Grian sat down on his bed, and outstretched one of his wings. How were they growing so fast? He curved the wing towards him and touched the feathers. They were soft. Not at all like the feathers from-

He shook that thought away. He didn't want to think about that. His scar started to burn again, even just thinking about that event.

Grian stood up and went to the mirror once more. The wings seemed big enough to lift him off the ground... Should he try?

"With my luck, I'd probably fall to my doom" He laughed to himself.

There he went again, doubting himself. Just like his wings, his low self-confidence also felt natural. Unlike his wings, he didn't really hate it. This was just how he was.

But there was this voice. This tiny, nagging voice in the back of his head, telling him to try.

Maybe I can fly with- No. I can't. What am I-...but I'll never know if I don't try-

After a minute or two of arguing with himself, both in his thoughts and out loud, he slammed his hands down onto the counter, looked his reflection square in the eyes, pointed at it, and said, "You, sir, are going to fly, and you are going to be okay."

This surge of confidence surprised him. It felt so strange, but also...kind of nice. Since it was late, nobody would be able to see him, and even if they did, they would probably think it was his elytra, like Mumbo did.

Grian gave himself a nod and semi-confidently marched out of the bathroom, out of the bedroom, and to a stairwell that led to the roof of the mansion.

He went up the stairs until he reached a ladder and trapdoor. He climbed up the ladder and opened the trapdoor, pulling himself up onto the roof.

He closed the door under him and took a look around.

The view from up here was incredible.

Grian climbed up onto the mansion's highest peak.

Grian was not the only one at a high height.

Mumbo was sitting on the top of one of his tall towers, letting his long legs dangle off the side. He often came up here to just sit and think. From here, he could see Grian's mansion. He stole a glance at it, and did a double-take.

It looked like someone was standing at the top of the roof. He could make out a silhouette, but he wasn't sure who it was.

Back at the mansion, Grian tried to focus himself on not falling.

"Alright, you can do this. You can fly." He spoke out loud.

Grian opened his wings wide. They were smaller than, say, an average pair of angel-esque wings, but they seemed strong enough to hold his weight.

Mumbo watched as the silhouette opened up a pair of wings.

"What-...what is Grian doing?" He stood up on the tower, and now faced the mansion. He could somehow see the faint glow of the wings, even from this far away.

"Is he gonna try to fly?" Mumbo asked no one.

Grian was going to try to fly. He crouched down, spread out his wings, took a deep breath and flapped as hard as he could.

He shot off into the air, faster than he had expected. He let out a yelp as he tried to find balance and tried to get upright.

Mumbo watched as Grian was about to take-off, nervous that he would not be able to do it.

But then, his buddy flew up into the air. He seemed to stumble around in the sky for a moment before getting himself upright.

"Good job, G." Mumbo smiled, even though there was no way Grian could hear him.

Grian finally opened his eyes. He didn't realize he was closing them so tightly.

As he soared through the air, he felt amazing. He felt so free and open. He looked at the ground below him. He was near Mumbo's base and-

Grian faultered for a moment when he saw one of the towers. He could make out Mumbo's silhouette standing atop it. Truthfully, there should have been no way that Grian could see his friend, but...

Was this another bird thing?

He shook that thought away, and at the right time too.

Mumbo chuckled as Grian zipped through the sky. He looked so happy, even though he couldn't see his face. Mumbo took a step to the left to try and see him better, but that was the wrong choice.

He overstepped and he lost his footing.

Mumbo fell off the top of the tower.

No worries though. He could just equip his elytra, right?

And then he remembered he had taken it off. Why had he taken it off? He never took it off when he was on a height.

So he was falling to what seemed like his inevitable doom.

He tried to stay as calm as he could, and in a last-ditch attempt to save himself, he called out "GRIAN!"

Grian had seen Mumbo fall. He expected him to fly with his elytra, but...

Why wasn't he doing so?

Did he not-

Grian's thoughts were stopped short as he heard his friend call out his name.

A strange, fight-or-flight response took ahold of him.

It felt like an unknown force caused him to react quickly.

Grian dove down through the air, feeling the pressure as he cut through the sky.

He zipped down, quickly approaching the ground.

He could make it. He could catch his friend. He could-

Grian stopped thinking that he could, and starting doing it.

He swooped down right as Mumbo was close to the hard earth and caught the tall man safely in his scarred arms.

Grian slowly lowered himself down to the ground, holding his best friend in his arms.

Mumbo was shell-shocked. He was sure that he was going to die, but right before he did, he was saved.

He looked at his guardian angel with wide eyes as he tried to calm down his breathing.

Grian looked so heroic. The moonlight reflecting off his shimmering feathers, the calm expression (on the inside, he was probably freaking out), the scar covered arms holding him up. Heck, he was heroic in that moment. Grian didn't look down at Mumbo until they reached the ground.

Grian softly brought his feet to the floor. He closed his wings and looked down at Mumbo, whom he was still holding. His friend's hair was messed up, his face was pale (more pale than it already was), and his eyes were as wide as Keralis'

Grian was about to speak when Mumbo threw his arms around G's neck and hugged him tightly.

Now it was Grian's turn to be speechless.

Mumbo let go and hopped out of G's arms.

"You saved me!" Mumbo grinned like an idiot and held out his arms in excitement.

"I-...I did, didn't I?" Grian mumbled and looked at his arms. "I- I did, didn't I?" He spoke louder and more confidently this time.

He looked up at Mumbo with a smile. "I saved you! I did it! I told myself I could fly, and I did, and I saved you, and-"

Grian froze. Mumbo knew now, didn't he? Could he pass it off as his elytra again?

"You alright?" Mumbo looked at his friend. He could almost see the confidence evaporate from Grian's expression.

"I-..." Grian looked panicked again. He started to walk backwards, into the shadows.

Mumbo sighed. "Grian..."

His friend slinked back into the darkness, hoping that he could hide his wings again.

"If this is about the scars-" Mumbo decided to play it safe.

"It's....it's not..." Grian said to himself, but perhaps a bit too loudly.

Mumbo heard him.

Grian turned to go. "I...I need to leave."

He began to bolt out of the base, but Mumbo called after him.

"It's okay! I know about the wings!"

Those words made the hermit freeze in his tracks. He felt so exposed now. His secret was out. He wanted to shrink away. He couldn't move. His arms and legs felt like they were stone. His breathing was sharp and painful.

Mumbo made his way over to his halted friend.

"Grian-" he began to say.

"N-no. You don't need to say anything. We don't need to talk about this. This is my problem, and...and I can handle it myself!" Grian turned to look at Mumbo.

"Are you sure? You seem panicky and scared. I can help you! Please! I want you to be able to feel comfortable around me again." Mumbo crouched down so that he was more at Grian's eye level.

"Please. Let me help you."

Grian tried to step back, but Mumbo put his hand on his shoulder.

"Why are you so ashamed of your wings, Grian?"

A simple question, but it was one that required a complicated answer.

"..."

He just didn't answer.

Mumbo sighed. "Do you want to talk in the morning, once the excitement from this whole ordeal has softened?"

Grian slowly nodded.

"Okay. But tomorrow, we are going to talk about this."

Grian nodded again, this time even more slowly.

He didn't want to talk about it, but it seemed like he had no choice.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Grian said, unintentionally cold. He walked off towards his base, leaving Mumbo alone.

The tall Englishman sat down on the ground and rested his arms on his knees. He place his head in the crook of his arms and closed his eyes. His heart rate had finally returned to normal from the fall, but his thoughts were racing even faster than before.

At least tomorrow would be a good day, right?