Oof we really getting in there with the Grumbo this time. Hope you enjoy!

Day 105

"Mumbo! Mumbo look!"

Mumbo had just shut the door to his bedroom when he heard Grian call. Checking that he was presentable, he walked into the avian's room.

"What is it?"

Grian was flitting around from window to window, a large giddy smile on his face. His oversized sleeping shirt hung to his knees and billowed around his torso.
He turned at Mumbo's words and quickly flew down. He grabbed Mumbo's arm and dragged him towards the glass.

"Look! It's snowing!"

Sure enough, the usually thick green pine forest was covered in a white blanket. Grian was basically plastered to the window, his face so close, his breath fogged up the glass.

Mumbo smiled. He loved how easily Grian got excited, and how he couldn't hide that excitement to save his life.

"Have you never...?"

"No" Grian breathed, still in awe. "I've only seen pictures, but this is even more beautiful"

"Yeah..."

Grian felt eyes on him and he turned. Mumbo's face filled with color and he quickly averted his gaze.

"The snow! Y-yeah it is uh... beautiful" Mumbo stuttered, trying to cover his slip up.

Grian smiled and nudged him gently.

"Classic Mumbo Jumbo"

"What do you mean?"

Instead of responding, Grian just laughed and tugged on Mumbo's sleeve.

"Come on! I want to go outside"

_____________________________________________________
"Gri- GRIAN! Stop it!"

Ren chased Grian as he ran towards the door.

"It's too cold! You can't go outside in your pajamas!

"Grow up mom!" Grian shouted behind him as he wrenched the door open.

Mumbo laughed with the others as the avian threw himself into the snow and shrieked at the cold. Ren rolled his eyes, but smiled despite himself.

"Told you!"

Grian, visibly shivering, his teeth chattering, continued to smile. He let clumps of snow fall between his fingers as he flew up into the air, covered head to toe in a shimmering white layer of frost.

"Come on!" He called. "It's so fun!"

"We'll be there in a sec" Stress giggled. "We need to get dressed first"

The whole team except for Mumbo started up the stairs to put on their winter clothes, laughing and shoving each other.

Mumbo walked to the doorway and leaned against it.

"You're shivering"

Grian flapped his wings and landed in front of Mumbo. He grinned, and Mumbo felt his stomach flutter at the sight of Grian's dimples.

"Worth it" he said, shaking out his hair.

"Ah!" Mumbo cried out as water and snow rained onto his shirt.

"Stop it! That's cold!"

"Awww" Grian sneered in false sympathy. He held out his dripping arms. "How about a hug?"

Mumbo's brain stalled as his desire to touch Grian and his desire to stay dry clashed violently.
Grian took this opportunity to wrap his arms tightly around Mumbo's middle. His head nestled perfectly on Mumbo's chest, and Mumbo saw stars.

"Ha!" Grian laughed as he began to pull away. He was stopped however by Mumbo's arms closing around him.

Grian's mind raced as his playful hug turned into a real one. He hadn't had one before. Not really anyways. He and Ren had hugged a couple of times but they were always quick, and followed by someone getting punched in the shoulder. But this was different... and it felt good.

Mumbo pulled away slightly and the two of them locked eyes. Grian, not aware of his movements, rose up slowly on his toes to bring his face closer to his tall friend.

A cough from behind Mumbo's back made the two break apart. Iskall was leaning against the banister with a smirk on his face.

"Whatcha doin?"

Grian's ears burned crimson.

Why am I embarrassed?

"Nothing!" He said, strutting past Mumbo, who felt tingling sensations running up his arms from the moment before.

"I just have to go change "

Without a backward glance, Grian took off up the staircase.

Mumbo watched him leave, and then turned to Iskall.

"Really? You had to ruin that for me?"

Iskall put up his hands.

"Dude I'm sorry, I didn't want to, but I felt like it was creepier to just watch"

"I guess that's fair" Mumbo sighed. "I think I made him uncomfortable anyway"

"You think so?"

"Did you see how red his ears were? He was embarrassed!"

Iskall scoffed.

"Did you see how red your face was?"

Mumbo's hands flew to his cheeks.

"Oh no, really?"

"Please, like that's new for you" Iskall said sarcastically. "Now go change. You're dripping water on the carpet"

Mumbo nodded and headed up the stairs, passing Xisuma as he descended. X still had bags under his eyes but seemed less manic then he had the last week or so. He had instead become rather cold and somber, which Mumbo guessed was an improvement over the random angry outbursts he had come accustom to.

"Hi X"

Xisuma smiled at him, but the warmth didn't reach his eyes.

"Good morning Mumbo. Could you please tell Grian I need to speak with him?"

Mumbo faltered. Xisuma had been avoiding the avian for the last two weeks. Grian would be overjoyed at this sudden change!

"Sure!"

Mumbo ran up the rest of the stairs two at a time, stopping quickly at his room to change into proper winter clothes, and then knocked on Grian's door.

"Come in!"

Mumbo pushed very carefully on the wood, having learned his lesson the first time.
Grian stood in front of a mirror. He had on clean trousers and thick boots, but his face was contorted in frustration as he yanked at his thick red sweater.

Heat rose in Mumbo's face and he quickly turned his back. Seeing someone without a shirt on was improper... but Grian had told him to come in anyways...

He slowly turned back around to see Grian struggling to cram one of his wings into the slit in the shirt.

"... What's wrong? Y-you never have trouble with changing"

Grian let out an exasperated breath.

"I know, but this shirt doesn't have buttons at the bottom! I've never had to wear winter clothes before so I never put them on and now-"

He threw up his hands and collapsed backwards onto his bed, the sweater having fully swallowed one wing, while the other stuck half way out.
Mumbo chewed on his thumb nail.

"Do... do you want help?"

"Please!" Grian said a look of relief washing over his face.

Mumbo took his time climbing over the boxes to get to the other side of the room where the mirror was.

Grian turned his back to him.

"Just help me get the wing through the opening. Try not to pull if possible, but you might have to"

Mumbo took a step back.

"You want me to..."

He had never touched Grian's wings before. It was an unspoken rule that no one did, except Ren who would tug on them when Grian was acting out, eliciting a shriek or cry from the small avian.
Hands shaking slightly, Mumbo took the sweater with both hands and began to pull it towards Grian's back, bending the feathers the wrong way. Grian hissed in pain.

"Stop! Stop don't... don't do that. Put your hand through the gap in the sweater to keep the feathers from folding over like that"

Mumbo gulped and reached out a hand. Being as gentle as physically possible, he maneuvered his fingers into the space between the wing and the fabric, flattening the feathers down. They were as soft as they looked, and warm to the touch.

Mumbo began to slowly push the sweater further towards Grian, moving his hand first to keep everything in place, and then inching the fabric over his fingers. As he got closer to Grian's back, the wing began to thin out, and Mumbo relaxed a little. With one final yank, the golden wing stuck out entirely from the impossibly small hole in the red fabric.

Mumbo gave a breath of relief, before realizing how close he was to the golden haired boy. He jumped back quickly and coughed dramatically into his elbow to cover up his awkwardness.

Grian didn't take notice, and smiled in a satisfied way as he pulled his head through the top and smoothed the thick wool over his torso.

Mumbo glanced at him. He looked even younger than usual. The sweater was so large, his fingers barely stuck out of the sleeves, and the fabric billowed around his waist.

"So adorable" he murmered.

"Hm?" Grian looked up at him, hairbrush in hand. "Did you say something?"

That was out loud?! Mumbo panicked. His thumb nail flew to his mouth as his mind raced.

"No!" He tried to sound confident but his voice cracked, ruining the effect. Grian giggled.

"Puberty is rough" he teased, poking Mumbo in the ribs, trying to make him laugh.

Despite his racing nerves, Mumbo cracked a smile,

"I almost forgot" he said, batting away Grian's hand, which had gone up to tickle him again. "X wants to see you"

Grian's eyes widened.

"Really!?" He looked ecstatic and relieved at the same time. "So he's not mad at me anymore?"

Mumbo frowned.

"We still don't know if that's what happened" he said. "X had been acting weird around all of us"

"Yes but I'm the only one he refused to talk to" Grian said, giving up on his unruly hair and flattening out his clothes. He caught Mumbo's eye. "Don't give me that look. It's ok if he was mad! I'm used to people being annoyed with me"

Mumbo felt his heart ache and racked his brain for some comforting words. Speaking was not his strong suit however, and by the time he had found what he wanted to say, Grian had already flown out of the door.

"You're never annoying to me" he whispered to the empty room. "I love you"

Another sad ending for you guys, but don't worry! It won't stay that way forever. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did, please leave a like, and leave a comment if you have feedback or anything to say. I love reading what you guys think!