Heading to Work

                                    

                                          
Mumbo pov 
After breakfast, he sat slouched in his chair, looking like he was seconds away from dozing off again. His messy hair stuck up at odd angles, and his eyes were half-lidded as he poked at the last crumbs on his plate with his fork.
“Grian,” I called out, raising an eyebrow at him.
He groaned, slumping further into the chair as if I’d just asked him to climb a mountain. “I’m going, I’m going,” he muttered, pushing himself up with all the enthusiasm of someone facing a death sentence.
I watched as he trudged over to grab his day clothes, still moving at a snail’s pace. He shot me a half-hearted glare, likely annoyed I wasn’t letting him fall back into his pillow fort.
“Don’t fall asleep in the shower,” I teased, earning a tired grunt in response.
Clothes in hand, he finally shuffled toward the bathroom, muttering something under his breath that I couldn’t quite catch. I could hear the faint creak of the door closing and the sound of the shower turning on not long after. I chuckled softly to myself—he’d be grumpy about it, but at least he’d be presentable when we left.
I glanced at Grumbot, who was floating nearby, still bobbing around with its usual mechanical cheer despite the situation. I couldn’t help but smile at the little robot.
“Do you think he’ll fall asleep in the shower?” I asked, genuinely curious, even though I already had a feeling what the answer would be.
Grumbot tilted its head slightly, the tiny gears inside it clicking as it processed. “Hard to say. Grian is still pretty tired from using all that magic,” it replied in its robotic voice, sounding almost thoughtful.
I nodded in agreement, resting my arms on the table and watching the bathroom door. “Yeah, he doesn’t usually get this tired unless he’s overdone it.”
There was a brief silence, just the soft sounds of the apartment settling around us. I glanced back at Grumbot, who seemed to be eyeing the doorway as well.
“Well,” I said with a grin, “guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Grumbot’s tiny light flickered in what I could only interpret as an enthusiastic agreement.
When Grian finally emerged from the bathroom, he looked a lot more awake and alert. His hair was damp, falling messily around his face, but there was a noticeable shift in his energy. He seemed to have shed the groggy haze that had clung to him earlier, his eyes sharper and more focused as he took in his surroundings.
He paused just outside the bathroom, looking around with a small frown, as if reorienting himself to the day ahead. “Alright, I’m alive now,” he muttered, running a hand through his wet hair and shooting me a half-grin.
I raised an eyebrow, amused. “You sure? You looked like you were about to fall asleep in the shower earlier.”
He rolled his eyes, though there was no real annoyance in it, just the faintest trace of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, yeah, I heard you. I’m fine now, though. Let’s get going before you start treating me like a kid.”
I chuckled, glad to see him back to his usual self, even if he still had that sleepy edge to his movements. “Alright, go get dressed. We’ve got work to do.”
With a sigh and a reluctant nod, he headed off to finish getting ready, leaving me with a quiet moment to gather my things. I had a feeling that, even if he was awake now, his energy might take a little longer to fully catch up.
Once Grian disappeared to get dressed, I quickly took my chance and headed for the bathroom myself. The cool water from the shower helped clear away the last remnants of sleep, leaving me feeling more awake. I moved through the motions of getting ready almost automatically, not really rushing but still eager to get the day started.