Catra was nervous. Scorpia didn't seem to pick up on it, bouncing happily onto her own bed.

"I'm in your room." Catra said, her voice shaking a little.

"I know; I'm so excited!" Scorpia exclaimed. The larger woman approached Catra with her arms apart, clearly requesting a hug. Scorpia had become a lot more gentle in that regard, less insistent, and it made it easier for Catra to give in and wrap her arms carefully around Scorpia's waist.

"I've never been in your room before." Catra whispered.

"Actually, if we're going to hang out here for a bit, do you mind if I undress a little?"

"U-undress?" Catra could feel herself blushing underneath her fur and prayed that Scorpia didn't notice. She had dressed and undressed along her fellow cadets in communal housing her whole life. This shouldn't bother her so much.

"I mean, yeah. It's not super comfortable wearing armor all the time!" Scorpia said as she removed the rib-like armor on her midsection that Catra had up until that moment thought was part of her body.

"That's armor?" Catra shrieked, bewildered.

"Yeah! I've got rib armor, knee armor, and shoulder armor." As she listed each piece of armor, she removed said piece. As she unstrapped her shoulder pauldrons, she revealed a smaller set of spikes lining her arms.

"So you have a bigger, fake set of spikes on top of your natural spikes? Why?"

"Well, my natural spikes are soft, like a bearded dragons. They look scary, but they're not very protective. And beyond that, they're sensitive. Like more sensitive than the rest of my body. So I wear armor!"

With each day that passed, Scorpia became cuter and harder to resist, and it was going to kill Catra. "Do—do you have armor on your tail?" Catra's throat was hoarse, and she felt like she was whispering.

"Nope! Well, kinda, actually." Scorpia blushed a little as she shyly looked up at Catra, patting the spot on the bed next to her. Catra accepted the wordless invitation, her heart pumping hard against her chest, announcing she was doomed, doomed, doomed, and it was all Scorpia's fault.

"My tail is a hard exoskeleton, just like my claws. But I have this device that I attach to my stinger so that I can actually, you know, paralyze people." Scorpia continued to disrobe as she spoke, and Catra could do nothing but blink owlishly at her. Scorpia removed the red piece that lay over her cheekbones and put it next to her rib and leg armor.

"Are you not poisonous on your own?" Catra asked, bewildered. Her eyes fixated on the end of Scorpia's long tail, confused.

"Well, you know what they say. It's not the big scorpions you should be scared of; it's the little ones that'll kill you." Scorpia's voice got quieter as she spoke and it suddenly dawned on Catra that she was probably embarrassed. "My stinger feels like a bee sting. Vaguely painful, but mostly annoying and easily ignored. So, to help make me more… useful, I was given a false stinger. I have to refill it with venom when it runs out."

Catra hated the way she said that; she hated how obvious it was that the Horde had told Scorpia that she had to be useful to them in order to stay. Catra understood, though. She had spent her whole life making herself useful to the Horde. And the Crimson Waste was Scorpia's home, more than even the Horde was. It probably seemed impossible to leave.

"Is the rest of your family this… large?"

"No! My parents are super short, like you. And my sisters are even smaller. They're, well. They're trained assassins for Lord Hordak. I don't see them very often anymore." Catra bristled a little at being called short, but it was hard to argue with the statement in the face of Scorpia's bulk.

"Well I have to say I'd much rather have someone big and helpful like you than some sneaky little assassin that'll stab me in the back," Catra muttered, not looking at Scorpia. Scorpia slung an arm around Catra's shoulders, pulling her bodily into a hug.

"Lucky for you, you can have me whenever you want!" Scorpia whispered into Catra's ear. Catra burned red hot and sprang out of her arms.

"Damnit Scorpia, you can't just say stuff like that!" She hissed, blushing madly.

Scorpia just cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Why not?"

"People are gonna get the wrong idea!"

"And what's the wrong idea?" Scorpia was so sweet, so innocent, Catra couldn't believe she'd lasted so long in the Horde. As a Force Captain, no less. She deserved so much more.

"That we're—you know—more than friends!"

"We are more than friends, silly!"

"We are?" Catra asked, her heart practically stopped as she let herself hope—

"We're best friends!" Scorpia said, and Catra silently berated herself for ever expecting more. She took a deep breath, trying to consider her options before she spoke again.

"Can—can you imagine us as more than best friends, though?"

"Yes! I can imagine us as dragons! Here, I drew a picture the other day, I'm so glad you asked, let me find it." Scorpia bounded from bed to rummage around in her belongings. Catra knew that she was completely, utterly besotted when she looked at Scorpia's terrible drawing and could do nothing but smile softly. The two dragons were both red, nearly identical, and surrounded by hearts.

"We make pretty good dragons, don't we?" Catra said, and Scorpia nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey, are you going to stay the night?"

"W-what? Why? I have my own room now, you know."

"Why not, it'll be fun! I have a big bed!"

"It's not big when you're in it," Catra snapped, though she immediately regretted it.

"Yes, but you're small. Besides, you said you liked that I'm big," Scorpia said before actually literally seriously winking. Catra wondered if it was fate for her to die that day. She never should've agreed to come to Scorpia's room. The whole scenario was far too tempting to her subconscious.

"I did not say that! I said I'd rather be with you than your sisters who are assassins."

"I'm happy I get to be with you too. Now come on! Live a little!" Catra wondered if Scorpia could hear the way her heart beat furiously against her ribcage at that statement. There would be no sleep gotten for her.

"Fine. But keep your claws to yourself!" Catra demanded, turning around to take her belts off.

"No promises." Scorpia sing-songed, laughing a little as she, too, turned around and changed.

Scorpia climbed into the right side of the bed, laying on her side and facing inwards. Catra mirrored her position on the other side of the bed, closing her eyes and hoping against all hope that she would be able to sleep somehow.

Scorpia woke up sleepily, pleased to find that Catra had curled closer during the night and had her head pillowed in the crook of Scorpia's elbow. Her hair was wildly strewn around the two women, and Scorpia wondered (not for the first time) why Catra never cut it. Scorpia lay there for a while, basking in Catra's calm, sleepy presence before she woke up.

When Catra did finally stir, it was slow. She stretched her legs and tail before curling back up into an even tighter ball than before. Scorpia dared to reach out a claw and stroke Catra's back comfortingly. Catra rolled her spine with the touch, but didn't otherwise react, and Scorpia smiled. Catra was so cute when she was sleepy.

It was obvious when the feline finally became more aware of her surroundings, because she stiffened and looked up at Scorpia with wide eyes for scooching quickly away.

"Scorpia! I told you! We can't—we can't sleep together like this! People will get—"

"Get what? The wrong idea?"

"Yes!"

"Which is what, again?" Scorpia knew she was teasing Catra, but she couldn't help it.

"That we're more than friends! More than best friends, Scorpia!"

"People will get the idea that we're together?"

"Yes!"

"And that's wrong why?" That question truly seemed to throw Catra off because she gaped at Scorpia for several seconds before replying.

"A-are we together?"

"No, but it'd be nice if we were. You're so cute and interesting and smart and soft, but I feel like you're never going to kiss me."

Silence reigned in the room as Catra looked at Scorpia… and looked, and looked, and looked, and right as Scorpia began to doubt herself Catra launched herself at the larger woman, wrapped her arms around her, and buried her face in Scorpia's shoulder.

"Have you been teasing me this whole time? Seriously?" Catra sounded petulant beyond belief, but Scorpia just laughed.

"Sorry, kitty, it's too easy."

"Shut up!" Catra squealed, quieting Scorpia with the kiss that they'd both been waiting for. Scorpia smiled into their embrace, happy with her life. Wrong idea, indeed.