The Muppets: For the Both of Us

[Lil0Vampy]

‘This better be quick…’ Dani thought to herself. She had no idea where the Electric Mayhem was, or how long they would be gone, but she saw it as a chance to strike. Creeping into the orchestra pit, her hopes sunk as she saw Zoot sitting.

“Zoot?” She tried, unable to tell if he was sleeping. Waving a hand in front of his face, she determined he was asleep. Biting her lip, Dani hesitated for a split second, for a reason she couldn’t explain. Sighing she righted herself and knelt over Lips’ trumpet case. Flicking it open, she pulled a small, silver object out . Holding it up to the light, she switched the mouthpiece with his, tucking it into her pocket. She jumped at the sound of footsteps approaching. Closing the case, she slipped into her seat and attempted to come off as casual. It worked, because the rest of the orchestra didn’t give her a second glance.

‘Success!’ She thought with a smile. As the theme started up, nothing seemed out of the ordinary; but when it came for Lips’ solo, much to the shock of the rest of the musicians, no sound came out of his instrument. After a split second, Dani quickly played the solo on her trombone. ‘That couldn’t have gone more perfect!’ She thought gleefully as he examined his trumpet with confusion and dismay. As soon as the theme was over, she shot him a smile traced with malice.

“Oh no, your trumpet isn’t working? Don’t worry, mine is still here; I’ll cover for you!” She slipped out and went backstage. Grabbing her case, she was about to head back when she heard a voice.

“Daniella.” She froze. She didn’t recognize the gravelly, Louis Armstrong-esque voice, but immediately knew who it had to be. Lips walked up to her stopping barely a foot from her.

“What do you want?” She asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly. He calmly held out his hand.

“W-What?”

“…Please give it to me.” He said softly, holding up the trick mouthpiece. A wave of shame fell over Dani, but she made a rather bad attempt to hide it. She averting her eyes from the other preformer and kept her head down.

“Take your stupid freakin’ mouthpiece…” She mumbled, shoving it into his hand before storming off. Lips sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, shooting a glance in the direction where she had ran.

===================

There is no excuse for this midget filler chapter to have taken so long. I promise the next one will be more exciting and much longer.

 

[RedPiggy]

Okay, as someone who just recently started reading fics again ....

I dig the characterizations. Love the relationship you're crafting between Lips and TG.

Can you make sure to separate when different people talk? It gets confusing.

More please? I love obscure character fics.

 

[Lil0Vampy]

“Hurry up, places everyone!” Mildred announced shrilly. For the first time in a while, they were doing an At the Dance sketch. Dani, still feeling conflicted about Lips confronting her, had been reluctantly brought into it.
“Daniella, dear, you’ll be dancing with this young man.” Mildred informed her, dragging up the very last person Dani wanted to be slow dancing with. Lips sighed and gave a nod of greeting.

“Are you kidding me? I am not, under any circumstances, dancing with h-”

“You two will be background dancers, you don’t need to worry about jokes.” Mildred said primly, interrupting the girl before bustling off. Dani let out a groan, and shot Lips a fierce glare.

“Do you have any idea how much I don’t want to do this?” She asked. He only nodded in response. The curtains opened, and she begrudgingly started to dance with him. As they danced, Dani’s heart thudded, her throat tightened, and she began to feel a bit light-headed. And as much as she tried to convince herself, it wasn’t from anger.

“You’re a good dancer…” He said quietly, trying to make things less awkward. Heat rose to Dani’s face at the compliment, and she merely let out a huff.

‘I can’t stand this, I hate him!’ She thought, scolding herself. ‘You can’t stand that you like him.’ A voice in the back of her mind insisted. The second the curtains closed, she bolted offstage. ‘No, no, no!’ She screamed in her mind, gripping her hair in frustration.

“It’s now or never…” She hissed to herself, an idea formulating.

-----

“Hey Scooter?” She called to the gofer.

“Yeah?” He replied quickly, scribbling on a clipboard.

“Could you tell me the acts tonight?” She asked, in a suspiciously sweet tone. The teen didn’t pick up on it, luckily for Dani, and nodded.

“Marvin Suggs, then the talk spot, and then the Electric Mayh-”

“What are they performing?” She asked, cutting him off.

“It Don’t Mean a Thing. Why do you ask?”

“Just…wondering. Thank you, kid.” She said, patting his head absentmindedly. A smile curled onto her face as she strode off, leaving the boy to stare at her in puzzlement.

----

“It don’t mean a thing, all you gotta do is swing…” Janice sang, backed by the rest of the Mayhem. The audience was absolutely loving the band’s take on the jazz song.

“Makes no difference if it’s that rhythm’s sweet or hot, just give the rhythm all you got.” Lips was about to go into a complex and fast moving solo, when another trumpet began. The band looked across the stage in shock as Dani strolled onto the stage, eyes glinting and wailing on her trumpet. The audience mumbled for a few seconds before silencing and watching intently. ‘What the…?’ Lips thought. He countered her with continuing on his solo. ‘This should be fun…’ The girl brass player said to herself. The two battled with their instruments, eachs fingers flying over the keys. Finally, Lips played so fast and well, Dani knew he had outdone her.

“AGGGRH!” With a yell of frustration, she attacked Lips, wrapping her hands around his throat. A collective gasp sounded throughout the theater. The band stopped playing, stunned. Janice quickly ran over and attempted to pull the rage-filled girl off of him.

“Oh my gawd! Like, let go of him, Trumpet Girl!” She pleaded. Dani shot her a glare before shoving Lips into the orchestra pit. Pushing Janice away from her, Dani looked around, snarling at the horrified faces of the audience. She ran off the stage, heart thudding in her ears and tears threatening to fall.

“D-Daniella, wait!” Lips called after her, getting up and running after her; the curtain closed, leaving shock-ensued silence heavy in the theater.

“Daniella!” Dani ignored the musicians calls, and continued running. She came to a dead end, and turned around to see him on her heels.

“Daniella. Tell me what your damage is. What is it that’s wrong?” Lips asked quietly, approaching her.

“YOU! YOU are my problem! Ever since you came here and replaced me I’ve been trying to get you to leave! Would you just GET OUT OF HERE?” She shouted at him, tears falling. She ran off past him, leaving him stunned and sad. With a soft sigh, he nodded to himself and walked out.

 

[The Count]

Good schtuff... And good that it's readability comes across so smoothly now.
More please?

 

[Lil0Vampy]

“TRUMPET GIRL!” Dani jumped at the rage-filled voice. There weren’t any more shows for the season, so except for a few others around, she was alone. She was in the lobby right now, staring out at the heavy rain out of the large glass front doors. Turning around, she was surprised to be met with a very angry Floyd Pepper, Animal’s chain in hand and his bandmates at his heels. The first thing she noticed was Lips wasn’t with him.
“What do you want, beatnik?” She asked dully, pretending to examine her nails.

“What did you say to Lips last night?” He demanded.

Dani scoffed and shrugged. Although she was doing a very good job of hiding it, the reminder of last night’s events stung more than she would have liked. She had gone home and cried herself to sleep in the safety of her locked room; the stress and frustration had flowed out of her until she drifted asleep.
Sighing, she shot the bassist and look of annoyance and said, “Look, it doesn’t really matter what I said, and it’s none of your buisne-”

“It is our business, man! Lips never came back to our apartment last night.” Floyd growled at her.

“Yeah, like, all he took was his trumpet…” Janice said worriedly.

“Huh? O-Oh, well lay off ‘cause I didn’t say anything to him!” Dani sneered defensively.

“LIE! LIE! LIE!” Animal shouted, straining against his leash in hopes to get at her. Dani yelped and jumped back, narrowing her eyes at Floyd.

“Control your crazy pet!” He merely glared and waited for her response.

“…Okay, fine! He asked what my problem was, and I said it was him. He’s been my problem since he freakin’ came here.” She told him with a huff and a roll of her eyes.

“Well, we gotta go find him whether you wanna come along or not, Ice Princess.” Teeth said, walking out the door. Janice, Floyd, and Animal followed suit, but Zoot stayed behind for a minute.

“Look, I doubt you really care, but he really digs you, and left ‘cause you wanted him too. So, you should probably come also.” He said. Dani just stared at him, dumbfounded. She realized she had been so caught up in whether or not she liked him, she hadn’t even how he might have felt about her. ‘Wait…I am into him, a lot!…and he likes me?’

“B-But, I’ve been such a jerk to him…” She murmured, confused. The sax player shrugged. After pondering for a moment, she strode towards the door and held it open.

“Well, c’mon! Were we gonna find the idiot?”

----

“Where could he be?” Dani asked herself quietly. She had been searching with the Electric Mayhem for several hours, and they hadn’t found any sign of Lips. Her, Floyd, and Animal were searching the downtown backstreets, and they were coming up with similar results. shiveringly slightly, Dani pulled her jacket a bit tighter around her; it was still pouring rain relentlessly. ‘He couldn’t have gotten too far…’ She assured herself, poking her head in another alleyway. About to turn back, Dani heard something from deeper within the alley. The girl froze in her tracks, straining to hear the sound again. Then she heard it; it was definitely a trumpet being played. Without a second thought, she bolted down the narrow street. Feet pounding on the cement, her heart thudded as she rounded corners. She skidded to a stop, looking around. They narrow road ended, turning into two separate alleys.

“Where are you?” She whispered, looking between the two paths, the steady rain beating onto her. Suddenly, the trumpet began playing again. Following the path with the music, she ran for a ways before reaching a sight. Lips sat in the dead end of the street, leaning up against the wall. He was playing his trumpet, the notes sad and bluesy. The musician was soaked to the skin, his hair surrounding his face and hiding his expressions from her.

“What are you doing here?” Dani asked him. He jumped at her voice, jolting up and almost dropping his trumpet. Pushing his wet hair out of his face, he shot her a look of shock and disbelief.
“…Dani? You wanted me to leave. My presence upset you so much…so I left.” He told her quietly.

Dani sighed and shook her head. “No…I really thought I wanted you gone, I thought I hated you, but I was jealous that you got my job, even though you’re heck of a lot better than I am...”

“Well, you sure wowed me last night…” He said. Dani blushed at his compliment, and instinctively scolded herself internally. Catching herself, she smiled and decided to try and return it.

“You rocked it way better. Anyway…” There was a brief silence, the drumming of the rain the only sound, although neither really noticed it.

“Lips, are you into me?” Dani asked bluntly after a moment. The other brass player was dumbfounded, only nodding after a second or two of shock.

“Well, alright then. Come on.” She said, bending over so see was eye level with Lips.

“Look…uh, Dani?” Lips said softly, looking up at her. “I really don’t think I should take yo-” He was cut off by Dani quickly pressing her mouth against his. She pulled away after a few seconds.
“Look, idiot, if you dig me, I dig you, and neither of us have been fired, surprisingly, why are you just sitting there? You left to give me my job back, but I don’t want it back. Now get up, it’s freakin’ freezing out here.” She turned on her heel, and started walking back. She smiled as she heard him getting up behind her.

“ One thing, Dani.”

“Hmm?” She asked, turning around to have him nearly up against her. A pair of arms went around her waist, and Dani found herself pulled into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around Lips’ shoulders, the embrace warming her and filling her with energy.

“Hey, nice catch, man!” The two looked up to see Floyd standing a ways away, laughing to himself and folding his arms over his chest. Lips sigh and flashed a glare towards his bandmate.

“Really, man? Really? How long were you standing there?” The brass musician asked warily.

“Long enough, dude.”

“AH-HA-HA! LIPS HAVE GIRL-FRIEND!”

“Shut up, Animal.” He muttered, his hand intertwined with Dani’s.

----

:3 Hope ya'll like it! I know it's a tad mushy at the end. The last chapter is gonna take a bit...

 

[Nick22]

oohh. good chapter! hooray for mushyness!

 

[Misskermie]

Gawsh I love this, you little comic genius you!

 

[Lil0Vampy]

Trumpet Girl's real name is Delorese. But, nice job.

I know; I wrote this about a year before the movie came out, so she hadn't been named at that point.

Thanks, though!

 

[LipsGF4Life]

Ur welcome!