The movie played on for an hour or so until it finally ended and the credits scrolled up on screen. The lights from the centre of the room slowly turned back on and I watched for a little second as people got up from their chairs and made their way out of the room.
'Well there you go doll. What did you think about it?' Cuphead instantly questioned me while turning his head to face mine.
'I loved it! I want to watch it again!' I responded with a huge smile plastered on my face.
'Me too!' Mugman piped up, excitement rushing out of his voice like a tornado.
'Golly, really?' Cuphead asked, looking at Mugman first then back down to me. 'You didn't think it was too cliché with the prince and the princess falling for each other the entire movie?'
'No, not at all.' I beamed, staring into Cuphead's eyes. 'In fact, I really enjoy those kinds of fairytales.'
'Oh you do?' Cuphead questioned with a suggestive tone. His smile grew wider as his eyelids half closed, giving me a sinister grin that looked a little lustful. I blushed a little while leaning to the opposite side of him.
'Aww!' Mugman squealed quietly with glowing eyes that were staring directly at us. Cuphead looked over at his brother with a dumbfounded look, almost as if he forgot where he was. He let out a little cough before moving his arm out from behind me, standing up and brushing off any popcorn crumbs from himself. He looked back at me again and raised his gloved hand towards me, offering to help me stand back up. I took it the offer without hesitation and placed my hand in his. Feeling him hold it a little tight, he pulled me up from my chair carefully and continued to hold my hand.
'Thank you.' I giggled, managing to do a slight curtsy while still having my hand held in his.
'Oh gee, if only I had someone to help me up.' Mugman joked, followed by a small laugh.
'Here, let me.' I giggled, offering my free hand to him.
'Why thank you.' He laughed as he held my hand and got himself up. Hand in hand with the both of them, Cuphead pulled us all along and out of the row of many chairs. It was so much fun hanging out with these two; they seemed to make me laugh and they were both really sweet towards me, especially Cuphead.
Once we were out of the theatre, we stepped back outside and Mugman decided to free my hand, but Cuphead didn't. He held onto it tenderly, tensing his fingers around mine a little whenever we walked into a crowd and someone got close to us. It almost felt as if he were protecting me or keeping me close to him, but why? It's not like I was going to wander off away from them.
As the three of us made our way back to their house, Cuphead stopped just in front of the door and looked down at his watch, having to release my hand doing so. He pondered at it for a while, making a 'Hmm' sound.
'What's wrong Cuphead?' Mugman questioned his brother as he reached out with a gloved hand to grasp the doorknob.
'Nothing.' Cuphead responded, taking a little step back from us. 'You know, I think I might want to walk around for a little while.'
'What? Why?' Mugman asked, tilting his head a little while looking at his brother. I figured if Cuphead was to take a little walk by himself, Mugman and I will enter inside the house. So, I quietly made my way past Mugman and inside the house, only to be stopped by Mugman tapping me on the shoulder. I turned my head around to face him and noticed he had a huge, cheesy smile on his face. He eagerly pointed towards Cuphead and I turned my whole body around to look at him.
'(Y/N), would you care to join me?' He called out with that big smile of his plastered on his face. I turned to face Mugman for a second, noticing his eyes looking like they were about to pop out of his head at any moment from excitement. I didn't really understand why Mugman looked so eager to await my response, but I guess he was just quirky like that.
'Uh, sure...' I stuttered, still questioning what was going on. I walked out from the house and back over to Cuphead, where he, yet again, offered me his hand. I don't know why but I couldn't resist holding his hand, so I placed mine in his and felt him hold onto me just as warm and soft as last time.
'Have fun you two!' Mugman shouted from behind us as we began walking in the opposite direction of the house. I turned to look at Cuphead, who still wore that delightful smile on his face.
'So, where are we going?' I pondered out loud.
'Just for a walk.' He responded, guiding us both into the cosy forest of Inkwell Isle. 'I thought we could spend a little more time together.' The tone in his voice moved from sounding confident to a little shy. It was really cute seeing how he wanted to be with me a lot and I couldn't help but blush. After walking and chatting for quite some time in the forest, my legs started aching from moving around all day and I started to slow down a little. I felt as if my legs couldn't take another step, so I let go of his hand and rested my back a little on a nearby tree.
'(Y/N), are you alright?' He asked, giving me a confused look.
'I'm just really exhausted from walking around all day.' I sighed.
'Maybe you should sit down.' He suggested.
'Where?' I asked, looking around to find some sort of bench or seat somewhere.
'Up there.' Cuphead pointed out a long, sturdy branch of wood that extended from the tree behind me. I looked over at it and giggled, noticing it was up to my shoulders.
'I don't think I can get up there.' I exclaimed, walking over to it and reaching out for it. I'd attempted to pull myself up, but it was just a little too high and I was incredibly exhausted from today.
'Looks like you could use some help, doll.' Cuphead proposed, walking over to me. Suddenly, his hands grabbed firmly onto my waist as he proceeded to lift me up onto the branch. I couldn't help but let out a squeal and giggle in response since I was not expecting to be grabbed by him. Once he placed me gently on top of the branch, his hands slowly unwrapped themselves from around me and he looked up at me with a huge, pleasing smile, making me feel a little shy inside. I straightened out my dress a little and looked down at him, both of us laughing at the fact that I was now taller than him.
'How will you get up here?' I questioned while playing with the ends of my dress a little.
'Easy!' He responded before reaching up to the branch and hoisting himself up onto it next to me. He sat down a few inches away from me and turned to me with a look of pride on his face.
'Show-off.' I teased, playfully pushing him a little which caused him to laugh. I had looked around a little and in the far distance, I could make out Elder Kettle's house. It seemed that since it was getting late, Cuphead decided to stay close to his home, but far away enough for us to be alone.
As the day turned into night, we talked for what seemed like a few minutes but were actually two hours. It was getting dark and was close to 7 in the afternoon. We'd just been in the middle of a deep conversation before we were interrupted by a delicious smell coursing through our noses. We looked over to the house and could very vaguely see the lights were on.
'Looks like it's about dinner time.' Cuphead exclaimed, hopping down from the branch and looking up at me. 'You coming?' He asked, holding his arms out to catch me. As I leaned forward and prepared myself to jump, Cuphead grabbed hold of my waist again and cautiously lowered me down onto the ground beside him. I looked up at him with a thankful smile, noticing he was blushing just as much as I was, if not more. A few silent seconds passed before he took hold of my hand again and began walking us back into the direction of the house. Once entering upon the front door, Cuphead allowed me to enter first as he proceeded to follow behind me.
'Elder Kettle!' Cuphead shouted, giving me a little fright. 'We're back!'
'Oh good, just in time for dinner.' Elder Kettle responded through the kitchen. We walked past the staircase and through the living room to see a dining room table with six chairs around it. Behind the table there was a white kitchen counter with bowls of steaming hot food ready to be put on the table. I noticed Mugman helping Elder Kettle in the kitchen with a happy and playful attitude as he began to grab some dishware out from the cupboard.
'Do you need any help, Elder Kettle?' I asked, watching the two of them walk around each other in the tiny room.
'No need to worry, my dear. Mugman is helping me prepare.' He responded with a polite tone. 'Why don't you both set yourselves down at the table? Dinner will be ready shortly.' I turned back around to the table and saw Cuphead glancing over at me, gesturing me to walk over to him. As I approached him, he held a chair out for me, politely saving it for me as I sat down in it and he comfortably pushed me in close to the table. I thanked him as he walked around to the other side of the table and sat down in a chair facing directly opposite from me. As the delicious smell wandered around through the air, my stomach growled in anticipation.
'Hey doll, can I ask you a question?' Cuphead asked while looking directly at me.
'Sure.' I responded. 'What is it?'
'Well tomorrow, the three of us and a few of our friends are having dinner in a fancy restaurant. Ya know, as a little get together. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to join us?'
'Well... I, uh...'
'And don't worry about our friends. They'll love to meet you.'
'Really? Gee I don't know.' There was a little pause before Cuphead reached his hand out across the table.
'There's no pressure.' He smiled warmly at me as I placed my hand on the table. He gently grabbed it and began lightly rubbing it in a comforting way.
'Well...' I looked up at Cuphead and seeing his warm, comforting smile made me feel as if saying 'no' was going to break his heart. 'I guess if you really want me there I could come...'
'Yes, of course I want you there!' He beamed with that silly smile of his. 'Golly, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that.' I blushed yet again in response to his words.
From the corner of my eye I could see Mugman bringing out the dishware and laying the down on the table. He also helped Elder Kettle bring the food over. As they set down the bowls, I peaked over and had a look inside of them. One was filled with mountain loads of spaghetti and the other one had delicious smelling garlic bread in it. Mugman then proceeded to sit down beside me and Elder Kettle sat across from him next to Cuphead. The brothers looked at the food with anticipation and began to devour it from the moment they could. Compared to them, my serving size seemed really small and it could hardly look like a full meal to them. Nonetheless, we all began to dig in and enjoy the mouthwatering food set before us.