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“This… is my least favorite part of gearing up to perform new songs,” Zoey sighed to Rumi, her eyes pleading for a magical solution. But Rumi could only lift her brows cluelessly.
“Uh- but we're not doing anything?”
She laid against Zoey, nested in the corner of the couch, which in a way felt emptier without Mira's taller figure giving them a beacon to cling to.
“I know- that's what sucks. Mira is working crazy hard in the dance studio and we just have to sit here.” A short groan erupted out of her, but she quickly cradled Rumi and said, “Not that I don't love spending time with just you Rumi, I just mean that-”
“I know,” she chuckled, lifting a hand to Zoey's chin. “We are perfect. But Mira makes us a little more perfect.”
“Hehe, yeah, she does.”
“And we both know that's just how she is,” Rumi said while coiling the drawstring of Zoey's jacket around her finger. “When she gets that spark of an idea, she has to hit the ground running with no distractions.”
“And I get not wanting to distract her, totally, but, I also don't want to feel like a distraction, y'know?” Zoey sighed away from Rumi, but Rumi nestled into her and squeezed her fingers.
“For sure. We do so much of our work together - well, everything together - that when one of us does go solo for a bit it can feel almost personal. But it's always with good intentions.”
Zoey seemed to perk up at that, leaning back into Rumi and stroking her cheek. With a chipper, but terse laugh she said, “I don't know why I'm getting all in my feels about it. I mean, I do the same thing when I get stuck on a line or when I hit a flow that I want to make the most of.”
“And I do too when I struggle to deliver a note or a line,” Rumi admitted. “It's not like any of us are really hurt by it.”
“Yeah, never.”
“I think that we break off when we're frustrated so that we don't accidentally take it out on each other. That's why I do it, at least.”
“You know, you're right. The last thing that I ever want to do is be mean to you guys.” Zoey leaned to Rumi and nuzzled her nose, then left a kiss on it, making Rumi giggle and hold her tighter. “We're all just too addicted to each other,” she grinned.
“Tell me about it,” Rumi sighed dreamily. While Zoey absently dragged her fingertip back and forth up Rumi's neck, she uttered a thoughtful hum from behind her teeth. “I know that sound. What are you plotting?”
“Nothing,” Zoey chuckled. “Yet. Just trying to think of something we could do for her in the meantime. I mean, when I lock myself in my room or the studio you guys always bring me the sweetest care packages to keep me going. The energy drinks do most of the heavy lifting there, but the snackies and little hand-written notes are so precious,” Zoey squealed while kicking her feet. And then a heavy breath dropped out of her chest. “I just wanna do something like that for her, but I don't know what.”
“No, because I do too!” Rumi flattened her hands against her chest and sat up and tucked her knees under her. She grumbled: “But Mira's so freaking hard to get gifts for!”
“Oh my god I know, right?” Zoey gawked at her and grinned, shocked that she wasn't alone in feeling that way. “Like, I love how eternally aloof and nonchalant about everything she is but- I'm on my hands and knees, please give me something to work with!” Zoey released a feral growl to quickly vent her shorting circuits, then Rumi held up her palms.
“Okay, hold on, we can figure this out. No one knows Mira better than we do.”
“Yeah! You're right Rumi.” Zoey backed away to face her and cross her legs. “Okay okay- let's brainstorm! What do we know about Mira?”
“Too broad. Hmm. Is it her turn to do any chores tonight that we could take care of for her?”
“But she doesn't really mind doing chores. I almost feel like she would feel bad if we did it for her.”
“No, you’re right. She would want to make it up to us somehow even if we told her not to.” Rumi folded her arms and threw herself back into the couch. Zoey mimicked her and fell back so that they were shoulder to shoulder again.
“And she would end up doing or making something magnitudes more incredible and mind-blowingly awesome than us just, doing the dishes, y'know?”
“For sure,” Rumi chuckled. “So maybe that's it! Instead of doing something that she wouldn't mind taking care of anyway-”
“Let's get creative and make her something unique! Something that no other girls in the world could do for her!”
Zoey squealed and launched onto her feet atop the couch. She grabbed Rumi's hands and pulled her up after her as she gleefully bounced back and forth, her infectious energy inspiring Rumi to dance with her as eager grins sprawled across their lips. Rumi couldn't pull her eyes away from Zoey's let-down hair splashing across her face, her freckles, and somewhere underneath the feeling of her bare feet sliding over the cushions and Zoey's hands holding her closer, Rumi realized that she had never danced to nothing. No music played in the loft; just their laughter spurring each on.
Now energized and inspired, the girls went to Mira's room to brainstorm ideas on what she might want most from them, yet they stood with quiet reverence. Not that they had never been inside before (as their nightly cuddle puddles and sleepovers constantly rotated between their rooms); more that the sheer aura of her room reminded them of just how insanely cool their girlfriend was.
Mira's room existed as a portal to her personality: moody and rough at the edges, but her rebellious and endlessly affectionate core cradled proudly within. It struck Zoey as cutely resembling the edgy rooms belonging to punk teens in the movies she watched growing up in the states, but much tidier and more presentable. Everything had its place.
The wall across from her bed - which was easily the most luxurious of the three with its thick, wine-red velvet comforter dominating the mattress and the tall canopy curtaining translucent drapes to the bedposts - existed solely for hanging dozens of framed band posters, uniformly spaced, that she had doubtlessly spent hours meticulously placing. A large limited-edition Huntrix print reigned at the center of them all with all of the girls’ signatures under their portraits.
Near the door that they entered from towered her titanic jewelry stand, sitting atop a long table littered with small boxes of gems, different studs for her tongue and navel piercings, souvenirs, and some of her self-made pins and patches. It hosted expansive rows of rings, studded bangles, spiked collars and lace chokers, and her iconic hairpins and bows. Rumi's eyes caught the tray of piercings as they passed, suddenly craving the tug of Mira's tongue stud sliding over her lip.
“I know, right?” Zoey sighed over her shoulder. “Her piercings are so sexy.”
“They are… kind of makes me want to get one,” Rumi mused.
“Ooh, Rumi?” Zoey gawked, slack-jawed. “You don't know the effect that would have on me. I would go so feral for you.”
Rumi chuckled, thumbing the point of one of the hanging clips. “You say that like you don't already, babe. Hmm. Now I really want to get one. Just to see what you'd do.”
“Alright, you have to stop with all of the sweet nothings that you're seducing me with right now,” Zoey giggled, “you temptress.” A pink flush illuminated her freckles. “Actually, yeah- focus Rumi! Right now we're here for Mira. Plus, if she really likes our gift then maybe she'll go super feral for us tonight,” Zoey said slyly while holding her hands up like claws.
“Mira goes feral for us regardless,” Rumi smirked. “But you're right. Let's get our minds out of the gutter and back on track. Now what could we make for Mira that she doesn't already have?”
“You know those little stickers with edgy quotes about girl power that she puts on her laptop and her sewing machine? We could make her some more of those!”
“Do we know how to make an actual sticker, though? Beyond just slapping a rolled piece of tape on the back of a scrap of paper?”
“Mm, I guess not…”
“And I'm not against whatever we make being rough around the edges, because let's be honest- knowing us, it will be.” Rumi folded her arms as she surveyed the rest of Mira's room.
“For sure. I thought about busting out our bead bracelet supplies to make her more of those.”
“She has been asking for some.” Rumi offered an approving glance.
“…But we can make those whenever,” Zoey sighed, flopping onto Mira's bed with a deflated breath.
“We could craft some new charms for her norigae!”
Zoey rolled over onto her elbows, pouting her lips out while mulling it over. She knit her brows. “Do we still have enough clay?”
Rumi's arms plummeted to her sides. “Damn. No, I forgot to order more. I want to look for ideas on my phone but in a way that kind of feels like copping out.”
“No, I get that,” Zoey mumbled, cheeks resting heavily in her hands. She sulked for a moment, a curious glance wandering the walls, when she rocketed up onto her palms. “Wait! Rumi, you know that trend people are doing where like-” she rose onto her knees and sidled across the bed towards her. “They make a special card or a poster or something that's covered completely in lipstick marks?”
“Oh, yeah! Yeah, Mira was just showing me one of those videos the other day and she was gushing about how romantic it was!”
“So let's do that! Wait, Rumi, please tell me you still have more blank canvases in your room.” Zoey clutched onto the fringes of her hair, feeling like she might combust if another idea was foiled.
“You're in luck,” Rumi smirked. “I actually just bought some more because I've really been wanting to do another painting date with you guys.”
“Hooray! You wanna go get one while I grab my lipstick and some pens and markers?”
“Yep! Meet you back on the couch?”
“Couch, couch, couch!” Zoey cheered, hands on Rumi's shoulders as they danced out of Mira's room and back into the den. Before splitting away, Zoey spun Rumi around and lunged at her lips, earning a surprised giggle from her. “Before we get started, so we don't ruin each other's lipstick.”
“What?” Rumi purred, catching her with an arm around her back. “Worried you won't be able to control yourself?”
Zoey slimmed her stare and said smugly: “You say that like you aren't.”
“That's rich, miss ‘I would go so feral for you’.”
“Yeah- for a piercing. Get one,” Zoey chirped, “then maybe we'll talk.” Rumi let her wander away toward her room and started to turn toward her own, but her eyes drifted to Zoey's hips peeking out of her low-rise pajamas as she strutted off. Zoey stopped at her door to toss her hair and a smoldering look over her shoulder, catching Rumi's eyes flicking back up to hers. “Mhm,” she sang as she walked in and out of sight.
Rumi stood for another moment, wondering if it was too greedy to hope that everyone would end up going feral other tonight. As she moved toward her own room she pulled her phone out and looked up the current phase of the moon.
Waxing gibbous. Not quite full, but pretty damn close. Close enough to make her wonder.
Back on the couch with their lavender and seafoam-green lipstick, lip balm, a twelve by eight inch white canvas, and Zoey's grafitti'd pouches of markers and paints and brushes, Rumi found a compilation of one of Zoey's favorite video game content creators to play on the TV in the background. She then held the canvas in her hands.
“I don't think that I really considered just how many kisses it's going to take to fill this up.”
“Well, we kiss her plenty more times than that on any given day, so, just imagine that it's her. Or me,” Zoey offered with a nonchalant shrug.
“You know what?” Rumi slid over until their legs met and, flattening a hand over the inside of Zoey's thigh, planted a lasting smooch on the corner of her mouth. “You get one.”
“But, my dearest pookie Rumi,” Zoey hissed with the grating voice of an elderly witch, “my thirst for kisses can never be sated!”
Rumi pursed her lips to hold her laugh behind them, but it sputtered out and she smiled.
“Well it's going to have to be for now, because we have to finish this before Mira gets back.”
In that same warbling voice Zoey crowed: “I'll get you one day, my pretty!”
“You can have me whenever all three of us are in bed tonight, okay?” With that, Rumi painted the upper left corner of the canvas with the first lilac-colored kiss. “I'll tell you what: for every kiss that you put on this board, you can kiss me back later. How's that sound?”
“Oh? Well, don't mind if I do-” she took the canvas into her hands and pressed a scattering of her green-ish kisses across it. “There's eight.”
“You are adorable,” Rumi grinned as she took it back and took her turn to paint it, then passed it over. She reached for her lipstick, but before being able to apply a new layer the canvas was already being thrust back into her hands.
“Fifteen. Well, c'mon Rumi!”
“Alright, I'm going,” she giggled, stamping wider patterns of purple into the white space as her smile grew. After several more back-and-forths Zoey's count towered higher and higher to seventy-two, then eighty-seven. “Hey, you're not cheating, are you?”
Zoey's lips parted as a dainty scoff fell between them; this time, her voice following with a posh British accent. “You would accuse me of defiling the sanctity of this masterpiece for our dearest Mira?”
“I would never,” Rumi said primly, then snatched the canvas back. “Yet you dare to insult my honor?” Her poor attempt at mimicking the accent made Zoey snicker, but she quickly recomposed her character.
“Such baseless accusations are unbecoming of you, dearest.” Zoey waved her off snobbily, then fluttered her hand at her face as though she held a comically large, feathered fan. But Rumi saw a barely disguised smirk breaking through her facade.
“And those are dueling words,” she declared indignantly.
“Hmph. I suppose we'll have to settle this.”
“I suppose so.”
“And how shall we?”
Rumi pretended to spend a moment pondering it and set the canvas on the cushion behind her. “What say we compete to see who is the best kisser between us?”
“Playing to your strengths, I see,” Zoey smirked. She closed in and kissed Rumi deeply, whose arm found a path around her hips, thumb hooked on the waistband of her lounge shorts. Rumi's tongue crossed hers and Zoey hummed in pleasant surprise, and she felt that hand flatten over the small of her back. Zoey arched toward her as Rumi pulled away, teeth tugging at her lower lip. Zoey drifted with her in the shallow breath, her longing gaze flitting shyly between Rumi's lips and her eyes, a question gnawing in her mind, words stuck under her tongue.
She knew better than to set it free, than to keep her hand on Rumi's thigh, than to remain so near in her orbit. Rumi knew too, but slid her hand over Zoey's anyway.
Until the vibrations of Zoey's phone rattled the table noisily and drew them back to the present, making Rumi jolt in her seat.
Zoey leaned out to snatch her phone: “Oh, that's probably Mira!” She leaned in close to Rumi as she answered the video call, both smiling at Mira's voice ringing through, heavy with exhaustion.
“Heyyy!”
“Hey Miraaa!”
The energetic welcome lifted her heavy expression enough to put a smile on her face while she tried to steady the phone against something. Mira then sat on the mat of their dance studio with one knee drawn to her chest, elbow propped lazily over it, and offered an even lazier peace sign. Then she slimmed her stare and a shit-eating grin spread across her lips.
“Looks like you two have been busy.”
Rumi's confidence wavered as she noticed the blush lingering in their faces, but stupidly asked the question anyway: “What makes you say that?”
And Mira just laughed. “God, you guys are so obvious. And adorable. Couldn't wait to start without me, huh?”
“Well- no, we were-” Rumi didn't know where to start and grew more flustered as Mira's smirk only widened, but thankfully Zoey jumped in before she accidentally spilled their secret project.
“We were actually working on something, thank you very much!”
“Ooh, tell me more.” Her nostrils flared as she drank in a thick breath, skin beading with a sheen of sweat. “Is it promo for the new song? Or is it not Huntrix-related?”
Zoey juggled her response before unsteadily saying: “Not quite.”
“Mmm. I don't like this. You two are plotting something.” Mira stared at them for a brief moment while chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Should I be worried?”
“No!” Rumi laughed, “no, it's nothing like that. No reason to worry!”
“Good, because I'm gonna be so wiped out when I get back. I'm going to need maximum cuddles from you both.”
Zoey's lopsided grin landed on Rumi's shoulder, smushing her cheek into it. “We'll be in peak cuddle performance, just for you.”
“Cool. Looking forward to it.” Mira released another taut breath that seemed to deflate her, close enough to a sigh to raise a small crumb of concern in the girls’ eyes. “Hey- I know I've been down here for a hot fuckin’ minute. Sorry.”
Rumi asked: “Why are you apologizing, babe?” And Zoey jumped in:
“Yeah, it's okay! We're just chilling, so no rush.” Zoey pulled Rumi into her - and away from the half-covered canvas to ensure that it stayed out of frame - but Mira's gaze crawled the floor mats. Zoey made a concerned groan behind her pouting mouth and asked: “Are you alright?”
“I mean- yeah, I'm fine,” Mira said - then a reluctant shrug. “Just hasn't felt like a very productive session, and I'm a little bummed about it. And if I come back up with next to nothing to show for it, it'll totally ruin my night. And I don’t want that ruin your guys’ night either.”
Rumi rolled her eyes. “You are what's going to make our night, Mira. And hey, even if you don't end up with anything solid, you're still making progress on breaking through that block.”
“Totally,” Zoey nodded. “So keep doing what you can, keep killing it, and come back when you're ready, ‘kay? And we'll be here with open arms and your protein smoothie already mixed for you.”
Mira threw an exasperated breath to the ceiling, but then smiled at the girls. “Yeah. Thanks babes. You're always so sweet to me.”
Rumi insisted, "It's nothing, really. You need us to bring you anything? A snack or a drink, or a towel?”
“Nah, I've still got half of this jug of water,” Mira said while holding it to the camera and jostling it around. She set it down and picked her phone up with her as she hopped up with renewed vigor. “Alright! I'm gonna keep at it for a little longer before I head back. See you soon, hotties.” Mira blew a kiss to them before ending the call.
Rumi picked up the canvas and offered it to Zoey with an uplifting glance.
“Well? You heard the lady. Let's focus and slam this out so we can be ready for a cuddle puddle when she gets back.”
“Cuddle puddle!” Zoey cheered, laying her phone in her lap and trading it for their project. With another streak of smooches engraved into it, she passed it back to Rumi, who groaned after finishing her turn.
“God, I wish that we were kissing her.”
“Yup,” Zoey drawled, emphasizing each letter and their deepening boredom with this flat canvas when they had Mira's lips and body on their minds.
Mira dragged herself through the doorway to their loft, her body logged like a sponge with sweat and soreness. She battled her weary muscles for every step, arms limp at her sides with her t-shirt and empty water bottle in hand, too tired to care about the chilling metal thumping against her leg.
“Oh girls!-” She sighed and slung her bag on the couch, glancing around the empty loft and the very noticeable lack of her girlfriends. “Hm.”
Mira trudged toward her room, hoping that by the time she got a hot shower in and changed into comfier clothes that her darlings would reappear to cuddle the exhaustion out of her. She leaned into the door and pushed through lazily, wiping her forehead into the crook of her arm while flipping the lights on. She puffed a deep breath away but froze midstep when the lights illuminated the two silhouettes sitting on her bed.
“Mira!”
“Oh. Hey. What are you two doing in here?”
Zoey scooted closer to Rumi until they were hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder.
“Oh, just hanging out, y'know.”
“Sure,” Mira shrugged. “You get up to anything while I was gone?”
Rumi pursed her lips and shook her head with Zoey. “Eh. We kinda just watched some videos together. Just killing time until you got back.”
“Mhm…” Mira kicked her shoes off, socks after, and tossed her shirt into the hamper. With a glance she recognized that broad, guilt-ridden grin they shared, and in a skeptical tone probed, “Is that all?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Zoey chuckled, really trying not to let her eyes wander down across the plane of Mira’s shimmering abs. “Just waiting for you, sexy.”
“Well, I'm back. So why do you both look so shifty?” Mira's knowing glare unnerved them - Rumi squirmed, and her uneasiness put Zoey further on edge. Usually this would have led one of them to crack by now, but they both remained impressively tight-lipped. Mira folded her arms, suddenly very invested in getting to the bottom of whatever they were doing or hiding-
“Oh my god-” Mira gasped, lips hung apart in disbelief. “Did you fuck on my bed?” Rumi's brows shot up, stunned and gawking while Zoey sputtered a string of incomprehensible sounds that Mira supposed were meant to be words. She threw her hands up and scoffed at them: “Without me? Unbelievable!”
Rumi straightened up, though her voice still trembled. “Wait, what? No, no we would never - not without you at least - right?”
“Oh my god, yeah!” Zoey insisted through nervous laughter. “No, no, that definitely did not happen. Rumi’s right- we would definitely ask you if it was cool to use your bed first, and of course you would be invited Mira - duh - but…” She trailed off as Mira’s sharply pursed lips bent into a smile that a snicker burst out of.
“Girls- I’m fucking with you.” Mira chuckled to herself in tired, tight breaths that made her core contract and flare up with soreness. “Oh shit, ow.” She leaned on her dresser for support and sucked in a breath to steady herself, but the girls’ bashful grins and Rumi’s rolling eyes inspired another laugh in her that she couldn’t help wincing at.
“Okay, you deserve that,” Rumi smirked.
Zoey exhaled her blush away with a breath through her mouth. She pouted at Mira, but it didn’t last long before she grinned back at her pained groan-laughing.
“This girl…” Zoey shook her head and threw a cross look to Rumi. “Now I’m wondering if she even deserves the present we made for her.”
“I know! After everything we did and this is what we get.” Rumi’s chest rose with a huge and over-enunciated sigh. “You know who does deserve this though? Bobby.”
“Definitely! We should just give it to him instead of mean old Mira, don’t you think?”
“I do! All she does is tease us-” Rumi scoffed. “-it’s not like she works incredibly hard on super awesome choreo every day AND sets up our training programs while she’s at it.”
“I know, right? And I hate when she does the sweetest things for us, don't you? Like when she gets up early to make us breakfast.”
“And when she goes out of her way to fix our clothes when they get ripped or the buttons or zippers break? God, that’s so insufferable.”
“Yeah, it’s not that impressive or anything. I mean, who does she think she is? The best girlfriend in the world or something?”
Mira cleared her throat.
“Hey- I’m right here you know.” They both turned harsh glances to her that were softened by their sweet intentions. She folded her arms, hip propped against her dresser still with that complacent grin lifting her cheeks.
Rumi seethed: “Just look at her.”
Mira arched a brow. “If you guys are done with this bit, feel free to help me over. My legs are about to give out any second now.” The girls’ frowns melted into grins as they stood up and embraced Mira, who let her weight fall into them.
“Hi,” Rumi said warmly into her shoulder.
Mira pulled them both close and tight, always so thankful to be able to count on them to be there to catch her. Together they helped her back to the edge of the bed and sat on either side of her. Zoey swept away a stray strand of hair stuck to the sweat on her cheek.
“You don’t seem as bummed out as you were on the phone.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve figured out a sequence for the hook. I like it, but I’ll know for sure when all three of us are in there. And I was feeling sorry because I went to the studio alone again.” She exhaled as Rumi squeezed her hand.
“Hey. That’s just how your brain works. You’re at your most creative when you’re alone with your thoughts and your music, and we’re not hurt by that at all.”
“Yeah,” Zoey agreed softly. “Just like when I get writer’s block, or we can’t find the direction to sing a note. A lot of times we can figure it out together, but it’s alright if we can’t. To be honest, we’ve had some of our best breakthroughs on a song happen while we’re working on our individual parts.”
Mira rolled a hum behind her lips. “I guess that’s true. I just miss you guys like, all the time,” she smiled meekly between them. “Your lipsticks look great, by the way.”
They both kissed her cheeks, coaxing a cute chuckle out of her. Rumi said smugly, “We’re glad you think so,” and bent down to reach under the bed and pull a colorful canvas out that she placed in Mira’s hands. Rumi and Zoey piled closer to admire their handiwork, and the girlfriend they made it for that they cherished so dearly.
Her lips parted with a quiet, awed breath. Smatterings of kiss marks covered the entire thing, separated into lilac and emerald sides down the middle, while thin, golden waves were painted with glittery gel lines over them. It instantly reminded Mira of the Honmoon glimmering over the crowds at their concerts, charged by their unshakable faith in, and love for, each other. Rumi and Zoey clearly felt the same way, as they painted a huge red heart over the center pulsing with teal, electric energy and lightning bolts arcing away from it. Inside the red, in that same golden glitter, they inscribed their signatures for Mira: just like they signed them for fans.
“Aw… you guys.” Mira's cold-as-stone voice softened with such a delicate gift in her hands. “This is so incredible.” She held it closer, tilted it to catch different lights glittering in the gold, pored over the lines of every smudged lip print. And beneath the heart, she spied a string of words written neatly across the bottom border that she voiced aloud: “‘You are our harmony’.”
Mira felt the blush in her face before the tear that rolled down it. She said the words clumsily, requiring time to process their meaning even as it sank deep into her bones and smoldered in her chest.
“Aw, Mira.” Rumi wiped the tear away while Zoey asked Mira if she liked it.
“Do I like it?” She sniffled. “Yeah, I fucking love it. You're about to make me ugly cry,” she half-sobbed, half-laughed. “You guys are my harmony! God, I love you both. This is gonna look so bitchin’ up there with the rest of my posters.”
Rumi laughed at that. With care, Mira set the canvas beside them on the bed and pulled her girls in for a big hug.
“How long did that take to make?”
Zoey hummed, “Hmm… how long were you gone?”
“Damn, your lips must be so chapped by now,” Mira laughed. She felt Rumi's hand sliding up her arm and turned to her and her simmering gaze.
“Wanna feel?” Rumi murmured, voice dusky. “We've still got more lipstick, and more kisses to give you.”
Zoey's giggle in her ear sent a shiver around her shoulders. Mira leaned back into her arms, smiling wickedly at Rumi following her and lips chasing the side of her neck. Mira's hand lurched out to clasp hers with a hot exhale deep from her fatigued lungs, but the gasp was stolen by Zoey's lips descending from above onto her own. A pleasant, airy chuckle fell off her tongue and onto Zoey's, whose fingers cradled her jaw and kept her close. Mira melted between their kisses on her warm, buzzing skin, her weary body sinking deeper into the care of their very comfortable embrace.
Rumi pulled away after her last smooch, a longing moan trapped behind her lips.
“I love you Mira, and I love what's happening right now,” she said with an awkward, teethy smile, “but you're kind of really sweaty.”
“Oh, shit-” Mira launched out of Zoey's arms. “Yeah, I'd better go shower before I get too comfortable with you guys.” She stood up toward her bathroom, but paused halfway through her step and looked back at the girls, twirling a coil of hair between her fingers. A smirk snuck across her lips. “Shower with me?”
Zoey leapt up to follow her in, as expected, cheering about group shower time. But Rumi waited a beat to ask: “Are you going to ugly cry if we don't?”
“Pft, no,” Mira retorted with her indifferent tone returning, though her sweetheart smile and doting eyes still betrayed her. “...yes.”
Rumu chuckled and held out her hand, which Mira took, while her hand was pulled along by Zoey's into her bathroom. Once undressed, Rumi fetched three towels from the closet while Zoey, after pressing the buttons on the digital shower panel to get a hot stream of water flowing, ushered the girls in under the shower and embraced them.
“Wherever you want us Mira, we'll be.”
“Always,” Rumi agreed.
“As long as you're with me, I'm happy.”