Archive of Our Own

"How does this look?" Mira says, adjusting the angle of the glasses' frames slightly on her face in front of the mirror. It's a bit similar to some of the other frames she already has, but this one has more of a modern look to it, incorporating some design elements she's been hearing about from some of her fashion friends. She turns to face Rumi and Zoey, fully expecting them not to provide any helpful feedback.

"It looks good on you," Rumi says, giving her a double thumbs-up. Her grin is uncannily wide, pearly white teeth showing. "It looks... modern?" At Mira's nod, she continues, "Yeah, it's giving a classic contemporary look."

Those... are not the same thing, Mira thinks of saying, but doesn't. Her girlfriend is such a dork sometimes.

Zoey is just as helpful. "Yeah, yeah! it's giving 'yasss, slay' vibes, but not like that, you know? Like a silent killer, but not silent because it's so... striking, but also not killer because… we're not trying to kill anyone with those, haha."

A soft smile stretches over Mira's lips. It's almost automatic, because there isn't a world in which she wouldn't be fond of her two girlfriends. "Yeah? And what would you say if I didn't like it?"

"Then..." Zoey pivots immediately, like the supportive girlfriend she is. "Ewwww! No, Mira, you shouldn't buy these. These are bad. Do not fork over money. Should immediately reconsider." Her hands cross over each other, forming an X, and she looks like she's one step away from ripping the frames directly off of Mira's face.

Rumi's response is kinder, softer. "So... do you like it?"

"Hmmm..." Mira hums, but doesn't answer. She plays around with the frames a bit in front of the mirror a bit before she peels them off. "No, I think these look a bit too tacky on me."

"Tacky it is," Rumi responds, reaching forward and pulling the frames from her hands. Her fingertips graze Mira's palms in the process, a soft blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of touch. "I'll put these back, you keep on looking."

"And I'll help you," Zoey adds, immediately zipping over to the nearest stand. "Ohhh, Mira, what about this one?"

"Those are the men's."

"So? I still think you could rock these."

"I could," Mira says, walking over to take a look at the one that Zoey is holding up. It's a bulky square-framed one, one that wouldn't match with any of Mira's other accessories, or even complement her face whatsoever. "But I don't think this one's for me. Too bland."

"Ooookay," the frames go back to the shelving, but not before another set is deposited into Mira's hands. "What about this one?"

"I already have one of those."

"And this one?"

"Are you even trying?"

"Fine. What about this one?"

"Those are sunglasses, Zo."

"I mean, they might still come in handy?" Zoey's smile is wide and innocent, like she's already thinking of twenty different reasons why she should get these glasses anyway. And, of course, she starts listing them off, one by one. "Like what if it's really really sunny when we visit my father's side in California? Or I don't know, we need to head out for an emergency trip to the beach? Or the sun decides to burn three times hotter tomorrow."

"It's always sunny in California, and our trip is not for another few months. I'll get something then." Mira responds, pulling the sunglasses on anyway. She doesn't need a new pair, but when freely offered by Zoey, why not? "And we don't make emergency trips to the beach... like ever. And I think I'll have other things to worry about if the sun starts burning three times hotter by tomorrow."

Mira tilts her head in the mirror and observes the frames a bit more carefully. It's certainly elegant, for a men's set, but not what she's looking for. Zoey pops into view in front of the mirror as well, giving her a cheeky grin. "How is it?"

"Not bad," is her honest answer, but she pulls them off anyway. "But I still don't need another pair of sunglasses."

"A challenging customer, huh?" Zoey mutters, like she's a saleswoman at the store and not Mira's girlfriend. "I got you. I will find you the best pair of glasses that you couldn't possibly say no to."

"Why do I get the feeling you are about to find the most unhinged pair of glasses in the whole store?"

"You said it, not me," Zoey throws behind her as she scampers off. She bumps into Rumi right at the last moment, who gives Mira a curious look before she starts walking closer. They both watch as Zoey zips between display stands, picking up frames to inspect closely, sometimes even holding them under the light. She harasses a store employee or two, and at some point, even pulls out her notebook to track... something.

Mira has long given up on trying to understand her girlfriend's mind.

"So... what is Zoey doing?" Rumi asks finally, giving Mira a wry look like she probably already knows the answer, but wants Mira to state the obvious.

"Finding me a pair of glasses, apparently," Mira deadpans. "The best pair that I couldn't ever possibly say no to."

Rumi hums. "And are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Looking for the best pair of glasses?" And then at Mira's expression, her tone changes, dropping into the panicked fluster that she does when she's overthinking things. "I just.. wasn't sure—and I was thinking— no wait—I can help you!"

Mira smirks. "You want to help me?"

"Shut up," Rumi sputters, turning away from her with a huff. "If you don't want my help, you could have just said so."

"I didn't say no, jagiya," Mira mutters as she steps closer. Rumi's blush is a pretty pink that goes up her neck and is even slightly visible on the patterns that run across her face. She looks so thrown off by her own statements already, and Mira didn't even have to do anything. "If you want, then you can help me."

"If I want?" Rumi retorts. "I don't want—I was just trying to—you know what, why am I bothering with... with this."

"You're the one who brought it up." Mira reaches out and grabs a frame from a nearby shelf, not really looking at it but examining Rumi's expression instead. She looks a bit put out at having been outmaneuvered so easily, so Mira decides to toss her a bone. The things she does for the people she loves.

"So... are you going to help me or not?"

Rumi's eyes light up in that adorable manner, like she's just given what she wanted all along. She fake-coughs and then starts examining the wall of frames in front of her. "Well, duh," she says, trying to salvage it, as if Mira doesn't already know that it's a futile attempt to make up for her own embarrassment. If you need my help, of course, I can help."

Mira smirks, but chooses to say nothing else. Instead, she quietly moves over to the nearest tower of frames and starts looking over her options from the ones laid out in front of her. None of them really catches her eye in particular, and she's about to move over to another stack when Rumi bumps her shoulder.

Rumi holds something up as Mira turns to face her. "What about this one?"

It's another pair of frames, ones that are gold-rimmed and rounded, reminding Mira of another pair that she already owns. There's a slight bend to it, instead of being fully rounded, which gives them a slightly sharper look.

Tenderly, Mira picks them off of Rumi's fingers and pulls them onto her face. She examines herself in the mirror. All things considered, it's not a bad choice. The gold looks good on her—it always does; it's why she has so much gold jewelry accents to match—and the frames say bold without being blatant about it. There's a rounded softness to the look that isn't all harsh angles or edges, even if the sharp lines could have made it so.

Genuinely, it's not bad. On any other day, Mira might have considered taking it home and matching it with some of the outfits she owned.

But, it also lacked the kind of bold character that Mira was looking for today, and that made it not an ideal choice for today's outing.

"How is it?" Rumi's voice cuts through her thoughts. Her girlfriend is biting her lip with such an obvious nervous tension that Mira doesn't want to say anything to disappoint her, not when she spent so much time picking this choice. But honesty was something Mira swore by with every breath, and sometimes... that meant disappointing a woman that she loved so very much.

"Sorry," Mira offers, pulling the glasses off and giving Rumi a shake of her head. "Not this one, jagiya."

Rumi's frown is almost immediate, and Mira's heart instantly swells with regret. Rumi looks so put out by Mira's decision that it almost makes her change her mind on the spot. Almost, because at the very last moment, Mira comes up with a different brilliant idea.

"Why don't you try it on?"

"Me?" Rumi's brows contort with confusion. "Aren't we shopping for you? For that gala you have on Thursday, right?"

Of course, Rumi memorized her schedule. Mira finds herself smiling again, this time at how attentive Rumi could be about the two of them sometimes. She moves closer to her girlfriend, brushing away a few loose strands from Rumi's face with her fingers. Gently, she lifts the frames.

"May I?"

Rumi's expression is still in that half-confused state, but she nods. And the moment the frames hit her face, her nose twitches almost as if about to sneeze. She doesn't, obviously, which gives Mira some time to adjust the frames to fit better. More loose hair is pulled away from the face and ears, until the glasses rest snugly against Rumi's face.

Mira steps back to admire her handiwork.

And then, she immediately realizes her mistake.

One, the frames that Rumi chose might have rounded out Mira's appearance, but they also complemented her own sharp angles, carrying a fierceness that was expected. On Rumi's face, the lines melted into the background, and the roundedness of the glasses was on full display. They complimented Rumi's softness and made her look so much more gentle with the glasses on. Paired with Rumi's still somewhat confused look, she looked so adorably cute that Mira might have gone to heaven.

Two, Mira underestimated her own ability to withstand such beauty.

"Mira? How do I look?" Rumi asks, turning to face the mirror herself.

Mira doesn't immediately respond, too thrown off by the appearance of Rumi with glasses on. She's already subtly considering buying the glasses anyway, just to have Rumi put them on, because this was outright dangerous. A hot and heavy feeling starts growing in her cheeks, and Mira knows she's one moment away from being flustered.

And if there is one thing Mira did not want to be, it is flustered.

"Mira?" Rumi asks, turning to face her again. There's a small frown forming on her face when she turns back to face Mira. "How does it look?"

"G-Good," Mira finally answers, cursing her initial stutter. She steadies herself and wills her heart rate to stop thundering so loudly. It doesn't stop, but at least Mira can privately curse herself out later, once the weapon of mass destruction in front of her has been neutralized. "It looks good on you."

"Really?"

"No," Mira manages, her tone as flat as she can manage. It's still tinged with something hoarse in her throat, so she salvages it with a cough. "No, really, it looks good on you."

Rumi frowns, and to Mira's great dismay, she starts reaching up to take it off. "You don't have to lie to make me feel bet—"

"I'm not lying," Mira's hand reaches forward and rests against her girlfriend's wrist. "You look good in those. Genuinely." Except in doing so, Mira had stepped closer, and now Rumi's eyes are peering back up at her through the glasses. There is a soft warmth in Rumi's eyes as her worry melts away.

"Oh."

Mira stares down at Rumi. At one of her girlfriends, as her brain so helpfully reminds her. She strongly considers kissing her, social etiquette and consequences be damned. But no, the part of her brain that sounds so remarkably like Bobby starts talking about avoiding scandals or confirming internet rumors or giving him a heart attack before turning 40. All of those sound unfairly logical when faced with the might of Rumi's adorable expression when wearing glasses.

Damn, Mira really should have had her wearing some of her glasses sooner.

Mercifully, Zoey rescues her from making a terrible decision in public at precisely the right moment.

"MIRA!!!" Her voice cuts through the store, loud enough to draw a curious gaze from nearby customers. Zoey emerges from behind another tower of glasses frames, her face brightening once she sees them.

"Mira, I found you like the perfect pair—" Zoey starts speaking rapid-fire, like she's about to tell a long-winded story on how she found the glasses. But she pauses at the last second, her eyes flicking from Mira to Rumi and being stunned into silence. "—Rumi! You look so cute! And adorable! And wow, those glasses look really really great! Ooooh, is this a team bonding thing? Can I wear one, too?"

Neither Mira nor Rumi has the chance to answer before their maknae barrels ahead, already grabbing a pair of round-framed glasses from a nearby tower and slapping them over her face. "How do I look? Do I look cool?" She starts posing in front of them, pointing finger-guns at them with the widest grin on her face.

Honestly, she doesn't look bad. The glasses were a solid choice, a set of thicker frames that made her look curious and wide-eyed, which fit everything Mira knew about Zoey to a tee. Zoey obviously approves of the choice, too, if her examinations in front of the mirror were any indication.

"Not bad," Mira says, stepping out of Rumi's reach and reaching forward to adjust the glasses on Zoey's face just slightly. It was crooked and was now straightened so that it sat properly on her nose.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Perfect!" Zoey says, immediately pulling her and Rumi together into a group hug. Her arms press comfortably against Mira's back as she stage-whispers, "Group pic time! Here, Mira, these are yours."

A pair of glasses is unceremoniously thrust into Mira's hands, and she barely has a moment to register what they look like before Zoey is already pulling her hands up to put them on for her. Zoey's cheeky grin is the only reason Mira doesn't immediately take them off to get a second look, and before she knows it, Zoey's phone is open and in selfie mode.

Click!

Mira blinks. She barely had any time to register any of that. Zoey is already stepping away, humming quietly to herself as she looks over the photo she took. Mira turns to give Rumi a fond and exasperated look—one that they've shared many times over the course of their time with Zoey—except Rumi takes one look at her and snorts.

"M-Mira... your glasses." There's a smile on Rumi's face.

It's not a good smile.

Fuck.

Mira darts over to the nearest mirror. To her great dismay, Zoey somehow found the gaudiest glasses in the entire store. They were cat-eye shaped, for one, which Mira never wore, and were encrusted with tiny gems that didn't enhance their appearance whatsoever. And the glasses made Mira look like she was showing off her wealth, a kind of proud, filthy-richness that gave no fucks. Mira normally wouldn't have any problems with that... except she liked to keep everything lowkey.

"Zo," Mira starts, ready to complain about these glasses, but Zoey looks back at her with a joyful smile that's full of excitement.

"Mira! Do you like those? I had to talk to a staff member to access those! And let me tell you, they had them tucked behind a secret vault that I didn't even realize was here. That was the only pair they had, and you'll never guess how happy the staff was when I said I would take a look at them. It was like they were just waiting for just the right person." Zoey's brows quirk in that pleased manner, like she just struck gold. "So... do you like it?"

Mira opens her mouth to tell the truth. That the glasses don't fit her style too well, and that she was looking for something different for her upcoming gala. But Zoey's waiting expression is one that Mira has always been too familiar with, and she would hate to see that smile turn upside down. Quietly, Mira curses her own pathetic self.

Honesty was something Mira swore by with every breath, but sometimes... that meant not upsetting a woman that she loved so very much.

"They're decent," she manages.

"Really? So you'll buy them?"

Mira smiles weakly. "Yeah. I guess."

@golden_8810 Okay, have you all seen Mira's latest fit at the Icons gala? She looked sooooo fucking hot tonight. 🥵#IconsGala #MiraIsHOT

@mentalmar09 Yeah, not gonna lie, Mira slayed tonight. Our spice queen rocks the world again, and shows everyone how it's done done DONE! #HuntrixDontMiss #MiraHuntrix

@L3t_U5_D0_That_Aga1n Did anyone else notice that she was wearing a new pair of glasses? Like damn, I didn't realize we were supposed to take the "now that's how I'm getting paid" line so literally. #Golden #HuntrixDontMiss