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“How does she do that?”
Rumi braces her lower arms on the back of their couch for a closer look, in wonder of the girl sprawled over the white cushions. It was almost impressive how quickly Zoey could succumb to her sleepiness when she wanted to...
When- there was nothing to attend to and no lyrics circling around her wonderfully weird brain anyway.
Heh, she was out like a light.
It was cute.
Wait-
"She didn't even take her makeup off," Mira comments drily, breaking into Rumi's thoughts before they could settle.
Her long pink hair swishes around her hips- released from their half up pigtails- and it's more than a little distracting when she strides over. All long legged like with her thigh high socks.
God.
She was surrounded by hot people. That wasn't fair.
At all.
What the f-
Mira rests a hand next to the half demon's [and it's bizarre to her that they know now] elbow to lean over the dozing girl.
"Zoey," she wheedles, prodding at her gold speckled cheeks, "You wanna go to bed?"
Predictably, their maknae simply grumbles at the prodding- and curls into herself like a little roly-poly bug. Or a turtle, heh.
"Are you even comfortable like that?" Rumi asks, reaching down a hand of her own to bump the bridge of the girl's nose- to smooth out the furrow forming.
Her skin was so soft.
"Maybe her buns act as pillows." Mira throws out, only half joking.
Maybe she wasn't joking at all- those buns were buoyant, after all.
Full of lush, silky hair.
Also Rumi never really got it when people called the tall dancer expressionless, or placid, or deadpan- or any other unfeeling adjective.
She was full of dry wit, yes, but... she was so expressive. In everything- from the twitch of her manicured eyebrows to her tone. And especially her eyes, when they were filled with adoration and love and protective fury for the both of them.
Even her dancing was chock full of emotion- of passion.
It was amazing.
Mira slips her arms under the sleeping girl with a sigh, fond and exasperated in every possible way. Written into every perfect pore.
"C'mon," she says, tucking her precious cargo close, "Let's get you cleaned up for bed."
"Mmm.. noo," Zoey mumbles, all protests made null by the way she throws her arm over the tall girl's shoulder and burrows closer, "Wanna.. cuddle... with both of you.. so much."
Dark amber eyes meet a softer hazel, both crinkled with supressed laughter.
Out of all of them, Zoey was by far the clingiest- giving her love with every squeeze and nuzzle and lean.
"Won't it be more comfy to cuddle after you've cleaned your face up?" Rumi tries to coax, instead of dwelling on the memory of such soft skin against her own.
She doesn't... quite plan on cuddling though, not really. Her mind is racing with too many thoughts to make her good company, thoughts she'll purge through training or- or a new song.
Anything.
Anything not to think of-
"And put on some soft pj's?" Mira adds, already decked out in her own knitted sleepwear.
Which- was really just an oversized top. Not that Rumi was looking further than that. No.
Of course not.
She just-
"You're both... so smart." their maknae murrs, "Wish.. I was that smart..."
"Aw, Zoey-"
"You're so smart-"
She was too, is the thing. In a way that left he two of them baffled sometimes... even.. if she was easily distractable too. Something sours in Rumi's gut as a certain shaggy haired Saja Boy comes to mind.
Ugh.
Mira starts to head off towards Zoey's room, hefting the smaller girl closer, before turning slightly.
"Rumi. You coming?"
Ah-
"No- no, go ahead," she tries and waves off, "I'll.. catch up."
"Rumi."
"Seriously!"
"Rumi!" she whisper shouts, "Say it without your lying voice-!"
The half demon girls gasps- offended at the mere accusation. She did not have a lying voice. She lied to them for years!
Er- wait..
"I will!" she wouldn't, but- "I love our cuddle time, you know that!"
That was true, at least. There was almost nothing better than the warmth that came from their shared hugs and steady pulses, and soft beating souls-
"Sit down."
...huh?
"On the couch." Mira stalks over, her gaze intense even as she so gently cradles Zoey, "Sit."
Okay, well- she wasn't a dog. She wasn't just going to sit because Mira told her to-
"Rumi."
And before she knew it, Rumi had hopped the back of the couch and sat down- back straight, chin up, and shoulders back just as Celine taught her. Just as.. Celine... taught her.
She throws herself against the armrest on principle, and comfortably splays out. The picture of lazy nonchalance.
Take that.
"Great. Now open your arms."
"Um..." not Mira's weirdest request- or demand, she'll admit, "Oookay?"
It was a trap, it was so obviously a trap. And an evil one!
Before her arms are even halfway wide enough, the tall dancer plops Zoey on top of her- painstakingly untangling their maknae's arm so that it curls around Rumi's bicep.
Sticking her in place.
"Mira!" she panics, quickly curling her arm around the sleepy girl's back to keep her steady. Her face scrunches up- disturbed by the rough glitter and sequins of Rumi's jacket.
Disturbed to the point of waking, almost, "Mira!"
"Better lose the jacket," she calls, as she walks away!
Walks! Away!
The nerve! The audacity! The-
Zoey makes an uncomfortable little mip against her shoulder.
Rumi has never thrown off her sleeves so quickly in her life. Even if it's a bit awkward to prop her new koala up enough to weasel out her arms and toss the offending article aside.
Their penthouse is pretty well air conditioned, all things considered. Cool air greets her marked shoulders like greedy hands.
And then, so do Zoey's eyelashes- tacky with mascara and pointy- and her cheek and little button nose and warm warm breath. It fans over her patterns with all the gentleness of a petal unfurling.
And it's so nice. And real, her affection.
Her love.
Zoey settles into the crook of Rumi's neck like it's her birth right, and... really, it is. Only one other person could ever settle in so comfortably. So familiarly.
Maybe another, if he...
Anyway, the sleepy girl nuzzles against her- tucked between the half demon girl's legs and arms and slightly shivering from the cruel air.
Rumi rubs her hand up and down her shoulder, to chase away the goosebumps, but her brows start to furrow again..
"Rumi..." Zoey sighs, twitching in distress- distress, "Rumi.. m'sorry..."
Sorry-? Sorry for what?
She's not equipped to handle this kinda thing- it's why she wanted run away, to- to empty her head before even allowing herself to hold them like they held her. Now one of her favorite people was starting to cry.
How did- how was she supposed to fix something like this? Rumi couldn't even fix herself, for crying out loud!
"I'm so sorry.."
A single tear starts to bead on mascara heavy lashes, only stopped from falling by her Rumi's shaking knuckle. Gently, oh-so gently, she swipes it away.
Zoey's eyelashes are stiff with make-up, barely loosened by one premature tear.
"It's okay," the half demon whispers, gathering the small girl close, "You're okay.."
Normally, when the girls cry, they cried together. It was borderline instinctual at this point, to sob out their problems as one unit. One force against...
..hm.
This is a little different than singing on a rooftop, but..
Maybe-
I'm done hidin'... now I'm shinin'..
It's not hard to keep her voice soft, to mellow out the notes into something.. hopefully soothing. Something like a lullaby, because maybe the demons plaguing the sleeping girl's mind could be purged in just the same way the others were.
..like I'm born to be...
We dreamin' hard.. we came so far
...now I believe..
Zoey starts to soften from nightmare edges, into that gooey spot she'd made for herself in Rumi's heart. Hopefully.
We're going up, up up... it's our moment..
..you know together we're glowing...
Together..
..gonna be, gonna be golden...
Sometimes she wishes Celine had held her like this.. instead of telling her to toughen up and hide it all away. She thinks she might've turned out a little different.
A little kinder, maybe. A little more vulnerable.
Oh... up, up, up with our voices
A little softer.
영원히 깨질.. 수 없는
Rumi runs the very tip of her finger down their maknae's nose, then the back of them over her soft cheek... until her thumb can tuck silky hair up and away.
...gonna be.. gonna be golden...
Now the small girl is all but jelly in her arms, a warm comfort.
Safe.
"She likes it when you sing, you know."
It takes everything in her not to throw herself and her cuddlebug off the couch at Mira's voice- coming out of nowhere, mind you.
"Mira."
"Hi." cheeky little-
A plastic bag of... makeup wipes[?] bumps at her cheek.
"Here," she says, with an amused little smile, "Went to go grab these, but- we were out. So I got the back-up pack from my room."
Ah-
"Thanks," Rumi sighs in relief, plucking free a singular wipe.
Just as she's starting to free Zoey's eyelashes and lids from their makeup shackles, Mira starts talking again- this time in a similar position to the one Rumi was in when this all started.
Leaning forward, with her lower arms braced on the back of the couch. Only this time, the tall dancer has her fingers loosely clasped together.
"I meant it, by the way."
"Mm? Meant what?"
Should she save these cute little jewels Zoey wore? Could they be reused? Or was it better to just toss them out..?
"She likes listening to you sing."
Oh-
"...and I do, too. I guess."
Rumi pauses, her chest jumping at the shy admission. They- liked hearing her sing. Well- alright maybe that was obvious.
They were a singing idol group, after all.
But still-
A sharp nail traces softly down her knee suddenly, right over-
"Heh, your patterns glow when you get all happy," Mira says, her voice almost its usual dry teasing tone but also just this side of awestruck.
Also- she glows?
Well what do you know?
Something sharp melts in her chest, something she didn't realize was broken and jagged until it had lined up with the jagged pieces of Mira.
Take that, Celine. These two love her and her patterns. Not despite of, not 'even though she has them.'
They love her with them.
And maybe she can learn to let them.