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--Grian’s POV---

Today was me and Stress' turn to take care of the young hermits. 

Well, we were supposed to take care of them on Thursday. But due to the Joehills incident yesterday with Cleo and her whole being dead thing, she took the day off to cheer up Joe again. Me and Stress didn't mind taking over for her, me especially! 

I now have a very valid excuse to not finish the back of my mansion. 

Anyways, today was a quite noisy afternoon. Most of the young hermits played around their new pirate ship, and Ren and False were having way too much fun with their pirate role play once again. I don't know how but Ren somehow convinced Xisuma, Bdubs and Xb to play the role of the poor innocent fishies, with Scar as the octopus, seaweed, hybrid monster thing who will eat the whole population of fish-

Look! I'm usually the one who triggers a good amount of wars in the server, but the hermits' role playing and storylines are the absolute highlights of the show! And seeing that their creativity never left their younger versions, left me grinning ear to ear. 

"Auntie Stress, Iskall is placing slime all over the boat again!" Young False cried out, attempting to remove the harmless green substance with her wooden sword. 

"Iskall love, please play with your slime somewhere else," Stress scolded the young hermit lightly, gathering the rest of the slime into one guey ball. 

"But how can the slime monster destroy the boat now!?" Iskall gestured at a really confused Jevin. 

Jevin was a young slime himself, but Iskall thought it was a great idea to put more green slime all over him, to make him more intimidating. 

"But I'm the monster! Me and Jellie are going to eat all the fishes in the world!" 

"How about two monsters? The more monsters, the better!" Bdubs suggested, wiggling his way to Scar like a fish. 

All eyes were on Ren and False now. The young brunette and blonde glanced at each other for a few seconds before accepting the idea. "Two monsters is okay. But no slime on the boat please?" Ren asked politely, before giving Iskall a weak glare. 

"But slime makes it 'eviler'!?" 

"It's too sticky!!" 

"That's why it's eviler!" 

I held the urge to laugh when I saw Stress' nervous smile, regret written all over her face. She was starting to wonder if giving Iskall and Jevin the slime was a good idea or not.. 

As the young hermits debated about the need of slime, my eyes gazed back at another young hermit, not too far from the chaos over here, but he sat peacefully on the ground with Doom the chicken by his side. I walked towards the two and called out, "Hey Mumbo, why are you here all alone?" 

The black haired hermit looked up from his chicken, quite surprised by my sudden presence, I think. He hastily looked around his surroundings before looking back at me, absolutely puzzled. 

"U-Uncle Grian?" 

"Hmm?" 

"I'm not Mumbo.." 

When the young hermit removed the chicken from his lap, I noticed the black shirt and immediately realized what I said wrong. "Ahhh! TFC, sorry about that. Thought you were Mumbo." 

Young TFC giggled before returning the chicken back on his lap. "Mumbo is over there," he pointed at the other black haired hermit, also sitting on the other side of the room. 

"But what about you TFC? Don't you want to play with your friends?" I asked. 

TFC's eyes brightened before we both took a quick glance at the slimy chaos that was going on from that side of the room, The young hermit grimaced as he started pulling the chicken for a hug.

"Ahhh, right. It's a tad bit noisy huh?" I smiled softly at the young hermit before ruffling his get black hair. A small giggle escaped from TFC, as he attempted to fix his hair again. "Alright. Just call me and Stress if you need anything," I gave him one more head pat before setting off to the other side of the room. 

There I finally meet the young redstoner, hiding behind the lime green wool. Small wooden blocks, a couple of strings, and the wooden plank from the beginning, surrounded Mumbo as he busied himself with whatever he was doing. I quietly approached the young redstoner before he was able to notice my presence. 

"Watcha doing Mumby?" 

Mumbo's eyes widened from the weird nickname, but chose to brush it off. "Fixing seesaw," he replied before going back to the project in hand. He looked really determined to fix this. 

"I thought Iskall promised to help you with the seesaw?" 

"Iskall is being annoying again," he quickly glared back at slimy chaos at the other side of the room. "He says he's more big brain than me, and he's noisy . So I'm making the seesaw without him.."

"Hmm," I hummed, observing the young redstoner as he continued placing the plank on the two wooden blocks before putting it back on the floor, "What about your other friends? I'm sure they would love to help."

Mumbo glanced back at me and shook his head. "They say my seesaw will hurt Falsey again. So I want to make my seesaw safe, so that no one can get hurt."

A small figure came running towards us with a familiar guey substance sticking on his hand "Mumbo! Look at thi-" 

"Don't put slime on my seesaw again!" Mumbo whined as he scooped up all his materials and sprinted away from the room. Iskall followed pursuit, along with Jevin running after him, carrying the rest of the green slime in his arms. 

"OI! Iskall, Jevin! The slime is spilling all over the place!" I yelled. 

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--Third POV--

After what felt like forever, Mumbo finally escaped the slimy clutches of Iskall and rested next to TFC and Doom. His small chest kept rising as he struggled to catch his breath. 

The young TinFoilChef noticed this, and softly asked, "Are you okay?" 

Mumbo's facial expressions expressed how annoyed he was with the young brunette. The young redstoner huffed before glaring intensely at the floor.

 Once again, TFC notices this. "So you're not okay?" He asked again. 

"Iskall is annoying," Mumbo grunted, wrapping his legs closer to his chest. "I just want to make my seesaw, but he keeps on putting slime on me.."

"Slime sounds like fun," TFC replied happily. Mumbo made a sound of disagreement, but his expression slowly softened when he realized he was being a bit mean to his friend. 

"Yeah, sometimes it is fun," he mumbled. The two young hermits sat quietly together, unsure of what to say next. TFC's attention was back on Doom the chicken, brushing his little hand through the chicken's feathers. He watched as Mumbo kept glaring back at his seesaw parts and materials, visibly upset. 

"Do you want to make the seesaw here? 

" Hmm?" The young redstoner mumbled, looking up from his knees. 

"It's quiet and not a lot of my friends really annoy me here, " The young TinFoilChef suggested, "I can help you wi-" 

"I HAVE AN IDEA!!" Mumbo cried out, startling the poor TinFoilChef. "Let's switch places!" 

"... Heh?" 

"You dress up like me, and I dress up like you. So I can make my seesaw without Iskall being annoying to me!" 

 "I- uhh… Suree?" TFC wasn't certain of his answer, everything was all going too fast for the poor kid,  but Mumbo was already tugging his hand and dragging him towards their uncle. "Uncle Grian! We need your help!"

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After a few minutes of swapping clothes, the two kids and one adult finally came out from behind Grumbot. The dirty blonde brit watched amusingly as the two young hermits walked back inside the daycare, as two different people. 

TFC, now in Mumbo's white collar shirt a

with his small red tie, was still confused by  this whole situation, even though the young hermit already knew the context of Mumbo's idea. Everything felt wrong for the poor kid. 

Meanwhile Mumbo, now in TFC's black shirt, with the letters 'TFC' labeled on the shirt, was quite happy about his idea. This was probably the first time Grian saw the young redstoner this excited ever since he found him sulking in the corner. 

"Needless to say, you guys really do look alike." Grian ruffles both of their heads, accompanying the two hermits to the middle of the room. "Once Uncle Keralis is here, I'll help you change your clothes again. Alright?" 

TFC and Mumbo nodded back. The hermit laughed to his amusement before walking back to the other young hermits. 

Mumbo looked back at TFC, and explained; "Okay! You pretend to be me and distract Iskall. I'll make my seesaw now." 

TFC nodded along. He doesn't know why he's agreeing to this, but anything to help Mumbo. But before the young redstoner went back to TFC's old spot, he pulled TFC to a quick hug and exclaimed, "Thank you!" 

The young TinFoilChef was taken back by this, but he accepted it and wrapped his arms around… himself? No, it was Mumbo. But the small gesture created a fuzzy feeling in his chest. 

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Young TFC journeyed his way across the daycare and arrived at his slimy destination. He observed the two slime fanatics, piling the green substance on one proper pile. Iskall turned his back towards the fake Mumbo, giving him a little wave. 

"See? No slime! Now I can help you with the seesaw." 

"I-.. No! I already made it," he blurted out, waving his tiny hands in decline.

Young Iskall was shook. He stared at him with eyes as widened as uncle Keralis. "You are fast!... Oh well. Let's go play pirates." He gestured his hand to follow him, and TFC followed. 

When they arrived at the pirate ship, young hermits were crowding the front of the ship. Everyone awed to their disappointment, frowns covering their little faces. " Hmm? " TFC hummed. 

" The plank is broken. Now we can't make the bad guys walk the plank," False whined, giving up her wooden sword. 

"Tango! Why did you jump on the plank!?" a kid's voice cried out from somewhere inside the boat. 

"I thought it would be fun.." Young Tango hid his hands behind his back, slightly bowing his head in shame. " I'm sorry." 

Ren's little head suddenly popped out from inside the ship, with the broken plank in his hand. "I can't fix it! It won't stick!" 

"Won't stick?" Iskall, the only kid smiling about this situation. He looked back at Mumb- TFC and gave him a 'look'. TFC tried guessing what the 'look' meant for Iskall, but toO late! He's already dragging poor TFC back to the pile of slime!

"I have an idea Mumbo! We use slime to stick the plank on the boat!" Iskall exclaimed. 

"Good idea, let's try it," TFC walked past the young hermit and started scooping up the green substance. Once he picked up enough slime, he looked back at Iskall with a quick smile. 

"Wait, really?" 

TFC quickly noticed the shook face on Iskall's young face. He just stood there, surprised but confused. "You think it's a good idea?" He asked curiously. 

"Umm-yes?" 

"You always say my ideas are silly?" 

"Yeah, but you're also smart Iskall." TFC added another quick smile.

Iskall looked way too baffled about this. This is when young TFC realizes that young Mumbo doesn't  say stuff like that to Iskall… That's sad, Iskall is great! 

"Hmm." Iskall grinned at the fake Mumbo before wrapping an arm around his neck. "Of course I'm smart, have big brain!" he exclaimed, pointing his finger on his head. 

"But you're also big brain too, Mumbo." 

The two continued to smile at each other as they carried the rest of the slime back to the pirate ship. 

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Young Ren admitted his thanks to Iskall and the fake Mumbo, even if it meant using the one thing he considered banning from the pirate ship, slime. "I-I.. Thanks again for the slime?" 

Iskall's smug face was written all over that small face of his, as he stood proudly with the green substance in his hands. "You are welcome, Ren." 

Ren and False glanced at each other once again, sharing a couple of confusing looks. The young female hermit stepped forward from behind Ren, with her wooden sword on her hand once again. "Do you still want to play pirates with us? You can have a slime monster." 

"But I'm the monster!??" Scar cried out from behind the two young pirates. 

Bdubs crawled his way through the crowd, as an attempt to become a fish. "Again! We can have two monsters!" 

"I'll get more slime!!" Jevin yelled from the other side of the room. 

"JEVIN NO!!" 

As the young pirate ran off to stop the other two young hermits from creating an even messier slimy mess, TFC was left alone with False, Scar, and Bdubs. He must admit, he did not know what to do now. His plan was to follow Iskall, since Mumbo usually plays with him. But without him, he was totally lost on what to do now. 

"Mumbo, want to play pirates with us?" the young mayor asked. 

"Uhh- okay." 

Confused glances were once again shared from the young role players. Bdubs stepped in and asked, "Mumbo, I thought you were making your seesaw?" 

"Then why ask me to play if you know that I'm making my seesaw?" TFC replied bluntly. 

"So are you making the seesaw or do you want to play?" False handed out another wooden sword. 

TFC stayed quiet, but happily accepted the offer. He took the toy sword from her hand and held a steady grip, lightly glaring at the fake weapon in his hands. 

" You're very 'calm' today Mumbo, " The young boomer pointed out. 

"K-alm?" 

"Calm. It's like you're quiet, but happy. That's what Joe told me," Bdubs explains. 

"Maybe Iskall stopped being annoying?" 

"Iskall's always annoying," Young False giggles. 

"But Iskall has a really big brain," TFC replied back. 

" Hehhh?! " The young hermits gasped and looked at the fake Mumbo in disbelief. 

Just then, another young hermit jumped over poor TFC, and tackled him to a  hug. "TOLD YOU I'M BIG BRAIN!!" The young Sweden cried out, "Thank you Mumby!" 

"Hahaa, your welcome," The fake Mumbo chuckled. 

"But Mumbo, you said you don't like Iskall more big brain than you-" 

"Scar!!" Ren called out as he dragged a certain adult hermit towards the rest of the kids. "Because you are the fish eating monster, you have to try and eat the fish king! So uncle Grian will be the fish king!" 

"Okay Okay, yes! I'm the fish king," Grian shrugged as he sat right next to the other fishy hermits. Bdubs wiggled his way to his uncle and slammed his head on the floor in front of him, "You're fishy majesty." 

"There is no need to bow Bdubs," he chuckles, picking up the poor fish from the floor. 

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--Stress' POV--

Hours passed by, and Mumbo- or the fake TFC, quietly worked on his project of his. After Grian told me about their lil' swap, I couldn't leave Mumbo all by himself. So as Mumbo's guardian, I kept him company. I sat right next to the young redstoner and silently observed him and the rest of the kids. 

The other lil cuties and there Uncle Grian played a slimy game of pirates. Slime nearly covered the boat as Iskall, Jevin and TFC- or fake Mumbo, played their roles as the slimy green monster. Scar, who I presume was the original monster, immediately gives up playing the fish eating monster and sulks on Grian, who he was supposed to eat. Meanwhile Ren, False, and the rest of the hermits who also gave up playing the fishes, struggle to protect their boat from the slime of Doom. 

It will take some time to clean up the slimy mess, but seeing TFC surprisingly active with the other young hermits was really worth it. It's not something you see everyday. It was just too bad that he had to do it by pretending to be someone else..

 On the topic of pretending to be someone else, I know that this was Mumbo's plan in the first place, but I'm not sure if he's exactly happy about this switch? I don't know. I watched the young redstoner for a while now, attempting to fix his see saw, but the more hours that passed by, the more he slowly loses interest with his project, and spaces out. 

He seemed certain to make sure that Iskall doesn't mess with him and his seesaw. Maybe he's starting to feel a lil' lonely now. That's my theory at least. 

After minutes of observing him, the young redstoner finally gave up with his project. He gently places down the plank on the ground and lets out a dissatisfied sigh. 

"Something wrong Mumbo?" 

"Hmmm," he mumbles. 

"Ya' sure love?" 

Mumbo easily ignores my question, but he couldn't fully ignore me.  He instead crawls right beside me before he could rest his little head on me' shoulder. He then continues to stare at space once again. If the kid didn't want to talk, then that's fine, no need to force him. But sooner or later he needs to talk about it, or I don't know what kind of guardian I am if I don't help him at least. 

More minutes has passed by as the daycare slowly became quieter, and quieter, and quieter. Adult hermits started picking up the young hermits one by one, as Beef tries to convince young Etho that it's time to go home-

Yeah, the kids were definitely having way too much fun with their pirate ship. 

I was about to go assist Beef and Grian before I felt something tug my sleeve, a tiny hand pulled me down back on the floor. "Auntie Stress?"

"Yes Mumbo?" I asked softly. 

"I was using my brain, and I was thinking about a lot of stuff." 

"Hmmmm, what were you thinking about?" 

I asked again, gently bringing my hand on his head, brushing his black strands of hair. 

"Does TFC sometimes feel lonely here?" he looks at me with concern yet curious eyes, waiting for my response. 

Admittedly that wasn't the answer I was expecting from him, which really makes sense why he's asking this. No one actually considered that thought. 

"I'm actually not sure. Auntie Cleo said that Joe sometimes talks a lot with TFC." 

"But Joe is not here, so TFC is still lonely!" he cried out. Mumbo looks back at the seesaw parts, left unused in the corner. "I like TFC's place, it's quiet and away from Iskall's slime. But no one tried talking to me today. No one tried to talk to me, pretending to be TFC!" 

He turned his head back at me, a small pink blush tinted his cheeks. "Iskall is still annoying, but it's fun to have him as a friend. TFC needs a friend to play with every day," 

 I quietly listened to Mumbo ramble about TFC's need for a friend, which I honestly found incredibly considerate for a 5 year old. But it was now my turn to reply to him. 

" Unfortunately it's true that TFC would sometimes feel lonely," I smiled sadly, "but it doesn't mean that TFC doesn't have a friend. He's good friends with everyone, and everyone is good friends with h'im, it's just that he doesn't play with 'em that often. Just like how you always play with Iskall, but don't often talk with Cub. But you and Cub are still friends, right?"

" Yeah, we are still friends…" Mumbo mumbles," but still, I don't want TFC alone."

Young Mumbo looked back at his seesaw parts, carefully picking up his materials. He rested his hand on the plank's wooden surface, then suddenly his eyes widened. After hours of watching the young redstoner, a smile finally formed on his face. It was like an imaginary light bulb levitated on his head. 

"Auntie Stress, when we get home, can we fix my seesaw together? Because I have an idea" 

After a couple of seconds questioning my building/redstone knowledge, I answered, "I'm happy to help." 

"Mumbo," a young voice called out from behind. Alas, the Mumbo look alike finally arrived. "Uncle Grian said it's time to change clothes again." 

"Okay," Mumbo replied. He sprinted towards TFC, and the two walked across the daycare together. 

"M-Mumbo called TFC, Mumbo?" another young voice cracked right next to me. I turned my head to find a confused Iskall standing near my shoulder, with his finger pointing at the two young hermits. "Why did Mumbo call TFC M-.... Mumbo lost his big brain!" 

I wheezed as I found myself playfully ruffling the young sweden's head. "Not exactly love," I giggled. 

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---Third POV---

It was the next day. It wasn't as noisy and messy as yesterday was, most of the kids were tired of Jevin and Iskall's slime just randomly seen from every corner of the room. But now everything is clean and in order.  

After Keralis bidded Bdubs, Xisuma and TFC Farewell, the three immediately splitted from different sides of the daycare. Today, young TFC was expecting to peacefully hang out with Doom the chicken again, but he did not expect to find someone in his corner, silently observing the chicken. 

"Do chickens eat their eggs?" Mumbo asked, taking note of TFC's arrival. 

TFC, confused as he was, casually answers, "Mothers don't eat their babies." 

"Hmmm.." the young redstoner hummed. TFC sits at the opposite of Doom the chicken, observing Mumbo as he finally gave up looking at the chicken.

 "I fixed my seesaw with Auntie Stress," he continues, looking up to TFC with a simple smile. "Do you want to play seesaw with me?" 

The silence took over as TFC stared at Mumbo, quite surprised by his friend's offer. But it didn't take a while till he found himself accepting his offer. "Alright." 

Mumbo took TFC's hand and swiftly led him across the daycare till they reached a different corner of the room. In that corner, a simple yet fully built seesaw stood there. The two separated to their own side of the seesaw and held their grip onto the handle. 

"Okay. One… Two...Three…"

"GO!" 

Mumbo lifted his feet from the ground and ascended. The two balanced their weight as they equally took turns lifting each other. A giggle or two escaped their mouths every time they descended.

 A few teetering and tottering later, TFC found himself 0stuck on the top end of the seesaw. "Wha-" he noticed a cheeky look on Mumbo's face as he purposely kept his weight near the ground. 

"No fair Mumbo, you're heavier than me," TFC pouted, but shrugged it off with another giggle. 

"Okay~" he lifts his feet as TFC's side immediately starts plunging towards the ground! TFC huffed from the fall as he lightly glared at Mumbo's teasing eyes. 

But soon the two found themselves laughing at one another. 

"Wait a minute!" Mumbo exclaimed. He jumped off from his seat and ran somewhere near Grumbot. TFC watched as Mumbo received something from Auntie Cleo, then ran back towards the seesaw with something in his hands. "Here TFC, you can have this." 

He showed off a pair of clothes and handed it over the other young hermit. TFC was once again confused. Actually, Mumbo has been confusing him since yesterday. But he immediately recognizes the white polo shirt and mini red necktie. 

" We can try confusing our friends again by swapping clothes, so you can have my extra clothes," Young Mumbo explains as he walks back to his side of the seesaw. "It was funny seeing Iskall confused." 

TFC looked at the clothes, then back at Mumbo again. A little smirk formed on his face. "You want to swap now?" TFC asked curiously. 

But to his surprise, Mumbo declined. "Nahh, I want to play with the real TFC first," he replies casually. But the moment he looked back at TFC, he smiled softly at his friend.

The same warm and fuzzy feeling TFC felt in his chest yesterday, came back. The young redstoner and the young hermit found themselves smiling at each other, enjoying each other's company. To think just 20 hours ago, he was just hanging quietly in the corner, the two barely interacted with each other. And now here he is, playing with his friend, Mumbo. 

 "Again! One… Two… ThreaAAAHH-" 

The poor hermit shrieked as he was cut off by the seesaw's acceleration, his side was launched up to the air, nearly yeeting Mumbo from his seat. He glared back at a cheeky little TFC, who thought it was a good idea to get him back by also purposely keeping his weight near the ground. 

"I wasn't ready!?" 

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