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It was well past the time Mumbo had told himself he would call it a night, but the mustached man was entirely in his own world, one filled with redstone dust and a tricky observer set that had been giving him trouble for the past few days. He was close to getting it, he knew it, just a little longer, reconfiguring it a few more times and he’d have everything be up and running. It was just a matter of-
To say he jumped at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him would be an understatement. He must have looked a right state given the burst of hearty laughter that caused Iskall to double over. “Calm, calm,” he wheezed, holding his stomach and bringing himself back to standing straight. “Just came to check up on you, noticed the lights were still on in here when I was flying by. What’re you still doing up Mumbo, thought you were planning to call an early night tonight?”
Mumbo’s eyes flicked over to a set of windows, only now just realizing how the moon was high in the sky. He stumbled over his words, tongue heavy with disuse. “I- well, I hadn’t realized the time. I believe I just have a bit more to go and then will head to bed.”
The other snorted at that, not believing a word Mumbo said. Well, that wasn’t true, Mumbo was infamous for zoning out of their reality into his own world when he worked on a project. If the others didn’t stop in to check on him every once in a while they were sure he’d forget to eat or sleep at all. What he thought was unlikely was that Mumbo would be able to find a good stopping point, and even if he did, that he would manage to get himself showered, fed, and in bed before morning would come. Iskall watched carefully while Mumbo shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking for any signs of when the last time Mumbo had taken a break was. Given how he was now refusing to meet eye contact, and attempting to straighten his tie it was longer than the redstoner was willing to confess.
“Surely it can wait till tomorrow if there’s just a little more? Better to be able to focus on it than to be finishing it up when you aren’t well-rested.” He insisted gently. Depending on what the younger’s reaction to that would be would determine Iskall’s next few steps, though he had an idea it would lead to the same result either way. Mumbo was easy like that, predictable, a man of patterns. And just as he expected, he watched as his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned in a slight pout- though Mumbo would insist he did not pout thank you very much. “But-”
Iskall stepped forward quietly, a soft smile sneaking up on him making his eyes crinkle. “Come on Mumby, let’s get you all taken care of, yeah?”
Not one to be fooled, Mumbo matched his step forward with his own back, arms coming up to cross over his chest with the tiniest of huffs. It was really endearing how easy it was to get Mumbo sometimes, even if he found the Hermits' habit of making him small when he was trying to do something a bit of a nuisance. He had told them he didn’t really mind, of course, just that it was embarrassing to have them all take care of him, though they thought it was adorable and sweet as could be. He’d never been great at hiding it either, even back when he had first joined in season two, though he’d come a long way to let the others help since then, and no longer tried to keep it a secret (as failed as the attempt had been). Having others who regressed around helped too, and they had all taken the littles in with open arms and as much love as a family could give.
“I’m not going to be- I don’t- I just want to finish this last bit then will go to bed, I swear,” he said, being sure his pronunciation was crisp as could be, though his voice did tapper off at the end.
Iskall couldn’t help but give a soft tut, “Now we both know that won’t happen. No, I think getting to bed now would be much better, wouldn’t it Firefly?”
The second nickname of the night, Iskall wasn’t playing any games. It was already well past midnight, so if he came on a bit stronger than the usual slow and teasing build-up he liked, which tended to be much more subtle and still somehow managed to catch Mumbo off guard, then it was probably for the best. It just wouldn’t do for him to not take care of himself, after all.
Mumbo didn’t seem to agree, the ‘definitely not a pout’ pout growing deeper. “That’s not fair.” He muttered, voice already starting to have a telling and familiar grumble. “I could, you don’t know.”
Iskall took one last big step forward, reaching out to straighten the tie Mumbo had failed at fixing earlier. “I think we both know you wouldn’t sweet Mumby. You just get too focused sometimes, but that is why we can come to check up and make sure you’re all taken care of, right?” The fact Mumbo didn’t protest outside of an incomprehensible mumble was more telling than the other would like for it to be. Just like Iskall had thought, Mumbo was easy to get to slip in just a few sentences if you knew where to hit, and it was a pretty big target. They didn’t have to even try sometimes, it would just happen on accident but those were always his favorite to witness. It made Mumbo extra flustered to the point of finishing the job of bonking himself all on his own.
With that Iskall gave a soft pat to the top of his head, taking his hand and walking them both well away from the dangerous pile of redstone materials and pistons. He gave a quick look around, seeing if there was anything important laying out, but didn’t see anything that couldn’t wait until the next day. He had a more important job to take care of at the moment. “Now, I think it’s too late to get all washed up, but let’s get you as cleaned up as possible bub, then we’ll have some supper and get ready for beddy-bye.”
It didn’t take long for the fuzz to wash over Mumbo’s brain, using his free hand to rub at his eyes as he felt the sudden wave of exhaustion come crashing down on him. Perhaps the others were right, but he didn’t need to tell Iskall that. Instead, he gave a simple nod and an “Okay Issy,” not even sure if the other caught it from where Mumbo was trailing slightly behind him.
Where Mumbo couldn’t see Iskall didn’t bother trying to fight his smile. Issy had to have been one of his favorite nicknames the little one had for him. It was a telltale sign he was giving in and wouldn’t put up a fight, not that he was very successful when he tried. It was adorable how his speech slurred and lisped slightly when he was so young, morphing his usually posh words as they left his lips. And if having the special nickname just for him didn’t make Iskall’s heart warm then he wasn’t sure what else could.
It took longer than usual for the pair to make it back to Mumbo’s base, but they made it and that was all that mattered. They stopped in the kitchen first, and with minimal squirming Mumbo let Iskall wipe the redstone dust from his hands and cheeks. If Mumbo was starting to feel small before, that just cemented the fact in his mind- even after he was done, he couldn’t get the color to drain from his cheeks. It was always the small things the others did to take care of him that made him feel the smallest, well, other than when they were really trying to tease him into his headspace. He was convinced they didn’t even think before doing them sometimes, just acting on instinct. He wasn’t sure which was worse, it being intentional or not. Either way, Iskall didn’t mention it other than poking the tip of his nose with a small “boop,” when he was finished, chuckling when Mumbo attempted to hide in his hands with a squeak.
They went upstairs together, Iskall pulling him forward to keep him moving, and telling Mumbo he could pick out his pajamas for the night while he went and started to get a few things ready before Mumbo would have to go to bed. “I’ll be just a few rooms away if you need me, yes?”
He left the door cracked, just in case, and left Mumbo to make his decision. He wondered what the other was setting up, but blinked out of his curious haze. He had a task to do, after all, picking out pajamas was something that needed one's full attention. He didn’t have many sets, not one to sleep very often, much to the dismay of the others, but those he did were all amazing in their own right. One or two pairs were enchanted with silk touch for the nights where the texture of fabric made his skin crawl, and another with fire resistance for when it was hot out. Tonight, however, his eye had been caught by a gray pair made of just regular wool. Even without enchantments, they were one of the softest sets he had, and his favorite when he was small due to the tiny pattern of sheep dancing on the front of his shirt right over his heart.
He made quick work of changing, only struggling with a few buttons on his suit shirt before he was able to pull it off. He never realized how itchy his big clothes felt when small until it was pointed out to him, but the longer he was in them the more his skin buzzed. He liked wearing it when he was big- it helped to keep him feeling big, but it felt much too grown-up and restricting for a little boy.
Without thinking much of it he reached over into his closet to grab his Grumbot stuffie, hugging it close to his chest. He looked to his other collection of items in his ‘super-secret not at all small stuff’ shulker box, as Grian had dubbed it, putting a fuzzy blanket with redstone patterns down near his pillow, and choosing to pretend Iskall wouldn’t notice the other soother he sat on his nightstand when saying their final goodnights.
He toddled his way to the door, peeking out in search of the other, only to not find him out in the hall. He paused, sure that he wouldn’t have gone far. If he listened closely could hear the shuffling of cabinets and dishes in his kitchen. It really made sense, and now that he thought about it he did feel rather hungry as well.
Together he and Grumbot made it downstairs, sleepily shuffling up behind Iskall and thunking his head on the olders shoulder.
Iskall reached a hand up to ruffle his hair fondly, not at all surprised the little one was getting clingy at this point in the night. He was especially soft to physical affection when tired, not always enjoying unexpected touches when big, but absolutely melting at any hug or comfort others offered. “Suppers almost ready Firefly, you ready and in your pajamas?” He asked, knowing the change of clothes alone would have been enough to make him small and complacent. Even when Mumbo tried to put up a stubborn front, he was really an easy little to take care of. After a few minutes to let him settle he would do almost anything the others asked without question, which was both amazing and a curse at times. It made getting him to take care of himself and going to bed a lot easier than with some of their more rambunctious littles, ahem, Grian, but also meant that said rambunctious littles tended to get him to do silly things like sneaking cookies after being cut off for the night. “Bet you’re super-duper cozy. Feels a lot better than that icky suit.”
Mumbo hummed, a hand fisting the back of Iskalls shirt. Iskall turned around, giving the younger a hug and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “How about we go get you all settled at the table and I’ll get you something to drink, yes? If you can drink a whole bottle of water, I think we can make a super special surprise for the baby tonight,” He hinted, already having prepared a bottle with just a dash of sugar and honey while he was getting ready upstairs. He already knew he would give it to him either way, but the encouragement for hydrating was always a good thing. There was no telling how long it had been since Mumbo had had something proper to eat, let alone stopped to get a quick drink. He tended to avoid bringing water of any kind near his redstone when he could help it. It was a disaster waiting to happen, he’d say.
He sat Mumbo down at the kitchen table, Grumbot sitting politely in his lap and hugged tightly against his chest while feeling over the slightly textured sides of the stuffies head. After that it was relatively easy work to finish heating up beef and potatoes, cutting everything into small enough pieces they shouldn’t give the him any trouble. He normally would have preferred to go with something a bit easier, but wanted to try to make up for any missed meals from the past few days.
When he brought it over Mumbo was blinking at him sleepily, one of his hands having wandered suspiciously close to his mouth. He couldn’t help the way his heart surged at the sight, Mumbo just looked so tiny. He was one of the youngest Hermits, regressed and not. Only a few others ever got as small as he tended to be regularly. Grian had a wider range, the youngest tending to hover around Mumbo’s average two, but having an older range up into his young teens. Scar, on the other hand usually tended to hover around four or five when small, but both were able to flip between babysitting and regressing themselves. Gem and Cleo were both in the same boat, tending to hover between five and twelve between the two.
“Alrighty Mumby, supper time then off to bed you pop.” He cooed sweetly, setting the small plate in front of the other. “I’m going to make a few plates for you to bring down to your workshop over the next few days while you eat, okay Firefly. It’s so yummy, good for little boys to be all full from.”
And so they sat like that, Mumbo slowly making progress on his dinner (Iskall would have offered to help but last time he’d managed to get Mumbo to let him he had refused to look him in the eye for three days after) while Iskall did some meal prepping and wrapping the plates to be ready for the next few days. Mumbo struggled a little bit, getting the food to stay on his fork was trickier than he remembered it being, but Iskall had been right, it was very yummy and made him feel full, only making the sleepy feeling more prominent in his mind.
He didn’t even notice when his eyes had closed, but Iskall was ever so carefully sitting him back up from where he had slumped against the table. His plate had been moved, and Iskall was trying to wipe his cheeks off with a washcloth. He whined at the damp feeling, trying to squirm away, but not able to put much energy behind the act of rebellion. “No,” he mumbled, words only clear enough to be made out by someone experienced in handling him. “No’ messy Issy. Bed-bed.”
“Oh I know,” Iskall muttered, more to himself than Mumbo, “How rude of me, sleepy baby. Let’s get you upstairs and into bed then little spud.”
Mumbo reached up, letting out another tiny mewl and mumbling out something sounding suspiciously like nonsensical babbles. Iskall hummed, brushing Mumbos hair back from his forehead, just wanting to hear more of the small sets of “bababas” and “hmm’s.” It isn’t like there was much to be miscommunicated, after all, everyone knew the universal sign for ‘up please.’
With a small huff he picked him up, and Mumbo immediately slumped into the others' warmth. Iskall gave a tiny tut, just barely keeping Mumbo from falling back asleep right then and there. “Oh, so tiny, aren’t you? But don’t you want a bottle little one? Made it special for you, come on, there you go.” He whispered as if speaking any louder would break the adorable spell that had fallen over them. He gently pressed the tip of the bottle towards Mumbo’s mouth, holding it for a second before Mumbo raised a hand to hold it up on his own.
The trek upstairs had never felt slower, but Mumbo didn’t mind. He was comfortable, warm, and being cuddled. For all he cared he could have stayed like that forever, but it had to come to an end at some point, that point being when they reached his room. Iskall peeled the boy off of him, shushing the heartbreaking whimper the younger gave. It didn’t take him long to climb in next to him, letting Mumbo lean up against his chest with a hum around his drink to make himself comfy with Iskall whispering praises and nice words to him in the dark.
It wasn’t a surprise when he was out like a light after only a few minutes, bottle not even half empty before his own hand failed to support it any longer. Iskall held it up while he sleepily sipped for the next few minutes, before sneaking it out and setting it on the nightstand, switching it out for the dummy he’d seen when setting Mumbo down.
He wasn’t planning on spending the night at Mumbo’s, but leaving him like this would just be cruel, so he made himself comfortable and pulled the blankets tighter around them. Mumbo could be embarrassed about it all he wanted tomorrow, but tonight Iskall would cherish the time he got to spend with the little one, and just for fun might bonk him in the morning just to make sure he has a reminder to take care of himself next time, lest he stumble across Mumbo again and need to repeat the process- though this tactic hadn’t worked the past seasons and he doubted that would change anytime soon.
Maybe he didn’t want it to entirely change, he’d miss spending the night with sleepy babies if it did.
Mumbo woke up feeling shockingly well rested, though the reason for that quickly became obvious as he spat a dummy out, feeling the string of it’s clip keeping it from getting lost in his bed before turning to roll over into his pillow. The only issue with that being his pillow felt different than it usually did, more solid and warm than it ever had before.
Squinting against the bright daylight of the early morning sun, memories of the night began rushing back to him. Iskall coming to pull him away from his work, making sure he ate, and well, after that things started to get hazey. There wasn’t anything he could think of to explain why he would have the other in his bed, for goodness sake!
With a final rub to his eyes in the desperate hope this was all some sort of elaborate hyper-realistic dream he sat up, putting a hand on Iskalls shoulder and gently beginning to shake the other awake.
He roused, sleepily opening his arms to try to pull Mumbo back in. “Huh, come here Firefly. Whatcha need, hmm?”
A blush plastered itself bright red across his cheeks as he stuttered out a response, his voice not wanting to work after just having woken up. “Wh- I’m- I want to know why on Earth you’re in my bed!” With a firm voice he told himself to ignore the nickname. He would not let himself be made small again just because he was tired and comfy first thing in the morning, he had a to-do list waiting for him.
“Sorry bubba, was tired and didn’t want to leave when you were so tiny.” Iskall said, as if his words meant nothing. Like they were just something to say over passing conversation. As if they didn’t instinctually make Mumbo shove his face in his soft restone blanket. Realizing what he’d done Iskall gave a husky chuckle, rubbing circles on Mumbo’s back. “And do I still have a little Mumby with me this morning?”
Mumbo muffled his squeak in the blanket, keeping it firmly in place when Iskall pulled him to lay back down against his chest. His ears definitely didn’t go pink when a hand brushed through his hair either, to think so would just be nonsense!
“Is my little spud hiding from me? Oh no, where did he go? I’ve lost my little one, what will everyone think of me now? Lost teeny tiny Mumbo, oh my dear what ever will I do,” the older cried, the smile in his voice betraying his attempt towards fear. Mumbo grumbled, rolling over to hide his face in his chest. This was honestly mean, if he could put his two diamonds in. Absolutely rude!
Mumbo desperately tried to shove the warmth spreading in his chest down, right along with the fuzz taking over his brain. Even so he couldn’t stop the high pitched whine that drew itself from his lungs. “Got stuff to do,” he huffed, appreciative to how his words were muffled through his blanket and where he was face-planted into Iskall, meaning the way his words felt muddled wouldn’t come across.
Iskall tutted, “Nothing that can’t wait until you’re properly rested Firefly. Now come on, take the morning to care for yourself- let me take care of you.”
Mumbo peeked out of his hiding space only to see Iskall’s goofy grin going full force at him. “There’s my bubba, knew he was hidden around here somewhere.” Nope, he quickly decided, curling himself to fully hide in the others shoulder. He’d take this as a personal attack against him, start to plan- a super diabolical prank to get him back. Perhaps he could borrow some eggs from Grian, make a huge machine to get the other when he’d be least expecting it. Yes, he was sure that if he was able to plan it all right then the other would never see it coming- it would take weeks of planning and trying things out before it would be ready, he would have lost suspicion by then. Would he need to pin it on someone else? He wasn’t sure if-
A hand was back in his hair, and Mumbo lifted his head enough to look the other in the eye with a firm pout that said ‘you know what you’re doing to me, don’t you?’
Iskalls only response was to reach down and gently pop the dummy still clipped to his shirt back into his mouth with a soft and caring hum.
And that was how they spent the morning, cuddling, with Mumbo fading in and out of his headspace until the pair finally crawled out of bed and Mumbo hastily tucked his supplies away, those which needed to be cleaned being taken to his kitchen while Mumbo went to shower. He was glad Iskall seemed to be okay handling the cleaning this morning because if he had to wash the still half full bottle- meaning he hadn’t been awake long enough to even finish it- he wasn’t sure he could keep himself big at all.
Finally ready to go back to his workshop, and Iskall helping him to gather the stack of plates into a chest so they didn’t all spill when he brought them down with him, he picked up his communicator. There was too many messages for it still being mid morning. He opened the server wide channel, scrolling up through a wall of “awes” and “how cute’s” before he found the source for this mornings chaos.
A single picture of him cuddled up to Iskall, dummy firmly in his mouth and a hand clinging onto the others shirt in the pink light of the sunrise. You could even see the bottle in the background for heavens sake!
Grian . He was always sneaking into his base at the most compromising of times.
“Is there no such thing as privacy in this server? Why is everyone in my house!”
Iskall just laughed, patting the younger on the shoulder and heading to the door. “You saw the photo then? I was wondering why I hadn’t heard any complaints since you first woke up.” The tease was light hearted, and Mumbo frantically hauled the box up to follow Iskall out before he could take off.
“I won’t stand for this you know! There needs to- to be some privacy on the server. I’ll take it up with Xisuma- I will, don’t laugh.”
Iskall pulled out his fireworks, Elytra settled securely at the ready now. “I don’t know how that one would go over, he already told me he was going to make it his background on his communicator.”
And with that, Iskall was gone, leaving Mumbo to plot how to prank everyone on the server all at once without it coming back to bite him in the end. First things first, he’d have to get Grian back.