Jon Stark

She showed her ID, and got a green wristband, before being marshalled to the next area, where she got another wristband, one that showed off her pertaining pride flags.

Seeing the trans colours on her wrist made her heart skip a beat. She was finally living her life authentically, and as she sat down at the bar, she told the bartender: "I don't care what drink it is, but make it pink!"

After living her teenage years being told that she couldn't have pink things because they were girly, she would always take the opportunity to have something just because its colours were girly or frilly.

The bartender's nod was understanding in a way that spoke volumes without a word.

As Rumi waited, she looked around at the bar, wondering if there were any groups that looked friendly enough to hang with, and who wouldn't just pester her with questions on her vitiligo.

And then, she locked eyes with someone standing by the dartboards. They looked familiar in a way Rumi couldn't quite put her finger on it.

They had black hair that went past their shoulders, and their sleeveless shirt was showing off some subtle muscles. Rumi spotted the turtle print, and she had a nagging suspicion she knew this person. But from where?

The familiar person nudged someone who had been throwing some darts, a significantly taller person with bright pink hair. As the latter turned towards her, Rumi's breath hitched.

She'd recognize those eyes anywhere. Mira.

Then...was that Zoey?

Oh.

And they were walking towards her.

Oh no.

Belatedly, Rumi realized she was gaping a bit. Her two exes were somehow still together? Were they going to question Rumi? Ask her why she left like that?

"Hey cutie," Zoey greeted with a wink. "I'm gonna be a bit cliche, but we saw you from across the bar..."

Mira groaned good-naturedly. "Zoey, please don't finish that sentence."

That familiarity...it made Rumi's heart ache.

But wait. Did they not recognize her?

And then she remembered: she didn't look anything like the person they had dated.

----------

Back in high-school, Rumi had tried to date girls, but she always balked when it came to more intimate stuff. At first, she thought it was because of her self-esteem issues due to her vitiligo, but even after one of her partners reassured her a gajillion times that she loved Rumi as she was, so far as to kiss every inch of skin she could reach, Rumi still panicked when her shirt had ridden up.

So she tried to secretly date a guy, but that had also not gone anywhere.

Then she met Mira and Zoey. And for the first time, she felt loved. Truly loved. But that didn't stop her aversion to getting more intimate.

"Maybe you're ace, like me," Mira had theorized.

Zoey had added, "Or maybe it's gender dysphoria?"

But Rumi had quickly shut that conversation down. What would her aunt say?

After Rumi's parents had died when she was a child, Celine - a friend of her mom's - was all set to adopt Rumi as her own. But then, her mom's sister had swooped in. She had no interest in kids, and had no parenting skills whatsoever, but she swayed the courts that it'd be horrible to break the family up.

Of course, her only interest was to prevent Celine and "her queer lifestyle" from getting through to Rumi.

So she went to live with her aunt, and Rumi maintained the perfect image of a good kid, who would never step out of the box her aunt had drawn for her.

As it was, her two girlfriends were just "two very good friends who might have a crush on me," and it was accepted because that meant that Rumi was attractive and desired.

But one night, Rumi had had an epiphany after falling into a rabbit hole of too many wikipedia articles and online quizzes. It made her realize what she was missing from her life.

Much to her chagrin, for her to find what she was missing, she had to run away and leave her girlfriends behind. She was about to turn 18, and her aunt was ready to kick her out when the time came, so Rumi took the opportunity to find Celine, who welcomed her with open arms and an eagerness to help.

----------

Now, Rumi was thriving as herself, she'd dyed her hair purple and let it grow, so it was easy to see why Zoey and Mira wouldn't realize who she was.

With a smile, she brought her attention back to her exes.

"Mira, you're wearing a shirt with a pair of scissors, you don't get to question my pick-up lines."

Rumi snorted. It was so easy to think back to all those sleepovers so many years ago, as the trio broke down in a fit of giggles together. "Zoey's got you there, Mir."

And with that simple nickname, Zoey tilted her head slightly as Mira narrowed her eyes.

"Ah, yeah, sorry - didn't mean to make this awkward. I can see why you wouldn't remember me," Rumi admitted with a slight wince. "I go by Rumi now, but the three of us kinda dated in high school before I up and disappeared?"

Zoey gasped, eyes widening, while Mira looked dumfounded, shocked into silence.

"Oh my goodness! You look amazing!" Zoey immediately said with a grin. "I'm so happy you were able to figure yourself out Rumi."

Rumi smiled softly at Zoey's reaction, and when she looked at Mira, who still hadn't said a word, she saw tears in her eyes.

"Can-" Mira faltered a little as she tried to fight her voice breaking slightly. "Do you mind if I hug you?"

Rumi's heart melted and she opened her arms wide. "C'mere."

Mira's hugs were always the best, and as long arms surrounded Rumi, all she could think of was how much she had missed this.

Missed them.

"I'm so happy to see you Rumi," Mira murmured against where her face was burrowed in Rumi's neck. "I was so worried something had happened to you."

Rumi moved out of the hug a bit so that her hands could cup Mira's cheeks. "Hey, I'm okay. I'm really sorry I left like that, I just...I couldn't handle all that anymore. I needed to get away so I could become myself."

Zoey brought their hand to Rumi's cheek, getting her to look at them. "You're here, that's what matters."

Feeling her own tears threatening to fall, Rumi pulled them both in for a fierce hug, letting that familiar feeling settle deep in her soul.

Eventually, they parted, and Mira ordered drinks for herself and Zoey, sitting down on either side of Rumi. The stools had been scooched closer, as if they both wanted to feel closer to her. And truly, as they talked, Rumi felt the wonderful sensation of two hands caressing her back.

She caught them up on what she'd been up to lately, having found her place as a social worker for queer youth.

Meanwhile Mira and Zoey explained their latest, where Mira worked as a pediatrician, and Zoey was a professional skateboarder.

"Ah, so that's where the muscles came from?" Rumi pointed out, letting a finger caress the bicep teasingly.

No one missed Zoey's shiver.

"Yep! I also found out I'm genderfluid!" Zoey announced with a shy smile, clearly trying to distract herself from how tempting Rumi looked.

"That's great Zoey! What're you identifying with right now?" Rumi asked.

"She/they," Zoey announced, puffing her chest out proudly. "But that might change. Mira called me handsome the other day and I dug it."

"Well you are very handsome," Rumi said, eyes raking over Zoey's figure. That got Zoey to blush and look away.

Rumi turned to Mira, who just busied herself with her beer.

"What's wrong Mira? I don't recall you being this shy," Rumi teased.

Mira chugged some more of her beer, as if she was looking for some luck in the drink. Once she put her beer down, she met Zoey's eyes for a moment before she settled on Rumi's eyes and said, "Look, as you can probably tell, I haven't even spoken about this with Zoey, but I think she's on the same page as me: I want you. I- we missed you, and I think I'd like it if we could pick this back up? I'd really like to get to know Rumi better."

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes," Zoey prattled, head nodding vigorously. "I want this...if you want this too, Rumi?"

Rumi put her drink down and reached around to bring the hands Zoey and Mira had been caressing her with in front of her. In turn, she kissed the back of the knuckles. "I do. I want you both. It was my biggest regret and...I want to show you all of me."

Zoey was practically vibrating with excitement by this point. "Would it be okay to kiss you?"

"Please." Because Rumi wanted nothing more at that very moment.

And Zoey's kiss tasted exactly how she remembered them, tender but still meant to be grounding, as if reminding Rumi that she was there, and wasn't going anywhere.

Mira's kiss was slow, as if she wanted to commit this to memory, and like always, she would never end the kiss first, as if she were happy to stay like that as long as Rumi wanted.

But they did need air, so Rumi pulled back, noting how pretty Mira looked right then.

Zoey wrapped her arms around Rumi's waist, resting her head on Rumi's shoulder. "Want to get out of here? I remember you were never a fan of loud music at parties."

"Still not a fan," Rumi admitted with a laugh.

Mira held her hand out for Rumi to take. "Then come on princess, let's go somewhere quieter."

Zoey follows behind Mira, her mind laser-focused on getting back on stage. While the three of them are usually very mindful of the crew, connecting with them and building a rapport so that everyone feels welcome, the two of them hold none of that care now.

Their only saving grace is that the rest of the crew seems just as confused by what's going on on-stage as Mira and Zoey are, and are thus not paying attention to the two stars barreling through.

Mira flinches as she hears her own voice coming through the ear monitor. "We see what you are."

She looks at Zoey, who is just as puzzled as she is. Zoey gasps as her voice now filters through.

"You're a demon. A mistake."

"What's going on?" asks the Zoey beside her, the twinge of fear evident.

Mira wishes she could reassure her better. She sounds so uncertain as she says, "I don't know. We're almost there."

They round the corner, and the stage comes into view.

Both of them freeze. Their exact doppelgangers are on stage, staring at...Rumi?

No. That couldn't be their Rumi. This one had patterns.

"A mistake!" their doppelgangers chorus.

"No..." this Rumi murmurs, and the patterns pulse pink. She looks so scared...

Zoey doesn't need to think for a second more. Cognizant of the legions of fans watching, she lets two shin-kals fly, striking the doppelgangers fast and true.

Their doppelgangers disappear in a cloud of purple and pink smoke the moment the blades make contact, making Rumi gasp.

"Come on," Mira says, already shrugging off her costume's jacket.

Zoey follows, noting the whispers throughout the audience. But her eyes were only on Rumi. Their Rumi.

Their Rumi, who has patterns. Who is standing on there, tense and breathing heavily, eyes wide as they dart around the stage.

When she makes eye contact with Mira and Zoey, she immediately recoils.

They know her well enough to read her lips and see her frantic, "No, no no no nononono-"

But Mira moves fast, and she soon wraps her jacket around Rumi's shoulders, covering up the patterns.

Confident that Mira's got Rumi, and not wanting to crowd her, Zoey continues walking to speak to the audience.

From her years doing rap battles, she's learned to project her voice, so she doesn't need a mic to say, "Hey everyone! Super sorry about that. We had been hoping to tease a brand new song for everyone, one dealing with internal demons and all that, but as you can see, we still have some kinks to work out. We hope you enjoyed our performance of Golden!"

Zoey knows that that is a very weak reasoning, and she isn't looking forward to the talking-to she'll have to endure afterwards. In her defense, she doesn't have any formal PR training. That's usually Bobby's thing, with Celine's direction. Sometimes Rumi could cobble something together, but right now, their leader barely seems to be able to string together a sentence, so she hopes Celine will spare her.

She bounds up to where Mira's standing with Rumi, the latter hugging herself in a fruitless effort to stop her shivering. Zoey sees Mira's hands—one on the middle of her back, and the other above Rumi's forearms, holding the jacket closed—and goes to mirror her on Rumi's other side as they walk offstage.

Bobby's waiting, a frantic look in his eyes. "What happened?"

Thankfully, Mira fields this one. "It's a long story. Can you do damage control? We want to be with Rumi for a bit."

Bobby nods solemnly. "You can count on me. Just one thing - want to give me your mics? They're off, but you know..."

They do. Zoey's taking hers off like it was on fire, and she takes care of Rumi's while Mira gets hers off.

Rumi seems catatonic. Present enough to note every time Zoey's fingers brush against her skin, judging by the hitches in Rumi's breathing every time she makes contact, but not enough to actually be there to respond.

As soon as Bobby's holding all three mic sets, they're off to their dressing room, shepherding Rumi in between them.

Zoey's not sure if Mira's coming to the same conclusions that Zoey is, but suddenly, a lot of shit starts making sense.

The modesty towards the bath house, the separate dressing rooms, the unwillingness to sing Takedown, maybe even the voice issue too! Zoey chances a glance at Mira, and she can just see the gears turning. Mira's on the same page.

They will have a lot of time to talk about all of this. But right now, Rumi is still hyperventilating, and for all of their best intentions, the crew's concerned stares are feeling invasive.

Neither of them share a word, but Zoey's opening the door for her and Mira's dressing room, knowing that their temporary couch would serve in a pinch.

"You got her?" Mira asks, and Zoey nods as she leads Rumi to the couch.

Zoey turns Rumi around and gently presses on her shoulders to get her to sit.

Rumi does, but she also brings her knees to her chest, letting out a very shaky exhale.

"It's okay Rumi, it's just us," Zoey reassures her, sitting on Rumi's right.

Mira's back, unfurling a blanket that she's grabbed from who knows where, and it's enormous, taller than Mira once it's fully unfolded. She throws one end to Zoey, and takes a seat on Rumi's left.

Together, they cocoon Rumi. They rub her shoulders, her back, and her arms, waiting for Rumi to take the first step whenever she feels ready to talk.

They're not sure how long they sit there. Zoey's pretty sure Mira must've sent a message earlier to Bobby to tell him they'd be here a while, because he'd have otherwise shown up already.

And then: "I'm so sorry."

Rumi's voice sounds so broken, Mira and Zoey immediately go to hug Rumi tighter.

Mira answers first. "We can talk about it later."

"But I lied to you," Rumi inhales sharply. "For the entire time you've known me."

Zoey looks down, and she uses one of her pointer fingers to gently trace down one of Rumi's patterns.

The responding shaky exhale brings Zoey's eyes back up. Rumi's looking frantically between the two of them.

"I-I didn't make a deal with him, if that's what you're wondering," Rumi feels the need to clarify. "I was...born with them."

Mira and Zoey share a look. Born with them? That would mean....

"Oh Rumi," Zoey murmurs, nuzzling her face closer to Rumi's. "You can tell us whatever you want, whenever you want. We're still here."

"Yeah, we're not going anywhere," Mira adds, burrowing her face in Rumi's hair. "We've got you."