InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Breathe, George. Take a moment"

ᴄᴀᴛʀᴀ ʀᴀɪɴʙᴏᴡꜰɪꜱᴛ-ᴍᴇᴏᴡᴍᴇᴏᴡ (hisses) wrote in valloic,
@ 2024-12-13 20:49:00

Entry tags:

!: action/thread/log, she-ra: adora, she-ra: catra

Adora & Catra

WHAT: A little arcade date night
WHERE: Arcade @ Vallo City
WHEN: Tonight
WARNINGS: Low, just fluff
STATUS: Complete

"You know what cheesy romantic thing I might be into? You winning me something dumb with a bunch of arcade tickets that will inevitably end up as Finn’s new favorite toy.”

Tonight was date night, at Adora’s insistence. She loved being a mom. She knew Catra loved being a mom. Finn was the light of their lives, a bundle of fuzzy chaos who was getting more verbose by the day and definitely bossier too. Adora never envisioned so much of her life revolving around taking orders from a toddler, but here she was: a twenty-four-year-old mom traipsing around at the mercy of a seventeen-month-old baby. And that was where date night came in. She needed some one-on-one adult time with Catra, and thankfully, as always, her mom was a champion live-in babysitter who happily took the chance to have some grandma-grandbaby bonding time with Finn. Adora expected to return home that night to find Finn tucked in their crib, dressed in some colorfully mismatched outfit. In the meantime, she had chosen the arcade for her date night with Catra. She wanted something fun and indoors as the chill of winter started to settle around the city. She remembered this place fondly for how well it had contained everyone in their extended party the year before for Catra’s birthday—when the future kids had shown up, and Keith was freshly about five years old. Now, instead of taking over the place, the two of them were passing ships as they stepped inside the half-full establishment. Adora squeezed Catra’s shoulders beneath her arms and said, “So, you pick. Snack bar first or games first?” Yeah, this was nice. They needed a break. The baby phase was easy. Finn was always so easy to please and their little cries were easy to soothe when their basic needs were met, but their toddler phase? It was challenging. Frustrations grew all around. It was a test in patience that Catra was passing fine, although her nerves were frayed and sometimes she wanted to curl up in a vent where no one found her. Arcade date was a good alternative. She and Adora played games like they were competitive toddlers themselves—she anticipated a mix of your reflexes suck at air hockey neener neener neener and let me flop into your strong, gay arms while you feed me fries. “Foooood,” she drawled and sighed in one breath. “I want to remember what it’s like to eat without someone trying to fight me for what I’m eating. That kind of life feels like a distant memory.” “Well, I was planning to fight you for what you’re eating so you wouldn’t be bored,” Adora said with an exaggerated pout. “But I guess I’ll be nice and eat my own food.” She tugged on their joined hands, leading Catra into the cordoned off food section of the arcade. They were technically meant to be kept separate so there would be no food debris on the games, but that rule wasn’t adhered to very strictly. “You think you’re so funny and cute,” Catra snorted, shoving into Adora’s side while they held hands, not breaking her grip the slightest. “I will share a milkshake with you, though. We can put two straws in it and slurp grossly together at the same time.” “Wow, you make it sound so romantic, Catra,” Adora laughed. She led Catra up to the counter where they put their order in—a borderline obscene amount of food that barely counted as dinner and, of course, one big milkshake. Because as gross as Catra may joke it was, there was no way Adora was passing up the opportunity for a cutesy romcom moment. “Booth?” She nodded in that direction, her arms laden down with two heavy trays a few minutes later. Catra had taken the milkshake off her hands, but the rest was on her. She was managing gracefully so far and found herself wondering if she still could with a book on her head, like one of those movie princess training sessions. She kind of doubted it. Catra wasn’t a cruel woman. She may have enjoyed watching Adora work her balancing act with some interest (and lots of amusement), but once they did reach the booth she did the chivalrous thing by taking a tray off her hands to set it down. “And you dropped absolutely nothing,” she whistled and flopped down, scooting down the seat of the booth to make space. As if she’d let Adora sit across from her like a normal person. She wanted body heat and to throw a leg over her lap. “Come here. Sit. We need to exist blankly for two whole minutes.” “Two whole minutes?” Adora echoed, playfully incredulous. “I didn’t know that was even possible anymore.” She grinned, slinging her arm around Catra’s shoulders and leaning in to steal a kiss. “Do you think we can make it that long?” Her own arms swung around Adora’s neck, kissing her back harder. “Nah,” Catra conceded, giving her lips another wallop of a kiss. “Not with your stomach and all of this in front of you. You went waaay overboard, princess. At least we’ve got options.” “This is so not overboard for me,” Adora protested, although she made no move toward the ton of food she’d ordered. She had her hot wife next to her, practically on her lap, and she was pretty sure if she could subsist off kisses, those two would have kept her going for at least a month. “Aren’t you the one always saying my stomach is a blackhole? Which is kinda unfair, really, I don’t eat anywhere near as much as Kara.” “You get close after a lot of She-Ra usage sometimes,” Catra pointed out, not terribly eager to separate from Adora just yet. She wasn’t seduced by food like her other half was, but she was surprised at all this restraint her wife had in the presence of their spread. “Either after patrol, or—” She grabbed her chin between her fingers gingerly and swiped her thumb enticingly against her bottom lip. “You know.” There was no waggling of brows on Catra’s behalf because she had dignity, but it was definitely a waggling of brows comment. Adora grinned broadly, but at the same time, her cheeks warmed up. She could feel the implied waggling of the eyebrows, and she focused on those blue-and-gold eyes she loved so much, her mind wandering to dirtier places. Thinking about that was enough to put a temporary pause on her stomach’s consistent grumbling. “Oh, I know,” she agreed, a little breathless. “And we can have some you know when we get home, maybe. Thank gods for soundproofing.” The heat on Adora’s cheeks made them a little rosy, and Catra kissed each of them with a snort. “Makes me think, actually—with Finn being older, and your mom around…” She trailed off, collecting her thoughts to come up with a more formed idea. “We’ve had dates,” Catra hummed, giving Adora’s nose a gentle tap-tap with her finger, the claw withdrawn just to be cautious. “We haven’t had, like, a week to ourselves. Not since Finn was born. We’ve had a little person dictate our mornings for over a year now.” Adora blinked, processing all that as quickly as she could. Catra was right, of course. They hadn’t really had overnight trips away from Darla since before Finn came along. Honestly, she hadn’t even considered the possibility. Marlena was such a big help, and Adora appreciated her being so willing to step up and be a hands-on grandma, but she hadn’t thought to ask her if she’d want to take Finn a little longer-term than date nights. “You want to go away for a week?” she asked, clarifying. “Where?” “Anywhere,” Catra replied simply, shrugging her shoulders. Vallo was a weird world in the sense that all it was were these islands floating in water—it was overall pretty compact in terms of travel. They’d seen a good chunk of it already. “Could be up high in the mountains, could be in the city, could be in one of those smaller islands. We’d still be close to Finn if an emergency happened.” Which she tried very hard not to think about. She had a lot of anxiety when it came to leaving Finn (particularly when they were infant-sized) and it was what ultimately drove her towards being the stay-at-home mom figure. With time passing she learned to handle the anxieties a little better and not hover so protectively, but the inclination was still definitely there. She’d kill for Finn. But she also wanted some extended childfree days with Adora, selfishly. Adora nodded slowly. She did like the idea of having some time away with Catra. She absolutely did. The last time had probably been for her Horde birthday before Finn was born, after Glimmer had disappeared, and that was nearly two years ago. One of her fears near the end of the pregnancy had been that she would miss being alone with Catra, and while she had, it had never turned to resentment. Finn was the most amazing addition to the family, but being a baby, they sucked up a lot of time and attention. “I’m good with it,” she decided. “I mean, we’ll have to talk to Mom and see if she’s willing, maybe recruit the guys and Kara and Lena for backup, but I think we can figure something out.” With her ears all pointed and perked up, Catra did the very salacious thing by slipping onto her lap in public. There wasn’t a lot of space between them and the booth’s table, but she’d always been both slender and somehow made out of liquid to where she made herself fit. It was a temporary accommodation since she was sure someone who worked there would approach them and rudely be all get a room!!!, but— She kissed Adora sweetly, whispering a devilishly pleased, “Yay.” Adora grinned and kissed her wife back, arms wrapping tight around her back. “I should take you to the hot springs, then we’ll see if that ‘yay’ sticks,” she teased. “You’d have to work very hard to make that ‘yay’ stick,” Catra countered with a happy purr, kissing the spot between her expressive brows and then the bridge of her nose. “But I believe in you.” She slipped off her lap before they got in trouble for something like indecent behavior. “I think I might be able to manage that,” Adora replied. She picked up a mozzarella stick from one of her trays and generously offered it out to Catra first. “Or we could go back to the fancy Serendipity Hills hotel.” “Seems like the setting where drama happens,” Catra quipped, taking the stick with her fingers and waiting to sink her teeth in it. “Might have the urge to propose to you in public in an embarrassing way and emotionally vomit over you, I don’t know.” God, she hoped that wasn’t a thing again and the lady with the reality-warping powers finally sought out the therapy she heavily needed. She knew with the holidays coming that those episodes would circulate again—alongside her infamous tree-topping moment with Scorpia. “Maybe not there then,” Adora chuckled, picking up a stick for herself and biting down. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment but ultimately gave up on deciding right then and there. They would go home and research and figure out something that worked for both of them. Probably not the ski lodge or the hot springs, but there were plenty of other options. “I’m glad we got to do this tonight,” she said, one arm settling back around Catra’s shoulders. “I missed you-and-me time, too, in case that wasn’t clear.” “So you don’t want me to emotionally vomit over you, got it,” she hummed in passing, taking a little bite of what she'd been given—mostly the fried part—and set it down so she could free the straws from their paper prisons. Catra stuck one through each side of the glorious top of classic whipped cream. “But it was clear. You’re kind of an attention hog too, you know.” With her pretty puppy-eyes and pretty-lipped pouts. Needy Adora was always a nice treat. “I am not,” Adora protested, turning her attention to the little carton of popcorn chicken. “I’m just an invested wife. Is that so wrong?” She grinned, popping a piece of chicken into her mouth. “And,” she continued after a moment, “I didn’t say no emotional vomiting, for the record. I just figured that was your way of saying no to that suggestion.” “I go back and forth between ‘aww, sentimental value’ and ‘oh god, I’m so cringe’ when it comes to that place,” she snorted, her tail offering a restless thump against the empty spot on her other side. Catra was grinning back, though, arms crossed over her chest. “That’s definitely the kind of vacation spot that’s going to have me latched onto you constantly for body warmth. I think there’s some spots that are real high up on the mountains—nice view of the stars?” The closest they’d get to them, too. “Yeah, that’s a good point,” Adora acknowledged, scooping up a handful of curly fries. She did like the idea of getting close to the stars. She would never get as close again as a flyer, but that was okay. She was content with where they were in life right now. “Maybe She-Ra can come around to cuddle you for warmth. She runs even hotter than I do.” Catra’s arms didn’t stay crossed for long. She rucked them up Adora’s shirt a bit, palming her sides and that stomach she liked to leave bites on. “I’ve never thought to compare,” she replied coyly, batting those lashes of hers. “You’re pretty hot right now, baby.” “Catra,” Adora squeaked, flushing hot and red. She obviously never minded her wife groping at her, but she hadn’t expected her to go for it so boldly and out of nowhere. She was all for PDA, but it usually didn’t involve her clothes being moved around. Those cheeks, hah. Catra kissed one again. “You getting noisy is what will make people notice,” she purred, and it wasn’t as if she was sliding her hands up to grope at her chest or anything—her hands stayed on safe skin that was mostly blocked by the table. She nipped at Adora’s ear, whispering a provocative, “you’re so easy,” and pulled away. Adora didn’t let her get very far, reaching out to slide a hand across her cheek and pull her in to kiss her properly. She was beginning to think they should have just taken a skiff somewhere isolated where they could make out. As much as she was looking forward to games, she was also very easily enticed. And her wife was very, very enticing. “I like my wife,” she murmured back. “Is that so wrong?” Catra enjoyed being grabbed and pulled, and she went boneless as they kissed, not bothering to fight the sly little smile that curled her lips. Provoking Adora was a skill she’d honed over the years, and translating that from the battlefield and into the more mundane aspects of their life was seamless. And worth it. “Nope,” she murmured back simply, eyes dropping to her mouth for a second far too long—and then back up to her eyes. “You can like me all you want.” “Good.” Adora smiled and stole another kiss before she pulled away. “Now, where’s that shake? I was promised a cheesy romcom reenactment. And then after that, I’m totally gonna kick your fluffy butt at a whole bunch of games.” She lifted her chin and an eyebrow in challenge. Damn. Catra had to succumb to the fact that her teasing backfired; now she was a little hot and bothered by starting the war. A sigh whirled through her lips, the puff of hair lifting her bangs, and she plopped her chin into her palm as her elbow sat on the table. “Your straw awaits,” she smirked, pointing to their shared dessert with her eyes. “Gee, Catra, I appreciate the enthusiasm,” Adora joked, reaching out to place the shake properly between them. It was a good size, and the whipped cream was holding up pretty well. She pulled her straw out a bit and smiled over at Catra. “Almost four years in, and you’re finally getting into the cheesy romance. It’s about time.” “Hey, I’ve gotten you flowers,” Catra retaliated, quirking an eyebrow at her sharply. “I’ve gotten you chocolates. Learned how to cook so you’d love me more. I’ve filled sketchbooks drawing you, just you. I’ve memorized and kissed every scar on your body. I have brought you back from the verge of death with a love confession as I held you tenderly in my arms, and I have vowed to marry you four thousand times. Don’t you dare tell me I haven’t done cheesy romance. I’ve beaten you at it.” And now that she felt challenged, she brought her lips to her straw and waited for Adora to do the same so they could slurp this milk smoothie up. Adora blinked in surprise. She had been joking, but now that Catra had laid out all the wonderfully romantic things she had, in fact, done over the years, guilt and inadequacy washed over her. She was right. She had beaten Adora at it. And none of it was a contest, so that part didn’t really matter. But she couldn’t have come up with a list like that without having a whole obsession wall to work with. She didn’t know what to say, so she just leaned in and took a drink from her side of the milkshake. The straw popped out of her mouth, and Catra came up for air after sucking down a good bit of the milkshake. “I can’t tell if you’re stunned in awe, or if I accidentally gave you a complex,” she leveled, plucking the cherry on top to offer it to her. “Open up, wifey.” “Little bit of both,” Adora admitted with a sheepish smile, accepting the cherry without protest. She chewed for a moment, then leaned into Catra a little more. “Have I mentioned I’m really glad you brought me back from the verge of death with a love confession lately?” “I mean, not lately,” drawled Catra, rolling her eyes into another dimension rather fondly. Her cheek slid into her supporting palm in place of her chin, offering a languid cheshire-cat grin towards her other half. “But the sentiment’s been felt. You know what cheesy romantic thing I might be into? You winning me something dumb with a bunch of arcade tickets that will inevitably end up as Finn’s new favorite toy.” Adora’s smile slid into an easy grin, taking the win where she could get it. Catra knew her so well. She was so unbelievably lucky to have someone who knew her so well, who could tell when she needed a boost and was willing to give it to her. It had always been that way. Catra had always read her like a book, better than anyone else she’d ever known. “Oh, that’s totally gonna happen,” she assured. “Come on, eat some of this so we can get to the games.” She pushed the curly fries in her wife’s direction encouragingly. Catra shoved her foot into Adora’s under the table. “Ew, you’re not the boss of me,” she replied brattily, but then also listened to Adora by grabbing a few to stick into her mouth. “We’d hit the games quicker if you didn’t order a whole feast, by the way.” “Yeah, yeah, well, I did, so eat,” Adora retorted, shoving her foot right back into Catra’s. She happily took her own advice, pulling snacks from different cartons into the empty one in front of her that had once held mozzarella sticks. It may be a feast for some, but for her, it wasn’t much of a stretch. By the time they finished eating and polished off their joint shake, Adora was amped up and ready to tackle some games. She brought Catra back into the main arcade, holding her hand as her eyes swept over all the various options. “Gold Fishin’?” she suggested, gesturing to the side-by-side machines with her free hand before looking to her wife for input. Catra was pretty sure she’d be suffering an insurmountable amount of heartburn tonight with everything Adora put her through, but that was fine—she’d endure it for love. “It’s like mini-basketball,” she assessed, taking the arcade card from her pocket to swipe the machine. “Your hand-eye coordination doesn’t suck. You might actually,” she paused to gasp dramatically, splaying a hand over her chest, “beat me.” Adora swiped her card on the machine to Catra’s left, grinning. “Well, yeah, I want to pick games where I stand a fighting chance,” she said. She scooped up one of the balls that rolled down when the machine began and pitched it forward, aiming for whatever cup she could. It wasn’t too dissimilar from skeeball, so this was probably a Catra win, but she would try her hardest anyway. She missed, and the game made a splashing sound. “Well, that’s discouraging,” she muttered, grabbing another ball. “Aw,” Catra cooed, propping her chin onto Adora’s shoulder as she went to squeeze those hips. “It’s okay, balls aren’t really your thing.” Or hers, obviously, but she grabbed one of the balls to her side to toss, and almost had it. She didn’t care about the miss and grabbed two more to just pelt at the backboard of the game. Adora’s cheeks warmed again at that implication, but Catra wasn’t wrong. Still, she made her most valiant effort, deciding to follow Catra’s lead and just toss the balls with a wish and a hope—until one finally sunk in one of the pink cups around the edge. It was only one hundred points, but it was one hundred more than she had before and a good boost to her confidence. In the end, she didn’t win because her wife was a hot catgirl with way better natural reflexes, but they did come away with a good amount of tickets combined. “Alright, you choose next,” Adora told Catra, taking her tickets and meticulously folding them into a hand-sized pile. “Air hockey,” was Catra’s immediate response, pushing Adora towards the abandoned table with its neon lights. She was hugging her from behind as she pushed her along, nipping at her ear with her razor-sharp teeth until she let her go. No butt squeeze or butt tap because they were in public, and she had her limits, but she’d survive. Mostly. This one was one of her favorites, always giving them a hard and fast match that kind of got their blood pumping because of how quickly they had to react. She had played this a lot with the twins when they were around for her birthday—until they went against one another, and Mara lost to Hope and went to pout about it. She swiped the card, and the table began to make a whirring noise, the little holes sprouting air that would help the puck glide across it with every hit. “Make sure no She-Ra strength accidentally comes out to play,” she pointed at her, nose scrunched in her direction playfully. “These things are pricey to replace.” “I think I can hold back,” Adora replied with a roll of her eyes. She picked up a paddle and wrapped her fingers around the handle, placing it right in front of her goal and arching a cocky, challenging eyebrow at her wife. “Bring it on.” Catra cackled. “Of course you’re gonna guard the hole right away—fine, let’s go.” She set the puck on the table, and it didn’t stay stationary with the air shooting from it; its slide was slow, a bit towards the side. She toyed with it with her own paddle like a kitten pawing at prey for fun, acting like she was going to hit it in one direction and then changing her mind—this happened a few times. Just to make Adora’s anticipation climb. A taunt, as if this was war. And then, she smacked the puck towards the side, and it zig-zagged fast across the table. That zig-zagging did the trick, sinking right past Adora’s too-enthusiastic but valiant attempt to block. She should really have known better by now; she knew Catra’s style and knew that playing guard in a game like this was not the method. She had to be proactive, not reactive. So, when she pulled the puck out of the slot, she whacked it hard in her wife’s direction. “That’s the only one you’re getting by me!” she declared with too much unearned confidence. Catra raised both hands up in the air, wiggling her fingers like an asshole as the puck went right into the goal, giving her wife one point. “Oooohhhh,” she mocked. “And that’s the only one I’m letting you have. Don’t forget that I love you.” She grabbed the puck again on her end, stuck her tongue out, and struck it with her paddle hard. Adora glared at Catra but grinned, her competitiveness kicking into gear. She leaned forward, sticking her arm out what was likely an unfair distance over the table to block and bat the puck back at her wife each time. She wasn’t making any goals, but neither was Catra. She could keep it at a stalemate for a little longer. “What happened to those fancy reflexes, babe?” she teased. Catra had patience for long games. That was her thing. She could do this all day with Adora, but she was also getting a little grumpy over how well she was holding up against her. The sound of the puck getting hit was sharp and constant, like a pop going off every time. “I’ll show you—” Fancy, she would have finished, if she hadn’t hit the puck so hard that bounced off the table and up towards Adora’s face. Adora was definitely more startled than anything when she suddenly got pucked in the face. The paddle fell from her hand as the puck fell to the floor, and she blinked, looking between Catra and the puck while she processed what had just happened. They had played this game a dozen times before, but never before had she gotten pucked in the face. “Okay,” she said, bending down to pick up the puck. She set it back on the table and shoved it back into her own goal. “Point for you, but I think we might be too competitive. Like, officially.” Catra set her paddle down, and covered her mouth with her hands in a oh my fucking goddddd pose that was wide-eyed and lasted for a few seconds. Horror? Disbelief? Was she trying to cover her mouth to hide a growing grin because she just pucked her wife? All of that seemed pretty likely, actually. “I love you,” she slowly gasped, letting her hands drop. “So much. Do you wanna puck me in the face? I’ll let you puck me in the face so hard. Puck me, baby.” Adora laughed. “No, I’m not gonna puck you in the face,” she said. The reaction was cute, if a little over the top. How could she possibly intentionally puck that cute little face? “But while you’re being dramatic…” She grabbed her own paddle, set the puck down, and swept it into Catra’s unguarded goal. “There. Now we’re even.” “I’m not dramatic,” Catra protested, the astonishment melting into a grin as she sauntered over, grabbed Adora by her stupidly beautiful face, and planted a big fat kiss to the spot right between her brows. “Just—you know, don’t wanna give you too much brain damage.” “If that little thing can deal brain damage, I’m pretty much done for,” Adora chuckled, wrapping her arms around her wife and keeping her close. “It didn’t even hurt, just surprised me. But I guess it’s what I get for kinda sorta cheating.” “The only thing you’re straight in is with your morals, you dummy, and that was hardly cheating,” she countered and pressed her lips to the bridge of her nose, and then her lips. Catra grabbed at her hips and snuck a finger up her shirt, playfully pinching what skin she could grab. “I’ll give you points for taunting me.” She pulled away from Adora’s arms, her tail brushing down her forearm, the last thing to touch her hands. “Now let me kick your ass without getting you face-pucked. I’m going to be using the word puck all night and you’re going to hate me.” “I could never hate you,” Adora countered but obediently returned to the table. “But I may charge you a fee every time you say the word puck inappropriately.” She grinned, picking up her paddle and tossing it between her hands on the table. “Puck me, baby.”