Rumi doesnât think she deserves them but she still slips up and dotes on them calling them âbabyâ, âjagiyaâ (AN: honey in Korean), playing with their hair, kissing their cheek, etc when theyâre (generally) too out of it to remember.
At first Rumi was waiting for the golden Honmoon to remove her patterns before finally taking up Zoemiraâs offer to join their relationship. (Romantically or sexually, it didnât really matter, Zoemira just wanted Rumi in whatever capacity she was willing to accept them.) But after the idol awards, even though she had bandaged her wounds, tacitly accepted that she was as much a demon as a human, and unlike her mother couldnât potentially reproduce children to doom with the sort of insecurity that plagued her, her entire life (no honstrap in this au, sorry) Rumi thought it best to take her feelings to the grave.
But loving someone is hard to hide in close quarters. It festers, pops, and spills over like a boil. Although, Rumi luckily managed to only ever slip up when either Zoey or Mira were too out of it to recall her misstep.
When Zoeyâs leg got slashed up by a water demon trying to drag her into the puddle at her feet, the wound was so deep it was just shy of nicking her bone. While Rumi was definitely engaging in self-flagellation about HER maknae getting hurt on her watch, she also knew that Miraâs spiral was significantly worse. Thatâs how she ended up holding Zoey against her chest whispering, âItâs okay baby. Weâve got youâs and âyouâre doing so well aegi just a little moreâs in her ear while Mira took care of the wound instead. Despite Rumi being the better suture (she had a lot of practice, 3 guesses as to why).
Blood loss, shock, and all that other shit had muddled Zoeyâs cognitive function and even though she could hear Rumi, nothing registered past her comforting tone, the way Rumi caressed her arm, and had let Zoey almost fracture some of the fingers of the hand she held.
Mira was down and out over a common cold. It wasnât life threatening but Mira became the clingiest, saddest wet cat when feeling even slightly under weather. Zoey had to go to some event or the other (she didnât want to go but Mira had squinted at her in an unseeing disapproving look and Rumi had promised to look after her) so she went.
Rumi had intended to just periodically check Miraâs temperature, bring her medicine, water, and maybe hand feed her and let her sleep whatever had maligned her in the night, off. She wasnât prepared to get wrangled, by someone who shouldâve lost at least some of their strength, into bed as a captive live teddy bear. When asked about it by Zoey later, Rumi will pretend to be aggrieved (and she was a little because she had intended on getting SOME work done) but it was mostly for show.
Once Rumi realized that she was effectively trapped and wouldnât be getting up in the foreseeable future, she cooed at how cute Mira was, massaged her hands into Miraâs scalp, and eventually fell asleep with the taller girlâs head tucked under her chin. Zoey took SEVERAL photos before she deigned to wake either of them up. Much to Rumiâs chagrin.
This sort of behavior went on for months post canon but eventually Rumi got sloppy and started doting on her girls when they were less cognitively fogged.
One day, Rumi catches Zoemira sleeping soundly on the couch after getting back from a schedule and promptly takes a photo for her locked photo album. Whispering something to herself about her babies. She brushed her lips in a whisper of a kiss to Zoeyâs cheek (Mira and Rumiâs lip stick shades were distinct so she couldnât leave a mark) and was reaching a hand up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Miraâs ear that was promptly snagged in much too tight of a grip for someone who was supposed to be asleep.
Zoemira had both been pretending (until Zoey fell asleep for real) as a trap.
âWhat, I canât get a kiss to aegi?â Miraâs distinctly un-sleepy voice sounded out causing Rumi to internally reel.
âDonât you dare run,â Mira huffed, freezing Rumi in place. She managed to jostle Zoey awake while never letting go of Rumiâs hand whose fingers she had now interlaced with her own.
Zoemira could handle rejection. They had been rejected by family, friends, and even strangers before finding their home in Huntrix but by the Honmoon was Rumi making it difficult for them to believe that her feelings were platonic, that she didnât want them the way they wanted her⌠yearned for her.
Even if Rumi wanted to lie her way out of the trap she had ran head first into, she couldnât. Not when Zoeyâs eyes were starting to collect tears and Miraâs faux nonchalance was cracking. So she confessed, now gripping both of their hands with her head bowed.
Zoemira were confused. They had been propositioning Rumi to join them for years. And after the big secret reveal, they were even more hopeful that they could all be together, so why was Rumi STILL hiding? Why was she STILL obscuring her real feelings?
âA Hunter dating a demon is what got us into this mess in the first place⌠I just donât want to continue the cycle.â Rumi reveals avoiding both of their gaze.
Mira roughly grabs Rumiâs chin, her entire hand curling around either side of her face and yanks her head up to look Mira square in the eyes.
âYou fucking idiot. You donât get to choose for us,â Mira grouses before dragging Rumi in for a searing kiss. It was her own mistake really. Leaving Rumi to come to them hadnât worked with the fiasco that led up to the Idol Awards shenanigans, so she shouldnât have expected it to work after either. âYouâre ours, stop pretending you donât already have what you want,â she says finally releasing Rumiâs face from her rough grip, allowing her to settle back on the table in front of the couch.
âWere you really never going to tell us?â Zoey asks in a small voice. âYou were just going to drop kisses and pet names and affection on us while we were unaware and deny us the right to return it?!?â The question was rhetorical but Rumi met her hurt filled gaze anyway and gave one sharp nod.
âIâm sick of this!â Zoeyâs voice was less gruff but decidedly more harsh, âYou donât even get it, do you?â One glance at Rumiâs suddenly guppy like demeanor tells Zoey all she needs to know.
âYouâre not the only one being sacrificed here. Youâre hurting us too!â Rumi gaze flicks away âLook at me.â It snaps back, âYou hurt us. Say it.â
âI-âŚâ Rumiâs voice snags but if she thought Miraâs gaze had been unforgiving, Zoeyâs was downright thunderous, âhurt you,â she licks her suddenly dry lips. âBoth of you.â
âHurting m-â Rumi chokes again. She chances a glance at Mira but her gaze is stony. The rapper line was in unanimous agreement. Rumi briefly thinks about how this whole situation isnât totally fair. She hadnât even got reprimanded like this over hiding her patterns but denying someone the love their due incurs heavy fines. And she had just been charged double. Rumi swallows and return her gaze to Zoeyâs, âHurting mys-â she wets her lips again âmyself.â
Then suddenly Zoey is cradling Rumiâs face in her hands pulling her in, in a much gentler way than Mira but still firm. She stops just before their lips meet and Rumi being taunted by one of things she most wants tries to push forward but is held back. Then Zoey whispers so tantalizing close, âI wonât be kissing you today⌠Or even tomorrow. Iâm only going to kiss you when you believe what you just said.â Before pushing her face away and delivering a brutal finger flick that bruises both her finger and Rumiâs forehead in the process. âë°ëł´â (AN: Fool in Korean).
Rumiâs still rubbing her forehead, dumbstruck, wondering how badly her forehead hurt Zoeyâs finger, while staring at the hallway that Zoey disappeared down. Mira tilts her head and says, âLetâs go,â and Rumi follows mutely, still dazed.
Rumira join Zoey in Miraâs bed wearing Miraâs pajamas because Mira wasnât feeling charitable enough to let Rumi go off to her own room to find clothes.
It was torture. Everything Rumi had done to them was given back to her tenfold. Waking up to the impression of lips on either side of her cheek or temple. Caresses that stopped when she became more cognizant of them. Pet names, handholding, and tucked flyaways that seemed like a beautiful dream but she KNEW it was real. Knew she was being teased, taunted even.
Mira was more lenient. She would give her a chaste kiss if she asked real nice. The first, âMira, kiss meâŚplease? đĽşâ lived rent free in Miraâs head. But the kiss was always chaste. Zoey didnât say anything but Mira knew better to get too much in her crosshairs all the same.
Zoey intended to drag it out for almost a year. A month to month match for when they did know about Rumiâs patterns and she continued to forego sharing her feelings. Every time Rumi asked for a kiss she would hold Rumiâs face in her hands, drag her in close, maybe even nuzzle their noses together but always stop at the last minute with a whispered, âyou donât believe it yet,â before pushing her away. No amount of begging (cause Rumi did beg), pleading (and oh did Rumi plead), or bribery (Zoeyâs turtle collection grew quite a bit) worked.
Until one day, three months five days and 2 hours later (but whoâs counting), Rumi wrapped one arm around her waist, pulled her back flush against her chest while she was doing the dishes after breakfast, and nipped her ear with one glinting fang that Zoey folded.
Zoey wasnât patient by any means but she was white knuckling the situation to make sure Rumi learned her damn lesson and never did anything like it again. However, she had one secret condition that she had set for herself (not even telling Mira but she had already guessed) that would allow her to break her promise to forego kissing Rumi without feeling too guilty. That condition was if Rumi allowed herself to be brazen and open in her affection. If she finally took what she wanted without that pesky pesky shame.
Needless to say, when Mira found them on the couch (Zoey straddling Rumiâs lap, hands buried in her quickly unraveling braid, and tongue definitely down her throat) she said, âfinallyâ and joined the fray.