Have we met before?

Woof!

Adora's chest rose and fell evenly as she jogged down the street, earbuds plugged into her ears drowning out the rest of the world with music as she made her way through the neighborhood. It was nice to feel the breeze over her skin, the warm sun warming her to her core, it was a perfect day to be out and about. As she turned the corner out of the neighborhood she saw the town square and the shops that resided there in her sight, a grin instantly plastering across her face. Glimmer had offered to drive her but she had insisted she could get herself there, happy to be able to finally feel the burn in her unused muscles again. She hadn't gone running since she had arrived in her new home, it felt familiar.
As she crossed the final road to the town square she pulled her earbuds from her ears and entered into the first shop on her list. Pulling her backpack closer to her shoulder she smiled to the worker as she passed, eyes scanning the shelves for what she needed. 'Party decorations that fit Catra..' It was a hard find, the only aesthetic Catra had was red and punk. She smiled fondly as thoughts of her friend filled her mind, unable to hold back the warm feeling that grew in her chest. 'Friend? Is that the right word?' She wondered, it didn't really fit what they were anymore but she really wasn't sure of what they were anyways. Wasn't even sure what she wanted them to be anymore.
The last time she had seen Catra, dropping her off at her home yesterday with Glimmer she had kissed her goodbye but they hadn't really talked about what had happened. Adora hadn't even received a text message or call from Catra which was even more unusual and it filled her new found warmth with the familiar dread. Adora sighed, pinching her eyes shut for a second as if to banish the anxiety from the back of her mind. "I don't have time for this, Catra's birthday is Tuesday I have to finish planning." She mumbled to herself, resuming her search through the shelves to find something that Catra would like.
She had managed to find rainbow streamers, giggling a little as she did, and a couple red party hats. Adora knew that Catra wouldn't enjoy the little hats but also knew if she asked nicely enough the wild haired girl would do it for her. Slipping the objects into her backpack after she paid, she waved a quick goodbye to the cashier to make her way out of the store and down the road to the other shops.
"Now for the cake." She mumbled to herself, a bit of excitement adding a small skip to her step as she made her way to the small grocery store. Searching the shelves for her friend's favorite flavor, she resisted the urge to gag as she found the box mix for lemon cake. 'Of course she'd like the worst cake.' Adora mused to herself, grabbing a can of vanilla frosting before starting her search for candles and other cake decorations.
A few fellow customers smiled at her politely and she returned the gesture, but for the most part the blonde girl was able to quietly make her way through the store. She managed to find a couple of brightly colored candles, giddy excitement making her grin. As she made her way back to the front of the store to pay she caught sight of a shelf of cute colorful cards, looking through them she found a cute kitten themed happy birthday card. Happy with her selection Adora made her way to the cashier, greeting the girl behind the register as she checked out her items. Another quick goodbye and Adora was out the door again, slipping the new purchases into her bag with the rest of her decorations. "Now just a present." Adora's brows pinched in concentration as she mulled over what would be a good gift for her wild haired friend.
'Maybe I should've taken Glimmer up on her offer, I could've gone to the mall.' She realized, shrugging her shoulders in quiet resignation, icy eyes catching sight of a small antique store that could've been easily missed. 'Maybe there..' She made her way to the shop, the door chiming as she entered the small store, the stuffy smell of dust filling her lungs. The tall girl made her way through the small stuffy store, fingers from her bandaged hand gently running over the old looking objects as she passed them. As Adora was ready to leave and give up her search in the store, her eyes fell on the most gorgeous object she had ever seen. Approaching it she felt almost breathless, running her hand over the old worn metal she couldn't help but notice how strong I still felt despite its age.
It was a beautiful golden dagger, a glittering cat's eye jewel on the end of the handle and a dark leather sheath beside it meant to hold the gorgeous weapon. Gently running a thumb over the price tag she bit her lip a little, it would take the rest of her money to get the dagger. "She would love it.." Adora mumbled to herself, considering it slowly she decided she couldn't leave without the weapon and brought it to the counter to pay.
'This is going to be a great birthday.' Adora smiled to herself as she exited the store, tucking the dagger away into her backpack once fully out of the cramped shop. The run home felt weird, Adora couldn't shake the sense that there were eyes on her. Everytime she checked over her shoulder though, no one was there. As she neared home the feeling grew stronger and she attempted to turn extra corners, backtrack a little, doing whatever she had to to be sure she wasn't followed. But the feeling of eyes never left her.
The muscular girl gave an exasperated sigh, silently hoping it was her own anxiety and paranoia playing with her head as she resumed a normal route to her home. Until she heard a rustling of a bush. Adora froze, staring at the bush with narrowed icy eyes, debating if she should investigate or not. 'I have a knife if I need it.' She decided, slowly creeping closer to the bush.
"Hello?" Adora called softly, the bush rustled again but no noise was made. Glancing around for any sign of another person only to find none, she took another slow step towards the shrub. "Who's there?" She demanded, doing her best to sound intimidating, but it came out more frightened than anything. No reply came again and Adora gave an exasperated sigh, unsure if she was going crazy or not at this point. 'Maybe I imagined it?' As if whoever was behind the bush heard her it rustled again, Adora glowered at the shrub weighing her options. She decided to crouch down and slowly creep forward, wondering briefly if she should ready the dagger hidden in her bag.
"Hello?" Adora tried again, this time more softly as if to gently coax whoever it was out of the bush. The bush rustled making Adora freeze, a figure slowly poking its head from the leaves to stare at the blonde girl. Adora stayed frozen for a moment, gawking at the sight before her before a soft smile broke across her lips. It was just a stray dog, a lanky slightly starved odd looking stray dog. "Hey there buddy." Adora cooed, tilting her head and extending a hand towards his nose. He seemed unsure but as he gently started nosing Adora's hand, earning him giggles, he began to wag his tail and pull the rest of himself from the bush.
Adora's eyes softened as she looked the canine over, his ribs were poking out, a few scars covering his body and a clean clip in one of his ears. His fur was dirty but Adora could tell it was at one point pure white with a brown patch over his right eye. His tail was wagging but Adora could see uncertainty in his eyes, she smiled gently as she let herself fully sit onto the ground before him. "I know, it's scary to trust new people." He whined in reply, creeping forward slightly to allow Adora to scratch beneath his chin. "But I won't hurt you, I promise." He stared at her for a long moment, his tail drooping a little before he stepped forward to shove his head against Adora's chest. The muscular girl laughed, wrapping her arms around his head to scratch behind his ears earning some happy tail wags from the canine. 'I wonder if Angella would notice..'
XxX
Adora tapped her foot as she waited beside her window phone ringing against her ear as she silently prayed for Glimmer to pick up. Swiftwind, her newly named canine happily wagging his tail by her feet, unaware of anything except that he was happy with his new friend.
"Hello?" Glimmer answered the phone finally and Adora instantly lit up, jumping a little in place making Swiftwind stare at her curiously.
"Glimmer! What're you doing? Is Angella home?" Adora quickly questioned, voice both excited and breathless.
"Uh just watching TV, mom is home working, why?" Glimmer questioned and Adora instantly lit up. 'She'll be too busy working to notice.'
"Come open my window, I have a surprise. Don't tell Angella." Adora simply replied, hanging up the phone before Glimmer could question her further. Within a few beats the window was flipping open and Glimmer had appeared, sticking her head out to stare at Adora questioningly.
"Why did you have me- IS THAT A DOG?!" Swiftwind yipped in response as Glimmer exclaimed the question, Adora quickly clamping a hand over her foster sister's mouth to stop her yelling.
"Quiet!" Glimmer nodded in understanding and Adora slowly let go to see the pink haired girl grinning excitedly at Swiftwind who was wagging his tail happily. "Can we keep him?" Adora whimpered pleadingly with wide eyes, Swiftwind following her lead by staring up at Glimmer with the same pleading eyes.
"Ohh I know I should say no but he's so cute." Glimmer sighed and Adora's lips split into the widest grin that she could make.
"Please Glimmer please! I named him, we have to keep him!" Adora begged, clasping her hands in a pleading gesture. The pink haired girl stared her down for a moment before giving a sigh of resignation, earning her an excited grin from Adora.
"Fine. But you can't hide him from mom, he's going to need things." Adora excitedly bounced in her spot, Swiftwind unsure what was going on just copied his friend with a tail wag.
"I know I know, I just want to give him a bath and stuff first, make him presentable you know?" Swiftwind yipped as if in agreement and Glimmer couldn't hold back a small giggle.
"Oh fine, hand him up." The stronger girl looked as if she could squeal in joy as she lifted up the elated canine and flopped him through the window into Glimmer's awaiting arms. Quickly clambering in after him as her foster sister struggled to put him gently to the floor. "What's his name anyways?" Glimmer asked, hesitantly giving him a scratch behind the ears.
"Swiftwind!" Adora replied with a grin, shutting the window behind her as she stood fully in the room, slipping her bag from her shoulders to place it gently on her bed for later.
Glimmer paused for a beat, staring at her foster sister who was beaming happily at her. "Sure is a name." She finally responded, forcing a smile in return. "Alright, let's get him cleaned up." Glimmer crept over to the bedroom door, peaking out for any sign of Angella as Adora easily flipped Swiftwind onto her shoulder. He opened his mouth to yip in excitement and the muscular girl quickly wrapped a hand around his muzzle to silence him, unphased by the gentle grip on his snout he just wagged his tail. 'You are so cute.' Adora couldn't help but gush at the sight of her newly found canine friend.
"Ok mom is busy, let's go." Glimmer waved forth her foster sister and the pair quickly slipped out of the bedroom down the hall into the bathroom. Adora plopped Swiftwind into the bathtub as Glimmer flicked the faucet on, testing the water to make sure it wasn't too cold before plugging the drain. Swiftwind whined softly but after a couple comforting scratches behind the ears from his new friends he was back to wagging his tail. Adora slipped the bandages that were twisting around her palm off, keeping the bandages from getting wet she slowly flexed her injured hand. It felt good to let the wound breath.
Glimmer noticed the cut, pale eyes softening in concern. "What happened to your hand?" The pink haired girl demanded, reaching out in an attempt to grab at the now uncovered palm. Adora quickly pulled away, busying herself by washing Swiftwind to avoid the question.
"Oh I don't really remember, just kind of happened." Adora quickly lied, smiling at her foster sister with a half convincing smile. Glimmer glared at the blonde for a moment longer, not really believing her but deciding not to push it she began helping clean the dirty canine. A comfortable silence fell over them as they worked the dirt from Swiftwind's now sparkling white fur, it was almost blinding.
"So.. how are things with you and the cat?" Glimmer asked with a grin, breaking the comfortable silence as Adora's face turned a deep shade of red.
"I'm not sure but.. we kissed." Adora admitted with a murmur, earning an excited squeal from the pink haired girl.
"Yes! About time, you guys will be good together." Glimmer declared with a smile, cupping Swiftwind's cheeks to baby talk to him. "Yes they will be good together, yes they will." Adora rolled her eyes as Swiftie gave Glimmer a quick lick on the nose, earning a squealing giggle from the shorter girl.
"Shut up." Adora growled gently shoving Glimmer's shoulder with her own. 'We will be good together.' She silently agreed though, cheeks a soft pink as she did. Grabbing a towel from the cabinet Adora croached onto the ground to gently coo to Swiftwind to come, who happily obliged and was quickly wrapped in the fuzzy towel. The canine's tail was whipping around like a rocket, gently licking Adora's cheek thankfully. Glimmer drained the tub as Adora rubbed the water from Swiftwind's fur, holding him like a beloved baby as she did.
Footsteps could be heard from the end of the hall, causing the foster sisters to freeze, holding their breaths fearfully. Adora could hear the blood roaring in her ears with each step Angella took, pausing before the closed bathroom.
"Adora? Glimmer? Are you both in there?" Angella questioned, the foster sisters immediately panicking as she did. 'How did she know?!'
"Uh. Yeah." Glimmer finally choked out. A tense pause followed.
"Why?" The pair could feel their panic rising as their minds raced to find an answer for the very awkward question. However before either could find an answer, Swiftwind answered with a booming bark. Adora clamped a hand over the dog's snout to silence him, but it was too late Angella definitely heard that. Another tense pause followed. "Is.. Is that a dog?"

A/N: Gonna be honest guys, I forgot it was a new week until like last night. My bad. I am mentally not on earth. Anyways the next chapter will be much longer, it's almost Catra's birthday! Hurray! And now Swiftie has appeared so shenanigans will be happening! Hope everyone is doing good, stay safe and keep fighting.