World Tree MUSH

 Magical adventures, death-defying mercenary jobs or thwarting mass-kidnappings by Arasaka...life in Night City certainly hadn't been boring for a certain Etherian pair and today...? It was adventures in takeout! 

 With her hair down and the equivlent of a lazy PJ day Adora was wrapped in a midriff-baring short hoodie and a pair of workout shorts as she moved about in the common space of the tower apartment, currently in the midst of pacing back and forth. 

 She was hungry post exercise...and there were far too many choices.

    Knock Knock.

    Wait, that can't be the delivery guy yet, Adora hasn't even ordered! Regardless there's someone there, and they knock again as if impatient.

    Looking through the peep hole, shows the white-haired ratwoman from that encounter in the alleyway, yellow eye staring into the peep hole with a furrowed brow. "Oi. I know you're in there." she grouses, lifting a bag from one of the street stalls into view. "I brought food."

 "Food?" Had Catra gotten sick of her thumping around and ordered something? Had some fairy godmother come a-calling or had someone planned to rob them. 

 Still, food! 

 Padding her way over towards the door the untransformed girl did at least peek through the peep hole before opening the door to the familier face. 

 "Scavenger! You're doing deliveries now?"

    The Zalak snorts at the question, "I'm a mercenary, not a delivery girl." she retorts snidely. "I came to check on you two during some downtime." She's got a different outfit on from the previous time Adora had seen her. It looks like some local garb, modified with some combat augmentations, a plate carrier in the chest, some extra padding around the midsection. It's not as 'practical' as the old hazmat suit, but seems easier to move in.

    "I can always leave and take the food with me." she adds with a snort, quirking a brow at the blonde.

    "What's all the noise?" comes a voice from the walk-in-closet/weapon lockup. Catra opens the door, rubbing her eyes with one hand, wrapped up in little more than a tank top and some underwear. "...I was trying to... sleep..." she trails off, looking at Adora, then Scavenger, then back, and back again. Her fuzzy orange cheeks light up bright red and she ducks back behind the door. "ADORA! SCAVENGER! AUGH!" she sputters. "MELOG! WHERE-?!"

    Across the room, Melog is asleep in a sunbeam coming through the window shutters. The commotion makes it open one eye, then closes it. It yawns widely and makes a noise before resuming rest time.

 "No!" Adora cries perhaps a little too eagerly, decidedly not dressed for battle but making grabby hands at Zalak and their bounty. "Come in! Please!" 

 Odds are if Scav didn't move quick enough? She'd be pulled in by the hungry blonde before the door closed. "Welcome to uh...our appartment?" she offers, suddenly completely unsure if Scavenger had been here before or if the fact it was an extremely common design took some of the value out of it. 

 Of course, any pondering of that would have to wait when Catra's arrival and subsequent blushing retreat brings a giggle from Adora's lips. 

 "We have a visitor!" she calls. "Scavenger brought food!"

    "GWAK!"

    Scavenger gets dragged into the apartment by a blonde. She staggers a little, but manages to catch herself enough to put the bag down on a table. Catra's entrance and rapid retreat makes the Zalak tilt her head curiously. "Y'know I've seen worse than someone in their underwear, right?" she asks dryly. "But, do you, I'll go stand in this corner while you change, or something."

    The Zalak moves off to stand facing a corner and folds her arms, whip-like tail swishing disgruntledly.

    "I can tell!" Catra calls back, grumpily. She pulls the door open again, sighing and rubbing her forehead. She hasn't changed clothes at all. Not that she'd have time to. "Whatever..." she grunts. "Hey. Thanks for bringing food. You... wow. You look really good in that..." she notes Scavenger's new duds.

    Or drip. Or whatever the kids call it these days.

    "Hey, Adora, Scav and I went shopping! That's what she picked out! God, do I have a type? Warrior women or something?" she shakes her head. "...anyway.." she folds her hands behind her head, completely over being there in her underwear. "...what'd you bring? Come to hang? I uh. Sorry for being shouty. I was surprised."

 "Very fancy," Adora grins, her gaze coming towards Scavenger and her pouty tail-swishy self and a weird shiver going down her back. 

 A blink, a tilt of her head and a flush of her cheeks come to a smile as Catra voices a variation of her own thoughts, instead stepping up to the feline woman for a comfy embrace and shoulder nuzzle with a grin. "Sounded like your normal volume to me!"

    Scavenger looks over her shoulder after a few moments, then shrugs and turns around since Catra isn't getting any more dressed. "There's a Pad Thai booth down the street. Apparently it got some of Claire's veggies from somewhere." she finally answers, stepping over to and opening the bag. She pulls out several pots, containers and boxes that smell of greasy oriental-style food. "I dunno how to pronounce half of this shit but it smells good, so..." she gestures vaguely.

    "Works for me," Catra shrugs at the description of the food. "I just got up, so... hey, some chow is good!" she grins. Then her tail comes up between herself and Adora and boops her on the nose. She sinks into the embrace, though, eyes closing. "Oh come on... I'm not -always- shouty... I was just. Surprised. And. ... ..." she frowns and sighs. "...look sharing a room with the two girls I like is kinda... jarring cuz... I'm nervous..."

 "Awww!" Adora offers, clearly finding the exchange adorable before releasing Catra to gather their food coming to settle down on the couch cross-legged with the others.

    Scavennger takes a pot of.. some kind of noodles, a pair of chopsticks and sits on the floor in a corner. Her back pressed against the wall. This was done so nonchalantly that it must be how she does it every time. Almost like she doesn't trust her back to anyone, even people she obstensibly 'likes'.

    "Aww what?" Catra huffs, "...I mean it! I. Like you. Both of you. Like..." She rubs her face and goes to pull the chair from the desk over so she can just sit between Adora on the couch and Scavenger on the floor. "...I give up, I suck at this stuff..." the cat grouses, clearly too tired and hungry to be grappling with her feelings along with the awkwardness of facing both objects of her affection at the same time. Melog's colors ripple and it peeks a glowing eye up at her.

 "Your just super cute Catra, and I 'like' you too!" Adora offers as she loads up her own serving of food, leaning in to punctuate the 'like' with a peck on the other girl's cheek before looking to Scavenger with a smile. "So...it's nice to see you when we're not fighting gangers or Arasaka Scavenger." 

 Small talk Adora taking mercy on Catra...for the moment.

    "Don't get used to it." replies Scavenger to Adora's chatter. "I don't like wasting time on chit-chat... I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

    The Zalak's ears pin down against her head, yellow eyes purposefully staring into the container of noodles as she shovels them into her mouth.

    Catra reaches over to ruffle Adora's hair before she gathers up her own serving of food. She gives Scavenger a sideways look, though, before shaking her head. "...I'm not gonna preach to you, Scav, but as pretty as you look when you're covered in blood, you're a lot cuter without it, too. But hey.." she shovels a forkful of noodles into her mouth and has the courtesy to at least chew and swallow before talking again. "You keep telling yourself stuff. You're stuck with us. Maybe we'll un-grump you a little someday. You think I'm bad now you should've seen me before Adora got through with me..."

    She taps her chin a moment, "...or before I got through with her... huh. I dunno, I used to be a lot worse."

 That pouting, that grump...it brings a little murmer from Adora's lips. "By Greyskull, there's two of them now..." she murmers softly before smiling lightly and taking a bite of her meal. "Mmmn, well we're okay. I'm glad to see that you are too!" The blonde finding herself ruffled before Catra's admission and flirting brings a look of adoration from the Eternian girl. Queue another 'Awww!'

    "Eat, sleep, run, repeat." says the Zalak dryly. "It's just how life is for everyone." Yellow eyes finally move to look first at Catra, then to Adora. "You're way too chipper. Anyone ever tell you that?" she asks the Etherian blonde, jabbing her chopsticks in Adora's direction in an accusatory manner.

    "All the time," Catra quips. "She never gives up. Never gave up on me. Never gave up on Etheria. Never gave up. Ever." She pokes her tongue out at Adora, but gives her a playful smile, tail waving with energetic enthusiasm. "...seriously. It's infectious. I keep telling you I was a lot worse before now, and I'm pretty bad now!" she laughs.

 "I'm very stubborn," Adora adds with a sage nod of her own, looking quite pleased with herself as she continues to wield her chopsticks with decent affinity now. She was learning thanks to Night City! Still, there was a little tilt of her head before she looked between the pair. "Besides, it was totally worth it. Always!"

    Scavenger snorts, shaking her head and resuming her meal. "You'd fit in with A squad at Rhodes Island... bunch of young, dumb kids who think they're invicible." she shakes her head. "I envy them sometimes... I can't remember who I used to be, just... glimpses, and memories. Her dreams, weighing on my back."

    "I mean... She-Ra can deflect tank shells with her fists... or something... so.." Catra points out, noodles half-dangling from her mouth before she slurps them up messily. "She's even more thick-headed than I am," she pushes the rolling chair over to the couch and ruffles Adora's hair with affection. Then she frowns over at Scavenger.

    "...hey... come on. I'm not telling you to let go and.. forget stuff.. but.. someday you're gonna have to have dreams of your own and walk forward like that. You're not, like, one of those Arasaka robot drones..." she slumps down in the chair. "..and while those 'dumb kids' think they're invincible, you just seem not to care if you get hurt..."

    She snags a piece of synthsirloin from her food and nomfs on it, "...donth be tho thelfith..." Swallow. "...people fucking care about you."

 A little followup ruffle comes with a giggle and an affectionate lean of the blonde into the feline's shoulders before she speaks again, perhaps a little of that comment towards her brings a soft smile that perhaps left a little of the chipperness behind even if there was affection to be found. "Catra and I were raised as soldiers from childhood, I've spent most of my life in a war, or being used as a weapon for some grand plot, or losing friends and fighting to save the world from threat after threat..." 

 A little shift and one of her hands squeezes Catra's. "Then just as we won I was lost, seperated from everyone I care about for almost two years...Now we're here, together, doing some good and....meeting great people like you." 

 A smile, she shrugs her shoulders. "I guess it's made me chipper."

    Scavenger nods along. "I'm not saying anyone else has had it easy." she says, putting the box of noodles down with her chopsticks propped up inside it. There's only a few dregs left if one looks. "I lost someone very important to me... because I wasn't there to protect her. I got Infected, exiled and she died, because I couldn't be there." She heaves a sigh, standing up and dusting herself down. "Doesn't matter now... I've said it before, but Death can have me when it earns me... it hasn't paid the price yet and It's not gotten desperate enough to claim me."

    The Zalak eartwitches as her commpad chimes, "I should get moving. Duty calls." She adds, heading toward the door to leave. "Take care of each other... you never know what tomorrow can bring."

    "Good," Catra says quietly, then her ears lift at the sound of the chime. She sighs and sits up, only to just lean back in the chair. "...just... don't be blind to what's in front of you... please..." There's an imploring tone in the feline's voice. Adora knows the one. It'd border on heartbreaking to some. "...because you're right. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring."

    She glances over to Adora, then back to Scavenger before she frowns and stands up, setting her food container down on the chair. "Regrets have a habit of stacking up. I know what it's like to feel like I was drowning in them. And... you deserve better..." she says quietly, getting close enough to Scavenger to hug her but not doing much more than spreading her arms some. 

    She doesn't have the bold-faced enthusiasm and bravery that Adora or their Bright Moon friends have when it comes to just.. tackle-hugging people.

 "I know," Adora offers as the other woman makes to stand, she too standing and tilting her head to the side. "And if it helps, you're welcome to come around again anytime you like..." Adora offers, moving up closer and just sort of...making the hug happen between the three of them. She'd be the push for the pouty pair! 

 "Y'know, in case you wanted to check up on us again?" 

    Scavenger is about to just walk out when Adora comes in clutch with the Friedship Hug.

    The Zalak stiffens, turning into a rod of rat before pulling away from the embrace and almost scampering out of the door. "..." she says nothing, but half-jogs down the corridor and practically leaps down the stairs.