Itty Bitty Grian

Grian didn't know how he kept his secret for two whole seasons of Hermitcraft (it now being season 8). He'd nearly been caught a multitude of times, but thankfully he was a bit childish anyways. So maybe he gets whiney about something most adults don't, everyone gets whiney about things sometimes. And sure, maybe he stood playing a note block over and over for twenty minutes straight once, but it's funny, so why not? Those could be passed off as just normal, silly things. What couldn't be as easily passed off as normal, silly things, is having a pacifier in his mouth. Normally Grian could pass it off as a bit, and just a different skin he had. But in this particular moment, when he felt so itty bitty that he could just make noises and grab at the air, he couldn't lie when Mumbo had found him.

Instead, small tears began to prick at Grian's eyes in utter distress, leaving Mumbo extremely confused and concerned. "Wha- Grian, are you alright?". Even if Grian did manage to speak, he realized it would come out slurred and messily pronounced. This only stressed Grian out more. A whine escaped his lips, the urge to cry beginning to win over any other instinct. Mumbo quickly rushed to crouch down next to Grian "hey Grian, it's okay. There's no need to cry" Mumbo tried to reassure him. Tears slipped from the little's eyes and he could do nothing to stop it. Before Grian had even realized what was happening, Mumbo hugged him. He pulled Grian close to him, and began slightly swaying them both back and forth "It's alright Grian, there's nothing to worry about".

Grian couldn't hold it back any longer. The dam broke, and the tears came flooding. He cried, sobbed even, and buried his face into Mumbo's chest, pacifier having fell out of his mouth and left somewhere on the floor. Mumbo continued to hold and reassure Grian, calmly shushing him, reminding him that he was there and that it was okay. Grian cried for a good few minutes, cut off babbling about who knows what between the sobs and gasping for air. Eventually he had gotten most of it out of his system, left with nothing to do but sniffle quietly, and feeling very drained and sleepy. He didn't remember the last time he had a good cry like that, but he didn't waste time thinking about it. Not when he had something else to focus on. Once he felt he could speak, having aged up just a bit, he mumbled "Sorry, your suit iz messy now". His words were still slurred, but Grian was just too tired to care about that anymore.

"No worries, I'll just clean it. I needed to do laundry anyways" Mumbo told the little "You can stay little for as long as you want, I'll still be right here, okay?". For a moment Mumbo's words reassured Grian, but in the next he suddenly pushed Mumbo away slightly and looked up at him, unsure what exactly to feel about what he heard "You know what little is?" Mumbo chuckled, a bit awkwardly, a bit embarrassed, but overall happily "Yeah, Sometimes I regress too" he admitted. Grian was completely stunned "What?!". Mumbo found himself laughing harder "We truly do have three brain cells between the two of us, don't we?".

As surprised as Grian was, he found himself giggling along. Albeit he was still sniffling, and his eyes were red, but it really was funny. He could talk to Mumbo about it when he was big again, but right now, he was little, sleepy, and just wanted to hug the silly potato man, so he did. Mumbo let out an 'oof', surprised by the sudden hug, but only smiled as Grian made his 'hugging sound' that they'd laughed about a few days ago. Mumbo returned the hug, moving the two a bit so Grian could properly sit in his lap, and began running one hand through Grian's hair. As unexpected as this all was, neither would complain.

Soon enough Grian began to drift off, the sleepiness seeping in. Mumbo only smiled again when he realized Grian had fallen asleep. As carefully as he could, Mumbo picked up the paci that had been discarded on the floor and pocketed it to clean later. He slowly scooched Grian so he could properly pick him up, and began to make his way to Grian's bedroom. If Grian had woken up during the short travel, he said nothing and went back to sleep. And if he woke up again when both were laying on his bed, he said nothing then either, possibly snuggling even closer to Mumbo before falling back asleep again.