Work Text:
She noticed it after the first night she stayed over at Adora’s apartment. They sat next to each other on the kitchen counter, their knees brushing occasionally from how close they were. Every few minutes Adora sent her a shy smile, wiggling closer.
Once breakfast was done, Catra had to go back to her own apartment. She started to eat slower, moving her eggs around the plate with her fork. They were finishing up breakfast when something caught her eye.
"Babe, what is that?" She said at the lump on the windowsill. Adora looked over and immediately wilted.
"Oh no!!" She groaned, looking at the sad remains. "I forgot to water it again!"
"That was once a living thing that needed water?" Catra raised an eyebrow. Adora leaned against her for support, pouting as she rested her head on Catra’s shoulder.
"It was a cactus." She sulked, side-eyeing the small plant pot with disdain. Catra tried not to laugh but it was hard when Adora got like this, all huffy about something that was largely inconsequential.
"What'd you do to it? Burn it with a magnifying glass?" She laughed as Adora sputtered.
She slapped Catra’s shoulder lightly. "No! I just didn't pay attention! I've been stressed with work, and I got that on-call shift last week which put my meds out of wack." She continued to ramble on about all the things that got between her and providing water to the poor plants. Catra lost track—all she could think of was the cute furrow on her girlfriend’s brow.
She smoothed it over placing a quick kiss on it. "There there. You can buy another one if you want to." She soothed.
"This is like the fifth one." She groused. Her pursed lips look entirely too kissable, so Catra kissed her there too for good measure. She looked at her watch. It was well into the morning, almost closing in on the afternoon.
"I do have to go, but I'm sorry this is bumming you out." She offered as she pressed a kiss to the top of her girlfriend’s head.
Adora sighed nuzzling into Catra. "I don't want you to go." She all but whined from Catra’s neck. She let out a short laugh, Adora’s huffy breath tickling her.
"I don't want to go either, but I need to get stuff ready for tomorrow." She reminded. "I have my own apartment you know?"
"Yeah, but I really loved having you sleep over." She placed a soft kiss where she was hiding before dragging her lips up Catra’s jaw. Her eyelids fluttered shut at the sensation.
"Same." She managed to respond. It wasn’t the first time she'd fallen asleep with Adora, but it was different, holding her all night and then waking up with her there in the morning intentionally. "I can stay over again on Wednesday if you want?" She asked. She couldn't imagine staying away for much longer.
Adora lit up, leaning over to give her a kiss. When they parted she placed another kiss on her forehead.
"I want, Catra." Her voice sounded entirely too tender and honest.
Catra was glad because at least on her end, it felt like the wanting never stopped.
"Hey Adora." She bit her lip as she eyed her approaching girlfriend. She'd been waiting for Adora's eyes to drop out of her head when she arrived and saw Catra’s outfit. Instead, Adora barely paid attention, sitting down on the stool next to Catra.
She tried not to take it personally, but it was hard. She looked good. Her girlfriend should appreciate it!
"I'm a murderer," Adora said solemnly as she sat down at the bar next to Catra. She immediately placed a concerned arm on the small of her back.
"Bad day at work?" She asked gently, her mind jumping to the worst-case scenario.
Adora looked up, confused but then realization dawned on her face. "Oh no no! Not a people murderer! Everything was fine at the hospital." She rushed to assure. "My murder spree is exclusively for organisms with chlorophyll." She muttered darkly.
"Ah, the dumb plants." Catra nodded her understanding. Adora leaned on the bar with her hands in her hair as she stared down the bar top.
"I should just stop trying." She sighed.
"I mean you could," Catra said cautiously. She knows how much Adora wanted to keep something green alive for over a week. Adora looked like a kicked puppy at the idea of giving up. Catra sighed. "Or you could try again. I support you no matter what babe."
"You do?" She asked quietly, eyes far away.
"Of course." She confirmed with the nod of her head, the hand on Adora’s back trailing up between her shoulder blades.
"Even though you don't get my love of growing plants?" Adora tried foisting plants on Catra and she always refused. She barely wanted to be responsible for keeping herself alive, much less another being.
"If it makes you happy, I'll support you trying. Just don't expect me to make a weird little meditation garden like Perfuma and we're good." She joked.
She could try to spare the plants from her girlfriend’s clear negligence but really, how could she tell her to stop when she was already so sad? Adora deserved to be happy, even at the expense of a few weeds.
"Okay. Maybe this time I'll download that app that's supposed to help with remembering to water them." She brightened. Catra didn't have the heart to tell her this was her third time downloading that app.
"Yeah, it'll be different this time." She gave Adora a pout of her own. "Now do I get a greeting kiss?"
Adora’s eyes widen. "Oh Cat! Of course!" She stumbled over herself in her hurry to stand up. Adora reached for her placing her lips on Catra’s, soft and sure as ever. The fact that Adora was standing and Catra was sitting made her loom over the smaller woman.
When they parted, Adora finally paid attention to her outfit, looking at Catra with intent. There was the look she'd been hunting down. She smirked as Adora stared, her eyes flashing from Catra’s boots to her snug ripped jeans all the way up to her shirt with the plunging neckline.
"You look—" She managed to stutter out, brain not fully rebooted.
"I know." Catra filled the two words with as much smugness as she could. "Order your drink and treat me proper and maybe I'll let you do something about it." She challenged.
Adora’s eyes darken, and she reached out to touch Catra’s legs through one of the rips. Catra leaned into it, assured that date night was now really underway.
"That's the last of it! We're officially moved in." Adora dropped a large plastic tub haphazardly onto the kitchen floor. Sweat was dripping down her neck and Catra had thoughts on how they might celebrate the new milestone.
Before she could make her move, Adora slapped her forehead and closed her eyes. "I almost forgot! The cacti."
She ran out the door only to return a moment later with two very sad-looking plants. She gingerly set them on the shelf, a shadow of disappointment crossing her face for a moment.
"Hey, little buddies. This is your new home now. Please try not to die? I promise I'll do my best to take care of you." She looked at them intensely as if they could actually hear her pleas for their survival.
Regardless of how ridiculous it was, her bargaining tugged at Catra's heart strings. Adora was this way about everything. She just cared so deeply about it all—her patients, people she ran into on the streets, these dumb little plants she insisted on trying to care for.
Watching Adora's care for the world made her happy but it couldn't compare to feeling her love. Adora loved her with an intensity that frightened her at first but now she couldn't live without.
Adora walked out, gripping one of the bathroom boxes and dragging it to its designated room. Catra took a moment to admire her girlfriend's fine form before letting her eyes roam their new house.
Catra sighed, looking at her sad little green roommates. The cacti were alive, but they didn't look like they wanted to be for much longer. The dirt looked like dust it was so cracked and dry.
She sighed and put a bit of water in each planter not thinking anything of it.
Adora was generally a happy person but today she just radiated sunshine. She softly sang as she flipped their grilled cheese. Catra sat at the countertop and watched her, entranced.
"What has you so happy?" She asked absentmindedly. Whatever it was she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.
"Look at these Catra!" She called out.
She stepped away from the pan for a moment after lowering the heat. She held up the two little cacti for her to inspect. They are greener than ever, one of them even growing the beginnings of a bloom.
"They look like plants. You know. Green." She said slowly, just to bother Adora. Even Catra’s purposeful teasing couldn't phase Adora in her blissful state.
"They are green." She agreed happily practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I'm practically a plant lesbian!"
Catra thought about mentioning that she'd taken to watering them periodically but shrugged it off.
"Two cacti does not a plant lesbian make." She dolled out her sage advice instead.
"I know! I'm getting at least another succulent today! Maybe two." Her eyes brightened with the possibility. "I mean, I'd just been trying so hard and now they are flourishing. Maybe it's the better natural lighting in the new apartment?" She shrugged as she slid the sandwiches onto plates, placing one in front of Catra.
"Could be." Catra hedged. She watched Adora continue to hum and shake her head to the beat, ponytail bobbing as she tucked into her grilled cheese. She was the picture of happiness and it warmed Catra to her toes.
It wouldn't be too much trouble to water a few extra plants, Catra reasoned.
Those were her famous last words, Catra thought dryly. They were now up to six succulents and if Catra saw just one more cactus she might run out of her own apartment.
She took to reading in the living room. She grudgingly admitted that the space felt nicer with the small plants scattered about. She glanced up from her book when she heard Adora grunt as she opened the front door. What’s she doing dragging in a dead body?
"What is that?" She asked eyes widening as she saw her sweet, sweet, girlfriend bring even more vegetation into their home.
"The plants are doing so well I thought I could upgrade!" She says cheerily, yanking a large plant in behind her.
Catra’s gaze went from her girlfriend to her newest ward. The thing was at least three feet tall, not like the small little succulent Catra had been secretly managing.
"An upgrade." She said softly almost to herself. Oh fuck.
"Yeah, this one is still low maintenance, so I think it'll be okay." She explained around her pants, wiping the sweat off her forehead.
"What is it?" Catra pretended to be disinterested as she flipped to the next page of her book.
"A snake plant. I thought it would look good in the living room, what do you think?"
She waved her arms at it as if she were a presenter on a trivia show. She beamed at Catra, wiggling her eyebrows to get a reaction. God, I love this dork.
"It looks great there 'Dor." She smiled indulgently. "Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?” She wanted to spend some time out of the apartment with her girlfriend.
Adora walked across the room leaning down to give Catra a kiss. "I always want to go out on a date with you." She murmured lowly. She looked down at Catra’s lips but instead if leaning in she took a step back. "I'll be ready in a bit I'm going to take a shower."
Catra couldn't help her disappointed whine. Adora laughed, giving in and kissing her again. She watched Adora retreat to their room with a smile on her face.
Catra put down her book and started a web search for how often you needed to water a snake plant.
She'd been editing a paper in bed when Adora came into their bedroom. She knew it was a bad habit, but she loved being warm and snug under the covers if she had to do something as miserable as edit her final paper for the semester.
"Look at what they gave me at work!" She beamed as she brought in the latest of what can only be described as her collection of plants. "A golden pothos!"
"They gave you a plant at work?" She said incredulously. “I know hospitals have nurseries, but this isn’t what I thought they grew.”
Adora sidestepped her amazing joke. "Yeah! Mermista heard that my gardening woes were behind me now and thought it would be a good gift for employee appreciation week."
"What did everyone else get?" She asked suspiciously.
"Everyone else got a gift card. But look at this little guy!" She pointed to the leaves that started to hang over the edge of the planter. "He's almost trailing! He's gonna have so many pretty green leaves." She cooed.
She rolled her eyes. Another poor cellulosic soul for Catra to defend. "Yeah 'Dor that's great. We can't have a jungle without a golden pothos."
"Do all the plants bother you?" She asked sitting on the edge of the bed.
Catra quickly shook her head. "No babe I'm just teasing." She laid her laptop to the side and crawled over Adora's lap. "Although I wouldn't be mad at some attention. Sometimes I think you love your plants more than you love me." She made a show of burrowing deeper into her lap.
Adora gently set down the plant on the bedside table and kicked off her shoes, slipping in under the covers and pulling Catra up so she could hold her properly.
"There's nothing I love more than you Cat." She breathed out. "It took a while for us to get here but now that we're together, I don't plan on ever letting you go. I just want to make you as happy as you make me."
Catra’s heart thumped unevenly in her chest. "You make me incredibly happy Adora." She whispered softly into her chest. Adora pulled her even tighter, pressing them together until they were touching from neck to ankles.
That night they fell asleep wrapped around each other, the potted gift staying on the nightstand until morning.
She wasn't sure how this happened to her but she's on a gardening Discord server.
It became too time-consuming to figure out what each plant needed on her own so she figured she should go somewhere that had answers.
She was in the middle of a heated debate about whether to repot a basil plant Adora had brought in last week—so much pesto babe! Adora yelled as she hauled it in—when the woman herself popped her head into the bedroom.
"Hey!" She chirped brightly as she walked into their room.
Catra shut her laptop quickly and then shut her eyes, knowing she'd been caught red handed. When she opened them Adora was eyeing her with concern and suspicion.
"What you up to?" Adora asked, her gaze narrowing on the laptop. Catra looked at her and prayed to anyone listening that something reasonable came out of her mouth.
"Umm, I was looking for gifts." She said with a big blink of her eyes. Okay, gifts can be fun surprises.
"Gifts?" Adora took a step closer, an eye on the laptop. "For what?"
"For Scorpia! It's our friendiversary." That seems like something Scorpia would do. Adora tilted her head to the side.
"Why did you close your laptop like that then?" She challenged with a raised eyebrow.
"You're friends with Perfuma. I didn't want it to leak to Scorpia." She pulled that right out of her ass. Still, Adora's expression cleared, even getting soft around the edges.
"That's really sweet babe, I know Scorpia loves surprises." She gives her an overly wounded expression. "You know I wouldn't tell Perfuma though."
"You would because you're terrible at secrets. But that's okay that's why I love you." She placed a smacking kiss on her cheek.
Adora rolled her eyes. "Fine buy your secret Scorpia gift in peace." She walked out after squeezing Catra’s hand.
She opened her laptop again and groaned. Seemed the serve agreed that she did in fact have to do a replant and now she had to get Scorpia a gift for their nonexistent friendship anniversary.
Not to mention, the growing guilt making its residence in her gut.
She stared at the roots again, painfully aware of how out of her depth she was. She rued the day Adora decided to get an orchid.
Everything seemed fine at first, but when she checked on the roots, she immediately noted something was off. They looked like they'd been drowning.
"Adora." She said her name like a curse. Which really, she was for these poor plants. How could she be so good at keeping people alive and so terrible and doing the same for plants? Catra couldn't wrap her mind around it.
She looked at the roots and determined, with the help of multiple plant blogs and her trusty Discord server, that they were beginning to show signs of rot. This is not good.
She picked up the phone not knowing who else to turn to. "Perfuma?" She couldn't help the desperate edge to her voice. "Do you know anything about how to fix over watered orchids?"
"Of course, you know I grow multiple orchids in my zen garden. Why do you need help with an orchid?" She asked curiously.
"No! No! It's for a research project! For grad school! Yeah!" Her grad work had absolutely zero things to do with plants, but she hoped Perfuma wouldn't think too deeply about it.
"Okay..." She said in a questioning tone before pushing forward. "Well, is this orchid in a traditional planter or can you see its roots." She paused. "Hypothetically of course." She tacked on dryly.
"It's in a traditional planter you can't get to the roots well." She continued. "I'm not sure if it needs to be replanted so that the roots are out and then we can water it with a spray bottle."
"That's actually what I was going to suggest. And if you can add some volcanic rocks instead of your traditional set up, it'll help with making sure the roots don't rot."
"Okay perfect. Thanks, Perfuma! See you for brunch tomorrow." She said relieved to have an answer she could rely on.
"I'll see you Catra." She said breezily.
She put on her shoes and raced to the gardening section of her local store, hoping to have everything done before Adora arrived home.
She didn't slam the door to Scorpia's house, but it was a close thing.
"I'm done! I can't do this anymore!" She ran her hands through her hair, exasperated.
"Woah what's going on?" Scorpia came towards the door confusion clear in her voice.
"It's Adora." She huffed.
"You're breaking up with Adora!?" Scorpia yelled flabbergasted. Catra’s eyes snapped up to meet her friends.
"No! Jeez Scorp, why would you think that?" She asked, confused. “Adora’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
"Because you just said you couldn't do it anymore..." Catra shook her head violently.
"I meant Adora's plants!" She explained as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Our house is a jungle and she's a menace! How am I supposed to secretly keep everything alive when she's out for destruction?"
"I'm sorry I'm really lost Wildcat you're going to have to back up a bit." Scorpia stared at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was.
"I've been keeping Adora’s plants alive, but she thinks she's doing it. This morning she overwatered everything! I just spent an hour checking drainage and repotting the worst ones with new soil." She complained.
"Well, why don't you just tell her that you've been taking care of them?" Scorpia suggested voice still overlayed with confusion.
"I can't." Catra cried miserably. "She's just—she's so happy that she's keeping the dumb things alive. I can't take that away from her." She slumped over, the fight in her gone. Mostly, she was tired of keeping this secret.
"Wildcat that’s the cutest thing I've ever heard you say." Scorpia had hearts in her eyes as she clapped her hands together, her voice bordering on a giggle.
"It's not cute I am suffering! What do I do?" She groaned.
"Maybe we need Perfuma’s help," Scorpia suggested.
Catra shook her head again. "She's friends with Adora! We can't tell her." She hissed.
"We can she's trustworthy. Besides it's not all that big of a secret." She reasoned as she patted Catra’s shoulder.
"I don't know it's starting to feel like it." She grumbled averting her gaze to the ground.
"Come on, you know Fuma will help! It's plants!" She said like it justified it all. Which, it kind of does.
She groaned but nodded and Scorpia pointed her in the right direction. They both softly pad over to the den where Perfuma is reading.
"If this is about how Catra has been taking care of Adora’s plants I already know." Perfuma didn't even raise her eyes from her book.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the thin blonde. "How?"
She shot Catra a stare. "I've known Adora since we were sixteen. The day she keeps a plant alive on her own is the day hell freezes over." She said matter of factly. "The orchid call sealed the deal though." She added as an afterthought.
Catra cursed herself internally—she knew she got off too easy when he called Perfuma.
"Did you tell Adora?" She asked.
"No, I haven't. It's your story to tell. I honestly thought everything was going fine but it sounds like it's not anymore?" Perfuma prompted with a speculative look.
"I—I think I'm just tired of hiding this from Adora. It's not a big deal but it involves a lot of Sneaking and I'm starting to feel like I'm being a bad girlfriend." She finally admitted.
"You know what you need to do then Cat." Perfuma encouraged.
Catra sighed. "I know."
She'd have to tell Adora the truth. She just hoped she wouldn't be too heartbroken about it.
It took three more days for Catra to gather the courage. They were resting in bed, getting ready to go to sleep. Adora had turned around so that Catra could hold her. She breathed in the smell of her hair and wrapped an arm around her middle.
"Adora, we need to talk." She willed the words through her lips. She felt Adora tense against her and then she slowly turned to face Catra.
"What about babe?" She looked concerned as she reached out and placed a hand on Catra’s cheek. She turned her head for a moment and placed a kiss on her palm.
"Your plants.” As if that was enough of an explanation.
Her expression clears a bit although she doesn’t look soothed. "Alright. What about them?" She waited patiently, her big blue eyes scanning Catra’s face.
Catra takes a deep breath. "I've been taking care of them." She blurted out. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before I just started watering them sometimes and then—" Catra stopped at the tender look on Adora’s face.
"Cat, I know." She said softly her thumb rubbing across her cheekbone.
"What?" She felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her.
"Catra, I killed an air cactus. Those things are supposed to be indestructible." She said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean I can be a little oblivious but there's no way I could take care of all of this."
Her hand gestured towards the living area containing the majority of the foliage in the apartment.
"When did you figure it out?" She asked as she still processed what her girlfriend was saying.
"Right about the time I realized that I hadn't watered the snake plant in a month and the soil was still moist." She laughed shaking her head.
"So, a while ago." Catra surmised. "But you were so happy thinking that you grew them!" She couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"I mean I was! I thought I grew a green thumb overnight it was pretty cool. But when I realized that you were taking care of them, even though you don't even like plants." Adora looked at her with a heart-stopping smile as she brushed a stray curl from her face. "I mean... you really love me." She marveled softly.
Catra felt her whole body soften at the quiet wonder in her girlfriend’s voice. "Of course I love you dummy." She huffed, turning her head to press it against Adora’s forehead. "More than anything." She assured. "Why didn't you just tell me then when you figured it out." She sighed. This whole time they were tiptoeing around this for no reason.
"I wanted to! But you were being so sweet, and I didn't want to make you feel put on the spot." She explained. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I mean you were so sad when they were dying and so proud of yourself when they stopped. I didn't want to make you feel bad." She felt silly now. Of course, Adora would have caught on she was one of the smartest persons Catra knew. "To be honest I'm still not sure why you were so upset by them dying in the first place." She admitted.
"I was taking it too much to heart I thought—" She looked away, embarrassed. "I thought that if I couldn't grow a plant how could I ever be responsible for anything more."
Catra didn't understand why she looked so shy worrying her bottom lip and clapping her hands together. Catra leaned in closer resting her head on Adora’s collarbone. Sometimes she found it easier to talk without making direct eye contact.
"You're plenty responsible, you're a nurse practitioner! You save people's lives all the time!" She tilted her head to look at Adora, but her face was still hidden.
"Yeah, but there's a system in place they don't depend on me entirely." Catra’s brow furrowed. She didn't understand why Adora felt she had to do things on her own.
"Well, there's always going to be a support in place for most things. You don't have to be alone Adora." She comforted.
Adora sighed loudly, she turned so that she was facing Catra. Her face was red, but she looked her head on. "I was thinking about kids Cat. If I can't take care of a plant how the hell am I supposed to take care of a kid." She explained. As the pieces fall into place Catra stilled.
"Do you even want kids?" She asked, bewildered. They'd never even broached the subject of kids, they'd only been together for a year.
Adora groaned flopping onto her back. "I don't know! It just feels like something I should want. You know, with my job, I nurture people and I take care of them. Shouldn't I want a kid?" She threw her arm over her eyes as if to hide from the answer.
Catra leaned over, gently prying Adora’s face from the crook in her elbow so she could hear her words carefully.
"'Dor. You don't need to want or not want anything because of your job. And keeping or not keeping plants alive is not some stamp of approval required for motherhood." She tried to keep the disbelief out of her voice, but she thought she failed if Adora’s pout was any indication.
For a moment a tense silence washed over them.
"How do you feel? About kids?" She asked tentatively. Catra let out some weird screeching noise in the back of her throat. She should've expected that question, but she didn't really.
"I don't think I want them." She admitted hesitantly. What if this was a deal breaker for Adora? Fear pooled in her gut.
Adora’s expression cleared. "Alright." She accepted easily. "That makes it a lot easier for me then." She joked.
"What do you mean?"
This time Adora leaned in closer, a soft smile on her face. "I mean obviously, I wasn't going to have kids if it wasn't with you. And I wasn't even sure I wanted them, so it works out." She shrugged.
Catra’s mind ground to a halt. "You've thought about having kids with me?" She echoed. She couldn’t believe it.
Adora was suddenly red again her hand twisted for purchase in the covers. "I mean yeah Cat." She mumbled. "You're kind of it for me."
Catra surged forward pressing her lips to any inch of her girlfriend she could find—her neck, her temple, her lips, her collarbones—until she became a giggling mess.
"You're it for me too Adora." She promised, low and soft. "I love you."
Adora smiled softly. "I love you too."
For a moment they stayed silent, just basking in each other's presence, legs entangled and chests pressed close together. Catra sighed, melting into Adora. She felt so lucky to be loved, to be seen by this woman.
Adora cleared her throat. "So... now that you've been taking care of all the plants do you feel differently about them?" She needled.
Catra scoffed and rolled her eyes simultaneously. "Adora if you bring another plant into this apartment we are getting a divorce." She stated plainly.
"You'd have to marry me first." She pointed out with a cheeky grin.
"I'll get around to it." She promised with a laugh. "But seriously no more plants! We already live in a jungle. And for the love of God stop touching them! I'll take care of them and you can just admire them and that'll be that."
"Sounds like a deal." Adora grinned. Catra slept like a baby that night, and if in the morning Adora caught her singing to the plants in their living room, that was neither here nor there.