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Mumbo really shouldn’t be spending his Valentine’s Day like this, or, at least that’s what runs through his mind as he works on his stupid, stupid villager breeder for his trading hall. He had been fiddling with the design for this for what feels like days now, even to the point where Grian had eventually come along to check on the poor man. And, he has to admit, even with Grian’s help on the project, he really needs to take a break. The strain on him had been taking way too much of a toll on his sanity, and his growing hunger due to the day quickly passing by isn’t helping either.
So that’s what he did. He had ended up telling Grian that he needed to take a brief dinner break, and Grian had eagerly agreed to join him, and much to Mumbo’s delight, Grian decided to bring over his own food for the two of them to eat. He even cooked it himself!
The two of them now sit together on the roof of the building which houses Mumbo’s ever-so-annoying villager breeder, happily chatting away as they chow down on the steak and potatoes that Grian brought. The sun was steadily lowering in the sky as they talked, the pink and orange in the sky reflecting off of the ocean they stare out into in a near cinematic way.
“That’s funny.” Grian says in the middle of one of their comfortable silences, his voice muffled while he chews on a bite of steak.
“Hm?” Mumbo hums.
“It’s just—” Grian takes a quick pause to swallow the food in his mouth, “It’s Valentine’s Day, and we’re sitting here eating steak and watching the sunset. It's, like, ridiculously romantic. To the point where it’s kinda ironic.” He giggles.
Mumbo huffs out a quiet chuckle, “That is quite funny, actually. Do you think we’re gonna have love hearts start appearing above us, like those villagers?”
“I don’t like what that implies.” Grian sets his plate down to the side of him, instead now turning his body to Mumbo. His face is only half-lit now, highlighting his soft and his sharp features in the most enchanting way Mumbo could think of. It’s kinda like in the movies, Mumbo thinks, not even registering how he thought of Grian as beautiful.
Mumbo pauses for a moment. “Wait, yeah, I don’t like what that implies either.” He admits, sending Grian into a cackling fit, the smaller falling backwards to lay on the roof, clutching his stomach as tears of laughter glisten in his eyes. Mumbo affectionately rolls his eyes, going silent to let Grian have his moment. Admittedly, though, Mumbo turns himself towards Grian, watching him with a fond smile.
Yet, after a few more seconds of Grian’s laughter, he goes quiet and lifts his head to return Mumbo’s gaze. Mumbo can’t help but feel awkward, and that weird fluttering feeling in his stomach isn’t helping much, either. He turns his back to Grian, staring back out into the sunset.
“It is Valentine’s Day, isn’t it.” Mumbo sighs. “Lord, and here I am, single and working on a villager breeder. How ever so romantic.”
“Yeah.” He hears Grian huff from behind him. “I’m not complaining, though.”
“Mhm.” Mumbo nods, slouching forwards to rest his cheek on his palm and placing his own plate off to the side as well. “Why… um— Why are you here today, anyway? Surely you have someone to spend today with, right?”
“Huh?” Mumbo can see Grian sit up from the corner of his eye, an amusing look of confusion present in his expression.
“Well— I mean, like—” Mumbo groans, struggling to find the right words to say. “You… You should probably be with someone you love, Grian.”
“Wha-what?” Grian laughs in disbelief, scooting himself fully into Mumbo’s view. “What are you on about?”
All Mumbo can really do as a response is shrug. He’s not quite sure what he’s talking about himself… but the sinking feeling of guilt of keeping Grian away from whoever he could be with is too strong to ignore.
“Mumbo, I…” Grian’s voice is uncharacteristically soft, “I don’t know, dude. You’re…” He trails off, his voice fading into a mumble.
“I can’t hear you, Grian.” Mumbo whispers, anxiously chewing on the inside of his cheek.
Grian sucks in a harsh breath, turning his gaze away from Mumbo and grumbling aloud, “I’m already with the only person I love, Mumbo.”
“Wait.” Mumbo shoots up from his previous slouch, whipping his head towards Grian. “Me!? Are you serious, mate!?”
Grian flinches the tiniest bit at Mumbo’s loud voice, shrinking into himself and shutting his eyes. Mumbo’s stomach drops at this sight, and he fumbles to calm his old friend down. “Oh, gosh, Grian, I didn’t mean to raise my voice, mate. I’m— I’m sorry.” He hovers his right hand over Grian back, nervous to initiate contact.
“No, no, you’re—” Grian turns his head back to the mustached man, “You’re okay. Just ignore what I said, I’m being silly.” Mumbo can see the pain of rejection within Grian’s eyes and at that moment, he’s sure he’d rather build one thousand of these stupid villager breeders than see Grian even the slightest bit sad.
Mumbo bites his lip, letting his hand finally rest on Grian’s back, soothingly rubbing over the coarse wool of his jumper. “You aren’t being silly.” He sighs. “But, I just— I want to make sure I’m not confusing this whole situation for something else. Are… Uhm, are you saying you… you have feelings for me?”
“Yeah.” Grian hides his face in his hands, “Yeah, I am. I’m sorry, Mumbo.”
Mumbo freezes, the confirmation of it all finally getting through to him. Grian likes him? Like, romantically? …Is that even allowed?
Mumbo shakes the thought away, of course it’s allowed. There’s certainly no homophobia on Hermitcraft, at least he thinks, and— wait, why is that the first thing he thinks about? Does he even like Grian back? Why was his first thought about if they would experience any kind of discrimination as a couple?
Oh gosh, as a couple. Mumbo might be considering this a bit more than he thought was possible. He’s not entirely sure how he feels about Grian, mostly because he does not have the time to go down that rabbit hole right now. Not when Grian’s sat there looking like his dog died. But, the thought of them being together, much closer than they already are, somehow excites Mumbo in an unfamiliar way.
…He’s sure just trying this out can’t hurt, right? Grian’s rather kind, smart, funny, and remarkably cute too, to the point where Mumbo can’t even deny it. He knows for a fact he loves Grian platonically, so maybe he can find something a bit more within that.
“Uh. Goodness.” Mumbo struggles to begin, “G-Grian. Grian, I don’t know exactly what to say.”
Mumbo frowns as he feels Grian shrink more under his touch, “No, no, I’m not done, please don’t react like that.”
Grian ever-so slightly lifts his head, glancing at Mumbo. “What—“ He pauses to clear his throat after his voice cracks, “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Mumbo resumes petting Grian’s back, having not realized he stopped. “I mean, like— like, I… Oh my word, this is not easy.” The suited man grumbles.
“But I just did it, no problem.” Grian dryly smiles, and Mumbo can’t help but giggle at seeing Grian’s light tone, even if it might not be as real as he… as he loves.
“That’s true, but you’re way better at, well, feelings than I am, mate.” Mumbo grips Grian by the shoulder, pulling the smaller man into his side. Grian breathes out a laugh, wrapping an arm around his buddy and cuddling his face into the fabric of his suit jacket.
Mumbo can’t hold back his smile with Grian, he never can. Even if he’s pretending to be annoyed with him, he can never keep it up. Lord, he loves him. He loves him so much.
“Grian, I… I think I might like you back? Uhm, may-maybe?” Mumbo whispers.
“Maybe?” Grian scoffs playfully, “I full-on confess my love to you, and I just get a maybe?”
“Well—! I—! Grian!” Mumbo exclaims, “I’m trying to have a serious moment, here!”
“That’s your problem, Mumbo.” Grian tilts his head just enough for the two of them to make eye contact, both of them donning equally whipped grins. “You can’t have serious moments with me.”
“Trust me, I’m well aware.” Mumbo uses his other hand to ruffle Grian’s hair, and holy mackerel, he nearly implodes into himself once he takes in Grian’s sheer lovability. The way his caramel-colored hair falls into his face and frames all of Mumbo’s favorite features, and the ways his eyes sparkle with that familiar sense of mischief, yet still shine from the emotions before.
“It might just be how romantic today has been talking right now, but, Grian, I want to date you.” Mumbo blurts out, before letting out a quick “Ah— If you would like to, that is! I don’t— I don’t want to force you!”
“Oh my gosh, Mumbo, you are such a spoon.”
“Yeah. I’m, uhm, well aware of that, too.”
“I love you.” Grian smiles.
“Gosh, that’s— that’s awfully sweet of you, Grian. Movin’ a bit fast there, though, mate.”
“I don’t care, I want to say it!” Grian, the mischievous little gremlin, states as he moves to settle himself on Mumbo’s lap, throwing his arms around the taller’s neck and snuggling up to him once again. “I loooove you!” He mutters into Mumbo's chest.
“Grian…” Mumbo giggles.
“Mumbo.” Grian looks up to stare him in the eye, an evil smile on his face. “Mumbo Jumbo. Mumbolio Jumbolio. Mumby Bumby. Would you like to be my Valentine?”
“Oh, right. Valentine’s Day. Forgot about that already.” He leans in the smallest bit, “Of course. I would really like that.”
“Good. Cool. That’s really neat.” And, Mumbo has to hold in a laugh seeing that Grian can be as awkward as him sometimes. The suave little man can’t always be so competent. “Do you… D’you wanna kiss?” He whispers.
Mumbo flushes his darkest shade of red, indiscriminate noises finding their way out of his mouth before he settles on an embarrassingly high-pitched, “Ah, yeah! Sure!”
Way to go, Mumbo. If Grian gets awkward, you just get worse…
“You’re very cute.” Grian says, and before Mumbo can even get a response in, the shorter pulls him into a brief but undeniably loving kiss.
The feeling of Grian’s lips against his is something Mumbo can grow used to, hell, wants to grow used to. The roughness of both of their chapped lips scratching against each other, the tickle of his mustache against Grian’s clean shaven face, the cute little giggle Grian does as they connect… All of those sensations quickly become some of Mumbo’s favorite things. They separate only after a few seconds, but man, did it feel like an eternity. One Mumbo would love to live over and over again.
“You— You—“ Mumbo stutters, “You are also quite cute. I like… your face?” Mumbo cringes. Why are his thoughts so much more romantic than his words?
“Oh wow, we really need to work on your flirting.” Grian beams oh-so beautifully, even if it’s meant to be a bit condescending. He keeps a hand on Mumbo’s cheek, caressing just underneath his eye with his thumb.
Mumbo doesn’t think he’ll ever regret today, he adores this silly little man so, so much, and that’s all he can think as he pulls Grian in for another, much longer, kiss.