sink your teeth in
Zoey clocks the look on Rumi's face as soon as she walks into the living room. Though she has only seen that barely concealed grimace and tightness around her eyes once or twice before, the message it conveyed was clear.
Rumi is in pain.
Rumi marches across the room to the kitchen and rummages in their medicine cabinet, shoulders pulled up to her ears, paying them no mind. Zoey taps Mira's thigh to get her attention and gestures toward Rumi with her Switch. Mira joins her observations over the top of her glasses.
Rumi growls quietly when she doesn't immediately find what she wants.
"What are you looking for?" Mira asks when Rumi knocks something over with the tinkling of glass.
Rumi tenses and looks over at them. The patterns on her face are glowing the faintest purple. She grimaces, her lips curling back in pain. Her grip on the cabinet door is so tight her knuckles are white. "Are we out of Tylenol?"
"I probably have some in my room," Zoey pops up from where she was reclining against Mira. "What's wrong?"
Rumi rubs at her cheek. "I've had a toothache for the past few days but it's really bad today."
"Awww, poor baby." Zoey pops a gentle kiss on Rumi's opposite cheek as she passes her to fetch the medicine. She takes a quick step back and eyes Rumi with concern. "You feel a little warm. Mira, come check."
Mira unfolds herself from the couch, placing the book she was reading down on the coffee table. She's over to them in two long strides and has the back of her hand on Rumi's forehead. She hums and then gently pinches one of Rumi's earlobes between two fingers. "Bring the thermometer back when you get the pain killers," she tells Zoey. Then she takes Rumi by the wrist and pulls her over to the couch.
Zoey scrambles away with purpose. When she returns within a minute, Mira has Rumi between her legs on the couch in Zoey's previous position. Zoey puffs up her cheeks in frustration at losing her comfy spot but blows it away quickly at the sight of Rumi's pained grimace.
Rumi is opening and closing her mouth in an odd stretch, shifting her lower jaw from side to side. She rubs at both sides of her upper jaw and whimpers.
Zoey hands Mira the pills and thermometer and runs off to fetch some water next. She adds some ice at the last second.
Mira already has the thermometer in Rumi's mouth when Zoey gets back. It beeps after a minute and Rumi checks it with a grimace.
"38.4."
Mira takes it with a click of her tongue and hands Rumi the pills instead. "Yeah, you have a fever."
Rumi whines pathetically and takes the medicine. "I've never had my mouth hurt like this before. Even when my wisdom teeth came in crooked." She rubs at her face aggressively, her face set into a permanent scowl.
"Let me see?" Mira asks, gently pushing Rumi's hands away. Rumi opens her mouth as wide as she can and Mira and Zoey both lean in to examine her teeth. They all look clean and even, no cracks, no visible cavities, no blood. Zoey looks at Mira and shrugs. She's no dentist.
Mira shakes her phone so the flashlight comes on and tilts it to light up Rumi's mouth.
"Well, fun fact, you have a pattern on the roof of your mouth."
"Wha?"
"Woah, really?" Zoey tilts her head so she can see and yep, there it is, glowing the tiniest bit.
"Tate a pitcha," Rumi says without shutting her mouth.
Mira quickly snaps one and shows Rumi, who relaxes and closes her mouth to look. Then she immediately sticks a finger in her mouth to touch the ridges of her hard palate where the pattern is. "Weird," Rumi says around her own hand.
"Is that what hurts?" Zoey asks.
Rumi shakes her head. "No, it's like in my bones, like my jaw. On the top and bottom. It's pulsing, like my heartbeat." She grimaces and rests her head on Mira's shoulder. Mira rubs her back in soothing circles.
"Just try to rest, the medicine should kick in soon."
Rumi nods pathetically, her face scrunched up and her bottom lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout. It's very cute. Zoey wants to lean over and kiss her right on the tip of her nose, but that would probably be a step too far. Instead, she sits at Mira and Rumi's feet and rubs Rumi's shin.
Mira returns to her book, still holding Rumi, who is now curled up in a tight ball in Mira's lap. Mira sticks her feet under Zoey's thigh and Zoey goes back to her video games. They pass an hour that way with Rumi occasionally shifting to rub at her face. At one point she sits up completely to reach for the water cup and fish a piece of ice out. She pops the ice in her mouth and lays back on Mira, who tuts in fond displeasure when Rumi wipes her wet fingers on Mira's shirt.
Zoey can count on one hand the number of times she's heard Rumi curse. So it's especially startling when Rumi sits bolt upright with a strangled "Fuck!" while grabbing at her mouth and breathing like she just sprinted a marathon (probably the only distance that would actually wind her).
Zoey actually drops her Switch. Mira sits up so fast that her book goes flying across the room. They both start asking a series of questions about what's happening that has their voices overlapping in a tangle. Zoey's hands are hovering uncertainly over Rumi's shoulders and back but Mira has fewer hesitations. She takes Rumi's wrists in hand and pulls her hands away from her face.
Rumi is whimpering in pain and has her eyes shut tight, but her mouth is wide open. There, both her upper and lower canines have grown significantly longer, at least a centimeter. Her gums are red and swollen around the teeth in a way they weren't earlier. There's even a small hint of blood at the root of each of the teeth where they pushed through suddenly.
Mira and Zoey make slightly panicked eye contact.
Rumi, consumed with the pain, starts crying.
"Oh Rumi," Mira coos, melting in the face of Rumi's pain. "It's going to be okay." She doesn't know that of course, but what else are you supposed to say in situations like this? She releases Rumi's wrists and rubs her shoulders comfortingly.
What happens next seems both like it's in slow motion and so fast that Zoey and Mira can't react other than to watch.
Rumi flexes her mouth a few times, almost like she wants to close it but can't quite do it, and then, with no warning, she turns her head and bites deeply into her own bicep. Her eyes slip closed and she lets out a long relieved groan. The tension she had been holding in her shoulders all morning bleeds out with the sound and she slumps in the direction of her bitten arm.
Zoey and Mira watch in horrified fascination. Zoey, a yell lodged in her throat, shoots a frantic look at Mira, but Mira is staring at Rumi using her own arm as a chew toy with a slack expression.
"Uh..." is all Zoey manages after a few long seconds.
Rumi's eyes slit open and she looks at Zoey, her right eye is the usual lovely brown but the left is shining a brilliant gold. Rumi breathes in with a low rumbling growl that Zoey feels zip down her spine and settle strangely in her belly.
"Rumi...are you ok?" She asks, ignoring the feeling.
Rumi nods, arm still in her teeth. There’s no sign of blood so far, but her jaw looks like it's shut tight. She says something like, "feels better."
"Oh! Um...that's good?" She glances at Mira for direction but Mira is still staring with her mouth hanging half open. "Doesn't it, like, hurt?"
Rumi hums an affirmative.
Mira clears her throat, coming back to herself. "Could you...stop?" She rubs at Rumi's cheek with her thumb, trying to coax Rumi's jaw open like you might with a dog that has something they're not supposed to.
Rumi whines. Her eyes slip closed again and she leans into Mira touch. Then with the wet click of spit, she releases her arm and hangs her head.
Rumi's new longer teeth didn't pierce her skin, but they did leave four rapidly bruising marks surrounded by a perfect red ring from the rest of her teeth. Zoey reaches out without thinking and touches one of the marks. The muscle twitches under her fingers and Rumi whines again but it sounds much more human and embarrassed than before.
"I don't know why I did that." Rumi's voice sounds a little different as she tries to talk around the sudden change in her teeth.
"Probably instinct," Mira offers. She tugs at Rumi to get her to lean into her embrace again and Rumi goes willingly, cheeks pink. "Does it feel any better now?"
Rumi nods. "A little. I still feel like I need to..." She trails off and flexes her mouth a few more times. "I want to gnaw on something. The pressure helped." She slumps against Mira and covers her face with a groan. "Why is this happening to me?"
Zoey reaches under the couch cushion for the notebook she keeps stashed there. Mira rolls her eyes when she sees the title (Rumi Vol. 2). “I actually might have an idea about that.”
Rumi’s eyes narrow when she sees the title. She points at it. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve been keeping notes, obviously.” Zoey starts flicking through the pages, looking for one in particular near the middle. “I started the first one when we met, but ever since we had that conversation after the Idol Awards I’ve been writing down anything I could think of that you used to do or do currently that seemed odd in this second one, now that I have context. Trying to find patterns and figure out what was the influence of your demon heritage, or the way Celine raised you, or just your little quirks. You know, to understand you better.” She pauses and meets Rumi’s eyes, one still gold. “Is that weird?”
“Yes. But it's also kind of sweet so,” Rumi shrugs and looks away, the apples of her cheeks a little pink.
Zoey grins. “I have one for Mira too.” She pulls that one out from under the cushion next. Mira Things. She’s going to have to find a new hiding place for them now.
“What?” Mira reaches out to try and snatch it but Zoey pulls it away.
“My eyes only,” Zoey chides. She can feel that she’s turning red and hopes that the other two don’t comment on it. She doesn’t want to share the drawings in that one. “I keep present ideas in here too, so stay out of it.”
Mira looks unimpressed.
“Anyway,” Zoey tucks her Mira notebook under her thigh and gets back on track, “I’ve noticed a few things that have changed since last week, other than the color of your patterns. Like the purring thing.”
Rumi crosses her arms and scowls. Her ears start to turn red. “I don’t purr.”
“You definitely do,” Mira disagrees immediately. “Especially when you sleep.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely new. You used to be silent when you slept but now you do a little purring snore thing.”
Mira snaps her fingers at a sudden thought and points at Zoey’s notebook. “Did you write down the forehead thing?”
Zoey beams at her. She loves vindication. “Of course I did! I’m glad you noticed too.”
Rumi looks between them, brow furrowed in confusion, arms still crossed. “Forehead thing? What forehead thing?”
“You’ve been bumping us with your forehead when you greet us now. Like a cat.” Zoey bounces in place with excitement. She needs to add a note that Mira has noticed the forehead thing too. She reaches between the cushions and digs around. She knows there's a pen in there somewhere.
“No I do not!”
“You literally did it this morning,” Mira argues with a smirk. “I was making tea and you bumped my shoulder with your forehead. And you purred.”
Rumi’s face is bright red now with them both pointing out these new quirks.
Zoey gives up on her pen search and decides to forge on for now before Rumi gets too embarrassed and flounces out of the room. “Yeah, so maybe this is something related to you accepting your more…demonic, question mark, traits. Like, now that you're not hiding your patterns and you’re accepting yourself, these new aspects are emerging.”
That idea seems to deflate Rumi’s indignation. She uncrosses her arms and pokes at her longer canines instead. “Do you think these are permanent?”
Zoey certainly hopes so, they’re hot as fuck, but Rumi isn’t ready for her to be thirsty on main so she just shrugs. “Maybe? Or maybe it’s like the claws and your eye. They kind of went away once you calmed down after the Idol Awards. By the time we got back home your hand was back to normal. Your eye was gold a moment ago but it’s brown again now.”
Rumi reaches up and rubs under her eye at that. “I didn’t even realize.” She trails into thoughtful silence.
Zoey lets her ruminate only for a moment. She's definitely learned by now that you can't let Rumi sit too long with her thoughts or they'll spiral into negativity quickly. “Did it hurt when your hand grew claws? Because the teeth coming in clearly hurt.”
Rumi looks down at her perfectly human looking left hand like it might give her the answer. “I don’t really remember. Everything was happening so fast and it was all so horrible.” She clenches her hand into a fist. “I don’t think it did. Definitely not like my teeth for sure.”
“So maybe the claws are magic and the teeth are real,” Mira supposes. “Can you close your mouth? Or do the teeth get in the way?”
Rumi closes her mouth and bares her teeth at them. The canines definitely stand out as being longer, but they line up perfectly.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Not really,” Rumi says through her clenched teeth. “Still kinda sore.”
“Close your lips too,” Mira commands, looking closely. Rumi does. “Yeah, can’t even tell with your mouth closed all the way.”
"You know what we should do?" Zoey asks no one in particular, slapping the notebook shut. "We should do some experiments."
Mira groans. "Oh god."
Zoey jabs Mira in the ribs with her fingers. "Shut up! It's a good idea."
Rumi looks as enthused as Mira does. Rude. They should know by now that Zoey has great ideas and great follow through. "I don't know," Rumi hedges. "What kind of experiments?"
Zoey feels the excitement building with her racing thoughts. She hugs her notebook to her chest and starts rattling off ideas. "Oh, you know, stress testing, physical endurance, reactions to stimuli, ugh this is gonna be great. And, I'm going to write it all down, so that makes it science."
Mira and Rumi share a concerned glance that Zoey very politely pretends not to see. It's fine, they'll get on board.
"First though," Zoey jumps up and both of her friends flinch back in surprise at the sudden movement. She giggles at their startled expressions. "We need to get Rumi a chew toy."
Rumi's expression shifts on a dime to a complete lack of amusement. "No!"
“You said you still want to bite something,” Zoey points out. “You can’t just keep biting yourself.” Not the time to offer up herself. “You look like you got mauled, and not in a fun way.”
“I’m not a dog!”
Mira hums in agreement. “Yeah, definitely more ‘big cat’ vibes.”
“Not helpful!”
"Oh yeah, I'm texting Bobby right now!" Zoey grabs up her Mira notebook as well and takes off toward her room.
"No!" Rumi tries to leap after her, but she is still entwined with Mira's legs on the couch and ends up pulling the both of them onto the floor with a flurry of curses from Mira.
Zoey shrieks with laughter and then with a little bit of fear when Rumi scrambles up and comes barreling after her. “I was joking! I was joking!” Rumi fully rugby tackles her around the thighs and her notebooks go flying down the hall. “I don’t even have my phone.”
The quick tap of slipper clad feet comes up behind them and Zoey watches in horror as Mira darts past them and scoops up the notebook about her with a triumphant “Ha!”
“No! Mira!” Zoey cries, struggling to escape the iron grip Rumi has on her. “You’re gonna make fun of me.”
“I already do that anyway,” Mira points out, flicking through the notebook. “I might as well have some context.” She pauses on a page, turns it sideways with a confused look, and right way up again.
Zoey smacks her forehead on the floor. That’s definitely the page she didn’t want Mira to see.
“My legs are not that long” Mira comments. “And you really don’t understand physics. I was joking before, but no, it’s true.”
“Your legs are that long and I barely passed that class.”
Mira tuts. “The American education system fails again.”
“What are you two talking about?” Rumi demands, she releases Zoey and clambers up. Zoey grabs her ankle to keep her from getting to Mira and Mira slams the notebook closed.
“Nothing!” they say in tandem.
“No more secrets,” Rumi says mockingly.
“That doesn’t mean ‘no more privacy,’” Mira argues. She tucks the notebook under her arm.
“That’s rich,” Zoey gripes, eyeing the stolen notebook as she sits up.
Mira shrugs and flicks her hair over her shoulder. “Yes, well, I’ve always had expensive taste.”