#mamacup

The family was gathered all around the table, all talking as Mamacup rushed about the kitchen, baking some treats for tomorrow’s feast. The brothers were both sipping on homemade (and unspiked) eggnog, Cuphead looking rather disinterested and spacing out, not at all paying attention to the conversation between his two favorite people and his parents, despite Elder Kettle’s attempts. Meanwhile, Mugman was laughing and enjoying talking to his father.  “Say, Mug. How old are you now? 12?” “Haha, close. I just turned 13 like a few months ago.” “A few months? My boy, it’s been eight months. Pahahaha!” Elder Kettle teased. “So you’re the age I was when I moved to the mainland.” “Ahh, heh heh, yeah, but I think I want to get a high school diploma at the least. I’ve been saving up for it.” “You two would be so proud of Mugman’s grades.” Elder Kettle praised. “Aw shucks, Grampa...” Mugman blushed, slowly drinking his eggnong to hide his face. “Ah, so I take it you’ll be staying with Pa- I mean, Grandpap for a while then?” Mugman nodded. “So, Mugman...You got a special gal or anything?” 

Just like that, the mug was so taken off guard by the question that he nearly spat out his drink, causing him to choke, sputter, and cough. This of course, caught the attention of his little brother. He hadn’t told Cuphead about Blin yet. He’d been waiting for the right moment. He’d been waiting to know for certain what was going on between them. He’d been waiting until they at least went steady. This was a very awkward situation for him to be put into. “Uh, I--” Thankfully, another cough cut him off, but unfortunately, this was followed by an adorable hiccup.  “Mugs, let’s go play outside!” Cuhpead whined, sounding like he was bored. “Ugh, f-fin--hic! L-let’s get--hic!” Cuphead scooted out of his chair and rushed over to his older brother. He grabbed Mugman by the wrist and dragged him upstairs. 

“Oh, well... We weren’t sure if we’d be able to take care of... one child...So when Cuphead was born, we knew that we needed to send them where a better life was possible.” Mamacup admitted somberly. “I told her my dad was the best guy to watch over them, he was better than some random orphanage.”

“Now Cuphead, you be on your best behavior this year, alright?” Elder Kettle ordered. Cuphead just sat on the couch with a pouted lip and crossed arms. “Alright?” Elder Kettle repeated in a stern voice. “Yes, Elder Kettle...” Cuphead mumbled quietly. He didn’t see anything wrong with the way he usually acted. They didn’t care them, so why should he care about them?  “Come on, Cuphead. Why don’t you try getting to know them, this year?” “Why bother?” “Now you listen here, young man! Like it or not, your mother and father are staying with us for the next week! You can either make it easy, and try to get along with the two that gave you life, or you can make this harder on yourself, and all of us, and refuse to even talk to them!” “Please, Cup.” “Whatever.” Mugman sighed at that. “Come on, Cuphead! They’ll be here any minute now!! Can you at least try to cheer up?” “‘M goin’ upstairs.” Cuphead huffed, marching upstairs. “Cuphead, you better come say hello to your parents when they arrive!!” Elder Kettle warned harshly, steaming with anger. “I’ll talk to him.” Mugman offered, following his brother up the steps.

“Cuphead?” “I don’t care, Mug! They don’t care about us, so we shouldn’t care about them!!” “Cup, don’t say that. Mom and Dad care. Otherwise they wouldn’t visit us every year.” “Right. Sure.” Cuphead sighed. “I honestly don’ know what you see in ‘em, Mugs.” “I don’t know what you see either. They gave us to Grampa because they trusted him, so we could have better lives.” “If they can afford round-trip tickets to Inkwell, they can afford to feed two more children.” “Oh Cuphead...” Mugman sighed. He’d hoped that maybe this year things would be different, but it seemed that he’d been asking for too much again this year. “Well, at least there’s one thing we can both agree on...” Cuphead’s eyes widened at that. “Right! Just like last year!” “No matter what happens, we cannot tell them about the whole Soul Contract ordeal!” “And we can’t show them our powers we got from the potion.” Mugman suddenly got an idea.  “Which means you’ll have to help me out if I start to get the hiccups or fall back into the snapping habit.” “What?!” “You know as well as I do that I sometimes shrink when I get the hiccups. And that I still snap out of habit.” “Muuugs!” “Hey now. Don’t give me that. It’s the truth. If Mom and Dad find out that we went to the Devil’s Casino when Elder Kettle wasn’t looking, and that his solution was to give us a magic potion and fight our way through, that there’s an entire possibility that our parents will take us away from Elder Kettle, and off of Inkwell.” “But--” “If we want to hide this, it’s going to have to be a team effort. Okay?” “I...” Cuphead really had no choice, did he?” “Ugh, fine!!”

The brothers later returned downstairs, after playing with Cuphead’s train set for a little while to calm down of course. “Hello boys. Cuphead, feeling any better?” Elder Kettle asked. “Meh.” Cuphead huffed with a slight pout, the milk in his head bubbling just a tad.  “I think that’s about as good as it’s going to get with him.” Mugman admitted. Elder Kettle sighed. It was certainly better than before. A bitter cup was better than a grumpy cup.  “Why don’t you boys come sit on the couch and we listen to the radio while we wait for your parents?” Mugman, of course, nodded with a smile, already recognizing the song that was playing as a version of Shine on Harvest Moon. “C’mon, Cup!” He smiled, sitting on the couch next to his little brother.

“Shine on, Shine on harvest moon, High up in the sky. I ain’t Had no One to love me since April, January, June or July.”

Once the four voices began singing, Mugman could take a guess as to who the group was. “Are these the Brox Sisters, or the Boswell Sisters?”

Before he could get an answer, there was a knock on the door. “That must be them!!” Mugman said eagerly. Cuphead could only roll his eyes as his brother jumped up to answer the door. “Oh, hello!!” A female voice sang. “How’s it goin’ son?” An older man asked. “Mom! Dad!” Mugman beamed, as he hugged the two figures, whose faces were obscured by the top of the screen, but it was clear that the woman was a cup, and the man was a mug. “I’m glad you’re here!!” “Welcome home, son.” Elder Kettle smiled before giving Cuphead a look. “Oh, uh...hi.” “Oh my goodness, is that our dear little Cuphead?” The woman rushed over to her youngest son and wrapped the boy in a tight hug. “By golly, you’ve gotten to be so big!!” “Oof! Alright, alright, I get it, I’m huge, now let go a me!!”