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#tumblr memes#meme#funny memes#hermitcraft#hermitcraft season 10#mcyt#grian#mcytumblr#grian got demoted#hc grian#grian tag#grianmc#hermitcraft grian#grian minecraft
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Reasons Why You, a MCYT Fan, Should Vote Scar in the MCYTblr Sexyman Polls: An Essay By Me, a Person Who Dropped Essay-Based Subjects For a Reason
- he is a charisma bitch
- imagine how iconic it would be
- he is a hot guy (literally)
- and by that i don't mean a Sexy Guyâą i mean the sorta guy who would draw abs on his fake diamond armour to appear more buff
- we need the desert duo (scar vs grian) standoff. just think of the angst fanart. JUST THINK
- he's a little arson gremlin who cannot be trusted around fire
- remember the water bucket clutch in double life? remember it? remember that? had there ever been a sexier moment known to man
- techno could mlg in an instant. he is too skilled. scar could die at any second and that's what makes those moments so epic
- techno is way too epic to be demoted to the title of beating scar on the mcytblr sexyman polls.
- do it for the fan content
- techno rooters's reasonings are way to logical for a hellsite like tumblr. we scarians thrive off pure PASSION
- he charismatically bribed people with imaginary friendship points to gift him the clothes off their back. if there is something more tumblr sexyman please tell me. yes, see? you have nothing. there is nothing. that is it. (except maybe sans undertale's sheer existence but that's not relevant)
he swept the boards with the initial nominations. we can't let him down now. CMON MCYT FANS RISE UP AND GIVE SCAR THE VICTORY HE DESERVES, as, incase you were unaware, this victory is seriously under threat. (techno already got the victory he deserved from the techno vs dream duel, with his sheer brilliant knowledge of ancient china. cmon guys, it's scar's time to shine)
and who knows? you may just become scarred for life.
#mcytblr sexyman#gtws sweep#gtws#goodtimeswithscar#hermitcraft#mcyt#gtwscar#i am not immune to the good times#you are not immune to good times#we are not immune to the good times#the good times will prevail#but we need YOUR HELP#this took me a literal hour i need help
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I've... been watching Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood again.....
Blurbles about all the hermits under the cut!
Rendog: Wolf Chimera. He has a human form he rarely uses, and generally gets away in public with the glaringly obvious lie of "Oh all this hair? It's a... uh... rare skin condition." It does help that his best friend is a known doctor and somewhat mad scientist. Shortly after he was created he killed his creator and stole their philosopher stone, entrusting it to Doc, a friend he had before his chimera-fication. He and Mumbo came from the same facility.
Docm77: Military and Cosmetic Automail Engineer. Started off in Rush Valley and, once he decided he knew enough about automail, started to work his way up through the military building specialized prosthetics. He's been trying to launch a body modification program for years, viewing it as a more humane was of augmenting humanity than the fleshcraft that comes with human transmutation. He was, understandably, horrified when Ren showed up on his doorstep one day as a chimera.
Bdubs: Istvalan Creation Alchemist. Bdubs is a freelance alchemist not associated with any military powers -- and he's trying desperately to keep it that way. His creations are intricate, and he specializes in a wide variety of materials. He's best known for his experimental [and extremely temperamental] "Pretty-Alchemy", where he McGuivers transmutation circles and equations on how they "feel" instead of how alchemically sound they are.
Welsknight [and Helsknight]: Soul-bound armor. A pair of swordsmen who were forced into a suit of armor to guard the chimeric facility that created so many monsters. Welsknight, the brains of the operation, is situated in the helmet while Helsknight, the stronger fighter, is bound to the chestplate. They spent a lot of time bickering amongst each other, but when their goals happen to align, they are a force to be reckoned with. When their facility was destroyed, they were ordered to kill the escaping chimeras -- until a very charismatic Ren convinced them to flee instead.
False: Military sniper. She spends a lot of time fending off Doc's advances [ie. automail modifications to help her shoot and aim better]. She's worked her way up through the ranks because of her skill, but her general aversion to leading and governing keeps her out of the upper echelons of Central Command. Instead she finds herself bouncing between command stations whenever uprisings occur in Amestris. She was one of the military officers sent to respond to the chimera facility's collapse. When she recognized Ren among the people escaping, she found there was "too much smoke" to take proper aim at the escaping creatures. She was demoted shortly after the event, not that it bothered her much.
Grian: The Updraft Alchemist. One of the few alchemists who have ever taken up Doc on his offer for cosmetic automail. The wings attach to nerves in his shoulder blades, and after several years of tweaking, actually respond to his movements. He can't fly with them per-se, they function more like an incredibly sensitive glider -- which works just fine for Grian, since he specializes in temperature alchemy, causing dramatic updraft/downdrafts. He was not at the chimera facility event, but has become good friends with many of the people involved through Doc -- he spends so much time getting his wings repaired after his various crashes, he almost lives in Doc's work room.
Tangotek: The Fuse-Metal Alchemist. He mostly uses alchemy in welding and crafting, though he's been known to create fire and weapons on the fly when he needs to. As a state alchemist, he's expected to be a living weapon on some level -- and his powerful alchemy definitely helps with that, though he's best at making walls and fortresses than he is at real standing combat. No one knows how he got ahold of his philosopher's stone -- in fact, most people don't even know he has one. He only uses it when he feels like his life is threatened [or needs a good kick to make something truly impressive]. He used to work in the chimera facility, making containment for the more volatile creatures. He's absorbed a lot of the theory on human transmutation, but has yet to use it.
Mumbo: Lizard Chimera and Chimera Expert. Mumbo's first miraculous use of transmutation was to turn himself into a chimera. Unfortunately, lizards aren't quite as smart as people are, so it took some time to relearn the formula and materials involved. He was subject 0 at the chimera facility, and, once he'd regained his wits, helped in the experimentation into chimera crafting -- though he was under the impression all the subjects were willing volunteers like he was... oh dear. He was the one who orchestrated the escape, and, having befriended Ren by then, escaped with him when the facility collapsed. He swears he'll never do human transmutation again -- except maybe on himself. Like, being able to climb up walls is nice and all, but imagine what he could do with bird wings? Or a bull's strength? Or--
#spazzcat doodles#fullmetal alchemist brotherhood#hermitcraft au#rendog#docm77#bdoubleo100#welsknight#helsknight#falsesymmetry#grian#tangotek#mumbo jumbo#yes i have more ideas but this is all i could draw tonight and my shoulder hurts ahah#its late anyway i should sleep#anyway enjoy this silly au
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Hehe back with bird siblings :)
Today I talk about why Phil is separated from his siblings and what the watchers actually want from the siblings .
A disclaimer because I need to read the friggin wiki: I am new to hermitcraft, life series, and all other SMPs and series related to Martyn, Solidarity, Grian, and Pearlescentmoon. Information may be slightly inaccurate, and I welcome someone informing me about my mistakes :)
Ok!! Now letâs start with why Phil isnât with Martyn, Grian, Pearl, and Solidary. So as I have mentioned, Phil and Martyn are twins who used to be the gods of death and life respectively. And this does lead to arguments when they were gods, it basically boiled down to this:
Martyn: Stop killing my guyssssssss
Phil: *evil laughter as he kills another*
Most arguments are harmless, they work it out in the end, after all, death is a part of life, and they are still brothers.
When they got demoted to human, their emotions got complex, and suddenly they couldnât see eye to eye most of the time, Jimmy, Grian, and Pearl had to constantly calm the two down and reason with them.
After about 200 years, all five siblings were a little sick of each other, and soon a huge argument broke out, it ended with Phil storming off, and the other four decided that they all needed a little space, so they decided to each take a portion of what they had and leave in a different direction, leaving a fifth for Phil.
When Phil came back after cooling off, he found a deserted home, no note, only a fifth of their belongings. He was understandably upset, and he took what was there, and left a note explaining where he was going and that he had taken his portion, hoping at least one of his siblings would know where he was.
So while Grian, Pearl, Solidarity, and Martyn stayed around mortals, making friends and living happily, Phil went into total isolation in a hardcore world, preferring to commune with the lesser gods of that land, as well as connecting with Kristen, the new goddess of death.
Eventually, Martyn, Jimmy, Pearl, and Grian find each other, as each of them recived a note to a mysterious event, which would eventually be dubbed the Life Series.
When Grian won the life series, he met the Watchers, who bestowed a fraction of his previous power back to him in return for keeping his power and the Watchers a secret. Then they won their game, and Martyn and Pearl were both offered the same deal, with Scott being forcefully sworn to secrecy by the other three about their true identity.
When Phil won purgatory, he also received a fraction of his power, but the federation managed to bury it, they could barely deal with Phil without that power, they feared what he could do with it.
So why are the watchers doing this? Well, they want to grant the siblings their godhood, all they need is Solidary to win, and then all 5 will ascend to godhood again. As to why they want them to ascend? Well, no one aside from the Watchers themselves know.
---
If you donât know what Iâm talking about or want to learn more, links to other posts are here and here
Edit: Lore here is subject to change
#tw: death#bird siblings#philza#grian#martyn inthelittlewood#pearlescentmoon#jimmy solidarity#qsmp#secret life#watchers
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I need everyone to remember that grian got demoted and was like âoh thank gosh I hate it hereâ. and then Cub was like âyeah me too. itâs a requirement to work at the permit officeâ
#hermitcraft#skizz and scar may be breaking protocol (finding some enjoyment in their job[s])#permit office#grian#cubfan135
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I really want to write/draw something thatâs been in my head for the past months
So CuteGuy and HotGuy but HotGuy got demoted to Poe Poe
Grian is still CuteGuy because heâs wasnât involved with the government as his vigilante persona, and still isnât other than his cover job
Both Scar and Grian know who the other is and Grian has to deal with Scar ranting to him during working hours about his demotion
So basically Grian gets fed up and takes him to Mumbo so he can work as a hero again just as a vigilante now with him
For the silly mumbo is freaking out every time he sees HotGuy and loves to work with him, aka heâs very grateful to Grian. Also he knows HotGuy is Scar so sometimes he freaks out around just normal non HotGuy Scar as well
#hermitcraft#hermitshipping#HotGuy Scar#CuteGuy Grian#mumbo jumbo#hermitcraft grian#goodtimeswithscar
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AO3 link and notes below the cut:
PEARL HAS APPEARED IN THE FIC!! Yâall, there were NOT supposed to be other characters than Scar and Grian (and briefly Mumbo) in this fic but she just snuck in. Also, my recommendation? Do not show up at anybodyâs house uninvited for a vacation, itâs really rude to put that on someone else last minute. Like in some situations surprise visits are fun but I think a lot of the timeâŠitâs just so stressful on the âhost.â Pearl knows Grian well though, and sheâs super worried about him, so her reasoning was that if she arranged it ahead of time he would have plenty of time to perfectly clean up his life and pretend nothing was wrong. Part of the reason she wanted to visit him was because she knew something was wrong. I think Grianâs friends and family, most of them in England but Pearl in Australia, have been worried for quite some time about how heâs doing, but living on a different continent is a great way to self-isolate.Â
Also I shouldnât have to say this but donât read anyoneâs mail, even if itâs out. Pearl is allowed to be a little dysfunctional, as a treatâŠ. hashtag god forbid women do anything. I donât think itâs unreasonable for friends to ask for financial help from friends, or for friends to take it on themself to help out where possible and maybe slip you something. but girl thereâs a time and place for it!!! LOL anyway you know that the woman who created a whole cleaning service in HC S9 would be happy to help Grian declutter in this situation too haha
As for architecture, thereâs a bunch of different programs but the one Iâve been using as reference for this fic is a 5 year degree with around 2-3 years of apprenticeship/internship/field training. It is generally a pretty intense job to get. Grian did his whole degree in England plus part of the training, but finished the rest and got his license while in Colorado. He did not have his license very long at all in the beginning of the fic, which is partly why he was so resistant to taking off work to go with Mumboâhe was brand new and had to prove himself! Also, architecture work often includes compliance related things in addition to designs (from what I have read.) Grian got demoted after his stunt in the last chapter, so he mostly does things like âcontact the electrical company to get power to this personâs houseâ or âcall the county to get information about the local building codesâ and so on. Mumbo is a mechanical engineer.Â
Did you know it actually didnât snow til really late in the season in Denver in 1988? Itâs an interesting juxtaposition for how early the snow was in Yellowstone that year. Iâm not from Colorado but from what I googled most ski resorts have at least limited runs open by Thanksgiving so I think itâs reasonable for them to go together. Higher elevation places in the mountains likely did get snow by late November. Anyway, I like skiing. I went twice as a kid and it was a lot of fun but unfortunately now i'm cursed with knees that like to dislocate so i donât dare go again and risk injury
Also yeah Iâm not gonna list out specific numbers but the long distance (especially international) rates WERE atrocious then, and grian is just not getting paid as much as he used to on top of having to cover all the stuff Mumbo used to. Itâs not sustainable in the long run, both financially and in that itâs far too easy for him to isolate from everyone who cares about him.Â
Finally, a lot of the little bits of day to day lookout information I have comes from the book Fire Season by Philip Connors, that Iâve been slowly reading while writing this fic. I think Iâm around 160 pages into it? Itâs a very interesting book, I recommend it. You will also get a lot of information about forest fire history and wildland firefighting in general. So much of my information about when fires are left to burn, when theyâre suppressed, when theyâre monitored, helicopters and smoke jumpers, Grianâs work schedules and days off, etc all comes from that book.Â
Oh, I finally mentioned Grianâs age in this. Heâs 28, turning 29 in a few months.. Thatâs why he says heâs floundering on the cusp of his 30s. To be clear, I do not think there is anything terrible about being in your 30s. I do not think he is old. I do think, however, that heâs looking at a couple of fresh 21 year-olds doing a summer job in between semesters and thinking about how thoroughly heâs torched his own career and life (and how life has hurt him first) to end up where he is right now.Â
Cicadas! Yes, England does not have them (as far as I could tell through research.) This is shocking as a Texan, given they have been the staple summer background noise of my entire life. I would not know what to do without them doing their little calls nonstop. Also, I lied a bit in that second sentenceâEngland DOES have a species of cicada, but itâs so endangered it hasnât been seen for over a decade and only lives in a specific forest. RIP.Â
The Incandescence of a Dying Light (Chapter Six)
Someoneâs worried about Grian, and the Forest Service comes to collect Mumboâs bike.
Chapter Six: 8,724
<< Chapter Five | Masterpost | Chapter Seven >>
The other half of the fifth chapter! I hope you enjoy this 1988 sequence especially, I was looking forward to it a lot (and it single handedly made the chapter so long it had to be split in two!)
No real CWs this time. I personally think that if you have made it this far then I donât really have to warn you about the themes of loss and grief anymore, but just in case: yep, still very present.
November 20, 1988
Itâs about noon on a Sunday, and Grian isâŠnot doing much, actually. He has a thousand things he needs to do, ranging from cleaning out the refrigerator to trying to change his carâs oil to looking into a part-time second job, but instead heâs lying on the couch trying to watch TV. Somewhere along the way he tuned out of the program and started staring at the ceiling instead, mentally tracing out the patterns in the spackle.Â
The man on the drones on and on in the background, until heâs just part of it. Grian can feel himself starting to drift to sleep.Â
Then the phone rings.Â
Grian startles awake and sits up, scowling at it in the kitchen. He hasnât the faintest idea who is calling him, other than maybe a telemarketer, but do those people work on Sunday? Well, perhaps they do. Everyone is home then, afterall.Â
It rings twice more, so he gets up and answers the phone. âHello?â he says.Â
âGriba!â shouts a voice on the other end of the line.Â
Andâitâs a very familiar voice.Â
âPearl?â Grian says, just the slightest bit baffled. âIs that you?â
âHi!â she says. âHow are you doing? Are you busy?â
âIâm fine,â he says. âHow are you? What do you need?â
âCanât I just call to say hi?â Pearl asks.Â
âOf course, butââ
âBut the international rates?â Pearl says. Then she laughs. âOh, shush, I know you were thinking about it.â
âOh noooo,â Grian says. âI donât care about that at all, we can talk as long as you like.â
 Itâs a lie. He was definitely thinking about the international rates, and then immediately feeling bad about it because Pearl is a friend. He puts friends before money, of course, itâs justâŠwell, it was expensive. But worth it! Pearl is Pearl. But every minute on the phone eats into his checkbook, and itâs hard not to think about.Â
Pearl laughs again. âWell, Iâm glad you donât worry about that. Not that it matters anyway; this call is local.â
Local. Local?
âHuh?â
âYeah, you were right Griba, I did need something when I called,â Pearl says. âCan you pick me up from the airport?â
Grianâs head is spinning. âYouâre at the airport?â he says incredulously. âLike, in Colorado? In Denver? Right now?â
âYep,â Pearl says. âAnd I need a ride. Well, I could go get a taxi somewhere. But I figured Iâd ask my friend first. Are you busy?â
Yeah, busy falling asleep to daytime TV on the couch. âUm, no,â he says.Â
âGreat! Iâll see you there!â Pearl says. âWait, how long will it take? I donât know where you live, actually. Ooh, this is exciting! Iâll finally get to see your place.â
âUm, give me like half an hour and Iâll be there,â Grian says slowly.Â
He and Pearl say their goodbyes for now, and after she hangs up he finds himself staring at the phone for several moments. What just happened? First of all, Pearlâs in Denver, apparently. Second of all, he did not know this was happening. Thirdly, his afternoon just got way more interesting.
He grabs his keys off the counter and makes his way downstairs.Â
»»âââ-ăăâââ-««
When he arrives at the airport, in the long line of cars waiting to pick people up and drop them off at the terminal, he does not expect to see Pearl waiting outside for him. Yet he picks her out instantly, a familiar face in a crowd of strangers.Â
Sheâs bundled up in a black hoodie. The hood is up over her head, but he can see the long wavy tendrils of brown hair peeking out from behind it. Her hands are shoved in the hoodieâs pocket, and her nose is pink from the cold. When she exhales, he can see the faintest cloud of her breath.Â
He can hardly remember being so happy to see someone before. The second he sees her face, any doubt or mild annoyance at her unexpected stay just melts away.Â
He pulls his car up as close as he can to her, and throws it in park. She doesnât know what car heâs driving, of courseâsheâs never visited him here. He leaps out and calls her name.Â
âPearl!â he shouts.Â
She spins around and a grin breaks out on her face the moment she spots him. He races up to her on the curb and she throws her arms around him in a hug immediately. They cling to each other for a moment, before letting go.Â
âOh, itâs been so long since Iâve seen you!â Pearl says.
âOh, yeah,â Grian says. âA few years, right? Not since Iâve been here.â
âAh!â Pearl squeaks. âI canât wait to see it. I shouldâve come for a visit so much sooner.â
Grian breathes a sigh, not of any annoyance or tiredness, but perhapsâof relief? Relief from what, he doesnât quite know, but heâs so happy to see Pearl itâs like he can hardly speak. His breath clouds in front of him.Â
âLetâs get you in the car,â he says. âItâs so cold out here, why werenât you waiting inside?â
âWell, it might be cold out here,â Pearl says, attempting to pick up her bag. Grian steals it out from under her grasp before she can, though, so she just trails after him to the car. âBut it certainly isnât cold at home. Itâs kind of nice, actually. Anyway, I wasnât out here waiting the entire time, I just walked out a few minutes before you came.â
âWell, donât freeze on me before you even get here,â Grian says. He loads her things in the car, and they hop in. He starts to navigate out of the airport traffic. âHow long was that flight?â he asks. âI mean, I assume you flew in from Sydney.â
âUgh, it was never ending!â Pearl says. âIt was like 12 or 13 hours, and that only got me to Los Angeles. Then I had a connection here.â She glances at the clock on his dashboard. âDid you know itâs almost the same time I left?â
âHuh?â
âYeah. I left around noon on the 20th. Then I landed and now itâs around noon on the 20th again.â
âWow.â
âIt feels like I got put in a time vortex or something and they zapped a whole day from me. And then I woke up and Iâm repeating the day again.â
Grian side eyes her in the passenger seat. âAre you, perhaps, a little tired?â
âExhausted.â
He smiles just a little. âI bet youâre hungry too,â he says. âLetâs get lunch on our way back to my apartment.â
»»âââ-ăăâââ-««
They get lunch, and itâs great. They talk about various, mostly mundane things about their lives over the past few years. Theyâve kept in touch ever since graduating university together, even as their lives diverged on totally different paths on totally different continents. But that was mostly just letters and phone calls. Itâs entirely different to be face to face again. Itâs so much better to be face to face again.
Grian asks about her career in Australia. âSo, have you designed the next Sydney Opera House yet?â he teases.Â
Pearl gasps in fake horror. âOf course not! There canât be a ânextâ Opera House, itâs iconic!â
âEh,â Grian says. âI think you could come up with a cooler one.â
She rolls her eyes affectionately. âAlright, stop it.â
âIâm dead serious. I think you could make a better one.â
She laughs and shakes her head. âSeriously though, I mostly just do office buildings.â
âHm, well thatâs boring,â Grian says and takes a sip of his water. âWe for sure donât need any more of those.â
âThatâs what most of the work is,â she says. âLots of new development to work on! So what have you been up to? Any interesting projects lately?â
Grian hesitates a bit in replying. The answer is no, of course. Pearlâs aware of his job from some of their previous communication in the past three years, but now that theyâre sitting here face to face she clearly wants to hear all about it without the constraints of a phone call or letter.Â
He just, well, has nothing to say. He hasn't even really received projects lately.Â
He and Mumbo came to Colorado a little over two years ago after Mumbo was offered an engineering job in Denver. Grian had figured he might as well dust off his completely unused dual citizenship and follow him hereâitâs not like it was even a difficult process for him. It was the perfect sort of adventure to follow up five years of intense schooling, and an interesting place to put his new skills to test.Â
It had been that which enticed him to go with Mumbo. That, and the way his stomach had twisted when he thought about saying goodbye. Theyâd been inseparable for over a decade and Grian refused to accept a reality where his best friend lived so far away. Truthfully, Mumbo was a little apprehensive about moving to an entirely new country alone, so this had worked out perfectly.Â
Grian would go with him. Theyâd split an apartment and get settled in for a while and experience life in a new country. Grian would finish the rest of his architecture field training in Colorado and finally get his license. Mumbo would work on creating machines and learn about computers.Â
It was fine. It was fun. They had a good timeâthere were endless things to do, from skiing to hiking to rafting to biking.Â
Then Mumbo went missing, and Grian was justâŠstill here, but missing everything that was worthwhile. He was struggling. Not showing up to work. Getting demoted.
âI havenât really had anything interesting to work on,â he says finally. âThere was this one houseâway too massive, really, and the owner could never really decide what he wanted but he wasnât so bad. But then I had to leave toâŠâÂ
He trails off. Pearl glances at him and opens her mouth, but she rethinks it after a moment and shuts it again. Sheâs smart, and part of that intelligence is knowing when to not poke around.Â
âMostly they just have me working on codes and compliance right now,â he finishes quietly.Â
Itâs still an important part of the process, making sure that all of the projects are in alignment with local building codes. Sometimes itâs even frustrating, when he has to figure out things like getting a water line from whichever locality is closest for someoneâs house perched high on a mountainside.Â
But he doesnât have any of his own clients anymore. He does work for his coworkerâs projects. He doesnât do any drafting. He doesnât touch any blueprints. He doesnât design anything.Â
Itâs not really the update that he wants to give Pearl. They met each other in university because they studied in the same architecture program. They spent long nights in the library together. Heâs seen her rip up her papers in frustration when things werenât working quite right, and sheâs seen him start crying on the floor of her dorm room the night before a particularly major test. They graduated together.Â
It just doesnât look good. Of course, he knows Pearl very well. She isnât going to think anything less of him. Itâs more, well, himself that he has to worry about.Â
Pearl purses her lips, and moves on. âWell,â she says, âthatâs all very important. God knows we studied it enough. Donât worry about projects, youâll find some cool work soon.â
âAs cool as office buildings?â
âWith any luck, even better,â she says.Â
âHow long are you staying?â he asks, realizing he still doesnât know.Â
âLittle over a week,â she responds. âIâm leaving next Monday.â
He frowns. âI probably have work, but maybe I can take off a morning to take you back to the airportââ
âI can survive in a taxi,â Pearl says. âDonât worry about it.â
âWell, you asked me to pick you up this time.â
âMm, well, I wanted to see you,â she says, âand I had a feeling you werenât going to be busy.â
He hates that sheâs right, but only just a little. Heâs sort of glad he wasnât busy so that he could see her, since sheâs apparently decided to drop this entire trip on him with no notice whatsoever. It does not miss him that she could have done this basically any weekend in the last several months and landed on a day where he wasnât busy.Â
âWhat are your plans for this week?â he asks.
âI want to see everything!â Pearl says, and stretches her arms wide to accommodate the words. She has to pull her arm back in quick, since she nearly smacks a waitress walking by. They both descend into laughter.Â
âPearl,â Grian hisses, âweâre in public!â
âIâm sorry! Iâm sorry!â she whispers. âIâm just so excited! I want to sightsee!â
Grian leans back in his chair and regards her with a critical eye. Heâs smiling. âI donât know if a week is enough to see everything,â he says.Â
âI am going to do my best,â she says, mock-serious.Â
It suddenly hits Grian. âWait,â he groans. âI seriously have to work tomorrow. And Tuesday. I could ask off, butâŠâ He winces as he trails off. âI kind of have a track record with my boss and I donât think he really appreciates me calling out last minute.â
âThatâs fine,â Pearl says. âWhat? I know I came here without telling you but itâs not like I wasnât prepared to take care of myself. Iâll just see some things on my own.â
Grian nods. âI have a half-day on Wednesday,â he says, âbut I think heâd be more amenable to letting me have that as a full day. Then Thursdayâs off for Thanksgiving, and Friday too. Then of course the weekend.â
Pearl looks self-satisfied. âGood. I meant to plan it that way so youâd have a little time off.â
âSo what do you want to do?â he asks. âOne of them, I guess, since everythingâs on the table.â
Pearl leans closer to him across the table. âPlease,â she says. âI want to go skiing. Iâve never been skiing. Can we please go skiing? Please?â
Grian laughs again at the face sheâs making. Sheâs so dead serious in her begging. âIâll call around and see if any places are open. As you can see, we donât have any snow around here right now. But further up into the actual mountains probably does.â
âEee!â Pearl squeaks in excitement. âIâm so ready.â
âOh?â Grian says. âI will literally bet you on how many times you fall.â
âIâll take your money,â she says. âIâll be the greatest first-time skier there ever was.â
âYou will fall on your butt no less than a dozen times,â he shoots back.Â
They continue talking for a while, back and forth. Pearl tells him about various stories and adventures from Australia. She begs him to come visitâshe came here, so now itâs his turn to come to her. Maybe next summer, when itâll be cooler in Australia and hotter down here.Â
Sheâs obviously prepared for their trip and seeing him again, because sheâs also brought photos to share with him. He looks through a few photos of what her house looks like, what a few buildings sheâs worked on looks like, a picture of her by the ocean (she says he can keep that one, as long as she gets to go home with a photo of him), and even the two cats she has adopted.Â
They get the checkâGrian pays for the whole thing without blinkingâand head back to his apartment.
Theyâre discussing sleeping arrangements as they walk up Grianâs stairwell. He has his keys out already, and they clang a little step-by-step.Â
âIâll sleep on the couch,â he declares. âEnd of story.â
âBut,â she says, âIâll feel so bad taking your bed from you.â
âYouâre a guest!â he says. âIâm not letting you sleep for a week on the couch! You can take my bed.â
Neither of them mention that thereâs a third option. Or really a fourth, because Pearl could always get a hotel room if it didn't work out, but she had asked to stay with him. She must have spent so much on flights already, it was the least he could do.Â
So thereâs really only three options, and only two are being discussed. The apartment is a two bedroom. Mumboâs room has sat empty for five months now, completely untouched. But that room isnât up for grabsâitâs a time capsule, frozen from the moment he left it. Grian doesnât mention it. Pearl is smart enough to not ask about it.Â
âUgh, fine,â Pearl says, rolling her eyes. âI guess Iâll take your room. If you make me. I still feel like itâs weird though.â
Grian freezes on the top step, and Pearl nearly bumps into him. âOh no,â he mumbles. âMy apartment isâPearl, listen, I didnât know you were coming, so I didnât really take a chance to clean up anything, so itâs definitely a little messy in here, andââ
She cuts him off, voice bright. âSo what Iâm hearing is the couch might be better than your room?â
âNo, ugh, Iâm just saying Iâm sorry that this place looks so bad.â He sighs.Â
âI get it,â she says. âDonât worry.â
âItâs not how I wanted it to be,â he says softly, and slots the key into the handle. âJust let me work on it, Iâll get it fixed up.â
They go into the apartment. Really, it isnât that bad, but heâs embarrassed about it nonetheless. It isnât filthy or grimy, itâs just cluttered. Heâs always been a cluttered person. Thereâs stuff lying randomly about, like the somewhat muddy shoes by the door, the jackets shed across chairs, or the laundry basket of unfolded clothes sitting on a dining room chair. At least three random empty drinking glasses are sitting on the coffee table in the living room. And, well, he could have probably bothered to do the dishes from the last three days, but thereâs only one of him and he doesnât cook much, so really it isnât very much even if it looks bad.
Everything in here would be so fast to clean up, but whenever he tries it feels like an insurmountable barrier. He does things a little at a time, so that it never gets too out of hand, but he canât remember the last time it looked good. Itâs just something thatâs continually slipping further and further away. It feels like one day heâll wake up and it will finally be completely out of control.Â
Pearl doesnât say anything. She just walks in and drops her bagsâwhich she had insisted on carrying since he insisted on paying for lunchâon the floor and puts her hands on her hips. âThis is a cute place,â she says. âI like the lighting from the windows. And youâve got a view of the mountains!â
âItâs cute when itâs clean,â he mutters. Itâs like he knows how to be ashamed of how the place looks, but not how to do anything about it. Heâs got the external motivation of another human being seeing it now though, and heâs itching to work and hide everything here.
Maybe itâs concerning that his main motivation after months on end is just so that he can hide. This thought does not cross his mind, because the sort of people who hide things from others are fantastic at hiding things from themselves, too.Â
âI saw your dorm room in university,â she reminds him. âYou canât seriously think I wasnât prepared for your clutter.â
âThis is worse,â Grian groans.Â
âEh, not really,â Pearl says. âI think youâre doing well, all things considered.â
All things considered. Grian bites his lip. Itâs nice that she thinks so. He isnât sure where she got that impression, but if he can spend the rest of the week cultivating it then maybe sheâll stop worrying.Â
She walks over to the laundry basket on the chair. âIs this clean?â she asks.Â
âYes, of course,â he responds, and he wants to add âIâm not that bad" to the end of the statement until he remembers the floor of his bedroom, which is exactly âthat bad.âÂ
âGreat!â she says. And then she sits down. And starts folding it.
âWhat are you doing?â he asks, and snatches the basket away from her. âYouâre a guest! Youâre on vacation! Donât be doing that?â
Pearl frowns. âUm,â she says. âJust helping?â
âI donât need you to help,â he says, and it comes out a bit harsher than intended. âJust, like, go relax or something. Take a nap. I know youâre exhausted.â
A brief look of hurt flashes over her face, and vanishes almost as quickly as it arrives. âGrian?â she asks. âWhat do you think Iâm here for?â
âTo see me?â he says, confused.Â
âYeah,â she says. âOf course itâs to see you, I missed you. But also to help.â
âI missed you too,â he says automatically, but when the rest of the sentence catches up to him he shakes his head. âI donât need help.â
She raises an eyebrow. âYou donât? Then why can nobody get a hold of you, Grian? Why does your apartment look like this? Why do you deflect phone calls and make excuses? Weâre all worried about you, you know. We donât know whatâs going on.â
âWe?â Grian says. âYouâre talking about me behind my back? Whoâs we?â
âWell, we wouldnât be talking behind your back if you talked to us,â Pearl replies, matter-of-fact. âAnd the âweâ is your friends. Your family, Grian.â
âIâm fine,â he snaps. âIâm sorry to have you worried but you donât need to be.â
âYou donât get to try that on me,â Pearl says firmly. âI know you too well.â
âMaybe thatâs why I donât talk to you,â he says.Â
Pearl looks back at him, for a long time. He doesnât return her eye contact, and instead begins to pick up the glasses from the coffee to take them into the kitchen. He knows looking at her will just make him sad. He also knows that he really, really wants to look back at her.Â
He misses her so hard it hurts. Mumbo hasnât come back, but she did. She was never really missing, thoughâjust separated far, far, away by circumstance.Â
She takes a deep breath. âWell. Maybe thatâs why I didnât tell you I was coming.â
He says nothing, and turns on the tap. Itâll take a moment for the water to heat up.Â
âYou always try to hide,â she says. She picks up another item out of the basket and begins to fold it. âBut you canât hide if you didnât expect me to come.â
She reads him like a book every time. It was a definite contributing factor to their friendshipâtheyâd clicked fast and gotten very close in university. They understood each other well, and shared not only the same area of study but also the same ideas about pulling mischief on campus. There used to be a point in time where her reading him like a book served both of them well, but not today.Â
âI told you to stop folding that,â Grian says.
Pearl drops it with a huff. âNo,â she says. âIâm not going to stop. You said I was the guest, right? Guests get to do what they want. And maybe I want to help you clean up.â
He finally turns to look at her. Her blue eyes are wide and just the slightest bit watery. Heâs done thatâheâs been the one to make her that worried. He turns back to the sink.Â
âOkay,â he says quietly, words almost lost in the water running into the sink. He says okay because he canât imagine even trying to fight her on this. âWe can work on it together.â
»»âââ-ăăâââ-««
The cleaning goes well, up until it doesnât.
âGrian, what is this?â Pearl says from the other room, loudly. Sheâs finished folding his things and has fortunately just left them all in the basket for him to put up himself, declining to go rifling through his dresser and closet. The next task she has taken upon herself has apparently been working through the clutter in the living room area, which is always a dangerous place.
Grian sticks his head around the corner from the kitchen. Heâs finished doing the dishes, and is just drying them off now to put in the cabinet. âLet me see,â he says.Â
She turns around and Grianâs heart sinks immediately. Sheâs standing by his desk, the nice one by the window that he always liked to sit and draft at. Sheâs holding a few pieces of paper that Grian really didnât mean to leave out. Because he definitely did leave them outâPearl is nosy, and sheâll fly all the way across the world to drop in uninvited, but she isnât the kind of person who goes through drawers.Â
But he did just say she was nosy. Nosy enough to read something he left out.Â
He drops the dish towel. âGive me those,â he says, and crosses the living room to the corner sheâs in. He tries to snatch it out of her hand.
âNope, not so fast,â she says, and holds them higher, squinting at them so she can read. Grian is, at this moment, extremely annoyed that she is so much taller than he is. He canât quite grab them out of her hand.Â
âPearl,â he whines.Â
âShh, Iâm reading.â Her eyes widen, and she looks back at Grian. He feels the slightest bit locked in her gazeâs intensity. Itâs equal parts scrutinizing and empathetic. Like she feels bad for him, but is also a little disappointed. âAre these late notices?â
She files through them one by one. Grian cringes. Heâd rather melt into the floor than be here. âMost of them are already paid,â he says feebly.Â
âMost of them?â she looks back at him. Her brows are knit up, and it creases her forehead.
âI, uh, get paid this week,â he says. This is another lie. He gets paid at the end of the month, but she doesnât need to know that.
She doesnât seem fully convinced, but she hands them back to him and he takes them from her so sharply he almost tears the paper. He puts them in the drawer and slams it shut. It rattles the whole desk.
âThe top one was about your credit card payment,â she says slowly, as if sheâs halfway between deciding whether to say something and not, but was already saying it before she could finish the debate.Â
Grian fixes her with a glare and she wilts under it, immediately looking away. He shoves his hands behind his back, because suddenly they seem shaky. His chest is tight, and his jaw is set, andâheâs angry. Heâs so, so angry, and it feels like itâs burning him up, white-hot.Â
âWhy did you read those?â he demands.Â
âIâm sorry, I didnât mean to find it, it was just laying on the deskââ
âYou could have ignored it.âÂ
Pearl crosses her arms. Heâs activated her fight mode, and he rarely does well against her when she tries to be stubborn.Â
âIâm just worried about you,â she says.Â
Grian shakes his head. âI canât with you right now,â he says. His tone is icy even while his whole body feels hot. âThey were laying on the desk because I didnât expect to have any guests.âÂ
He turns away from her and walks partway across the living room floor toward the kitchen, and then whirls around again. âYouâre just..showing up uninvited, messing with my stuff, reading my mail? Is that where we are now?â his voice cracks a little on the last time. âItâs the first time Iâve seen you in three years and this is where weâre at now?â
Pearl takes a breath. âI just wanted to help,â she says. It falls flat.Â
âIt isnât your business.â
âYou never said you needed money.â
âBecause it isnât your business.â He enunciates every syllable clearly.Â
She runs a hand through her hair in a nervous, agitated gesture. âNone of know whatâs going on with you, Grian,â she says. âWe didnât know about this, so what else donât we know about?â
He doesnât answer.Â
âOkay, fine,â she says desperately. âThis wasnât my business. Iâm sorry. I shouldnât have looked at it. But I meant what I said, okay? We donât know anything about whatâs going on with you!â
âThereâs the âweâ again,â he says.Â
She shakes her head, incredulous. âDo I have to literally spell it out for you? Did you forget our names when you moved to America? Itâs Jimmy, and Joel, and Martyn, and Netty, and Lizzie. Itâs your mom. Itâs Mumboâs parents.â She pauses for just a moment, taking in a short, if slightly hysterical, breath. âItâs me.â
He doesnât want to hear their names again. He misses them enough already.Â
âIâve talked to them,â he says instead. Simple.
Pearl throws her arms in the air. âFor hardly more than five minutes!â
âWell,â he says, with a bitter laugh, âyou certainly know I donât have the money for long-distance calls.â
âI guess I walked into that one,â she says. She stops, but thereâs a funny look on her face that keeps Grian quiet. Heâs still standing a few feet away from her after he walked off earlier. Her face scrunches up, like sheâs trying not to cry, and after another moment she speaks softly: âMumbo was my friend too, you know.â
Itâs soft, but it still hits Grian like a ton of bricks.Â
She continues, and doesnât look him in the eye. âI know he was your friend first, but I cared about him too. We all did.â Suddenly sheâs crossing the floor toward him again, closing the distance he had put between them. âBut it almost hurts just as bad to know youâre still out here alone. And that you arenât okay.â
Grian swallows back against the lump that is rapidly forming in his throat. âIâm fine,â he whispers.Â
âI donât believe you,â she says.Â
âIâm fine,â he insists.Â
âYou need to go home to visit,â Pearl says. âEven just for the holidays. Please. Everybodyâs worried about you.â She huffs a small little laugh. âTheyâre all worried and then theyâre calling me because they think I know whatâs going on. Because I always used to know what was going on with you. And then I have to tell them I donât know either.â
Grian doesnât respond.
âTheyâd be so happy, you know,â Pearl says. âTo see you.â
âIâd never come back,â Grian mumbles. âIf I went.â
âWhat?â
âThey wouldnât let me leave,â he says, stronger. âIf I went home they wouldnât let go.â
âIs that such a bad thing?â Pearl asks.
Grian shakes his head like heâs breaking free of her request. âI have to stay here, because Mumbo is here.â
Pearl blinks, and then sighs. âOkay. I still think you should visit, though.â
Her eyes drift away from his face and over to the hallway behind him, the one all the bedrooms and bathrooms break off of. She speaks again sharply. âThe money problem, itâs because of Mumbo isnât it? You used to split all of the rent and stuff because he was your roommate. But now itâs all on you.â
âSomething like that,â Grian admits, and it feels like heâs speaking around a block sitting in his mouth.
Their apartment is nice. Not luxurious by any means, but still a decent place to live. His neighbor down the hall yells at him sometimes if he comes back home too late and their door used to slam unpredictably until the landlord finally fixed it months later, but isnât that all just everyday woes of having an apartment?Â
The apartment is nice, but it was never meant to be paid for by one person. Well, maybe a well-paid person. Itâs not like his landlord wouldnât have rented it out to a single person if they could pay. But Grian had never planned to pay for it by himself. And while architecture could be a well-paying job, he was very much still at the entry level. Heâd only barely gotten his license after years of schooling and on-site training.Â
And then heâd gotten demoted for not showing up. The demotion wasnât in job duties only, as heâd discovered on his very next paycheck.Â
So now he does what he can. He pays the major, important things first. Sometimes theyâre a little late, depending on if his check has hit his bank account yet, but it gets done. He starts to depend more and more on his credit card for other things. He pays his minimum payment every month but he doesnât feel good about watching it accrue.Â
âI can help you pay it off-â Pearl starts to say.Â
âNo,â Grian says. âYou arenât doing that.â
âI can help you pay it off,â Pearl repeats stubbornly. âBut Griba, if you canât afford this place by yourself, you need to just move to someplace else. Smaller. Cheaper.â
âYou know I canât do that,â he says.Â
She tilts her head, expression gentle in a way that makes him instinctively recoil. âYou canât keep living here if you canât pay. This is bad.â
âItâs okay,â he says distantly. âItâs only temporary.â
Pearl pauses. She has a horrible look on her face, so Grian looks away from her instead. âTemporary?â she asks. The word is tentative.
âUntil Mumbo gets back,â he says. He grabs her hand, and pulls it closer to him, feeling suddenly like itâs very important that she hears him and understands this. âI canât leave,â he says earnestly. âAll of his stuff his here. Itâs his home too.â
Pearlâs eyes are wide. âI can help you pack it,â she says. âYou donât even have to mess with it, or look at it, I can do that for you.â
He drops her hand. âNo,â he says, baffled. âIâm not moving anything of his out of here. When they find him, he deserves to actually come home. He canât come back to a strange place!â
Pearl squeezes her eyes shut. âGriba, please,â she says. He notices all at once that sheâs brought his nickname out these past few times, which is a fact that should be comforting but instead starts to set off alarm bells in his head.Â
âIâm not moving, and thatâs final,â he says. âIâm not going to abandon him.â
âYouâre not abandoning him, youâre justâŠâ
âJust what?â
âBeing smart.â
It hurts Grian. âHe deserves to come home,â he bites. âI donât care if it isnât the smart thing to do, itâs the right thing to do.â
Pearl backs up. âOkay,â she says. âOkay.â She takes a deep breath and exhales long and slow. âYouâll stay. Iâll just help you then, yeah? Bills, cleaning, everything elseâŠâ
She turns away from him, and starts picking up various items once more to organize them. âIâll just help,â she repeats.
She wanders around the room. Sheâs not getting much done, but she looks busy, inspecting everything around her for one more easy thing to do. Grian just stands in the middle of the room stock still, and both says and does nothing.Â
Pearl continues to busy herself for a few minutes before grinding to a halt again. âGriba?â she asks, and Grian turns to her again as an answer. âYou do have other people to talk to, right? People who live here?â
Itâs a valid question. Itâs a hard question.Â
âOf course,â he says.Â
âStop lying to me,â she pleads. âI already told you I know you too well.â
He swallows hard. âI have people,â he defends. âHad people.â
Itâs just thatâit was difficult, after Mumbo disappeared. The new friends that Grian and Mumbo had made, they had mostly made as a pair. They each knew a few people from work, but nobody to really hang out with. So most of the friends they met were people they met while doing an activity together some weekend or evening after work.Â
So the new friends missed Mumbo too, when they heard about what happened. But they didnât know Grian the way Mumbo did, or the way Jimmy or Joel or Martyn or Netty or Lizzie or Pearl did. They knew Grian as one half of a pair who was missing his other half. And Grian didnât know how to interact with them alone. He didnât know how to go to them for help when theyâd barely been in his life for a few months or a year or two.Â
Thereâs layers to friendships, everybody knows that. None of the people Grian had met in Colorado had made it to the layer where he could talk to him. They were nice people. They wanted to help. Grian didnât know how to let them.Â
So he withdrew.Â
âYou had people. But not anymore?â Pearl asks.Â
âI didnât know them very well,â is all he says.Â
Her expression breaks again. Grian has to stop doing that. âBut you know us and you still donât talk to us.â
âI just want to be alone,â Grian says. âPlease, it isnât personal. I just want to be alone.â
âI guess youâll have to suck it up,â Pearl says. âBecause Iâm staying here for a week. And I will drag you outside to go skiing with me. Iâm going to make you leave this house and weâre going to have fun together. Because I think you need that. And so do I.â
He turns and stalks back into the kitchen. Heâs flipping between so many emotions that he doesnât know which to settle on, so he seeks out something to busy his hands with instead: the dishes on the counter that still have to be dried.Â
If he stays in the living room, he might start arguing with her more. He might say something that will make her not want to visit again.Â
Heâs angry at Pearl. Furious, even. Offended. He could look past her coming unannounced to visit, but the whole thing seems like a plot now. Sheâs got ulterior motives. Sheâs purposefully trying to catch him unaware and sneak past all his guard walls. Sheâs snooping through his thingsâhis mail. It makes his spine crawl to think about. Sheâs literally trying to get him to move, even though sheâs barely been in the state of Colorado for three hours, and even though it means Grian would have to disturb Mumboâs belongings.Â
And still thereâs another part of him that just really, really wants to go skiing with her.Â
Becauseâhe misses her. He cares about her. And he misses even the simplest things, like getting out of the house to go do something with a friend. Itâs just the littlest piece of normalcy.Â
So he dries the dishes, and she finishes up in the living room. Then he goes to his bedroom and starts working thereâwithout her, because he doesnât want her in the room until heâs made it look nice. Safe, even. Clear of any items that could incriminate him in anything at all. The sheer irritation of the afternoon fuels him harder than anything in months, and he finishes the task even quicker than expected, his movements stiff and jerky with anger.Â
On one of his trips back and forth to put things back where they need to go, he spots her sitting at his desk. She looks a little sad, staring at the pattern of the wood grain instead of the pretty view outside. He ignores her and goes back to work.Â
They exist like this in silence, for a little over an hour.Â
Then Grian walks back into the living room, picks up the phone book from the shelf, and sits down at the table by the kitchen where the phone is.Â
Pearl whirls around and he can feel her watching him with intense eyes. âGriba, IâŠâ she trails off. âI wanted to say Iâm sorry again. I shouldnât have pressed you like that. I shouldnât have looked at your bills. And I shouldnât have come here without telling you.â
Grian just nods slightly. âYeah.â He flips through some more pages. He doesnât say anything else to her, just continues on his search.Â
She cocks her head slightly. âWhat are you doing?â she asks.Â
âTrying to find a ski resort to call,â he says with a weak smile. âBecause I still really want you to drag me out skiing with you.â
»»âââ-ăăâââ-««
June 1989
Itâs two days later when a pair of rangers come to collect Mumboâs bike.Â
They ask him if he has everything he needs, or if he has any requests for supplies that they can pass on to the main office. So Grian takes the first opportunity to ask them about the Cloud Lake Trail, and if it was really closed last season.Â
Itâs then that he realizes that these two probably arenât actually rangers at all. They may be dressed in uniform, but theyâre just a couple kids several years younger than Grian is. They want to be helpful so earnestly, and their disappointment is clear when they canât answer his question. Â
They inform him that itâs their first season working here, so theyâre not exactly sure about what the Cloud Lake Trail was like last year, but that itâs open right now if heâs interested in it! Grian realizes that theyâre a couple of seasonal workers just like he is, except theyâre on summer break from college and Grianâs floundering on the cusp of his 30s.Â
Theyâre friendly. Grian tries his best to match the energy, for the sake of politeness.
He asks them what the plan is about Mumboâs case, and doesnât really expect much. Apparently, thereâs a bit of gossip about the case around the rangerâs office, so they do know a little. The plan seems to be to conduct a few aerial searches of the area the bike was found in with a helicopter. They also told him he could expect a more detailed phone call soon from the main office.Â
Thatâs a little amusing to Grian, given his tower does not have a phone line.Â
He bids them farewell at midday and watches them disappear into the woods. Then, he decides itâs about time for lunch. He takes an hour, locks up the cabin behind him, and heads to a rocky outcropping he knows nearby to the tower.Â
Itâs a beautiful spot to sit and stay a while, and a good vantage point into a little valley. Grian sits on a boulder and finishes his lunch, and tries to think about things that arenât so negative for once.Â
Heâs so used to looking. Looking for fires, looking for helicopters, looking for storms, looking for lightning, looking for Mumbo. Itâs what heâs good at, so he tries to challenge himself to look at something else for once.Â
A few feet from him, thereâs a small stand of light purple flowers with narrow, silvery green leaves growing. Theyâre snagging their spot in the ground amidst the surrounding rock. One of the features of his tower is a somewhat excessive amount of posters left there from years past, most of which were fire, forest, rock, or plant related. Grian thinks heâs seen this little plant several times before. Heâs watched it spread from just a few sprouts in May to coating the meadows in a wash of purple the past few weeks.Â
Itâs a lupine. Growing alone, but steadily.Â
He looks more into the mini valley below. Itâs not so much a vast sweeping valley as it is a wide little canyon for the stream that flows at the bottom. Itâs fascinating to look at though. To think how long it might have taken for that little body of water to have carved it down like this. Thereâs some small rocky cliffs along the edges in some places, and he can see the darker parts of the rocks where the water pours off during a storm.Â
Itâs as quiet as the forest can be. Which, in the summertime, isnât very quiet at all. Thereâs cicadas buzzing all around him right now. That was something new for Grian ever since he movedâthey didnât have cicadas in England. But as loud as they are, itâs a pleasant background noise heâs become adjusted to.Â
He leans back on the rock and stares into the sky for a bit, watching the handful of clouds that there are today drift along. Thereâs a hawk or an eagle or something flying high up there too, gliding effortlessly along the air currents. He watches it for a while.Â
When Grianâs hour is up, he gathers his things, and walks back to the tower.Â
Scar calls him on the way.Â
âAre you there, G-man?â he asks.Â
Grian pulls out his radio from his pocket.Â
âYeah,â he says. âI am. Some kids came and took Mumboâs bike away earlier.â
âYeah?â Scar says. âHow was that? What did they say?â
âThey didnât know much,â Grian says. âA couple of seasonal workers. But itâs fine, I guess. I know the main office will be looking into this again. They told me there might be some aerial searches in the future. I just wish it was higher on the priority list, I guess.â
âWell, they have their priorities and we have ours,â Scar declares. âBut I think I can shed a little light on it, maybe. I spent most of the morning on the phone.â
Itâs kind, what Scar is doing for him. That Scar is helping him like this at all, not even accounting for spending time scouring his notes from the prior season or spending all morning on the phone. Grian needs to thank him, or convey his appreciation somehow, or apologize for snapping at him so much, but instead all he says is: âWhat did you find?â
âI wish I had better news,â Scar says.Â
Grian locks away the part of him that is always stabbed with instant anxiety over statements like that. He takes it, locks it away, and smooths it over. Heâs walking on the trail back to the lookout right now, one foot in front of the other. He can handle just another conversation.Â
âWell, I seem to always be lacking in good news,â Grian jokes lightly. âSo just give me what you got.â
âI talked to a friend in the main office, sheâs really sweet. She went to pull the records for me.â
âTheyâre still on file? Good.â
âEverythingâs on file, Grian,â Scar says. âThe government will keep an old shoe for a decade if they think itâs a record, let alone anything that relates to an open case.â
Grian grimaces a little. âWell, go on then.â
âShe found his backcountry permit information from last year. AndâŠâ Scar trails off for a bit. âHeâs permitted for Cloud Lake Trail. He even had designated camping spots, she even told me which ones.â
âSo the trail was open?â Grian says.Â
âNot exactly,â Scar says. âThe trail was closed.â
âWhat?â Grian says. âThey permitted him for a closed trail?â
âApparently?â Scar says. âThatâs what I got.â
âWhy?â
âI wish I knew.â
âWhat else did she say? Who issued the permit?â
âShe didnât say anything else, so I donât know. Iâve never worked in the main office. I donât think she was even supposed to tell me that, honestly, but weâve always got along pretty good since she started working here.â
âRight,â Grian says. âYouâre not an information wizardâŠâ
âI have no more information to give, unfortunately,â Scar says. âI am a wizard, though.â
âYou are not a wizard.â
âIâm many things, Grian. Youâre just a nonbeliever.â
Grian just shakes his head at that, leaving that thread of the conversation behind. Thereâs just so many questions that keep coming up.Â
âSo we can agree he was on Cloud Lake,â Grian says. âRight? Regardless of all that, we can assume this right? He told me he was going there, his car was there, he was permitted for it, and someone said they saw him there. So he was there, right? We searched there, and he was there.â
ButâŠ
âIt seems likely,â Scar says. âAt one point, at least.â
âBut then someone found his bike over on Pinnacles. How did it get there? Did he go there for some reason?â
âThere isnât an official trail that connects Cloud Lake and Pinnacles. Itâs not a loop or a network or anything. Maybe he could have found a way between them or went on an unofficial side trail. Thereâs a lot of things that look like they could be a trail that arenât really trails.â
âNo,â Grian says. âHe knows better than to take an unmarked trail. He said he was getting maps at the office when he got his permit too, so he would have known where the trails were. He wouldnât have done that.â
âGrian.âÂ
Just his name, the weight it holds, and nothing else.
Grianâs face crumples a bit. He doesnât want to admit it. It hurts to admit it. âOkay, fine!â he cries. âMaybe he did go off-trail, maybe he did make a mistake, whatever. But itâs not his fault if something bad happened, okay? It isnât.â
Thereâs another option to all of this that Grian hasnât said out loud yet. Heâs been thinking it off and on though for a long time, as he tries to fit these pieces into the larger puzzle. Nobody had any reason to think about foul play but him. Thereâs no evidence. But what other evidence do they have?
He went camping. He went missing. The search failed. Some of his belongings were found in the wrong place.Â
And that is, essentially, it.Â
âDo you think what happened to himâŠâ he trails off. âDo you think it could have been someone else?â
Maybe Mumbo never did make a mistake. Maybe he was exactly where he was supposed to be, sans closed trail, and there was just something else that got in the way.Â
âSomeone else?â Scar says, tentatively.Â
âDo you think someone out there might have taken him? Hurt him?â Grian is back at the base of his tower now, and he looks up at its spiraling staircase. He begins to take the steps one by one, watching as the horizon slowly inches into view as he climbs above the trees. âDid someone steal his bike? Is that why itâs somewhere else?â
âIâŠâ Scar trails off. âI guess we donât know if something like that happened. G, thereâs a lot of ways someone can get in trouble back here.â
âAnd one of them could have been someone else,â Grian says. âDoesnât this connect some of the dots, Scar? So much of this doesnât make sense, but if someone else was involved, couldnât that answer some of these questions?â
But the words hang heavier in the air now that heâs spoken to them.Â
If Mumbo had just gotten lost, or injured, or something else while alone in the woods, Grian has some hope of saving him. Mumbo is blindingly smart, with an engineerâs eye for designing devices and contraptions. He could be okay. Heâs a little lost, but Grian can find him.Â
But if Mumboâs incident was linked to another person, the odds in Grianâs mind plummet. If Mumbo ran into someone bad at some point during his trip, would he have escaped that confrontation? If someone had decided to hurt him, or take him, or rob him, or whateverâthen Mumboâs continued absence just looms more and more ominously.Â
Would he make it out of something like that? Would he survive it?Â
Grian reaches the top of his tower. If he looks straight through the windows of his cabin and out the other side, he can see Scarâs little cabin far in the distance.Â
âIâm sorry,â he says. âBut I donât think I want to talk about this anymore. Thank you for the new information though.â
He turns his radio off and goes inside. He spends the rest of his work day in silence, watching the smoke twist in the air.Â
<< Chapter Five | Masterpost | Chapter Seven >>
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All Bets Off
Ao3
Summary: The concept was simple: pretend to not be dating for a few weeks, earn easy diamonds. Now, the execution? Turns out that was a little more difficult. Or Five times Luke and Mumbo just barely managed to hide their relationship, and the one time they didn't even try. Content: Fluff/humor, 5+1 things; secret relationship, kissing, pet names, sharing clothes, literal sleeping together, soft gays being soft, obligatory characters not CCs (except for luke, whose character Is a CC) Ship: Lucky Jumbo (Mumbo Jumbo/Luke Carder) Notes: Part two of Lucky Jumbo
~
1: Grian
   Minecraft ground was not any more comfortable than any other ground Luke had ever laid on. Presumably, Mumbo would like to get up soon, and Luke was aware that activities such as âkissingâ and âfinally fully realizing youâre in loveâ could continue in more cozy places. It was with this in mind that Luke (reluctantly) pulled back from Mumbo, propping himself up on his elbows and giving Mumbo a chance to sit up.
   And what good timing that revelation was, considering it was barely a moment later that they were being whistled at. Both Luke and Mumbo swiveled their heads around towards the source, finding a very smug looking Grian.
   âWell, well, well.â Grian had a pick over his shoulder, obviously having been on his way to do some mining when he saw them. âThat took longer than I thought it would, unfortunately, but I think Scar hit the money just about spot on.â
   Did Luke understand what Grian was saying? Not really. Did he grasp it somehow had to do with him and Mumbo, said by the guy who had primarily threatened to âbreak his heartâ and was currently wielding a pickaxe? Yes.Â
   Before Luke could decide if this was a flight or double flight situation, Mumbo scoffed, looking at Grian disappointedly. âI thought I told you to drop that? Luke just landed poorly and weâre both a bit winded.â
   Well then. Dating for all of five minutes before he got demoted back to âweird friend who keeps crash landing on me.â Was his kissing game that shit?
   Grianâs eyes narrowed. âI thought he was leaving?â
   âChanged my mind.â Luke explained, pushing himself onto his knees and getting up. âWhat can I say? Hermitcraft and Boatem have grown on me too much.â
   Grian didnât look entirely convinced, seeming to even take suspicion in Luke offering a hand to help Mumbo get up, but after a moment his expression went back to a happy one. âWell, Iâm glad to hear that, Luke. Iâm not sure things wouldâve felt the same without you.â
   âThank you!â
   âAnd Mumbo,â Grian pointed the blunt center of his pick at Mumbo, âgood luck.â
   The builder then left as randomly as he had arrived, somehow managing to whistle as he went. Luke watched him walk away before glancing back over at Mumbo, raising an eyebrow. âWhat was that?â
   Mumbo laughed. âSorry; I havenât told you about Boatemâs relationship betting ring, have I?â
   Luke gave Mumbo a look that he felt wordlessly encapsulated âno what the fuck is Boatemâs relationship betting ring.â
   Another laugh. âGrian started it a bit ago to tease Impulse. If it looked like a Boatem member was getting close with anyone, someone else in Boatem would make a bet on when theyâd get together, and typically the others would end up betting as well. Whoever was closest would get the pot.â
   âHas anyone ever won?â
   âNo, BTM Inc. is filled with workaholics; no one really gets together. Luckily, the janitorâs a bit of a slacker.â Mumbo joked, leaning over and kissing Lukeâs cheek. Ah, they were boyfriends again, wonderful, Luke had missed this. âHowever, it did become riddled with scammers fairly quickly.â
   âOh?â
   âSomeone- usually Scar- would start flirting with someone outside of Boatem, noticeably enough betting would start. Then theyâd keep flirting until all bets were null, and claim the pot on a technicality.â Mumbo mournfully patted his pockets. âMany a diamond I lost to that time of risk. Something had to be done!â
   âYeah?â Luke prompted. âAnd what was that?â
   âA rule-change. Now you only get the pot if you beat out all bets and end up together.â Mumbo answered. âWhich means if we want some very easy to earn diamondsâŠâ
   â...we donât mention the fact weâre already together until the bets are timed out.â
   Mumbo nodded with a smile. âSounds like Grianâs already out and Scar is about to be, so we only need to really worry about Pearl and Impulse. They wonât tell us their bets, of course, but weâll figure it out somehow.â
   Luke grinned, though it faltered a touch a moment later as he asked, âDo you think we can maintain that?â
   âWell, you only realized I love you and vice versa fifteen minutes ago, so⊠just act like you were before then.â Mumbo said confidently, patting Lukeâs shoulder before turning and walking in the direction of his house.
   Luke stayed in place for a moment, considering Mumboâs words, before he began rushing after him. âWait, but I just figured it out, I canât keep- Mumbo this is a terrible plan-â
2: Scar
   For the record? Luke still thought this was a terrible plan. He didnât want to pretend to not be dating Mumbo! He wanted to pretend to be dating Mumbo! Except it was real! Because he was dating Mumbo!
   But the temptation of diamonds, gaming the system, and saying yes to the aforementioned Mumbo he was dating eventually won out, and he agreed. Of course, this brought a second concern to light: Luke and Mumbo were bad at hiding their relationship.
   Very, very bad.
   A good example? The fact that it took all of two days for someone to catch them obviously flirting with each other.
   They had thought they were alone, sure, but they were also standing right in front of Harmless Harvests, a public store that anyone could purchase from at any time. Mumbo was taking his stock into the shop while Luke sorted his supplies and diamonds in some shulkers outside.
   Each time Mumbo would come out to deposit diamonds and grab materials, their hands would inevitably brush in the handoff, and they would inevitably grin at each other like dopes, and inevitably one of them would say something sweet to the other.
   Well⊠perhaps it was less âinevitableâ and more âthey refused to stop doing itâ, but potato-potato.
   And really, any of the things they were saying wouldâve had them in trouble with the eagle-eyed betting group. But the specific thing that got them caught out just had to be Luke, feeling much too caught up in the casual peace of helping his boyfriend stock his store, had called him âbabeâ.Â
   Listen, he was allowed to be a bit cliché, alright? He was allowed to use petnames. Mumbo blushed at it anyways, clearly he accomplished his goal.
   Only to have Scar wheel up out of nowhere looking like the Jellie who had gotten the cream.
   Mumbo had managed to slip back into the shop before that, which left Luke alone to face the oncoming storm of a capitalist trying to get his capital. âOh, hey Scar, whatâre you up to?â
   âWinning bets, it seems.â Scar answered, coming to a stop in front of the shulkers Luke was managing. âMy congratulations on your new relationship! Many well wishes for your future.â
   Luke did his very best to channel the Luke of a week ago, who was so (purposefully) unaware of his own feelings he hadnât given a second thought to the fact he didnât want to stop holding Mumboâs hand, and other such obvious tells. âWhat do you mean?âÂ
   Scar, one of the few Boatem members with a full face, smiled at Luke in a way that suggested he knew Luke was playing dumb. âUnless youâre going to tell me that âbabeâ is just a standard nickname where you come from, I think you know.â
   Well. It was as good an excuse as any.
   âOh, it is a standard nickname, for uhâŠâ Luke glanced as inconspicuously as possible back at Mumbo's store, â...business people who are leaving.â
   Scar took a very long moment to blink. "What?â
   "Y'know, the first 'bâ is for business, and second is for bye. Business-bye. Babe.â
   "...You've never said it to anyone else before. And everyone in Boatem is a business owner."
   âI just don't say goodbye very often, that's all.â Luke did his best to look like he was bullshitting nothing, flicking through shulker contents and pretending he was still organizing them completely casual like. âIt's more common between business people anyways, non-business owners don't use it a lot.â
   Luke thought he was doing fairly good so far in the lying department, though Scar seemed conflicted as to whether or not to believe him. On one hand, it was a complete lie, and a poor one at that. On the other hand, most of the hermits seem to have accepted that Luke often spouted what they considered to be nonsense, such as 'punching trees isn't naturalâ and 'what do you mean you don't know what a peanut is.â
   âAlright, I- customs are different in each server.â Scar finally settled on, seeming to not believe his own words. âThat's uh. Typically an affectionate nickname here, however.â
   "Noted.â Luke said with a nod, trying to look like this was new information to him. âI'll be careful how I use it in the future.â
   âAlright.â Scar repeated, now looking crestfallen that he had been wrong and would not be getting the pot. He turned away from Luke and the shop, beginning to wheel away.Â
   âBabe!â Luke yelled after him, because he was committed to this part now, giving Scar an apologetic shrug when he glanced back. He had gotten a fair ways away when Luke heard someone clearing their throat behind them.
   "Was I gone too long for you?â Mumbo asked teasingly, leaning against HH's doorway and looking mildly confused.
   "Don't look at me like that, I was saving our skin. And diamonds.â Luke replied, checking to make sure Scar was truly out of hearing range and that no one else was lurking before continuing, âScar overheard me calling you babe, I told him it was how we said goodbye to business people in my old place.â
   Mumbo chuckled. âI suppose I'll let it slide, then.â He joked, coming to crouch beside Luke, bumping his arm with his own. "Let's just be more careful from here on, hm? I don't need you calling the whole server 'babeâ just to cover our ruse.â
   "Careful, yes.â Luke agreed, bumping Mumbo's arm back. âI like the sound of that.â
3: Pearl
   They were not more careful.
   Arguably, it shouldn't be that hard. If Mumbo just stuck to his own projects, and Luke stayed messing around his house, they could easily kill a few weeks of time with absolutely no chance of being caught. And Luke wasn't really sure he'd call either of them too overly 'sweetâ or stuck in any sort of 'honeymoon stage', anyways. The Harmless Harvests incident was an exception to the rule.
   This, of course, may have made one question why Luke was wearing one of Mumbo's ties. It did not match his outfit. It did not have a practical value. It was definitely going to get him into another incident.
   But when he stopped by the site of Mumbo's most recent redstone endeavor, looking somewhat ridiculous and somewhat wonderful so hard at work in a full suit, he had no choice but to tease Mumbo on being so dressed up, which meant Mumbo had to tease him on not being dressed up enough, and clearly the next logical conclusion of this issue was for Mumbo to give Luke his tie so that they were evened out, and- it doesn't matter, okay, the tie was important.
   So important that Luke nearly didn't actually come up with a proper lie for ready-to-be-a-winner Pearl.
   "You're wearing it because it's âimportant'?â Pearl repeated with a grin, looking like she wanted to laugh, which Luke both considered insulting and understandable. âAnd why's that?â
   "...Easy bandage.â Hopefully Pearl would magically forget that Luke nearly always carried a farm's worth of golden carrots on him. "Just in case.â
   Pearl still looked like she wanted to laugh, but now in a confused way, which Luke hoped helped his case. "Do you really, uh, need that?â
   "Yes.â Luke said as seriously as he could manage.Â
   A moment passed, during which Luke did his best to maintain his face while Pearl considered what he had said. It ended when she reached into her pocket, pulling out a small bundle of wool washcloths and handing them over to Luke.
   "We don't really need bandages in Hermitcraft.â She said as he accepted the bundle. "But if you like to have them anyways, these'll work better than your boyfriend's tie.â
   âOh, thanks, I- wait- uh- boyfriend?â
   Pearl laughed. âI had to try.â She said with a shrug before heading off again, having only stopped on the way to one of her builds.
   Luke waited a full minute after she left before letting his expression of bewilderment shift to a soft smile, hefting the washcloths in one hand and straightening out Mumbo's tie with the other. Was the tie a risky move? Obviously.
   Maybe it was worth it to hear someone else call Mumbo his boyfriend, however.
4: Impulse
   Pearl's attempt at catching Luke and Mumbo out had given them an idea on when her bet must have been placed, meaning they had come to the conclusion the only person they still had to beat out was Impulse. Mumbo had warned he had a bit of a tendency to bet like an outlier, further out than the other guesses, which meant they weren't entirely out of the woods just yet, but they were getting close.
   So, again, the simplest and safest thing would have been for them to both focus on their own things, separately, for a week or two.
   Instead, they decided to work on Mumbo's ability to catch a falling-out-of-the-sky Luke. It had already happened twice, and Luke hated flying enough to generally avoid doing it alone, so clearly it was a pressing concern and not an excuse for Mumbo to hold and carry Luke some more.
   All things considered, he was surprisingly good at it, so long as he knew Luke was coming in for a crash landing. Their first test wasn't wholly successful, Mumbo only partially grabbing Luke before losing his balance and sending them both tumbling, but by the second take he had it down, catching Luke with only a slight stumble.
   "Well, it's really my fourth try.â Mumbo pointed out, readjusting his grip so that he wasn't crushing Luke's elytra.Â
   "Still impressive.â Both of them ignored the fact that Mumbo had no reason to keep holding Luke now, Mumbo making no move to let him go while Luke busied himself with getting Mumbo's hair out of his face. âDoes redstone exposure give you super strength or something? I still don't think you should be able to do this so easily.â
   âItâs actually rather hazardous to health.â Mumbo answered with a smile. Luke could have chosen to worry about that comment, but he had grown used to hermits cheerfully going about their days in manners that were hazardous to more than just themselves. âI suppose youâre just too important to drop.â
   Luke tried to smirk, but he had the feeling it was a bit (read: a lot) too soft for that. âWell someoneâs a charmer.â
   âI try.â Mumbo joked, his own smile softening as Luke finished with his hair, leaving his hands to rest on Mumboâs cheeks instead, and perhaps it was a very good thing Impulse opted to jump them then rather than five minutes later, because Luke felt it could've been a much more damning scene to walk in on if he had.
   "You two know you both have houses, right?â Impulse teased, looking much too up-beat for someone who was supposedly upset by what he had 'stumbledâ upon. "Young love, tsk tsk."
   Luke tried not to look too guilty as he dropped his hands to Mumbo's shoulders. âWe're practicing my crash landing skills. I don't know what you're talking about.â
   âIndeed.â Mumbo confirmed, letting Luke get out of his arms, both of them doing their best to not look reluctant about the motion. âAnd I think thatâd be rather hard to practice inside, donât you?â
   âAh ha ha, donât act like that was all this was.â Impulse made a vague circle gesture between Luke and Mumbo. âUnless it was direly important to crash practice for Luke to be holding your face, of course.â
   Apparently Luke had not dropped his hands fast enough. He was fairly certain that made this his situation to get them out of.
   âI was just seeing how hot he was,â No wait thatâs horrible phrasing shit that sounds worse fuck try again, âin case he had sunburn, or sunstroke. Weâve been at this for a bit.â
   Impulse looked baffled by this explanation. Couldnât Luke tell even one lie that didnât make the opposite party confused? Couldnât they just accept what he said as truth for once? âYou⊠Luke, the sunâs too far away to burn Mumbo.â
   âAnd a tad out of range to hit me, either.â Mumbo added, also looking bewildered and somewhat worried.
   Luke glanced at the both of them. âWait, I⊠you guys⊠does Hermitcraft not have sunburn or sunstroke?â
   Two head shakes.
   "Well there- it's just if you spend too much time in the sun, on my old server, you'd start to feel faint, and your skin would turn red and would be hot and hurt every time it was touched, and- and you're both looking at me in horror, man, I should've come here way sooner there's so much sh- stuff none of you have to deal with.â
   Impulse himself seemed particularly affected, attempting to straighten his jacket and managing only to rumple it even further. âI see. That, uh, that does sound like a dire concern. So. I will leave you to it!â
   The factory owner then rushed off, glancing warily upwards as if, simply by knowing it existed, he would soon fall to terrifying threats of sunburn and stroke. Luke watched him leave before glancing back at Mumbo, who seemed to be torn between looking amused and distressed.
   âAre those, ah, real things your old server had? Or did you just want an excuse to call me hot?â He asked, not entirely looking like he wanted the answer.
   âBoth.â
   âAh.â Mumboâs expression didnât change much at the answer. He stepped closer to Luke, holding his shoulder tightly. âHave I mentioned before how glad I am that you donât live there anymore?â
   Luke laughed, risking a light kiss to the back of Mumboâs hand. âIt wasnât as bad as it sounds, but, for the record, I am very glad to be here now, too.â
5: Boatem
   Luke and Mumbo knew they still had to wait a bit before they could be sure Impulseâs bet was no longer playable. They knew this. But they had been approached by everyone at least once by now, and, yeah, alright, it might have given them a bit of a false sense of security.
   And by âa bitâ Luke might have meant âa lotâ.
   And by âa lotâ Luke might have meant âshared a kiss as they were walking right into a Boatem meetingâ.
   In their defense, they thought they were early and that no one was there. Completely against their defense, they could have very easily done a single head-check before they nearly ruined their entire con so close to the finish.
   And given the âreally?â looks they were getting from three-fourths of their competitors, and the practically diamond-shaped eyes Impulse was watching them with, they were going to need a really, really good excuse for this one.
   So Luke shoved Mumbo.
   He immediately felt bad about it, given Mumbo suddenly looked like a kicked puppy, but he had committed now. He crossed his arms and turned away from Mumbo.
   âUh, loversâ quarrel?â Pearl asked after a moment, an awkward silence filling the meeting room.
   Luke scoffed at the suggestion, took a moment to feel bad about scoffing, and then replied, "Lovers? Hardly. Don't you guys know what a kiss of death looks like?â
   "Kiss of death?â Oh Luke was going to have to say so many apologies. Even if he was just doing a very good job of acting in the moment, Luke could not stand the quiet distress of Mumbo's tone.
   âIs that another thing you don't have here?â Luke asked, glancing around, happy to find no one seemed to know what he was talking about. âIt's a threat. Kind of in the name, really."
   Luke took his seat at one end of the half-circle of Boatem members, trying not to react to the eyes on him, continuing to act upset. Impulse asked after a moment, "What did Mumbo even do?â
   âOh, you don't want to know.â Translation: Mumbo was still looking too much like Luke had personally taken away all his redstone and Luke could not physically bring himself to make that worse.
   "Well⊠we all fight sometimes.â Scar said after a moment, shooting Grian a look. Grian himself looked as though he currently wanted to kiss-of-death Luke, which Luke couldn't entirely blame him for this time. "Why don't you two just sit at opposite ends today for the meeting, and then talk it out afterwards? We have numbers to go over."
   The 'numbersâ they had to go over were actually prank plans, which Luke had equally little to say about. He was still figuring out how Boatem- and Hermitcraft in general- pranks worked. Sometimes they were harmless, sometimes they involved massive amounts of murder⊠it was complicated.
   He spent the meeting primarily keeping up an annoyed facade, doing his best to not look at Mumbo for three reasons. One, for the aforementioned facade. Two, the dejected expression he wore the entire meeting made it very hard for Luke to keep pretending he was annoyed at him. Three, Grian still seemed only partially convinced to not go after Luke, and Luke didn't need to make that situation any worse for himself.
   The meeting ended sooner than usual, the 'kiss of deathâ situation clearly remaining on everyone's minds the whole way through. Grian left first, Mumbo coming with him, likely so Grian could offer his totally-not-boyfriend heart-breaking services to the redstoner. The rest of Boatem followed shortly after, discussing builds with each other, leaving Luke to plant his face in his hands and regret many things. He was fairly certain no amount of diamonds were worth that hellish experience.
   Luke looked up when footsteps signalled someone returning, expecting to find Grian with sword and/or long-game roses in hand. Luckily for his health, it was Mumbo, not looking nearly as upset as he had during the meeting (but not looking entirely happy either).
   "Mumbo, I am so sorry.â Luke said before Mumbo could begin. âThat wasn't a kiss of death, I promise, I was just lying for the diamonds.â
   âI guessed.â Mumbo admitted as he walked over to Luke, coming to stand in front of him and leaning back against the table. âYou did a very good job of seeming serious, though⊠is kiss of death a real thing?â
   "Kinda, but not like that- it doesn't matter, I promise I wasn't threatening you for real, I'm sorry.âÂ
   Mumbo half-chuckled. "You're apologizing an awful lot for someone who hasn't done anything wrong.â
   âYou looked like someone had destroyed your redstone circuit the entire meeting, Mumbo! I felt terrible.â Luke explained, rubbing his hands harshly against his face. âI really am sorry for that.â
   âItâs okay, Luke, I forgive you.â Mumbo assured him, taking Luke's hands in his and swinging them between the two of them. They were silent for a moment before a spark entered Mumbo's eyes as he slyly asked, "Could I possibly get a non-kiss-of-death for my troubles?â
   Luke grinned. âWe might get caught again, you know.â
   Given Mumbo had already moved to sit in Luke's lap, letting go of one of his hands to gently brush his knuckles across Luke's cheek, Luke could guess how much Mumbo minded. "We can always tell them it's another kiss of death.â
   Luke wasnât sure anyone would believe them about the kiss of death thing that time, all factors considered, but Luke would be lying a bit if he said that it mattered very much to him in the moment.
+1
   After everything they had gone through, Luke had to admit, the way they got caught was a bit amateur.
   It was somewhat-early morning when Luke woke to someone knocking too loudly for the hour on his front door. Absolutely none of him was inclined to get up- the bed was warm, he was still tired, Mumbo was cute in attempting to use Luke's chest to block out the knocking and maintain his own state of sleeping peacefully- but the knocker clearly had no intentions of leaving soon, and Luke really wanted the sound to go away.
   So, with great reluctance the whole way, Luke managed to stumble his way to the door, managing to pull it open and get halfway through, "What do you want?â, before he remembered one very important detail.
   This wasn't his house. This was Mumbo's.
   And given the way Grian's brief surprise quickly faded into a smug expression, he seemed to know it as well. "Sleep well?â He asked, sing-song.
   If Luke had been more awake, he might have been able to talk his way out of this one. But he wasn't, and he didn't really want to try anyways, so he opted to simply shut the door in Grian's face without a word.
   "Mumbo!â He called out as he sank tiredly to the floor next to the door, leaning his head back against the wall and trying not to fall asleep again right there. âGrian's at the door!â
   It took a few more minutes before Mumbo actually appeared, shuffling in tiredly as he rubbed at his eyes. It was unfair how close he looked to put together, his suit-looking pjs and not nearly bedhead-y enough hair giving the impression he hadn't only just barely dragged himself out of bed.
   He leaned against the frame of the doorway as he pulled it open, Luke unsurprised to see Grian's expression was unchanged.Â
   "Who won?â Mumbo asked without pretense.
   Grian laughed. "You guys did, bets have been off for a week now. We just thought it was more fun watching you try to hide it.â
   "Why didn't you call us on anything?â
   "Funnier that way. Plus, some of Luke's lies were⊠kind of terrifying, from what I heard.â Grian paused for a moment. "They were lies, right?â
   âOnly some of them.â Luke answered from his spot on the floor. "Sunburn and sunstroke are very real.â
   Grian shook his head a little. âRemind me to never visit your old server.â
   Luke gave him a lazy thumbs up.
   âDrop the diamonds off later, would you?â Mumbo requested with a yawn. âI'm going back to bed.â
   âOf course.â Grian said with another laugh. âI'm happy for you two, by the way. Now that you're not pretending to just be very awkward friends.â
   Mumbo paused in his closing of the door, smiling. "Thank you. I'm happy for us too.â
   And with that, he closed the door fully, the quiet sound of Grian's footfalls growing only quieter as he walked away, likely off to tell the rest of Boatem that the game was truly up. Meanwhile, Mumbo joined Luke on the floor, slumping against his chest and nuzzling his face into Luke's neck.
   âI thought we were going back to bed?â Luke asked teasingly. Mumbo hummed an affirmative at him. âYou know, using me as a bed only works for one of us.â
   Mumbo offered no reply for that, managing to have already fallen back asleep. Luke sighed with no heat, running a hand through Mumbo's hair.
   "You're impossible, babe.â He commented, smiling at the sleepy noise Mumbo made at him in response. Giving up on the one-sided conversation, and giving in to his desire to also be back asleep, Luke pillowed his head against the top of Mumbo's, lazily resting his arms around Mumbo as he closed his eyes.
   The diamonds may have been a good prize, but for moments like these, Luke would've paid out of his own bankrupt pockets.
#lucky jumbo#luke carder#lucky carder#mumbo jumbo#boatem#hermitcraft#inscryption#m.y funky words#luke every time he's trapped in a corner: hey guys wanna hear about my 'server' that uve never been to
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#tumblr memes#meme#funny memes#hermitcraft#hermitcraft season 10#mcyt#grian#mcytumblr#hc grian#hermitcraft grian#grian minecraft#grianmc#permit office#hermit permits#grian got demoted#love the office reference lol đ
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Grian used to be a starship captain. Not anymore. Not officially anyway. Can't decide if he would've gone rogue or if he just got demoted for being a lil cunt
I would have to make my man etho a vulcan engineer and pearl a science officer or doctor
Play in this space with me!!!!!
Someone come play in this space with me: star trek hermitcraft (... And adjacent series) au
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Since Grian got kicked from the captains position, maybe Scar is the one to fill that place in? He is a pilot after all. Heâs a bit more powertrippy than Grian is, but at least he doesnât break the law as often, right? This would also give Doctor Cub to hang out on the deck and lounge around as if he doesnât have a job to do ^_^ (and then he gets scolded by Cleo). Oh and if I pull the capt Kirk parallels- neither of them can keep a goddamn shirt on!!! Â Â
If to keep Grian in, he could be like... like a pilot or something, Mans just got demoted lol ..
I like the idea of Joel being a klingon a lot! That fits him well, especially because of the respect of honors and stuff (forgot what theyâre rly about itâs been a while rip) I feel like Jimmy would either just be an anxious human or if we want to make him an alien he could be a Kelpien. iirc they can sense death getting closer and closer ... :3 theyâre also very prone to death hence why they have that 6th sense. .
and now iâm thinking about Paul Stamets from ST:Discovery (which i only watched first half of the season of since it got too much for me)... the human man who got corrupted by fungi ....... Scott. Heâs inventing warp speed with tardigrades and getting more insane as time goes on. Tango canât keep up with him and tells him to calm down before he completely destroys himself in the heist of trying to get to the bottom of it. Therfor: Science division blue shirt!
Bdubs can be called an ensign by the other officers - the captain decided that he was funny and silly enough to stay. He helps otherâs around the ship! Heâs also the one who gets put on most red-shirt operations and somehow he just. doesnât die. Vulcan strenght sth sth. Heâs always alive even if he has 5 billion injuries and needs Cleo to fix him up 24/7. Because heâs a vulcan this also means heâs very useful for lifting things in the engineering dep.
I feel like Etho and Pearl would have a very decent coworker relationship in the midst of everything.
Oh my god we can easily make the âenemy shipâ be lead by Doc! He can be the captain, heâd def be a borg bc duh. His first officer being Ren...
Someone come play in this space with me: star trek hermitcraft (... And adjacent series) au
#this is making me soooo happy ive spoken to my friends abt hc star trek aus before but aaahhh doing it again is so fun#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#star trek#<- SURE YOU GET THE TAG
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