"Hey Scar! I was wondering if-"

An explosion knocked Grian off the ladder and when the hermit opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground outside of Larry, which Grian was just trying to enter.

Scar poked his head out. "Grian?"

Grian watched as the Wizard paled. "Grian are you okay?"

Grian sat up groggily as Scar jumped out of Larry and knelt down next to him. "I dunno... I was gonna try and sell you some stuff but..." Grian glanced at Scar. "Why are you so worried?"

"Well... I was working on a spell that was supposed to turn parrots into cats, and it kinda exploded. I got away unscathed thanks to my Wizard Fruit, but you?" Scar helped Grian stand up. "This is an issue."

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"I'm sorry, what?" Mumbo still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Scar had turned up at Mumbo's door with a not so normal Grian.

"Scar, what did you do?"

"Well, it was a shape-shifting spell, and Grian got a faceful."

The Hermit in question had sprouted cat ears and a tail, and was staring intensely at a bee.

Scar laughed nervously. "It should go away soon, but it's going to get worse before it gets better. Grian has begun to express some... feline traits... and I need someone to watch him. I'd do it, but with all the dangerous stuff in my base, and Grian's love for pushing buttons..."

Mumbo sighed. "Alright, I'll watch him until he returns to normal."

Scar thanked him and ran off, leaving a distracted Grian in Mumbo's doorway.

______________________________

It was certainly weird. Grian was pretty quiet, and after a few minutes, climbed on top of a bookcase, and just watched Mumbo as he worked.

The hours went by, and Mumbo glanced up to see how Grian was doing.... And of course, he was gone. Mumbo then heard a weird noise, and glanced over to his mail room.

Well crap.

He ran over as Grian whizzed away on a minecart, heading towards his own base.

Mumbo panicked a little, and grabbed a couple rockets, and took off in the direction of Grian's base. He arrived there and pretty much crashed inside. He dusted himself off and was greeted with an innocent-looking Grian, sitting in a minecart, sliding up the tunnel and to a stop.

And then the bell!

Once it went off, Grian hissed and scampered away. Mumbo quickly silenced the bell and ran after his fellow hobbit, who'd seemed to have gotten much shorter.

He finally cornered Grian in his enchanting room. The Hermit was definitely much shorter, and with a sigh, Mumbo picked him up like a, well, like a cat.

"Time to go back." He said, beginning the trek back to his base. He couldn't fly back, since he was holding Grian, but luckily he didn't live very far away. The sun had just set by the time he got back.

He sat down on a couch and set Grian down as well. Grian had gotten much shorter, and was around half his original size, which said a lot because Grian was always much shorter than everyone else, except maybe Stress.

Mumbo sighed and gave Grian a smile. "You're a handful."

Grian answered by crawling into Mumbo's lap and curling up.

Mumbo let out another sigh. Grian was half-cat at the moment, and so Mumbo was subject to following the first rule of cats.

If they choose you as their perch, you must not disturb them.

Mumbo smiled and shifted ever so slightly, and put an arm around Grian who was cuddling up to him. Grian yawned and nestled up to Mumbo's chest. Mumbo could feel Grian's cat ears twitching just under his chin.

"Well," he whispered, "guess this is my life now."

________________________________

Scar made his way over to Mumbo's, he'd spent the entire night making an antidote for Grian.

He was incredibly surprised to see a very small Grian cuddling with Mumbo, both fast asleep.

Scar rolled his eyes and gently shook Mumbo awake, as not to wake Grian.

Mumbo yawned and looked at Scar groggily. "Whatever you need, I can't do." He mumbled, gesturing at Grian.

Scar laughed. "I'm here to 'free' you." He held up the potion before administering it to the still sleeping Hermit.

Grian changed back rather quickly, the ears and tail disappearing and growing back to his normal shorty size.

He however, stayed asleep.

"Well." Scar set down the potion. "I guess you're stuck now until he wakes up."

"Wait Scar-"

Scar grinned and left, not turning back.

Mumbo looked down at the now full-sized Grian snuggling up to him. Even if he wanted to, he probably couldn't escape. Grian was practically hugging Mumbo in his sleep, and one wrong move would send the shorty tumbling off the couch.

Mumbo laughed to himself and rested his head on Grian's, and waited for him to wake up.