WHAT: Adora learns a SHOCKING NEW THING about Catra: she's a bowler WHERE: Darla WHEN: Tonight WARNINGS: Nothing, they're dumb fluffballs in this one STATUS: Complete
One of the many wonders of living in Vallo was the internet. Theyâd had technology back in Etheria, but it was nothing like this. The way the people of Vallo (and apparently, of Earth) were connected through the internet, particularly social media, was like nothing theyâd ever experienced back on Etheria. It was enlightening and frustrating, fantastic and depressing â and you could experience all of those emotions in just one day when you were invested in what was happening online.
Social media was its own special kind of rabbit hole. It was hard to ignore, especially when most of her friends were on it all the time. Adora didnât partake much, but she had all the accounts. Sheâd really taken a liking to Instagram since she and Adam started their photography classes at the community college; there were a few recent batches of photos up that were her best attempts to be artsy. The rest of it she really just scrolled through when she had a little time where she was doing nothing.
TikTok was one of her favorites. Sheâd fallen down the hole that was Wedding TikTok when she was planning for her wedding to Catra, and it had been part of the reason sheâd lost her mind in the process. There were too many options to take into consideration, too many horror stories to avoid, too many brides being The Most Extra, and it had taken its toll on her naturally anxiety-ridden brain. But she was a much more casual browser now.
Catra was making dinner â and it smelled delicious â so Adora was entertaining herself on her phone in the living room while she was in the kitchen. And that was how she stumbled across one of Lanceâs videos, eyes widening the second she realized what she was seeing. She marched straight into the kitchen, phone in hand, and held it out to her wife.
âYou bowl?â
It did smell delicious up in this bitch, thanks - there was a quesadilla recipe she wanted to try involving sweet potatoes, black beans, bits of steak. Catraâs biggest obstacle was lightly pan frying the quesadillas just right to where the outer shell wasnât scorched and the cheese was properly melted. It was a delicate balance. Her first few attempts in the past were okay but tonight was, like, the epitome of chefâs kiss.
They were coming out great! She was really proud of herself, okay.
Now that Adam was living with them she made sure to cook a little extra, too. Apparently when you wield something overrated like THE POWERRRRR it increases your appetite, and Adora and Adam seemed to have twin stomachs. Leftovers were rare here, but she felt kind of good about that? It was reassurance that she wasnât totally sucking at this. Occasionally she took lessons from Iggy, and she was good with watching videos and adapting it to the kitchen but she had come a long way from boxed macaroni and cheese.
Music was on, and she was in little short-shorts and her shirt from PRIDE and she was in the zone except here comes Adora, barreling in with some accusing tone about something.
Catra froze in plating the most recently finished quesadilla, blinking owlishly over at her wife to look at her phone - then at her face - before scoffing indignantly. âPfft, no.â Wait. Wrong. That wasnât entirely truthful. She squinted and just shook her head, turning away to put together the next quesadilla. âI donât know, sometimes. Itâs a Fright Zone thing.â
Adora didnât mean to be accusing. It was shock. She thought she knew e v e r y t h i n g about Catra, but clearly that wasnât the case. She hadnât known she bowled, never would have guessed it. Adora had gone a few times with Leon, and it was fun, but it didnât seem like something Catra would enjoy. But here she was, enjoying it â even bowling a strike and looking smug as hell when she turned around to flip off Lanceâs camera after the pins fell.
She was all set to tell her âyou know this means weâre going bowling together, right?â when yet another bomb was just dropped like it was nothing. She blinked, brows furrowing and jaw dropping. âItâs a â what? You did this in the Fright Zone?â
Sheâd lived in the Fright Zone for eighteen years, and she had no idea anyone bowled. It was a fairly popular sport on Etheria, but in the Fright Zone? That hardly counted as part of Etheria during the war. It was like its own separate island (just not literally, like it was here in Vallo) of sadness and depression and red skies. Did they have a bowling alley there??
âIt wasnât my idea,â Catra mumbled under her breath avoiding eye contact - chalk it up to meal preparation right now, maybe. Same with the slightly flushed cheeks. âI didnât even know what it was but Entrapta was talking about it, then it spiraled to Scorpia and she just - I guess got Lonnie and Kyle and Rogelio hyped up about it?â
Another quesadilla hit the pan, and she was on standby with a spatula so she could flip it over in about thirty seconds to get it equally warmed up. âThey found a place that not even Imp liked going into and Entrapta rigged something up, and then the next thing I know I get dragged into it because apparently I needed to âloosen up.ââ Catra rolled her eyes and waved the tongs around as she spoke. âAnd then I was like âIâm going to tell Hordak about thisâ because we had a planet to conquer, you know? Who has the time? But I didnât. So it just⊠became this thing.â
Phew, that was a mouthful. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand and flipped the quesadilla to the other side. It wasnât a big deal. It was a lame sport that was sometimes fun and she just happened to be really, really good at it.
(Because of practice, apparently.)
âOh. I guess that makes sense.â Adora had to admit she felt a tiny bit better; it hadn't just been something she was excluded from for years without knowing it. Of course bringing bowling to the Fright Zone would have been Entraptaâs idea. She probably hadnât even realized before that it wasnât a thing there â not much that would constitute fun was â and that girl loved a good mechanical project.
She was surprised they hadnât stumbled across it yet during their Fright Zone cleanup efforts, though. But in fairness, the place was huge, and if it had been tucked away into some corner no one knew about, it made sense they just hadnât made their way there yet. Unless Scorpia and Catra were secret bowling there without her. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the thought, but she decided not to mention it. That was her own insecurity and it was silly.
âWell, we should go sometime,â she offered, tucking her phone into the left hand pocket of her basketball shorts. âJust you and me, I mean. It might be a fun date. It looks like you had fun with Lance, at least. I thought you guys were going mini-golfing?â
That sounded like fun, too, but Adora had been out with Adam taking pictures for their class, so she couldnât go. Not that she was asked. And it was okay for Catra to do friend things without her, obviously. She realized she probably sounded stupid jealous, but it was what it was now.
âUh, so - we did...â Catra trailed off, wincing, plating the current quesadilla and moving onto the next like some automatic assembly line. The pile she was making was impressive - there was a simple dipping sauce mix she was going to put together too, sour cream the main ingredient. âTurns out it was kind of lame.â I broke something. But it was an accident! Her claws were just - really sharp, okay? Not having them retracted was a mistake.
It was kinda funny that this hadnât been brought up before though. Not telling Adora hadnât been intentional, but she also didnât see any urgency to bring it up? Part of her was a little embarrassed. Digging deeper would reveal that she had some guilt about even finding any enjoyment in an activity during her years of being one of the worst people on Etheria. That was unnecessary shit to wade through. No point in getting into it.
But she had fun with it in Vallo sometimes. âWe can do a date if you want,â Catra shrugged breezily. âScorpia found a bowling alley that was pretty cool. It was also kind of like a blacklight party? Food and drinks were actually good, too.â
Alright, well, Adora could scratch mini-golf off her list of potential date ideas if it was âlameâ, then. Funnily enough, that was exactly how sheâd assumed Catra felt about bowling, but that had just been proven completely untrue. Her mind was still kind of blown by this revelation, honestly. It wasnât big in the overall grand scheme or anything, but it was an unexpected surprise.
âYeah.â She took a deep breath and smiled, tucking her loose hair back behind her ears. She leaned down to kiss her wifeâs cheek. âIâd like that a lot. Sorry I just kinda barged in here. Iâm not mad, but I want you to know you canâŠtell me these things. Stuff you like doing?â
She realized that sheâd probably overreacted coming in here. Just a little. She didnât want Catra thinking she was mad or that sheâd done something wrong. She was allowed to like things and do things without Adora, of course; they had their own lives in addition to the one they shared.
It was just⊠She didnât want to miss anything. Total FOMO syndrome, she could admit that. Begrudgingly.
âYou literally know everything else I like doing, dummy,â Catra smirked, finishing off the last quesadilla to add to the pile. The dipping sauce would take, like, thirty seconds - all it involved was mixing some basic ingredients. She was eager to let go of the tongs, wash her hands and occupy herself for five seconds by doing something better.
Which involved leaning up to press a kiss to her nose as she patted Adoraâs cheek. âNice to know that I can still surprise you after fifteen years,â she chuckled. âNow move - get out of my way so I can get some stuff out of the fridge and finish this up. Pick a day when you want me to kick your ass during bowling too, âcause Iâm really good at it, you donât even know.â
Adora wrinkled her nose and let her lip jut out into a tiny pout for a moment, then did as she was told, stepping aside so she was no longer directly in Catraâs path. She pushed herself up onto an unused space on the kitchen island, letting her legs swing a bit while she watched her wife at work. She was always graceful, but there was something extra appealing about seeing her in the kitchen. There were some domestic goddess vibes there, like it or not; it wasnât all Adoraâs personal fantasy.
âI dunno, maybe Sunday?â she suggested. âNo shifts.â She leaned forward a bit to take a good whiff of the quesadillas. It really did smell delicious, downright heavenly. Quesadillas were always a hit with her, though there wasnât much in the way of food she didnât enjoy, really. Especially Catraâs food.
Sour cream, hot sauce, a packet of seasoning procured - then a small mixing bowl, and she quickly worked to get it all mixed together with a rubber spatula. âEhhhhh, maybe,â Catra said with a small shrug. âGotta check with my wife or whatever.â
There, done! Dipping sauce finished, quesadillas too. They could eat whenever. But first she was wedging herself between Adoraâs thighs, and slipping her arms around her waist and pressing a kiss onto her formerly pouty lips (she noticed). âBut I should be able to pencil you in,â she grinned smugly, tail grazing up her wifeâs calf. âI guess.â
Adora dipped down to return that kiss without any protest, cupping Catraâs face in her hands and grinning at her sheepishly. âWell, thank you for making time for me, I guess,â she teased in return, twining her fingers into that long mane. âWe can make it a lunch date since we have Princess Squad dinner that night.â
That gave her pause, though, just for a moment. âAnd maybe we can all go together on a different Sunday, maybe? We could do teams. Orââ Her eyes lit up and her grin went from sheepish to flat-out excited. âMaybe we could do an Outlander league! That would be so cool!â
Uh, so. Catra did⊠not share that enthusiasm. It wasnât as if she had a look of utter disdain or anything but her lips parted like she was about to say something, and she may have let out an awkward, nervous chuckle. âI mean, Iâm down for going there with friends as a social thing and breaking up into teams every now and again. But the league thing - might be too much commitment? For me?â
She didnât want to burst Adoraâs bubble, and if Adora for whatever reason wanted to do that - fine! She would be supportive. Pressing a big, fat kiss into her neck she stepped away and grabbed the wide plate of food she had just finished making. âAre you gonna wanna come eat or what? Bring the sauce with you.â
Adora hummed, but she didnât deflate nor comment on Catraâs refusal. And thatâs what it was, she knew it, but she wasnât worried. Her mind could be changed. Theyâd try a few outings, and then theyâd circle back to the idea. If she could play with Scorpia, Entrapta, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio on what sounded like a regular basis? She could do a league. And Adora would win her over; she was uniquely qualified to charm her favorite catgirl
âYes, wifey,â she chuckled. She pushed off the counter, scooped up the bowls of sauce, and trailed out of the kitchen in Catraâs footsteps.