Benchtrio's Amazing Guide to City Living | Ft. The Hermits & SBI

I always wonder "What am I doing? Why am I here?"

"Aw, I love you too, Mumbo!"

And with quite a strange noise, Grian falls on Mumbo, wrapping his arms and wings around the taller man.

"By the way, your potats won't explode overnight in the cupboard, right?"

Oh yeah, Mumbo has the ability to turn food items into bombs (hence the cool firecracker at the lobby). How cool is that? His go-to food is, you guessed it, potatoes; spuds; tatties; tubers; taters; or as Mumbo likes to call the ones he makes go boom: potats. They are quite explosive -Grian can tell you that much- and very destructive (and deadly 'cause they're still edible, but again, we're skipping that detail). He has learnt to make two kinds of bombs so far: dynamite potats (which was the first batch that Grian carried up) and pressure-sensitive potats which work pretty much like mines. And yes, he has made huge mine fields using potats many times.

What? He only sets them around the parking lot of remote companies that are harmful to the environment! Those evil-doers had it coming!

"No, they should be fine as long as they're stable and perfectly immobile-"

Grian twitches.

At that, Mumbo stops speaking, stops moving and both of their heads slowly turn to the cupboard. Grian's wings shiver, feathers ruffling and fluff raising due to goosebumps and that's when reality settles in.

"Crap"

"Did you seriously put them on top of each other?"

The avian slowly turns towards him again with a sheepish smile. He might've done exactly that. He discreetly coughs into his fist.

"Is there any chance you can disarm the mines?", and he coughs again, side-eyeing his mustached friend.

And that's when they hear the very distinct ploof of a potato falling.

This day is going fan-freaking-tastic.

(Never hide bombs in your cupboards, kids!)

*

Ghostbur is circling The Blade. It isn't done in a defensive sort of way, not like a predator circles its prey, but in a calculating, curious, and very scrutinizing manner. His brother acts like a cat sometimes and Techno can't do much about it other than accept it, even though he's a dog person. And that's fine, he can't really say that having a non-corporeal person walking around him in circles annoys him (he's used to it) but the reason he's doing it? Oh, man, the reason is perhaps the most annoying thing of all time. It's probably more annoying than having to tie your shoelaces every morning.

Wilbur is questioning his actions. It's been about half an hour since they departed from the block of flats, received their warrant and printed it out in a bookstore to file later at the police station (bless Phil) but Wil is too stubborn to forget about an incident that happened so long ago. Ugh. He supposes that it is kind of strange for the fearsome Blade to let a teenage thief off the hook so easily. Especially when he has arrested teens for pettier illegal things than pickpocketing. Especially when said thief stole his own belongings.

Shouldn't he be holding a huge grudge or something? Isn't his vengefulness and ultimate sense of justice supposed to be taking over? That's what Techno thinks should be happening right about now, and his brother has been reminding him every ten seconds, but for some reason, imagining the kid's face in his mind's eye doesn't anger him nor ire him at all. It is... weird, strange; it makes him feel uncomfortable and his skin fills with goosebumps.

"Are you really The Blade?", Wilbur asks, using titles only because they are in public. The public must never learn their real identities, lest they want to have reporters flocking their house and said house to be destroyed by vengeful villains (the three of them have put many big guys in jail, they wouldn't put it past said guys to destroy a house with them inside of it). Only Phil's crows would make it out alive.