"Welcome to Strutbucks! What can I get started for you?"

"So, I have this." The customer called as she walked up to the cashier, whipping out a card and sliding it over the counter.

Adora maintained a smile when she saw her approach. The busy hour just came and went, so her other co-workers went on an early break- seeing as there was almost nobody inside the coffee shop.

Aside from her, the customer, and an old man reading his book at the far table, the store was empty.

"Oh, yes! A Strutbucks Card. What can I get you, then?" she relayed amicably.

"Uh, can you check how much is in there, first?"

"Sure thing!" Adora swiped the card and checked her screen. She almost choked out when she saw the amount, but she recovered quickly and retained her smile.

"Your card still has 1,000 dollars remaining."

"What?!" Adora winced when the customer banged a fist on the counter, followed by an irritated groan "Ugh, that idiot."

"Uh, Ma'am?" Adora started, her smile twitching a bit. She's used to dealing with hard customers and all, but she'd really rather not. Especially when she's the lone employee here who has to deal with it.

Before Adora could think of various ways of how the customer might blow her gasket, she heard a defeated sigh.

"Fine, just… I'll just have coffee then. Large. And the muffin." She said, pointing at the confectionary behind the glass.

"One Venti Café Americano and one Blueberry Muffin, will that be all, ma'am?" Adora pushed some buttons on her screen, then looked back up to the customer in question.

For the second time in their encounter, she almost choked out once more, what with the girl glaring up at her in apprehension.

Now that Adora had a closer look, the girl's eye colors were mismatched. It fascinated her for an instant, shifting her gaze between them. Blue and yellow.

"Americano…" she started, her tone laced in skepticism "That's… coffee, right?"

"Y-yes?" Adora came back to her senses as she replied.

"Yeah, that's all." with the confirmation, Adora gulped and went to finish the transaction.

"C-can I have your name, please?" she was almost too afraid to ask, but she got swept up by the routine of her job and the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

If it were possible, Adora could have sworn the girl's glare got even more menacing. As if her very soul was being stared down into submission, whatever that means. It didn't matter that she was being stared down by someone shorter than her, because in the end, her brain could only muster one word: Eep!

Okay, that's barely a word as much as it's a sound. But Bow had made that sound much too many times that she involunatri-

"Scorpia." The girl said, leaning at the counter with her elbow, looking up at her in a slightly devilish smirk. Adora swore she saw a flash of a crooked fang between her lips.

This visage alone stunned her into staring, taking in the girl's attractive yet slightly sardonic smile. She didn't realize she had the marker and the cup idle in her hands for too long, before the girl cocked her head and raised a perfect brow at her.

"Hey,"

With just one word, Adora felt a pleasant jolt shot up her spine. And as much as she hates being overly dramatic, it was true nonetheless. Well, it's not really the words alone that brought out the reaction- the girl's confused veneer is just as entrancing.

"S-sorry! Your order will be right up, Scorpia!" She said in mock cheer, hiding the rush of nervousness and her suddenly clammy palms.

When she instructed the girl to wait at the other counter, she can't help but throw subtle glances back as she worked.

Scorpia had her elbows on the surface, leaning her head on the palm of her hand casually. She has this bored look on her face like she'd rather be anywhere else but here.

Adora couldn't help but flat out stare at her. She just seems so cool, and her eyes felt so piercing earlier that she swore she would melt right in the-

Scorpia turned her head to face her. Squinting her eyes in a slight frown. It took Adora a second too long to realize that she'd been caught staring, again.

"O-oh, Scorpia, I forgot to ask if you'd like your coffee iced or hot?" Nice save Adora

"Hot."

"And would you like me to heat up your muffin?"

"Nah, I'll be eating it out,"

"Wh-what?" Adora choked audibly this time. If her goofiness hadn't given away that she was attracted to this girl, her flushed cheeks would be enough indication as is.

"I mean, I'll have it for take out." Scorpia clarified, raising a cool brow at Adora's reaction.

"O-of course, it'll be right up!" Of-fucking-course, Adora! Get your mind out of the gutter!

This time, she worked silently. Efficiently doing her job without distracting herself any further.

With the bagged muffin and steaming coffee in hand, she approached the counter with a customary smile.

"Here's your coffee and m-muffin, Scorpia." She slid them over the counter, picking up tissues and two servings of packed honey on the way.

"What's this?" Scorpia inspected the small pack, squinting her eyes at it.

"Oh, it's honey- for your coffee."

"I don't need this." She looked affronted at first, like putting honey in her coffee was something unheard of, before sliding it back towards Adora.

"O-okay. Enjoy your coffee! And have a great day!"

"Sure, you too." Scorpia nodded at her and left.

Adora almost slumped on the ground. But she knows she needed to maintain herself, so she heaved a deep sigh instead. She wasn't usually that nervous when dealing with difficult customers.

No, she's not really difficult, if not a bit rude- just somewhat… odd.

Or was it Adora who's the one acting strangely?

She groaned in frustration, recalling the somewhat painful encounter not minutes ago. All throughout she'd become a stuttering mess, and all because the girl- Scorpia, had looked up at her with those eyes.

Just the thought of it made her skin flush. She wonders if she'll see the girl sometime soon. Well, she did have a thousand dollars to spare, so maybe she'll be back soon enou-

"Hey, Adora!" A heavy hand laid on her shoulder.

She yelped in surprise, but her instinct spurred her into action.

Before she could do any damage, Bow had thankfully stepped in.

"Whoa, chill, Adora! It's just us. We're back." He gently extricated Adora's firm grip from Glimmer's arm.

And surely when she turned around, her friends were both back in their aprons, looking at her in concern.

"Sorry. Did I hurt you?" she turned to Glimmer guiltily.

"Pff- not remotely. It takes more than that to take me down, you know." Glimmer returned in jest.

"So, anyone come by when we were out?" Bow glanced around the still empty café.

And just like that, Adora couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up once more.

"No! I mean, y-yes. There was just one. A girl. She wasn't too difficult. I could handle it. I mean, I handled it all well and good." She floundered, recalling every bit of her misstep during the said encounter.

"Are you alright? You're turning really red." Glimmer went up to her, moving to place a hand on her forehead worriedly.

"I-I-I'm fine! Totally good here, everything's normal!" she stepped back, dodging the contact.

"Glimmer, she's fine. Let's leave her alone." Bow appeased. But his knowing smirk jarred her a bit.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine! Oh look, a customer just walked in. I'll be back." Adora walked up to the cashier to do her job, a bit grateful for the escape.

"She doesn't look fine though." Adora heard Glimmer muttering behind her.

"That's her gay face, Glimmer. I bet that customer was- "

"I can hear you, Bow."

"Eep!"

Scorpia came back.

Like yesterday, she came by just a little after the rush hour.

There were a few customers, so Bow was the one manning the cash register and Adora worked with preparing the drinks.

After finishing an order and saying the customary goodbyes, she caught sight of Scorpia in time just as she stepped forward, the last in line.

Adora moved closer to listen in on the order, but she remained out of the girl's view.

Bow gave a winning smile. It's not even his 'customer smile', that's just how he usually is.

"Can I get your name, please?" he asked after punching in the order.

Scorpia, Adora thought.

"Cake." Came the even voice.

Adora knew she recognized the voice. But she could be wrong, and it might've been a doppelganger. So, she walked behind Bow, leaning her back against the sink and crossing her arms in mock nonchalance.

And sure enough, it was the same girl.

She was wearing an oversized hoodie, her hair in a bit of a disarray even as she's wearing a headband to push back her bangs which she had worn down just yesterday. Adora was simply mesmerized that she could finally see her face clearly. Now she knows that the girl has freckles dusted over her cheeks, and how she has a window's peak hairline framing her small, beautiful face.

She was grateful that Bow has the girl's attention which allowed her to stare so openly and appreciate every second of it without the fear of being branded as a creep.

"Cake, is that spelled with a 'C' or a 'K'?" Bow asked smilingly without missing a beat.

The girl- and Adora's not sure if she should keep calling her Scorpia in her head because of the recent development- peered up at Bow. Adora could see how utter perplexity turned to amusement with the evident change in her expression.

"You decide, champ." She said with a smirk.

"Okay! Your order will be up!"

Bow relayed the order and handed her the cup. She inspected what her friend had scribbled, and sure enough, there was an obligatory smiley doodle and the words 'CEYC' spelled out largely on one side.

She chuckled and shook her head and worked on the same drink as she did yesterday.

Her heart drummed nervously against her chest as she walked up to the counter. And just as yesterday, she slid the coffee and bagged muffin over with a smile.

"Have a great day!"

"Yeah, you too."

And with that, she left just as quickly as she came.

Adora was just disappointed that Scorpia, or Cake, or whatever the girl's name was, didn't even look up at her when she said that.

She didn't realize that she was looking at the doors longingly when Bow came up from behind her.

"So, that's the girl from yesterday, huh?" she could just hear the teasing dripping in his tone.

She glared up at him.

She already had enough with both Bow and Glimmer yesterday. They were relentless, hounding her after their shift ended about the girl Adora has the 'hots' for. Apparently, it was a big deal since according to them, this was the first time she'd shown an interest in anyone.

"No, she. Is. Not."

"Cake, huh? Odd name for a parent to give their kid. Maybe that's her nickname?" Bow continued, ignoring her apparent warning.

"That's not her name."

"Oh, so she told you her real name?" he turned to her, eyes gleaming at the prospect of Adora having a proper conversation with her crush.

"I wish," she huffed, giving up on the pretext of anger "She used a different name yesterday: Scorpia. But now it's Cake, apparently. I don't know." She groaned, frustrated.

"Well, customers use fake names all the time, what can you do." He shrugged, then snapped his fingers as if he got the brightest idea "Why don't you just go and ask her for her real name, then?"

"Oh sure, why didn't I think of that?! 'Just go and ask for her real name, Adora- It'll be easy, Adora'."

"You got it bad." He patted her consolingly, unaffected by her sarcasm.

"No, I don't."

Just then, another customer came in, so he walked back to the cashier, wearing his trademark smile.

"Oh, and don't tell Glimmer!"

Bow just looked at her with a raised brow like Adora doesn't know that they tell each other literally everything.

The girl comes by everyday after that.

Well, at least that's what Adora presumes. It's not like she has a shift everyday of the week. She's just working part-time after all. But sure enough, the girl comes by whenever she was there.

She always comes at approximately the same time- just right after rush hour, and she's always scrunching her brows as she relays her order.

When she takes her coffee and whatever bag of food she ordered for the day, she never looks up, much to Adora's dismay. All Adora gets is a muttered variation of the phrase: 'Yeah, you too' or just a simple 'Thanks'.

But what's most notable about each encounter, was the names she gives.

At first, it was names that all sounded arbitrary. Like Sarah, Rachel, Kyle, and AJ.

Then, other times it gradually turned bizarre after each day. With names like Tinkerbell, Bogart, Mustard, and Fisto.

"What's that? It looks like a list of names?" Bow looked over her shoulder curiously before she could cover it up with her hand.

"No it's not, it's just some random words and random lett- " she tried to play it cool, but Glimmer didn't even let her finish.

"Wow, that doesn't scream 'Creepy Stalker' at all." she shook her head at Adora.

"I'm not a st- !"

"I'm telling you, Bow, if something bad happens to our mystery girl, I'll be the first one to call the police."

"I'm not a stalker!" Adora finally let out "I'm gonna talk to her and we'll get to know each other and become friends! You'll see!"

"Right, we'll believe it when we see it."

"Anyway, what the heck kind of name is Lil' Razz?"

Adora was already decked out and ready to leave after her shift.

She was going to say goodbye to Bow and Glimmer as she pushed the backroom door open and stepped out.

Her plans went out the window when she saw the girl walk in. She stood frozen, blocking the doorway, until Bow nudged her shoulder.

"Hey, what are you-"

"Give me your apron." She said, suddenly. Slinging her messenger bag over her head and unceremoniously throwing it at the corner.

"What?"

"C'mon, give me your apron." She swiftly turned him around and undid the knot on his back.

"Oooh, ya' girl's here. I get it." He chuckled smugly, letting himself be moved around by the shorter girl.

"Shut up, do me this one solid."

"Okay, okay, chill." He raised his hands in defense, then cocked his head in question "Why don't you just go out there, you don't really need an apron, you know."

"I know- I mean, I don't know! It's kinda like armor to me, alright?" her face got warm at the absurdity of her explanation.

"Whatever, suit yourself. Ha! geddit? 'Cuz- " Bow stopped mid-sentence, clearly receiving the message behind Adora's glare.

He rushed out quickly, seemingly to start his shift.

Adora took a steadying breath before donning on the apron and stepping out through the doors herself.

Bow is already working on a drink, and Glimmer is taking another customer's order.

When she walked over, she saw a lone cup on the counter beside Glimmer. She breathed in relief and muttered a silent gratitude at Bow, which he returned with a smile.

She turned it over immediately, curious to see what the 'name of the day' was.

RED

Written in Glimmer's curly handwriting and a doodle of a flower at the tail of the name.

As she was getting the drink ready, she thought of a really cool ice-breaker and had been honest to god giddy at potentially striking up a conversation with the girl.

"Café Americano for Red!" she called when she saw that the girl wasn't waiting by the counter.

'Red' stood up from the nearby table and walked up to her, hands in her varsity jacket. Adora noted that she was also wearing her hair up in a ponytail.

When the girl stopped at the counter, she began patting at her pockets, presumably looking for her receipt.

This is my chance, Adora thought. Her heart drumming loudly at her ears, as a silent countdown started whilst she watched the other girl do the pocket dance.

"S-so," Adora started shakily, just as the girl pulled up the receipt from the back pocket of her skinny jeans. And dear lord, those jeans fit her ass like a damn glo-

Adora snapped back to herself when the girl scrunched her brows at her, like she always does, and waited for her to continue.

"So, your favorite color is red, huh?" she continued, taking the receipt from the girl's fingers and pretending to check the order.

"What? Oh, because of the- no, actually, it's not." The girl looked confused at first by the question that seemingly came from nowhere.

Adora sweltered at hearing this, busying herself instead by stamping the receipt and handing it back with her customary smile. Inside, she was freaking out, screaming at herself for once again putting her foot in her mouth.

"My favorite color is slightly less gray than very gray" the girl said offhandedly, before taking the receipt in Adora's hand.

"What?" was the most eloquent phrase she could muster. In her defense, she was taken aback since she didn't expect the girl to carry on with the conversation.

The girl just stared at her, squinting at her a bit. She crumpled the receipt in her hand into a ball before throwing it to the nearby bin. All throughout this, Adora thought of a reply, dreading that their encounter would come to end in such a way that would leave herself with a strange first impression for the girl.

"Th-that's a very specific sort of gray. Is it perhaps one of the fifty shades?" she blurted before she could stop herself. Mentally, she was giving herself a face-palm because, really, Adora? That's the best you got?!

But before she could beat herself up any more, she heard a raspy giggle come from the girl's upturned lips. She found herself immersing in the lilting sound, catching the girl's voice cracking in delight.

"No," she said, shaking her head a bit, "it's the one under the color-blind category."

"Wh-what?" Adora was still lost in the girl's rare laugh, missing the words that had just been said to her.

"I'm color-blind."

This time, she heard it loud and clear. But with her head still a bit muddled, the only word she was able to process was 'color'. And so her mouth did all the rest, as it does.

"O-oh, Oh! Right, right! Haha, nice one. I mean, have a colorful day!"

This earned her another bout of laughter, although a bit tamer than the first one. But Adora found it just as endearing.

In retrospect, maybe it wasn't so bad that she'd ran her mouth when she could listen to this jovial sound all day.

"Thanks…" the girl squinted at the nametag pinned at her chest "Bow, you too."

And with a slight nod and a small smile gracing her lips, the girl is off.

She looked on as the girl- 'Red', walked away. And not because she was looking at how those jeans fit her perfectly! No, of course not. She was only pondering the moment when she could redeem hersel-

A low whistle interrupted her thoughts.

"Now that's an ass I can get behind. If you know what I mean." She felt Glimmer poked her ribs sharply.

Adora didn't even have a rebuke at her friend's crass comment. Instead, she turned around, her back to the counter, and slid herself down to the floor.

She held her head in her hands as she let out a silent scream.

"Oh c'mon, Adora. I didn't mean that- she's not even my type." Glimmer bent down, squatting to her eye-level.

"Adora? Are you alright?" Bow suddenly appeared in her view, joining them crouched down by the floor. The three of them making a pseudo-circle.

"I saw everything." Glimmer told Bow in a conspiring tone.

"Why? What happened?"

"She just- "

"I just told a color-blind person to have a colorful day."

"What? Who's- "

"Excuse me?"

"Yes! Welcome to Strutbucks!" Bow stood up to attend to the customer.

She felt a heavy pat on her shoulder before she saw Glimmer's feet walk away.

All that was left to do now is to close her eyes and slam the back of her head painfully onto the wooden furnish, Several. Times.

There was a line of customers waiting to be served.

She and Glimmer were manning the counter- taking orders left and right and making the drinks themselves if they were simple enough. While Bow and the newbie- Kyle, worked on the more complicated ones.

The routinely process caught up to her as she'd gone from one customer to another, their faces blurring and their names becoming harder to spell by the minute.

"Sam." He said as she wrote down what she just heard: 'Tham'

Thankfully, she had enough sense to realize her blunder and made corrective measures before they'd become known as the Strutbucks branch who made fun of a 'poor unsuspecting customer' with a lisp.

Just as she completed the transaction, she heard an unmistakable voice standing in line behind Sam. Adora then decided that she could probably make Sam's order herself as it wasn't too complicated. It's totally not because she was eavesdropping on the conversation going on behind him.

"Look, just use this stupid money card, alright?"

"But I gave that to you as a birthday gift! I have my own any- "

"I told you enough times that I hate overpriced shit. And it's worth a thousand bucks to boot! Didn't we agree not to give gifts over fifty dollars?"

"Yeah, but you like coffee! And with this, you wouldn't have to complain about wrecking your coffee maker every time!"

"Ugh! Look, I'm not angry- just use the damn card. I'll look for a place to sit."

"Fine."

And conveniently enough, as the girl walked away, Adora finishes up Sam's order and thanked him for his patronage.

A bulky, muscular woman walked up to the counter. The looming height, which would most certainly be interpreted as menacing, was a stark contrast to the brightest smile Adora has ever seen plastered on someone's face. She wagers the woman could give Bow a run for his money.

Adora took the woman's order of a syrup induced, decaf frappuccino, and the nameless girl's usual standard coffee. While she punched in the various pastries that the woman enthusiastically pointed out through the glass display, she couldn't help but think to compare herself with her.

With each glaring difference between them she'd come up with, she'd feel less and less confidence about herself.

As she finishes up the order, she told herself that such trifles shouldn't bother her at all because everyone is their own person, so she shouldn't be too hard on herself. This woman in front of her is also just living her best life, and that's certainly an admirable attitude that's meant to be pursued.

"Can I get your name?" She asked, smiling, already feeling better about herself.

"Scorpia."

Scorpia grinned up at her in reply after sliding what looked to be a hundred-dollar bill into the tip box.

After instructing the woman to wait for her name to be called, she finally grasped why she'd noticed all these differences between them. It all came crashing down to her at once just as she heard her say the familiar name.

Scorpia's her girlfriend.

It was petty jealousy.

Of course. Of course, she's jealous.

As if she couldn't get any more pathetic by being hopelessly smitten with a girl she'd barely spoken to. Now, she'd also resorted to schoolgirl antics.

Luckily enough, she didn't have to endure smiling to customers anymore as she'd finally taken the last order in her line.

She shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks.

She's a big girl. Not some high school girl with a silly crush. She could get over herself. Though admittedly it still sucks knowing she didn't really stand a chance in the first place.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. And that's how she decided to deal with that.

As she walked over towards the doors to the backroom, she caught something amiss by the counter. And sure enough, there's a tray with two plates of pastries left behind.

Oh, Kyle.

She decided she could probably go around and ask about a missing order since the last customer in line is already being taken care of by Glimmer. She took it and politely asked every table if it belonged to any of them.

As she was walking around, she happened to be just within earshot of a certain table's conversation. She tried not to listen this time, to give the women their privacy. But in hindsight, she really couldn't help it if she has sharp hearing.

"By the way, thank Entrapta for me, will you? She had someone deliver my glasses to my doorstep. And I couldn't seem to get a hold of her these past couple of weeks."

"Ah, it's hard to get a good signal where she is. She's holed up in her lab as always. How's the glasses, though? She keeps raving about how she improved every aspect of it while she was making it, and then some."

"I told her to just buy me a new pair to replace the one she broke. I was blind for almost a whole month. At least now I won't have to squint at everything like an idiot."

"Well that's my girlfriend for you- she took it as an opportunity to tinker with it. On the plus side, it's better than your old ones, right?"

"Well, yeah. But it's annoying that she just decided for herself that she's going to make me a new one without even telling me! If you hadn't told me beforehand, I wouldn't have known. She's just so impulsive all the time."

"But that's exactly what I love about her!"

"Oh god, not this again."

Adora then finally moved on to approach their table after thanking the patrons she'd just asked about the tray of dessert.

She walked over, the girl sitting with her back at her, and Scorpia's eyes lit with recognition as she was sitting across the small coffee table.

She donned her customary smile and greeted them, repeating her script about the pastries that she'd been saying five tables ago.

Scorpia greeted her with a friendliness that's on par with Bow's everyday enthusiasm. She then confirmed that she might have forgotten to go back for it earlier when she took two other trays full of pastries.

After the quick check of the receipt, she almost breathed in relief- thankful she didn't have to go around asking every table in the shop.

Adora leaned over, mindful of the small breadth between her and the girl's shoulders, and placing the plates on the table.

Just as she was moving to stand back, a smooth voice almost made her stumble forward by its suddenness.

"Thanks for bringing it over."

The girl had her legs crossed, an elbow poised on her knee, with her head resting on her hand. She looked up at Adora with a small smirk playing at her lips. The crooked tooth akin to a fang- that Adora had countlessly doubted over whether or not it exists- protruding between her lips, scraping lightly at the bottom lip.

It didn't even matter if she was caught staring this time. She didn't care anymore. Not when the girl was wearing glasses, and even so, the striking color of her eyes was not diminished by even a fraction.

Adora knows that her face was gradually turning red. And if nothing breaks their stare for the next instant, she might do something she'll regre-

"Yeah, Thanks!" Scorpia interrupted her inner turmoil. A mouthful of cake muffling her words.

"It's no problem. Enjoy your coffee." She asserted coolly, nodding at them both before turning and walking away.

As much as her countenance boasts a cool and confident stride, her heart was hammering in total elation. And if she didn't have any self-restraint, she knew she'd be skipping all the way back.

She's not her girlfriend!

Scorpia's not the girl's girlfriend! The knowledge alone left a small smile on her face. Well, it doesn't entirely forego the possibility that the girl might still be in a relationship with someone else. Oh well, she'll take every small victory. What more, the girl smiled at her! In an acknowledging kind of way and not in the polite obligatory 'go away I'm talking to my friend' sort of way.

"What's with the gross smile?" Glimmer looked at her suspiciously as she returned.

"What?"

"You're smiling like an idiot." She sneered, walking towards the sink to wash her hands.

"I am? I am, heh."

"Ew."

She splattered some water to Adora's face. But it proved ineffective since Adora's still on cloud nine.

"She smiled at me." Adora voiced breathily, revered.

"So what? Like a polite smile?"

"No, she smiled at me because she remembered me!"

"Like, from the color-blind incident?"

"P-perhaps. But that didn't matter! She smiled at me anyway! And she remembered me! There was recognition in her eyes!"

"Riiiight, and you don't sound like a creep-o at all."

"No, this is progress and I won't have you ruining it for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must attend to the customer." Adora walked away when the bell from the opening door alerted her.

"Whatever you say, stalker."

"Hey, Bow."

The tone was enough to bring Adora's heart into a thundering mess. Her cheeks flared as she tried not to shift her eyes away from the girl's suggestive stare. The girl had her glasses pulled over her head, effectively pinning back her bangs. This gave Adora full view of the freckles over her cheeks and the stunning color of her mismatched eyes.

Just then, she felt someone bumped her shoulder, making her side-step to her right.

"Th-that's me." Bow has his head tilted down, looking up shyly at the girl, with a light flush on his cheeks. He was smiling so timidly and twirling with his fingers daintily like a schoolgirl confessing to an upperclassman.

Apparently, Bow also wasn't immune to the girl's seductive undertone.

"Wh-what! Get away, Bow! She's not talking about you!" Adora pushed at him, placing her hand smackdab in the middle of his face.

"Whaaat, but she called me." He whined, his voice muffled by their scuffling.

"No! she was talking to me! Now get yourself awa-!"

"Wait- so you're both named 'Bow'?" the girl interrupted their antics, they stood frozen in their goofy poses before getting back to their bearings. Adora dusting some invisible lint from her apron, and Bow tending to his harassed face.

"Well, I'm Bow. But I don't know, maybe Adora's not telling me something?"

"What? No, I mean, yes. I mean, no! You see there was this thing that happened- and, and the old switcheroo between this and that, then you saw- and you thought- !" Adora tried to explain, and although she was only met with incomprehensible stares, she just couldn't stop herself from blabberi-

Thankfully- or maybe not so much, Glimmer pushed at Adora's right side, effectively sandwiching her in the middle of her two annoying friends.

"Hey gurl, you got a nice ass. But I bet it'll look even better under Adora's-"

"Oh my god! Glimmer!"

But Glimmer remained unfazed, instead sliding a small piece of paper towards the girl and clicking her tongue as she shoots her finger guns lamely "Call her."

"That's it- you two! Out! Get away from my counter! Go! Shoo!" the both of them squealed gratingly when Adora threatened to slap their butts as they ran away.

Adora slid a hand over her hair to give herself time to calm down.

"S-so! What can I get started for you, today?"

She willed her usual smile. Praying silently that if the girl found her friends overbearing, she could at least do her a favor and forget about everything.

But to Adora's utter horror, the girl was already inspecting the small paper Glimmer had slipped her.

Not seconds after, the girl chuckled under her breath and flipped the paper for Adora to see.

"Your friend's good at drawing."

And sure enough, underneath Glimmer's flowery handwriting of Adora's name was a doodle of her and the girl's face with an embarrassingly large heart squeezed between them. And just below that, as if there wasn't enough space to write on, was Adora's number in a tiny, but still legible font.

"Ugh, she didn't."

"I think it's cute. She captured my frown really well."

"Oh, she didn't mean anything by that! It's just that she'd never seen you smile before."

"Well, you're the only one here who really made me smile."

Adora was honestly at the edge of her functioning capacity. So when faced with something like her crush giving her a compliment, her last functioning brain cell elected to blurt out the first thing on her mind.

"Is-is that a line?"

"I don't know. You tell me." The girl smiled at her softly, cocking her head as she did.

"I don't really know what to think." Again, see last brain cell.

"Look, just tell me straight up- is this all a joke or are you- "

"It's not a joke!" she cut in, before finding her bearings and deciding for once to address this rationally.

"Sorry, I mean, my friends may be dorks but what they were saying was all true."

"Well, you have to spell it out for me since they didn't really say that much."

"Uh- well, I've- uhm- I've kept noticing you around here for a few weeks now." Adora admitted, scratching at her cheek self-consciously.

"A few weeks? But we only really talked that one time? When was that again?"

And just like that, the cat's out of the bag.

"Just a few days ago." She relented, defeated. But all good things start from honesty, right? So there's nothing wrong with being totally honest with the girl if she wants to start a relat-

"Four days ago! She counted!" Bow hollered, apparently eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Thank. You. Bow. That's really helpful!" She gritted, making a mental note to kick his ass later. Or maybe lightly tap her foot against it. She could never raise her hand at the guy after all. He's too endearing.

"You counted, huh?" the girl raised a teasing brow, and even as she's a tad humiliated at being called out on her semi obsessive tendency, she still can't help but appreciate how cute the girl looks when she's finally not frowning up at her.

Well, the cat's already out of the bag- might as well feed it and give it some catnip.

"Okay, look, I'll be honest- I liked you since the first time you stepped in here."

"What? First ti- but that's about over three weeks ago." She looked confused, like the thought was something entirely unbelievable.

"Yeah, you came in and made an impression on me, I guess." She shrugged, leaning her elbows on the counter and resting her head on the palm of her hand.

"And she's been gay for you ever since!"

"Oh my god. Glimmer!"

When she turned back to glare at her friend, she was only met by the door to the backroom swinging closed. So like any other logical person, she glared down at the door instead.

Before she could decide whether or not to go after her friends, she heard the girl began to giggle.

Her attention was caught, and she feels her breath hitch at her throat. The openness and the sweet innocence of the sound was just as she remembered. She couldn't get enough of it.

When the girl's laugh cracked for the second time, it was enough to spurt a bit of confidence in her chest.

"Sooo, would you consider going out on a date with me?" she bent over the counter, leaning closer to the other girl.

"Hmm, I don't know- you do look good in that gray apron." The girl returned just as coyly, brushing a stray tear at the corner of her eye from laughing too hard.

Her first instinct was to point out that it was green, but her mind thankfully caught up and decided to reply with something proper for a change.

"I'll make sure to wear it on our date, then." That's right, confidence is key. Never mind that it sounded cheesy and Glimmer will probably tease her to oblivion later.

"With the right nametag, of course." The girl moved in closer, tapping a nail onto the plastic nametag on Adora's chest "We wouldn't want anyone to mistake you for someone else now, do we," the girl looked back up at her from her nametag, grinning as she did so. And unmistakably, the crooked fang that Adora had been noticing all this time was slightly protruding from her lips, "Adora?"

"Hnnng-! Y-yes! Yep! Absolutely positive! It's just that you were already walking away that day and I swore I was going to correct you. But your jeans- ! I mean, I got blindsided- no wait, I didn't say that because you're color-blind. Also it's kinda because you were laughing and it was the most beauti- "

Before Adora could dig her own grave any deeper, her dear friends came to her rescue.

Bow came in a flurry, placing a Venti sized cup on the counter between the girl and Adora, gently cushioning its descent with his pinky finger. Adora swore she saw rose petals floating at her periphery as he just as quietly steps away.

Glimmer, on the other hand, slammed her palm on the counter. Sliding the Strutbuck's card-that Adora didn't notice had been there the whole time-towards her and swiping it to the card reader. After mashing the touch screen buttons very audibly, the receipt started to print itself and she flicked her wrist and returned the card on the counter with a most exaggerated flair.

"Oh cool, you remember my order."

Glimmer clicked her tongue and winked at her "Call Adora."

"Yep, definitely call her. Oh, and have a great day!" Bow called, waving his hand goodbye.

"Yeah, you too." The girl tipped her cup at them "Oh, and Adora- Have a colorful day." She added as an afterthought and winked, before taking her stuff and leaving altogether.

Adora was left standing there, her mouth agape, and her head stuck in a stupor. She still couldn't believe everything played out her way. But until the girl calls her, she's still in a limbo. Her friends were talking, but she tuned them out in favor of reminiscing her encounter with the girl not moments ago.

"Jeez Adora, you couldn't stop being a useless gay for more than five minutes to ask a girl out properly."

"Hey, it's all good, Glimmer. Don't be too hard on her. It also looks like the girl likes her back." She felt a soft pat on her shoulder "She'll definitely call, Adora. Don't worry."

"The girl, huh? Yeah, it's obvious she likes this idiot back. But it kinda feels like we're missing something."

"Really? Now that you mention it, it feels like we forgot to do something important."

After a beat, they both gasped in realization at the same time, saying their thoughts out in perfect sync.

"We forgot to get her name!"

C: Hey, Adora ;) It's me, Catra. So I was thinking, are you free tomorrow?

A: Hey Catra :) Is that your real name? Also, can I be honest with you?

C: Yes, lol sorry about giving you fake names for a while. I just don't feel comfortable telling my real name to complete strangers. And, yes, absolutely.

A: I'm so glad you're not one of the people who follow the 'three-day rule'. I honestly just can't wait to see you again.

C: Well, you'll be seeing plenty of me either way since I go by there every day. And if you still don't know me by now, you should know that I go by my own pace. Plus, it's a stupid ass rule anyway.

A: Sooo can I text you the details later after my shift? It's kind of busy here all of a sudden.

C: Sure thing :*

A: 3

A/N:

If you're still interested, here's some extras about this fic:

-Catra was frowny/squinty the first half because she's just trying to see clearly without her glasses (Like Randall from Monsters Inc.). And she doesn't have extra cash to buy a new pair herself, so she had no choice but to wait for Entrapta make them for her. Also, she hates contact lenses.

-Catra hates overpriced stuff. And that includes overpriced coffee. So she never really stepped into a 'Strutbucks' before Scorpia gave her that card. But it'd be wasteful to just throw out the card because a thousand bucks is still a thousand bucks. In the end, she decided to just use it up every opportunity she gets so she can get done with it.

-Scorpia is rich as heck and is generous at tipping and everything else. This annoys Catra because she doesn't like Scorpia paying the bill every time they go out. But Scorpia's always saying that money is just something she happens to have an excess of and what's wrong with using it the way she wants. In the end, they split the bill everytime. Also, Scorpia offered to pay for the broken glasses but Catra refused of course.

-I'm not really sure if someone can be color-blind and have astigmatism at the same time. Though I know there are corrective glasses for color-blindness. I'm just not sure if it's possible to have glasses where it could help with both of those. Googling it didn't really help much. Welp, in the end, I just wrote it the way I wanted it to happen. It's just a fic anyway. Also, I'm sure the glasses Entrapta made for Catra works perfectly for her.

P.S. This site handles its Doc Manager so shittily, this is my fourth attempt at posting this. Good god.