#doomslayer!reader

Tags: Rumi/Reader, Doomslayer!Reader, gender neutral reader, pre-relationship, pre-movie,

WC: 620

° Doomslayer! Reader "struggles" with modern acts of affection. Hugs and kisses and cuddles were simple and came to you naturally, but when Mira and Zoey recommended giving Rumi her favorite flowers and some jewlery in honor of your one year anniversary together, you took that to mean to grow them and to forge them yourself instead of buying them. You locked in so hard that Rumi was concerned that something was bothering you, but in reality, you were learning agriculture and the means to forge jewelry instead of armor. When the day came, you surprised her with a kiss, a declaration of deep love traced in the palm of her hand, a whole assortment of her favorite flowers in every color you could find, and an engraved silver band with three jewels - one pink, one baby blue, and one purple, the first word that you'd traced into her palm engraved on the inside. She cried so hard and crushed you in a hug so tight even your ribs creaked. But the effort was worth it. She was worth it.

° It was Mira and Zoey's idea that, in the absence of knowing your real birthday, the day you first returned to the human world would be that day. A celebration of your life with them and a celebration of your presence on this earth. Just like you for your anniversary, Rumi locked in to plan the greatest birthday party to ever be conceived that it was almost scary. The day was perfect down to the last detail, planned a month in advance so that you knew how much you were treasured by her and her friends. She cooked you breakfast before taking you out into Seoul to do all the things you enjoyed doing (you enjoyed anything as long as you were with her), before having the most romantic lunch known to man. She wrote poems about how much she loved you, it was really sweet, and rented out the entire VIP section of the restaurant just so it could be you and her. Then, when the sun began to dip below the horizon, you returned to the penthouse hand in hand where Zoey and Mira were waiting (pretending they didn't spy on the whole thing.) Dinner was simpler, quieter, but no less than the best, before Zoey insisted the lovebirds take a photo together. That photo, with you smiling so gently and looking at her like she was your everything while the birthday candles refleced in your eyes, was her homescreen.

° Rumi pouted, as she always does when she's separated from you, when it comes time for Huntr/x to go on tour, and she has to leave you behind because Celine said you couldn't come. She wanted to ensure that all of Rumi's focus was on her idol duties, and she wanted to test if you could hold off Gwi-Ma's horde by yourself. You absolutely could, it wasn't even a question, you didn't even break a sweat, but the penthouse was much, much lonelier without the woman you love and the friends you made. You took to watching TV, a magical invention were you to be asked, and pouted because you and Rumi are two sides of the same coin. When the tour is over, when they get to go home, you get to have one second between the elevator doors dinging as they open and Rumi not being in your arms and nuzzling herself into your chest. She'll look up at you, eyes misty, before placing a kiss on your lips. "I missed you. So much." Mira fakes a gag in the background.

° Rumi likes to introduce you to new things, because the wonder in your eyes when you saw an airplane or a car or the delight in your smile when you try a new food gives her soul fuel to burn brighter. It reminded her of the simple things in life that she took for granted, things you've never had before or never seen before, and gave her new perspective. If sunlight was sacred to you, then she will bask in it with you. If a simple cup of her flavor of ramyeon was magic to you, then she'll make a cup for herself to eat with you. You're a larger than life figure, a titan of legend with a heart bigger than any she had ever seen, but you cherished the smaller things. She'll cherish them as she cherishes you.

I fucking love what y’all have done with this au, these are adorable. I’m dead, the cuteness of this has killed me.

You know, I wouldn't have thought of that, but it's kind of beautiful in a way? Everything about Slayer reader we've seen built upon by other anons on this blog points to them willingly staying in the demon realm for an unknown amount of time. Willing, but no less traumatic.

While Zoey or Mira or both are celebrating having their lover's soul return to them, tangible proof that their failure was not final, Slayer reader withdraws quietly. Were they not celebrating the return of what was stolen, were not sobbing at the sphere in their hands, Zoey and Mira would have been worried at the state you were in. But they didn't notice.

Rumi did. She always notices.

She finds you in her room, sitting on her bed staring directly at the wall but not seeing anything, helmet discarded, and fists clenched so tight in your lap that she heard the metal of your gauntlets strain. Armor dented, mauled, burned, stained with a mixture of your blood and demonic ichor, stained with ash and dust. Dark circles around your eyes, eyes wide.

You weren't here, not mentally. Mentally, you were back there, fighting an unending war in a realm that wanted you dead. Disassociation was the only way to fight there for as long as you have, as long as you did, but it was a double-edged sword. It was hard to come back from. Putting yourself away in a box.

You don't regret it.

You were the only one capable of taking the fight directly to Gwi-Ma, the only one able to challenge him to direct combat, but this was the price. There was always a price. A mind stuck in one realm and a body in another. Hands used to one thing but wanting another. The constant, painful echo of who you used to be contrasted with the life you built now. The legend of The Slayer and the person underneath the armor of myth, dual identities clashing.

Worth it, if only so Zoey and Mira could have their lover back, so all those souls could be free once more. So Gwi-Ma could not feed, forced to starve by your hand as one last spiteful insult.

"May I come closer?" Rumi asked.

If you heard her, you gave no indication. Just kept staring ahead, pupils blown and breathing through your nose evenly, quietly. When she stepped closer and stopped in front of you to kneel between your legs, she looked at you like you were the painter of the constellations. Soft, in a way that the demon realm wasn't. Hoping that her gaze alone would let you know that you weren't back there. Not anymore.

You were here. You were hers. You were home.

"May I hold your hands?" She asked.

If you heard Rumi, you didn't show it externally. While it had been a little over eight hours in the human world, it felt like it was little over a year in the Demon King's world. Your mind, your body, fell back on old habits, clicked back into place like this was what you were made for. It was just hard to turn it back off again.

Rumi placed her hands on your wrists, gently holding them, and somewhere inside you, you knew were safe. You didn't have to be ready to fight. It was okay to let go.

Your fists unclenched.

"What you did was the bravest, most selfless thing I think I have ever seen anyone do." Rumi whispered gently, taking your hands in hers, using her thumb to slowly draw circles on the top of your hand. "But it hurt you, didn't it?"

Your breath shuddered, your eyes not leaving the wall. Your mind a projector for thousands of scenarios, every way something could kill you and every single way you could kill them first. The blood of the incarnations of evil stained your hands, yours stained some of their claws, but you were alive and they were not. You were back home. You were safe. You were with the woman you loved the most in all of existence.

"You don't have to be what they made you." Rumi whispered, voice genuine and heartfelt. "You decide who you want to be, and it's okay to not be okay. You taught me that."

You blinked, turning to look at Rumi. Your eyes were so old for someone who looked so young.

Rumi cupped your cheek, and you leaned into the warmth like you had countless times, kissed her wrist like you always did. Wanting to say so much but your voice locked itself away the moment you stepped foot in that vile realm. Old habits. Learned silence. Perhaps it would return once you've decompressed.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

You shook your head. No.

"May I hold you?"

You nodded your head. Yes.

Without any hesitation, Rumi stood up and brought your head to her chest, cradling you to her heartbeat as she stroked your hair while you shook in her arms. Equal parts physically exhausted, mentally drained, and an emotional whirlwind. All of them trying to break out of the box. Your breath hitched against her.

"You're shaking." Rumi said, more a statement than a question. Her other hand moved from your hair and down to your back. "It's okay. You don't have to be strong for me. It's okay to let go. I won't let you fall far."

Your eyes watered. For the first time in an aeon, you wept.

It was over. It was finally over.

You were free.

What the fuck, this is peak.

Just so heartwarming how soft Rumi is helping to ease your mind back to the here and now, pulling your thoughts back to her and out of the demon realm. The way Reader disassociating is how they survived in the demon realm for so long [There was always a price. A mind stuck in one realm, and a body in another] is such a good line.

Finding safety and comfort in Rumi amidst the storm of emotions you’re feeling. The way she’s just so gentle. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be strong for me. It’s okay to let go. I won’t let you fall far.” Has me crying.

Rumi wakes up to an empty bed and panics because you are always there in the morning. She wakes up before you, so you must have slipped out in the middle of the night. Then she hears a scream from either Zoey or Mira and rushes out only to see you in your armor, bloodied, burned, cloaked tattered, but a sphere of energy in your hands. Their s/o's soul, personally delivered.

You invaded the demon realm in the middle of the night, left it in irreparable ruin, and challenged Gwi-Ma for all the souls he has ever taken and came out on top. For no other reason than because it hurt you to see any of your loved ones in pain.

It sounds like some pure heroic badassary to march into hell to retrieve the soul of a friend.

But taking into account how long Slayer!Reader was trapped in the demon realm fighting, that's likely tearing open so many old wounds for you, too, to willingly return--even if briefly--to the life you had thought you had clawed free from.

I love it. My favorite fluff AU that isn't Oblivious or Mama Bear

What immediately came to mind lmao

° Mama Bear taught Slayer! reader that pinkie promises are unbreakable and are the most important of all promises to keep. Slayer! reader, not one to make promises they can't keep, makes all their promises with pinkie promises so they are bound to keep their word. It flusters Rumi to no end that, for every promise you make with her, no matter how small or silly, you insist on wrapping your larger pinkie around hers.

° Bobby has no idea what to do with you at first. It seems like one day, you're a titan of a stranger, a little scary, and the next, you're dating one of his girls. But you win him over pretty quickly because you, like him, have the girls' best interest at heart. It gets to such a point that he's considering hiring you to be Huntr/x's assistant because you were faster at fetching what they needed before he even had a chance to get it himself. Arguably your number one fan, even without knowing who you really are, and is very supportive of your relationship with Rumi - going so far as to even help you plan the most elaborate of dates and surprises.

° Zoey immediately took Slayer! reader to the aquarium once they were semi-adjusted to the new world they found themselves in. It serves as an avenue for her to get to know you, though you cannot speak, and it allows her to introduce an aspect of the world she enjoys to you. The wonder in your eyes as you saw a world that had once been hidden from you in the waters of the world now swimming in the water tanks of the aquarium was a cherished memory for her, and it made her glad to call you her friend. You listened to every fact she had to say, treated it like knowledge instead of rambling, she even caught you taking notes at one point. Needless to say, she approves of you and Rumi.

° Mira will borrow Slayer! reader from Rumi from time to time just to hang out because she found you fascinating. On one hand, you were the greatest demon slayer to have ever existed. On the other, you were such a soft goober with her and her friends and so unbelievably in love with Rumi that she couldn't believe that you would even hurt a fly. You never mentioned much of your old life, if you could remember it, but you so clearly loved everything and everyone around you that it made her enjoy your presence too. So, she'll bring you to the mall, or to some hole in the wall restaurant, anywhere where she thinks you haven't been before because she thinks that, out of anyone, you deserve peace, and it makes her happy to help you find it.

° Celine will, when time is willing and Rumi is too busy to object, bring Slayer! reader to a tea house she frequents when she's in the mood for peace and tranquility. The warmth of a warm teacup and the soothing atmosphere allows her to try and get to know the person behind the legend. If you were to date her daughter, after all, it wouldn't do for her to only know the version of you from centuries ago. She tries, really, really hard, but it's awkward with your inability to speak and Celine not even knowing where to start with the demon hunter in front of her. Then she talks about Rumi, and you just light up the moment she mentions her, and the conversation flows naturally. She'll talk about raising her, her favorite memories, about Mi-Yeong, about how proud she is of her, and she can just feel how much you love her daughter with the attention you give her when she isn't even there. She approves, silently, of course, but is still baffled that you exist.

° Rumi was hesitant to allow you to join them on hunts. In her eyes, it wouldn't have been right to ask you to fight again after an aeon of nonstop violence. It would have been cruel, unfair, to ask you to take up arms once more after you finally, finally, found peace. She was more than content to continue things as they were now, with her, Zoey, and Mira, if it meant you could lay down your sword. Then, one day, the day she slowly started to fall for you, she didn't get the choice to keep you out of it. Demons had broken through during a group outing with all four of you, and you tracked the tear's source to an alley. Her, Zoey, and Mira were focused on the threat, but you? You were focused on the cruelty of their quarry.

The demons had maimed a rat from where they emerged, and it was dying, slowly, painfully, suffering in pained squeaks and squeals, and you didn't even hesitate to take it into your hands to try and give it comfort in its last moments. The heartbreak in your eyes when it died twisted something in Rumi, heartbreak at something as simple as a rat suffering, before it gave way to rage unlike any she had ever seen. It was then that she knew, knew the reason for your crusade, for your desire to keep fighting. To you, everything on this earth was precious beyond measure - even as something as reviled as a rat in an alleyway - and the demons only ever saw these as things to be destroyed. You didn't ask them if you could join, didn't ask for a weapon - you didn't need one; your bloodstained hands shook with enough rage for them to be your weapons. It was the first time any of them had seen you fight, and they knew, then and there, why the only thing they fear is you.

° I imagine the Honmoon, recognizing Slayer! reader as the greatest ally to it and its Hunters, would one day heal the reader's voice when it was at its strongest. A reward for the untold centuries you spent fighting its adversary. It just happens one day, with no fanfare, the presence of the Honmoon leaving just as quickly as it had visited. You only found out you could speak because you have always been trying to, wanting to, and it left you speechless for a moment more before you left your shared bed and went to search for Rumi. She was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for everyone since she was the earliest riser out of all you, and was completely unprepared for you to walk into the kitchen with her and just say, with a quiet yet gentle voice, the truth you had been living for a long time.

"I love you, Rumi."

She dropped the pan she was carrying to the sink, eyes wide as she whipped her head to star at you like you had somehow spoken the secrets of the universe.

"Did-" She stuttered. "Did just-?"

You nodded.

"Say it again." Rumi asked, stepping over the dropped pan and closer to you, hand cupping your cheek. "Please."

"I love you, Rumi."

Her eyes welled with tears, tears of joy. "Say it again."

"I love you, Rumi."

She kissed you then, like she had countless times, pulling back to look at you with water-rimmed eyes.

"I love you too."

aaaaaah my heart. These headcanons are so wonderful.

The Honmoon healing your voice and you finally able to say I love you to Rumi??? So beautiful. So perfect. I imagine your voice is probably raspy, a little rough, when you say it. It's been so long since you've spoken and while you have your voice back, you're rusty. But that's not going to stop you, you can speak, and you're going to tell Rumi how much you love her every chance you get now.

I love Mama Bear teaching you the importance of pinky promises. Is it childish? Maybe. But it's adorable. 10/10 pinky promises are the most sacred vow there is.

Something about the reader being so disconnected from humanity and having no purpose beyond violence for centuries finding both in the woman they love, while Rumi finds someone who will love her for all she is, patterns and heritage all, to feel unashamedly herself with. It's beautiful.

I love it, I think it's neat, and I want to add in my own little headcanons:

° I think when the Slayer! Reader first showed emotions with Huntr/x before they were dating Rumi, and before they adapted to the world, it was because of something as simple as children playing together in the park. It left you misty eyed, a reminder that while you may have lost everything, it wasn't for nothing.

° Celine is simultaneously in awe of you and terrified of you. In awe because you were a legend walking off the page and alongside her daughter, but was also terrified because you were real. She had long since discounted your very existence as a myth, and yet here you are walking around her home home holding hands with Rumi while she showed you all her favorite parts of growing up.

° Rumi pouted the entire time you were away with Celine to craft your armor. You were gone for two weeks, the longest the two of you were separated, and she did not sleep well without you in her arms. Sure, having you along for hunts would make things significantly easier, and you needed armor because a leather bodysuit would not fit you without tearing, but you being gone so long is tragic! When you returned, Celine right next to you, she malfunctioned because how dare you look so good in something designed to fight in! The very ground rumbled with the weight of your every step and your exposed biceps will be in her dreams for a long time.

° A daily habit since you've started dating is that you'll trace out the Hangul of a word with your finger when you pass by Rumi into her skin. It's usually expressions of her beauty, your love for her, or giving praise just for being herself, but it never fails to leave her flustered.

° You and Rumi cannot sleep without the other. Is that an exaggeration? Sure, but the sleep you get without each other is not satisfying without your other half. You like to be little spoon, and Rumi likes to hold you because you're so warm, so it's a match made in heaven. She'll trace the scars that are carved into your skin, into your arms, and press kisses to ones that look painful while you slowly drift to sleep in her hold.

° Mira and Zoey are captains of your ship and fangirl together when they follow the both of you during dates because it should be illegal to be that cute together! Zoey may or may not have a secret photo album that she's going to bust out at the wedding, the highlight reel of your cutest moments, and Mira is invested like she was watching the K-Drama of a lifetime.

The way ya'll will take something and run with it is one of my favorite things about this community. Turning a doomslayer Reader into the most wholesome cavity-inducing sweet au is just perfect.

Tracing out the words on her skin is just so sweet and intimate. Expressing your love for her without actually speaking.

I just love Celine's reaction to you. This woman probably thought the girls were trying to play a prank when they called to tell her about you, but then she sees you in the flesh and you're real, you're actually real and you're dating her daughter, this is a lot to take in.

Now, you're just a giant softie built like a Greek statue who has to build up courage just to hold their hand. Though, it does endear them when you don't think they're looking and pump your fist because you finally worked up the nerve to hold their hand.

Oh thats adorable and hilarious.