Work Text:
At the shopping district, Grian was busy putting together his new shulker boxes for The Barge when he heard the heavy yet small footsteps emerge from somewhere behind him. He paused after placing the stack of golden carrots into the box to be able to hear better. Oddly the footsteps suddenly stopped after he paused in his actions, it sounded as though the person came to a stumbling halt. Grian furrowed his brows and turned his head to peek behind him.
He heard a gasp and saw Grumbot dash behind a couple of chests full of stock before disappearing from view. A grin quickly grew on Grian’s face as he realised what Grumbot was up to and he fought back a giggle.
Clearing his throat, Grian turned back to the shulker box and began to quietly hum a tune as he resumed stocking it. The sound of the footsteps soon returned and Grian listened to them carefully over the sound of his humming. Deciding not to make this game too easy he suddenly stopped. The footsteps coming to another grinding halt just as he had predicted. “Hmm, how did the next part go?” He mused to himself with a playful grin as he imagined Grumbot’s frustration. He waited for a moment to build tension. “Oh right!” Then he resumed once more.
The footsteps picked up speed but Grian wasn’t ready for this little game to end just yet. “Where did I put those soul lanterns? Must be behind me.” He waited until the frantic footsteps came to a stop before turning around to ensure Grumbot had found a new hiding spot in time. As he turned around; he had to hold back a laugh at the adorable sight. Grumbot was stood clinging to a support beam, peering around from behind it meekly. The beam did hardly anything to hide the little robot yet Grumbot seemed to think he was completely hidden.
Grian glanced at the floor behind him. “Must have forgot to bring them. I’ll just use something else instead.” Finally, he turned back to the shulker box and instead loaded a stack of rockets into it. There was some hesitation before the footprints returned this time but they charged full speed at him and he suddenly had a robot on his back, arms wrapped around his neck.
“I caught you, Daddy!” Grumbot squealed as he hoisted himself up onto his father’s back, giggling.
“Grumbot! Where did you come from?! You scared me! Oh, my poor little heart!” Grian planted his hand over his chest pretending to recover from a scare.
Grumbot’s giggles grew louder and he began to kick his legs back excitedly. “I sneaked up on you! Like a ninja! You didn’t even see me!”
Grian slid Grumbot off his back and pulled the little robot into his lap, planting a kiss on the top of his screen and beaming down at his son. “I’m so proud of you, Grum! You got me really good. You’re Daddy’s number one ninja.”
“Yay! I can’t wait to tell Uncle Iskall!” Grumbot cheered as cuddled against Grian and they laughed together.
“Hey Daddy, can I go scare Dad next?”
Grian’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yes. Absolutely yes. Let’s go pay Mumbo a surprise visit right now.”