WHAT: Taking a trip to satisfy a craving leads to mushroom bites gdi WHERE: Vallo Forest WHEN: Backdated to January 13th WARNINGS: Not really STATUS: Complete
Catra was annoyed, and that was fine. That was a common feeling. When was she not annoyed at some point throughout the day? Someone could just breathe in her general direction the wrong way and there it was, hello annoyance my old friend. Mushrooms–mushrooms were running amuck, and while she wasn’t one to normally underestimate what Vallo could throw at them, it was also just–
Mushrooms, man.
“I don’t want to be cooped up all day,” was what she told Teela, and they had dared to venture off to a nearby settlement and hunt down this little sweets shop that served killer milkshakes because she just really wanted one, but as a rule of thumb she never went out by herself. Melog or Clawdeen were usually with her, and if it wasn't them, it was someone. That could be annoying too, sometimes; rarely being able to go somewhere by herself. It’s not like she didn’t understand.
She was just a little crabby today, and a little hormonal, and Adora hadn’t checked in with their earpiece in awhile–which didn’t mean anything, she wasn’t alone, but.
Catra let out an angry mrrrrpppp noise as she stuck the straw in her mouth, tail lashing. Teela was good company. She had been missed. This milkshake–strawberry, with loads of whipped cream–was amazing, and she was doing her best to look on the bright side.
Teela hadn’t exactly been assigned Catra duty, but with Adam and Adora out dealing with the angry mushrooms, it was pretty clear someone should stay back. Randor and Marlena were around, but any spouse worth their salt would need an occasional break from even the best in-laws. They were holed up in the guest room they were staying in anyway, and while Teela didn’t want to make any assumptions about what they were doing (because, uh, no thanks), it was agreed upon to let them be, uninterrupted.
That left her to buddy up with Catra, which she was actually more than happy to do, despite the generally grumpy vibes. She knew they weren’t directed at her, so she didn’t mind. She just did her best to keep Catra entertained; they had always been in good standing with each other, and being the twins’ more sensible halves had forged a bond that meant a lot to her.
She had expected to stay on Darla for the day, but when Catra suggested they go out for milkshakes, Teela agreed – because why not? They weren’t on red alert with the angry mushrooms. They hadn’t taken over the whole forest, at least not from the reports Adora and Adam had been receiving. They were a nuisance, sure, but not an unavoidable one. They managed to get to the sweets shop Catra was craving without any trouble, and she left with a minty milkshake in hand, expecting the walk home would be just as seamless.
The angry little noise emitting from her friend made her turn her head, brushing a few stray strands of red hair back from her eyes and raising her eyebrows. “Still haven’t heard from Adora?”
“Mmmm,” Catra hummed, and released the straw with a pop. “I haven’t.”
Which, like–it was fine, if she had someone with her then she didn’t need Catra chatting up a storm in her ear, or eavesdropping on a conversation that didn’t include her. They were just a convenient, hands off method of communication for emergencies and during the times Adora was patrolling by herself (even with the companionship of one of their large cats). If something happened, she’d know.
Pushing the exit doors of the shop open, she sighed. “We talked about how hard it is being separated when stuff like this happens recently. But–the talks don’t always make it easy to deal with? These are fucking fungi, they shouldn’t be that problematic so whatever. I’m just having a hard time adjusting to not being out there, too. I’m used to murder.”
Was she even cut out for that stay-at-home life? They had talked about that too. Catra wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but the thought of being away from Finn while they were so young just to go back to patrol didn’t sit well with her.
Teela slurped at her straw thoughtfully for a moment. She could understand that. Going from being active in these situations to not had to be trying. She had taken a purposeful step back from active Defense upon her return (those missing months were still a mystery but one she’d begrudgingly accepted at this point) and signed up for Reserves instead. Catra had stepped back, too, but it was more circumstance than choice. Such a big change had to be tough.
Even knowing Adora could handle herself, it had to be tough. Teela would be much more paranoid if she didn’t have a link to Adam that soothed her nerves.
The best tact for now, she decided, was steering Catra away from immediate worry and on towards more future thoughts. She and Adora had a lot upcoming this year; starting a family was a big deal, something she couldn’t fathom herself just yet.
“Are you planning to go back after the baby comes? I’m sure there will still be plenty of murder to do in a year.”
That question yielded another sigh. Catra grabbed the tip of her straw, dragging it up and down through the plastic lid–the friction made it a little squeaky. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t… think so? If I do, it’ll be when they’re a little older.”
No real decision had been made. This was their first kid, and she hadn’t a clue how things would play out for their future, or what their new normal would be like. Things were always shifting, changing. “We talked about daycare options,” Catra continued to explain and shrugged her shoulders. “Which works for a lot of people but I don’t… I don’t want that for Finn. Not when they’re a baby and they can’t talk and I just–what if something happens to them and they’re too little to communicate what that is, you know? I want to be there. I need to be there.”
Maybe she was overreaching with that, but with the dream with Shadow Weaver feeling so fresh in her mind still? A bunch of hypothetical scenarios came up and she worried about them. It was pointless and unproductive, and she’d love to be able to not do that.
Then she waved her hand off vaguely as they walked. “I’ve always fought. I’ve done it less here but I still did it. Sometimes I feel like I need it? I’ve never–I don’t know how to let it go, I guess. How does anyone go from,” she raised a hand and clawed at the air like a damn kitten, “fucking grrrr to staying at home with a baby?”
Gods, she didn’t mean to unload this on her.
“Sorry, Teela. I’m moody.”
Teela waved the apology away. “It’s not moodiness,” she disagreed with a shake of her head. “You’re going through some huge changes, all at once, and it’s probably just going to keep tumbling from there. Becoming a mom is a really big deal. You should have a lot of thoughts about it.”
She hadn’t experienced it, but she wasn’t unfamiliar with motherhood. She’d had a few friends in the guard when she was young who already had kids or were having kids at the time. Her experience was all secondhand, but she’d seen the difference for people who lived a similar lifestyle to Catra and Adora – really active and hands-on – and how it all shifted when their families grew.
Her own mother had made a different choice, and sometimes Teela still wished she hadn’t.
“Daycare isn’t for everyone, but you don’t have to be Finn’s sole caretaker either,” she went on. She’d never have considered the daycare angle through the same lens, but considering all Catra had been through on Etheria, it made a certain kind of sense. “There are people here you can trust to help out. I intend to be one of them, if Vallo cooperates this time. So, it wouldn’t be impossible for you to take shifts with Adora.”
Catra let that simmer for a moment.
“Yeah,” she eventually said, thinking about it. Patrols didn’t have to be full-time. She could do Reserves like Teela did, couldn’t she? Pop in when there was a shortage, or when things got a little extra dicey. She could fight alongside Adora again every now and then–as long as someone they trusted, who was strong (like Teela, or Adam, or Scorpia, or the grandparents if Vallo let them stay) was with Finn. “That’s a good point.”
Assuming she even could stay away from Finn when things got particularly dangerous. She knew Adora liked the idea of the two of them stowed away on Darla, safe from the insanity when things hit hard. Their home was fortified. It was unlikely to take any serious damage. But Adora being out there without her in that scenario was just–ugh.
Catra chewed on her straw. They were on the outskirts of the settlement now, feet hitting the dirt path towards the spaceship. No Waypoints. No teleportation. She wasn’t interested in throwing up. There was some rustling, but it wasn’t unusual–lots of critters around and about, though her ears twitched to listen closely in case. “What about–you and Adam? I’ve noticed you making eyes at him so I’m guessing things are a little better?”
Teela meant no pressure whatsoever. She wanted Catra to feel soothed, to see that she could still work a bit of that action in – get out that violent itch if that was what she needed. But she wouldn’t be surprised if she waffled or changed her mind entirely by the time Finn came. The birth was a long way off still, and the process was a roller coaster.
She took another sip of her shake, standing up a little straighter when she noticed Catra’s ears twitching. The role of Sorceress came with many gifts but enhanced hearing wasn’t one of them; she’d have to trust her keen-eared friend on that one.
“We were getting better when I disappeared,” she said with a shrug. “Trying, anyway. But after being gone for almost eight months, it’s hard to stay where we’re standing. The King and Queen being here has been taking up his attention right now, and I understand that.”
Assuming Randor and Marlena stuck around, eventually, their existence here would be more normal, and maybe she and Adam could dig into their relationship more. But she wasn’t worried. She was content where they were right now.
“Oof, your patience,” Catra smirked at her. Though she supposed that made sense; Teela knew the parents well, she knew the baggage Adam carried with his dad, she knew that it wasn’t some personal slight against their relationship but more of the fact that there was so much happening. “Nothing wrong with throwing him up against the wall and setting a time for a talk, though–but romantically, you know?”
There was a little more rustling, a weird noise in the distance she couldn’t describe but that also wasn’t entirely unusual, either. Her hand went to her hip to touch the whip coiled up on her belt, just to confirm its presence. It was there if she needed it. Her claws were always the first thing to be used but a whip allowed her to defend herself with some distance between her and a target. Close combat wasn’t an option.
“I’ll keep that in mind next time I’ve got him in wall-throwing quarters,” Teela replied with a smirk of her own. It was a good point, and she did need to reach out and make a bit of an effort. She was the one who’d been gone – stood to reason she should be the one to broach a more serious conversation.
Her eyes followed Catra’s hand to her belt, and she scanned their surroundings to see if anything stood out as a threat. “What do you hear? What direction?”
“Kind of everywhere,” Catra answered, slowing her stroll to a complete stop. What she wanted to do was get the sound of their footsteps out of the way so she could listen better, and whatever those sounds were began to close in. It wasn’t anything airborne. It wasn’t high up in the trees.
It was dragging feet, twigs broken under pressure, bushes shifting as things moved through them. The foliage around the path was tall and thick–which meant their visibility sucked, and they’d have trouble seeing anything coming from their sides.
Catra heard the first vocal sound. A moan. That was when her reflexes kicked in.
Whip coming undone, she shot it through the tall shrub next to her and had her weapon wrap around something that pulled. It was a blind shot, and the attempt was met with slight success because it had snatched something up, and when she pulled, it was–
“What the fuck is that,” she breathed, surprised over how hideous this mushroom was because–the teeth? The boils? Were those boils?? The whip was around one of its tiny arms but it wasn’t as tight as she had liked, and it had fallen to its side once she dragged it to the open, and it saw her leg and decided to take a bite out of it.
Catra shrieked, and the strawberry milkshake was fucking lost as it dropped over its bulbous head, spilling tragically.
Teela froze beside Catra, straining her ears to hear what she heard. The moan was so out of place she almost didn’t believe it was real. It wasn’t until Catra’s whip shot out and she had dragged the source out of the foliage around them that it fully set in and she took an instinctive step back.
She hadn’t actually witnessed any of their shroom attackers in person yet. She’d seen intel from the Defense teams with images, but it was a sight to witness in person. This one looked almost like it was melting, although there were spots on its long head that seemed to be bulging like a pus-filled boil about to pop. She was half-expected they would – instead, it chomped down on Catra’s leg, and her responding shriek was unholy.
And it all unfolded so fast that Teela hadn’t even reacted.
That changed the next second. She stepped up beside the mushroom, shoving her boot into one of those spots on its head and shoving hard enough for it to release and go skittering backward. That bite wound was gaping and bleeding, she’d have to heal it, but she could hear rustling in the trees around them and knew if they didn’t move, the shroom’s brethren would start amassing around them. They didn’t have time to waste.
“On my back,” she commanded Catra, crouching and pulling her forward by the wrist. “We need to go before we’re outnumbered.”
Catra got bit. That didn’t happen often. It surprised her more than anything, although the wound fucking hurt - the teeth had been big and gnarly, and it had clung until Teela introduced her foot into the situation. Balance wasn’t her friend at the moment, and she had a quick overwhelming feeling of panic about falling (because wasn’t falling bad when were you knocked up?) up until her friend grabbed her.
Phew, okay. It was fine. It was going to be fine.
Blood soaked her leggings, and she felt a sharp pain spread up her leg but she had always been good at dealing with it - she’s had worse wounds. “Please don’t teleport me,” she requested through grit teeth, hopping up onto her back and happy that she wasn’t so far along yet that her stomach got in the way much. Arms around her shoulders, legs around her waist. “We gotta move–I’m hearing them get closer!”
Shit. Teleportation had been Teela’s instinct, but she knew Catra was sensitive to it. She could run, but while the mushrooms weren’t fast, they were fast enough, and she didn’t want to be bitten next. She could only kick so many of these things at a time while trying to actively move.
Onto the more creative move – flight. She’d rather it have been on a skiff or something more comfortable, but they didn’t have that luxury right now. She tucked her arms around Catra’s thighs – which required losing her milkshake, too, but oh well – and made sure she was securely in place. “Just hold on tight.”
The next minute, she’d shot off into the air. She made sure they were high enough off the ground before she eased up on speed, wanting to make sure there were no nauseous aftereffects for Catra via this method either. Even at a more moderate speed, it didn’t take them long to get back to Darla, and she set down on her feet at the edge of the ramp just a few minutes later.
“How’s your leg?”
If teleportation had been their only hope then, yeah, she would have sucked it up–and probably have thrown up in Teela’s hair, honestly. Last time she dared take a Waypoint because she was too tired to walk, her lunch ended up in a bush and it was a terrible time because vomiting sucked. The flight thing caught her off guard, and that she could at least stomach.
A flying piggyback ride. Not on her bingo card for today, but definitely preferred over getting swarmed by biting zombie mushrooms. That thing smelled dead, too.
“Hopefully not poisoned,” Catra strained out with a smirk, lowering herself down onto the ramp. Putting weight on it was making it tough to endure and it gave her a moment to take a look good at it, and that was–shit did that thing chomp her good. The fabric around the bite wound was ripped, and the teeth left behind good-sized puncture holes that were bleeding freely and were beginning to make a small puddle. “More upset that I lost my milkshake and left behind my whip.”
The real tragedy of the afternoon.
Sucking in a deep breath, she put a hand over her bump (because somehow that gave her reassurance that they were okay, too) and lifted the wounded leg with a wince. “I only really let Adora heal me but… your magic doesn’t seem bad, and I trust you? If you don’t mind.”
“I’ll track the whip down later,” Teela promised, kneeling down with a reassuring smile. She knew Catra wasn’t too fond of magic, and she got it. She’d held a grudge against magic herself after everything that had happened with the Adam/He-Man debacle, but it hadn’t been anywhere close to what Catra had endured. She knew that.
She appreciated that she was an exception to that rule. Her magic wasn’t bad, and even thought she’d wanted to deny it for so long, it was intrinsically a part of her. She was glad Catra was permitting her to help – she’d planned to ask permission to but been beaten to the punch. They could have called Adora home if they needed to, but this was a problem in need of an immediate solution.
Her powers were Grayskull based as well, so the action was overall the same as when Adora healed. A moment of concentration, a golden glow, and Catra’s leg was healed up as if nothing had ever happened. “There we go. You’re good now. Just remind me never to let you talk me into a leisurely stroll through the forest during invasions of man-eating things.”
It was a magic she was more used to. Not exact–Adora’s just felt different, like it was made of warmth and love and poetic stuff like sunshine and stupid rainbows. Teela’s had warmth too, and when the glow overtook her injury she let out the breath she’d been holding it.
And like that, the bite wound was non-existent. The blood remained and she’d probably end up tossing these leggings away but she was fine. They were fine.
“Taking a skiff next time,” she snorted a little chuckle, flexing her leg to test the range and see if there was a twinge of anything and, nope. Perfectly healed. So much for a harmless walk out for a craving though, goddamn. “Thanks, though. For coming with me and getting us out of there. Guess that just proves the point that I should stay under house arrest when things get weird, ugh.”
Catra sighed. She should probably send a mass text to Defense people with coordinates to that area so they could check it out and do their dutiful slaughtering before someone else got bit at, too.
Teela pressed her lips together sympathetically and sat down beside Catra, giving her a brief, comforting shoulder squeeze. “It doesn’t have to be for good,” she pointed out again. “But for now, yeah. Whenever you need people-shaped company, I’ve got your back, though. And honestly, that move with the whip was awesome.”
The consequences of that move had been less awesome, but there was no way either of them could have predicted exactly that. These mushroom invaders were varied and wild. It was one thing to know they may bite and another to experience it, especially when the path seemed to be clear.
It wasn’t permanent, yeah. Catra had to keep telling herself that. “Not as awesome as the flying though,” she countered, leaning back into her elbows as she took a deep breath. There was blood on the ramp still–which wasn’t unusual, considering their lives, but she knew that ought to be cleaned up eventually. “I mean, if you had to teleport I would have sucked it up–and then probably barfed on your hair. Don’t want to put you through that, you know?”
“Thanks for the consideration,” Teela chuckled, reaching back to fluff up the red locks playfully. “I figured flying was a safer bet for the sake of your stomach, but I hadn’t considered the potential ramifications to my hair. Extra glad I made that call now.”
She rolled her shoulders and stood again, offering Catra both her hands to stand up. “Let’s head inside. Maybe Marlena will treat us to some unburnt toast. I think she and the toaster are finally friends.”
“Toast, whether its unburnt or not, isn’t appetizing to me like my poor milkshake was,” was Catra’s slight protest, nose wrinkled at the suggestion but– she took Teela’s hands, using the leverage to get back up on her feet. “But we’ll see. Can’t be any worse than her attempt to make grilled cheese in the microwave and getting melted cheddar everywhere.”
That had been kind of a nightmare to clean, but they’d make sure to guide Marlena with very explicit step-by-step instructions and hope for the best.