Disclaimer: I don't own Cuphead. I also blame Nasyatkar from Tumblr for getting me hooked on this weird pairing.
Elder Kettle did not gawk often (he had life experience and his boys' antics to thank for that).
So imagine his wonder when Dice, the scoundrel Cup and Mug beat a while ago, asks him for a waltz. 'For old times' sake' as the younger fella coyly words the request.
Of course, Elder Kettle refuses at first—politely yet firmly. He's too wise to this cubic charlatan's smooth talk...until Dice pulls out a penny from one of his pockets, the sliver of copper pinched precariously between his white-gloved fingers and glinting like a playful wink.
"What's say to a wager then, Pops? Tails, I go. Heads, we dance."
So many questions could have—should have—been asked here. For reasons beyond him, Kettle could only think of one: "Why with an old piece of dining ware like me?"
The smugness of that façade slips for a moment, Dice taken back by the question, and Kettle sees the plea. Then he spots the faint scars lining the skin visible from the younger man's shirt cuffs.
Looking up again, he realizes the despair and yearning for relief, even as Dice hastily restores his mask. With the Devil's fall came Dice's as well and with it all the consequences that came with failing his boss. The man asking him for a dance is seeking escape—and from possibly the only person willing to give him exactly that.
With the same smile reserved for Cup and Mug whenever they've collected scrapes and cracks from their play, Kettle steps closer and takes the coin from Dice's hands, much to the other's shock, before flipping the coin himself.
It turns out heads after he catches it—a same-sided coin, just as he figured.
Kettle lets Dice have this victory anyway.
A little good fortune never hurt anyone.
