Chapter Text
It was never a good sign when Grian's day started with the screeching tones of the police scanner he kept by his bed. He shot upright, already throwing the covers off and scrambling for the box filled with his Watcher outfit before the codes were even read out. He did pause his process of dragging his pants up his legs to listen as the dispatcher read out the nature of whatever caused the thing to go off in the first place. The numbers and street names were fuzzy in his head but he was at least awake enough to be able to translate, armed robbery of one of the dinners just a few blocks over that had turned into a car chase as police did their best to catch the culprits.
He picked up the pace then, moving faster through the steps of putting on his shirt and threading his wings through the coat. His boots were on and laced only three minutes after the scanner went quiet and all that was left was a pit stop in his bathroom to snag the aerosol can of pink chalk dye to spritz over his wingtips. After that he was out his window as he secured the earpiece of his portable radio, raised his mask, and was climbing in the air to try and get eyes on the car chase.
It wasn't too difficult to follow the sound of the sirens and car horns blaring and find the situation that caused his early wake-up call. Thankfully the streets were mostly empty as he watched the beat up gray car weave back and forth all over the road and the squad cars giving chase about a block behind. One benefit of having wings was not being beholden to following the streets and with a simple tuck of his wings, Watcher was rocketing towards the scene. As he neared ground level he spread out his wings to slow his decent and began trying to figure out how best to stop the car when something ahead caught his eye.
He changed course slightly to put the shuttered hot dog vendor cart more in his path, mentally making a note to swing by later and drop some extra bills off as he grabbed the yellow and red squeeze bottles off the shelf on the side of the cart. Putting on a bit more speed he caught up to the fleeing vehicle, managing to land on top with a metallic thud as his boots and one knee made contact. He was quick to pull his wings in tight against his back so the didn't catch the air flowing over the moving car as he heard a faint "What the-" from below him.
From the side of the car, a head poked up out of the passenger seat window. It was quickly followed by a shout and Watcher saw just the flash of black metal before he dropped, flattening himself to the roof of the vehicle as the shot rang out over his head. "Nope, that is not happening." He said as he reached out and grabbed the wrist of the shooter, squeezing as he brought it down to slam hard against the frame of the car, grabbing the weapon as it fell loose from his grasp.
"Fuckin' prick, broke my wrist!" came the shout as the man cradled his arm and Watcher quickly removed the clip from the gun to disarm it.
"Maybe you shouldn't have robbed a dinner then, I really liked that one too." The vigilante moved both hands in sync to land on the back of the man's head and bring it forward, slamming it into the car much like he had with his hand moments earlier. He watched with satisfaction as his eyes rolled back and he dropped, dead-weight sliding back into the car through the window as he crumpled unconscious.
With the first man taken care of, he shifted his attention back to the vehicle still moving under him. It was a simple thing to pull the condiment bottles from the pockets of his jacket and peer through the front windshield where the driver was cursing up a storm. It was even easier to give them a squeeze after pointing them towards the glass, obscuring the drivers vision. The driver turned on the wipers and the vigilante watched the blades smear through the mess, trying to clear it out of the way. "I don't think so actually," he said, bending the arms of the wipers so they were stuck flailing around in the air, unable to perform their purpose. "You don't get to see out that window."
Watcher prepared for the man to roll down his window and stick his head out in order to navigate. He knew if that happened he could incapacitate the driver like he had the passenger. He was not prepared, however, for the driver to slam hard on the breaks. Without a solid hold on the car, Watcher was flung forward, just barely able to catch himself with his wings as the snapped out. His feet skimmed across the pavement and he used them along with his wings to change direction to head back towards where the thief was now exiting the car and running.
Finally getting his first clear look at the man, he noticed it was a cat hybrid, his ears nearly blending in with his hair and tail swishing behind him as he ran. The hybrid was fast, he'd give him that, but not as fast as Watcher. It took less than a block to catch up to the thief, grabbing the fleeing man by the shoulders. The cat hybrid dropped at the contact though, pitching forward and shaking the avian off and nearly sending him sprawling to the ground for a second time. He managed to get his feet under him though and now stood opposite the other man.
"You know, I think there's probably some joke about a bird chasing a cat we could make here." The anger in the other man's eyes only seemed to grow at Watchers words, and in a second he was launching himself at the vigilante. Watcher ducked back as the criminal lunged forward, his clawed hands just barely missing his face. After that he focused in, let years of training and muscle memory take over, ducking sharp swipes and attempting his own blows. They were fairly even of a match though, most attacks being dodged or blocked by both parties. Watcher was fine with this though, as he had also been slowly pressing in on the thief, causing the man to continually step back towards a dead-end alley.
The thief did manage one lucky hit, a kick hard to the chest that had Watcher wheezing, trying to catch his breath. It was then though that the thief realized he had been backed into a corner with nowhere to go. The vigilante watched his eyes, calculating his options and watched him decide to try running.
Again. Because that worked out so well for him the first time.
Luckily for Watcher though, the thief was much less cautious in their fleeing than they were in their fighting. All it took in the end was an arm extended at just the right moment and just the right height. The cat hybrid fell backwards on the ground, coughing and clutching at their neck while Watcher shook out his arm from the impact and pulled out some rope to secure the criminal until the cops could catch up.
It didn't take them long thankfully, and the vigilante was able to give his statement to the arresting officer. The entire time though he was distinctly aware of the dull pain radiating out from where the one kick had landed, and by the time he police officers waved him off with their thanks, he had already sent a text out.
Gem met him on the top floor of the hospital's parking deck, a medical go-bag ready for use in her gloved hands. "You, sir, are lucky we've got a few moments to hang around between calls right now."
"Yeah yeah, you can berate me when I'm not reasonably suspicious that I may have broken a rib. Or better yet, you could say 'Gee Grian, you're so brave fighting dangerous criminals to help keep our city safe. I'm so glad you trust me to be the one who keeps you from paying astronomical medical bills and having doctors question how you get such injuries regularly'."
Gem sighed, digging through her bag and pulling out a stethoscope. "If you wanted to be treated like that you should have made different friends. Lift your shirt so I can check your ribs."
Grian complied, shrugging off his jacket and raising his shirt best he could without bothering his wings. "Hey, I like to think Skizz would have proper bedside manner if he were my doctor."
"If you think he'd be so much better feel free to call him up. I'm sure he has an extensive medical knowledge from all the movies and shows he's watched." Grian did not flinch as the cold head of the stethoscope touched his skin, instead he just tried to breathe as Gem moved it around his chest and then to his back. "I'm sure a film studies degree makes as good a doctor to a idiot vigilante as a paramedic EMT does."
Rather than admit defeat, Grian just focused back on his immediate medical care as Gem removed the cold instrument and began pressing her gloved fingers lightly along his ribs. "Okay, that hurts. Breathing does too but not as bad as direct pressure."
"Well, it doesn't feel broken. Probably just bruised, lucky for you. Going to hurt for a bit, flying is going to suck ass, as will exerting yourself in any way that will increase your breathing. But they'll heal easy enough on their own. I recommend stocking up the extra strength pain-meds though."
"Fantastic, thanks for the good news doc."
"Speaking of news," Gem segued, ignoring the sarcasm in Grian's tone, "Hows the new job going? It's been a few weeks now and you haven't told me anything. You're still there so I'm guessing its going well?"
The avian nodded, his wings relaxing from how he'd previously had them tight against his back to be out of Gem's way. "It's been good. Surprisingly actually kind of nice. I don't know how he hasn't realized how incompetent I am yet but," He shrugged.
Gem laughed and punched his shoulder, quickly apologizing when he winced at the pain the movement caused him. "You're not incompetent, just under qualified for whatever it is you're doing there. Actually that's a good point, what are you doing at work?"
"Oh so my boss is some sort of mechanical genius or something. Graduated like two years early and was able to get like proper grants and such for this project to make an intelligent robot thing that's able to think and problem solve and some other stuff I was only half listening to. So far its been mostly getting the base code down so we can start teaching it to think and all that."
"Mhmm, and when did you learn to code?"
"I'm- working on it." Gem raised a single eyebrow at him and he stuck his tongue out in return. "I am trying, there's only so many hours in a day. He's giving me objectives and I spend half of my workday just researching some of the terms he uses! Quite honestly I have no idea why I haven't been fired yet but I'm glad I haven't been. Besides the fact that I really need the money, Mumbo is probably one of the best bosses I've ever had. Like he's still my boss and leading the project but he treats me like an equal. There have even been some days where neither of us get, like, anything done because we're just talking and laughing. He's got a stupid laugh, it's quite endearing really."
Gem nodded. "Sounds like you and you're boss are becoming good friends."
"No, it's not- He's my boss, not my friend. It's not like that."
"Sure it's not. Anyways I have to get back to work. Before I forget though, this Friday Gem and the Scotts have got a gig."
"Wait, didn't you guys stop performing when Impulse graduated?"
"Sure did," she smiled. "Scott apparently was able to talk him into a reunion performance as a 'congrats on the engagement' gift for me and Pearl."
"Seems kind of wrong to make you perform as a gift to you."
"That's what I thought but I guess I have missed playing with those two idiots. Plus Scott introduced me and Pearl to each other after a Gem and the Scotts gig and she was our biggest fan."
"Oh yeah, Pearl's groupie days. I remember how many nights she was disgustingly pining over you in the Flock group chat."
"Yeah I think I waited like an extra month to ask her out just because I liked how flustered and stutter-y she'd get around me." Gem laughed. "You better be there Friday though and if you stop being an idiot and realize your boss can also be your friend feel free to invite him too."
Gem shouldered her bag and began to walk away as he called after her, "If I let you talk to him then he'll for sure fire me." She just waved, not turning back. With a sigh, Grian checked his own watch and realized he should also be getting to his job that actually paid him rather than running around further in his costumed get-up. Taking a second to raise his hood and mask to once more obscure his identity, Watcher threw himself over the edge on the parking deck and flared his wings to catch the late morning breeze.
…
Mumbo seemed to be focused in on something at his own desk when Grian shouldered the door to the lab open. His boss didn't even acknowledge his presence as he dropped his bag on the ground and carefully lowered himself into the backless chair at his own desk. He turned on his monitor then slumped down into his usual terrible posture, or at least he tried to before the movement sent a stab of pain through his chest. He did his best to breathe through the pain, wishing he had stopped by the store on his way in to buy some medicine as Gem had suggested and grateful that his boss was intently focused and noticed him in pain just as much as he noticed Grian's entrance.
Eventually he was able to start up his computer and start picking away at the section of code he was currently responsible for. It was slow going as usual, often having to look up how to do something or simply trying a few lines and seeing if it works before going back and tweaking what needs it. It's probably just over a half hour later when Mumbo startles him out of his own focus by pushing himself out from his desk, his wheeled office chair creaking loudly as it glided across the floor and Mumbo sighed out dramatically, slumping down and extending his legs out.
"I think I need a break," the mustached man says, turning his head to where Grian sat at his own desk. I know you just got here and all, and if you're focused in on your work right now you are more than welcome to tell me to piss right off. But how would you feel about getting out of the office for the day? We've been at this for a few weeks now, and I think its important to get a change of scenery every now and then."
"You wanna play hooky?" Grian laughed lightly, trying not to agitate his injured ribs.
"Is it considered hooky if I'm the boss? But yeah I guess so." Mumbo took a moment, looking like he was debating saying more and shuffling his chair back and forth. Eventually though, he did seem to make up his mind. "Full transparency I am just kind of using you as an excuse to check out that amusement park The Pier. It looks like an interesting place but I've been too nervous to go alone and I don't really know anyone else in town yet. Other than the cashier at the grocery store I go to every week except I wouldn't call them a friend per-say"
"Oh and you would call me a friend?" He felt the grin split his face as he leaned towards his boss who immediately refused to meet his eyes.
"Well, we are friendly, I know you do technically work for me though so I know that might be weird and if it is we can just forget I ever said anything and I will go back to working on the next section of code."
Grian watched Mumbo shuffle his chair forward, inching back to his desk and took pity on the man. "Oh Mumbo, don't act like that. You had me from 'lets leave work'. The Pier is a fun place and I'm honored to join you on your first visit."
Mumbo seemed to relax at that, finally looking back at Grian and the avian ignored the small jump of his heart at the smile his boss gave him. "Great, now uh, how do we get there?"
…
The answer to that, it turns out, was simply the bus. Typically Grian hated riding in vehicles. Ever since his wings had grown large enough to be able to properly carry him, any car ride simply felt cramped and left his feathers in disarray from crowding them into the enclosed space. Fortunately there were a few busses that ran through the city that were actually two layers, the second, upper layer, being open to the air for winged and other larger hybrids. He and Mumbo easily caught one that had The Pier on it's route and were standing at the gates only a short while after deciding to put down their work for the day.
Mumbo made his way to the ticket booth, and pulled out his wallet as he smiled at the attendant. "Two day passes please."
Grian startled immediately, surprised the man was attempting to pay for him without either of them discussing it. "Actually, just one." Grian told the attendant, someone he vaguely recognized from his previous visit but he hadn't the foggiest what their name was. "You don't have to buy my ticket Mumbo."
"No no, I insist. I was the one who invited you so its only right that I pay."
Grian decided he must be starting to come down with something with how warm he was feeling. Nonetheless he was quite appreciative of Mumbo's offer, despite how unnecessary it was. "Seriously, You don't need to. I've, uh, got a season pass actually."
"Really?" Mumbo's eyebrows raised and his mustache twitched rather adorably. "Do you came here often then?"
He found himself snickering at the very unintentional terrible pick up-line his boss had just dropped. "How forward of you Mumbo," he teased and only laughed harder as the man's face turned Grian's favorite shade of red.
"I, ah, didn't mean it like that. Obviously. Gosh Grian"
"I know, I know Mumbo. Don't worry your little mustache about it. To answer your question, I used to. Its been.. a while since I've been back. I think I've only got a month or two left till it lapses actually so at least I'll get a bit more use of it."
"You're not planning to renew it?"
The reason Grian stopped going to The Pier was not something he wanted to talk about with Mumbo. He knew thew man would understand, but everyone else in his life already knew, to a point, why he would stay away from the amusement park. He'd had enough awkward conversations where one of their friend group suggested a trip here when they were planning a day out and Grian inevitably passed on the opportunity. There was something nice about someone not knowing, not looking at him with pity or regret. "Nah, too busy to make it worth the money." Not that he had paid for it previously, but he no longer had that inside connection to get a new one for free as he always had anyways. Well, Lizzie might be able to with her position in the management of the park but he wouldn't ask that of her. He might have if it was Jimmy but that would mostly be to get on his nerves about it.
Well then," Mumbo turned back to the booth attendant who had sat through their conversation with the same bored expression on their face as they had worn when they had approached him, "Just one day pass then." The transaction was quick enough and soon they were passing through the front gate. "So, since you're obviously the expert here, what should we do first?"
They spent the next few hours cycling between going on some of the simple rides, ones that wouldn't agitate his injury too badly, scattered throughout the park and trying to one up each other at the various rigged carnival games. Grian had almost completely relaxed by the time Mumbo grabbed his hand and dragged him forward towards one of the few enclosed stores. "We should grab a snack to keep us going." By the time Grian realized exactly which store he'd been dragged into it was too late to back out.
He stepped through the door, wrist still held by his boss, and saw Scar sitting behind the counter. There was a moment, as Grian took in the green eyes and bright smile turned in his direction, that he thought it could possibly be for him. Became momentarily delighted at the prospect of it. Then the man with the fond look on his face turned slightly and saw him and that fond look vanished. The smile was still there, of course, and anyone who wasn't familiar with it might not have noticed the warmth seep out of the expression. Grian was familiar though, achingly and intimately so.
"Well hello there and welcome to the Reel Cafe and Bakery. What can I do for you two today?"
Grian zoned out lightly as Mumbo ordered a handful of treats and paid, suddenly sapped of all the energy he'd had while enjoying the afternoon with his boss.
"I'm going to run to the little lads room. You mind grabbing the food if it's ready before I get back?" Mumbo waited for Grian's nod before walking off and leaving him alone. He tried to take a deep breath and close his eyes, letting himself lean against the wall and ignore the pit that had formed in his stomach. It wasn't like this was the first time he had seen Scar since they had broken up. They'd had the same friend group since their college years and were often in the same room at least once a month for some event or another. Then there were all the interactions Hotguy and Watcher had as well. He tried to remind himself that everything was fine, because it was.
Or at least he thought it was.
"I see the 'needing to be independent' thing is going well." There was no disguising the bitter edge to Scar's words as he returned from the kitchen in the back with their completed order.
It didn't take much more than that to put Grian on the defensive. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Scar shrugged, "Just that it didn't take you long to find someone else to open their wallet for you after telling me you needed 'space to take care of yourself' and were 'tired of feeling like some charity case' is all."
"I'm not sure what you're insinuating Scar but it's not like that."
"Come on Grian. Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm instituating."
Grian could feel the anger rising hot through him and tried to hold it back unsuccessfully as his voice grew louder. "Not that it's any of your business, but Mumbo happens to be my boss Scar. He's been insisting on paying all day because he was the one who suggested an out of office day. It's nothing more than that."
"Right, right. Well, here is your order, and you have a great day." Scar's voice was still harsh, but not overly so as he passed Grian the tray of food. It was only when Scar looked past him and smiled that Grian turned around to see Mumbo walking back. Quickly he grabbed the tray, ignoring the way his hands were shaking and walked out the door to one of the tables out front.
He could hear Mumbo's footsteps walking up behind him as he sat down and tried to regulate his breathing once more, not wanting his boss to catch on to his worked up state.
"Oh that smells incredible." Mumbo reached out for one of the cream filled pastries as he sat down. Grian just nodded, grabbing a pastry for himself but just letting it sit on the wax paper in front of him, devoid of appetite.
They ate mostly in silence, Mumbo occasionally mentioning something he'd noticed or wanted to do around the park between bites. Grian, meanwhile, just sat in silence, nodding and picking at the food in front of him, not really eating. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him when Mumbo noticed something was off but he supposed he was too deep in his own thoughts to consider the possibility. "Did something happen while I was gone Grian?"
There was genuine care behind the words, Grian could tell that much from the tone of his boss's voice. All it served to do though was make Grian feel worse, torn between not wanting to burden Mumbo with his troubles but also wanting to be honest with the man. He decided to settle for somewhere in between. "Nothing really, Scar and I just, aren't on the best of terms right now."
His boss's brow furrowed. "Scar? Who- Is that the employee from the cafe's name? You two know each other?"
And here came the awkward part. "Yeah, ah, quite familiar really. He is my ex boyfriend." Mumbo's eyes widened, and Grian found himself looking down at the pieces of pastry in front of him. "It's only been a few months, but, it's nothing, really."
"I am so sorry Grian. You should have told me he worked at this cafe! We could have found somewhere else to grab food. Did he say something to you?"
Grian was shocked by the fire he could see in Mumbo's eyes, he seemed ready to blaze a righteous path in Grian's honor. Not that Grian needed that, really. As much as it hurt to hear, Scar was justified in saying what he had. Any anger he had towards Grian was deserved after what Grian had said when he broke up with Scar. What he had to say to push the other man away. To keep him safe, something Grian couldn't do if Scar still cared enough to hold him close.
Still, they had seen each other plenty of times since the split and Scar had never been quite so hostile to him. It was always possible that Scar was having a bad day and just happened to take it out on Grian, and he didn't want that to influence Mumbo's opinion of the man. So he shrugged, then winced as the movement sent a sharp pain through his chest, which only proved to worry his boss further.
"Wait, are you hurt Grian? That wasn't Scar was it? Because if he laid a hand on you-"
"No!" Grian quickly interrupted that train of thought. "Scar would absolutely never." Even when they used to train and spar together Scar always was afraid to hurt Grian in any way, refusing to shoot even foam-padded, dummy arrows at him. So he once again tried to stick as close to the truth as he could get. "There was a robbery this morning at the dinner I was grabbing coffee at. I got shoved pretty hard into the counter when the the robber was rushing out before the cops got there. Hurt my ribs."
"Grian!" His boss seemed on the edge of hysterics, standing up from his seat. "What are you doing here, you should be at the doctors what if you broke a rib and punctured a lung! And I've just been here dragging you around. Oh gosh, where is the nearest hospital to here?"
Grian almost started laughing except that would not be very comfortable right now. Instead he stood up and walked over to his boss, grabbing his wrist and lowering his phone from where he had it pulled out, frantically typing what looked to be 'How to tell if someone is dying from a broken rib' from Grian's brief glance. "I'm fine Mumbo. I saw a doctor after it happened, it's just a bruise. That's why I was late to work."
His boss did not seem entirely mollified. "You still shouldn't have come into work at all. You should have stayed home and rested, I would have understood."
"Nah. It's not that bad I promise. Plus if I had stayed home I would have missed hanging out with you today you spoon. I've had fun, despite the small hiccups."
"You have?"
"I have," Grian nodded. "Now come on, you said earlier you wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel and right now is actually the perfect time."
He didn't give the man the chance to argue, quickly tossing their trash in the bin before once again grabbing his boss by the wrist and leading him to the line for the park's largest attraction.
The line was nearly nonexistent and they were soon boarding a small carriage and swinging up into the air as the wheel turned.
"What makes you say now is a perfect time? Is the line always short this late in the afternoon?"
"That too. Everyone always waits until the sun goes down to get on. They all want to see it light up and glow in the night sky, especially since Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday he park closes before sundown this time of year. But if you come on a Wednesday like today, or any other day besides those other three, and you get on forty-ish minutes to sundown," Grian tilted his head towards the sky and watched as Mumbo turned to take in the view as they crested above the rest of the park. The Sun was low, just starting to paint the sky with pinks and oranges. Vibrant hues creating a near glow over the water of the river the park was built next to.
"Wow, that is quite the view. How'd you figure this out?"
"I spent a lot of time here over the years."
"Because Scar worked here I assume?" Mumbo was still turned away so Grian couldn't get a read on his face but his voice sounded hesitant. Like Grian could ignore the question if he'd rather not talk about it.
"A couple of my other friends did too while we were in college." Mumbo nodded and something in Grian told him to go for it, so he did. "Speaking of, some friends of mine are playing a show on Friday and the lot of us are all going to support them and hang out. You're under no obligation to of course but, if you wanted to join, it'll be a fun time."
Mumbo turned back to him then. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to crash anyone's party." He looked nervous, but Grian just rolled his eyes and smiled, a softer one that didn't flash the sharp edges of his teeth.
"You wouldn't be crashing. I'm literally inviting you. Actually, I was told by Gem to invite you and technically it's her party. So, whaddya say?"
Mumbo looked out at the view again briefly, then back at him. "Okay, yeah. Sure why not. It sounds like a good time."
"Cool, I'm sure I won't possibly regret introducing the man who signs my paycheck to all of the crazy people I call friends."
They laughed together, Grian careful not to agitate his injury, before falling into a comfortable silence as the carriage continued its path around. As it began its final descent however, Mumbo turned once more to him and smiled. "Hey Grian? I'm really glad I hired you."
Grian smiled back at the man that was his boss, but also maybe his friend. "Yeah, me too."