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It's the first day of the break after Hermitcraft Season 5, and Mumbo’s finally arrived on his personal world, his Redstone Testing World, as he usually calls it. And, like usual for every break since… since he stopped hearing from… him… Xisuma and Scar are with him, to hang out for the first day or two.
They've just spawned in, when they see the figure across the sand, and Scar and Xisuma both close in closer to Mumbo. Actually, Jellie spots him first, alerting them with a soft meow from her perch on Scar’s shoulders, causing them all to turn and look.
Mumbo can't help himself when he first sees him. Can't help the hesitant, stumbling step he takes towards him, the way he reaches a hand out to touch him before aborting the movement, the way his voice almost cracks as he breathes out his name for the first time in five years, the first time since Xisuma had to deliver the news the Evo was lost, destroyed, and there were no records of survivors. After he felt a part of himself that hadn't always been a part of him break away once more and leave him bereft and alone in his own mind and heart again.
“...Grian?”
Scar of all people is the one to catch him after his slight stumble, to keep him steady on his feet as dark eyes meet his own for the first time in eight long years.
“Is… is it really you? Or… or is this just another dream?”
As the figure - surely it's Grian, surely that floppy hair and colorful wings could be no one but Grian… - remains in silence, the doubt grows and he leans harder on Scar. He distantly feels Xisuma come up to help support him on his other side. As he looks longer, he sees the differences, the changes from the Grian he remembers.
He looks tired, Mumbo thinks, his shoulders and wings slumped, his gaze firmly fixed on the ground at his feet. He seems almost nervous or pained too, his tail feathers closely folded and one hand holding the other wrist in front of him. His hair seems dirty and tangled, various feathers in his wings are misaligned and ruffled… He looks tired and worn, Mumbo can't help but think.
If this is Grian, his Grian, then he must have been through a lot. And his hesitance to answer Mumbo… But it has to be Grian. Who else could it be?
“Gri… You look… tired. Is… Is it really you?”
Grian - it must be Grian, it couldn't be anyone else - seems to let out a large sigh, finally lifting his head to look at Mumbo. His eyes are dark, darker than Mumbo remembers them being, dark with a weight of deeds and misdeeds lurking behind them. Those brightly colored wings he was once so proud of - now almost… faded in color, not as bright as he remembers - curl tighter around him as he finally speaks.
“I…” he clears his throat, the waver in that one word disappearing as he seems to steel his resolve. “I am not the boy you befriended, the man you grew up with. I'm… not the playful and mischievous prankster you knew before.”
A shudder runs through those worn wings before he continues.
“I am not the Avian you once adored, the Partner you’ve been longing for.”
A sharp inhale comes from Scar beside him, but Mumbo hardly notices as he watches Grian - he knows it must be Grian now - reach out hesitantly yet pleadingly.
“And yet… Would… Would you choose me once again? If you knew everything I've done, what I can't change or ever undo… I know you must've been longing all this time…”
Mumbo breathes in deeply. He knows this is Grian. And it's because of that that he has to see this discussion through. Not because he won't choose Grian again - he'd always choose Grian, no matter what he's done or thinks he's done, and he knows it like the sun will always rise - but because he knows Grian would never let him if he doesn't hear him out now. So he asks:
“What sorts of things have you done, then?”
Grian seems to flinch and curl further into himself with a shuddering breath, his gaze snapping back to the ground. But he again gathers his resolve, shoulders straightening, wings folding behind him, head bowed and hands at his sides. Almost like a warrior as he reports.
“I have been a part of causing disaster and destruction on countless servers. I left a trail of bodies in my wake. I've hurt more people than I could ever count, and left my friends to their deaths for my own curiosity. I let Them change me so much it broke us. I…” The image of the warrior reporting seems to break with the breath he paused over.
“But all of that was to bring me back to you. So… so tell me, would you choose me again? If you knew what I'd done, the things I can't ever change… I'm not the man you knew, and I know you've been missing him…”
Mumbo takes a slow deep breath. Yes, he thinks. Yes I would. But you wouldn't let me. Not yet. Not the way you see yourself. And so… He takes a step forward out of Scar and Xisuma’s support, and speaks. It's his turn now.
“If that's really true, if you're really not my Grian, then surely you could do me a favor to give me some peace of mind? Just a little thing really.”
Mumbo lifts his left hand and rolls his sleeve up his forearm, revealing the intricately woven cloth bracelet wound around his wrist.
“Could you take this off for me, and take it somewhere far away where I needn’t see the reminder anymore?”
Grian flinches back briefly before tattered feathers slowly begin fluffing up and his whole body tenses as he starts speaking.
“Do… How could you ask that of me? I wove that band myself, pouring Codes of protection and luck and myself into that with each twist and tie! That's months of work you're asking me to do away with, not to MENTION that I literally changed the very Code of it to not have a clasp as a symbol of our Bond AT YOUR REQUEST!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS, WHAT YOU’VE ASKED OF ME?!?!?! HOW COULD YOU ASK THAT OF ME?!?!?!”
He's screaming by the end of it, wings fully flared out and feathers all fluffed up. And Mumbo can't help but shout back at him, to hopefully make what he says next stick in his little birdbrain.
“WELL, ONLY MY BONDMATE KNEW THAT, SO I GUESS THAT MAKES HIM YOU!!!”
Mumbo can't help the satisfaction he feels, even almost panting from his outburst, as Grian deflates in shock, wings completely falling slack to the ground.
“Mumbo…”
Grian’s voice is soft and stunned, and unusually vulnerable. Good. He's made his point, but he needs to make sure Grian won't forget it now, can't deny it. And he still needs to answer his Bondmate’s original question, after all.
“I will choose you, Gri. Over and over again. Always. No matter what you've done, where we've gone, how long it's been… You're mine, my Bondmate. Don't tell me you're not the same Grian - you're always my Bondmate, my Partner. And I've missed you, been longing for you all this time…”
He watches Grian’s eyes seem to shed some of that unusual darkness they'd previously held, and the Avian shakily reaches out, taking an unsteady step towards Mumbo. And Mumbo steps forward to meet him, because he always will, gently taking that shaking hand in his own trembling one before pulling him into a tight hug. After a brief moment, tricolor wings curl up to wrap around them both, trembling just as much as the one they belong to, and Mumbo himself.
After their trembling has mostly subsided, Mumbo can't help but ask Grian a question.
“How long has it been, Gri?”
Grian shudders before his trembling finally stops completely.
“Eight years, I know. But it's felt like an eternity…” He takes a shaky breath. “I… I missed you… I was trying so hard to come back to you…”
Mumbo squeezes him tighter, trying to both make him a part of him again, like he should be, but also to shield him from whatever he faced while he was gone, away from Mumbo. His throat is tight, but he pushes through it to answer his Partner.
“I know, Grian, I know. And I missed you too. Every single day of it. And I knew you'd do everything in your power to come back to me. I… just was afraid it hadn't been enough… But it was, it finally was, and now you're here…”
There's a soft pitchy noise from inside his arms, something that sounds like a cross between a sob and a bird chirping. He can't help the watery grin that rises to his face. He's missed Grian's little noises.
They sit there in silence for a few minutes, before a soft mew gets their attention. Grian's attention moreso, his head popping up from Mumbo's shoulder and snapping in the direction of the sound with a soft exclamation.
“Kitty?!”
Mumbo can't help but chuckle under his breath as he turns to face Xisuma and Scar again, the latter having scooped Jellie into his arms and is currently scolding her quietly.
“Now, Jellie, you can't just ruin their moment like that! They were having a moment! And you interrupted! Naughty kitty!”
Jellie only makes a soft brrrrrp and pats his nose firmly with her paw. Scar goes cross-eyed looking at it before sighing and cuddling Jellie closer.
“Aww, I can't be mad at you, Jellie, you're too cute!”
Mumbo shares an amused look with Xisuma and then turns to Grian, who's staring at Scar and Jellie like they're simultaneously both a miracle and completely baffling. Mumbo can't help but grin, before he turns back to Xisuma and clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention.
“Xisuma, Scar? Meet Grian, my best friend and Bondmate. Gri? Meet Xisuma, our Admin on Hermitcraft, and Scar, one of my closest friends.”
The three of them share glances and awkward waves, but Mumbo’s had his fill of social interaction and stress for the day. He's got his Bondmate back, finally, and he's introduced him to Xisuma and Scar. He's ready to take Grian somewhere and take a nap now - he's not letting Grian out of his sight any time soon, but he's tired now. Xisuma and Scar can come back for their visit tomorrow or another day.
And thankfully, Xisuma seems to understand that, gently grabbing Scar by the arm as he flicks his comm panel into existence to prepare their transport back to Hermitcraft.
“It's nice to meet you, Grian. Mumbo, you could use some time alone together and some rest, so Scar and I will let you two be. We can come back another time for our visit, just send a message whenever you're ready, and we'll see you then. Have a lovely evening!”
Mumbo is so thankful for Xisuma, that he's always so willing to work with the Hermits for whatever they need.
“Oh! Yes, well! Jellie and I say a quick hello and an abrupt goodbye!”
Before Scar can continue, Xisuma has teleported them both away, and whatever the Fae-Vex hybrid was going to say next disappears to the Void. Mumbo slowly turns to share a look with Grian, before they both dissolve into helpless laughter.
When they've finally recomposed themselves - which took a while, they kept sending each other back into fits just as they were finally calming down - Mumbo stretches and rises to his feet before offering Grian a hand. Dark slate-gray eyes look up at him from under a blond fringe - a face he's sorely missed for the last eight years.
“Cmon then. Let me take you back to the house where we can get some food and rest, and then I can show you around my world. This is where I work on, plan, and store my prototypes, so I have a lot to show you.”
Mumbo grins as Grian reaches up and takes his hand, letting him pull him to his feet.
“Okay then, Mr. Jumbolio. Show me what you've been up to the past eight years.”
And with that, they finally turn to head to Mumbo's small Off-Season home, side by side again like they always should have been…