Mumbo had no idea where he was going.
It didn't help that he couldn't zone out and just follow the footsteps in front of him because Grian didn't make footsteps anymore. He had taken to flying a few inches above the floor- a trend a lot of fae seemed to follow. The only exception so far was Blue, and it took only one glance to understand why.

Blue didn't have wings.
Or, more specifically, his wings were broken clean off right at the base. He couldn't fly.

Mumbo sensed there was a story there and he made to ask Grian before the faerie turned around before a small house embedded into the tree. It was clearly in a residential section as other houses were situated similarly, but Grian's featured little paintings on the door.

"Here- my old place." Grian said softly, opening the door before Mumbo could see what each painting was.

It looked...nearly identical to the house hanging from the jungle canopy. There was still the loft with the bed, the kitchen crammed into the corner and a little bench beneath a window, surrounded by bookshelves and hanging bottles filled with potion ingredients.
The only difference was that it was clearly neglected. Cobwebs hung in corners and dust had settled on practically every single surface. Yeah, it had been cleaned up a bit and there was some small signs of life, it still felt empty and unloved. While the jungle canopy house was bright and lived in, full of the yellow sunshine that cast everything in gold, this house was grey and dismal. It held sadness in the air as of the house was about to cry and if the walls could talk, they'd be the best storytellers there were.
There was history here.
Mumbo had no idea how he knew.

"There should be a small spare room in the loft." Grian murmured as he shut the door behind them. His voice was so quiet, softened with melancholy as his mind played memories before him.

Mumbo nodded, setting down the automaton on the table once he had brushed off some of the dust and sat down on the bench as if they were back in the jungle.
"You okay? You seem sad."

The faerie looked up at Mumbos words, and he didn't know how else to describe his face except lost. "I don't know what to do, Mumby." He whispered, unshed tears cracking his voice.

"Hey, G. It's okay. We'll figure it out together." He smiled, reaching a hand out to the faerie.
"We can do this, okay? We can do this."

"I'm scared. What if we can't? What about Thorn, and Lemur and Blue, and all my old friends, what if we can't fix the magic issue? We're stuck here- there's not enough magic left to open a rift." Grian stammered, tears of frustration finally falling down his face. He let them fall, unable to find the energy to wipe them away. "Nothing works- the research team has been at this for years with no result, we've been here for about two weeks and time goes faster here, and what are the Hermits doing, do they even know we're missing?"

Mumbo pulled Grian in for a hug, holding his friend close as he hyperventilated, crying silently and shaking from the effort.
"I...I want to give you answers because I can't stand seeing you like this and knowing I'm powerless to do much. We'll find a solution, I know it. I don't know how or why, but I know that we're gonna do it. And I know we're gonna get out of this, okay?" He murmured, "We're gonna get out of this. I promise."

"You promise?"

"Yep. I promise." Mumbo gave Grian a squeeze before pulling out of the hug and standing up, walking over to the kitchen as if it were his own house and started to cook up some food, slowly filling the room with the same yellow feeling that the jungle house had.
"I think a decent meal had been long overdue, don't you?" Mumbo grinned over his shoulder, two plates of french toast in his hands.

Sure things felt impossible and they had researched every option possible, but right here right now? They were doing okay.
Things were gonna be okay.