Archive of Our Own ^beta

•| RUMI |•

“She should have texted by now,” Rumi said with concern while restlessly pacing across Mira’s cluttered floor, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her shoulders were tight in a way that had her a bit hunched as she walked.

Mira was lazily lying on her bed, on her side half propping herself on a pillow, with a book in hand and glasses low on her nose. She looked at Rumi with a slow blink “I’m sure Zoey is fine, the plane probably just got delayed.” 

Rumi made a noncommittal sound of agreement in response.

Mira’s attention went back to her book. “Celine is with her, what’s the worst that could happen?” She said plainly.

Logically, Mira was right of course, but it did nothing to soothe the anxiety that had settled tight in Rumi’s chest. It’s the second time in a week that her nerves outweighed the logic, the first was when Zoey originally left for Busan for her first solo brand shoot- some skateboard company launching their new active and protective wear.

She didn’t notice Mira’s eyes tracking her as she paced back and forth but eventually Mira let out a frustrated sigh, then spoke with annoyance thick in her tone. “Can you at least sit down if you’re going to worry? You’re making me dizzy.” 

If there was one thing that Rumi and Zoey had in common it was that they struggled to sit still. For Rumi it was an anxious habit when she was feeling too much, while for Zoey it was virtually always just a bundle of too many thoughts and too much energy. Mira once described it as Zoey having bees living in her bones.

“Sorry,” Rumi said awkwardly, instantly perching herself on the end of Mira’s bed like a well trained dog. 

“Thank you,” Mira half mumbled, her eyes back to the pages of her book.

Rumi pulled her phone from the pocket of her sweatpants, frowning when she still had nothing from their maknae, just a text from Bobby. 

She tapped her thumb against the side of her phone idly in thought, she glanced at Mira who looked quite content to stay where she was laying for the foreseeable future. While she wanted to be home when Zoey got back, she also didn’t want to ask Mira to go especially since she was actively trying to relax.

“Mir, can you shoot me a message if Zoey gets back before I do?” She asked while typing a reply to their manager.

Mira looked up and raised a brow, a bit of confusion on her face “Uhh yeah, but why?” 

“Bobby needs some last minute signatures for the concert next Friday,” she said while getting up “With luck I’ll be back in an hour.” 

Mira’s brows knit closer together in a small frown “You know that those deadlines have a two day grace policy,” Mira offered as her head tilted to the side “We don't need to have them in today.”

“We don’t make Bobby wait,” Rumi said pointedly with a glance as she fixed her pale tie-dye cropped t-shirt that hung loosely off her right shoulder “We make his job hard enough as it is,” she said a little quieter.

“Okay,” Mira drawled as she looked back down at her book, flipping the page lazily. “Your girlfriend is going to be so sad if you're not home when she gets here,” Mira said in her usual neutral cadence but a teasing smirk tilted her mouth.

“What? No- wh- No, we’re not together,” Rumi quickly sputtered, a flush of red quickly hitting her cheeks and ears at the thought of Mira’s implication.

Mira simply hummed in response before another plain “Okay,” her eyes never drifting from the ink on the paperback.

“We aren’t,” Rumi said a little more clearly, her cheeks were warm as she turned away from Mira. Leaving her room to head to the elevator. She pulled out her phone to text their driver that she needed a lift to Sunlight Entertainment, though Mira’s jest sat at the forefront of her thoughts.

Rumi hadn’t considered dating… Not just Zoey but anyone really, her focus growing up had always been on training- both Hunter and Idol. She knew that Mira had a few short flings over the time they were living at the compound, maybe one or two since their debut. (Celine had been less than thrilled about that whole situation.) She knew only one person that Zoey dated briefly.

Her brows furrowed in thought, she knew that she liked Zoey… They were close, have been for years- Pursuing anything more than that never crossed her mind, it simply wasn’t in the list of options. She’d definitely been feeling more comfortable around Zoey, but they’ve been spending a lot more time together lately so that made sense. She did miss Zoey quite a bit this week, finding herself looking forward to video calling with her before bed… No, that didn’t mean anything, she missed Mira when she went away for work too.

Rumi shook her head as she got in the elevator, filing Mira’s joke away as unfounded. She didn’t have the time to worry about it anyways. She pressed the button for the underground parking where the car should be pulling up any minute.

•| ZOEY |•

Zoey was dragging her feet by the time she got to the elevator of the building, a wheeled suitcase in tow and a new skateboard in hand. She leaned against the mirrored wall of the lift as Celine entered, the older woman punched in a code before pushing the button that would take them all the way up to the penthouse.

“I don’t get how Mira likes solo shoots so much, that was exhausting,” Zoey complained while slumped against the wall.

“It can be a lot,” Celine agreed with a slight nod. “I never found them enjoyable either.”

“It was a lot!” Zoey agreed loudly with a huff, “We never have a shoot spread over 4 days, maybe two if it’s for a promo- but 4?!” She said using her hands for emphasis “I was the only one there most of the time, so it was all go go go. I hardly had time to tie my shoes.”

Celine gave a breath of a laugh at Zoey’s complaints, shaking her head at the outburst. “If it was too much, don’t agree to the action shots next time,” The older hunter said simply, as if that was entirely the solution.

“But that was the fun part…” Zoey pouted.

“That might be so, but it is the reason it went long.”

Zoey groaned dramatically, her head tilting back which was met by a light thunk against the glass of the mirror. She blinked tiredly up at the floor count, she realized they were just over halfway to the penthouse. Excitement started to blur the lines of her exhaustion, she was finally home! Home means couch time and movies, late night games with Rumi, snack times with Mira, and her own cozy bed.

She felt a bit bad that she hasn’t been able to text either of them, her phone died on the plane then they went for lunch- Hopefully they weren’t too worried, only now it occurred to her that she probably could have asked Celine to text them… That’s a future almost-current Zoey’s problem, but future nonetheless!

Zoey pushed herself off the wall when they were 4 floors away, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her thoughts were racing trying to decide what to tell them about first. 

The doors of the lift opened with a muted ding, Zoey practically skipped through the door loudly calling out in a sing-song tone “We’re home!” Forgetting her suitcase in the lift, but Celine thankfully grabbed it for her. 

She was instantly comforted by the smell of home, it was always a little different depending on the time of the day. Right now home mostly smelled vaguely like pine-sol floor cleaner and lemon wipes- Mira must have deep cleaned the kitchen… Overall, it smelled like a mix of Mira’s warm sandalwood body wash and Rumi’s light floral shampoo along with a whisper of coffee. A tell-tale sign that her friends have been home all day if not a couple days. Her friends, her home.

Mira sauntered out from the hallway a minute or so later, her neutral expression getting a bit brighter when she saw Zoey “Hey, how was it?” she asked as she approached. She nodded in greeting to Celine as their mentor passed them to bring her own bag to her room.

“Mira! Hiiii,” Zoey said excitedly with a bright smile on her face “My phone died like 30 minutes into the flight. It was so disappointing. The whole thing was so tiring,” Zoey started with a laugh “If I never see a studio light again it’ll be too soon,” She said in faux seriousness before she gasped and held out her new skateboard. 

“They gave me this cool board! I mean I’m not actually going to use it at the park because I don't want to ruin it. But I think it would look really cool in my studio above the door to the booth. I wanna take the trucks off to put on another board because they’re actually like really smooth. What do you think?? OH! Or would you be okay with me putting it up in the shared studio? I’ll have to ask Rumi too, but it has all of us on it so I think it would be nice to put it somewhere we’re all gonna see it.”

Zoey rambled on with a grin, while Mira listened patiently, checking out the board when it was offered. The deck was shaped after an ATV Ditch skateboard, the trucks a shiny silver colour with light blue wheels which matched the base colour for the graphic on the underside of the deck. The main portion of the graphic was the three of them in a cartoonish style, posed close together from the waist up as if they just finished a performance, Zoey to the left of Rumi and Mira on the right. On the other side the grip tape was a standard black aside from the centre of the deck which had the HUNTR/X logo in white.

“Sick,” Mira said with a slight smirk, reaching to spin one of the wheels. “I think it’ll look cool in the studio, Rumi won’t mind for sure.”

“Oh where is Rumi? She said she’d be home,” Zoey asked, blinking a couple times realizing that their leader was still not here, glancing towards the empty living room and then the hall.

Mira made a small ‘pft’ sound as she grabbed the board to get a better look at it “Where do you think? Bobby called so she went to work.”

A quiet “Oh,” slipped out before Zoey could stop it, her excitement deflating a little. She pushed aside the pang of disappointment because she knew that Rumi wouldn’t say no to Bobby if he needed something from them, she cared too much about their manager and their career.

Mira held the board to her side and pulled Zoey into a side hug “She’ll be back soon,” Mira assured before playfully shoving her towards the hall “You look like an under caffeinated rat, go shower and change, I’ll get some tea going and let Ru know you’re home”

Zoey stumbled a couple steps when she was shoved, her grin returning as she laughed “Miraa!”

“Go,” Mira said plainly with a shooing motion.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Zoey puffed then scampered off down the hallway towards her bedroom so she could plug in her phone and get to her ensuite.

=====

Zoey took her time in the shower, lazily cleaning off the plane ick and her light makeup. When she got out she carefully selected her fuzziest pair of socks being far too neon yellow, a pair of blue sleep shorts covered in rubber ducks with a matching blue t-shirt which just had one large duck decal in the middle.

After taking a little more time drying her hair- which was only about half finished by the time she was over the task she decided to put her damp hair into her usual buns anyways.

One last glance in the mirror she noticed her buns were a little lop sided but she just shrugged, it's not like she was leaving the house again today. She grabbed her phone off the charger, frowning at the percentage it charged to while she was in the shower. (About 28%)

While scrolling through the missed notifications that came through while her phone was dead she left her room and padded down the hall. She hadn’t missed anything terribly important aside from two texts, one from each of her band mates in their group chat wishing her a safe flight. 

The name of which regularly changing, at the moment it was named ‘Turtally Huntr/x’ with the contact photo being three red-eared sliders on a log- but each one had one of the trio’s hairstyles crudely drawn on- Courtesy of Zoey, a computer mouse, and MS Paint.

She also had two missed texts from Rumi in their own private text thread.

When she glanced at the time it was getting close to 4:30 now, a feeling of regret rolled by. She really should've just asked Celine to text Rumi that her phone died. She shouldn’t have assumed that Celine would have done so.

She started to tap in a reply as she walked down the hallway, her fingers stilling when she heard Rumi’s quiet laugh- it was familiar, the sort of laugh that came out surprised like she’d not been expecting it to happen. It brought a smile to her face, there were days that her laugh was one of the few sounds that Zoey wanted to hear.

Zoey clicked her phone screen off, absentmindedly discarding it on a passing surface. When she rounded the corner of the hallway she was greeted by the sight of her band mates in the kitchen.

Mira seated on a bar stool her elbows on the counter, one hand neatly holding her mug just under the rim steam curling past her fingers. She was intently watching Rumi with soft eyes. The sight of it was one of Zoey’s favourite sides of Mira, relaxed and unguarded, she’d never dare tell Mira how soft she looked when she was comfortable. She’d probably never see it again.

Rumi was only perched- half sitting on the stool beside Mira with a smile on her face while she was talking, gesturing with one hand. Zoey was a little relieved to see that she only looked a little tired, it meant Rumi managed to get some sleep while she was gone.

Mira noticed her first, she tapped Rumi with her free hand. Rumi looked confused at the interruption but then turned to look in the direction Mira nodded. Her confusion melted away to a warm smile, instantly getting off the chair.

“Hey Zo” Rumi said, she had a little bit of relief in her voice. Guilt biting at Zoey’s chest again for worrying her… but Zoey wore her bright ear to ear smile anyways.

“Hi Rumi~” Zoey answered, the pair closing the gap into a warm hug. Zoey’s arms wrapped over the taller woman’s shoulders and behind her neck, pressing them cheek to cheek. “I missed you,” she whispered while nuzzling into her. Comforted by the strength of Rumi’s arms around her, she instantly felt more calm when the smell of Rumi’s lavender detergent and floral shampoo enveloped her.

Rumi gave a quiet hum before she whispered “I missed you too.” They silently enjoyed their hug for… probably longer than what is generally socially acceptable. Rumi being the one to hesitantly pull away asking “How was your trip?”

“It was a lot of fun, but it was so tiring my legs are so sore from how many hours I spent doing the same stunts over and over and over,” Zoey said with a smile then a sigh “I’m so glad to be home, aaand we have at least three days of couch.”

“No, you have three days of couch,” Mira corrected from her seat “I have to help Soli get their team up to speed over the next couple days for the charity concert,” she said before taking a slow sip of her tea. 

“Mhm… and I’m shadowing Celine tomorrow for the quarterly meeting,” Rumi said plainly, masking her distaste for the event. Gently guiding Zoey with a hand on the small of her back towards the counter.

“Aw really?” Zoey pouted as she was led to the bar stools “You guys seriously scheduled stuff on our like only days off for the next like… two weeks?”

“We all agreed to do the charity event Zoey,” Mira said simply, sliding a mug of tea with her free hand towards Zoey. “I have to make sure the backup team is prepared.”

“And I didn’t choose to have the meeting tomorrow,” Rumi added with amusement.

“Blame Celine for that one,” Mira said playfully, nudging Zoey. Which had her pout fade into a giggle.

“Blame me for what?” Celine asked simply from behind the trio- It made Rumi and Zoey jump, then the three of them looked over. Tracking Celine as she walked further into the kitchen.

“The quarterly tomorrow,” Mira responded a little muffled by her mug as she went to sip from it.

“Ah,” Celine flicked the kettle on to boil and leaned back on the counter watching them “The board of directors would be to blame then, and Rumi’s inheritance of course.” 

Rumi just awkwardly nodded, standing to the side of Zoey leaning on the counter. “Does she have to go to this one?” Zoey puffed some disappointment in her tone while she held her mug with two hands.

Mira gave her a little look, but Celine spoke patiently as she started setting up her own tea pot. “The only way to learn is to participate.” 

“I guess,” Zoey mumbled, taking a sip of her tea- which was quite frankly, probably more sugar than tea. It was worth asking, Rumi hated those meetings. She always came home pretending not to be drained… Zoey and Mira haven’t heard the exact words from their leader, but they were both 90 percent sure that taking over Sunlight Entertainment was very low on the list of wants.

“Sorry Zo,” Rumi said gently with an empathetic smile “Maybe we can do a movie tonight, or tomorrow once we’re home?” She suggested putting a comforting hand on Zoey’s shoulder.

Zoey inhaled excitedly but before she could get any words out Mira cut in with a firm “Yes we can watch today, but I need a couple hours to work.”

Zoey pouted unseriously from being cut off but then brightly smiled “Deal!~ Are we gonna spin a wheel for who picks?” She asked while going to reach for her phone only to be met with just the counter. She blinked in surprise and looked around the immediate area of her seat.

Rumi watched and then sighed with a slight smile and a shake of her head, putting a hand to her temple speaking in an exasperated tone “Zoeyyy.”

“I’m sorry I got excited!” The youngest got off her chair, abandoning the mug to run back to her room to look for it. She faintly heard Mira chuckle and say “I’ll call it.”

•| RUMI |•

Rumi gently knocked on Mira’s open door, she didn’t have to but she always did. The trio had decided a long time ago that an open door was exactly that, a closed door meant knock and wait while an open door generally meant make yourself at home.

Mira sat at her desk with a pencil in hand, the quiet scraping of lead on paper barely audible under the music playing from the CD player on the bookcase. Mira looked up from the page, her glasses sliding down her nose. She used the butt of the pencil to push them back up as she said “Hey Ru, what’s up?”

“Hey, may I?” Rumi gestured to the bed from the doorway, Mira just raised her brows. “I know I don’t need to ask, I’m working on it,” she said a bit sheepishly, finally entering the room. She didn’t fully close the door but she did narrow the gap before she moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

When Mira noticed Rumi push the door more closed she set down the pencil she’d been sketching with, then she spun in her wheeled chair to face Rumi “Everything okay?” She asked with some mild concern edging into her neutral cadence.

“Yeah I just…” she started and huffed a sigh, trying to find the right words without any word vomit “You’ve… dated people right?” She started awkwardly.

Mira snorted, already amused. “I mean sorta…? Why?”

Rumi shot Mira a glare with very little bite, her cheeks warming from embarrassment when Mira snorted a laugh but continued anyways. “How did you know… I don’t know. How did you know when there was more?”

“I don’t think I’m the right person to ask about that,” Mira said simply, leaning back in her chair. “But if I’d known one joke would get you to actually think about your feelings, I would have done it ages ago.”

Rumi frowned, staring at her friend then sighing through her nose “That’s not helpful,” she said flatly.

“I know,” Mira agreed. “Just talk to Zoey, if it doesn’t work out it’s not like you guys won’t still be friends,” she said with a shrug.

Rumi’s first instinct was to deny that it was Zoey that prompted the question- but Mira, as observant as ever probably would just tease her again. “I’ve never- How do I even talk about it?” She asked but she didn’t give Mira a chance to answer before more words tumbled from her anxiously “You both took time to experience the normal things… I didn’t… Our duty, this career, has and does come first for me,” she said quietly while wringing her hands together awkwardly “What if I’m not ready for normal?”

“Then you aren’t ready, easy as that.” Mira watched Rumi’s hands briefly, wheeling closer in her chair to grab Rumi’s wrists to pull her hands apart. “That doesn’t mean you don’t get to give normal a shot.”

“What about Huntr/x? I don’t want to change anything.” 

“Please. You’re stuck with Zoey and me for the rest of your life, whether you like it or not,” Mira assured with a seriousness to her voice before adding in a softer tone “I’m not saying you need to do something you’re not ready for, but you’re allowed to exist outside of responsibility and at least consider doing something for yourself.”

Rumi wrinkled her nose briefly, which Mira chuckled at as she let Rumi’s wrists go “You can only run for so long.” 

“Run?” Rumi asked, confused. Mira’s mouth pressed into a line, her expression unimpressed which only furthered Rumi’s confusion. “What?”

“I don’t think we have time to unpack that tonight Rumi”

“I don’t run,” Rumi said- maybe a little defensively.

“Then go talk to Zoey,” Mira countered.

“I-“ Rumi tried to think of something, an excuse, a counter… nothing came to mind so just a defeated and quiet “Shut up,” came from her.

Mira exhaled a bit of a laugh, rolling back towards her desk on her chair. “You can hang here, get your ducks in a row. But I need to get back to work,” she said with a little bit of amusement. With her back to Rumi, she picked up her pencil to continue her sketch.

“Thanks Mir,” Rumi said quietly, letting herself fall to lay on her back on Mira’s bed, feet still flat on the floor. Her thoughts jumbled, strung in ways she was having trouble making sense of, many being questions that didn’t have answers. 

Is it a crush? What’s the difference between romantic and platonic feelings? Can I even manage a relationship while keeping the patterns hidden? Can we even go on dates? What do we tell Celine and the suits? Do we even tell them? What if things get weird? Wh-

Her spiral of thoughts was interrupted by the sudden thud of a pillow against her legs, the sudden feeling had made her jump, raising her head quickly to look at her attacker.

Mira was half turned in her chair staring at her with a slight glare, one that told Rumi she was annoyed. “Stop spiralling and go talk to her,” Mira said in a clipped tone. 

“I’m just laying here?” Rumi’s tone was confused as she blinked at Mira.

“Yeah? Tell that to your leg.” 

Rumi frowned. Mira wasn’t wrong, she was bad at sitting still with anxious energy and hadn’t noticed her leg bouncing. She sat up and sighed “Okay fine.”

“Good,” Mira said plainly with a singular nod before turning back to her sketchbook “No matter what Rums, I’m here for you.”

“Thank you,” Rumi said quietly, she pushed herself up off her friend’s bed. “Don’t forget to think of a movie you want to watch later,” she said over her shoulder as she made her way out of the room. 

She went a little ways up the hall on the opposite side of Mira’s room. Zoey’s door was wide open, and the first thing she saw was that Zoey wasn’t quite lying on the bed… More half hanging off of it. Posed as if she was trying to get onto the bed but got distracted halfway through- Which seemed to be the case, Rumi quickly noticing the switch in her hands. 

She couldn’t help the warm smile that crept onto her face, leaning on the door frame to watch fondly for a moment… ‘oh… I’m so screwed,’ she thought, the sounds of Zoey’s game loud against the quiet room.

Eventually she cleared her throat “That can’t be comfortable.”

Zoey looked over her shoulder briefly, her face brightening when she saw her. She scrambled to pause her game and sit upright “Hi Ru!” She said brightly, patting the bed excitedly next to her.

Rumi made her way over so she could climb up on the bed, sitting next to Zoey “What are you playing?” She asked, nodding once towards the small console.

“Kirby! I’m trying to do the Clawroline fight.” 

Rumi nodded with a small crooked smile “Sounds fun,” her voice a little hesitant.

“You have no idea what that is, do you?” Zoey asked with a giggle that warmed Rumi’s heart.

“I… uh- No, not really no,” she responded with her own sheepish amusement “I like hearing you talk about it nonetheless, show me?” She asked softly.

The question led to the two sitting with their backs against the headboard, Rumi’s cheek pressed into Zoey’s shoulder watching her play. “So that’s Clawroline, she’s the third boss in the game. She’s part of a group called the beast pack,” Zoey explained before a string of quick curses. Rumi watched Zoey’s hands adjust on the joy-cons to dodge the leopard’s slashing attacks.

Zoey continued her explanation of the game lore and general tasks. Rumi listened even though she still had virtually zero clue of what she was talking about. Occasionally she’d glance up from the screen to admire the concentration on Zoey’s face.

Once the boss fight was over and won, Zoey dropped the switch into her lap. Her head dropping back against the headboard with a muted thump. “Finally,” she said quietly.

“Well done,” Rumi cooed, nuzzling her shoulder.

Zoey rested her head against Rumi’s, breathing a contented sigh from her nose. Rumi picked at a stray thread on the comforter they were sitting on, her mind wondering on how she would even start the conversations about her feelings with Zoey… Was it even something she’d want? Though the thoughts didn’t get to simmer long before Zoey’s voice pulled her attention back.

“You okay Ru? You seem far away… Did you sleep okay this week? I know my trip was a pretty big change to your routine…” Zoey spoke softly with concern, tilting her head a bit to somewhat look down at her face while gently brushing a few loose strands from Rumi’s face.

“Mm… Mostly, I think I'm just… thinking a lot today,” she murmured slowly in response.

“Oooh dangerous~” Zoey cooed playfully, though Rumi could hear the undertone of concern.

“Oh hush you,” Rumi nudged her with a quiet laugh and then sighed, sitting up now slightly turned to face Zoey “Can I… Can we talk about something and not be weird after?” she hated the way her voice came out nervous, but hated the way Zoey’s concern was now clearly plastered on her face.

“Everything okay?” Zoey asked, no longer hiding her concern behind playfulness.

“Yeah, of course. I mean I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Rumi said quickly, putting a comforting hand on Zoey’s arm. Relieved to see Zoey physically relax- Now the hardest part was actually trying to have this conversation.

“Okay,” Rumi cleared her throat “I’ve been thinking- er.. I guess I want to know… What are we?” she asked and immediately cringed at her wording. Zoey blinked a couple times- processing, but then she smiled, her cheeks turning pink under her freckles, a little bit of mischief blooming in her expression.

“I am pretty sure we’re people, I could be mistaken of course.” Zoey said, tilting her head with a faux frown. “Me leaving must have done more damage than I thought.”

Rumi’s expression fell flat, staring at Zoey. Who based on this silly antic knew exactly what she had meant but that knowledge didn’t keep the red from warming her ears. “Okay Zoey, I’m serious,” she said quietly.

“Sorry sorry, I know,” Zoey said with some nervousness slipping into her voice, she rubbed the back of her neck “I wanted to talk about this for awhile,” she said before taking a deep breath, her next sentence came out so fast that Rumi could barely make out the words.

“I’ve had like the biggest crush on you for ages now and I didn’t wanna fuck up our friendship so I’ve just been brewing on that for awhile and if you're not interested in anything else I am cool either way” taking in a quiet gasp for air after saying everything on the one breath.

Rumi sat there a little shocked. “What?” she eventually whispered.

“I really like you Rumi, but I am okay with what we have now too,” she said at a reasonable speed, taking Rumi hands in her own “I don’t want our friendship to change if it’s not something you’re okay with,” Zoey's hands were gentle, just lightly holding but not trapping. Giving Rumi a chance to move if she wanted.

“I don’t want it to change,” Rumi started carefully, she saw the slight downturn of Zoey’s expression. She pulled a hand from Zoey’s only to move it to cautiously cup it against her cheek, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to build on what we have.”

Panic tightened in her chest when she noticed Zoey’s eyes watering her first instinct was to pull away, but Zoey then leaned her head into her hand “I think I’d like that,” she said quietly.

“Zoey,” Rumi said softly, the panic fading into something warm. “Will you be my girlfriend?” The cheesiness of the question had her cheeks flushing red, her face hot with embarrassment.

“Of course I will, you big goof,” Zoey laughed wetly, tears rolling down her cheeks which thankfully were happy tears. She pulled Rumi into a tight hug, peppering kisses playfully all over Rumi’s cheeks and forehead until she was laughing and trying to shove her away.

“I see all is well. Worth the spiral?”

The pair stopped, and turned to look towards the door where Mira was standing with a smug smile.

Rumi squinted at her, grabbing one of Zoey’s pillows and throwing it (unsuccessfully) at Mira while still in Zoey’s grip. The grip loosened as Zoey was looking between the two of them, confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rumi mumbled, still watching Mira. 

“I’ll fill you in Zo, when Rumi gets distracted,” Mira said with a teasing lit to her neutral tone, before Rumi could even sputter a reply “Give me a hand with snacks?” Mira said to them as she gestured to the hall.

“Oooh! Yes!” Zoey chirped, clambering off the bed narrowly missing kicking Rumi by accident. When the chaotic maknae- No. When her chaotic girlfriend was upright again, she turned, grabbing Rumi’s arm, all but dragging her off the bed “Come on!~ We have to make sure Mira gets the good stuff.”

Rumi laughed, bright and real when she was pulled off the bed. Stumbling a few feet before she found her footing to follow Zoey and Mira out to the living room.

Maybe this won’t be so bad…