Chapter Text
Five hours on the road and Adora starts to feel the tension easing out of her shoulders. Her days off were never good for her, she’d never really known what to do with time to herself, in the same place, day after day. Just north of Atlanta and just past midday, Adora’s stomach starts to rumble. If there was one thing Adora liked better than driving, it was food.
A small bell rung over the door as Adora entered the diner. It was surprisingly busy, with people in every booth. There were a few free stools at the counter, but they were all sandwiched between two dudes. Gross.
Sidling up to the counter, Adora waited her turn to order. She could always eat in her truck, but it would be nice to stretch her legs for twenty minutes. She surveyed the room, trying to decide who would be least bothered by sharing a booth with her. Adora’s eyes fell on a girl sitting down the far end of the room. Watching her for a moment, Adora noticed the way her brow would furrow almost imperceptibly every time a man would walk past, and, more obviously, a large pair of feline ears would flatten back against her head. Perhaps a kindred spirit.
Adora placed her order and let the server know where she’d be. Well, here’s hoping. Adora walked to the booth, sliding nonchalantly into the seat opposite the felid woman and pretending she didn’t notice the pair of mismatched eyes staring her down as she pulled out her phone. A tail whipped back and forth in the seat beside her. Seemingly content this new intrusion wasn’t here to bother her, the girl eventually relented and went back to picking at her nails. Well, claws. A couple more people filed into the diner. Adora wondered again where the rodeo was.
After a few minutes, the waitress brought Adora her food and a large black coffee. She grazed absent mindedly, picking at the chips that came with her burger, trying to keep her furtive glances at the girl opposite her sufficiently furtive. Something the other girl was decidedly failing to do. She was eyeing Adora’s plate, plenty obvious.
“You hungry?” Adora asked, breaking the silence between them. The cat girl jumped at the question, her fur bristling. She glanced quickly around, trying to pretend she’d been looking anywhere else, and shook her head.
“You seem hungry,” Adora said matter of factly. She raised a hand and clicked loudly, making eye contact with the waitress. “Can I get another plate of the same?” Then looked back to the hungry woman, who’s eyes were now widening in… surprise? Offence? “Coffee?” Adora asked. Receiving no response, she continued to the waitress, “And another large coffee? Creamer in this one.”
Finally, the woman spoke. “Did you just assume my coffee order?”
“Well,” Adora shrugged. “Cats like cream, don’t they? If it’s wrong I can get you something else.”
The woman glared for a while, but finally rolled her eyes and slumped back into her seat with her arms crossed, saying nothing. Hah. So she’d been right.
“I’m Adora, by the way.”
“Catra,” Catra said, barely looking up.
“Nice to meetcha, Catra.”
There were maybe two things Adora liked better than driving.
After practically inhaling her burger and half the plate of chips, Catra’s body language started to open up, she leant forward over the table instead of away, her ears pointing the same direction.
Of course, how else do you befriend a stray cat? You feed it.
“So,” Adora ventured. “What brings you out here?”
“What brings you out here?” Catra responded.
“It’s on the way. I’m a long hauler, that’s my rig out front.” Adora gestured to one of the trucks parked outside. “So? You next.”
Catra shrugged. “No reason. It’s just better than where I was.”
“Running, huh?”
“What would you know about it?” Catra shot back.
Adora smirked. “Why do you think someone takes a job like this?”
“Too stupid to do anything else?” Catra said with a grin that showed her sharp teeth.
Adora frowned at the girl’s rude comment, but was ultimately won over by that smile and laughed, loudly. “Yeah, probably. So, if you’re not here for any particular reason, can I ask where you’re from?”
“Louisiana.”
“Wow, you’re already a long way from home. So how’d you get here?”
“Hopped a train.”
“Fuck! Catra, that’s really dangerous!”
The cat girl smirked, relishing the conversational upper hand she’d managed to find. “So?”
A sad look spread across Adora’s face. “So… Idunno. Are you gonna hop more trains?”
“Probably. Hardly wanna stay here, do I?”
Adora wrestled with the question she knew she was about to ask. For one, she knew it could get her in trouble with her boss, and for two, this girl might be plenty of trouble on her own. But she asked it anyway. “Well… Can I give you a ride somewhere? I mean, if it’d keep you off the trains.”
Catra looked her up and down suspiciously. Finally she asked, “Where you going?”
“North west.”
“How far north west?”
“All the way north west.”
“What like… Washington?”
“Seattle, yeah.” Catra seemed to perk up at that.
“I… I could do Seattle. I’ll think about it.”
Adora smiled. “Well feel free to take your time, I’m only leaving in ten minutes.”
They kept eating in silence for a while. Catra sipping at her coffee while Adora chugged hers and ordered another.
Eventually Adora spoke again. “Never understood how people could sleep on those things. Trains, I mean. Aren’t they really loud?”
“You wear ear plugs. But yeah, it’s still really loud. And of course they don’t really fit my ears…”
“That’s why you keep flinching, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“Every time someone enters and the little bell rings. You flinch. The train hurt your ears. Either that or you’re worried about who might come in that door.”
Catra scowled. Adora thought she might have been blushing, but it was hard to tell. “Aren’t you perceptive. I guess all your staring payed off.”
Now it was Adora’s turn to blush, and she had no layer of fur to hide it. “Just… just curious about you, that’s all.”
“Well get less curious.”
Adora felt herself flare at the comment, but she let it go. “Well, if you’re gonna ride with me, and I hope you do, I’m gonna ask questions. Fair warning.”
“If.”
“Yeah, and I need to get going. So, what’s it gonna be?”
Catra fidgeted in her seat for a while, looking all round the room, anywhere but at Adora, as she considered her options. The door opened and she winced again. Adora couldn’t help the sympathetic look that shot across her face. Catra noticed.
“Fine,” she said at last, her face softening. “I’ll go with you. Fuck those trains.”
Adora smiled. “Great.”
“So, how long’s it take to drive to Seattle?” Adora’s passenger finally spoke up after they’d been driving for nearly an hour.
“About three days. Counting today, which’ll be another six hours driving. But it’ll depend.”
“Depend on what?”
“Weather, mainly. Storms.”
Catra shrunk down in her seat. “Are you expecting storms?”
Adora shrugged. “We’re driving across most of the central United States. There’s gonna be a storm somewhere, just depends on if we’re there at the same time.”
“Is it… y’know, safe?” Catra asked.
“Huh?”
“In the truck. If there’s a storm.”
“Uh, yeah? Unless I drive us into a tornado, but I’m not about to do that, am I?”
“I don’t know, are you??” Catra was breathing heavily.
“Heeeyy, relax! Here, I’m rollin’ down your window. There’s nothin’ to worry about, okay? Only difference storms make is we can’t go as fast in the wet. I’m sorry I even mentioned ‘em.”
Catra spent a while hanging her head out the window, eventually regaining her composure. She pulled herself back inside the cabin and was quiet again.
“So… not to pry, but you don’t like storms, huh?” Adora pried.
“No,” was her curt response.
“Got a reason for that?” Adora knew she was trying her luck.
“Parents died in a big one when I was young.”
“Oh. Catra, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have-”
“Also, the woman who fostered me told me storms happened because God hated me,” Catra added bitterly
Adora nearly choked. “Fuck. Uh. Yikes.”
“Yeah.”
“… Is she uh, is she who you’re getting away from?”
“Fucking hell, Adora.”
“Sorry!”
“Take a hint.”
“I’m sorry.”
Adora tried to focus on the road.
“So, are you gonna find a motel soon?” Catra asked as the sun started to set. They were somewhere in western Kentucky.
“Huh? Oh, no, I sleep in the truck.”
“What like, in the seat? Is that comfortable?” Catra seemed doubtful.
“No, dummy. Look behind you. There’s a bed back there.” Adora gestured with the back of her head.
“Oh.” said Catra, looking back into the living environment she’d ignored until now. Silence, for a moment. “There’s uh, there’s one bed back there.”
“Oh.” echoed Adora. “I uh… I guess I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I feel like the polite thing would be to let you have it-”
“I’m not taking your bed, dummy. You’re already doing me a huge favor.”
“-oh thank god. I can not sleep in these seats. And you would not wanna be my passenger when I haven’t had any sleep.”
“It’s fine, I’ll sleep up front. I’ve slept worse places. Like trains.”
“I mean we could just share.” Adora glanced quickly sideways at her passenger.
“What?”
“I know it’s not huge, but I think it’d fit us both. Just.”
“Oh. Uh. No, it’s ok. I’ll be fine in the seat,” Catra said.
“If you’re worried I’m gonna make a move on you, I won’t. It’s purely a gesture of hospitality.”
“I, uh. I wasn’t worried about that.”
Adora smirked. “Is that coz you want me to make a move on you?”
Catra blushed a shade of red so dark even her fur couldn’t hide it. Adora relented.
“Look, you sleep where ever you’re most comfortable. But if I have to hear you moan about your neck all day tomorrow, you will be hearing that I told you so.”
Eventually Adora pulled on to some dirt backroad with nothing but fields as far as the eye could see.
“Do you have a change of clothes you’d rather sleep in?” Adora asked, opening the compact wardrobe in the back of the truck.
“I have a clean pair of jeans and another t shirt in my backpack.”
“Oof, you don’t wanna sleep in those. Here, take a set of my pyjamas.” She tossed Catra a soft cotton top and a pair of shorts. “They might be a little loose on you, but it’s a hell of a lot better than sleeping in jeans. You take the cabin, I’ll go outside.”
“You’re gonna change outside?”
“No one’s around. And corn only has ears, not eyes.” Adora winked.
Adora knocked on the door to the cab when she was done changing. Shortly, Catra shouted out she was ready and Adora climbed back inside. Catra stood awkwardly in the limited floor space of the sleeper cab, the gray tank top hanging loosely off her shoulders.
“You wanna try looking any more outta place?” Adora asked as she squeezed past her to sit on the bed. “So, whadd’ya want for dinner? Oh, that reminds me, we gotta go shopping tomorrow or the day after. Didn’t stock up for two.”
“Um, what do you have?” Catra asked, still unsure where to put herself.
“Got lots of instant noodles. Actually those’d probably last the both of us at least two trips like this one. But you really don’t wanna be eating them for every meal. The stuff in the fridge is way better. Got microwaveable pad thai, green chicken curry, well, just take a look really. This stuff’s honestly pretty good. You want a beer?”
“Are… are you allowed to drink on the job?”
“Not on the job right now. But no, not really. Not supposed to have it in the cab at all. But we’re not going anywhere for the next ten hours. You want one?”
“Sure.”
Adora tossed a can Catra’s way and opened one herself. Catra eventually sat down on the floor, cross-legged and sipped at her beer, which she held with both hands. Adora looked down at her, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
“What?” Catra asked, frowning.
“Nothin’” said Adora. “Just, you’re awfully cute down there.”
Catra growled. “I am not cute. And where else am I meant to sit!”
Adora nodded towards the front of the cab. “Passenger seat swings around, just pull the handle on the side.” Catra found the handle to spin the chair and climbed in. She shot Adora a look that clearly spelled out “Well why couldn’t you tell me that before.”
Adora shrugged innocently. “And here, look.” She reached up and flipped a tab on the wall, letting a flat panel fall down and form a table between them. “Hey, just like old times.” Catra rolled her eyes.
“That’s it! That’s exactly the look you gave me in the diner too.”
Finally, Catra smiled. Ever so slightly, but Adora still caught it.
“Hey look, you do like me.”
“It’s the beer.”
“Still counts.”
Adora had always counted her truck as more of a home than anywhere stationary. It was a strange feeling to have someone in that home, at her table, eating and talking and (sometimes, even) laughing together. She supposed other people in other homes got to feel this way all the time. It would be nice to feel this way all the time. The thought slipped past Adora’s usual defences and caught in her mind, spiralling around like a leaf in an eddy. It was still there when she lay down to rest in a bed that, for the first time in her life, felt a little too big.