[ Catra searches around the mostly-empty drawers until she finally finds some measuring cups-- must have been Faith who bought them, because Catra mutters to herself-- ]
Huh. Didn't even know we had these...
[ But at least she manages to measure out the amount correctly. ]
[ it's good enough. the rice gets started, and while they wait, it's good enough time as any to start prepping the rest. so, Ren gets to it: chopping, rinsing and sorting vegetables and ingredients. ]
[ Catra's good mood evaporates with astonishing speed, and the room suddenly feels icy. It's not quite on the level of giving a wrong Confidant answer, but one could get the impression that maybe they were standing on the precipice of one. Catra frowns, and one gets the distinct impression that her guard is suddenly way, way up. ]
... No. Why?
[ It's said in the petulant tone of voice that implies, tread carefully. ]
[ he's never one to avoid the hard topics, either. there's not a good way to go about approaching this. despite how the mood seems to sour, Ren takes it in stride. ]
I wanted to ask you what happened.
[ part of his focus is on cutting something in front of her. it is her decision, how much she wants to divulge, and he's not going to press, but she also deserves the same opportunity to tell her side of it. ]
[ Because she knows deep down that "her part of it" doesn't make her look particularly good, either. ]
What's there to tell? You were there, weren't you? And that stupid video's been floating around the internet too. I'm not stupid. People won't shut up about it.
[ that's generally how the rumors worked. while they died down at Shujin eventually, he still carried that stigma around with him of his so-called "criminal record." it was one of the refreshing things coming to New Amsterdam. ]
It gets tiring, especially when it comes coming up.
[ Catra continues to sit on the kitchen bench, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them there. ]
Everyone here is so nosy. Back home you could deck someone and it'd be like "Nice work, Catra!"
Here if you so much as sneeze the wrong way everyone's up in your business. Telling you what to do. Who you can be friends with. How you can react to stuff.
Like the first week I got here, Rey was already up in my business! I was just running around New Beijing and she was like nooooo, you can't do that Catra and choking me out with her stupid powers or whatever.
[ Rey can't help that her powerset invokes in Catra a special sort of fear and feeling that Catra associates with Shadow Weaver and Hordak. Doesn't even know she's doing it. But the association is enough for Catra to loathe her from that very first interaction, knowing that Rey has the power to end her instantly, and what does Catra do when confronted with that? Throw herself against it aggressively, desperate to prove that she isn't afraid. ]
[ it feels like there's something that he's missing. while he knows that Rey's under distress, he knows that she won't do something for no reason. it means that Catra's leaving something out.
[ Catra's quiet for a moment, considering how to answer that. Finally, in a softer voice-- ]
... She's like all the bad parts of Adora, with Shadow Weaver's powers.
[ Belatedly, she frowns further as she seems to realise that this sounds like a weird thing to say-- given that Ren just spent several weeks with Adora and Catra in the same room being best friends. ]
[ so that's Catra and Adora, and then Rey in between. or rather, who put herself in between, as Adora's advocate, as far as he can tell.
(he also has no clue who Shadow Weaver is, but from experience he knows better than to go after that one right away. it'll come as Catra becomes comfortable.) ]
I have the time.
[ cuz he's fluffing up some warm rice so it cools off. also, there's something that he's tossing in?? anyway. ]
[ She has to think again about how to word this, because it's not-- easy. Nothing is easy where Adora is concerned. She takes a deep breath and opens her mouth to reply, and then closes it. And then opens it again. ]
... Have you ever met someone so perfect that you don't have any choice but to love them, but then you also kind of hate them, because nothing you do can ever measure up to them, and literally every person who's ever lived prefers them to you, because duh they're perfect, but you're okay with it because you're the most important person in the world to them, until suddenly you find out that actually that isn't true either?
[ there's the nose of a knife against vegetables as she speaks, chopping methodically with a soft "click" against the cutting board.
he listens quietly, trying to place the feeling. it's not something that he can say that he's had experience with, as his mostly lies in being someone who looked after everyone. Ren always had a good idea of who he was and the person that he wanted to be—nothing was terribly out of his reach, and he did his due diligence to put the work in. watching people grow and then slip away from him, it seemed like part of his life.
[ he's bringing over the pot of cooled rice and pauses for a moment, thinking about this. sometimes it's difficult to tell at what level of attention he's paying to a matter, or if his head is just somewhere else entirely.
it's here. ]
Opposing side. [ that means there's something else at play here. ] Kind of like a rival.
[ this is beginning to sound a lot more like Kylo Ren and Rey without the details. he can see the similarities.
then he busies his hands with the rest of the work. they're handrolls—bigger than sushi, but taking a tad less skill to make. he isn't that good at it yet, but something tells him that Catra will appreciate the meal regardless of how lumpy they may turn out. ]
Oh you know, the usual, blah blah "The Horde Is Bad," blah! That's not the point! The Horde being bad never mattered to her before!
[ Ren seems to have asked the right question to finally unlock the floodgates. Catra's really warming up to her subject now, getting into prime rant mode. ]
Y'know-- it's not like they're subtle about it! It was always "We're going to rule the world together, Catra," and then suddenly ruling the world is bad! Like, where does she get off acting so high and mighty?! She just up and decides one day that some rando she's never met is worth defecting for, over her best friend? Who even does that?!
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no subject
Date: 2020-06-14 03:39 am (UTC)[ News to her. ]
Sure, I guess. How much?
[ People who have never made rice: this girl. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-14 01:41 pm (UTC)Ah—yeah, there's starch on the outside. It makes it clump. Rice should be evenly cooked.
[ because that's definitely some milky water he's pouring out. ]
400 milliliters.
[ here's hoping she has something to measure. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 12:11 am (UTC)[ Catra searches around the mostly-empty drawers until she finally finds some measuring cups-- must have been Faith who bought them, because Catra mutters to herself-- ]
Huh. Didn't even know we had these...
[ But at least she manages to measure out the amount correctly. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 01:40 am (UTC)Have you been back to Red Wings?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 02:08 am (UTC)... No. Why?
[ It's said in the petulant tone of voice that implies, tread carefully. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 04:41 pm (UTC)I wanted to ask you what happened.
[ part of his focus is on cutting something in front of her. it is her decision, how much she wants to divulge, and he's not going to press, but she also deserves the same opportunity to tell her side of it. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 11:39 pm (UTC)[ There's an emphasis on the word busybody that implies Ren is being the same, and she doesn't appreciate it. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 11:42 pm (UTC)You don't want to tell your part of it?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-15 11:46 pm (UTC)[ Because she knows deep down that "her part of it" doesn't make her look particularly good, either. ]
What's there to tell? You were there, weren't you? And that stupid video's been floating around the internet too. I'm not stupid. People won't shut up about it.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-16 01:09 pm (UTC)People talk. [ he says it with a little edge of exhaustion, but it doesn't keep. ] I know how that is.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-16 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-16 02:29 pm (UTC)It gets tiring, especially when it comes coming up.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-16 03:03 pm (UTC)[ Catra continues to sit on the kitchen bench, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them there. ]
Everyone here is so nosy. Back home you could deck someone and it'd be like "Nice work, Catra!"
Here if you so much as sneeze the wrong way everyone's up in your business. Telling you what to do. Who you can be friends with. How you can react to stuff.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 01:58 am (UTC)maybe he's just a little bit of an airhead.
(he is.) ]
What do you mean?
[ he's turning the rice off, but leave it where it is for the moment. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 02:33 am (UTC)[ Rey can't help that her powerset invokes in Catra a special sort of fear and feeling that Catra associates with Shadow Weaver and Hordak. Doesn't even know she's doing it. But the association is enough for Catra to loathe her from that very first interaction, knowing that Rey has the power to end her instantly, and what does Catra do when confronted with that? Throw herself against it aggressively, desperate to prove that she isn't afraid. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 02:48 pm (UTC)it doesn't actually add up. ]
It sounds like something started between you two.
[ that this went deeper. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 02:58 pm (UTC)... She's like all the bad parts of Adora, with Shadow Weaver's powers.
[ Belatedly, she frowns further as she seems to realise that this sounds like a weird thing to say-- given that Ren just spent several weeks with Adora and Catra in the same room being best friends. ]
Adora and I-- it's. Complicated.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 03:27 pm (UTC)(he also has no clue who Shadow Weaver is, but from experience he knows better than to go after that one right away. it'll come as Catra becomes comfortable.) ]
I have the time.
[ cuz he's fluffing up some warm rice so it cools off. also, there's something that he's tossing in?? anyway. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 03:43 pm (UTC)... Have you ever met someone so perfect that you don't have any choice but to love them, but then you also kind of hate them, because nothing you do can ever measure up to them, and literally every person who's ever lived prefers them to you, because duh they're perfect, but you're okay with it because you're the most important person in the world to them, until suddenly you find out that actually that isn't true either?
Y'know. Just as a totally unrelated example.
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Date: 2020-06-19 10:38 pm (UTC)he listens quietly, trying to place the feeling. it's not something that he can say that he's had experience with, as his mostly lies in being someone who looked after everyone. Ren always had a good idea of who he was and the person that he wanted to be—nothing was terribly out of his reach, and he did his due diligence to put the work in. watching people grow and then slip away from him, it seemed like part of his life.
the knife stops. ]
How did this person find out? In this example.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 02:39 am (UTC)The other person left them. To go be best friends with other people. With-- the enemy. On the opposing side.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-21 08:52 pm (UTC)it's here. ]
Opposing side. [ that means there's something else at play here. ] Kind of like a rival.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-24 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-25 01:55 pm (UTC)[ this is beginning to sound a lot more like Kylo Ren and Rey without the details. he can see the similarities.
then he busies his hands with the rest of the work. they're handrolls—bigger than sushi, but taking a tad less skill to make. he isn't that good at it yet, but something tells him that Catra will appreciate the meal regardless of how lumpy they may turn out. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-25 04:16 pm (UTC)[ Ren seems to have asked the right question to finally unlock the floodgates. Catra's really warming up to her subject now, getting into prime rant mode. ]
Y'know-- it's not like they're subtle about it! It was always "We're going to rule the world together, Catra," and then suddenly ruling the world is bad! Like, where does she get off acting so high and mighty?! She just up and decides one day that some rando she's never met is worth defecting for, over her best friend? Who even does that?!
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