Rats Of War

“It’s okay.” Mugman mumbled, handing Cuphead his breakfast. “Here, Cup. Try not to spill.” Cuphead nodded, and gave the porridge a tentative sniff. “What is it?” “Think of it as oatmeal.” Cuphead gave a slight whine at that. Oatmeal was gross. “Just eat it.” Mugman glared softly, a stern and impatient tone in his voice. Cuphead gave a slight pout and took a bite…okay, that wasn’t too bad. Mugman sighed, taking the spoon in his left hand to eat it. Cuphead seemed to notice and watched his brother a little. “Thank you again for all this.”

“Nein problem at all, mein friends! It iz ze least I can do for you two giving me mein life back!” Werner smiles with an assuring tone, patting Mugman’s shoulder a bit. “Vell, I bet he introduced himzelf already, but zat vas Vilhelm, mein right-hand man from ze var, und also one ov ze best snipers I’ve had ze pleasure ov meeting.” he explains. “He is zo talented, he can hit any target from zeveral kilometers away.”

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

“…How kind of you.” She said, trying to keep her sarcasm down to a minimum. She just hoped this thing had been washed out, and didn’t smell like soup.

To Hilda’s surprise, it would NOT smell like stale soup in the can. Rather, the interior had a rather nice pine scent to it, probably because Werner actually seemed to take care of his dingy soup-can of a vehicle. Werner soon joins Hilda in the can, pulling a few levers and then putting the petal to the metal, as the tank begins to slowly, but surely drive off in the direction of Isle 1.

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

“It’s….definitely a tank…made from a giant soup can.” What else could she say about it? She’d made some machines in her time, but they didn’t look nearly as roughed up as this. Oh well, it was transportation. That didn’t mean she wasn’t still struggling to find anything nice to say about it.

“I know right! It is one ov mein personal prides!” Werner exclaims happily, not even thinking for a second that Hilda was seriously struggling with finding nice words to say about it. He’d merely hop up and lift the lid off of the can, pulling down a ladder to climb up into it, and offered her to step in.

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

“That’d actually be pretty helpful.” Hilda nodded. “They don’t want me flying around too much, and the closest thing to a house on the ground that I have is the Observatory.” 

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

Once at St. James’, Hilda’s injuries were attended to, and she was kept overnight, much to her annoyance. She’d been working with the stars long enough that she’d practically become nocturnal. 

However, the next day, she was free to go, but she was told not to fly for a couple of days, as the air pressure would be detrimental to her head injury. So, she’d be forced to walk back to the observatory with no where else to go,.

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

Werner Werman…that sounded familiar. Damn, her head was killing her. There was no doubt in her mind that she had a concussion. Otherwise she wouldn’t have such a horrible headache. And damn, why did her chest feel so tight?!

“H-Hilda Berg.”

“Hilda? Vell, zat is a nice name!” Werner smiles softly. That last name though... Berg. He could’ve sworn he had heard it somewhere. Regardless, the ambulance soon pulled up and medical staff came up to check on Hilda. They’d come to the conclusion that she did indeed have a concussion, and that it’d be best if she at least spent an evening in hospital.

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

“Ugh..uh, j-just pickin’ up some groceries before work?” That was pretty much why she’d come out. The poor woman had neglected to feed herself for the past two shifts.

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

Hilda was normally very meticulous when it came to paying attention when flying. However, one of her zeppelin drones- specifically PT-003, had rushed over to her to inform Hilda of an anomaly in the Taurus quadrant it was assigned to. And it those seconds she’d looked away, she must have crashed.

“Oh! That’s right!” Hilda suddenly sat up, only to regret it moments later as a dizzy feeling suddenly washed over her. “Ouch!” There was definitely a large bruise on her head, but luckily she didn’t have any tears or wounds.

“Ah, pleaze do not--” but Hilda sat up too quickly, and as a result came a pang of dizziness. “Should of told you, mein fraulein. Might not be bezt to sit up zo quickly.” the rat would look around to see if there were any others who had seen the crash, and luckily it seemed some onlookers were already busy with calling for an ambulance.

* hurt prompts (Accepting!)

A quiet groan left Hilda as she slowly came to. She didn’t quite recognize the voice. “Ugh, what happened?”

“I…guess?” Cuphead answered. “Just until we find a new home. Then we’ll be out of your hair…Fur.” Mugman reassured, reaching over to grab the two glasses of orange juice and handing one to Cuphead. “Here, Cups. Drink up.” Cuphead took the glass and took a sip of the juice. 

Wilhelm merely nods, seeming to understand the situation. “So you are ze older one, then?” he deducts as he looks over to Mugman. “Juzt asking.” just before Mugman could answer, however, Werner would step in, a bit surprised to see the boys awake and up.

“Ah, you’re awake!” he says as he walks over. “Und you haff had ze honor of meeting mein dear Vilhelm~” his voice suddenly took on a bit of an amorous tone, and as Wilhelm stood up, the black-furred rat received a kiss on the cheek from the engineer, making him grin slightly.

“Verner, mein liebe~ Not in front ov ze guests.” he teases, before he just chuckles and nods to Mugman, giving a wave of goodbye as he heads out to tend to his business.

“Likewise.” Mugman said dejectedly. “My name is Mugman, and this is my little brother, Cuphead.” Cuphead only waved eyeing the porridge cautiously. He hated trying new foods, but he knew better than to be picky now. Mugman took the other’s hand, maintaining the firm handshake he had for a 13 year old boy that could hardly carry more than his own, small weight.

“Aah, ja! Cuphead und Mugman! Sorry, I almost forgot ze names Verner gave me!” Wilhelm chuckles gently, noting the surprisingly firm handshake before he lets go, looking over to Cuphead eyeing his food. “Oh don’t vorry, it’s actually quite delicious! Heck, it’z vhat ve soldierz had to ‘enjoy’ during ze var.” he chuckles nonchalantly. Quite a jovial soul, he was.

It’d take Mugman a little while to calm down enough to be able to close his eyes. After a while, he decided it’d be best to focus more on Cuphead’s soft breathing, rather than what’s going to happen to them, and what could possibly go wrong. He could figure out what to do in the morning, maybe start searching for an apartment. After a while, Mugman finally fell asleep.

Mugman woke up first the next day, but he didn’t rush out of bed to get some breakfast like he would normally do. This time he just sat along the edge of the bed, mostly to wait for Cuphead to wake up. His little brother had always been a heavy sleeper. 

About half an hour later, Cuphead finally stirred, instinctively searching for that special teddy bear of his for a few moments, only to open his eyes when he couldn’t find it. ‘Oh no…it wasn’t a dream.’ He thought. A small whine escaped the child as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.  “Cup.”  “Where are we?” “Werner Werman’s.” “What?” The child asked sleepily. “He saw us last night and offered us a place to stay for a while.” 

As Mugman and Cuphead were now awake, they’d hear outside that the workshop was starting to get in motion, with gears grinding and engines whirring. It wasn’t absolutely obnoxious or deafening, but it was a respectable amount of noise. A couple of steps were heard as someone approached the door, and as the knob twisted and the door went open, in stepped a black-furred rat, about the same height as Werner, wearing a pair of jean-shorts and a white t-shirt with a red heart on the center of it. A black crosshair was over the heart.

Mugman nodded appreciatively. “Thank you.” He spoke softly, both to avoid waking up Cuphead, and because he just didn’t have the energy to be much louder. He held his brother tighter, afraid of somehow losing him too. 

Mugman backed up, just a little afraid of the stranger. He tried to hide behind Werner, but Cuphead suddenly gave a soft whine in his sleep, turning and leaning his head more against Mugman’s chin. Right off the bat, Mugman noticed the other reeked of gasoline, only reminding him of how he watched his home burn to the ground. He did not feel safe.

Mug slid his arm around his head a little to feel his cheek with the back of his hand, checking for a fever. If anything, Cuphead still felt like a cool glass of milk. That was at least good. 

When he looked up again, he saw the other had moved for them. Mugman nodded politely, then awkwardly stepped in the house, despite his suspicions towards the other. He just wanted to get his brother to a proper bed for the time being. He didn’t know how late it was, but he was hardly even tired, all he wanted to do was come up with a plan. Even in the best case scenario, they’d still be left homeless, unless Mugman could find an affordable apartment. But he still wanted to be there for Elder Kettle if his condition stabilized enough for him to have visitors. Plus he had to make sure Cuphead was safe and healthy throughout all this. Being the oldest, the responsibilities all fell on him. He was 13 after all. 

In this day and age, he was practically an adult.

As they walked past, Franz just looked at Werner with a look that silently asked ‘What is going on?’ to which Werner just shrugs at his friend. “Zere’s been... some complications for zem.” was all he said to Franz, who just nodded and scampered off to his own devices, whilst the engineer would catch up with Mugman, helping him and Mugman to an unoccupied room. “You vould not believe how lucky you are zat I haff another guest room available. I zought for sure zat the otherz occupied all of them once zey moved in.” he chuckles awkwardly.