𓈊 The Red on My Face is Matching You

6

TW: mention of death, handgun

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"Hey, Mu-" Pearl stopped when Mumbo walked right past her after taking off his shoes at the door. "Mumbo?"

Mumbo ignored her and went to his bedroom, shutting the door and locking it behind him. He had too much to think about now. Grian was a walking corpse, a host for a parasite. A zombie, basically. And when Xelqua didn't need them anymore, they would be tossed aside to rot like they were worth nothing to begin with. It hurt to think that the person Mumbo fell in love with was a decaying corpse.

He buried his face in his hands, hot tears building up in his eyes. He wanted to scream. He hated love.

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"Damn, you look rough," Zedaph said as Mumbo walked into the classroom. Mumbo decided to ignore him. "Mumbo?"

Again, Mumbo ignored Zed and sat down at his desk. He was tired from crying to himself all night about Grian. He let his head fall into his arms as he waited for class to start, not wanting to have the liberty of thinking through having a distraction. That's what he needed right now. A distraction.

"Xelqua?" the teacher called for attendance, and Mumbo bit back the urge to scream that their name was Grian and they were a victim of a needy, parasitic monster.

He also bit back the urge to start crying again.

There was no use being upset anyway, Grian was practically gone already. They were dead and there was nothing Mumbo could do about it but wish he knew sooner.

If he knew earlier, maybe he wouldn't have fallen in love with them.

The rest of the day was absolute torture, even though Grian hadn't shown up to school that day. Mumbo just couldn't take his mind off of them.

He refused to sit with Bdubs and Zedaph at lunch (Doc was away with his parents in Hawaii), instead spending the forty minutes in the courtyard contemplating his decision to apply to the academy.

"It's a great choice in the long run considering the amount of jobs I'll have the option of getting with this academy on my resume," he mumbled to himself, tossing a coin into the fountain. "But is it really worth it when someone I care about is gone?"

"They're an obsessive creature, willing to do anything to be with the person they love most... even killing them and pulling out all of their non-essential organs to climb inside their body and be one with them."

"The torture you must've gone through..." Mumbo shuddered at the thought of a kid his own age - probably younger - being ripped apart from the inside out whilst being forced to stay alive just so some obsessive freak could be with the person they love the most... and then only for that monster to move on as soon as that corpse serves them no use anymore. It filled Mumbo with both anger and sadness. But mostly just sadness.

As Mumbo stared hopelessly down into the rippling water of the fountain, he noticed a familiar face approaching him.

Grian.

Mumbo whirled around immediately with a bright smile on his face, but it quickly faded when Grian didn't match his excitement. "What's wrong?"

"I need to ask something of you," Grian said quietly, their arms wrapped around themselves as they avoided Mumbo's gaze.

Anything you want.

"I want you to kill me."

Mumbo blinked. "No."

Grian looked up at Mumbo now. "Please, you have to-"

"You're already dead, so why should I?!" Mumbo shouted, startling Grian and making them jump.

Grian paused, eyes darting between Mumbo's. "I- I think it's the only way to stop Xelqua," they said nervously. "I was doing my research on parasites... and if you kill the host, then the parasite dies, too." They fidgeted with their hands. "I'm taking a guess that it'll work with Xelqua, too."

Mumbo shook his head, his eyes flooding with tears. "No," he said again, "no, I can't-"

"Please, you have to!" Grian begged. "Like you said, I'm already dead! Please, save me and the others, and everyone else at this school. If you don't, then you'll be next, and this will never end!"

"Grian, I-"

"Mumbo, please." It took Mumbo a moment to realise Grian was crying. "Bdubs was my friend once. I don't want him dying to this monster."

Mumbo paused. He knew he had to do it. There was no point in not doing it. But... "I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to kill the person I love," he murmured, and Grian's eyes widened.

"You... love me?"

Mumbo looked away. "Yeah," he said awkwardly. "I do."

Grian sobbed. "Mumbo, you know you can't be with me, right?" they said, trying to smile even though they were crying. "I'm-"

"Dead," Mumbo interrupted. "I know.

Grian let out another sob, then another, then cried for a good five minutes whilst Mumbo struggled not to do the same.

Except it was for a completely different reason.

Grian was probably crying because there was likely no other way to get rid of Xelqua. But Mumbo only wanted to cry because he could never be with Grian.

Never.

It was selfish. He knew he should help them, free them from whatever nightmares they were going through, but he just couldn't. It hurt too much.

"There's no other way," Grian mumbled, finally calming down a little. "There's no other way to get rid of it." They looked up at him. "Mumbo, you have to kill me!" they screamed, then pulled a handgun from under their shirt to hand to Mumbo. "Please! This will never end if you don't!"

Mumbo stared wide-eyed at the firearm. "I-"

"Xelqua will target you next," Grian continued, a bit calmer this time, "and they'll make sure you'll never regain control of your body again once they do." They stepped forward and shoved the weapon at Mumbo's chest. "They could very well end humanity. Just... please, Mumbo... kill me."

Mumbo took the gun from Grian and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he held up the weapon. "I love you, Grian," he whispered, opening his eyes now.

As he pulled the trigger, he could've sworn he heard Grian say,

"I love you, too."