how much staff the castle had, and the smells hit her like a punch. She did get changed and managed to clean herself, if only a little, Adora awkwardly sitting there with her back to Catra until she was done. Catra had the towel wrapped around herself, waddling pathetically like a sad, wet rat after Adora towards Catra’s room.
“Today is your last day off from training.” Adora reminded her quietly, facing a window as Catra got changed.
“I know, princess.” Catra grumbled, then sighed.
“Do… Do you want me to come with you tomorrow? Just in case?”
“If you don’t have anything better to do, yeah.” Catra glanced at her, pulling her shirt down over herself. “Please.”
Adora nodded. Catra shifted her weight from foot to foot, worrying her lower lip.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Catra asked, more softly. Adora turns her head to the side slightly, keeping her gaze on the windows.
“Yeah. Why would I?” Adora replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Catra nodded slowly, doing her best to hide the sudden giddiness that took over her chest, forcing her arms to stay by her side.
“You can turn around.”
Adora did so slowly, staring down at the floor for a few moments before slowly – was she checking her out? – raking her gaze up Catra’s body. Catra smirked, and Adora went red.
“Come on, let’s see how I do in the kitchen.” Catra said. Neither woman moved. She hesitantly outstretched a hand towards Adora, trying her best to keep her ears still and her tail from flicking too much with her nervousness. Her eyes were trained on Adora’s hand, watching as it twitched, as Adora took a few steps forward, as her hand slid into Catra’s and she had to bite back a smile.
Adora led them out of the room, mostly because Catra moved to stand slightly behind the blonde, using her as a shield for the wind and its stronger scents. Sometimes they’d pass by a few maids or advisors on a stroll, and her nose would scrunch up as she forced herself to breathe through her mouth. Adora would give her hand a little squeeze, and Catra would squeeze back.
The kitchen was almost empty, thankfully, save for Glimmer, Bow, Entrapta and Frosta, who were all in a heated conversation about how Frosta and Catra were related, since they had very similar abilities. Entrapta had pulled out her tablet and everything.
“Hey, guys.” Adora said, and all four jumped away from each other, immediately trying to pretend to do something else. Entrapta picked up her tablet upside down, Glimmer picked up her fried egg in her hands like a sandwich, Bow leaned on the table and Frosta just turned around completely.
Catra wanted to laugh, but Adora was already moving towards the seats, dragging Catra along with her. She motioned for Catra to sit down as she went to get their food. Catra did, slowly. Everyone smelled absolutely terrible still, and it made her wish that her mother had actually stolen her nose as a child.
“How’s the heat going?” Glimmer asked, setting the egg down slowly.
“…Terrible?” Catra chuckled. “Adora’s been helpful, though.”
“Yeah, I bet she has.” Bow mumbled, and Glimmer snickered.
“Sorry?”
“Nothing.” Bow straightened himself. “Meeting today, are you coming?”
Catra groaned.
“What is it about?”
“The soldiers arrived at the Crimson Waste. They’ve gotten a tip that Prime is in the Valley, and they’re going to stream the attack to us here.”
Catra glanced at Entrapta, who pressed her lips to a thin line. The prospect of watching ten men possibly lose their lives for no reason wasn’t something she quite wanted to deal with. It would be great if they didn’t, but she desperately wanted to rub Mara’s nose in on it if they did.
Maybe that was the heat talking, she should not be excited for the death of 10 people.
“Sure.” She shrugged. “I hope Mara knew what she was doing.”
Entrapta mumbled something that Catra didn’t quite catch, as Adora set down the plates right on cue.
“Thanks.” Catra smiled a little, and Adora smiled back, immediately going on to shove as much of her food in her mouth as she could. Catra, on the other hand, sat there, thinking about how she was going to eat without breathing through her nose or passing out from oxygen deprivation. Frosta was too busy poking at whatever Entrapta was doing on her tablet, much to the woman’s – poorly concealed – bewilderment.
Adora, bless her heart, seemed to notice her conundrum. She patted Catra’s knee, an awfully bro action from the woman who very excitedly helped Catra get off the other day.
But.
She moved her hand to the inside of Catra’s knee, giving it a small squeeze. An action that should not have done as much as it did to Catra, who gripped her utensils with the force of one thousand men.
“Do you like it?”
Catra froze, her gaze snapping up to Adora’s face. Only… It wasn’t Adora who spoke, she realized, since the blonde was chewing. Her gaze swept over the others present, finding Frosta staring at her.
“Like what?” Catra spoke, clearing her throat as subtly as she could.
“The food. I helped the chef make the bacon today!” Frosta said, beaming up at her sister, who raised her brows.
“Oh, I noticed it had actual spices today. Nice job, Frosty.” Catra said, shooting the little one a wink. Frosta practically vibrated in her seat, and Entrapta closed her eyes and sighed.
“Hey, we put spices on our food!” Glimmer defended, and Frosta and Catra shared a look.
“Yeah… Salt and one kind of pepper doesn’t really count.” Catra shrugged, and Frosta laughed.
“How do you guys cook then?” Adora asked, looking at Catra curiously.
“If the oil doesn’t look like it would melt through skin after you’re done cooking, you didn’t do it right.” Frosta answered for her, seeing as Catra was too busy trying to process and consequentially overthinking about how Adora wanted to get to know Catra.
Glimmer huffed.
“That doesn’t sound like it would be good.”
“You take that back right now, I watched a chef here put chicken in the oven without an ounce of seasoning.” Catra pointed a fork at Glimmer, who raised her hands.
“You’re supposed to season halfway through!”
“…No?” Catra furrowed her brows. Before she could say anything else, Adora spoke up.
“Do you think you’re able to go to the meeting?” She asked quietly, turning her full attention to Catra, who’s brain short circuited again. She could hear the others still arguing with Frost about how to properly season food, but she was too busy trying to form a coherent sentence.
“Uh… Y-Yeah? If anything, you’ll be there.” Catra reached down, her fingers gently wrapping around Adora’s wrist, giving it a small squeeze. “Right?”
“Of course. I would never leave you.” Adora tilted her head a little, and Catra’s heart stuttered. Oh, she had no right to say things like that, not in Catra’s current state where her brain felt like a frayed knot.
But she would, wouldn’t she? They always did, right?
Catra nodded, her ears flicking, fingers scratching small patterns on the skin of Adora’s wrist.
“Promise?” She whispered, her ears slanting back. Adora nodded, a small smile on her face that Catra couldn’t help but mirror, averting her gaze down to their hands.
“Ew, get a room.” Frosta said loudly over the table. Catra pinned her ears back, narrowing her eyes at Frosta. Her mouth opened to probably spew something venomous, but Adora’s hand squeezed her leg, and Catra’s attitude faltered. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, doing her best to ignore the giggles and snickers from the other side of the table, and the small laugh from beside her, which died down quickly when Catra dug her claws into Adora’s skin
Breakfast went by relatively quickly, although much slower than Catra would have liked. Breathing through her mouth got annoying after a few minutes, and her tongue felt like sandpaper by the time they stepped out of the room.
“I need to go talk to mom. I’ll see you for lunch?” Adora asked, raising one arm to squeeze the side of Catra’s arm. Catra did not miss the small look Adora sent at the arm she held, but she bit back a laugh.
“Yeah. See you then.” Catra nodded, smiling a little at Adora, who tripped on her attempt to turn around. A small laugh came from Catra, smiling like an idiot as a very red Adora briskly walked away.
Catra made her way through the halls, actively avoiding everyone in her way. Entrapta’s makeshift lab was always sterile, and smelled perfectly of nothing. Well, other than Entrapta if she were in there, which she wasn’t. Or shouldn’t be, because there was no way that the purple haired-
Nope. She was in there. Catra resisted the urge to sigh as she closed the door behind herself. Entrapta hardly reacted to Catra entering the room, throwing a small wave over her shoulder.
“What are you working on?” Catra asked, sitting on top of a metal box in the corner of the room.
“Working on the telecommunication device for today’s meeting.” Entrapta said, turning her head to look at Catra.
“Do you think they’ll make it?” Catra asked, pulling her knees up to her chest, burying her nose in between them.
“No.” Entrapta said, tilting her head. “It was an odd move on Mara’s part to send them. No self-respecting Queen would sacrifice their men like that.”
Catra hummed. Entrapta had a point. The princess returned to her work, the pair sitting there in silence. It was a weird move on Mara’s part. Was she just being careless and reckless, or had she finally lost her mind? It was unnatural to stay alive like that. Her body was not built to handle the ice, let alone to have several sizeable chunks of it embedded in her chest. It left their Queen incapacitated, and Brightmoon without its biggest weapon. It her mother caught wind of this… Wouldn’t that be good? They’d finally have the chance to overthrow the south.
That idea didn’t excite her nearly as much as it should have. Mara was making the South weak. The state of a nation is no stronger than the state of its ruler, and Mara was a sneeze away from death. Brightmoon was weak.
In turn, Adora was making her weak.
She found that she didn’t mind, and it was a terrifying concept.
If Mara did die, Adora and Catra would be coronated as the official Queens of the South, and when her mother abdicated or – God forbid – died, they’d be Queens of the North as well. Adora would be a much better Queen than Mara, she was sure. Mara was desperately trying to keep herself alive. It was pathetic, really. Sacrificing the one thing the South had going for it, striking an arranged marriage deal to save her ass, all so she could keep being the Queen.
“I’m glad you didn’t bring Frosta with you.” Entrapta said, snapping Catra out of her thoughts. Catra blinked, then smiled a little.
“Why is that?”
“Her hands are sticky.” Entrapta grumbled, and Catra laughed. “Don’t laugh, she gets fingerprints all over my tablets.”
“She’s a kid, Entrapta.”
“And? She keeps touching my robots.”
“She’s just trying to help.” Catra shrugged. “Frosta really likes you, y’know.”
“She sure has a weird way of showing it.” Entrapta grumbled.
“Give her something to do then. Distract her. Something not important enough that you’d flip if she got it wrong, but enough to make her feel important.” Catra suggested, and Entrapta hummed.
“Perhaps…” Entrapta trailed off, mumbling and grumbling about wrenches and screwdrivers and tech and big words that Catra didn’t really understand.
Catra smiled. It was nice to see Entrapta talk more. She rarely ever started conversations on her own.
“You know, those herbs you suggested I add to mom’s really worked.”
“Of course they did.” Entrapta scoffed, and Catra snickered.
“I could control myself much better. Thank you.” Catra rested her cheek against her knees, and Entrapta turned around to smile at Catra.
“Not that you’ll need them for much longer, considering how you and Adora are.” Entrapta stated simply, and Catra sat up straight.
“What? N-No, I’m going to keep using it.”
“Why would you do that?” Entrapta furrowed her brows, her gaze settling down at Catra’s tail. Eye contact limit hit for now, she guessed.
“Because?” Catra’s head shrunk into her shoulders. “Because I don’t want to be all weird around Adora. She already puts up with me enough.”
“I’d say she does so very willingly. She didn’t need to stay with you.” Entrapta pointed out. “Also, why would she willingly touch you?”
“Okay, first of all, some people actually like physical affection.” Catra scoffed, and Entrapta pouted a little, as if the concept itself were absolutely befuddling. “Second, she’s trying to comfort me.”
“…Which she doesn’t need to do.” Entrapta repeated.
“She does it because she is nice.” Catra grumbled.
“I see why Melog gets so stressed.” Entrapta nodded, and Catra furrowed her brows.
“You brought the translator?”
“Yes, he likes speaking, and I don’t mind listening to-”
“He’s stressed?” Catra interrupted, and Entrapta blinked.
“Do you really not see why?” Entrapta tilted her head to the side, and Catra shook her head.
“Oh.” Entrapta turned around. “Oh boy.”
“What do you mean?” Catra’s tail flicked. Entrapta got back to work on whatever she was doing. “Entrapta? What do you mean?”
No answer.
Sitting in the sterile room was weirdly soothing. Entrapta’s smell was weak, a tolerable amount of machinery oil, iron, and – weirdly enough – honey. The room was clean enough that, if Catra ever got bothered by the smell, she could simply turn around, face the corner, and smell the nothingness of the room. Well, not nothing, since a sterile smell was an almost stinging lack of smell, and it unsettled her enough that she would rather turn back around and keep feeling Entrapta’s weird smell while she kept tinkering with something on her table.
Entrapta got up to go have lunch after what felt like only a few minutes, forcing Catra to come along, despite her not being hungry.
“You have to eat. And drink water. I can’t have you dying.” Entrapta said, practically shoving Catra out of the room, locking the door behind herself.
“Alright, alright. Shit.” Catra mumbled, rubbing her back and waiting for the shorter woman. They walked down the halls together, keeping a wide space in between themselves and others they passed. Catra wanted to claw her nose out when they stepped into the dining room. All the princesses were there, talking and eating. The noise didn’t grate her ears anymore, but the smell…
Adora waved at her from the end of the table. Oh, yeah, she’d just choke herself on the way there, she supposed.
Which was exactly what she did, digging her claws into her hands as she passed the princesses. Catra practically collapsed on the chair next to Adora, snatching the blonde’s hand up and bringing it up to her face, inhaling the smell of something other than-
Oh, goddammit, it smelled like other people. Catra grumbled, rubbing her cheek against it once, twice, unaware of the absolutely incredulous look Glimmer shot the flustered Adora. Catra held the back of Adora’s nose up to her face, inhaling deeply.
“I wish I didn’t have a nose.” Catra grumbled, and Adora laughed.
“Eat, maybe you’ll feel better.” Adora said, wriggling her fingers. Catra sighed.
“If you insist, Your Highness.” Catra mumbled, and Adora laughed a little, nudging Catra’s plate closer to her.
As Catra dropped Adora’s hand, she noticed the princesses were staring.
They blinked.
She blinked.
“What?” She hissed, pinning her ears back. As if on cue, they suddenly found more interesting topics to speak about. Catra forced herself to breathe through her mouth, cutting up her meat into small chunks, messing around with the food for a while. As she hurriedly chewed on the bits of food, Melog sauntered into the room like he owned the place.
Well, well. Look who finally came out of the nest.
“Shut up, Melog.” Catra mumbled through a moutfull of food, squinting down at the guardian as he rested his chin on the table, right next to Catra.
Spill. What happened?
“Not now.” Catra whispered, lightly swatting one of his ears. Melog meowed dramatically, nuzzling his face into her lap.
I’ll look at it myself, if you don’t mind.
“Melog, no!” Catra’s leg jerked up, knocking the cat’s head off her lap. He chuffed, eyes wide up at her.
Oh. My God. You had sex?
“What, no! Melog, go away.” Catra pushed the oversized cat away, who simply pawed at her arm. Adora was watching, highly amused at the altercation between the cat woman and a large cat, where she could really only understand one side of the conversation.
Yes, that counts! Oh stars, you naughty little-
Catra pinned her ears against her head, muffling the sounds around her, tuning out of whatever it was Melog was saying. She glanced at Adora from the corner of her eye, the blonde doing her absolute best not to laugh, staring down at Melog and back up at Catra.
“Don’t entertain him.” Catra mumbled, and Adora scrunched her nose up. Catra turned her attention to her food, ignoring Melog, eating an acceptable portion of her food as fast as she possibly could.
Oh, to be swallowed up by the floor. It was her third day of heat, she should be relaxing, not being harassed by a cat and feeling unexplainable emotions towards a certain blonde and unmitigated frustration towards a certain Queen and incredibly nervous about-
Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Not through the nose, Frosta smells like she rolled around Daia’s and Becca’s stall for a whole day, but deep breaths. Eat. Deep breaths, but not that deep because Adora put on perfume or some oil in her hair this morning and she hadn’t gotten the chance to mark it off of her yet. Not that she needed to mark Adora, it was just… More efficient, is what she kept telling herself, but really Catra just liked it when Adora smelled like her, because it announced to everyone that she was Catra’s.
Not that Catra was possessive, or anything.
Catra set her utensils down, glancing up. Glimmer and Bow were talking to Adora, Frosta and Scorpia were talking about the morning’s training, Entrapta was tapping away at her tablet as usual, Mermista and Perfuma were talking… And Catra was sitting there. Not that she minded listening in on three different conversations at once, it was just… a lot for her right now. There was an overwhelming urge to run out of the room, but…
She wanted Adora, weirdly enough. Catra grumbled soflty, tugging gently on Adora’s sleeve. The blonde was listening to something Glimmer was saying and, without turning to look at Catra, draped an arm around her.
Oh.
Melog was laughing at her, she knew, but Catra was too busy sitting there, absolutely frozen. Slowly, she leaned in towards Adora, raising one hand to link their fingers together, resting her head against Adora’s shoulder with a small hum. Glimmer and Bow glanced in between Adora and Catra at least five times, very much not paying attention to whatever Adora was saying about the superiority of Grafies to horses, but the cruelty aspect of raising a cold species in a not cold at all environment. Adora trailed off slowly, noticing how neither of her friends were paying attention, and Catra’s heart ached.
Just a little.
“We could selectively breed shorter coats.” Catra said, tapping her thumb against the side of Adora’s hand. She couldn’t see the blonde’s face, but by the way Bow smiled, she could tell Adora was positively beaming.
Adora very quickly entered on a ramble about the logistics of doing that, and her two friends seemed to actually listen this time, only occasionally glancing down at Catra, who was much too happy to be closer to Adora, smelling mostly her instead of… Everything else.
Casual affection wasn’t something Catra was used to. Her mother was hardly ever present, Frosta’s version of affection was roughhousing, cuddling and being picked up, Entrapta didn’t like being touched with the exception of an occasional celebratory fist bump, and Scorpia was too unaware of her strength for Catra’s health. In short, Catra was very touch starved, and had no idea how to cure that, because she didn’t know how to… Touch.
In the non-sexual context, that is. Which made it sadder.
Physical affection in general was new, and she had no idea why her tail had automatically curled itself around Adora’s calf, or why Catra melted into Adora, hardly able to pay attention to what they were saying, too lost in her own thoughts.
It was when she noticed Glimmer and Bow standing up, as well as most of the other princesses, that Catra noticed Adora was very slowly raising her arm. Catra raised her head, looking up at Adora. The blonde was all soft eyes and even softer smiles.
“Ready?”
“Is it time already?” Catra asked, and Adora nodded. She sighed, pushing herself off Adora. It felt like she was one big band aid ripping away from Adora. She waited for Adora to stand, walking next to the blonde towards the war room. Their hands brushed together at each step they took. Adora was paying attention to Glimmer and Bow, who walked slightly ahead of them, while Catra was doing her best to drown out Melog’s relentless teasing behind her.
Catra hooked her pinky with Adora’s. The blonde glanced down, a small blush on her cheeks.
Oh, so this makes her blush. Melog snickered.
Catra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Slowly, almost shyly, she slipped her hand into Adora’s and tilted her head down, lips pressed tightly together to conceal a smile. Adora didn’t look too different.
Fuck, she felt like a kid. How pathetic, she wanted to kick herself. Good thing Frosta was ahead of them, otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Melog would tease her for the next few days, but he’d forget about it eventually. Frosta engrained stuff in her memory like it was a stone tablet.
Just some casual physical affection between two wives. Something normal, casual, no reason to get all flustered over it.
Adora swung their arms to the beat of her footsteps, which was off from Catra’s since the blonde was taller, but Catra didn’t mind. Her thumb absently tapped Catra’s.
Casual physical affection. Totally used to it, she was blushing for completely unrelated reasons and not because Adora kept her arm close to herself, forcing Catra to stand closer to Adora.
It did, however, distract Catra enough that she didn’t cringe too hard at the way the smells in the war room sucker punched her nose. Catra kept close to Adora’s side, which let her notice, for the first time, the intense staring game between Adora and Mara, who sat at the head of the table on the other side. Adora pulled Catra’s chair out first, which Catra took, then her own chair. Adora’s fists settled on the table, and Catra pulled one towards her, holding Adora’s hand between her own, on her lap. That seemed to distract Adora enough from whatever staring macho competition was happening between her and Mara, but the downside was that Mara was now very much staring at Catra.
Catra couldn’t care less. What would Mara do, kill her? Mara couldn’t even jump in the state she’s in.
…Now that she thought about it, Mara did look awfully… Sickly. Her skin didn’t look right, bags under her eyes, the skin around her fingers were clearly healing from picking at them…
“Adora?” Catra whispered, and the blonde hummed. “When was the last time you spoke to your mother?”
“A meeting-“
“I mean spoke to her, not had a meeting with her.” Catra interrupted Adora almost immediately, and Adora furrowed her brows.
“I don’t know… Like, a week?” Adora shrugged. Catra hummed. Clearly, Mara wasn’t doing well, and Adora didn’t really seem to care.
The doors closed firmly, which usually signaled the beginning of the meeting. Catra took a quick look around. Glimmer and Bow were next to Adora, Frosta and Entrapta were next to Catra, and the other princesses were seated in between the generals and advisors, and Mara.
Strange. Usually, it was the other way around.
“Entrapta?” Mara said, nodding towards the woman.
Oh? No long speech about how she was glad everyone was there, how great the princesses were doing – other than Catra – or the poisoning investigation was going?
Huh.
Entrapta tapped her tablet, and the screen descended slowly. Mara turned, slowly, to face the screen. It split into ten sections, each one showing different footage of different body cameras.
“Squad, are you ready?” Mara asked, and there was a resounding ‘yes, your majesty’ from speakers that Catra couldn’t see.
“You may proceed. Entrapta, mute us.”
Catra took a small, nervous breath. Adora squeezed her hand a little.
The footage only showed the narrow paths through the Valley of the Lost. The men were all separated, which was already a mistake. They kept announcing which streets seemed to be clear, not that there was any sense as to how the Valley was set up. Catra squeezed Adora’s hand a little harder. It was hard to keep up with all 10 different footages at once, so she focused on one closer to the middle.
Oh, she had forgotten how red the dirt… sand? The ground in the Crimson Waste was. It stained her fur almost permanently, and some of her clothes weren’t originally red. The solider moved through, pointing a blast gun and screaming and threatening. They were sure drawing a lot of attention to themselves. If Prime or this Shadow Weaver didn’t kill them, some other wannabe big boss would. This soldier weaved through buildings to different roads, and Catra just knew they were lost. It was easy to get lost in the Valley. She resisted the urge to laugh, bringing Adora’s hand up to her lips, resting them against each other with the tiniest of smiles. Adora glanced at her for the briefest moment.
Oh, Catra always laughed at the most inappropriate moments.
The top left camera footage. White and green flashed in one of the corners.
Catra’s eyes widened.
There was a scream, some shots, then radio silence.
Her hand practically threw Adora’s away, lunging towards Frosta, slapping both her hands over her ears and pulling her head to face Catra. Frosta protested, of course, her small hands yanking and pushing Catra’s, but she did not let up.
“Mara, call them back.” Catra spoke, louder than the soldiers demands for a response from their fallen brother. Mara did not reply.
“Mara!” Catra yelled.
Mara didn’t move.
Catra was about to yell again, staring at Entrapta who simply stared at the screen in shock, when she saw another.
The Brothers. Bleached hair, white clothes with neon green details, and slightly green eyes from the amniotic fluid they were made to bathe in when introduced and made to feed on. Technically it contained everything they needed to keep going, but that was it. There was no real sustenance in the fluid. This soldier, bottom right, shot that Brother.
But more came. They always did.
Three seemingly popped out of nowhere. Catra’s hands squeezed Frosta’s ears down a little tighter, her blue eyes staring almost desperately up at Catra, who was completely transfixed. Their low murmuring about how Prime’s light was eternal, ever expanding, all touching and encompassing completely transfixed Catra. If it weren’t for the fact that she could remember how those words tore out of her throat like nails clawing up her esophagus, she’d go right back into the trance. The solider screamed and shouted, begging, crying… But there was nothing anyone could do.
Catra averted her gaze, choosing instead to focus on Mara. The Queen simply watched, jaw clenched, brows slightly furrowed. Catra wanted to scream and shout, cry and yell and claw and-
But nothing would change this fate. They were already too deep within the Valley of the Lost to get out without being slaughtered or taken into Primes’ army. Catra pointed her gaze to the table, struggling to keep her nails from digging into Frosta at each gut curling noise that came. Frosta’s little hands grabbed Catra’s arms like there was no tomorrow, her eyes screwed shut tightly. Sure, the little one had seen death and killed a few people, but never like this.
This was just torture. The Brothers drew it out, cruelly. She knew it was painful. She had been made to do it on quite a few occasions, more than she could remember.
The man wasn’t yelling or screaming or crying anymore. There was just the sickening crunches of bone and tissue. Catra didn’t look up. The other soldiers were calling for their fallen brother, and she could hear footsteps. They were heading towards him.
Catra glanced up.
“Tell them to stop, Mara.” Catra pleaded, her voice cracking. Mara didn’t move. Entrapta was staring at her tablet, expression completely relaxed, her mouth a little open. Oh, how Catra wished she could dissociate like that at times like these. No one was doing anything. Mermista was staring down at the table, a slight look of horror on her face. Perfuma was watching, face blank. Adora was glaring at Mara. Scorpia was nervously glancing in between Frosta and the screen, and Frosta was staring up at Catra, eyes wide. Catra didn’t look at her. Glimmer and Bow looked nervous, but Catra didn’t look at them either
Catra looked up at the screen, as the noises had stopped. The man’s camera footage was now just static. The others were running, the video blurry from their movements, their voices ringing out, calling, asking for a status update.
One of them yelled, shots were fired, blows were exchanged.
Crunch. More screams. Thud, thud, thud.
Catra thought her teeth were about to crack from how hard she was clenching her jaw.
The Brother was almost a blur on top of the soldier, wide green eyes and perfectly slicked white hair, manic smile on its face as it kept going, red splattering over its clothes, staining pristine white with deep red. It didn’t classify as a person anymore. It was all Prime. Catra didn’t think they’d actually gone out with the intent to kill, she had assumed they were going to capture them and add to their army.
Wishful thinking.
Perhaps the gut-wrenching deaths that played on screen before the footage became simple static was better than the other fate that awaited them. Which said something, considering how Catra had never heard some of those types of screams, or just how the tearing of viscera really sounded, repeatedly. Over and over, cracking and crunching and tearing and ripping and-
Green eyes. White hair. Wide smiles, too wide, so fast that it was blurry. There were so many of them. Laughing. Hail Prime’s light, Prime’s glory, Glory to Prime…
Static.
The whole screen went blank.
Catra slowly let her hands slip away from Frosta’s head, moving to cradle her own, her head hanging down. Her ears flicked. The air in the room felt heavy. No one was breathing, it seemed. Catra couldn’t handle this confrontation, not today. Her skin felt like it was on fire, her nose was burning and making her eyes water, which was not because she had repressed what the Brothers looked like and sounded like in her head, and the back of her neck where the chip had been was not tingling in a bad way.
Catra buried her nose in the crook of her arm, breathing deeply and slowly. Her eyes were trained on Mara, who turned around slowly. Catra’s claws drummed against the table. Mara didn’t look at her.
Adora placed her hand over Catra’s.
“Are they all…?” One of the generals asked, trailing off.
“What do you think, smartass?” Mermista practically growled out, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but you all should have listened to Catra.”
Catra would have smirked under any other circumstance, but she could barely muster a hum. Mara glared at Mermista, narrowing her eyes.
“Watch your tone, Mer-“
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. This was all stupid anyways.” Mermista huffed, standing up. Catra watched, brows raised as Mermista left, mumbling and grumbling as she slammed the doors behind her.
Glimmer pressed her lips to a thin line.
“What are your plans following this, Queen Mara?” Bow asked, ever the diplomat. Mara turned her attention to him.
“I… Will have to take some time to assess the situation.”
Catra resisted the urge to groan, closing her eyes. Never had she ever seen a Queen as fucking useless as this one. Her legs were bouncing, her fingers wriggling under Adora’s hands, which slowly curled to hold hers.
Distraction, this was good. Catra did not want to think about the Brothers or the fact that Mara was so incompetent and it made her want to jump on the table and make that damn ice shard in her chest grow until it froze her from the inside out. Catra turned her hand around, holding Adora’s hand with a tight grip. Catra’s eyes were still closed, but she could hear people leaving. After all, what was there to say after watching ten good soldiers die because their Queen was too arrogant to tell them to fall back?
She opened her eyes once she heard the door close. Mara was still there, Melog was by Catra’s chair and Adora was glaring at the table.
“Are you satisfied?” Catra asked, and Mara sighed. “Well?”
“I understand, Catra, that you are-“
“Frustrated? Pissed? Outraged? Feeling murderous?” Catra scoffed, sitting up straighter. “What I can’t understand is how you could sit there, stone cold, watching your own men get slaughtered.”
“It couldn’t be stopped.”
“If you had fucking listened to me,” Catra slammed her hands down on the table, standing up. “If you had swallowed your fucking pride and listened to anyone, Mara, none of this would have happened. We would still know where Prime and Light Weaver-”
“-Shadow Weaver.” Adora corrected quietly.
“-Whatever. We would still know their exact whereabouts, we would still have the upper hand, the element of surprise.” Catra’s claws dug into the wood of the table. “But you just had to swoop in do it your way. Show off how big your dick is, do whatever you want because you’re above everyone, right?”
Adora stood up, placing a hand on Catra’s shoulder. Mara’s gaze flicked down to it, impassive.
“Yeah, ignore the people who have experience with this man.” Catra shook her head. “I hope you are ready. Now that you’ve managed to make Prime aware of you, he won’t stop until we’re all either dead or under his control. Now, we can also factor in this Shadow Weaver helping him, and I don’t even want to start thinking about that, or how many men we will be losing.”
“That will not be happening.” Mara sounded a little too sure of herself.
“It will be, if we don’t have She-Ra.”
Adora tensed next to her. Mara narrowed her eyes at Catra.
“What are you suggesting, Catra? Think wisely.”
Oh, but she had thought about it. She had thought about it long and hard, multiple times on many different occasions already. Without She-Ra, the South is weak. Sure, they have more princesses, but Netossa and Spinerella don’t fight, and Scorpia and Catra’s abilities – and the cool shit Entrapta makes – are perfect counters for Mermista, Perfuma and Adora.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was, she didn’t know how big Prime’s army was. All she knew was that they were all highly trained, and completely self-sacrificing for Prime’s cause. Which meant they had no self-preservation, which made them incredibly dangerous.
Catra couldn’t fight for too long before she started freezing herself, Scorpia had a limit on her ability before her brain started to go all weird, Entrapta… can’t fight, Mermista drowns herself, Adora would catch on fire, Frosta is a kid, Perfuma starts sprouting flowers from her skin if she fights for too long, Glimmer fucking teleports and casts spells but can run out of juice, Bow uses arrows, Netossa has nets that eventually don’t come out anymore and Spinerella can asphyxiate herself. This made them stop, as it was their limit. No one pushed themselves too far past it.
The Brothers did.
She-Ra was the only one built like a tank, who didn’t run out of juice until she took hundreds of times of a very fatal amount of damage.
Also, Mara didn’t look like she was doing too well. The state of a nation is no better than the state of its leader, after all.
“I think the two of you should talk. You’re getting weaker, Mara.” Catra pulled away from Adora. “You look like shit. Is She-Ra’s healing not working as efficiently anymore?”
“Catra…” Mara placed both her hands flat on the table. Adora was still frozen in place as Catra stalked around the table towards Mara.
“You know I’m right. The state of a Queen shouldn’t be like… this.” Catra crossed her arms behind her back. “A Queen listens, a Queen takes feedback and cares, doesn’t sacrifice her men on pointless and harmful expeditions.”
Catra stopped a few chairs away from Mara, taking slow, long steps. Her ears flicked, and she forced herself to breathe through her nose.
“If you’d let me, I could try getting the ice out-”
“No!” Mara slammed her hands down on the table, pushing herself up to a stand and knocking her chair over. Mara stood up straight. She swayed, and Catra narrowed her eyes.
“You look like you’re about to fall over.” Catra raised her chin. She could hear Adora walking towards them. “Mara, you-”
“Catra, enough.” Adora’s hand gripped her shoulder rather hard. She looked at the hand, following the arm all the way to Adora. She stared back at Catra with – surprisingly – a pleading look. No hatred, no anger.
No, those were directed at Mara.
Once again, Catra found it curious.
“You’re not fit to rule anymore, Mara.” Catra said, and Mara clenched her jaw. Catra took a small step back, and Adora’s hand slipped off her shoulder. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”
Catra sat in the library. It was quiet, no one was in there, and she was pretty sure she had heard Adora storming down the hallway. She made the executive decision of sitting there, in front of the fireplace, reading her book. It was quiet, warm, not too many bad smells…
So why did she have to keep rereading the same page over and over?
She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Hopefully, Adora wasn’t mad at her. Well, Catra had essentially told Mara to go die, just with a bit more class, and Mara was Adora’s mother, so if Adora were to be mad at Catra that would be perfectly justified.
But it also wouldn’t, because Mara had watched her men die, and done nothing about it.
Oh, she hoped Adora wasn’t mad at her. Catra put her book down, grumbling as she made her way out of the library and towards the bath. Her brain was jumping in between the scenes that she had seen, when she wasn’t making sure Frosta wasn’t watching or watching the others reactions.
The smell of the bath didn’t grate as much as it had that morning, and she was able to rest peacefully – while breathing through her mouth – and wash her fur. It was a quick bath, and soon she was back to the bedroom, humming quietly as she brushed her hair. Adora wasn’t back yet, but Catra could bet her left toe that Adora would be up late doing… whatever it is that big strong women do up late at night.
Catra glanced at the mirror, catching herself smiling.
Ew. Jesus.
She set the brush down, pulling her robe off and burying herself in the sheets. It was soft and warm and quiet, a comforting blanket of familiarness. Catra tried her best to stay awake, to wait for Adora. There was no point to wait up for her, since she’d just get into bed anyways, but if it were her, she’d love to come into the room to Adora waiting for her.
Why was she thinking of that anyways?
A grumble left her as she pulled the sheets over her head, burying her head in her pillow. It was the heat talking, of course.
Catra heard a door click open, the closed. Catra poked her head out of the sheets just as the second door opened. Adora stepped into the room. She reeked of blood. Catra sat up straight, her nose twitching as she scented the air.
“What happened?” Catra asked quietly, furrowing her brows. Adora peered at her from under her brows, a heavy sigh leaving her lips.
“Punching bags.”
“Can’t you heal it?” Catra asked, and almost immediately punched herself for saying it.
“Don’t want to.” Adora mumbled, moving towards the bed. Catra got up before Adora reached the bed, grumbling as she threw the sheets off. Adora watched, brows furrowed.
“Catra-“
“I don’t want blood here. Bad luck.” Catra mumbled, reaching under the bed for the first aid kit she had thrown down there, in case of emergencies. She placed it on the bed, kneeling next to it. Adora took a seat on the edge, crisscrossing her legs. With a click of her tongue, Catra took Adora’s wrist and pulled her closer, taking out a brown vial from the box with her other hand.
Catra dabbed antiseptic on Adora’s hands, and Adora hissed. Catra smirked up at her for a moment, and Adora grumbled and cursed under her breath, her hand wriggling in Catra’s hold.
“Hush.” She whispered, bringing Adora’s hand closer to her face, sniffing and turning it over. It smelled like a hospital now, but at least it wasn’t blood. She rubbed her hands over the parts of Adora’s hand that didn’t have cuts, just to get the smell out. Licking it would do a better job, but… God, the thought of those fingers in her mouth…
Catra blinked hard, shaking her head slightly. Her ears pinned back. No. That was the heat talking, where the fuck did that come from? Catra didn’t like that.
Catra dug her fingers into the skin of Adora’s forearm, her fingers dancing up and down her flesh, something inside Catra urging her to touch Adora. There were thin lines on her arms from old cuts and wounds, tiny scars from injuries big enough that She-Ra wasn’t able to take away. Her thoughts wandered a bit. Had they hurt? She doubted they did and judging by the corded muscles under her fingertips right now, whoever did this must be looking much worse.
“Hurts?” Catra whispered, ghosting her fingers over a particularly big scar. It didn’t look like Catra’s claws, thankfully, although there were quite a few thin, parallel lines along her arms that Catra was quite sure came from her.
“Not anymore.” Adora mumbled. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I can do it myself.”
Catra’s mismatched eyes flicked up to meet bright blues.
“When’s the last time someone took care of you?”
Adora paused, her mouth opening and closing a few times. A moment of silence passed. Catra hummed, returning her gaze down to Adora’s arm. She moved her attention to Adora’s other hand. Catra picked it up with one hand, setting both of Adora’s hands on Catra’s legs.
From what Catra had noticed, Adora was always the one looking after everyone else. The problem solver, if you will. But, no one ever seemed to do the same back. Hell, Catra was the only one to go looking for Adora that day she was in the cave. Even if Adora wanted to be alone, its always nice to know someone cares enough to come check up on you. She wondered if Adora ever noticed these things.
That was dumb, of course she did.
She gently lifted it, noticing this one had a larger cut, not from a training dummy, from her knuckles down to her wrist. Her gaze raised to Adora’s who looked down, slightly below Catra’s head.
Catra cleared her throat. Adora’s gaze snapped up. It took a second for the blonde to register, her cheeks going a little red as she averted her gaze. Catra resisted the urge to smirk like the little shit she was.
“Did the dummy pick up a knife?” Catra asked, dabbing antiseptic on that hand as well.
“Glass.” Adora managed through clenched teeth. Catra hummed, holding Adora’s hands steady with one of her own, rubbing small circles deep into the palm of her hand. Catra’s gaze moved back to Adora’s fingers, her knuckles. They were rough and calloused, but somehow, every time Adora touched Catra, it was gentle. Even when Adora yanked Catra to her feet or dragged her down the hallways, if Catra really wanted to she could easily get out of Adora’s grip. Catra found herself gently squeezing Adora’s fingers, each one, rhythmically. She noticed Adora had moved closer to her, Catra’s knees touching Adora’s calves. Catra didn’t mind. It was more of Adora’s scent, and her own, to cover the smell of the antiseptic and the wraps.
She took out the bandages and started wrapping Adora’s hands tightly, making sure it was wrapped properly. Catra was careful with the wounds, making sure the bandages didn’t cross over them at an odd angle. She was almost done, tucking the bandage into one of the loops to keep it in place for now.
“You don’t have to, I can go-”
“Do you not trust me?” Catra glanced at Adora through her lashes. Adora blinked, her lips – were they always that pink and soft looking? – parting for a moment before she nodded. “Then let me be the one to do this.”
Her gaze moved down to Adora’s hands. She brought one of them up to her lips, placing the softest of kisses over her fingers. Adora’s eyes flicked down to Catra’s lips, her mouth slightly open. All Catra could feel was the smell of the bandages, and Adora’s fingers against her own.
The action was supposed to be for comfort and a little bit of self indulgence, but when Adora looked at her like that…
Adora’s thumb twitched against her cheek. Almost as if on instinct, she turned her head to the side, the tip of the thumb in between her lips as she left another kiss there. Catra stared at Adora, who was transfixed, staring at Catra with a look that could be described only as hunger. And Catra found herself wanting to satisfy that, her heart deafeningly loud in her ears. Adora’s scent was intoxicating, but she was already beyond addicted to it, craving it.
Her tail twitched. Adora’s thumb inched downwards, dragging Catra’s lip with it.
God, that stinging smell. She wanted to erase it, make it her own. Hers.
Catra twists Adora’s hand to the side, her breath coming out in hot puffs that even she could feel. Adora’s eyes never left her, flicking between Catra’s eyes and her lips as Catra took two fingers into her mouth, slowly, sucking gently on the tips of her fingers. Adora’s breathing hitched. Catra kept going, driven by some force she didn’t know, wanting to taste, to mark, to have. Adora’s fingers pressed down against her tongue, her thumb under Catra’s chin, and Catra’s hand dropped to her wrist. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. Adora’s fingers hooked in her mouth, behind her teeth, pulling her head closer to Adora’s. Catra’s eyes opened again. They were close, so close, her mouth open, their shallow and quick breaths mingling with each other. Fuck, Adora looked so goddamn hot like that, completely focused on Catra, happily lost in her. Catra wasn’t much different. Adora pulled her fingers out of Catra’s mouth, dragging her lower lip down, down…-
There was a knock at the door.
Their hands tore away from each other, and Catra was pretty sure her claws had gotten out and nicked Adora. Catra glanced at the door, then back at Adora, glaring. Adora cleared her throat, blinking. She looked flustered, and Catra probably didn’t look too different. She could feel how blown out her pupils out, how her tail thrashed behind her.
“My… Glimmer and Bow.” Adora whispered. Catra sighed, exhasperated.
“You could have told me that before…” Catra pinched the bridge of her nose, her breath hissing out between her teeth. “Tell them to come in.”
“Come in!” Adora called, her voice cracking. Catra groaned, quickly putting away the medical supplies and stuffing the kit under the bed, right as the other members of the Best Friend Squad themselves stepped into the room. Glimmer and Bow had shy little smile on their faces, waving like one would when they’re approaching a scary, wild animal.
Catra grumbled. She sunk into the sheets, pulling it over her head and smashing her face into her pillow.
“It’s her heat, don’t take it personally.” Adora sounded a little muffled.
“Take it personally, go away.”
Adora smacked Catra’s leg, and she was pretty sure she heard Glimmer laugh.
Unfortunately, they did not go away. They stayed, actually. Adora had gotten under the sheets at some point, and Catra was now using her stomach as a pillow, curled at Adora’s side, and the blonde had her fingers in Catra’s hair. She was doing her best to keep her purring at a minimum, since Glimmer and Bow were both seated on the bed, on the other side of Adora. They spoke of those stupid dumplings they made, how Scorpia was so nice and caring and how happy she made Perfuma, how Mermista was in love with Sea Hawk but wouldn’t tell him because she thought it was embarrassing, how one of the maids was having an affair with a general… General gossip, which Catra tried to stay awake for to listen to. They spoke of Frosta in such a fond manner, which brought a small smile to Catra’s face.
Catra had almost fallen asleep several times, but then Adora would laugh and those gorgeous abs of hers would tense and shake Catra awake.
Curse her and those lovely, sexy muscles.
Catra made a noise, somewhere in between a growl and trill, when that happened for what must have been the fifth time. The friends went quiet.
“It’s getting late, isn’t it?” Glimmer asked, and Bow agreed. Adora sounded a little sad, but bid her goodbyes as her friends slowly – holy shit they talk so much – left the room.
The bedroom went quiet. Adora sighed, rubbing the back of one of Catra’s ears.
“Are you feeling better now?” Catra asked, turning her head to look up at Adora when the blonde lifted the sheets.
“Yeah.” Adora nodded, smiling softly and Catra purred at that, blinking slow up at her. “Come up here.”
“You know I like staying down here…” Catra pouted, nuzzling into Adora, making her laugh. With some effort, Adora moved down the bed so she was eyelevel with Catra. Watching Adora squirm and toss and turn was quite entertaining, especially since Catra could see the outlines of her muscles every time she strained with effort to move under the heavy sheets.
“How are you doing?” Adora asked, her hand coming up to rest on Catra’s cheek, her fingers gently stroking the short fur there. Catra sighed.
“Alright, I guess. Frustrated.” Catra shrugged, and Adora hummed. Catra raised one hand to brush the blonde hair back, behind Adora and not in between the pair. “Could be worse though. I didn’t really watch the screen.”
“I saw. You didn’t miss anything too important, you know?” Adora mumbled, resting their foreheads together.
“What did your mom say?” Catra asked, and Adora sighed, closing her eyes.
“Just… that she’s been considering it. What you said.” Adora whispered.
“I’m sorry. I was angry, and it just-”
“I get it. Don’t worry.” Adora opened her eyes again, her fingernails raking down the side of Catra’s cheek gently. “We also just… talked.”
“Is that good?”
“Yeah.” Adora chuckled. “Yeah, it’s been a while. We’ve both been busy, and she’s also been… sick. She doesn’t like being seen like that, its messing with head.”
Catra hummed.
“It’s-” Adora was interrupted for a moment when Catra placed a small kiss on her forehead, her cheeks going the slightest bit red. “Its… New, I guess? I don’t know, I’ve never felt this useless before, she won’t let me take charge for her.”
“Pride?”
“Maybe?” Adora sighed. “Whatever. I don’t feel like talking about it, if that’s okay?”
“Of course.” Catra nodded, moving one hand to the back of Adora’s neck. “You know, when we go to the North, my mom is going to grill you every single day about me.”
“Oh, stars.” Adora groaned, and Catra laughed.
“Oh, yeah.” Catra nodded, struggling to keep her voice even through her laughter. “She’s going to make you rear a Grafie for her. Can’t wait to see you get knocked on your ass.”
“Its kind of sounding like you want me to fail, Catra.” Adora scoffed, and Catra’s nose scrunched up. “I’m offended.”
“Oh, no!” Catra gasped. “How could I possibly make it up to you, princess?”
“I have a few ideas…” Adora smirked, and Catra’s heart skipped a beat. Oh, she had not fully realized how close they were, how Adora was holding her so… Tenderly. Or how low Adora’s voice got, and how good it sounded, how it stirred things inside Catra.
She’d hate it if she didn’t crave it so much.
“Like what?” Catra whispered, pulling her lip between her teeth. Adora’s eyes flicked down.
“Well, you could maybe…” Adora’s lips brushed against Catra’s as she spoke, a small smile on her lips. “Come spend a day with me and Swift Wind.”
“Is there another option?” Catra asked, weaving her fingers up the back of Adora’s scalp and the blonde hummed.
“What would you have in mind?” Adora asked, almost gingerly pushing a few strands of hair away from Catra’s face.
Adora was so careful with Catra, as if she were made of glass, as if she were Adora’s most prized possession among the thousands of precious pieces in the palace. Sometimes Catra would catch Adora looking at her like she was the sun itself, much like Adora was doing at that moment. It made Catra want to… She didn’t even know, she couldn’t explain the warmth in chest or what that fluttering feeling inside her was, or why she couldn’t stop smiling or why she moved impossibly closer to Adora.
Maybe that’s why it was so easy for Catra to close her eyes and lean forwards, kissing Adora, gently, with a smile on her lips.
It’s all so new, for both of them. Oh, she wished this moment could last forever. To lay there, in Adora’s familiar and comforting embrace, those soft lips on her own, breathing in Adora and tasting her and swallowing her every sigh and moan.
Adora pulled away first, resting her forehead back against Catra, who had to resist the urge to lunge back forward.
“I think that works.” Adora said, a little out of breath. It took a second for Catra’s brain understand, but she chuckled softly once she did.
“Idiot.”