Completely inspired by Doctor Siren's Animatic "A Sadness Runs Through Him", linked above, go watch that first. I'll put timestamps for what each part of the story correlates to in the video. Since the description pretty much says "Grian is mad at Mumbo for some reason", this one-shot is just my interpretation of the story, so this is not me claiming the idea or that this is the actual story behind it, this is just for fun :)
(0:07 - 1:17) "I'm telling you, Mumbo, I'm fine." Grian began to pull on his elytra, fake smile on his face and a desperate need to escape.
"No, Grian, You're not. Do you really think I can't see the bags under your eyes, the constant state of red your eyes are in, Grian, you are not ok." Mumbo explained, and Grian scoffed.
"Ah yes, leave it to the person that only sees me about once a week to tell me everything about my emotional state. Becuase of course you know more about me than me." Grian retorted angrily as he finished putting on the elytra.
"Alright fine, maybe you think you're ok, but I know you're not." Mumbo tried.
"No Mumbo, you don't know! You don't know anything! So just drop it!" Grian turned and prepared himself for flight.
"Wait, Grian..." Mumbo raised his hand to place it on his shoulder, but before he could, Grian took off. Mumbo watched from the ground as Grian flew over the churning water, thinking about what he had said. The wind whipped across his face, making it even harder to hold in his tears he cold feel brimming his eyes. Amid his calming deep breath, he felt a jerk from behind him. His momentum was halted suddenly as he looked back at his elytra. He hadn't checked which one he put on during his anger, and now the old elytra was riddled with holes and rips.
He felt his body plummet, and instead of the panic he was expecting, he accepted it. He closed his eyes until finally, his back smashed into the cold depths and sank. Once again, he just let it happen, tears disappearing among the salt water. Mumbo watched all of this happen, and the moment he saw Grian hit the water, instinct kicked in and he dove into the water. The cold shock of the waves rippled through his body, but this momentary shock only lasted a second, his attention being focused on the quickly sinking body of his friend. He swam over to him, scooping him into his arms and pulling both of them back onto land. The water dripped off of them in heavy drops as Mumbo laid Grian's body flat, desperately looking for a sign of breathing. Suddenly, after a painful silence, Grian gasped and began coughing violently. Mumbo sat him up and pulled him into a hug, and Grian accepted it for a moment. He curled into it, letting his tears fall with the water dripping from his hair. Mumbo pulled away to look at him, and laughed slightly.
"I told you you weren't ok." He joked, and Grian's face dropped. He stood, looking down at Mumbo before turning and trying to wipe away his tears. "Wait, no, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" Grian didn't stop, and left Mumbo alone, soaking wet and concerned.
(1:18 - 2:05) Grian had avoided Mumbo after that, staying away from his base or leaving anytime he saw Mumbo enter the same shop. Mumbo had noticed this, but decided to give Grian some space. But after a week of only catching the back of his head walking out of a door, he saw Grian talking happily to Iskall in the shopping district.
"Hey guys!" Mumbo called out ot them, catching their attention. The moment Grian recognized the voice, his expression dropped and he began to walk away. Iskall had raised his hand to wave, but noticed Grian's change too.
"What's going on?" Iskall asked Mumbo as he passed him, chasing after Grian. Mumbo shrugged in response and continued to walk behind Grian.
"Look, I'm sorry." Grian stopped, and Mumbo placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'm not sure what I did, but I'm sorry." At this, Grian whipped around to face him.
"Don't say that!" He yelled, catching Mumbo off guard. "Don't make it my fault I'm mad at you! Trust me, I know how this works!" Tears began to stream down his face. "You make me feel bad for being mad at you, so I forgive you, but you never change! You just hurt me again!" Mumbo scrunched up, realizing his mistake.
"I didn't... I just wanted to help." Mumbo tried, but Grian turned his back again, taking out a rocket and flying up into the sky, leaving Mumbo once again.
(2:06 - 3:11) Determined, Mumbo searched his inventory for his own elytra, putting it on and taking off as fast as he could.
"Grian!" He called out, and Grian turned to look at him. Realizing he was approaching, Grian picked up speed in an attempt to escape him. That not working, Grian began using his elytra skills to twist and turn in the air. Mumbo followed closely until one point where they were looking at each other in the air.
"Please Grian, I just want to talk!" Mumbo tried, and Grian slowed his turns enough so that Mumbo could grab onto his shoulder in the air. "Tell me what I did wrong! Tell me what I have to do to fix this!" He yelled as Grian's tears continued. He grabbed onto Mumbo's arm, pushing them off of him and flying up, out of his reach.
"It's not that easy!" He screamed, flying higher and higher.
"Please Grian, let me help you!" Mumbo called out, but Grian continued to ascend.
"I can't be helped!" His tears picked up as he screamed down to his friend. "Just stop trying! I hate you! Stay away from me!" He flew the other direction, and this time, instead of chasing after him, Mumbo let his body float to the ground, landing on the roof of a building. He sat, letting his legs dangle over the side and heard the echos of Grian's yells bounce through his head. He couldn't stop the tears as he curled into himself, covering his face with his hands and wrapping his wings around himself.
(This part is all my imagination) 5 months. Grian was gone from the server for 5 months, leaving Mumbo alone with his thoughts. He had told the server he was leaving to go see an old friend, but promising he'd be back at the latest by the server's anniversary party. The party was tonight, and yet no one had seen him yet. Mumbo, in Grian's absence, had began to heal from the experience, only telling Iskall what had happened. He put on his best suit and walked into the party, looking out onto the sea of happy faces belonging to his friends. He hung around for a while, talking and even dancing a bit until finally, he noticed someone walk through the door. A large crowd encircled him, asking about his time away from the server. He and Mumbo made eye contact for just a second, before Mumbo turned around and booked it to the back door.
"Hey, you ok?" Iskall asked, noticing him try desperately to leave the party.
"Yeah, I just need some air." He replied, walking out of the door and into the brisk night air. He followed the shopping district's road until he ended up on a beach, and sat on the sand, listening to the churning waves. They were interrupted, however, by the sound of footsteps approaching behind him. He kept his gaze forward as Grian sat in the sand next to him.
"Hey." Grian started, and Mumbo, still staring at the ocean, replied.
"Hey." There was a short silence as the air between them sizzled. "So, how was your old friend?" Mumbo asked, and Grian sighed.
"He was good. I didn't mean to leave for so long, but I didn't realize how much I needed his help until I got there." Grian started, and Mumbo sighed.
"Told ya so." He mocked, getting a chuckle from Grian.
"I know. But you couldn't help me."
"But why-!" Mumbo noticed his tone raise and took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. "Why not?"
"You started to sound like... him. Sam. And whenever Sam tried to convince me everything he was doing was for my benefit, it would just end in more pain." He sighed, and Mumbo finally tore his gaze from the sea.
"Grian, I was never trying to-"
"No, I know that. Taurtis not only helped me get better, he also made me realize how awful I was to you. I was unfair, and I shouldn't have pushed you away. I just didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I'm sorry." Mumbo replied, and Grian smiled.
"Can we just agree that we both messed up and that we're both sorry?" He asked, and Mumbo smiled too, looking back at the ocean.
"Yeah, ok." Another silence filled the air until finally, Mumbo spoke up. "So, are we... good now?"
"Yeah. We're good."
"We should probably go back to the party now." Mumbo suggested, and Grian nodded.
"Yeah, X would be pissed if my first night back on the server is spent skipping the party he's been planning for months." This made both of them laugh as they stood and began following the path back to the party, spending the rest of the night with their friends in pure joy.
Been a while, huh? I rewatched this animatic the other night and thought about the aftermath and realized, I can write it! So I did. Anyway, sorry this isn't a request but I really wanted to write something and this was all my brain would make. Thanks for reading, I hope you have a good day/night, and you are loved.