Muppet Oneshots + Drabbles

Street Fight Aftermath

(Zoot x Ben)

It all seemed to happen so fast. One moment, everyone was relaxing at home doing their own thing, and the next, Ben slammed the front door open and had taken a few steps in before collapsing to the ground! Upon closer inspection, bruises were littered all over his body with a giant one specifically on his left side. A quick call to the hospital and ride to the building later, everyone was extremely anxious about their friend.

Right now, they're in the waiting room except Floyd who was outside with Animal (who had almost attacked a female nurse). Dr. Teeth was twiddling his thumbs and Lips was curled into a ball at his feet, still shaken up about the ordeal. Janice sat with the most shaken up of the group, Zoot. She was rubbing his back as he stared at the ground. Not because it triggered something in his mind, but also because he is Ben's lover. Seeing his boyfriend all bruised up scared him immensely.

"How could this have happened?" Zoot mutters, "he was just out on a walk! It doesn't make sense, man". Janice continues to rub his back as Dr. Teeth copies with Lips, who's visibly shaking. Noticing Lips shaking made Zoot even more anxious, almost following suit of his best friend.

"Zoot, he's gonna be, like, totally fine. Ben's a tough guy," Janice speaks up. Zoot only nods in reply and looks down in his hands. He was holding Ben's shades and was absent-mindedly tracing the rim of them. They haven't left his grip since they took Ben away on a stretcher.

Crazy Harry stumbles into the room with his hair more messy than usual. It also looked as if he sprinted there, in rush-hour too despite it being late. Apparently, he caught wind about the situation too and his insomnia wasn't helping either.

"Do you know how many blocks I ran through just to get here? A lot!" he exclaims, out of breath. He wore his green shirt unbuttoned with a white shirt underneath. Black pants and shoes were on his legs and feet.

"What are you doing here, Harry? Don't you live a ways from here?" Floyd asks as he brings Animal back inside. Animal instantly runs to the chair next to Janice and curls up like a fox on it.

"Turns out that I'm an emergency contact. And I am now going to remove myself as an emergency contact, give me a second," he replies as he walks to the desk. Floyd carefully moves Animal to the next chair over to sit next to Janice. Harry returns and takes the seat next to Dr. Teeth, smoothing back his hair the best he can.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"They didn't inform you about this conundrum?"

"Nope, just a call and that was it. What happened to Ben?" Lips' shaking increased a little when remembering what happened not a few minutes ago. Dr. Teeth turns to Harry and quietly explains the situation. Zoot stares down as the shades again and sighs, bringing up a specific memory...

Ben was carrying a heavy spotlight across the stage. The task proved to be difficult and Animal running back and forth wasn't helping him focus. Though the task is short, Ben has almost tripped multiple times.

"Animal! Quit distracting Ben, he needs to work!" Floyd calls from offstage. With one sharp turn, Animal raced to Floyd's voice and finally sent Ben felling to the stage floor. Sweetums did save the light, but not the one who was carrying it. Ben fell to the ground on his back, knocking off his shades in the process. Zoot walks onstage and grabs them before heading to Ben and helping him off the floor. He had his eyes closed shut.

"Thank you, whoever it is".

"It's, uh, Zoot".

"Thank you, Zoot. Now, may I have my glasses back?" Ben holds out his hand out, waiting.

"You know, I haven't seen your eyes before. Can I see them?" Zoot asks instead. Ben keeps his eyes shut and starts to grab them. His hand misses them completely, causing him to swipe at the air.

"Zoot, give me back my glasses, please".

"Not until I see your eyes, Ben".

"I do not want to show my eyes to you".

"But I've shown you mine before. Come on, that'll make us even". He stops swiping at the air and pauses at the suggestion. It technically would make them even. Ben opens his eyes, revealing his heterochromic eyes. The right one was a light sky blue and the left was a dark brown. From Ben's perspective, everything was blurry. He couldn't even make out Sweetum's face.

"You have amazing eyes, Ben," Zoot comments, finally handing over the sunglasses.

"Thank you, Zoot. However, they are not special," Ben replies, slipping on the sunglasses. Zoot smiles and watches Ben leave for another task, still in awe about the eyes.

Though the memory is a bit faded, Zoot still remembers the colors of his eyes and continues to do anything just to see them more. With the current situation, though, he fears he won't be able to see them again.

"Man, I wish I could've helped him. It sounds like he got in a bad fight," Harry comments. Lips is still on the floor, hugging Animal tightly and tiredly. Janice and Floyd were asleep next to each other, snoring away.

Half an hour later, a male nurse walks out with a clipboard in hand. He stops in front of the group, writing down something.

"Excuse me, are you here for Benjamin?" he asks. Both Zoot and Harry stand up, nodding. Animal and Dr. Teeth also perk up at his words, careful not to wake the others.

"Your friend is in stable condition, but he did break a few ribs. He's also a little drowsy from the medicine we gave him. Right now, he's only allowed to have one visitor," he adds on. Crazy Harry looks at Zoot and sits down, motioning to go with him. Zoot follows the nurse to the room that Ben was in and opens the door.

Ben was laying in a bed with an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. The bruises on his arms could be clearly seen. On his left side was an ice pack for the largest bruise. He was sleeping soundly from the medication they gave him. Zoot sits in a chair near the bed and gently holds one of Ben's hands.

"You can take it easy now, Ben. The doctors fixed you up and we can help you heal. I wanna see those beautiful eyes when you wake up". The hand Zoot was holding tightened around his own, making the saxophone player smile. He can hear him through his sleep. That was all he needed for comfort and reassurance.