Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the last … incident as they had been calling it, he and Xisuma had put together a team to shield and hide the world from outsiders. Anything that needed to enter had to have every line of code checked personally by Xisuma. Their team was small but powerful in unimaginable ways; Grian the ex-watcher who had access to and deep knowledge of unseen powers, Xisuma the voidtouched one of the few who could walk freely through the void and as they were an admin one who could access, modify, and see the world code, Scar the vex hybrid who’s magic could tow the line between life and death itself, and Cub the Warden hybrid who despite his insistence that it wasn’t magic and simply the application of yet to be explained science could send sonically charged bursts that ignored all barriers including dimensional and world based.

They had worked for months to set up protections, each one using their strengths and doing what they knew best. Cub created an interdimensional warning system using sonic bursts that could be both felt and heard as to make sure everyone got them. Grian used his powers to shroud the world from the watchers, and at the request of his friends he shrouded a few other worlds to keep their loved ones safe. Scar on the other hand had taken on the responsibility of creating barriers, ones that could kill outsiders without harming hermits or those who were invited. And Xisuma was reworking the world’s code and moving it as to help it stay hidden and unidentifiable, so that nobody who wasn’t given the world‘s updated information could locate it. Not one of them saw the value of rest at the time given the urgency of the situation and as such were all assigned someone to make sure they took breaks, courtesy of False with an alarmingly large sword and the other hermits having far too many worries. Keralis watched over Xisuma, often using his extra arms to force void into a room and hold the door shut until they slept. False kept an eye on Cub often using her agility and threats of violence to force him to take care of himself. Jellie and Bdubs helped take care of Scar usually by trapping Scar in his chair with Jellie on his lap and Bdubs offering blankets and pillows, not perfect but it worked well enough. And Mumbo worked hard with the help of Pesky Bird to keep Grian alive, mostly through unconscionable amounts of tea and regular cuddle piles for naps. The process still took months but it was worth it, in the end they all felt reassured that no watchers would be able to get into the world… except for Grian.

The first thing he'd done once they'd set up the protections and he had properly recharged his power was regain the ears he had when disguised, the feathers watchers had were not easy to hear out of and generally uncomfortable. Then over time he continued with changing smaller features, he couldn't risk larger ones in case he used too much power and his protections dropped. He brought his eyes down to a more standard set of two, and with the help of Mumbo helped turn them from a pure obsidian black to a more human set with white scleras, soft blue irises, and black pupils. And he brought his claws down to a more manageable length that more strongly resembled long nails that had been painted black according to Mumbo. He had no clue what he really looked like, but Mumbo said he looked cool and Mumbo didn’t lie to him.

Mumbo was helping him get ready, his favourite sweater having been remade and modified to make it easier for him to clasp together using magnets as his new, old? wings tended to get in the way. His comfortable pants now accessorised with a leg bag and scabbard, and much to his disdain he had to trade his "Impractical" fuzzy socks and slippers with slip-on shoes that he could more easily take on and off. He still couldn’t understand that, he’d never worn shoes before and nobody had noticed. Until he had started recovering again and someone asked where his shoes were, Mumbo was in a bit of trouble with the other hermits for having not noticed that earlier. And attaching a strap to his left arm to allow Pesky Bird’s harness to guide him more easily and quickly. He was sad Mumbo wouldn't be staying for the event but relieved that he would still come with for introductions, apparently his best friend had a “prior engagement” and wouldn’t be able to stay for the event. He was pretty sure that prior engagement was banging his head against the wall while fixing a door, but he wouldn’t call the man out like that.

"Are you excited to meet everyone? It's been ages since most of us have seen them, especially Lizzie and Jimmy!"

"Which one is Jimmy again?"

"Pearl's adopted brother, he's an avian specifically a canary. And he has some mild hearing loss so he made sure everyone else going can sign so when you aren't feeling wordy everyone can still understand you. He's one of the only hybrids coming who aren't hermits but they are all of the same opinions as us human hermits. The other is Lizzie, Joel's wife. She's an axolotl hybrid and from everything Joel has said about her she's a complete sweetheart, he is almost certainly going to immediately run to hug her so we might want to enter the world on the other side from him so we don't get knocked over." Mumbo laughed. "Oh and while not hybrids, Scott and Martyn are both elves. Jimmy and Pearl have known Martyn for years from a long closed world and Scott and Gem are great friends, I don’t know them very well but the others speak highly of them. Martyn can be a little protective though as far as I’ve been told, especially with Jimmy. That shouldn’t be an issue, they know that you’re a good person. But while I don’t think you’re going to, no jokes about traumatising him further.”

“That’s definitely something I can do.” And he… he was excited! Xisuma had been helping him work on this event world for weeks and teaching him the basics of being an admin. Though thankfully voi offered to do the portals part, after everything with the watchers he still didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of opening his own portals. Instead Xisuma would open the portal for the hermits and once everyone was through he could send them a message to close it, then they would do the same thing in reverse to get back. The admins of other worlds were responsible for getting their people to and from the world. It was exciting to have the opportunity to meet these people who his friends cared about, and he really liked the idea of running an event. Disability aids, service animals, and emotional support animals were already pre approved to come into the world and would be teleported to people if they were too far away, with the exception of Scar’s chairs as he was bringing many in a shulker… he just got the shulker teleported to him. They were going to use non perma-death with a three death rule, and Xisuma had helped him put in a line of code to limit pain though so it would feel more like a papercut rather than a major wound. They didn’t want anyone to actually be hurt, that wasn’t fun! The game was meant to be fun!

“Hey Mumbo?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad I crash landed in your world.”

“Me too.”

“And I would do it all again to have the chance to be able to meet you again, you showed me that existence can be more than just pain. I love you.”

“You are such a sap, and I love you too, Grian.” Mumbo’s warmth enveloped him in a hug, gently squeezing him with a comfort that only his best friend could ever seem to provide. Don’t get him wrong he adored all the hermits but Mumbo was his first friend, and even if it hadn’t been too long he was Grian’s longest friend. In the short time they’d known one another Mumbo had managed to show him more kindness in a day than he had gotten for his entire existence up until they’d met.

“Before we head out I talked to False and Skizz about jacket alternatives for you and they suggested a cloak with slits in the back for your wings, so I got one that should be warm enough for when it’s cold. It has magnetic closures like your jumper so it should be easy for you to take on and off.” As Mumbo pulled back a soft piece of fabric was placed in his hands.

“Can you help me get it on?” He didn’t need the help but Mumbo was always better at making things look presentable.

“Of course.” The cloak was taken from his hands and carefully put on him. “You should feel to find the closure so you can get it on and off when you need to.” There was something mischievous in Mumbo’s voice that he only understood when he felt it, he knew that charm. It was his half of the friendship necklace, the one he thought was gone forever. “I uh- I thought you would like it, it was on the floor after they… you know. Tango helped me fix it but this way it isn’t able to be pulled off. I hope that's okay.”

“It’s amazing, thank you.” Mumbo had become accustomed to Grian’s crying at kindness so he didn’t comment when his eyes welled up.

“Always, I will always do what I can to make your life as great as you deserve.”

“Is everyone ready?” Xisuma’s voice was calm as he spoke, contrasting the excited bouncing Joel was doing. Mumbo stood next to him, holding his hand while Pesky Bird sat comfortably on his shoulder.

“So ready, I can’t wait to see Lizzie! Do I look okay?” Joel interrupted the sounds of agreement.

“I think you look great.” Grian commented, giggling.

“Thank y- wait a minute!” Truly the best part of them all knowing he was blind was all the jokes he could now make.

“You look good Joel, that was a good one Grian.” He could practically hear the eye roll from Etho.

“Thank you, Etho.”

“Am I good to open the portal now?”

“Go for it.” Grian agreed, followed by the clacks of typing. The familiar feel of Xisuma’s power bloomed in front of him, but he knew better than to step forward until told. Apparently after all the time they’d spent working with each other he tended to recognise Xisuma’s portals before they’d actually formed and become visible. It was interesting to him, for his entire existence he’d thought that void power was cold. But as he was learning the power that was wielded by some of the hermits radiated warmth, even Scar with his magical control over life and death’s magic was warm and almost friendly. During their work protecting the world he had had to be stopped repeatedly from touching it and risking his life while Scar tuned it. Portals like Xisuma’s grew a little like ripples in water, at first a small drop pierces the veil between worlds. But the drop’s ripples spread and pulled open the veil with them, it was its own type of beautiful.

“Alright i-”

“Woo!” Joel interrupted, his own cries of excitement cut off as he went through the portal.

“As I was saying, it’s open. You are good to go through.” Xisuma sounded exhausted by Joel’s antics, they all knew he was excited to see his wife but they’d also prefer if he was excited a little quieter.

“Ready?” Mumbo asked him and lightly squeezed his hand.

“Ready.” And with that they stepped forward, the familiar feeling of the almost liquid like portal was oddly comforting to him. Unlike most of the things he did with the other hermits he knew what to do here.

As he stepped out of the portal he heard Joel shout "Lizzie!" and sprint away clearly having missed his wife. But only moments later a scream of pure agony and devastation filled the air…

Chapter Text

"This isn't possible, you died! I saw your body! I had to pull Pearl off of it! Martyn you remember don't you?" An unknown voice screeched.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” A new voice quickly approached and before he could even process it he had been knocked to the ground.

“Hey! Back up right now, or you’ll regret it!” Mumbo’s voice was stern and cold.

“Not until he explains himself, what are you doing here?”

‘Me?’

“Yes you! Do you even care what you did to them?”

“Okay everybody needs to take a few steps back, at least until someone explains what’s going on!” Based on where his voice was coming from he could assume Etho had stepped between Mumbo and the stranger.

“You want to know what’s going on? Your new friend here faked his death and abandoned his siblings! And by the way, your disguise sucks! Nobody has that many wings!” What was going on here.

“His name is Grian, and he naturally has all those wings. You need to get whatever is going on with you under control because I won’t let you hurt him.” He had only heard Mumbo’s voice like that once before, and that was back when nobody trusted him… when Xisuma brought up looking at his code.

“Martyn, stop yelling.” Pearl’s voice was harsh, and in the quiet the sound of sobbing came through loudly.

“Heyyyy, hey, hey, hey, songbird it’s Martyn where are you at right now?” The man’s voice became almost unrecognisably soft as it rushed away, receiving a pained chirp in response. “You’re not back there songbird, we’re here with Pearl, and Lizzie, and Joel’s here. You’re safe here, I’ve got you.” Mumbo began to help him up while the other was busy.

“Hey Jim, we’re all right here with you.” A woman’s soft voice reassured, if he had to guess that was probably Lizzie. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Grab Tango, he’s the one with the fire hair right? Heat sometimes helps pull him out of it.” Martyn urged and before he could process it he heard someone run up and start dragging someone with them, hopefully that was Lizzie dragging Tango because if not there were more problems. He tried to tuck himself further into Mumbo and wrapped his wings around them protectively, he could handle injured wings but he absolutely couldn’t handle Mumbo getting hurt.

Eventually it seemed that Jimmy had calmed down and Pearl, Martyn and Jimmy went to have a “private” conversation, unfortunately for everyone they were not nearly far away enough for the amount of yelling they were doing.

“Why didn’t you say something? Dead brothers are awful surprises!” A voice that he assumed was Jimmy’s shouted angrily.

“I didn't know!”

“How did you not see it Pearl? You’ve known him for months! His face hasn’t changed at all!”

"Well maybe that's because you can remember his face from when he was alive!" Pearl wailed. "All I can see when I close my eyes is our brother's face covered in blood, you still get to remember something else! I am truly happy that you can remember him differently but I can't."

“I uh- I think I shouldn't have overheard that... I'm going to go do something else. Like uhh I think I left my table in the dryer, yeah that's it!" Scar’s awkwardness had a calming familiarity to it, grass crunching as he wheeled away.

“You’re acting like I haven't been blaming myself for the last seven years! I can't celebrate birthdays without bursting into tears wondering what he would've been like if he'd made it to that age! So don't you dare imply for one second that this was on purpose!”

“I've got you Grian, and I believe you.” Mumbo’s voice was soft and careful, clearly trying to figure out what was going on. “I don’t know what is wrong with them but it’s not your fault.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on but I’m going to go tell Xisuma what I do know, and hopefully grab some supplies since I’m guessing we aren’t starting this event anytime soon. Anyone want to come with?” Bdubs chuckled awkwardly.

“Impulse and I are going to come with too, Etho will you be alright to stay incase anything happens?” Tango seemed on edge.

“I’m good, mind grabbing me some of my weapons? I have a bunch of spares in my base, they’re in a red shulker. You guys can also grab some empty shulkers to transport things if you want them, use whatever you need.” Unconsciously his wings dropped a bit, not enough to leave them vulnerable but not as tightly held as before.

“Do you mind getting some berry tea, we have an entire cabinet of it in our kitchen? I have a feeling that all the cuddles in the world aren’t going to be enough to get him to sleep.” And to be fair Mumbo was almost certainly right.

“How much should we grab?” Impulse’s normally absurdly high energy was almost unnaturally low.

“Well one shulker would contain around 169724 eight ounce mugs of standard strength tea worth of dried berries, or 84862 double strength ones.”

“Tango how, why do you know that?” Mumbo exclaimed.

“Well one eight ounce cup of tea uses about one point two teaspoons of tea or about 5.9147 cubic centimeters worth. Shulkers hold up to one cubic meter of loose items when entirely full, or a million cubic centimeters. So you just divide a million cubic centimeters by 5.9147 cubic centimeters and you get 169724.1892 so approximately 169724 eight ounce cups of tea.” That was terrifying, he had heard that Tango was creepily good at math but jeez.

“Don’t even know why we’re ever surprised by that anymore.” Impulse laughed, lightening the mood a bit.

“I just mathed so hard on the spot! Yeah baby!” Good to know the blazeborn was proud of himself, it was a nice relief in comparison to the yelling that was far more difficult to make out over the conversation. Shortly after the trio went back through the portal for their supply run leaving Mumbo and Grian with Etho.

“So, uhh. Grian, you like berry tea? Do you uhh eat any other kinds of berries?” The wolf hybrid asked uncomfortably. He nodded his head against Mumbo.

“He does, but the tea is something we make multiple times a day. At least one cup with every meal, one when we wake up and one before bed but it’s usually more. Beef drops off some more weekly so we rotate our stockpile so we always have pretty fresh tea, it’s shelf stable so it’s not a health risk.”

“That’s a lot of tea, do you actually drink any water?”

“We’re still working on that one, apparently if he didn’t need it before he doesn’t need it now.”

“But didn’t he not have a digestive system?”

“Correct.”

“I genuinely don’t know what to do with that.”

“Honestly? Me neither, it’s a work in progress.” Mumbo chuckled, that was frankly rude. He absolutely didn’t need water, if water was such a necessity for him it should’ve tasted more like berry tea.

“Yeah, so… The weather?”

Once the others had returned and Etho was properly armed he finally released Mumbo from his feathery cocoon, mostly. He was still close enough to shield Mumbo with his wings if necessary. No he wasn’t overprotective at all! “mmbo?” He rested his head on Mumbo’s arm, the taller was the the perfect height to rest his head on the squishiest part of his bicep.

“Yeah bud?”

‘Can we go sit?’

“Yeah, want me to lead or Pesky Bird?”

‘Pesky Bird.’ He whistled out the four note tune that told Pesky Bird to bring him somewhere to sit, they let the parrot lead them to a fallen tree to sit on with him immediately curling into Mumbo. Etho following behind almost silently as if he were their security.

“How are you doing?” Mumbo asked carefully.

‘Eh, they’re obviously upset but I don’t know what they’re talking about. I swear I’ve never had siblings, you were the first family I had!’

“I know Grian, and we’ll figure it out I promise. This isn’t your fault, and I’m going to have a word with this Martyn at some point.”

‘They just seem so convinced. But it isn’t possible, I remember Pearl saying her brother was a human. Even if it was somehow possible for me to not remember, I’m not human.’

“I believe you-”

“We believe you Grian. Whatever is going on, we believe you.” Etho interjected softly.

‘Thank you.’

“I think you two’s tent will be done soon, they figured that you would probably want to stay together. And Xisuma closed the portal temporarily but has it ready to open if any of us want to come back, at least according to Tango.”

“Thanks Etho, and thank you for protecting us.”

“Of course, you guys are my friends. I will always do whatever I can to protect my friends.” Friends? He knew the hermits were his friends but he’d never expected the normally cold Etho to say it. He gestured for Etho to stand infront of him so he could sign something to him clearly.

‘You are a good friend, I am happy to be friends.’ His signing was slow and exaggerated but he hoped he got the message across.

“So are you, and I’m happy to be your friend too. Just don’t go telling everyone I have feelings, I need to keep up the tough guy persona so nobody fucks with my friends.”

“And that’s why only one of him and False are allowed off the world at any time, Etho scares the life out of people who don’t know him and some of us who do.”

‘Stupid seeing people, Etho isn’t that scary.’ His words were immediately met with laughter.

“Jerk!”

“You heard it here first, Etho is no longer scary!” Mumbo laughed.

“I’m plenty scary, you just can’t see my patented death glare.”

“That’s fair, in the entire two times he’s given me that look my entire body froze. It’s disturbing, like someone superchilled the entire world. And you can't even see half his face! But his eyes drop, and he tilts his head down a bit. Then he looks at you like he's sizing you up and raises an eyebrow like he’s saying “Go ahead, I needed something to fill the time for the next minute.” It's bloody bone chilling!” Mumbo continued to ramp himself up.

‘I think that’s just another perk to being blind, Pesky Bird, the ability to guilt Mumbo into making me tea and being immune to Etho’s intimidation.’

“Hey!” Mumbo mocked offense.

“Those are all pretty cool, and you do get a pretty nice cane out of it.”

‘And nobody will believe you that I knew people wore shoes I just didn’t want to.’

“I knew you lied! There was no way you’d never worn shoes!” Mumbo exclaimed.

‘Oh no that part was true, shoes are stupid. You don’t need them if you just fly everywhere.’

“Want to know a secret?” Etho asked quietly and he nodded aggressively. “Bdubs doesn’t wear shoes or socks, neither does Ren.”

“That’s different, Bdubs needs to be connected to the ground to get energy and Ren literally can’t wear shoes his legs and paws don’t work with them.”

‘But my fuzzy socks are unsafe?’

“Grian, with the way you land at such high speeds if you landed on a rock or stick you could get really hurt. Ren’s paws are specifically designed for moving around on difficult terrain and Bdubs literally grows plants under his feet that cushion him.” Mumbo explained exasperatedly.

‘Mumbo I know, just messing with you. But I’m still not wearing them at home or in the tent.’ A small buzzing noise let him know that one of the others received a message.

“Your tent is set up, do you guys want me to take you to it?” Etho asked warmly.

“That sounds lovely, Grian are you good to go?” He nodded, and with the help of Pesky Bird, Mumbo, and Etho he made his way to their tent. They decided to have their supper in the tent and just go to bed after so they didn’t have to interact with others.

Chapter Text

“Mumbo? Grian? Martyn is out here saying he wants to talk to Grian?” Etho called out, he hadn’t known the wolf hybrid was outside their tent. “He’s promising to not yell or try to hurt anyone.” Unsurprisingly Mumbo’s hearing aids were out as he had planned on sleeping so Grian gently shook him awake and got him to look so he could sign.

‘Martyn is here? And apparently so is Etho? Etho says he’s not going to yell or fight. He as in Martyn not Etho, Etho is always happy to throw down.’

‘Do you want to talk to him?’ Mumbo awkwardly signed one handed as he put his hearing aids on.

‘I don’t know, but I think I should listen. Can you stay though?’

“Of course, even if I wasn’t staying with you I would’ve been right outside with Etho in case something happened.” Mumbo smiled softly as he leaned over to turn up the brightness on their lantern. “Come in, but if you pull anything Etho will be the least of your worries.”

“Alright, you can go in. But I’ve got my ears on you.” Etho sounded like he had probably given the man his patented death stare, actually how did he patent that? The tent door slowly unzipped with an odd sound, the tarp softly crunched as the elf entered.

“So, why are you here?”

“I uhh I was planning on talking to Grian alone?”

“Not a chance. He wanted me here, I’m not leaving.”

‘Mumbo stays or you go.’

“Fine. Listen I don’t know what your game here is, and frankly I don’t care. But you’ve hurt Jimmy and Pearl enough, so you either need to come up with a really good reason on why you faked your death or leave for good.” Martyn’s words were harsh but confusing.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about! I just met Jimmy today and I met Pearl a few months ago.’

"What the hell is wrong with you! You show up again after all this time pretending to not know what you did, we greived for you! Pearl still sometimes spends hours scrubbing nonexistant blood off her hands! Jimmy gets night terrors and wakes up screaming about not being able to save you and gets trapped in partial flashbacks where he is stuck mentally at the moment he saw your body! You were supposed to be their older brother, they were fourteen!" Martyn's anger ran cold as it seeped into his voice, not yelling but somehow so much worse.

“Martyn their brother was a human!” Mumbo exclaimed frustratedly.

‘I’m not human, I wish I was.’

“Hey, Grian. You’re perfect just the way you are, we all wish what happened to you didn’t but that’s not your fault.” Pesky Bird squaked in agreement at Mumbo’s statement.

“Oh come on, watchers aren’t even real! It’s the worst disguise possible!”

“Hey Etho! Just checking but watchers are real right? You were there when we fought a bunch of them right?” Mumbo called to their friend outside.

“Yup, I killed quite a few on our rescue mission. Never expected to be able to put that on my resume.” Etho sounded genuinely proud of himself about that.

“He’s manipulating all of you! How do you not see this?”

‘What is wrong with you? They saved me!’

“It’s honestly impressive how you’ve got them all wrapped around your finger. But this shit won’t fly with me. Did you ever even think about the consequences of your actions? Did you ever care to think about them?” He wanted to scream, none of this made any sense. It wasn’t possible.

‘If I had a family before Mumbo I would’ve done everything I could’ve to get them back, but I didn’t.’

“Why are you still lying? Just admit it!”

‘I’m not, I really don’t know what you want me to say!’

“I want you to acknowledge after seven fucking years what you did and actually let them heal!”

‘I’m genuinely sorry about what happened to them but I didn’t do anything to them!”

“Again you’re lying, you’re lying! And I don’t know why?”

“If he is saying he isn’t who you’re talking about then he isn’t.”

“Oh right, I forgot that nobody ever lies!”

“You’re right people do lie, maybe you’re lying! It would make sense why you’re accusing him of being someone who was a human!” His wings softly began hugging him as he pulled his legs closer to his chest.

“Yeah I’m such a great liar that I managed to give Jimmy a panic attack from seeing his face! That makes no fucking sense!”

“Neither does Grian being their long lost human brother!”

“Do you need bloody photo evidence? He has the exact same face which either means that he’s their brother or he stole their brother’s face!”

“That would be lovely! Because unless you can prove it your accusations are baseless!”

“Fine I’ll contact my admin so I can go get them!”

“Good you do that, until then keep your bloody accusations to yourself! Even if what you’re saying was possible, Grian isn’t the kind of person to do it.” Mumbo was mad mad, but it was nice that it wasn’t directed at him. Right?

“Clearly he is but…”

“Seriously what is wrong with you? If you can’t prove it stop bloody saying it!” Mumbo wasn’t quite shouting but if they hadn’t already the voices had almost certainly woken the others. “Not to mention he’s the one who shielded your world, you really need to stop accusing him of being this-”

“Monster? The only kind of person who fakes their death and goes through all of this to hurt their siblings is a monster.”

“Get out.” Mumbo’s voice felt like it shook the world, his anger dripped from his voice. “Etho please get him away from me before I kill him.” When did he start crying?

Chapter Text

“Oh Grian, I’m so sorry. Would you like a hug and some tea?” He nodded, tears still streaming down his face. “Alright, I’ll message Etho and ask if he can grab some hot water for us. Would you like me to come to you or would you like to come over here?” Mumbo asked softly.

‘I come to you?’

“Of course.” He awkwardly shuffled over to his best friend, letting the man pull him close to lay on his chest for hugs. “That never should’ve happened, I’m sorry we didn’t get him to leave sooner. It’s not an excuse but I was so angry with what he was saying that I lost focus on anything else. And I’m so sorry that I did that.” Mumbo spoke softly, gently petting Grian’s hair with the hand closest to the man’s wings.

‘Why is this happening?’

“I wish I could tell you, but we will figure this out. I’m not sure how yet but we will, I promise.”

‘You know I wouldn’t do that right?’

“I know, how are you doing?” As awkward as it was to lay on his side on someone to not hurt his wings knowing that Mumbo wouldn’t let go until he did was comforting, he let his arms wrap tightly around Mumbo’s torso.

‘I’m okay.’

“I don’t usually like to tell people how they’re feeling but you are still sobbing, it’s okay to not be okay.”

‘I don’t know what they want from me, at least before when someone wanted to hurt me it was because I’d done something wrong. At least it was my fault.’

“Grian, listen to me right now. All of that hurt you experienced wasn’t your fault, they were cruel and unfair.” He was gentle as he spoke, offering a light squeeze to Grian.

‘But-’

“No buts, if I told you that those things happened to me would you say I deserved it?”

'No, but you're a person. Martyn was right about one thing, I am a monster.’

“You aren't a monster Grian, you're just as much of a person as I am. Your personhood is so much more than being or not being a human, it's who you are outside of that. And that person is someone I love, that person is absolutely incredible. He is kind, smart, someone who drinks concerning amounts of tea, genuine, and absolutely the strongest person I've ever met. He is the furthest thing from a monster.” It was good that he'd already been crying because if he hadn't he definitely would've been now.

“Hey, Mumbo, Grian? I’ve got hot water, would you two like to grab it from me or should I come in?”

“You good if he comes in?” He nodded lightly. “Come on in Etho, I don’t think he’s going to let me up anytime soon.” This time when the tent unzipped there was no anxiety about it, Etho was safe… at least for him.

“I can see why, just letting you two know that I’ll be on watch out here for another few hours. It should be Skizz on watch next and then Ren I believe, after what Martyn pulled we all agree that for now someone who is awake and armed is going to be outside while you two sleep to be safe.” Etho explained, the careful pouring of water made a comforting and familiar sound.

“Thank you, but I’ll certainly be sleeping with a knife to be safe.” He should be surprised but at this point in their friendship Mumbo sleeping with a knife wasn’t even in his top 50 worries about the man.

“You weren’t already? I always do.” And that definitely wasn’t a surprise, if anything he was honestly a little surprised Etho slept at all. “This needs a little longer to steep. I hope it’s alright.” Once again Etho’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, based on Mumbo’s descriptions of his appearance it was a little like his tail. So much of him was intimidating, his glare, his piercings, his detailed threats, but his tail and the rare times he had a reason to be gentle were soft and vaguely resemblant of a puffball.

‘Thank you.’

“You guys know it’s okay to have big emotions right now? Today has been a lot, and you wouldn’t be alone. But there are people here who care about you and will be here for whatever you need.” That was just plain eerie, since when was Etho so in tune with everyone’s emotions? “I can smell it on you, wolf hybrid thing. People’s bodies naturally secrete certain chemicals when they’re stressed, scared, upset, I just happen to be able to smell them and tell the difference. It’s good for knowing if my threats are working and if my friends are okay.” So it seemed Etho could also read minds.

‘Wait have you been sniffing us?’

“Not intentionally, usually my mask helps with most of it but Grian you are practically dripping with stress and upset feelings. And Mumbo you’re not much better off, you smell like you’re going to have a panic attack and/or commit a murder. And yes if you do the second one I will help.”

“I would take some offense but as usual Etho is right about everything, at least now I know a bit more of why.” Mumbo chuckled softly. “Wait does that mean Pearl and Ren can do that too?”

“In theory, but I’ve been doing this a lot longer than they have. It’s different from person to person and hormone to hormone, so it takes a lot of time and effort to do it and even more to be accurate when doing it.” Etho sighed. “Alright now, hands out I have your tea.” He sat up and reached his arms out, feeling a warm cup press against one he closed the other around it.

‘Thank you.’ He mouthed, hands far too full to sign.

“Alright, I’ll be outside if you need it.”

“Thanks.”

“So I think Etho moved the conversation along a bit, but he was right. I don’t believe either of us are doing particularly well right now, we should talk about it though. If you want I can start.” He nodded. “I'm, well scared doesn't really even come close. I keep thinking that one of them will do something… and I'll lose you again. Because honestly I'm not sure I'll be lucky enough the second time. This feels like they’re experiencing some weird folie á troix situation and those don’t always end well.” Oh… that, that made sense. He crossed his legs and placed the mug carefully in his lap so he could sign without spilling anything.

‘I feel like I’m going crazy. I remember every moment of my existence from creation to now, but they’re so certain that it’s making me question everything. I know it’s completely impossible I mean I’m not a human, and even then I’m not nearly skilled enough to age a disguised form gradually. And what if they hurt you? I don’t care what happens to me, but what if they hurt you? I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.” He was shaking violently as he signed, tears running down his face. He could handle if they hurt him, he was good at handling pain. But Mumbo… Mumbo was soft and kind, he didn’t deserve to be hurt.

“I think at least with Etho around they won’t be able to lay a finger on either of us, even if he’d deny it he cares about us.” Mumbo placed a gentle hand on his leg, reassuring him that he was right there. “And people are welcome to try, I will never ever let them take me from you. We’re family, nobody takes away family if I have anything to say about it.”

‘If they even try I won’t hold back, I don’t care who finds me. I will pull them apart at the code level and rearrange them so they’ll have to live with it, for the first time ever I can say I love someone and nobody can take that from me. I don’t care if I have to be a monster, be like them… there is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.’

“We won’t let it come to that, I promise you.” The man’s voice was soft, hand offering a light and comforting pressure.

‘I love you.’

“I love you too Grian, now finish your tea and let’s go back to bed. You look exhausted and I feel exhausted. I think some rest would do us both some good.” Mumbo sighed. And so they finished their routine, tea was drunk, Pesky Bird was settled. They each took to their sleeping bags despite Mumbo offering that they could lay together if he preffered, their sleeping bags already laying in a makeshift nest. And as per usual Grian turned out the light from the lantern, he did have more experience with doing things when he couldn’t see.

It felt like his blood was itching, like he was going to explode if he stayed in the tent any longer. He needed to stretch his wings, but if he said that he absolutely wouldn’t be allowed without someone coming with. He was light on his feet to get up, careful when he harnessed Pesky Bird, and near silent when he opened the tent door and stepped out.

“G, what are you doing up buddy?” This was good, Skizz was more trusting than the others

‘I need to pee, I have a weapon with me don’t worry.’ He signed quickly, hoping the man had some sort of light.

“Alright then be back quick, I’ll keep an eye out to be safe.” And with that he was off, as soon as he was pretty sure he’d be out of view he and Pesky Bird took off. The parrot guided him carefully to the treetops and letting them settle on a branch barely strong enough for the pair. There was something comforting about being up high, it was the only place he ever really felt safe without Mumbo. The cool breeze on his face and his wings wrapped around him like a blanket, when Mumbo had to go out it was where he spent most of his time. Though not this specific tree, he had one at home he preferred. According to Mumbo it was the single tallest tree around, a gigantic oak who’s canopy made the perfect spot for picnics. But this one would suffice, it could offer some comfort despite what Mumbo would say about repressing his feelings. But Mumbo wasn't his therapist, he didn't have one. That's why he could cope however he wanted and nobody could judge!

Up in the trees he didn’t have to exist, didn’t have to try to be a person, he could just be there. A preened off feather floating in the wind or a leaf that had fallen into the water floating along, the smell of rain in the air of the rushing sound of a waterfall. He didn’t have to be a person or a thing, he could be a concept… and feel like a fleeting one at that. Mumbo always wanted him to know he was a person, sometimes it was nice to feel like he didn’t have to be. He leaned himself against the trunk of the tree, Pesky Bird nestling into his lap cosily. The advantage to having all his wings was that he could wrap three pairs around him and still have two more pairs for stabalisation, and with the help and care of Mumbo his feathers had gotten as soft as his jumper. Before Skizz and Impulse had shown them he didn’t know wing care could be done painlessly let alone that it could be enjoyable, Mumbo’s hands were always gentle as he carefully cleaned and fixed up his wings. They often dedicated an entire day to it with other hermits only interrupting to drop off food. Sometimes it was still strange to have someone touch his wings even if it was Mumbo, he still could never quite get over the worry that they would be used to hurt him.

“Grian? I know you’re up there. I just want to talk… and make sure you aren’t planning on doing anything dangerous.” That was Pearl’s voice calling up to him, why did she care? “I don’t think I can make it all the way up there without wings, do you mind coming down? Even just to a lower branch so I don’t wake anyone up.” He sighed, letting Pesky bird lead him down to the ground… or rather Pesky Bird indicated when to pull back up when he went flying directly down. “I know he’ll stop you but every time you do that there’s a moment where I stop breathing.”

‘Got to be a good flyer to keep up with Pesky Bird, he’s fast when he wants to be. Especially with all these wings, if I couldn’t fly well with this many it would be a little sad.’

“That uh, that’s true. Listen Grian, I don't want to lie and say it won't impact our relationship but I need to know. There are two reasons Jimmy and Martyn would think you're our brother, and one of them you've been denying nonstop... You can change your face, and the only way it could be that accurate is if you'd seen him before. Before you came to our world I'd never met you, so you clearly weren't around when we were younger." Pearl sounded as if she was piecing something together in her head. "When you were with the watchers, did you kill my brother?" Somehow the woods fell even quieter, as if all the creatures had been silenced at once.

‘No, I promise. I remember every single person I had to kill, every face I’ve seen. I would never dishonour anyone’s life by taking by using their face, I’m sorry I really can’t explain why I look like him. But if you need I can leave, I’ll find an empty world to live in. The hermits will all stay protected but you won’t have to see someone who looks like him.’

“Oh… No, you don’t have to leave. Just maybe don’t intentionally approach Jimmy for a while.” Pearl’s voice cracked and she sounded almost simultaneously disappointed and relieved.

‘I should get back to my tent, Skizz is going to send out a search party soon.’ He didn’t wait for a response before darting back to the tent with Pesky Bird, propelling himself through the woods at astronomical speeds and not waiting to talk to Skizz before heading into the tent. He gestured for Pesky Bird to go back to his perch as he settled down in the nest.

Curling up with Mumbo his wings covered them like a feathery blanket, his head rested on Mumbo he could hear the soft beating of his heart and feel the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. That helped, that always helped. Hearing and feeling that Mumbo was there, was alive meant that Mumbo was safe. And that feeling; knowing Mumbo was safe, that his family was safe was the single best feeling he had and would ever experience. And right now with everything else that was happening it was functionally the only thing that could keep him going.

Chapter Text

“Knock knock, we come bearing comfort! Can we come in?” A female voice called out. It wasn’t familiar enough to be a hermit, but he’d definitely heard it before. Must be Lizzie, and if she was with someone it was probably Joel. He gently shook Mumbo awake and gestured for him to put his hearing aids in.

‘Lizzie and Joel are outside, they are apparently bringing comfort? They asked if they could come in, I’m okay with it if you are.’

“Come on in, just watch your feet! The nest takes up most of the tent.” He liked Mumbo’s voice, it was another good sign that he was alive. And hearing the man laugh was always calming, it meant that at least at that moment things were okay.

“Are we good to enter the nest or would you guys prefer if we stayed outside it?” Joel asked calmly.

‘You can come in just don’t mess around with it.’ His hands moved swiftly followed by a gesture for them to sit.

“Thanks man. So, well as things have been blummin insane and we sort of thought we could bring some things that might be comforting for you lot.”

“Yeah! We brought lots of extra blankets in case you want them or need more for the nest, I know Jimmy’s one back home is more blanket than nest by now. Hot water and tea, Joel may have mentioned you like tea quite a bit. And we have comfort food! We weren’t quite sure what dietary restrictions you might have so we brought a bit of everything, my friend Shelby from my home helped us out. We have cookies if you have a sweet tooth, chocolate chip and sugar, mashed potatoes and fresh buns if you’re feeling like carbs sound nice, a seed, berry and nut mix, and lasagna with mushrooms and beef. And yes I know we went overboard but this is how we like to show people we care.” Lizzie had to pause for a moment to catch her breath.”We weren’t sure exactly what teas you like outside of a berry one so we brought, oolong, green, earl grey, orange pekoe, and chamomile, with everything happening I’d recommend the chamomile it’s lovely and good for stress but it’s up to you.”

‘If it’s okay I’d like to stick to the tea I usually have. But I’d like to try a chocolate chip cookie, I’ve never had them before.’

“You what?” The axolotl hybrid exclaimed.

‘For a while they thought I was a parrot avian so no chocolate but after that it just never came up, it’s only pretty recently that we were able to stop tracking my calories after… well I’m sure Joel told you about what happened.’

“A little, but it’s not my story to tell mate.”

“Thanks.” Mumbo sounded happy though it was a confusing statement. “Hand?” The man whispered to him, after he held his hand out a warm round object was placed in it gently. He carefully lifted it to his mouth and took a bite, it was like nothing he’d ever eaten before. Somehow crispy and soft, it tasted buttery and sweet with flavours he couldn’t quite place. It was incredible. “I think we may have found a new comfort food.” The others laughed lightly.

“Shelby will be thrilled, she loves baking for people. Mumbo, would you like anything?”

“I’ll grab a bun, but please sit you two. You brought the hot water so I’ll get some tea brewing, what would you two like?”

“Chamomile would be lovely if it’s not too much work.”

“Oh, that does sound nice I think I'll have some too! Mumbo, what about you?” Joel added.

“I’ll nab some of the earl grey if that's alright?” And so they sat like that for a while, eating delicious food and drinking tea in relative quiet. Just Grian, his best friend, a newer friend, said friend’s wife who he was growing to like, and his seeing eye bird. If it weren't for everything else that was happening it would've been quite nice.

“So Grian, can I ask you something not extremely serious?” Lizzie questioned.

‘Sure?’

“Why do you always spell out names instead of using name signs?”

‘I’m blind…’ For emphasis he waved his hand in front of his eyes. ‘How would I know anyone's name signs?’ They all chuckled a bit at that.

“Well now I feel silly, wait but then how do you know how to sign?”

‘It's a watcher thing, because we're less creature and more creation we come into existence fully formed. So we have all of our language, reasoning, essentially all of our functions already there. No need to waste time on learning if you spawn in with all the necessary skills.’

“So you've never had to learn anything mate?” Joel sounded genuinely saddened by the concept.

‘I have, it was just all the things they felt were unimportant. Like what makes family,’ He let his head flop onto the shoulder of his best friend lazily. ‘and what it means to love someone and have someone love you. And I think that's the most important thing anyone can learn.’ He reached his arms further out to sign so Mumbo could see them.

“That's really adorable, and you two live together?”

“We do, and we have for some time now. Frankly he's the best roommate I could've asked for, though Pesky Bird is in second.”

“That’s cute, I honestly think parrots should become the default seeing eye animal. By the way, what’s that thing you wear next to your com?”

‘Can I show her?’

“Go ahead bud, I think it’s False and Gem on shift right now but I’d have to check.” His hand quickly moved to the device that Doc had so lovingly crafted for him, locating the call button he excitedly pressed it.

“Hey Grian! What are we looking at?” Gem’s cheery voice called through the mic.

“Person.” A robotic voice crackled through as he pressed the button, raising his hand to point the device at where he believed Lizzie was.

“Well if I’m seeing right that’s Lizzie. She’s an axolotl hybrid with pink ear fins and hair, light pink not dark or neon. Her hair is tied up partially with space buns and the rest of it down, it’s a little a bit longer than below her collarbones. She’s wearing some type of athletic gear, it looks like leggings and a sweatshirt that are dark blue with pink and white details around the edges. And she’s surrounded by absolutely delicious looking snacks, that I definitely want to steal. Does that cover what you wanted to see?”

“Yes.” He smiled as he pressed the buttons. “Thank you.”

“Alright, well if you need anything else just call back! It might be False who answers though, I need to go feed some animals before they start a coup.” The faint click of the call ending signaled that Gem was gone.

“That’s awesome!” Lizzie exclaimed excitedly, and even without seeing him he could be fairly certain that Joel was smiling at her. “So how does it work? If you don’t mind me asking, if its invasive than ignore me.”

‘Mumbo understands it better than me, do you want to explain it?’

“Right okay, so. It’s actually quite simple. It uses a sort of video call function to connect with one of the on call hermits, for them it sends a video and audio feed to them on their com so they can help describe things. It's essentially a trans-dimensional and trans-universal video call device, like a really fancy com with an on call schedule so he can always get someone when he needs it.” Mumbo’s explanation was honestly helpful for him too, Doc’s explanation included a lot of technical words and confusing details about the tech components and construction where Mumbo only used some words he didn’t understand.

“That’s cool, and complicated. But cool, and it clearly works.” He could almost hear Lizzie’s smile in her voice.

“Doc is a bit of a genius when it comes to tech, he designed the entire power grid system back home to run off of carbon dioxide emissions from a free range goat pasture and none of us are quite sure how. He makes most of our disability aid tech and is our world’s local mad scientist, but still eerily ethical about it all. We all love him.” Mumbo added.

“He sounds really cool! I bet there's some people back home who'd love to talk to him if they got the chance!”

“Well if you contact Xisuma I'm sure voi’d be happy to help get people connected, he loves it when they get a chance to help when possible. And as someone who has been on forcing people to sleep duty, I know that K will be thrilled about a task that voi’ll actually be able to sleep at a reasonable time after.” Joel chuckled.

“I’ll have to take you up on that babe.”

‘So Lizzie, Joel. Do either of you have any idea of what’s going on right now? I know you know Jimmy and Martyn, any clue why they would be acting this way?’

“Honestly, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on. I think we’re all just hoping that someone is going to tell us that this is all a big, really bad attempt at a joke. But I know Jimmy and Martyn, and even though they sometimes make bad jokes they’re never this bad.” Lizzie sighed.

“Yeah, I think we’re all in that boat. Nothing makes any sense right now and I already know what I believe.” Mumbo agreed, and that was fair. He was confused and he actually knew the accusations were impossible, he did in act remember his own existence. And no matter how much gaslighting they did he could be certain that he came into existence as a monster, not a person.

“Maybe someday we’ll have a whole month without something crazy happening, but honestly that’s not going to be anytime soon.” Joel added.

“We can certainly dream. For now let’s just figure out how things got so mixed up with everyone, hopefully without Martyn trying to fight anyone again. Because the next time he tries that I’m putting him on the ground and he won’t be getting up again anytime soon.” He had to admit that Mumbo’s protectiveness was strangely comforting, including the threats of violence.

“He’s still a friend, let’s try to avoid any more fights.” The axolotl hybrid clicked her tongue in discomfort.

“No promises, I’m generally a pacifist but nobody messes with my family.” And yet another reason to love his best friend, they were family. And as Mumbo continued to show him, that’s exactly what they were.

Chapter Text

Eventually Lizzie and Joel headed out, leaving the cookies behind for him. He turned in the direction he was pretty sure Mumbo was still in.

‘We need help.’

“I was thinking the same thing, are you thinking of anyone in particular?”

‘Xisuma if void can come? If not maybe Cub or Doc, they're nice and understand lots of things. But they can also keep things under control.’

“I’ll send them a message, one of them should be here pretty soon.”

‘Do you think they'll be able to help?’

“If anyone is up for the task it's those three, and they'll absolutely be willing to help. It's what friends are for.”

‘Helping you prove you aren't someone’s dead sibling while dealing with the fallout?’

“I was going more along the lines of caring about and supporting you, though I suppose that counts though.”

‘I hope it's Xisuma, he probably has the best chance of proving my innocence. Void’s got all the adminey stuff so everyone might trust them more.’

“Me too, but I think whoever it is will give Etho competition for who can put Martyn on the ground fastest when he seems like a threat.”

‘Those are moments I wish I could see, if it looks like it’s going to happen please tell me so I can pull up the bonus eyes.’

“Absolutely mate. And worst case, knowing our friends someone will catch it on their com. We all do enjoy the chaos caused when hermits get extra protective, we’re all family and nobody gets to mess with family.”

‘I should've crash landed in your world sooner, I really like having a family.’

“And we like having you as family, you make a great addition to our not so small family.” Mumbo’s arms wrapped around him gently in a comforting hug, hands softly adjusted and fixed what he could only assume were damaged feathers from when Martyn pushed him over. It was relaxing, Mumbo had done this before but not while they were in a situation like this. The first time Mumbo had preened him was a few weeks after Skizz and Impulse had shown them, it had taken them three days just to get all the blood out and another two to fix the rest of his feathers. And for almost the entire time the duo had sat in a comfortable lack of discussion, sometimes Mumbo rambled on about tech he didn't understand and sometimes he hummed softly but they both understood that there was no need to respond. It was nice, Mumbo was still the only one he was comfortable being that vulnerable with. Well he supposed it was Mumbo and Pesky Bird but Pesky Bird was yet to grow opposable thumbs so unfortunately he struggled to help with some things.

A small buzz let him know Mumbo had gotten a message, and the short exhale he heard let him know whatever the message was, it was good.

“Xisuma will be here in a few minutes, he’s leaving Keralis on admin duty back home for the next little while. Void is pretty ready to throw hands if given a reason apparently, as you’ve seen before they can be very protective of their hermits.” He shuddered a bit at the memories, but he understood it. Xisuma had no reason to trust him when he arrived, he dealt with the most likely and most dangerous possibility first. Void had no reason to even think of what was actually happening and Grian couldn’t blame them for any of it.

‘Thanks, should we meet him when void arrives. Just so they can get the full explanation from us before anyone else gets to him?’

“Probably, want a hand up?” He nodded and Mumbo carefully pulled him to his feet, helping attach the strap for Pesky Bird to lead him with. “Are you good to go?” He nodded again. “Then come on, let's go meet Xisuma.” Mumbo and Pesky Bird carefully led him to where he assumed Xisuma would be coming through. After only a few minutes he could feel the warmth of Xisuma’s magic begin to pierce the veil, the carefully maintained fabric between worlds rippled open.

‘He's here.’ And for the first time since they’d arrived it felt like something had gone right, every other good thing that had happened until that moment was just a reaction to something worse.

“Alright, I’ve already had the situation briefed to me. So, let’s make a plan and then have a proper conversation with everyone.” The moment void was through the portal they had hit the ground running, already planning out how to handle things as they came up. They all knew better than to prepare for anything but the worst.

“Lets.”

“So Grian… I know what I’ve been told but I want to hear it from you, what exactly has happened since you got here? I want to hear everything whether you think it’s important or not.”

‘Well when we first went through everyone was super excited especially Joel, he was so excited I could almost hear him vibrating. But when Jimmy started screaming everything changed, it was like all the joy and excitement evaporated. And in the span of a few seconds Martyn went from yelling to knocking me to the ground, then everyone was shouting and things are a little hazy for a while but I think I remember Pearl, Martyn, and Jimmy having a screaming match and some of the hermits going back for supplies. Then things were pretty passive for a bit, Etho kept watch over us while we calmed down a bit. And then Martyn came to the tent to talk and it got ugly, he kept accusing me of being Pearl and Jimmy’s dead brother, of hurting them on purpose, of abandoning them, there were so many accusations it made my head spin. Then Mumbo got protective and they started arguing and Etho had to take Martyn away for everyone’s safety…’ He continued on for a bit, adding details any time he remembered them.

“Thank you for that Grian, I think it’s time to gather everyone and have a proper conversation about this all. No fighting, just talking, it's going to suck but it's also the only way we are going to get things figured out.” Xisuma thanked him, his voice gentle and warm.

“Xisuma? What are you doing here?” Pearl’s voice was still a bit shaky.

“Are you idiots all so fucking gullible that brought your admin to argue his case? Bloody hell you are all useless!” Martyn’s voice and footsteps approached quickly.

“Step back, now.” Etho growled protectively? He didn’t know Etho growled, nor was he expecting someone to growl back.

“Did Jimmy just growl?” He heard Ren whisper but that made no sense, wasn’t Jimmy a canary avian?

“My sister is a wolf hybrid, remember? I know a thing or two about how communication works.” And it seemed Jimmy had heard Ren too. “Especially the threats.”

“Then you should be able to tell your friend that I mean it, step back.” And honestly in that moment he wasn’t sure if he was a little scared of, impressed by, or both when it came to Etho. But it seemed that Jimmy had nonverbally signaled as Martyn’s footsteps receded. He felt Mumbo hold him a little tighter as a reassurance.

“Xisuma, are you going to tell us why you gathered us all?” Bdubs asked tiredly.

"We all need to sort out all of the facts about what is going on. So we are going to talk like adults instead of throwing around accusations and threats okay?" Xisuma’s question was met with reluctant sounds of agreement. “Great, so let's get started. We are going to take turns to discuss our own experiences and perspectives, without accusing people of things.” Void was clear in their words but not cold, and he left no room for misinterpretation.

“You want to know what happened? Whoever he claims to be, he has the same face and name as Pearl and Jimmy’s supposedly dead brother. Who supposedly perma-died seven years ago and left them both severely traumatised.”

“But if he was perma dead you wouldn’t remember him, he would’ve been erased.” Joel’s voice was soft and compassionate but confused.

“We thought it was a fluke, the memories were so hazy.” Jimmy practically whispered

“And Pearl he’s been a hermit for months, you didn’t recognise him?” Joel added.

“Not until Jimmy and Martyn did, then it clicked why he felt familiar. And after that the memories started to clear up and I could remember his name and everything else…”

“Oh Pearly-pop, I'm so sorry.” Skizz sighed.

“Thanks…”

“If I may though their brother was a human, Grian isn’t. I mean I don’t know much about watchers but that seems like a pretty big difference.”

‘We can disguise ourselves but it takes a lot of power and was only something I could consistently do a little while before I landed with the Hermits. There's no way I would’ve been able to do it seven years ago let alone long enough before that to become a part of a family. Mumbo was the first person in my life that I can remember being kind to me and I remember coming into consciousness as a watcher, I really am sorry.’

“And when we talked earlier you said you couldn’t have been the one who killed him.” Pearl added.

“Wait when did you two talk?” He may have forgotten Mumbo didn’t know about that.

‘We ended up running into each other in the woods and talked for a few minutes, last night after we talked.’

“Pearl! Why are you believing anything he says?”

“Because he seemed genuinely sorry that he couldn’t give me an answer about what happened to our brother!”

“Okay everyone let’s take a breath, we are starting to move away from objective statements again.” Xisuma sighed.

“Why did you ask him if he killed your brother?” Scar asked hesitantly.

“People can’t come up with new faces, it seemed like a possibility…”

‘I really wish I could give you answers, I truly don’t know why I look like him.’

“I know, it's why it hurts so much.”

“I’ve got a weird question that might provide evidence either way?” Tango said shyly. “Did your brother wear shoes?”

“What kind of question is that?” Martyn shouted.

“He did?” Jimmy added quietly.

“Grian hates shoes, for the entire time he was disguised with us he didn’t wear them and we somehow didn’t notice. I had to make him wear them for this event.” Mumbo huffed.

‘Its true, they feel wrong. And they’re hard to do myself since I'm not used to it and can't see them.’

“That’s weird, I approve.” Lizzie chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

“That's your evidence? His dislike of shoes?” Martyn sounded about ready to fight someone.

“It’s a start, thank you Tango.” Xisuma used a warning tone.

“This is insane, you all realise that right? Like this is all absolutely fucking insane and nobody seems to be aknowledging it! You are making points based on his preference for shoes in a discussion about if he is the one who abandoned his damn family!” It seemed Martyn had stepped forward a bit too far as Etho let out a quiet warning growl.

“If it is you please just tell us, I promise I won't be mad. I just want my family to all be together again.” Jimmy’s voice was shaky.

“I’ve got you songbird.” Martyns voice turned soft.

“I just want my family back, you understand that right?”

Chapter Text

This didn't feel real to him, everybody had a different idea of who he was and none of it made sense. He couldn't be Pearl and Jimmy's dead brother, for starters, their brother was a human! He wasn't! And he was pretty sure he'd remember having siblings! He felt like he was going bloody crazy. He wasn't sure why, but clearly this Jimmy was lying. He didn't have a family before Mumbo. Things don't have family. Honestly he was just tired of nothing making sense and nothing connecting together. ‘Why is this happening?’

“Okay this is going to sound crazy but what if nobody is lying?” Cleo offered. “There are explanations that would mean nobody is lying, at least not intentionally. It could be an overcomplicated doppelgänger situation, amnesia, watcher bullshit… just saying it might not be as simple as everyone is expecting it to be.”

“Cleo might be onto something, I mean how do we know this wasn’t a messed up watcher trick?” Bdubs added.

“Because watchers arent fucking real? They’re a damn ghost story.” Martyn huffed, clearly frustrated.

“Martyn watchers are real, I fought them…” Pearl’s voice was quiet.

“What? When?”

“It’s not my story to tell, but believe me when I say they’re very real and any hermit here can confirm it.”

“Isn’t that why you all did the extra stuff to protect our worlds?” Lizzie asked softly.

“It was, we wanted our loved ones and friends to be safe. Grian was instrumental in that process.” Xisuma explained carefully.

“Because of his admin experience?” Martyn scoffed.

‘No, because I understand how they work. I’m one of them after all.’

“You’re so much more than that Gri, you’re one of us… part of our mess of a family.” Mumbo pulled him a little closer as a comforting gesture.

“So what does this mean?” Jimmy asked cautiously, his voice shaking.

‘I don’t know, I know you think I’m your brother but I’m not. I'm sorry, I really am. Nothing makes sense for any of us right now.’

“Guys if Cleo is right how would we even figure out which it is?” Impulse asked in a clear attempt to redirect the conversation.

“That's a good question, would there even be a way to know?” Big B finally spoke up uncomfortably.

“If you were blood relatives we could’ve checked with a simple blood test but that's not an option here…” Scar was using his thinking voice which under normal circumstances would’ve been alarming.

“Why don’t we all brainstorm and regroup in a few days, I worry that if we stay like this much longer someone will start a fight.” And that was fair for Xisuma to have said, tensions were very high and everybody seemed a little too close to violence for comfort.

“Fine, but this isn't over.” Martyn huffed and seemed to walk away.

‘Can we go somewhere quiet?’

“Of course, want to go back to that spot in the woods that we found with Etho?” Mumbo asked softly and got a small nod in response.

“I’ll come with you to keep you two safe.” Tango’s voice left no room for disagreement as he followed the trio to their spot.

“So that was more intense than most of our meetings.” Tango chuckled awkwardly as they sat.

“That it was mate, I think we all wish that this kind of chaos wasn’t becoming a part of our normal hermit chaos.” Mumbo’s voice was flooded with exhaustion and confusion.

‘Anyone else feeling like they missed several chapters, or possibly all of them?’

“Constantly, but Cleo might be onto something… this could be watcher related I mean I wouldn't be putting anything past them at this point.” Tango sighed.

‘You shouldn't, they're monsters.’

“We do have our own expert on them, is this something they’d do?” Mumbo asked softly.

‘Making watchers with the faces of dead people to hopefully cause their families more trauma if they ever interacted, it’s tame for them.’

“Jeez.” Tango’s voice was ripe with horror at the thought

‘Yeah evil doesn’t begin to describe them, there isn't a word to describe them.’

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, we thought they were evil but we didn't realise just how much. I… I thought what they'd done to you when we found you was the worst thing they'd done.” Mumbo was almost frustratingly sympathetic, almost.

‘Not by a long shot, what they did to me was passive because I was one of them. If they’d taken someone like you guys or god forbid Xisuma it would’ve been unimaginably worse. You would’ve been begging for the sweet release of death for ages before they killed you.’

“Tango when we get back home please remind me to find a therapist for him… or six.”

“If you don’t find one for him I will.”

‘You know what, that's fair.’

“You have some serious trauma, man.”

‘But it means I make the best jokes.’

“Unfortunately I can’t disagree without lying. You are undoubtedly hilarious.” Mumbo chuckled.

“Especially when you catch people off guard like you did when you told Joel he looked good.”

‘Blind jokes about myself are my specialty. That and trauma jokes about myself’

“And they’re always bloody hilarious.”

‘And I usually don’t even see that I’m making them…’ He paused to let the words sink in and his friends chuckled.

“Grian… mate. That was so bad.”

‘I try.’

“You succeed dude, that was amazing.”

‘We should probably get back on track though.’

“Smart.” Tango remarked.

‘The watchers aren’t to be underestimated, they’re something far worse than pure evil.’

“We know, we saw what they did to you.” Mumbo’s arm carefully wrapped around him and pulled him close.

‘But you never saw what they made me do… what they made me be.’ His hands shook lightly.

“Made you, it wasn’t willingly.” Tango offered gently.

‘You all should hate me! Martyn is right I did manipulate you all! When I first arrived I pretended to be something I’m not!’

“For your own safety. Grian you were scared not malicious.” Mumbo sighed softly.

‘I'm a monster!’

“Grian, buddy as someone who’s felt like one before someone gave me some really good perspective. Monsters don't think they’re monsters. So if you think you are one, you aren't.” Tango’s voice was calm and gentle but he could hear the crackles of the blazeborn’s flames as his emotions flared.

‘Not watchers, they revel in it… I reveled in it.’

“Did you? Or did you think you were supposed to mate?”

‘I did… right?’

“Grian, can I be honest with you?” He nodded slowly, waiting for Tango to continue. “I think you're a good person who was in an unimaginably awful situation. And I think they knew that too, that you're a genuinely good person and that you are incredibly special. And that scared them.” And he wasn't sure when it started raining or why it was only raining on his face but that was the only explanation for what happened.

“I’ve got you bud, Tango is right you know? You're special.” Mumbo held him tightly as Pesky Bird nuzzled in.

‘I’m not, I’m just a manipulative monster.’ His hands were tightly grasped.

“No, and nobody gets to say bad things about my friends. You aren’t exempt from that.” The blazeborn’s hair crackled with emotion. “You are not a monster.”

“He’s right, you’re anything but.” Mumbo was soft and safe, the man’s hands carefully avoided his delicate wings as he held him.

‘I’m sorry I caused all this trouble for everyone.’

“None of this is your fault mate, and I think I speak for all of us hermits when I say we would take any trouble a hundred times to have you as a part of our family. We all love you Gri.”

“And if you think this is trouble you should’ve seen the chaos that Impulse and Skizz caused when they first joined us. Skizz was understandably really protective of Impy and for the first few months would try to physically fight anyone who came too close, at one point I’m pretty sure he bit Doc.”

“It was actually Cub that he bit mate.”

“Wait then where did the bite scar on Doc come from?”

‘Doc has a bite scar?’

“One of the many mysteries of the hermits. Who bit who, thinking it was self or non-self defense?” Mumbo chuckled.

‘Wait, how often does this happen?’

“I think almost every hermit has at least one scar from another hermit, and at least fifty percent are bite scars. And most of those are from Gem… She says her love language is bite, but we all kinda think that she likes the taste of blood and doesn’t want anyone to suspect it.” Tango laughed. “I even forged her a custom netherite mouthpiece so she could bite more effectively, I probably shouldn’t have made it though… it’s a little terrifying that she can fully draw blood and tear a chunk out of people now.”

“Yeah, maybe giving her tools to cause more damage when she bites was a bad idea.”

‘Should I be scared of her?’

“Probably a little, we all are.” Mumbo sighed. “But she’s fiercely protective and would never really hurt anyone she cares about, that includes you mate.”

‘She cares about me?’

“We all do, you’re family.” Tango’s voice crackled softly.

‘I don't know how to have a family.’

“Nobody does, you start to learn with your family not before.” Mumbo held him close. “And we will learn it with you.”

“It’s true, everytime your family grows you learn a little bit more about having one.”

‘Promise you guys won't leave just because I’m bad at having a family?’

“We would never, family is family. Have you heard the whole ‘blood is thicker than water’ thing?” Tango asked carefully, getting a small nod in response. “Well recently I heard that it's actually a cut down and misinterpreted version, the real quote is ‘the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb’. It boils down to meaning the blood shed in battle or the friends you would fight alongside hold more weight than the water of the womb or blood relatives. So essentially the family that would fight for you, who you’d fight for is the purest form of family… and that's what you are to us.”

‘You really believe that?’

“We both do Grian, I think we would all gladly throw hands for you again. Especially Gem, but I think that’s always the case with her.”

‘I don’t doubt that, she does seem to really love her violence.’

“Yeah her favourite sword is at least two pounds heavier than anyone else’s and is ridiculously disproportionate, she can’t properly hold it pointing down it’s so absurdly big.” Tango laughed.

‘Wish I could see that, it sounds awesome.’

“The blade alone is over two and a half feet long, which considering she’s 5’2 is insanely impressive for her to hold let alone actually fight with.”

‘Seriously?’

“It's a very good thing she likes us, I’m not sure we would last five minutes if she didn’t. I think we should all be very grateful for that fact, and Martyn should be grateful that she isn’t here right now.” He could practically hear the soft smile on Mumbo’s face. “And instead of a bloody death we have a very short very stabby member of our family who can and will fight anyone who even thinks about her family badly.”

‘And she considers me a part of that family?’

“We all do.” Tango crackled warmly.

Chapter Text

Regardless of what anyone said he wasn’t sure he’d ever be good enough to deserve a family. Like it or not he was a monster and he didn’t deserve an ounce of the kindness the hermits offered him. He really couldn't understand why everyone was so insistent that he deserved one, or even that he’d had one before. Mumbo and Pesky Bird were the first family he’d had and he absolutely didn’t deserve them, but he did love them more than he thought would be possible for something like him. And he absolutely would never be able to deserve it. His mind was spiraling and his face was rapidly getting wetter, he felt Mumbo hold him tighter as he choked out a sob.

“We’ve got you mate, you’re our family. And we’ll keep telling you that until you can fully believe it. We love you.” Why didn’t they get it, he didn’t deserve their love!

“It’s true we all really do love you, you will always be one of us.” Tango’s hand rested softly on his knee in an attempt to comfort him.

“What’s going on in your head, Grian?” Mumbo asked softly.

‘I don’t deserve this.’

“Grian… mate. You deserve all the kindness that exists and I am so sorry you haven’t gotten to see that.”

‘I killed you!’

“He’s not dead… I can check his pulse if you want though.”

‘I watched myself cut you until you bled out Mumbo!’

“Grian… you never did that to me.”

‘I watched it happen! I killed everyone!’

“Grian I don’t know what you saw but that never happened. You never killed any of us, you never even hurt one of us.” Tango offered carefully.

‘That’s not possible, I was there… I remember it happening. I saw it.’

“Mate… what do you mean you saw it?”

‘Watchers have something called a third sight, when we are behaving the high watcher lets us use it. It’s kind of like watching yourself in third person, helpful to have and yet completely disturbing to watch yourself kill someone like you’re a spectator to your own murder spree.’

“So wait, you aren’t always blind?” Mumbo asked confusedly.

‘Well no, it's a gift that we were given if we followed our instructions properly. But watchers are all blind when it comes to regular sight through the eyes.’

“So you’ve seen us before?” Tango seemed genuinely curious.

‘Well I’ve seen you all dead and dying? But I never saw you guys before or after that.’

“Really? That’s super horrific and upsetting Grian.”

“Seriously dude, that sounds awful. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that alone.”

‘It's not the worst thing I've seen myself do.’

“That's disturbing.” Tango crackled.

‘If you knew the things I'd done you'd hate me, and you'd know what kind of monster watchers are.’

“The difference between them and you is that you can see that it's wrong, Grian, you can acknowledge that hurting people is cruel. You have compassion and empathy, they don't. And while I don't know why that's the case I’m thrilled it is.” Mumbo held him softly, as he carefully ran his fingers through Grian’s hair.

‘Why do you think that?’

“Because we know you, and somebody without those feelings wouldn’t be sitting here feeling like a monster about it.”

“Tango is right, real monsters don't feel bad about the things they’ve done or the people they've hurt.”

‘I hate what I did.’

“Exactly, a real monster wouldn't.” Tango sighed. “So like we said earlier based on that you couldn't be one, and if that isn't enough then trust us on it. We care about you and we know you aren't one, you’re family.”

‘What if I’m just lying to myself and you?’

“Usually people who are lying don't feel the need to question it mate.” Mumbo held him a little tighter.

‘I don't know if I can be a person…’

“Then we work towards that, how about we start with just being you?” The human’s voice was soft and careful.

‘I don’t know how.’

“Then you can learn, and we will help.” Tango crackled gently

‘Why?’

“It's what family does.” And that was what finally fully broke him, Mumbo and him had both called each other family before but this hit differently. It wasn't just a word anymore but a promise, a promise to love and care for him no matter how broken he was. Before Mumbo he had never really felt love or felt loved and in that very moment he could finally say for sure that that was what he felt. He adored his family even though he didn’t deserve them, they were the best thing that had ever and would ever happen to him. But as he had begun to learn that was what family was and that was everything he could ever want in life.

The first time he could remember feeling loved was with Mumbo and in almost every moment since he had felt that same thing, first from Mumbo and then from the rest of the hermits. He truly didn't know what he'd have done without them, but he was fairly positive he wouldn’t have been alive. They were everything he needed and more and he hadn't even known that he needed them until he had them. He loved them more than any words could ever describe, and regardless of what he was they loved him too. So maybe it was okay for him to be a monster, maybe it was okay for him to not understand what was happening. Because whatever happened he had his family with him to handle it together, and with them he could manage they were what kept him going.

He’d never really believed that family was an option for him, or even a good thing. Family was a weakness to be exploited, that's what he was always told. But this family, his family, gave him strength that he never knew he could have. As it turned out, family was all he really needed, and now that he had one he didn’t know what to do with that outside of doing everything he could to be worthy of their love. And that meant figuring out what had happened, and that almost certainly meant they'd need to have another group meeting to finish discussing what everyone thought may have happened.

Somehow Cleo’s explanation made the most sense to him, ‘the watcher bullshit’ as she called it really did fit. The watchers were absolutely the type to do something as messed up as forming him to look like their brother on the off chance they'd meet. It was their exact brand of cruelty to make people suffer in that manner, emotional, physical, spiritual, it didn’t matter to them as long as it was devastating to whoever it was inflicted on.

Their entire existence relied on directions from The High Watcher to destroy anything they were told to to preserve the ideal future, and they were instructed to never question the orders they were given. And yet he had to wonder why that was the case, he was never supposed to wonder anything before… but why? The hermits had always been honest about the reason for everything they did, and about the fact there was a reason behind the things they did even when they didn’t have a reason that made any sense to him. Mumbo always encouraged him to question things he didn’t know or understand, that everything should have a reason and even if it wasn’t more than that someone wanted to do it and if he didn’t like the reasons or simply didn’t want to he didn’t have to participate. So why had he been told for so long that questioning anything was so wrong? Was there a reason for the things watchers did?

Nothing made sense anymore and he hated that questioning things had done that, despite how horrific the things he had done were back then things had been simple. He simply followed instructions and didnt think, now he had to be a person with his own thoughts, feelings, and opinions and frankly it was exhausting. Most days he would much rather not be a person at all but unfortunately he no longer had that option, the hermits were insistent that he was a person no matter how much he didn’t want to be one. And despite those instances he loved them more than he could possibly explain, they were his family and his whole world.

Having a family had done strange things to him, things he didn’t quite understand. He had this constant warm feeling that he’d never felt before them. It was like he had been sleepwalking for his entire existence and now he was awake, there was an entire part of existence that he’d been missing out on and now he had it. No matter what happened after that point, no matter what he had done he had a family that wouldn’t leave him.

Despite everything good he had though he was frustrated, confused, and quite sad. He felt devastated for Pearl and Jimmy’s loss and horrified that he could be making it more painful, he never wanted to hurt either of them. Pearl was family and by extension that meant Jimmy was too, and he never intended to hurt his family. He really did care about them, even if he didn’t understand the feeling very well. He almost wished it was as simple as him having been what Martyn assumed, who he assumed. At least then they would have someone to blame who had done what they believed he had, he would’ve been okay with being the villain if it didn’t mean that the real villain would get away blameless. And he couldn't let Mumbo down like that. Mumbo had already forgiven him for so much, he didn't know if the man could forgive him for something like that.

Chapter Text

And so they had spent a few days regrouping and brainstorming before their next meeting with Xisuma. This one was planned to be smaller, only Jimmy, Pearl, Martyn, Mumbo, Xisuma, and himself were supposed to be there. Though Etho had demanded to be there as a security measure given Martyn’s past behaviour toward him, which he was granted permission for as long as he behaved and agreed to not start any fights… Martyn was not thrilled about the idea. Some of the other hermits had submitted theories to Xisuma for voi to present if he thought they had merit, but there weren’t many as far as he knew.

“Alright folks I’m going to go over the rules again for you so theyre clear for everyone.” Their voice was calm and as voi talked. "Okay so no accusations, no fighting, we are all going to talk about the facts and only the facts." Xisuma's voice was stern and clear, they would not let anyone break the rules he outlined but voi also clearly had no interest in people having to repress their emotions.

“Why are we doing this again?” Martyn demanded.

‘Because we all want answers, even if you don’t want to believe that we do too.’

“So let’s start with what we’ve already discussed: Grian shares a name and face with Pearl and Jimmy’s brother who died seven years ago, however that brother was a human and Grian is a watcher though only by blood, Grain has no memories of being their brother either, additionally while blindness is often acquired total blindness without removing the eyes themselves and as their brother wasn’t blind it does make it less likely, we know the watchers as a group are cruel and would have no issues with creating a scenario like this at least not ethically but it would be difficult. Does that cover it?” Xisuma went over the facts carefully.

“And why would they make him look like their brother anyway? On the rare chance they’d meet? That makes zero sense.” Martyn huffed.

“I agree with Martyn on that one, especially given how you arrived. It wasn’t exactly planned on their part, or yours for you to arrive with us.” Pearl added.

“Well then let’s try running with that for a minute, okay? If they didn’t do that on purpose what do we think that could mean?” The admin pondered.

“Doppleganger situation?” Mumbo suggested.

“Or he’s exactly what we’ve been saying he is, and he is their brother.” Martyn sounded pissed.

“But is that even possible? Xisuma you’ve looked at a person’s code before right? Do you think someone could modify a person’s code and data to change their species?” Mumbo questioned further.

“I suppose it could be done, but I’ve never heard about it being done. And if it was I doubt it would’ve been kept secret, or that anyone would’ve been able to keep it one.”

‘So currently all we have are things that would be a statistician’s worst nightmare? And no way to narrow it down further?’

“I mean we could if he just told the truth…” Martyn grumbled.

“Martyn…” Etho growled a quiet warning.

“Alright, alright. I’ll back off.”

“So, what do we do next?” Jimmy asked quietly.

Xisuma let out a sigh. “I don’t know yet, but everyone does need to try to be civil until we figure it out. Can you all try that?”

“I’ll make sure everyone does.” Etho grumbled.

“Oookay, we’re going to table that for now. Does anyone have any more ideas about how to figure this out without making accusations or harming anyone?”

‘Honestly, I don’t think any of us know what to do right now. I know I don’t’

“I’m with you there, this situation is crazy.” Pearl sighed tiredly.

“Back to square one?” Mumbo asked before continuing, “Though hopefully with less violence than last time.” he sounded exhausted.

“I think we'd all prefer that.” Xisuma agreed and was met with various sounds of agreement from the others. “So let’s work on that, let’s try to do better this time.”

“So Xisuma you were listening to other people’s thoughts about this right? Did you hear anything that seemed helpful or possible?” Jimmy asked softly.

“Some of the hermits had some thoughts that expanded on Cleo’s theory, namely about what they could’ve done and how they would’ve gone about it.” Xisuma explained. “Impulse and Skizz were talking about the possibility of the watcher creation process involving choosing people who perma died in horrific ways to give new watchers the face of, and that it was coincidental that you shared a face with Pearl and Jimmy’s brother. Scar still thinks some blood work may be helpful as soon as he can figure out what kind, but he’s hopeful that he’ll find something. And we’ve been consulting with some of the hermits back home who are helping us work through some ways to figure it out. But so far it’s just ideas.”

“Is there anything that they can do to help us figure things out in the meantime?” Pearl questioned.

“Scar would like to try running some tests, or rather getting Doc and Cub to run them. He would draw some blood and send it back so they could test it, but of course we would need Grian’s consent.”

‘He can take whatever he needs, I want to figure this out too.’ Pesky bird squaked in agreement as if he understood the signs.

“Then I’ll ask him to come by your tent later today and draw some blood to send to them.” Xisuma agreed, voice gentle.

“Thanks Xisuma.” Mumbo offered gratefully.

“And as far as additional work to figure this out we will collaborate further to find out what our best course of action is. For now, is there anything anyone else would like to discuss before we conclude?”

“I do…” Etho started. “What kind of safety protocols will we have, not just security wise but to make sure every course of action is the safest it can be?”

‘I’d kinda like to know too if thats alright.’

“Well, we can have multiple people review plans and wait for approval before we begin anything for starters. And we won’t commit anyone to anything we aren’t sure they can do safely.” The voidtouched explained. “And security wise we’ve had hermits doing rotating security shifts with Mumbo and Grian. Is that alright with everyone so far?”

“That sounds good, Grian?”

‘I’m okay with that.’

Chapter Text

Grian flopped down into his nest exhausted and sighed dramatically, as Pesky Bird settled comfortably onto his chest. Despite how much calmer this meeting had been, he was utterly emotionally drained and far too exhausted to be a person at the moment.

“Agreed. Scar should be by soon to take some blood though, would you like me to help you sit up enough so he can?” Mumbo offered softly.

‘Please.’ He signed in response, and Mumbo carefully pulled him to a seated position with Pesky Bird squawking in annoyance before settling in his lap.

“Are you positive you’re alright with him taking some of your blood to get tested?”

‘What’s the worst thing he’ll find out? I’m a watcher? I think he’s figured that one out by now, Mumbo.’ He got a soft chuckle in response.

“That’s fair mate, I think if any of the hermits hasn’t figured it out by now they may need to get their heads checked. You aren’t exactly disguised any more.”

‘Could he discover I’m blind through blood work? I know he already knows, but that was my only other secret, and now I’m curious.’

“I don’t think that’s how blood work works, but we can ask Scar?”

“Ask Scar what?” Scar asked from outside the tent cheerily.

“We were wondering if you could identify blindness from blood work?” Mumbo responded, audibly helping Scar into the tent.

“Depends on the kind of blindness, I guess. Potion based blindness could be found in a basic screening and if you ran the right tests you might be able to find genetic causes, but you’d probably need to know what you're looking for.” Scar pondered thoughtfully, slightly lost in thought, before he snapped back. “Sorry, I guess for some kinds you could, but it would depend. Am I good to do the blood draw now?”

‘Go for it.’ He felt Scar carefully put a band around his arm, the vex hybrid gently tapped on his veins before inserting the needle and removing the band. After a few minutes, he removed the needle and pressed on the spot it had been with a gentle but firm pressure.

“All done, you did great G.” Scar’s voice was sweet as he talked. “I’ll personally go give this to Doc and Cub to run tests right away.”

‘Thanks Scar.’

“You should eat some kind of snack to help with any lightheadedness.” Scar called out as he left.

“Did you know your blood isn’t red?” Mumbo asked, clearly trying to sound casual.

‘I’m blind…’ He waved his hand in front of his face.

“Right of course, sorry about that, I wasn’t thinking.”

‘It’s okay, what color is it?’

“I don’t really know how to explain it, it must be something about watcher biology. It wasn’t like this before. It’s like a purpley colour but darker than I’d expect your blood to look, and it sort of sparkles. Like it’s got tiny stars in it, it’s honestly quite pretty.” He didn’t know how but somehow Mumbo always managed to make him feel like he wasn’t as monstrous as he usually did, like the traits that made him a watcher were something beautiful. A constant reminder that Mumbo saw him so much better than he saw himself, Mumbo saw him as something… no someone worth calling family and loving.

‘Thank you.’

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather you not bleed and your blood not be visible. But it’s a part of you, and I think every part of you is wonderful. You are wonderful, truly wonderful and I’m so so proud of you mate.”

‘I love you Mumbo, you’re really the best family I could ever ask for. And the family I never knew I needed.’

“I love you too. And I’m thrilled that you’re my family too.”

‘I don’t think I’d want our perfect little family to change for anything.’

“Me neither.” Mumbo pulled him into a gentle hug as they curled up together in the nest with Pesky Bird, both utterly exhausted and yet perfectly comfortable together and as a family. He carefully wrapped some of his wings over them like a soft, feathery blanket pile. With Mumbo he knew he was safe, he knew he was loved. And the man’s heart beating calmly and rhythmically provided a perfect reminder of that, and it let him know that Mumbo was right there and safe. He finally had a family, and he’d do anything he had to, to protect that. Mumbo made all the awful things he’d experienced feel manageable, made everything he’d done feel a little less overwhelming and guilt filled each day. At this rate someday he just might not feel guilty about everything, someday he’d be able to feel entirely content.

“We should probably talk to Xisuma, see if he can find anything else that might work.” He hadn’t even realised they’d fallen asleep, he yawned tiredly in response. “How about this? I’ll send a message and go make up some tea for our chat. Sound good?”

‘Sounds good, I’ll be trying to wake up and getting Pesky Bird ready for company.’ He yawned again softly, and gave Pesky Bird gentle head scritches to wake him up.

“Don’t worry too much, Xisuma has seen me after weeks of not sleeping and researching when I was trying to figure out where you’d gone. I’m sure he won’t mind you both having ruffled feathers after napping.” Mumbo gently straightened one of his feathers as he spoke.

‘Thank you Mumbolio.’ It only took a few minutes for Mumbo to return with hot tea and good news.

“Xisuma is on voids way and is happy to discuss more ways to help and figure things out for the time being.” Mumbo explained softly and handed him a mug of tea. “They’re one of the most brilliant people we know, if anyone can help it’s him.”

‘I know, but I just want answers. Why does it feel like every time I’m happy things go wrong?’

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out okay?”

‘Okay.’

“Knock knock.” Xisuma’s calm voice called out.

“Come on in!”

“Mumbo said you wanted to discuss some more ways to investigate what’s going on?”

‘I feel like I’m going crazy, everybody has a different idea of who I am and none of it seems right. And nobody ever just asks me, which is probably good because I don’t know what the answer would be. Xisuma, can you help me figure out what and who I am really?’

“It would be my honor, do you have something you want us to start on first or should I simply work on it?” Their voice was calm as he spoke, but there was clearly a bit of pride in voids voice at being asked to help.

‘If you know where to start that would be great, if you don’t though that’s okay too.’

“I’ll have to do some research to find the safest and most effective ways to look into this, I’ll try to get it figured out as soon as possible. Should we be prioritising this over the other research?” He asked carefully.

‘I’ve got a feeling that they’ll end up being connected, but this isn’t as high a priority as the other things. If something we’re doing to solve other things ends up getting us answers about this it’s great.’

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. I won’t make any promises about results, but I’ll promise to try.”

“Thank you Xisuma.” He nodded in agreement with Mumbo’s statement.

“You should be able to feel like you know who you are, and I know for a fact that any of us hermits would be more than happy to help if you want us to.” Xisuma’s voice was soft and kind, they were empathetic to his struggles in a way that people like Mumbo just didn’t understand. Voi had felt the struggle to find who you are when you felt like a monster.

‘Do you think we’ll figure things out? Please be honest.’

“I really truly do, however long it takes we will work to make sure you feel comfortable with however much you know about yourself.”

‘However much?’

“Understanding yourself is a personal journey, we can help but at the end of the day if you say you don’t want to learn any more we’ll respect that.” Mumbo added kindly.

“Exactly, and we’re happy to help with that as much or as little as you want us to. You’re family, and family looks out for each other.” If anyone asked he definitely wasn’t tearing up at that at all, nope his face was completely dry and he would never cry at the admin calling him family. Mumbo did that all the time so it would be foolish to cry when someone who was so intensely and sometimes overly protective over their family refer to him as such. If he had teared up though it was clear the others either didn’t notice or didn’t mind.

‘Thank you X, you’re my family too. I love you guys.’

“We love you too, Grian.” Mumbo gently placed an arm over his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “That’s part of being family, we love each other unconditionally. And we’ll gladly do what we can to help.”

“It’s true, family will always have your back. We care about you.”

‘I really care about you guys too. I’m so lucky to get to be a part of our family, it’s so much better than I could’ve ever imagined.’

“We’re the lucky ones, the universe just finally course corrected and began giving you what you deserve. Don’t you dare question that, if you do we’ll do our best to help you remember.” And there was the stern Xisuma he’d originally met, he knew the admin had been holding back to not frighten him more right now. It was honestly far more comforting to have him be a little harsh again, like back when they were working on the protections. Back then Xisuma would always be telling him off for doing things that looking back on them were extremely stupid, like trying to reach out at Scar’s magic. But it was comforting in a different way, where Mumbo’s comfort was soft hugs and tea, and Pesky Bird had grumpy squawks and nuzzles, Xisuma was protective even when it meant being stern.

‘Thank you guys.’

“Of course.”

“I should probably head out to start hunting for information, will you three be alright?”

‘Yeah, thanks Xisuma.’

“Really, thank you mate. You’re helping out a lot.”

“Anytime.” And with that the admin headed out, leaving the trio and their tea to a peaceful silence.