Grumbo Soulmates AU (Original)

Chapter 8 - Lashing Out

A/N: Apologies I haven't updated sooner. I plan on posting more soon.

Word Count: 978
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Grian had a weird sinking feeling in his chest as they walked back towards the college. One he hadn’t really experienced in a while but he could just tell something was wrong. Maybe it was just anxiety but it felt like something else, call it a gut feeling.

He hadn’t even really noticed the change in his pace, from his usual bubbly light walk that was similar to that of someone listening to music and just moving with the beat. It was carefree, it was calm, it was fitting with who he was, but this walk? It was quicker, it was grounded, it felt more like someone on a mission than anything.

Getting inside the building things felt relatively normal, so he kept walking. Glancing everywhere there were people checking to see what was going on.

He stopped when he noticed Mumbo, he looked different? It was hard to determine what was happening so he quietly made his way closer, eyes staying focused on the man.

TW minor violence and blood

He watched carefully as the scenario continued to unfold around him. There were a couple of other men gathered around Mumbo, one man, in particular, getting closer to him, he appeared threatening. It wasn’t until he saw the man grab hold of Mumbo that he felt himself moving forwards without even thinking about it. Trying to get over there as quickly as he could. But he arrived too late, the man delivering a punch to Mumbo. That was the last straw, the last thing he remembered was throwing a punch back at the man the second he got the chance to.

It took several people breaking up the situation for him to come back around. There was a pool of blood on the floor, was it his? He felt his face, not finding anything that would bleed that badly. Glancing at the other man, blood dripping from him, it became increasingly apparent Grian hadn’t really given him a chance in his blind rage. He watched as the man's friends took him away as the sound slowly came back to him, hearing Mumbo call his name.

TW ends 

“Grian?” Mumbo’s face held concern and worry. Was he worrying him? Did he no longer want to be friends?
He felt arms wrap around him before he was able to process that Mumbo was hugging him.

“Who was that?” Grian chuckled, realising how little he really knew about this situation.

“You…don’t know?” Mumbo pulled back but kept hold of Grians arm with a soft grip. “I just saw him hurt you and I guess I just…” Grian offered, nonchalantly as if it was a normal occurrence. “I’m sorry he hurt you,” Grian added, smiling at Mumbo.

“Hurt me? Are you hurt? You swung multiple times pretty hard before everyone stopped you.” Mumbo's voice was full of concern at the fact Grian had snapped so suddenly to defend him. “I’m fineeee” Grian answered, ignoring the mild stinging in his hand. “Probably going to get some suspension for this” he laughed, the contrasting concern and lack of care between the two becoming more and more apparent as they spoke.

“I have a class soon, Grian.” Mumbo sighed, looking at the smaller man. “Keep me updated on what happened? And thank you, I appreciate you defending me like that.” He pulled Grian in for a brief hug, hearing him hum in agreement before he walked off.

Grian, standing alone, decided to message Scar that he may be getting a temporary suspension before putting his phone away and walking up towards where he’d presumably be told to go to discuss this whole situation.

It was a bit blurry after that, Grian mainly just remembered being told that since it was his first offense at college they’d go easier on him but due to fighting another student he would still be suspensed for a week.

Guess he’d be working from home for the next week.

It wasn’t until Mumbo got out class that he bothered to check his messages.
There was obviously Scar, who was very concerned and confused by the lack of information going on. Then there was Mumbo, immediately asking him how he was doing.

He figured he’d respond to Scar first, telling him he got a weeks suspension for fighting a kid. He barely knew more than that so what else was he meant to say. As for Mumbo’s message he responded saying that his head kind of hurt, he was guessing that other guy got a blow in at least.

TW Implied transphobia in next paragraph

What he hadn’t expected was for Mumbo and Scar to message one another, Mumbo offering some context for Scar about what had happened that day. As it turned out, the guy who was threatening him had found out through one of his friends in another school that Mumbo was trans, so the threatening had been about that. But rather than tell Scar that outright he mitigated the details and condensed it to some guy being rather crappy about something he couldn’t control and that Grian unknowingly stepped in the second it had gotten pretty confrontational.

In return, Scar offered ideas on what to do to say thank you to Grian. See Mumbo wasn’t great at openly expressing emotions so the plan consisted of doing small things that would show appreciation and allow the two to get a bit closer.

Since Grian would be homebound for the next week, Mumbo had plenty of time to slot himself into Grian’s center of attention. Luckily enough for him, Scar had told him where Grian lived, so he had a legitimate reason on why he’d know Grian’s address. He spent the next hour figuring out the game plan and what would work best along with the guidance of Scar’s knowledge on Grian. It would be an interesting week.