Two hands to hold

Day 3: Minecraft Achievements

"That doesn't mean it's without risks... besides! I'd rather not need a respawn if I can help it. It's not without consequences!"

Grian hugged him tight for a moment. "We'll be fine! Promised." Another deep sigh. There really was no winning with these two. Before he could voice anymore reasons as to why it was a bad idea, Grian grabbed Scar's hand and ran off further into the woods, to the deeper darker part. Mumbo reluctantly followed.

They didn't stop running as the first ten minutes they got chased by several mobs that weren't the Creepers they were looking for. Luckily, Zombies are slow and Skeletons are stupid, as per Scar's words right before an arrow lodged itself into his upper arm. The next moment was spend removing the arrow and taking care of the wound.

Before Mumbo could protest to continue, Grian gasped. He had spotted a Creeper and rushed into battle. "Be careful!" Mumbo called after him. When Grian decapitated the mob and trotted back over, looking every bit as victorious, Mumbo almost felt as if his worries were misplaced. Sadly for him, and Grian, it would turn out they weren't as misplaced as he thought...

Grian and Scar were chatt8ing away as they went further into the forest, closely followed by Mumbo, who kept his eyes on their surroundings. "Look!" Scar called out, finger pointing further up the path," Another one, this is your chance!"

Scar handed Grian his bow, waiting for the other to put on the Creeper head from earlier. His arm still hurt to much, so it was up to the pesky bird to try and get the achievement. "Be careful," Mumbo hissed once more. Grian tsk-ed a grin on his face that no one could see, but could be heard in his voice... "I always am," he said before taking aim.

Scar cheered him on as he wasn't doing to bad at hitting the Creeper, who kept angrily hissing at him and trying to make his way over. The nickname Cute Guy occasionally slipped from the injured man's lips with great affection in his tone. Mumbo was just nervously twiddling with his thumbs. "Damnit, I ran out," Grian huffed annoyed, before taking out his sword and charging the still very much alive Creeper.

A weary silence fell upon both onlookers as Grian gave a frustrated shout while slashing at the creature. "It should've died by now," Scar muttered, no longer cheering Cute Guy on. Mumbo froze. "It couldn't be... could it?" Scar looked him in the eye, fear evident on his face.

"Oh no."

A defective Creeper. There were few and far in between, but they did exist. Basically, the Creeper didn't act 'normal' and took way longer to kill than the non-defective variant. Harder to kill, but way more deadly. And very unpredictable.

"G, watch out! We thi-"

Scar had called out to get Grian's attention to warn him about the danger, but he was too late. With a frustrated shout, Grian wacked the Creeper on the head a final time. When Scar's words registered in his mind and the realisation settled, Grian pulled off the Creeper head and tried to back away. He didn't get the chance to as the creature hissed.

< Grian was blown up by a Creeper >

When Grian came to, the first thing he noticed was how everything was way too silent and way too loud at the same time. The second thing was that he hurt all over. Feeling overstimulated at the moment, he chose to keep his eyes closed. Not wanting to worsen his headache by getting a panic attack, he concentrated on taking deep breaths. What had happened again? Oh... right... Creeper, aww man.

A respawn after getting blown to bits was never fun and it took some time to recover. Mumbo was right. Before he could get too angry at himself, or the situation, he could hear a door open. He tried to focus on his surroundings some more, trying to figure out where he had ended up, even tho he was pretty sure it was at his own base.

"How is he?" he heard Scar asked, voice barely loud enough to hear. Grian peeked his eyes open slightly, noticing a figure stepping closer to the bed. He could make pout the decorated walls of his own bedroom, so he was indeed at his own base. Seemed logical. "He hasn't woken up, Scar."

Grian's heart seemed to stop for a moment when he registered Mumbo's stressed-out voice. He carefully moved his head so he could take a peek at the moustached man sitting beside his bed. Scar walked over and placed a hand on Mumbo's shoulder in comfort. "He will be alright, it just takes a bit to recover from such a respawn," Scar said, not sounding as confident as he had hoped. Grian could barely make out the hopeful smile on his face.

"Doc said he could have a concussion..."

A sigh.

"But Xisuma assured us the respawn had gone right, so he shouldn't have too much trouble recovering after some time."

Another sigh.

"It's just- I can't help but worry, you know? W-what if he's really hurt? What if he is in worst shape than he seems to be, what if-" Grian could barely see Scar leaning into Mumbo. "He is G, he will be fine. Nothing that can bring our pesky bird down." Right as Grian decided that was a good time to announce that he was awake, Scar gave Mumbo a quick kiss.

An unvoluntary gasp left Grian as his eyes flew open when he witnessed the display of affection. Both men let out a surprise yelp, before recovering from their shock and rushing over to the bedridden man.

"Grian!" "G!"

"Are you okay?" "Are you hurt?"

Grian felt dizzy as he was bombarded by questions. He groaned as he tried to sit up. "Careful now," Scar said, helping him settle against the headboard. "How are you feeling?" Mumbo asked quietly, hands hovering over the smaller's body. "Never mind that!" Grian shrieked," When did this happen?!" Mumbo and Scar shared a worried look. "You got blown up, remember? By a def-"

"Not that!" he winced as his head throbbed," You two." He looked accusing at Scar, then at Mumbo and back to Scar. "Oooh... that," Scar said with a chuckle as Mumbo turned red. "Well, you see-" "When you-" A pause. "You go ahead," Scar said with a small smile. It didn't ease Mumbo's anxiety as he started to stammer out an explanation.

"When you were blown up, we rushed back to find you still unconscious," he explained," We called in Doc and Xisuma, who said you just needed time to recover, anyway-" Grian gave him a look that made him pause for a minute, thinking that the other would very much like him to get to the point. "I was so worried, I didn't know what to do with myself," he admitted, eyes casted downwards, to his hands nervously wringing together," I realised I didn't- couldn't bear the idea of being without you, so I- uh, I-"

Grian grabbed his hands to make him stop fiddling so much, and to reassure him, making Mumbo look up at him. "I'm sorry for making you so worried," Grian said softly, earning him a squeeze. Scar hummed. "You should've seen him, confessing his love and feelings for us," he chuckled," so dramatic. It's a shame you missed it."

Mumbo turned red up to the tips of his ears. Grian stared in surprise at the smiling man. "...Us?" he asked carefully. Silence, a shared look and a nod. "Yeah, well, I realised I m in love with you... both of you," Mumbo said, trying to pull away, anxiety written all over his face. Grian refused to let go, while staring Scar down. His eyebrow raised in question, it took Scar a moment to realise what Grian was silently asking of him.

"Hm? Oh yeah! Me too!" he quickly assured," I love you both. Very much so." Grian tugged on Mumbo's hands wordlessly. Luckily for him, Mumbo seemed to understand the silent plea and sat down beside the other, wrapping him in a hug. Thee smaller made grabby hands towards Scar, who joined them with a laugh. Hiding his red face in the other two's arms, Grian simply took a deep breath. In and out. Letting it all wash over him, letting it settle as a firepit in his stomach.

A hand caressed his hair. "You okay?" He nodded. "Just. Happy." A kiss on his head. "Just to be clear," Mumbo mumbled," You feel the same?" Grian came out of hiding in between arms, nodding enthusiastically. "Yup, totally!" They laughed softly. "Good, because then I get to do this," Scar said, nuzzling his face into Grian's locks, smothering him in kisses. Mumbo chuckled and gave him a soft peck on the cheek, making the smaller hide his red face again. "This is the best achievement I've gotten yet," he muttered, barely audible. Soft laughter rang through his ears. "And what would you call this achievement?" Mumbo wondered. A chuckle.

"Two hands to hold."