#eldergoblin

[yeah-thats-right]

@eldergoblin won't stop hurting me with her pretty drawings of unadulterated PAIN (and YES this is a sequel to the other thing I wrote for her other drawing that caused me pain). Also, please excuse me for posting your painful art that brought this mess on.

I STFG Elder, if this becomes a trend I'm gonna have to start a "Eldergoblin Hurt Me" series on AO3 to house this shit. ANYWAYS, here we go.

(Edit: I did make that series. haunted by the memory // this one)

go on and tear me apart (I don't care if you do)

Once Rumi found out Zoey and Mira had been taking more hits for her on purpose, she refused to allow it anymore. Rumi didn’t care that they once raised their weapons and they were trying to atone for their sins. 

“I forgave you both, just like you forgave me for keeping my patterns a secret,” she told them while she patched both of them up - Zoey with a head wound that wouldn’t stop throbbing and Mira with a shiner on her cheekbone. “We’re a team. So we should stop stepping in front of each other’s hits unless it’s necessary.” 

Necessary being defined as a potential blindside hit, a blow while one of them is on the ground, or any strike that is indefensible. They all agree that the self-sacrifice needs to stop, especially now that Mira’s scars have healed from the time she stepped in front of a giant demon claw meant for Rumi. 

Since that intense night where Mira needed almost her entire torso stitched up, they had started dating each other. All three of them. It’s only been a month or two, but it didn’t take too long for them to finally all admit their feelings for one another after they started allowing themselves to have harder conversations with each other. 

(Mira and Zoey were drunk, and Rumi walked in to see how they were doing. Zoey admitted she couldn’t stop staring at Rumi, even when she wanted to. Mira added that she’d been wanting to kiss Rumi for weeks. Rumi initially laughed it off, but she took two shots with them and suddenly they were all kissing each other on the couch. There were no regrets the next morning.)

For Zoey, it’s still difficult to watch Rumi take hits on her own. She hates that Rumi doesn’t want her to step in when she is able to defend against it. 

She shouldn’t have to, Zoey thinks. Rumi doesn’t deserve to hurt more than she already has. 

Zoey knows it’s hard for Mira too, because they’ve talked about it. It doesn’t matter that Rumi has forgiven them both for raising their weapons at her because they still haven’t completely forgiven themselves. With Mira taking such a heavy hit from that demon and admitting to Rumi why they were intervening when it wasn’t necessary, it’s not like they can play it off anymore. 

Zoey also knows that it’s hard for Rumi to let Mira fight on her own now. After all, it was Rumi that stitched up Mira’s chest in the bathroom after she almost bled out in the alley. Knowing Mira and Zoey were taking additional hits for her has made Rumi feel guilty. 

It’s an endless cycle of guilt none of them seem to be able to break. Apologies and forgiveness be damned, the guilt in the pits of their stomachs doesn’t go away. 

Zoey doesn’t miss the way Mira holds onto her and Rumi when they cuddle in a pile on the couch, like they’re going to slip away from her when she’s least expecting it. Zoey notices how Rumi clings to them when she’s asleep, a fist clenched in their shirts and pressing herself so close that Zoey thinks a weighted blanket would apply less pressure. 

Somehow, the weight on their shoulders dissipate when they’re all together. The whole world fades away during their frequent three-way makeout sessions on the couch and when they pile into bed together at the end of a rough day. 

It still doesn’t make the demon hunting any easier. 

Before they get to the site of the demon breach, Mira makes Rumi promise she can take care of herself, Rumi makes Mira and Zoey promise they won’t jump in front of her unnecessarily, and Zoey hugs both of them tight to try and show them how much she loves them. 

It’s only about twenty minutes after one of these pre-briefs when Zoey gets distracted while slinging a shin-kal at an oncoming demon. 

“Ow!” Mira says. Zoey can hear her hit the ground, but she keeps fighting the demon in front of her. 

“Mira!” It’s Rumi. Zoey can’t turn away while she slings another shin-kal. 

“Wait, Rumi-- no!” 

Zoey unleashes a quick roundhouse, striking the demon in the side of his face. She tries to hit him with another shin-kal, but he’s still not going down. 

There’s a sharp inhalation of breath that Zoey nearly misses underneath the sound of her heartbeat in her ears. The blood-curdling scream that follows cuts through it like a hot knife through butter.

“RUMI!”

Zoey turns her head so fast that she nearly gets whiplash. It’s dark, and Zoey can’t really see what’s happening behind her… but she has never heard Mira scream like this. 

Zoey takes a blunt hit to the top of her head, and she remembers what she was doing before Mira started screaming like the world was ending. 

She turns back to the demon, summoning two shin-kals and plunging them into his chest with all the strength she can muster. He disappears a moment later with a magenta poof. 

“ZOEY!” Mira screams. 

Zoey turns completely toward Mira’s screaming. When does Mira ever lose her composure like this? She looks past whatever is happening on the ground. There’s a demon with a spear and Zoey can see something dripping off of it. 

Blood. 

As she runs toward the demon, Zoey summons shin-kal after shin-kal, slinging them toward him until he evaporates into magenta smoke. 

Mira is still screaming and crying when Zoey finally reaches her. She’s kneeling on the ground with Rumi gathered in her arms. 

The sight punches Zoey in the chest. 

She can see the blooming bright red splotch that is soaking into Rumi’s shirt and jacket. It’s beginning to drench Mira as well. There’s a dark puddle by Rumi’s hand where a steady stream of blood drips from her fingertips. 

And Rumi is unconscious. She’s completely limp in Mira’s arms.

Zoey drops to the ground beside Mira, grabbing her by the shoulder. 

“Mir, what happened?!” Zoey asks. 

“I-I don’t know,” Mira sobs, tears running down her face. Zoey knows Mira wouldn’t be caught dead looking like this. “I-I got knocked prone, and as I was reaching for my gok-do, she—“ Mira blubbers, cutting herself off for a moment. “The demon g-got her. She landed on top of me,” she finally manages to say. “But it was too late.” 

“Mira, we’ve got to get her out of here,” Zoey says, thick tears welling in her eyes. She can see the blood soaking through Mira’s shirt, too. “There’s an emergency room down the street—“ 

“We’ll be recognized,” Mira tells her through her tears, shaking her head. 

“Mira,” Zoey says, cupping Mira’s jaw and bringing her gaze toward her. “We can’t handle an injury like this. We need help.” 

Mira sniffles and nods. 

Zoey helps her up as her hands shake, making sure Rumi is secure as she lays across Mira’s arms. Mira keeps Rumi’s bloody shoulder close to her chest. Zoey notices the way Rumi’s arm hangs straight and limp over Mira’s. The drip of blood from her fingers makes Zoey’s throat swell up. 

Each step is worse than the last as Mira and Zoey hustle toward the emergency room a few blocks away. When Mira steps into the light, Zoey can see the blood that runs down Mira’s face intermingling with her heavy tears. Mira’s arms are coated in Rumi’s blood, and some is starting to drip from her elbow. 

Zoey doesn’t even register that she’s crying until Mira shakily tells her Rumi’s still breathing, and says that Rumi’s going to be okay. She has to be okay. 

Getting to the emergency room is a blur. As it turns out, walking in with someone who is bleeding through their jacket is enough to cause a large enough commotion that everyone seems to disregard the fact that three of the biggest K-pop stars in the world just walked through the door. 

It also helps when Mira shoves a good amount of money into a nurse’s hand to ensure their privacy, with promises of autographs should the paparazzi and such not find them.

Mira refuses to let go of Rumi at first - she’s the one that lays her down on the gurney. It gets worse when they try to roll her away. Mira’s iron grip on the side of the rolling bed springs Zoey into action.

“Let her go,” Zoey has to tell Mira with a gentle hand on her waist. “Let them take care of her.” Zoey sees Mira shake her head, still fighting her tears. “Let go, and hold onto me instead.” 

Mira listens, and she crumples into Zoey as soon as she lets go of Rumi. 

The doctors and nurses rush to take Rumi for evaluation, but Zoey stands still with Mira putting nearly all her weight on her. 

Zoey doesn’t know how long they stand there, nor how long Mira keeps her crushed in a hug. Mira’s quiet sobs crack open Zoey’s heart.

Their time in the emergency room is a blur. The nurse gets the cuts on Mira’s head cleaned up, and she gets Zoey an icepack for the growing bump on her head. They refuse to explain how any of this happened. Mira’s hands, arms, shoulders, and shirt are still drenched in Rumi’s blood, and she refuses to let anyone try to clean it off her, not until she knows Rumi will be okay. 

With the great deal of money Sunlight Entertainment donates to this hospital’s cancer ward, the staff makes sure Rumi will have a private recovery room once she’s stabilized. Mira and Zoey are escorted into the room ahead of her for their privacy.

Neither of them can sleep, not when there hasn’t been an update on Rumi. Zoey’s head is starting to pound (either due to the bonk on the head or her exhaustion, she can’t tell which), but she knows if she shuts her eyes she won’t be able to sleep. Mira is simply anxious beside her. Zoey’s got her hand on Mira’s knee to keep it from bouncing, and Mira’s got her hand on top of Zoey’s. 

It’s been an hour or so since they arrived in the room when there’s a knock on the door. A doctor steps in and starts talking to them. 

Zoey doesn’t hear anything past when he says that Rumi is going to be okay. She doesn’t hear much about what all was wrong - there is plenty of time to catch up on that later. 

Rumi is going to be okay. She’s lost a lot of blood but they’ve stopped her bleeding and patched her up. 

Zoey can feel that’s all Mira seems to hear, too. The doctor leaves after telling them Rumi will be coming up to the private room within the next thirty minutes or so, and Zoey finds herself locked in Mira’s embrace yet again. 

The floor manager stops by just a few minutes later with a plain grey t-shirt and some toiletries. 

“Your friend’s doctor just let us know you could probably use these,” she says, gesturing to Mira. Zoey remembers that she’s still covered in Rumi’s blood. “There’s a shower in that bathroom you can use.” 

Mira is too stunned to speak, so Zoey accepts the shirt and soaps on her behalf. The floor manager leaves after reminding them she’s here for anything else they need. Zoey practically has to shove Mira into the bathroom to get her to rinse off. 

“You don’t need to take a full shower,” Zoey tells her. “But please, it looks like you were just in Carrie. Wash off the blood and change shirts. Rumi will freak if she sees all of that when she wakes up.” 

“Fine,” Mira says, trudging off to the bathroom. 

Zoey spends a tense fifteen minutes on her own, not knowing what to do with herself. She spends most of her time spiraling about Rumi. She sees the image of Mira carrying her to the hospital flash behind her eyelids like it’s been painted there. 

The blood, god, the blood - there was so much. Zoey is sure there’s going to be a trail of crimson droplets leading from the ER’s front door to the alleyway where they left the pool of red on the concrete. 

Zoey is the smallest of all of them, but Rumi looked tiny in Mira’s arms, limp with her wrists bobbing in time with each of Mira’s steps and the side of her head pressed into Mira’s shoulder. Zoey can still see the way Rumi’s limbs slacked around Mira’s hold and the current of blood that trailed down Rumi’s hand and Mira’s arm. 

The waft of steam from the bathroom door opening snaps Zoey out of her thoughts. Mira opens the door and she’s wearing the clean shirt. It’s more baggy and casual than anything she usually wears, but she’s free of Rumi’s blood.

“Better?” Mira asks and holds out her arms when she sees Zoey watching her. Zoey only nods, and Mira’s at her side in an instant. “Zo… please don’t tell me you’ve been sitting here spiraling.” 

“That’s exactly what I’ve been doing,” Zoey whispers. 

Mira doesn’t say anything, but kneels in front of Zoey to hug her. Zoey nestles her face into Mira’s neck and holds on, just letting the tears roll down her face silently. When Zoey balls the back of Mira’s shirt in her hands, Mira rubs gentle patterns on Zoey’s back. 

“She’s on her way,” Mira whispers. “She’ll be here soon.” 

Zoey sighs and lets herself relax into Mira. She smells like the soap she used, but Zoey can still detect just a hint of iron from Rumi’s blood. They stay in that same spot until there’s a knock at the door, and the ER’s shift manager comes in with the nurse that helped them, along with a hospital bed and a few rolling monitors. 

Tucked into the bed is Rumi, hooked up to the monitors, IV, and oxygen that are wheeled inside. Zoey and Mira watch as they work to get everything set up and transferred over. Once Rumi is settled, the manager and nurse they worked with let them know that Rumi’s anesthesia should be wearing off soon, and her clothes are currently being laundered. They hand them the rest of Rumi’s belongings, and the room clears soon after. 

When they are left alone again, Mira and Zoey come to sit on either side of Rumi’s bed, each holding a hand. She’s nearly swallowed by the gown she’s wearing, and they can see the gauze her shoulder is wrapped in because of the gown’s wide neck. Zoey notices that the blood that coated Rumi’s skin is gone, but there are still traces of dried blood under her fingernails. 

Across from Zoey, Mira takes Rumi’s hand between both of hers. Mira interlocks their fingers together and sinks her elbows into the mattress to press a kiss to the side of her hand. Zoey lets her fingers curl around Rumi’s wrist, feeling the steady but slow thrum of her pulse. 

“She stepped in front of me,” Mira says, breaking the heavy silence in the room. “I was down with my back turned and she stepped in front of me.” Zoey looks up and sees Mira’s eyes turn glassy. “I hate that I can’t be mad at her because she didn’t break any of our rules... but is it bad that I’m still upset with her for getting stabbed in the shoulder with a spear?” 

“Just a little,” Zoey says, huffing a laugh under her breath while tears dance at the rims of her eyelids. “She did save you.” 

“She shouldn’t have to.” 

The words ring heavy. A tear falls from Mira’s eye. Zoey watches it hit the blanket on Rumi’s bed.

“Mir, as much as I hate it, getting hurt is part of all of this fighting we’re doing,” Zoey tells her. “We’ve all got to stop feeling so guilty for letting one of us step in front of a blow we can’t defend.” 

“She’s been through so much,” Mira whispers, her voice crackling with emotion. “She shouldn’t have to get hurt anymore.” 

“And I completely agree, but she’s still part of our team, Mir. She would step in front of a hit for either one of us the way you would for Rumi and I, and I would do the same for both of you,” Zoey says. “It’s like you said. She followed the rules - you were down and she stepped in to protect you… but we’ve got to stop this self-sacrifice thing. All of us are caught in a guilt loop that we can’t escape.” 

Mira sighs, looking down at Rumi’s sleeping face for a moment, then looking into Zoey’s eyes again. 

“How do we get out of it?” She asks. 

“I don’t know,” Zoey whispers. “But if we don’t stop this soon we’re going to fall back into unnecessary self-sacrifice, like what you did for Rumi… and I can’t keep watching the both of you bleed so much it soaks through your clothes. It’s going to tear me apart.” 

Mira nods, looking down. Zoey watches a few more tears fall from Mira’s eyes. 

“I don’t want to lose any of you,” Mira whispers.

“I don’t want to lose you either.” 

Then she feels a twitch beneath her fingertips. 

Zoey looks down and sees Rumi’s fingers curling toward her palm weakly. When she glances up, she sees Rumi’s eyes are barely open, gazing blankly and blinking slowly. 

“Mira,” Zoey whispers, fresh tears falling freely onto her cheeks. “She’s back.”

Rumi groans softly and shifts a little. 

“Rumi,” Mira says gently, brushing back the hair at the top of Rumi’s head with her fingers. “Can you hear me?” 

Rumi’s eyes focus little by little on Mira’s face in front of her, and Zoey sees a few tears come to Rumi’s eyes. 

“Oh, Ru, it’s okay. Don’t cry,” Zoey tells her, keeping one hand on Rumi’s wrist and stroking her collarbone with the other. 

“Hurts,” Rumi grumbles as she blinks away the tears, trying to shift some more. Mira and Zoey keep their hands on her, stopping her from moving too much. Tears are still running down their faces. “Hurts real bad.” Rumi’s tears escape from the corners of her eyes as her lower lip trembles. 

“Relax,” Zoey says. “You were hurt pretty bad, Ru.”

Rumi sobs quietly, blinking away her tears. Zoey can see the pain she’s in and it hurts just to watch.

“We’re here, we’ve got you,” Mira whispers, pressing a long, soft kiss to Rumi’s forehead. Zoey sees Rumi lean into Mira’s touch. 

“You’re okay,” Zoey sobs, letting her emotional dam break as she ducks her head. “You’re alive.” 

“Love you,” Rumi says a little louder, her voice hoarse with emotion and pain. Her eyes have focused enough that she can look between Mira and Zoey. “Both ‘f you.”

Zoey leans in and presses a gentle kiss to Rumi’s temple, draping an arm across her torso without squeezing too hard. 

“I love you both too,” Zoey tells them, lacing her fingers with Rumi’s. Her fingers twitch and try to grip her hand, but fail.

“I love you too, Ru,” Mira adds, continuing to stroke Rumi’s hair. She looks up at Zoey. “And you, Zoey.” 

Zoey cups Rumi’s cheek in her hand, brushing away the tears that roll toward her chin. 

There will be time later, when the sun rises, to talk about what happened. There will be time for them to get the guilt off their chests, to agree that they need to do their best to avoid so many life-threatening injuries, and to agree that they’re never telling Bobby about any of this because he would flip if he knew where they were and why.

They can talk about everything later, not now. Not when Rumi finds the strength to wrap her uninjured arm around Mira’s neck to pull her into a hug. Not when Rumi is finally able to squeeze Zoey’s hand. Not when Mira tucks her face into Rumi’s neck, not when Zoey cries into Rumi’s chest. 

Later can be once Rumi’s discharged and she has to wear a sling for a few weeks. Later can be when they’re piled up on the couch, Rumi with her back against Mira’s chest and Zoey face down in Rumi’s arms. Later can be when Zoey and Mira help her change out her gauze, or when they help her put on a shirt. 

Just as long as it’s not now. Not now, when Zoey and Mira finally have Rumi back. 

Nothing else matters now, nothing except the fact that Rumi is going to be okay. For now, Zoey just wants to savor every peaceful moment with her girls. 

[littlemousejelly]

Trick or treat! 🤲🎃

GUYCE I'M SO SORRY I WAS A LIAAAAR ABOUT BEING ABLE TO ANSWER THESE DURING ONBOARDING 😂 but i hope this snippet of "zoey gets her dick sucked" fic makes up for it

[xanthera]

And after that delay, we're back! Only sort of KPDH related, but if you know, you know ;)

Thanks to @eldergoblin for letting me dub this, oh my GOD doing that goblin voice was fun XD

[ekingston]

Okok so per your tags on the derpy gifs- what was the overall message of the movie that you didn’t love? If you don’t mind sharing? (I am genuinely curious as I got sucked in from moment one and haven’t really been thinking about it critically.)

honestly i haven’t really either! but you know that thing that sometimes occurs where you’re like, ‘oh that was cute!’ and you move on and then a week later you’re taking a shower or cooking dinner or your wife’s just come home and she’s looking at you like she’s so tired she’s barely capable of forming sentences but she watched the movie with you and in the ensuing silence it all suddenly bubbles to the surface, why you think the movie may not have quite landed with you personally, but you’re not sure it’s because you missed something or maybe it’s just not that deep? 

beware there are SPOILERS for kpop demon hunters under the cut!!! and also a less enthusiastic take so if you just want to enjoy the movie without getting too far Into It PLEASE feel free to pass this quietly by ❤️

i mean there’s a LOT to love about the movie and maybe i have just gotten too used to the heavy-handed Disney delivery where everyone’s a little wiser and the world is a better place for everyone in the end but. i don’t understand what has actually changed when this movie reaches its conclusion. Rumi has (and the other Huntrix members have too, though it’s a bit of an afterthought) finally accepted her/their true colors. the honmoon is sealed and has a shiny new coat of paint! and the demons are once again—unless i missed something important—locked away, only more securely this time. because the honmoon is rainbow colored now!

except we’ve spent the whole movie with jinu, and gotten glimpses of his fellow demons’ miserable existence, and we’ve come to understand that these demons are feeling, thinking, human or once-human creatures who have been cowering in fear under a tyrannical leader who they must serve (by stealing souls for him) or die, for generations. Jinu's sole purpose in the movie is to prove that demons are capable of redeeming themselves. (i actually really dislike the self sacrificing trope, it always feels like the easy way out writing-wise and i strongly do not jive with the message of ‘see! we love you and forgive you now! all you had to do was die for us!’). 

point is, even Rumi has started to hesitate in her mission, well before Jinu dies, asking herself (and that one demon she’s fighting) whether they aren’t just being forced to do these evil deeds by Gwi-Ma. but oh shoot, we’re at the end already and we need to wrap it up, so let’s slay all the demons in the end anyway! and now we’re all good! even Rumi! because sure, she’s half demon, but she’s one of the good ones! 

it just feels really anticlimactic to me that they didn’t actually take down Gwi-Ma and free his people, sorry, demons, giving them the actual chance at redemption we’ve been demonstrated they deserve. instead we’re now supposed to conclude that demons are just bad i guess, and deserve their horrible fate. 

to me it seemed like Rumi spent the entire movie working up to a point where instead of excising the demon side from herself she makes peace with it, only for it to turn out that choice is… available only to her? and her friends embrace her, but not because she’s convinced them that they’ve been operating under false assumptions, nope! they forgive her because she’s Rumi. and HOW does Rumi make peace with her demon side, really? how does she integrate the part of her she’s spent her entire life trying to excise from her flesh? she clearly still believes demons are bad during the final battle, with Jinu as her possible one exception but ONLY because he dies for her.

i guess it just felt a little lazy at best and downright awful messaging at worst to be like ‘yeah these guys are just bad. take it from us. they’re a lost cause. they’re either born that way or fuck up at some point and can never be forgiven, so give up on them and just make sure to keep the better humans safe’.

i wonder, did the movie sacrifice its own message just so they could set up a sequel that WILL have a satisfying resolution? is that what’s going on? because i could have sworn that the movie spent most of its runtime leading up to ‘demons aren’t so different from us, we all deserve to be treated with humanity even if we’ve made mistakes, a monster isn’t a monster if you love it, etc. etc.’ and then they do a u turn right before they get there, have their merry little bloodbath and call it good.

 it’s weird and i don’t understand it. but yeah, i’ve also only seen this movie once (and as always coming at this with some serious eurocentric baggage) so it’s extremely likely i’m missing some important nuance!

[yeah-thats-right]

(I would write you) a million happy endings

yeah-thats-right, for @eldergoblin (art credits to her ofc 🫰🫰🫰)

06: hurt Rumi (anonymous)

This isn’t the first time.

The first few Rumi never wanted to tell them about… but only after she did tell them could they understand why.

Because her nightmares usually involve them.

Zoey and Mira show up so commonly in Rumi’s dreams, but they’re even more vivid in her nightmares. She sees the demons taking their form, exposing her darkest secret on their largest stage (they look so much like her girls). She sees them after the scene on stage, raising their weapons at her. She sees them being tortured by Gwi-Ma. She sees them laying in pools of their own blood, and there’s nothing she can do to help them.

Rumi loves them so much that any nightmare becomes that much more intense when she sees one of their faces.

[yeah-thats-right]

It’s late, I’m tired, and there’s no candyfloss tonight SO… who’s up for an impromptu @eldergoblin prompt fic???? (As always, her art, my words, she’s amazing)

(So background: Elder gave me a heads up and showed me the prompt in this post and the prompt she posted tonight in the same go, so I thought they were for the same prompt. This resulted in a prompt fusion fic that I had to UNFUSE over the past few days. That’s the delay. On with the fic.)

(I would write you) a million happy endings

yeah-thats-right, for @eldergoblin

04: blended Mira (@scrtagnthamster)

Zoey’s eyes pull away from Mira for only a moment while she rises to her feet. The next time they flick back to her, Mira’s stumbling backward with her hands on her abdomen.

“Mira?” Zoey asks. Rumi turns to look at her too.

Mira brings her hands up to look at them. Zoey can’t see the damage, but she can see one crimson droplet fall from her palms.

“… What?” Mira mutters.

“No—“

“Mira!” Rumi shouts.

[yeah-thats-right]

It occurred to me I forgot to post the link to my @eldergoblin fic and just walked away from my laptop two hours ago after posting it

Oops?

Anyways, all credit to @eldergoblin for the angst goblins as always. This one drove me insane.

I’m busy so yall just get the link this time 😭

I only lose my mind (when I ain’t got you)

[yeah-thats-right]

Heyyyyyy everyone :) in the midst of the REI AMI chaos, I’m still posting so here’s your regularly scheduled programming for today :)

The lovely and fantastic @eldergoblin did it AGAIN and hurt me with her art (a third edition of Eldergoblin’s Blender Noises WOOOOO) so I’m BACK with more words :)

SO, without further ado, please enjoy the words and devastating art

(Eldergoblin’s Blender Noises series: haunted by the memory / go on and tear me apart / this one)

(art credits to @eldergoblin of course - I can't draw to save my life)

I think you’re so good (and I’m nothing like you)

Mira loves her girls more than anything in the world. 

Mira loves the way Rumi is finally smiling like she means it. She loves how Rumi’s first instinct when she wakes is to bury herself further into Mira’s embrace. She loves the way Rumi has stopped hiding herself from them, allowing both Mira and Zoey to accept that she’s part demon and love her anyways. 

Mira loves the way Zoey clings to her and Rumi in her sleep, whoever happens to be closest. She loves listening to Zoey go on and on about her interests, even if she only understands half of it most of the time (all of Mira’s knowledge about turtles comes solely from Zoey). She loves the way Zoey beams and it lights up the entire room. 

She loves them. She’d trade the world for the two of them in a heartbeat. 

(That one time, Mira nearly traded the world for Rumi before she was bold enough to admit her feelings.)

After Mira and Rumi’s gruesome injuries due to self-sacrifice, Zoey took it upon herself to remind them all how to dodge and block. 

“It’s not that hard!” Zoey scolded them when Rumi and Mira laughed at her idea. 

They can’t help laughing because Zoey is objectively adorable when she’s angry. 

Zoey still has a point, though. 

It eats Mira alive when one of her girls gets hit. Rumi, because she’s been hurt enough by life already. Zoey, because she’s Zoey and how could someone be so cruel to hurt someone so sweet?

When they train, Zoey makes sure they practice blocking and dodging for at least twenty minutes. It feels redundant to Mira and Rumi, but Zoey cares too much for them to refuse.

Mira has noticed that Zoey has been more sensitive to them both since they returned from Rumi’s hospital trip. It only makes sense, seeing as Zoey has watched both of her girlfriends bleed so much it soaked through their clothes. 

Mira can’t ignore the way that Zoey’s fingers linger on their scars - the jagged lines across Mira’s torso that are now smooth to the touch, and the pink mark that covers the supple part of Rumi’s shoulder. It only makes Mira want to kiss Zoey deeper, for longer. 

We’re still here. We’ve got you, Zo. 

It’s probably why Zoey so often ends up between Mira and Rumi in their bed. It’s probably why Mira doesn’t like having Zoey out of reach. It’s probably why Rumi diligently tucks Zoey in when she falls asleep on the couch. 

They’ve talked about the spider web of guilt that has trapped them all. The guilt doesn’t go away, but Mira knows it’s gotten easier with Zoey and Rumi by her side. She does what she can to make sure it gets easier for them, too. 

Things start to change for the better when they realize it’s okay that they feel guilty. What’s important is that they don’t let it turn into a need to throw themselves in front of dangerous hits for each other. 

“I like knowing both of you would protect me at all costs, and I like that you both know I would do the same,” Zoey explained. “What I don’t want is for you to literally risk it all and then I lose one of you.” 

Mira and Rumi were able to recognize that Zoey was correct. They were all definitely headed in that direction - headed down a road where they would throw themselves in front of each other so often and so catastrophically that one of them might not make it back to their bed. 

It took some time, but they all understand that the self-sacrifice means nothing if they don’t survive to see the result of their heroic actions. 

Slowly, the guilt fades. They block hits for each other, rather than getting hit for each other. They find themselves tangled in their sheets without a scrap of clothing. They perform on stage like nothing has changed, but return to their dressing room in a tangle of hands and arms. 

Every day Mira’s heart aches less when she remembers pointing her gok-do at Rumi, because Rumi is safely wrapped around her from behind with her forehead pressed between her shoulder blades. Mira puts aside the night in the alley that she took the hit for Rumi because she’s got Zoey and Rumi’s hands in hers, fingers interlocked while they sleep. She can blink away the odd nightmare from Rumi taking that spear to the shoulder because Zoey is asleep and curled into her chest, not begging her to let go of Rumi inside the ER.

Mira only completely relaxes on the couch with Rumi’s head on one shoulder and Zoey draped across her lap. It’s her happy place. 

And it’s just like this that magenta ripples across the Honmoon. They groan in unison because they just got comfortable there and they’re tired from a long day in the studio, but they get up anyway. It takes them some time to get ready to go, so Rumi teleports them to the point of the breach. 

When Mira’s feet hit the ground, she notices the pond, the sunset, and the trees and flowers around them. Wherever they are, it’s gorgeous. She should bring Rumi and Zoey here on a date when there aren’t any demons to deal with. 

“There,” Zoey whispers, pointing to the group of demons quietly crawling through the breach in the Honmoon. They shuffle behind a tree to watch them for a moment. 

“I don’t see any spears, so that’s a good sign,” Rumi jokes. Mira chuckles, but Zoey elbows her in the ribs. 

“Hey, c’mon Zo - that was funny,” Mira tells her. 

“Nothing funny about almost dying,” Zoey replies. “Unless it’s Fortnite.”

“We’re all fine, Zo,” Rumi whispers, pressing a quick kiss to Zoey’s cheek. “Okay, I’ll go left. Zoey, you go right. Mira, take the middle and cause some chaos.” 

“With pleasure,” Mira says, cracking her knuckles. 

They draw their weapons from the Honmoon and charge the growing horde of demons together.

Mira lets her gok-do’s momentum lead her blade as it spins. To her left, Rumi slashes and sinks her saingeom into demons, turning them into puffs of magenta smoke. Zoey’s shin-kals are pinpoint accurate when they whizz through the air. They’re a lethal team, especially now that they’re not stepping in front of each other without a weapon ready to block an incoming hit. 

As they slay more demons, the hole in the Honmoon begins to shrink. 

Zoey insists she’s capable of handling the demons closer to the pond, so Mira goes to help Rumi get rid of the few remaining demons. Rumi blocks, and Mira swings her gok-do through a demon. Then Mira blocks and Rumi’s saingeom slices through a demon. They trade blocks and hits together, working back to back at times to get rid of the crowd around them. 

“Hey! Over here, noodle head!” Zoey yells. 

Mira laughs and turns her head toward Zoey’s yelling. Her smile drops from her face when she sees Zoey coaxing a massive demon away from her and Rumi, who seems to have been prepared to attack them with their backs turned.

Rumi’s saingeom slashes through the final demon near them. Mira grabs Rumi by the shoulder and spins her around just in time for both of them to watch Zoey walking backward and throwing shin-kal after shin-kal. None of her knives hit the demon encroaching on her, and she’s getting dangerously close to the water.

“Let’s go,” Rumi says. 

They both sprint toward Zoey. Mira watches her take her eyes off the demon for just half a second. She sees them coming. 

Zoey takes a demon fist to the side of the head. 

Mira’s heart drops. 

Zoey cries out and pauses to bring a hand to her temple, and it’s just the opening the demon wants. 

Mira watches, helpless, when Zoey takes a fist to the face and catches air. 

“Zoey,” Mira hears Rumi mutter. 

Mira can’t take her eyes off of Zoey… until Zoey lands in the pond and disappears in the water with a splash. 

“ZOEY!” Mira yells. 

They’re almost there, but all Mira turns her focus to the demon. 

She’s going to grind his bones to dust. 

“Go get her! I’ll get the demon!” Mira tells Rumi. 

Rumi peels off, heading for the water as she drops her saingeom into the Honmoon. 

All Mira can think is how she wants this demon to suffer. 

She leads with a flying sidekick to the back. It’s dramatic, sure, but she’s already got the momentum. She hits him in the head with the blunt end of her gok-do. She throws kick after kick, aiming for the gut and the head. 

Her entire body aches from the unrelenting flurry of blows, but all Mira can think of is Zoey. Her Zoey. Her sweet, bubbly Zoey. 

Zoey, who crashes through Mira’s steely facade. Zoey, who held her hand when Rumi stitched up her chest. Zoey, who was there for her in the hospital when she was crumbling and Rumi was hurt. Zoey, who convinced her to take that shower so she wouldn’t look like she came out of a horror movie. 

Zoey, who shines brighter than the sun in the sky. 

And this demon hurt her. 

Before she can really recognize the full weight of her anger and outrage, Mira has this demon pinned to the ground. She’s sitting on top of his chest, laying punch after punch into his face, her gok-do lying forgotten in the grass. He’s begging for mercy and crying out in pain, but Mira doesn’t stop. 

No one hurts Zoey and gets away with it. 

She keeps going, even when she can hear Rumi not too far from her. 

“Zoey! Zoey, can you hear me?!” Rumi asks. “MIRA!”

Mira looks up, but her fists continue to collide against the demon’s face. The sight in front of her makes her stop. 

Zoey’s not moving from where she lays halfway in Rumi’s arms and halfway on the ground. She and Rumi are drenched, but even from here Mira can see the tears running down Rumi’s face. 

Something is wrong. 

Mira summons her gok-do in her hands while she rises to her feet. Just when the demon goes to grab her leg, Mira sinks her curved blade into his chest, and he vanishes with a poof. The demon deserved to be pummeled some more, but he’s  suffered enough (barely). 

In front of her, Rumi is shaking Zoey’s shoulders. Zoey remains limp - unconscious. 

Mira bolts toward them, hoping with every shaky breath that this is all temporary. She imagines that soon they can return to that cozy place on the couch they had made for themselves before all this. But to get back to that place, they need Zoey there with them. 

Mira slides in beside Zoey on her knees, beginning to help Rumi try to wake her. She rakes her knuckles across Zoey’s sternum a few times and her eyes finally fly open. Half a moment later, she’s gagging. Rumi and Mira are able to flip Zoey on her side before she spits water on them. Zoey retches over and over again. They pull her wet hair out of her face and stroke her back until she’s done. 

“We’ve got you,” Rumi assures Zoey when she finally heaves deep breaths into her lungs. “You’re okay.”

“Just breathe, Zo,” Mira tells her softly, still rubbing her back. “You get up all the water?” 

Zoey nods her head ever so slightly, and Mira lets her roll onto her back again so she can lay in the grass. Zoey’s eyes are barely open - her body is exhausted from being flung into the water and then expelling it from her body. 

Rumi’s hands come up to cradle Zoey’s face. Mira already knows she’s looking for wounds. She can already see the inevitable black eye forming, along with a trickle of blood coming from a cut near her temple. There’s a few scratches along Zoey’s jaw and across the bridge of her nose.

“Ow,” Zoey coughs when Rumi shifts her neck ever so slightly. She blinks slowly at both of them. “What happened?” 

Mira and Rumi look at each other at the same time. 

“Concussion,” they say together, then turn to see Zoey again. 

“Wha?” Zoey asks. 

“Stay awake for me, Zoey. Can you do that?” Rumi asks. Zoey gives her a feeble thumbs up and a small grin.

“You got your brain scrambled, Zo,” Mira tells her, keeping her hand on Zoey’s shoulder. “You’ll be okay.”

“We need to get her home,” Rumi says. Mira lifts her gaze to meet Rumi’s eyes. “We can’t let her sleep until we figure out just how bad it is.” Rumi looks down again before Mira does. “Hey! I just asked you to stay awake, Zoey!” Rumi jostles Zoey’s shoulders again, and Mira watches as Zoey’s eyes fail to roll back into her head. 

“M’fineeeeee,” Zoey insists, weakly swatting at Rumi. “Head hurts. Tired.” 

“Oh yeah, that’s a concussion alright,” Mira says. “Let’s get her out of here.” 

“Nap time?” Zoey asks. 

“No,” Rumi and Mira reply together. 

“Mean to me,” Zoey mutters. 

Mira scoops Zoey into her arms, but Rumi is the one that makes sure Zoey’s head and neck are secure against Mira’s shoulder. The whole time, they keep talking to Zoey to keep her awake. Zoey, on the other hand, is grumpy because she just wants to take a nap and her girlfriends won’t let her. She’s already swatted at Rumi twice, but Mira makes sure Rumi stays out of Zoey’s range. After all, if she’s got a concussion they need to make sure her brain isn’t bleeding internally. The best way to do that is to keep Zoey awake. So, Mira helps by making sure Rumi can keep talking to Zoey. 

To get them home, Rumi hugs Zoey between herself and Mira, and shuts her eyes. Mira does too, and when she opens her eyes again they’re inside the penthouse. 

Mira only realizes both Zoey and Rumi are trembling because they’re still drenched from the pond once they’re standing in their living room. Rumi and Mira take care of Zoey first, laying her down in her bed to change her into some dry clothes. Zoey protests weakly because she still just wants to take a nap, but Mira and Rumi insist she stay awake. Mira tries to keep Zoey engaged by talking about some of her new lyrics while Rumi addresses the scratches and cuts on Zoey’s face with her first aid kit, but Zoey is having none of it. 

“Lemme sleep,” Zoey groans. “Pretty please? Just a few minutes.” 

“Zo, you might have a concussion,” Mira tells her, kissing her forehead. “We need you awake for a little longer.” 

“Miraaaaaa,” Zoey whines, taking Mira’s face in both her hands. “If you love me you’ll let me sleep.” 

“I do love you, which is why you can’t go to sleep,” Mira tells her. Zoey squishes her cheeks in her hands and Mira can’t help but smile. “Seriously, aein - not yet.” 

Zoey grins slowly at Mira. 

“What?” Mira asks. 

“You called me aein,” Zoey whispers. Rumi is still working on the cut on Zoey’s temple, but she pauses. 

“Since when do you use pet names?” Rumi asks. 

“Oh, excuse me, am I not allowed to love my girlfriends?” Mira asks sarcastically. 

“You’re such a softie,” Rumi chuckles, resuming her work. 

“You’re my favorite gwiyomi,” Zoey tells Mira, pinching her cheeks. Rumi just laughs at the exchange, but keeps working. “And Rumi’s my aegiya.” It’s Mira’s turn to laugh when Rumi’s face goes pink. 

“Oh, poor little aegiya,” Mira mocks, causing Rumi’s face to turn a brighter shade of red. 

“That’s a lot of teasing coming from Zoey’s gwiyomi,” Rumi adds. 

“It’s my business if Zoey thinks I’m a cutie,” Mira tells Rumi. “Don’t be jealous, gongjunim.” 

Rumi’s jaw drops when she faces Mira. 

“Take that back,” Rumi tells her. 

“If you act like a princess, I’ll call you what you are,” Mira teases. She barely notices Zoey’s hands slipping from her face because Rumi is so flustered and it’s entertaining. She only called her gongjunim because she knew she’d get a reaction like this out of Rumi. Just when Mira thinks Rumi might blow her top, she speaks again. “I’m just kidding, nae sarang.“

Before Mira can get another word out, Rumi crashes her lips to Mira’s. It’s fast but soft. When Rumi pulls away, Mira tilts her chin up to leave another on her jaw. She would trail some down Rumi’s neck to her shoulder, but Mira pulls back. 

“What’s wrong?” Rumi whispers. 

“Ru, you smell like pond water,” Mira chuckles. “We should probably get you and Zoey in the shower. What do you say, Zo—?“

It is at that moment that Rumi and Mira realize they’ve been had. Zoey is out cold, fast asleep. It’s both impressive that she’s done it so quickly, and concerning because she’s being monitored for brain bleeding.

“How rude,” Mira remarks. “She gets us bickering and uses the distraction to take a nap.” 

“For that, she’s definitely getting a shower - whether she’s awake for it or not,” Rumi adds. “If I’m smelly from the pond, she’s probably worse.” 

“I’m on it, nae sarang,” Mira says, tugging Zoey closer just to throw her over her shoulder. She wraps her arms around Zoey’s legs to keep her still.

“Huh?” Zoey groans, the movement waking her. 

“Thought you could fall asleep on us, huh?” Mira asks, standing. “Nope, aein, you need a shower.” 

“Rumiiiiiii! Save me!” Zoey calls weakly as Mira carries her into the bathroom to run the shower. 

“Yeobo, we both need one!” 

Zoey is only allowed to sleep after she’s showered and clean. They’re not too concerned with her concussion at this point because it seems mild, so sleeping won’t put her at risk. Now that Zoey’s taken care of, Rumi and Mira are able to take care of each other. 

There’s a bloody cut on Rumi’s wrist that has dried up. Mira bandages it anyway, pressing a kiss to the gauze. She re-braids Rumi’s hair - she undid it to get in the shower with Zoey. She makes sure Rumi finally gets out of her wet clothes and into a dry hoodie and pajama pants. 

Rumi holds both of Mira’s hands in one of hers while she holds an ice pack to Mira’s bruised knuckles. 

“I noticed you forgot about your gok-do,” Rumi whispers. They’re sitting at the foot of Zoey’s bed. Zoey’s fast asleep, holding fast to a large turtle plushie in place of her girlfriends.

“What?” 

“When you took on the demon that hit Zoey,” Rumi clarifies. “You just completely forgot you had something you could kill him with.” 

“I wanted him to suffer first,” Mira mutters. “Killing him quickly would have been too merciful. He hurt Zoey.” 

Rumi leans in and presses a kiss to Mira’s cheek. 

“Our warrior,” she whispers in Mira’s ear. “You do such a good job of protecting us when we’re not throwing ourselves in front of danger.” 

Mira turns her cheek and lets her lips press to Rumi’s. This kiss isn’t like earlier. It’s deeper, slower. Mira removes a hand from the ice pack to cup Rumi’s jaw. She feels Rumi shudder under her cold hand, but she presses her face into it anyways. Mira pulls away to look into Rumi’s eyes. 

Mira imagines a world where she didn’t let up on the demon. Even while Rumi tries to wake Zoey, Mira is still pummeling the demon that hit her. She only stops when Rumi yanks her off by the back of her collar and sinks her saingeom into the demon’s chest to end it, knuckles turning white where they’re wrapped around the hilt. 

“I was going to beat him to a pulp if you hadn’t yelled for me,” Mira admits. 

“I could tell,” Rumi replies. “I would have let you keep going if I hadn’t been so worried about Zo.” 

Mira has always been a little too overaggressive, hard-headed, and confrontational. It was always an issue for her family, but it has never been an issue with Rumi and Zoey. They’ve always let her be herself, even when it means that she takes a demon fight a little too far. 

“I’m glad you stopped me,” Mira replies. “For Zoey.” 

Rumi and Mira lay down beside Zoey a little while later. Rumi falls asleep at Zoey’s side, her head propped on the inside of her arm. Mira just watches them both until she can’t keep her eyes open anymore, slipping asleep while she holds Zoey’s hand with her bruised knuckles. 

“My girls.” 

The next time Mira opens her eyes, it’s bright outside. She can feel Zoey moving under the covers. When Mira looks up she sees Zoey reaching for Rumi, who is fast asleep at her side with her hand on Zoey’s elbow. Mira’s bruised hand is still in Zoey’s.

Her eyes flick back to Zoey, and Mira notices she seems a little uncomfortable.

“There she is,” Mira whispers, sitting up. She swivels to lay on Zoey’s free side, then drags a lock of hair away from Zoey’s face. “How are you feeling?” 

“Bad,” Zoey grumbles, barely shifting toward Mira. “My head hurts. What did I do?” 

“Well, you got punched in the head… twice, and then fell into a pond,” Mira reminds her, entwining her fingers with Zoey’s. “Rumi and I think you have a concussion.” 

“Oh, that’s why I feel like my head got run over,” Zoey says. Mira chuckles softly. “It’s too bright in here.” 

“I’ll fix it,” Mira whispers, pressing a kiss to Zoey’s forehead before she gets up. Mira makes sure the blinds are shut, then uses the curtains to block most of the sunlight coming into the room. “Better?” Mira asks. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Zoey mumbles. “Now come back, gwiyomi.” 

Mira rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t stop her feet from taking her right back to Zoey’s side. When the bed shifts, Mira can hear Rumi grumble from Zoey’s other side. 

“My neck,” Rumi mutters to herself. 

“That’s what you get for not using a pillow,” Mira teases. Zoey gently swats at her, but she still slides her arm under Mira to pull her closer. 

“Bold words from someone that slept at the foot of the bed,” Rumi replies. Mira can hear her shift closer to Zoey. “Good morning, yeobo. How’s the head?” She barely sees Rumi press a gentle kiss to Zoey’s cheek. 

“Not good, but Mira made it a little better when she pulled the curtains,” Zoey says. Mira can barely see when Zoey pulls Rumi into her chest. “So… can someone please remind me what actually happened last night? It’s all fuzzy.” 

“Mira?”

“Nope, I got tunnel vision. You tell it,” Mira replies. As her eyes adjust more to the dim room, Mira can see that Rumi has her head on Zoey’s shoulder. 

Rumi starts telling Zoey about how they ran over to her when they realized she was drawing a demon away from them. Rumi tries to be delicate when she explains how Zoey got hit in the head twice, once because she saw them running toward her and the second time because she was distracted by the first hit.

“Mira went to take on the demon, and I dove in the pond to get you out,” Rumi says. “You were… unconscious, so I had to pull you out. You wouldn’t wake up at first, and Mira was beating the shit out of the demon that hit you. She had to kill the demon to come help me.” 

“I could have kept going,” Mira adds. “I think making fist-shaped indentions in his skull would have been ideal.” 

Zoey hums a laugh.

“You threw up some water when you woke up and we could tell you had a concussion, so I asked you to stay awake and you gave me the laziest thumbs up in the world.”

Zoey laughs and it makes something in Mira’s chest lighten, just like it always does when she laughs. Mira can’t help but smile, too. Zoey has given both of them that lazy thumbs up when she runs out of words - a rare occurrence for their resident lyricist. 

(This most frequently happens after Rumi and Mira finish showering her with so many kisses that her face turns pink and she can’t see straight.) 

“The moment I looked away you tried to fall asleep, then got upset with us when we wouldn’t let you,” Rumi continues. 

“You know how I get when I haven’t had a nap, of course I was grumpy,” Zoey jokes. “Did Mira do a good job of avenging me?”

“If you hadn’t been unconscious, I probably would have kept going until Rumi had to pull me off of him,” Mira says. “I still had plenty more punches left in me, all reserved for him.”

“Mira,” Zoey whispers, turning her head toward her.

For half a second, Mira thinks Zoey is about to scold her for laying into the demon. She doesn’t feel any remorse for it, so Mira steels herself to defend her actions. 

Instead, Zoey holds Mira a little firmer and it nearly melts her.

“Are your knuckles okay?” Zoey asks softly. 

Mira could cry. The question completely disarms her. Instead of lecturing her about it, Zoey is asking how her hands are. 

Mira is reminded of how she’s never been loved the way that Rumi and Zoey love her. She’s never been loved so fully, so completely, like this. Zoey and Rumi take her as she is, without a second thought. They embrace and sympathize with her aggression. They appreciate her confrontational side. They love that they’re the only ones who can coax a smile or a laugh - real ones - out of her, even when she doesn’t want to smile or laugh.

For so long, Mira never thought she could be loved exactly the way she is. Zoey changed that. Rumi changed that.

Before Mira can even comprehend that she’s crying, Rumi’s hand cups her face and brushes her tears from her cheek. Zoey pulls Mira into her chest and her face ends up in Zoey’s neck. 

“Oh, gwiyomi,” Zoey whispers, rubbing her back. “What did I say?” 

“I don’t know,” Rumi tells her, continuing to wipe Mira’s tears away with her thumb. “Something to do with her knuckles?”

Mira wraps an arm around Zoey’s back to hug her closer and lets her other hand grip Rumi’s wrist to keep her there. Her body shakes with soft sobs, but Zoey and Rumi don’t falter.

“Mira was made to fight,” Zoey says. “The least I can do is make sure she doesn’t hurt herself too much.” 

“Our little warrior is so emotional,” Rumi teases. 

“I’m taller than both of you,” Mira mutters with a sniffle. They both chuckle.

“Sure, but you’re just as emotionally stunted as the rest of us, gwiyomi,” Zoey jokes, leaning her chin against Mira’s forehead. “It’s okay. We’ve got you, Mir.” 

They let her ride out the emotions until they fade. They don’t falter, and they don’t judge her. Rumi and Zoey just hold her a little tighter. Eventually, the sobs turn into shaky exhales, which later turn into deep breaths.

“My knuckles are okay, just so you know. Thank you for asking,” Mira whispers. “They’re bruised, but it’s worth it for you, Zoey.” She pulls her face out of Zoey’s neck to kiss her cheek, then resumes her previous position so she can get lost in the smell of Zoey’s body wash (peachy, with just a splash of floral) while her tears dry. “You should tell her about how she tried to flirt with you in the shower,” Mira says to Rumi, changing the subject.

“What’s wrong with me flirting with you in the shower?” Zoey asks, looking over at Rumi. “We’re in a relationship.”

“That’s exactly what you forgot,” Rumi says. “You asked if I had a girlfriend and I said I had two, and then you got upset because you forgot you were one of them. Mind you, this is all while I’m sudsing up your hair to get the pond smell out while we’re both completely naked.” 

“God forbid a girl get a concussion and forget some things. At least concussed me has good taste,” Zoey grumbles. “Mira forgot that we had forks in the kitchen when she had one.” 

“Hey, in my defense Rumi pulled that fork out of the bottom of the stack - I had literally never seen that specific fork before,” Mira argues. 

(When Rumi handed a concussed Mira that fork, she stared at it for a second. 

“Where did you get this from?” Mira asks.

“… the kitchen?”

“No, I’ve never seen this before. Where did you get it from?”

“The kitchen, Mira. You asked for a fork.”

“I know I asked for a fork— I’ve never seen this fork before, where did you get it?”

It took Rumi bringing Mira into the kitchen for Mira to realize there were some forks at the bottom of the stack that matched the one in her hand. 

“Since when have we had these?” Mira asked.

“I don’t know - forever, I guess.”

“I’m going to level with you here, I have never seen these before in my life.” 

“I thought you were hallucinating, Mir.” 

They both laughed about it later, but Rumi did think that Mira was having memory issues because of her concussion. Mira thought her mind - or maybe Rumi - was playing tricks on her.)

“That one is kind of on me,” Rumi says. “I shouldn’t have grabbed one of the weird forks after she hit her head. As for you, I should have just clarified that we were already dating.” 

“I very vaguely remember all of this,” Zoey says. “And I definitely remember being forced into the shower by a pretty girl with pink hair. No idea who that could’ve been, but it was hot.” 

Mira chuckles into Zoey’s neck, nuzzling further into her warmth. 

“I think I know the pretty girl with purple hair from the shower but I can’t remember what she said her name was,” Zoey continues. “I hope she texts me back.” 

Mira hears Rumi giggle, then feels when Rumi shuffles even closer and lets her arm fall on top of Mira’s. 

There is nowhere Mira would rather be than here, tucked into Zoey’s side with Rumi just an arm’s length away. She’d take all the teasing in the world from them both if it means they can stay like this forever.

Mira doesn’t care if they mention the sensitive girl she is underneath her steely shell… because they love that sensitive girl. They love her for the aggressive, confrontational, emotional girl she’s always been. 

It’s all Mira could ever ask for.