Chapter Text
Rumi inhaled sharply before sliding the knife between the ribs with a wet sigh. She breathed out her nose, cutting down the flesh with practiced ease. She thought this one would put up more of a fight considering he had strangled three sex workers with his bare hands in the back alleys near them hours before. She had been watching him for the past week, memorizing his schedule, so this was more a disappointment and a let down than anything. She sighed softly as she slid the blade free and wiped it clean on the man’s jacket.
Mira would be furious if she had found out. Again, of course, but Rumi tends to ignore her bitching. This might have been the second or third time she’s had done something like this without the others, but Rumi decided a long time ago to not get them involved. Out of the corner of her eyes, Zoey’s silhouette shifted near the doorway, watching Rumi as her breath was audible enough even over the hum of the industrial freezer. Rumi turned over shoulder, and tossed a pair of rubber gloves in her direction.
The younger girl caught them and shook her head. “You promised, Rumi,” said Zoey as she snapped the gloves on with a little squeak as she adjusted them. “No more solo hunts after New York.” Rumi didn’t say anything, just pointed to the man’s restrained feet indicating that she needed help. Yes, Rumi did promise, but once the Honmoon was sealed and Gwi-Ma defeated, she would rid the world of anyone portraying themselves as monsters… even if they were humans doing terrible things. Perhaps even if they were fans of Huntr/x themselves.
Zoey struggled with the man’s feet in her grasp, and Rumi picked up the man’s hands. She caught Rumi’s commentary just before they began to shift the man slowly to the incinerator outside toward the docks. “Funny,” Rumi mumbled as she dropped him right at the door entrance and crouched down to spy smeared lipstick on the man’s collar. This wasn’t his wife’s shade and Rumi knew it. She was even stalking the fucker at his home for a month prior, just to make sure that this is really how she wanted to go about it. “It’s like they become anyone else when they’re done screaming.”
A shiver went through her as Zoey’s breath fogged the air. Rumi knelt down to zip the body bag. Silence had stretched enough between herself and Zoey with all the things they wouldn’t say. These were the things Mira already said, angrily and repeatedly, before slamming doors and threatening physical violence. Whatever Mira did, it didn’t bother Rumi as much as it did Zoey, which is probably the reason why she was the more suitable one to keep those kinds of promises, but she would cave and always be the one to help drag the bag to the incinerator.
Besides, whenever Rumi went on hunts, things became messy. Very messy and it was something that Zoey had secretly enjoyed even if she harbors those feelings to herself. It almost became routine whenever she realized Rumi had that look on her face. It was like she was not there with her mentally and the lights have gone out. Rumi was a completely different person. Once they had the body prepared and the incinerator fired up, they groaned, picking him up again and swung him like a hammock until they tossed him in. Their shoes scuffed the concrete beneath them as the bag rustled into the small space and Rumi closed the door. Orange flames licked upward in an instant engulfing the body except for an extended foot that kept twitching.
“He smelled like bourbon,” said Zoey as she stepped up, stretching down her glove to adjust again as she shoved the corpse’s ankles further so the door could close securely. She looked over at Rumi who was staring at her with this look like Zoey was this precious thing that needed to be protected for an eternity. There it was. That feeling she got between her legs and the small flush crept up the back of her neck. Zoey smiled as she walked over to light a cigarette between her lips. “Do you think Mira will realize what happened tonight?” She blew out some smoke, and flicked off some ash on the end before putting it between her lips again.
Rumi smirked, taking the cigarette from Zoey’s lips. “Oh yeah. We’re toast.” Rumi took a long drag from the cigarette and the two stood there for a long time watching their work literally be caught up in the flames. The incinerator belched up smoke. Nature knew how to recycle anything, even monsters. Mira knew how this worked, but she was having constant moral dilemmas that were hindering Rumi’s work because that demon side never stood for long. She knew as soon as she stepped back into the penthouse, Mira would be on her like a guard dog.
“We need to take the next few days slowly,” said Rumi as she slid an arm around Zoey’s waist. “Given the fact our anniversary is next week.”
“Yeah,” Zoey began as she leaned into Rumi. Her eyes stared at the dancing flames as they finished off the cigarette between them. Zoey snubbed it out under her boot. “She’ll smell it on us though. She’ll want to know where we’ve been.” The scent of smoke, blood and metal clung to their clothes and skin, but that was the very thing that turned Zoey on. It caused her arousal to feel so deep, that whenever she caught a whiff of Rumi doing anything under Mira’s nose, she wanted to tag along.