The Unseen Beauty of the Ungrateful

Chapter 13: Wine and Spilled Secrets

Mumbo shifted the heavy bag in his arms, which was threatening to spill its contents all over the ground, and knocked rapidly on the heavy oak door.

Come on, come on, please be home...

When the door remained closed, Mumbo sighed and repeated his action, this time only stopping once he heard footsteps approaching on the other side.

"Who the hell-"

Mumbo smiled widely as Grian cut himself off and stared blankly at the tall God before him.

"What... why..." Grian stammered, clearly struggling to collect his thoughts.

"I brought groceries" Mumbo interrupted, pushing past the entrance and heading towards the kitchen without a second glance. "Come on! I'll cook"

Grian followed slowly, his mouth opening and closing as though he was in a trance, his eyes never leaving Mumbo's face.

It wasn't until Mumbo had unloaded his bag onto the table and Grian saw the enormous quantity of food that he managed to find his words.

"Mumbo what the hell is this?! Where did you get this? Why are you here?"

Mumbo smiled to himself, having fully expected and prepared for a reaction like this.

"I got it from the market in town because you never have any food and you need to eat. I'm here because I want to be, and I told you I would be back in a day. Did you think I was lying?"

Grian shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

"I just didn't expect you to actually..."

He trailed off, staring at his hands and avoiding Mumbo's gaze.

Mumbo clicked his tongue.

"Anyways, is there anything in particular you want to eat? I brought a selection since I'm not really sure what you prefer"

Grian swept a glance over the mountain of food Mumbo had dumped on his table and picked up a loaf of bread.

"Mumbo this is white bread! Do you know how expensive this is? And is this a whole chicken?! Where did you find strawberries this time of year?!"

"That's hardly an answer to my question" Mumbo chided with a grin, making Grian widen his eyes in surprise.

"When did you get so snippy?"

"I learned from the best"

Grian crossed his arms and huffed, but couldn't completely fight off the smile that quirked the corners of his mouth.

"Touché. Fine then Mumbo Jumbo" he stressed Mumbo's name the way he always did when he wanted to make fun of him. "Do you even know how to cook"

"Uh..." Mumbo blushed slightly and picked up a knife. "Well... how hard can it be? I'm sure I can figure it out"

Grian rolled his eyes and walked so he was standing near the oven.

"Just let me-"

"No" Mumbo interrupted putting up his hand. "You just sit ok? You're still recovering"

"From what?"

Mumbo crinkled his forehead.

"Your injuries? From... the creepers?"

"Oh that" Grian shrugged. "It's not a big deal. We're Gods. We heal fast"

"Yeah... but still" Mumbo couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling twisting in his stomach from Grian's casual tone. "Can't you just let me cook for you?"