Chapter 3: Moving in together

Lammy's alarm rang out, startling the girl into waking up and slamming her hand down on the button to get it to stop ringing. She slowly sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly with one arm, stretching her other arm and yawning. She got dressed, grabbed her guitar case, and gave her toy panda a quick hug before putting it down. One quick look around the place just to make sure everything was off; and she ran out. The other girls were probably already at the store! Little did she know, two ominous figures were standing in the alley across her home.

"Alright Groober, now's our chance!" Gaster snickered quietly as they darted out of the alleyway, almost getting hit by a car in the process. They went up the stairs and stopped at Lammy's door. "Lock pick." The rabbit held his hand up as he gets on his knee.

"Lock pick." Groober repeated, handing a hammer to his partner. Gaster stuck his tongue out as he swung the hammer down at the doorknob until he knocked it right off the door. With grins, Gaster stood back up and stood aside, letting his stronger friend kick the door wide open. Time for something a little more drastic…

Lammy was humming her band's debut song, 'Make It Sweet', as she walked down the street. She had gotten a little more confident in herself ever since that night, aside from the occasional social hiccup or stutter. It still helped she had her guitar around, though she didn't have to hold it in her hands anymore. She smiled once she saw her band mates near the entrance of the store. Thankfully it was open this time.

("Where've you been?") Ma-San squeaked in an impatient manner.

"…What do you mean? We said we'd meet here at ten." Lammy responded, looking at the short drummer, head cocked to the side.

"No, we rescheduled for eight so we could get our things early." Katy crossed her arms, only to smirk when she saw the look of horror on her friend's face. Lammy's ears bent downwards as the slot machine in her mind spun and landed on the words 'Bone Head' before pouring out coins over her head.

"I forgot…" she groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"We know." The two said before Katy continued. "Don't worry about it, it happens." She smiled, patting the lambs back, who blushed a bit at being touched. "Besides, it's probably good you slept in a bit. You kinda get Ma-San grumpy when you don't get your sleep."

("What was that?") Ma-San crossed her arms in annoyance, making the blue feline realize what she said.

"Nothing! C'mon, let's get inside!" Katy smiled, a beat of sweat running down her face as she gently pushes Lammy forward to get her to walk. During their shopping trip for replaceable guitar strings and drum kits, Lammy was kicking herself mentally for sleeping in.

After they got what they needed, even buying some polishers for their equipment, the trio left the store and walked to Lammy's place to drop their things off. They froze when they saw two purple characters running off, and smoke coming from the door to the lamb's home. Gasping, Lammy dropped the bag she was carrying and ran up the stairs with Katy and Ma-San not too far behind. Upon bursting in, they were greeted by a hectic sight; the vacuum cleaner was on its side, whirring loudly, a pot was left boiling over with water, the iron was burning through a pile of shirt causing the smoke that was bellowing out the door, and other clothes were thrown all over the place. The trio quickly got to work to stop everything from potential burning Lammy's apartment to the ground. Leaning against each other after it was said and done, panting and relieved they managed to dodge possible third-degree burns, Lammy went to her bedroom to make sure everything was safe.

"Those creeps are gonna pay next time I see them..." Katy said, punching her open palm before cracking her knuckles.

("Right behind you.") Ma-San grumbled, her fuse lit. It quickly went out when the two jumped at a sharp shout from Lammy. The two quickly rushed to the bedroom to see her tearing the place apart in a panic.

"Where is she, where is she?!" The lamb was throwing clothes out of her drawer, tossing pillows aside, and her friends could see she was about to hit a panic attack any minute now. They quickly approached her and held onto her, Katy grabbing the lamb's shoulder, and Ma-San wrapping her arms around her legs, trying to keep her from throwing any furniture out the window.

"Woah, woah, Lammy! Where's who?" Katy asked.

"M-Mitzi!" The panic-stricken lamb managed to get out, the sound of a firetruck siren pulling up on the block could be heard right outside. "T-They took my panda, Mitzi!" Ma-San was a bit confused but could see how close she was to having a panic attack, and she saw the shocked expression on Katy. The feline knew how important that plush panda was to Lammy, and she couldn't help but feel angry, hearing something that was so important to her friend getting stolen had set a fire in her heart.

"Don't worry, Lammy...we'll get those bastards!" She declared, but before the trio could run to the streets to give chase, Chief Puddle, the head of the fire department, and Mama PaRappa, his trusty co-worker, had made their way into the apartment.

"Lammy!" The chief's hat lifted a bit when he realized whose home this was. "Is everything alright? What happened?"

:M-Mr. Puddle!" The lamb squeaked, trying her best to calm down. Katy could see it wasn't going to happen.

"Those creeps broke in and tried to burn her place down!" Katy explained.

"The ones who were stealing Beard Burgers burger patties?" Mama Rappa questioned, cocking her head.

"The same ones!"

"This is really getting out of hand." Chief Puddle shook his head as he looked at the damages done to the apartment. "Let's get you three out of here, just in case something ignites again." They made their way out of the apartment, Ma-San rushing ahead a bit while Katy stayed with Lammy, making sure she was calming down as they stood by the fire trucks. She wanted to find Gaster and beat the snot out of him, but she didn't want to leave her friends side just yet.

"It's close to lunchtime…" the Chief said, looking at his watch, and it looked like he got an idea. "Hey Lammy, how about we get some Pizzas? Give you a chance to take your mind off of this for a while!" Lammy was still on edge with what had happened, but she did process the offer.

"I-I guess that'd be n-nice." She quietly said, looking down at the pavement.

"…Are you sure, Lams?" Katy rose a brow, just to receive a couple of nods in response.

"Y-Yeah, I'm f-fine." Lammy gently rubbed her arm, finally getting herself to calm down. "D-Didn't eat breakfast this morning anyways…" With that, she got in the truck with Puddle and Mama Rappa and they drove off.

("Now what?") Ma-San squeaked, looking up to the taller cat.

"Now? We go find those creeps and teach 'em a lesson!" Katy cracked her knuckles, gritting her teeth before the two ran in the direction Gaster and Groober had ran to.

At the nearby park, the two crooks in question were relaxing by an ice cream machine, enjoying a couple of 'five fingered discount' treats.

"So, why'd you snag the bear again?" Gaster asked, looking at the toy in Groobers hand.

"Thought it'd be funny. Besides, the girl seemed a bit old to be having a toy." The fat cat responded before the two chuckled to themselves. Though their moment of pride was quickly cut short by the sound of an angry blue cat.

"HEY!" Katy shouted as she and Ma-San darted for them, thinking quickly, the two got up and ran for the park. Katy had a plan though. She quickly picked her drummer friend up and hurled her at them, and as she flew, Ma-San grabbed her drumsticks, and swung them as hard as she could, once she was close enough, knocking them both to the ground. She then started squeaking angrily at them, almost to a point she couldn't even understand herself.

"G-Get off!" Gaster growled, before he and Groober were grabbed by the collars of their shirts by Katy and lifted in the air.

"The bear. Hand it over…" she demanded. Seeing the rage building in the feline's eyes, the two gulped nervously and complied, giving Ma-San the stuffed panda. "I'll only warn you two once; if I ever catch either of you around Lammy or her place again, I'm shoving my bass guitar where the sun doesn't shine, got it?"

"Y-Yes ma'am...!" The two agreed, sounding ready to cry out of fear.

"Good! Now beat it!" She shoved them away, letting the two run off.

("I'm glad we got the stuffed toy back and all, but…") Ma-San started before her fuse lit up in rage. ("Could you WARN a girl before you throw her like a baseball?!")

"Heh…sorry, Ma-San, but we couldn't just let them get away! Besides, you were able to knock them down no sweat!"

("Whatever…let's get this back to Lammy...") The mouse grumbled before tossing the panda to Katy. The two went back and started looking for the closest pizza place with Chief Puddle's fire truck parked outside. Stepping inside, they spotted their bandmate with a stuffed gut, a dazed look on her face, several empty boxes, a distraught looking Chief Puddle, who was thousand-yard staring at the bill before him and a Mama Rappa with a shocked, somewhat impressed look on her face. The cat and mouse couldn't help but stare at the sight for a moment before approaching the two.

"Lammy…" Katy hummed gently, putting her hand on the lamb's shoulder, showing her the bear. Lammy's eyes lit up once she saw it, and quickly, though carefully, snagged the bear from the feline's hands, hugging it tightly, nuzzling it. Katy kinda thought it was cute, though her smile faded when she looked to Chief puddle. "Uhh…thanks for keeping an eye on her." She chuckled nervously.

"No problem…" The fire fighter sighed, resting his head on the table. Katy helped Lammy out of the booth and the trio walked out of the restaurant, and by the time they got out, the lambs metabolism kicked into gear and her swollen belly shrank.

("...You gotta teach me how to do that.") Ma-San squeaked, having witnessed what just happened.

"It's just a fast metabolism." Lammy said, looking down at the drummer.

("You know that probably won't last forever, right?")

"Y-Yeah, but...it'll be here for a while I'm sure." She looked the stuffed panda over, making sure it wasn't damaged. After a bit, the trio soon arrived at Lammy's apartment, though, there was a bit of hesitancy on going in. Katy might have warned those creeps from coming back, but she and Ma-San had a feeling in the pit of their stomachs that they'd do it anyways, and Lammy was still a bit shaken up from having her home broken into. Katy snapped her fingers before grabbing her phone.

"Remember that one place we were looking at? The one with three bedrooms and a spare room we could use to practice in? I think it might be time to look into purchasing it."

"But we still don't have the money for it." Lammy shook her head. "We're still short on the asking price."

"Then we should probably look into getting some side jobs…" The feline said, looking at the listing of the home and she found. "Well…you two do, I still have my gig at Dots Diner."

("Guess I can see if my dad can get me a job at the family pharmacy…") Ma-San grumbled. She didn't like the idea of working at the pharmacy, but if it could help Lammy, she figured it'd be worth it. Speaking of which, Lammy had a bit of a grimace on her face.

"…There's a lot of options for me." She could ask Puddle if there was a position open, pay him back for the lunch bill. Cathy-Piller could use help at the nursery, Fussenpepper might need a flight attendant or a co-pilot, Paul Chuck could use help making more guitars, Mooselini and Moosesha could use instructors, Takoyama could teach her to cut hair, or she could work the register at Beard burger. Time for some job hunting.

Needless to say, the results were not what she was hoping for. Puddle, Fussenpepper, even Takoyama said she needed a lot of training and some know how in their fields to be able to work with them. Paul, Cathy and Mooselini weren't hiring, and Moosesha didn't think she was really instructor material. That just meant she could work at Beard burgers or get a job at retail. Hopefully the music store was looking to hire, she didn't know if she could handle being at a fast-food place all day. She couldn't really be picky, she and the others need to get that new place, she couldn't stay at her current home now that those two lunatics know where she lives. She just couldn't risk it. Hopefully, a few more sales on their recently released CD soundtrack will help out in the long run. At the very least, this side job thing wouldn't last long.

A month went by, and during that time Lammy was able to crash at the PaRappa's residence, too nervous to spend another night at her apartment and risk Gaster and Groober coming back while she slept. Thankfully PaRappa's parents were understanding of the situation and allowed her to sleep on the couch. They didn't have a spare guest bedroom for her to use, as Guru Ant was occupying it until he found a place for himself, but she didn't mind, the couch was usually comfier to her anyways.

But at the end of the day, after a few combined paychecks from each of the band members, and some extra cash chipped in from their friends and family, the MilkCan trio was finally able to afford and move into their new place. Got their rooms picked out and boxes where they needed to be, their practice and studio room set up, everything looked great! Aside from the bare living room and kitchen. Though a few trips to the local furniture store would fix that! They even planned out who'd get what. Katy would get the furniture like chairs, the couch and coffee table, Lammy picked out the wallpaper and decorations, and Ma-San picked out the appliances. After some time, they finally finished putting the place together, and they took a step back to look at their work.

"Gotta say, it looks…" Katy started, her proud grin faltering a bit. "It looks…"

("It looks like an absolute trash fire.") Ma-San squeaked, shaking her head.

"Y-Yeah…" Lammy agreed. "We probably should've picked something out altogether."

"The feng shui in this place is completely out of order…" Katy shuttered. The trio sighed, collapsing against each other before sinking to the floor. "Know what, maybe the others won't care. We'll keep it how it is right now, and we'll change things around later."

"…Agreed." The red head nods, rubbing her eyes tiredly while Ma-San squeaked under her breath.

"How about we go get some lunch?" Katy looked to her new roommates.

("I don't feel like going outside again. Too tired…") The mouse grumbled.

"I'm kind of in the same boat…" Lammy said, looking over at Katy, her left ear tilting downwards a bit.

"Okay…let's order some takeout then." Katy looked at them, seeing them nod their heads in agreement. After a few more minutes of sitting on the floor, relaxing, the trio finally got up, and Katy grabbed the phone to order their food.

At the very least, they could relax in the fact that they were now living together, and hopefully They wouldn't have to worry about Gaster and Groober coming around…they hadn't seen them since that day they tried to burn Lammy's apartment. That was a bit concerning, especially for the anxious lamb.