Adora wished it hadn't rained today.

Today was the one day that Bow wasn't able to give her a ride to soccer practice, so she was stuck waiting for the bus (at a bus stop that for some reason didn't have any shelter) with no relief and nothing to look forward to except three hours of running drills in the rain. Usually she didn't mind practice. She even liked it, some days. But soccer in the rain quit being cool after the first ten minutes and the rest just felt like a freezing, watery hell.

At least she had an umbrella to use while she was waiting for her torment to begin. She leaned the shaft against her shoulder with one hand and used the other to reply to Bow's numerous text messages sent to their group chat:

For the last time Bow it's ok. u haven't hung out with your dads since like june, she said.

But I'm letting you guys down! :'(( I just feel so bad, was his reply.

get a grip bow i swear or i'll kick u from the chat, Glimmer chimed in, all her patience worn out after the first six times Bow tearfully apologized to them for committing to dinner with his family instead of chauffeuring them to practice. Which he had done unfailingly three times a week since the season started, out of the sheer goodness of his heart.

nooooooooooo!

Three dots signalled that Bow had more to say in protest, but Adora didn't have the emotional capacity to deal with that and the demoralizing rainshower at the same time anymore, so she locked her phone and tucked it into the pocket of her blue and gray Bright Moon pullover with a sigh. She loved her friends. She really did. They were just…a lot.

She raised her head and breathed the damp air in deeply. The refreshing scent of the downpour on the grass and the leaves and the pavement made her circumstances seem a bit more bearable somehow. The smell always gave her a sort of sense of peace and familiarity, but also longing, like Adora had some fond memory associated with it but the memory itself was too faded to remember.

Most of her good memories were like that. Faded.

She pushed that thought away abruptly and focused on the sensations of the rain falling around her. She could hear it hissing and pattering against a variety of surfaces, soothing. She could see it cascade down in streams off her umbrella and into a perfect circle around her, like she was protected by a force field and the elements could come no closer. But she could also feel the spray hit her ankles as the drops splattered against the pavement, because she was never truly protected. Not from Weaver.

She sighed and looked away. Trust Adora to find a way to get stuck in her head no matter—

Whoa.

In breaking out of her reverie, Adora's eyes fell on the stranger standing next to her for the first time, hunched against the Bus Stop sign with one foot propped against the post, hood up and covered in fallen raindrops that dripped from the brim and into thick brown bangs.

The very attractive, very unhappy stranger.

Adora felt an immediate twist of guilt for failing to notice before now that the girl was standing there obviously soaked through and terribly uncomfortable. Normally she would have been all over the opportunity to be a good Samaritan (and maybe charm a girl or two in the process). Damn her stupid neurotic mind for pulling her into depressing existential post-traumatic drama!

Pulling herself back into reality, she pursed her lips and hazarded a glance between the slouching girl and her umbrella. Better late than never, she guessed. She gave herself a small shrug and then slowly passed her umbrella to her other hand, the one nearer the girl. She tilted it so that the canopy stretched out over them both, redirecting the rain to drip down in a harmless ring around their feet, like a curtain separating them from the world.

Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. But Adora wouldn't have minded them being separated from the world by a magic rain curtain, really. This stranger was pretty cute.

The girl noticed the sudden lack of raindrops pelting her on the head and looked up sharply. When her eyes met Adora's, the first thing Adora noticed was that they were two different colors: one blue, one gold, like a couple of precious stones. The next thing she noticed was the scowl on the girl's face, draped behind the dampened strands of her choppy bangs and flecked with freckles.

Well, that wasn't usually the response she got. Maybe she deserved it for taking so long to make a move, though, Adora reasoned. She met the girl's sour look with a gentle smile, and gradually the cloud over her face lifted—partially, at least. Those precious-gemstone eyes drifted away, though, and refused to look at her.

"Thanks," the girl said, and it was barely more than a murmur. She kept her shoulders pulled up as if she were still warding off the chill of the rain. Or as if she were trying to hide, maybe.

"No problem," replied Adora, taking the chance to study the girl curiously while she wasn't looking. She noted the tension in her shoulders, the slight flush in her cheeks, and wondered if she should just back off and leave this girl to suffer in peace. A larger part of her dismissed that idea, though, and instead gave way to a rush of sympathy and protectiveness. This girl looked a little worse for wear, if she could be so bold to make assumptions. If Adora wasn't kind to her, who would be? She was familiar enough with the failings of human nature to know that the answer was no one. So she edged a little closer, casually, and her eyes fell on the front of the girl's rain-spotted red hoodie. She recognized the logo there: a pair of scalloped wings. "Horde, huh?" she commented. "I was going to go there."

The girl spared her half a look out of the corner of her eye: the epitome of disinterest. But she must have felt somewhat indebted to Adora for taking pity on her, because she grumbled anyway, "Yeah? What happened?"

Adora shrugged. The umbrella bobbed above them slightly. "I got a better offer."

The girl grunted and looked ahead again. "Well, you're not missing much." She obviously intended that to be the end of the conversation.

Adora wouldn't give up that easily, though. "Mm," she hummed thoughtfully. For some reason her awareness of the rain falling all around them yet not reaching them—their little sanctuary under her umbrella, exclusive only to them—gave her an odd sense of resolve. She felt like she was supposed to be here just now, and that feeling made her a little bold. So she looked discreetly across at the girl to gauge her reaction and ventured, "I might be missing more than I thought."

For a split second the girl went stiff, and her eyes widened. Adora saw those multihued irises cut toward her, but not land on her, as if hesitant to confirm the meaning behind that remark—and then they lowered, framed by a deepening blush. The girl rolled her shoulders self-consciously and retorted in a quiet voice, "Don't be too sure."

It was hard to tell if that was a hard leave me alone or the girl just being self-deprecating, but Adora decided to play it safe and back off. She kept the umbrella over both their heads, though. That was a given.

She was debating whether to speak again when the bus came trundling up the road from the next corner down. The people at the stop—mostly college students, a few businesspeople running late, a couple of old folks headed for Publix for the Tuesday seniors' sale—began to loosely line up at the curb as it pulled up. Adora filed in behind the hooded stranger so she could still share the umbrella. The girl didn't protest. It gave Adora a little burst of something in her chest. Satisfaction? Chivalry? She could have sworn this feeling seemed familiar.

She was just tall enough to see over the other girl's head as they progressed through the line to reach the bus. She could see that a good number of people had already boarded, and found herself beginning to worry that she'd find a seat. She'd been standing at the bus stop for almost a half hour; she'd really appreciate a rest before soccer practice (because, yeah, they were still going to have practice in the rain).

They boarded the bus one after the other, and Adora shook out her umbrella just outside the doors before folding it up and mounting the stairs. She scanned the length of the aisle for a seat. There was one, toward the back, on the right. Two, actually. She was guaranteed a seat as long as no one tackled her to get to it first or something. Relief made the tension drain out of her muscles as she relished the thought off getting off her feet for a few minutes.

Then it came right back as she realized the hooded girl was headed right for the pair of seats. That meant—

Well, crap.

Adora hung back slightly as the girl navigated the aisle and slid into the open seat, scooting across to lean against the window. She cast her gaze outside right away and reached into her drawstring back to pull out a pair of black and red earbuds, ready to space out as soon as possible. Adora bit her lip, almost afraid to approach her. What if it came across as creepy if she sat next to her?

But she really wanted that seat.

That was all. Swear.

Adora steeled herself with a deep breath and headed the rest of the way up the aisle to the empty seat. She tried not to bite her lip as she caught the girl's eye and motioned to the vacant spot. "Do you…mind if I sit here?" she asked tentatively. Please say yes, she begged internally. Please don't be creeped out. My feet just hurt.

The girl shrugged at her briefly and then looked out the window again.

And I think you're really pretty.

Because, wow, she was, but Adora kept that tidbit to herself until she felt out the territory a little more. Figuratively, of course. She felt her face heat up against her will as she lowered herself down beside the girl.

All awkwardness aside, this girl really did seem familiar somehow—like the sensation of standing by her side, shielding her from the rain. In her presence, Adora felt an odd pull, and it wasn't just because the girl's sharp cheekbones and rugged jaw and sweeping nose were really attractive (because they were) or because her two-colored eyes were the most intriguing thing Adora had ever seen (because they were) or—

All right, so yeah, she was gorgeous, in a wild-jungle-cat sort of way, but that wasn't the point. Adora felt drawn to her, on a soul-deep kind of level. She hadn't even known that was a thing until now, but sitting beside this girl who should have been a stranger but felt more like coming home, it made perfect sense.

She had to wonder if the other girl felt it too. The way she was doing her best to ignore Adora right now, it didn't seem like it.

Adora settled back against the seat and tucked her belongings between her knees and tried not to look at the girl beside her. It was difficult, and not just because Adora was an extrovert who struggled to decide what to do with herself during awkward silences. The girl was sitting close enough that Adora could feel the heat of her arm beneath her rain-spotted jacket. She could smell the woodsy sort of scent of her hair. She could see a couple tiny water droplets still shimmering on her long black eyelashes, and—

Crap, she was looking at her. Adora was terrible at this. There was no way she'd make it through this bus ride in silence with temptation herself sitting right beside her. Sooner or later, she would have to break.

There wasn't much sense in waiting till later, she figured. "What's your name?" she asked, voice slightly raised over the noise of the bus and the music in the girl's ears.

"Catra," replied the girl shortly, sliding Adora a sideways look. Her blue eye caught the filtered light from through the window and looked like broken ice. Adora's heart must have stopped for a full second.

She was extremely aware that she might be annoying the girl—Catra—by forcing the conversation, but now the door had been opened so she couldn't help but supply in response, "I'm Adora."

Catra turned toward her just a bit more so her gold eye came into view, too, and then both of them narrowed. "'Adora?'" she echoed incredulously. "What, 'cause everybody loves you or something?" Her gaze was flicking around Adora's face as if trying to read deeper into her character by the power of observation alone.

Adora wasn't sure why she was so quick to protest, "No!"

Actually, she was sure. She didn't particularly like the scrutinizing look Catra was giving her. Like she was judging her. For her name, of all things. Not like Adora had chosen it herself! It wasn't her fault everyone kind of did happen to love her, coincidentally. Not really.

When Catra looked a little startled by her vehemence Adora had to backtrack. "Well, I don't know," she admitted, fiddling uncomfortably with a loose strand of her bangs. This wasn't one of her favorite topics. "I wouldn't say that. Not exactly. I mean—I don't know. Not like I can just ask my parents." She resisted the urge to glance at Catra to discern her reaction now. She didn't want to seem like she was just playing for sympathy, because she wasn't. This was something she'd had her whole life to come to terms with. She'd done an okay job of it, too, if she said so herself. Just, discussing it with strangers…

"Oh," said Catra, in the tone of an apology, although she didn't seem the kind of person to offer one outright. If Adora had been looking, she would have seen that Catra had turned her gaze away too. Her voice was gruff when she added, "Yeah, me neither."

At that Adora looked over at her and gave her the kind of smile she reserved just for this occasion; the soft, regretful one that didn't quite reach her eyes. She knew from experience that words like 'I'm sorry' sounded terribly empty at times like this. So instead she said, "Life's a bitch to the best of us sometimes," with the same sort of feeling as her smile. Then that smile quirked up just a little bit closer to genuine and she added, "like when it decides to start pouring rain on you while you're waiting for the bus."

Catra spared an ironic chuckle at that and slouched lower in her seat, her shoulders bunched up to fight off the lingering chill from that particular misfortune. Adora noticed and caught her lip between her teeth, her heart panging with sympathy.

"Are you cold?" she asked. Then she took a split second to beat back her rising insecurity and plowed on before she lost her nerve: "Do you—do you want my jacket? It's dry. It might be warmer."

Catra's blue eye peered up at her from beneath her lowered, rain-spattered hood. There was a silence that lasted long enough for Adora to wonder if the girl would answer at all, and then the Horde student plucked out one earbud and said sharply, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Adora's brows shot up and she pulled back a fraction. Was she—had she said the wrong thing? Had she gone too far? They had only just met, after all. Maybe she'd come on too strong.

Her mouth had fallen open but nothing would come out until she cleared her throat, and even then she stammered: "Well—I just—I mean," and apparently the best thing her brain could think to say right then was, "I guess I just have a weakness for pretty girls."

Man, she'd never wanted to slap herself in the forehead so hard.

She winced visibly and turned away before she had the chance to notice Catra's blush. "Sorry," she said in a rush. "That was inappropriate. I just, I can't think when I'm nervous and my mouth just runs away from me and—"

A short laugh from Catra cut her short. "I make you nervous?" the other girl asked, slyness so thick in her voice Adora could have used it for a mattress. A mattress like on a bed. A bed like—

Adora's mind screeched to a halt before it plunged over that cliff. She was past the point of stammering out words now—all that escaped her throat was a scoff, because—wow, how did things go downhill so fast? How was she supposed to save this conversation now? She'd just made it weird and made herself look like an absolute idiot (which she was) and now surely Catra would never want to see her again.

Except—

The way Catra was looking at her was teasing, sure, but there was a hint of a blush behind her freckles and—she couldn't possibly be playing along with Adora's heavy-handed attempts at flirting, could she? Because if she was that would mean—

Catra giggled at the shock on Adora's face and it was possibly the most adorable thing the blonde had ever heard. "I'm just messing with you," she assured, still chuckling. "Besides, it's cute."

"It's—?" Adora could not believe what she was hearing. Like, literally could not. She almost pinched herself to make sure she hadn't passed out in embarrassment and this was just a hallucination. "Oh. Oh, I—" Catra's eyes holding hers, warm and half-lidded and sparkling like two gemstones, certainly seemed real. She didn't think her unconscious brain was creative enough to come up with a character as perfect as this. "Thanks?" she managed in a tiny whisper.

Honestly, she had no clue how she could go from smooth and attractive to a complete ineloquent mess in the blink of an eye, but it was apparently her greatest talent.

She guessed she just hadn't expected…you know, reciprocation.

Catra looked like she knew exactly what Adora was thinking and was having the time of her life watching her squirm. Her lips were curled in a grin that showed off her sharp canines and the motion made her cheeks dimple just a little. She nudged Adora with her elbow and murmured coyly, "Chill out, Adora. Somebody might think you like me or something."

Adora took a deep breath and let it out in an explosive sigh, determined to regain at least some semblance of dignity. "I thought they'd figured it out the moment I offered you my umbrella," she said with a hint of sauciness of her own. Yeah, this was better. Banter was better. It was safer, anyway.

Catra's smile turned just a bit more crooked. One of those canines caught the edge of her lip and Adora tried not to let her gaze wander to it too obviously. She failed.

Catra noticed, of course. She deliberately wet her lips, just to torture Adora as much as possible, and asked lowly, "So, does your offer still stand?"

Adora's brows twitched upward as her two brain cells worked desperately to recall what offer Catra was talking about before the silence stretched too long, but she was rescued from embarrassing herself when the other girl tipped her head toward Adora's warm Bright Moon pullover.

"Oh," she said with more than a little relief, reaching instantly for the hem. "Yeah. Of course. You want it?"

Catra lowered her eyes, looking almost shy for the first time. Her freckles were fading under a blush. "I am pretty cold," she mumbled into her chest.

Adora felt a small grin spread over her own face and a blossoming warmth where her heart was. "No problem," she replied, and went to pull her jacket over her head. As the cozy layer peeled away and left a slight chill behind, Adora realized that she didn't care if it meant Catra was comfortable. Immediately following that thought, she got the feeling that she'd probably choose the same thing again, and every time after that, if she got the chance. Which was odd, since she'd just met this girl, what, ten minutes ago? Something about her was just…magnetic. Like Adora was supposed to know her. Like she was supposed to care for her.

Was that weird?

She passed Catra her pullover. Catra grabbed the bottom of her red Horde hoodie and shucked it off quickly, like she was embarrassed to be doing it. The t-shirt she wore underneath hiked up a bit with the motion and Adora moved to hold it down for her without thinking. Her knuckles accidentally brushed smooth tan skin and Catra gave a tiny grunt of surprise as she reemerged from her hoodie, wild brown hair impossibly mussed, eyes flashing.

"Sorry," murmured Adora quickly, pulling her hand back. Remind me not to do that again. Catra's face looked just on the edge between frightened and frightening, and Adora knew immediately that there was a wealth of history behind it that she doubted the other girl wanted to unpack just now. For some reason that made the feeling of protectiveness in her chest swell twice as big.

Catra's eyes narrowed slightly, but the look she gave wasn't angry. More…calculating. Her cheeks were darkening even further. "No," she dismissed as she found the opening of Adora's pullover, "it's okay." She disappeared into the new article of clothing and came back out rumpled all over again. The sight of her staticky hair plus the way the pullover positively engulfed her made Adora swallow back a laugh.

"What?" Catra demanded as she readjusted her earbuds and popped in the one furthest from Adora. Her hands were half-swallowed by the fleece sleeves and this time Adora couldn't suppress her chuckle. Catra's look turned into a scowl.

"Nothing," said Adora lightly as Catra shoved her red hoodie into the drawstring bag by her feet. As she straightened up, Adora reached out and fixed the collar of the pullover where it had gotten folded. She could feel the warmth coming off Catra's skin but she was careful not to touch her again without permission. Her hand remained there while the other girl met her eyes. "It's just…cute." She felt her face heating up as Catra's eyes widened at having her own words used against her.

"You traitor," the Horde student said in a harsh whisper, a smile growing all the same. Then her nose crinkled up and she burst into a laugh, which Adora couldn't help but join in with after all but a second. The two of them doubled over way more enthusiastically than was really necessary and stayed that way longer than really necessary but it was comfortable and it was exciting and it was like they'd known each other forever and Adora just—wow, this was nice.

When they finally wore themselves out and looked up at one another, they were so close, but Adora was hardly even flustered anymore. She felt content there just a few inches away from this pretty, cocky stranger she'd had the fortune of running into today; the one with the sharp teeth and the sharper wit and the eyes that shined like the sun and the sky. She was happy just to sit and look into those eyes she felt like were so familiar, and Catra made no move to stop her. Everything else sort of faded into the background, as unnoticed as the bump and rumble of the bus engine beneath their feet.

Catra was the first one to break their odd, special little reverie. Her eyes flickered over Adora's shoulder, down to her lips, and then back to her eyes, and the blue and gold was bright with mischief.

"Hey," she said in the tone of sly conspiracy.

"Hm?" Adora questioned suspiciously, resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder or—Catra had looked at her lips!—anything.

Catra was biting her lip with one of those pointy canines again, holding back a smirk. Adora's heart rate kicked up a notch. What was this? A joke? A confession? Should she be concerned?

Was Catra about to drop a bombshell on her—like, that she was in a relationship? Or—

She made herself stop that line of thought before she worked herself up for no reason.

Catra let Adora sit in suspense for a good moment before leaning in and saying lowly, sultry, in her ear,

"This is my stop."

"Oh!" Air rushed into Adora's lungs and she hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath. She stood up immediately to let Catra out into the aisle, flushing in embarrassment over her tendency to jump to huge conclusions, lowering her head to hide the color in her cheeks.

As Catra stood too and slung her drawstring onto her back, she nudged Adora with her shoulder. Her hand dipped into her pocket and surfaced with her phone.

"No time to give you back your jacket now." She shrugged in mock helplessness, her smirk now on full display. She held out her phone to Adora. "Guess I'll have to get your number, so you can come pick it up later."

Adora's jaw dropped and a wondering laugh spilled out, amazed at her luck, as she took it and entered in her contact. Catra was asking for her number? With such an obviously bullshit excuse that it was really, really flattering? And now they were pretty much guaranteed a second meeting, and at Catra's place no less, and that meant maybe they would actually get to know each other and maybe they would become friends and then maybe—

Adora finished and handed back the phone and Catra purposely let their fingers brush as she accepted it. Adora's eyes flicked up and met hers and— She's so frickin' cute.

"Gotta go," said Catra, and skipped past her to hurry down the aisle before the bus moved on—though not before shooting a teasing wink back over her shoulder. The blue and gray Bright Moon pullover was practically a huge blanket around her shoulders—and it was Adora's! Catra was wearing Adora's clothes!

Adora must have been beet red as she returned to her seat. She found herself pulling her phone out of her pocket and checking the home screen just to see if maybe Catra had texted her in the last 0.2 seconds. She hadn't. But that didn't stop Adora's heart from running away from her anyway.

Man, she was so glad it had rained today.