Chapter Text
The sun was setting over the vast lands that the boatem crew inhabited, casting and orange glow over the sands and seas that bordered the island.
The beauty of the scene was left completely ignored by Mumbo, who stared in horror at the entrance of the new shop that had opened up that day.
A grand, glowing sign was placed in front of the shop depicting a name that Mumbo would have never expected from one of the casual stores usually made by a hermit who possessed materials they could sell.
‘Blood Bank’. The name was intriguing, much too intriguing for a shop that held such a plain exterior. Mumbo wasn’t sure what drew him to open the door and step in without hesitation; whether it was the need to find out who was responsible for this or the intense thirst he had felt for days now.
Although, Mumbo already had a suspicion who the culprit of this might be as he recalled the chat he had with Grian a couple weeks prior.
———
“Peace love and plants?” Grian questioned as he offered the engineer a skeptical glance. “It’s pretty ambitious to say that you’re going to regrow every tree you chop down… And wait, you can’t kill anything either?”
Mumbo grinned at the reaction, his two elongated canines flashing for a split second before he covered them again. “That’s right, no killing and I’ll only be eating plant based food from now on!”
Grian’s face turned into something close to disapproval as he processed the new information. “You’re turning vegan? Mumbo, to be honest- I don’t know if that’s a good idea for you considering you’re-“
Mumbo was quick to replace Grian’s statement with reassurance. “It’s going to be fine, it’s not like I’ll die if I go without blood for a bit. It doesn’t work like that.”
The engineer noticed straight away that his reassurance had been ineffective as Grian’s frown only deepened. “That’s not the point. It’s like making a cat go vegan, it’s not healthy for you to go without blood every now and then.”
“I’m not a cat Grian,” Mumbo laughed him off as he continued to feign optimism. “I’ll just be tired for a bit, that’s all. ”
Grian was unconvinced, and didn’t bother hiding the concern that was written all over his face. But he knew that Mumbo had already made his mind up and there wasn’t much he could do to change that… Apart from try to prove him wrong.
Mumbo didn’t miss the slight smirk that replaced the blonde’s concerned features as he turned around to fly back to his base.
———
Grian!!! Mumbo internally growled to himself as he glared around the interior of the room until his eyes landed on a sign over a chest.
‘Exchange a small amount of blood in exchange for DIAMONDS to help our vampire friend!!’
It was a charity. Grian had set up a charity for him. Did he really look that exhausted?
In truth, the lack of blood was really starting to get to Mumbo, to the point it had started to effect his everyday activities. He found himself sleeping in much longer only to wake up in the morning completely exhausted. When he would work on his base, he would frequently find himself zoning out and wasting valuable time.
He was exhausted, unable to concentrate or work; and for what? To prove his point?
Mumbo sighed to himself as he left the shop, this had already turned out to be much more difficult than he’d originally thought it would be. And now that Grian had gotten directly involved, Mumbo wasn’t sure how he was going to make it through without talking to Grian about it himself.
As much as he appreciated Grian for trying to help, he really didn’t want the winged man to get involved with this. He was trying to prove a point here.
Perhaps Grian had heard his thoughts, Mumbo wasn’t sure, all he knew was that Grian had spotted him in the distance and was swooping towards him in the sky, his huge, grey elytra flapping elegantly as he made his landing in front of the redstone engineer.
“Mumbo!” He exclaimed happily as he grinned widely at Mumbo. “You found my shop!”
Mumbo found it almost impossible to sound annoyed as he caught sight of that smile so he sighed instead. “It’s pretty obvious, Grian.”
The winged man only smirked as he passed Mumbo’s side and headed inside of the shop, gesturing for the engineer to follow, which he reluctantly did so.
“I was just going to check if we’ve had any donations yet.” Grian stated as he approached the only chest in the room, only to open it and reach inside.
Mumbo watched as Grian’s cerulean eyes lit up as he pulled out a small vial that was filled with the iconic red liquid he had been searching for. The engineer felt his heart twinge immediately at the sight of it, eyes glued to the way the fluid sloshed around within the glass.
Grian was quick to place a few diamonds within the chest before presenting the vial to Mumbo directly, having noticed his friend’s obvious interest in it.
“Well, here it is!” Grian watched him eagerly. “Nobody was harmed, so it follows your rules right?” The question sounded rhetorical, like Grian thought he already knew the answer to it.
Mumbo remained silent for some time as he glared into the vial, feeling his sharp canines begin to elongate slightly within his mouth. He knew he would have to be careful the next time he spoke so it didn’t look so obvious.
“I…” Mumbo started, only to swallow the saliva that had built up in his mouth before continuing. “I can’t accept it.. “
Grian’s expression fell immediately. His large eyes shining up at the moustache man in confusion made Mumbo’s stomach churn with regret. He should have just taken it!
“I don’t understand why though,” The smaller muttered after a moments silence. “Potatoes aren’t enough for you and you know that!”
The engineer was slightly taken a back by the sudden loudness of Grian’s voice as he continued. “I just- I don’t understand why you are so blatantly denying what you know you need.”
Mumbo took that as a chance to step in. “Grian, I don’t think you understand either. This is fine! Remember I told you I’d be tired for a bit? Well yes, that’s happened, but soon I’ll get used to it; things will go back to normal and you won’t even notice a difference!”
Grian scoffed at this, his face contorted to display a whole range of emotions that Mumbo was having trouble deciphering. “You’re not tired Mumbo; you’re exhausted. And this isn’t the same as withdrawal, you can’t just withdraw from things that are necessary to you to survive and expect to just ‘get used to it’!”
Tension continued to rise in the air and it was making Mumbo extremely uncomfortable. Of course he hated getting into disagreements with Grian and it hardly ever happened, but he couldn’t understand why the blonde was getting so emotional over this. And that lack of understanding only continued to grow.
“Blood isn’t a necessity Grian! This isn’t a movie or some fictional story that somebody made up just to make vampires seem like animals, or bloodthirsty creatures that will die if they don’t drink blood every day. I know what I’m doing, but you can’t seem to accept that!” Mumbo declared on the defensive, his frame tense as he glared down at the smaller who had gone silent.
Grian was no longer looking at him as he had his gaze fixed on the floor while his grey elytra remained raised in the air, making him appear bigger than he actually was.
“I-“ Grian began but stopped himself as he headed towards the door. “Fine. We’ll agree to disagree for now. Just…”
He took one last glance back at Mumbo, his brow furrowed in concern. “I never said I thought you were bloodthirsty, or an animal. I don’t know where you got that idea from. You’re my closest friend, vampire or not.”
Before Mumbo had a chance to respond, Grian opened the door and spread his wings, flapping them once to launch into the air and glide away.
Mumbo stared at the place Grian had been standing, his mind trying to process Grian’s words and at the fact that he could be in the wrong here. He quickly turned away to take another look at the chest with the donation message, before a sound from the door diverted his attention back to the shop entrance.
Tango had entered the shop, wearing a confused expression. “Did I miss something..?”
———
“I just don’t understand it at all Pearl! It’s like he doesn’t even know what he’s doing to himself!” Grian exclaimed in exasperation as he placed down another block. He was in the middle of helping PearlescentMoon with her project, after he owed her one for helping him build the tree monster.
Pearl nodded at him after a moment. “I must admit, it doesn’t sound very healthy for him…” Although she wasn’t exactly an expert on vampires, even she knew they needed blood from time to time to remain in tiptop shape.
“I know!” Grian agreed as he ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not the only thing either, I think…” The blonde sighed to him at the thought. “I think he thinks I see him differently, just because he’s a vampire, like he’s some sort of bloodthirsty beast or something. But I’ve never seen it that way; to be honest, most of the time I forget he even is one! He never drinks blood around me, hardly ever talks to me about it, he doesn’t even let me see his fangs!”
Pearl stopped what she was doing at that as she thought about what Grian had said. When she had first found out that Mumbo was a vampire, she remembered feeling surprised for the most part, but not in an unpleasant way. Vampires were pretty uncommon nowadays, and Mumbo didn’t really seem to fit the bill. But honestly, it didn’t change the way she viewed him. If anything, it made her more curious.
“Do you think Mumbo might be insecure about it?” Pearl asked her winged friend as she sat down next to him. “About being a vampire, I mean. He’s the only hermit who is one and maybe he thinks we see him differently because of that.”
Grian stared ahead of him as the sun’s last rays of light disappeared behind the horizon, leaving the sky a dull, purplish grey as dusk kicked in.
“That would make sense,” Grian exhaled as he placed his head atop his hands.
“Maybe it’s worth talking to him again about it to reassure him?” Pearl advised carefully. “Nobody here would ever treat him differently because of how he is, and he doesn’t need to do anything to try and convince us he’s anything other than himself.”
Grian listened to Pearl’s sincere words and nodded slowly. “I like that idea. If that’s why he’s doing this, I’ll make sure he knows he doesn’t need to change anything about himself.”
Grian steadily got to his feet as he held his hand out for Pearl. “Thanks for the advice Pearl, I think I know what I have to say to him now. I promise I’ll come back tomorrow to help you finish this, I just really need to talk to Mumbo.”
Pearl smiled at him understandingly. “That’s fine, I’m glad I could help! Make sure to tell me how it goes tomorrow!”
As he flapped his wings to hover into the sky, Grian flashed her a quick grin. “I will, see you later!” With that, he launched a rocket which propelled him through the dark sky and towards the tree base of the redstone engineer.
As Pearl watched him, she couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous for her friend. She hoped this would turn out well for him.
——
In one swift motion, Grian landed elegantly on the soft grass in front of the Boatem Hole after using his last rocket. Dusk was gone, only to be replaced by the thick sheet of darkness that blanketed the island entirely.
It was inevitable for the hostile mobs to start spawning, although it still managed to catch Grian by surprise. After all, he wasn’t wearing any armour, nor was he armed, so he hoped he would be able to make it quickly to Mumbo’s monster tree before he was seen.
Would Mumbo even be home? Grian huffed, he sure hoped so, or else he was going to have some trouble making it back to his own base.
He picked up his pace, making sure to avoid any particularly dark areas where he could get caught by surprise. While he walked, he couldn’t stop his mind from drifting back to Mumbo again and again.
What should he say? Did Mumbo really think they were treating him differently somehow? Grian racked his brain to find any clue on how that might be the case. Well, he did ask Mumbo questions from time to time about what it was like being a vampire. Mumbo didn’t really mind answering them either, although his response was always vague. Grian would sometimes ask to see his fangs just out of interest, but stopped after realising Mumbo had no intention to show him, even though they had known each other for years.
Maybe he had been too pushy? He should probably tone it down a little if he wanted Mumbo t-
A sound of an arrow being launched struck Grian’s eardrums, only to be replaced by an intense pain that sparked in his shoulder and knocked him off his feet and onto the floor.
He cried out in both shock and pain, his cerulean eyes darted towards the source of the agony only to see the arrow he’d heard was lodged in the skin of his shoulder.
Although it didn’t look too deep, Grian was in no way reassured by the way the skeleton who had shot it must be around close by, already aiming for another shot at him. Hence he shakily got to his feet, one hand pushing tightly around the wound on his shoulder as the other pushed himself off the grass.
Grian scanned the nearby area and realised that Mumbo’s house was not so far in the distance, closer than his own base at least. Although Scar’s base was also close by, he didn’t want to risk it since Scar had a habit of not lighting up his builds and letting mobs run free.
Mumbo’s house was his best and only option at this point. He could only hope that the redstone engineer was home, or else he would have to pull the arrow out himself.