The Bull's Horns

Ch 16: That Wasn't You

A soft voice murmured near Mumbo, and a gentle hand holding was his, rubbing their thumb back and forth. He slowly blinked his eyes open and gradually took in the world around him, blinking a couple of times to get his vision to focus. He recognized the familiar walls and ceiling of his base, specifically his nest room, and found he tucked snugly in his nest. His ears that now wiggled freely, angled towards X as he lowly talked, which meant only close herd members were around. He also found that Xisuma was the one holding his hand, sat at his nestside, and was absorbed in his communicator that lay on his lap. Mumbo watched him for a moment, the admin's brows were slightly furrowed as he listened to whoever he was talking to through his helmet.

"Alright. Cub should be there shortly to help out. ...Okay, keep me updated. Thank you," Xisuma spoke lowly, not wanting to wake up Mumbo but unbeknownst to the admin he was already awake. The bovine didn't want to scare the admin and weakly squeezed his hand to try and get his attention. Xisuma immediately looked up at the other hermit at the slight movement, "Mumbo!" He gasped as relief washed over his features, "I'll call ya back Cleo," He quickly said goodbye to them before clicking a button on the side of his helmet to end the call. "Scared the daylights out of me! How are you feeling, anything hurt?" The admin quickly started to fuss over Mumbo, holding the other hermit's hand tight as he fiddled with the blanket draped across the bovine's chest.

The cow hybrid couldn't help but smile at the admin's reaction. "Feels tingly," He commented and pushed the blanket off him as felt a bit too warm, finding that one arm was extremely sore. Mumbo's smile quickly dropped as he noticed his arm wrapped in bandages, and the memories of Ren flooded to the forefront of his mind. "W-where's Ren? Is he okay?" He asked the admin worriedly.

"He's alright, Cub and Cleo are keeping an eye on him at the Crastle," Xisuma said as he glanced down at Mumbo's injured arm, "I made sure to store the crown away in my ender chest so it can't harm any more hermits."

Mumbo nodded and stared at his injured arm, "Good." He sighed and moved to hold the sore arm close to his chest. Even with how numb it felt it still felt very tender, the numbing no doubt coming from a healing potion he had been given at some point while he was out.

The admin lightly squeezed his hand, "Does it hurt? Cub dropped off some potions if you needed them."

"No, just sore," The bovine lightly squeezed Xisuma's hand back, wanting to quickly reassure the voidwalker.

"You can't seem to catch a break these days can you," Xisuma sighed worriedly, glancing at the other hermit's wrapped arm with a sad look.

Mumbo sighed, the admin was right. There had been so much going on and it felt like everything was happening one after another. First trying to be more comfortable with his hybrid features, having a flashback in the middle of the shopping district, and then that void-forsaken gem that had hurt Ren and others.

"I shouldn't have acted so rashly trying to get that crown, it's my own fault," The bovine admitted lowly, avoiding the admin's gaze and focusing on the white gauze. His skin crawled at the stark white color, it looked too clinical for his liking and reminded him of-

"It's not your fault Mumbo, and it's not Ren's fault either," Xisuma was quick to reassure and pulled the blanket over Mumbo's arm to cover it, hiding it from view. "That gem is to blame and as soon as you two are well enough I'm going to see if it can be destroyed. But in the meantime, you need to rest up,"

"Thanks X," Mumbo softly smiled up at the admin.

The admin smiled back and squeezed Mumbo's hand once again before letting go, "Grian and Scar have been dying to see you. They've been camping outside in the living room since we brought you to your base," The pair chuckled before X added, "I'm surprised they haven't busted the door down yet. Do you mind if they keep you company while I go check up on Ren?"