First Times For Everything (ch2)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $10+ PATRONS!

So glad people enjoyed the first chapter! More baby Catradora ahead!

Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra.

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												Chapter 2. Bathtime And Bedtime

The guards that oversaw the children had said they would need some time before they could prepare a new bed for Catra to use. Until then, she will have to make due with a blanket and a pillow on the floor.

But as soon as Adora leads Catra to her new sleeping quarters after a long day of playing and a warm supper of soup, Adora has a much better idea.

With her hand still in Catra's, as it had been all day now, she locates the blanket and pillow that had been left on the floor next to the beds on one side of the room. Adora picks them up and carries them over to her own bed, which is the last one in the first row.

Catra is expecting her to just drop the supplies onto the floor there instead. But to her surprise, Adora places the items on top of her own bed. She lies the pillow down next to her own, then spreads the blanket out over one half. Catra watches her in stunned silence, until Adora steps back, grinning.

"There! All done!"

Catra blinks and tilts her head to one side, puzzled.

"So... now I sleep on the floor... with no blanket or pillow...?"

Adora's grin immediately drops into a gaping jaw.

"What are you saying, silly? You're not gonna sleep on the floor! You're gonna sleep in my bed with me now!"

Catra's ears perk up, but her tail swishes in confusion.

"I... never slept on a bed before..."

Adora gasps again.

"You haven't?!"

Catra just shakes her head.

Adora can barely believe it. But she makes sure to keep her voice low, because she knows other kids will be coming in soon, and she doesn't want to embarrass Catra.

"So... you've slept on the floor all this time...? No bed?"

Catra looks down and nods once.

Adora feels her heart sink a little. But then it jumps right back up.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, right? So tonight will be your first time in a bed! It might be a little cramped though, so if you don't like it, just tell me, okay?"

Catra lifts her face slowly, blinks, and nods again.

Adora smiles and takes her hand.

"C'mon. Let's get ready for bed then."

Several other kids have started to file in by now, talking and laughing as they run over to jump and flop onto their beds. Adora and Catra go to the big bathroom that the children use. There are several sinks, shelves of supplies, and a large bath tub that's almost like a pool, where a dozen kids can jump in to get cleaned off at once.

Adora tries to coax Catra there, but she refuses to go.

"I don't like water..." she mumbles.

Adora can tell she's a little nervous, so she doesn't force her.

"Okay. I'm gonna go in really quick. If you need something just call for me!"

Adora takes off her shirt and shorts, but leaves on the underlying wraps that double as a bathing suit. She joins a handful of other children in the big bath, while Catra lingers across the room.

Instead of bathing that way, Catra finds a wash rag and wets it with sink water and soap. She removes her top layer of clothing as well, then begins washing herself off by hand. She cleans off her face, her neck, her shoulders and her arms, then continues down to her stomach, legs, feet, and tail.

All the while she keeps stealing little glances back to where Adora is sitting in the water.

It's when some other kids go up to her and start talking to Adora when Catra feels her fur bristle. Her tail starts to lash, because she doesn't like other people near Adora. She doesn't know if they can be trusted.

And she also just... doesn't like other people being so close to Adora. Catra wants to be the one closest to her.

But she realizes she can't do that from all the way over here.

Catra looks back down at herself, skin covered in a thin warm layer of soap and water, then looks back up to Adora, happily drenched in the tub. Catra feels a grumbling in her chest, but she drops her rag and slowly begins making her way over.

Adora's just finished hearing a joke from one of the other kids and now is watching them splash water at one another. She'd also been keeping an eye on Catra all the while, and is surprised now to see her moving toward the bath. Adora stands up right away when she's close enough.

"Catra!"

Her voice saying Catra's name makes the smaller girl's ears perk up for a second, though it's clear she doesn't really want to get closer to the large body of water. So Adora moves closer to the edge to meet her.

"Is everything okay?"

Catra looks up at her nervously, but nods. She still isn't very talkative, so Adora decides to guess.

"Do you... want me to wash your hair for you?"

Catra looks down and nods again. Adora grins.

"Sure I will! And don't worry, you don't have to come too far in. Just sit here on the edge and I'll do the rest!" She offers out her hand like before.

And similarly, Catra hesitates at first, but eventually she accepts.

Adora helps her sit on the marble edge of the pool, with only her feet soaking in the warm water up to her shins. Catra wraps her tail around her stomach and hunches forward, hugging herself as if she expects something bad to happen.

Adora moves slowly and carefully around her until she's standing behind Catra. She leans over to the nearest little bottle of shampoo and pumps some into her hand, then rubs them together to lather.

All the while Catra stays that way, looking small and scared. The echoes of other children's high-pitched laughter bounce off the walls and make her sensitive ears twitch and droop. Adora speaks gently to her.

"So how do you usually wash your hair? Did you do it, or did you have one of the caretakers do it for you?"

Catra doesn't say anything. But Adora doesn't take offense.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm gonna start, okay?"

Catra makes a small grunt to show she understands.

Adora reaches out her soapy hands to start running them through Catra's hair. Catra flinches as soon as Adora touches her, so Adora stops and waits for her to adjust.

When she's ready, Adora starts to massage with her hands. Catra's hair is thick, clumpy, and tangled, especially in the underneath layers. It makes Adora wonder how often she'd gotten a chance to bathe at wherever she'd been until now. She doesn't even know if Catra had only just been brought to the Horde, or if she's been here for a while already in a different section of the Fright Zone.

But she tries not to let her curiosity get the better of her. She doesn't want to keep asking Catra so many questions that might make her more uncomfortable than she already is. So Adora just talks about other things.

"Wow! Your hair is so nice, Catra! It's fluffy and soft." She pets her hands through the layers, making sure to get a little bit of shampoo everywhere she can. Catra still doesn't say anything, but Adora can tell she relaxes a little bit because of her posture.

Adora keeps running her hands all through the mane of black hair. She hadn't realized until now that there are also a few patches of gray hair as well.

It's when she touches Catra's ears when the other girl reacts. She grunts, tenses up, and makes a move to pull away. Adora instantly apologizes.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to! I... I didn't hurt you, did I...?" She pulls her hands away and clasps them together, hoping she hadn't done as she fears.

Catra's claws have come out to grip at the marble tub, but as soon as Adora moves back, some of the tension fades away. Catra looks slowly back over her shoulder, finding Adora to be genuinely upset at the thought of having hurt her in some way.

Catra's never known anyone to act like that towards her before.

The twisted feeling that's been festering in her stomach all this time begins to unravel a little bit. Slowly, she eases back to bring herself close to Adora again, and shakes her head in response to her question.

Adora notices the claws shrink again. She breathes a sigh of relief.

"I'm really sorry. I should've known not to touch your ears. I promise I'll try not to from now on."

So she dutifully begins to shampoo Catra's hair again, taking extra good care not to make contact with the fur of her ears. But after a few minutes, she's surprised to hear a tiny mumble of a voice.

"You can..."

"Huh?" Adora leans sideways to catch sight of Catra's blue eye. "I can wash them? Are you sure?"

Catra holds her gaze for a moment, then nods. Adora straightens up again.

"Okay! I'll be gentle, I promise! If you don't like, it just tell me to stop, okay?"

With one hand, she reaches out to lightly brush her fingertips over Catra's soft ear. It flicks beneath her touch, but eventually stills. Adora strokes her fingers very gently over the short black fur, barely making any contact at all, only enough for a bit of the soap to transfer over. She pays close attention to Catra in case she's going to make her stop.

But Adora manages to carefully lather both ears without a hitch. She feels proud in her accomplishment. She taps Catra's shoulder.

"I'm done! Want me to rinse you now?"

But before Catra can respond, some noisy kids nearby end up making a ruckus and jump into the bath. The spray hits Catra directly. As the adult caretakers scold the rough-housing children, Catra gives a loud hiss, scrambling back instinctively to clutch onto Adora. She growls and spits and shakes herself off, hiding her face in Adora's shoulder.

Adora holds her close to help her feel safe.

"Catra! Are you okay? You don't like water that much, right? You said that before."

Catra hisses again, but it eventually turns into a whimper. Adora pats her shoulder.

"It's okay. I have an idea. Come with me."

Adora takes her hand and slowly leads Catra away from the tub. She stops by the little shelf with clean towels and grabs a couple, then hands one to Catra so she can dry herself off.

There are also a few toys kept on that shelf, most of which have already been taken by other children, but Adora finds just what she's looking for. She picks up a small bucket before guiding Catra to a drier, quieter area.

"Here," she says, having her sit on the floor. "I'll be right back. Just dry off, okay?"

Catra nods into her towel and slowly begins padding her chest and stomach dry.

Adora takes the bucket and rushes back over to the tub, dunks it in to fill it, and then rushes back without spilling too much. Catra's eyes widen at the sight of it, but Adora quickly calms her fears.

"Don't worry! I'm not gonna dump the whole thing on you. I promise." Adora puts down the bucket and lifts up her hand to extend her pinkie.

Catra's soapy ears perk up, but she tilts her head.

Adora blinks.

"You... don't know what a pinkie promise is?"

Catra shakes her head. Adora elaborates.

"It's like a swear! If you make a pinkie promise with someone, it means you're going to keep that promise no matter what! It's the ultimate trust! And you can trust me, Catra!"

Catra hesitates for a long moment. She'd certainly never trusted anyone else in her life as much as she's willing to trust Adora.

Adora keeps her hand out like she had at their first meeting earlier that morning, waiting patiently for Catra to respond.

It takes another minute, but Catra eventually reaches out a slow, timid hand and reflects the motion, sticking out her pinkie finger. Adora smiles, loops them together, and squeezes gently.

"Thanks for trusting me, Catra. I'll take good care of you!" She kneels down behind her and places the bucket next to herself, ready to get started. "I'm gonna start rinsing off your hair. I'll help you dry your back off when I'm done."

She dips her hands into the bucket and scoops up as much water as her palms can hold, then begins drizzling droplets on top of Catra's head. Catra stiffens again, but it only lasts for a second this time.

Adora takes care to avoid Catra's ears for now and just focuses on rinsing out her hair. She lets the water fall slowly, not all at once, and makes sure to get the underneath layers as well. She dunks her hands over and over again, rinsing Catra's hair little by little until the bucket is empty. At that point Adora hurries off to refill it and is back within a minute to continue.

Catra is still and quiet all the while, clutching the towel to her chest. No one had ever been this patient with her before. Whomever had bathed her in the past would just dump water all over her, or worse, force her into the bath and have her dunk her head under. Remembering it makes her sniffle.

Adora hears it and immediately stops.

"Catra? Are you okay? Did I do something? I'm sorry!"

Catra shakes her head, but doesn't look back at her. Her voice is a tiny mumble.

"Isn't it a bother...?"

"Huh?" Adora tilts her head. "You mean washing your hair for you?"

Catra nods.

Adora pats her shoulder again.

"It's not a bother at all! What's most important is that you're more comfortable this way, Catra!"

Catra doesn't say anything, because she doesn't know what she can say. No one's ever been this nice to her before. No one's ever thought about Catra before themselves. She whimpers again and hides her face in her towel.

But Adora can tell by her raised ears and swishing tail that she's happy, which makes Adora happy too.

She continues rinsing Catra's hair until the only remaining suds are on her ears. For that, Adora only cups water in one of her hands and uses the other to pet the water gently across each ear.

At long last, Catra's bath is finished.

"All done!" Adora claims. "Here, lemme dry off your back for you since I'm the one who got it all wet."

Catra looks different with her normally-fluffy hair now damp and straight. Adora gathers it all to one side to reveal her small back. There are a couple of stripes running across her skin there like there are on her upper arms and legs. Adora rubs the towel up and down gently until she's sure she's gotten every last drop.

"Okay," she says. "Now we just gotta dry our hair and we'll be all done!"

Adora hands Catra her towel back, then picks up the one she'd grabbed for herself. She starts padding it through her own hair to rub it dry, expecting to see Catra doing the same.

But instead, Catra just gives herself a mighty shake, which sends dozens and dozens of water droplets flying. And just like that, her mane of hair is back to its usual thick wily mess.

Adora can't help but chuckle at the sight of her now.

"Catra! Y-You're hair's bigger than you are!"

Catra's ear flicks at the sound of her laughter. But it doesn't annoy or upset her like other kids' laughter does. Instead, Adora's laugh makes her smile.

After they've finished drying themselves off, Adora puts back the bucket she'd used and places their used towels into the proper laundry corner. Catra notices just about none of the other children are following those rules or cleaning up after themselves.

Adora even starts picking up other toys and towels scattered across the floor. Catra cautiously does the same, picking up a little toy skiff that floats in the water and returning it to its proper shelf. The adults stationed to watch the room smile when she does this. Catra feels her fur fluff up and quickly runs back to Adora.

They put their clothes back on, then wander over to the sinks to brush their teeth. Adora glances over and is mesmerized by Catra's pointy fangs.

Once they've finished, their hands naturally come together again as they walk back to the communal children's bedroom. A few other kids are already back and asleep in their beds, or are talking quietly with friends. Adora and Catra walk all the way over to Adora's bed, which still has Catra's blanket draped over one half of it.

"Time for bed!" Adora says, plopping down onto her side. "I'm so tired cuz I had so much fun with you today, Catra!"

Catra glances down at the bed, then back up to Adora, as if she isn't sure she's allowed to be sharing it with her. Adora smiles.

"It's okay! We're allowed to share beds on cold nights, right? So they won't mind if you sleep on mine! It's much better than having you stay on the floor!" She pats the covers invitingly.

Catra still hesitates.

"Will you... have enough room...?"

"Of course I will! You're littler than me anyway, so it won't be a problem!" Adora pulls the blankets down and crawls underneath on her side, watching Catra expectantly.

It takes her another minute of nervous glances and drooping ears, but Catra eventually joins her.

But not in the same way.

Instead of getting beneath the blankets and stretching herself out like Adora, Catra curls herself up on top of them and nestles herself into a ball with her back to her.

Adora blinks curiously and sits up.

"Don't you wanna use your pillow?"

Catra shrugs.

"Don't need to..."

"But won't you be cold?"

"Doesn't matter..."

Adora's seen plenty of other children who sleep in different ways, but usually if they curl up like Catra does, they'll do so underneath the blankets.

But from what she's learned about Catra, just from knowing her for a day, Adora can tell she doesn't like to be smothered. So heavy blankets covering her entire body probably isn't comfortable for her, even if it means she'll be chilly overnight.

Adora frowns as she tries to think of a solution.

As other kids finally begin filing into the room and getting ready for bed, Adora stares at Catra's back and her ruffled hair. The only thing she's got to cover herself is her tail and her hair, which are probably still a little cool from the water. Sure enough, Adora sees a shudder go through her, and Catra curls in more tightly on herself.

There are only two things Adora can think to do for her like this.

First, she slides herself closer to Catra beneath the blankets, until her stomach is pressed as closely to her friend's back as possible.

Then, she picks up the blanket meant for Catra, and gently drapes it over her. But not fully, only across her back and over her legs. She makes sure to leave Catra's shoulders and head exposed.

Catra opens her eyes when she feels what Adora is doing. Adora eases back.

"Sorry. I just thought you might get cold. I don't want you to get sick..."

Catra blinks up at her, but doesn't remove the blankets.

The lights are shut off just then, and Adora flinches. But to her delight, she discovers that Catra's mis-matched eyes glow brightly in the darkness.

"Wow. Your eyes are really pretty."

Catra makes a weird sound and quickly buries her head into her arms. Adora chuckles and slides a little closer to her.

"Goodnight, Catra. I'm really glad I met you."

And in spite of everything that had happened to Catra today - in spite of being scared of Shadow-Weaver and being brought to a new area she'd never known before, in spite of the other kids being mean to her or ignoring her...

At the end of the night, a small purr rumbles to life.

Because in spite of it all, she'd found someone who smiled at her, someone who cared about her enough to ask if she was okay, someone who offered to share her bed and say 'goodnight' to her.

In all the darkness, Catra feels she's finally found a ray of light.

"Night... Adora..."

Her voice, much like the rest of her, is small and timid.

But with Adora by her side, she believes she can become stronger, and more confident.

If Catra's learned nothing more from today, it's that she wants to stay by Adora's side forever.

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A/N: So this chapter had a lot of firsts for them! First bath, first promise, and first night together!