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Adora inspected Catra's forlorn figure, seated at the edge of the bed.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, mustering nonchalance with great effort.
Catra gripped the mattress beneath her, evading Adora's gaze.
"I'm not sure," she murmured.
"Well... dinner was fun, though, wasn't it?" Adora prompted, adding a smile.
"It was... nice."
The smile blurred into a grimace, and Adora looked away. "Listen... I know it was awkward. It's probably gonna be awkward for a while. But we want this to work."
"Yeah. I know."
Now the grimace came out in full force. "You, uh... you need anything?"
Catra shook her head, still focused on the same spot on the ground.
"I think I'm just tired."
Nodding, Adora searched the room for something to say. The bleak walls, alas, offered no suggestions. Lost, she sighed.
"Right. I guess I should let you get some rest then, huh?"
"Yeah," Catra mumbled. "Probably."
A second of silence passed before Adora, resigning herself, turned to leave. She had only just reached the doorway, though, when Catra spoke up again.
"Actually, Adora...?"
Adora spun around on one heel, steadying herself against the doorframe and trying to flash a cool grin, as if she hadn't nearly lost her balance at the words.
"What's up?"
Catra's eyes found where Adora had propped an elbow against the door. "You never answered me, earlier."
"Hm? Earlier?" She kept up the grin, though her eyebrows betrayed concern.
"I guess it wasn't really a question," Catra conceded, rubbing at the nape of her neck. "Or, it sort of was. I guess."
"I'm gonna need you to be a little more specific."
"Yeah, yeah," Catra retorted, more quickly than she meant to. "Sorry. I think what I said was... 'what do you care?' Earlier today, I mean." She chuckled, but it did little to add any levity. "What I was trying to ask was... why did you come back for me?"
Adora froze. "Well, uh..."
Catra raised her hands in clarification. "Not that I'm not grateful!" And let them fall back into her lap. "I wasn't exactly eager to be Prime's next lackey. It's just... I told you not to come. But you still did. Why?"
"Well, it was like I said, you know?"
"You didn't really say much."
"Yeah but what I did say was... well... you didn't expect us just to leave you there, did you?"
Catra raised her eyes to meet Adora's.
"You left the Horde a long time ago," she said, firm. "We fought so much since then. I've done terrible things. I hurt you. I hurt Scorpia. I hurt Entrapta. Hell, I nearly destroyed Etheria! And I only didn't because Glimmer's mother sacrificed herself to keep it from happening!"
Her voice broke, and she turned back to the floor between her feet.
"You had no reason to come back for me. No reason."
"You saved Glimmer," Adora said, but the words came mechanically.
"And you endangered her and everyone else to save me. How does that make sense?"
"We... we need all the help we can get. For the fight with Prime." Adora nodded to herself as she spoke.
"Come on. You don't believe I'm somehow about to make the difference in a war this big, do you?"
"You might!" Adora shot back, crossing her arms. "You don't know!"
"That can't be your answer, Adora!"
"Why not?"
"Ugh, nevermind," Catra muttered, flopping on her back. "It doesn't matter."
Adora hesitated, still frozen in the door way.
"It mattered enough for you to ask," she said quietly.
"But it didn't matter enough for you to answer."
"I did answer, though."
Catra rolled over onto her stomach and waved her tail.
"See? You don't want to give me a proper answer."
"I don't know what you want from me," Adora sighed.
"Don't you?" Catra said into her pillow.
Adora's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"
"It was just a question."
"Fine. Whatever. I'll just go."
Catra sat up immediately, reaching out at Adora with one hand, her pillow cradled in the other.
"No, wait!" she said, eyes pleading. "Don't go. Not yet."
Adora's expression softened, though she stayed steadfast by the door. Fidgeting with a belt buckle, she glanced around the room.
"Alright. What could I say that would count as an answer?"
"I, uh..." Catra gripped at the pillow. "That's not fair. You can't ask it like that."
"Why not?"
"You just can't."
"Just humour me for a second," Adora teased. "What is it you would like me to say?"
Catra chewed a lip and twirled the hair behind her ear. She mumbled something, but it didn't reach Adora's ears.
"What was that? I don't have cat hearing, you'll need to be a little louder."
"Nothing! It was nothing."
"Tell me? Please?" Adora taunted, leaning in.
Catra looked small then, clutching the pillow close.
"I said that... maybe you don't want to say what I want you to say. And maybe that's okay..."
Adora's mouth opened, but she seemed unable to speak. She just considered Catra, curled up on the bed, a thousand thoughts streaming through her head. Catra looked back, mouth hidden behind the pillow, an unspoken request written in her wide eyes. But if Adora could read it, she didn't let on. And they held that gaze as the moments flew past, neither of them moving, the two of them barely breathing.
Eventually, Adora's breath caught in her throat.
"I-ah... I'm not sure... what you mean. Can't read your mind, you know?" She scratched at her head. "If you wanted to clarify, though..."
"I might," Catra mumbled. "But not today. I'm sorry."
"Sure! No problem." Adora traced a crack in the wall. "Anyway... I should probably get going."
"Right," Catra acknowledged, downcast and already leaning back into the mattress. "Yeah."
One hand on the doorknob, Adora took one more look at the person who had made everything so complicated. Or maybe, she was the one simple thing in her life. She couldn't let herself decide.
"Goodnight, Catra."
"Goodnight, Adora."
And the door swung shut, leaving Catra to fill the cavernous space with countless doubts.