After the show, some of the Muppets started prepping up to head home, but many others were heading over to Rowlf's Tavern for an after party to celebrate Clifford's return.
Zondra had just entered the studio, having been out in town all day, gripping a folder, when she nearly ran into the purple Muppet.
"Whoa, sor-," Clifford started saying until he saw the Muppet, where he froze, his eyes open very wide. "Darci? You work here too?" he asked, a weird squeak in his voice.
Zondra slapped her hand on her forehead, muttering, "Oh great this again" before saying, "No, it's Zondra actually. Her twin sister. I think she may have mentioned me to you once."
Clifford relaxed and said, "Oh! Zondra! Hey, I think I remember you from Jim Henson Hour. You, Chip and Ubu used hacked the show twice."
"And we would've done it a lot more if Jim Henson Hour hadn't been cancelled," Zondra laughed. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I just got a job here. So, you're going to be seeing me around here a lot," Clifford stated. "So, about Darci, is she still…"
"Hating on men, bears, and rats? Somewhat; she's trying to be more tolerant," Zondra explained. "But she's not doing too good at that either."
Clifford shook his head and said, "I'll never understand that girl's grudge against me, Bill, Bobo an Rizzo. So, what's your job here?"
"Oh, I'm somewhat the new branding guru here. I try to add relevant things to the show, and I manage most of the media, such as social media and news media to check what's going on in the world," Zondra explained. "I worked really hard checking sites after what happened a few nights ago to Zoot."
"Oh, I heard about that! I didn't see the show, but I heard it was bad. Is he okay now? I mean, I saw him in the band stand, but I can never be sure about that dude, you know," Clifford asked.
"Pretty much, but he seemed pretty nervous for the last few days. I think he's hiding something. Something he doesn't want us to know," Zondra said, remembering how Zoot freaked out about someone possibly taking pictures of him or something.
"Oh really?" Clifford said, stroking his goatee and looking towards where the saxophonist was standing. "Do you have any theories on what it is?"
"No, but he came back from the hospital with a file of some sort, asking where Honeydew was," Zondra stated. "I was worried he was actually going to sue him like his siblings wanted him to, but Bunsen's mood seemed normal, so I don't think it was a lawsuit."
Before Clifford could ask anymore questions, Pepe ran up to them and said, "Clifford, we got to get going to Rowlf's Tavern, okay! I don't want someone to take the table I reserved for me, you, and Rizzo, okay."
"Alright, Pepe. I'm coming. I'll catch you later, Zondra," Clifford said, following the prawn out of the room.
"See ya, Clifford!" Zondra said, making her way to her desk and opening the folder.
At the bar, the Muppets were all chatting with each other, talking about the show, their weekend plans, and future skits to put on the show. Clifford was sitting at a table with Rizzo and Pepe, talking about memories from Muppets Tonight.
"Man, you tried so hard to win over Paula Abdul!" Rizzo laughed.
"Yeah, but I'm over her now. I was young, Rizzo. I thought she was gorgeous...well, she's still gorgeous but I respect boundaries more now," Clifford stated.
"Yeah, yeah," Pepe said, his eyes drooping. "I remember how she...made you and Rizzo kiss on that show. That was so funny..."
"Pepe, that's one of my Muppets Tonight flashbacks I've been kind of trying to forget," Clifford told the prawn, who laughed in response.
Clifford shook his head and whispered to Rizzo, "He has a really weak alcohol tolerance, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, it's funny sometimes, but he can be a little weird drunk. Fortunately, he's the 'I love you' guy and not the 'I hate you' guy," Rizzo stated.
Clifford nodded as Lips walked over to their table. "Would it be alright if I sat with you?" he asked.
"Sorry, Lips, we got this table first, so…" Pepe started saying until Clifford cut him off. "Pardon Pepe, he's a little drunk."
"A little? If that's a little, I'd hate to see what he's like after a lot," Lips said, sitting next to Clifford. "So...you know the band?"
"Yeah, we're cool friends. Though for a while, things were pretty bitter between me and Floyd, but that was only because he THOUGHT I was flirting with Janice," Clifford stated.
Lips shook his head, "God forbid if you flirt with Janice. Floyd gets irked easily. Even more so if he finds out one of his friends dated Janice before he did."
"You mean Zoot?" Clifford asked.
"Actually, I was referring to Dr. Teeth. Floyd knew about Zoot and Janice," Lips said. "I don't know much about their relationship, but one day, Zoot lost his spark for Janice."
"Then he's still single?" Clifford asked.
"Actually he's…" Lips started saying until he stopped himself. "No, I shouldn't say. Not yet."
"Say what?" Clifford asked.
"It's not important," Lips lied.
"I don't know man, it sounded important," Clifford said.
"It's not important!" Lips half-shouted, catching the attention off a few other Muppets, who looked over to see what was up.
"Okay, okay, relax. I was just curious," Clifford apologized quickly as the Muppets looked away from the small group.
Lips sat back in his chair and thought, "Gee, Doc didn't tell me Clifford was nosy."
"Say, where is Zoot anyway?" Clifford asked, looking around the bar.
"He's at that table with Dr. Teeth," Rizzo said, pointing at a booth where the keyboardist and saxophonist were sitting very close to each. "They're very close, more so than I thought."
"Maybe they're the closest friends in the band," Clifford assumed.
Lips felt the urge to burst out laughing at that statement, knowing it wasn't true, but he didn't want to drop hints about Zoot and Dr. Teeth's relationship.
Pepe however, let out a loud laugh. "Friends? I doubt they're JUST friends, okay," the prawn stated. "They're too close to just be friends. They have to be dating."
"What makes you think that?" Lips asked, his hands twitching a bit as he sipped his drink.
"Well, when you were telling me and Rizzo your story about what happened when the band was in Vegas, you stated that Dr. Teeth and Zoot were still in the hotel room when you went to go get them to stop Animal from gambling your stuff away, okay. What were they doing while they were alone?" Pepe asked.
Lips choked on his drink and coughed, getting everyone else's attention again. He could feel his face turning red, from both choking and from Pepe's question. He was about to respond when Clifford said, "Okay, Riz, I think Pepe's had enough. He's starting to act weirder than usual."
Rizzo grabbed the prawn and dragged him out of the bar, leaving Clifford and Lips alone at the table.
"Thanks for getting him out of here. He was making me nervous with that last question," Lips said.
"No problem. I'm sorry for Pepe being like that. That's one of the things about him I can't stand," Clifford said. "What would've been your answer, though?"
Lips shrugged and said, "I don't know. I don't really know about Dr. Teeth and Zoot's relationship with each other."
"Cool...but what if Pepe was right?" Clifford asked.
Lips froze a bit, surprised by this question, but he took a deep breath, "I'd be cool with it, because I'm not the type of person to judge someone when it comes to sexuality. If that's who they love, it's who they love. There's no changing it."
Clifford grinned and said, "I was hoping you'd say that. I'm a pretty open-minded guy, myself, but then again, I have to be since I'm bi."
Lips jumped and asked, "You're bisexual?"
"Yeah, I never told anyone though, mainly because I never had a reason," Clifford explained.
"Well, that's probably because as long as you've been with the Muppets, they've only seen you with a girl. Nobody probably would've guessed that you dated guys," Lips said.
"Yeah, I dated some guys, but not many," Clifford admitted, looking over at Dr. Teeth and Zoot's table again to see the two musicians were gone.
"Hey, where'd they go?" he asked, looking around the bar seeing no sign of the two Muppets.
Lips looked as well. The two band members were missing. "They probably went home," he assumed.
"Good plan. I think I'll head home too," Clifford said getting up from his seat. "It was nice talking to you, Lips."
"It was nice talking to you too," Lips said, watching as the Rastafarian left. He smiled to himself and thought, "Not bad for a first conversation. Awkward, but not bad."
At the Electric Mayhem's house, Dr. Teeth and Zoot got home first, where the former had the latter pinned up against a wall in a passionate kiss.
Zoot moaned as their lips overlapped against each other's, his body trembling a bit, the only thing keeping him from collapsing was Dr. Teeth's arms wrapped around his waist and his arms wrapped around Dr. Teeth's neck.
At some point, the ended up in Dr. Teeth's bedroom, Zoot not at all sure exactly how they got there, too overcome by Dr. Teeth's "romancing". Finally, when their mouths parted, Zoot was laying on Dr. Teeth's bed, his lover over him, both of them breathing heavily.
Zoot looked around for a second until he spotted the open door to the bedroom. He looked into his boyfriend's eyes for a few seconds before whispering, "Lock the door."
Dr. Teeth grinned at his blue partner before getting up to do so.
Well, seems like Dr. Teeth and Zoot will be having some fun, heh-heh.
Why was Clifford so curious about what was going on with Zoot when he was talking with Zondra?
Why was he curious about what Lips nearly said about Zoot and Dr. Teeth being together?
Does Pepe really know about Dr. Teeth and Zoot dating? Or was he just being ridiculous because he was drunk?
Hopefully we'll get the answers to some of these questions in the next chapter!
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