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When Scar said he'd go easy on him, Mumbo expected something actually easy.
However, their definitions of easy seem to be very different. Scar still beat his ass like normal, leaving Mumbo slumped in the corner, his body aching with future bruises. He glares at Scar, who is standing in the middle of the training room, drinking water and smiling over at him.
Behind him, Grian is laughing a bit, finding it funny how easy it had been for Scar to kick Mumbo's ass. Easy for him to laugh, the two had had more training than being shoved into a room and told to fight.
His water bottle is nearly empty as he chugs it down, trying to rid his mouth of the sour taste of his spit. Sweat trickles down his forehead, and god he's so glad that the training is done. It was nice to have some time where he didn't have to think of anything but surviving the fight, but the injuries he gets from it isn't worth that time.
Eventually Grian comes over, helping Mumbo back up to his feet. "You did better than last time!"
"Doesn't feel like it" If anything, he thinks he did worse than last time.
Grian shrugs. "Well, that's what he said. And I personally think you did pretty well" Mumbo just nods a bit at the compliment, still working to catch his breath.
His body aches as he's led back to Scar, who greets him with a happy smile. Mumbo is tempted to punch the smile off his face, he hurts too much to enjoy that smile on his friends face. "C'mon, look alive Mumbo! That was fun!"
"Fun for literally just you" He sighs, swinging his arms behind him and stretching. He needs a shower, he can feel his shirt sticking to him with sweat. He hates that feeling.
"How about I treat you for lunch as an apology?" Scar offers, wrapping his arm around Mumbo's shoulder, still smiling so wide. Mumbo offers a strained smile back, thinking over Scar's offer.
"Sure. Let me stop by the showers first" Mumbo says, and Scar nods, turning to Grian.
"You're invited too! I'll pay!" He wraps his other arm around Grian, and Grian lets him, giving a smile on the thought of a paid lunch.
"Deal. I'll head up with Mumbo then, and you can head to the cafe. Get us a table" One of them always has to be watching Mumbo, or there has to be another trusted hero watching him. Mumbo hates this rule, it feels like an inconvenience to everyone who is forced to babysit him.
Scar nods, and Mumbo nods back, heading towards the door. Grian follows him, chuckling. "You're walking a bit funny"
"He hit my back hard-" Mumbo sighs, reaching his arms to stretch again, trying to crack his aching back. His mouth opens wide in a yawn, he's tired from the training, exhausted even though it's barely lunch. Maybe his lack of sleep hadn't helped his exhaustion, his nights spent awake and staring at the barred window, scared to close his eyes and sleep, knowing there are hundreds out there waiting to kill him. "I'll probably be fine"
"Maybe we can get you a heating pack or something" Grian hums quietly, following Mumbo to the elevator. He swipes his pass, and the two stand there, waiting for the elevator to make its way down slowly.
Mumbo's fingers had found their way into his mouth, chewing on his fingernails. They were already always stubby and bloody, but they had gotten worse since he started staying in the tower.
The elevator doors open up with a ding, and the two step in, Grian pulling his wings close to him to take up the least room possible. He's still humming, slowly switching to hum along with the songs softly playing in the elevator. Mumbo doesn't join him, just listening. His eyes are focused on the panels of the elevator walls, staring blankly.
His brain stays there in the elevator. His body doesn't, following behind Grian to his bedroom. He leaves the other side and heads to the bathroom, getting in the shower. As the warm water hits him, his brain returns to his body, his zoned out state breaking.
He looks up at the water, the warm water washing away the sweat that clings to his skin. He watches the water fall for a few minutes, before eventually he moves, using a cloth to clean off his body. He wrings out the cloth and sets it aside, rinsing off the soap subs. His hand returns to the metal tab, turning it off.
He doesn't leave the shower for a bit, even as a cool chill fills the bathroom. He shivers, back to staring blankly at the wall. His thoughts felt loud and heavy, overwhelming his ability to move his body.
He has things to do though. Lunch to eat.
He gets out of the shower, drying himself off before pulling on new clothes. He reenters the bedroom, noticing Grian on his bed. Grian had gotten comfortable, spread eagle on the bed, wings taking up any free spots on the mattress. He was scrolling on his phone, probably watching the hundreds of videos Scar tends to send.
"We should head to the cafe" Mumbo says, and Grian nods, pulling his wings close to his body and rolling off the bed. He stretches and heads to the door, holding it open for Mumbo, who follows close behind him.
The two head back to the elevator. There are others in the hallway, and Mumbo can feel their eyes on him, glaring daggers into his back. None of them like that he is being rehabilitated, hates that a murderer is being given a chance to be a hero.
The elevator door closes, the glares interrupted by the door. Mumbo watches Grian step forward to click the button for the cafe, but Mumbo interrupts before he can press down the button.
"Can we go to floor 7?" His voice is very quiet, barely audible. He hopes Grian doesn't hear him, but Grian looks up, and then smiles. He nods, and clicks the button for the infirmary.
The silence in the elevator was only interrupted by the soft music that played. The two stayed quiet, Mumbo zoned back out on the panels of the elevator and Grian just smiling gently.
When the door slowly opens up to clean white halls of the infirmary, Mumbo just wants to close the elevator doors and leave. He doesn't want to be here on this floor, which was just as filled with death and misery as the battlefields he had been on. Before he can voice his thoughts, Grian had already stepped out, and Mumbo can't do anything but follow behind him, staying quiet. Their footsteps bounced around the hallway, and Mumbo's eyes flick to his feet for a second, keeping his shoes in every panel, skipping every crack. He wasn't sure where his mom was, but he preferred not to break her back.
He eventually looks up, staring at the doors they're passing. The man they were here to see was the 6th door on the left. Mumbo counts them in his head, finally making it to the door. The two look inside through the small window on the door.
Inside, Jimmy is asleep in his bed. He looks angelic, a soft light on the man as he sleeps. His hands are holding a pencil, he had been writing it seems. He had been writing a lot. But it meant he was doing better, his weak hands shaking less every day that passed.
Mumbo didn't want to walk in and wake up Jimmy. The other need sleep. Simply seeing Jimmy there, safe in the hospital bed, is enough to make his mood shift, a soft smile on his face.
Jimmy was alive. Jimmy was safe. Jimmy was getting better more and more everyday, and soon, he'll be back out there again, saving people.
Did heroes save people?
Even months into training, Mumbo wasn't sure. But Jimmy.. he felt like Jimmy was saving people. Even if the other heroes weren't, Jimmy was. It was just the way he was, too kind for the job he chose. He was what a hero should be. Kind and generous, doing everything in his power to keep others safe.
They stand there for a bit, probably looking creepy. Grian stands next to him, his eyes on Jimmy too. Eventually though, Grian's phone buzzes, and he sighs. "We should probably get down to Scar, huh?"
"Yeah" Mumbo's voice doesn't break a whisper, as if speaking loudly will wake up the sleeping man inside the door. "Yeah, lets go"
The elevator ride is just as silent, but Mumbo isn't as zoned out. He's staring over Grian's shoulder, watching the videos Scar had sent with him.
Lunch goes okay. The food is appetising for the first time in a week, and he eats while eyes glare holes into his back. He keeps his own red eyes on the two in front of him, but the heroes behind him all glare, as if they're planning his arrest as their head.
They leave him in the workshop after lunch, heading on their patrols. He sees some familiar faces in the workshop, heroes he had hurt in the past.
He sits himself down at his workbench, trying to ignore as the others stare at him. His hands tremble as he builds, working on the small projects he had been assigned. He is not allowed to work on anything he isn't given, the only gadgets he can make are little spinning motors and small flashlights until he's trusted more.
Mumbo builds a spinning motor, and watches it spin as he sits there. His eyes struggle to focus on it, and he likes that feeling, the inability to focus, the buzzing noise filling his ears and the spinning making his eyes blur as they try to focus.
There is a tap on his shoulder and he flinches, whirling around fast. He looks behind him, and three smiling faces greet him.
"Hi! Mumbo, right?" One asked, his goat-like ears flicking. He's the shortest, the most likely cause of that being the strange structure of his fluffy legs taking away his chances of being any taller.
Mumbo nods, looking at the two beside the blond goat. A slightly taller one, with eyes as red as Mumbo's and firey hair that probably wasn't too safe to be around. The other one, the tallest, has some sort of demon features, yet looked maybe the least intimidating of them all. "Yeah, that's me. Do you need anything?"
"We just wanted to say hi! We heard you were Scar and Grian's friend, and thought we should introduce ourselves!" As the demon speaks, Mumbo can see the other people in the room staring at the interaction. Mumbo is tempted to sink into the ground and disappear, its bad to be stared at, worse to be talked to. "I'm Impulse, the fire hazard is Tango, and finally, Zedaph"
"It's nice to meet you!" Tango says, grinning. Then he seems to realise what Impulse called him, and turns around, an offended look on his face. Impulse simply smiles in response, and Mumbo finds himself giggling along with the three, a small smile growing on his face.
The three were kind. They let him work on their projects with them, sitting on his stool at the edge of their desks. For the first time, when Grian and Scar came to pick him up like a child from daycare, Mumbo didn't want to leave. But he still did, following behind the two as they leave, waving at the others once more before the door shuts.
"So, you met ZIT, huh?"
"... ZIT..?" Mumbo's eyes narrow a bit in confusion.
"Zedaph Impulse Tango. I don't know. Sometimes they're ZITS, when Skizz is around." Grian chuckles. "I don't know how well you'd do around Skizz, he's definitely a lot.. more than the rest of them. And zero knowledge of how to do any of the stuff you were geeking out about with them"
"I wasn't geeking out" Mumbo mutters as they get on the elevator, heading back up to their rooms, exhaustion clear on all their faces.
"Sure buddy. Sure. You can admit it" Scar chuckles, nudging him as they leave the elevator. The hallway was empty, and god Mumbo was glad for that, too tired to deal with any more people staring at him.
The two leave him at his room. He stares at the wooden door, knowing the night will be filled with nightmares and restless tossing.
After a few seconds, he follows behind Grian and Scar. Grian notices him, and his wing stretches out, the offer just like one of an open arm.
Mumbo moves quicker, feet hitting the ground a bit faster. He tucks himself under Grian's wing, and it wraps around him, warm and soft. Scar smiles on his other side, and wraps his arm around him, hugging him just as softly as Grian was.
He was surrounded by his friends, feeling warm and safe between them. Even with hundreds of people wanting to kill him, he feels safe here, held so gently and lovingly. Even after all he had done, they still held him like this, held him so lovingly. They were still his friends, they still wanted to keep him safe.
Maybe he would be okay.