#okay i also had other odea

[sp4c3fre4k]

[squeeze]

「 SQUEEZE 」 : for sender to rest their hand on the receivers thigh , giving it a squeeze .

Kitchen counter for some reason always was his favourite place to rest. So it wasn't a surprise when you found him here yet again. A half eaten box of salad next to him and almost finished cigarette between his lips indicating he was here for some time already. He let out smoke through his nostrils before looking at you over the glasses. As soon as you moved closer to sit next to him, a lazy smile spread on his face.

— wanna join? — he offered you a pack as you settled next to him. He watched as you reached out, letting a surprised chuckle when your hand rested on his thigh instead. — I see how it is...— he murmured teasingly but let you be. It's not like he didn't enjoy it. Quite the opposite. Slight touch, even smallest physical contact always made him feel that nice warmth in his chest. Always made him happy to be able to just... Feel you. Just know you're here, even if he closes his eyes...

The light squeeze brought him back to earth. His gaze shifting to your face, smile turning into a foolish grin.

— someone wants my attention, I assume?— he murmured in that mockingly flirty tone, moving his face closer to yours. Cigarette forgotten, quickly getting put out next to his other leg.

[votederpycausemufins]

Another fic for the Metal Hearts au, hope you'll enjoy Oh, I've also started a discord group for people who enjoy the various Grumbo kids. Like Grum and Jrum and the Grum variants, but also Tegg, the shulker kids or even NPG.

But here's Chapter 1 of 'Do Bots Dream of Electric Lives?'

Grumbot had rebuilt a ‘small’ starter base for the sixth time. It wasn’t just that he had been tweaking the design, but he was tearing the build down completely before starting from almost scratch, still having blocks on hand. He stared at it for a few moments before pulling out his axe to start tearing it down once more, only stopping when Jrumbot ran over. “Noooo! I like this one!”

“This isn’t your base, this is mine. You can build your own.”

“But I can’t build.” Jrum complained. “And this isn’t even your base! You’re just building whatever!”

“It will be my base. I just want to plan it correctly. It will be my first.”

Jrum huffed and crossed his arms. “Nuh uh. Technically we shared a base with our dads!”

“Yes, technically. And there were two of those bases, so they would be on equal footing, so neither was really a first base, so this will be mine.”

“Well Dad said he just lived in a shipwreck he found. He didn’t have any plans!” Jrum argued, and Grum looked like he was ready to snap back, but then Mumbo came in to calm things down.

“Your brother is right, Grum.”  Mumbo patted Grum’s head for some reassurance. “You don’t need to have a plan for the upcoming season, and if Grian were here, he would agree.”

“But he’s not.” Grum huffed, and then pulled away to start taking down the test build.

“Your dad can have a life outside of Hermitcraft, you know. Sure, some of the other Hermits are with him, but he’s having fun with some friends he doesn’t get to see as often.” Mumbo then started to help gather any materials Grum was missing in the destruction and put them in chests. “Once you get settled in Season Eight, it might be nice for you to explore outside of Hermitcraft, at least a little.”

“I guess.” Grum replied, but he didn’t sound too convinced. “But it feels too early to try and think about such a thing.”

“Maybe. But mentally preparing yourself can- oh for goodness sake.” Mumbo cut himself off as he looked at a machine flying across the sky towards his base, pushing around a few diamond blocks that were familiar to him. “They finally made it in time for the end of the season.”

“Huh? What are those?” Jrum asked, looking ready to run after the contraption just to get the diamonds.

Mumbo sighed, though a laugh made its way in as well. “Last season, Grian Iskall and I made a big business called Sahara. Those were our profits which we sent to the next season, or rather, this season, to give us a boost at the start. Or whenever they arrived.”

“Which is only finally now.” Grum added oh, making Mumbo huff indignantly.

“Then you might want to grab them then so you can pretend ODEA made a profit.” Jrum added, which only made Mumbo look sadder, though laughing along once the bot started giggling.

“Well, I’m going to make sure Iskall doesn’t run himself ragged.” Mumbo said after they had calmed down from the joke. “Xisuma said he wanted you two to drop off anything you want for the next season. He’s already noted down your presents since they were already approved, but if there’s anything else, talk with him.”

“I suppose you’re telling us this hoping we’ll do it now?” Grum asked, putting down the blocks he was about to use to rebuild the test starter base yet again.

“I trust you two to make it over there on your own. And the sooner the better in case either of you realize you’ve forgotten something and need to talk with him again.”

Jrum nodded and grabbed onto Grum’s hand, already dragging them in the direction of Grian’s base, where a good portion of their stuff was. “Okay! We’re gonna do that then! And say hi for us!”

.

.

.

Grumbot watched as Jrum had filled another shulker box with items. “You know X won’t let you talk all of that to Season Eight, right?”

“But why not? It’s just a new home, right?”

“Not really.” Grum answered, getting up from the shulker box he had been sitting in, one of three he had packed, though he was trying to get it down to two. “It’s supposed to be a fresh start for everyone. Dad’s wardrobe is probably the only thing he’s going to bring along. You and I are just exceptions because we just had our birthdays and we’re younger.”

“But… So I can’t bring my shop wares?”

“No.”

“Or my diamonds?”

“Nope.”

“What about Professor Beak?”

Grum paused for a moment to think. “He might be allowed to come. But a new world is probably going to be dangerous for him.”

“That’s not fair! What can I even bring?”

Grum opened up one of his shulker boxes, showing off the pile of paper inside. “Well for the most part I just have my IOU’s. Another box has some of the toys and treats I got as well as the posters. The third has what building blocks I think I can get away with.” Then Grum shrugged. “There’s other stuff too, but that’s the bulk of it. I’m pretty sure Xisuma won’t give this back to us still in shulker boxes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t even get it back until starter bases are set up.”

“Wait, what are we going to do for charging at the start? If we don’t have a base…”

Grum hummed in thought. “I guess that’s something we should ask Xisuma. Someone probably has an idea if he doesn’t. He might even give us emergency redstone treats until we’re in a better situation.”

“I hope so.” Jrum said, though sounding a little worried. He stood there for a few moments more, just thinking, before slowly going back to his shulker boxes. “Grum, can you help me figure out what I need to take out?”

Grum nodded and then went over to Jrum. They went through the shulker boxes and pulled out items, mainly resources like diamonds, redstone and quartz. Jrum ended up with a little more than Grum, mainly because he refused to give up some stuff that, while we’re likely to be rejected, Jrum was hoping he could convince Xisuma otherwise or find some sort of work around.

Once they had picked up the boxes, Jrum had them go through the Nether tunnels so they could bring Professor Beak along more easily. It took a little longer than just flying to Xisuma’s base would have taken since their dad’s portal wasn’t the safest, and climbing while holding and controlling a parrot could be rather difficult. Still, the pair managed to reach Xisuma’s portal without any harm and only one close call.

The one issue with Xisuma’s base was that it was a number of buildings all separated from one another. Once the bots were out of the portal, it was then a matter of finding Xisuma. They dropped off their shulker boxes and Professor Beak next to the portal before flying around the base to look for the admin.

After finding nothing in the more common areas, the bots then started looking at the farms with similar luck or lack thereof. Around the time when Grum finally thought about giving up and just messaging Xisuma, there was a sort of screeching noise that came from one of the buildings, a noise that sounded like Jrum. 

Grum immediately flew in that direction hoping his brother wasn’t hurt. He landed in one of the buildings he thought they had checked already, but then more noises had the bot digging through the ceiling to find Jrum essentially hissing at Xisuma, who was barely managing to keep the bot away from himself. It seemed like Jrum wanted to tear the admin limb from limb, which was rather confusing to Grum. The one thing he could think of that would upset Jrum would be that X had already said a certain item couldn’t be taken to the next season. Well, that or the redstone contraption Grum had just noticed to the side. What it was, he had no clue, but that meant it could be the issue.

Grum went over to Xisuma and Jrum and then pulled his brother away, getting a thankful sigh from Xisuma. Jrum tried getting out of Grum’s arms to go back to attacking, but to no avail. “Why are you trying to attack Xisuma? Did you already start asking about our stuff and what we could bring along?”

“No!” Jrum shouted, still wrestling against Grum’s grip. “He’s going to burn all of his diamonds! He’s just going to waste them!”

“I’m not wasting them. I’m making it into a sort of… treasure hunt.” Xisuma started to explain. “Once we wrap up here, other people will be able to explore this world. They’ll theoretically know about the diamonds I’ve put here and will race to try and find them before they’re all gone.”

“That’s stupid!” Jrum argued, but Grum thought it was a nice idea. Jrum just liked diamonds a bit too much compared to most people.

“They are Xisuma’s diamonds, he can do what he wants with them. It doesn’t look like the machine is even going yet.” Grum assumed, since he could hear the bubbling of lava but nothing burning, but who knew if the redstone would work that way. “So can we just ask Xisuma to check our stuff over?”

“I assume you’re referring to the items you want transferred over to the next season.” Xisuma spoke up, getting a nod from Grumbot. After they took a few moments to calm Jrum down a little, they all went back to Xisuma’s portal to where everything was placed.

Xisuma looked through the shulker boxes, approving most of what was there. He explained how they would be stored and once the two had a starter base, either each their own or a shared one, most of the items would be given to them. 

As expected by Grum, Xisuma said the shulker boxes wouldn’t be returned. He also couldn’t let them bring over the blocks and redstone that had been a gift from Hels since the only reason they were allowed was because it was the end of the season. While the bots were saddened by that, Jrum cheered up when X allowed Professor Beak to go to the next season at the same time as the other items would be returned.

Lastly came two items that stood out from the others. Two pairs of elytra, each of them custom made for each bot. During the birthday parties for the bots, Prof, Doc’s Hels and creator of these elytra gave Xisuma what he would need to potentially make more. And as main admin of Hermitcraft, it was easy enough for X to use the information he was given and summon in extra ones.

For season eight, Xisuma was looking into more ways to change the world so the others could have a little more comfort. It had already been done with the armor stands people, mainly Cleo, customized, and recoloring materials was small but helpful. The miniature blocks that wandering traders gave was another thing the others enjoyed, and there were other things used on a player to player basis.

Certain concerns were only brought up at the parties and following meetings. Thankfully a few of those concerns had already been brought up, which was part of the reason they had the party at all. Technically the season was meant to end earlier than it was going to now. But trying to figure out ways to help the bots in the early stages of the season and even further into it had delayed things.

With the elytra being brought up, Xisuma explained how things would work, not just for the elytra, but also food and beds. The Hermits had already been informed that something new for the world would be changing the appearance of an object, to put it simply. Drawing from that, but taking it to a higher level, the commands the Hermits would have access to for that also had a variation specifically for Grum and Jrum. If either of them used the right command while holding the appropriate object, the item would change to what they needed. A normal elytra would be turned into a customized pair for them, while beds would turn into their chargers and food would be replaced with charged redstone that would be named the same as the food and couldn’t be used other than being eaten, just to keep things fair.

While Jrum mainly just nodded along, Grum made sure to take notes for the two of them, likely to also review them with their dads later to make sure everyone important was on the same page. Probably Xisuma would mention it to them as well, but better to be safe than sorry. Though sharing with a Grian was going to be hard. “By the way, has there been any updates about dad and the others?”

Xisuma looked up at Grum’s question, pausing in some extended explanation to Jrum in how the cosmetic feature would work. “Oh, I haven’t heard too much, and even then, there’s no telling how long it will last, but Grian thinks they probably won’t last too much longer. But it could also go longer than he assumes.”

Grum grumbled at the answer, but reluctantly accepted it. Some information was better than none. And it seemed Xisuma was one of the few people who was in contact with everyone in… what had his dad called it again? Third Life? Whatever. Since it ending would give the hermits a day or two afterwards to officially prepare to leave, it made sense X would want to keep updated to know when the season was really going to end. 

“Well, I think that’s about it for your items. If you want to check anything else later, feel free to message me and I can meet you at the portal.” Xisuma said after making sure he had checked them all. “Much easier than you two needing to search the base for me again.”

Grum thanked Xisuma while Jrum started stating the admin down, having been reminded of the diamond burning machine. He younger boy needed to be dragged away, but thankfully with Xisuma’s explanation of how they would get elytra, it meant they could keep their current pairs and fly home.

Mumbo unfortunately hadn’t arrived back yet, so the bots sent him a message to say they were back at the base. It was late enough at that point and the travel had drained their batteries, so Grum and Jrum turned in early. Jrum had a little trouble going to sleep at first, which led to Grum being kept up until he handed a book to Jrum to read, which seemed to quiet him down.

After a few minutes more, Grum shifted into sleep mode. It was mainly just to help with charging, but sometimes he would have some semblance of dreams. And with all that was going on, a little distraction seemed like it would be nice. He couldn’t control if he had dreams or not of course, but that hope was there. And it seemed like that night, he would have them, or something at least.

[one-black-box]

Rant about the past week

The past week or so has been a handful.

I guess..

I know i need to get my shit together but now with my current situation that came up, everything is slowed down even more than it has.

I currently have no car. My car was the only transportation we had for my mom, brother, and I. My brother got into an accident with my car..

Yes. Hes okay. But for many reasons that wasnt my first worries. But I did ask if he was okay. I could rant about my brother for the millionth time.. But that doesnt do anything. But he made the situation even harder because his dumbass told them to not call the cops because he has no liscense and doesnt want to go to jail. That day? Was NOT important. Especially to go out in that weather. He doesnt do anything but steel, waste our time to be such an inconvenience, and be a lazy Fuck. Lime i saod in another post about him, "I could callvhim every name in the book".

Guy didnt want to give his info cause is under his wifes name.

Long story short, its going to cost over 4k to fix and they told us im better off to just get a new car.

So I had taken back my two weeks and asked for fulltime position.. Bjt my manager for my department is on some sumb shit... She doesnt want to move me up. "I want to see if shes able to work all departments" I DO! exept for one that YOU wont let me becuase you don't want me to.. I need the hours I need the position..i meed the money.

I'm saving up 7K.. I also made a go fund me to get some help raise and save some money...i feel bad for makinng it cause I dont like the odea of people giving me money unless i work for it.. Im not relying on it, no. I'm working for it. Im trying to get as much hours and bust my ass off.. Yet my manager out of everyone else even other managers sees im improving amd working hard. She says if I can show her for 3 months shell let me finally get trained in the last department.. Im currently trying to get my basset and food handlers so i can properly work with the other departments. Everybody else has been moving up and moving up fast.

I can't complain too much but I have been improving. After saving up for a new car I have to save up to pay of my debt which im pretty sure at this point is over 3k. I swear once i pay it off closer I can worry less about getting my own place.

I just want to get away. I'm stressed. Im a sad bitch. And i cant sleep. I have to be up in an hour (11AM) because the SO and I are going to hang out wth a friend that are leaving, moving out of state. Which im excited about but like..idk i hope my mood doesnt "overpower" things. I dont want to worry the SO..

Here my go fund me. If youd like to read the full explination of what went on. I'll go and make an official proper post about this. Please and thank you.

[votederpycausemufins]

The bots are all fixed!!! Well, they are physically. Mentally is another question which we’re not covering hahahahahaHAHAHA! also wack, no smp members. @petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

“There, that should do it. We might want for someone to test it out in the near future, but it does look like it’s fixed.” Xisuma spoke as both of the bots powered back on. “I can see why we had trouble before. It looks fine if you’re not actively looking for that problem specifically.”

“Thank you very much Xisuma.” Mumbo said, checking both of the bots over for his own peace of mind.

“Of course. I also got a response from Biffa in the middle of it all, and while he’s not willing to share all the details of his past, he was willing to give a few notes. As these two are player entities, natural world magic is going to help them adapt more to that. He’s willing to come visit in a few weeks to see the two of them if you’re all okay with that.”

Mumbo looked over to Grian who nodded. “That’s more your guys’ call. You both knew him much longer than me. I mean, we interacted of course and he seemed nice, but you know better.”

“Well X, I think that would be lovely.” Mumbo replied, looking back to the admin.

“You know, is it just a family thing to like people in pink, or is it just coincidence.” Grifter spoke up, making everyone look over at him exasperatedly.

“Did you have to follow us in here?” Mumbo groaned, and Grifter just nodded, feathers coming off of him as he moved from stray ones sticking to his clothes.

“Too many chickens outside. Inside’s safer. Besiiiiiiides it’s less boring in here. And I’m the one who even knew what was wrong with your kids. Also yeah, you fixed it, no need for testing.”

“You’re not lying, are you?” Grian asked, crossing his arms.

“Of course not. What would I get out of lying about it?” Grifter shrugged. “They also look like my little pumpkin rolls, so why would I want to hurt them?”

“Didn’t your version of Jrum try killing ours?” Mumbo said with a frown.

Grifter just scoffed. “I told him about the bug! He was going to make sure your kid respawned correctly. I just needed some help and for you not to know. It worked out in the end, didn’t it? It only didn’t work out for those asshole admins and me.”

“Speaking of, Tommy’s old world has a console now. Well, a console other than Grum. Is the hels version the same?” Mumbo asked, genuinely curious, though the smile that Grifter gave worried him.

“Weeeell, the short answer is no, it’s got a new admin. The longer answer is that the new admin is meee!”

“You?!”

“I’m sorry why you?! I’m not the admin here! I’m not even opped!”

“I know you’re fucking not.” Grifter rolled his eyes, pulling a stray feather off of his sweater. “Our worlds are parallel but they aren’t one to one equals, dumbass. And we’re not just influenced by the shit that happens here. May I remind you that I was a Listener when Deevo and Evo started while you only became a Watcher when it ended. Or at least close to the end. And my boys were born before you built these two. The worlds sometimes force themselves together, like NPG staying around when I was gone and my boys not functioning until yours were around or… you know… Tommy being pulled to Hermitcraft after Theseus ran off to Helscraft.”

That got everyone’s attention. “Wait, is that why Tommy doesn’t know how he got here?”

Grifter smirked. “Yeah. After Nightmare got killed, Thee got the admin powers. He was pissed over things and ran off looking for me. Of course I was imprisoned and Dad wasn’t letting anyone near me, so the best he could find was season five. Member changes are always a forced thing, so I guess something pulled Tommy here to fix it that way.

“But wait, won’t that…” Grian trailed off.

“Shove you into the SMP? Fuck no. I’m admin, but I’m not gonna live there. I’m a Listener, I can check on things while living in Helscraft. Besides, things are different with NPG around. I mean, unless I kill him-”

“Don’t you dare!”

Grifter huffed. “I wasn’t gonna! Despite how much I hate him, he was the one person caring for Sense when he was all alone, so I’ll give him that. So no death, maybe just some torture. Anyway, I’m sure you’re visiting, so it balances out. Probably.” He finished with a shrug.

“Oh joy of joys.” Mumbo groaned while Grian looked so done with the world.

While all of this had been going on, both of the bots had completely powered on. At first they just took in their surroundings, staying quiet since it was clear others were in the middle of important conversations. Then they saw each other.

With everything that had happened, the two bots had barely been in each other’s company, and when they were, they were at each other’s throats. Jrum was the first to look away in shame as he could remember most of what happened clearly, but Grum was a bit fuzzy on a number of details. He hesitated, reaching out towards his brother a bit, before just pulling his hand back.

When it seemed the conversation was coming to a close, Grum got Jrum’s attention and used his screen and hands to signal something before looking over to their dads. “Um, Dads?”

Mumbo and Grian both looked over to Grum when he spoke up. “What is it Grum?”

“Could… Could Jrum and I have a bit of time alone? To… talk with each other?”

The pair looked to Xisuma since it was his place. X nodded before helping to lead them as well as Grifter out of the room and to somewhere else.

For a few moments, both of the bots were quiet, just sitting there, unsure what to say. Then Jrum started up the conversation. “I’m sorry for being mad at you. I got all upset at Dad getting upset at family, but then I was doing the same thing.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I was the one who started things. You reacted to my actions and were influenced by those red plants.”

“Yeah, but Dream was messing with you and made you be mean!”

“No he didn’t.” Grum replied, which confused Jrum for a few moments before Grum elaborated. “I started realizing something was weird and I panicked. I was worried I would do something really bad and hurt you. I didn’t know what exactly, and I also wasn’t sure if I could safely tell you. I knew if I said something kindly or nicely asking us to distance ourselves, nothing would work until I explained more. And I didn’t want to have to deal with you asking to stay because I didn’t want you to go either. So I just sort of… let myself be mean. I can’t even blame it on someone else. It was me and only me.”

Jrum was quiet, just processing what his brother had said. Then, after a few seconds, he scooted closer and hugged Grum. “Then that’s not your fault! You didn’t know what was safe to say, and that’s because the admin was - don’t let Daddy know I said this - Dream was a piece of shit!” Grum paused before giggling a bit, not expecting his brother to say that. “What? It’s true!”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… nice to be with you again.”

Jrum smiled and hugged a little tighter. “Yeah, and now we’re gonna be closer because we went through trauma together! Speaking of which… how long do you think we can milk this?”

Grum pulled away from the hug to rub his ‘chin’. “Well, Dad is more likely to notice we’re up to something, so only a week or two with him. But if we play our cards right, we can keep things going with Daddy for a month. Maybe even more.”

“What? That long?”

“Well, we sort of got stuck in a time displacement bubble for a month all by ourselves and got controlled by different things. We would need to be careful and not make it seem like we’re having a relapse, but if we have a, quote unquote bad day, we can definitely get a lot out of it.”

“I’m going to build a new shop.”

“Good idea, so many people will want to support us. We might even get a discount on some land in Aquoo town. From Scar and not Bdubs of course.”

“Of course, we have more sway over Scar.” Jrum nodded.

“The question is what to sell.”

“Yeah, that part’s gonna be a bit harder. Hmm, maybe a gardeni-”

“Nope! Absolutely not!”

“Ugh, rude. Hmm… Odea two?”

“Ooo, good idea, good idea. It also sounds like we could get some interaction with the SMP after this, we could outsource there. I mean, we already have the connections.”

“Oh definitely. Speaking of, I kinda said Fundy could come visit Hermitcraft a while ago. Do you think that would be allowed?”

“Oh easy. We can even get Michael and his dad to come too.”

“Yes! I’ve always wanted an actual playdate! And this time I won’t be almost killed by a clone!”

“Let’s find our dads and ask?”

“Definitely!” Jrum nodded, and the two bots jumped off of where they were sitting and went looking for their parents.

“Leave me alone Lynn.” Grian grumbled, wings puffing up.

“Not until you tell me what a Listener is doing here!” The other Watcher gestured to Grifter, who was giving her a smirk.

Grian sighed. “Basically I’m making sure he doesn’t destroy everything by keeping an eye on him. Unfortunately that means he needed to come here while I change some records.”

“Really? You changing records? I thought I’d never see the day.”

“Oh shut it. Remember that Watcher I asked about? You couldn’t find anything but I kept looking into it and found two unknown Watchers.”

“And let me guess, you figured out who they were. Was one of them Eyes?”

Grian half shrugged. “Yes and no? Uh, so both of them are my kids and Eyes is like… part of my one kid?”

“Oh you’re an idiot.”

“Hey hey hey! He’s not just an idiot, he’s also a dumbass!” Grifter spoke up, getting glares from both Watchers.

“But seriously. You used Watcher magic to build them?”

“I didn’t think I did! I mean, I guess maybe? But Mumbo was in charge of the redstone and the redstone was the mayoral reservoirs and that’s what was technically using magic.”

“I’m going to have to tell someone about this.”

“Okay. Can you just try to make sure it’s someone that’s not going to completely freak out?”

“Hmm, no promises.” Lynn replied, and then walked off before Grian could say more.

“Oh I like her.” Grifter smiled. “So how do you know each other?”

“She’s the Watcher that was in charge of at least part of the world I grew up in.”

Grifter nodded. “Well I would love to hear the stories she got from there. But that can wait. Where are we going now?”

“Records room. I need to officially list my boys as Watchers and then get their data transferred to their names.”

“Ughhhh that sounds boring. Where’s the cool stuff?”

Grian just groaned and led them to the records room, needing to give excuses to a few Watchers here and there on the way. He was able to quickly grab the needed files since he already knew where they were. Correcting the names was easy enough since they were currently unknown and waiting for the answer. Correcting other forms was harder though. Normally a Watcher had their name officialized before doing much work. Maybe once or twice based on the situation, and that was the case with Jrum seeing as how his only real use of magic was when Grian himself had triggered it. But Grum had a lot more.

Every time Grum accessed the mayoral reservoirs, he was really looking into all the political data that the Watchers had gathered over the years. That alone would be a hassle, but the fact that there was extra paperwork for accessing certain sub categories was causing more issues. Normally you needed permission for data on destroyed worlds, but of course Grum managed to bypass any blocks and get right into the data. And since he was unlisted, it had caused some more logging errors.

Grian half contemplated just flipping the table he was at. It would send paperwork everywhere, but a quick bit of magic would fix it, and it would feel gratifying. But then again, Grifter was here, and who knows how he would react. And Grian expected a worse case scenario there. “Okay, can I trust you for like three minutes to go tell Mumbo it’s going to take a while here?”

Grifter’s eyes lit up a little and he nodded. “Three minutes! Got it!” Grian immediately regretted it, but before he could say more, Grifter was gone.

Mumbo glanced at his communicator for the time. He expected Grian would take a while, but he also hoped he wouldn’t be gone too long. Plus, he was also worried that if the bots were left alone too long, they could get into trouble. He was just about to go check on them when he heard the sound of them running in his direction. 

Mumbo couldn’t help but worry about why they were running until he actually saw them. With everything that happened the past few days, his mind kept trying to jump to the worst outcome, but the moment he saw the boys smiling, it calmed him down.

“Daddy! Can we invite people over to play?” Jrum asked, looking hopeful.

“Even with everything that happened, we managed to make some friends. It would be nice to thank them by letting them get to visit here.”

“And I kinda said someone could come visit and they’re kinda our cousin and he knows Auncle Iskall so please please please can they come visit?”

“And Michael was nice too. I didn’t get to interact too much, but he seemed rather nice.”

“Pleeeeeaaaaaaaase!”

Mumbo tried to get them to calm down. “Alright, alright. I’m sure the two of you could use some time to relax and have fun. We just need to wait for your dad to come back so he could get them. It may also be a while since I’m sure he wants to wait for Tommy to want to come back too.”

“Okay! We can wait!” Jrum agreed. “Can we go check the shopping district until then?”

“I’m not sure. I should wait for your dad to come back.”

“But we are perfectly able to go on our own.” Grum pointed out. “And even if something were to happen, the shopping district is so commonly filled with others that another hermit would assist us should there be trouble.”

Mumbo hesitated, but then agreed. “Alright, but see if Iskall is home and then ask them to take you there. I don’t want something happening on the way there.”

Jrum was happy to agree, but for a moment, Grum hesitated, their screen changing a bit. “Could we possibly ask Uncle Scar instead?”

“I’m… not sure he’s around. Grum are you sure you should be going?”

Grum nodded. He didn’t want to leave Jrum alone again. “No. It’s fine. W-We can go see Auncle Iskall.”

Mumbo didn’t look completely convinced, but Jrum’s pleading look got him to look away for just a moment. “Alright, alright. Go on before I change my mind again.”

“Thank you!” Jrum smiled and started pulling Grum away. Grum followed behind, though he still looked reluctant, so once they were in the air, Jrum looked back to his brother. “Oh come on, we’re not actually gonna go get them. We’re just going to say we couldn’t find them and since Daddy didn’t give us a second option, we’re just going on our own.”

Grum nodded. “Thanks.”

“Oh don’t worry! To be completely honest, I completely agree with Grifter about chickens right now and feel like I’ll strangle and turtles I see! I sort of don’t even want to see Professor Beaks any time soon!”

“Is that about the-”

“Yeah it’s about the flipping egg!”

“Sorry.” Grum apologized and Jrum made them land so they could hug each other.

“It’s fine. We already went over a bunch. Life sucked, but apparently that’s like… a family thing. I kinda want to give Daddy trauma though just to make it equal.”

“I think he has enough from dealing with us all.”

“Hmmmm you’re probably right. Okay let’s go scam Scar!”

The two of them eventually reached the shopping district and Aqua Town. It took a little bit of searching, but they eventually found the mayor. He already wasn’t the best and giving good prices for his land, but the fact that he was also up against two traumatized children, one of which he slightly feared, didn’t help his case. In the end, he got seven diamond blocks from the bots and Grum happily started building the new shop. 

Jrum went back and forth between the plot and Odea to figure out prices and stocking the place. He was glad to see Grum was happy, and then even more when he saw their dad flying their way. “Dad! Dad! Over here!” Grian heard Jrum and flew down, landing next to the bot. “Look! We’re making a new shop!”

“Oh really? What are you going to sell?” Grian responded, and Jrum had to keep from frowning. The tone of Grian’s voice sounded off. Jrum’s best guess was that something bad happened with whatever he had been doing and he was upset at that, but Jrum also couldn’t be sure.

“Well, it’s going to be a branch of Odea. I’m hoping that if we’ve got lots of people visiting that aren’t all amazing builders and redstoners like everyone here that they’ll want to buy Daddy’s designs! And since everything is moving to Aquway Town, we’re having a place here so it’ll get noticed!”

“Oh, that sounds like a great idea! And it looks like someone’s gotten really far with building already.” Grian looked up to where Grum was standing on the scaffolding, placing blocks down.

“Yeah! I’m glad he looks so happy! Oh! By the way! When you pick up Tommy, can you also ask if Michael and Fundy want to visit? I kinda said Fundy could and then I think Michael would like it too. If his parents have to come along, I wouldn’t mind. And they’re Tommy’s friends so that way he can have people visit too!”

Grian smiled sweetly. “Oh of course we can do that! I’m sure Xisuma would be fine with it all!”

“Yay! I can’t wait!”

“Welp, I’m going to go check on the rest of Aqua Town!” Grian said, starting to walk off. “I don’t want to get too far while I wait for Tommy’s message.”

“Yeah oka- wait. Dad, what did you call this place?” Jrum asked, catching that Grian used the real name of the area.

“Uh… well I better check on Barge Co.! Eep!” Grifter started to back up, but then jumped as an egg was thrown down next to him, followed by another, and then yet another. “AHH! It’s Poultry Man! Run away!!!”

Jrum looked up to see that the eggs had come from Grum, who quickly signalled a sorry to Jrum, which the bot quickly accepted. Grum ended up gliding down to join his brother and the both of them dealt with Grifter, somehow managing to send the helsmit back to Grian, unintentionally making their Dad groan as more paperwork appeared for him.