Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ep 2.5: Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back

Skizz loves his friends. Really, he does. But Grian has somehow made the simplest tasks into the most suspicious actions and Mumbo is like a bloodhound trying to sniff out the slightest hint of guilt. 

And to be fair, Skizz agrees that Grian’s more eccentric behaviors, like how he’s muttering to himself now, or how his sleeping schedule is a bit wack, is strange. But this is also Grian. The dude who has stayed with all of his alliances until they died. 

The avian’s loyal to a fault.

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Mumbo’s concern starts early on, when Grian is a bit too eager to leave. Rushing- no, sprinting out to get the sugar cane needed for the book. And it only builds from there.

A rush to get enchanted. Practically sprinting out the door again to get the sculk sensors. Randomly disappearing at times.

And then he comes back in full diamond. 

What is Mumbo supposed to think? He was already upset that Grian had other friends on the server… his possessiveness was a nasty habit of his that Grumbot had unfortunately picked up in Season 7 now that he thinks about it. 

Anyway, full diamond! 

Not that Mumbo’s saying that his best friend isn’t capable, but the amount of luck needed for that is absolutely bonkers. There would be no way he could’ve feasibly gotten that during the first quarter of the session. Grian had to have a secret team or something. 

So Mumbo stroked his mustache, furrowed his eyebrows, and went to find Skizz. 

…

Skizz was giving the 4 G’s and BigB a tour of their base.

…Cool. That’s fine. Grian totally hadn’t been weird about their storage base recently. They just won’t let him know anyone went in there! They aren’t even opening chests at random, they’re just looking at the sculk, probably wondering where the wonderful Spanners got it. 

It’ll be fine.

…

They were still there. Pearl was trying to become one with their walls, and BigB was weirdly avoidant when it came to stepping on the sculk. 

Everytime Scott or someone waved the Creaking hybrid over, he would twitch forward and then flinch backwards the second he would touch it.

Odd, but not really important.

What was important was that Mumbo needed to talk to Skizz about Grian, who had been muttering to himself and twitching his wings the last time he had seen him. The poor avian had looked like he needed a preen honestly.

Mumbo twiddled with his mustache again.

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Bright blue eyes narrow as Mumbo fiddles with his mustache again. It was the third time he had done that since he had come down to the base. 

Something was wrong with his teammate.

Now, don’t get Skizz wrong, he loves Mumbo. But the redstoner is also the worst when it comes to sensitive subjects, even if they aren’t sensitive. 

And especially with how tense and paranoid the man was, a quick glance over to him again showing that Mumbo had shifted from fiddling with his mustache to messing with his sleeve cuffs, it was probably something small that had gotten pushed over the edge by the games. Sort of a straw breaking the camel’s back kind of nervousness if you will. 

Regardless, the shift from mustache to sleeves meant that the redstoner was getting impatient, so Skizz politely kicked their guests out and waved Mumbo over to the ladder. 

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Mumbo follows Skizz until they reach their bridges, hands continuing to fidget with their sleeves until he huffs and shoves them into his pockets. His sleeveless friend shoots him a lighthearted smile at his noise, stopping at the only finished rail to lean against it and look over the edge.

“You’re stressed about Grian.” Skizz says. It’s not a question, doesn’t even give a hint of being one, and yet Mumbo needs to- has to- answer it.

Mumbo steps next to Skizz, hands flying out of his pockets to wildly gesture along with his words. “He’s rarely at the base, he randomly disappears without a trace when he is here, he clearly needs a preening session and he hasn’t done it yet, and he’s gotten insane amounts of gear randomly!” 

Mumbo huffs, and his hands go from flying about to him dragging a palm over his face, leaving a redstone streak behind. His voice shrinks as he sags onto the rail. “Of course I’m worried about him.”

A light shoulder-bump from his friend has him tilting his head towards him. “Look, G-Sharp has always got a need to wander, but has he ever not come back?”

“No…”

“And we all disappear randomly, or go grind to get protected, don’t we?”

“Yeah…”

“So Mr. Mambo Jambo, do you really think that the same Grian you know and love is going to leave us?” Skizz pairs his sentence with an eyebrow raise, making Mumbo feel like even more of a child. 

He scratches the back of his neck. “No?”

“Ok then, what’s the problem?”

“I know I can’t stop him from being friends and seeing other people on the server, that’s not possible, but I’m also worried about how weird he’s gotten recently.”

“There it is. Straw that broke the camel’s back!” Skizz exclaims, clapping his hands together. “And you wanna know how we can fix that bit?”

Mumbo rolls his eyes at the Spanner’s antics. “What?”

“You talk to him about it. He’s our teammate and our friend. If we’re concerned about him, really truly concerned, then we need to talk to him about it. And if he denies everything, then we let him come to us.”

“...Fine.”

------

Well. That was easier than Skizz thought it would be. 

He was fully prepared to go get Scar or Jimmy to talk Mumbo into listening, or as a last resort Gem.

…Not Pearl, would just go berserk on Grian the minute she heard something could be wrong. She was scary sometimes.

But the other two yeah!

Now just to get Grian to the point where they can intervene with his weird Grian-isms.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2.5: Scout Does Not Like “Interventions”

Throughout the session Scout has gotten to know Gree-on even better. Gree-on dislikes mining for long periods of time in silence, tries to follow game rules, and is weirdly attached to the Scar.

Scout still does not like the Scar. Scout thinks that trying to deceive the Scar into liking them is a Bad Idea. But Gree-on has many of those, so Scout will keep their thoughts to themselves for once.

Luckily, as the session is finished, Gree-on is bringing them back to the Sculk, so Scout does not have to deal with any more Players and can spend some more time with Gree-on!

…

Scout has made a mistake somewhere in their short life. Probably when Scout thought that the Sculk Nook was just Gree-on’s when it is shared by Gree-on’s team. But a mistake nonetheless.

Scout is not getting their alone time with Gree-on apparently. They have to deal with the Man of Skizz and Mum-bow blocking the exits and saying things like, “We’re not upset, we’re just worried about you.”

Gree-on is fine! If they weren’t, Scout would know by now.

“...And you haven’t complained once about how terrible your wings feel either! No offense Grian, but they look terrible right now, you have dirt and grime and bent feathers everywhere.” Ok, so maybe Scout missed that, but it’s not like Scout knows everything about Players.

The Man of Skizz chirps in. “Yeah dude, you needed a preen like- yesterday.”

Gree-on, what is “a preen?”

A startled and stifled chuckle bursts its way out of Gree-on. “I don’t need you lot to clean my wings, I’ll get to them in a bit.”

Scout sends a distinct feeling of upsetfrustrated to Gree-on. How are they supposed to help Gree-on if the Player won’t let them help with their health? First their insistence that Scout couldn’t help find good food because it was ‘Cheating’ and now they won’t tell them when they’re hurting?

For once Scout agrees with Mum-Bow. This is too far.

“In a bit like the back of bases in a bit, or right after you sit down on your bed in a bit?” Mum-bow crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow as Gree-on’s eyes flicker between their Spanners.

Gree-on takes a step back. Scout disagrees with this action, and decides to let his displeasure known by poking him in the side. “Come on, Mumbo, Skizz- cut that out Scout- we can talk about this right? It’s not a -Scout stop it- big deal, I’ll just do them later.”

“When you’re muttering random things and are in a desperate need for a preening session? Yes, yes it is a big deal, wouldn’t you agree Mr. Mambo.”

“Why yes, yes I would Mr. Skizzleman.”

The Man of Skizz and Mum-Bow look at each other and then leap forward, snatching Gree-on’s arms and legs and tossing him onto the nearest bed.

Scout does not appreciate this. They are squished underneath Gree-on now. They were not expecting to be squished right now. It is not very comfortable compared to when Scout is prepared to be squished. And Gree-on is heavy.

“Come on Mumbo, why aren’t you getting onto Skizz for his wings?” Gree-on tries to deflect. Scout would try to help Gree-on, but is currently being squished. So they will not.

The bed ‘wool’ shifts, and Scout uses the shift to slither up to Gree-on’s shoulder. Except the Man of Skizz’s hand is on that shoulder. Ok, it’s fine! Scout will just go to Gree-on’s other shoulder.

Mum-bow’s hand is on that shoulder.

“-we’re worried about you, Grian, that’s all. Please let us help you.”

Mum-bow and the Man of Skizz can help Gree-on all they want, but only if they move their hands from Gree-on’s shoulders. Now preferably.

“Fine. I need help preening though, so you lot are stuck here with me until I’m done.” Gree-on has conceded defeat. Acceptable, if they move their hands so Scout can perch in his favorite spot.

Yes! Man of Skizz moved.

Now Scout can settle into his spot between and watch what ‘preening’ is. Scout hums softly to show Gree-on his happiness at the new position.

Mum-bow is looking at Gree-on weirdly. Gree-on is now smiling strangely at Mum-bow. The smile on Gree-on’s face looks fake. Scout’s still comfy though, so they’re going to keep humming.

“Are you… purring?” Mum-bow asks.

Gree-on gives a strained chuckle. “Yup! That’s- that’s what’s happening. Scout, shut up! Nothing else.“

The Man of Skizz raises an eyebrow and stares at Gree-on.

Scout feels shame. They do not know why, but they feel guilty of something.

One second goes by. Two seconds. Three. Gree-on is slowly trying to become smaller. Scout has joined them in their attempt.

After 5 seconds pass, Gree-on mumbles… something?

“What was that G?” The Man of Skizz asks.

It looks like Gree-on is in pain. Scout should probably be helping, but they’re just happy the Man of Skizz isn’t looking like that at them right now-

“I got connected to the Sculk and now I have a tiny Sculk friend named Scout!”

Oh no. Scout has been betrayed. The Man of Skizz is going to Look at them! How dare Gree-on be mean to Scout like this!

Scout switches to their small humanoid form to tell Gree-on what exactly they think of this grievous betrayal when Mum-Bow shrieks. Gree-on pins Mum-bow with a glare as Scout hides under their sweater again.

“Scout’s not gonna hurt you Mumbo, you don’t have to scream. It’s rude.” Gree-on huffs, crossing their arms. Scout sends yeshappyapproval. Screaming is rude.

“And not telling us the sculk came to life isn’t?!” Mum-bow shoots back, pointing out something that Scout is going to ignore in favor of believing they were right.

“Well maybe if you trusted me, I wouldn’t have had to hide it!“ Perfect comeback, Gree-on!

“Maybe I didn’t trust you because I could tell you were hiding something!” Terrible rebuttal, no sense made whatsoever, Mum-bow.

“Maybe-“

“Maybe you should both shut up for a minute!” The Man of Skizz yells, and Scout is not sulking. They’re not. They totally don’t care that the Man of Skizz was able to shush Mumb-bow like that. It’s fine.

The Man of Skizz sighs, and Scout can see them rub the bridge of their nose as Scout peeks out of the collar of Gree-on’s shirt.

“Mumbo, we agreed to focus on the preening issue right now.” Mum-bow opens their mouth and Man of Skizz interrupts. “No, we’ll come back to it, but you shouldn’t’ve brought something else up. Grian, we’re your teammates; we need to know these things or we could accidentally kill you.”

“…ok.”

The Man of Skizz claps his hands together and smiles. “Ok then, who’s your sculk friend?”

Scout likes Man of Skizz. They seem nice, and powerful. Mum-bow less so, but Scout will step onto Gree-on’s offered hands to meet the Man of Skizz.

“This is Scout.” Gree-on says. Scout decides to wave. Waving sounds like a good idea.

Mum-bow and the Man of Skizz’s faces are weird. They need to close their mouths. That might help.

“Hello! Scout is happy to meet the Man of Skizz.” Scout pauses. “And Mum-bow.”

Gree-on interrupts their very important meeting. “Are we able to do this while you preen me? Scout can do most of the talking.”

The two Player’s mouth audibly click shut, and they nod, shifting to reach Gree-on’s wings.

Scout is super patient while they do this. So patient. Scout totally isn’t squishing and stretching and slushing the whole time. They’re patient like that.

When the trio is finally settled, with Gree-on letting out soft chips and chitters every once in a while, Scout starts talking.

“Scout is Gree-on’s Sculk Scout! Gree-on found Sculk, was nice to Sculk, and helped Sculk spread, so now Gree-on is Sculk’s ProtectorGuardianSpreadPerfect!”

The Man of Skizz and Mum-bow have stopped in their preening to stare at Scout.

“The Sculk’s what?”

Gree-on huffs as the nice massages stop getting the muck out of his wings. “I’m pretty much their person. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s basically what Scout is saying.”

“Gree-on is perfect. Except for when Gree-on does dumb things.”

The Man of Skizz snorts and Mum-bow smirks.

“Dumb things you say?” Mum-bow leans around the wing they were preening.”Like what?”

…

Scout is very happy. Mum-bow and the Man of Skizz agree with Scout! The players laughed a couple times, well, more like a lot of times but the Man of Skizz and Mum-bow agreed!

The two were preening Gree-on’s wings again. The silence, only interrupted by the occasional chirp from Gree-on, was nice.

And then the Man of Skizz interrupted it even more. “Hey Grian, what’s with this clump of feathers? It’s blue with a couple white ones instead of your normal black.”

“What?” Gree-on contorts themself, into what looks like a painful position for players, to get a closer look. “I have no idea. I’ve got raven wings for most life series, and I’m not due for a molt anytime soon, I plan around those.”

Scout perks up, distracted from the lack of blissful silence. “Gree-on is getting Gree-on’s Sculk touch!”

“Sculk touch?” Mum-bow tilts his head. Silly Mum-bow, everyone knows what Sculk Touch is!

“Gree-on is connected to the Sculk, so Gree-on is getting Sculk bits!“ Scout let’s their ‘mouth’ widen into an imitation of a smile.

“And it’s not going to hurt me at all?”

“Gree-on is accepting the Sculk. It only hurts if Gree-on rejects it.”

The Man of Skizz sighs. “…We should probably question this a bit more.”

“It’ll be fine. Hopefully.”

These players are great, of course it’ll be fine, it’ll be great even!

Gree-on has their Sculk Touch!

———

Once again, the Sculk grow in the dark, shifting and changing what was already there. With Sculk’s Scout’s confirmation, it spreads, rippling across the vast expanse of the avians wings. 

ContentTiredSleepy

Sleek black feathers change to iridescent teal, black flight feathers shifting to white feathers with charcoal tips.

WelcomeProtectorSleepRest

And the Avian is Sculk’s.