Chapter Text
Forget midnight. Three AM is the true middle of the night. By three in the morning, the bars have long closed and the drunks have stumbled home. The early morning crowd won’t be up for another hour or so. Almost nobody’s out at three, and there were definitely never any customers at the Brightmoon Diner at three. And that’s exactly why it was Catra’s favorite shift hour. She could step out for a smoke and finish off the last of the coffee before starting a fresh pot for the morning crowd. Some nights, like tonight, she really leaned into the midnight diner vibe and let her classic country playlist fill the diner with Hank Williams and Patsy Cline heartbreakers.
Scorpia was in the kitchen tonight, working another graveyard shift after Lonnie quit earlier in the week. Catra liked when Scorpia worked the graveyard with her, but she knew the hours were rough on her friend, who was obstinately positive, always upbeat and most definitely a morning person. The late nights were taking a toll on Scorpia and Catra hoped that they would hire a new night cook soon, even if she wouldn’t get to pass the hours with her friend.
“I swear, Wildcat, I do not know how you work this shift every night. I’ve been dying since Lonnie quit. And I feel like such a zombie all the time.” Scorpa took a long sip of her coffee and stretched. “But it is great to have this time with my bestie!”
“You’ll get used to it. You’ll probably finally feel adjusted the day that we hire another cook, and then you’ll have to go through the whole thing again, switch back to daytime hours. At least you’re not working doubles like Huntara.”
“Well regardless, this shift is killer. Huntara better hire someone soon or I’m going to quit too.”
“She would never let you quit.”
Catra went out in the alley behind the diner for a quick smoke. She was thinking about heading back inside when she heard the bell over the diner’s door chime. She heard Scorpia holler at the new customer from the kitchen, “Grab any seat, we’ll be out in a minute.”
Catra took her time finishing her cigarette, but then quickly headed back in. She paused at the dish sink to wash her hands and glanced through the kitchen window. The customer had taken a seat in one of the booths and was leaning sloppily on against the widow, the hood of their hoodie pulled down low over their head and obscuring most of their face. Great, a late night drunk. Catra sighed and headed out to take their order.
“Long night, honey?” Catra called all her customers honey. It was diner thing more than a Catra thing. The drunk mumbled something incoherent and Catra rolled her eyes. Just because she was used to dealing with drunks on a nearly nightly basis didn’t mean they weren’t annoying as hell. She hardened her tone and raised her voice a little, “You’re going to have to speak up if you want to order anything.”
The drunk finally sat up, pushed their hood back, and looked at Catra, blue eyes bloodshot and tear stained. Catra recognized her instantly.
“Adora?”
“Thasss me,” she slurred. Though she had obviously been crying recently, her face lit up with a ridiculous, boozy grin. “Who are you, cutie?”
“Okay, I’m going to let that one slide because you’re drunk as shit and I actually know you, but you better watch what you call me from here on out,” Catra warned. Adora just chuckled. Catra sighed and continued, “You seriously don’t recognize me? I’m Catra, from high school…?”
Adora sat up a little and narrowed her eyes, trying to survey Catra through her drunken stupor. She stared for a good minute before she started slowly shaking her head.
“Nope. No way. You’re not Catra from high school. Catra from high school had long pretty hair and she was mean. Catra from high school never talked to me. She never talked to anybody! And Catra from high school lives in Etheria, not here. You’re just the nice waitress.” Adora pushed her hoodie back and revealed that she too had chopped all her hair off. Gone was her signature blonde ponytail and stupid poof.
“Oh for fucks sake, Adora. People leave town and cut their hair. You obviously did.”
Adora frowned and ran her hand through her short hair, seemingly confused by Catra’s gruff response.
“Everything okay out there, Wildcat?” Scorpia called from the kitchen.
“Yeah, Scorp. Just a drunken blast from the past. I’m good.” Catra turned back to Adora, who had slumped back down in the booth. “Alright Adora, look at me.” Catra snapped in Adora’s face to get her attention. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to brew a new pot of coffee and you’re going to drink it and several glasses of water, and then you’re going to fill your stomach full of biscuits and gravy while you sober up.”
“Mmm, gravy.”
Catra groaned and headed back to the kitchen. She relayed the order to Scorpia, who nodded and started to assemble the plate.
“So who is she? You know her?”
“Just someone I went to high school with. I haven’t seen her for like five years? I never expect to see anyone from home here, it’s weird. And she’s wasted. She doesn’t even recognize me.”
“Were you friends?”
“Nah, but we knew each other. Small town, so you know everyone. She was a jock, super popular. We didn’t exactly run in the same circles.”
High school had not been great for Catra, and she had fled her tiny hometown as soon as she’d graduated. She had bounced around jobs for awhile and taken some classes at a community college but nothing really stuck until she started working at the Brightmoon Diner. It paid enough (barely) to cover her rent and easily facilitated her reclusive, night owl tendencies. It was comfortable and easy and so much better than the situation she’d left back in Etheria. The only person who seemed to think her lifestyle wasn’t great was Scorpia, who was always pushing Catra to switch to the day shift, get out and socialize more, be a “normal person,” whatever that meant. Catra knew Scorpia meant well but she had no plans to switch things up any time soon, thank you very much.
Catra returned to Adora’s booth with the food, coffee and a pitcher of water. She set everything down and slid into the booth across from Adora. “Alright dummy, start eating. I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink but nothing soaks up alcohol like biscuits and gravy. And you better finish that glass of water.”
“You got it, boss.” Adora snorted and shot some finger guns across the table at Catra before plowing into the plate.
Catra watched Adora inhale the food. “I can’t believe you don’t recognize me. Honestly, I’m a little offended. I’ve known you since like fourth grade.” They hadn’t been friends, but Etheria was tiny and they had several classes together over the years. They even failed a group project together in history senior year. Adora should definitely remember her.
“I recognize you,” Adora replied. “You’re my waitress, you brought me my food. And thank you, this is SO GOOD.” Adora was talking with her mouth full of biscuits, crumbs flying across the table. It was gross, but nowhere near the worst thing Catra had dealt with at the diner. It wasn’t even the grossest thing she’d see that shift, given that it was a Friday night.
“Ugh, fine, just keep eating. And drink your water.”
As Adora continued to plow through the plate of food, Catra considered asking her what led her to wind up drunk and alone in a diner like the Brightmoon at three forty-five in the morning. She probably got dumped earlier or something boring. Catra decided she didn’t care. She also considered some more standard “catching up” questions, like when did Adora move to town, how was college, what was she up to these days, but Adora was way too drunk for that kind of small talk. So Catra just sat and watched her eat. Eventually Adora paused and waved her fork at Catra across the table.
“Hey, not-Catra,” she slurred. Catra groaned under her breath, curious what Adora was going to say.
“Adora, I
am
Catra. Look, it’s even on my name tag.” She pointed at the tag on her apron.
“No, I already explained. You’re not Catra,” Adora argued, with the misguided confidence of a drunk idiot.
“Okay, whatever, Adora. What do you need?”
“Can I get some eggs? Over medium? And hashbrowns? And like A LOT of hot sauce?”
“Are you serious? You just polished off a whole plate of biscuits and gravy.”
“I am always serious when I’m talking about breakfast food.” Adora tried to hold a serious face before she broke out in an absurd giggle.
“Alright drunkie, coming right up.” Catra slid out of the booth and headed back to the kitchen to put in the order. More greasy food would only help her sober up faster. She relayed the order to Scorpia and decided to stay back in the kitchen while she waited for it.
“So that looks like a big trainwreck,” Scorpia noted as she fried up the eggs and hashbrowns. Since she normally worked the dinner shift, Scorpia wasn’t as used to the drunk crowd that filtered through the diner on weekends. When Catra had first started, dealing with drunks had been one of the most annoying parts of her job, but now she just rolled with it. As long as they paid, weren’t belligerent, and didn’t hurl in the booth, Catra couldn’t care less.
“Yeah, I have no idea what’s going on with her. But I guess we should keep her here until she sobers up, right?” Scorpia agreed as she finished up the plate and passed it to Catra.
When Catra returned to Adora’s booth, she found the woman slumped down against the window, snoring. Rather than wake her, Catra decided it was best to let her sleep it off until the morning rush started. She left the plate of food and settled in behind the counter to pass the time until the early morning crowd started to filter in.
Around six thirty, she returned to Adora’s booth to check on her. Adora was still sleeping but Catra knew the diner was going to start filling up soon. She gently poked Adora on the shoulder. Adora jolted awake with a gasp, eyes wide and frantically scanning the room.
“Hey, Adora…” Catra tried to get her attention. Adora snapped her head towards the sound of Catra’s voice and blinked a few times, obviously trying to process where she was and who she was looking at. Catra could practically see the gears turning in her head.
“Hey, hello, Adora...you good?” Catra was met with more blinking, and then eventually a groan.
“What...where? Where am I?”
“You’re at the Brightmoon Diner. You came in drunk as fuck a couple of hours ago, ate some food and passed out.”
“What time is it?”
“Six thirty.”
“Fuck.” Adora kept looking around, trying to piece together where she was. But eventually her attention returned to Catra. “Wait, I know you. Catra from high school. Holy shit.”
“Oh, NOW you recognize me.”
Adora stared blankly, clearly unable to remember anything from before she passed out.
“You refused to believe it was me when you came in and...you know what, nevermind. Can I call you a cab or something? Do you live around here?”
“What part of town are we in?”
“Wow, really? I don’t think I even want to know what happened before you got here. Anyway, we’re near the waterfront, across from Thaymore Park.”
“Shit. Okay. Yeah, I’m going to grab a cab. Did I order anything? How much do I owe you?”
“It’s on the house, honey.” Catra winked, reassuming her salty diner waitress persona. “I’ll call you the cab, we’ve got a deal with a driver. He picks up all the drunks that wander in here, it’s good for business. You want another coffee while you wait?”
“Sure.” Adora groaned some more and buried her face in her hands. Catra left to check on other customers while Adora nursed her hangover and waited for her ride. Ten minutes later, while Adora was on her way out the door, she stopped to thank Catra.
“Well, I’d say it was good to see you, but I don’t remember most of it. I hope I didn’t say anything too embarrassing.”
“Nah, you were fine. It was good to see you too. It’s always weird running into someone from back home.” Catra saw the cab pulling up to the curb. “There’s Rogelio, tell him your ride’s on me, and I’ll get him back next time he comes in.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Adora really did look embarrassed. Her expression made Catra suspect that last night’s bender wasn’t a regular occurrence.
“Consider it a hometown discount. I’m guessing your night was pretty rough before you ended up here.”
“Thanks Catra.”
“No problem. Now go get some sleep. If you feel half as bad you look, you must be dying.” She patted Adora on the shoulder, a gesture she intended to be reassuring but ended up feeling more like an awkward shove out the door. “Anyway, I gotta run some food out. Take care.”
* * *
Catra assumed that would be the last she’d see of Adora Grayskull. But a couple of nights later, around two-thirty, Catra was humming along to a Kitty Wells song and doodling on a napkin when Adora sat down at the counter. Catra regarded her silently for a moment, sizing her up and smirking a little. Adora looked nervous.
“Hey Adora. Back for more biscuits?”
“Biscuits? I thought I had eggs.”
“You had both. You know what, nevermind. You sober tonight?”
“Yeah, sorry about that. That’s actually why I came back. To apologize.” Adora was drumming her fingers on the countertop. Catra poured her a glass of water and plopped a table setting and menu down in front of her.
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I’ve seen worse, trust me. You didn’t even barf or try to slap my ass.”
Adora cringed. “Part of me wants to know how much we talked before I passed out, but another smarter part of me thinks I should just leave it alone.”
Catra laughed a little and replied, “Well, Scorpia did refer to you as, quote, a real trainwreck , but you didn’t say anything particularly embarrassing. I was mostly just offended that you didn’t recognize me. Oh, and if I remember correctly, you said that I couldn’t be Catra because Catra from high school was pretty and mean . So I don’t know if you were implying that I’m currently not pretty or that I’m not mean, or both, but I’m kind of pissed about that too.”
Adora groaned. Catra laughed some more, clearly not actually offended, and continued, “Honestly, if I had to pick a slogan, pretty and mean would probably be a good choice, don’t you think? So thank you for that brilliant insight.”
Adora’s nervous embarrassment seemed to have transitioned to actual horror. She was blushing deep red and had apparently lost the ability to make eye contact with Catra. “Fuck. Sorry. Would you believe me if I said that I’ve never been that drunk in my life?”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. We’ve all had rough nights.”
“I also noticed that help wanted sign in the window when I came in.” Adora seemed desperate to change the subject, but job talk was not something Catra had anticipated. She cocked her eyebrow at Adora, wondering if she knew what the job entailed.
“You want to work here? We’re looking for another short order cook for this shift. You ever worked in a diner kitchen before?” People think that anybody can flip burgers and fry eggs but working the flat top at a diner takes skill. Catra doubted that Adora knew what job they were looking for when she asked about the sign. She was extremely dubious that Adora even knew a spatula from a whisk, let alone how to cook.
“I’ve worked in kitchens.” There was a tinge of resignation, almost disappointment in Adora’s voice as she said it.
Catra was surprised. Adora had been a top student in high school, and never had to work a job after school or on weekends. And as far as Catra knew, she had gone to college on some kind of sports scholarship. Soccer? Basketball? Catra couldn’t remember but it had been a big deal at the time. So restaurant work was a surprise.
“Okay well, you’re going to have to talk to Huntara, the owner. She works the kitchen at breakfast. You can come back around 7:30 and I can introduce you at the end of my shift.”
“Can I just wait here?” She seemed deflated and Catra wondered if she had anywhere else to go. Catra let it go. She’d learned over the years that people treated diner waitresses like bartenders — sometimes folks were looking for someone to spill their troubles to, and sometimes they just needed a good cup of coffee and a warm meal. Whatever Adora was going through was none of her business.
“Sure, but you’re going to need to order something if you want to park at the counter for five hours.”
“I guess I better try the biscuits then, huh?”
“Coming right up.”