Chapter Text
The village was tiny. There was only the basics there, a small supply store, a bank, a temple, and a tiny little roadhouse. There was a stable barely big enough to keep two horses. Grian sorted it though and shelved his plans for finding company. The roadhouse had only two rooms to rent, and they were tiny and next to each other. He didn’t want to be busy with someone and thinking about how close Mumbo was. Or worse could hear him.
So instead, once the horses were stored and his kea was free flying on the outskirts, happily hunting in the fields for prey, Grian took to following Mumbo about the small town. They headed to the bank first, planning on sending a message to Mumbo’s uncle. Grian did have to tell him about the rough route they would take so Mumbo could share it with his uncle so he could receive messages from his estates and uncle.
Grian decided to convince him not to write about him, not wanting to be involved with Lords full stop much less one that seems so… manipulative. Grian pressed closer to Mumbo as he wrote and brushed his arm getting his attention immediately. Grian looked up at him, leaning even more in to whisper in his ear. He could feel the tension in the man’s body, he could see the slightly wide-eyed look, the blush on his face, the awkward shifting. Grian would bet every scrip he had that Mumbo was hard. “He doesn’t need to know about me. Our little secret.” He whispered, with his mouth next to his ear.
Mumbo was probably going to say something but instead a soft moan escaped him. He closed his jaw with a snap and hurried nodded. “Sure, yeah sure.” He blurted out bright red. “Our.. Our secret.”
“Good boy Mumbo.” He grumbled, leaning enough to brush his lips against his ear. “Finish your letter. Then we can get some supplies.” He backed away seeing the man’s hands tremble. He paused smirking. “Then bed.”
Mumbo sent the ink bottle flying, staining his letter with ink. He didn’t even notice for a second before yelping. He righted the bottle and tried to fix everything. Mumbo ended up having to rewrite the letter very distractedly as he kept shooting Grian looks. Even when Grian moved to the side to watch the various customers.
Grian was happy to leave once everything was sorted. He didn’t really need any supplies, but Mumbo had an endless list of things he realised he needed or wanted. Grian didn’t even question why he needed small leather cords. It was probably better if Grian didn’t think too much about it.
Finally, their new supplies were packed away and the night was falling. Grian amusedly let Mumbo buy him dinner in the roadhouse. Grian ate as Mumbo talk at him about the Stones and their plans. Grian didn’t confirm much but liked listening about Mumbo’s theories about the places Grian mentioned.
Grian finished up his dinner and stretched. Town wasn’t that bad, he decided. There were some good bits to it. He yawned widely. “Right, time for bed.” He stood up, brushing his legs down and stretching.
Mumbo sent everything flying as he got up and tried to follow Grian. “Yes. Yes. Um time for bed.” Mumbo rushed out. “Um….” He kept shooting Grian heated looks and Grian rolled his eyes. It was adorable how obvious the man was, how needy and shameless.
Grian sighed. “To our own beds Mumbo.” He paused in his doorway unlocking it. He really shouldn’t push Mumbo, but he couldn’t resist. “Listen to me, go to your bed and be a good boy for me.” He grumbled. Grian could barely hold in the laughter as Mumbo walked straight into the door frame, bright red and open mouthed.
Grian shut his door before laughing quietly to himself. He stripped for bed and climbed in. His cock was in his hand in seconds. He had been half hard all day. He didn’t take too much to be spilling over his fist with a muffled cry. He cleaned himself up feeling warm and boneless.
Grian lay back feeling sleep tug at him but sat up as he heard a knock on the door. He got up, pulling on his under wraps and picked up his sword as he approached the door. He opened it to see Mumbo red in his doorway. Grian knew that this would happen, at some point Mumbo would just make a move. He had been hoping he could delay this, not wanting to rebuke the man and make things awkward. He really shouldn’t had been winding him up so much. Mumbo was busy staring at him, his under wraps barely covering him up. Grian rolled his eyes. “Yes?” Grian prompted. Mumbo didn’t look like he was bleeding or being kidnapped.
Mumbo thrusted his hand out and from his palm dropped a leather necklace with a fragment of purple gemstone dangling from it. It looked like a shard of the Singing Stones. Grian took it and stared at it. Mumbo mumbled, red and no longer looking at him. “For you. For sharing it. For taking me there. For listening to me. For… well… for being you.”
Grian swallowed, he was pretty sure that his face was bright red. “Thank you.” It was the only thing he could really say and it felt weak.