Work Text:
“You know… you really could have just, like, told us.”
Amidst the nest of pillows and blankets on their apartment floor, Mira’s voice floats up slowly into the silence.
Rumi exhales, deadlocked in a staring contest with the ceiling. She is unsure why the remark catches her off guard, as though the subject hasn’t been at the crux of the tension between the Huntrix girls for weeks, going on months now.
“But could I have, Mira? Actually? Before all of this happened?” Rumi hugs a pillow tighter to her chest. “We’re Hunters, you know. You don’t have to protect my feelings.”
The various fabrics rustle as Zoey’s face emerges somewhere beside Rumi. “Well, it definitely would have taken some getting used to—”
“—was the biggest shock of our lives seeing you like that the first time—” Mira answers simultaneously.
“—I mean, like, a demon hunter whose dad was a demon? Unheard of! But—”
“—you’d do the same for us. Have done the same for us, actually.”
Rumi shifts her eyes between the two, avoiding truly looking at either of them. The silent crease of her brow betrays her confusion at the statement.
Mira’s subsequent scoff at Rumi’s expression is playfully fond. “Seriously, Rumi? Don’t you get it yet? You’ve seen all of our flaws and insecurities, and you don’t care about us any less for them. You’re the one always showing us that the past doesn’t have to define who we are.”
“Yeah! You believe Huntrix isn’t really about fighting demons, but about building something better for the future, together.” Zoey’s hand reaches over to interlock with Rumi’s. “And it’s because of you that Mira and I believe it, too.”
“So like, you have demon patterns. So what? We can’t do any of this without you.” Mira takes hold of Rumi’s other wrist, admiring the lines tracing over Rumi’s skin. “You make the patterns look kind of cool, anyways.”
“Even more so now that you’re not hiding them anymore,” Zoey agrees. The sunbeams filtering through the window catch Rumi’s patterns in their light, reflecting faint glitters of silver and gold across the room. “Look at you—you’re like Huntrix’s own little halo. We wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
Taken aback by the sincerity of their words, Rumi finally allows herself to meet the other girls’ eyes one by one, basking in the softness of Zoey’s smile, the warmth of Mira’s grasp on her arm. Then, the affection in her own chest rising with the blush in her cheeks, Rumi steals both of her arms back from the girls and yanks a blanket over her head.
“Okay,” she says. “So that confirms I’m never telling you two anything ever again.”
Mira and Zoey groan in unison. “Rumi!”