Aftermath

He Ain't Too Worried About It

Cuphead sat there as he watched Mugman's chest rise and fall slowly. ' I should've forced you to stay at home. ' He thought to himself.

Everything the past two days had gone by so fast, but it also felt so slow in the troublesome parts. Especially seeing his little brother suffer for his mistakes. Every time he would get a glimpse of Mugman's soul floating away, Cuphead would panic and desperately fling it back into his lifeless body, relieved to hear him gasp for air every single time.

The boys' powers have worn off now, however. Cuphead could feel his nose sting at the mere thought of Mugman not recovering from the Devil's blow to his head. He wouldn't be able to save him this time.

Mugman was slightly conscious, but it was obvious he was having a hard time staying awake. The sudden tapping of Cuphead's foot on the wooden floor made him glance over however.

"Cup, stop worrying, I'll be okay..." When Cuphead didn't answer, he added, "You need to rest too. Your arm really needs to heal, what's left of it at least" Mugman stared at Cuphead's new prosthetic that was attached to the remains of his arm. "And Ya' know, I heard you coughing this morning. I don't know if it was the smoke in Hell, or if the Devil hit you on the back too hard or something, but it sounds... really really bad..."

He looked at his older brother with a pleading expression for him to lay down, but Cuphead's quiet response was his typical, "I ain't too worried about it." but the vocals were tired and weak compared to his normal pippy tone. The tea cup stood up when he saw his brother sit up in bed.

"'I ain't too worried about it' is what you always say! You always say it!" Mugman pointed an accusing finger at Cuphead. "And every time you do, guess what? I see right through your dumb little facade you try and pull! You're scared, you're just avoiding it! It's what alwaaays get you into deeper trouble than before, and fine! Fine about the fence, about losing a ticket and slippin' on the ride anyways, those are harmless little accidents! But when your soul was in danger, and now you can barely breathe and you just say 'I ain't too worried about it!'"

Holding his head, he hopped out of bed, and slapped Cuphead on the cheek when he tried to get him to lay back down. "Mugman, come on, don't be like that." Cuphead whined, rubbing his cheek. "Lay back down before you make it worse!"

"No, you listen for once in your life! The people who love and care for you ARE worried about it!" he exclaimed. "You keep moping about me coming with you and how you were constantly scared about me getting hurt, but guess what? That's how we all feel every day when you don't value yourself enough to give a shit!"

"Mugs, watch your mouth!" Cuphead exclaimed, covering his brother's lips. "Elder Kettle might-"

"Yeah? Well, I'm just saying what he's thinking!" He snapped, shoving his brother once more. Mugman took a moment before frowning and giving Cuphead a brief and begrudging hug, then shuffling away with his arms crossed. "Listen, I'm not mad- well, actually, I am a little. But next time, before you do something stupid, think ." He clanked his finger against the side of his head, where it wasn't cracked. "And not just about how it would affect you. When it comes to direct care, you want to protect everyone and everything you love, and that's great. But you forget that caring for yourself is also a big part of taking care of your family. So I'm reminding you of that."

With that, Mugman climbed back in bed and faced towards the wall as he laid down, this time on the top. Cuphead peeked up at the top bunk, "Come on, Mugsy... don't be mad at me for worrying about ya'..." When he only got a grunt as a response, he poked Mugman's side gently as he tensed up, smacking his hand away. Not hard, just to get him to quit. "Hey!" Cuphead exclaimed, offended.

"I know what you're doing, it's not going to work this time!" Mugman claimed, pulling the covers over himself as a shield.

"You say that every time and it works every time." Cuphead countered with a smirk. Stepping on a ladder rung, he sneakily snatched Mugman's straw that was sticking out from under the blanket and ran for it as the younger brother gasped in a startle, whipping up into a sitting position.

"Cuphead! Give it back!" Mugman ordered with an accusatory finger pointed at his brother, standing on the top bunk like he was the king of it. "I'll tell Elder Kettle!" he threatened.

Standing just outside the doorway like it was a 'base', Cuphead playfully sneered, "What's he gonna do? He can't catch-" he was interrupted by the straw leaving his grasp. He frowned deeply before walking back in the room, arms crossed as he turned around and leaned on the doorframe.

Instead of making his usual sharp and snarky comments, Kettle simply returned Mugman's straw before asking, "I thought I told you boys to both be resting, not yelling at each other and running off with body parts."

Mugman gave a smirk knowing this meant he was right, but lost the smugness when Cuphead mumbled, "I'll be fine, honest! I just want him to rest. Heck, I feel better alr-" As he tried to sound loud and chipper like he normally would, he felt his lungs burn, and he coughed for a few moments. He kept trying to hold his breath to get it to stop, but Kettle finally slapped his back carefully.

"Stop doing that! You'll make it worse." he gently scolded. Cuphead shook his head, tears in his eyes.

"I-I'm fi-ine..." he whispered raspily. Some tears weren't from the cough, he was just glad he could pass them off as those. "Don't worry a-about me. Please... I'm sorry..."

Kettle frowned. "Why are you sorry for not being able to breathe? How is that your fault?"

Cuphead seemed to try and give an excuse, but each time he opened his mouth, he'd close it again, with nothing to say. He finally whispered in a sharp tone, "Because I'm stupid." half hoping neither heard, and half hoping one of them did. He didn't want them to hear because he hated the gushing that came along with reassurance. But at the same time... he just wanted a hug. But to ask for one seemed odd. He knew they wouldn't hesitate to comfort him, so why did he feel guilty for a simple hug? "I'm going outside-"

"No, you're not." Elder Kettle corrected as he picked Cuphead up by his handle and gently placed him back down. "You're staying inside, and you're going to get some rest. You don't want to go back to that doctor, do you?" Kettle reminded Cuphead of the visit.

The boy went silent at that. He didn't want to go back to the doctor, he hated it there. Not because of the doctor, she was nice and all, but the whole... Medical situation... Though the look in Elder Kettle's eyes meant business. "No..." he whispered.

Cuphead had to have gone while Mugman was out of it. Mugman didn't remember Cuphead going to the doctor, so Betty must have stayed with him to make sure he didn't get out of bed. He usually slipped around it, with small talk and convincing until Kettle knew he wasn't going to win. It seemed Cuphead's willpower to do so this time was too low.