Chapter Text
Morning sunlight spilled through the wide open windows of the Huntr/x penthouse, golden. Like almost every morning since they started their hiatus, there was a pleasant smell drifting through the penthouse courtesy of Mira and her amazing cooking skills. Toasted sesame oil, cooking rice, simmering garlic, and of course something spicy cooking away on the stove. Zoey watched her girlfriend Mira cook like usual from her perch on the island counter, legs crossed under her. She had just gotten out of bed to find Mira gone already, her side of the bed cold as usual. Now that they were on a hiatus and she had the time, Mira apparently believed that having two girlfriends meant she had a sacred responsibility to feed them every day like royalty.
Not that Zoey was complaining.
Zoey wasn’t nearly as useful in the mornings; most of the time she couldn’t even put together two words to form a sentence until after she had her coffee. Then she was just a nuisance to Mira, stealing bits of food here and there while she provided what she considered invaluable moral support. She snatched up a piece of kimchi before Mira could get the lid back on, earning her a scowl. Zoey just grinned, blew her a kiss, and watched the scowl on the other girl’s face change into a small smile as she turned away, ears pink.
Such a sap.
This was normal.
This was good.
Actually, everything has been almost suspiciously good lately.
The Honmoon was sealed, finally. It wasn’t golden, but honestly, the new iridescent one seemed to be even stronger than they could ever hope for. The world hadn’t ended, they were all in one piece, they were alive. There were no impossible responsibilities sitting on the lone shoulders of their distant leader Rumi, no horrible secret slowly hollowing her out from the inside.
And somehow, impossibly, wonderfully, Rumi was theirs.
She loved them, and they loved her. That still made Zoey’s brain feel like it was going to turn into mush if she thought about it for too long. The typical frustration she felt thinking about it all bubbled up inside her while she chewed on some stolen mushrooms.
Years. They had wasted literal years because of this secret bullshit.
Yeah. Still mad at Celine.
Years of Rumi looking at Mira like she was the moon in the sky, years of her smile becoming so radiant every time she saw Zoey that it nearly blinded the shorter girl. Years and years of lingering touches and shared beds, of bodies flush to one another during practice, of eyes so full of want for one another. To the point where Zoey and Mira couldn’t take it anymore and ended up together after more than one night spent alone after the bathhouse, Rumi nowhere to be found, wondering desperately if she felt the same.
And she did. She did, and she does, and it’s wonderful.
The Honmoon had been sealed, the truth about her half demon heritage spilling out like ink on paper, and suddenly Zoey and Mira found themselves standing there listening to Rumi admit that she loved them so much she couldn’t take it anymore.
Not just as friends.
Zoey smiled to herself as she remembered how both her and Mira kept asking her to clarify if it was friend-love or love-love. They didn’t stop until Rumi gave an exasperated sigh and yanked them in for deep, lingering kisses one after the other. Of course, they also told her their feelings, and that they would love to date her. They spilled the beans on themselves dating but she smiled and said she’d known for years and they weren’t as subtle about it as they thought, much to the chagrin of Mira as Zoey giggled.
So, girlfriends. Plural - as in, she has two of them. Whenever she thinks about it she wants to shriek into a pillow or - maybe Derpy’s fur - at how ecstatic she is. Two of them! What the fuck!
Dating Rumi, however, had introduced an unforeseen complication:
Rumi was innocent.
Painfully, woefully innocent when it came to anything remotely related to sex and flirting.
It made sense to them; Rumi had spent most of her life hiding. The beautiful iridescent markings scattered across her body had once been jagged purple brands that she had to keep concealed at the demand of Celine, their mentor. No bathouses, no showing skin, no skinship; terrified that someone might see the evidence of her demon blood on her skin and kill her.
‘Zoey, please!’
She shook her head frowning. Now was not the time for her to spiral again. Right now she was home, she was loved, she was enough. Zoey shifted out of her own head to catch Mira gazing at the hallway leading to their bedrooms. She leaned forward on the counter conspiratorially and whispered in Mira’s ear, “Aww, missing your girlfriend? Sap.”
Mira jumped in surprise but composed herself before muttering, “She’s your girlfriend too.”
“I know,” Zoey clasped both hands dramatically against her chest, “Isn’t life beautiful?”
Mira rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth betrayed her amusement. That was another thing that Zoey loved about this whole ‘dating’ situation; how utterly soft Mira had gotten with them. Mira had always been difficult for other people to read. She carried herself with an effortless composure and a ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude that made strangers pay attention and follow her orders. She was only ever unguarded if it was just Zoey, and now Rumi, pliant and gentle.
Stoic, controlled, untouchable Mira.
Also known as: absolute mushy lovergirl Mira, something Zoey treasured for years and now Rumi got the same soft treatment that she deserved.
Speaking of -
Footsteps sounded down the hall, quiet padding announcing the arrival of their third. No matter how many times they had the same morning routine, they never got tired of seeing how relaxed and at ease Rumi was now that the world wasn’t on her shoulders. She entered the kitchen with a sleepy yawn, fangs flashing for a split second as she scratched her stomach. Any thoughts Zoey had derailed, crashed through a barrier, and disappeared into a ravine as she ogled. Her wolf style haircut was sticking in every direction from tossing and turning, strands falling all around her face.She was wearing a small black crop top and some shorts that left little to the imagination and boy was Zoey imagining.
“Morning,” Rumi rumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Her voice had a lower timbre from being sleepy, and it sent shivers up Zoey’s spine. She stretched her arms above her head and made a sound so close to a moan that Mira almost dropped the pan of food she had been trying to carry to the table, ears a flaming red. While she was stretching, Zoey couldn’t help but notice her amazing, flexing abs on display. She loved how Rumi’s markings swirled around the ups and downs of her muscles, some of the patterns swirling their way past her shorts and fuck did she want to follow where those patterns went -
“Morning, Rumi.”
“Morning Rums!”
And so their morning started as it normally did, with greetings and food and attempts at flirting.
Attempts being the key word there; Mira almost immediately tried to corner Rumi in the kitchen. Zoey had watched the whole miserable attempt from her perch on the island. Mira brushes Rumi’s disheveled hair away from her face, Rumi smiling into the touch. Mira letting her fingers linger on her cheek, angling her face up to look at Mira directly, lowering her voice into that particular register that made Zoey’s stomach flutter even when it wasn’t directed at her.
Rumi hummed into the contact, pecked Mira once on her lips, and then proceeded to walk away to set a plate down at the table that she grabbed on the way. Mira was left standing there dumbfounded for a moment, Zoey trying her best not to fall off the island laughing.
Mira did not find it nearly as funny.
Now Rumi was standing a few feet away drinking some water, and Zoey decided there was a very obvious problem with Mira’s strategy: subtlety. If Rumi genuinely didn’t recognize when someone was flirting with her, then they just needed to make it painfully obvious.
Luckily, Zoey was not one to be subtle.
She crooked a finger, saying, “Come here.”
Rumi came over without the slightest bit of hesitation, happy as can be, like a puppy.
That alone did something ridiculous to Zoey, her imagination running wild.
Rumi crossed the kitchen and stopped directly in front of the island. She naturally stepped into the space between Zoey’s legs, her markings shimmering. Zoey had seen Rumi’s markings a hundred times now, but fuck she never got used to just how beautiful they were on her girlfriend’s skin. The colors moved almost imperceptibly beneath Rumi’s skin, shifting between blues and pinks and lavender.
“Hi,” Zoey said in a theatrical whisper.
Rumi gazed up at her and giggled, also theatrically whispering, “Hi!” Zoey laughed along with her while she settled her hands on Rumi’s hips, thumbs brushing lightly over the bare skin just above the waistband of her shorts. She gently tugged Rumi closer. Rumi simply kept looking up at her and smiling like she had put the sun in the sky.
“Sleep okay?” Zoey asked, thumbs creating circles on her skin.
“Mhm.”
“Good.” Zoey let the word come out softer than necessary. “You know, you’re super pretty in the morning.” Rumi’s markings flickered, but Rumi herself only hummed in acknowledgement and mumbled ‘thanks’.
Zoey stared at her. That was it?
She slid her hands a little father around Rumi’s waist and said, “That’s all I get?” She could see Mira watching them off to the side, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them like she was watching her favorite show.
Rumi tilted her head like a damn dog as she kept eye contact with Zoey, “Well, what else do you want?”
Zoey’s brain briefly stopped working.
Was she…?
No. No, Rumi absolutely doesn’t understand what she just insinuated. Because if she did, there was no way she’d just be looking at Zoey with that sweet, guileless expression of hers. She decided to throw caution to the wind - and ignore the burning in her core - as she made her next move; one of her hands stayed firmly at Rumi’s hip while the other traveled upward, fingertips brushing along her side before moving around to the back of her neck.
She took her time with her movements, clocking each twitch and flicker of color from her patterns; not because she thought Rumi would pull away. They’d kissed her plenty of times now: softly, lazily, happily. They’ve kissed on couches and beds, up against hallway walls and elevator doors. There was still something tender about it every time.
Every new place Zoey was allowed to touch, every little piece of Rumi that had spent years hidden from the world was now right in front of her. Zoey’s fingertips settled carefully against the nape of her neck, thumb moving through the tiny baby hairs beneath the choppy purple layers.
Rumi shuddered.
There she was.
Zoey’s grin widened at the reaction. Rumi just huffed and leaned in more, eyes flickering down to Zoey’s lips before coming back up. For someone who never initiated anything, she sure knew how to make it obvious what she wanted, Zoey mused. Not that she was complaining.
She kissed her.
Rumi made the softest startled sound against her mouth before kissing her back. Zoey heard Mira bite back a whine nearby, holding herself back and giving them space. Zoey tilted her head and kissed her again and again, slower this time, savoring the warmth of her mouth and the quiet little breath Rumi released through her nose. This was different from their sleepy good morning kisses, different from the quick makeout sessions that Mira or Zoey always initiated.
This had an intention behind it. Zoey really hoped that Rumi could feel it, feel her, as she wanted and wanted -
Rumi’s hand found Zoey’s shoulder and for a terrible moment she thought that Rumi was about to push her away and she had fucked up. But instead she was using to keep her balance against the storm that was Zoey against her lips, bodies flush against one another.
Zoey forgot most of the universe existed.
There was only Rumi between her knees, Rumi’s mouth against hers, Rumi’s radiating warm skin beneath her hands, Rumi Rumi Rumi -
Then Rumi pulled back.
Zoey followed her automatically for an inch chasing her lips, before realizing. Her eyes opened to find both Mira and Rumi looking at her, Mira completely flushed in the face. Rumi on the other hand, simply had a little swollen pink on her lips from the kissing. Rumi stared at her for one long second, then two, before her entire face brightened.
“You’re a really good kisser Zoey, I could do that forever,” Rumi said, sighing, before turning towards the table and saying, “Come on, Mira’s delicious food is going to get cold!” She slipped out from between Zoey’s legs, leaving the shorter girls hands to fall into her lap.
“But…”
Rumi was already at the table, leaving Mira and Zoey in the kitchen. Mira bit her lip to stifle a laugh, shoulders shaking at the expression Zoey was surely wearing on her face. Zoey met her eyes, an entire conversation passing between them without either woman saying a word.
Did you see that??
Yes.
What the hell!
I don’t know.
I HAD HER.
I saw.
I HAD HER, MIRA.
Mira’s eyes simply rolled, and Zoey nearly laughed out loud despite her frustration. At least they were suffering together. This woman was going to kill them.
Meanwhile, Rumi seemed completely unaffected and unaware of the conversation that just transpired, humming to herself as she placed napkins on the table and reached for something off a plate.
“Sit first before you eat.” Mira said to Rumi. Both her and Zoey made their way to their seats, Rumi following suit. Mira started dishing out food onto their plates.
“Yes ma’am.” Rumi said jokingly as she plopped down into her seat, making a grab at what she had been trying to get before. Mira almost dropped the ladle she was using in surprise, heat rising to her face. Zoey’s head snapped to Rumi, but Rumi was already turning her attention towards her plate.
That’s when Zoey saw it, only for a second: a flicker of something in Rumi’s eyes. Not confusion, embarrassment, or the sweet obliviousness that they knew.
For one tiny, crystalline moment, Zoey could swear Rumi had looked…knowing.
Amused.
Confident.
Rumi blinked and the expression disappeared with it, replaced by the same cheerful softness as before. It happened so quickly that Zoey wondered whether it had been there at all.
“Zo?” Mira said, noticing how Zoey was staring a hole into the side of Rumi’s face. Rumi picked up her chopsticks and started shoveling food into her mouth, humming with happiness at the homecooked meal. Mira raised an eyebrow when Zoey met her gaze. Zoey shook her head and started eating.
It was nothing. She must have imagined it, of course.
Because the alternative was that Rumi knew exactly what she was doing to them, and was simply ridiculous.
…Right?