Leave your Name on my Heart - Ch1

Rating: E

Relationships: Catra/Adora

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Magicat Catra, Tattoo Artist Catra, mutual pining, fluff, hurt/comfort, Pov Catra, Pov Adora, Catra is bad at feelings, Adora is in Love with Catra (She-Ra), Catra is in Love with Adora (She-Ra), Etheria, Dom Catra, Switch Catra, Switch Adora, BDSM, Modern Etheria (She-Ra)             

Summary: Adora gets tattooed by the hottest woman she has ever seen. She tried so hard to be good and completely missed all the signs that this woman was very interested. Adora tries to stay away, but she can't deny the attraction for long.

--

The library was quiet except for the distant humming of the air conditioning working its hardest to keep the books and people inside comfortable on such a hot summer's day.

Adora and Glimmer were sitting together tucked away in a little corner where no one could distract Adora. It wasn’t a no talking section but it was expected that you keep your voice down to not disturb others. Adora was doing her best not to click her pen as she bounced her leg under her desk to expel the energy.

Adora hated maths, she was too gay to do maths. Why did she torture herself with it every single day? Studying a business degree was a terrible idea, she hated the course work and the finance projects. She hated her crusty old professors who looked at her like she was a woman learning calculus in the 1920s. Like she shouldn’t be there, and maybe she shouldn’t, but not because she was a woman, or gay. But because she hated it. Her dad wanted her to take over the family business and he insisted that she had to work hard to earn the position.

“You ok?” Glimmer asked in a soft voice, her eyes were gentle and understanding. Glimmer and Bow had been Adora’s best friends since high school, so they knew all about her life and her struggles. They had been so gentle with her ever since her grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. She appreciated the care but she hated the pity.

Adora’s father worked a lot when she was little so she spent most of her time at her grandmother's house. She would make pies, run around with the neighbourhood kids, and play with the stray cats that hung around the building. Adora remembered those days with such warmth, eating ice cream on the back porch while her Grandma told her stories. Adora and Razz were incredibly close but over the years Razz’s mind started to go and she needed extra care.

Adora visited Razz in the nursing home once a week and they would talk for hours about their days and the latest gossip. Razz was still very active even with her mind playing tricks on her and she always had stories to tell. It was still so new that Adora wasn’t going to make the trip anymore. Tomorrow would be the third week she hadn’t visited and she realised with a sinking heart that she almost forgot Razz was gone.

Her father was taking the loss of his mother hard but he wasn’t a man to talk about his feelings and rather threw himself into a new project. So he made a boat and Adora was left to navigate her grief with her two best friends to support her.

Adora knew she wanted to do something to celebrate her grandmother and the part she played in making her the woman she was today. Adora had been thinking about it non-stop since the funeral and finally came to a conclusion.

“Yeah…I think I’ve decided what I want to do to celebrate Razz. I want a Tattoo,” Adora said and Glimmer smiled brightly.

“Yes, I love this idea, absolutely,” Glimmer said with excitement “What are you going to get?”

Bow rounded a bookshelf on his way back to their table. He had three books in his arms related to the history project he was working on and Adora felt both sympathy and jealousy that he got to work on something so interesting while she was doing maths. Adora was a kindred spirit since Bow was also in his own struggle with the expectations of his family on what he should be studying.

“What are you guys talking about?” Bow asked, putting his books down and taking his seat next to Glimmer.

“Adora’s getting a tattoo!” Glimmer stage whispered and Bow smiled.

“For Razz?” he asked Adora and she nodded. “That's a great idea, I highly recommend the place I got mine done,” Bow said motioning to the arrow design on his forearm.

“She’s really good and if you say you know me you might get a discount,” Bow said and Adora smiled, looking at the intricate linework of the design with interest.

“Really? How come you’ve never mentioned this before?” Adora asked and Bow shrugged.

“You never showed an interest in tattoos before, what do you think you might get?”

“I think I want a quote from Razz over my heart,” Adora said as she thought about all the nice things her Grandma would say to cheer her up. She would need to really think about this since she had so many amazing and strange options to choose from.

“That's really sweet,” Bow said at the same time Glimmer said “Boob tat, nice.”

Adora laughed a little and clicked her pen. “Now I just have to work out what words of wisdom to immortalise on my skin,” Adora said and tipped her head to consider. “Does it hurt?” Adora asked Bow and he shook his head.

“Depends on the area but mostly it just feels like a really hard scratching,” Bow reassured and Adora nodded.

“Cool, I can handle that,”

[...]

Adora liked to think things through and consider all the outcomes before she made a big decision. She liked to be prepared and ready for anything. So, deciding what to get tattooed on her skin forever was turning out to be something she could overthink.

With some excellent advice from Glimmer to just pick already and a quick phone call from Bow to the tattoo parlour Adora had an appointment for the following week. Which meant she had a deadline to make her decision. Great!

She was stuck between two quotes. One was from a birthday card when she was 6 years old and terrified about joining the boys rugby league when they opened up applications. Her grandmother was quick to reassure her that she had what it took to be just as good as the boys. The card was now pinned to her corkboard in her room and the words read “Brave, loyal, unafraid”. They had meant so much to her at the time and now she was in university on a rugby scholarship, so it felt fitting.

The other quote was when Adora was 12 and nervous about coming out of the closet. She didn’t come out for a couple more years, but the words Razz had told her stuck to her bones like glue “No one is going to make this easy for you, dearie”.

Both quotes meant a lot to her and when she brought this up to Glimmer she said she could always get the other one tattooed when she had the money. Adora was happy to be a patchwork of important moments that she could write about on her skin. There was something beautiful about that.

Thursday afternoon came along quickly and Adora was standing outside the tattoo parlour called “No Regrets” with a stomach full of butterflies.

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, only slightly startled by the jingling bells that sounded from the movement.

She stepped inside the front room, which was sparsely decorated with chairs lining the walls and a counter blocking an archway further into the building. Adora noticed a bell on the counter and went to push it when a voice called from the back rooms.

“Got it!” The voice was husky but feminine. The sound of it made the hairs on Adora’s arms stand on end immediately. It was only seconds before the woman the voice belonged to appeared in the archway. As she came into view Adora could feel the exact moment her brain shut down. No thoughts. Poof. Gone.

The woman was a brunette with big waves of curls falling over her shoulders. She was tanned with freckles covering her cheeks and shoulders. She was toned, wearing tight black jeans and a maroon singlet that crept up the firm plains of her stomach. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

When the woman saw her, her gorgeous two toned eyes looked Adora over quickly before she smiled up at Adora and leaned on the counter. At this angle Adora could see the swells of her chest in the corner of her eye as she desperately tried to keep eye contact with this bombshell.

“Hey, how can I help you?” The woman asked and Adora had to shake her head and glance at the wall of tattoo examples to untie her tongue.

“Uh, I’m Adora, I’m a friend of Bows,” Adora said and the woman chuckled softly as she stood up straight and Adora fought the urge to look at her again.

“Oh right, you’ve got an appointment with me. I’m Catra,” The woman said, stepping out from behind the counter and offering her hand to Adora. Adora took her hand and shook it as she looked back at Catra.

Catra wasn’t doing anything except smiling at her but Adora could feel the heat in her cheeks as she tried desperately to keep it together. Catra’s smile evolved quickly from sweet to almost predatory as Adora rushed to release her hand.

“Great, I’m Adora,” Adora said and closed her eyes as her blush darkened “I already said that, sorry. I’m nervous,” Adora blurted out and peaked through her eyelashes as she heard an adorable squeaky giggle fill the room.

Adora felt like she was going to faint, her heart should not be going this fast. It definitely felt like it was a hazard. She needed to keep herself in check, this woman was just doing her job and being friendly and Adora was being a complete mess. She felt a little ashamed that she was ogling her but it wasn’t her fault this woman was so hot. Adora needs to get it together and be normal.

“You’re ok, it's normal to be nervous. First time?” Catra asked as she raised one delicate eyebrow and Adora nodded her head to forgo speaking as she calmed herself down. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you. Come with me,” Catra motioned and Adora followed her into the back room as she tried not to let her eyes wander too far. She glanced around at the booths. It looked like there were four complete setups in this room, broken into perfect squares with office dividers.

The only other person in the room was a woman with dreadlocks who looked up as they entered the room but went back to her sketchpad immediately. They went to the booth at the back left corner of the room and Catra motioned for Adora to sit in the chair in the middle of the room.

“T-thanks” Adora said as she sat in the strange looking chair with a very complex base of metal arms and levers attached to each of the separate parts of the chair.

Catra walked around her space, picking up things and returning to sit beside Adora on a stool with wheels on it. She opened a sketchbook and crossed one leg over the other before she looked up at Adora again.

“Take a few deep breaths, needles won't come into this until we’ve got a design you like,” Catra said and Adora nodded as she followed the instructions. She hoped the woman didn’t know that she was the reason for Adora’s elevated panic.

“Good. Now, tell me about what you’re looking for,” Catra said in a soothing tone and Adora took another deep breath before she launched into her explanation of what she wanted. In that exact moment she decided to get the shorter quote tattooed on her chest. She wasn’t sure she would survive having something longer with Catra being so close to her.

“Great, something nice and simple, did you have a font you would like me to use?” Catra asked and Adora nodded, grabbing the card from her pocket and handing it to Catra.

“Yeah, if you could copy this,” Adora said softly, calming down a little as her mind focused on the task at hand. If she could do this, she could ignore her attraction for an hour or two.

Catra took the card and flipped it open. She was silent for a moment before a smile crept on her lips.

“Cute,” she said and got up again. She went to the desk in the corner of her booth and opened a draw to get out some paper before she leaned over the desk to copy the writing.

Adora was totally staring at her ass.

Shit.

Adora quickly looked away and made awkward eye contact with the woman in the other booth as she stood to stretch. The woman looked at her with suspicion and Adora looked away as her cheeks heated uncomfortably.

Adora looked around the little space instead. There was a couch pushed up against the wall of the building. It seemed to be in direct light at this time in the afternoon and she wondered if that was a conscious choice. There was a little station on wheels which had the tattoo gun and other items laid out and ready to be opened. It was a neat and tidy space.

“Alrighty,” Catra said, standing up and coming back to Adora. Catra sat on the stool again and moved closer to show her the side by side.

“How's this look?” Catra asked and Adora forced herself to look at the sketchbook and not the woman sitting very close to her. “Do they match?”

“Y-yeah, looks good,” Adora agreed, it was a perfect match. It was hard to believe Catra did that so quickly.

“Great, did you want anything around it or just the words?” Catra asked as she sat back again and looked at the sketchbook.

“Just the words for now,” Adora said and Catra nodded.

“Great, where are we putting it?” Catra asked curiously as her two toned eyes skimmed over Adora’s body.

“Uh, here, over my heart,” Adora said pointing to her chest.

“Great spot, breast tissue is really sensitive though, we could follow the edge of the breast like this,” Catra said, her finger getting close to her skin but not touching. Adora tries to look but it's a hard spot to see from this angle and Catra catches on quickly.

“Sorry, that's gonna be hard to see, hop up for me,” Catra said, scooting away to get the stool out of the way and standing. Adora stood as well and Catra motioned for Adora to come to the mirror.

Once Adora was standing in front of the mirror Catra repeated the motion to show the location she was referring to Adora nodded. She could see how red she was in the mirror and the heat was spreading down her neck at the feather light touch.

“That would be nice,” Adora agreed, her voice sounded strained but she hoped she was imagining it. Catra smiled.

“This is going to look amazing on your complexion” Catra’s compliment warmed her from the inside out. She felt like an awkward teenager all over again. Did she ever really leave that state? She was usually much better around girls than this.

“I hope so,” Adora said, glancing at Catra, who was looking at her in the reflection of the mirror.

“Let’s put a template down and see how you like it,” Catra said and Adora nodded.

After several adjustments and way more touching than Adora was mentally prepared for they were ready to start the tattoo.

Adora was laid reclined on the fancy chair. Catra had made her as comfortable as possible to help with her nerves and Adora had her eyes closed as she took some deep breaths as she was instructed.

“So, we are going to do a quick test spot so you know what to expect and then we will get into it,” Catra said, walking her through the steps patiently. Adora appreciated it greatly, she liked instructions and simple steps. She nodded her head.

“You have really soft skin” Catra mentioned casually, and Adora wanted to wiggle under the weight of such a simple compliment.

“Thank you,” she whispered, trying to get oxygen into her lungs.

“Tell me if you’re feeling light headed or anything and we can take a break,” Catra said and Adora nodded, she was feeling light headed but it wasn’t because of the tattoo, it was because her body was not prioritising blood to her brain right now.

She tried to calm her heart and stay still like Catra had told her. She had been warned that there would be pain. Catra had tried to explain the sensation to her, “stinging, a bad sunburn or a tiny needle stabbing you really fast” and Adora was prepared for that.

What she wasn’t prepared for was the stabbing sensation and light vibrations at the top of her breast to be the most erotic thing she had ever felt. All she could do was bite her lip to keep any embarrassing sounds inside her body as it burned with desire.

“How's that?” Catra asked after the test patch and Adora nodded enthusiastically.

“G-good, you can keep going,” Adora choked out.

“Good,” Catra sounded far away as the blood rushed to Adora’s ears and Catra resumed the tattoo. She was trying to force herself to keep breathing but even with the oxygen she felt her brain start to feel floaty.

Catra used a cold damp cloth to clean away the extra ink on her skin and the chilling sensation pebbling her nipples instantly at the change of sensation. She took a shaky breath as she noticed Catra’s two toned eyes zeroed in on the motion in her peripheral vision. Her tail flicked behind her as her ears swivelled forward. Adora was doing her best to stare at the ceiling without really seeing anything.

“You good? Your hearts really going…we can take a break if you need” Catra asked curiously, her voice low and husky. Adora tried to fight her blush, she knew she must be bright red by now with how hot she was feeling, but she managed to nod and squeak out a response.

“Nope, good, I’m good.” Adora risked a glance down Catra as she hovered over her left breast and it was a mistake. Her two toned eyes were burning with intensity that made her feel like Catra was about to eat her alive. She quickly closed her eyes, feeling the brush of Catra’s breath over her heated skin as she huffed.

“Convincing…” Catra didn’t sound even slightly convinced, but Adora needed to focus on breathing and not focus on the radiating heat she could feel from Catra’s body so close to hers. The soft, velvety feeling of her wrist brushing Adora’s skin as she worked was already distracting enough. She wanted to shiver but she needed to stay still like Catra said. She wanted to be good.

“Let’s get your mind off the pain, tell me a memory you have about your grandma, you said she was a little wacky, right?” Catra asked, leaning back a little as the cold cloth swiped over her skin and left goosebumps in its wake. Adora’s brain was completely gone to the overwhelming sensations and trying to think of an interesting story about Razz was beyond her so she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“She used to hit me with her broom,” Adora blushed, which sounded abusive. Catra huffed another laugh.

“And that’s a good memory?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at Adora.

“Ah, yeah, it was never hard, just when I would eat the berries for the pie or try to eat raw pastry,” Adora said with a smile. Her heart was starting to calm down at the thought of Razz and making pies in her warm kitchen. That was the only place Adora ever felt calm her entire life. With Razz’s clear instructions in her ears and a task to be done. Her heart sank at the reminder that she would never have that again.

“That sounds nice,” Catra said with a tittering laugh as she lifted the ink gun away from Adora’s skin.  “So, she liked to bake?” Catra asked as she leaned into Adora again and resumed her work.

Adora pushed the sadness away to focus on her story. She didn’t want to make Catra sad, or worse, make her pity Adora. She wanted to tell her a good story.

“Yeah, she loved it, I would go to her house after practice to make pies,” Adora said and Catra hummed as she listened.

“Practise? What sport did you play?” Catra asked, moving her tattoo gun to the next section.

“Rugby, and I still play” Adora said, it made her proud to have a scholarship for her rugby after so many years of trying to be the best.

“You must be really good with all this muscle,” Catra said and Adora noticed Catra’s eyes skimming her body again. Adora was maybe a little cocky about her muscles, but she liked how she looked.

“I’m pretty good,” Adora smirked and glanced at Catra as her fangs bit into her plush lower lip. Adora looked away quickly.

“So Rugby, and University, sounds busy,”

“I also have a part time job at a cafe,” Adora said and Catra whistled slowly as she seemed impressed. Adora really wanted to impress her.

“Wow, you sound super busy. I’m lucky enough to make my own hours, so I can work around anything that might come up,” Catra said as she cleaned Adora’s skin again and pulled at the skin to get a clean line.

“That must be nice to have so much freedom,” Adora said, trying not to sound jealous. She wished she had free time, but between what she needed to do for her scholarship, working to have any kind of fun money and struggling with business school, she barely had time for anything anymore.

Without Adora noticing they were getting towards the end of the tattoo. Time was flying by and Adora felt both relieved and horrified that this would soon be over.

Catra cleaned the area again and tilted her head back and forth adorably as she looked at her work.

“I think we’re done, wanna take a look?” Catra asked as she got up and put her things away. Adora blinked up at her in shock.

“Already?” Adora asked and Catra laughed.

“What did you expect? It’s been almost an hour,” Catra grinned and Adora sat up. Her brain still felt a little soupy but she forced herself to her feet and looked in the mirror.

It was perfect.

Catra came up behind her to see in the reflection and grinned.

“It looks amazing, I can’t wait to see how it heals. You’ll show me, right?” Catra asked and Adora nodded without a second thought. Yes, she would do whatever Catra asked.

“Of course, it looks perfect,” Adora said, feeling a little emotional. She blushed softly at the thought that she would really like a cuddle, or even just a hug. What was that about?

Once they had finished admiring their work Adora was given the rundown of how to take care of the tattoo while it healed and Catra even gave her a small care kit and a much bigger discount than Adora expected.

“You can call me or text me anytime. If you have questions or whatever.” Catra said handing over the card to the shop with her number written on the back with the receipt. Adora was so close to finishing this interaction without making a complete fool of herself and she focused on the finish line.

“Ok, I will.” Adora agreed.

“I hope we'll see you again soon.” Catra offered Adora a smile,  Adora gathered her things before she smiled and offered a quick and polite response.

“Thank you, have a good night” Once she was outside in the sweltering heat of the evening she let the tears well up in her eyes. She felt so emotionally raw. She decided to go home and hopefully Bow and Glimmer were back from their classes and she could get some hugs.

She couldn’t wait to show off her tattoo.

[...]

Once Adora left, Catra slammed her head down onto the counter with a loud thud. Lonnie came out of the backroom right in time for her daily dose of mocking Catra mercilessly.

“Girl, you were laying it on so thick. What’s gotten into you?” Lonnie asked and Catra groaned. She felt disappointed but also embarrassed by her actions. Should she have been more obvious? She wasn’t allowed to ask out clients anymore since the last time backfired. All Catra could hope was Adora would ask her out and she didn't. So disappointing.

“I don’t know! But why didn’t it work?!” Catra wailed into the desk. Catra had done a lot of embarrassing things for a pretty girl but usually her methods worked.

“Maybe she’s not gay,” Lonnie said rolling her eyes, and Catra snapped her head up to glare at Lonnie.

“How could you say such hurtful things to me,” Catra huffed, what a ridiculous suggestion. Adora was clearly interested but she didn’t act on it, so what was her deal? Did she have a girlfriend, was she still in the closet? Maybe she was too polite to hit on someone at work?

The bell over the door rang and Catra’s ears pricked up with excitement as her tail fluffed up, only to be disappointed to see Kyle and Rogelio. Catra pouted and grumbled.

“We brought dinner,” Kyle sings and Catra was only slightly happier to see them now she’s being bribed with food.

“Remember the agreement, no dating clients,” Lonnie said with a scowl as Catra ran her hands over her tail to lay the hair flat again.

“Yeah, yeah I know. It's not my fault she turned into a stalker,” Catra said with a huff.

“Everyone could have guessed that she was obsessed,” Lonnie said, following the boys into the back of the house to eat dinner.

“Not everyone, clearly,” Catra grumbled as she went to the front door and turned the sign to “closed” before she locked it for the night. She followed her business partner and employees to the little kitchenette in the back right corner of the building. She pulled out a chair at the table and started looking through the bags for her fish while Kyle and Rogelio organised plates and cutlery.

“Wasn’t that Bow’s friend anyway?” Lonnie asked curiously as she ate a dumpling with her bare hands. Gross.

“Yeah, and?” Catra asked as she finally found her food and pulled out the container with a grin of delight.

“So ask him for her number if you’re so desperate,” Lonnie said and Catra scoffed as she pushed the rest of the bag away a little too aggressively.

“I am NOT desperate,” Catra snapped and lifted the lid of the food she had and her mouth watered.

“Please, I could feel the tension from across the room,” Lonnie said and Catra huffed. She couldn’t deny she was incredibly attracted to Adora and Adora seemed to enjoy their session…a lot.

But Catra also flirted her heart out and got very little in return, not to mention if Adora wanted to talk to her, she had all the power to do so. Catra even told her to call her.

Catra can be patient. She could totally be patient. She can wait for Adora to contact her, send a picture of her tattoo once it has healed or maybe a thank you text. Patient was her middle name and she could totally do this.