KittyChanImproved on Deviantart asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)
Cuphead belongs to Studio MDHR. I own nothing.
Another Side Of The Dice
It had been a rather good day at the casino as some people won money and King Dice had just finished giving the last customer of the day his winnings. While some people had lost, the atmosphere had been a peaceful and jovial one, a sharp contrast to before when the monster was there. Thinking perhaps it was mostly out of relief that the monster wasn't trying to put people in life-or-death situations that people were now coming to enjoy a game or two at the casino, King Dice decided he wasn't going to complain. He felt less stressed himself, which was good.
Just as he was about to close up the casino, he saw it was raining and groaned. "I didn't bring an umbrella with me," he said and was about to decide on just heading out and hurrying home when he saw a familiar figure outside and his eyes widened. "Mugman? What's he doing out here in the rain?"
He got his answer as the monster Mugman and his brother had beaten was chasing the blue mug and snarling, making the young mug run for his life in fear. Quickly, King Dice stepped out, holding the door open. "Mugman, quick! In here!" He called out, hoping Mugman would hear him.
The small mug turned to see him in the doorway. "King Dice!" He exclaimed, running over but slipping a little on a puddle of muddy water. He sprung up just as the monster pounced, but thankfully the monster missed and Mugman staggered toward King Dice, who stepped out and scooped him up.
"Hold on," the casino owner said, slamming the door shut behind him after both he and the small mug were safely inside. The monster snarled and glared at them before retreating, especially when Cuphead came running out, fuming and firing steaming liquid at the monster. Elder Kettle was right behind him and they drove the monster away before seeing Mugman was in King Dice's arms and looking very scared. "That monster was chasing him," he said, handing the small mug to his guardian.
"Thank you for protecting him, King Dice," Elder Kettle said gratefully before quickly getting the boys home as it was pouring rain. Nodding, the owner of the casino locked up and went home, deciding there were worse things than getting soaked by rain.
A few days later, King Dice went over to see Elder Kettle. "I was wondering if Mugman would like to come watch how I do business at the casino," he said.
The kettle looked at him. "To watch how you do business?" He repeated.
"Yeah, like make sure everything goes fair and smooth," King Dice explained. "No tricks and definitely no life-or-death situations."
Elder Kettle grew thoughtful. "Mugman does have an assignment to write a paper about a local business," he said and then gave it more thought before looking at his visitor. "If I agree that Mugman can do his report on your casino, there will be none of what happened before and I certainly don't want him messing around at the tables."
"You have my word, Elder Kettle," the owner of the casino said truthfully. "Mugman will be with me at all times and I'll make sure nothing happens to him while he watches me."
The old kettle nodded. "Alright," he said. "Let me go find him."
Mugman was a bit unsure at first, but after being reassured that he'd be with King Dice the whole time, he agreed and promised to behave himself. It wasn't long before he was sitting on King Dice's right shoulder as they walked over to the casino and went inside.
The thing was, the casino didn't open for another hour, which meant King Dice had enough time to give the little mug a tickle torture. The last time Mugman had been in the casino, King Dice had rescued him from the nearby ally when some thugs tried to hurt the boy. He had helped him then, but had been unsure how Mugman would have felt if the owner had tickled him, but now he knew the little mug would probably be in stitches.
Mugman glanced around. "Where is everyone?" He asked. While he didn't want to play at the tables, he was thinking perhaps he could watch a little and gain some inside for his school report. Feeling gloved hands gently grab him, he squeaked in alarm before feeling gentle pokes into his sides and he began giggling, squirming like mad.
"Well, well, look at this," King Dice said with a chuckle. "Seems my little shadow is ticklish."
With that, he lifted up the small mug into his arms, holding him with one arm while his free hand playfully poked the small stomach, which made Mugman kick in reflex as he continued giggling. Smirking, the owner of the casino used all five fingers of his free hand to tickle the boy's stomach.
That did the trick and Mugman squealed with laughter. "Ah, what a sensitive little tummy," his captor said, chuckling as one finger wiggled into his belly button and made him squeal again. "Hmm, I think that tummy needs just a few more tickles before it's ready."
He pulled his hand away to give the little one a chance to catch his breath. "Ready for what?" The little mug asked.
"Why, ready for me to eat, of course," King Dice said, chuckling. "Every tickle monster loves to eat ticklish little tummies."
Mugman squealed and squirmed as gentle fingers tickled his stomach relentlessly, making him throw his head back and laugh like crazy. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo," he heard the casino owner coo at him as not one inch of the small stomach was overlooked. "I want that little tummy."
The little mug squirmed. "NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" He protested through his laughter.
King Dice chuckled. "Oh, yes," he said, sitting down now and holding the boy in his lap, lifting up the shirt just a little to expose the tender stomach and smirked, gently poking it and making the little one giggle. "Ah, just right. Now for the feast."
With that, King Dice blew a big raspberry smack dab on Mugman's belly button and was rewarded with the loudest squeal of laughter and the little one squirmed harder. "Nope, that tummy is too yummy for me to pass up," he teased his captive. "I'm going to eat up that cute, yummy little tummy!"
Mugman could only laugh his hardest as his stomach was 'attacked' by ticklish raspberries and playful munches while fingers tickled his ribs and underarms, keeping him in stitches and unable to escape. "Oh, what a delicious snack!" King Dice said with a laugh, enjoying the little one's laughter. "I mustn't let this little snack escape my grasp!"
The little mug was getting tired and tried to pull in enough air to speak. "Uncle Dice, please," he said softly.
Though spoken softly, the owner of the casino heard him loud and clear and stopped, giving him a look of surprise. "What did you say?" He asked gently, thinking perhaps he hadn't heard right.
"I said please," Mugman said, wondering why the casino owner looked stunned. "Elder Kettle did teach me and my brother manners."
"I have no doubt he did," King Dice said, managing to get some of his composure back. "But I meant before that, the two words you spoke before the word please."
Now the little mug realized what he meant. "Oh, Uncle Dice," he said again, seeing the casino owner's surprised face. "Well, after you helped me sometime back, Cups and I were talking and decided we liked you as an uncle and Elder Kettle agreed with us."
King Dice blinked. "I didn't realize you boys saw me as an uncle," he said before looking a bit rueful. "Not a good uncle, am I?"
Mugman giggled. "You saved me from some bullies, you just tickled me to pieces to make me laugh, and you're letting me shadow you so that I can write a good paper for school," he said. "I think that makes you a good uncle."
A playful poke to his stomach made him squeak cutely. "Okay, okay," the owner of the casino said with a chuckle. "Keep that up and you'll just melt my greedy heart."
The boy giggled again. "I don't think you have a greedy heart," he said.
The adult shook his head, but was smiling. "Alright," he said, scooping up his nephew and placing him on his shoulder. "Casino's about to open up, so better get your notebook and pencil ready to take notes, otherwise Elder Kettle will kill me if he thinks we just goofed around instead of me helping you with that report of yours."
For the entire time the casino was opened, Mugman took many notes and was excited about writing about his uncle's job and while King Dice was doing the money report that evening, the little mug was working on a rough draft and had quite a bit of it done before he felt sleepy and fell asleep, using his notebook as a pillow.
Noting that he didn't hear the sound of pencil on paper for a few minutes, the owner of the casino turned and had to chuckle when he saw his nephew was sound asleep on his notebook full of notes and an almost-completed rough draft. Smiling, King Dice stood up and went over to the boy, picking him up and wrapping part of his suit around him, watching Mugman snuggle against him in his sleep. Being quiet, the adult gathered his nephew's things and quickly finished his report before heading out and taking the little one back home. Elder Kettle was waiting and smiled at seeing his young charge sound asleep.
"Sorry it's so late," King Dice whispered softly. "We had a big turnout tonight at the casino. Mugman took a lot of note and his rough draft is nearly done, but he fell asleep about twenty minutes ago."
"That's alright," Elder Kettle said, accepting the sleeping boy. "Did he behave himself?"
"He was good as gold," the casino owner said with a smile. "Even called me 'Uncle Dice'."
"Ah, I was wondering when that would come up," the kettle said. "The boys really do think highly of you after you helped Mugman that day."
"I'm honored they do," King Dice admitted. "Well, good night, Elder Kettle. If you ever need someone to watch the boys, you can call me."
"Thank you, King Dice," Elder Kettle said with a nod. "Good night."
As the casino owner left, the kettle chuckled. "Seems you boys brought out another side of King Dice," he said softly as he put the little one to bed, smiling at his two charges before leaving them to their peaceful dreams.
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GoldGuardian2418