Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Thanks for coming with me,” Mio whispers as they step onto the elevator.

Zoe gives her a smile. “Of course. Thanks for trusting me to.”

Mio almost explains that of course she trusts Zoe. Less than a day stuck in that machine let them experience what felt like a confusing mess of days. Maybe weeks. Zoe stood by her side from the very beginning, where they were strangers that had barely spoken before becoming trapped. Even when Mio faltered, nearly accepting Rader's bribe to pay the medical debt she was drowning in, Zoe had remained strong beside her. There's no reason not to trust her.

Besides, Mio needs this.

The diagnosis is clear. Less than a year. Six months is an optimistic timeline. It's sad and scary and fuck if Mio hasn't broken down a few times. But she's not that angry, horrible person she was before. She'll handle this. She'll spend every moment with her father that she can and be happy for it. It's important that he leaves this world knowing that she'll be okay.

That's why Zoe is with her today.

As if sensing she was thought of, Zoe reaches over and squeezes her hand. Her hand lingers there for a moment before pulling away again. Mio honestly wishes it had stayed.

Mio’s father looks the same as he did the last time she was here. She’s glad for it. It means he hasn’t had a sudden downturn while she was gone.

Blake had been a thicker built man before he was sick. He’d been that balance of muscle and fat that showed him as sturdy and dependable. Now, after countless treatments and a long battle fought, he’s wasting away.

Before the machine, Mio couldn’t help but focus on those negative changes. She can remind herself to look for the positives now. His smile is the same. His sense of humor is still here. He hasn’t lost himself.

“Hey, dad.”

Blake is sitting up in bed. His usual IVs and other attachments continue their job of safeguarding his life quietly. He smiles as soon as Mio enters the room.

“Mio! What took you so long?”

She snorts. “I’m earlier than I said I’d be.”

“Not as early as usual.”

She just smiles and shakes her head. Glancing back, Zoe is standing just behind her, fidgeting away her nervous energy. She motions the woman forward.

“Dad, I want you to meet Zoe. She’s the one I told you about.”

Taking her cue from Mio, Zoe steps forward with her blindingly bright smile. She offers her hand to shake. “Nice to meet you!”

Blake shakes her hand. His expression is pleased, but maybe just a little confused. He looks between Zoe and Mio. “You’re different than I expected.”

“In a good way, hopefully?”

He laughs. Mio finds some stress leaving her. She knows it’ll be okay now.

“I think so.” He looks back at Mio. “You bring the stuff?” He purposefully leans in close and whispers while raising an eyebrow.

She holds up the bag of takeout she picked up earlier. “Why do you have to ask like I’m bringing you some sort of drugs?”

“Mrs. Xian’s orange chicken is a type of drug. Now why don’t you two sit down so we can all eat?”

It takes a few minutes to get everyone settled. Mio hunts down an extra chair for the room so she and Zoe can both sit. Once the food is passed out, they dig in. Blake has endless questions about the whole Rader experience. Mio has already answered them before, but he wants Zoe’s perspective. He’d been reading every article about it and watching every news report. Hell, he’d insisted their lawyer visit him so he could know everything was going well.

Once his interrogation is through, he changes things up. He asks Zoe about her writing and if she has any family. He somehow manages to get access to a draft of her potential book; Zoe doesn’t seem to mind at all. She just asks for constructive criticism when he’s done reading.

When the food is gone, they keep chatting. Mio feels entirely too good about how well her dad and Zoe get along.

At one point, Zoe excuses herself to the bathroom. Blake grabs Mio’s hand the moment they’re alone in the room.

“I like her, Mio. She’s good for you.”

Mio smiles. “I think so too.”

“Something about you changed, you know. After that Rader shit.” He squeezes her hand. “You’re happier. I’m seeing the old Mio again.”

“Yeah, well. Pretty easy to solve your issues when you get to go inside your own brain.” She glances at the door. “But even that wouldn’t have helped if she wasn’t there. You should have seen her. Zoe was amazing.”

He grins. “I love seeing you have someone. I can’t remember the last time you got along with anyone so well.”

“It’s the machine again,” she answers. “We were in each other’s heads. And she’s got some good stuff in there.” Scary stuff too, admittedly, but it’s not enough to scare Mio off.

“You still doing good after all that?” All the treatments and weight loss haven’t taken away Blake’s worried dad eyebrows. The wrinkle of it is still etched into his forehead.

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve had a few nightmares, but…” She shrugs and her cheeks turn pink. “I called Zoe for the last one. Felt better after that.”

His smile comes back, wider than ever. “I am so proud of you. You know that?”

“You’re proud of me for putting air in my tires when the light comes on,” she groans.

“Taking good care of your car makes it last longer!” He shakes those thoughts away. “Not relevant. I’m proud of you for finding someone that’s on your side. I don’t want you to be lonely when I’m gone.”

Tears immediately threaten to spill over at that. “Dad, I’m not-- I’ll be okay. But that’s not an excuse to check out any earlier, got it?”

“Of course, of course. I’m hanging on until I can’t anymore. It’s just nice to know I won’t have regrets.”

And now the tears really want to fall. Before any can, Zoe comes back in.

Blake releases Mio’s hand and motions to the door. “Step outside for a minute. I want to talk to Zoe alone. I won’t embarrass you, don’t worry.”

Mio doesn’t protest. She wants to regain her composure. She doesn’t want to think about how he’ll be gone soon. She doesn’t want to think about his move to hospice care in a few weeks. No thoughts of a funeral to plan or insurance agencies to call.

Mio wipes the tears from her eyes and focuses on breathing. It’ll be okay. She’ll be okay. She can enjoy the time he has left and still survive after.

She closes her eyes and rubs her hands over her face. Think about something else. Think about the settlement she’s likely getting from Rader. Think of the book she and Zoe are going to write about their experience. Think about how good it felt to see Rader cuffed to his stretcher when they took him out of the building. Think about flying dragons with Zoe. Think about the landscapes Zoe is so good at describing. Think about Zoe.

“Mio?” Zoe is poking her head back out the door now. “You can come back in.”

Mio takes a deep breath. No crying until she’s out of the hospital.

Neither her father or Zoe say what they talked about. Instead, Blake admits he’s exhausted and would like to sleep. They say their goodbyes. Mio hugs her father, and then Zoe does too. That feels good.

Outside of the hospital, Mio collapses onto a bench. Zoe sits down next to her.

“You alright?”

Mio slumps onto Zoe’s shoulder. “I love seeing him. But it’s hard not to cry after.”

Zoe adjusts so her arm is around Mio. She hugs her into her side. “Yeah, I get that.” She hums. Her hand comes up to play with Mio’s hair. “He seems in good spirits. I’m glad I got to meet him.”

Tears spill over, but Mio doesn’t stop them. “I’m glad you did too. I wanted you to meet him before-- before…” She grits her teeth. Turning her head, she buries her face against Zoe’s shoulder. “And now he knows I won’t be alone.”

“Nope. I’ll be here whether you like it or not.” Zoey cements the hug by throwing her other arm around Mio and pressing her cheek to the top of her head. “You look like him.”

“I used to get that a lot,” Mio admits. “He’d always say that I was way prettier.”

“I mean, you are, but I’m biased.”

Mio tries to steady her breathing again. She takes deep, steady breaths, and all she can smell is Zoe’s perfume. Light and floral with the much more real scent of her skin beneath it. The warmth and solidity of Zoe against her helps more than the breathing.

Finally, Mio pulls away. She can handle functioning now. Probably.

Zoe smiles at her and nudges her side. “You know, I heard there’s a great milkshake place near here. We could walk over to it.”

Mio snorts. “I told you about that place.”

“I mean, yeah, but that doesn’t make the milkshakes worse. What do you say? I’ll buy. Or there’s that place with the pinball you mentioned. I could go for your high score.”

She finds herself smiling despite having cried only a moment ago. “Milkshakes. There’s no hope you’ll win against me in pinball.”

“I’d prove you wrong if it didn’t work against cheering you up. C’mon. Let’s go.”

In the weeks since the Rader incident, Mio has asked herself something more times than she could ever count. How had she lived without someone like Zoe in her life?

The Mio before all this was barely living. Surviving, maybe. Only just, but she was surviving. Removing that darker version of herself had been the best feeling she’d ever experienced. The new her still feels raw, like the skin after a sunburn peels, but it’s better. Softer but stronger.

Both of them have had issues after the machine. It’s mostly nightmares. Sometimes Mio will wake up in a sweat, grasping for a familiar she left in Zoe’s mind, visions of having left Zoe in that darkness alone. Other times, it’ll be her own face causing the nightmare. That robot version of herself, half torn apart, coming back to her. Taking her spot.

The most recent one had been bad enough that she had called Zoe in her panic. Rather than be annoyed, Zoe had talked to her until she was calm again. Her sleepy voice on the other end of the phone had been a life line in those terrifying moments.

Zoe has yet to call her for her own nightmares, but the invitation is open. Hell, Mio won’t mind driving over in the middle of the night if she’s needed.

They’ve spent a lot of time together. Sometimes they’ll go for lunch or dinner, other times it’ll be meeting up just to spend time together.

They have the same lawyer for their Rader cases. They’re a united front against everything they were forced to go through. Both have been pestered by reporters, but they’ve kept silent unless the lawyer says otherwise.

Things are more difficult when the lawsuit is both against the man and the company. The company is trying to pin it on him alone, but they were willing to steal from the authors they brought in. Stealing? Just fine apparently. They draw the line at “psychosis induced homicide”. That doesn’t undo the wrongs they did however, so the lawsuit stands.

Mio has plans for that future settlement. Pay off debts being the most obvious. The funeral will be part of it. She’d like to own her own place to live too.

Mio gets a brownie chocolate chunk shake with peanut butter drizzle. Zoe perplexes her by getting a shake with fruit in it. Mio insists that fruit shouldn’t be in a milkshake with the singular exception of a banana. Zoe, however, insists that strawberries and creme is a great milkshake.

And just maybe it is. Mio refuses to admit she likes it after she tries it. Zoe has no issue saying Mio’s is good though.

They find a spot to sit in the city park. It gives them a good view of the pond and some ducks that inhabit it.

Mio finds herself thinking of “otter Mio” and how she’d been able to swim through the water like she was born to it. It might be one of the things she misses about the shapeshifter world. Less so the monkey. She felt like she smelled horrendous when she was the monkey.

“Definitely a great place to get milkshakes,” Zoe suddenly says. “I think that was a brilliant idea of mine.”

“Pfft. You only had it cause I told you about it.”

“Maybe, but I’m the one that brought it up again.” Zoe leans her shoulder against Mio’s. “By the way… My parents are flying here next week. Any interest in meeting them?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet them. I’m not sure how to tell them I met them as a giant double-headed centipede first, but… They were helpful like that.”

Zoe giggles and shakes her head. “I already told them about all that. It was a very long, very complicated phone call. They’re already interested in meeting you.”

“You told them about me?”

“How could I not? You were sort of a huge part of the experience. You were my light in the dark. Literally. You came and got me from the dark.” Zoe’s smile is so warm and genuine that Mio feels drawn in by it. “I had to tell them who was in there with me. Don’t worry, I kept your privacy on everything I thought you’d rather keep between us. But they do want to meet you. They can tell how much you mean to me.”

Mio gives herself a moment to compose herself by taking a sip of her milkshake. Zoe means so much to her too. She doesn’t know if it’s the same sort of meaning, but it’s good to hear something is mutual.

Her next question sort of bursts from her without any input from her brain. “Do you wanna go on a date this Friday?"

“Hm, feels like you’re changing the subject, MIo. But sure! Maybe a movie? And we can get dinner after. But let's go somewhere different from our last one. I want to try the hibachi place downtown.”

Mio blinks. “Last what?”

“Our last date. What was the place called? Larry’s? The food was lacking.”

Larry’s… They went there for dinner last week. It was a date? Since when was it a date? How would Mio be on a date and not know she was on a date? She can’t remember things being very flirty. Zoe had looked beautiful, but she always looked beautiful.

“That was a date?” she blurts.

Zoe’s jaw drops. “Yes? Like… our fifth one?”

Mio sets her milkshake down. Their fifth date. Not their first or even their second. Their fifth. Which means Mio’s suggestion would be their sixth.

“Mio, why is this surprising you?” Zoe asks. Her tone is enigmatic at best.

She rubs her hand over her face. “What was our first one?”

 “I asked you to dinner maybe two weeks after the machine. We got pizza at the place you recommended.”

Mio remembers that well. She’d genuinely enjoyed her time with Zoe then. She’d thought it was normal bonding time with a friend. Maybe that’s why she didn’t realize it was a date? She hasn’t been on a date since before her dad got sick, and it’s been longer before that since she hung out with friends.

“Did you not realize it was a date?” Zoe is looking at her. It’s almost like she’s amused by this.

“I-- I didn’t-- But we haven’t kissed! Or even held hands!”

She shrugs. “I just assumed you preferred to move slow.”

“I mean, sometimes, but not holding hands by date five?!” MIo rubs her temples. “Five. How have I been this stupid?”

A smile breaks across Zoe’s face. “I think it’s cute. Really.”

“Who cares about cute?!” Mio takes Zoe’s face in her hands and looks her in the eyes. “Zoe. I could have had a girlfriend this whole time. Instead, I didn’t even know I’d been going on dates.”

“Well, technically, we were just going on dates. We never said girlfriends.” She’s still smiling as she leans into Mio’s hands.

Mio huffs. “Which would have been solved if I’d realized you were interested instead of just… blurting out that we should go on a date.”

Zoe puts a hand over one of Mio’s. “Mio. Darling. I thought you knew. We see each other all the time. You called me in the middle of the night and fell asleep while we were still on the phone. You just took me to meet your dad, for goodness sake!”

With a grumble, Mio pulls her face closer. “Maybe I thought most of that could be normal friend crap. It’s not like I have much experience.”

“Maybe? Your dad did have a chat with me about how I feel about you. It certainly made me think this has all been girlfriend territory.”

“So we are girlfriends?”

“I’d certainly like to be.”

Mio traces her thumb over Zoe’s cheek. “Does that mean I can kiss you?”

“Oooh! Please do.”

She keeps it chaste. Zoe’s lips are soft and she smells like strawberries. This would have happened weeks ago if she’d paid attention.

Both are smiling when Mio pulls away.

“I’m really glad that you wanted to be together,” Zoe comments with a chuckle. “I may have sort of already told my parents you were my girlfriend.”

Mio sucks in a deep breath. She’ll overthink meeting Zoe’s mom and dad later. They have more pressing matters to attend to.

“Maybe we do movie night at my place instead? After we go to the hibachi place.”

Zoe’s grin becomes bright and cheery. “Sounds like a brilliant plan!”