Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey, Mumbo? Do you think there could be life out there?”

The sun beat down on his skin, warming him to his core. In contrast, a sweet-smelling breeze blew by, cooling his face. Grian looked to his right, and there was his partner, Mumbo. His eyes lowered, and his fingers were stained with the Redstone he had been tinkering with. A smile ghosted across his lips as he hummed a very familiar tune.

“It’s very possible. The universe is quite large and unpredictable.” After a short time of thought and silence, Mumbo jumped up from his kneeling position next to his prototype. “Finally! It works!” The man started to ramble about what the machine did. Grian let him.

The man was adorable when he was talking about the things he was interested in. The normally anxious spoon was confident for once, and it looked good on him. Even his mustache seemed to curl up in enthusiasm. Grian didn’t understand a word of what the man was saying, but that didn’t really matter.

“It’s quite simple, really!” His eyes sparkled as his hands flew into the air.

Grian giggled lightly, “Sure, mate.” Gently, he pulled the taller into a chaste kiss. He chuckled as Mumbo’s mustache tickled his nose. “You forgot one thing, though.”

“And what would that be?”

The shorter pulled the engineer closer to him and guided him into a deeper kiss. When they pulled back for air, Grian smirked, “You forgot to Grian-proof it!” Having used the kiss to maneuver himself closer to the contraption, the blonde slammed his hand into the button, which activated it.

“GRIAN!”

It was the last good memory Grian had. If only he had known just how relevant his innocent question had been on that nearly perfect day. Maybe they wouldn’t be where they are now.

Shortly after the nice moment, in the field, both men were knocked out and, for lack of a better word, abducted.

Currently, he sat in a blank white room with one glass wall. Across from him was Mumbo. Unfortunately, the walls were thick, so they couldn’t hear each other through the glass. By some miracle, they both got bored in secondary school and learned Morse code to have conversations during class. That was how they were communicating. However, they found out the hard way, well, Mumbo did, that if the glass gets touched, it will electrocute the person touching the smooth material. He wasn’t even sure it was glass. It was probably some weird alien equivalent of the material with the way the light seemed to cast light rainbows across the ground in fractal patterns.

There were a lot of things that were slightly different, but it still reminded him of home. One was the food. They were given one meal a day, at least he thinks it’s once a day. There were no windows to the outside, and even if there were, it’s not like there was a sun to help tell time. The meal consisted of a few berries that looked like blueberries, but they were pink on the inside and were almost citrusy tasting. Another was the bed in the corner of the room. It reminded Grian a lot of the beds in prisons (don’t ask how he knows that), but circular and with no padding. The water tasted a little strange as well. It was as though light flavors had been added, but not the good ones.

Grian was thrown out of his thoughts as an alien came from around the corner and into his view. It stopped in front of his cell and looked down at a glass sheet which seemed to act as a tablet, before looking at Mumbo. The man was curled up in the corner, asleep. That did not fare well for him, and Grian knew it, but he had no way of waking him up. He watched in horror as the alien punched something into the keypad next to the door. If the situation didn’t have his heart in his stomach, he would probably notice how its ridiculously thin legs clicked satisfyingly against the material.

The thing had to duck down to enter the cell because of its absurd height. It should be a crime for anything to be that tall. The door shut behind it, and even though he couldn’t hear it, Grian knew the screeching noise that the thing made to wake Mumbo up was ear-splitting. The man seemed to shake as horror filled his face. He had looked the thing in its eyes. That was something they had figured out not to do on day one when Grian had made that mistake.

Its jaw unhinged, and the light that came from somewhere within its body increased, escaping the thin skin that barely covered bones and illuminating its mouth and eyes to a vibrant purple. A very loud staticky cry, barely audible from Grian’s cell, came from the alien. Mumbo curled into a tighter ball as the alien took a swing with its long, skeletal hands. It connected with Mumbo’s side, and he collapsed on his side. Another blow came along with another screech. Nothing could stop it at this point. The only option was to ride it out.

At some point, Grian couldn’t look anymore, closed his eyes, and turned his head away. He didn’t like seeing his partner like this. He really didn’t. When the screeching stopped, or at least quieted enough to where he couldn’t hear it through the glass again, his concern got the better of him, and he looked to where Mumbo lay on the floor. Luckily, it seemed that he hadn’t been too hurt, probably a few bruises, but nothing too bad. The alien grabbed his arm and drew some blood, just as it usually did. This time, though, it placed a blindfold on him as well as injecting him with something. Shortly after the needle was pulled out of his arm, Mumbo sagged against the wall where he was sitting. Once again, the alien grabbed the human’s arm, this time yanking him to stand. Reaching under his legs, it placed him on its shoulder and went to open the door.

Watching this happen, Grian stood up quickly. They had never taken one of them out of their rooms. Never. What was going on? Where were they taking him? He was tempted to pound on the glass and demand answers, but he knew that wouldn’t get him anywhere but with a few injuries from the electricity.

Was he going to come back? Were they going to experiment? Kill him?! He hoped that he would see his partner again. He was the only familiar face in this prison. To be honest, Mumbo is probably the one who preserved the very little sanity he had left through this whole thing.

A figure rounded the corner, and he stepped back away from the glass. Afraid of what the alien might do if it found him so close to the transparent wall. The alien walked up to the sensor and opened his cell. He should probably stop calling them “the alien”. There were several different ones that he had come to recognize on the ship, each differentiated by the subtle differences in their body structure. The one that came in now was one of the kinder ones. It would often bring him and Mumbo extra food and wouldn’t manhandle- could it really be called that if they were aliens? Anyway, alien handled them as it gave them their injections. He decided to dub it Edward, if only to have something to call a name with Mumbo not there. His sanity must already be slipping…

Edward walked in, holding a syringe in its claws. Its legs clicked on the ground as it walked toward Grian. Grabbing his arm, it injected the contents before pulling another one out of who knows where. After emptying the contents of this one as well, it stood and walked back to the door before turning around and saying something in the staticky language of the aliens. He wished he could understand what it was saying, but he couldn’t. It also didn’t seem to understand him either. It never did.

Edward left the room and walked back down the hallway. Grian sat on the “bed” and hoped Mumbo was alright as he tried to distract himself from getting bored.

---- ◊◊◊ ----

The door opened behind him. He liked to see the door, but when he woke up, he was facing the other direction, and he felt too tired to move. Grian’s head hurt beyond what was bearable. He wanted to scream, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything. A tear slipped down his cheek and landed on the platform beneath him. He could tell that multiple figures loomed over him. The staticky language washed over him as he was lifted onto another bed-like thing. He couldn’t bring himself to care, though. That was until they went out the door and into the hallway.

He tried to sit up, but between the way his head felt like it was splitting into two and the hands pressing down on his shoulders to keep him down, he couldn’t. Grian thrashed wildly as the pain only continued to grow. His vision was filled with purple and white sparks that designated the aliens’ technology and use of whatever abilities they possessed. Staticky words and screeches were being exchanged over him, though he didn’t care.

Something cold pressed against his lips, and he jerked back away from the unwelcome touch. Unfortunately, he forgot he was lying down on a metal stretcher-like object and only succeeded in making the pain split through his head worse as it was struck harshly against the surface. Another hand reached up and pressed against his forehead, not allowing him to move from his current position, no matter how hard he fought.

Grian didn’t even realize his vision was starting to get big black patches intermixed with purple and white, and panicked when he felt himself losing the battle to stay awake. The cold material was once again pressed to his lips, but this time, he didn’t have the energy to fight against it and let it happen. A liquid was poured into his mouth, and he was forced to swallow or choke on the bitter substance.

Another wave of pain washed through his body, and every muscle felt like it was on fire as they tensed beyond what should be possible. This action was the last straw for Grian’s already breaking mind before he let go and welcomed the nothingness that was unconsciousness.

---- ◊◊◊ ----

Mumbo woke up in a cell. It was a different cell than the one before. This one had clear walls on all four sides instead of one, and he seemed to be in the middle of a bigger room. Was he no longer on the skeletal aliens’ ship?

His question was answered when a trio of aliens entered the room. The one on the right was massive and caught his attention first simply because of its size. The alien had green fur, horns that resembled a goat’s, four legs instead of two, and cybernetics replacing one of its arms and eyes. The one on the left was bulky with blue-tinged skin and scars covering most of its exposed skin. The one in the middle was the most intimidating by far. Though it was the shortest of the three, it seemed to have the presence of an authority figure, and Mumbo was sure that it was in charge. It wore a full set of armor that resembled the exoskeleton of an insect. Its helmet concealed its head and, by extension, its face.

Grian always called the aliens on the last ship just “alien”, but Mumbo liked to give them names. These three he would call Goat, Blue, and Bug. There weren’t any other signs as to their actual names, and seeing as how they were talking the entire time he was taking in his surroundings, he couldn’t understand them either. These three spoke in a different language from the screeching of the last group. It actually sounded like a language this time, as opposed to just noises.

Goat and Blue both walked out of the room through a door that opened up in the seamless wall. Bug stayed behind and just stood there for a second before moving over to one corner of the clear room. A gloved hand rose to press some buttons on the side before entering the room Mumbo sat in. The alien grabbed a bowl of food and a canteen of some kind that hopefully held water, specifically water that was not laced with something.

He waited until Bug left before inspecting the food. It looked like a protein bar of some kind. There were also a few slices of the pink things from the last ship. He remembered that they tasted sweet, but almost sickeningly so. Nonetheless, it was food. He ate both items before opening the canister. It was only filled about a quarter of the way with water. After a few sips, he was happy to determine that it was pure water and that it hadn’t been contaminated by anything. At least, nothing that tinged the water with an unnatural flavor.

This continued for a while, although the alien who brought him food would alternate. He guessed that it had been about a week, but there was no way to tell for sure. This time, though, Goat came in holding something that he couldn’t see.

He started to back up, remembering the kind of things that the skeletal aliens would have when they attempted to hide what they were holding. The glass pressed against his back, and he jerked forward, worried that it was going to electrocute him. When he didn’t feel the zap of electricity, he relaxed before realizing that the entire time he had been backing up, the furry green alien had made its way into the cell.

Mumbo froze and stared wide-eyed at the being, although avoiding looking at its eyes in case it was like the last species. The thing didn’t stop moving and continued forward with confidence that reminded him of documentaries of predator animals stalking their prey.

It suddenly stopped and turned towards the entrance to the large room, like something was about to come through it. Sure enough, the door opened, but nothing seemed to enter the room. At least, that’s what the man thought before the sound of clicking caught his attention. The sound traveled around the room, and like the spoon he was, Mumbo was so focused on trying to figure out what was making the noise that he stopped paying attention to the other being with him.

Something grabbed his forearm softly but still firmly enough that he couldn’t pull away. The touch from Goat’s hand was cold and unforgiving. It wasn’t super pleasant.

Mumbo didn’t dare look the being in the eyes, much less look at its face, not when it was this close. Instead, he studied the metal arm that was currently clasped around his wrist. The alien seemed to produce a thin band that appeared to be made of metal, but as it slid up his arm, he couldn’t help but marvel at how it stretched to fit comfortably against his bicep.

The alien said something to him, and he realized it was slower and softer than how the thing had spoken previously. It was probably meant to be comforting, but there was nothing but confusion and fear racing through his mind. Mumbo went back to studying the prosthetic connected to the being in front of him to try and distract himself from whatever was happening. Although he didn’t recognize most of the materials, the engineer recognized the faint red glow of veins of Redstone-infused liquid running under and around the other wires and plating. The craftsmanship was impeccable, and Mumbo would really like to meet the person who made the thing. Sadly, the arm was mostly covered under a lab coat sleeve, so he couldn’t see the connection point, which seemed to allow the alien as much movement with as much control as he did. Regardless, he didn’t even realize it as a hand made its way around his head until something sparked painfully just under his left ear.

“-even activate the stupid <Unknown> before handing it over. Because why would they?  The <Unknown> don’t like to make anyone’s life easier. Always more focused on their economic standing than anyone’s comfort.”

In his shock at hearing the words he could actually understand as English, he looked up at the alien’s face. Black eyes met the mixed set. Both owners were startled at the movement, and as Goat took a few steps back, Mumbo tried to jump back, only to hit his head against the glass. He groaned at the sudden stars in his vision.

“Sorry, I’m not very good with <Unknown>. You didn’t hit your head too hard, I hope. I know your kind’s skeletal structures are very unlike the others on this ship, but it would be bad if you died on day one.”

The engineer just sat there, in too much shock of hearing a language he knew after so long of just communicating with Morse code. Sure, the words were occasionally interrupted by a robotic “Unknown,” but he could understand most of it. The voice coming through the translator was deep and had a thick accent comparable to a German one. It fit him well.

The alien tilted his head to the side. “You can understand what I’m saying, correct?”

Mumbo nodded slowly, but it still looked at him expectantly. “Ye-es.” His voice cracked on the word and was rough, as if he had just woken up. It didn’t surprise him; he hadn’t exactly spoken in a while.

Chapter Text

The air felt thick going into his lungs. It wasn’t the first time he had been sedated in his life, and he knew it always took him a second to fully breathe properly, so it didn’t bother him. What did they do then? The sensation that truly grabbed his attention was the weight on his wrists, waist, and ankles. The frigid temperature of the table underneath his body. Pounding pain ripped through his head.

Groaning slightly at the effort it took, Grian cracked open his eyes. They didn’t open very far before the light overwhelmed him, making the headache worse. Squeezing them shut again, he decided to try something else. Slowly, to not gain unwanted attention if there was anything in the room with him, he wiggled his toes. That seemed to work with relative ease before moving to his fingers. They were a little stiff and maybe colder than usual, but it was cold in the room, and he didn’t have the best circulation in the first place, so surely it was fine. Right?

Before he could truly ascertain what was going on with his cold fingers, the sound of footsteps alerted him to the alien that now stood over him. Warbling noises were exchanged across the room, and a hand placed itself over his left eye. Grian forced himself to stay still at the contact, but he couldn’t help but notice that the hand was warmer than the black, skeletal-like alien’s.

A few more “words” were exchanged before fingers began to gently pry open his eye. The light was no less blinding than the first time, and tears began to stream down his face from the pain. Unfortunately, the new alien didn’t release its hold until it spoke to the other. Grian’s headache was quickly turning into a migraine, and he couldn’t do anything to relieve the pain cleaving through him. Silent tears continued to roll down his cheeks and hit the metal table with an almost inaudible “plink” even as he screwed his eyes shut.

A soft swoosh blew the smallest amount of cold air over the blonde’s body. He shivered, and it brought to attention the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Something was attached to his stomach, ribs, and chest. The feeling reminded him of the sensors that were placed for an EKG and probably served a similar purpose.

The aliens around him continued to converse, static continued to grow in the air as the skeleton-like aliens continued to grow angry. There seemed to be something else there, though. Air was displaced as it walked around, likely taking up more room than the spindly beings he was used to seeing. The movement only blew more cold air on his skin, causing him to shiver even harder than the first time. The new alien also talked with some kind of difficulty, as though it was struggling to make the drawn-out clicks of the staticky language.

A thin, cold hand was placed on his arm, making him flinch away from the unexpected contact. The alien didn’t seem to notice it or care if it did and instead stuck another needle in his arm, and something warm spread through the veins in the area.

The warmth continued to spread, and Grian couldn’t help but sigh and let his mind float into the feeling of the pain melting away.

---- ◊◊◊ ----

Footsteps behind him alerted him to someone walking into the room. Looking up from his Module, Scar watched as Xisuma walked into the common area.

“Doc is getting some more information from the terran. Just small things like vitals and any possible injuries.” The voidwalker sat next to the allay. The captain’s helmet made a dull thunk as he let it fall on the table. The Allay would be concerned if he didn’t know that blunt force did nothing to the being made of void dust. 

Scar giggled and placed a hand on Xisuma’s shoulder, patting lightly, “It’ll be fine, X. They haven’t been aggressive so far, and we’ll go have a little talk. Maybe they’ll know something about what was happening on the ship, and then we can take the next steps.”

“That’s if they can understand common galactic.”

“Why is Zooma sulking?”

Doc’s arrival earned a scream from the Allay. On the other hand, Xisuma merely turned to see the creeper in the doorway. “I’m not sulking.”

That just earned him a pointed look from the scientist. “Sure. Either way, I got some information from the Terran. Their vitals are fine, at least, they were once they seemed to realize I wasn’t going to hurt them. At some point, the bones in their chest were bruised, but it doesn’t seem to bother them too much, so it’s probably fine. They also have a translator implant, which seems to work well enough for them to understand common Galactic once it was activated. It’s unclear whether the endermen installed it or if they were held elsewhere.” Doc sat across from Scar, and his mechanical eye flashed, likely meaning he was pulling up notes on his built-in Module. Xisuma also sat up to look at him better.  “They have an omnivorous diet and expressed wanting more water than we’ve been supplying. Based on our conversation, I would guess maybe double the amount and go from there. I told them we would meet within an ir for formal introductions.”

Scar blinked, trying to absorb all the information that he had just been given. “Right… Well, if they can understand us, did you ask what their name was? Did you give them your name?”

The creeper’s silence and sheepish expression spoke for itself.

“Of course. I guess we’ll all get to know each other in an ir.” Scar stood and packed away his Module before heading toward the door. “I’m going to find Jellie. She may be of assistance if they’re scared of us. If anything, she’ll be something recognizable.” Confirmations followed him into the hallway as he went to find his elusive companion.

---- ◊◊◊ ----

The sound of clicking echoing in the room was what woke him up. It was the same clicking that he often heard after the main door opened, only for nothing to end up coming into the room. It was Mumbo’s goal to determine what that sound actually belonged to.

Goat explained that there would be formal introductions in the next… Well, he didn’t know when. The word he had said was foreign to him. It sounded something like ear. Either way, they wanted him to stay where he was until formal introductions to the crew were made to keep him from wandering around. They did at least give him access to a button to call them if he needed anything, and another to turn the glass surrounding him opaque.

The clicking started again, and it broke him from his thoughts. Slowly crawling across to the glass closest to the unknown sound, Mumbo strained to get a look at the source. Something furry disappeared behind a crate. The man didn’t even realize that someone had entered the room because of how focused he was on the mystery animal that was walking around.

“Jellie?”

The call into the room startled the redstoner, and if he wasn’t preoccupied by how a small streak of grey sped through the room and behind another stack of crates, he would’ve been puzzled at how quickly he let his guard down in this new environment. Mumbo looked toward the door and saw Blue. He hadn’t seen them since he first woke up. The alien glanced his way but turned to where the animal had disappeared before making a clicking noise. Watching in awe, Mumbo sat and didn’t say a word as the furry creature crept around the storage containers.

His eyes widened minutely upon realizing that the small animal was none other than a cat! A gorgeous grey, striped cat with large eyes that seemed to hold more knowledge than a cat should have. The fluffy being jumped gracefully onto Blue’s shoulders and lay across them, lazily blinking at the human.

Elongated fingers scratched under the animal’s chin, and a purr loud enough to be heard from inside Mumbo’s containment area permeated the room. It was a comforting sound. He may have always been a dog person, but he wouldn’t deny that he enjoyed cats. Grian’s had always been sweethearts. Thinking of the pets made him realize that they were still at home. Hopefully, someone was taking care of them for Grian until they got home. If they got home. He wasn’t sure if they were going to get back to Earth.

He wasn’t even sure if he would even see Grian again.

“Are you okay?”

His attention snapped back to the alien in the room. “I’m fine.” Mumbo attempted to smile lightly and felt the slight sting in his eyes where tears threatened to fall.

“No, you’re not.” Blue moved closer to the glass and pressed a couple of buttons before entering the containment area and sitting on the ground across from him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The redstoner just looked at the alien, baffled, before sighing. “Just thinking about how I may never get to go home.” His hands fiddled with the fabric of his shirt as he avoided looking at Blue’s face.

“I wish I could give you some reassurance, but I’m not in charge of this ship, and I don’t know what is possible. I can say, though, that we are pretty far from your home planet. Far enough that there’s no guarantee.”

After that revelation, the two sat in silence for several moments. At some point, the cat, most likely Jellie, made herself at home in his lap. The fur was much better of a texture to ground himself in than the slightly rough, almost canvas-like texture of his clothes.

The door to the room opened again, but Mumbo didn’t dare flinch at the sound. He knew the rules of having a cat on your lap, and he wasn’t about to break one of them. His hand stilled in the fur of the cat who looked up questioningly at the lack of motion. Looking at the door greeted with the sight of Goat. After spending a little time with the green-furred alien, Mumbo wouldn’t deny that the alien was kind. Didn’t mean they weren’t intimidating.

“X is waiting in the leisure hall.” They turned and left the room, walking down the hallway out of his sight.

Blue sighed and picked up Jellie from the human’s lap. “Guess it’s time to meet everyone! At least us three.” The words were said with a small giggle as the alien winked at him.

Wings that the redstoner hadn’t noticed before on Blue’s back flared slightly as they got up from the floor and steadied themselves against the glass wall, breathing deep but quickly. Mumbo couldn’t help but be curious about the difficulty the alien had at getting off the floor, but he didn’t say anything. He may be in space with a bunch of aliens and what have you, but he still had his manners, thank you very much.

After catching their breath, Blue left the room before glancing back towards Mumbo, presumably to make sure he was following. The human was, but slowly. This was the first time he had been allowed out of the room. Granted, he hadn’t been on the ship very long, but he didn’t get to explore the other one he was held captive on. He was curious whether the ship would be like in the movies or not. Obviously, Hollywood would never get everything right, but just how accurate were they?

As they moved through the ship together, Blue would point at doors and say what they were. Most were not translated, but he was at least able to pick out the kitchen, greenhouse, and cargo bay. The ship seemed to be in a different style from the one they were on with the skeletal aliens. That one had large winding hallways, with many labs and holding cells. That was all he ever got to see, at least, and if that wasn’t the whole ship, he wasn’t sure he could fathom its actual size. This one appeared to be a large circle with two layers. Where he had been held was on the bottom layer, as was the greenhouse and cargo bay. Apparently, where they were going was on the top level, so they climbed a set of stairs before walking down another short hallway.

The door they stopped in front of was unremarkable. Just another of the metal doors they had been passing up to this point. They walked right up to the frame, and the sound of Redstone firing and then failing filled the stale silence. Blue said something under their breath before hitting the wall next to the door, and Mumbo would be lying if he said he didn’t yelp at the sudden act of aggression.

The door started to open as the alien turned around with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. It gets stuck sometimes.”

He nodded understanding. Some of his contraptions would do that occasionally. “I could fix it for you.”

“It’s okay! We’ll have Doc fix it. He’ll be happy to have someone to talk Redstone with, though.” They hummed thoughtfully before a small grin spread across their face again.

Unfortunately, Mumbo didn’t see the glint of mischievous energy fly through their eyes, too focused on mentally filing away the new name.

“Doc! The <Unknown> wanted to see your Redstone, so I brought them to your workshop!”

“WHAT?!” The large alien was out of their seat and across the room in less than a second, making Mumbo cower behind Blue. “How did you even get in? You were locked out after the <Unknown> incident!” They loomed over the fairy-like alien with clawed hands on their shoulders. “You better not have-“

“DOC!” This was a new voice. Likely Bug's. Based on how Goat Doc and Blue froze, they were probably the one in charge. “You’re scaring the <Unknown>. Chill out, my friend.” They walked closer to the small group before placing a gloved hand on the green alien. “Scar’s joking. He’s trying to rile you up.” Bug seemed to remember that Mumbo was trying to disappear behind Blue, who he guessed was Scar. “I’m sorry about them. Someone ,” The visor on their helmet looked up at Scar before meeting his gaze again, “doesn’t always know when it's not appropriate to pull a small prank.”

Mumbo didn’t know what to think of this whole exchange. Regardless, he nodded before speaking up, “Okay?”

Bug nodded before turning back to the room that they and Doc had been sitting in. After taking their seat once more, they gestured to the seats next to them. “Come sit! We should have some formal introductions.”

Taking a deep breath, Mumbo steeled his nerves and followed the other two into the room and sat down on a comfortable-looking chair.

He was right, it was comfortable.

“I’m Captain Xisuma of the HermitCraft. Most of my crew just call me X, so feel free to do so. There are only three of us on this ship. Scar, Doc, and I are on a separate trip at the moment, which brought us to you.” They looked over at Scar and nodded slightly.

“I’ll go next!” A slight giggle underlined the words, and Mumbo couldn’t help but make the realization that the alien did that a lot. “My name is Scar. Nice to meet you. And, of course, you’ve already met Jellie.” The cat opened her eyes at her name before closing them once more. “I’m what is called-“ They said something melodic in cadence. “Or an allay in standard galactic. Jellie is a cat from Earth that we found on another ship a while ago. She’s the bestest girl.”

“Are you really interested in my Redstone projects?” The deep voice cut off the slight giggle and cooing from Scar, startling the human slightly.

“Ye-yeah.” He answered sheepishly. “Your arm is the best use of micro-Redstone I’ve seen in a long time. I would be honored if you showed me how it works.”

Doc’s eyes widened slightly before making a move to stand.

Laughing, Captain Xisuma stopped them with a raised hand. “We have things to discuss first. You can show them later, Doc. You should also actually introduce yourself first.”

“Right.” The large alien sat back down and turned toward Mumbo. “I am Doc, and I am a caprae creeper in standard galactic. While we are on this ship, I am the scientist, so come to me if you have any questions. If you need to be healed, go to Scar. People assume I am a medic because I am called Doc, but I am not, and you do not want me to.”

He blinked, trying to file everything away. “I will keep that in mind.”

“Would you like to introduce yourself? You don’t have to, but if you wouldn’t mind at least telling us your name, that would be great.” Xisuma seemed to hesitate before amending their statement. “You should be aware that if Scar has your name, he has some extra pull over you. I forget that someone new to the void wouldn’t know about the gyppers. If you don’t trust him yet, then you can just tell us a nickname.”

At his wide-eyed expression, Scar jumped in hastily, “I won’t do anything to you. But I completely understand if you just give us a nickname. Names just have power that not many understand how to manipulate. We are just taught from a young age how to use them for our own purposes. Whether good or bad depends on where you grew up.” His eyes seemed to glaze over slightly, so Mumbo didn’t ask which he had been taught. He knew that look all too well, seeing it in his friends and family.

“I-yeah, okay. Why not?” Guess he was using Fae rules with Scar. Who knew that would be useful? He thanked Grian silently for having a weird obsession and making sure he would be prepared if he ever happened to be in this position. His partner had believed in the Fae but not Aliens for whatever reason. “You can call me Bumbo.”

“Great! Now, if you don’t mind, we have a few questions for you. You don’t need to answer anything you don’t want to, but anything you can tell us would be helpful.” Xisuma leaned forward, “You up for that today?”

Mumbo merely nodded and waited for the first question.

“Were you the only of your species on the craft? Or were there others too?”

He sighed, mentally preparing to answer the question and any others they may ask. “There was one other…”

Chapter Text

The night sky was beautiful. It was even more breathtaking when standing amongst the stars themselves. Each pinprick of light was a large ball of volatile matter that spat out light as it died. Clouds of debris and planets in every color imaginable, and even some that weren’t broke through the inky black that was the void between stars.  

His entire view was taken up by the void, but not the beautiful mystery that was space. Rather, it was the back of his eyelids as he curled up on the bed in the corner of his glass cell with unknown beings watching his every move. The dangerous beauty that was space was not something he was able to enjoy for himself. Each time he tried to open his eyes, Grian found himself with another splitting headache from the sheer amount he was able to see. 

It sounded like something someone on drugs would say, and he couldn’t deny that he wasn’t on any. The aliens liked to drug his food and stick needles into him repeatedly. There was no way of knowing what was in his system at this point. Regardless, his field of vision and sense of awareness seemed to have increased greatly. 

Even with his eyes closed, Grian knew that there was a being walking down the hallway. The sound of footsteps and rustling fabric was loud and easy to track. The tall skeletal aliens didn’t wear anything. He had never seen them with fabric except bandages. This was someone new. 

As the presence approached, the door opened, allowing it into the room. Grian tried to open his eyes to see this new alien, but his attempt ended in the same way as the last. 

Groaning with the pain, the blonde pressed his hands against his eyes, trying to get it to stop. 

“𝙹⍑, ∷ᒷꖎᔑ ̇/. ||𝙹⚍’∷ᒷ ⎓╎リᒷ.” 

Something grabbed his hands and shoved a pile of items into them. 

“⊣ᒷℸ ̣  ᓵ⍑ᔑリ⊣ᒷ↸. ||𝙹⚍ ⍑ᔑ⍊ᒷ ᒲ⚍ᓵ⍑ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ꖎᒷᔑ∷リ ᔑリ↸ リ𝙹ℸ ̣  ᒲ⚍ᓵ⍑ ℸ ̣ ╎ᒲᒷ.”

The being didn’t leave, and Grian didn’t know what to do. He set the pile of items to the side and started trying to figure them out. 

He didn’t get very far. 

There was something hard and smooth on the top of a silky and obviously good-quality fabric. That was about as far as he got before the hard item was roughly taken from under his fingers and pressed against the upper part of his face. In reflex to the unknown item being forced against his head, Grian flinched hard and opened his eyes. He only realized he had when the sight of the white room in front of him was fully focused without the pain that usually accompanied it. He stared in awe at the new alien that had just given him his sight back. 

“ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖꖎ𝙹ᓵꖌ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒷ ̇/ℸ ̣ ∷ᔑ ᓭᒷリᓭ𝙹∷|| ╎リ⎓𝙹∷ᒲᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ ⚍リℸ ̣ ╎ꖎ ||𝙹⚍∷ ᒷ||ᒷᓭ ᓵᔑリ ⍑ᔑリ↸ꖎᒷ ╎ℸ ̣. ||𝙹⚍ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ᓵᒷ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⊣𝙹 ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹⚍ℸ ̣  ╎ℸ ̣; ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣  ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リꖌ 𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷∴╎ᓭᒷ. ╎⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ╎ᓭ ⊣𝙹╎リ⊣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ∴𝙹∷ꖌ, ∴ᒷ リᒷᒷ↸ ||𝙹⚍ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ʖᒷ ⎓⚍ꖎꖎ|| ᔑʖꖎᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᒷ ̇/╎ᓭℸ ̣  ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹⚍ℸ ̣  ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ⍑ᔑリ↸╎ᓵᔑ!¡ ∴⍑╎ꖎᒷ ᔑꖎ𝙹リᒷ 𝙹∷ ╎リ ᓭᒲᔑꖎꖎ ⊣∷𝙹⚍!¡ᓭ. リ𝙹 𝙹リᒷ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷꖎ╎ᒷ⍊ᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ 𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷∴╎ᓭᒷ.”

The words being said were faint, as if he were underwater. That wasn’t his main focus, though. No, Grian’s focus was pulled by the appearance of the alien in front of him. It appeared to be a person made of stardust. That was the best way to describe the being. The stars that made up its skin twinkled and moved slightly as the alien moved their hands around, captivating the human. Bright white eyes stared blankly at him, though Grian couldn’t hold eye contact. It felt too much like staring into the sun. Crimson robes were draped around it with a hood and collar that only left the blinding eyes visible. 

The alien made a strange noise, a mix of a click and a deep vibration, which Grian could feel in his chest, setting every nerve on high alert. 

“⊣ᒷℸ ̣  ↸∷ᒷᓭᓭᒷ↸. ∴ᒷ ↸𝙹リ’ℸ ̣  ⍑ᔑ⍊ᒷ ᔑꖎꖎ ↸ᔑ||.” It pointed at the pile of fabric before turning to the door. “╎’ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ʖᔑᓵꖌ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ⎓𝙹𝙹↸ ᓭ⍑𝙹∷ℸ ̣ ꖎ||.” With that, Grian was left alone in the bright white room. 

Taking a good look at the fabric next to him, he was disappointed to see a sleeveless shirt. He missed his red sweater and the warmth it gave. It was cold in space, and it only seemed to get colder the longer he was there. 

Sighing, Grian stood and changed into the shirt he was given. It was soft, but not as soft as the silky pants he was given to wear. They were in a wider-legged style, flowing around his ankles as he moved. Giggling, he did a couple of small twirls and sways to feel the fabric swish around, taking the small amount of delight he could find. He watched the purple, slightly shiny material shift in the lights of his cell. 

The sound of the door opening again broke Grian out of his momentary joy. 

The stardust alien was back, this time with a bottle and what appeared to be a food bar of some kind in its gloved hands. “ᒷᔑℸ ̣. ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷリ ∴ᒷ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ⊣╎リ.”

---- ◊◊◊ ----

“Bumbo!!”

It had been about 6 standard cycles since he had found himself in the care of the new aliens. He still wanted to laugh each time he heard any of his travel companions say the name he had given them. It was absolutely ridiculous, even if it was just his name one letter off. None of the aliens had commented on it, so maybe it was a normal name by their standards?

Setting down the redstone components Doc had given him, Mumbo turned to the Vex, calling his name. “Hi, mate. What’s going on?”

Scar’s wings were shuddering slightly, and a small chime echoed through the room. “I have the most amayzin’ news!” He paused for dramatic effect before actually revealing anything. “We are going back to the HermitCraft!” The excitement was radiating from him and was echoed by the bouncing on his toes and the large grin plastered across his face. “You can finally meet everyone else! You’ll love it there, I promise. I can’t wait to introduce you to the others.”

The enthusiasm permeated, and although under normal circumstances Mumbo would also be infected by the contagious feeling, these weren’t normal circumstances. “What about him?”

Scar faltered at the question. “Who?”

“What do you mean by ‘who’?! Gr- The other per- human I was abducted with!” The usually calm and reserved man couldn’t help the anger and frustration that started boiling over the edge of his words, making it hard to get them out. “I was told we would get him back! You promised I would see him again!”

“Bumb-“

“No.” The word was clipped, and he spoke with finality, “Please leave.”

“Listen.” Scars' usual chimes and giggles were silent, and unnerved Mumbo just how serious the allay sounded. “We are still looking. You can ask Xisuma if you don’t believe me. We’ve been out here for a while tracking that ship. There are other teams out there looking as well. One of us will find him. But we are almost out of supplies. We’re in need of a restock and to see our family.” Scar’s eyes softened as he continued. “No one is giving up here. You’re one of us now, and so is your <Unknown>. Okay?”

Nodding, Mumbo closed his eyes, ashamed at his outburst. 

“Now, what do you say about causing a little chaos?” As if it had never left, the giggle and soft chimes were back, and the redstoner couldn’t help but let himself be swept away in the lightness of it. It reminded him of Grian’s laugh and mischievous grin as he would ask the same question. 

“Oh dear,” he laughed, “I know that tone all too well. What do you have in mind, mate?”

“You may have noticed that Esuma doesn’t sleep much?”

The human nodded, all too familiar with how the voidwalker only slept every couple of days, and if he did, it wasn’t very long. “Yes? Is that- is that normal for his species?”

“Kind of.” Scar raised his hand and wiggled his fingers in a motion that Mumbo had come to know to mean “so, so”. “He is supposed to sleep an ir every standard cycle. He doesn’t, but he is supposed to. We know that he is fine skipping one or two every now and then, but he is not supposed to skip his regeneration period.”

After doing some testing, Mumbo figured out that an ir was approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, and a standard cycle, also known as a korpt, was approximately 28 hours. It took him a bit of work to figure that out, but it was helpful while trying to learn the unfamiliar words. The fact that Xisuma apparently didn’t need to sleep much at all was reassuring, but he was confused about what the allay meant. “Regeneration period?”

“Basically, X needs to sleep for almost a whole standard cycle every 10 korpts.”

Humming in understanding, he asked, “I take it he is currently skipping that?”

The allay nodded vigorously, “Yup.” He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “In about half an ir, there’s going to be an emergency in the community area that he just has to attend to.”

“Mate, I think you’re right. Should we warn Doc?”

Scar took a second to think about it before grinning, showing off needle-like teeth. “I think Doc should know as the ship’s engineer and Esuma’s stand-in. He also promised to keep an eye on him for Papa K.” 

That was a new name, but Mumbo didn’t linger on it. Instead, the redstoner began making ideas for how they could drag the voidwalker into sleeping like he needed to. “Then let’s go find him and get started. An emergency won’t make itself.”

High-pitched giggling joined his own, and Mumbo felt slightly guilty as he realized that for just a second, he had forgotten about the situation he was in. He had forgotten the situation that Grian was in. There was nothing he could do at the moment for his partner, though, so he let himself get swept away in the process of planning.

---- ◊◊◊ ----

Another sharp vibrating click sound threw him back to the present. During the language lessons he was receiving from the Stardust-like alien, Grian had started letting his mind wander to when he was taught Japanese. It was a very similar process, and it was hard to stay in the moment with how tired he was. 

“∴ᒷ∷ᒷ you !¡ᔑ ||╎リ⊣ ᔑ ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷリℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ?”

Blinking tears of exhaustion away, Grian realized that the alien was looking at him expectantly. Drawing in an unsteady breath, he spoke and signed one of the few words he had learned in hopes it was the correct answer, “Yes?”

“I ↸𝙹リ’ℸ ̣  ʖᒷꖎ╎ᒷ⍊ᒷ you. ᒷ⍊ᒷリ ╎⎓ you ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣  ꖌリ𝙹∴ ∴⍑ᔑ ℸ ̣ I ᔑ ᒲ ᓭᔑ ||╎リ⊣ ||ᒷℸ ̣ , ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ リᔑ ℸ ̣ ⚍∷ᒷ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᑑ⚍ᒷᓭℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ ∴ᔑ ᓭ 𝙹ʖ⍊╎𝙹⚍ᓭ. ꖎ||╎リ⊣ ∴╎ꖎꖎ リ𝙹ℸ ̣  ʖᒷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹ꖎᒷ∷ᔑ ℸ ̣ ᒷ↸, ʖ⚍ℸ ̣ I ᓵ ᔑ リ ᓭᒷᒷ you ᔑ ∷ᒷ ℸ ̣ ╎∷ᒷ↸, ᓭ𝙹 we ∴╎ꖎꖎ ᒷリ↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ ℸ ̣ 𝙹↸ᔑ ||. リ𝙹 !¡∷𝙹⊣∷ᒷᓭᓭ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᒲᔑ ↸ᒷ ╎⎓ you ᔑ ∷ᒷリ’ℸ ̣  ⎓⚍リᓵ ℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リᔑ ꖎ, ᔑ リ↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒷリ↸ᒷ∷╎ᔑ リᓭ ∴ᔑ ∷リᒷ↸ me you ∴ᒷ∷ᒷ ᓭℸ ̣ ╎ꖎꖎ ╎リ !¡∷𝙹⊣∷ᒷᓭᓭ.”

They stood and grabbed his arm harshly, dragging the human out of the room and back down the hall. Nothing else was said as Grian was shoved back into his glass cell. 

He looked questionably at the small bottle of what seemed to be water that sat where his food was usually put. The stardust alien had already left, leaving Grian with his confusion. While they had already left, there was one of the slenderman-esque aliens monitoring his cell just down the hallway, meaning they were likely testing something with this meal. 

Warily, he picked up the bottle and sniffed it. It was the same drink that he received with every meal. A slight citrus smell cut through what should be the smell of virtually nothing from the water. Grimacing, Grian took a small sip before taking it to sit on his bed. 

The bottle sat tauntingly next to him, and he decided to just get it over with and drink the whole thing as quickly as he could without choking. An unpleasant aftertaste sat in his mouth, and Grian wasn’t sure if that was the reason for his sudden nausea or the way the room swam slightly in front of him. Closing his eyes, the blonde lay down on his bed, taking off the mask and lightly scratching at an itch that had grown on his cheekbones and temples where the material had rested. In his disoriented state, he failed to notice that the skin was no longer smooth.

The door opened, and thin hands grabbed him before dragging him from the room. 

Grian blinked slowly, trying to understand what was happening, but his thoughts were like a thick soup. Nothing made sense until he was strapped down to a metal table with the restraints that welcomed him as old friends. The pressure from the usually detested straps was welcomed as the human worried the floating feeling wasn’t just in his head.

Once he was no longer moving, he made note that the world had been dimmed. Not just the lights, but it was like everything had been slightly muted. 

Through the cotton that covered everything, he could feel bony fingers poke and prod at his face and sternum. It wasn’t necessarily painful, but he could tell they weren’t being careful about it. 

Claws paused over his temples before being dragged harshly across the skin there. Grian was thankful for whatever the skeletal aliens had given him, because it numbed the pain that he knew accompanied the action. Warm liquid dripped down his head, sticking his hair to his skin. 

Something bright flashed across his vision, making him flinch away from the source. It was strange. It was like in a video game if you changed the point of view to be higher. Grian could see more as if his peripheral vision had become part of his normal sight, and now the edges could only see vague lights. It was highly disorienting, adding to his already scrambled mind. 

Strong pressure and the cracking of bone stole his attention. Something was pressing on his sternum before starting to turn. He may not be able to feel the pain from the motion, but Grian felt as if his skin was pulled and twisted, getting stuck on the drill-like instrument. 

Were they drilling a hole in his chest? 

The fog covering the man’s thoughts began to clear as the tool was pulled away, and careful stitches were put into the skin. A damp bandage was placed on the area, which began to burn. Not only were his thoughts becoming clearer, so were his physical sensations. 

It started as a mild burning ache in his chest. Quickly, the pain blossomed into sharp agony. The lighter stabbing pain from cuts on his face joined in along with the dull pounding of his head. 

Someone said something, but Grian couldn’t hear it over the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. Light-headedness slammed into him, and the human had no choice but to be dragged under by it.