Martyn and Mumbo interactions I'm so normal about them I promise

Martyn glanced around the circle of players, studying them in no particular order. Jimmy. The canary hybrid looked a tad nervous, to say the least- hell, Martyn would be too if he'd been out first every previous game. His wings seemed slightly larger than they were in Limited Life, but they had yet to acquire the dim yellow glow that they normally donned when Jimmy was close to his inevitable fate. A faint expression of awe was plastered across the dark blonde's face as he stared down at the multiple rows of hearts on his communicator.

Grian. The parrot hybrid was explaining the rules of the series with a smirk that suggested he was going to break some of them only heartbeats after the group separated. He was squinting disapprovingly as the sun as it shone directly on his face, waving his hand as if gesturing for it to go away. He was glancing around with an amused expression as people exchanged muttered greetings.

Gem. Despite having been thrown headfirst into a death game, the redhead looked completely unfazed by this terrifying prospect. The grin on her face suggested she viewed it more as a challenge than a scramble for survival, and she too appeared to be silently assessing her fellow server members- her competitors, if you will.

Cleo. The zombie hybrid was staring at Lizzie (who appeared to have returned) with a starstruck expression, her mouth continually opening as if she planned to say something and then closing as if she decided against it. After a moment, Lizzie returned their stares with an awkward smile and Cleo decided that their nails were suddenly incredibly interesting and they should stare at them, actually. Despite the awkwardness of their reunion, Martyn still felt a slight pang of jealousy as Cleo glanced up and exchanged a genuine smile with her former teammate.

After a moment of struggling to ignore the person stood next to him, Martyn glanced to the side, his left hand reaching for the battered amethyst ring on his right. Mumbo.

Martyn stared uncertainly at the raven haired man smiling placidly in Grian's direction. Mumbo still looked exactly the same as he did in Martyn's memories- and his nightmares.

Unlike the rest of the server members (aside from Lizzie and Gem), who had steadily been gaining scars all over, permanent bloodstains from where they'd killed someone for good and grudges that caused them to shoot awkward glanced in the directions of others, Mumbo didn't look at all bothered by the situation he was in.

His skin was clear of scars apart from the one on his hand where Grian's sword had nicked him in Last Life, and he was looking  around at everyone with a smile, with no clear ill will towards anyone regardless of betrayals. Lizzie had a similar appearance- clearly being in only one death game had its benefits.

Martyn wasn't sure how to feel. He tried to think about how he'd felt towards Mumbo before, to try and make the ache in his chest make sense.

The polite curiosity that had appeared in the form of crude jokes and throwing lava at people as he spotted a new player- Mumbo Jumbo, what a ridiculous name.

The awkward silence followed by laughter and jokes as Martyn proclaimed Mumbo to be his husband.

The warmth he'd felt as they sat quietly and watched the sun set over the horizon, the feelings between them needing no words as they were expressed through the smile on both of their faces.

The dread he'd felt while he'd watched the life drain out of Mumbo as his teammate's name faded into red.

The anger he'd felt flooding through him at Mumbo's bloodlust-fuelled threats, as he shouted back meaningless insults in response.

The despair that had rendered him frozen to the spot as he watched Grian kick Mumbo's body to the ground, the dirty blonde yanking his blade out of his former teammate's chest without a regret in the world as a message flashed up in chat- 'MumboJumbo was slain by Grian using The Boogey Blade'.

The loneliness drowning out everything else around him as he let out hysterical laughs at his own delusions, as he reached out desperately for the illusion of his teammates as it faded, as he realised how alone he truly was.

The disappointment that flooded through him in Double Life and Limited Life when he realised Mumbo wasn't there, that it had taken him two death games to recover from the events of one.

The heart-wrenching anguish he'd felt with every dream- every time he replayed Mumbo's death in his head, every time he remembered Mumbo's cold, uncaring gaze as Martyn watched warily, every time he'd reminisced in his sleep about how even a hint of something dark had caused him to whip his head around, just in case it was a hint of a scaly, jet black tail or soft black hair, or a gaze that was so dark but so warm at the same time.

Mumbo finally seemed to notice him playing with the ring on his right hand- the ring Mumbo also had, the ring that was identical to the one that Martyn had jokingly (not so jokingly) proposed to Mumbo with. And he smiled. The raven-haired man paused for a moment, searching through his pockets as Martyn stared down. He doesn't have the ring. Why would he? Nobody else is stupid and sentimental and clinging onto everything once gone, I shouldn't be disappointed, I shouldn't-

His train of thought was cut off as Mumbo slipped on the silver ring, the amethyst embedded into it catching the light and casting a thin purple light onto his face. It was a lot less battered than Martyn's ring, having only been through one death game instead of three, but it seemed well-looked after, just as polished and shiny as the day Martyn had first given it to him.

The blonde stared back at him, Grian's speech fading into background noise as his breath caught in his throat. It was a small thing, holding onto a silly ring from a silly joke that was given as a silly gesture, but he couldn't help but smile back.

Despite the fact that no words were exchanged, it felt like a million jokes, a thousand conversations and a hundred reunions were shared in just those few moments.

Martyn's smile widened, and then he glanced back at Grian, still tugging slightly on his ring. He's back.

He's back. Again. For the first time in a while, looking down at his ring brought him no pain.

Ough