Grumbo is back. From this super old ting.

Lol @BridgetTh3B1RD got me thinking. So enjoy this lil fluff jab as well as the usual me-related shenanigans.

Also the dads (yes, now TWO dads) are plotting something with me, what I can do (which I'm guessing Cub has half-figured out cus no way I'm letting him fully understand Author Majicks!) and the rest of the sweet, unaware server. Should they be concerned? Yeah. Buuuuut I'm ged moi hermit family this way! Wait what about Evil X and NPC Grian tho-

...

I smell a nEW STORY IDE-

Headcannons in this chapter
-Y'all already know how AFKing works. Mumbo already AFKs the most in the server (Grian and Iskall don't like this), and does so more when he's in the process of freaking out.
-Mumbo either slowly freaks out, or immediately freaks out. It's hard to tell which is worse, the gradual torturing build-up or the sudden jolt of hurt. Please protecc him.
-Ok, respawn is always thing unless something were to change that, but the pain of dying is also a thing. If you burned to death, you literally feel the flames and the heat and the smoke clogging up your lungs before you died. So, dying will definitely feel bad.
-The way you died also has a negative on your body when you respawn. So, using 'burning to death' again, you'll have really sensitive skin for a while and feel differences in temperature immediately, and more severely etc. It can vary, depending on other factors. I'll add a list later of more death-tolls (there's quite a few, especially for mobs...)

(ALSO NO, NO ONE DIES RIGHT NOW)

-The hermits have a serverwide group chat, and the 'H.N.R' group chat, which stands for 'Hermit Needs Rest'. They'll use it for when X mutes the normal group chat, and removes one hermit from the H.N.R chat. That way, everyone will still be able to use the group chat, but not disturb the one (or more) hermits that need rest. This is mostly for Mumbo, which is pretty sad (the entire chat was even created because of how he gets sometimes...)
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Mumbo let out a groan as his vision tried to refocus.

That was how it always was, to be fair, after coming 'back to life' from an AFK session: your vision would blur back to focus as the rest of your senses shifted back into action. This usually happened relatively quickly, especially for Mumbo, who was quite used to the feeling.

However this time, the moustache hermit came back to him having a pounding headache. His fingers were numb, his tongue limp and his movements were sluggish from how heavy his limbs felt. Not to mention that his vision was still blurred at the edges, and he was hardly able to move.

He had't any time to rest though- there- there was just so much to do! So much lag busting, fixing, improving, extending, creating, way too much work... Besides, it wasn't like he had anything else he could do.

It was really all he could.

Mumbo stumbled out from his AFK space, trying a few times to take off. He really still couldn't do something as simple as that properly. I mean, look at Grian, he's literally a wonderful flying daredevil and he's just... A sad sight to witness honestly.

Eventually he found himself flying, over everyone's builds. This was one of the only things he could thank his mostly-useless vision for: not being able to see what amazing creations everyone else but him could make.

Come on, focus on the task at hand...

His landing wasn't the cleanest, to say the least- due to his now extremely sloppy movements, he'd almost fell straight into the floor. That would've wasted his time even more, he needed to go get just a bit more redstone from Scar's shop for what he was doing; of course his witch farm wasn't able to supply enough.

Well, not enough for everything he absolutely needed to do and to spend all of his free time on. Good grief, was he slowing down? That's what he could not afford to do, he was wasting time by being lazy!

Again, the man grumbled to himself and staggered his way into the shop, and only just being able to successfully make a purchase. If his body had been able to recover faster, maybe he'd been able to do it faster...

Now wasn't the time to think about it though.

He had a giant list of things that were absolutely a necessary to complete, and they were top priority. What was a few hours of lost relaxation and rest when he could make up for it in improvements? He needed to improve things. His creations, his builds...

Himself...

The thoughts started again as Mumbo took off. Useless. Inefficient. Idiotic. Tears welled up behind his eyes, he was too tired to brush them away, but now he was flying blind. No sense of direction came as the world inside his head came crashing down again...

And he soon followed.

A scream that felt horribly familiar was all but muffled behind him.
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Grian was messing around with Iskall in the Architech's Sahara project. The two were like brothers, in a loud, quirky sort of way, so it was natural for them to hang out once in a while.

"HA HA HA HA HA! OH, YOU MUST BE JOKING!" Iskall yelled, tears of laughter rolling down his face. Grian shook his head, a little quicker than normal from giggling.

"NO! I LEGIT CALLED IT BUILD-STONE WHEN I FIRST ASKED MUMBO!"

The poorly thought-up name was enough to send them into hysterics again. Though, just as they finally calmed down, something about what Grian had said irked Iskall.

"... Say... Grian... Have you actually... Seen Mumbo around? Like, physically walking around? I've only seen him once, while he was AFK, in the past few days." Iskall asked, smile faltering. Oh dear. What he was thinking couldn't possibly be happening again, could it?

Just like his had, Grian's smile fell as well. "Twice in the past few days. Both times he was also AFK. Oh no. Ohhh no no no no- how long did we not check up on him?!"

"I don't know! I was so focused on other stuff, and I know you're still focused on who the Jangler is and whatnot... A-A week?! A week... Maybe more; we need to find him. Now. Let's go to his base, he's bound to return there at some point!"

The two flew off at once, with Grian swooping ahead. Not just because of his fantastic flying skills this time either...

Smal time skilop 0000000000

A few flaps- um... Minutes later the two Architects were almost at their third member's base, still frantic and alert to any sign of a certain Mumbo Jumb-

In the distance, a figure wearing a black suit was just about visible, flying dangerously in jerks and falls.

"There he-"

Iskall's hopeful sentence was drowned out with Grian's scream and immediate dive as Mumbo all of a sudden started plummeting toward the water. He instinctively froze for a second in shock until he too dived madly after the quickly descending hermit, and the one recklessly following in front...
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(Author's note: Ummm... Slight perspective-camera-view change???)

Only a few metres and they'll make it before he did...

A few more...

A few more...

A few more...

A few-

SPLASH!

Mumbo hit the water, going underneath the calm azure waves.

SLASH!

Grian followed without him down without any hesitation.

The moment his body went under, the freezing cold water encased him in a tight grip; the force of how hard he'd leapt in stung his skin, his muscles were cramping and his eyes burned but he couldn't stop going down. He couldn't let Mumbo die like this: it wouldn't help the man's health at all if he was even more tired, not to mention unlucky enough to catch the cold effect too.

More bubbles escaped his nose as Grian grew more and more frantic, until out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mumbo's body sinking deeper just a few metres away. This time, he wasn't going to let him fall...

A few metres...

A few metres...

A METRE...

Yes! Grian pulled the taller hermit's unconscious body towards him, hugging him tightly. He would've carried on if not for the screaming in his lungs doubling. The water pressure was increasing now that he was focused on it... It was now somehow warm in the cold water, and he was tired. Should he sleep? No, no he should get out.

Now.

The builder started pushing upwards with all of his might with Mumbo on his shoulders, but he already knew it wouldn't be enough. With his vision fading, Grian pushed the both of them to the glittering sunlight one last time...

And a pair of arms harshly yanked them out. By now, Grian was too exhausted to see who it was, and fell unconscious in their grasp.

Time skippo 00000000000000000000
(Author's notes: Enjoy a even more tired and therefore delirious boi tryna recognise his crush, and remember stuff lol. I had way more fun than I should've writing this part.)

Mumbo let out a groan as his vision tried to refocus. Hold on, didn't he already do this-

Blurred colours came to him first. Some sort of white-grey stuff made the ceiling. Or the floor: from the way his head was pounding, either assumption could've been right... Mumbo couldn't tell if it was diorite, or something else.

Oh, oh, faint outlines were returning. Ok, it wasn't diorite... Not terracotta either... Iron? Yes, iron would match that colour and those outlines... If he could just turn his head just a bit, maybe he'd see more...

Out of his peripheral vision, the redstoner glimpsed first the greenish... Glass? Yes, glass, decorating the walls of the room, extending to the floor, behind the other bed. Wait...

No, that was a bed. The general shape gave it away, and it was the same height as him. He must be lying down on a bed then, on the floor. Felt like it, even the blanket was there. The blanket on the other bed looked a tad strange though... Ah, because there was a person in it. Who it was was the next question in Mumbo's head.

Hm... Clothes were covered by the blanket... And they were turned away from Mumbo... But the hair was... Blonde? There was too much disorientation to see exactly what shade right now, but it looked soft, and that was something... There were only around six-and-a-half-ish blonde hermits on the server, as Mumbo faintly recalled. He didn't know why soft blonde hair seemed so important to him right now, but apparently it was... Along with... Beauty? Or rather... Happiness in beauty?

Mumbo mentally shook his head. He'd think about beautiful, happy things later, right now he had to focus on being... Not half dead. Ok, things were coming back to him, that was good. Perhaps more would come if he figured out who that person was. Ok... Blonde hermits... Hmmm... What were their names again?

There was one that was sort of blond, wasn't he? Or was he brown-haired... Mumbo faintly recalled it being hard to tell this man's hair colour. Why was that again? Did he always dye it, or something? No, that didn't sound right... Wore a hat to cover it? That sounded better... What kind of ha- a helmet! Yes, he always wore a helmet, so it was hard to tell. Why did he wear it again? Was he just very extra... Extra... Wasn't his name something like that? Extra? Or etcetera? Ex... X... Just X? Yes! X!

(Author's note: Ok, what colour hair does Biffa have, and is he a builder or redstoner? If it's blond, then he'd be around about here. If he's blond and a builder, then he'd be around where Zed and Wels are.)

Well, there was no helmet. Helmets weren't soft looking, but hair was. Who else was blond?

A girl? What was her name? Would she be angry if she found out Mumbo had forgotten? No, she was nice... Just very good with a sword. She had long hair. Did this person look like a girl? No... That fact was false. Huh. That was her name as well... 'False'. Funny, he supposed.

Focusing on this made Mumbo's headache and heavy-feeling body ache a little less. The process of elimination task he was currently working on helped with his memory too. Focusing on mystery person was proving to be very helpful. Things were slowly starting to take a slightly more solid shape around him.

Now, to carry on...

One that was part demon? Yeah, a guy with red eyes... Good with redstone... Wasn't his name type of dance? Let's see... Street dance... Ballet... Ballroom... Waltz... Tango... Tango! That was it, Tango.

The mystery soft-blond-hair person didn't have those demon horns though...

What about the other, lighter haired blond that seemed to like Tango? And a brown haired man too, but he wasn't as important right now. Lighter blonde hair... Not a redstone-worker though... The two main types of people on this server were redstoners and... Builders. The brown haired one, Tango and this person usually worked together because of this; wasn't their group name something... Something like... Sit? Nit? ZIT, yes that was the one. Tango was the T... And the Z felt like it linked too this per- Zedaph! Yeah, that was his name.

But Zed had more tanned skin. By now, the outlines of close objects had almost totally stabilised.

Thinking about builders felt right. Maybe mystery person was a builder? That would be lucky, because the last two blond hermits Mumbo could think of were both builders, if he recalled correctly. He hoped he did...

Another who also wore a helmet? A different sort of helmet though... With an older style... He was someone who liked building like this too, wasn't he? Sometimes spoke like this, and fought like this... Someone with an old looking attire who fought... A knight. Specifically... W... W something knight... Welk? Well? Wels!

He'd already eliminated the helmet thing, so it must have been-

The figure flipped around so they were now facing Mumbo... And the redstoner was right about their identity. Yet...

Maybe it was the background still being blurred and plain. Maybe it was the light shining directly on them. Maybe it was because Mumbo himself was still pretty delirious, but in that one moment... Though he was asleep, with bedhair, and looked to be only just dry...

Grian looked like an angel to Mumbo.

Mumbo fell back to sleep with the happy image of soft, strawberry-blond hair and a cheeky, infectious smile in his head.

Beautiful.
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"... No... Like... Day or two..."

"Haven't... Sure?... Are... Both of... Ok?"

"Hasn't... Left side... Since... Grian really..."

Mumbo gently drifted out of sleep with the sound of broken speech. His eyelids fluttered open silently, to be met with more blurred shapes...

... That immediately became normal.

He caught a peak of Stress and Iskall chatting before they too saw him awake, and Stress instantaneously hugged him. Iskall pried her off the befuddled man, pointing towards another person that was sleeping at the foot of the bed.

Grian's still mussed-up hair brought a smile to Mumbo's face, until his stomach growled loudly and interrupted the moment. Stress passed him a bowl of soup and helped him sit up, as Iskall took two chairs out of his inventory for them both.

"How are you feeling, Mumbo?" The swedish man asked, accent being oh-so joyously familiar to Mumbo.

"I'm fine, but... Oh gosh, dreadfully busy, um... I've got to go and see what I've missed out the chance of doing, how long was I out f-"

Iskall put a hand out to stop Mumbo getting out of bed. He shared a concerned look with Stress, who urged Mumbo to eat (or... Drink...) the soup, before continuing.

"Sorry Mumbo, but we can't allow that. It's what got you unconscious in this bed for... I'd say around one or two days. I think I'd better explain... Is there anything you remember after falling from the sky?"

Mumbo shook his head nervously.

"That's where I'll start then..."
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Iskall's Recount
After you fell into the water, Grian dived in and tried bringing you up, but became unconscious right as he broke the surface. I was the one that carried the two of you to my base, where me and Stress have been looking after you two.

When we checked you out, we found out that you weren't injured in any way, or affected by a potion... Which meant you fell out of sheer exhaustion. Heck, you even looked pretty exhausted when we first got you. I'm assuming that you overworked yourself again and by that expression, I'm right.

Grian woke up within two/ three hours. He immediately freaked out when he saw you, and it took us five minutes to convince him to calm down. The stubborn kid refused to leave your side though, and I let him, because I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore and he'd probably do the same for me. Oh and... It was honestly kind of cute, seeing him fuss over you.

And now we're here. You've been unconscious because you've overworked, worried myself, Grian and everyone else on the server half to death and all you want to do is start working again. Do you see what our problem is with that now?
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"W-Wait, half the ser-"

"Mumbo, check your C.P.S.T. We charged it for you, don't worry." Stress said, picking up a spoonful of soup and practically shoving it into Mumbo's mouth annoyedly. He gulped and fumbled with the device, opening it and getting notified of a whole wave of concerned messages, by pretty much everyone on the server.

"Watch this." Iskall added seriously, typing only two words into the serverwide group chat.

Iskall: He's awake.

Ren: WHAT'S UP, MUMBO? PLEASE TAKE MORE BREAKS!

Joe: Ren, stop using so many capital letters, it's awfully rude. And hard for Mumbo to read right now, I'm sure he's pretty tired.

Tango: I don't blame him, this is great news!

Zed: Impulse says to tell you to sleep more. He'd tell you himself, but his 'texty thing' is still dead.

Jevin: Why am I honestly not surprised? Anyway, how are you, Mumbo?

Wels: Hi, Mumbo! Biffa's busy right now, but I know he'll tell you this too: GET SOME REST!

Cub: Please rest a bit more. I definitely understand the need to do more, but... I've someone to remind me, and to be fair... This has happened more to you than me.

Scar: I definitely understand worrying about him. Don't worry Grian, please?

False: Mumbo! Rest!

Cleo: Glad to have you back, but please make sure to rest.

Doc: I swear I will kill you myself if this keeps happening.

X: Doc, no. Let the man relax, and not need to fear assassination in his sleep.

Python: I agree with Doc.

TFC: I agree with Xisuma. Let him rest.

X: Right, I'm muting the main group chat for one day again to let Mumbo rest. If you have anything to say, go onto the 'H. N. R' group chat. And before someone asks, no, I don't need to remove Mumbo from it again because the last time we used it, it was again because of him.

Ren: Don't you need to- oh wait did you just read my mind???

Doc: No he didn't, but apparently you need to reread his message.

False: Ooo someone's getting feisty...

Joe: False, False, please, no-

Zed: This is Impulse, and I dare you tooigyzgd.

Zed: This is Zed, and I don't.

False: Maybe because it's X~?

Doc: Why you-

X: H.N.R. chat!

False: WITH THE UPMOST PLEASURE!

"You see my point now?"

Mumbo didn't know what to say, until Grian's C.P.S.T clicked with a serverwide announcement. It probably was about the change to the H.N.R chat for a day.

With a grumble, the said builder propped himself up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, noticed Mumbo awake and hugged him just as fast as Stress had.

(Author's note: Don't worry. The soup is safe.)

"YOU'RE AWAKE! Oh my gosh, stop doing that, I was so scared, oh my gosh..." Grian paused in the hugging to look at the raven haired man with a pout. "You are coming with me, to my base, and you are going to sleep in my bed!"

"W-Wait, what about- you need sleep too-"

"I don't matter right now-"

"Yes you do, you know what, just sleep with me then, you only have one bed anyway-"

"I don't need-"

"Either that or I won't go."

"... Fine."

With that, Mumbo let himself be dragged out by the shorter man, waving to Stress and Iskall on the way. After they left the room, Stress turned to Iskall with a grin.

"They know Mumbo could've just stayed in here to rest, or Grian could've brought this bed with him, right?" Stress asked, laughing at the two boys. Iskall snickered.

"Yep. Mumbo isn't going to say no to Grian though, and I think Grian just wanted another excuse to be with him. Cuddling is a bonus."

"Who said they were going to cuddle?"

Iskall rolled his eyes playfully, moving to walk-fly Stress home. "Oh please. You can't possibly have just seen that exchange and not know that's exactly what will happen..."