IM SO GAY THAT IT BURNSSS

Your POV: you're sitting in your Grammies garden, watching two bugs walk across the side of one of her many garden beds. You can't tell if they're beetles or stinkbugs, but they captivate you. Though you're scared of them, you can't look away. They're so small and defenseless. But, unlike the other kids your age, you don't kill bugs. You're not like the kids who pick them up though. You're too scared to. But, then suddenly, breaking through the white noise of birds chirping and wind blowing, Grammie calls you through the window. "Love Bug? Come inside, I need to talk to you for a moment." Her normally soft and kind tone was gone. She sounded scared. Nervous. Sad. You walk up the two steps onto the porch and into the house. She's sitting in her big leather chair. She, having scoliosis, was always sitting when she wasn't walking. It pained her to stand. You sat on the floor in front of her, a curious look in your eyes. It feels nice, sitting in the same place you always used to sit when she'd tell you stories and read you books. She was wealthy, which meant she had the best stories to tell and the best books to be read. "Love Bug, remember when I taught you what it means for someone to pass away?" She looks down at you, leaning to hold your hands though it pains her to stretch that way. You nod. "Well, Daddy..." She struggles to finish, tears welling in her eyes. "Your Mommy just called me, and told me Daddy passed away...someone hurt him real bad...and he's not coming back..."

He's not coming back

You feel your eyes slowly open, being met with cheap feeling red and white pillows against your cheek. You have a blanket over you. It's heavy, but also cheap feeling. Your eyes adjust to the faint light in the estranged room, the only light in there being sun rays peeking through closed blinds. You slowly sit up. You look around the room, slightly confused. There are some posters on the wall, of popular Swing and Jazz bands, cartoons too. There's a large, unstable looking shelf with knick knacks filling it, and a wardrobe. You look next to you on the nightstand and see a small framed picture of a young Cuphead, who looks weirdly familiar, a young Mugman, and a...ghost? You nervously get out of the bed and stand. The way your socked feet hit the cold wood floor makes you shiver. You hear muffled music coming from the other room. Puttin' On The Ritz by Irving Berlin. You'd recognize it anywhere. It was your dad's favorite song to sing to you when you were little. It feels weird hearing it. You slowly remember all that happened last night, looking down at your now wrinkled uniform and the reality comes flooding to you quickly. You nervously open the bedroom door, peeking out into the unfamiliar apartment. The music gets louder when you open the door. "Cuphead? Mugman?" You nervously call.

No response.

Cuphead's POV (five hours earlier): I slowly wake up on the couch..it feels like the couch but my face is currently flat against the carpet, booze everywhere. I sit up, grabbing my head and putting it back on. "Ugh..what happe-" I look forward and see the newbie laying on the carpet, snoring..I pause immediately, Standing. My head hurts like hell. I approach her before immediately turning around and looking for Mugman. Surprisingly, he's in his room and not in a random place like I was. I poke him "Mug! Muuug!!" I whisper yell. He opens his eyes, glaring at me from the nightstand. "What!?" "The new girl's in the living room!"

Your POV (current time): The music stops, like a radio station changing. It's now soft static. You hear footsteps, as Mugman walks from around the corner into the hallway. He's holding a book, and wearing readers along with a brown fuzzy sweater. He smiles softly. "Good morning! Er- afternoon." Cuphead soon follows behind him, wearing a red tee and pajama pants. His face looks weird. Not ugly, it always looks like that, but some sort of flushed. He's looking right at you. When he gets caught, he quickly switches his face and body language, looking suspicious. "Why were you on our floor?!" Though you can still sense a flustered energy radiating off of him, he doesn't know that.

"I am so sorry, I left my car at the casino and I didn't want to walk home alone, so I stayed here. I know that's probably creepy- wait...do you guys remember last night?" They both look at you, clearly lost. "Not fully...I remember the basics though.." Mugman says, taking off the readers and putting them on the neck of his sweater. Cuphead keeps looking at you, his thin eyebrows furrowed. You can tell he's not mad, but trying to cover his flustered behavior. "Spill! We don't believe you! Right Mugman!?" He nudges Mugman, trying to get him to act suspicious alongside him. Mugman rolls his eyes. "Politely, explain." Mugman says, putting a hand on his hip.

"Well, uh, you both put me through a training course and it ran late. Cuphead, you wanted to drink, so you both did. I stayed sober though. While drunk..you said some things. I decided to walk home with you both to make sure you were safe, and now we're here."

Mugman looks grateful that you walked them home, meanwhile Cuphead looks positively distressed. His suspicion act is obviously slipping a little.

Cuphead's POV: What did I say? What could've I possibly said!? "Well, we found you asleep on the floor, and Cuphead took you to his bed so you'd be comfy." "Hey, I can talk for myself!" I quickly snap back at him. He pauses "You ok?" She says, confused. I swallow hard. Why am I getting so flustered and stressed?! She's just some stupid girl. "Um- I'm fine! Just...what did I say to you?" I say nervously. she raises an eyebrow. "You're acting weird?" I pause. Awkwardness just flows through my veins. "I'll be right back! I gotta go to the bathroom?"

Your POV: He proceeds to run off in the direction of his room. Mugman blinks a few times, puzzled. "He never acts awkward. He's the most confident guy I know! Why's he so weird?" He sighs. He directs his attention towards you. "Anyway, work starts in exactly two hours. I can iron your uniform if you want." He smiles softly.

Cuphead's POV: Now I'm just sitting here. On my bed. Blushing like a teenage girl. Fuck, why is she so pretty? Sure she's boring but man she's gorgeous. She probably knows that. She wouldn't need me to tell her. Love ain't real. Love. Ain't. Real. I get up and walk around my room, sighing. I lean on my shelf, looking at all the random little doodads I've picked up over the years. Some from Elder Kettles house, some from the casinos lost and found. I'm so focused on them I don't notice that I'm falling backwards. And since I'm holding onto the shelf..

!!!!CRAAAASHHH!!!!

Your POV: You and Mugman both hear the crash. He sighs, like he's dealt with this before. He glanced at you. "Wanna check on him?" You nod. You nervously walk to Cuphead's bedroom. You try to get in but it's locked. "Cuphead?" You call, fiddling with the doorknob. You hear him.. crying? "Don't come in!" He barks back. You hear loud clattering and rustling. You sigh, getting a spare penny out of your pocket and turning the lock easily with it. You open the door to see him sitting on the floor next to a pile of broken junk, and the unstable looking shelf from earlier on top. He sniffles. "Hey- woah woah- what happened!?"

Cuphead's POV: Man that hurt. The damn thing fell on me. And now she's watching me cry on the floor like a child. "N-nothing! Nothing happened- I'm fine-" "Cuphead, I'm not stupid." She closes the door behind her. She picks up the shelf with strength, putting it back against the wall. She looks at me as I realize my nose is bleeding. She pauses. "Do you need a towel?" ".....yeah.." she walks out and walks back in with a handrag from the bathroom. She hands it to me. "Don't worry. We can fix this! My little sister accidentally broke her toys all the time! She always had me fix them for her. Have any glue?" She looks down at me. I stand nervously. "Yeah..but why are you helping me? Aren't you weirded out that an adult man is crying over broken toys?" She shrugs. "It's kinda strange, but you're my new coworker. I'm trying to build an alliance. Besides, Mugman says there's a few hours before work. We got time." I get the glue from my nightstand drawer quickly and hand it to her. She sits on the floor and I sit next to her. Wait..she's taller than me? I just noticed that..

Your POV: Over the next hour, you sit with him and fix all the broken stuff. You learn a little bit of his background in the process. Small stuff like how he was homeschooled, and that he only had one guardian. Elder Kettle. He's using past tense though, which concerns you. Eventually, it's all fixed. He looks happy, putting them back on the shelf. He looks sorta cute when he's all giddy over something like toys.

Cuphead's POV: I look at her. She looks so..pretty? It's probably nothing. Unless it's a sexual thing, but I've never felt anything like that. Sexual shit is weird. I stand up to put the last thing on the shelf, a small bottle cap. I sit back down next to her, sighing softly. I get a weird urge to put my head on her shoulder. Like in the picture shows. I know I probably, physically can't, and I don't dare try....

"I know this is kinda weird.." why did I say that!? That sounded so weird! Why am I being vulnerable all of a sudden!? "It's ok. Random stuff to one person is treasure to another. Value is subjective. I get it." She smiles softly. I glance at the clock and immediately panic. Work is in 15 minutes. "Shit- uhh- we gotta go" I say loudly, standing and quickly. She stands too, straightening her uniform I look down at myself and realize I'm not dressed. Why would I be? I quickly grab my uniform from the living room, where I put it after I carried her to my bed earlier.