Adora wasnât really in the mood to get her ass kicked again, so when she reached out to Vi to hang out, she suggested the next best thing: food. She had seen how Vi ate at the pizza party sheâd hosted on Darla and knew their appetites rivaled one another. They both ate voraciously, and she always appreciated that in a friend.
For now, they were seated on a park bench, a big bag of fries laid out on a handful of napkins between them.
âSo, you donât have anything like this in Zaun?â she asked through a mouthful, covering her mouth to avoid flashing half-eaten food at Vi while she spoke. She swallowed. âWhat kinda stuff did you eat?â
You could say that Vi had the same sense of respect for others when talking, but then you'd be a liar. Granted, it wasn't intentional rudeness, she'd just never really been educated on proper manners and Caitlyn wasn't here to elbow her for acting inappropriately in public. Besides, she was cold and shoving hot food into her face hole made it a lot more bearable.
"I don't think we really had names for the food in Zaun," answered Vi, the only careful thing she did was carefully ensuring none of the fries fell out of her mouth while she talked around the chewing. "Doesn't mean it wasn't good, but I'll tell you that when someone's entire life is bound up in whether or not they have customers, they make some really good shit."
Vander had kept them fed when they were younger, but that felt like a lifetime ago and she hurt every time she dredged up any of those memories, so it was a lot easier to think of post-prison. Which, honestly meant that she only had to worry about a scant handful of memories beyond revenge and getting her sister back.
Adora hummed thoughtfully. She supposed that made sense. When you made a living serving people food, it would have to be good to keep people coming in and make money. She was a little curious what it was like - she assumed it had to be better than her meals growing up, but what wasnât - but she didnât take Vi for much of a cook.
âMost of the stuff here is new to me, too.â Food in general was new to her. She knew now there had been contraband in the Horde, but apparently, sheâd been too much of a goody two shoes to have any herself during her cadet years. It had been all ration bars, then a wider variety in Bright Moon. But the food here was nothing like Bright Moon either.
âDo you have any favorites so far?â
"Favorite⊠foods?" asked Vi, raising an eyebrow at Adora. She hadn't thought about it, really. Food was something you just ate, hoped was good, and kept going. Sure, she loved to eat, but she wasn't exactly picky about it, either. Most of the time, things that looked disgusting were some of the best things she'd tasted. And, so far, nothing here had sucked.
The best she could give her new friend here was just kind of a quizzical look as she paused chewing for a moment. "I don't know. All of it? Fuck, now I'm going to be thinking about that all day."
âFood for thought,â Adora joked, taking another bite of her burger. She knew exactly what Vi was going through. Sheâd eaten voraciously when she first got here - still did, but this was more of an âIâll take everythingâ attitude to food. Then, sheâd tried to go on a healthier kick, but in the end, sheâd ended up circling back to a mix of everything she liked.
âI got a little more specific over time,â she continued. âLike - Catra, her favorite thing in the world is sushi, but itâs not really my thing. I donât mind fish that much, but thereâs something⊠extra slimy about sushi?â She shrugged. It didnât appeal to her, but sheâd eat it for Catra, like she had on her birthday. It just wasnât her go-to.
"You haven't had slimy until you've had tentacle stew," answered Vi, nodding. She'd need to try sushi, then. "Might be an acquired taste, but it was one of the first things I wanted when I got out of prison." She grinned and focused on her burger for a moment. She had a hard time believing how much time had already passed since then. Everything after getting out was pretty much a blur with everything that had been going on, then showing up here. She almost chuckled at how relaxed she'd allowed herself to get.
"I get it, though. I know Caitlyn's got her favorites." She wasn't going to add 'because she could afford to.' Taking a huge bite of her burger, Vi continued, "Lucky for her I'm not picky, plus she's cute so I'll allow just about whatever."
The words âtentacle stewâ made Adora grimace. Vi was right, that sounded insanely slimy. She couldnât say she wouldnât try it if it was presented to her, but she didnât have high hopes. If sushi didnât sit right with her, she had a feeling something that literally had the word âtentacleâ in it wouldnât be any better.
âI get that, too,â Adora grinned. Catra also had the bonus of those cute little cat tendencies that made Adora completely melt. There was almost nothing she couldnât excuse after seeing her wife be completely adorable. âYou guys finally figured it out, right?â
She was oblivious sometimes, but even she had picked up on Vi and Caitlynâs vibes. It helped that Catra had confirmed it - she was much more in tune to those kinds of things in general - but it was hard to miss in general.
This time, Vi just nodded while chewing, though you could see hints of a knowing smile in the process. After forcing down the bite, she added, "I didn't realize we had anything to figure out, at first. Always just felt something either is or is not and it's pretty straight forward." She grinned as she thought of Caitlyn. "Caitlyn's not so simple, she likes things categorized and defined."
Picking up a few more fries, Vi gazed out into the park and noticed someone tossing a plastic disk back and forth with a small group of kids. She recognized him from the Defense stuff and a few other things around Vallo - Steve Rogers. Pointing with one of her fries, Vi glanced over at Adora. "Okay, how would you rate his ass?"
Adora knew the feeling. She was the same way - categorizing and defining things was her preference. Ironically, however, it had been Catra who had insisted on finding the right word for their relationship when it was still developing. Adora had been doing her best at the time to keep things light and easy so Catra wouldnât run away or feel pressured.
And now here they were, not even a full year after that moment, married and happy. Things had worked out so well, here and at home, if her memories from right after the war were anything to go by.
She nearly choked on a fry of her own when Vi asked her to rate someoneâs ass. They had made jokes about playing an ass-rating game a few days ago, but she had thought it was pretty clear those were jokes. She didnât want to rate anyoneâs ass! Especially Steveâs.
âI donât really look at menâs asses,â she sputtered, her cheeks turning bright red. âItâs - I mean, I guess itâs f-fine?â
Vi immediately blew off her excuses. "Asses are pretty much universal. Gender neutral, I think is the term? 1-10 on shape? 1-10 suspected firmness, unless we get to touch, but I think that'd make things more official. Not that I don't think we could get people to line up." Tilting her head and enjoying Adora's flustered response she shrugged. "But okay, fine. Let's see."
She took another bite of her burger and scanned the park for 'Adora-Appropriate' asses. There. She spied a blond and brunette pair, women, walking together in the park. They seemed to be having a fun conversation, so Vi just pointed. "How about those asses, then?"
Adora was so blown away by what was happening that sheâd actually stopped eating, and she was sure her face was going to permanently feel like it was burning. But okay, fine. If this was how Vi truly wanted to bond, she could do it. Gods, Catra would tease her endlessly when she found out, but what else was new?
She let out an exasperated huff and focused on the couple Vi had pointed out. Carol Danvers and Emmeline Vance. Great. Why was it that all the people in this park seemed to be people she knew from Defense? Was this a specific Outlander park and sheâd just never realized it before?
âI guess⊠eights for both of them.â Hilariously, she felt like an ass for objectifying women she was familiar with by looking at their asses, but at least they were nice asses. And maybe Vi was right that she should objectively be able to rate Steveâs, but it was just too uncomfortable.
A half-choked laugh was Vi's response, as a few small pieces of fry leapt from her mouth. She stopped a second, tears in her eyes as she swallowed all down and gave Adora a hearty pat on the shoulder. "I knew you'd come around," she added, grinning brightly. She briefly considered asking Adora to explain what an eight meant to her, but tossed it. Baby Steps! HoweverâŠ
"Eights are respectable. What's your baseline for a ten, without saying Catra?" Vi clapped her hands together to knock off some salt from the fries and leaned back, ready for an answer. And ready for her turn, if Adora was prepared to eyeball someone.
Adora took another big bite of her burger in lieu of answering. She knew Vi wasnât going to let her off the hook, but sheâd at least buy herself a few seconds. She probably only had a couple bites to go; it only made sense to use them for these opportune moments.
She shrugged as she swallowed. âI dunno, eight seemed like a good number,â she admitted sheepishly. She didnât really have criteria, and no would ever top her wife, for sure. She figured she could just say whatever number came to mind when she looked. âWhatâs yours? How about her?â
She gestured as subtly as she could toward a tall, redheaded woman. She didnât look familiar - Adora couldnât say if she was a local or an Outlander, but she was just glad it wasnât someone she knew this time around.
"Just tossing out numbers with no justification? Bad form for a defense coordinator, Adora," joked Vi, glancing in the direction that the other woman was 'gesturing.' She almost laughed at how she'd tried to point at someone without making it obvious. She'd have to teach Adora how to point with your chin, one of the only useful things she'd learned in the prison. With a calculated lean back on the bench, Vi crossed her ankle over her knee and considered the ass in question.
"Let's see. I generally prefer the curves up top, hers are more towards the bottom. That probably means she's on her feet too much, but not in an exercising sort of way. Still, her partner would have something to grab onto, so that's a point in her favor. A bit of a wiggle when she walks, so it's cute but not firm. Hm. I'll go with a seven, maybe an eight if she puts on tights." With that, she turned her stare over at Adora with a lazy smile.
Adora was just dumbstruck. She didnât even get a chance to protest that ass-rating and Defense coordinating were in no way the same thing; she was too in awe of what had just happened. That was a very thorough analysis of someone Vi had only seen today and from a good few yards away. She would never have put that much thought into checking out random peopleâs (well, womenâs) butts.
âMaybe you should get a job doing this,â she joked, rubbing at her red cheek with one hand. âOr maybe try it with Catra. I think her thinking would be more up your alley than mine.â
To no one's surprise, least of all not her's, Vi found that she enjoyed flustering Adora. "Let's not start talking about going up anyone's alleys just yet," she responded, winking. "Besides, it's more enjoyable to assess with someone you may not agree with." Yes, she absolutely emphasized the pun and tried very hard to do it with a straight face. On top of that, temporarily rendering Adora speechless even for a moment was something she was going to take pride in.
"But fine, fine, if it's making you uncomfortable, I won't ask you to do it any more." She gestured with her chin at some 30-something blond running down the pavement with her headphones in. "After this last one."
Adora rolled her eyes and cleared her throat but still shifted her gaze to where Vi had indicated with her chin (which was much smoother - why hadnât she thought of that?). Not the type to allow herself to be one-upped, she considered all the points Vi had mentioned while she studied this womanâs ass a little more intently.
âNine,â she decided after a couple of moments. âHigher like you said and obviously because she exercises since sheâs exercising now. Looks firmer but still, uh, sizeable?â Vi was right - touching would be helpful, but the very thought of approaching a total stranger so brazenly was too much. âBetter?â
Vi's response was raised eyebrows and a slow clap. "You're really getting the hang of it. And," she noted, nodding approvingly, "If you're using my ratings as an example, it clearly means we have similar tastes. But all right, I'll stop making you judge asses for today."
With a smile, she went back to chowing down on her burger and, eh, enjoying the scenery. In hindsight, she realized she would have expected to find herself sitting in a park, with a friend, shooting the shit and just having a normal fucking day. She had been convinced that things like that just weren't in the cards for a girl from the Lanes, no matter how much she puffed herself up and tried to put on a front. Still, it was nice.
They probably did have similar tastes. Neither Caitlyn nor Catra were lacking in that department, and Adora couldnât say what theyâd seen wasnât objectively appealing. It had just never been something sheâd focused heavily on - at least outside of Catraâs. She was always going to be the perfect example for Adora, and no one could come close to touching that.
She polished off the last of her burger, then scooped up two fries, leaving the two remaining for Vi. She washed it all down with a big drink from her smoothie (blueberry mango today). âHave you ever heard of smash rooms?â
Vi snatched up the last two fries and paused before putting them in her mouth when she heard the question. Then she sat the fries back down and looked at Adora for a moment. She wasn't familiar with a smash room, but she sure as fuck knew what it sounded like. Turning in her seat, she turned on the bench and gave her friend an appraising look.
"Look, you're absolutely stunning, but my relationship with Caitlyn - it's not open-ended. You and me? Not going to work out, even if we rent some smash room."
It took Adora a moment of blinking in surprise before she realized why Vi had jumped to that conclusion, and she once again flushed red. âNo, thatâs not what I meant! My relationship isnât either, for the record. A smash room - itâs also called a rage room, I think. It just means a place where you can go to break a bunch of stuff!â
"Oh, shit. You should've led with that," answered Vi, twisting back to normal and then killing the fries as if she hadn't just misconstrued that her friend wanted to bang on the sly. "Never heard of them, but they sound pretty awesome. You might've found me a new hobby, princess." A place where she could just break stuff and no one would send her a bill or toss her out? Sounded amazing.
âWell, letâs toss these bags and we can find one to check out.â Adora was already opening her phone to search for the nearest within walking distance, still sipping on her smoothie. Once she found one with a good rating (four and a half stars), she crumpled up her wrappers and stood up to toss it all in the trash can. âThereâs one called Destruction Junction not too far from here? Itâll get us out of the cold, too.â
Not to be left looking like an idiot, Vi quickly crumpled up her wrappers, too. She probably would've just left them there otherwise. So many new good behaviors to learn in this place. Now if she ate in public with Caitlyn, she'd know what to do. Mentally earning points already.
"Well then, what're we waiting for? Let's go smash stuff."