Reverse of the polytrix trope where oblivious Rumi doesn't realize they're dating
Instead she thinks she confessed and zoemira accepted and they're all dating
And ofc most of daily life looks p much the same bc these dumdums were codependent alr, but there's a smidge more physical affection
Zoemira think Rumi is more affectionate than usual bc she finally doesn't have to worry about her patterns
Rumi is a terminal bottom and won't initiate kissing, but also thinks that zoemira are being v respectful and careful of her boundaries since she used to be more skittish
It escalates on (what Rumi thinks is) their 1 month anniversary, when she comes to bed (bc they've been sharing a bed. "as friends".) in a jaw dropping purple lace teddy — she's tired of her girlfriends being respectful, she wants to be ravished goddammit!
Zoemira are dying — it's like throwing a starving man into a buffet and telling him he can't eat— but they figure this is Rumi finally feeling more confident in her body, etc. and compliment her
And promptly go to sleep.
(Mira forces herself into a coffin pose. Zoey is suddenly veryyyyy cuddly with her turtle plush)
Rumi keeps escalating:
"hey girls, which one of these (extremely revealing) dresses should I wear to that wrap party?"
"oops, silly me, I spilled all this water on my thin white tee, can you help me dry off?"
"Mira, I've been so sore lately, you said yoga helps, right? Am I doing this right?"
"Hey Zo, I'm having trouble enunciating the new rap verses - can you help me train my tongue? You know some good exercises, right?"
Zoemira are going crazy bc Rumi is everyone's type and she's not letting them forget it.
Eventually it comes to a head bc after a month of basically throwing herself at her girlfriends, Rumi hasn't even gotten a kiss on the lips, and she has to face the truth — her girlfriends don't want her. Her patterns must be too disgusting. Why would they want a liar and coward like her?
She comes to bed that night in sweats and a turtleneck (it's summer) and any relief zoemira feel at being given a breather from Temptation is overshadowed by concern.
Mira — our favorite blunt lovergirl — finally asks what's going on.
Rumi bursts into tears and sobs and babbles about how she's sorry she's not sexy but will they please please please kiss her anyways?
And then they fuck and make up. Maybe not in that order.
"Rejoice!" a Lan junior shouts into the crowd. "Hanguang-jun smiled!"
"This is the first time he's smiled since Wei Wuxian died," another Lan disciple weeps. "I never thought I'd see him this happy again!"
Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes. "What the hell are you guys talking about? Lan Wangji smiles all the time!"
The entire jianghu turns to look at him incredulously.
"No he doesn't?" someone says.
"I haven't seen Hanguang-jun smile in years," says another disciple, ten years Jiang Cheng's senior. "The last time he smiled was..."
"Yesterday," Jiang Cheng says with resignation enough that nobody bothers to correct him. "When I tripped over the hem of my own robes."
The entire jianghu falls quiet.
"You know," another disciple says, "I actually don't doubt that."
"Wangji is happy?" Lan Qiren pipes up, his voice quiet, but tentatively hopeful. He looks at Jiang Cheng as if he holds the answers to the universe. "When was the last time he smiled?" he asks, and the question is desperate enough, betraying his love and hope and devastation for his nephew, that Jiang Cheng finds himself crumbling. Thinking of Jin Ling, and everything he would do just to see the boy smile.
Reputation be damned.
He drops his shoulders in defeat. "As I said, yesterday when I tripped over the hem of my own robes. The tailor... overestimated my height, you see. This has since been corrected. But there have been times before that."
"Really?" Lan Xichen asks, sharing a sceptical look with Lan Qiren. "Jiang-zongzhu is a man of his word, but when it comes to Wangji..."
Jiang Cheng nods. "I speak the truth," he says, hoping it satisfies.
It doesn't, of course. The entire hope of the Lan sect, and the nosiness of the jianghu, stare back at him.
Jiang Cheng sighs. "Well, he smiled a few weeks before that, too, when we were on that joint nighthunt up near Yiling. The resentful energy coalesced at the peak of a mountain, and—"
"There was a landslide!" one of the Lan juniors cut in. "You were covered in mud!"
"Yes, I was covered in mud!" Jiang Cheng shouts. "You try outrunning a landslide and see where that gets you! A free coffin, if you're lucky!"
"So, is that why Wangji smiled? Because you were muddied?" Lan Xichen asks, eyes wide.
"Of course not," Jiang Cheng snorts. "It takes less than that to make Lan Wangji smile."
"Then what was it?" someone asks.
"Well, after the landslide, one of the Lan juniors was gracious enough to offer me a talisman to clean my robes. I moved toward the junior in order take the talisman, but as I tried to move, I found that my boots were... stuck in the mud. I took a step forward, and whilst my body moved, my boots didn't, so... my foot popped out of my boot. I then fell face-first into the mud."
The jianghu falls silent. The very same Lan junior who offered him the talisman snorts inelegantly.
"And that made Wangji smile?" Lan Qiren asks.
"Yes," Jiang Cheng grits out. "Your nephew was amused by the sight of me falling into the mud."
"And by your bare foot," the Lan junior adds.
"So that was the first time he smiled?" Lan Qiren frowns. "After all of these years..."
Jiang Cheng huffs. "Of course not! He smiled long before that! Have you all been blind?"
"When!" the Lan chant at him with power enough that Jiang Cheng can feel it pulse through his chest. "When has he smiled?"
"I can't remember the first time he smiled," Jiang Cheng admits. "There have been so many instances. Uh, before the landslide, he smiled... Zewu-jun was there!"
Lan Xichen blinks, caught off guard. "I was?"
"Yes!" Jiang Cheng responds. "It was that time we encountered the demonic cultivator up in Tangzhou! Didn't you see him smile, then?"
Lan Xichen shifts in place. "Well, I admit I was rather preoccupied..."
"We all were!" Jiang Cheng shouts. "But I suppose he did do it behind your back."
"Wangji isn't underhanded like that..."
Zidian crackles, lighting up the ground with purple embers. "You sure about that? Let me give you my belated report, Lan-zongzhu. We were in Tangzhou for a conference regarding regional taxes. Upon entering the bureau, we found it empty. Hanguang-jun decided to investigate upstairs, whilst we entered the gardens. What did we find in the gardens, Lan-zongzhu?"
"An array," Lan Xichen says confidently.
"An array!" Jiang Cheng says. "And pray tell, what happened when we stepped into the array?"
"Nothing. At least, until we used our spiritual weapons."
"And what happened when you used Liebeng?"
Lan Xichen looks at the ground. "It turned into a snake and tried to swallow me whole."
"And what happened when I tried to use Zidian?"
Lan Xichen looks up to the sky as if the Gods could save him. "It electrocuted you and made your hair fuzzy."
"Hanguang-jun swooped down from the bureau's balcony, cut Liebing in two, and saved you. What did he do for me, Lan-zongzhu?"
Lan Xichen closes his eyes. "I don't know, Jiang-zongzhu. What did he do?"
"He smiled at me! He smiled at me, with teeth, and said, 'I don't think I can help you, Jiang Wanyin. I've never had a bad hair day in my life'!"
Lan Qiren frowns. "I don't believe Wangji would say something like that."
Jiang Cheng looks Lan Qiren dead in the eyes. "He did. He said that, and then he turned to help Lan Xichen extract himself from Liebing's snake mouth, and as he turned, he flicked his soft, silky hair over his shoulder. Menacingly."
"Hanguang-jun does have soft, silky hair," someone says.
The entire jianghu hums in agreement.
"I can't believe I didn't see..." Lan Xichen says, his voice so soft and quiet that Jiang Cheng struggles to hear him over the sycophants waxing poetic over Lan Wangji's hair. "Why wouldn't he want me to see?"
Jiang Cheng could tell him the truth. He could sit there and unleash his every thought and feeling about Lan Wangji, but that wouldn't do any of them any good.
So, he settles on saying, "I will not pretend to know Hanguang-jun, but I do not think he meant to show me these moments. If he cared... he would have been more careful."
"That's true," Lan Xichen says, "Wangji doesn't want us to worry, so perhaps he shows us less of himself..."
"That does make sense," Lan Qiren nods. "Thank you, Jiang-zongzhu, for your wisdom."
The jianghu nods and settles with the fact that Jiang-zongzhu brings out the untamed side of Hanguang-jun.
Rei always knew there was something off about this universe.
Yet how can a day at Disneyland go wrong?
[ a03 ]
There was always something off about this universe.
Rei came to this conclusion long ago, even before Serena and Luna showed up. Becoming Sailor Mars was a requirement and suited Rei just fine. Everything still felt in order when Rei became a sailor scout after Mercury and before Jupiter. The sequence was working as intended then.
Yet Sailor Jupiter (or Sailor Venus) never showed up and suddenly, Tuxedo Mask, at the latest demon attack, was suggesting a truce. The timeline in this universe was majorly off.
Which brought Rei to her next bothersome worry. How did she know all this? She shouldn't be this conscious or self-aware. While she understood that her sense of intuition and energy reading was always high from being a priestess, even Rei accepted her perception was uncommonly strong in this lifetime.
From all her time meditating and reading of the fires, Rei concluded that this particular universe had shifted from its original intention. She seemed to be the only soul who noticed. Discussions with Serena about energy shifts and past lives might as well be calculus homework. At least Ami understood the concepts when Rei brought up the notion but Ami noticed no differences in her reality or perceptions of reality.
The problem was that neither could Rei. Her visions of the past were nonsensical and gave her little proof. All Rei knew was that something was off but she had difficulty articulating or providing evidence of this metamorphosis, especially when Ami would only scan the surroundings so many times in vain, looking for Rei’s supposed anomalies.
"If Tuxedo Mask always joins us, why are you so worried now?” Ami asked from over Rei’s shoulder.
Rei pulled away from the train glass, not realizing that she was lost in her thoughts. Blatantly so. "Because usually Venus and Jupiter are here too by now.” Her words ease some of the worries for today because now she knew why she was feeling so uncertain.
Ami nodded. “So the timeline is off?”
“Afraid so,” Rei answered, knowing nothing was stopping this meet-up today. This train was taking them to their destination if they wanted to go or not. Disneyland. “Isn’t this a weird location for Tuxedo Mask to choose?”
“What?” Serena interrupted her breakfast burrito to join in. “Why? What’s wrong with the location?”
“Disneyland is so flashy for one,” Rei started, looking to Ami for back-up.
Ami bit her lip in thought. “While it is an odd choice, my guess is that Tuxedo Mask wants us all to meet up face to face somewhere where we all have to be in civilian attire and where there are lots of cameras.” So they were all frozen and had to refrain from fighting.
“Another reason why I don’t like this,” Rei complained while Serena patted her shoulder.
“It’ll be fine! We’re not getting attacked at Disneyland!” Serena declared in glee. She just wanted to eat snacks and go on rides, while Rei, on the other hand, was now stuck with keeping the resident airhead alive.
“We’ll be careful,” Ami promised as if sensing Rei’s worry as the train stopped. Serena walked off the train without a second thought and forced the other two girls to quickly follow. They entered the theme park and had to fight Serena's immediate want for corn dogs and popcorn as the three girls kept on route to meet at the princess castle. Rei half hoped Tuxedo Mask wouldn't show, yet there he was.
"Darien!” Serena exclaimed for the first time, sounding less than thrilled about this whole idea.
"Darien with Zoisite and Jadeite,” Rei growled, stepping forward to lay a protective hand before Serena. Rei didn't understand how Jadeite and Zoisite were even here. The scouts had already defeated these two from the Negaverse. Yet nothing changed how Rei could see Zoisite and Jadeite flanking the two sides of Darien. "Is this a trap?”
Already Ami was pulling out her mini computer, which gave Rei some solace as she stared down the three boys in the happiest place on earth.
"I knew we should have come with flowers,” Zoisite remarked while Jadeite gave confusing, friendly waves as if they were all old friends. Rei's face twitched.
Darien stepped forward. "Let me explain first.” His mysterious dark eyes flickered between Serena and Rei. Going from slight smiles to half a grimace. "Jadeite and Zoisite are my guards.”
"So you sent them after us?” Serena asked, scandalised.
Darien shook his head yet Rei couldn't relax when he still had the graces to seem guilty and ashamed. "No, Jadeite and Zoisite were taken from me years ago for the Negaverse, yet you three were able to free them in less than a year.” A radiant smile at once took over Darien's face. "You freed my brothers when I couldn't. I'm sorry for the smoke and mirrors as I guided you to their aid.”
With the slightest of hand, a rose appeared and Darien smiled directly at Serena. "My name is Darien and I am Tuxedo Mask.” He used the rose to point first to Zoisite. "Let me introduce you all to Lita or Sailor Jupiter.” Lita gave the peace sign while holding their distinctive forest green wand and Rei's gut clenched. "And…” The rose went to Darien's other side. "Mina or Sailor Venus.” Mina posed with his sunset orange wand and kissed the air.
Rei gasped as the timeline corrected itself while also throwing everything off order again. All the visions and fires never prepared her for this turn of the tide. The countless meditations where she saw the past faces of Mina and Lita couldn’t prepare her for this shift in the matrix. The similarities were impossible to miss now confronted with the truth. Lita's strong form and cheery eyes in Zoisite. Mina's cherub face and blond shine in Jadeite. The realization was jarring now that Zoisite and Jadeite's eyes didn't crease in hatred at her.
"For you, princess.”
So much she didn't see Darien approach Serena with the rose until he was in reach. Rei barely met Ami's glance about that princess comment before Rei automatically trapped his hand away from Serena. "Slow down, lover boy.”
"Unhand my prince,” Mina warned. He came out of nowhere and laid a hand on Rei’s shoulder.
Rei's face curled in instant displeasure. "And as if you're Sailor Venus.” Maybe she had been fooled into seeing Mina's face in Jadeite but there was no way he was a sailor scout. He must be a demon or fake of some sort. Without a second thought, Rei let go of Darien to jam her hand between Mina's legs, expecting to feel the telltale smoothness of a Ken doll. Rei was running on pure instincts, fire and gumption. Thoughts and decency were in low supply for the hot mars. She never expected to find a handful of male genitalia as Mina yelped in her face.
"Rei!” Serena squealed with red pepper cheeks and flailing hair. Her hands rose to cover her face. "We can't just grab people!”
"Oh my!” Ami gasped from behind her personal handheld computer. Her ears were steaming as she stuttered out in embarrassment, "The scans confirm their words.”
Lita giggled into their fist with bulging eyes while Darien huffed and covered his face between his splayed fingers.
The scene flitted by so fast for Rei as she gave Mina's whole carriage another squeeze in double confirmation before Mina's hand was encasing her wrist this time. "You're lucky I like rough women. You couldn't resist, could you?” He whispered down at her with a perfect smirk. "But don't try this with the other two,” he warned.
Rei grimaced but let go. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why? Jealous?”
Mina smiled back and Rei huffed but finally pulled away so she was now actually behind Serena now.
Serena clapped her hands together. “Let's discuss more over ice cream!” She grabbed the offered rose and Darien's hand before booking for the nearest ice cream social.
Darien wore a surprised smile as he was pulled away. “Does this mean the triple date is on?”
"Triple date?” Ami squeaked as Lita moved forward with a rose for her.
"If you want, of course,” Lita offered and Ami gave such a pretty little blush before accepting the rose. Rei had a feeling that any resistance their group attained was now lost as she was left alone with Mina.
The blond Adonis crept a rose to Rei too and Rei wondered internally what her life had become. Abruptly she grabbed the rose by the bulb and crushed the offered flower in her palm so when she pulled back rose petals flew everywhere before she walked past him for the ice cream parlour. None of this was easing her worries.
Mina hummed in amusement. "Still thinking about my balls, I see,” he said before following in after her with a carefree laugh.
Sundaes were split as the group got to know each other better. Darien grew up with his two best friends until two years ago when Mina and Lita were stolen and mind wiped by Queen Beryl. Darien was able to fight the mind control personally but unable to save the others. Mina and Lita were brothers. Mina being the elder brother. Lita went by all pronouns and still talked about their ex-boyfriend. Rei assumed they meant Kunzite but didn’t dare ask. Everybody seemed to have attained some memory of their past lives now, which was only getting jogged by all the conversation.
It wasn't long before everybody was laughing as if it was old times and Rei felt like an ass for not getting all cozy and buddy buddy too. She was going to need time. This shift felt dramatic for her. It secretly annoyed her that only Mina seemed to notice and enjoy her torment.
He didn't bring up the topic until they were stuck on the Peter Pan's Flight ride together but not without first unrolling his arm across the back of the ride. "Are you really that uncomfortable around men?”
"Men are unsettling."
"Yet not unsettling enough to avoid dating Darien.”
Rei smirked. This situation could not get more unbelievable for her. The questioning was making her rash. "Someone had to keep your prince company.” Though she was beginning to see why he found tormenting her so fun because now Mina was pouting and Rei was unexpectedly enjoying this conversation. "Might as well see what the very best that earth has got,” she continued on with folded arms as she turned to fully face Mina. A pirate went by in the background as Mina got a twitch in his eyebrow. He may supposedly be Sailor Venus but Rei kept seeing Jadeite, her first nemesis. Adding in the flashing lights of the ride and Rei felt as if she was having a psychotic episode.
"Would you quit glaring at me if I tell you Lita and I's top theory for the big change?” Mina asked, surprising Rei from her thoughts.
"Yes.”
Mina glanced forward in the ride where the rest of their groups were together. "Our prince admitted to Lita… in our past life that he felt lonely at times. As if he was cut off from true friendship when girlhood would always win out.”
Rei paused to glance forward as well. "He said that?” She never thought about Prince Darien's experience in all this.
Mina only nodded. "The creator or cosmos must have heard Prince Darien's plea.” Rei said nothing more as the ride ended with a cheerful party for the lost boys, yet when Mina offered his hand to help her out of the vehicle, Rei took the small gesture to his glee.
"I'm just glad the cosmos chose you and not me.” Rei smirked and Mina chuckled.
The group went on to a bathroom break from there but Rei hated how much Mina got to her there. It truly was hard to stay unemotional when she understood the reasoning for such a change now. Yet it didn't stop Rei from confronting Serena in the bathroom. "You said nothing about a triple date!”
Serena froze while washing her hands. "I didn't say anything because I thought he was joking about the date part.”
Rei made a noise of complaint and started washing her hands too. Unfortunately Serena's reasoning also checked out today too. What has come of this world?
"At least the other sailor scouts seem nice too,” Ami interjected as she dried her hands. "Lita is so sweet!”
"Now that they don't want to kill us,” Rei muttered, yet neither girl seemed to hear as Serena and Ami began discussing the merits to their new male crew. Rei could only follow behind, accepting her new fate. Not that being boy crazy was anything too new for this group but Rei kept having otherworldly reactions to seeing all these male gazes waiting for them as they returned.
Alice's Tea Party was the next ride. Somehow the six of them managed to squish into a cup and for the first time that day Rei was finally able to let loose and laugh while pancaked between Serena and Ami.
Pooh's Honey Pot Hunt was next and Rei found herself back in a ride by Mina again. "You know I thought our love was strong enough without needing Prince Darien for you to warm up to me.”
"Our love?” Rei frowned as the ride started.
"Yes. The love between Venus and Mars,” Mina explained. "I've been excited to meet you.”
"We just met.”
"So did Lita and Ami.” Mina pointed ahead to where Ami and Lita were hanging off each other and pointing.
Rei stared at the two, surprised at how well they were doing as well. Ami could be so shy. "Your little brother's got the moves.”
Mina's mouth dropped open. "Are you suggesting the god of love doesn't?”
Rei smirked. "If that's what you heard.”
Mina stared at her as a hufflelump went by. "Tell me you weren't excited to meet me.” Rei pursued her lips and gave him a dry side glance. "You were.” Mina grinned, convinced before seeing something in Rei’s face that made him pause. “But you're disgruntled that I'm a man.”
Rei felt read, uncomfortably so. She finally managed to say, “I hate change.” And men but she was working on that.
"You won't be able to help but warm up to me.” His smile was all heat and mischief. "Hope you're ready for the smoulder.” He, of course, did the Flynn smoulder face.
"Are you quoting Disney at me?” Rei couldn't help but grin in response. Mina was always ridiculous and lovable. "Are these your moves? Romance for six year olds?”
"We're in Disneyland!” Mina throwed up his hands in exasperation that even Ami and Lita looked back to stare as Rei fell into giggles. While she didn't hate Mina, she also couldn't take him seriously.
The ride ended and the group decided it was time for more snacks. Ami and Lita decided to continue to be cute and share popcorn together. Darien bought water while Serena, Mina and Rei got a churro. "Should we sword fight it out?” Mina joked, wielding his churro around and teasing in front of Rei's face. He didn't expect when Rei bit his churro but Mina began to blush bright.
"And you wonder why I'm so into you.” Mina grinned at Rei with wiggling brows till even Rei was blushing.
Rei made a noise of disbelief. "You probably already have five girlfriends and three boyfriends.”
"Or I believe in soulmates.”
Rei smiled and Mina looked hopeful for a second before Rei said, “You're adorable but I don't believe you.”
Mina bumped their churros together. "Yet.”
Rei laughed and shook her head, knowing yet it wasn't that far off.
notes:
a silly fun idea i decided to randomly push out! i couldn't resist the idea of amalgamating mina and jadeite together for some fun and chaos! but also give darien a bit of a crew because honestly, his upbringing is always so fucking sad! and i could see this devolving into like competing jpop groups! lol so please enjoy!
“Ey Tommy, you good? That explosion caused by Dream knocked you unconscious
What’s that? Jschlatt? Me blowing up L'manburg then dying? Tubbo exiling you? That doesn’t sound like anything that could happen. Now c'mon we got a revolution to fight!”
Notices: I am not extra into the lore so if I get anything wrong please DM it to me ^^, I will be switching between mobile and PC so don’t mind and grammatical errors, I advise you to check out the Wattpad fic because I update it faster than my Tumblr.
Plot: Tommy’s last life was taken when he is suddenly taken back in time to when L'manburg was about to claim their independence, keeping all of his memories and emotional wounds along with him.
274 words
~~~
Tommy found himself once again paralyzed with fear again, his eyes fixated on that despicable Teletubby.
Another arrow flew past Tubbo which made him yelp, "C'mon Tommy! Let's just get back to L'manburg!" Tubbo turned around and bolted. After a few seconds, Tommy followed in suite, having forcefully ripped himself from his small trance.
The two were almost there, they could see the walls of L'manburg! Dream had landed a few hits on the two, turns out they were spectral arrows, making it incredibly easy to follow the pair. All of these hits had brought them both to just above a one-shot, an axe crit and they were done for.
It was a mere few blocks away from the shelter, and yet, Dream's axe swiftly sliced away the remaining hearts of Tommy's health.
This is it. Tommy was dead.
It was strange how quickly it all ended, he wasn't even there for a day. Why was it such a short visit? Maybe this was hell and this would repeat until he got revived? Was this what it was like for Wilbur and Schlatt? Having a happy experience than having it being ripped away from you again?
Then Tommy realized, he was thinking. How was he hearing these questions? Wasn't he supposed to be dead?
Realizing this, Tommy finally felt his chest puff up with a gasp and his eyelids opened to meet with the sight of a row of seats below him and Wilbur, out of all people, on a podium and in the process of a speech. Tommy's eyes quickly scan the rest of the scenery and realized...
It was Election Day.
~~~
I'm so so sorry, I just wanted to get something out and I was hit with finals for my individual classes aka 8 finals for 8 classes so just p a i n-
I promise I'll make the next chapter over 500 words
Anywhore, you are real, you will be okay, and go hydrate ^^
Rumi is so babygirl loser and also extremely hot and competent bc it's nurture vs nature
Raised by sad wet cat Celine who is the most babygirl milf I've ever seen and has spent Rumi's entire life ruminating (ha) on how badly she fumbled Miyeong, but has the genes of Chad Miyeong who had so much game and served so much cunt that she pulled a demon away from Gwi-Ma while having her bandmate wrapped around her pinky finger (bc we all know Celine was down atrocious for Miyeong)
