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The first thing Grian felt after being knocked off that damn tree by Joel and his damn sword, was the fear of falling. The second thing Grian felt was the grass under his back as he landed, then, the final and the most favored thing that Grian felt, was the comfort of his own bed back on Hermitcraft and the fluff of his wool blankets. Oh, how Grian wanted to gather all the blankets in the world and rest under there for hours. As soon as Grian awoke, he groaned and rolled around, feeling the pain of a great fall, yet the warmth and relief of his bed instantly made him feel much better–
“Grian!” Exclaims a cheery voice, a voice which Grian recognizes as soon as he hears it… It’s Mumbo. Who Grian is still absolutely fuming at. The traitor. Grian wants to go back to sleep, and not deal with the man who killed him in cold blood, though, the shock of hearing a sudden voice makes Grian bolt up from his bed, thus making him… have to deal with Mumbo.
“Grian, oh goodness, I can’t believe you're awake! I, ah, I’ve been waiting here for a while,” Mumbo chuckles, “and, uhm, I… I’m happy you’re awake.”
“Get out.” demands Grian.
“Huh?”
“You heard me, Mumbo. I’m still angry at you.”
“Angry at me?”
“Mumbo, you killed me, of course I’m angry at you.”
“Oh, I… forgot about that.” Mumbo gives an awkward laugh after he quietly mumbles that.
“You FORGOT!?”
“I mean… I wasn’t really, uh, in charge of… myself? I had to listen to Cleo. I think. It’s a bit foggy, Grian.” Mumbo leans forward as he explains himself, solemnly looking into Grian eyes.
“Mumbo, I’m not going to forgive you.”
“Oh… That’s a real shame. I-I didn’t really have a choice, mate.” Mumbo looks devastated, Grian notices. Good, Grian thinks, he should know what he did wrong. Though, something deep inside of Grian screams at him to stop, and just forgive Mumbo. Forgive his lover, his life partner, his husband. Grian ignores it though, he’s a stubborn man, after all.
“Grian, I’m sorry. You know I’m sorry right?” And as Mumbo gives a truly sorrowful look to Grian, Grian no longer knows how to feel. “I-I was saying it when… it happened. I don’t know if you heard me then but, I’m sorry, Gri.” Somehow, this makes Grian much more angry. A simple sorry won’t do. He doesn’t know what will do, but there’s got to be something, right? Well, even if there is something, Grian will still be angry. At this point, he’s not entirely sure if he’s mad at Mumbo or something else he doesn’t even know.
Ugh. This is too frustrating, Grian thinks as he grabs all his covers and angrily turns to no longer face Mumbo, and if his wings smack Mumbo in the face as he turns, oh well!
“Grian.” Mumbo says,
“...”
“Mate.”
“...”
“...Babe?” That makes Grian uncomfortable, he’ll deal with that later though. Mumbo continues, “Uh, I.. I made you a, uhm, goodness how do I say this? I made you an apology gift… I suppose.”
“...What is it?” Grian replies, turning back over to face Mumbo again. Grian first notices the feather stuck in Mumbo’s hair, presumably from Grian’s wing striking him as he turned… again. Then Grian notices the look on Mumbo’s face, and it resembles a sad, wet cat way too much, and that makes Grian feel weird. Finally, Grian notices Mumbo’s hand stuffed into his suit’s overcoat, gripping something that he can’t see.
Mumbo takes a deep breath and pulls out a little box, it’s a deep brown, seemingly carved out of wood. Grian would assume it was bought from one of the other Hermits shops, if it wasn’t for the little mustaches, waffles, and feathers carved into the sides of the box. On the top, it looks like a little Grumbot face, too. It’s very sloppily made, Grian notes, but not in the lazy way, he can tell lots of love was also put into this stupid box. Grian gets angry again. Stupid Mumbo. His thoughts shout, how dare he love me when I’m supposed to be angry at him. Why isn’t he making this easy? Stupid, kind, caring, loving, Mumbo.
“Is this it? Just a box?” Grian asks, though, it’s not really what he’s feeling. He just wants Mumbo to feel bad. Revenge.
“I made the box. But, no. No that isn’t it. This is, hah, my first time really making or carving small things like this and… I hope you like it.” Mumbo says in the most hopeful tone Grian’s ever heard from Mumbo. Mumbo then slides the top off of the wooden box, and pulls out a poorly but lovingly made model of one of the bridges that he, Grian, and Skizz made while they were all in Wild Life together. “I had a lot of time until you came back, Grian. I know I could’ve just focused on my own builds, but I just… couldn’t stop thinking about you. I feel bad for dying how I did, Grian, and ah, I guess I also feel bad for killing you while I was a zombie. So I worked waaayyy too hard to make this. The box too. I did get some help from the other hermits with the box though…” Mumbo continues to ramble as Grian sits up and takes the model from Mumbo’s hands.
The model, though pieces of it are skewed to the side, probably from being carried in a box, has so many details that could only be put in if the creator was there, on the bridge. He can even see stains of redstone covered fingers along the unpainted bottom. Grian feels bad. Grian feels bad for trying to use psychological warfare against the man who loves him so, and Grian can’t lie, he loves Mumbo too. He always has, even since before he joined Hermitcraft.
“Mumbo…”
“I know it doesn’t look that great Grian, but.. I just finished it today. Had to rush it a bit even-”
“I love it, Mumbo. It’s really cute.”
“Really?” Mumbo says, full of joy, his mustache visibly curling on the ends as he smiles. Even in the dark room, Grian can spot the light of glee in Mumbo’s eyes. Stupid, pretty eyes. Grian wants to hold Mumbo in his arms, but he also really wants to chase Mumbo around until he feels satisfied.
“Yeah.” Grian says quietly as he hands the model back to Mumbo, and almost immediately as Mumbo takes it and sets it down on Grian’s bedside table, Grian yanks Mumbo by the tie into his own bed, immediately cuddling his own face right into Mumbo’s chest. “I hate you, Mumbo Jumbo.”
Mumbo laughs, “I love you too, Grian.” Damn. Grian thinks, Why can he see right through me? I hate him. Hate him, hate him, hate him, hate- I can’t hate him…
Grian remembers back to when he was a fresh member of Hermitcraft, before he and Mumbo even began dating. Grian always told Mumbo that he loved him. What’s different now? They’re together, Grian supposes, they already know how much they love each other. It’s the little things now, he guesses. Like the model Mumbo had just made for him. Or the box Mumbo had just made for him. Grian sighs and then wraps his arms around Mumbo’s neck. If it were about 5 minutes ago he’d rather be strangling him, honestly.
...And after a few moments of comfortable silence, Grian decides to talk to Mumbo.
“I came second, by the way. Lost to Joel.” Grian mutters into Mumbo’s chest.
“...Second? You.. you nearly won?”
“Yep.”
“Grian! You nearly won!” Mumbo grabs Grian’s face, pulling him up to look at Mumbo, and also accidentally leaving small redstone streaks on Grian’s cheeks. “Oh, I wish I got to see that!”
“I probably would’ve won if you didn’t kill me” Grian glares at Mumbo, trying to appear vengeful, even though Mumbo can see the glint of humor in Grian’s eyes.
“Sorry.”
“You better be.”
“Did you get to kill anyone?”
“Yeah. Got to kill Jimmy. That felt good. Also got Lizzie and Pearl. Nearly got Joel.”
“Grian you came second, that’s mental. I came last, Grian. I am so so so so so proud of you” Mumbo says, peppering kisses onto Grian’s forehead with nearly every ‘so’. Grian pushes his face away a little, giggling as he does so.
“You’re so lame, Mumbo” Grian looks at Mumbo with love residing in his eyes, his smile, his words. Grian is usually quite good at hiding his feelings, but when it comes to Mumbo, it’s hard. Mumbo leans in and gives Grian a swift kiss, and it brings fireworks nonetheless. Grian can’t stay mad at his lover, his other half, even. Not necessarily his better half, no, they’re both just spoons. They’re just spoons together, though.
“Anyways, Grian, I’ve started work on this one farm-“
“Muuuummboooo?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m gonna kill you, I think.”
“What!?”
“Yeah, so you better get a head start if you wanna run away. You get ten seconds.” Grian playfully says. Giggling as he stares Mumbo in the eyes.
Grian’s not very mad anymore, but a little revenge won’t hurt. Might as well make sure they both have fun, at least. Grian gives Mumbo a kiss on the nose before shoving him off the bed, watching as Mumbo clumsily gets up, puts on his dress shoes, and makes a run for the door. Grian loves Mumbo, he’ll just show it in his own way.