Chapter Text
The cheerfulness of their tour guide was getting on Catra’s last nerve.
The woman had way too much pep, leading their small group around the neighborhood. Catra didn’t understand what the big deal was, why houses needed to compete with each other by adding more flashing lights or blow-up characters or—Stars forbid—Christmas music. Her sensitive ears twitched where they were poking out from her beanie, overwhelmed by all the noise.
The only bright spot in this freezing hellscape was the woman wrapped around her arm, excitedly bouncing and giving oohs and aahs at each comment their tour guide made. Catra let out some tension and leaned into her girlfriend, allowing Adora’s scent and presence to settle her.
The two had been dating for three years now, and had known each other for even longer. They had some rough patches, as all couples did, but Catra liked to think that these days she was less defensive and spiteful, and Adora was working on not doing everything for everyone and overall being less self-sacrificial.
Their tour guide’s voice flitted back into Catra’s awareness. “And he was so surprised when he saw all those presents under the Christmas tree, and she was one of them!” Catra basked in the way Adora sounded when she laughed, not even trying to pay attention to… Starlet? No, Starla. Starla’s asinine stories.
The group of schmucks who paid to be on this tour were currently huddled on the sidewalk, Catra and Adora at the very back. The rows and rows of houses with blinking lights and lawn ornaments stared happily back at them.
Starla continued, moving the group a few houses down. “Now, this house was originally owned by Prince Peakablue, who started this tradition on Candy Cane Lane.” The group paused to look at the house, with a comical mannequin of Santa precariously standing on the roof atop the snow. Cheerily, Starla said, “He even hired his niece Flutterina to play Santa Claus for many years,” she paused, frowning, then finished more quietly, “Until he was arrested for child endangerment in 1992.”
A laugh was startled out of Catra, causing some members of the group to give her looks. Adora was oblivious, eyes wide as she continued to swivel her head comically, as if the lit houses would disappear if she didn’t keep them in sight.
Starla moved the group along, “Ooh! You guys have got to look at this house. This house is the site of…” Catra let her commentary fade away as she looked up at her girlfriend.
Adora glanced down and offered a warm smile. “Are you having fun?”
Fun? Freezing her tits off to look at the shiny things people bought to appear more affluent than their neighbors wasn’t exactly her idea of fun. But, what was important was that Adora was enjoying herself. “Are you having fun?” she volleyed back.
“Yes, I think this is cute!”
Catra glanced around, trying to see what Adora saw. “It is. Yeah.”
“Oh, Stars, you hate it.” Her face scrunched up in a frown.
Catra was quick to reassure her. “No, I don’t hate it.” Adora’s hand was warm in hers, and she rubbed her thumb soothingly. “Babe, I’m just not a huge Christmas person.”
Adora nodded. “I know, I know, but…” she groaned lightly, gesturing around, “how can you not like the lights and the decorations and the Christmas trees?”
Starla must’ve had the ears of a damn hawk, and added cheerily, “Fun fact! Did you know that Christmas trees are responsible for an annual average of four deaths, fifteen injuries, and a loss of $12 million?”
Wincing, Adora muttered to Catra, “Okay, I get it.”
Catra tried to smooth things over, feeling like a buzzkill. “Thank you for trying to get me to like Christmas.” She brushed some of Adora’s blonde hair back behind her ear. “I love that you love it.” That earned her a smile, so she continued, “I’m just so content taking care of other people’s pets when they’re away for the holiday—”
Adora, bless her ADHD brain, interrupted with a gasp, eyes fixated on something over Catra’s shoulder. “Come with me.” She grabbed Catra’s hand and dragged her away from the tour group, both ducking low to avoid being spotted by Starla.
“Wait, where are we going?”
Adora didn’t answer, but her face was lit up as they hurried down a side street and stopped in front of a house. It looked like all the rest, but some scaffolding was along one side and Catra could guess the house had some construction work done recently.
“Do you know these people?” she asked, bewildered.
In lieu of a reply, Adora started scaling the scaffolding, climbing up higher. Her little grunts of effort were almost as entertaining as the way her muscles rippled under her shirt. Catra still had the brain power to hiss out, “What are you doing?”
Adora paused her climbing to glance down at her girlfriend, mischief in her face. Catra tried to hide it, but she loved when goody-goody Adora let herself have a little fun. “Come here,” Adora said, almost up to the top.
Not one to turn down a challenge, Catra leaped up, tail lashing behind her to help her balance. Adora may have been stronger, but Catra was faster. “Still not clear on the plan,” she grunted out, meeting Adora on the topmost platform, watching her girlfriend scramble up on top of the roof.
Adora, hands on her hips, threw her a cocky smile. “Will you just shut up and follow me, please?” With that, she turned and made her way along the roof, stopping just over a balcony.
Catra hopped up as well, and the pair sat on the cold, hard shingles, legs swinging in the open air. From this height, they had a view of the entire neighborhood, all the bright lights blending together to create a sort of ethereal haze. The sounds from below, overwhelming at the street level, were now a pleasant background noise. It was almost… nice.
She felt Adora’s eyes on her. “Well,” Adora asked with a smile, “does this do anything for you?”
Catra couldn’t lie; her girlfriend knew her so well. “This is beautiful.”
The pair sat together in silence for a moment, though Catra could tell something was on Adora’s mind. Finally, Adora sighed out, “I just hate that you’re going to be alone on Christmas. Again.”
This was a conversation they had had a few times now. Adora was going back to visit her adoptive family, and Catra was staying to pet-sit and make a few extra bucks. Catra had told her again and again that she didn’t mind being alone on the holiday; she had done it before and could easily do it again.
Instead of dragging up old talking points, she simply rested her head on the taller girl’s shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you.”
Adora tucked her under her arm, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Hey, I’m gonna miss you, too.”
Sighing happily, Catra said, “We could just stay up here.”
She felt a nod against her shoulder. “I’d do that,” Adora agreed. They both chuckled.
The moment was interrupted by a woman shouting at them from a window below. “Hey! I hear you up there!”
Catra and Adora looked at each other in panic, eyes wide.
“I’m calling the police!”
Adora was the first to leap to her feet, Catra close behind. They tried to make their way back to the scaffolding, but Adora slipped on an icy patch of the roof.
“Shit!” Adora yelped as she slid down towards the side, gloved hands scrambling for purchase on the shingles. Catra watched in horror as she slid over the edge.
“Adora!” Catra ran to the side of the roof, looking down at where Adora was holding on to the gutter. “Oh, fuck, are you okay?”
Adora was strong, but her gloves were struggling to keep ahold of the slick gutter. “Um…” she replied, looking down below. “I don’t know.” The drop wasn’t too far, and there was a blow up snow globe nearby that could soften her fall. Adora looked up at Catra, eyes wide. “What do I do?”
Fuck if Catra knew. Still, she said, “Stay there, I’m gonna get you down.”
“Okay, yeah.” Adora replied.
Catra climbed down the scaffolding quickly, and ran around to where Adora was hanging above her. The girl was down to only one hand holding her up.
“Shit,” Catra muttered, but still dragged the inflatable over to underneath Adora’s dangling boots.
That was when the woman who apparently owned the home leaned out the window, looking over at a dangling Adora and scrambling Catra. “What are you doing out there?” she demanded.
“Babe…” Catra called. They were running out of time.
The woman continued, pulling out her phone. “Are you peeping? Don’t you peep at me!”
Adora’s other hand finally slipped. “Stars!” she shouted as she fell the short drop, the poor inflatable snow globe being crushed under her weight as it cushioned her fall. The air hissed out, making a comical backdrop to Catra’s frantic searching for her girlfriend in the mess of colored squishy plastic.
She heard a groan from the mass, and was able to spot a hair poof, somehow still poofed even after the excitement. “Are you okay?”
Adora blinked her blue eyes up at her, bewildered, and a smile spread across her face. “I am so great.”
Rolling her eyes, Catra helped her up as the woman yanked open her front door and started off her porch over to them. “Shit, c’mon, we got to go.”
Adora glanced over her shoulder, eyes wide. “She’s coming! Go! Run!”
The pair took off, giggling like idiots. They heard a voice from behind, “Yeah, you better run!”
Catra’s adrenaline was pumping as Adora grabbed her hand, and the two weaved in and out of yards and down streets, laughing.
Finally, they stopped on a secluded side street, and Catra barely had enough time to catch her breath before Adora was kissing her. She smiled into the kiss.
When they finally broke it, Adora rested her forehead on Catra’s, the two simply basking in each other’s glow for a moment. Finally, Adora whispered, “Come with me?”
Eyes still closed, Catra replied, “Where?”
“To my parents’ house for Christmas.”
Well that got her attention. Catra stopped, looking up at Adora’s earnest and soft face. “Really?” her voice was small, though she would never admit it. She eventually shook her head, “I’ve got the pets to sit.”
“Get someone to cover for you.”
Catra still wasn’t sure. Christmas and her had a… complicated history, and she felt conflicted over the invitation.
Not willing to let it go, Adora peppered kisses over her girlfriend’s nose and cheeks, moving down to her neck as she spoke, “I want to wake up with you on Christmas morning.” She raised a hand to cup Catra’s cheek. “And if that doesn’t convince you to love Christmas, I’ll never bring it up again.”
Catra’s eyes fluttered as Adora pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and she finally spoke. “Deal.”
Seeing Adora’s face light up at her reply, Catra wondered if maybe she could learn to not hate Christmas.
Catra stood at the stove in their small apartment, Melog weaving through her legs in the hopes that Catra would drop some food. She was making pancakes, a favorite of Adora’s—though if you asked Catra, Adora only liked them because it was socially acceptable to drench them in liquid sugar.
The coffee pot was gurgling away; on a whim Catra had decided to add a sprinkle of cinnamon to the ground beans, so the kitchen smelled deliciously festive. Catra caught herself thinking about the upcoming holiday and actually smiling instead of frowning. She fleetingly wondered if there was a carbon monoxide leak, or something comparatively extreme to explain her behavior.
Adora had wandered out of their bedroom, rubbing her eyes with one hand and trying to tame her hair with the other. She was wearing a white tee and sweats, while Catra had stolen an old rugby sweatshirt of Adora’s.
“Hi,” Catra called, chuckling at her girlfriend’s stumble toward the coffee.
It wasn’t until she had downed half a mug that Adora finally blinked her eyes at Catra and noticed the current state of the kitchen. “Hey?”
Catra brought over a plate stacked high with pancakes, snagging the syrup from the counter on the way. She gently nudged Adora toward the table with her hip. “Sit down.”
Adora did, but still looked bewildered. Maybe Catra should cook more often if it got that dumb look on Adora’s face. “What’s going on in here?” Adora asked, already pouring an obscene amount of syrup over her pancakes.
Catra bit her lip, slightly embarrassed. “I just woke up thinking about going home with you and got…” her eyes scanned the mess she had made, “very excited about Christmas.”
“Oh…” Swallowing around her mouthful, Adora looked up at Catra guiltily. “Baby, you don't—you don’t have to come with me.”
“Well, I want to.”
“No, no, I—” Adora sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. It was an old self-comfort habit that she had done as long as Catra had known her. “I feel like I really put you on the spot last night, and I understand how you feel about Christmas, and you don’t have to—”
Catra sat on the barstool next to Adora, draping herself over her girlfriend’s back and wrapping her arms around her. “Hey, no, I genuinely want to go.” She pressed her lips to Adora’s temple, willing her calm and resolve to pass though her actions.
Adora’s eyes had closed at the kiss, but she still skeptically muttered, “Uh-huh.”
Catra’s tail lashed as she felt embarrassed over her next words, but she still pushed though anyway. “I… I get to go meet the people that raised my favorite person.”
It had taken a lot of self work, and working with Adora, but Catra felt like they were at a point in their relationship where they had healthy communication. At the beginning, Catra was guarded, worried Adora would use what she said against her, but eventually (and admittedly not without some fighting) Catra was able to share some of the more intimate emotions she felt. She knew Adora would do the same.
Adora’s eyes opened to meet Catra’s, and they both ignored any wetness. “Okay,” Adora conceded. “But who’s going to look after all the pets?”
“Scorpia is gonna cover for me.” Scorpia had legitimately squealed last night when Catra had called to ask. The girl was too much of a romantic for her own good.
Still, there was some lingering unease in Adora’s posture. Catra rubbed her hands soothingly over her arms—which, hello muscles—and said, “I know why you’re worried.” Adora’s blue-gray eyes flashed to her mismatched ones, widening. “But don’t be. I’m all in on Christmas.”
Adora gave a shaky smile, and pulled Catra around for a hug.
This Christmas was going to be special, Catra could feel it.