Here we go, I'm at nine! By the way, I'm just doing this all for fun, since the whole Inktober thing was floating around :).

Cuphead wandered around Inkwell Isle as he normally did. As time had gone on, he became friends with King Dice himself as well as a lot of people in the Casino. Mugman was friends with almost everyone himself. The only person the two brothers weren't friends with was the Devil himself, but that was understandable. Speaking of King Dice, the purple-clad man was walking up to the red-clad male.

"Cuphead," King Dice nodded in greeting.

"King Dice! How's the Casino?" Cuphead asked, his hands jerking by his side on instinct.

"Business as usual."

King Dice shook the thing in his right hand which made Cuphead curious. It sounded like there was liquid inside. The bottle was black in color.

"What's in there?" Cuphead asked, pointing to the bottle in the older man's grasp.

"Oh, this?" King Dice said while holding it out to the shorter man. "This is a bottle of ink."

"Ink?"

"Yes. What do you think our special has in it?"

Cuphead thought about it. He then pointed at the black bottle and the purple-clad man nodded.

"See, people on Inkwell Isle tend to come to the Casino to forget their troubles," King Dice pointed out. "You should know, you worked there until you took your leave of absence."

Cuphead nodded.

"By the way, how is your older brother?"

"He's doing well," Cuphead said, his hands still twitching.

"Listen, I know the whole thing about you talking again was to make your brother happy again."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Don't lie to me."

Cuphead went silent again. King Dice sighed and placed a hand on his upper back.

"How about this? Since you're on your way to work anyway, why don't I take you to the Casino, yeah?" King Dice suggested.

"Yeah," Cuphead murmured in agreement.

He let the taller male lead him through the Isle and through the different parts of the towns. They finally stopped at the Casino.

"Wanna go in?" King Dice asked softly.

Cuphead merely hummed. King Dice sighed lightly before he gently led the doors and he gasped. There, right behind the doors, was Mugman. The older cup grinned widely.

"Cuphead! I'm surprised you're here!" Mugman said, his eyebrows raised. "I thought you were staying home today?"

"Nah, I decided to come," Cuphead replied.

He gave one last cheeky grin at King Dice before hurrying behind the bar counter. Mugman looked at the taller male with shock.

"What?" King Dice questioned.

"How did you get him to come?" Mugman asked. "I've been trying for weeks!"

"He was walking here by himself, and I offered to walk with him."

"Ever since he's started talking again, he hasn't been the same. Always dashing about and making excuses as to why he can't go to work."

"I think the one encounter with your father spooked him a bit."

"I won't argue there."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence. They watched as Cuphead got the many customers the drinks from the bar without even having to turn around to fling it at them.

As the night dwindled down to just a few customers left, King Dice walked up to the counter while Mugman went around the booths and tables with a rag to clean up.

"Scotch on the rocks," King Dice ordered.

Cuphead turned around at his voice and King Dice found pride when the younger male's face lit up.

"Ah, King Dice!" Cuphead grinned. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I just wanted to check in is all," King Dice said. "How was it?"

"It was alright. Business as usual."

"It shouldn't be that way all the time."

"I know."

King Dice noticed how clipped Cuphead's voice was and how he spoke up to five words for the most part. But he noticed how he seemed to speak more around him and Mugman.

"By the way, what's up with your voice?" King Dice wondered.

"What do you mean?" Cuphead asked.

"I've noticed how clipped it is. Is there a reason why?"

"Not really, no."

"You're also talking in five-word sentences."

"Still getting used to talking, Dice. My voice isn't what it was before. I'm trying to get it back to where it was before, but it's hard."

"Why?"

"I only talk to you and Mugman, other than the occasional hello to one of the people of Inkwell Isle."

"You're talking more as we speak."

"Because you're starting it."

"And there we go back to five-word sentences."

"That was four."

"Three."

"You know what I mean."

Cuphead glared at King Dice, but there was no heat behind it. He knew he wasn't okay, but he was getting there. Besides, who knew it would all start out with a bottle of ink?

So, hopefully not too bad, all things considered.

~*MegaMon2580*~