Archive of Our Own

To be quite honest, Mumbo isn’t sure what to make of the bird sitting across the table from him. 

He’s certainly not the worst roommate candidate that Mumbo’s talked to, by any means. It’s just that, well, he looks so terribly miserable . But also like he’s trying not to look miserable. Smiling but definitely on the brink of tears. Mumbo’s lost the thread of their conversation to his own thoughts. Should he bring it up? Will that only make things worse?

He can’t think of anything else to say and so gently cuts Grian off. “Um, sorry to interrupt, but are you alright?”

Grian breathes, slow and measured but shaky, before putting on a much less convincing grin. “I’ve had a rough couple of weeks.”

“Ah. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, you know. I broke up with my boyfriend, so I lost all my friends, and then left a cult and lost my house and my job, and now I’m totally blowing this and I–” Grian chokes as the tears that were threatening to fall finally start to spill over. He quickly wipes them from his face and tries to compose himself. “I really shouldn’t be dumping all of this on you. Sorry for wasting your time. Hope you find someone. I’m just going to leave now.”

“Well hold on.” Mumbo catches Grian’s arm as he tries to flee. “I didn’t say no.”

Grian grimaces. “Please don’t say yes just because I broke down. That’s not fair to you.”

“I’m not saying it because I feel obliged.” Mumbo gestures to the empty seat across from him and Grian sits down again. “You need somewhere to live and I have a spare room. And honestly, you’re the most normal person I’ve talked to about this.”

It’s not the full truth, but certainly not a lie. How can Mumbo not feel bad for the guy after he was that painfully honest about where he’s at? That said, he really doesn’t have anyone better in mind. The other people he’s talked to have been… questionable. At best.

Grian laughs loudly. “There’s no way that’s true. I just told you I escaped a cult.”

“It is, I’m afraid.” Mumbo shudders then smiles at Grian. “So how about it then?”

Grian hesitates. He looks like he wants to run again.

Mumbo clasps his hands between them on the table, and leans forward conspiratorially. “Look, I know what you’re thinking, what with the suit and all. I promise I’m not, like, a vampire or anything.”

“I don’t think vampires are supposed to have mustaches.” Grian says. “You look more like a budding serial killer than anything else.”

“Well then I promise I’m not a serial killer either. I am definitely no t going to lure you back to my apartment to kill you. Pinkie swear.”

A choked laugh escapes Grian, despite himself. “Okay, fine, but only because you pinkie swore.”

“That’s usually what gets them, yeah.” Mumbo says. “Well, brilliant. When are you going to be ready to move in?”

“Considering I just told you I’m living in my car? Pretty quickly.”

“Ah, right.” Mumbo feels himself flush with embarrassment as he stands. “Why don’t I show you the way then?”

Mumbo doesn’t really need a roommate, per se. His job pays well enough that he can easily afford to live on his own. It’s mostly just that he’s so horrifically lonely. God, that sounds pathetic, but it’s the truth. Even if they don’t end up being friends, he just hopes that having another person around will kill the crushingly empty silence of the apartment.

Though, in the first couple weeks, he barely notices that Grian is there at all. Mumbo’s not really sure what Grian gets up to all day. He never seems to leave his room when Mumbo’s at home and there aren’t any signs of life that indicate he’s ventured into the rest of the apartment while Mumbo is gone. Mumbo would be starting to get worried if it weren’t for hearing the occasional shuffle of socks against carpet and creaking of mattress springs. 

Sometimes Mumbo thinks that he can hear Grian crying through their shared wall. Either that or he’s got some kind of breathing problem when he sleeps. Though, with everything he claims happened to him, Mumbo is pretty sure that it’s crying. 

After a while, Grian does start to leave his room and does talk to Mumbo on occasion. Every conversation they have is awkward and overly polite. They still don’t know what to do with each other.

They continue on like this until a few months after Grian moves in. It’s a Saturday afternoon and Mumbo is up to his elbows in blueprints and contracts and spreadsheets.

His absolute idiot of a boss decided to actually do something for once, and ruined absolutely everything in the process. Naturally. He’s made a bunch of promises that now Mumbo and the rest of the team have to keep. Mumbo’s been in the process of digging them out of the hole for days now. Tries to get a schedule put together for the construction that won’t result in ninety percent of his coworkers quitting. Frustration gets the better of him and he rakes a hand through his hair as he sighs aggressively.

There’s a soft knock on his door before it swings open. Grian takes in the scene before him and hesitates in the doorway. “Is now a bad time?”

“No, no I’m—“ Mumbo struggles to find the right word for it. Takes a breath. “Coping. Kind of. What’s up?”

“Okay.” Grian doesn’t meet Mumbo’s eyes and fidgets with the chain around his neck. “So I did have some savings from before, but I’m running low and I still haven’t found a job yet. Is it alright if I skip out on rent for a little while? Just until I find a job then I promise I’ll pay you back.”

Mumbo blinks in surprise. He nearly laughs. “How do you feel about tools?”

“Uh, I mean I’ve never built anything before.”

“Are you willing to pick them up and try at least?”

“Sure?”

“Perfect. That’s good enough for me!” Mumbo gestures to the scattered paperwork covering his desk. “I’m a bit swamped with work if you couldn’t tell. Honestly just having another body would do us a lot of good. You’d really be helping me out.”

“Don’t I have to, I don’t know, apply or something? Have an interview?”

“Please, at this point, I’m practically the CEO.” Mumbo says, longsufferingly. It’s a joke everyone around him makes as well. Mumbo’s boss is a nepotism hire and, boy, it really shows! He sits at his desk all day doing squat about anything and leaving Mumbo to pick up the slack because Mumbo really really likes this job and actually cares about things getting done. “I’m sure it’s not going to be a problem. So how about it? You don’t have to stick around if you really hate it, and I wouldn’t blame you if you do, but it can be kind of fun when we’re not in the weeds.”

“You know what, why not?” Grian says and then adds bitterly. “No one else seems to want to hire me anyway.”

“Fantastic.”

It takes no more than Mumbo poking his head into the boss’s office and telling him he’s hired someone new to get Grian the job. His boss only offers him a thumbs up and that’s about all Mumbo expected. They set to work and, as it turns out, Grian’s pretty good with his hands and he’s got some very good design ideas to boot.

Grian’s new job helps to break the awkward tension between two people that don’t know each other very well but are now living together. Mumbo and Grian get along like a house on fire, which Mumbo is not so secretly thrilled about. It would be terribly awkward if they ended up hating each other, after all.

It actually makes Mumbo look forward to going to work, imagine that. He can tell that it’s really helping Grian to not spend all day locked in his little cage of a room. Getting to spread his wings a little, literally and figuratively, at the very least makes his smile meet his eyes. Makes it a little less forced. Mumbo will consider that a win.

Things have gone more or less back to normal at work when Grian approaches Mumbo again.

“I need your help.” Grian says as he flops down on the couch next to Mumbo.

Mumbo dog ears the page and sets his book down. “Okay.”

“So I told you that I left a cult.”

“You did mention that, yes.”

“It was the Watchers.”

“Ah.” Mumbo doesn’t know much about the Watchers other than that they are religious extremists, and in general that’s not usually a good thing. Also that they’re a cult, so definitely not a good thing. “Yikes.”

“Yeah. So, I have a sister in the cult as well… Had? I’m not sure. Our parents sold us to them and we got separated because she was a ‘bad influence’ on me. I haven’t seen her since. I want to find her.”

“... I’m sorry, your parents sold you to a cult. ”

“Yep.” Grian says. “As it turns out, when you have a kid that’s ‘chosen’ by the Watchers they’ll give you pretty much anything you want in exchange for them. Money, influence, power. And it’s even better if you can give them more than one kid. They’ve got a pretty big fancy house now, and who knows what else.”

Mumbo shakes his head incredulously. “Well, they sound just l ovely .”

“Mmm. The Watchers taught me how to use magic to see what another person sees, but when I try to use the spell on my sister, I can’t see anything. The magic connects but it’s like there’s just tv static on the other end. She must have found someone that could make protection runes or something.”

“Why would she need protection runes?” Mumbo tries to sound like he knows what he’s talking about. He doesn’t really know that much about magic, aside from the very basic information they give kids in school, which really waters down exactly how complex it is.

“The older members told us we couldn’t leave and if we did they would use their magic to find us, bring us back, and make an example of us.” Grian huffs and rolls his eyes. “It’s complete bullshit. I never saw anyone who escaped come back. Besides, they’re a cult, and a pretty big one at that. They can’t risk police getting involved in their affairs so it’s not like they can just go kidnapping and murdering people.”

“But she might not know that.”

“Exactly. There’s no reason for our connection to be fuzzy other than some kind of counterspell. Which tells me that she’s definitely gotten out, I just have to figure out where. Unfortunately for me, I think that our parents are the only people I can really ask.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just… be here?” Grian says as he nervously fidgets with the chain around his neck. “And be ready to disconnect the call if I go catatonic or something? They’re not going to be thrilled that I’ve left the cult and I don’t really know how they’re going to react to hearing from me after all this time. I really don’t want to do this, but I need to.”

“Of course.” Mumbo says, trying to ignore the fondness swimming in his heart. Trying to ignore how he can’t believe that Grian trusts him with doing this. “I’ll be right here.”

“Cheers.” Grian takes out his phone and types in a number. He sets the phone to speaker mode and rests it on the coffee table in front of them. The line rings and Grian takes a slow breath. “Here goes.”

“Hello?” A woman’s voice answers.

“Mother.” Grian says back. His tone is flat and even but Mumbo can see his hands shake where they rest on his knees. “It’s been a while.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line until the woman, Grian’s mother, exhales in a long sigh. “It has, hasn't it? I’m surprised you’re bothering to call at all since you’ve up and abandoned us after everything we’ve done for you.”

“Me too, honestly, but, you know, you never came to visit when I was around. I figured I’d give you the courtesy you never gave me. You know, check in. Let you know I’m not dead.”

“Our presence would have been a distraction. You know that.” Grian’s mother says. 

“That’s what they kept telling me. Be honest, did you ever try to find out where they sent me? Or were you too busy playing with your new toys to even notice I was gone?”

She’s quiet again, though Mumbo can all but feel her rage radiating through the phone line. “We do love you, Grian. We love you and we love your sister and we just wanted to do what was best for you.”

Grian scoffs. “Yeah, you loved me. So much that you gave me away to a cult without a second thought.”

“Giving you away was the hardest thing we’ve ever done, but what else could we do? You were given a gift. You were called to serve a higher purpose. We wanted so much more for you. The Watchers would have given you a better life than we ever could have, but you’ve thrown that all away now. Given up everything we sacrificed for you.”

Grian’s hands are curled into tight fists and his body tremors with anger and tension. Can’t really blame the guy. Mumbo is a good two seconds from cussing his mother out himself. But they haven’t gotten the information Grian wants yet, so Mumbo reaches around Grian’s back to rest his hand on Grian’s shoulder. Grian startles a little at the touch and Mumbo mouths ‘sorry’ to him, but it does the job and the tension in Grian’s body loosens somewhat.

“What about Pearl? She never had visions. She never had potent magic. You still sent her away. For what? A bigger signing bonus?”

“Pearl was… on a bad path.” His mother speaks slower now, choosing her words carefully. “We thought that the Watchers could provide the structure she so desperately needed. Clearly, they couldn’t save her either. It only took her three years in the Watchtower to throw away her future. You both had so much potential and now you’ve squandered it.”

“Mmm. Bummer.”

“I just don’t understand it. You were doing so well. Nearly a senior member. It’s a shame, though, in retrospect, perhaps it’s not terribly surprising after all.”

“Right, I can’t take any more of this.” Mumbo’s anger reaches its boiling point and finally it bursts out all at once. “You’re the one who sold your kids to a cult and you expect them to be grateful? Really? Are you joking? Can you even hear yourself?”

“Excuse me? Who–”

“I’m Grian’s friend and do you know what? I genuinely do feel bad for you. You really lost so much when you decided to sell your children to a cult. You will never get to meet the incredible man your son has become since you gave him away. And I’ll tell you what, he is who he is not because of you, but in spite of everything you’ve done to him.”

“Do not speak to me–”

“Oh piss off. Don’t call this number again.” Mumbo hangs up the call, and all at once realizes what he’s done. He looks at Grian, panicking already, ears a searing hot red. “I– I can’t believe I just did that. I’m so sorry. She was just so–”

“It’s fine.” Grian stares at Mumbo, completely shocked, until he snaps himself out of it and retrieves his phone from the table. He blocks his parents’ number and slides it into his pocket. “It’s fine. I got what I needed. She never left the Watchtower. That was the original facility they left us at. She was a teenager and her wings aren’t built for long distance travel, so she couldn’t have gone very far. That gives me a place to start looking at least.”

“Oh, er, well good then!” Mumbo stands to leave, and feels Grian tug on his sleeve.

“Hey, Mumbo?”

“Yes, Grian?”

“Thanks.” Grian stands quickly, and wraps his arms around Mumbo’s torso with a tight squeeze.

Mumbo oofs, heart gooey and soft as he returns the hug. “Any time.”

With that small lead, Grian starts researching. He looks into shelters in the area, trying to narrow down places that Pearl reasonably could have gone. From there the plan is a bit tenuous. Mostly, it’s been to have Mumbo call employees at various shelters in the area to ask after Pearl while Grian uses his magic to try to see what they’re looking at, hoping that maybe someone might pull up a file on her while on the phone. This, understandably, doesn’t get them very far.

Sometimes Grian just takes an odd day off to spend it looking in on people he’s been able to confirm work at those shelters through their social media. He watches them for hours sometimes in an attempt to see if he can catch a glimpse of his sister. It’s been too long though, and they very quickly realize that if she’s been in hiding for that long, she must have her own place by now. Needless to say, they make very little progress.

One night Mumbo is up later than usual. He is trying to figure out how he messed up the blueprints in front of him so badly before ultimately realizing that he has somehow gotten his math completely off. With grumbled curses and a promise to fix the damn thing tomorrow, he heads off to his bed. He pauses at Grian’s door when he hears sniffling in the still quiet of the apartment. As he waits and listens, he hears muffled sounds of choked sobs. He taps on the door gently.

“Grian? Can I come in?”

There’s silence on the other side and Mumbo panics slightly. Has he crossed some line? As Mumbo is starting to feel the flush of embarrassment, he hears Grian croak. “Yes.”

The door opens and Mumbo sees Grian nested in blankets in the middle of his bed. Something in his hands glows with a soft blue light. His eyes are red-rimmed and teary and there’s huge wet spots on his sleeves. He locks eyes with Mumbo in the dim light and his face cracks. He puts his hands over his eyes.

“Oh.” Mumbo breathes and quickly closes the small distance. He sits down on the edge of Grian’s bed. Mumbo reaches out a hand but hesitates before he touches Grian, unsure if it’s wanted. Grian answers wordlessly by slumping against him, pressing his shoulder into Mumbo’s chest. Mumbo puts a hand on Grian’s back and rubs the spot between his shoulder blades.

Grian retrieves the glowing object from where it has fallen in the blanket nest. Mumbo can see now that it’s a blue glowing crystal on a chain that looks very suspiciously like the one that’s always around Grian’s neck. The chain whose pendant is always tucked underneath his shirt. It glows so strongly that Mumbo figures it must be magically enhanced somehow.

“I’m such an idiot Mumbo.”

“I mean I could have told you that.”

Grian barks a laugh through his tears, but his face breaks again immediately. He heaves heavy sobs against Mumbo’s chest as he holds the crystal to his own. Mumbo holds him as he cries, his thumb rubbing soothingly against his shoulder.

“Hey, look, I know it’s been rough, but we’re going to find her.” Mumbo says. “We’re not going to stop looking until we do.”

“I know.”

Ah, this is about him then.

There is a photo on Grian’s desk that Mumbo catches him staring for too long sometimes. His eyes are always distant, somewhere far away reliving old memories, and when Mumbo puts a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, Grian jumps and tries to pretend he wasn’t staring longingly at the photo. It doesn’t take long for Mumbo to conclude that this must be the ex-boyfriend Grian had mentioned when they first met.

Mumbo doesn’t know what to say to that because Grian won’t tell him anything about his previous relationship. He asks a few times what happened between the two of them, and every time Grian insists that he doesn’t want to talk about it. Because he’s a good friend, Mumbo doesn’t press any further.

He opts instead to just hold Grian for as long as he needs. Eventually, the sobs start to subside, replaced with more quiet crying. Then Grian yawns and shifts in Mumbo’s arms, so Mumbo lets him go and rears back to look at him. At this point, Grian just looks exhausted. He slips the crystal’s chain over his head and tucks the crystal underneath his shirt.

Then he looks to Mumbo. “Thanks.” His voice is barely audible. 

Mumbo nods, and stands to leave, stopping in the doorway as he goes. “Good night, Grian.”

“G’night.”

Two weeks later, Mumbo finds someone waiting at the door to the apartment building. He’s about two seconds from turning around and getting back in his car when the guy waves at him and starts to walk over.

“Hey, you must be Mumbo, right?”

“Er, yes. Yes I am.”

“Hi, I’m Impulse. It’s nice to finally meet you.” The guy offers a hand to Mumbo, and not knowing what else to do, Mumbo shakes it. “I’m one of Grian’s friends. I’m guessing he hasn’t gotten home yet?”

One of Grian’s friends? Does Grian have friends? Mumbo does vaguely remember Grian mentioning friends when they met, but also that he lost them after the breakup. Hmm.

“He should be. I thought I saw his car in the parking lot.” It’s not hard to spot Grian’s car. There’s not a lot of people in Boatem with a ‘my other car is a pair of wings’ bumper sticker. “Is he not answering?”

“He told me the apartment number, but I don’t remember what it is.” Impulse says. “Didn’t want to bother all your neighbors trying to find it.”

“Good thing I remember it then.” Mumbo enters in his door code and holds the door open for Impulse to follow him inside.

“Thanks, man.”

“Not a problem.”

They make it to the elevator and Impulse is the first to break the ensuing awkward silence. “Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“How is he doing? Really? I don’t think he’ll be honest with me if I ask him.”

How to answer that question. Mumbo turns it over in his brain a few times trying to think of how Grian would want him to answer it. Impulse’s concern is so genuine that Mumbo can’t bring himself to lie to him, though. Not fully, anyway.

“Better than he was, certainly. He mentioned that he’d gone through a breakup when we moved in together and you know it was definitely… a lot.” Mumbo says. “I mean it weighed on him, you know? Like I imagine any breakup like that would.”

Impulse hums in response. “When I first met him, he was so skittish and nervous. I don’t know what all happened to him, but I know it wasn’t good. Their relationship really helped him heal from some of that, at least as far as I could tell. He grew so much and now that it’s over… I don’t know. I was just really worried he’d go back to old habits without that support.“

“That’s understandable.” Mumbo leads Impulse down the hallway to their apartment’s door.

“Yeah, but I guess I didn’t have anything to worry about.” Impulse smiles at Mumbo, genuine and warm. “Thanks for taking care of him for me.”

“Ah, well, you know. I couldn’t very well let him keep living in his car.” Mumbo says, already kind of flustered, as he fishes his keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door.

There’s a moment of silence where Impulse’s smile drops and something else takes its place. Confusion. Disappointment. Irritation. Then the moment is gone and his smile is back on his face. “Right. Of course.”

Oh. He didn’t know. Shit . 

Before Mumbo can backtrack and do damage control, Impulse pushes past him through the open door. “Hey, Gri! You home?”

Mumbo races to catch up and finds Grian frozen mid-dinner prep just staring at Impulse. His expression is unreadable and Mumbo immediately starts to panic, mind racing because he just let a stranger into his apartment without asking any questions. Idiot.

“Long time no see, buddy.” Impulse beams at Grian, but something is just weirdly intense about him now. It makes Mumbo even more unnerved.

“Uh, yeah.” Grian says lamely. “It has been.”

Impulse turns to Mumbo. “Hey would you mind if I talked to Grian privately for a bit?”

Mumbo looks at Grian, then to Impulse, and back again. Grian sighs and turns his attention back to his dinner. Mumbo coughs and starts to head to his bedroom. “O-oh sure. Of course. Not a problem.”

When Mumbo gets to his bedroom door he opens and closes it without stepping inside. He sneaks closer to the kitchen again because, well, that Impulse guy does seem pretty intimidating. Not at all because he’s just so curious. Not at all.

“What are you doing here?” Mumbo hears Grian’s voice amidst the sounds of cooking.

“Just happened to be in the neighborhood. Thought I’d check up on you.”

“Mmm. Is that all?”

“Well, you know, Scar’s been taking this whole breakup thing pretty badly.” Impulse says and at once the shuffling in the kitchen stops. “I figured it was probably affecting you badly too since this whole thing was mutual and all.”

Scar. So that’s his name.

“I’m fine.” Grian’s voice is thin. Unconvincing.

“Right. Mumbo just told me you were sleeping in your car?”

“Traitor.”

“You’ve been avoiding everyone ever since it happened. You know we would have taken you in in a heartbeat right?” Grian doesn’t reply. Instead Mumbo hears a utensil scraping against a pot. Impulse sighs. The scraping stops. “Look, Gri, we aren’t just Scar’s friends. We’re your friends too. We still care about you, whether you’re dating Scar or not, and we’re here for you too. I get that you probably just want some space right now. That’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you got the message.”

When he can’t hear anything else, Mumbo dares to peek around the corner. He catches sight of Impulse’s back, Grian’s arms clinging to his shirt as they hug.

Grian pulls away and Impulse follows suit. Grian reaches for the chain around his neck as Mumbo tucks back behind the wall. “Please don’t tell Scar I was sleeping in my car. You know he’ll just blame himself and it’s not his fault. It just hurt too much to stay.”

“I’m not going to tell him.” Impulse promises. “But the next time you need somewhere to crash, please, just– I’m a phone call away, man.”

“Okay.”

“Alright I’ll let you stop burning your onions now.” The sound of his footsteps trail to the door, then Impulse snaps. “Oh, hey, Gem’s throwing a party for her university grad next weekend. You two should come. She’d love to see you again.”

“... I’ll think about it.” The front door opens, then shuts.  As Mumbo considers sneaking back to his room again, he hears Grian call out. “You can stop snooping now, Mumbo. He’s gone.”

“Wh– how did you know?”

“You’re not as quiet as you think you are.”

They do end up going to Gem’s graduation party. She’s got a tiny condo jam packed with people and Mumbo learns shortly after arriving that about ninety percent of the people inside it are Grian’s friends. It’s quite jarring for Mumbo to learn that this whole time Grian had this huge friend group just… out there . It’s fine. It’s no big deal. Grian can have other friends. Mumbo just kind of thought that he was Grian’s only friend too.

Gem bounds up to Grian when she sees him and throws her arms around his neck. Grian’s been pretty hands off with greeting his other friends, so Mumbo is surprised to see him hugging her back. She starts excitedly chattering to Grian about the things he’s missed in the last few months and Mumbo finds his eyes wandering and attention drifting until he spots someone he recognizes.

On the other side of the room, leaning heavily on his cane, is the man in the picture. Grian’s ex. Scar is here. He’s just arrived with his brother and they’re in the middle of the lengthy process of being greeted by a group of people by the door. Looking at him, yeah, Mumbo can understand why Grian is still head over heels for this guy despite getting his heart broken. He has got to get Grian out of here. Their only exit is blocked, so Mumbo has no idea how he’s going to do that other than throwing Grian out a window.

You know, Grian can fly. He could– no, no. Stop that.

“Mumbo?” Gem’s gone off to talk with someone else, and Grian shakes Mumbo’s shoulder gently to get his attention. He steps out from behind him, trying to follow his eyeline. “What’s wrong? What are you looking at?”

Mumbo swiftly grabs him by the shoulders and places himself in between Grian and his ex. “Nothing! Nothing’s wrong. We should just go over here now I think.”

Mumbo tries to steer Grian into another room until he can think of a way to break the news gently. Grian is not having any of it, and tries to squirm his way out of Mumbo’s grasp. “What are you doing? Stop it.”

“Grian—“

Grian gets himself free and the commotion of the struggle draws unwanted attention to them. “Seriously, what is wrong with—“

Grian and Scar lock eyes on opposite sides of the party and Mumbo feels all the oxygen draw out of the room. Grian nearly drops the drink in his hands. His expression is so anguished and sad that Mumbo regrets not actually pushing him out the window. It probably would have been less painful.

Scar’s brother, Cub, steps between them and glares at Grian until he looks away. Mumbo hasn’t though, and he catches Scar’s gaze. Scar’s eyes narrow into a glare of his own, his mouth set in a hard line as he pushes through the crowd and into another room. Cub follows after him. His glare never leaves Grian’s back like he’s trying his damndest to blow Grian up with his mind.

“Are you okay?” Mumbo says to Grian when he can breathe again.

“I want to go.” Grian says. His hand clutches at his chest. Mumbo can see a faint blue glow filtering through the fabric clenched between his fingers

“Let’s go.” 

Grian is eerily quiet the entire drive home, and when they get back to the apartment, he goes straight back to his room and slams the door behind him. Impulse texts Mumbo later to apologize for what happened. Everyone in the group knows that Grian and Scar are avoiding each other, but there had been a miscommunication. He hadn’t known Scar was coming when he invited them.

Grian stays in his room for the rest of the night and most of the next day. Mumbo hears the bedroom door open. Grian appears and stands wordlessly next to Mumbo as he lays on the couch reading. Grian looks awful, like he hasn’t slept at all.

Mumbo starts to sit up, opening his arms to offer a hug, but Grian flops down on top of him, his head resting on Mumbo’s chest and his arms around his torso. Mumbo can feel Grian’s tears bleeding through his shirt, and rests an arm over his shoulders. His other hand pets Grian’s hair soothingly.

After a while, Grian’s breathing slows and his body goes limp. Not wanting to disturb him, Mumbo ignores the loss of feeling in his legs and picks up his book to read while Grian sleeps.

Despite the incident, Mumbo and Grian do spend more time with Grian’s friends, they’re just more careful about avoiding Scar. For how exhausting it is to hang out with so many people, it’s also kind of nice.

Grian continues his search for Pearl. They get a small breakthrough when they call the receptionist of the women’s shelter a few towns over. As she talks to Mumbo her computer has a file folder open on the desktop. Each file is someone’s name. Grian spots ‘Pearl Moon’ on the list and they come to the conclusion she gave them a fake surname so they wouldn’t figure out who she really was and bring her back to their parents.

Grian doubles down, his strategy much the same as before, until he bursts into Mumbo’s room one afternoon.

“I saw her Mumbo!”

“You saw her? What about the, erm, magic-y rune thing?”

“That’s what I saw. A glimmer. A distortion in the vision. I’ve never seen anything like that before. It’s got to be her!” Grian thrusts his hands at Mumbo. “Here. I can show you.”

“What?”

“Just trust me.” Grian grins as Mumbo takes his hands. “Close your eyes.”

Mumbo closes his eyes and feels something thrum up his arms at the point of connection with Grian. It must be magic because Mumbo’s never felt anything like it before. It’s kind of like getting an electric shock but without the pain. Not that Mumbo would know what an electric shock feels like.

Then suddenly he feels nothing. Not his feet on the floor or Grian’s hands twined with his. There’s no sensation at all as he sees through eyes that aren’t his own.

He sees a small cafeteria table at some kind of interactive museum looking place. There’s families all around, eating and chattering. Mumbo can’t make out what anyone is saying. It’s like he’s listening through syrup. The noise is slow and distorted and unintelligible. Off in the distance he can see shuffles of people following brightly coloured signs to different exhibits.

The person he is watching is clearly talking to someone, judging by their hand gestures. There isn’t anyone sitting with them despite the two empty plates on the table. Then Mumbo sees it as the person rests their hand on empty air. It’s like the person across from them is perfectly blending into the scenery behind them, but you still just barely see the outline of where they are.

Mumbo comes back to his body all at once as Grian drops his hands.

“See? I told you.” Grian smiles wide.

All of Mumbo’s senses return to him at the same time and his stomach lurches with the sudden overstimulation. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Oh yeah watch out for that.” Grian calls over his shoulder. Mumbo follows Grian to his room and watches as he starts throwing things into a bag. “I know where she is. It’s this science center we used to go to as kids. It’s a weird place to have lunch, and that other woman was still working at the shelter, so maybe Pearl got a job there?”

“Smart.” Mumbo says. “Somewhere you two shared that the Watchers wouldn’t necessarily think to look.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.” Grian hefts the bag over his shoulder and heads for the door. “If I leave right now– What are you doing?”

“I’m coming too.” Mumbo snatches up his wallet and car keys.

“I was going to fly.” Grian looks at the keys with barely disguised disgust. “It’ll be faster.”

“Then what? You can’t possibly fly all the way there and back again in one day. What happens if you get tired in the middle of nowhere? You won’t have anywhere to stay.”

“I’m very resourceful.” Grian says, but Mumbo can tell he’s doubting his original impulsive plan. He’ll take that win.

“I’m sure you are, but I’m not letting you get kidnapped or murdered or eaten by bears.”

“You never let me have any fun.”

“I know. That’s kind of my job.” Mumbo gestures to the door. “Let’s go.”

The science center is a twelve hour drive from Boatem. Mumbo and Grian bicker for most of the drive about Grian’s obvious lack of taste in music, though Grian would argue that it’s the other way around.

As they reach hour eight of the road trip Mumbo bullies Grian into calling to book a hotel room for the night.

“We can’t stop.” Grian complains. “What if she’s gone by the time we get there?”

“It’s going to be two in the morning when we get there, dude. It’s not like she’s still going to be at work.” Mumbo argues. “We’re also not going to make it there in time if I crash the car because I’m exhausted.”

“You didn’t have to come!”

“Well it’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?”

Grian relents in the end. The two of them drag themselves into the hotel room at midnight and crash on the room’s sole queen bed without much fuss.

Grian is already awake when Mumbo wakes up. His back is to Mumbo, colourful wings splayed out on the bed between them. Mumbo’s never seen them from this angle before and they kind of take his breath away? They’re just so… pretty.

Or he’s still just deliriously exhausted. One of those.

“Hey, Mumbo?”

“Yes, Grian?”

“What if she hates me?” Grian’s voice is small. His knees are tucked under his chin.

“You are pretty hateable sometimes.” Mumbo says. “But I don’t think she will.”

“It’s my fault we ended up there.” He’s distant again, eyes out the window, somewhere else. “I was the special one and she was just collateral damage. She never would have ended up there if it weren’t for me.”

“Right because you’re the one who sold her to a cult in the first place. Not your worthless parents.” Grian doesn’t say anything. Mumbo sighs, and scoots over to the edge of the bed beside Grian, looking out for feathery bits along the way. Mumbo bumps their shoulders together. “Seriously, I don’t think she’s going to be mad at you. I think she’s just going to be thrilled to see you again.”

“Yeah.” Grian rests his head against Mumbo’s shoulder. Mumbo sits like that with him for a while, his hand resting in between his shoulder blades, before he reaches up and ruffles Grian’s hair.

“Hey!” Grian hisses in annoyance. Mumbo laughs and pulls Grian to his feet.

“Come on, let’s get some coffee in us.”

They set out again, bright and early, with another three hours left on their drive. Most of the drive is spent in mutual exhausted and anticipatory quiet, and they manage to pull into the parking lot shortly after the center opens.

Unsure of how exactly they’re going to track her down, Mumbo leaves Grian to survey the lobby and form a plan while Mumbo buys them tickets. He carefully picks his way around a soda someone’s dropped on the floor to rejoin him.

“So what’s the game plan?”

“Well if she’s paranoid enough to use protection runes, she’ll probably run the minute she hears someone is looking for her. I guess the plan is to go through the exhibit and hope we find her?”

“Seems as good a plan as any we’ve come up with.”

“I mean our horrible plans have gotten us this far. What’s one more–”

Grian’s breath hitches, his eyes going wide, as a woman in a janitor's uniform steps into the lobby, laughing as she parts ways with a coworker. She’s got the same dark dusty blonde hair that Grian has, the same eyes, the same mischievous smile. A pair of cream and brown moth wings are tucked behind her. 

Pearl freezes the moment she sees him. “Grian?”

“Hi, Pearl.”

She rushes Grian, slamming into him and nearly toppling him over as she scoops him up into a bone crushing hug. One arm wraps around his shoulders and her other hand cradles the back of his head. Grian’s arms wrap around her waist. They’re both crying. Mumbo sees their lips moving in a quiet conversation that he can’t quite hear. 

Grian buries his face in his sister’s shoulder. She rests her cheek against his head. They stay like that for a while, until Pearl opens her eyes and finally spots Mumbo watching them from the sidelines. Panic flashes in her eyes. Her arms stiffen around Grian as she freezes.

“What– oh. No, no, that’s Mumbo. He’s a friend.” Grian says following her eye line. “He just dresses like that. I’m not with them anymore. He’s safe.”

“It’s called having style, Grian. Not that you would know.” Mumbo says. Grian sticks his tongue out at him as Pearl laughs raucously. With the tension successfully broken, Mumbo turns to Pearl. “Hi, yes. I’m Mumbo. It’s nice to finally get to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Pearl says, then reluctantly lets go of her brother. “Ugh, okay, hold on. I have to get work sorted. I’ll be right back.”

She leaves the two of them standing there, and Mumbo leans over to Grian.

“She doesn’t hate you.” Mumbo comments.

“Shut up.” Grian scrubs his sleeve over his face, ridding himself of the residual tears.

Pearl comes back a few minutes later in more casual clothing, and throws her arm over Grian’s shoulders. “It’s a good thing you didn’t get any taller. Still a perfect little armrest.”

Pearl pinches Grian’s cheek and Grian shoves her arm off.

The two of them walk through the exhibits together, partially looking, mostly talking. Mumbo follows along behind them. He tries not to listen too closely, both to give them a little privacy and because he’s genuinely very interested in the exhibits.

Grian tells her how he found her in the end. By an absolute stroke of luck, she happened to meet up with an old councilor from the shelter for lunch as Grian was poking around at anyone he could think of. Pearl tells him about leaving, glossing over how things had been before she got the nerve up to leave. She describes how she took off with an older initiate after he was taken away.

“I wanted to look for you.” Pearl doesn’t meet Grian’s eyes, fixated on the creatures in the touch tank that are gliding over their hands. “I was scared out of my mind and I didn't have any idea where to start. All I could think of was trying to break into the facility, but they said they’d find us if we ran and—“

“I know.” Grian says. His hand finds her trembling one under the water and gives it a squeeze. “I get it and, hey, it worked out in the end. I ended up finding you anyway.”

“Yeah.” Pearl’s small smile grows into something familiar and mischievous. “Good thing too.”

She takes her hands out of the water and wipes them off on the front of Grian’s jumper. Grian squawks and tries to wipe his hands on the sleeves of her hoodie. Pearl shrieks and runs away before he can try to retaliate again.

“Are you two allergic to genuine affection or something?” Mumbo asks as he wipes his hands on a paper towel like a civilized person.

“Yes.” Grian says, annoyed, as he also wipes his hands off on his jumper. “I thought you’d have figured that out by now.”

He leaves Mumbo and Pearl alone to use the washroom. Pearl leans on the wall next to Mumbo, and sighs. “Alright. Just to make sure, he doesn’t secretly hate me, right?”

“What?” Mumbo looks at her incredulously. Honestly he’s shocked she could even come to that conclusion given everything that just happened. “Are you joking?”

“Kind of?” Pearl says, then her face screws up. “No, not really. I kind of expected him to hate me after everything that happened.”

“How could he possibly hate you?”

“I don’t know. I always felt bad that I couldn’t protect him.” Pearl says, distant. “When our parents first dropped us at the facility he was terrified. He was so little. I tried to keep it light, make him laugh so he’d see how stupid they all were. That’s why they took him away. It was all my fault. He’s changed so much. I can’t even think–”

She trails off and slides down the wall, burying her face in her hands.

“You know, I can tell you’re siblings.” Mumbo sits beside her on the floor, kicking her foot a little with his. “You’re both so quick to blame yourselves for things that could never be your fault.”

Pearl laughs. “Must run in the family.”

“I promise, he doesn’t hate you. Not even a little bit. I would know if he did.”

“Because you’re his best friend.”

“I—yeah. Yeah I guess I am.” Mumbo stands as Grian approaches and offers a hand to Pearl, pulling her up.

“My, what a gentleman.” Pearl teases.

“I mean the suit’s not just for show.” Mumbo winks and Pearl cackles at him. She links arms with the boys and pulls them on to the next exhibit.

Like all good things, it takes time for them to bring Pearl home with them for good. Pearl visits as often as she can, and they help her with searching for a place to live and somewhere to work while she waits for her lease to be up. They also bring her with them to hang out with Impulse and the rest, which ends up solving one of their problems. As luck would have it, Gem is going to be in need of a roommate soon and Gem and Pearl get on particularly well.

Mumbo also starts spending time with Grian’s friends on his own. Well, he can probably call them his friends at this point. It starts with him fixing the ‘landlord special’ light fixture in someone’s apartment and laughing the afternoon away. Then he gets invited to coffee here and a movie there. Goes on lunch dates, helps run errands, goes for drives, watches people play sports.

He even talks to Scar a couple times. All of their conversations are short and horribly horribly awkward, but given what happened the first time they met, Mumbo is going to consider that a win.

Grian and Mumbo offer to host Pearl’s welcome home party and spend the afternoon beforehand setting everything up. It’s the first time either of them have done something like this. Grian brings his sister to the apartment, and surprises her with all of their friends waiting for her arrival in the darkness.

The once silent apartment is full to bursting with the sounds of his friends and, to tell you the truth, Mumbo has never been happier.