Featherweight - Hermitcraft AU

Split Paths

Grian equipped his armour as the lift rose up to ground level.

"I'm never going to tell them." He said to himself as he slicked back his hair with the hair gel he kept in his inventory. He put on the mask and waited for the doors to open up.

Once the lift doors opened up from the back of TVGrumbot, Grian zipped right into the air. He mumbled to himself in a deep voice a few times, trying to get into the "vibe" of Poultry Man. He was still trying to figure out who Poultry Man was.

Poultry Man, Grian decided, was confident and a leader. He didn't care what people thought of him, and he was okay with compliments about his appearance.

Essentially, he was the opposite of Grian's comfort zone. But that was the point. If he could act in ways that Grian wouldn't, then no one would suspect a thing.

The hero spoke outloud with a smile. "I love myself."

It felt good to say that.

Back down in the HQ, Mumbo sat at the table, staring blankly into his empty coffee cup.

He was scared for Grian. Something felt off.

Their conversation was cold and harsh at the end. They hadn't been like that since Grian was hiding the wings.

Was he hiding something else from Mumbo?

Mumbo felt ashamed as he remembered that he was hiding things from Grian as well.

"Dad...You're crying."

Mumbo looked up, blinking as he came back to reality, as Circuit sat down opposite of his father. He brought his hand to his face and felt where tears had rolled down his cheeks.

"Oh, haha, I, uh, didn't notice." Mumbo sniffed.

"Did you and Father have a fight?" Circuit sounded worried.

Mumbo laughed at the idea. "Of course not! He's just...not having a great time becoming a bird, y'know?"

Circuit nodded. "You want more coffee? There's still some left, and I can get it for you!" He seemed eager to help out.

Mumbo faltered. Children don't offer to help their parents like this...do they?

Circuit waited for his father to respond, but Mumbo stared off into space. It suddenly dawned on the roboticist what the central purpose of the twins were when he first started building them.

They were made to be his assistants.

Not his children.

His robot helpers.

Not his kids.

His heart started to hurt as he thought about that.

"Circuit, dear..."

"Yes, Dad?"

"Do you feel like I treat you like my kid or....or as a machine?"

Circuit seemed surprised by that question. "As your kid, of course!" He paused. "Hm, to be fair, I haven't been anything but a machine, but...who says I can't be both?" The boy smiled and it was a reflection of Mumbo's old middle school photos, minus the glasses and crooked teeth.

The twins only had one eye each. The reason that Mumbo told himself was that he only had enough materials to give them one eye each...but that was a lie. He could have easily given them a second eye when he finished them up.