Adora stalked the too-cold halls of the castle, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to suppress a shiver. Where had she left her jacket? She had it that morning, she remembered, when she left to go train. The activity had warmed her despite the chill winter air, and she vaguely remembered removing it halfway through her routine - but she had just checked the training grounds, and her jacket wasn't there or in her room.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, trying to think. She hadn't been getting enough sleep lately. The Horde was pressing hard; if she wasn't fighting or training, it seemed that every waking moment was spent in strategy meetings. Adora didn't want to think about where the rebellion would be if Catra hadn't defected to their side a few months ago.

Oh! Catra.

That's right-she'd spoken her that morning, after Catra had returned from her nightly patrol. Adora had a standing invitation to her debriefs, but sometimes missed them if she needed to train. When that happened, she would speak to Catra personally-and now, she remembered, she had brought her jacket with her to Catra's room.

Adora rounded the corner rapidly and swung open the door to Catra's room.

"Catra-" she broke off.

Catra's room was much like Adora's own, minus the waterfall and plus the very large, very fluffy feather bed that had been Adora's bane her first night in Brightmoon.

From the way Catra was curled fast asleep in the center of the bed, she had not suffered similar difficulties.

Adora stepped quietly into the room, glancing around for her jacket. If she was quiet, maybe she wouldn't wake Catra-last night had been a long patrol, and she needed sleep. Adora came a little closer to peer behind the bed, and noticed a rhythmic rumbling coming from Catra's direction.

Oh.

She was purring.

Adora was unable to keep a small, goofy smile from her face. She'd really missed that sound. And seeing the fearsome ex-force captain of the Horde curled up in a cozy ball on an excessively fluffy bed, purring contentedly-well, she had to admit, it was kinda cute.

"You're such a cat," she said, fondly.

A telltale flash of red caught her eye, and Adora suddenly realized she'd found her jacket.

Reluctantly, Adora reached out a finger and gently poked Catra's shoulder. "Catra?"

The purring suddenly halted and a yellow eye opened lazily.

"Adora?" she squinted, voice rough with sleep.

"I need my jacket."

"So?"

"You're laying on it."

The eye closed, and Adora could have sworn Catra smiled.

"Fancy that."

"Catra, move."

"Nah."

"Why not?"

She stretched lazily and then melted back into the bed, somehow managing to cover up even more of the jacket in the process.

"Don't want to."

"Catra!"

Catra made an exasperated sound and stirred to wakefulness. "Ugh, fine!" She held out a clawed hand. "Help me out of this thing."

Adora rolled her eyes, but grabbed the offered hand anyway-and yelped in surprise as she was swiftly pulled off her feet into the endless downy expanse of the feather bed. She flailed about uselessly for a moment before sinking back in defeat, Catra laughing all the while.

"You look ridiculous. "

Some of Adora's hair had come loose during the struggle with the bed, and she blew it out of her face in annoyance.

"Not my fault. No one can get out of these things."

"Oh, yeah?" Catra jumped easily out of the bed and stood next to it, staring gleefully down as her tail swished in amusement.

"The slowest and the clumsiest person in the world." Catra sighed dramatically, shaking her head. "Tragic."

"Stupid cat genes," Adora grumbled.

Struck with a sudden idea, Adora glanced around. She'd had the sword with her when she fell, so it should be within reach-ah! There it was. Her hand closed around the hilt.

"For the honor of-mmph!" she was abruptly cut off by a pillow flying into her face.

"No cheating," Catra reprimanded. "This is a personal battle between you and the bed."

"Oh yeah? Well, you'll have to take the sword to stop me."

Catra eyed her suspiciously, but walked behind Adora and reached cautiously for the sword. Her suspicions were well-founded, since her wrist was suddenly encased in a surprisingly strong grasp and she found herself flipping through the air with a squeak of surprise. She sank into the plush softness of the bed with an annoyed glare.

"Adora, wha-oompf!" all the breath in her body left as Adora's knee pressed into her stomach.

"My only way out of this marshmallow is climbing over something less soft," came Adora's determined explanation. Another knee pressed into Catra's shoulder as Adora struggled her way to freedom-it might've hurt if the bed weren't so incredibly soft beneath her.

Catra caught sight of what looked like a stifled smile on Adora's face. Ha. She was enjoying this. It had been a long time since they'd fought each other as friends instead of enemies, Catra thought to herself. Far too long.

Catra grabbed Adora's leg with one hand and her shoulder with the other, somehow finding enough purchase to flip Adora off her and back into the fluffy wasteland.

"What is a 'marshmallow'?"

Adora grunted, struggling to get close enough to put Catra in an arm bar.

"Some fluffy, super-sweet thing they eat here. You'd probably-argh-" Adora made an annoyed sound as Catra twisted out of her grasp, "-hate it."

Catra smiled. "Probably."

To her disappointment, the struggle didn't continue much longer before Adora flopped backward onto the bed. "Ugh."

"Tired already?"

Adora just closed her eyes. "Just gimme a sec. I'll beat you up later."

Pff. "As if." Catra sat back and narrowed her gaze, noting the dark smudges beneath Adora's closed eyes. Even on days when strategy meetings stretched well past midnight, Catra had noticed Adora slipping out with her sword before dawn.

"You're training too much."

Adora's eyes remained shut. "Yeah, well, someone has to deal with the Horde."

Catra felt a twinge of guilt at that. The path to her joining the rebellion had been a long and unpleasant one, and her work before leaving the Horde had set the rebellion back quite a bit. If she hadn't chosen to leave when she had... Well. Now, however, she was fighting to undo what she had done. And so was Adora.

Who was once again starting to wiggle her way toward the edge of the bed.

Catra flopped forward across Adora's stomach, effectively pinning her to the soft feather pile. She ignored the annoyed oof that resulted.

"Catra, " Adora whined. "Seriously. I'm late for a meeting."

"The rebellion can survive one afternoon without She-Ra," Catra said, still unable to keep a hint of mockery out of her tone at the name. Even after all this time, Catra had a little difficulty thinking of the tall, blond warrior and her best friend as the same person.

Adora picked up on it, of course. Maybe she had been spending too much time thinking of herself as She-Ra. Maybe it was selfish, but she missed just being... Adora. Seemingly of its own volition, her hand crept up to touch the soft fur on Catra's ear, and she smiled as her friend let out an involuntary rumble and seemed to melt even further into the bed. She missed this.

The warmth from where Catra lay sprawled across her stomach seemed to spread through her whole body, and she suddenly felt very, very tired.

Maybe the rebellion could wait. Just... for a minute.

Adora let her eyes slip closed.

"Where is she?" Glimmer said, concern creeping into her tone. "It's not like her to completely miss a meeting like that."

"I'm sure she's fine," Bow reassured her. "She probably just lost track of time or something. It's been really busy lately."

"I hope so."

They'd already checked the training grounds, Adora's room, and now were on their way to the dining hall.

They passed a door, and Bow stopped. "Hey, what about-?" he asked, jerking a thumb toward the door. Catra's room.

Glimmer sighed. It had taken a long time for the rebellion to accept Catra, and it was taking Glimmer even longer-despite Adora's clear desire for them to get along. Bow had warmed up to her within a week, although Glimmer suspected Bow could find the humanity in Hordak given enough time. And a sufficiently powerful microscope.

With a reluctant sigh, Glimmer gave a very quiet knock on the door, then almost immediately turned around.

"Well, guess she's not in," she said brightly.

"Glimmer, " Bow reprimanded, placing his hand on the doorknob. "Look, it's not even locked." he swung the door open.

"Catra? Have you seen-oh. "

Glimmer noticed the change in his tone and pushed past him to see what was wrong. Bow was staring at the bed in the center of the room, and she followed his gaze. Oh.

Well, they'd found Adora. She was sunk deep into the fluffy expanse of the bed, with Catra laying flat across her stomach. Adora's hand was buried in Catra's hair near her ear-which twitched occasionally-and Catra's hand rested on Adora's forearm. Both of them were fast asleep.

Bow was staring at the two of them with wide, sparkling eyes, as though it was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Glimmer rolled her eyes. A quiet sound captured her attention, and she noticed a soft, rhythmic rumbling that seemed to synchronize with the breathing of the sleeping forms. Was-Catra was purring?

Oh, no.

That was adorable.

Glimmer sighed. "C'mon, Bow," she said, turning and grabbing his arm to tow him reluctantly out of the room.

"Let's let them sleep."

In which Catra could get on everyone's good side if they just heard her purring more often. xD

The idea of Catra loving the super-soft bed and being an absolute cat about it is 100% stolen from the incomparable b00k-freak (Book_freak on ao3) (whose writing you should absolutely read). :D

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