Chapter Text
The final day of summer arrived and Mumbo wished he’d thought about it more. Namely, what he was going to wear.
He’d loved the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies as a kid. He had only been allowed to stay for it a handful of times, and each one of those times he had made sure to hold on tight to the memories. Something about being there for such a special event, the weather in that weird space where the air was warm and the wind was cold, the glow of the jellyfish lighting up the sea. It was magical just to think about.
And yet.
Mumbo looked over his options. He’d narrowed down his wardrobe based on what he thought Grian would approve of, which still left him with five different shirts and two pairs of pants to choose from. At least his shoes were a no-brainer, he’d just wear his boots like he always did. It was harder for sand to sneak into those over the loafers Grian had made him buy. Maybe he needed to stop worrying about Grian’s opinion and focus on his own.
He had a seafoam green silk button-up that would fit the vibes perfectly. Add black, high-waisted sailor pants and he was perfectly on theme. He laid the outfit out on his bed and pondered it for a long moment. He wasn’t a jewellery man besides having one ear pierced, and even then he never wore anything more flamboyant than a small, red, chunky hoop that his mother had given him when she’d lost its pair. That said, this looked like it needed some accessorising. Did he know anyone that would have what he wanted, though?
Wait. Lizzie.
He shot her a text asking if she had any nautical jewellery he could borrow. If she did, she was more likely to wear it herself, but it didn’t hurt to try. Just as he put his phone down it buzzed with a message in all caps saying she was on her way. Well, this was going better than he thought. It would take her a bit to get there, it was a long walk from the beach hut to the farmhouse, so he started putting away all the scrapped outfit ideas.
Mumbo also quickly got changed, though he spent so long debating whether or not to tuck in his shirt that there was a knock on the door. He opened it to Lizzie with a wooden box tucked under her arm, a look of shock on her face when she saw what he was wearing.
“You’re really leaning into the vibes for tonight, huh?” she asked, ducking under his arm to get inside. The box jingled when she moved. She didn’t seem to be ready herself, though he supposed that since she lived on the beach she didn’t have to get started quite as early.
“Hello to you too, Lizzie.” Mumbo laughed under his breath and closed the door. “Um… yeah, figured I might as well go all out. Why not?”
She placed her jewellery box on the dining table and turned to him with a spark in her eye. “I can very much help you with that. What do you need?”
Mumbo was more than a bit startled. “… What do you have?”
She grinned and opened the box. The inside of it folded out into different tiers, all with sparkling gold and silver pieces carefully laid out and tucked into foam holders. Shells and anchor-shaped pendants hung off of some of them, one pair of earrings had little mermaid charms, there was a real pearl necklace and a chain bracelet with a small piece of sea-glass hanging off it. The bottom of the box was full of loose rings, very few of which looked big enough to fit Mumbo.
“Oh, wow.”
“I’ve already set aside everything I wanna wear tonight, so you can just take your pick. However, I will heavily judge you if you make a bad choice,” Lizzie stated very matter-of-factly. Mumbo burst into nervous laughter.
“You can’t say that! I’m— I won’t be able to pick anything now!” He took a step back from the box. He made out like it was a joke but he really was serious.
“Oh, I’m kidding.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, I’m not really, but I could just help you if you like.”
“I… yeah. Yeah, that’d be nice.”
“Right… I think silver would go best with that green, so…”
Mumbo watched her scrutinise the selection of sparkly things. She squinted her eyes and poked her tongue out between her teeth while she thought, then carefully picked up a couple of necklaces, some bracelets, and one earring from three different pairs. She laid them out on the table and then gestured for Mumbo to look at them.
“Any of these should go well.”
“Ah…” He went for an earring first. He picked up one that had an anchor dangling off of it. “This one?”
“Perfect! Try these with that.”
He was handed a layered pearl necklace and a matching bracelet. Lizzie had to help him get them on before she sent him off to look in a mirror. The smallest portion of the pearl necklace fit almost like a choker, clearly not intended for someone as big as Mumbo, yet it wasn’t uncomfortable. It looked nice in a way that he couldn’t describe since he didn’t have the eye for this kind of thing. Like it emphasised his neck or something. He’d make great vampire food. The bracelet wasn’t so nice. They tried a few different bracelets and bangles before Mumbo decided he really wouldn’t be able to handle having more than the soft fabric of his sleeves touching his wrists, and the idea was scrapped.
When they were both happy with his look—complete with a couple of costume rings that Lizzie said he could keep since they were too big for both her and Joel—Lizzie went home to get herself ready too. Mumbo was immensely grateful and made a mental note to give her the first pick of his next fruit harvest.
All he had left to do was put on his boots and figure out his hair.
It was getting pretty long, around shoulder length, because he hadn’t gotten it cut since before he moved to Pelican Town. He was sure if he just asked around he’d find someone that could cut it, however there was the glaring roadblock that was his general anxiety about everything ever. So he was going to wait until someone else brought it up first. In the meantime, he pulled it back into a ponytail, leaving his fringe out both because it wasn’t long enough anyway and because it stopped him from being too self-conscious.
Hair tied back, shoes on, a quick meal eaten, and he was off down to the beach. He was walking alone this time. Grian was helping set up, and Martyn had texted him to say he’d be a little late because Ren wasn’t feeling well again. Mumbo had asked once why he seemed to get sick so often and both Guild members had just shrugged. Mumbo got the feeling something was off there, but if they didn’t want him to know he would leave it be.
The sun had already set by the time Mumbo was on his way. Thankfully the full moon was bright enough that he didn’t need a torch to get into town and the lampposts all around lit the rest of his way.
Mumbo ended up being pretty early. Only Lizzie, Joel, Grian, Scar, and Cleo were there, chatting away near the fishing hut. Mumbo stood awkwardly on the sand just before the wood of the dock. They were all talking already, would it be weird to walk over to them and just interrupt that? They were his friends, so probably not, but—
“Mumbo!”
He blinked. Grian had called out to him.
“Get over here, silly!” Grian waved his arm to urge Mumbo to move. He hurried to stand in the gap between Grian and Cleo.
“Sorry, I was just—“
“Don’t worry about it.” Grian stepped back to give him a once-over. This was what Mumbo had been nervous about. Then his friend grinned and Mumbo was washed with relief. “You look great!”
“Thanks, yeah, I— I actually put something together myself for once. With Lizzie’s help on the accessories.” Mumbo made an effort to relax his shoulders and stop hunching over. He didn’t like being so tall and it often made him subconsciously shrink himself down, something that his friends just as often called him out on.
“You did a good job, you’re learning!” Grian clapped him on the back.
“Yeah, I’m sure Martyn’ll like that,” Cleo joked.
Mumbo turned to them with wide eyes and pink cheeks. “I— I’m sure I don’t know what you mean by that, Cleo. I’m not… I—“
“Oh, calm down, I’m just kidding.” They rolled their eyes with a smile. “Green is his favourite colour though, you know.” She gestured to his sleeve. Ah. He hadn’t thought about that.
“I can like green too.” He snatched his arm away from her.
“You two would be kind of cute together… like Mario and Luigi,” Lizzie commented. “But not brothers. Obviously. I might need to rethink my analogy.”
“Wait, which of them is Mario and which one is Luigi?” Grian asked. “Because Mumbo wears more red, but I’d say he’s more of a Luigi.”
“And Martyn wears green and acts more like Mario…” Lizzie nodded slowly. “Unsure. This may require further testing.”
“What testing…?” Mumbo looked between them, then paused. “Hang on a minute, how am I Luigi?”
Everyone else in the group shared a look amongst themselves.
“Tall, lanky,” Cleo listed off.
“Easily frightened,” Grian added.
“The moustache,” Scar said, holding his finger under his nose to simulate it.
“You seem like the kind of person that would move into a haunted mansion,” Joel said. “That one’s just a vibe, really.”
Mumbo opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Mario also has a moustache,” he said weakly.
“Okay, Luigi.” Cleo patted him on the back and he slumped, defeated. Maybe he was Luigi. He couldn’t even remember how they’d gotten onto the topic anymore.
The conversation moved on, thankfully no longer focusing on Mumbo. The other townspeople began arriving to the beach after a few minutes. Mumbo was embarrassed when he realised he was listening out for Martyn in particular even though nobody else would ever know that. He hoped, at least.
When Martyn’s cheerful greeting to everyone finally rang out across the beach Mumbo physically perked up. Then he realised how obvious he was being and tried to act casual. He hoped nobody would notice, but Cleo’s quiet laugh dashed that quickly.
Mumbo tried to brush over the fact that, as Martyn approached them, he was visibly checking Mumbo out. It had to just be the green shirt, right? He just liked green. Yeah. Martyn had gone for something similar to his outfit at the Flower Dance, which made Mumbo wonder how he’d escaped Grian’s wrath when it came to having variety in his wardrobe. The biggest difference was the bandage wrapped around his arm.
“Hello! Sorry I’m late, did I miss anything?” Martyn slotted in between Joel and Scar. “Mumbo, you’re bright red! Are they being mean to you?”
“What?” Mumbo blinked. “No, I’m fine. What happened to your arm?” He hadn’t mentioned any kind of injury when they were texting, so it had to have happened within the previous few hours.
Martyn held his arm up like he’d forgotten it was bandaged. “Ah, don’t worry about that. Just a bad scratch, part of the reason I was later than I thought I’d be. Tripped over in the dark and hit a sharp bush so I had to turn back and sort myself out.”
“I’ve told you that you need to be more careful,” Cleo scolded. “Take a torch next time.”
When Mumbo looked down at her she had an odd look on her face. Alarm, concern, annoyance. They and Skizz ran the local clinic, so maybe they were just worried he’d get an infection.
Martyn rolled his eyes. “I did. Doesn’t mean I always know what’s gonna happen. Anyways, forget about my arm, it’s fine.”
Mumbo was just a bit apprehensive. Martyn was acting a little too casual about it, he clearly wanted to move on from the subject. It did make Mumbo feel bad for bringing it up, though if he hadn’t someone else likely would have.
“Everyone got real dressed up tonight,” Martyn said with a smile, scanning over the group. He was right, everyone had done themselves up in their best. It was strange, in a way. They all saw each other almost every day anyway and yet they got all dolled up just to look at some jellyfish. At least Mumbo wasn’t the only person who thought this was special.
“Yes, Mumbo’s choice of a green shirt is really emphasising his Luigi-like qualities.” Scar nodded and gestured to Mumbo.
“I— Can we move on from the Luigi thing? I’m not Luigi!” Mumbo sputtered and stepped back. Just as he was thinking about how cool the glow in the dark stars stuck to the spokes of his wheels looked, too.
“Wrong shade of green, anyway,” Martyn pointed out. “That’s more of a teal.”
“See! Thank you, Martyn.”
“Your personality, though…”
“Nope, bye, had enough.”
Mumbo turned and started walking back to the sand. There was still another ten minutes before Grian sent out the light that lured the jellyfish in so he had plenty of time to fake-sulk in the dark. He wasn’t really upset, if only because he knew his friends were right. If he was honest he just wanted an excuse to get out of socialising with a bunch of people at once. He heard Martyn laughing and following after him.
“Wait, wait, hang on! If you’re gonna pretend to be upset, at least let me join you.”
They ended up standing together in the sand outside the little shack on the beach. The fire pit that sat out the front was burning bright, warding off the first hints of a chill in the air. There was soft music playing from the doors of the fishing hut, apparently another thing that encouraged the jellies. It was pretty cosy on the sand away from everyone else and they could still see the faint glow of the jellyfish in the distance. Not a bad vantage point.
“Nice over here, isn’t it?” Martyn commented in a hushed voice. “Normally I just stick with everyone else since Ren can’t come and I’d look like a weirdo sitting alone in the dark.”
“You are a weirdo, Martyn,” Mumbo said very seriously. There wasn’t a hint of a sigh or fondness in there at all, nope. He also didn’t take any notice at all to the fact that Ren could apparently never come to see the jellies.
“Says you.” He scoffed. “It’s fine, we can just be two weird dudes standing alone in the dark and looking at some jellyfish.” He paused. “Or…”
Mumbo turned to look quizzically down at him. “Or?”
Martyn turned to him and held out his hands. “Care for a dance?”
“… Dance?”
“I didn’t get one at the Flower Dance, and this is the only other get-together with it in the name. Come on, just for a minute.”
“Martyn, I can’t—“
“Nothing fancy.” He stepped closer and took Mumbo’s hands in his. Mumbo was glad they were mostly in the dark because he was sure he looked like a radish. “I won’t even mind if you step on my toes.”
Mumbo struggled for a moment. He really hadn’t danced with anyone else, ever. Maybe his mum when he was a kid at his cousins wedding, and that was it. But Martyn looked so pretty in the firelight, the moonlight, the gentle glow of the sea as the jellyfish were starting to come closer. The music was perfect for it. He waited patiently for Mumbo’s answer.
Mumbo sighed. “Fine. What am I supposed to do?”
Martyn smiled and quickly but gently guided Mumbo’s hands into place. Like he was excited for this. One on Martyn’s waist, one in his hand. Martyn’s other hand rested on Mumbo’s shoulder. The butterflies in Mumbo’s stomach were going haywire and he was a little worried they were going to fly up out of his mouth. Metaphorically speaking.
Martyn laughed under his breath while he guided Mumbo through the simplest waltz possible.
“Okay, then you step back with your left foot— no, other left. Yours not mine.”
“Oh, sorry…”
“It’s alright, just… yeah, there you go, then turn a little… perfect!”
“So then we just keep doing that?”
“Mhm! See? Easy, you were just overthinking it.”
“That is what I do…” Mumbo mumbled. “It’s part of my charm.”
Martyn shook his head with a small smile.
The jellyfish were pretty close to the sand by then. Mumbo watched them dance in the water while he slowly swayed with Martyn. When he looked back down at his dance partner, those ocean blue eyes hadn’t left him at all. Mumbo found himself unable to look back at the real ocean.
“You look nice tonight. I didn’t get to say that directly, earlier.” Martyn was smiling like he didn’t even realise he was doing it.
“Um… thanks.” Mumbo swallowed around a lump in his throat. “You look the same as you normally do at these things. And you say I wear the same clothes too much.”
Martyn laughed quietly and stopped dancing, instead tipping his head so his forehead rested on Mumbo’s chest. Way too close to his heart for comfort.
“You are so…” The hand on Mumbo’s shoulder slipped down to his hip. “Your heart’s beating really fast.” He looked back up at him, a spark in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. “You doin’ alright, buddy?”
Mumbo blinked a few times. “Uh, yeah, I’m… I’m great,” he whispered. He didn’t even mean to. Martyn was so close to him, pressed closer than he had been when they were just dancing.
“You look like a deer caught in the headlights.”
It took a second, and then something in Mumbo’s brain clicked.
“Deer in the headlights is sort of my default, sorry.”
“When people are about to kiss you, or just in general?”
“… Yes.”
Martyn’s lips on his were just as soft as he thought they’d be.