(Starry-eyed-blimp) “Oh my G— what happened to you?!”
@starry-eyed-blimp
Welp, that was just great. Of all people that could see him like this, it just had to be her. Mugman was not entirely sure why it felt just as terrible as imagining meeting an imp, but he had a vague idea.
“Oh shhhhhoot, oh french revolution!” He hissed under his breath, quickly trying to hide as much of his broken mug as possible. “Um! Uh! N-nothin’ serious! And definitely nothin’ worth lookin’ at! Haha!” Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Could not even hold in the nervous laugh.
(thebrotherscupheadandmugman) Cuphead had heard the sound from his room and just about threw his arithmetic to the side and ran down the stairs. "Mugman, what was that sound?!" He was more than ready to fight any bad guy that'd even think about trying to sneak in and hurt his big brother. However, when he saw milk on the floor seeping out from behind the corner, he began to fear the worst. Hand raised to fire at the enemy, Cuphead jumped down the rest of the steps, screaming and ready to wallop.
@thebrotherscupheadandmugman
Mugman was sitting on the floor, trying to calm down. He did not actually hear what Cuphead said. But he heard the voice itself.
However, before he even thought of replying, the screaming ringed through his mind. That made him hold the broken part of the aching head while slowly standing up. Then, not so much faster, he looked out of the room.
“C-cups?” He called out, surprised at how shaky his voice was.
“Sometimes I feel like the only reason, why I am still alive, is the fact that I am fate’s favorite toy and me dyin’ would be a waste of a perfectly good clown material.”
Mugman was sitting in front of the mirror, not really looking at his reflection. He was too busy placing all the shards beside the glue on the table. Though, to be honest, he was just stalling for time. Because he was afraid.
For the past few days that he had been broken, a lot of things were scaring him. Sharp objects, cracks in floor, creaking doors... and his reflection. All of these things were making him jump, making him squeak in surprise. But his reflection was making him tremble. It was making him tear up. Each time, he would stop for a moment. For a minute. To fight the urge to fall to his knees and cry his heart out.
However, to stop this living nightmare he had to fix his face, and to fix his face he had to look. Mug learnt it the hard way. Trying to piece himself together by blindly touching and hoping for the better didn't really work out.
A sigh left the mug. All the shards he had found were on the table, now was the time put himself back together. But as soon as he picked up one piece and the bottle of glue, it was evident that his hands were shaking. It was mighty hard to carefully add the glue to the shard. This only added frustration and shame to the mix of feelings.
Then a crash. Mugman yelped, jumping and letting all the things fall out his hands. But interestingly enough, the crash, or whatever it was, came from the second floor. It almost sounded like something happened in Mug's room. It made him tremble more for some reason.
But just as he turned to the stairs, Cuphead came falling down them. The sound of that made Mugman wince. However, the fallen cup himself locked much better than his brother. Nothing was broken. Not a drop was lost.
The second Cup's eyes met Mug's eye, silence took over the room. As Cuphead would slowly get up, his expression was geting more and more worried and caring. That at the same time was making Mugman turn away, his face twisting with guilt and self-disgust.
„Cu-“ Mugman was cut short by an unexpected for him hug, „Cup?“ He was so lost, he didn't even try to get away.
„I'm sorry, I came so late,“ Cup answered, leaning away but leaving his hands on Mug's shoulders, „But now that I'm here, we're gonna fix ya.“
„Cup, I- wait a second,“ Mugman quickly changed his tone to a suspicious one, „You aren't surprised to see me like this? You know what happened?“
„Mmm? Uh, yeah, I-“
„Somebody told you? Somebody got to you? Somebody knew where to find you?“ Mug threw Cup's hands off himself and aggressively put the forefinger on Cup's chest. „Somebody managed to get a response from you?! While I couldn't?!“
„Well, yeah, you see-“ Cuphead defensively raised his hands as Mugman kept on leaning closer and closer to his face.
„So, you kept someone updated about yer location but not me?!“
„A-about that-“
„Why did you even bother to-“
„Listen!“ Cuphead finally cried in reply, holding hands over Mugs' mouth, „I get it. You are mad. But you ain't in the position to be mad right now! You've got half a face missin', yer eyes is missin'! So hold yer barking and bite me later. Right now, we are fixing you. Got that?“
Mugman listened. Not willingly at first but with each passing second he would calm down. Bit by bit he regained his composure and rational thinking. He pushed Cups' hand from his mouth and sighed in defeat.
Cuphead smiled in relief. Then he noticed what was behind his brother.
„Is that... glue down there?“ He asked in disbelief, „Were you tryin' to glue yerself back together? Didn't ya visit hospital the other day? Did the docs seriously said that the glue was the best option?“
„They didn't say 'best'...“ Mugman hissed in reply, looking down at his feet and hugging himself with one arm, „They said 'only'... It is my only option for now.“
„What?! No way, surely they knew it wouldn't completely fix you!“
„They said it, too. But what I need is lost to the time,“ Mug sighed and went to sit in front of the mirror, „I looked for it in Elder Kettle's books, went to the library. I couldn't find anythin'. I thought of goin' to Rugged Ridge but... I ain't in the best shape, to say the least.“
Here was this silence again. Mugs couldn't really find a way out for himself but Cups looked as if something in his head was working its best to remember things.
„Oh!“ Cuphead's straw changed into an exclamation mark as his eyes shined with new idea. „I remember now!“
„Remember what?“
„I brought some stuff with me! It's old and rusty and I can't really read it but I just know it is what we're lookin' for!“ The red wearing cup pulled out some ancient looking papers and chipped plates with something written on them.
„C-Cuphead! Where did you get these from?!“ Mugman jumped from his seat.
„You know me, I wouldn't be Cuphead if I didn't bring a treasure or two from my adventures,“ the cup chuckled to himself but coughed awkwardly in the end, noticing Mug's stern look, „A-anyway, do you think you can try to translate this stuff?“
„I... I believe I can. It might take some time but some words actually look familiar and...“
There he went, focusing on the letters and symbols. Cuphead could not be more happy to see his brother so invested. Even if the red hero had little to no idea what he was saying. He sat on the floor next to Mug, hopeful smile on his lips.
„Hey, Cup,“ Mugman suddenly called out, not looking up from his new hope.
„Mmm?“
„I am still mad but... thank you... Cups...“ Mug mumbled, fighting his pride and his urge to cry.
