Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
CHAPTER 8 MADE IT OUT OF EDITTING HELL!!! Here's a preview:
“Don’t start.” Mira gritted her teeth while tracing the embroidery on Nabi’s right arm. “Took me a year and a half to ask her out, so what? I don’t see you with a girlfriend of your own.”
Rumi blinked. Once. Twice. What?
“That’s what I thought,” Mira smugly said like she just won an argument.
Rumi could feel herself pout as her brows furrowed. She finally changed into the shirt Zoey gave her with a muttered, “I’m working on it.”
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
“Now, off! We should start your plant quiz now while the rice—oh hey Rumi! Perfect timing!”
In less than half a second, Mira was no longer piggybacking on Zoey. Mira was now standing perfectly straight with the posture that could rival the greatest of models.
While Zoey was left to struggle with keeping her balance due to the sudden weight change.
“’Sup?” Mira nodded at Rumi, her deep voice a stark contrast to the whiny one from earlier. So cool. So composed. So unaffected.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
“You. Us. Movie. At ours.” It’s more of a demand than an ask but Rumi didn’t mind. Even if she actually meant at Rumi’s since they were still staying at Rumi’s house.
Zoey nodded like a bobble head. “We wanted to take you out for a movie but we didn’t know where the theatre was around here but then we saw some DVDs in the house so… what do you say?”
Rumi, who was now clutching the flowers close to her chest, tilted her head and asked, “Like a sleepover?”
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Chapter 5 out of context:
(thank you crk for the collab now i can make them have picnic dates)
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
“It’s rare for you girls to be up this early,” Rumi smoothly changed the subject when Zoey’s laughter died down.
When it was clear that Zoey would rather bury her face in Mira’s sleeve, Mira spoke up, “Yeah, this one dragged me out of bed to take my Mari out on a walk.”
Rumi furrowed her brows at the unfamiliar name—only for her to melt when Mira showed her a fox plush peaking its head out of Mira’s pocket. It was missing one of its eyes.
“Hi Mari, it’s nice to meet you,” Rumi cooed, temporarily slipping into the persona she uses for meet and greets. She looked at Mira with a smirk, “What a creative name you have.”
Mira rolled her eyes, “Don’t start.”
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
“I…” Rumi took a breath. She wants to but she can’t. “Leaves. I need leaves. I’ll get in trouble if I don’t come home with leaves.”
Monster, that part of her whispered. Look at how sad Zoey and Mira look, take it back.
Mira handed the stick to Zoey, brows raising higher as she asked, “Aren’t you like over twenty?”
Rumi swallowed. She is but how can she even explain that her mothers were so doting they don’t even let her drive a car without at least one of them to accompany her?
“…I’m an only child?” Rumi tried.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
Also I cannot draw but I can sloppily edit images together to have this silly little summary of the first chapter (i gave up on the quality. after years, i still don't understand you, tumblr)
Rumi has been standing in front of the wooden gate for approximately ten minutes now, listening to Mira and Zoey bicker inside her house. This is so stupid. She could just take the leaves from the oregano plant from within her reach. It's right there.
But Mira insisted that they had oregano inside and told Rumi to wait here. So she waits.
"Zoey, how did you rearrange the spice cabinet?!"
"By vibes!"
"What does that even mean?!"
Rumi hid her cough with her fist. She just needed one oregano leaf, not whatever these idiots were trying to give her.
~*~*
In which Rumi doesn't know why her mothers keep asking her to get leaves from the new neighbors, but she does so anyway because she's a good daughter. Zoey and Mira fumble their chance with Rumi (or do they?) because they don't know their plants.
-Would you be so kind as to give me a leaf?, RTWF47x
I can't stand you in my bed (you're too gentle) aka my Polytrix Dogbird AU has gained over 4k hits on AO3!!
which is so insane, so unreal for a fic that updated maybe thrice in the past eight months. I'm beyond grateful for every
For context, in this fic, Zoey and Mira started getting patterns after the events of the movie (specifically after the Takedown scene backstage). Zoey has patterns on her hands, Mira has patterns on her feet. The moment they notice this, they of course hide it from each other and Rumi. As I said in my author's note: this is my fucked up way of putting them in each other's shoes.
In honor of this, here are a few scenes from the movie that I tried to write a parallel of in my fic (thank you u/TheDayIRippedMyPants on reddit for the screenshot drive):
(I will now ramble about my own fic this is your warning to scroll away)
Let's start with Zoey's parallels:
When writing Chapter 3, I wanted to focus on Rumi's possible internal conflict with killing demons while protecting humans. Technically, she's killing her kind to protect, well, her kind. The conflict there must have been intense especially during her earlier hunter years or maybe the movie is the first time she's questioning it which still works. She still hesitates.
I figured Zoey would be more susceptible to this kind of conflict, or at least, I headcanon her to be. Perhaps her aggressive fighting style is her compensating for things she doesn't want to think about. This may also be one of the reasons Rumi never told them about her patterns--if they start questioning, they hesitate, if they hesitate, they (and the rest of humanity) are all in danger. And Zoey did hesitate, now that she had patterns of her own.
I made Zoey's chapter revolve around hesitating, an underlying resentment, and impulsive behavior. You can't tell me that she's a people pleaser and not expect me to write the resentment of one in the next page.
RE: Impulsive behavior, I'd like to base this on Rumi's own behavior. Girl rushed Jinu during the bathhouse fight, there is no way that's the first time she did that. This is mirrored by Zoey going on a solo hunt in the fic. And the not NOT attempt Zoey had at the rooftop (a mix of intrusive thoughts and impulsiveness)
This is how I pictured her standing on the roof's ledge.
Which actually segues nicely to Mira's parallels:
In Chapter 4, Mira found out that Rumi asked Celine to kill her--only to see Zoey about to take a step off the roof the very next day. I too would crash the fuck out.
Her parallels to Rumi are pretty much straightforward. Denial of having patterns for her equates to Rumi's denial of being a half-demon.
She can't even call them patterns in the very start of her chapter.
Perhaps my favorite thing I wrote is how Mira's patterns stop her from dancing much like how Rumi's stopped her from singing.
Hiding is not helping yet she still doesn't tell them about her patterns because she doesn't even acknowledge them yet. How can you talk about something you refuse to look at and understand?
Mira is the loudest when it comes to her hate for demons in the movie, of course she is the most hesitant to even look at her patterns in my fic. How does she deal with herself now that she has the very thing she was taught to hate? How can she accept patterns when they're on Rumi but not on herself? What does it mean to be a hunter with patterns? Is she still a hunter?
(^^^all thoughts Rumi probably also had about herself pre-movie)
Rumi's parallels:
Free from her internal conflict and shame, thanks to the movie, Rumi's motivation in I can't stand you in my bed (you're too gentle) is to be there for Mira and Zoey the same way they were for her. Which at the start didn't go well.
Where Zoey and Mira welcomed her with warmth and a dinner after she ran away from Golden's first live performance,
Rumi stormed off when Zoey came home injured from a solo hunt. (To prepare a warm towel and a change of clothes, but she still stormed off nonetheless)
Although she did stay with Mira and Zoey during their respective breakdowns,
Zoey's
Mira's
unlike how they pushed her away during hers.
And lastly, where Mira is met with high walls and defensiveness in the movie when trying to enter Rumi's room,
Zoey was met with a protective hug.
This is all to say, I have been doing a character study on all three of them using the other two and I am so invested!! Impostor syndrome hadn't even made itself known which is again, unREAL
Anyway here are some fun screenshots I found:
This is the basket of snacks I'm referring to in my fic. They literally have a basket dedicated for their snacks in the movie, I'd like to think it's an important basket to their lives HAHAHA
Unfortunately, I can't find a picture of the infamous stairs but there are stairs in the penthouse (I assume its to go to their rooms??). Dogbird!Rumi really loves hanging out under those stairs.
This is how I pictured Mira's expression when I wrote "When soon is promised, Mira never pushed."
And lastly, this is not at all fic related and just saw this while browsing through the drive
Girl is having a breakdown in front of millions and still manages to serve face. Girl is Rumi. Rumi needs a hug.
Me, the whole time writing Chapter 4: Why did I make Mira have patterns on her feet, this is single-handedly the most uncomfortable thing I have researched. makE IT STOP
But in all seriousness I could NEVER abandon Dogbird, I have become too attached, I fear.
Hope you're enjoying the fic so far!! Thank you for reading!
Chapter 4: birds without cages find perch on my ribs
“This isn’t just an apology! It’s the apology. We have to go all out.” Zoey flailed her arms around to emphasize her point. “Wanna join? You could hold the boombox up while I sing, or I could hold the boombox up while you sing. It’s best if we hold the boombox up together but our height difference makes that impossible.”
Zoey took a deep breath and whispered to herself, mortified, “I think I said boombox too much, it doesn’t feel like a real word anymore.”
“…boombox,” Mira whispered, if only to stoke the flames.
“Stooop!” Zoey covered her ears.
-I can't stand you in my bed (you're too gentle), RTWF47x
Just thinking about the media frenzy that would follow sends shivers down Zoey’s spine.
‘Zoey of HUNTR/X in custody for stabbing seven people’ was not a good look. The group was still recovering from the PR disaster that was the week of the International Idol Awards. Their reputation couldn’t take it.
-I can't stand you in my bed (you're too gentle), RTWF47x
Soon, it was like nothing changed at all. They acted as they always had, minus a few intimacies that was once shared—but they wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Soon, the three of them learned to love each other, as friends, as lovers, but more importantly as something far beyond what our mortal definition of love is.
And when Rumi got the surgery, the one that made him feel more at home in his body than he already was—Zoey and Mira were there to help him in his recovery.
And when all of his documents got legally changed to reflect who he truly was, Mira was the first to hug him. Was the first to whisper,
And there it is, not even a quarter of a second later, the world-renowned idol group HUNTR/X were all sobbing like newborns. Good thing the bathhouse was rented out lest they wanted to be on the headlines tomorrow.
Breaking news: Record-breaking girl group HUNTR/X are nothing but sobbing failures.
Not that crying and letting your emotions out make you a failure, but that is the industry that they work for. Even if they were failures though, they were each other’s, and in this moment? That was enough. More than enough.
-I can't stand you in my bed (you're too gentle), RTWF47x
Chapter 1: all I know is paper-thin scripture (holding the weight of my soul)
They assumed it was the weight of betrayal. The gravity of a broken trust. The burden of something beyond their understanding. And when you don’t understand anything, you tend to chase everything away.
Rumi runs away. Each step tearing apart the Honmoon.
Mira did not run after her, deaf to her soul’s plea to hold.
Zoey did not reach out for her, deaf to her soul’s plea to listen.
Their shoulders fell, defeated. Their soul felt thrice as heavy. The broken pieces of their connection, their bond, scattered on the floor beneath them.
-I can't stand you in my bed (you're too gentle), RTWF47x
