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“That’s the hoe I gave you?” Mumbo tipped his head back, holding onto his head as if keeping a nonexistent hat from falling off, and gawked. “Mate, I do not recall it being nearly so massive when I handed it over!”
Rendog laughed heartily, bowing and sweeping his hat off so broadly that the wheat nearby rustled in its breeze. “It was a valuable item of powerful magicks, my dear Mumbo, it deserved a proper place of respect to channel that power. Hence, I present to you: the Mumbolisk!”
Above them, the massive form of the Mumhoe Jumhoe hovered above the obelisk, tilted as if slowly rotating around an unseen axis. The “magical energy” hummed around it, spiraling down the central pillar and flowing neatly into the water that permeated the tiered fields below. Even the barriers between the levels glowed with the same deep blue light, shining through the glass panes.
With an appreciative whistle, Mumbo stepped back for Ren to put his hat back on. “Well, I gotta say, you have definitely done it justice. Like, this is cooler than the coolest thing I could’ve imagined would happen when I gave it to you. Probably, uh, probably better than it deserved, honestly. Centering your farms around it and whatnot.” He shuffled, glancing back at the structure.
“Not at all, Mumbo,” Rendog returned, “it’s…appropriate. Both to the item itself, and to the person it comes from! Since you’ve got all those big wheat fields going on, next to your windmills. It represents and respects its origin!”
“I suppose, yeah, it does. So, are all your buildings and stuff going to be based around the items we’re giving you, and our bases? Like, is that how you’re designing your city? Piece by piece?”
“Oh! Uh, no, actually.” Ren scratched the back of his neck, looking up at the Mumbolisk as if the tilt of his hat could hide the flush of his cheeks. “It really depends on the items, but most of them are probably gonna get used in smaller ways, actually. I just…wanted to do something special with yours. Especially since it was the first one, and all.”
A beat, and Mumbo cleared his throat three times before managing a quiet “O-oh”.
“So!” Rendog made an exaggerated turn, changing the subject. “Speaking of cities, how is yours coming along? I saw the framing blocks going up, until you got distracted by copying Scar’s trees. Very excited that we’re both making cities this season.”
“Oh! Well, it’s still mostly in the planning stages,” Mumbo answered, falling into step beside Ren as they strolled towards the Archives of the Arcane, “but I think that I’m happy enough with the idea, and the lore I have so far. S’pose you’ll be happy about that part.”
“Me? Enjoy you doing lore? What would make you say that?”
“Oh, right, of course, everything around here is entirely practical.” They both chuckled, and Mumbo moved on. “Just nice to have some blocks down for it, honestly. Hopefully it’ll keep me from fiddling with the workshop and the rocks too much. Or at least let me use those as ways to procrastinate when it gets overwhelming in a month, you know how it goes.”
Ren nodded. “I certainly do. Though I hope you don’t get too overwhelmed too quickly, because I’m quite looking forward to this…game? Of yours? Is that what it’s supposed to be?”
“Kinda a game, yeah. More likely an…experience with game-like elements?” Mumbo shrugged. “It’s hard to explain, but like. Last season, my base was pretty alive for my standards, yeah? Even more literally, at the end of course, but it was specifically meant for me to walk through and interact with all the stuff, you know? It was a really big, really decorated storage room, functionally. This season, I’m trying to make something that will be alive for other people to come and see! Outside of just poking their noses in, or, you know, ‘borrowing’ from my storage.”
“I see, I see. A different form of community as here, but reaching out all the same.” Rendog grinned as he held the Archives door open for Mumbo, closing it just in time to keep a book-reading allay from flying right out. “Well, it sounds super cool, Mumbo, and I look forward to paying it many a visit. Just as you are welcome here at any time, here in Trillium City.”
Mumbo ducked under another allay, eyes darting around the busy space. “Very different vibes, these two cities of ours. You’ve got all this magic and fantasy and stuff going on, big old archives, bit of a nerd’s paradise”-- He gave a pointed look at the giant book in the center of the Archives– “and meanwhile I’ve got a robot conglomerate wiping out all the humans, and I’m living in a mishmash house built by hide-and-seekers. I don’t think many people’d pick settling with me over you, if there’s a choice, will they?”
A low hum from Ren. “No, I guess you’re right. Bit of a quality-of-life disparity starting to come through. Though the property value on those rocks of yours…”
A beat.
One of them snickered. And they both broke.
Ren’s laugh echoed up to the vaulted ceiling of the library. After a moment, Mumbo’s laugh joined it, and they leaned against each other, wiping tears from eyes.
“How is it, Ren,” Mumbo said between gasps, “that everything you do, is the coolest thing ever, until you open your mouth? And then it’s just–just instant aura, gone? How do you keep doing this?”
Ren’s attempt at bristling in offense failed to break his giggling. “Well, now, Mumbo! If you wanted me to stop talking, there are far more polite ways to do so!”
“Ren. Mate.” A shaking breath, barely recovered. “It’s a talent at this point. Genuinely impressive in how quick it turns. Your mouth is the real magic around here.”
“In more ways than one.”
Ren wiggled his eyebrows, and Mumbo wheezed again, half-choking on a breath in. “Ren!”