When the soggy cups turned up at King Dice's house smack dab in the middle of a rainy evening, his first thought was to tell them to beat it. But when Cuphead's tremulous little request was made, his crooked straw drooping into his face as he clasped his hands together and begged for Dice to let him and his brother stay-the both of those little punks could pull an incredible puppydog face when they felt so inclined-Dice couldn't seem to find the brass to ignore them.
And so he sat on his couch with his tea, bemusedly watching the sopping little cups dry out their possessions in front of the fireplace through half lidded eyes. He wasn't sure why he'd agreed to let them take shelter, other than not being so stony as to leave two scruffy young urchins out in the cold and wet.. Maybe he was going soft. But it certainly was not because he was starting to be surprisingly fond of them. Not a chance. Never.
No.
He paused his train of thought momentarily when the little blue one held his nose and blew rainwater out of his straw. Dice chuckled a bit in spite of himself, but he caught it in his throat with a little squeak and choked it back down with a short, quiet "ahem". Apparently it sounded natural enough because the two didn't pay him any mind. Thankfully.
No, it certainly was not because they had become endearing, he mused pointedly as he resumed his willfully callous meditations. In fact, he was quite rankled that they had decided to show up when he was, in no way, prepared for guests- his purple ensemble of silken pyjamas, robe and slippers was not, at all, the image he wanted to present to visitors..
He could think of worse people to catch him in his current state of dress, however, and-goodness gracious why was he pardoning them for even that small offense that he'd deliberately gone to the trouble to be offended for?
Dice sighed wearily through his nose in resignation as he took a long sip of his tea, then set it aside, pulling a rich purple blanket over his legs and opting then to supervise the cups until they had settled down. As he watched them laying out their wet shoes and wringing out their gloves, his half lidded gaze drooped even further. He blearily noted that it was growing difficult to keep his eyes open at all, and before he could even think to excuse himself to his bedroom, he'd already fallen asleep.
Cuphead was wiping the last droplet of rainwater from Mugman's brim when he noticed, in a passing glance, that their host was no longer sitting at attention. Returning his gaze immediately to King Dice, he tilted his head a bit. The bigger toon was dozing away, his hands resting loosely in his lap and his head bowed.
Cuphead stood up as if to approach but Mugman grabbed his hand.
"Cuppy no, don't waken him-!" He whispered, and redirected his brother back toward their spot near the fireplace, putting a finger to his mouth in a hushing gesture. "He works hard- he's got ta be tired.. And we don't wanna be bad guests."
Cuphead knew his brother was right but he couldn't help his curiosity. The both of them glanced at Dice, and then at eachother- and then they giggled quietly. The character snoozing quietly on the couch didn't seem at all to be the same one he'd met in the casino or the die house- the sleazy card shark who could swindle you out of your house and home.. In fact he looked quite harmless, really.
Cuphead and Mugman both decided that they liked this King Dice better.
Dice awoke some hours later to the rain still pattering away at his window, through which the dim grey light of dawn had emerged. Wait- that was not his bedroom window.
He lifted his head from the arm of the couch, finding that he must have shifted into a more conventional state of repose in the night, with the rest of him curled upon the seat cushions under his blanket. Wonderful. He'd not only failed to present himself appropriately for (unwanted) guests, but he'd then proceeded to lack dignifying himself with proper sleeping habits as well.
Grunting a bit, he tried to sit up with the intention of relocating to his bedroom, but paused when he heard a little mumble and abruptly realized that he wasn't alone on the couch anymore. The two little forms of Cuphead and Mugman were curled in the blanket with him- the little red anklebiter was resting on his chest, and his blue friend was nestled right beside him. Dice was astonished by the audacity of the little ruffians- they were, for all good and rightful intents and purposes, enemies brought into the same living space by nothing stronger than sheer necessity. And yet there they were, cuddled up and snoring blissfully away with said enemy, nary a care in the world.
However once the incredulity passed, he found that he didn't quite feel like sitting up and sending them tumbling off for their impunity. No- instead he found that he didn't mind half as much as he knew he should.
The red one- Cuphead, was snoring gently, making a little bubble at the end of his straw that grew and shrunk with each breath. His brother, Mugman, was curled up as close as possible, sucking happily on his straw in his sleep.
Dice knew they were pretty young- but it was easy to forget with the big-talkin' and scrappy nature of the two so frequently taking the forefront. The image he was presented with now was as clear a reminder as could be, and, in spite of his efforts not to allow the cups to endear themselves to him, he dared a little smile.
He had accepted the reality that he might be going soft.. And as he settled down to fall asleep again, he felt that it wouldn't be too difficult to come to terms with the fact that he might.. Just might be getting a little bit fond of the two.
Just a bit.