#janice muppet

"Please, baby, just eat something!" Floyd begged his newly adopted baby monster. He'd had Animal for less than a week now and he couldn't get him to eat any of the foods he's offered, and it was really starting to stress the both of them out.

He wanted to be good caretaker and guardian, but he was worrying about Animal's health. If he starved, Floyd would never forgive himself. Once again, he held the spoon of mashed carrots out to his little one, who once again turned his head and whined, pushing the spoon away with little hands.

Floyd sat back down in the kitchen chair and set the carrots jar down next to the other rejected baby foods. Open jars of pears, applesauce, bananas, and some other vegetables mush littered the kitchen table, all of them untouched.

Burying his face in his hands, Floyd let out a shakey sigh. The stress of recent sleepless nights caring for a fussy, hungry baby who wouldn't eat had been weighing on him.

He barely reacted when he heard the door open and shut, signaling that his friend and roommate had returned. "Where ya been?" He called out, not bothering to lift his head to greet the man.

"Grocery shoppin'." Doc replied, setting a couple bags on the counter and rummaging through them. "Animal doesn't wanna eat fruits or veggies, we'll just have to keep lookin'."

Finally, Floyd sat up, rubbed his exhausted face, and looked up at his friend. Dr Teeth had moved in with him recently, within the last month, yet it felt like they had known each other for years sometimes. He'd been nothing but supportive when Floyd brought Animal inside to adopt after finding him caged up on their doorstep.

Even when the little monster kicked up a fuss all night, Doc would sometimes get up and take over so Floyd could sleep. He'd never once given up on either of them or showed any sort of irritation, and Floyd was forever grateful for that.

Doc rummaged around in the grocery bags for a minute, pulling out a loaf of bread, a carton of milk, and a couple of instant dinners; money was tight at the moment, especially when most of it went to Animal's care.

The kitchen was dim, only lit up by the one light above the stove, and the only sounds to be heard were the crinkling of the grocery bags and Animal occasionally grunting as he tried to escape his high chair by kicking his legs.

Finally finding what he was looking for, Doc pulled out a small jar of baby food and cracked it open, causing Floyd to cringe at the smell. "Good gravy, what even is that?"

"Beef and gravy." Doc answered simply, getting a small spoonful and offering it to the infant... Who eagerly leaned forward and accepted the food.

And suddenly it felt like they could all breathe.

Floyd let out an audible breath of relief, never so happy in his life to see someone eat. "Well there ya go," he said softly, "Maybe he's a carnivore, whatever he is."

"He's hungry is what he is." Doc replied, showing his friend the spoon that Animal had just bit the top off of.

They both stared in shock as the baby chewed on the metal, looking up at his caretakers happily.

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"Don't run too far!" Floyd called out to Animal, who had just been released from the van. He sighed as he watched his chaotic son disappear into the forest, but turned around and helped everyone unload their stuff. Animal was older now and capable of taking care of himself, so he wasn't too worried. He always came back anyway.

Floyd was mostly just irritated that he wasn't helping them set up camp, but he still had four other people to help, so it wasn't a big deal.

He opened the back doors of the van and saw Zoot passed out, snoring. Okay, he had three people to help him unload the van.

Lips came over and grabbed Zoot like he was just another piece of equipment to unload and carried him over to where they'd be setting up their camp, leaning him against a tree.

Janice grabbed the rug they usually laid out on the ground, Doc started unloading their chairs, and Floyd grabbed their food. Stopping to listen for a moment, he could hear Animal running around nearby in the foliage, which was comforting.

The rug got laid out, the chairs got set up, Zoot got moved to a chair so he was more comfortable, and Lips started a fire.

Already, the sun was beginning to set and they could hear crickets and cicadas filling the air. The sound was especially comforting to Doc and Lips, who had both grown up in the south and heard the sounds every summer. The pianist sighed contentedly as he settled down into his chair and grabbed a pot to start cooking with.

It wasn't long before Janice had grabbed her guitar and plucked at the strings a little before turning back to her new family. She had joined them only a couple months ago, but she still felt like their souls were connected and they were all spiritually bound together.

Gentle guitar filled the air, and it wasn't long before the smell of soup joined it, finally enticing Animal to come back and rejoin the group. He emerged from the bushes on all fours, panting from all the running and plopped down in front of Floyd, who quietly fussed about the twigs and leaves tangled in his fur as he started to comb through it all with his hands.

Animal didn't mind, he liked the attention.

The melody stopped as Janice scooted over to help, smiling up at Floyd. "He's such a free spirit, isn't he?"

The bassist couldn't help but smile. He'd only known her a few months, but he loved her view on life, and how she seemed to see light in everyone, no matter how strange, misunderstood, or outcasted they were. "Feral is more like it.. But yeah, he's always been a wild one-" he gently pulled out a stick that was entirely too big to have logically been hidden in Animal's fur, "How did you even do this??"

Animal didn't respond other than wag his tail, thumping it against the ground, and Janice just smiled at the pair.

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The shack was still.

It was rare for the whole group to be this calm and quiet all at once, but it did happen occasionally.

They Mayhem had been together for years now. They'd played many, many, many shows, traveled all over the country, and had finally found a house of their own. 'Home' had always been with them, of course, but it still felt nice to have a place they could come back to after a show. They loved the van, but it was nice to have something bigger and more stable.

And it was all thanks to Nora, their most recent addition to the family, who somehow found the unusual silence both relaxing and vaguely unsettling. She'd never seen them all so.. still. There was usually some form of chaos happening, even if it was just Animal running around, but even he was calm, sprawled out on the floor.

The human glanced over her left, where Janice was quietly playing with Lips' hair, pulling it back into a ponytail. To her right, Floyd was writing down lyrics into a notebook while Zoot slept, his legs draped over Floyd's lap. Doc was sitting next to her on the couch, his eyes closed, and his fingers tapping against the arm of the couch, dancing like they were playing keys on the piano.

She didn't want to break the silence and ruin everything, but it was such an absurd moment, she just had to say something. "I don't think I've ever seen you all so calm. There's almost always some sort of.... Mayhem."

Lips chuckled. "We nut alwu suh chaotic, Nobu. Suties we like tuh sitarou an' ejoy the mo'ent."

Nora tilted her head. She'd honestly only caught like every third word and decided to just nod along. She thought she understood, anyway. Sometimes they'd just enjoy each other's company.

"Ain't got no shows at the moment, we gotta roof over our heads, and enough space to be able to sit around for once." Doc said, still tapping away at the arm of the couch, probably playing some song in his head.

Floyd nodded and looked up from his notepad. "Back in the van, we still could relax like this, but it was a little more cramped. Don't get me wrong, we love each other, we're family. But family argues, no matter how close ya are. It's nice to have at least three feet of space between us sometimes."

As if to prove his point, Floyd reached down and gently squeezed Zoot's knee a couple times, prompting him to pull his legs back and give his friend some space to write.

Nora nodded. That part she understood, especially after having lived with her sister for so long. Satisfied with their answers, she settled in and rested her head on the arm of the couch, shutting her eyes. She could enjoy the peace while it lasted.

It would only last about a minute more before Zoot accidentally fell off the couch, which seemed to somehow trigger Animal's energy as he shot up and started to zoom around the house on all fours repeating, 'RUNNING! RUNNING!' as he did so.

He crashed into Lips, who let out a winded, 'oof!' then darted down the hall, which prompted Floyd to sigh and get up to go after him, knowing he was likely to get into something he shouldn't. Doc's eyes shot open as he quickly got up and ran toward the basement to work on the song he'd been silently playing.