Rully Truly Janice

mostlikemokey

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Oh my gosh, is it true? I'm actually writing something? Yup, I finally have the software I need to continue making fics! (and yes, to those I disappointed with my cliffhanger last time, the sequel to that story will be up sometime soon too in a different thread than before)

I can't promise I'll update every week, but hopefully no more six month gaps like last time. Typing is fine now.

I've been interested in Janice's character for a long time. How did she end up with the EM? I know, I know, you all have your opinions about that. Well, here's mine. If I can just get on the waiting list …

:flirt::flirt::flirt:


Rully Truly Janice



Chapter one



Floyd had no clue why Janice became so moody every year during the first week of May. It had begun from the very first year they had met- he could still remember when they were novice musicians, guitar cases open to receive coins from passing pedestrians. Janice was always a part of the song- bobbing her head to it, tapping her foot, or in some cases trying to keep Animal from eating Floyd’s sheet music. There was only one time every year that she wouldn’t play her heart out, unless she was sick, and that was the first week of May.



The first week of May sent Janice into what Dr .Teeth described as, “a funk that could not be circumvented by even the highest levels of musical fusion”. So when Floyd was asked by Kermit to find out what day it was, he had every intention of checking his calendar- until Janice pushed past him on her way to the bathroom, bottom lip pushed forward.



“It’s May first,” he told Kermit, picking up the calendar for May. It was still wrapped in shrink wrap. He examined the front, which boasted a huge picture of a barnyard full of chickens and cows in speed skating uniforms. “Gonzo pick out the calendar again?”



Kermit was still looking in the direction in which Janice had gone. “Yep.”



“You know, Green Stuff, we should just buy one calendar a year like everyone else.”



“You should have seen the last time we tried to do that.” Kermit shuddered. “It was a disaster. There were feathers everywhere, and I had to call the fire department four times. People know what they like when it comes to calendars. It’s better to just get a new one every month. Say, Floyd?”



“Yeah?”



“Walter was just asking me- about Janice’s May thing. Is she still doing that? You should have seen her face this morning when he accidentally stepped on her foot.”



“She’s always done that. You think however many years apart would make her stop?”



“Do you know why she does that?”



“Heck, no. It’s none of my business.”



He laughed quietly, tearing open the shrink wrap and setting the calendar free. Kermit watched him closely.



I almost made a mistake with Miss Piggy, he thought. I hope that Floyd doesn’t make the same mistake.







After Janice had splashed cold water on her face, she plodded downstairs to her room. Though she usually kept it decently organized, today it was in turmoil.



She stepped on a pile of sheet music and kicked it into a corner. She flopped onto her unmade bed and stared at the ceiling.



“I’m not staying here one more minute.”



“Young lady, do you think you have a choice? You’re not responsible enough to support yourself- all you do is sit in your room and play music or drive around all night and miss family curfew!”



“Mother, I was only half an hour late last time!”



“Music can’t buy you food, Janice. You need to get your grades up and your attitude adjusted. You weren’t given such a good brain to waste it playing music. Art doesn’t help anyone, it’s just a hobby. And as to those friends you’ve been hanging around with… Well.”



“Mom, they’re not my friends. I just hung out with them sometimes.”



“You think you can just play through life? I work hard. I work hard to support this family.”



“You work overtime three times a week, even though you’re such a good accountant that you don’t need to. How is that supporting me?”



“Young lady, I’m warning you-“



“Warning me of what? In a few months I’ll be 18, and you won’t be able to control me anymore. If I have to live of my life in a stuffy cubicle like you do, I’ll explode. You’ve done nothing but try to hold me back. Dad wouldn’t want this for me.”



“All right, that’s it. You want your own life? You have it. Get out. Get out of my house.”



“Mother-“



“Go.”



“It’s raining.”



“You have a rain jacket in that bag, don’t you?”



“Yeah, but-“



“Then go.”



So Janice stepped out into the rain. It had been unusually cold and wet that day, the first of May. Her little sister had still been sleeping upstairs. Janice was sure that Lottie’s two-year-old face smiling at her from the photograph Janice had taken was much older now.


Janice was sure her mother would have disapproved of the life she had carved for herself- the only colleague Janice had who was anything like her mother was Sam the Eagle. She was sure she didn’t have to worry, though- what were the odds of her mother coming here?
 

mostlikemokey

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Rully Truly Janice



Chapter two



By the end of the week, Floyd’s tiptoeing around Janice had paid off and she was back to normal. He was the first to admit that he was glad- he had missed her.



There was something strange that had come out of all this, though. Ever since his conversation with Kermit backstage, every time Kermit looked at him, it was with the strange, probing look. It was almost as if he expected Floyd to imitate him and Miss Piggy and hook up with Janice. It struck Floyd as funny that Kermit apparently expected everybody to pair up now that he and Miss Piggy were in item. Janice was beautiful, no question, but he didn’t feel ready to be tied down that way. He was a free man. Their relationship had been on again off again, and Floyd wasn’t ready to sacrifice his bachelor life. He wanted to see the world, and then maybe someday he and Janice could settle down. She would wait. She wasn’t going anywhere. After all, where else would she go?

Things happened- Floyd had come into the pet shop looking for an ant farm and came back with Animal instead. Of course, in the beginning, Animal had had no real reason to stay.



“Animal. Animal! Not again, man! This is so not cool!



Floyd ran through the busy city square, clutching the chewed up loop of fabric that had once been the end of Animal’s leash. He should have gone with the ant farm. He was a street musician. It’s not like he had insurance in case Animal got loose and acted like… well, Animal. If only Floyd didn’t have such a soft spot for the underdog- he hadn’t been able to stand the stupid jibes that the pet shop owner had made about Animal.



Eventually he realized that he asked pretty much everyone- from street vendors to kids carrying bright red balloons- where Animal had gone, and nobody had been able to tell him. He had to face it- if Animal had been nearby, somebody would have noticed.



Really, really noticed. That’s how it was when you traveled with someone who was willing to consider anything food.



Still, Floyd, sentimental sap that he was, couldn’t help but worry. Did Animal know stay out of the way of moving cars? Did he know not to bite passing mail men? He couldn’t imagine the little guy on his own. Besides, there was something sweet about the guy, even if it was a quality Floyd couldn’t put his finger on.



He eventually wandered out of the city, voice growing hoarse from calling Animal’s name. He was so focused on his task that he didn’t notice where his legs had taken him until he stopped, gasping, for a rest. He sank into the grass, breathing heavily, smelling the sweet scent of a summer night.



In the coming dusk he looked around, watching the colors in the sky pass and fade over each other like a watercolor painting that was never quite finished. If it were not for Animal’s absence, eventually he would have pointed out the constellations, one by one, and appreciated whatever inarticulate response he got.



It wasn’t until the sky grew purple and the air grew cool that it occurred to him that he would have to find a place to sleep. He had been lost in the enchantment of the field, so lost that he hadn’t noticed the abandoned train tracks just beside it.



There were cable cars on the tracks, but Floyd knew they might already be spoken for. Vagabonds didn’t trespass on other vagabonds; it was simple etiquette. So he found a particularly long and dry patch of grass to sleep in instead.



The next morning he awoke, body stiff from spending hours lying on the ground. He made his way, almost absentmindedly, toward the tracks. He could see that they were covered with graffiti, the artistic kind. As he came closer, he could see someone near the tracks watching him.



Years would pass and he would still remember the way she leaned defiantly against the cable car, as if daring the world not to let her go forward.

“What’s your name?” asked Floyd, deciding that was best to be friendly.



“Janice.” The tone was neutral bordering on hostile.



“Where you headed?”



“I’m not sure where, but I’m headed somewhere, and somewhere’s enough.”



Floyd would later learn that this was pretty much the statement Janice lived by; pick your values, then let life surprise you.



“You seem awfully young to be out here on your own.”



“I’m twenty.”



“Not on my life you aren’t. Can’t be a day older then what, nineteen? Eighteen?”



Janice regarded him with growing suspicion. “Neither can you.”



Floyd held up his hands. “Okay, you got me. I’m twenty in three months.”



“Eighteen. And I would have chased you away last night if that little red creature hadn’t stopped me.”



Floyd couldn’t believe his luck. “You have Animal?



Janice smirked. “That what you call him?”



“You got anything better?” Floyd raised his voice to avoid feeling awkward. In high school he’d had a reputation for being somewhat of a ladies’ man. This was a different type of attention than what he was used to, and he didn’t know what it meant.



“It just doesn’t seem very original, if you know what I mean.”



Floyd made a few sounds bordering on coherent speech and Janice slid the door of the cable car open.



Immediately a red blur assaulted him, almost knocking him over. Amid the chaos, as Floyd was making futile attempts to disengage himself from his friend, he heard Janice’s voice.



“Animal, no.”



Animal threw himself off of Floyd immediately, careening around Janice. He stood still for a moment, then promptly spotted a bumblebee and took off again.



Floyd dusted off his pants. “How did you do that?”



“You’re not assertive with him, fer sure. I used to dog-sit. You have to show that you’re in charge, or they walk all over you. He’s no dog, but same thing applies. You could get him to respect you if you tried.”



“You gonna be a veterinarian?”



“Nuh-uh. Too much hair. I’m a musician, a musician fer sure.”

“Me too! I play bass.”



“Guitar. Wanna show me what you got?”



“Hey, why not?” “



“ANIMAL DRUM!” said a voice about 300 yards away. None of them knew it yet, but they had just set the basic pattern of their lives for years to come.





Kermit was sitting in his office, his already bulging eyes growing bigger with every sum he pressed into his calculator. Fozzie stood behind his chair.



“Uh, Kermit, what do all those little minus signs and red marks mean?”





“It means we’ve been celebrating our reunion a little too extravagantly. Sheesh!”



Walter came into the room. “Kermit, I just got off the phone with some very angry guy saying we’ve overdrawn by 50 cents. Apparently he’s aggravated because his little kid won’t have money to buy milk at lunch tomorrow.”



“The bank is making an employee pay 50 cents out of his own pocket? That’s awful. That’s two whole quarters!”



Fozzie piped up, “Yeah, and then the kid isn’t going to get his daily recommended amount of calcium! My ma would be so unhappy if it were me! Kermit, we have to do something!”



Kermit put his hand on his chin in thought. “Maybe we need a financial consultant.”



Walter nodded. “Pepe wants to spend $10,000 to convert part of the back lot into a Jacuzzi house. Do we need a Jacuzzi house?”



Kermit sighed. “Hand me the Yellow Pages, will you Walter? Fozzie, call a meeting. We need to reevaluate our priorities around here.”
 
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