Grumbo Oneshots

Strain

Oh boy, ready for some sad Mumbo? Also, I have a message for you guys at the end. Anyways, enjoy!

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Mumbo grunted as he lifted a piston up into its place. For the last few months, everything had felt more... rhythmic. It was more of a routine to do his daily activities than something he enjoyed.

He had grown distant to all of his friends, and, in the few instances where he did see his friends, he usually masked his feelings; he'd smile, laugh, pretend to be happy. But, as of recently, he felt bad for lying to them, especially to his best friends. He'd also been getting tired of pretending. So, as a solution, he'd decided to keep himself away from everybody.

Like this, he could be himself; he could cry, think, be honest. But every once in a while, he'd have breakdowns. And being alone with no comfort from anybody was something that has happened to him for so long, he was surprised he hadn't grown used to the lonely feeling.

~~~~

Unknowingly, Mumbo began crying. It started out soft at first, but as he kept reflecting, his sobs grew louder. In frustration, he threw his tools on the floor, not caring that they cracked on impact.

He paced around his base, trying to find a distraction, but he kept thinking about his friends. How he is the reason that they haven't seen each other. How they probably all hate him and it's his own fault.

Finally, he decided that sitting would be the best choice. Slowly, he slid down against a wall, a few hiccups escaping as horrible, unwelcome thoughts swarmed around his head.

He never asked to be like this, such a nuisance. It just happened and once he realized how bothersome he was, he had to stop it. He just missed his friends so much, but he couldn't be around them anymore, not when he was so useless and annoying.

Mumbo ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm himself, but it did nothing. In frustration, Mumbo grabbed at his hair and slightly tugged at it.

His head was lowered, his body's position was one of defeat and despair. All he was waiting for was the end of his pain. Then he'd go back to being numb for a while. It was just a continuous cycle; he'd feel nothing, then in a few moments, everything seemed to be crashing down around him.

Mumbo let out a shaky sigh. What he looked like didn't matter now, he had nobody to hide anything from. But then again, he had nobody to make him smile. Or just feel happy, even if it was for just a few short moments. Any other feelings were better that what he felt during these phases.

Mumbo's thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps approaching him. Mumbo looked up in surprise and saw Grian looking at him with a worried, sympathetic expression.

"Mumbo?" Grian asked tentatively. "What's wrong?"

"Grian! What're you doing here?" Mumbo looked away and wiped his wet eyes with his coat sleeve.

"Answer me first," Grian walked toward his friend and kneeled down next to him, "Talk to me."

"I can't," Mumbo's voice broke as a few tears made their way out

"No, don't cry," Grian's expression was empathetic as he rubbed his friend's back, "Just tell me what's wrong."

"That's the thing," Mumbo cried, trying too keep himself from making eye contact with his friend, "I don't know what's wrong, I-" Mumbo's coughs interrupted his explanation. Grian hushed him softly as he brought his friend's head up against his chest.

Mumbo's coughs subdued and he continued his statement, "I just - it's something that's been bothering me ages. I'm so - ugh - I don't even know what's wrong." Mumbo vented his frustrations to his friend, who was listening intently.

Grian nodded understandingly and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What do you feel?" Grian asked.

"I - I feel like I don't deserve to be here, like I'm not worthy of anything. I don't deserve any of my friends."

"No, that's not true. You're so much better than you realize. You do deserve this. This and so much more, okay?"

"Don't lie, I don't. You know I don't." Mumbo looked up at his friend, "Why do you act like you care?"

"I care, Mumbo. We all care about you, we all love you."

Mumbo didn't respond. He took a few shaky breaths and broke out into small sobs, softly shaking his head as his crying continued. Grian frowned at the sight of his best friend being so broken. He didn't know what to do other than hug him. His quietly hushed his crying friend and whispered soft warm-hearted, loving words.

After a long while, Mumbo took a deep breath and pulled back from their embrace. His eyes stung, and a small tear made it's way out.

Grian reached out and affectionately rubbed the stray tear away with his thumb. Mumbo smiled tiredly at the small act and brought Grian's hand down to his lips. He softly kissed the back of the blond's hand.

"Sorry, are you alright with this?" Mumbo asked.

Grian smiled and brought himself close to his friend, smiling. "Of course."

~~~~

Hey guys! Oh my God, it's been a whole year since I first published this book, isn't that crazy? Anyways, I'd like to thank all of you for your support, it's appreciated and, on top of this being the book's one year anniversary, it also reached 40k reads. Which, to me, is a lot of people. Thank you all so, so much for all of this and I can't wait to see what the future brings for this book.