The Aftershock (of your touch)

III. But i think your strength could drown me

Why Catra thought this would be a good idea, she didn't know. It was stupid, that's what it was! She should have walked away from this ludicrous situation while she still had the chance. She didn't need to know. In fact, it might be better if she never knew. Ignorance is bliss, after all. As she went back and forth in her mind, the internal debate as to whether she was to leave or to enter was cut short.

"Are you going in or not?" A young man who looked to be around the same age as Catra asked, gesturing at the library door.

Snapping out of her trance, she looked at him boredly, and stepped out of his way with a stretch of her arm. "After you, sir."

As he opened the door he muttered something (most definitely rude and about Catra), he held the door long enough for her to slip in again. The Whispering Woods Library (why did every area in Bright Moon have the most absurd names?) was one of the oldest libraries in Bright Moon, and housed the largest amount of classic and antique books. If any place were to have what Catra was looking for, it'd be there. Unsurprisingly, Catra had never been one for libraries. Even in her gruelling college years she'd probably only stepped in the campus library a handful of times. It was always so quiet, so unnerving.

This trip was no exception. Especially because Catra had a specific objective in mind. She made a beeline for the non-fiction section, looking for shelves and shelves of anything even slightly related to what she needed. Even the psychology section didn't have anything. Cursing under her breath, she stood back up after having crouched to see the book titles and tapped her chin, once, twice. Where else could they be?

Catra's eyes widened as she realised her obvious mistake. It wouldn't be considered non fiction due to all the skeptics (her being one of them), it'd be under the history section. She searched through the aisles, an anxious anticipation seeping out as she found what she was looking for. Her heart thrummed in her chest, and she felt her stomach sink as she thumbed the spine of the first book she saw with the words she needed—

Soulmates.

She thought back to her conversation with Scorpia the other day. How had they even gotten to that?

Catra had heard a knock on her door the morning after her and Adora had nearly...when they had gotten drunk. Still half asleep and hoping it wasn't who she thought it was, she considered pretending not to be at home, but realised that was completely unbelievable. The only way that would have happened is if she were kidnapped, or forced back into weekend gym sessions. So she dragged herself out of bed, not wanting to be unnecessarily rude, and answered the door. Thankfully, it wasn't Adora. It was Scorpia. In some ways that was better, in others it was much, much worse.

"Catra!" Scorpia shouted, lunging forward to give her a hug that Catra barely dodged.

"Scorpia...it's too early for this shit." Catra groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Despite this, she stepped out of the way so Scorpia could come in—she was practically bouncing on her feet (as always) while Catra shut the door.

Scorpia chuckled before saying, "No, silly, it's actually already past ten! I'd figure you'd sleep in after the week you've had."

Scratching the back of her head, Catra opened her mouth to say something, but found nothing that would suffice. She strode over to her room and grabbed her phone to see if what Scorpia said was really true. Unsurprisingly, it was. The alcohol had gotten to her more than she'd previously thought. When she checked her phone she also noticed two messages from Adora saying, only have a mild headache, thanks to you! And then:

oh, and sorry for yesterday btw.

"Fuck," Catra muttered under her breath, but somehow Scorpia had heard it.