Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Your aunt wants to you to bring us with you?”

Mira asked in disbelief as Zoey excitedly nodded at her.

She was leaning on the side of the couch with Rumi leaning against her side, her marked arms wrapped around her midriff. Mira wrapped her arm around Rumi as well.

“Why?” Rumi asked as she looked at Zoey with a bewildered expression.

“Because she knows that you two are my best friends and she wants to meet you two!” She exclaimed before mumbling to herself, “Even though you two are actually my girlfriends.”

Mira stared at the young lyricist for a minute before humming, “I don’t mind going if you don’t mind going.” She said as she glanced down at the half demon girl that clings to her like a koala.

The purple braided girl blinked owlishly at her. She honestly looked like a widened-eyed cat.

Mira huffed in amusement at the sight before stroking on Rumi’s long braid.

“I…” Rumi began before pausing. Then her head turned to Zoey, a question in her eye.

“Would we stay at your house or….?” Rumi warily asked as her iridescent patterns began to shift to purple. Mira eyed at the patterns with narrow eyes.

“We would have to rent the hotel room.” Zoey answered, which prompted Rumi to relax, her patterns went back to iridescent.

Rumi hums as she gently laid her head against Mira’s collarbone, prompting Mira caressed her long braid once again.

Mira then eyed at Zoey’s vibrating form. It’s clear that she wants them to go with her. She knew that Zoey wouldn’t force them to do something that they didn’t want to but she just wanted them to there with her.

“Well, it would be rude if we didn’t go.” Rumi finally said as she shifted her body around so she no longer clings to Mira like a demonic koala. Mira keeps her grip on Rumi’s body, ensuring she doesn’t roll off her.

Zoey immediately lets out a loud cheer as she pumps her fists into the air, making the girls laugh at her obvious excitement.

Mira hums softly as she twirls one of the loose strands of Rumi’s braid, watching Zoey immediately bouncing to the kitchen where she left her phone at.

Mira can see Zoey picked her phone up and started to tapping on it, presumably looking for her aunt’s number.

She then turned her attention to the purple haired woman in her arms.

“You sure that you’re willing to go?” Mira murmured as she gingerly runs her hand along the patterns on her sides.

Rumi hummed again as she shifted again so she went back to clinging to Mira.

“…I won’t lie; I’m little nervous about meeting Zoey’s extended family.” Rumi softly spoke as she laid her head on Mira’s chest once again, “I mean, I know that Zoey’s aunt won’t say anything but I can’t help but worry anyway.”

Rumi’s eyes turned downcast as she slightly curled inward against Mira’s chest. “Especially after…”

Rumi didn’t finish that sentence but Mira understood anyway.

Especially after the disastrous first meeting with Zoey’s mom, Rumi can’t help but feel little wary of Zoey’s other family members. Granted, they still hadn’t meet Zoey’s dad but that’s probably for the best.

Still, Mira can get why Rumi is nervous. Back then, when they first met Zoey’s mom, Rumi was hiding her patterns from them.

She doesn’t doubt that Zoey’s mom probably told her sister- Zoey’s aunt- about them. They probably didn’t know about Rumi’s patterns- well, tattoos since that’s why they went with when they’re dealing with the PR nightmare of that idol award incident.

And Zoey’s mom doesn’t have any good opinions about her or Rumi.

Mira exhale through her nose as she slightly tightened her held. She still remembered the words Zoey’s mom said to them.

“I know you’re worried about it but something tells me that we can trust Zoey in this one.” Mira mumbles as she kiss the top of Rumi’s head.

“I hope you’re right about this,” Rumi mumbles back as she nuzzles against her chest. Mira can feel Rumi starting to purr.

Just like a cat…

Mira cannot help but think about Rumi’s actions and how similar is she to a cat.

“Okay!” Zoey suddenly said, startling two girls from their quiet world. “Aunt Courtney is very excited about you girls coming with me.”

“Great.” Mira said lamely. She can hear Rumi stifling a snicker.

Thankfully, Zoey isn’t offended.

She just sticks her tongue out at her before she sits down next to the girls.

“I’m glad that you guys agreed to this. I know,” Zoey said as she puts her hands up in surrender manner, “I know what happened last time when you meet with my family. But you can trust me on this one! My aunt Courtney is very nice and I’m sure that she would support us!”

“Hmm-mmm, we will trust you with this one, Zo.” Rumi said with a small genuine smile.

====================

The banging of the pots and pans. The loud talking of Zoey’s cousins as they’re catching up. The sizzling sounds from meats & vegetables being cooked. The mindless chattering from the tv as it was playing an episode of the tv show she isn’t familiar with. The laughter of the young children as they’re running around the house, playing the unknown game.

It’s funny.

She performed on the stage, in front of hundred thousands people all time. She did lot of interviews. She had done lot of meet and greet events with the fans. Hell, she attended the galas and awards ceremonies.

She never feels overwhelmed by these events.

Yet, she quickly found herself feeling overwhelmed by these sounds alone. She wants to get out. She wants to escape from this.

She wants to claws into her arms and her head. She wants to rip her ears off so it would stop.

She feels bad because Zoey and Mira are enjoying themselves and she is getting very fidgety because it is getting too much for her. She can see her patterns flashing dull blue & pink, signaling her ever growing stress level. She can catch random flashes of purple in sea of dull blue & pink colors.

Her hands begin to curling into fists, palms feeling sweaty. Her chest starts to tighten like there is the weight slotting in her chest. Her breathing starts to waver.

She needs to get out here now.

She quietly moves across the living room to Zoey’s aunt, Courtney she remembers correctly. She quietly asked Courtney if she could go outside. Courtney happily tells her, in broken Korean, she can go.

She then speed-walks to the back of the ever-loud house where it leads to the backyard and the woods.

She opens the door and quickly closes it, the noises that were filled in the house almost immediately silenced with a click of the door closing.

Then Rumi notices that her hands pressing against the door are lightly shaking. She slowly moves her hands away from the door and held them up to her face.

They’re still shaking. Her patterns rapidly flashes between dull blue & dull pink with purple occasionally flashing in and out.

She then register the thumping sensation in her chest. She then places her hand to her chest. She can feel her heart pounding.

Was she really that overwhelmed?

Rumi doesn’t like that she knows exactly why she is like this way.

She grew up in a quiet household. Celine doesn’t interact much with outsiders. She doesn’t invite anyone over at her house.

Rumi doesn’t have much friends at her age. Sure, she had attended to few events but that was because Celine wants her to attend with her so she would know what to expect when she becomes an idol star.

This is different. She is getting a glimpse of what having a family like this was like. And she is getting overwhelmed by the loudness of it.

Don’t get her wrong. It is a wonderful experience to see the side of this family but it is getting too much for her to handle.

A low growl snapped her out of her train of thoughts.

Rumi then realized it comes from her. She was growling because she’s feeling little frustrated about herself. Her patterns briefly shifted to red then orange and back to dull blue & pink colors. But purple slowly became a constant color.

She lets out a loud sigh as she turns around and leans back against the door.

She then takes a look around the open backyard.

She can see the worn woodshed with lots of chopped legs next to the shed. There is a large axe sticking in the slightly rotting log wood.

There is a large bonfire pit that is slightly off to the center. The two white wooden benches are located that is adjacent to the bonfire pit. They each have tan and white striped cushions.

There is also a large trampoline with a net enclosure. And there is also a slide and climbing wall as well.

She can see the rows of trees couple feet away from the house.

Rumi eyed at the benches. Then she pushed herself away from the door and started walking towards the benches.

As she walked to the benches, she began to study the environment around them.

The sky had already darkened as the sun is disappearing from the horizon. She already can see that few stars are visible from the sky.

The bugs are already flying around, randomly flashing the small glow in the dark. Rumi believes that they’re called fireflies?

As she reached to the benches, she then take a seat on one of the benches.

From the moment as she sits on the cushion, it is almost like someone suddenly turns the tap on and the water had gushed out in astonishingly high speed.

Her eyes immediately started to watering, the trembling in her hands and arms started to worsen like she just went through an intense lifting session, her throat started to feel like someone shoved the thorny branches into her mouth.

Rumi sharply inhaled from the sudden wave of her intense emotions, tears began to slide down her cheeks without her knowing.

Rumi then moves her hand to her mouth, desperately trying to muffling her small sobs as she bends over and silently cries to herself.

Her patterns violently flashes dull blue, dull pink and purple, the colors constantly shifting.

She doesn’t know how long had she been crying. But her ears slightly perked up as they picked up a faint sound.

Rumi immediately looked up and around to look for the source of the sound.

Then she spotted a small brown object peeking around the house.

Thanks to her sharp vision(courtesy of her half demonic heritage), she can see that the brown object is a cat.

She noted that the cat has a torn ear and the fangs peek out from the mouth. And it is wearing a lilac collar with a silver fish tag.

Rumi then remembers that Zoey said that her aunt has adopted a cat and he is very nervous around them as he try to adjust to his new surroundings.

He keeps hissing at them and swiping at them when they get too close to him, earning the aunt and her family many scratches.

Rumi then looks downward to the ground.

She can get it. She can understand how he feels.

Living in the wild for long as you can remember, surviving on the scraps and other things.

Suddenly you are snatched off the street by the people who apparently think that you deserve better than living on the street.

They washed their grime and dirt off your body, treated any wounds and diseases you have, given the bowl of food and water.

Then they leaves you in the small cage that would be your temporary shelter.

It can get very overwhelming when everything changes so quickly and you’re struggling to process it.

But then, people want to give you a better place than the small dingy cage you were sleeping in.

So they went to look for another group of people or a person, and if they like you, they would take you to their place.

Once again, your surroundings abruptly changed and now you’re in the stranger’s place. You’re in the unknown territory of someone.

It’s too many to process properly and naturally the only way you could do in response to this sudden change is showing your fangs and claws.

She can get it. She once responded in the same way. Celine gives her an angry lecture about how animalistic she behaves and it is not acceptable for her.

She acts like a low-level demon would act.

Rumi slightly flinched as a brown cat suddenly comes in her field of vision, her pattern briefly flashing green before turning back to dull blue & pink & purple.

She blinks in surprise as the golden eyes meets the brown & golden eyes.

The cat stares at the halfling as he tensely stands before her.

Rumi stares back before blinks slowly.

She wasn’t sure why was this cat standing there.

In fact, why is this cat close to her? Didn’t Miss Courtney say that this cat dislikes people?

As Rumi and the cat were having an impromptu staring contest, Rumi started to trying subtly move away from the cat, giving him some space.

Then-

The cat leans and rubs his head against Rumi’s leg.

Rumi immediately froze as the cat continued to rubbing his head against Rumi’s leg, almost like he was trying to mark her or something.

Rumi doesn’t understand. Doesn’t this cat hiss at people for being too close to him? Does he hate people?

Then the cat moves his head away and shuffles his body to his right side. He then wiggles once, twice before he leaps up on the bench. He then turns sideways and bumps his head against Rumi’s left arm(patterns now show green color), letting out soft purr sounds.

Rumi looks at the cat in surprise. Surprised that the cat is willingly to get this close to her. He wants to get close to her.

Then, a memory comes to her.

It was during their rare week off, during their training sessions. They were given a week off because Celine are having few important business meetings.

Mira and Zoey were off at the town, taking their time with shopping and other things.

Rumi stayed behind because Celine wants to talk to her about something.

Rumi doesn’t quite remember what they’re talking about but she knew that it was about her patterns.

At the end of their conversation and Celine leaving for her business meetings, Rumi feels down from the conversation.

She ends up hiding in her bedroom.

Mira and Zoey noticed that something is wrong when they come back from their shopping day. So they checked on Rumi.

Rumi absentmindedly told them to leave her alone.

And…

They accept it. They only told her that they’re here for her when she needs someone to leans on.

Few hours went by and Rumi is still holing herself up in her bedroom.

Mira comes by to leave a bowl of bibimbap at the door. Zoey comes to let her know that they’re having a movie marathon and she is welcomed to join them anytime.

Rumi wasn’t sure what to do when the girls are this patient with her. They’re not pushing her to come out when she’s feeling down.

They’re letting her to have her space.

Eventually, Rumi comes out and takes the bowl in her bedroom to ate her food.

Then she leaves the bedroom with an empty bowl and walks straight to the kitchen to drop the bowl in the sink. Then, she can hear the movie playing in Zoey’s room and the complaints of Zoey.

Rumi carefully walks toward Zoey’s room and she can see that Zoey and Mira are watching an action movie with lots of snacks around them.

Zoey was booing at the laptop as it showed the scene that Zoey doesn’t like what happened in the scene. Mira just smiled in amusement at Zoey’s heckling.

Rumi just stayed quiet as she watched them having fun when she cautiously takes a step in the room.

Mira noticed her first and almost immediately stretched her arm out to her. Zoey then noticed Mira’s stretched arm and turned to see Rumi cautiously approaching to them. She then paused the movie on the laptop.

Rumi then eventually reached to them and timidly lowered herself down to sit on Zoey’s bed, close to the girls.

Zoey just beamed at her and Mira leans forward to wrapping her arm around Rumi, causing Rumi to melt against Mira’s caring side hug.

It was a nice memory. The girls don’t ask about Rumi’s gloomy mood and Rumi doesn’t really want to talk about it. Instead of trying to push her to express, they silently give her comforts and affection.

Rumi blinked as the memory faded away. She remembered that she was still upset about Celine’s repeatedly comments about her patterns and how she has to hide them.

Your faults and fears must never be seen.

Rumi remembered how upset she was after that conversation. She just wants to not do anything as she just lays on her bed.

Of course, on some days when she doesn’t want to move from her bed, Celine forces her to move. She admittedly feels little aggressive about it.

Multiple throughly beaten training dummy can attest to how bad is Rumi’s aggression.

Luckily Mira and Zoey didn’t see them.

But at that day, when Rumi feels terrible about herself, Mira and Zoey don’t force her, instead they give her spaces and provide foods & drinks when she needs to eat and drink.

Rumi still doesn’t want to do anything at that day. But she really appreciated their efforts to make her feel better. So she decided to give them her time. She would go and stay close in proximity of their presence. She would leans close to them so they can give her hugs and other forms of affection.

Rumi stares at the cat rubbing his head against her arm. Then she moves the said arm and pets on his head.

The reaction is instant; the cat lets out a loud purr as he leans forward to rubbing against her hand hard as he can.

Rumi then tenderly smiles at the cat’s obvious approval, the patterns slowly losing the green color and begins to shift to its normal iridescent color.

Rumi remembers how she always melted against Mira & Zoey’s touches whenever they got a chance to. Whenever it is a hug or a cheek touch or arm locking together, Rumi would melt into the touching anyway.

Before they saw her patterns, Rumi would try to keep the touching to minimum because she didn’t want to used to it. But her girls refused to let her.

Then the cat suddenly stepped into Rumi’s laps and began to curl up.

Rumi paused for a moment before resuming her petting on the cat.

The cat kept purring as he currently tries to make himself comfortable in her laps.

Rumi stays quiet as she continues to petting the cat. Then she quietly realizes that she doesn’t feel overwhelmed anymore.

Who knew that petting a cat would help her a lot?

She wasn’t sure how long had she been sitting there, petting the cat but this really helps her.

She then reminded by this cat was a former stray cat.

“They told me that you don’t like people.” She whispered to the cat as she then rubbed her fingers against the cat’s non-torn ear, causing him to leaning against it even more. “They told me that you don’t want attention.”

She briefly looked over at the cat’s obvious old injuries. “But they don’t really have a full story of what happened to you, do they?”

“You can’t even tell them about it. They don’t really understand how you truly feel.” Rumi continued to whisper as she resumed petting on the cat’s head. She belatedly noticed that her iridescent patterns began to shifting to blue color, signaling that she is very relaxed.

“And perhaps, that is actually the problem. You can’t tell them how you do feel and you don’t know how to express yourself other than in a way you only know how to express. Except your only way to express yourself is not the best way. It only makes you appear to be unapproachable.” Rumi said in a low tone as she began to remember how she acts back then when she has to hide her patterns from the girls.

She really makes herself seem to be unapproachable to the girls, doesn’t she?

She stays quiet as she stares down at the purring cat in her laps. She then moves her hand from his head to his back.

“But you don’t really mean to scare them with your aggressive approach. It was the only thing you know how to and it had protected you in past.” Rumi mused as she watched how the cat’s stripe patterns rippled as she runs her hand across them. “Surely by now, you know that you’re now safe. You are not in danger anymore. You’re not out there, fighting for your survival. You don’t have to look for scraps to eat anymore.”

“But you only know how to survive. And this way of surviving doesn’t apply here. And you have no idea what to do now.” Rumi whispered. “It is not your fault that you rely on these instincts so long that you feel little lost in this new life where your instincts aren’t effective as it would in your previous situation.”

“You’re trying to learn. You’re trying your best to learn. It’s very scary for you. But you want to learn.” Rumi said as she moves her hand back to petting his head. “You just need time and space to figure things out about yourself.”

She probably should go back to the house. She doesn’t want to worry her girls.

But for now, she is content with being out here, petting the cat.

Chapter Text

“Have you seen Rumi anywhere?”

Mira pauses in her observation of the children playing games together and turn to look at Zoey.

“No? I mean, the last time I saw her, she was hanging out near the kitchen?” Mira says as she briefly remembers that she did see her there in passing. “Well, she is not there anymore.” Zoey says in a worried tone.

“What?” Mira then moves away from her spot, leaning against the wall. “Then where is she?”

“That’s why I’m asking at you!” Zoey exclaimed as she gestured toward her. Then she huffed out as she looked around at the chaotic crowd of her family members.

“I’m going to ask around if they had seen Rumi anywhere.” Zoey then said as she looked back at her.

“I’m coming with you.”

Zoey just nodded as she turned to woven her way through the crowd. Mira quickly followed her.

To navigate through this crowd is hard but nothing that they can’t handle.

Then, they reached to the kitchen where Zoey’s aunt along her uncle and two older cousins were cooking in the kitchen.

“Aunt Courtney? Have you seen Rumi anywhere?” Zoey asked in English.

Courtney looked up from her simmering pot of meat & tomato sauce, her hand holding a large wooden spoon paused in middle of the stirring motion. She process the question for a second before straighten her back a little.

“Oh! She actually asked if she could go out in the backyard!” She answered in English.

Mira is belatedly glad that she can understand English better than speaking.

Rumi and Zoey are usually better at speaking English than her.

“Thanks, Aunt.” Zoey thanked her as she began to turn around when-

“Oh! By the way, can you please see if you can find Mr. Bear anywhere?” Courtney asked as she went back to stirring the pot.

“Sure.” Zoey barely throw a glance at her aunt before she leaves the kitchen, Mira hurriedly followed her out.

“Do you think she is okay?” Zoey asked as soon as Mira catches up to Zoey.

“I’m not sure why did she went out but I can guess something probably happened?” Mira said, not reassured by her own words.

Zoey hummed as they reached to the door that leads to the backyard. Mira stopped shortly as Zoey went to the door. Zoey immediately grabbed the doorknob, twisted it around and pushed the door open.

“Rumi?”

Zoey called out before pausing in the doorway, staring at something outside.

Mira’s eyebrow furrowed as she walked toward to the young lyricist.

“Zoey? What is it?” She cautiously asked as she stood behind Zoey, trying to see what she was seeing before she paused as well.

Rumi is at the outside after all. She was sitting on one of the white benches with tan & white striped cushions that is adjacent to the bonfire pit.

But she isn’t alone.

On Rumi’s laps, there was a brown tabby cat with a missing ear and chopped tail. The same cat that Zoey told her and Rumi about. Mister Bear, or Mr. Bear as Zoey’s aunt told them.

He was curling up on Rumi’s lap as she lightly scratched behind the cat’s ear. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, which that was completely contrary to what Zoey and her aunt told them.

He wasn’t hissing. He wasn’t hiding from her. He wasn’t even trying to swipe at her. No, he was just curling up in Rumi’s lap like a fuzzy croissant.

And Rumi?

She looked so peaceful and relaxed with the way she looked down at the cat in her lap with a soft smile. Her patterns are gleaming blue, practically showing that she’s relaxed and content.

Mira could stare at Rumi’s content expression for hours. It was and still is rare for Rumi to fully relaxing.

Mira knew that only times Zoey and she can ever seen her to be fully relaxed is during their bathhouse sessions and during the aftercare hour after the rougher-than-usual -ahem- bedroom activity.

This? This is a rare sight to see Rumi this calm.

Mira then briefly remembered that earlier on, she saw that Rumi was looking little stressed out by the controlled chaos that was going on in the living room and dining area.

It is probably lot for Rumi to handle, which that was why they hadn’t seen her in a while.

She must have come out here to decompress.

And at some point, Mr. Bear probably joined her and sits with her.

But Mira does remember that Miss Courtney tells them that Mr. Bear doesn’t like people.

So…

“How did she manage to get this cat to trust her?” Zoey asked, voicing what Mira was thinking.

“I guess there must be something about her that Mr. Bear likes about.” Mira muttered to Zoey.

“Probably.” Zoey agrees as she steps away from the doorway, beginning to make her way towards Rumi.

However, the brown cat immediately sits up from his comfortable position, completely on alert.

Rumi looks up from the cat and at the girls.

She just smiled at them as she moves her hand up and strokes on the cat’s head, causing the cat momentarily relaxing under her touch.

It didn’t take long for the cat completely relaxed and went back to curling up in her laps.

Mira blinked at the sight. She can see that Zoey looked back at her with a slightly bewildered expression.

She then raised her eyebrows as if she were saying, ‘did you see that?’, and Mira finds herself nodding at her silent question.

Zoey then turned back and tried to approach to Rumi again but this time in very slow motion as she didn’t want to scare the cat again.

Mira then quietly followed Zoey’s example and began to slowly walking towards Rumi.

With careful movements, Zoey managed to reach to Rumi first. She then carefully sits on the bench, next to Rumi.

The cat is slightly startled by Zoey, causing him to move into the loaf position. But he didn’t run away from Rumi’s laps, which prompted her to continue petting him.

Mira wondered if he really likes Rumi’s petting so much that he isn’t willing to move away from her.

Zoey seems to reach out to the cat but she stopped when the cat lets out a soft warning growl. Zoey takes her hand back.

Rumi hummed softly in the response to the cat’s growl.

Mira continued to take careful steps toward Rumi and eventually she reaches to Rumi & Zoey. Then she takes a spot next to Rumi, putting her in middle between them.

Mira then notices that Mr. Bear is making soft purr noises as Rumi continues to stroke his head.

Silence shrouded over them, saving for Mr. Bear’s soft purring.

Then-

“You okay?” Zoey whispers as she looks over at Rumi.

Rumi hums softly. “Yeah.”

She then glances at Zoey. “I just get little overwhelmed.”

Zoey’s concerned eyes then softened.

“Is it lot for you?”

Rumi hums once again, her patterns slowly shifting from blue to purple. “Yeah. It is a lot for me.”

Zoey hummed softly as she gingerly reached out to rub on Rumi’s now purple patterned arm.

“Does coming out here help?” Zoey asked.

Rumi said nothing as she then looked at the cat in her laps.

“Actually, this little guy helps me out.” She said with a soft smile, her patterns now shifted to blue and gold mixed together.

“Mr. Bear?” Mira asked as she glanced down at the brown tabby cat with a slight surprised look.

“Hmm, so that’s his name.“ Rumi muttered.

“Yeah.” Zoey said as she looked down at the purring cat with similar expression as Mira.

“Cute name.” Rumi said as she then stroked down the cat’s back, making him stretch his front legs out.

Silence befallen the girls and the cat once again.

Mira nervously worries on her lower lips as she watches Rumi continue to petting on Mr. Bear.

On one hand, she is glad that Rumi is alright now. On other hand, she is concerned about the possibility of it happening again.

They can try to stay out here little longer but Zoey’s aunt is probably going to look for them.

“W-we should go back inside, Aunt Courtney is probably serving dinner now.” Zoey said, making Mira look over at her.

She can see the conflicted look on Zoey’s face. She can only assume that she probably has similar thoughts as she has.

Rumi softly hums, her patterns betraying her own thoughts by shifting to purple color. She starts to unconsciously holds the cat in her arms.

Seeing the purple color, Zoey then waves her hands around as she tries to quell her worries, “Y-you know, I could ask her if you can bring your food outside here to eat by yourself!”

Rumi stays quiet for a while before turning to Zoey, Mr. Bear still in her arms.
“Doesn’t your aunt say that they would come out here to eat as well?”

Zoey blinked before huffing out, “She did say that. I forget about that.”

“It’s alright, Zoey. I think I can try to manage for another thirty minutes before I want to go back to the hotel room.” Rumi said in a quiet tone as she began to shift her position on the bench.

Mr. Bear, still in Rumi’s arms, began to meow in protest at the sudden movements. Rumi moves one of her arms to pet on his striped back.

Mira sighed as she stands up from the bench as well. “Alright, but you would tell us if you feel overwhelmed again, okay?”

“Yes, Mira. I promise.” She smiled at her, her soft smile making her heart clenching in the sight of it.

Zoey, already stood up from the bench, then placed her hand on Rumi’s right shoulder, making Rumi look at her. “Don’t worry, we would sit with you. We can make sure that they won’t bother you too much.”

Rumi just smiled sweetly at her, her patterns now shifting to gold color. “Thank you, jagiya.”

Mira can see Zoey’s cheeks turning pink from Rumi’s pet name, making her smirking.

“R-right! Do you want something?“ Zoey hurriedly asked. “I know that Aunt Courtney is making sloppy joes but I can check what other foods she is making if you don’t want that.”

“I have no idea what is even sloppy joe but I could give it a shot.” Rumi deadpanned before pausing for a second. “But would you check anyway?” She asked in quiet voice.

“Yeah! I can check!” Zoey eagerly nodded.

“Naturally, I will help with carrying the plates. So sit right where you are and we will bring you your food.” Mira said as she began to walked toward the door. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Oh, I’m definitely not going anywhere. Not when I have a cat in my arms.” Rumi quipped with a smirk, her patterns now glowing yellow. “I am the chosen one after all.”

Mira just huffed in amusement as Zoey giggled.

====================

Zoey is currently placing the plates of various foods on the large blue & white tray with flowers decorated at the around the center.

She can see from the corner of her eye that Mira is currently carrying lot of six packs of canned drinks and water bottles in her arms. It looks little comedic to see Mira carrying armfuls of drinks.

Zoey then refocuses on the tray before her. The plates have sloppy joes as the main course but she adds hot dogs and hamburgers(cheeseburgers for Rumi) in case if Mira & Rumi doesn’t like sloppy joes.

Zoey grunts softly as she tries to keep the tray up under the weight of foods she’s carrying. But she doesn’t care; she will carry these foods for her girlfriends.

As she walks out of the kitchen(she doesn’t need to look to know that Mira follows her) and went straight to the backyard door, she can faintly hear the conversations going on from outside.

As she hip-bumps against the door, making it open, she already noticed that her cousins were outside, chatting with their uncles and aunts and parents.

She can see Rumi still sitting on the bench but this time, Mr. Bear was nowhere to be seen.

She already makes her way towards Rumi.

Rumi was watching at two of Zoey’s cousins with a wary look(her patterns are now rose pink) as they began to nudge at each other with their arms, which it definitely would turn into pushes.

Then Rumi saw Zoey and Mira coming at her, which her face immediately lighted up at the sight of them, along with her patterns which is now golden.

Zoey’s heart swelled with adoration at the sight of Rumi’s happy expression and her glowing golden patterns.

Zoey absolutely loves it when Rumi’s patterns display Rumi’s emotions easily as the strobe lights in the darkened room.

“Hey Rumi!” Zoey greets happily as she reaches to the bench where Rumi was sitting.

“Hey, yeobo.” Rumi greeted, “Hey, jagiya.” Zoey’s heart melted even more at Rumi’s pet names for them.

“Hey there tigerina.” Mira greeted as she placed the packs of drinks by the lit bonfire pit and pulled three canned drinks off the plastic rings. She also pulled the three water bottles off as well.

“Sorry, it takes us a while. Lot of foods and Zoey’s aunt wants me to carry these for others” Mira said as she carried the cans and bottles in her hands.

Rumi just smiled at her and shakes her head. “No worries.”

Mira just says nothing and handed two cans and bottles to Rumi and Zoey.

Zoey just handed the tray of their foods to Rumi and grabbed the drinks.

“Where’s the cat?” Mira asked as she sits down once again by Rumi’s side.

“Well, when the two cousins come out, Mr. Bear immediately jumps off and hide beneath me.

Mira and Zoey blinks and bends down between their legs, taking a look at the under of the bench they were sitting.

Lo behold, there is Mr. Bear sitting under the place exactly where Rumi was sitting. His tail is flickering back and forth and his ears are flickering at the noises every few seconds. His eyes are narrowed as he tracks their movements.

Mira and Zoey then pulls their head back up and look at Rumi who is already scooping the sloppy joe sandwich up.

“Geez, I can see why it is called sloppy joe. The meat sauce is already falling off.” Rumi muttered as the small portion of the meat sauce fell off the buns and spattered down on the plate. She then takes a bite into the sandwich.

“Oh-“ Rumi immediately leaned forward a little as the sandwich’s contents started dripping from the buns. Rumi grunted as she puts the sandwich down. “This isn’t so bad.” Rumi says, her words slightly muffled by the foods in her mouth.

“That so?” Mira hummed softly to herself as she grabbed one of the plates with sloppy joe sandwiches. She then examined the sandwich closely.

Zoey did the same and she immediately plucked the sandwich up in her hands and takes a big bite on the sandwich.

“Mmmmmm~” Zoey happily hummed.

Mira does the same thing as Rumi did with her sloppy joe. She hummed happily as she nodded to herself. “Not bad.” Mira said once she finished chewing. Then she went back for another bite.

Before Zoey knew it, Rumi has finished her sloppy joe sandwich and is now licking her fingers clean.

“Miss Courtney? Do you have any napkins?” Mira asked as she side eyed at Rumi. Zoey doesn’t need to look at Rumi to know that Mira is eyeing at Rumi’s tongue.

Zoey’s aunt- she was sitting on one of lawn chairs they carries out from the old shed- immediately peaked up at Mira’s request.

“Of course! Thomas, sweetie, wouldn’t you mind passing that towel paper roll to Zoey’s girlfriend?” She asked the 18 years old boy, Thomas, who nodded at her.

He grabbed the roll of towel paper and threw it to them. Mira hurriedly reached out to catch the roll.

Unfortunately, it missed Mira’s outreaching hand and hits Rumi’s face instead.

Rumi flinched at the sudden hit of the roll of towel paper and looked over at the teenager boy like he just offended her and her family.

“Sorry.” He apologized with nearly flat tone.

Rumi huffed as she picked the long roll and ripped a paper towel off. She then wiped her fingers clean with the towel paper.

Zoey glanced at Mira and see her glaring at Thomas who just went back to eating.

Once Rumi was done cleaning her fingers, she reached toward the cheeseburger.

“Still hungry?” Zoey teased before shoving the last remains of her sloppy joe sandwich in her mouth.

“You know it.” Rumi said with a smirk as she grabbed the cheeseburger.

Zoey shallowed and grinned at Rumi. She can see Mira rolling her eyes before went back eating her sandwich.

It didn’t take too long for all three girls to finished eating their dinner.

Zoey then takes the tray with empty plates off Rumi’s laps. Soon as the tray left Rumi’s laps, a hidden fourth member in their group suddenly makes their appearance.

Zoey blinked in surprise when Mr. Bear- she straight up forgot that Mr. Bear is hiding under Rumi’s spot- suddenly left and jumped up into Rumi’s laps.

Zoey’s lips turned up at the sight of Mr. Bear curling up in Rumi’s laps and rest his head against her stomach, looking up at her like she’s her savior. Rumi just smiled and began to petting his back.

Zoey was wondering if Mr. Bear warmed up too quickly to Rumi. He barely knew Rumi for a day and he immediately decided that Rumi is his most favorite person ever.

“Cats are so weird.” Mira muttered, making Zoey glancing over at her.

Zoey have to smother her smile when she saw that Mira’s eyes is narrow and she just stared at Mr. Bear like he just stole something valuable to her but she can’t express how mad she was about it because there’s no crime about that.

Uh oh, look like Mira is jealous of the cat!

Zoey then placed the tray near the lit bonfire pit when she realized that apart from the fire crackling, it is strangely quiet.

She then looked around and realized that her family members had quieted down and stare at Rumi with various of stunned and disbelief faces.

Zoey then turned to see that Rumi and Mira had noticed the silence around them. Rumi looked incredibly anxious, her patterns mixed of dark pink and rose pink with small hints of purple. Mira looked back at them with narrow eyes, silently daring them to say something. Zoey then cleared her throat and shifted around to face Rumi.

“So!” Zoey begins, grabbing Rumi’s attention to her, “Hopefully you don’t mind me asking. How did you manage to win Mr. Bear’s trust?”

Rumi blinked before looking back down at Mr. Bear. Her patterns now shifted to blue and gold.

“I didn’t do anything.” She said.

“Well-“

“I didn’t do anything special, if that’s what you want to know.” Rumi interrupted Zoey before she could say any words.

“I… I was just sitting there, on this bench. You know that I was getting overwhelmed and I come out here.” Rumi continued. “I was literally just sitting and doing nothing but trying to calm myself down.”

“Then, this little guy-“ Rumi chuckled softly, “I spotted him from the distance and I was just trying to respect him by not paying attention to him. But he chose to approach me.”

Zoey then watched Rumi stroking on the cat’s head as he seemed to falling asleep on her, clearly deeply content in Rumi’s personal space.

“I’m actually not sure why did he approach to me. Perhaps because he saw how upset I was and he wants to comfort me, I don’t know.” Rumi said.

“But he did approach me and jumped on my laps. Giving me some comfort.” Rumi then smiled down at the brown tabby cat. “And, I don’t know why but in a way, it feels like this cat understands how I feel. It’s silly, isn’t it?”

“No.” Zoey steadfastly said as she glanced down at the sleeping cat. “No, it is not.”

Rumi stays quiet for a minute before speaking up, “I just remembered what Miss Courtney told us about Mr. Bear’s situation before he entered this family. And- I dunno- I just get it.”

“…get what?” Mira says in a gentle tone.

“I get how he feels,” Rumi said, “I just understand that he is terrified and scared of us because what happened to him before.”

“How so?” A younger cousin of Zoey piped up, slightly startled Zoey. She forgot that her extended family are there as well.

“Well-“ Rumi paused, her face contorted with uncertainty. “Imagine this, you are the small cat that doesn’t have any roof or anything else. Foods are very scarce. You rarely see people but when you do see them, they’re usually not very friendly towards you.”

“You have to do everything to survive, and that includes fighting. And you cannot afford to mess up anything that could cost your survival.” Rumi continues, “then one day, someone finds you and rescues you from your miserable situation. They’re willing to provide foods and shelter for you.”

“But you’re still scared to accept their generous offers because you don’t know if this is a test or you’re expecting the worst thing. It’s just too hard to trust people after what you’ve been through before.” Rumi said with a small sad smile.

The slight of her saddened smile made Zoey’s chest aching from the unspoken emotion.

“And eventually, you got everything you needed and wanted. A place to call home, plenty of fresh foods that you don’t have to fight over and the comfortable bed to sleep on since you don’t have that luxury before.” Rumi continues, “but you’re still scared because you are still stuck on the mindset that keeps you alive for long time. And now, that kind of mindset no longer works in your newfound safe space. If anything, it now works against you because it makes everything appear to be suspicious, even if there’s nothing malicious behind it.”

“And it makes even harder to extend your trust to others because you don’t know that you can depend on them for help.” Rumi shrugged. “It’s not your fault or anyone’s fault because it is a big change for you and you have no idea how to react to it. You just need more time to get used to it. And probably need some assistance with that.”

“Are you saying that Mr. Bear is scared of us because he doesn’t know what to do other than what he knows?” Another cousin said, Zoey then recognized that cousin as a sister of Thomas. What is her name again? June?

“Maybe. Or at least that’s the impression I got from what I heard from Miss Courtney and Mr. Bear’s interactions with me and his reactions to what happened around him.” Rumi said as she glanced up at June(?).

June(?) thoughtfully hums.

Rumi then looks back at sleeping Mr. Bear. “Well, I’m not sure what he was thinking when he see me but I have to guess he probably remembered something from his past or was reminded of himself. Otherwise, I don’t know.” Silence blanketed over everyone who just sits and watches at the sleeping cat.

Then…

Rumi looks up and asked, “who else here is close enough for Mr. Bear to be comfortable enough to stay within the distance of their presence?”

Zoey’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her family members were looking at each other.

Then, the younger female cousin, Thomas’s younger sister Melissa, shyly raised her hand. “I- uh, I was trying to sit near him and reading to him with the books I like to read sometimes.” She said with shy voice.

Zoey cannot help but say ‘aww’ at that. Rumi just smiled at the ten years old girl, her patterns have more gold than blue. Then she scooped the sleeping cat up- Mr. Bear quickly woke up and meows in a short lived protest- and stood up from the bench.

“Then, won’t you mind holding him in your arms?” She said as she gently handed the cat over to the girl who immediately took him in her careful embrace.

Then Rumi gently clapped her hands together. “I need to go bathroom for a minute.” She said before turned to her and Mira. “Don’t mind me.”

She then went towards the house, leaving everyone in confused silence, Melissa happily petting Mr. Bear who surprisingly didn’t jump off Melissa’s arms.

Thomas then looked at her and Mira, “Where did you find someone like her?” He asked.

Zoey impulsively smiled. “We didn’t find her. We were introduced to her.”

====================

If you asked Mira what happened after that, she can’t answer that because she really doesn’t remember what happened after.

All she knows that once Rumi returns from her short bathroom break, she is done with social interactions for a day and wants to go back to the hotel room.

Then Courtney asked Zoey if they can come again tomorrow afternoon for their trip to the amusement park.

They agreed to it and went back to their hotel room.

Then… well, Mira wasn’t sure what happened next because she finds herself laying down on their shared queen sized bed- in her night pajamas- and Rumi was curling up against her, completely asleep, as Zoey was still in the bathroom.

Mira glanced down at her sleeping girlfriend and she just wrapped her arms around her, bringing her closer to her.

“Rumi looks so peaceful, doesn’t she?”

Mira then glanced up to see Zoey already crawled on the bed and laid down next to Rumi, snaking her arm around Rumi’s waist.

“She is.” Mira agreed as she glanced back at Rumi’s peaceful sleeping face.

Zoey then buried her face against Rumi’s back.

Mira just smiled at her. “Night Zoey.”

“G’night, Mimi.” Zoey replied back, her voice slightly muffled.

Then Mira can see exactly when Zoey falls asleep; her arms gone slackened like tension just left her body.

Mira huffed out an amused noise before she reached out and pulled the cover over them.

Then Mira closed her eyes, letting the dreams of her girls carry her away from the waking world.