Work Text:
“Catra! I need you to look at these schematics for the new palace of Scorpion!”
“Catra! Mermista would like a word with you when you get a moment.”
“Catra, you’re needed in the new barracks! There was a fight amongst some of the new cadets!”
“Catra! I know this is your only break today but can you discuss these new weapons real quick with me?”
“Catra! Entrapta needs you to look at this weird artifact that she found in the woods today!”
“Catra!”
“CATRA!”
Catra...was sitting in her personal office, given to her by Queen Sparkles herself, just staring at one of Adora’s after-action reports about a small skirmish that occurred between Elberon and Thaymore. Finally getting the chance to sit down after being pulled in every direction imaginable today. She was reading each line, but was not processing any of the information. She had read the report four times, and the only thing she had managed to retain was that Adora had cute handwriting. It was late, sundown was hours ago, but she still had so much paperwork to do. Her girlfriend and their bed have been screaming her name for hours. While the magicat had a reputation for being lazy as a cadet in the Horde, everything changed when she was promoted to force captain, and eventually, second in command.
Catra had been up since before sunrise for an early morning meeting. It physically pained her to tear herself away from Adora’s side. Adora had begun to stir, struggling to sleep while her lover was absent from the bed, but Catra quickly slid a pillow into the other girl’s arms, tricking Adora into thinking she was still there. She watched Adora bury herself into the warm fabric, relaxing once her arms closed around it. It was a trick Catra didn’t like using for obvious reasons, but she has had to rise before Adora just enough to have learned this trick. Catra wanted nothing more than to be that pillow, but alas she had tasks that needed to be tended to. Catra’s new position in Bright Moon’s royal court had been...quite the adjustment. For the both of them.
Those first few initial weeks after the war, Catra and Adora had been inseparable. Wherever Adora went, Catra followed. Meals, meetings, missions, and everything in between. Bow at one point had even joked that the two of them went to the bathroom at the same time. But a little after three months of Catra acting as Adora’s unofficial personal assistant, Glimmer had approached the couple and asked to speak with Catra privately. It was almost comical to Glimmer the way that Catra’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates, darting to Adora in silent panic. After Glimmer convinced both Catra and Adora it wasn’t anything bad, she took the magicat to her study and offered her the general position point-blank.
When the short-haired woman had come back to what was now Adora and Catra’s room that night and told Adora about it, the blue-eyed woman was a little caught off guard by the appointment, but her heart had swelled with pride at it. Anyone who didn’t see Catra’s strategic way of thinking was blind. The invasion of Salineas was the most brilliant strategic move that occured in the history of the entire war between Etheria and the Horde. But now instead of putting that strategic thinking into taking over Etheria, Catra could put it into protecting it.
Catra had been very hesitant to take up the role, for multiple reasons. The first was that she felt as though she didn’t deserve it. She had just spent the last three years making everyone’s lives a personal living hell, and now people were wanting to trust her with their lives? Not a chance. How could they just forgive her so easily for all the damage she had done? The second reason, Bright Moon already had a general. Catra had taken so many things from people, good people, she didn’t want to take away someone’s job. The third and most prominent reason, she didn’t trust herself with it. While Catra will go down in history as one of the most effective commanders in history, she was, however, an incredibly abusive dictator who used very unethical methods. And while Glimmer believed that Catra would never go down that path again, Catra was a little unsure of herself. What if the desire for power grew to be too much again? What if she pushed everyone to their breaking limits again? What if she pushed Adora away again? No, Catra was not going to risk it.
But little by little, everyone was able to show and convince the former horde officer that she would make a fantastic military leader for Brightmoon. Perfuma, with some help from Scorpia, was able to counsel Catra and help her see how she was deserving of the General role. That she has earned her place in Brightmoon after her efforts in rebuilding, her efforts in helping Adora, her efforts in helping Adora’s friends, and more. Juliet had told Catra that she (Juliet) was looking to take on less responsibility now that the war had ended. She wanted to settle down with her partner and finally start a family. So Catra would actually be doing the former military general a huge service by taking on the role. And finally, Adora had shown Catra that she could be trusted with the role. That Catra could trust herself with the role because of all of the work and therapy she had gone through to be a better person. That Catra could trust herself to take care of her newfound family. About a month later, Catra strolled into Glimmer’s private study and accepted the offer, and became Brightmoon’s newest General. And she was going to be a damn good one too.
With a heavy sigh, Catra put the document down and used her pointer fingers to massage her temples. A migraine had begun to set in over an hour ago. Her body was begging her to just give it a rest for the night, but she was determined to at least finish going through this last report. She pushed herself up and made her way over to the window seat to look out at the starry-filled sky. A small smile crept across her lips as she began to daydream about their upcoming trip to space upon her Lover’s request to bring back magic to the rest of the universe.
Catra was excited, to say the least. A whole year of nothing but exploring the vastness of space with her significant other and said significant other’s best friends? What more could the brunette want after three years of nothing but darkness and destruction?
As Catra let her mind wander to all the possibilities of what they could potentially encounter, she was brought back to reality with a small knock on the door, and a familiar scent had drifted its way to her nose. The door opened before Catra could even reply, and a rather tired-looking Adora walked in. The taller woman was still dressed in her khakis and her long-sleeve compression top. Her signature red jacket and boots, however, were absent.
“What are you doing up, it’s late,” Catra asked, and made her way over to the blonde-haired woman, wrapping her arms loosely around Adora’s broad shoulders.
“I could ask the same to you,'' Adora responded sleepily, and leaned her forehead to the shorter woman’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around her slender waist. A content purr began to erupt from Catra’s chest, her headache fading with Adora’s mere presence alone. “Couldn’t sleep...bed was too empty” Adora said simply and closed her eyes.
Catra hummed in response, knowing the feeling all too well. Going to bed alone was one of her least favorite feelings in the whole world. It reminded her too much of those three years of sleeping alone in her tiny room she received as an officer. “I’m sorry, today’s been a bit of a mess…” Catra trailed off, pulling her head away to look at her desk that was still full of paperwork. There was still so much she had to do. Proposals needing approval, people’s requests for materials to rebuild the damage that her army had caused, Bow’s newest invention schematics that Catra needed to look at before handing them over to Entrapta, and more. Catra could feel the headache slowly return just by looking at all the papers on her desk. Adora followed Catra’s gaze over to her desk and winced a little bit.
“Do you want some help?” Adora asked while nodding slightly to the disaster that was her girlfriend’s desk.
Catra directed her gaze back to the blonde in front of her. She seemed...off. Catra could see she was tired, but it seemed as though there was more going on with Adora than just normal nighttime tiredness. For starters, she was warm. A little too warm. Her forehead was glistening with a bit of sweat. From the short space between them, Catra noticed how watery Adora’s eyes were, and how the tip of her nose was beginning to turn pink. Catra also began to register Adora’s sniffles that she gave every 30 seconds. “Adora, are you feeling alright?” Catra asked, pulling away slightly as she placed the back of her hand on Adora’s forehead. And sure enough, Adora had a fever.
“Y-yeah. Just a bit tired is a-ah- ACHOO ” Adora sneezed directly in Catra’s face.
Catra blinked once. Twice. “Well that was unpleasant,” she said half-jokingly.
Adora’s eyes widened, and she quickly apologized, pulling away to go look for a handkerchief to wipe the snot off her girlfriend’s face. Catra watched Adora carefully as she flitted about her study. Adora’s movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. Her eyes were glazed over, and she seemed unfocused. She just about tripped when she finally retrieved what she was looking for and returned quickly before tending to Catra’s face with the handkerchief.
“Fuck, I am so sorry Catra, I didn’t even feel it coming, sort of just snuck up on me” Adora babbled profusely, as she fussed frantically over her girlfriend’s face.
“Adora, honey, it’s okay” Catra placed her hands on top of Adora’s and stopped her, “I think you got it all”.
“But-” Adora started before Catra interrupted her.
“It’s fine,” Catra smiled reassuringly at Adora. “Let’s get you to bed,” she said while threading her claws through Adora’s blonde locks, pulling them out of her signature ponytail.
Adora began to smirk and wiggle her eyebrow in a suggestive manner before sneezing again. This time, however, Catra was able to duck out of the way from the line of fire of Adora’s snot. Adora sniffled and looked at Catra with a kicked puppy look.
Catra chuckled and shook her head gently, “Come on dummy.” Catra put a comforting hand on the small of Adora’s back and led them away from her office and to their bedroom. Adora leaned a little too much on Catra for Catra’s comfort and wasn’t trying very hard to deny her illness. Typically when Adora wasn’t feeling well, she would try her best to hide and deny it to everyone. She would fight and kick and scream at anyone who dared try to get her to at least take a nap in order for her to take care of herself.
The fact that she wasn’t doing any of that meant one of two things. The first is that Adora was finally beginning to feel comfortable with not being okay, with being able to admit that she needed a break, and that she does not always have to be putting in 110%. Or the second was that Adora was feeling way too ill to try and even put up an act. God, Catra hoped it was the first option.
They reached their bedroom eventually and Catra opened the door for Adora and ushered her in. The room was dark, save a single candle that was lit and placed on the nightstand on Catra’s side of the bed. Adora must have lit it before crawling into bed so she didn’t have to stumble her way through the dark after finishing her work for the night. Catra couldn’t help but smile at Adora’s thoughtfulness. Even when she was feeling ill, Adora was still thinking of her and helping her in little ways. She moved Adora across the threshold of the room and helped her to sit on the edge of the bed.
Adora, thankful to be finally sitting down again, leaned her head forward so she could rest her head against Catra’s stomach. Catra’s smile dissipated, immediately wrapped an arm around Adora, and began to scratch up and down her back soothingly. A slight whimper escaped Adora’s lips and Catra was quickly realizing that it was option two.
They stayed like this for a handful of minutes before Adora finally pulled her head away and looked up at Catra tiredly. Catra cupped the blonde’s face carefully and leaned forward to press a light kiss to her forehead. Shit, the fever somehow made itself worse from when Catra first noticed it 20 minutes ago in her office. “Arms up,” Catra commanded gently, urging Adora to put her arms up so she can help her undress her. Adora complied easily enough, and Catra was able to grab the hem of her white compression shirt and pulled it up and over her head. Catra couldn’t help but let her eyes roam over her girlfriend’s torso. The muscles on Adora’s torso were very well defined and a tad bit distracting. Her eyes lingered on Adora’s back, as well as the scars scattered across it, a good portion of them were her doing.
Catra scolded herself for checking out her girlfriend while she was ill. Adora was not in any state for those kinds of activities. She tossed the shirt behind her before putting her hands on the edge of Adora’s pants. Heterochromatic eyes pierced into grey-blue ones, searching for permission to take off the taller woman’s pants. Adora nodded slightly, trusting Catra to take care of her. Catra shakily undid Adora’s belt and unzipped her pants, before slowly and carefully taking them off of Adora’s body, leaving her in just a sports bra and boxer briefs.
God she’s gorgeous was Catra’s immediate thought. Sure, Adora and Catra had both seen each other naked hundreds of times back in the Horde. Communal showering was a very common thing amongst the cadets, but never before has Catra seen Adora almost naked in such an intimate setting. Adora began to shiver and immediately sought out Catra as a reliable source of heat. The taller woman wrapped her arms around the shorter woman’s mid-section again, and Catra immediately felt a blush rise to her cheeks, “You’re warm” Adora slurred slightly, “am cold.”
Catra quickly gathered her senses about her and wrapped her arms around Adora again in an attempt to warm her up, running her hands up and down Adora’s biceps. Adora’s slight shivering turned violent rather quickly, her breathing turned ragged, and she could hear Adora’s teeth chattering. The short-haired woman began to panic slightly at her girlfriend’s condition, she began to pull away, “Adora, I’m gonna go down the hallway and get the doctor-”
“No!” Adora yelled and wrapped her arms around Catra tighter. “No” she said a little weaker this time, “Don’t leave...Please.”
Catra’s heart clenched at her lover’s distraught state. She felt torn at what to do here. On one hand she also really didn’t want to leave Adora alone in this state. But on the other hand, she was not exactly knowledgeable on how illnesses worked. What if Adora got worse? What if there was a quick easy fix for Adora for her to start feeling better? But then again, what if something happened in the brief moments she was gone? What if Adora fainted because she tried to get up while Catra was away?
After some debate with herself, she decided that she would get the doctor in the morning so long as Adora’s condition didn’t worsen overnight. Catra wrapped one arm around Adora while her other hand began scratching the base of her girlfriend’s head, “I won’t leave...I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?” Adora asked weakly.
“I promise” Catra responded firmly.
Catra continued to hold Adora for the next couple of minutes, soothingly scratching the base of her skull while whispering words of endearment in her ear. Adora’s shivering continued to worsen, and Catra figured it’d be best to get her into something comfortable. “Hey Adora, I’m going to get your sleep clothes okay?”
Adora grunted and mumbled something into Catra’s stomach, but eventually loosened her grip on the shorter woman. Catra padded softly across the room and over to their oak wardrobe. Adora was only ten feet away from Catra, but Catra felt as though Adora could slip from her fingers at any given moment if she wasn’t quick enough. She quickly garnered Adora’s sleeping clothes and began making her way back over to Adora. About halfway to her, Adora’s face twisted in discomfort and turned pale.
Catra’s eyebrows furrowed in concern “Adora are you-” and before Catra could even finish her sentence, Adora had thrown up all over herself and the floor. Catra’s eyes widened and quickly rushed over to the sick woman. Adora began to sniffle once more, and tears began to pour out of her eyes. “Hey hey, it’s okay… it’s okay” Catra shushed before Adora was able to apologize, “You’re okay, let's get you to the bathroom.” Catra’s concern for the woman was growing by the moment, and she was starting to reconsider waiting till morning to get the doctor.
Catra helped Adora to her feet and walked her slowly over to their large bathroom. It was a very slow and careful walk as Adora was struggling to keep her balance. When they had made it in Catra helped Adora onto the counter. She quickly got the girl a tall glass of water and a towel before she turned around and started a warm bath for the taller woman. Catra poured a vial or two of lavender that she had gotten from Perfuma to help both of the girls relax and rest. Catra began to walk herself over to the door, “I’ll give you a second to get undressed.”
“Catra?”
“Yes Adora?” Catra peaked her head over her shoulder and glanced back.
“You can stay...it’s not like you haven’t seen it before,” Adora said in a slight teasing tone. Even in her sick state, Adora cannot help but tease the shorter woman a little.
Catra rolled her eyes but managed to smile anyway. Even when Adora was being an ass hat, Catra couldn’t help but be fond of her lover. Adora just had that effect on her. She turned around and made her way back towards the tub and leaned on the edge of it. Catra averted her eyes to look down at the white tiled floor. Yes, Adora naked was something Catra had seen before, but things are different now. They are different now. And Catra is going to be respectful damnit.
Catra waited for the sound of the water settling before turning around. She kneeled on the bathroom floor next to the tub and turned to face Adora. Her grey-blue eyes were closed and her head was tilted down. Adora naturally had a pale complexion, but her face was a very sickly pale and her cheeks were slightly red. Drops of sweat were slowly rolling down the sides of Adora’s face. Adora still had a little bit of vomit on her chin. Adora looked rough and Catra’s heart ached just looking at her. Her Adora. Her perfect, sweet, beautiful, Adora.
Catra frowned and wetted a washcloth. She cupped Adora’s face in one hand and brought the other one holding the washcloth up to her chin and very gently wiped away the puke residue.
Adora slowly opened her eyes and watched Catra. Catra made brief eye contact with the woman and smiled ever so lovingly at her. The blonde woman weakly lifted her hand and gently placed it against the magicat’s cheek. Catra leaned into Adora's palm before she grabbed the palm of Adora’s hand and placed a gentle kiss on it.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Catra was so completely and irrevocably in love with this woman before her. She was so in love with her that burned her very soul and she vowed to do everything within her power to help her get better. She would not leave Adora’s side until she was back to being her old self again. Even if it meant she’d be missing for a week. It didn’t matter to her. Nothing mattered except for getting Adora better. She knew she was being a bit overdramatic, but how could she not be? It was Adora. Catra would do anything this woman would ask her to do, no questions asked.
They stayed like this for a while, just staring lovingly into one another’s eyes before Adora’s eyes began to droop.
“Bed time, princess?” Catra asked quietly, not wanting to startle the other woman.
Adora nodded wordlessly and let out a tired yawn.
Catra got up from her spot on the ground, wincing at the sound of her knees cracking, and grabbed Adora a white fluffy towel from the towel rack. Catra helped Adora out of the tub and wrapped her up in the towel before they both made their way back to the bedroom. The smell of the vomit on the floor wafted into Catra’s sensitive nose wrinkled at the scent of it. She sat Adora down on the bed before rushing back to the bathroom for some wet washcloths and towels to clean up the stain. Catra didn’t want to leave Adora too long without being supervised. A lot could happen in 30 seconds. She immediately set to work cleaning up the mess to the best of her ability. It took about 5 minutes of scrubbing before the mess was, for the most part, cleaned up.
She stood up from her spot on the floor and turned her attention over to her still sick girlfriend, “Alright lovely time for-'' Catra looked up and saw Adora was passed out, still in her towel, on Catra’s side of the bed, face buried into her pillow. Catra couldn’t help but smile at the woman before her. Even in her sick state, Adora was still the most adorable person on this whole damn planet. She stayed looking at the blonde for about 5 minutes before she realized that Adora would probably be a little more comfortable in pajamas.
A heavy sigh escaped Catra’s lips before she carefully sat down on the bed. Catra did not want to wake the peacefully sleeping woman, but figured it was for the best. She gently placed a hand on Adora’s shoulder and shook her ever so slightly “Adora? Wake up, you can’t sleep yet.” Catra heard a slight whine emanate from the back of Adora’s throat. “I know honey…I just want you to be comfortable when you sleep.”
It took some time patience, but Catra was able to coax Adora into sitting up just long enough for her to get Adora into some pajamas. The sick woman did not put up much of a fight, which Catra praised her for. Soon enough Catra had Adora back under the covers on Catra’s side of the bed, and not more than 30 seconds later, little snores made their way into Catra’s ears.
The magicat woman quickly changed herself into her own pajamas before sliding into bed and pulling Adora to her chest. Adora quickly went from burying her head into Catra’s pillow into the crook of Catra’s neck. A smile ghosted across Catra’s neck as she leant down and placed a single gentle kiss to the top of Adora’s head. She knew she wasn’t going to sleep much tonight, she was far too worried about her ill girlfriend for that. But the brunette was content enough to keep watch over her, as she had silently promised she would do for the rest of her life
.