Chapter Text
The honmoon glittered over the city. If she allowed it, Rumi could convince herself she could feel it pulsing, something warm and strong in it like an embrace.
They had won.
Gwi-Ma was gone, never to return given the strength of this new barrier between worlds. The people at Namsan had been saved, surprisingly unscathed. Huntr/x was more popular than ever and, behind the leather and the TV screens, had never been more happy with one another. There were truly no more barriers between them, now.
Only she couldn't help also seeing what they had lost. The hundreds of people just gone, souls already siphoned down to feed the Demon King. The furor over the disappearance of the Saja Boys had died down somewhat, but occasionally Seoul got nostalgic and Huntr/x ended up competing with them in the charts again. Which felt very odd. Bobby, unassuming genius that he was, took Zoey's panicked explanation of Namsan being a charity concert for the missing people and had turned it positive, at least. According to the world, the conspiracy was that Huntr/x had sourced the Saja Boys to stage this big battle as a publicity stunt, getting as many donations for missing people in Korea as they possibly could in the process before the Saja Boys melted back out of the spotlight. TV hosts would sometimes ask them coquettishly where they were keeping 'their Saja Boys', which Huntr/x obviously charmed themselves through, but Rumi knew none of them enjoyed it.
For all that they hadn't really known each other at all, there were still spaces where each of the Boys should have been. Directly after Namsan, Rumi had spent tearful days wrapped up between Mira and Zoey on the sofa telling them through mouthfuls of kimbap and ice cream about Him and the truths and lies he told, what it had done to her confidence that they were doing the right thing, to the black and white idea of humans and demons. They had never seen anything redeeming in any of the Boys but Him, yet somehow that question hung over those four specific demons like no other. Zoey had decided it was because they were hot. Rumi couldn't quite believe her.
Because then, of course, there was Him. His absence cut the deepest, too full of what if's and regret, missed chances and desperate hope to ever lie quietly. Through it all was the new, whining hum of her sword, curved and engraved now in a way it had never been, like the others. They didn't really know, any of them, what the soul He had given her (keep it together, Rumi) had done. Had it truly become her weapon, had it also fed into Zoey and Mira's, whether it was the first glue that started pulling everybody else's hearts in to create that new honmoon, any of it. Zoey had once suggested asking Celine, but something about Rumi's face (which was far harder to control, these days) and Mira's flat "No" made it the last time she did.
So yes, in moments like these, too late at night when she couldn't sleep, when she'd left their warm, full bed to come outside to the balcony and brood? On nights like this she found it difficult to see what they had gained through what they had lost.
Only then, making her jump a little, there were arms wrapping around her waist. Lean, corded arms covered in shapeless fluffy sleeves that crossed over her stomach and pulled her backwards. Like they'd practiced it, Zoey took the opportunity to shimmy between Rumi and the railing, threading her arms through Mira's somehow also around Rumi's waist and leaning up on tiptoes to rest their foreheads together. She felt Mira's chin rest on her shoulder to press her cheek against Rumi's cheek and had that , wonderful sensation of not quite knowing where any of them ended or began.
"Derpy knocked the lamp over." Zoey whispered in explanation. It was a truly staggering coincidence how often Derpy did that when Rumi thought she'd managed to get some alone brooding time to get really miserable. Relaxing back into Mira's chest, she breathed in both of them and decided she didn't mind. More than didn't mind actually. The cold contemplation of loss and absence was brushed away like so much dust by the warmth and strength of these two women - a warmth so complete it was breathtaking.
She suddenly needed to see Zoey's face, really see it. It felt like such a short time ago that she wouldn't allow herself this - to be so relaxed with them, let them touch her the way they really wanted. The way she really wanted them to, not just the snatched, calculated risks she used to take when she couldn't bear not being in their arms anymore.
She raised her hands, brushing the backs of her fingers over Zoey's cheeks only to thread them gently through Zoey's hair and tilt her head back. The gentle smile on Zoey's upturned face was heart-stoppingly lovely, her eyes wide and dark and so, so open. Rumi watched those eyes take in all of her own face, including the patterns barely visible on her skin. The only reaction she saw was Zoey's smile getting wider, warmer, her body pressing forward against her. How in all the turns of hell had Rumi managed to deserve this? How could she possibly accept having all of this, being so full with both of them?
There was a slow but insistent press of Mira's hips against hers, like a question. Rumi remembered what Mira had said when she'd tried to explain this feeling to the both of them. How Mira had looked at her in that way that had Rumi's brain flooding with memories of taming a wayward, hurting, jagged-edged young woman into someone who would accept the love Rumi and Zoey so desperately wanted to give her. What she had said was the only real way to address it.
So she smiled, a heat in it that sparked a little light in Zoey's eyes.
"Take me to bed." She whispered, smoothing a thumb over the shell of Zoey's ear.
Zoey beamed like the sun had just lit up behind her face and she leant in to press a searing kiss against Rumi's mouth. At the same time there was a heated nip of teeth at the nape of her neck coupled with an approving little grunt. It was all the answer she needed. Well. The beginning of the answer anyway. The honmoon and it's night of absences could wait.
By the time they reached the open glass doors to the master bedroom they were a tangle of limbs and kisses, teeth and soft laughs that turned into hitched breaths. The forgotten honmoon glittered and sang over the city.
Apart from where it screamed.
Notes:
Well this just got longer and longer with each try....as it were
Chapter 2: New - Mira
Summary:
Things had settled in the months since the concert at Namsan Tower - in some ways Mira couldn't be happier. In others, everything was getting a lot more complicated…
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
They slept late the next morning. To be fair, Rumi had got up and made them all coffee, but when she'd come back Zoey had waited until she'd put the tray on the bedside table and then bodily locked all of her limbs around her and pulled her back to bed. Mira had kind of assumed they'd all go back to sleep at that point, but apparently Rumi was taking her leadership role very seriously that morning and decided to repay Zoey's misbehaviour with a dose of her 'favourite friend'. Honestly, Mira didn't know how Rumi could somehow reach beneath the bed and unerringly find the one toy she wanted from their secret stash - the woman was an enigma. Mira had ended up with a desperate Zoey wriggling in her arms though, so she hadn't minded. In the slightest. In fact she hadn't minded so much that when Zoey was a sweaty, spent mess she'd rolled her off herself and pulled Rumi in so they were sitting facing each other with their legs around each other's waists, anchoring the toy between them until neither of them could bear it. And then a little more. Rumi was laughing and breathless as she fell back into Zoey's waiting arms and Mira couldn't remember being happier. She was so used to Rumi finding a way to not end up in a naked tangle, it still didn't feel real that they could just sandwich her between them and hold her till she swatted at them both for making her too hot.
Then, unfortunately, it was time to dress for the suits up at the label's office.
They hadn't officially taken a break, like they'd promised, but they weren't releasing songs either. Bobby had them on a relatively steady schedule of talk-shows and appearances. Rumi had floated the idea of an acoustic album not long after Namsan which Zoey had leapt on - they were working on a few versions of their songs that they'd take on air, like on some western radio shows. Mira was finding it surprisingly difficult, she hadn't realised how much she relied on the mixing to make her feel as bad-ass as she sounded. Rumi had given her quite a few one-on-one studio sessions to help her with her confidence. Some of them they'd even done a few good hours work before Mira inevitably jumped her. She couldn't seem to get enough of having Rumi under her hands at the moment. Either of them, really, but especially Rumi. Not because she cared about her more, it was just that she was the one they'd come closest to losing. Either to her patterns or that demon boy Mira refused to name. Zoey had said she was being overly-simplistic and petty about that one. Mira didn't care. She didn't know what to make of whatever Rumi had found with Him so she had decided to deploy her Mira-Number-One-Way-Of-Dealing-With-Shit-She-Didn't-Like:
Not think about it.
Or the variant: Not think about it and drag Rumi close to her any chance she got because it hadn't been that Rumi didn't want her it was because Rumi had been keeping a secret. She hadn't dared voice the relief she'd felt that that's what it had been - it wasn't about her yet. When she and Zoey had banished that unsure look in Rumi's eyes, the slight flinch when they walked in on her naked and she wasn't expecting it - then, she'd tell her. Up until that point Mira wasn't sure if Rumi would feel guilty or not and she didn't want that. They had time now. They all had time.
Apart from when it came to the demons. Which were far less fun and more concerning. Whatever had happened at Namsan that night had not only cut any demon off from going back to hell, but also done something to them. Whatever demons that were stuck on this side were absolutely crazed now. Rabid. There weren't as many of them, but that was more than a good thing. The demons there were didn't speak, they weren't cunning or calculating or even creative. They threw themselves at people, desperate for their souls. It was only the fact that human science and technology seemed to have a repellent effect on them that meant one demon wasn't enough to take out an entire town overnight. Even so, there were too many 'bus crashes', 'sink holes' or 'mudslides' across Korea for any of them to rest easy. Only they were just demons and they couldn't track them all, not if they were far away. They felt blind.
Not only that, but the three of them were hesitant now. Rumi had stopped talking about Him barely a week after Namsan, but when she was talking about Him, it was never just about Him. Mira hadn't been seeing things, Rumi had been asking demons if they were being forced, had started questioning whether or not they were doing the right thing. Which they were, Mira had no doubts, but the reality of the job was suddenly a lot heavier. What made Him different? Did anything make Him different or was it just the choices He made? Things weren't simple anymore and Mira didn't like it. Suddenly travelling the country taking out these crazed demons felt less like hero work and more like mopping up. Especially now that the demons didn't even put up a good fight, just hurled themselves at Huntr\x till they were cut down - the job just wasn't fun any more. Felt kind of dirty at times, if she was honest.
Zoey seemed pretty unaffected by the whole thing, which didn't surprise Mira in the slightest. Rumi was quiet and contemplative, but at least she was looking at Mira again, sharing those glances that said that they were on the same level. Mira hadn't realised how much she'd missed those.
They were sharing one now, as it happened, sitting in the middle of the back seat of the limo, looking over Zoey's head. The radio was on and the news had just finished a report on a gas explosion in a block of flats in Daegu. They'd found that particular demon in the basement, literally crawling the walls with way too many legs, just screaming at everything. Howling its rage at the concrete, its own hunger, the three of them - there had been nothing sane in those eyes, (however many of them there had been) just fury.
She squeezed Zoey's arm to her a little. They'd linked arms when they had got in, better for Zoey to scribble down in her notebook (Mira couldn't tell if it was the current song-lyric notebook or the Bubblegem fan-theory notebook - both were sparkly). Only Zoey had also really wanted to run her fingers over Mira's wrist, so the hand Mira had in Zoey's lap held one side of the notebook steady, lifting her thumb to allow Zoey to occasionally turn a page.
"I wish we could find a way to discover them before they do that much damage." Rumi said quietly. It wasn't the first time.
"Well I wish we knew how to get those souls back," Mira responded. It wasn't the first time she'd said that, either. "I mean, now that we know they're not going to Gwi-Ma, where else are they going…"
"I still think they have to be in the demons themselves, that's why they're so strong." Zoey mused, not looking up. "Maybe those demons are so crazy 'cos they have so many people up in there."
"But when we kill them, nothing comes out. We tried that."
"I even chopped that one's head clean off, remember?" Mira added, "Nothing."
"That was only one method, though." Zoey mused. "There are still a bunch of things we can try whilst vanquishing them, I've been coming up with a few."
Rumi and Mira shared a look again. They both knew what 'a few' could mean.
"Why have you got your demon vanquishing list in your song lyrics book?" Rumi asked eventually. Zoey looked at her like she had suggested jumping in an ice-lake naked.
"I haven't. This is my Post-Namsan-Demon-Slayage book. See? It has the unicorn, the other one has the bunny with a mushroom hat."
"But you were just…"
"I swapped."
Mira looked down at her own hand, which had technically been holding said song-lyric notebook and now, just as Zoey said, seemed to be holding the pages of the demon slaying notebook.
"When did you…nope. Never mind."
Zoey laughed and shook her head at them both like they were the crazy ones before starting to scribble again. There was that little look again, Mira thought, as she caught Rumi's exasperated gaze over Zoey's head. Only then Rumi bit her lip against a smile and discreetly gestured at what Zoey was writing. Mira looked down.
Operation: Get Eaten People Out of Demons and Back into Their Bodies
Code Name: SoulVomit
'I'm so in love with this crazy woman', Mira thought to herself, reaching over to lace the fingers of her still-free hand with Zoey's. The fact that Rumi had leant over and planted a wet kiss directly on Zoey's temple (which made her giggle and squirm rather deliciously) told Mira she wasn't the only one thinking it.
Bobby was his usual mix of concerned, excited and affectionate when they met him at head office. Rumi and Zoey had long ago worked out that if Mira was allowed to talk to suits, suits would end up leaving the office in tears, so she was hoping to just nod off when they arrived. She was vaguely listening - something about pushing for the acoustic release, Rumi said it wasn't ready, but when would it be ready, ratings, relevance blah blah blah. Honestly if it didn't save the world Mira would seriously consider giving the whole thing up. Her plan to snooze was thwarted, however, by Rumi and Zoey taking full advantage of the fact that Mira had the best poker face of them all. If it wasn't Zoey sending truly, truly filthy messages to the group chat it was Rumi's besocked foot sliding dangerously close to the Point Of No Return between Mira's thighs under the table. Bobby glared at them all for a moment before covering for it, of course. This wasn't his first rodeo.
What this ultimately led to was a very frustrated Mira storming out of the office a few hours later with her two wayward band-mates in tow, heading directly for the lift that would take them back down to road level. Because once they were at road level they could get into the car and once they were in the car that cut down the amount of time it would take for them to get home and once they were at home…
Mira decided, as she subtly hitched up the back of Rumi's jeans hard enough she heard her fearless leader whimper a little, that she was ok with how satisfied it made her to put that particular look on Rumi's face. And if there was a little pettiness there, centred on how Rumi had for a moment felt that she could go to whole stupid man for this, then Mira was ok with that too. Not many people could get Rumi of Huntr/x begging - she now considered herself a professional.
She was perfectly happy crowding a now blushing Rumi against the lift wall when their phones all vibrated at the same time and she would also have been happy to ignore it if it weren't for Zoey.
"Guys, it's Celine. She needs to talk, now."
Mira was close enough to Rumi to watch her shut down in front of her. The blush receded and that coolness Mira always hated descended on her face. The fingers that had been (ever so slightly) trembling on Mira's arms turned firm as she moved her away.
"If she needs to talk then we should answer."
Mira ground her teeth. Celine was mentor to all of them and Mira had had certain desires frustrated by that damn phone before, but it hadn't bitten so hard before. It hurt Rumi now and that made an old, familiar rage burn immediately in the pit of Mira's stomach.
Zoey quickly punched in the floor number of the studios and they entered the lobby, passing a couple of wide-eyed trainee groups with bows and smiles before shutting the door of one of the practice studios behind them. Rumi went to sit on the bench in the tech room, Mira and Zoey sitting either side of her like it was their place. Because it was, especially now.
Celine looked tired when she answered the video call. A tiredness that only increased when she saw Rumi. Mira couldn't care less.
"I'm sorry to disturb, I know you are busy."
"We are." Mira replied before Rumi had a chance to. Mira hated how Rumi still frowned a little at her before turning back to the phone.
"What do you need?"
"It's less what I need, girls. I have heard from our contacts."
That got them sitting up. Over the many decades the Hunters had made friends across the country. With the honmoon now in an unprecedented state and demons acting strange, Celine was co-ordinating information from everyone she could. "It's not just the big cities." she continued, her voice melodious even through the phone. "Smaller towns are being affected as well - the incidents that our friends have investigated have all started with a few odd disappearances before an inevitable escalation. These demons aren't concerned with getting as many souls as they can before you arrive - they seem to be working on opportunity alone. Like wherever they were when the honmoon was sealed is where they begin."
"Don't people see them?" Zoey asked.
"They do. Either they attribute it to trauma or the doctors do."
"How does this help us, Celine?"
Rumi's voice was cold and Mira should have liked it.
"Honestly, Rumi, I don't know. There's more detail that I've sent over but I realize that all this really does is tell us that no disturbance is too small to investigate. Perhaps the more tangible information is the universal feeling that the honmoon is acting strangely."
"Strangely? How?"
"Our people are reporting that they can hear it, sometimes even the untrained ones - the pulse is steady, stronger than it has ever been, but there is something discordant in it. The reports taken from survivors of the attacks say the same thing."
"But," Zoey began, "Isn't that how we track groups of demons? I thought only we could hear that."
"Exactly," Celine replied. She was effortlessly graceful in her day-coat and reminded Mira of one of her aunts. "People who are not trained should not be able to hear the honmoon at all. The few of our friends who are mediums say that the sound is not one they've heard before, either. This is something new. Listen for it. Anything we can do to help you find these creatures before they do harm we must harness."
Mira hated it when Celine told them to do things they would have done anyway. Did she think they were still novices at her country home?
"Thank you for the information, Celine. We'll read the full report later and put it to good use."
"Of course you will. I have no doubts."
There was a warmth in that voice now and, suddenly, it wasn't appropriate. This was how it always was with Celine these days - if they were talking shop it was just about fine, but any straying into moments like these, when any of them remembered that they were supposed to be family? It always ended in an awkward silence. Like this one. Mira felt it wash over her like an old friend - it reminded her of breakfasts at home at the weekends. Celine broke it first this time. "Rumi, I…"
"Thank you Celine. We'll be in touch if we need anything."
The call was over before they could see Celine's reaction and Rumi slowly put the phone down to rest it on her knees. Mira didn't need to co-ordinate with Zoey for them to reach for her at the same time. Zoey went straight for a hug, but Mira took one sideways look at the rock-solid set of Rumi's shoulders and decided just to take her hands instead.
"Well done." she said, simply. Rumi looked at her and for a moment all Mira could see was pain - betrayal and regret and yearning and grief. Grief more than anything else. Only then it was gone and Rumi's shoulders slumped, her weight finally falling back against Zoey. She smiled, tired and sad and let go of her phone to squeeze Mira's hands, bring them up to her soft mouth to kiss them. She nodded her thanks rather than saying it, but Mira knew she understood. Zoey didn't butt in, knew that Mira could give comfort and strength here more naturally than she could, so she just burrowed her nose into the hair at the back of Rumi's neck. Sometimes these things just sucked and trying to make it feel better didn't help. Because that's when you start apologizing again - apologizing to them, or for their behaviour - either way it put you right back where you'd just come from. Sometimes it was too late for that. Sometimes things had been said that couldn't be unsaid, truths brought to the surface that couldn't be ignored any more.
Mira just wished Rumi wouldn't hold all the pain in all the time. She'd take just seeing it, after everything, but she was beginning to worry that Rumi was bottling it all up again.
"So," Zoey said, very softly, after a few moments (during which Mira had scooped Rumi's legs up so she was all but cradled in their laps). "Shall we try?"
"Try what?" Rumi asked, sounding as tired as she looked.
"Try listening for the dud chord in the honmoon."
"We've never really listened to the honmoon before," Mira said. "It's been about the singing of the honmoon."
"But we always found the chords in it," Rumi pushed back. "Yes, we were finding the harmony in each other but if we can make it, surely we can listen back."
"Yeah, like listening back to a track you've just put down. Exactly that!" Zoey added as she leapt up, forgetting that she was holding Rumi up. There was a thud and a very unladylike squawk of surprise as Rumi's back hit the bench and Mira hid a snort as she glared up at Zoey. "Sorry! It's just that I've figured out how we're going to do it!"
Notes:
Exposition!
Wow first chapters are hard to get right. Either way - my main goal here was to establish the new intimacy between the girls - polytrix are now and will always be the heart of this fic (regardless of any...additions). Also to start laying some lore about whatever the hell that new pearly honmoon is and what it might have done to the world. All similar/different/parallel headcanons welcome!
Chapter 3: Ricochet - Mira
Summary:
The hunters enact their plan to get a little more intimate with the honmoon and find far more than they bargained for.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Dusk and dawn had always been the best times to interact with the honmoon, Celine had drummed that into them right from the beginning of their training. Mira vaguely understood why - something about the honmoon being ever-changing to the world and dawn and dusk being periods of change. She remembered that Zoey had got really witchy with it for a while, insisting on lighting candles and incense. She certainly remembered being dragged from bed to head up to the top of the mountain to 'see in the dawn'. Luckily Rumi had also been dragged from bed and always managed to both persuade Zoey that true Wicca 'saw in the dawn' through sex and also somehow made sure there was hot tea waiting for them when they got back. These days, of course, Mira could see how it was much easier to hide patterns if you're all basically in cold weather gear.
Today saw them on the top of the tower, the sun dipping below the glittering towers of the city long before it hit the horizon. The shadow of Namsan was already long, its hill a patch of deep purple all the more stark for the artificial lights surrounding it. Mira could never get over the beauty of Seoul. She'd never really lived anywhere else, unlike the other two. She always missed it when they were away.
They sat on the roof, thick jackets on against the breeze, cross-legged and close enough to touch. They rested their hands on each others' knees, one over the other so that they were all connected, palm to palm, fingers lacing lazily together. There was no tension here, no grabbing of each other or holding on. They were here and together, they could relax into that. Rumi had suggested they start with the basics and Zoey had dived into her pool of notebooks until she'd found the right one, saying that she'd changed the lyrics and giving Rumi a hard, affectionate look that dared her to disagree with it. Rumi didn't. So, new words quickly memorized, they began to sing.
We are Hunters, voices strong.
Hearts arising from our song…
It took a round or two to really find themselves. Mira finally tore her eyes away from her city to close them, hear Rumi and Zoey's voice around her, inside her so now she really wasn't sure where she ended and they began. It was no surprise to any of them that it had been after such an exercise that they'd finally fallen into bed together. It had just felt like a natural continuation of the song.
She felt Rumi lift them, her harmony rising and splitting their voices for the first time. Mira shifted next, leaving Zoey with the melody, to spread downwards where Rumi reached up. Each verse they sang they gained strength, each harmony twining around the other like lovers. In pulses Mira would feel her voice pressed against Zoey's, a leading note making it almost too much to bear until they parted again, only to mirror Rumi's, the pure sparkle of an octave leaving a feeling in her heart like the first sharp intake of breath as pleasure bloomed between her legs. It was sensual and sacred this song of theirs. And it was only theirs.
As planned they let it build. Build until Mira almost felt like she was shouting at the sky. It almost physically hurt to stop and now they gripped each others' hands, held on as it felt like they fell weightless from those heights whilst trying to listen. The echo of their song was more than audible - it clung to the honmoon and shivered down its strings of light like a living thing, still part of them. Perhaps it was. They listened for the return, for their song to race along those paths of power until it came right back to them. Which it did, rushing through them with an intensity that stole her breath and sent caresses of sensation down every nerve ending she had before springing off over the city again. From the way Rumi and Zoey were squeezing her hands she wasn't the only one feeling it.
They all flinched towards each other as one of the echoes finally hit something. Their harmonies soured immediately, like a piano lid slamming down on the keys in the middle of a concerto, only the vibrato now carried it back towards the tower. In that wave of sound was something that Mira thought was a voice until it crashed into them and she realized it was a scream. Long and raw, a song until it was a wail, a howl filled with a pain so jagged and acrid it burned her ears as she heard it and scorched her throat like it was her own voice. She instinctively curled in on herself and reached for her girls, their knees drawing up until they could wrap arms round each other's shoulders and press their foreheads together.
It was almost too much, even then, Mira's breath feeling tight and caught in her chest. They all screamed in a very un-hero-like manner when a huge furry head suddenly shoved its way in between them, Mira feeling distinctive little bird-claws digging into her skull and a soft weight nestling in the dip between their heads. The sound didn't lessen, but her breath loosened a little, her consciousness returning enough to her body to really feel the girls under her hands, grounding. Vaguely hoping the others had their eyes closed, too, she turned and buried her face into Derpy's soft cheek and breathed. It was a testimony to how shaken she was that she didn't even mind the fact that one of his tusks was basically up her nose.
Eventually the voice began to ebb, fading out into its own echo. Mira found her breath again, feeling Rumi and Zoey doing the same under her arms and in the puffs of air on her face. The strange cold-hot comfort of the demon creatures seeped into the space the wave left behind, but Mira could hear it ricocheting back along the honmoon away from them, leaving a trail of shivers behind it.
Her hunter instincts locked in - she reckoned she could tell which way it was retreating.
Zoey let out a cry as she pulled away, running towards the edge of the roof in the direction the echo was disappearing in and reaching the railing just as it vanished. Her heart sank. Of course it was in the direction of Namsan.
She let out a long breath and turned to the others as the last echoes of it faded away, unsettling, into the more mundane hum of the city. She imagined her eyes were as wide as theirs.
"Guess that was a demon, then." Zoey said finally, lamely.
"I almost hope it's a particularly powerful one, if they all sound like that I'm never going to sleep again." Rumi added. Mira noted she was still clinging to Derpy like a limpet. She herself reached up and idly scratched Sussie under his demonic chin as he settled himself between her ponytails. Right now even she wasn't going to argue about how comforting it was.
"Well, either way I suggest we dress for a night out." she said, warming to the task as it dawned upon her that action wasn't far away. Now that the fear was gone, all the adrenaline running through her was turning to that tempered determination she had eventually forged from her rage.
The other two looked at each other, then her.
"Why?" they asked in unison. Mira grinned grimly.
"'Cos we're headed to Myeongdong."
They stared at her for another heartbeat or three. Mira watched as two very different expressions spread on their faces and then they were speaking at the same time.
"Oh god it's a summer evening Myeongdong will be packed!"
"Ooh, do you think there'll be time to get tteokbokki?"
Rumi and Zoey bickered behind her as they descended to the penthouse ('How can you possibly be thinking about food at this time!?' 'I'm sorry, Rumi, it's just we skipped lunch to practice…') and Mira noticed that she was feeling a lot more confident about this part of the process. Yes, yes Celine, Zoey and Rumi had all helped her with her confidence in her voice but she was far happier in the dance breaks. Or with the weight of her glaive in her hands.
There was a familiar rhythm to when they got ready. The bickering would pipe down and a reverent hush would come over them as they started to change out of their normal clothes. A hush that inevitably turned to bright eyes and breathless smiles and then the talking would begin again. Only now it would be about blade sharpness and calluses on their hands, the aphrodisiac qualities of the smell of leather and 'can you help me do up these many zips?'. She adored them as a girl-group, she loved them as warriors. This time was no different, only there was a thread of nerves in them that was more pronounced than it usually was. Was this what all demons sounded like? They thought not. Did they think they'd actually get a good fight out of it this time? They hoped they would. Finally, they stood together after giving each other the final once over and each reached out to coax a strand of the honmoon to their will, a final check turned into a sort of ritual.
Mira still felt the extra weight of the curve on her glaive's blade, less frustrated with it now than she had been a few months ago after Namsan. She'd trained with it for days and couldn't deny it was more beautiful than it had ever been. All of their weapons were. Looking at them all, leather and sharp edges cast stark in the light of the honmoon singing through their weapons, she couldn't even care who might be responsible for that new aesthetic. It was theirs now.
One of the private elevators took them down past street-level to a maintenance hatch in the subway. After a moment of listening, they sprung out of the door and hitched themselves onto the sides of the passing Number 4 train. Mira felt her excitement rise as the lights sped past, disorienting, familiar enough with the path that they scuttled up to the roof before the next stop and pushed off up the vent as they passed it. She'd prepped her glaive to hit the manhole cover blunt end first and they shot up into the now dark evening, glancing off electric poles up the hill until they hung on a window ledge looking down into the main street. Myeongdong, as it always did, was lighting up as the sky above it faded to black and neither of the girls had been wrong - the crowds had already begun building and the street food smelled amazing.
Her mouth watering at the thought of hotteok, she cast her eyes around. She was expecting to have to split up to find the demon, but Rumi caught her arm almost immediately and pointed to one of the beauty boutiques. Above the open shop doors, caught in the liminal shadows between the French-style sign and the wall, was a figure barely distinguishable from the shadows it hid in. Warped and smaller than she expected, Mira could hardly figure out the shape of it. Rumi had always had the best eyes.
"How do we do this?" She asked, low.
"We have to get it away from the crowd. If it's just hanging there it's not completely mindless yet." Rumi responded.
"So we scare it, right?" Zoey finished. "Hope it goes somewhere less occupied?"
"Hope," Rumi scoffed, something a little too bitter in her voice. "I guess hope is all we have."
"So let's go." Mira decided for them and stood, curling her voice up in her throat and silently sending it hurtling towards the skulking demon. She intended for it to freeze, look up and see them - even a mad demon knew when they were looking death in the face.
That is not what happened.
Instead the figure immediately curled its body in on itself then snapped it open with a screech. A hideous, percussive scream that blew out half of the lights in the main street and sent the crowd screaming and running for cover. The hunters watched in horror as it clambered, spider-like, along the building, something slightly but hideously too long about all of its limbs. Mira was just thankful there were only four this time.
The three of them recovered from their frozen moment of surprise together and (after a few choice curses in both Korean and English) leapt after it, springing between buildings to propel themselves along. The demon, still somehow in shadow despite the jagged neon lights (Mira wished she could get a visual hold on it, she was a professional medium for god's sake), whipped between people and signs and food carts like a mean-spirited wind. They almost missed it, darting down a smaller alleyway, but Mira grinned to herself when it did. She'd spent too much time here in her rebel-teen days not to know where they were headed and started stretching out her long legs, pushing forward from the others to head it off at the main road. As she had predicted, the demon swerved out into the wide causeway, pivoting desperately out of the way of her spinning glaive with a roar of fury as she got in its way. Zoe and Rumi, trusting her knowledge of the city, had blocked the other way out, forcing the creature forwards.
At the base of the tower block in front of it were a pair of metal gates, flimsy enough the demon ripped them open easily and skittered into the tunnel beyond. A tunnel that ended in one of Seoul's many hidden concrete car parks. The beast was obviously tiring, slamming from one wall to another as it ricochet around the walls. There was an electricity generator in one corner and Mira gritted her teeth against the graunching of metal against metal as the demon forced its way inside the protective chain fence only to find itself trapped, broken fence behind it and tall, solid concrete in front. It did the only thing it could do and lurched upwards, only to find Rumi at the top of the concrete wall, swinging out at it with her sword. It dodged, but only just, crashing back to the ground. Mira readied herself for it to hurl itself her way and saw Zoey to one side of her, Rumi not quite prepared to jump down to it but perfectly balanced and ready to do so in a second.
To her surprise it didn't go for any of them, but rattled around the make-shift cage until it skidded to a halt at the back of it, bracing itself against the two corners of wall, legs scraping the ground as it tried to press itself further and further into the concrete. Either it was too crazed to think of dissipating, or it couldn't.
Mira and Zoey darted closer, shimmying carefully through the sharp, jagged edges of the fence. As they did so, it screamed again. Properly. Only this time they weren't half a city away. It tore at Mira in a way she wasn't expecting, unease blooming in her stomach and some sort of lump catching in her throat at the raw emotion of it. Why did it almost sound familiar?
It had curled up against the corner, claws scratching bloody at the rough wall like it had already given up. Finally, as that scream battered her soul again, Mira felt she could get a good look at it. Smaller than most of the demons they had fought recently, the shadows surrounding it somehow billowed around it independent of the tinny orange light of the street lamp. Only now she was closer it looked less like shadow and more like dark clothing. Once her mind had figured that out, it started putting the rest of the shapes together - hands all too human save for the patterns and the claws, shoulders hunched and shaking with the effort it was taking to scream, less rage in that voice now than despair. The sound tore at the honmoon around her, making her glaive tremble strangely under her fingers, and for a moment it almost looked like the air around the demon shimmered, like in a heat wave.
The head on those shoulders darted sideways as the scream devolved into pained sobs that sporadically lengthened into groans and snarls, the glint of an eye sharp and manic from underneath a lock of hair. Hair that, now that Mira thought about it, looked incredibly familiar.
"Holy shit," she heard Zoey breathe from beside her, as her brain caught up with her eyes with all the impending doom of a high speed train. "Holy shit, it's Romance."
Notes:
Bonus Chapter because I couldn't wait until next week to upload it!
Also because I realized that chapters one and two were originally written as one chapter and then split when I realized it was 6000 words long (oops). I kind of felt the pacing was off posting just the first half!
Chapter 4: Tangled - Zoey
Summary:
This isn't the demon they thought they knew. This isn't the honmoon they thought was theirs.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
None of them moved. Zoe didn't know if she could. The last time she had seen Romance properly he'd been all supreme confidence and dark sensuality, the memory hazy but real enough for that hideous mix of desire and fear to roil in her gut. This Romance, half sobbing and clawing at the wall? She wouldn't have recognised him if it wasn't for the hair. Even if it was greasy and droopy.
"Rumi?" Zoe asked. "Rumi, what do we do?"
"Kill him." Mira said immediately from beside her. Zoe and Rumi looked over, keeping an eye on Romance, who seemed to have curled up on himself. Mira's hard look wavered. "Right? We kill him right?"
"I…don't know, Mira." Rumi called out softly from atop the wall. Romance whimpered in the pause. "I'm not sure I feel comfortable with that."
"He's a demon." Mira argued.
"He's in pain." Zoe countered. And that was the point, really, wasn't it? Because this wasn't some crazed, slavering demon about to eat souls. She knew it shouldn't matter what his form was, but it did. He was now raking his sharp claws into his hair and down his cheeks, a grimace of pain so twisted on his face she could see all his teeth.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Do you feel like it's a good thing right now, Mira!?" Zoe snapped. "Sorry." she apologised immediately, her nerves fraying until her fingers started tingling. "I just don't know what to do."
"Neither do I, Zoe." Rumi mediated. "Killing him is technically the right thing to do - who knows how many people he's killed."
Romance howled, a sound that started small and tortured and ended in him throwing his head back to the sky, veins stark and violent in his neck with the force of it. The three of them let it happen, waited almost motionless until it trailed off into something that made Zoe think of those awful dogs at the pound who never got adopted. That probably wasn't a helpful thought, she told herself. He jerked as Rumi moved, something haunted and crazed in his eyes as he watched her leap deftly to the the top of the generator and then down to the ground the other side of Mira. "I'm going to try and go near him." she said.
"To do what?" Mira asked.
"I don't know," Rumi said, sounding exasperated. "But I know it doesn't feel right just killing him."
Zoe could see that Mira wanted to argue, but could also see how those big dark eyes of hers kept looking over to where Romance was shivering in his thin black robes. She didn't know what to say.
Rumi started moving slowly, reaching out to lean her sword against the wall nearest her. She stepped away from it and started to hum, low and soothing. Zoe thought at first it was Golden, but knew immediately that wasn't right - it was too mellow, the notes too close together. Romance's shoulders tightened, but he stopped shaking. In-between her humming Rumi began speaking to him, saying his name, telling him she was going to come closer, not to try anything. Zoe could practically hear Mira's fingers grinding on the hilt of her glaive she was gripping it so hard. She, in comparison, had so loose a hold on her knives that one little move would send them flying towards him. She took him in, how his head had darted so that one flashing yellow eye was tracking Rumi now, the fingers less clawed on the wall, breathing hard.
She suddenly realized that Rumi had stopped singing and talking entirely, a low curse coming from Mira beside her.
"Um."
When she looked over, there was Rumi, sword in hand. Sword in hand and looking down at said sword like it had just bitten her. She looked up at them, casting wary looks at the demon not far from her. "You saw me put that back on the wall, right?"
"Absolutely."
"You didn't summon it?" Zoe asked in a whisper. Rumi shook her head.
"Okay." she said slowly, leaning over and putting it next to the wall again. Romance's eyes were glued to it. She started moving forward again and this time Zoe saw it - one moment the sword was leaning against the wall, the next it was in Rumi's hand as she tried to step away. They all stared at it this time.
"You sure you didn't summon it?"
"You know she didn't, Zoe."
"It's never done it before." Rumi said finally, something very quiet and pensive in her voice. One look at her face and Zoe figured she was immediately thinking the same thing. This was the first time they'd gone against one of the Saja Boys since Namsan and the sword, well, the sword….
"Try getting close with it in your hand." she suggested.
"I don't want to hurt him."
"Honestly, it would make me feel better anyway." Mira piped up. Rumi shot her a glare and turned the blade so the hilt was facing forward, blade towards her back. It was a visual gesture only, Zoe knew damn well Rumi was just as deadly with it starting from this position. Romance was still just watching her, but something in his poise suggested he was ready to run. Zoe nervously shook her blades again.
"Romance," Rumi tried again. "Romance, I don't want to hurt you, not unless you make me. You're in pain, right? Let me see if I can…"
She never got to finish the sentence. He lunged at her, face contorted in a grimace, sharp talons extended out in front of him. Not even the souped-up demons they'd killed lately had moved that fast. It all happened too quickly for Zoe - one moment he was motionless and the next he was so close to Rumi Zoe could already see in her head the blood that would pour from Rumi's wounds, only then Rumi was shouting - desperate but clear. 'Stop', she heard Rumi say, something thrumming and deeper in her voice than there should be, like that awful moment backstage at the Awards. The 'Stop' reverberated through her, a bloom of pink unfurling in her mind until it shifted to white and hooked into the part of her that warmed every time they sang, gentle but strange. She blinked.
Romance's teeth were gnashing against the sword Rumi had thrown up to protect herself. Only it wasn't a sword. Carved metal in familiar patterns swirled round the crystal core of a staff, a shining thread holding what looked like small balls of light at one end. The soft white light of it illuminated the shock on Rumi's face.
"The fuck is that!?" Mira asked. Rumi slowly turned to her and it was obvious without her saying anything that she had no idea. Only it didn't matter, because Romance, thwarted, backed up and was poised to lunge again, Rumi's surprise making her sluggish. Mira wasn't so affected, a blur at Zoe's side. "Get the fuck away from her!"
Zoe zipped outwards, springing off the flat surface of the concrete to land at the top of the wall. She had a good view when Mira swung her glaive down only to find it shattering into stars inches from Romance's face, coalescing again on her hands and feet. She stumbled, her weight slamming into Romance and knocking him off his trajectory before they both rolled up. She stared down at her hands and shook them, violently, but the light, embroidered in the honmoon swirls, stuck stubbornly to her like fingerless gloves. "The fuck!?"
It was chaos for a while after that - neither Rumi nor Mira knew what to do with these new weapons and it was all too much of a scrum for Zoe to throw anything without risking hitting one of her girls. She found herself paralysed in a way she hadn't since basic training - too many options and not enough focus to choose between them all. 'Do not lose faith in your training,' Celine had said. 'Know it will serve you and trust your gut.'
She burst through the spinning chaos of options and her gut apparently chose screaming Romance's name, which did nothing but make him jerk slightly before snarling in Mira's face. She didn't know why it had felt right to do so, only that she'd caught the look Jinu had on his face when he saved Rumi and part of her didn't want to believe that it wasn't possible for others. It couldn't have just been Jinu, right? There was hope for all of them, for everyone, right?
She doubted herself when he suddenly launched upwards at her, face nothing but contortion and teeth, eyes crazed. That training kicked in and she simply stepped off the wall in time to push off him, sending him crashing back to the floor. She did a little nervous flip before she landed again, only to see Mira roar in frustration, finally giving up on trying to get her glaive back and opting to just fully punch him in the face. He bounced off the wall and used his momentum to take Mira by surprise, running her down to the ground. Then all Zoe could see, like the world had gone into slow motion, was his arms raising, claws bared, muscles in his back rippling - Rumi, face dropping in horror, discarding her now-staff and preparing to just throw herself at them - Mira's arms moving to defend herself but it wouldn't be in time. It wasn't fair, all of a sudden, that they had to do this again. It wasn't fair that demons weren't just bad guys now and and these ones in particular had been friends with Jinu only had they even been friends or was he using them but if he was then what were their weapons doing and…
"Stop!" she heard herself yelling, hating how it felt to let the blades go - deadly and unerringly accurate at this range - wished, just desperately wished that she wasn't going to have to hear the dull thud of them sinking into Romance's back before he split into smoke. If he even did now the honmoon was sealed.
Only instead, behind her scrunched eyes, she only heard Romance yelp in surprise, something hitting the ground and rolling. Rumi's voice cut off mid-word and Zoe opened her eyes again in the sudden silence.
Romance was the one who had hit the ground, a ripple in the air she knew was the honmoon rolling off him and down the alleyway. Her blades had not, in fact, hit their mark but seemed to have tangled around him. Tangled around him, that is, because there was clearly some kind of net attached to them which was now wrapped around his body. Absurdly, her mind immediately likened him to a captured mermaid from a fairytale - especially with the flowing hair and the utter outrage on his face that made his mouth hang open like a fish.
"What. The. Fuck." Mira finally said again, having flipped back up to her feet. Rumi just stared and looked dumbly at Romance, at Mira, at Zoe. At her sword that was no longer a sword. Everything was suddenly very quiet. Zoe's brain was doing that thing where it was thinking of so many things at once it became white noise and therefore strangely soothing in a 'I'm about to have a breakdown' kind of way.
"Now what?" Rumi asked. Zoe realized with horror that she was looking up at her.
"Ummmmm," she replied, the panic beginning to creep into the edges of the white noise. "I don't know."
"He's going to go ape-shit again," Mira warned, alternating between tugging irritably at her new shiny gloves and stamping what Zoe could now see were boots on her feet. "I can see it in his eyes."
"He seemed to like your singing, Rumi. That seemed to calm him a bit." Zoe suggested lamely.
"Wasn't he just waiting to surprise me?"
"Well give me a few minutes and I'll try and think of something else."
"No, no," Rumi soothed, taking a breath. "I'll give it a try."
She started humming again, that same tune from before. There was something intimate in the closeness of the harmony, the cycle of notes that would have been repetitive only in Rumi's hum was the certainty that each phrase meant something different. Zoe wished she could remember where she'd heard it before.
Romance's chest was heaving , breath coming out of bared teeth. Even from up on the wall she could see his eyes tight with pain, shudders racking through him. Every now and again his eyes would close with it. She recognised that wince.
"I think it's his head," she murmured as she slowly dropped down to stand next to Mira. "I think there's something wrong with his head."
"Well we knew that." Mira grumbled as Rumi moved, with her customary grace, towards him. Romance squirmed a little, but his eyes were darting around at all of them. And the staff.
If she really thought about it, Zoe would be able to say that she felt something before Rumi reached out her hand and the staff was suddenly in it. Something like a gentle intake of breath, only it wasn't sound. Like the first flutter of your heart when someone you've wanted to be close to forever first lands a kiss on your neck. They'd pulled their weapons from the honmoon a thousand times before. It had never quite felt like that.
Rumi's voice got stronger as she got closer and, both suddenly and inevitably, she sang a phrase that hung in the air, floating up only to descend. It sounded like what Zoe imagined flying would feel like. With a gentleness that her black,studded outfit made look very weird, Rumi lifted the staff to touch it softly to Romance's chest. He cocked his head at her, looking down at the staff and back up at Rumi's face. This was good, Zoe thought. He reached his hands, kept close to his body by the net, to the base of staff, curling long fingers (still beautiful even with the claws) round where it touched him. This was potentially good, Zoe thought again, optimistically. The pained, curious grimace turned into a confident smirk. Oh shit, Zoe thought, unsurprised.
Only Rumi wasn't born yesterday and Zoe saw Romance's body jerk at the same time as he roared, the sound just as horrifying as it had been when she'd first heard it. This time, though, it was countered by Rumi's voice, Full-Powered-Rumi starting an ascending phrase on way too high a note whilst giving Zoe every confidence she was going to absolutely nail it. Zoe shivered, feeling something (some things?) running over her skin and blinking until she realized it was tiny threads of light, like ley-lines shimmering all around them, something wrong and juddering as they got closer to Romance. The honmoon. She could see the honmoon, could see it spreading from Rumi's voice. Only this wasn't the vague sketch she was accustomed to seeing - this honmoon had threads thousands of times more numerous. The honmoon she was used to always reminded her of a musical staff, multiplied over and over. This was more like someone had cooked ten thousand packs of the thinnest noodles in the world and was waving them about in the air. It occurred to her that she needed to work on her metaphors.
She could see every thread as it fluttered, or tried to, at the thrumming beat of Rumi's voice. Tried to, because as it got closer to Romance it somehow became both such a deep red it was barely visible and that acrid, neon blue that hurts to look at. Both of those. At the same time. And it was knotted. Knotted like a tangle of thread, or the drawing of an over-active child with too much energy given crayons. It buzzed, somehow, around his head and she could see it passing through him. She watched as it pulsed, static like a swarm of bees filling the air until that sound was chased by Romance's agonized shout of pain. It was the honmoon hurting him. Not with its gold/blue/white light, not with the power of song and love and all that hero-stuff, but because it was tangled and wrong and too bright and too dark and too quiet and too loud. It looked like every tortured night she'd ever had, desperately trying to sleep while her head was fizzing tiny knives into every insecurity she'd ever nursed.
She realized with some horror that she was crying.
Romance's foot broke out of the net as he writhed within it. The Hunter in her snapped back and she instinctively reached for the blades she no longer had.
"A little help, guys!?" Rumi yelled. The honmoon started collapsing on itself around Romance's head the second she stopped singing. Her eyes were panicked as she started up again, her face urging them to join their voices to hers to strengthen it.
"I don't know this song, Rumi!" Zoe called back, rushing towards her and bodily throwing herself onto Romance' thrashing legs. They were kicking so hard she felt like she was on a bucking bronco so she wrapped her own legs around his, hooking them around his ankles and gripping her strong fingers round his thighs ('don't think about it', she told the part of her brain that immediately started freaking out - 'we can think about it later.')
Rumi was still looking at her expectantly, though, so she focussed on Rumi's lips and opened her own mouth, letting a voice come out even if was wrong. She felt Romance's claws around one of her wrists, flinching as it broke skin but then Mira was there, straddling Romance's chest and leaning over him to pin his arms to the ground with her knees. She tried to cast her mind back to when they'd all been on the roof, when they'd joined their voices, their souls together to the honmoon. Rumi knew the melody. Rumi knew the lyrics. She trusted Rumi.
I've been wanting to change, now I know we can change…
She almost felt them collide in the honmoon as her voice snapped into place next to Rumi's and she took a breath, giving every part of herself she could over to her. The words, the melody came to her through her heart and out of her mouth and a feeling like yearning, like nothing she'd ever felt, suffused every part of her body. She breathed again, allowing her brain to process the stimuli battering it from every sense.
All the secrets that keep me in chains and…
From the moment she had started singing the same light illuminated the honmoon as Rumi's. Only not quite the same, like she was the moon reflecting Rumi's sunlight. The two of them sang until Romance calmed, until she was caught off guard by Mira's arm reaching, balletic, behind her. She looked up to see Rumi's eyes widening even bigger whilst looking at where Romance's head should be. It looked like Mira was pulling something. That's because, Zoe's subconscious realized, she was. As Zoe and Rumi watched, they could see Mira's shoulders shifting, arms strong but relaxed like she was when she danced. Zoe caught sight of two elegant fingers smoothing down one of the threads of the honmoon. And it moved with her. Next she saw Mira's other hand pull almost downwards and this time those fingers were gently teasing two tangled strands apart.
She was untangling him. Mira was fully weaving the honmoon back to how it should be as Rumi and Zoe sang. Zoe was so immediately impressed she felt herself fall in love with Mira all over again (again). Even like this, with Zoe unable to see her properly, she was mesmerized with how Mira moved - the ripple of her shoulders under the jacket, the smoothness of her arms and wrists as she gently pulled strands of the honmoon away. A sticky knot was teased until it gave up and Zoe was so distracted by Mira's fingers and the way they rippled it took Rumi kicking her to make her realize she'd basically stopped singing. It was also at that moment, as Zoe looked up to grumble, that she realized that Rumi was crying.
Why does it feel right…
Zoe watched Rumi cry for a moment, struck in a mixture of awe and horror at how beautiful she was. She knew, all of a sudden, where she'd heard this song before. She'd heard it in those horrible, lonely nights where either she or Mira would wake to find Rumi gone, wake the other and go look for her. Rumi would always be on the balcony, looking out at the city. And sometimes she'd be humming this. Something swelled in Zoe at that moment and she needed to take a breath out of phrase.
No one sees me the way you do…
Zoe didn't know how she knew, but there was now no question in her mind that the resurge of longing she felt in her chest wasn't her own. Rumi slipped into a harmony on the chorus this time round and Zoe also knew, as Rumi looked down at her in surprise that Zoe wasn't the one she was expecting to hear beside her. That shock was followed by a short moment of such grief that Zoe felt her own chest tighten, only then Rumi was smiling at her through her tears and even though Zoe knew for a fact that Rumi had just hidden herself from them again, that smile was so genuine and tentative and loving that she had to reach out to her, letting Rumi tangle their hands together. She just loved her so much, Zoe thought as Rumi's fingers tightened hard enough to bruise. So much. That thought was all her own.
She loved Rumi so much that it took her a moment to realize that Romance wasn't fighting at all anymore. His muscles under her hands, her thighs, were lax. She and Rumi shared a look and Rumi slowly took the staff away from his chest. Zoe leant forward, crawling a little up Romance's body until she could poke her head over Mira's shoulder. Mira's bare neck was covered in a sheen of sweat. If Zoe hadn't been singing at the time, her mouth would have dropped open at what she'd been missing.
The honmoon, so jagged and hideous around Romance's head, was really being teased out. There were little puffs of what looked like smoke sometimes when Mira touched a really awful bit, but already the two extremes of colour and light and sound in it were lessening. It was even more beautiful watching Mira work when she could really see it and she carefully rested her chin on Mira's shoulder, watching for any sign the contact wasn't welcome. Mira immediately relaxed slightly into it and Rumi stepped forward that extra few inches to press her legs against Mira's other side. They held each other in this new honmoon and at the moment they all touched Zoe felt something in her loosen, her shoulders dropping from their anxious perch up by her ears.
I don't trust it, but I want to…
Romance was looking at nothing but Mira's face. His crazed energy was gone, replaced by something that looked like a tranquil worship. Zoe could still see the tightening of his eyes sometimes but it was clear that the pain was lessening. The way he looked at Mira made something soften in Zoe - whatever emotion he was feeling made him look suddenly beautiful again. Not beautiful like he had been at Namsan, all hard edges and forbidden desires, but soft and hedonistic, like he'd brush his lips over your temple and run gentle fingers down your spine. She was probably getting distracted. Or it was this song, she thought, something sensual lurking expectantly beneath the hope in the melody.
Mira shifted underneath her and Zoe accommodated for it naturally, slipping her hands around Romance's now relaxed wrists as Mira moved gently off his chest and around him. Zoe gently moved those hands together and held them against his stomach as she shimmied a little further up his body. This was a necessary shimmy, otherwise she'd have been fully straddling his hips. Definitely distracted, she thought.
Mira meanwhile had turned so she was kneeling by his head, facing her. Her expression was determined, focussed entirely on the remaining tangles around Romance's head. He hadn't taken his eyes off her, now looking up at her above him like she was some kind of goddess. Zoe could relate, honestly.
Rumi seemed to know what Mira needed immediately, kneeling next to them and reaching over, gently cradling his scalp in her hands. His mouth was so close to the vulnerable part of her wrists, Zoe suddenly thought, anxiety blooming in her stomach. Only Romance barely seemed to notice Rumi lifting his head to allow Mira to shuffle her knees under it, laying him gently back down so he rested on Mira's thighs. His mouth was slightly open, his breath still audible as little gasps and puffs of air. 'I must either be in shock or recovering from shock', Zoe thought to herself as images of where those sounds might also be appropriate (or inappropriate as the case may be) flooded her brain for a moment. She shook her head and concentrated on singing.
Let the past be the past…
She and Rumi watched Mira free him entirely, Rumi having put her hand on Zoe's hands which were holding Romance's hands. Connected this way Zoe could almost feel him, not part of their song but so close she could taste it.
Their song was no longer a thing of strident, immediate power but more unending - quiet but strong. Zoe could see it fuelling Mira as fewer and fewer tangles stood between her and Romance. Could now see the pulsing light from her and Rumi pushing at the the parts of the honmoon still angry and jagged, flooding it with their tender light just as Mira pulled from the other side.
We could be…
Then, all of a sudden, it was done. Mira pulled away the final tangle and the last barrier fell - it felt like a vacuum had just appeared and Rumi and Zoe's voices swept through it in a rush, banishing not only the vestiges of wrongness but then through Romance like a wave along a shore - leaving the both of them breathless and silent.
Everything now was suddenly very silent. Very silent and very still, the only movement the slow stroking of Mira's clearly tired hands through Romance's hair. Zoe could feel his breath under her, now slow and strong, fingers ever so slightly curled around hers. His eyes were closed, lips parted with an easy breath. Every line of pain and tension on his face was gone. There was a shimmer to his patterns more pearlescent than oily. His skin was warm.
Zoe sat back properly on her haunches with a huff of breath and felt Rumi's weight fall against her in turn. They looked at each other, at Mira. At the staff, lying crooked on Romance's shoulder where Rumi had dropped it. At the weave of the net glittering around his body. At the now dull glow of the gloves on Mira's hands.
The night had just got a lot more complicated.
Notes:
Action scenes give me the screaming heebie-jeebies - I just hope it makes sense! Weaving this particular song into this scene was a no-brainer, but I honestly give myself feels just reading it back. How does every ship in this film have me in a choke-hold?!
Chapter 5: Beasts - Zoey
Summary:
So apparently they have an unconscious demon on their hands now. And none of them (except for maybe Mira) can bear the thought of just killing him. So what happens now, and why does it seem to involve sausage noodles?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Zoey felt Rumi consciously slowing her breathing as she leant against Zoey's side. Now that things were beginning to calm down, she had so many questions. So many. There was only one thing she really wanted to say at this moment, however.
"Hey, Rumi?"
"Yeah?"
"That song was really beautiful."
She felt Rumi look up at her and turned towards her, noting the suddenly very wary look on Rumi's face.
"Oh. Zoey, I…"
"It was really beautiful, Rumi." she said again and leant forward to kiss her forehead. "I just wanted to say that."
She didn't like the relief that flooded Rumi's face as she realized that Zoey wasn't going to ask. It reminded her too much of the look Rumi would give them when they finally gave up on convincing her to go to the bathhouse. Still, her uncle had taught her that everyone grieves in their own way and she was going to let Rumi do what she needed to do. For a while, at least.
"Thank you." Rumi murmured softly. "For trusting me. You sang it so beautifully as well. We really have to get you on the melodic lines more often."
Zoey giggled a little, the familiar argument very relieving.
"So," she started. "How about them weapons, eh?"
"I don't even know where to begin."
"And the honmoon?"
"What about it? The fact that we could see it in so much more detail, the tangle, the colours…"
"..Mira being able to touch it, having such control over it with our voices? Yeah," Zoey agreed, "I should have been more specific with that question."
"…so soft…"
She and Rumi were looking at each other when the whisper interrupted them so Zoey saw Rumi's eyes widen at the same time hers did. They both turned their heads to look at where Romance's head was still lying in Mira's lap. Mira, who was still stroking his hair and clearly hadn't yet realised she'd said that out loud.
They both saw the moment that she did. Watched with increasingly delighted grins on their faces as she froze, looked up to check they weren't looking, blushed furiously when she realized they were and immediately leapt up. Romance's head hit the concrete with a thud and his face screwed up again, a rather pathetic whimper emitting from those pouty lips of his. Mira froze, all gangly panic like when they'd first met her.
"Uh, sorry…I mean, I'm not sorry! Because he's a demon and we don't care if we hurt hi….I mean. Wait. I didn't…"
She huffed out a breath in exasperation and then coughed rather adorably into a delicately curled fist. For all her insistence that she'd moved on from the posh life, she always reverted to genteel manners when embarrassed.
She glared at them both like they were ones who had just been caught fondling the albeit very beautiful hair of one of their sworn enemies. "What do we do now?"
Rumi slumped beside her.
"I feel like we've been asking that question all night."
They were quiet for a moment and Zoey felt her mind kick into gear. She shifted to get comfy and the floor she was sitting on grunted slightly. Oh yeah.
Mira was smirking a little as she squeaked and shimmied to one side of the prostrate demon between them. She did notice, however, that neither Rumi nor she stopped touching him. It was the kind of thing she always noticed when cogs were whirring in the back of her head. She'd long stopped getting self-conscious about how long it took to align them, but never was able to get over how Mira and Rumi just waited for her. Trusted that whatever came out would be worth the wait.
"Ok." she said finally. "I feel that we have three options."
"Only three?" Mira asked from in front of her, still standing.
"Ok maybe four."
"Hit us with it, Zoey." Rumi said, quiet and strong beside her. Zoey felt the familiar tickle of nerves she always felt when people were really listening to her. It was just as familiar a habit now to brush it away when she was with Mira and Rumi.
"Ok. Option number one: we kill him."
The silence was palpable. "Option number two: we leave him here."
Rumi tilted her head. Mira scowled. "Option number three: we find a secret location under the city and lock him up in there until we decide what to do with him."
Mira sighed deeply, cocking one hip and putting her face in her hand.
"And option number four?" Rumi asked, sounding slightly desperate.
"Option number four: we take him home and keep him there."
"How is that an option?!" Mira asked. Zoey put her hands up.
"Hey, I'm just laying out the potentials, not saying if they're good or not. However," she added, taking a deep breath. The nerves came back full force.
"Zoey?" Rumi prompted, a too-warm hand on hers. Zoey looked over at her and took another breath.
"I'm not happy with option number one." she admitted in a rush. "I'm sorry if you guys want to do that and I don't want to be a bother but I feel really uncomfortable and if you guys disagree then I totally understand and…"
"Zoey." Rumi said again, stronger. She squeezed Zoey's hand and leant up to press a quick, firm kiss on her cheek. "It's ok. I'm glad you said it. I think I kind of agree."
"I don't." Mira said flatly. Zoey looked over to see her crossing her arms. "But I do know that if we all have a free veto, I'm vetoing number two. He's still a demon. He will hurt people if we just leave him. I won't do that."
"Number three for me for the same reason," Rumi said, nodding. "I don't want to risk holing him up somewhere only for him to break out and we're back to the beginning."
The silence was somehow even more palpable than before.
"So," Zoey started. "That rather suggests we go for option number four…."
"I'm not keeping a demon in my damn house."
"You're fine with half a demon." Rumi countered, very quietly. Zoey put both her hands on Rumi's and squeezed.
"That's different," Mira soothed immediately, coming forward to kneel by Romance's head. "You're only half."
"And you're you," Zoey added quickly, seeing a shadow passing behind Rumi's eyes like she was going to argue. "We know you. And you've never actively tried to end the world. That counts for something."
Rumi couldn't quite stop herself smiling at that, inclining her head in acknowledgement.
"We could try the Loft above the penthouse - that has heavy duty doors on the vaults." she suggested.
"Can't he just, you know…poof?" Mira asked.
"Hmmm - I mean the whole penthouse is coated in the honmoon right? That thing we did with Celine when we first moved in?"
"But the Loft is within the honmoon, Zoey - he'll already be inside so he could attack us at any time." Rumi reminded her. "Although it might hinder his ability to poof if he's surrounded by it."
"What about the Snug?" Mira asked. "The training room is fully reinforced the whole way round, it's directly under the penthouse so we're not far from home but it's outside of the honmoon so if he tries anything we're still safe. Doesn't stop him poofing away but we could keep watch on him until we figure out what to do."
The Snug was the apartment under the penthouse. They had purchased it originally to make sure there was a whole level between them and everyone else - but soon they'd realised that there was enough room to set up a proper training room there, looking out over the city. Perhaps even more importantly, however, it was where they each had their own space beyond their own rooms. Mira kept her entire soft toy collection down there, Zoey had set up an ideas room that could genuinely make anyone's head hurt if they spent more than five minutes in there. Rumi hadn't been in her room for a while.
It wasn't a bad idea. Well, actually it was a very bad idea, but it seemed to be the least bad of the bunch. Just as Zoey was really trying to imagine what it would be like, she felt a familiar tingle against her thigh and she watched them all jump as their weapons (or whatever they were now) faded into the honmoon, having decided apparently they were unneeded. It wasn't at all the first time they had done this - usually the girls themselves banished them themselves at the end of the fight, but it had a strange significance in the moment.
"Ok then." Rumi said finally, standing. "Apparently we're decided."
Zoey looked up at both Mira and Rumi - they looked about as resentful and weirded out as she felt. It was strangely reassuring.
"This feels so bizarre." Zoey grumbled, pushing off Romance's stomach spitefully to help herself stand. He grunted at the pressure and it made her feel a little better.
"So, so bizarre." Mira agreed. She hesitated. "Wait, how are we going to get him there?"
"I guess we carry him." Rumi said after a moment. Mira sighed and rolled up her sleeves, bending to pick him up. Rumi stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and a distinctly cheeky grin on her face. "I'll do it."
"Aren't I the one who normally…carries….the stuff….?"
Mira trailed off and Zoey felt her mouth drop open as Rumi reached down and hooked a hand under Romance's shoulder-blades, scooping him up into her arms like he weighed nothing. Her thin jacket wasn't quite enough to stop Zoey's eyes going straight to her lean muscled arms flexing as she settled Romance comfortably, princess-style, in her arms. Part of that involved her rolling her shoulders, stretching her neck side to side to make a long, strong line. Zoey's eyes helplessly followed that line down to her shoulder and skipped over to Rumi's collar bone that lurked behind the now open collar of her shirt. Suddenly it was all she could look at.
Rumi looked up and saw them staring. Her smile instantly faded.
"Oh, I'm sorry I just thought…"
"Nononononono," Zoey babbled, pushing on Romance's body to make Rumi curl him back into her chest where she'd started putting him back down. Mira was right beside her but Rumi's eyes were panicked. An anxious glimmer (Zoey had started categorising them, obviously) shivered over the patterns framing her beautiful face. She was backtracking now.
"It's just that I'm a bit stronger than I look now and I just thought…."
"Yeah, we noticed." Mira interrupted her.
"I'm so sorry, I just thought it would be funny because...."
"Insanely hot."
"….what?" Rumi asked, looking over dumbstruck at Zoey. Zoey just nodded dumbly at her, trying to get some moisture back in her throat.
"You. Insanely hot. Just. Hot."
"You just picked him up like he was a paper doll." Mira added, sounding awestruck and a little breathless. "Just…whoop, up he went."
"Insanely. Hot."
Rumi blushed at the same time as an embarrassed smile spread over her face. She chuckled a little.
"Oh. Well I guess that's ok then."
"Are you.." Zoey had to pause to clear her throat, suddenly hyper aware of where her and Rumi's fingers were touching, surrounded by the silk on Romance's thin clothes. "Are you going to just carry him or…"
Still blushing and a little awkwardly, Rumi smirked at her and then she pushed off, disappearing upwards until all Mira and Zoey could see was a silhouette landing perfectly on the roof of the building next to them. The spread of Rumi's legs to keep herself balanced whilst carrying a fully grown demon-man was enough to flood Zoey's previously dry mouth and she found herself gripping Mira's arm as her knees went weak.
"Insanely hot." Mira said. Zoey tried to catch her breath.
"Insanely hot."
It should have been a more eventful journey back to the penthouse really, when Zoey thought about it. Three women, one carrying a man-sized demon, parkouring off roofs until they crouched waiting for a car to go into the underground parking under their building to sneak through? Only, it wasn't. Rumi was carrying Romance like he weighed nothing and the most eventful part of the whole thing up until they actually got him upstairs was when Zoey was so distracted by the determined set of Rumi's jaw and tightening of those arm muscles that she nearly fell of a roof sign. Rumi noticed, smiled bashfully and mercifully didn't tell Mira.
Even if they'd wanted to try the Loft, Romance made the choice for them. They'd made their way up to the penthouse level and were getting him to the door when he started moaning, pressing his face against Rumi's chest in a way that made her eyes go wide and Mira to scowl and pull at his hair. When Rumi tried to move closer he all but curled up around her - still unconscious but clearly very uncomfortable. Zoey sent a quick pulse of her voice towards the entrance and saw a brief flash of bright strands of honmoon thrumming where they were closest to him. Surrounding their home with a woven net of honmoon was a good idea - but it wasn't going to work for this. The Snug it was, then.
She went in first - punching in the code to the door and throwing the lights on. They hadn't actually spent much time in the Snug since Namsan - usually they came down here when they needed alone time but they'd all been too busy wanting to be with one another recently. It was on two floors and the training room was down a short set of stairs off the main hallway. So down they went.
The training room took up the whole of the 'point' of the tower, like their grand living room a few floors up. The inside wall held some training rooms, the showers and a small open plan kitchen in one corner. The training area itself was set on a small step up and covered in training mats made to look like reed matting. Against the wall of dark, city-punctuated sky the full-length windows provided, the bright overhead lights felt very harsh. Was it the fact that he was a demon that made Zoey long for dim lights and clandestine whispers? Or was it the fact that, in his brief time in the spotlight, Romance had done a commercial for perfume that involved an intimate room lit only by an open fire and the promise of what Romance would do to a girl wearing that perfume if she gave him half a chance? Both, she thought, as Rumi accidentally smacked Romance's head against a banister, making Mira cackle, both probably.
There was some hot debate on exactly what to do with him once Rumi had laid him out on the mats in the middle of the room. Mira wanted to practically hog-tie him, Rumi thought this was a bit excessive even for a demon and Zoey was going to suggest putting him in one of the side rooms when they suddenly all remembered that the side rooms were full of training weapons. And non-training weapons. So then there was a whole rush to get the weapons upstairs, each of them watching the still-prostrate Romance warily whenever they were dashing past. To Zoey's delight Mira seemed to take Rumi's new strength as a personal challenge and she'd barely made two trips before the two of announced they were done, both breathless and a little sweat-sheened. Zoey liked the look.
That still left Romance lying on their training room floor, however. Still unconscious. Which, honestly, Zoey was kind of glad about - he was far more attractive when he wasn't trying to kill them. Damn but those lips were so pouty and soft and…Rumi was asking her how thick the security door was. More than thick enough, they thought, if keeping him in was going to require physical means.
They had the rest of the 'debate' on what to do on the upper level of the Snug, having locked said security door at the bottom of the stairs. Mira immediately went to grab all their fruit from the penthouse fridge and spent most of the conversation aggressively chopping it into a pile of pieces. Rumi and Zoe had grabbed the spare pyjamas (of which there were many) and the three of them changed out of their outfits as they talked about it - piling them all up in the special demon-slaying washing basket (Zoe had put some little horns on it made out of cardboard - Su-Yeon (their cleaner) had no idea what it meant but thought it was cute).
It finally came down to this: they needed to see how he was when he woke up. The training room (affectionately known as the Pit, which seemed rather fitting now) had showers and other facilities (they'd all started blushing during that part of the conversation and Mira's chopping had got significantly louder). They could get him food if he needed it though they all drew the line if he needed souls to eat, the room itself had the most incredible views of Seoul out of the floor-to-ceiling windows and if he needed things to do, they could bring them to him. For however long he was staying. Which was a point of hot contention and had led to said conclusion that they needed to speak to him.
"It's not like he's a damn dog!" Mira said loudly as Rumi clocked her phone and headed to the main door (they'd also ordered fries and sausage noodles - a balanced diet was key when demon slaying).
"Well we could always put a collar on him - he probably wouldn't mind." Zoey responded mildly, grinning at the offended glare she received in return. "Don't say you wouldn't want to."
"I wouldn't want to."
"You like it on me."
"….that's different."
"And he'd probably be better behaved."
"You're only badly behaved because you can't sit still."
Zoey slid in behind her as Mira dumped the fruit pieces in a huge bowl and ran her fingers over the thin line of exposed skin between Mira's top and pants.
"You like it when I wriggle."
"…I do."
"Hey hey, no screwing before dinner." Rumi announced as she came back in, paper food bag in tow. They all looked at each other. "Downstairs then?"
"Ugh."
"He's almost certainly still unconscious, Mira." Zoey cajoled as she pulled her after Rumi down the hall. "Plus, do you want to just leave him there with no supervision?"
"…no."
"Well then."
They shimmied their way down the stairs back into the Pit. Zoey had been right, he was still unconscious. They dumped their foodie goodies next to the window and dragged a few seating mats over. Then it was eating time.
Juggling being a warrior and an Idol was hard when it came to food, but it had been one of the first things they'd bonded over. It had also given them strange tastes. Rumi made sure she had a piece of strawberry with every slice of sausage, Mira had a tendency to dip her pears in the ketchup for the fries and Zoey tended to mix her melon pieces in with the sausage noodles (she'd taken to bringing her own bowl for that at Mira and Rumi's insistence). For the first time since they'd got home, there was quiet. Well, besides the slightly terrifying sounds of them eating. They'd allowed Bobby into their pre-concert carbfest once and only once - he'd excused himself after less than five minutes, looking slightly green. Suited them.
Rumi had just gestured for Zoey to throw one of the aloe water bottles over to her when she suddenly jumped in surprise, face shifting into one of embarrassed horror. Unfortunately Zoey had already started throwing the bottle, which proceeded to bounce off Rumi's head and into the ketchup, which promptly splurged all over Mira, who squealed in a way she would kill anyone for hearing. Only then she noticed what Rumi had noticed and froze in similar horror. Given where they were looking, Zoe's face had already started grimacing before she turned to see what had caught their attention.
On the bright side, Romance's now exceedingly conscious face was at least as horrified as theirs, if not more so.
None of them said anything. For what felt like an excruciatingly long time. A piece of sausage fell conspicuously out of Zoey's raised chopsticks.
"…and they call us beasts." Romance finally said, his eyes still wide and voice just as low and breathy as she remembered. She watched his surprise fade into arrogance, a smirk twisting those beautiful lips in way that was suddenly wholly artificial. "What would your devoted fans think if they saw you this way?" he drawled.
Mira made a slightly strangled sound. Gracious leader that she was, Rumi recovered first.
"Probably the same things they thought when they watched you fail to drink hot sauce you dweeb."
He took a breath like he was about to argue. Thought about it. Inclined his head instead.
"Touché."
He shifted from holding himself up with one arm to sitting cross-legged, looking around. "Where am I?"
"We'll ask the questions here." Mira said. It would have been very intimidating if there wasn't ketchup dripping off her panda pyjamas (they really shouldn't have changed into those, what were they thinking?!). From Romance's clear attempt not to smile, he thought the same. Still, Zoey saw a sliver of nervousness in him as he shifted again, gave them a disarming smile.
"Very well. What would you like to know?"
"Are you ok now?" Zoey blurted out. The smile faded.
"Am I…what?"
"Are you ok now? You were hurting before. Your head?"
He frowned, lifting delicate fingers to his temples. Zoey was absolutely not looking at the way they gently brushed his fringe out of the way.
"Oh. I - yes, I think so. I…"
He frowned again, cocking his head to one side, then the other.
"You don't hear him." Rumi said softly. He looked at her sharply.
"What makes you say that?"
She smiled and there was something horribly sad about it.
"I've seen that look before. The honmoon is stronger now and he's…I don't really know what, to be honest. Dead? Defeated? Banished? But he's not here. And he can't reach you."
He looked at them all in turn, subtle changes in his face like he was trying to figure out which expression to put on. He ended up just slumping his shoulders.
"…is there any of that food spare? Honestly I'm trying to work out how to manipulate you but all I can is hear my own stomach rumbling."
"You eat? Like, normal food?" Zoey asked. The smile he sent her way was condescending and definitely not attractive.
"We do. May I?"
"Alright." Rumi agreed.
"What!?"
"He's no use to us passed out from lack of food, Mira."
Zoey pretended not to notice Romance sticking his tongue out at Mira behind Rumi's back. He stood slowly, needing a moment to keep his balance but then gracefully came over and sat between her and Rumi, across the fruit platter from Mira.
"You seem kind of nervous." she observed, offering him some melon noodles.
"Well wouldn't you be?" he asked, politely indicating his thanks but picking up some pear instead.
"What do you mean?"
He halted, having just taken a bite. There was a drop of juice on his lip that he idly wiped away. Then he laughed a little.
"Really? Demons are boogie-men of the world, aren't they?"
"Yes."
"But everyone has to have a boogie-man. Who do you think ours is?"
The three of them were silent for a moment.
"Uh, Gwi-Ma?" Zoey offered, not hopeful.
"A little perhaps, but he at least usually gives some time for pleading and bargains before he starts chopping us into pieces. And here I am," he continued, popping a piece of plum in his mouth. "Eating with you."
"It's just as surreal the other way round, trust me." Mira warned.
"I have no doubts of that. So," he started, turning to Rumi. "Can I ask where I am, now?"
"I said no questions."
"I thought she was the leader."
"Don't call me 'she'."
"Oh? Your lead dancer rules you, does she?"
"Hey, I'm more than just…"
"Ok ok ok!" Zoey interrupted, surprising herself by popping a fry into Romance's open mouth just to shut him up. "Shush the lot of you. Can't you tell from the view?"
He frowned, chewing resentfully on the fry and casting his gaze past Mira's back to the view beyond. She saw when he worked it out. His voice was satisfactorily strangled when it came.
"Holy…am I in the damn keep!?"
"Keep?" Mira asked.
"I think maybe it's a remnant of the earliest Hunters," Rumi suggested in a low voice, "They used to have a proper keep back in the day."
"Like a castle!?" Zoey asked. "Aw man, I want a castle."
"Why am I in the keep?!"
They were quiet again for a moment. Rumi spoke first.
"Because quite honestly we didn't know what to do with you." she said, looking straight at him. "Do you remember anything."
He thought for a moment, a shadow passing over his face.
"I remember running." he said quietly, casting a look Zoey couldn't read at them all. "Running and running. And then this sound, or this feeling - like a tsunami coming from the stadium. I…I don't really remember much after that. Except pain."
"Well isn't that convenient." Mira said flatly. Zoey saw a flash of annoyance in Romance's eyes she believed was genuine.
"Oh yes, very convenient - I'm now at the mercy of the things that go bump in the night for me and my kind and am trapped in their tower with likely no hope of escape."
"The only potential way being that you find a way to make us pity you."
"I won't need much help with that!" he snapped. "May I remind you that for all intents and purposes you killed three out of the five of my brothers and now I'm stuck here with no hope of going home with something out there that wants to split my head open and apparently crawl around in it!"
Zoey watched Rumi flinch and couldn't stand it.
"We only killed two, you bastard and you know that."
"What does it matter? He's still dead and if it weren't for you he wouldn't be. Not to mention that is a truly incredible sentence to say as a form of justification."
"Well if it weren't for you all trying to destroy the world we wouldn't have had to hurt you!"
"Enough." Rumi said, in that quiet, stern voice that got everyone to do her bidding regardless of who they were. "This isn't helping."
Zoey hated how hollow her voice sounded, how that hollowness had spread to her eyes as she looked directly at Romance. "Can you feel the honmoon now?"
Romance took a breath and his eyes cast upwards.
"There's some up there. And I can see it out there. Sort of. There are too many strands, it's too bright."
"That's almost like how we see it." Zoey mused. Romance shrugged.
"Not surprising - we are the actual creatures of the night, sweet thing. You're just visitors."
Zoey absolutely did not blush. If either Rumi or Mira said anything otherwise, they were lying.
"You look like shit, by the way. And stink as much, too." Mira interrupted.
"….I really wish I could disagree with you but honestly if you don't give me a way to wash soon I'm going to throw myself out of the window. Gods how long have I been like this?"
"When do you think it is?" Rumi asked. Romance thought for a moment then laughed and shrugged.
"I have no idea."
"You seem pretty chill about it." she pointed out.
"Well, it's either that or start crying manically and end up rocking in a corner. This whole thing is absurd."
Rumi shook her head with a small disbelieving smile.
"There are showers in the back room."
"Oh thank god. Clothes?"
They hadn't thought of that. Which was made pretty obvious by them all looking at each other, clearly lost. "…I mean I'm not averse to walking around naked, it's really quite warm in here…"
"No!"
Zoey assumed from the volume that they had all shouted that at once. To say that Romance was un-phased would be an understatement. He looked as comfortable as she'd seen him tonight. Bastard.
"We can…get some clothes tomorrow, I guess?" Rumi offered.
"What about in the meantime?" Zoey asked, slightly desperately. "I'm shorter than both of you."
She and Rumi clearly had the same thought at the same moment. Mira was already glaring at them both by the time they looked over.
"No. Absolutely not."
"You are literally the only one who has things that would fit him." Rumi reasoned.
"And," Zoey added, sweetening the pot. "If they're your things you can make sure they're the most cutesy, embarrassing things you own."
Mira's interest was clearly piqued.
"I can make him look as stupid as I want?"
"As stupid as you want." Rumi assured her.
Mira's grin was vaguely terrifying.
"Done. Get proper clean you grimy bastard or I'll put you in a dress."
"Honestly, sweetheart, I'd kind of prefer it. Much more comfortable."
Zoey snorted.
"You'd wear a dress? Really?"
He looked over at her and leaned in just enough she could see how damn long his eyelashes were.
"Look at this face - do you honestly think it would be the first time?"
Zoey's mind was suddenly filled with an imagined version of Romance wearing an off-the-shoulder, clinging satin gown whislt crowding her up against a wall and showing just how little that ballgown covered certain things. She'd be able to feel the heat of him through the silk…the heels would make him so tall…his face was so close…
"Ok, you creep," Mira snapped, getting and striding between him and Zoey so he had to lean back or get kneed in the face. "Pipe it down and get in the shower."
"Yes ma'am." Romance muttered. He pushed himself to his feet, slightly wobbly if Zoey was any judge and looked at the both of them inquisitively. They both pointed to the back of the room where the showers were. He inclined his head at them and turned. The door to the bathroom clicked shut - the door to the stairs also slammed shut behind Mira. Suddenly there was quiet.
Zoey breathed out a long breath as Rumi shuffled over and laced their fingers together.
"Are we doing the right thing?" she asked, softly.
"No idea." Zoey replied, smiling at her and knowing she looked just as tired as Rumi did. "But I think we are at least doing the only thing we can do. It wouldn't have been right to kill him. Or leave him there. We don't know enough. We'd always wonder."
"Yeah," Rumi sighed. "And maybe it matters that they were around him for so long, maybe there's a chance that…"
There was a dull thump from the direction of the shower room. One heartbeat of looking at each other in shock and then the two of them leapt up, racing to the door and banging on it.
"Romance?!" Rumi called out. "Romance, what was that, are you ok?!"
There was no answer.
"I'm going to ram the door." Zoey said, ignoring Rumi's attempt at a protest before launching herself at it, shoulder first. Romance, pervert that he was, hadn't actually locked it, which left Zoe careening into the room to hit the floor tiles with a wet 'oof', sliding along them until she hit something soft and heavy, ending up on her back.
"Oh god." she heard Rumi exclaim from the doorway, sounding like she was trying to not laugh. Which was weird, because why would she be laughing?
She looked round at what had stopped her and realized it was Romance, once again unconscious (she knew he'd looked wobbly) and passed out on the floor. She'd slid into him back first, jolting his body so one arm now lay over her waist like they were spooning.
One, naked arm. Which, as Rumi's cackles from the door started to filter through her ears, made her senses instantly flare out to where his body touched the rest of her body. He was naked everywhere. He was naked everywhere and the collision had left his head gently resting on her shoulder. Really like they were spooning, exhausted after spending the night…oh god. Just at that moment, because the universe hated her, Mira rounded the corner of the door and skidded to a halt, her face dropping in shock.
In no time before this moment or after, or for the rest of time could Zoe remember getting up from the ground so fast. She didn't know where to look.
"Uh," she tried, "Guess he's unconscious again, huh?"
Mira just closed her eyes like she was asking the gods for strength, Rumi's howls of laughter echoing in the background.
This night wasn't getting any less interesting.
Notes:
I really wanted to continue the commentary on Idol culture that is threated through the whole film so had a lot of fun thinking about what they would eat after a fight night. The sausage dish they order is 소세지 야채볶음 (Sausage Vegetable Noodles) which is an incredible post-night-out munchie option, btw.
We have our first Saja Boy in the house! Is it a spoiler to say that he won't be the last, or is that kind of implied in the tags……
Chapter 6: Disconcerting - Rumi
Summary:
It is clear that something previously dormant has stirred with the developments of the last 24 hours - and Rumi is more than aware of it. Not to mention the fact that the honmoon and their relationship with it is changing and they really need to get on with figuring that out. And, just in case anyone has forgotten (and Mira certainly hasn't) they have a demon in their training room. A very charming demon. In pyjamas.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It was more vivid here, this time.
She still couldn't tell where she was, somewhere caught between the deep purple-dark of night and the welcoming, shimmering light of the honmoon. Like she was floating there. Sometimes when she moved to lift her arms in front of her she could see her patterns reflecting both - a newly welcome sight. Sometimes she didn't feel like she had a body at all.
There was a presence with her, always, when she was like this. Somewhere past the honmoon but somehow part of it. Something that watched her from the darkness but didn't feel threatening. Something that had got tantalizing close before, like if she reached out she could touch it, something deep inside her telling her it was trying to reach her, too. But she never could. Could never see it, if there was even something to see. It felt like they were magnets of the same pole - however close they got, there was a force between them that kept them apart.
This time, though, there was something palpable in the air. Like it was more tangible than before. The honmoon around her was different, splintered into so many thousands of tiny strands. Like it had been in the car park with Romance - so much more detailed, so much deeper than it had ever been before. Swimming somewhere in that glittering sea was a presence that felt closer than it had ever been. Even knowing it wouldn't allow her to touch it, she reached out, something yearning in her but she didn't know what for.
This time, thought, it let her. Whatever had been between them no longer was.
She wouldn't be able to describe what it felt like - somewhere between the softest skin and leanest muscle, brushing her hand against an emotion, a part of a person that didn't have form. Only it did here. Not that she could see it, maddeningly. She barely had visual awareness of her own body, but something in her thrummed at the feel of it anyway.
It brushed her back, like the gentlest touch of fingertips against her own. Only suddenly that touch was everywhere - the inside of her wrist, back of her knee, nape of her neck, soft, soft skin at her waist. Tentative, almost awkward but there was a confident patience in those touches that suggested that all awkwardness would dissipate if only she would allow it. A question, she realised with complete clarity. It was a question. Longing tightened deep in her belly, shivering out to the tips of her fingers.
Yes. Yes.
The touch became firmer and focussed, relief flooding from it so obvious it felt like a release of air on her skin. A release of a breath that had been held for too long. In this strange floating place that began to bloom from darkness to the light of dusk and outer-city lights, she closed her eyes and lay back. With whatever body she did or did not have, right now. It felt right to do so. Felt right to trust.
In the touch there were fragments that felt tangible - warm breath at the base of her throat, smooth of thumbs over her palms, the lightest, most tantalizing brush of lips against her own, at the corner of her mouth. The feel of a body against her side, maddeningly brief before it faded again, scrape of something harder and sharper against the underside of her breast, a hunger there that made spots bloom behind her eyes. Her body was on fire with it, breath too precious a thing and her chest heaved, a broken sound coming from her throat as sensation engulfed her nipple, the other, both - she was losing track of where the touch was whilst knowing damn well where it wasn't and where she wanted it most. The restraint was still in it, though, like a desperate flutter of wings against her heart, like whatever presence was with her wanted, wanted but wasn't about to let themselves indulge. Holding back until they shuddered with it. The knowledge of that restraint was so certain she could almost see the shadow of shoulders trembling above her in some undistinguished half-light, stutter of breath against her cheek, the sensation of kissing a mouth that was biting its own lips to stop themselves kissing her. She knew, suddenly, that they'd kiss her like they were drowning. She knew she'd kiss them back the same way.
Somewhere in the blue-pink sky there were patterns - not jagged, like hers, but soft, flowing - familiar somehow because she knew she'd seen them before. Not on skin, thought, not on skin but something harder and sharper, something that glowed with light and was now pulsing. Her body pulsed in response. As did her heart.
She wanted to reach out, tried to but couldn't find her body to do so. It didn't matter, though, she could still feel herself stretching to reach them, to hold, to cling to. It wasn't just sensual, this feeling - there was a defeated press of a forehead to her breastbone, tightening of arms around her waist to pull her, full body and breathless, against a chest and a nose buried in the nape of her neck. There were hands in hers, curling fingers lightly over her palm until they tangled with her own like they never had time to before. Chaste and profane, restrained and desperate, shy and confident. She could feel the same conflicts in herself - it was like every part of them were here all at once - possessive, bashful, lustful, tender. Jagged, soft. There was nowhere to hide any of it and she didn't mind, felt whatever presence was with her marvel at it and follow her - like someone watching a loved one swim in cool waters and slowly building the courage to take slow steps in. She led and she beckoned. It followed.
Only the distance was widening again, she realized. If she was treading water the tide was pulling her farther and farther away, the touches both fading and become more clinging, like they were trying to keep her near. She reached out again but even though she could feel the touch like a brand on her she couldn't find anything to grab hold to. She was being pulled away - down, up she didn't know, but the fire building in her dampened with the cold knowledge that something was being taken from her she wasn't ready to let go. Her mouth opened and she shouted. She knew she was shouting something - a word, a name, a curse - but somehow she couldn't make it out even though it was her voice. The soft lights of the city dissolved into the honmoon, threaded with pale light with streaks of deep, warm pink. The pink thrummed through her, deep enough to move the murky darkness lurking at the edge of everything she was and bringing her lips to a snarl. That snarl worked into her voice and she should care, should worry that she would damage herself but every part of her was too concentrated in calling out. If her body wouldn't help her surely, surely her voice had to, didn't it?
The roar of rage, coupled with the clear note of her song, ripped from her throat until she felt it burn and it burst outwards through the strands, sending shards of pearlescent cream and pink and purple through her, through everything, more powerful than anything she'd ever…
…she woke with a start, sitting bolt upright in the dark room, shuddering and bringing a hand to her stinging throat. Despite the pain, she clearly hadn't actually shouted - Mira was still sleeping beside her. The core of her throbbed, her thighs pressing together in a futile effort to ease the ache. She was breathing hard, a mixture of passion and terror catching in her throat and spurring her pounding heart. The terror started winning, bringing stinging tears to the corner of her eyes and curling her body up so she hugged her own knees. Caught between lust and fear she couldn't filter out any of the truths that surfaced in the dark space between her arms and her knees. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she'd moved on, that terror was rooted in the feeling of watching something being ripped from her she desperately wanted to keep close, of weightless closeness being shattered and she, helpless, able to do nothing but watch.
Of losing him again.
She'd wanted to cuddle back down next to Mira, really she did. The girls had told her in no uncertain terms to wake them, to let them in, let them know what was going on in her head. Only then Rumi had turned to really look at her, so peaceful and trusting in her sleep, and immediately felt like a traitor. How was she supposed to wake her and tell her she was having arousing dreams about someone else? Someone that she knew for a fact at least Mira hated and neither she nor Zoey really understood Rumi's feelings for. A little voice in the back of her head started pointing out that the main reason why they didn't understand was because she hadn't tried to tell them, but she squashed it, violently. She'd only just started succeeding in reassuring Mira she hadn't been leaving them, she wasn't about to heighten her insecurities by telling her she was dreaming about a damn man. Zoey would try and be understanding, Rumi knew she would, but she could just imagine those big eyes trying not to be hurt when she realised that Rumi still cared about him and she couldn't make herself do it. He was dead now, she didn't want the thought of him to hurt them anymore. She was so incredibly, wonderfully grateful that she had them in her life, that they'd given her a second chance - she wasn't going to inflict her grief (and its apparently sexy-dream side effect) on them now.
Derpy had looked at her sadly as she picked her way out of bed, butting his head up against her arm. She ignored him, just like she ignored Sussie and their searing look of judgement (or apathy, or boredom, she never knew). Plus, she knew she was heading straight for the sofa in the living room and Derpy would forgive a lot for the opportunity to cosplay as a weighted blanket.
Sure enough, she woke a few hours later as the sun started lighting up the full windows in front of her, most of her body numb from his strange demon weight on them. She spent a moment admiring the dawn-soaked city laid out in front of her, feeling that sunlight warming her skin, then turned her mind to trying to extract herself. Trying to stand up was a mistake (Zoey had actually written a formula for it: if x = Number of Hours, Weight of Demon Cat x x = Severity of Pins and Needles/Likelihood of Disaster) and Mira found her a few moments later lying on her back on the carpet with Derpy once again draped over her, purring his satisfaction at capturing his wayward mattress. Mira was the best possible friend a girl could have, however, so she said absolutely nothing about it, just asked if Rumi wanted coffee and 'accidentally' knocked a mug over on the counter, finally luring Derpy away.
Sussie took the opportunity to land perfectly between Rumi's breasts, claws digging into her soft pyjama top. They somehow managed to pin her gaze with every single one of their six yellow eyes, which really shouldn't have been physically possible. The tilt of their hat told Rumi that she was being judged and, most likely, found wanting. Something about the weight of them meant she still couldn't get up (way too much bulk for a bird), so she ended up bribing them with the promise of bacon and they fluffed their feathers haughtily before flying over to land on Mira's shoulder. For some reason, Rumi mused from the floor, Sussie's weight never seemed to bother Mira. Mira never said whether it was because Sussie was less heavy when they perched on her or whether she was just hench as fuck. In fact, the matching grins she and Sussie had given them were so similar Zoey had checked the honmoon to make sure Mira's soul wasn't being invaded.
Breakfast was a pensive affair, at least to start with. Mira wasn't one for small talk in the morning and, honestly, neither was Rumi. Usually it was Zoey rambling on whilst the two of them took turns giving her heart-eyes. Without her there was just a companionable silence, which Rumi found just as precious. It took a lot for her to be comfortable in silence with someone. She basked in it over breakfast, trying not to think about everything she didn't know. Trying even harder not to think about who she suspected they should ask.
The group chat had been updated by Zoey every hour overnight trying to find more creative ways to say 'he's still unconscious'. She'd clearly had time to think about some of them. It may also have been a way to distract them from remembering The Bathroom Incident. Rumi hadn't stopped laughing till her sides hurt and it hurt to breathe. Some of that mirth came back as she dragged her stool closer to Mira's and they read through the texts together. Even Mira couldn't help her lip curling a little. It also seemed that Romance had woken up at some point, just long enough for Zoey to bribe him with reheated french fries to tell them that there was no way he was 'poofing' anywhere - that apparently needed access to Hell, which neither he nor anyone else had right now.
Once finished, Mira slowly allowed her phone to rest on the counter and Rumi linked arms with her, leaning her head on her shoulder and basking in her warmth. This was the comfort she needed - she only wished she knew how to tell Mira how much.
"So are we thinking the same thing?" Mira asked finally, her voice coming from somewhere above Rumi's head.
"That we have no idea what's going on?" Rumi asked back.
"That we are certifiably insane for bringing a demon home?"
"That we seem to be losing control of the shape of our weapons from the honmoon?"
"That you fucking sang the honmoon into some kind of spider web?"
"That you then wove it out of its tangle around said demon's head with your glowy, glowy hands…"
"…whilst he was being held down by Zoey's knife-net-bdsm-dream-weapon-thing?"
"Don't say that in front of Zoey she'll use it as a song lyric."
"Don't distract me from my marvelling at our stupidity."
"You want to go downstairs and kill him right now?"
"…..no."
"Is that because his hair is so…soft?"
Mira pulled away to throw a handful of orange peel masterfully at Rumi's face. It was absolutely worth it. Even when, whilst Rumi was brushing her cheeks to get rid of the pith, Mira's strong fingers slid around her chin and lifted her head so she was looking directly in her face. Rumi's breath caught out of habit and she could feel herself blushing. It was also habit, with an ease and immediate acquiescence she suddenly realized she was craving, for Rumi to wait, relaxing in Mira's grip until Mira asked her to do something else.
Unfortunately for Rumi's re-awakened sex drive, Mira didn't seem to want to do anything that involved removing Rumi's clothing, just searched her face for something before nodding like she'd found it, humming slightly and letting go of Rumi's face. Rumi could feel the shadow of those fingers for a while afterwards.
Rumi should have known what it was about, really. It was still a bit of a shock, though, when they were busy clearing up after breakfast and Mira told Rumi flatly that she was going to be the one who called Celine, in a tone that dared Rumi to disagree. She'd tried to, really, but Mira brushed past her with a possessive pull of her hand on Rumi's hip and a firm kiss on her forehead that made Rumi's heart skip a beat. She went to look up only for Mira to nip at the shell of her ear and press their foreheads together like she was pre-emptively curbing any argument.
"The whole point was that you didn't do this alone anymore, Mimi." she said, low and deep. As she walked past on the way to her own shower, Rumi felt the familiar thrill of feeling completely protected and incredibly aroused. Mira often incited these feelings in her. And then refused to do anything about it until Rumi was all but begging. Or just straight begging, actually.
They brought Zoey a cheeky takeaway breakfast as a thank you for taking first watch on Romance. He wasn't quite unconscious, his two beautiful eyes cracking open from his place cocooned in the bedroll they'd laid out for him before he grumbled and pulled the duvet over his head. They sat together in the far corner and Mira filled them in on what Celine had said. Rumi could almost picture her face pinching in concern, eyes serious and earnest. She'd believe every word. The feeling of comfort and security Rumi had always felt at this moment clashed hideously with this new, jagged feeling she didn't want to identify. Mira took that moment to shift beside her, her body warm as it coincidentally brought them closer together. She didn't miss beat, like it hadn't even happened and Rumi felt the familiar frustration of wanting to respond but not feeling able to. Only, she could now, couldn't she?
Taking a little breath she moved to link her arm (her bare arm) gently with Mira's, laying her hand relaxed on Mira's knee. Then Mira missed a beat, but only one. She squeezed Rumi's arm to her tight and Rumi watched Zoey try and fail not to smile. Very difficult to hide anything from anyone when they were sitting basically in each other's laps anyway and could read each other's body language like a book.
Celine, according to Mira, had taken detailed descriptions of how their weapons had shifted and promised to research if any previous Hunters had held them. Her current working theory was that the new honmoon may be reflecting echoes of previous hunters, but she 'was prepared to be wrong'. Mira had been intentionally vague about the demon and told Celine that it had escaped after they had been thrown off by the weapon change. There was something effortless in the way she lied that Rumi was still uncomfortable with - she had loved the stories Mira told about her own family but had never, ever thought she'd have to do it with Celine. Well, not really. She'd got pretty good at telling her how much they'd all been training and that's why they were breathless and their faces were red when Celine had done unexpected visits to their quarters at the temple. But not important things like this, like choosing not to kill a demon and bringing it home instead.
Speaking of which, she checked over at where Romance was and saw those eyes peaking out from under the duvet again. They seemed to be fixated on Zoey's breakfast. Well, he could come and ask them for food if he really wanted some. She didn't care at all about his hunger, or his comfort. Sure.
She looked up from ordering another breakfast a few moments later when Mira concluded her report - Celine had predictably suggested trying to recreate the weapons, which is what they'd all been thinking anyway. Not that she had any idea how to do that. Neither did either of the others if their expressions were any judge. They all ended up looking at Romance with various levels of concentration.
"That's very disconcerting, you know."
Derpy took that moment to appear out of the floor.
Rumi tried really hard to cover her laugh as Romance immediately let out a shriek higher pitched than Zoey on a sugar-high and leapt out of bed. It really wasn't helped by the realization that Mira had followed through on her promise and given Romance a pair of My Little Pony Pinkie Pie pyjama bottoms. Zoey was full cackling and Mira had snorted like a sailor, though, so she wasn't the worst out of them.
He lay on the ground for a moment, propped up on his hands, staring at the demon cat now into the room up to his shoulders, panting slightly. His chest was so damn smooth, Rumi thought. And skinny. She chanced a glance at Mira. Who was looking. Smooth, pale and skinny, Rumi thought. Honestly the aesthetic would work.
"Doesn't he like you?" Zoey asked as Derpy turned to them all with a low, ominous creak.
"Other than our gracious leader he only ever really let Mystery touch him." Romance responded, somewhat breathlessly. "And Abby, actually."
"What about Sussie?" Rumi added.
"Who?"
"The bird with the sass." Mira filled in.
"Oh. That thing. Baby. But only because I think he kept feeding it raw meat when we weren't looking."
"So basically no one likes you."
"You like me."
"How'd you figure that!?" Mira asked, a little too defensively, if Rumi had to judge. Romance turned over and smirked at her, only slightly spoiled by his little nervous glances over at Derpy.
"Well we got on so well at the fan signing, didn't we?"
"I nearly killed you."
"But you didn't kill me."
"There were people there!"
"I love how you are with your fans - I can see why they look up to you."
"You…"
Mira stuttered a little and Rumi cringed a little for her. She decided, as a good friend and supportive lover, that she wouldn't notice that Mira was blushing. From Romance's face, he had done.
"Abby always wanted to do a dance collaboration with you - he was our main choreographer, you know. The dance break for How It's Done really inspired him."
Mira made a slightly strangled sound and Rumi felt for her even more - she'd always been a sucker for people complimenting her choreographic skills. Romance was good.
"I thought Jinu did that." Zoey said, Rumi seeing her visibly cringe a little as she realized she'd said a name they were all avoiding. Rumi actively decided not to care and concentrated on the demon in the room, instead. Romance shifted so he was cross-legged. There was a strangely distorted picture of Pinkie Pie right on his…
"He did. Along with Abby - Jinu was the ideas man, Abby knew how to make a body talk. Sing, actually."
There was a low husk to his voice on that last. Rumi tried not to think about it. She failed and ended up trying to blink images of them entangled out of her brain. The fear might have faded from her dream last night but she really needed to do something about the lingering arousal waiting to pounce at any inopportune moment.
"Stop with the flirting, you creep. None of us are interested."
The room got very quiet for a moment. Derpy creaked. Romance jumped. Mira laughed. A little too hard, but Rumi was being unsupportive again.
"I really wish he'd just come all the way through the floor." Romance grumbled.
"Knock something over." Zoey suggested kindly. "He likes that."
Romance looked quizzically at her. The doorbell rang.
"That'll be your breakfast, I hope you like hotdogs." Rumi said, pushing herself up.
"You got me breakfast?"
"We're not here to starve you." Zoey reassured him, overly sweetly.
She and Rumi locked gazes, flicking over to where Mira was glaring at Romance for a second. Those eyes twinkled slightly and Rumi grinned.
"Although," she mused, rubbing a finger over her chin in mock thoughtfulness. "We really do have a few things to discuss about our new album, don't we Zoey?"
"Yeah, I was going to talk to you about it last night," Zoey agreed slyly. "But then I had to be down here so…"
"You won't mind dropping Romance's breakfast down to him and keeping watch, would you Mira? You are the best of us." Rumi finished, leaning in and kissing Mira full on the cheek. Mira's mouth was open in building outrage - it was time to scarper.
"We'll pop the breakfast at the top of the stairs, Mira!" Zoey yelled, already out of the door. Rumi scuttled after her, scritching between Derpy's ears on the way.
"Guys? Guys don't leave me here with him. Guys? Hey!"
Notes:
I wonder who this 'mysterious presence' is? No really, it's not obvious at all...
Also, Thirsty Rumi is now my official favourite Rumi. I know it should really be Amazing Badass True-to-Themselves Rumi, but I am shallow...
Chapter 7: Unexpected - Mira
Summary:
Mira has been abandoned with the demon in their training room. The one that looks sinfully good eating breakfast. The one that is currently, for reasons she can't quite remember right now, wearing her pyjamas. And apparently he feels like talking…
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Rumi and Zoey were traitors, both of them. Complete betrayers, to leave her here with this creature who was delicately picking off bits of his croissant whilst looking out of the window. His perfectly lean chest was smooth like the bastard waxed it and there was the hint of hipbones holding on those stupid pink pyjama bottoms. Which didn't look good on him. At all. He looked stupid. Yes he did. She especially hated how delicate his fingers looked as they tore off a tiny piece of pastry and brought it to his lips, which were so infuriating Mira refused to think about them. She even thought she saw a dart of tongue flick over them at one point to catch a wayward crumb. Disgusting.
Not that she was watching. Everything about him was irritating, including the fact that he'd somehow found a spare hair tie in the bathroom hold his hair loosely at the nape of his neck. Especially that, actually. There were some strands just escaping that brushed over…
"Keep looking at me like that and your face will get stuck that way."
Mira was pretty sure that he was supposed to be more scared of her Number-One-Most-Terrifying-Mira-Glare. Instead, he smiled (actually, smiled!) and turned back to the window.
"You're the worst." she said, lamely.
He huffed.
"Not the first time I've been called that, sweet thing."
"Don't call me that."
He looked over, cocking his head and running his hand over his face like he was observing her. Mira hated it. It also seemed to be getting a little warm in here, she needed to check the heating wasn't on.
"How about…darling?"
"No."
"Cutie Pie?"
"I will kill you."
"Mistress?"
"…"
"I can't tell if that face is a good or bad thing."
"I'm… I'm going to rip out your…"
"Well, I'm going to take it as a good thing. Mistress it is."
"Don't you dare, you….just…eat your damn breakfast!"
"Yes, Mistress."
Oh but Rumi and Zoey were going to pay for every moment of this. Every flush of her cheeks, frantic beat of her heart, subtle squeeze of her thighs as she shifted in her seat. They were going to pay for all of it.
Why did he have to say it like that? All husky and demure? Like it cost him nothing, not one bit of manly pride, to submit to her like that.
She really shouldn't have thought the word 'submit'.
His lips pressed together in what was clearly him laughing at her.
"I'm going to throw you off the balcony."
"There's a balcony?" he asked, sounding hopeful.
"Obviously" she replied, without thinking any further ahead than wanting him out of her sight. "Through the door."
He'd actually disappeared through said door before she remembered that him being in her sight was actually the whole point. When she darted through to the balcony, however, he was just leaning his elbows on the solid railing, looking out over the city.
"Not very far I can go, you know."
"Can't you fly?"
"I don't think I'm going to test that right now."
"What about, you know, the poofing?"
He turned sideways to shoot her a sardonic look.
"The what?"
"You know," Mira explained testily, coming up beside him to lean back against the barrier, her arms crossed. There was a couple of feet between them that were far more significant than they should be. "The disappearing into smoke thing?"
"Your little friend didn't tell you? Honestly she quizzed me so thoroughly when I was conscious I preferred not to be."
Zoey had, of course, told them. Apparently the poofing away meant poofing back into Hell, which seemed not to obey the normal laws of geography and distance and so therefore could be used to travel at distance in the real world. It wasn't something every demon could do, most needed Gwi-Ma's dubious summons to traverse whatever was between the two.
"I was just checking." Mira grumbled. He huffed a little.
"No, no. I'm nicely stuck here, don't you worry."
"I knew I was going to regret letting you live."
He just smirked at that, looking out over the city again. Mira didn't really know what to say. So she didn't, happy to be silent and concentrate on not looking over at at how the strands of hair that had escaped the messy 'tail were brushing over the pale nape of his neck.
Apparently, Romance had more trouble with silence.
"So what was it for you, then?" he asked softly, leaning his head on one elbow as he looked at her. Soft as his voice was, there was that assessing look on his face again that said he was finding a way to laugh at her.
"What was what?"
"The final straw? The crossing of the Rubicon? What got you kicked out?" he asked finally.
"What got me…what makes you think that is any of your business?"
"Nothing really," he replied easily, shrugging. "Just making conversation."
"Well that's not a topic I talk about. Pick something else."
"For me it was getting caught being bent over my teacher's desk. If you're wondering."
Mira was momentarily stunned into silence. He noticed, looked over and grinned again. "Oh yes," he went on. "An upright son of a good proper family doing his duty by going to university? You know the type - parents who are all 'family honour is worth more than money but we also have a shit tonne of that'? Oh they didn't like that at all."
"You…got kicked out?"
His laugh was low in his chest.
"Yes, darling. I got kicked out. Middle child of three brothers, it's not as if they lost anything."
There was a current of bitterness there, deep and quiet and so familiar Mira could almost feel it coating her tongue. So she laughed at him.
"Well perhaps if you and your little student friend had picked a better place than your teacher's damn desk…"
There was sin in his laugh and she couldn't help leaning back a bit as he tilted himself towards her, something dark and hard in his eyes. Something that looked like pride but was built on paper scaffolds.
"Oh sweetheart it wasn't a student. I was being bent over my teacher's desk…by my teacher."
Speechless. Again. This was becoming inconvenient. "He was fine, of course. Good upstanding man with tenure. Me? Homeless overnight, I'm afraid."
He sounded so blasé about it. So uncaring. Mira knew from experience it was all bullshit and had no idea what to do with that knowledge. It felt too personal - she had no idea why he was sharing it all of a sudden. He wasn't done. "Have you any idea how expensive skin routines are when you have nothing? Honestly it didn't bear thinking about - I'm just glad I had enough time to steal most of my mother's lotions and potions before they came after me with pitchforks."
"Pitchforks?"
"Well, no, not pitchforks exactly. My sister-in-law was wielding a broom, though. Come to think of it that was the only time I ever saw her sully her hands with one…
"How old were you?" Mira asked softly, immediately. She didn't know why it mattered. The question had surprised him a little, though - it had interrupted his flow of utter horseshit.
He took a short enough moment to recover that if Mira wasn't as good at reading people as she was she would have missed it.
"Eighteen. First term of university, in fact - never finished it. Everyone was very disappointed, as you can imagine."
Mira was quiet again, thinking. He took another breath to speak and she reached out and put a hand full over his face.
"Shut up. People need time to think, you know."
She crossed her arms again and he was clearly so stunned or offended by someone stopping him talking by squishing his nose with their palm he obeyed her. Honestly, though, she wasn't sure what she wanted to think about. This hadn't been what she'd expected. It probably should have been, especially given Rumi's recent experiences, but some part of her was still desperately trying to make demons easy bad guys. He could still be playing her, of course, letting her see his tragic backstory to get her to feel sorry for him. Only he was either not doing it very well (which she highly doubted given Jinu had chosen him for the biggest charm offensive in recent demonic history) or he was genuinely shaken enough he didn't know what else to talk about.
She looked over at him, really looked at him. For Rumi's sake, she tried to lift the veil of 'demon' and just look at him. He looked slightly uncomfortable but held his ground. This gave him a few points.
He had well-groomed, soft hands and delicate feet that poked out from under the ridiculous pyjama pants. He was looking good in said pants like any piece of fabric hung off his body would look amazing. Pretty face, big eyes, arrogant but slightly pathetic, foppish demeanour. Mira had met him before, she realized. Not actually, but she'd met his exact type at the functions she'd been forced to go to when she was younger. Now she wasn't just seeing demon patterns it was obvious that he was just a rich fancy-boy. Too much money, too little sense, no sense of the consequence of his actions until it was too late. It didn't occur to her to question whether or not his story was true - there had been enough like it.
"I was sixteen," she heard herself saying. "It was less one particular thing, though, more of a build up to an inevitable conclusion kind of thing."
He looked even more confused for a moment (it was an attractive look on him, she thought) but then his eyes widened as he realized what she was telling him. She was just glad she'd made sense - she was clumsy at this. The smile that spread over his face was still arrogant, but with enough tentativeness she decided she was allowed to like it. Putting him off-kilter was a darn sight more pleasurable than the other way round.
"Oh? No big blow out then?"
"I didn't say that." she replied, finding one corner of her mouth lifting in a grin. "There may have been a confrontation that ended up in me screaming point blank into my mother's face."
"Ooh, do tell."
"I don't know, something along the lines of 'she's not my friend, she's my fucking girlfriend, mother, you birthed a fucking lesbian'."
Her knowing look took a moment to be reflected in his face in a rather delicious, understanding expression of scandal.
"You are joking."
"Nope."
"You too?"
"I guess."
He laughed, the kind that tilted his head back a little. There was still that bitterness there, but Mira could forgive that now she knew where it was from. The other side of her mouth lifted. She decided she wasn't going to admit that she was smiling with him. Not yet.
"Well, well. And are you?"
"Am I what?"
"A lesbian, sweet thing."
"Oh. I mean, I guess."
He raised his eyebrows at her but said nothing, settling into a pensive expression before going to ask something and clearly thinking better of it. She glared at him in response and he waved her away.
"Well, no matter. Turns out I was less gay than slutty for everything, if you're interested. Although probably if I had to choose…"
He mused for a moment, looking over at her.
"If you start assessing whether or not you'd sleep with me, I will…"
"…throw me over this balcony, yes yes." he placated, hands up, backing away for a moment. "Not that any assessing needs to be done, mark you."
There was a thread of heat in his gaze that she had no idea what to do with, so she just scoffed at him before biting her lips a little.
"It's not exactly the same." she said, uncomfortable and not sure why. She didn't even really know what she wanted to say next.
"No?"
"I had somewhere to go." she responded, realizing as she said it that mattered to her he knew that. Knew that she saw her own privilege in having the temple and the girls. The girls especially. She glanced over at him and saw him just looking at her, waiting for her to explain. "The temple. Where Hunters train. I was already there by the time I left so I could go there. To the others."
"Your girls, you mean?" he prompted, enough softness in his voice to take most of the edge off her defensiveness.
"Yes. I already knew I had a place with them. That they accepted me. I left, I wasn't kicked out. I had somewhere to go."
She sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry you didn't, ok? I know what it meant to me and I'm sorry if you didn't have that."
"I didn't." he agreed after a moment of silence, very quiet. "But I suppose if you're sorry I didn't, I'm glad that you did have it."
His smile was self-deprecating when she focussed on him. "Well we might as well be civil, might we not? Apparently we didn't start so very different, you and I."
She appreciated that he'd used the word 'start'. Because they were very different now, no matter being able to share a little of their trauma.
"Is that part of why you went to Gwi-Ma?" she asked. "Your family? Were they part of the deal you made with him?"
He stilled, in a way she'd only ever seen demons do, a way that made the hairs at the back of her neck rise. When he turned to her his face was utterly unreadable. Beautiful, but cold again, something twisted in the set of his mouth as he moved gently closer to her. Closer still, closer enough she could count his eyelashes if she wanted to. She stayed still out of principal, not wanting him to see he was frightening her but her heart was pounding under her crossed arms. She didn't think he was going to attack her, but…
"What would you give your soul for?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. It was sinful this close to her, slipping into her ears like temptation made audible. There was glimmer in his eyes that wasn't from the sun and she felt his mind brush hers, not to actually invade, but almost like he was reminding her he could if she weren't a Hunter. Her own breath caught in her throat.
"What?" she asked, feeling suddenly stupid. His smile grew wider, warmer, unsettling.
"What would you give your soul for, my Mira? No lies, no self-delusion - what would you give your soul for?"
The vapid images of world-peace and more dance talent shattered in place of snatched, terrified snapshots of clenched hands still wondering if she was good enough, desperate longings for peace just for her and her own, someone to take the permanent lump of resentment still burning in her belly away. Deep feelings from places she rarely went alone, let alone with anyone else. Let alone with an enemy. His eyes were so fucking beautiful this close.
"That is none of your damn business." she bit out with ground teeth.
"And even if it were," Romance continued, un-phased and moving his body in a slow ripple towards her so there was barely an inch between them. "Even if it were anyone's business, would you tell them? Especially when you know that want they want from you isn't the actual answer, it's so that they judge you on whether or not they would do the same thing?"
The smile turned jagged and he stepped away, arms opening as, looking directly into her eyes, he changed from the face down, patterns skating over his body, paler than they'd been before but still there, his skin turning a lavender made sickly and wan in the sunlight. "When you know that your exposing that part of your soul is simply so that they can judge whether or not was worth it?"
She looked at him, displaying himself for her, those hands coming back into his body to run over the patterns at his neck, his ribs, leading up to his mouth and realized what she had just asked. Even with a full demon standing in front of her flaunting all the proof of the deal he had made, there was only one thing she could think to say.
"I'm sorry."
"Oh sweet thing, do you pity me now?"
"Don't 'sweet thing', me. Not for your deal. For asking."
He stilled again, waiting for whatever judgement she was going to bring. She felt an odd, uncomfortable relief that she was going to disappoint him in that. "I didn't think about what asking that question meant. I shouldn't have asked. You had a boundary. I crossed it. I'm sorry."
He blinked a few times, his arms wilting from their display, looking completely nonplussed. Tried a couple of times to say something before thinking better of it. Enough times she couldn't quite hide the turn up of her lips. It was kind of cute.
"I don't know what to say to that."
"Start with turning back you freak."
"You do realize that this is my true form?"
"I do."
"…I'll do it anyway?"
"You'll do it anyway."
He did it anyway, flicking his hands together nervously. She decided two things: firstly, she liked him nervous and secondly, kindness was occasionally overrated. "Tea would be nice, by the way."
"What?"
She really needed to be careful of how much she enjoyed his fish-face of surprise.
"There's a whole kitchen on this floor. I'm thinking of having some tea before I get so antsy I…"
"..put my head through a window, yes. Well that's lovely for you, you should make us some."
To be fair to him, he had recovered and was back to arrogant again, a hand on one cocked hip. She full grinned at him, liking how it put that intrigued but definitely wary look on his face.
"You don't know how to make tea, do you?"
"I had people to do that for me."
"And when you went broke?" They were walking inside now, him trailing behind her.
"I still had people to do that for me. Money isn't the only way to make people give you what you want, you know."
She tried to stop and look at him then, to check whether he was making the insinuation she thought he was. To her outrage, however, he was ready for her and those delicate, strangely strong hands turned her firmly to look forwards again, propelling her towards the middle of them room. He released her quickly and darted away, laughter behind his eyes as she turned on him with a glare and a raised first, transitioning smoothly into big, pathetic eyes and a down-turned mouth. She didn't like that development at all.
"Why are you looking at me like…"
"I'm just so parched, Mistress. And weak. You will help me quench my thirst, won't you?"
"…"
"…pummel my face into dust, yes I know. Now where is this kitchen?"
Notes:
This idea hit me like a train whilst driving to work, it just fit so well for my version of him and acted as such an amazing connection and mirror-image for his relationship with Mira. I'm really intrigued what everyone thinks the boys' deals were, what their pasts were like though - let me know! I crave multi-headcanons......