Work Text:
For a while, Mumbo had found himself caught up in all of the stress that comes with being a hermit. The constant pressure to keep up with the builds of his friends and neighbors, combined with the constant social interaction, had become too much. This feeling of anxiety had been building up for a few seasons now.
His biggest outlet for stress relief has always been regression, much like several of his fellow hermits. But the constant pressure he had put on himself led him to become afraid of regression and to push it away. He's always been rather shy when little, and when he does regress, he doesn't have many people he feels comfortable enough with to entirely open up to. On rare occasions, Grian and Scar would be the only ones he would trust. But now, after pushing it away for so long, he felt like he could never reconnect with it again, at least not easily. And he didn't want to bother Grian or Scar with taking care of him, which was a constant fear which only led to more stress and anxiety than he already had. He knew that if he could let himself go, it might be good for him, and that he might feel better and more refreshed than he had felt in a very long time. But he just couldn't do it.
As the season went on, Mumbo had continued to push his little side away while trying his best to pretend like he's okay, hiding his anxieties from the other hermits. This continued on for most of the season, even if he knew deep inside that doing this was only hurting him even more. He preferred to put himself through the emotional turmoil rather than putting his friends through it. After all, he can deal with his emotions on his own, right?
This season, he hasn't had as much contact with Grian and Scar than in the past. Despite being neighbors, the three of them usually only see each other for brief visits, which was a rather big contrast to the previous season. This was partly due to his emotions continuing to get the best of him. At this point, he distances himself as much as possible not only from Grian and Scar, but from the rest of the hermits as well, and only interacts with them when nessecary. He spent most of the season building up his base with minimal social interaction, in an attempt that he thought could recharge his social battery.
One hermit, however, that Mumbo had been interacting with more frequently as the season went on, was Gem. At first, she would only pop by his base for brief visits or to ask him some questions as part of her science experiments on the hermits. But as the two of them interacted more and more, Mumbo had felt a strange sense of comfort and security that he had never quite felt around any other hermit in quite a long time. Even Grian and Scar had made him feel rather stressed at times. But there was something that was different about Gem, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
One day, as he was quietly working on his base as he usually does, Gem stopped by to say hello. She had decided to stick around for a while to chat, as she hadn't talked to Mumbo in quite some time and wanted to catch up with him. And as the two of them are chatting about various things, Mumbo begins to sense the all-too-familiar feeling of fuzziness in his brain. Although this time he couldn't push it away. He goes small, and since Mumbo can't hide his regression very well, Gem notices a change in his behavior and overall mood almost right away.
"Hey Mumbo, you feeling alright?" Gem asks, concerned about Mumbo's sudden change in mood.
"Uh... Y-yeah, I'm okay." Mumbo replies nervously, trying his best to sound big as he did before.
"You sure? You sound nervous," Gem says. "I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. That's the last thing I want."
"I'm sure... Promise I'm okay," Mumbo says quietly, and shakily gives her a little nod.
Gem could tell, however, that something was wrong. She knew that he hadn't been in the best place mentally for a while now, and that he could get anxious, and just overall, mentally drained pretty easily. She knows what it's like to be anxious, and when she's anxious about something, she tends to have a harder time controlling her own regression. One look at Mumbo and she could tell that that's what most likely happened.
Mumbo could tell that Gem knew what had happened. She proved in the past to be pretty good at knowing many possible signs of regression, especially considering she often shows many of them herself. Knowing that, he couldn't hide it anymore.
"I sowwy Gem..." Mumbo says quietly, trying not to cry. While he did feel comfortable around Gem, he didn't expect for this to happen anytime soon.
"Hey hey hey, Mumbo, it's okay bud. I completely understand," Gem says softly, trying to soothe the now shy kiddo in front of her. "I know you've been stressed a lot recently. I had a feeling you might've went small. I promise you that you don't have to hide it from me, okay?"
"Mmm... otay Gemmy," Mumbo replies shyly, through sniffles that were slowly but surely going away as Gem calmed him down.
"I know you're shy, and that's okay," Gem says. "Because I've never seen you small before, even if I was informed of you being a regressor a long time ago. I understand if you don't trust me."
"I- I twust chu..." Mumbo says quietly, with a shy look on his face, before hiding it in his hands.
"Aww, you do?" Gem asks, almost tearing up from having heard it. "I'm glad you trust me, that makes me happy."
"I feel comfy wif chu... Chu calming," Mumbo says. "I sowwy... Words hawd wite nows."
"That's okay, you little sweetheart." Gem says with a smile. "Don't you worry about that. You have nothing to worry about at all right now."
The two of them sit in silence for a little while, and suddenly Mumbo clings onto Gem and gives her a little hug.
"Aww, bud, you're too cute," Gem says softly, returning the hug and gently patting him on the back. "Would you like me to stay here for a while and take care of you?"
Mumbo nods, while still hugging Gem tightly. Gem knew he was still having a hard time speaking, but she didn't mind that.
"We can go back to my base and just relax there. I have some stuff that might help calm you," Gem says. "And I promise I'll keep you company. I can tell you don't want to be alone."
Gem holds Mumbo's hand and the two of them head over to Gem's base, where Gem finds Mumbo a nice place to relax, in one of the buildings she had made into a bit of a retreat for herself. Mumbo takes a seat in a rocking chair he spots in the corner of the room.
"Now bud, I have something you might like," Gem says, letting him borrow one of her plushies she had lying around. "It's one of my favorite plushies when I'm small and I feel lonely. You can borrow it while you're here."
This plushie is a reasonably sized moon plush, which Gem got as a gift from Pearl a while back. She keeps it nearby for when she feels lonely and scared, because it reminds her of Pearl.
Mumbo takes the plush and hugs it tightly. He loves plushies, and has a few of his own, including a waffle plush and an old Grian head plush that Grian had gifted him a while back. Those two in particular are his favorites, but he unfortunately misplaced them at some point recently while organizing his base. He missed them quite a lot and hoped to try to find them the next chance he got.
"You like it?" Gem asks softly. "I hope it can help you feel calm for right now like it always helps me."
"Mhms... Is soft... I wik it," Mumbo replies, burying his head into the plush while still holding it very tightly.
"I'm glad to hear that bud. You stay here as long as you need," Gem says with a smile. "I'll be here if you need anything at all. I have plenty of stuff here for you if need be."
Before long, it was getting dark outside, and Mumbo's cries and sniffles had stopped by this point as the two of them took time to relax. He felt safe in Gem's presence, safer than he had felt in a very long time, in her base where nothing could hurt him or stress him out. It was just him, Gem, and her plushie, which he refused to let go of, other than to occasionally hold Gem's hand.
After sitting in silence for a while, Gem hears Mumbo yawning, and she knew it was pretty late for him to be awake. Today was just a stressful day for him until Gem showed up, and now that he felt safe, he didn't want to have to leave her side, not just yet. But Gem knew he had to at some point.
"Hey bud, it's getting pretty late," Gem says softly, making sure to not disturb or overwhelm him. "Do you wanna go back to your base? A kiddo like you needs plenty of good rest."
"Mmmm..." Mumbo whines. "I nu wanna... I wan stay hewe wif chuuuu."
"I know you do, sweetheart, but you gotta go back home at some point," Gem says. "After all, don't you wanna go back home where you have your own bed, and your own plushies?"
"Nuh uh," Mumbo continues to quietly whine as he shakes his head. "I nu kno where plushies awe anyways. Lost dem."
"Aww bud, I'm sorry," Gem replies calmingly. "Maybe soon I could help you find them?"
"Mmm yes pwease... I wud wik dat. If it nu bother chu." Mumbo says shyly.
"Of course not, little one," Gem says. "I will definitely help you find them. We'll make sure you're reunited with them, okay?"
"Otay... Fank chu Gemmy..." Mumbo says quietly, trying not to fall asleep on the spot.
"Anytime sweetie," Gem says. "But first, we have to bring you back home to your base so you can rest, okay? Maybe tomorrow we can look. Or at least sometime soon."
"Mmmm, otay..." Mumbo huffs, still whiny but a lot sleepier than before. He was ready for Gem to take him back home so he could get some sleep.
"Okay, good boy. We can go back to your base now. You need your rest." Gem says. She takes Mumbo's hand and the two of them carefully walk back to Mumbo's base, where she brings him back to his house.
"Okay bud, here we are," Gem says. "I have to go back to my base now and get some rest myself, are you okay to be left alone?"
Mumbo nods very sleepily, and hugs Gem one more time before she leaves.
"Fank chu fow takin cawe of me," Mumbo sleepily mumbles. Despite this, Gem was able to understand him just fine.
"Anytime bud," Gem replies with a smile. "I know how much you push this side of you away, and you don't trust many people to see it. So I'm very happy you feel comfortable with me. That means a lot to me."
"Mhms. Chu made me feew vewy safe today. Safer den I fewt in while." Mumbo says.
"I'm glad to hear that," Gem says. "I'd be happy to take care of you anytime you need, okay bud? You deserve it. Just let me know if you ever need me, I'll be here as much as I can. And I want you to know I'm very proud of you for letting this side of you come out after so long."
"Fank chu..." Mumbo says, finally letting go of Gem.
"Of course," Gem says. "You have sweet dreams, bud, I'll be here tomorrow if you need me."
"Otay. Nini Gemmy," Mumbo says.
"Goodnight, sweetie." Gem says with a smile before she walks out the door.
Mumbo slowly waddles over to his bed as Gem leaves, ready to get some sleep after this long day.