At the sound of the free time announcement, the various mascots immediately scattered to various parts of the break room.
Suddenly feeling like you were fully in charge of your actions again, you decided to attempt to mingle with your new compatriots.
You saw that Matilda the cow was now working behind the bar, and you decided that you should at least start with someone that you had already met at least once.
As you took a seat, the bovine barmaid smiled and greeted you warmly, "It's good to see you again, Dixie! How are you doing tonight?"
That was a good question. How WERE you doing?
Thoughts of your old life and human form began to re-emerge, filling you with anxiety. Matilda seemed to notice.
"What's the matter hon? Someone been treating you wrong?"
"If someone's giving you a hard time you send 'em my way!" a gruff voice chimed in,
you turned to see the hyena woman from earlier sitting on the stool next to you.
She grinned, revealing her large, pointy fangs.
"I'll teach 'em a lesson for ya!" she mimed rolling up the sleeves of her leather jacket and adopted a boxing stance.
"Hettie!" chided Matilda, "We don't encourage violence here!"
The hyena girl just chuckled and went back to sipping on her fruit juice.
Turning back to you, Matilda spoke in a soothing voice, "Are you having trouble settling in? I know new experiences can be scary."
You just nodded, she was mostly correct.
She smiled reassuringly, "Well let me treat you to some tropical juice. We'll see if a little liquid courage doesn't help you through this turbulent time."
She poured you a fresh glass of bright orange liquid that filled your nostrils with an incredibly sweet and tangy aroma that soon had your beak watering. You sipped through the colorful silly straw and discovered that the juice was just as delicious as it smelled.
Within seconds you had finished the whole glass and eagerly ordered a second.
"Pace yourself, now." Matilda gently warned.
After your second juice you were starting to feel a bit silly. All of your cares seemed to melt away.
You noticed that many of the dining room's tables and chairs had been moved away and a group of mascots were dancing on a lit-up dance floor. A Zebra DJ in glow-in-the-dark body paint was blasting techno music from her booth and the bass pulsed throughout the dining and bar area.
You stood up from the bar to join them.
Picking a spot slightly further away from the other dancing mascots, you nodded your head and tapped your foot to the music, still feeling a bit self-conscious about dancing. Watching you from the bar, Hettie the Hyena ordered another drink and brought it over to you, holding the straw up to your beak.
"What is it?" you asked,
"Chocolate milkshake. You looked like you could use a little more loosening up." She grinned.
You took a big sip from the milkshake and your head practically began to spin. Your inhibitions seemed to melt away and you began to dance enthusiastically, shaking your booty like you had done earlier in the day.
"Lightweight." Hettie chuckled to herself, returning to her seat at the bar but turning to watch you with keen interest.
As you lost yourself to the music, some of the other dancing mascots suddenly began to notice you. "Nice moves, new chick!" a male wolf in a spiked collar cheered. A female cat mascot gave you an enthusiastic "mmROW!", playfully making a clawing motion. This only encouraged you more, and soon you were gyrating like a pro, moving as if you had been practicing your whole life for this moment. At least, it felt that way. There was also the distinct possibility that you were making a complete fool of yourself, but you didn't care.
You got so carried away that you almost didn't notice that the large pink reptilian woman with comically massive mammaries was dancing closer and closer to you. Soon she was right behind you, matching her gyrations to yours so that she could purr into your ear (not that you actually had ears)
"Hey there" she whispered, "The name's Sally Gator. It's always such a pleasure to see someone new around here. Especially a tasty little morsel like yourself."
She grinned a predatory grin and brought herself closer. You nervously stepped away.
"Don't be scared, little nugget. I promise I don't bite." she smiled. You felt her ridiculous reptilian boobs press into your back and you realized that you'd had enough, quickly fleeing from the scene.
You heard Sally Gator laughing behind your back and the other mascots scolding her for scaring off the newbie. The buzz from the milkshake was wearing off and you were suddenly aware of how ridiculous this all was, and how much of a fool you'd just made of yourself.
Storming over to the recreation area and flopping into a vacant armchair, you fumed silently.
The negative thoughts returned in full force.
You were all alone in the world, trapped in a ridiculous form and surrounded by bizarre cartoon characters.