2700/Rooftop Feelings

Rooftop Feelings
Date of Scene:	20 July 2025
Location:	Radiant Heart Academy
Synopsis:	Rashmi and Setsuna happen upon Catra, up on the roof of Radiant Heary Academy, in the middle of having feelings. A lot of feelings.
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Rashmi Terios, Setsuna Meiou

---

Catra has posed:
Saturday afternoon; the day before Summer Holiday starts. Which means that today was a school day. And even though Catra (aka Rachel Miller) has not been attending classes yet, she's still been hanging around the academy a lot (which is awkward in its own ways). Currently, she's hanging about alone on the rooftop location Rashmi showed her, seated up on top of the roof above the staircase with her legs dangling over the edge.

She's in the school uniform, complete with the skirt that she has made plain she thinks is the most useless garment ever invented, but still looks like the same, obnoxious American that Rachel Miller has always looked like.

The bandaids on both knees and the expression of absolute incandescent rage, along with the black eye and the split lip, are not helping.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It has been... A *big* first term.

Best friends resurrected into evil, Trips to other worlds, other timelines, friends *corrupted* by evil, and somehow through it all the need to manage grades and homework and *trigonometry oh god trigonometry.* And now the dust is settling on a *lot* of mahou problems, and school problems, and August is unfolding its arms with the promise of a beach day or two.

Maybe evil will take a break too? Less likely, but one can hope.

Her wandering thoughts and wandering feet take her to the roof, and she pauses upon seeing 'Rachel Miller' there... But lets the door close behind her and approaches, not bothering to make her footsteps quieter.

"Hey, Catra-chan," she says... and upon seeing her face, sends off a mental text message.

    << TXT to SETSUNA -- Heeeeey, Setsuchan. Feel like making a house call on the roof? Catra-chan looks a bit dinged up. >>

There will be no speculation about *how* Catra got those bruises and scrapes, because assuming she got into a fight would be -- if 92% accurate as a guess -- unkind.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The end of the school year means one thing for those in administration.

PAPERWORK

Lots and LOTS of paperwork.

Fortunately for Nurse Meiou, having a well-tuned virtual assistant and generally having kept ahead of various reporting requirements all year means that the end of year avalanche of paperwork is vastly reduced for her.

Up to the point where, unlike most of the staff, she's actually able to leave school on time.

It also means that when she gets a text, she's not up to her elbows in forms to fill out.

And thus, it's actually only a short time later that the door opens up once more and Nurse Meiou walks out.

Giving a quick look around, she walks over towards where Catra is sitting, "Greetings, Miss Terios, Miss Miller. I hear there's need of some minor first aid..."

The nurse trails off as she gets a good look at Catra's eye and lip and then says, "...correction, I can SEE there's someone in need of first aid."

And with that said, she drops down to one knee, produces a first aid kit from...somewhere with a twist of her wrists, then opens it up, "...so what exactly happened?"

Catra has posed:
At first, Catra just stays right where she is, sullenly refusing to acknowledge that she's being talked to, but that will only take you so far. Which, with Rashmi Terios and Setsuna Meiou, it turns out really isn't very far at all.

Luckily however, they are the only ones here, so when Catra lands on in front of the rooftop door instead of sitting on the rooftop above it, the Rachel Miller visage is replaced by her proper, feline visage.

"I'm fine," she grumbles, past said split lip that is obviously in need of attention.

"It's... whatever," she half-growls with folded arms, flattened ears, and blazing mis-matched eyes. But that will only take you so far as well.

"This jerk said something about Hinoiri and I told him to shut up but he didn't so I decked him," she admits at last. "How was I supposed to know he had four friends? Not that it should've mattered, but the--" She pauses, sucking in a breath and forcing herself to keep her words reasonably polite, "--Illusion I have to hide behind screws up my strength so instead of me beating the crap out of all of them it went... less well than it should have."

The feline, now having swapped school clothes for Horde jumpsuit, continues to radiate vexation from all of her pores.

"I miss the Horde," she grumbles, "Everything was so much easier."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Hey, Setsuchan," Rashmi greets the eldest of them, as Catra drops down to a more conversational level, and turns her attention back to Catra. The story gets nodded along with, and a wince at 'he had four friends.' "...Yeah, that would do it," she sighs. "So what Setsuchan's gonna do is gonna sting, but afterward it'll be better. No claws, okay?"

Leaning against an HVAC unit, Rashmi crosses her arms. "So... how exactly was it easier in the Horde? Cos the little you and Adora-chan told me... Didn't sound so easy."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
At Catra's admission she got into a fight, Nurse Meiou gives Catra a bit of a frown before she shakes her head and sighs, "Miss Miller, as a member of the school's administration, I unfortunately am required to punish you for getting into a fight."

Reaching out, she briefly catches one of Catra's hands and then proceeds to slap the back of the younger woman's hand with all the force of a tepid golf clap.

She then adds, "That was bad."

Spoken with all the emphasis of someone absently pointing out a nearby puddle.

She stares at Catra for a few more moments, then goes on, "That all said..."

Setsuna then leans over and gives Catra a brief gentle hug, "...thank you for standing up for Hinoiri-chan."

The taller woman leans back a little and gives Catra a brief examination from up close, "...not a lot I can do with that lip that you already haven't, but I've got some balm you can use to help keep it from drying out or getting anything in it for the day or two it should take to heal on it's own."

A little shifting is done to get a better look at the eye, "...and I've got a cold compress you can use for the eye tonight...and it's one you can also heat up tomorrow to help it heal up a little quicker. Between it and your normal fast rate of healing, some good concealer should be able to hide it by Monday and you should be more or less normal by Tuesday-ish."

Catra has posed:
Catra endures the slap on the hand without much reaction -- it's the sudden hug that makes her tense up. Her muscles remain locked for a moment after Setsuna releases her, and it takes her conscious realization that she's in that state before she lets herself return to normal. And, y'know, breath.

"I know how cold compresses work, I had to patch myself up plenty of times in the Horde," she mumbles. "...But... thanks." Because as it turns out, Setsuna is actually trying to help, and maybe -- just maybe -- that's okay and Catra should be okay with it. "And please just... call me Catra when it's just us, I... actually I hate that name and I hate having to hide all the time."

"How was the Horde simpler? I mean yeah it sucked, that's entirely true, and yeah Adora was Shadow Weaver's favorite and I was the one she treated like absolute crap, and yeah I had to fight basically everyone growing up and Adora was my only friend until suddenly she wasn't, but... but everything made sense," she blurts out. "After I beat Shadow Weaver and took her Black Garnet away she couldn't hurt me anymore anyway, and then I was Hordak's second in command and just..." She sighs, and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I didn't have to hide. Most people were afraid of me so at least I was safe and I knew what I had to do and what I could do, and five idiots like those guys wouldn't have ever dared touch me. And like... I'm not saying I want to go back to that. It was violent and awful and I did a lot of terrible things that I... I don't... want to go back to anymore."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I just miss the simplicity."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As Catra explains her meaning, Rashmi listens closely. "...Y'know, I get that," she says after a moment's silence. "You miss it because you knew what you had to do, and how to be safe... As safe as you could be, anyway. And now most of those rules don't apply! And that's awful," she says with an emphatic nod.

"Upside to being here, at least? Now you have people who have *your* back. It just takes getting used to, y'know?"

"...Also, Setsu-chan? Corporal punishment? In 2025? You're sure?" This last, said with a grin and a wink.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou rolls her eyes at Rashmi, "That didn't even qualify as bare-faced recruit punishment and you know it."

She then gets out a compress that is actually cold and hands it to Catra, "...and good to know what you need to do, but I imagine you probably don't have one to use, so therefore I shall provide. Also just put this in a microwave for two minutes or dunk it in some hot water for five and it'll work as a hot compress tomorrow."

Another bit of rummaging is done and she comes up with a stick of chapstick that she hands over, "...and this should help with that lip."

Standing up again, she sighs, "I understand how you feel...and as long as I'm not wearing my Nurse hat...metaphorically speaking...I'll endeavor to call you as you wish to be called..."

Setsuna then frowns slightly and taps her lips a few times, "...I think at least a few of us should sometime during this break go someplace out of the way so that you and maybe some others in similar situations can spend a few days where you just don't have to worry about hiding who you are behind a glamour..."

Catra has posed:
Catra takes the compress and holds it up to her eye, and sighs, taking a step back so she can plop down on a seat. When the chapstick is offered up she holds out a hand to take it; she pulls the cap off with her teeth, applies it to her lip, and jams the cap back on before tucking it into a jacket pocket.

"Thanks," she mumbles. "And... Yeah getting to spend a few days without this stupid illusion would be great. Even if I have to leave town to do it. Which I hate, but I mean..." she inhales, nostrils flaring, "Maybe getting to smell clean air would be nice too. ...Even if the industrial part of town reminds me of the Fright Zone. I'm not sure I like that as much as I used to."

The feline leans forwards, resting her elbows on her knees, and then just sits there, chewing on her thoughts.

"It wasn't just knowing what I had to do in the Horde," she admits finally. "Problem solving was easy. If someone upset me I just hit them. Or threatened them. Usually both. And I invariably got rewarded for doing so, the Horde encouraged violence, and if I didn't do it it would be done to me, so I really had no choice. I have no idea what to do here." She sucks in a breath, "And even if I knew that guy had friends I'd still have decked him. He'll probably be waiting in the infirmary when you get back -- as soon as his friends get him up off the floor anyway."

Catra tilts her gaze back towards Rashmi, which doesn't manage to look nearly so clouded with negativity with the cold compress held up against her face. "And now there's... stuff. Like with Hinoiri but not just with Hinoiri and I... dunno what I'm supposed to do."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah," Rashmi says, nodding as Catra explains how her responses won't work. "I can see that... so... Here, generally it's... Violence, you use last, after you've done everything else. If you can't ignore a problem, or talk it down -- or away, some people use words like scalpels I swear -- or intimidate them... and if you really think they're gonna hurt you? That's when you violence. Or run, sometimes running is the smart option. Your life matters too after all, if running keeps you alive then *do.*"

But then she starts talking about... stuff. Hinoiri-but-not-just-Hinoiri stuff, and Rashmi's eyebrows rise. "...Okay, well... do you know what you *want* to do about... stuff? Oh... they're dating, Setsuchan. Get your squee out if you want."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sensing the advice being dispensed at the moment perhaps will land better coming from someone of similar age, Setsuna sits back and holds her counsel for the moment...

Though when Rashmi lets her know about happenings in local love lives, the taller woman blinks all of once before getting a wide grin on her face and saying to the brunette, "...congratulations, then, Catra-san."

Catra has posed:
"Yeah but--!!"

Catra becomes a bubbling cauldron of confused emotions, with flattened ears and claws that briefly threaten to puncture the cold compress, and a tail that basically gives the whole game away.

"Okay so look, like, I..." She sucks in a deep breath, "I don't know how to describe it but I like Hinoiri, like, a lot, she was super great to me when I first got here, and I like the idea of being her... y'know. Even if I have no idea how to actaully do that. I was raised to be a military leader. Not to serenade someone outside their dorm window. But like."

The feline sucks in another breath. "I really, really want to patch things up with Adora too. Somehow. I don't know how that even works or if it works or whatever but if I can, I need to, but I feel like I have to choose one or the other and I don't know why it even feels like that and if I'm going to be on the good-guy side then not figuring things out with Adora feels like a complete waste, but I don't wanna hurt Hinoiri either, and I have no idea how I got in this mess and all of this is weird, and I don't even know how to actually like people in the first place, and none of this makes sense, and I just... wanna go set things on fire or... something."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Glancing at Setsuna, Rashmi can't help but grin at Catra's absolute mess of emotions. "Okay first off," she says, "congratulations, Catra-chan. You are officially an Earth teenager now, *none of us* have *any idea* what we're doing when it comes to liking other people. Second, were you paying attention when Hinoiri-chan said what kind of a thing you were? Because if you can quote her, I can draw you a map on how to handle the thing with her and Adora-chan. Which... I mean *good for you* for wanting to duct-tape that back together."

Stepping closer, she reaches out, pressing both of her hands on Catra's cheeks. "Also... *breathe.* You're doing okay. Better than a *lot* of people our age."

Squish.

...Look some faces, at some points in time, are just begging for a squish. And Rashmi might even survive this!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
When Rashmi comments about earth teenagers not knowing what they're doing when it involves romance, Setsuna nods along, "I am given to understand that one of the common threads that binds all teenagers together is a geneeral lack of understanding about what to do with the people you're interested in and/or attracted to."

She then shrugs and waves over at Rashmi, "...though that being said, I'd advise listening to what Rashmi here has to say as she's got vastly more experience than the rest of us and seems to be doing fairly well in her relationship."

The nurse pauses for a moment in thought before going on, "As for your relationship with Adora-chan...you seemed to be on more or less the right track with that at dinner with her the other night."

When Rashmi reaches forward to put her hands on Catra's cheeks, the taller woman blinks...but quickly gets out her phone...and when the redhead indeed DOES do a face squish, Setsuna quietly and subtly catches a picture of it.

Catra has posed:
"If you think I don't know you took a picture I heard that."

Catra may have been sufficiently off-guard enough to allow the face-squish, but one ear is pointed firmly in Setsuna's direction. She can hear phones, it seems. The phone was heard. Or maybe just the sound of a finger tapping a screen -- good enough.

"Anyway I... I don't... know if I wanna talk about romance stuff right now," she protests, "I've still got to figure out... all the other stuff, like with Takashi and Joker and figre out how to actually use the Spirit Ember -- and going to go work thoings out where I can't incinerate something important sounds nice -- and on top of all that I'm supposed to... just... go to school or something? And learn what? Art? Nothing I learned when I was a kid is even vaguely relevant here." She pauses, and purses her lips. "I mean... unless there's a schooling option to take if you'd like to be groomed for a general position in the military. But even that I couldn't take if I wanted to 'cause I'm sure if I got found out that some alien infiltrating the army would go over real well."

Oh yeah, breathe. Catra does that, finally, taking a breath and releasing it slowly. Yes. Breathing is good.

"Actually that... limits my options quite a bit," she mutters. "Anyawy whatever. It doesn't matter right now. I've got enough stashed away to last... a while."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Oh good she survived the squish, and Setsuna has a photo of it she can ask for later. Taking her hands off Catra's face, Rashmi leans back. "Okay, but you gotta move forward on *something* right now," she points out. "And figuring out your whole future is pretty big, and romance is... not. ...But no, you don't enlist in the military until after you're *done* with school, and anyway officer training is *more* school. But you could think about this like... You're in a forgein land, with foreign customs and a whole history you don't know... Including a *military* history. Doesn't it just sound like a *smart* idea to learn more about the place you're stuck in? The more you know, the more you know what your *options* are."

Raising an eyebrow, Rashmi can't help but toss the Etherian a crooked smile. "Not to mention, if you really, really want I could probably find you someone who'd teach you even more about swordwork after classes. There's a whole club for that."

Looking over her shoulder, he smile turns into a genuine grin. "And I mean, I know one person who could *probably* tell you a few *really* interesting stories about our world's past."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna snorts and rolls her eyes, "Oh, SOOOOOO many stories."

She pauses, then taps her lips and hums for a moment before commenting, "...and given that military and combat seem to be things that interest you, or are at least stuff you're familiar with...studying the history of Earth's wars isn't a TERRIBLE way to learn about the past."

Setsuna shrugs, "Sadly, Carl wasn't wrong when he said 'War is diplomacy by other means.' You can pick up a LOT by just studying the various wars, the events that led up to them and the things that happened in the aftermath."

A hand is waved before a finger is ticked, "...and that's history at least covered for you. The level of maths expected of you should be fairly easy to parse if they ever taught you how to do ballistics calculations, so there's math..." A second finger is ticked.

Catra has posed:
Catra falls silent as Rashmi and Setsuna both offer their various encouragements.

Are they actually trying to help her soler her problems? Is that what people actually do here, and not siezing on weakness? This place is so weird.

The feline sits and chews on thoughts being given a chance to grow nad exist in the face of positive reinforcement. Thoughts that don't revolve around achieving safety by any violent means necessary. Maybe she can in fact just... be. Even if she does have to occasionally punch some jerk in the face. Repeatedly. While his buddies are trying to fight her over it. Jerks.

"The Horde didn't really use... ballistics much," she mumbles. "Energy weapons mostly. And I let Entrapta do all the math." She shrugs her shoulders. "But... okay sure. reading some history is probably a good idea." She flat refuses to say words like 'learn' or 'study'. Ugh. "And... more swordwork would be great, actually."

The feline sighs heavily, "Even if I have to give up Powersend coming up. Which I hate. But Riventon has good points about it." She pauses, and lets out a deep breath. "but I mean, I have the Spirit Ember. I have fire magic. You'd think I'd be able to forge something if I wanted."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Exactly," Rashmi says, bobbing her head. "And knowing ballistics *is* a pretty good idea if you're gonna be lobbing fireballs at monsters from a block away. And I have seen fire magic do some wild stuff, a sword made of pure fire seems a *simple* idea in comparison!"

"The point is," she says, her voice growing gentle, "this is what happens when you ask for help, here. People say 'okay let me help' and suddenly the weight of your problem gets spread out over a *bunch* of people. That's our secret, Catra-chan... And it's not *that* much of a secret, really; we all know we're stronger together."

Rashmi pauses, then looks back around at Setsuna, eyes narrowing. "'Carl'? Which famous historical general did you know on a first-name basis this time?" But her voice is amused, and it's hard to keep the smile off her face, so she stops bothering before long.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna absently responds to Rashmi, "von Clausewitz. 'On War' is to this day still regarded as one of the definitive works on the subject, after all."

She responds absently because as she responds, she's busily navigating through something on her phone...and after a few minutes, she ahas...at which point Catra's phone makes whatever sound she has for an incoming generic text, "There you go, Catra-san...I just set you with a login to one of the bigger streaming services and enabled your account...there's a show I think you'll not only appreciate but learn something from since you were talking about 'forging'."

Setsuna then snorts, "If you binge watch that, you'll be quoting Doug Marcaida within the week."

She taps her lips for a moment in thought, "...and if you pay enough attention to it, you'll probably pick up a fair bit of English along the way."

Catra has posed:
Catra pulls out her phone and looks at it, checking out the notification, and just kind of stares at it. Her brain is visibly churning over and over. There's a catch here, somewhere. There has to be a catch. Nobody just does this kind of stuff. There's a trick in here somewhere and somehow she's being trapped in some kind of

Except

Rashmi doesn't do that kind of stuff and Catra knows that. And if Rashmi trusts Setsuna, that means there's at least decent odds that she doesn't either. Which means.

"Thanks," she mumbles, letting the relatively unfamiliar word slip. "I'll watch it all. Like... probably not all tonight, but I'll watch it."

The feline puts her phone away, and sighs, leaning her back against the wall. "Still miss things being simple," she mumbles, "But... I guess some of this isn't so bad either."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah I get that," Rashmi sighs. "But you're trying, now... You'll figure stuff out before too long, you watch." Stepping back, she takes a place next to Setsuna, smiling broadly. "And besides; you've got some of the best help you could possibly ask for, right here. Setsuchan's one of the most competent people I know, and she's literally seen almost *everything.* And there's not a single person I'd call in to help, who I wouldn't trust *completely.*"

Which might be a failing of hers, as seem through the lens of the Fright Zone... but she *is* still here, and she's not only survived the last two years but *thrived.*

"Maybe it'll be more complicated, Catra-chan, and harder to figure out... But now you have the time to learn what *fun* is. People just *do* stuff, because they like to, and it's good!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles over at Rashmi, then shrugs a little at Catra, "The nice things about having friends to share with is that you have time to just do things for the fun of it without having to worry about what others might do...as your friends will support you and WANT you to to have fun."

She then looks back to the cat-eared young woman, "...and I've got a place lined up where you can cut loose a bit to practice your fire where you don't have to worry about damaging things..."

Setsuna looks over at Rashmi, "...it's that place where you came by when I was doing that thing that time."

Catra has posed:
Catra tucks her phone away, and looks entirely defeated. People were nice to her and she just had to let them do it and somehow accept that it wasn'y all a big trick. And, indeed, it seems to have not been a big trick. Everything is fine -- everything is going to be fine.

Maybe.

"OKay," she mumbles. "Look, I-- I don't know. It all feels strange. I'm glad to be away from Obsidian, but I miss Obsidian. A lot. Which I'm sure sounds utterly dumb but I promise you it's not like that."

The feline folds her arms once again, and stands there, looking back and forth between Rashmi and Setsuna. 'that place' and 'that thing' don't appear to have been explained, but maybe it doesn't matter. A place to practice getting stronger without accidentally turning Tokyo into an active volcano sounds great.

"So, I..." She pauses, and sighs. Yeah, just be nice. Try to be nice. "Thanks," she mumbles.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Ah, that place with the thing," Rashmi says, nodding sagely. "Did you ever manage what you were setting out to do, by the by?"

A nice little moment of levity, but Catra is still troubled, and that needs to at least be addressed. "No I get what you mean," Rashmi chuckles. "From what you said about the Fright Zone, I *get* why Obsidian'd be close enough to feel familiar. And all of this? Well, it's *not.* So yeah... I get it. And you're gonna be okay."

At the thanks, Rashmi simply smiles, and steps forward to gently knock a fist against the Etherian's shoulder. "You're welcome," is all she says in response.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna shrugs a little at Rashmi, "Kinda? I've got the basics down, but it'll still take some time for me to refine it into something usable. One of the tradeoffs of the package we use is that it's not NEARLY as free-form as a Device for coming up with new applications, especially if they don't DIRECTLY interface with our domains."

Catra has posed:
Catra receives the knuckles to the shoulder, and for a brief moment it looks like she might actually smile. It's a very brief moment, but there is very definitely a hint... just a chance...

"Okay, now you two are starting to sound like Entrapta." Catra pushes off from the wall, and slinks back around towards the door. Her illusion restores itself, and she presents to the world as Rachel Miller once again; just as obnoxious as always.

"That's my cue to get going, I never understand anything she says either. Though at least you two try to make sense." She shrugs, "I'm gonna head down to the cafeteria and see if I can find something to eat, or some of that guy's friends to punch out if they didn't get the message the first time."