Chapter Text
“Murdoc!”
“Can you hear me?!”
“Hurry before it’s too late!”
“助けて!”
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Murdoc bashed his fist blindly around with his eyes closed, his fist making contact with the wooden bedside table a good few times until it eventually connected with the off button on the alarm clock. He groaned as he sat up in his bed and shoved the sheets off him. He’d been having that dream for a while now, everything was black and the only thing he could hear was someone calling for help.. It was weird. He could never figure out who’s voice it was but something about it was just so familiar to him!
He then turned to look at the wall of his Winnebago, his eyes focusing on the calendar on the wall, specifically the red circle, what was that for again?
Murdoc got up from his bed and walked over to the calendar, squinting at it. In between “Noodle’s parent teacher meeting” and “haircut” was “El Mañana music video. 4PM” circled using a half faded red marker he kept on his bedside table. Murdoc dragged a hand down his face and sat back on his bed and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the bumps from it never healing properly as he looked over at the clock, 7:30 AM.
“Fuck, it’s too early in the morning for this shite.” He groaned, choosing to sit in silence and glare at the messy floor
After a few moments of silence he stood up and lifted up a pair of jeans, clean? Probably not, he’s pretty sure he can see faded beer stains and cigarette ashes on them.. but who cares? He definitely doesn’t. Shirt? He doesn’t need it. He’s Murdoc Niccals for Satan’s sake, he can walk around shirtless in his own studio if he wants to. He pulled the jeans on and grabbed his belt that was thrown over the driver’s seat of the RV, fastening it as he kicked a pair of black shoes onto his feet.
Murdoc trudged his hungover and half asleep ass over to the door and kicked the bottom of it with his foot and stepped out into the cold and dimly lit car park of Kong Studios. He fished out a lone cigarette and a lighter from the back pockets of his jeans. Holding the cig in his mouth as he tried to flick his lighter to life.He took a drag of his cigarette and blew out a puff of grey smoke as he pressed the button to call the elevator, picking at some loose pieces of skin on his green hands as he waited.. and waited.. until..
DING
Murdoc stepped into the elevator, jabbing a green finger onto the slightly faded second floor button as he leaned against the metal railing of the elevator wall.
DING
The elevator doors closed as it ascended to the second floor, Murdoc took another drag of his cigarette as he turned to look at the mirror in the back of the elevator, he looked at his reflection for a moment before pushing his dark black hair back and letting it fall back down onto his forehead, smirking with just a bit of his sharp, yellowed teeth showing.
DING
Murdoc dragged himself out of the elevator, dropping his cigarette butt onto the ground, stomping on it and kicking it under the jukebox like he usually does. Murdoc walked up the hallway towards the kitchen, passing many things: 2-D’s trainers he’d told the blue haired idiot to pick up at least a dozen times, he was gonna get them thrown at him at this point, a pile of clothes forming outside the bathroom and a shadowy lump on the floor of the recording room-
“Hang about..” Murdoc thought before he stopped and walked back to the door of the recording room.
Murdoc pushed his face up against the glass of the door to see better, yeah that was definitely something sleeping on the floor of his recording room. He told 2-D to stop leaving the front door open after the Laika Come Home incident but he never listened! Now they’ve probably got some homeless bum in Kong Studios.
2-D was definitely gonna get it now.
Murdoc pushed open the door to the recording room, he flicked the light switch and watched the dim bulb slowly flicker to life as he was finally met with whatever dared to break into his recording room in the middle of the night.
It was Noodle. The girl was fast asleep in her Hello Kitty pyjamas, curled up into a ball on the floor with her sticker covered guitar cradled against her like it was some sort of lifeline for the girl
Murdoc sighed at the sight, what the hell was wrong with this damn kid, she never seemed to be where she should be
He walked across the room and crouched down next to her, she looked so.. Peaceful. A far cry from when she’d first joined and would come barreling into his winnebago almost every night, sobbing about some nightmare. Murdoc had to push back the urge to push the hair out of her face, instead going for waking the brat up.
“Hey. Kid.” Murdoc nudged Noodle’s shoulder lightly.
“Noodles.” Murdoc spoke as he shoved her shoulder a bit harder, damn this girl slept like a log! After a few more seconds of shaking her by the shoulder Noodle finally started to stir. She lifted her head slightly to look at whatever had woken her up
“Huh? Wha- Murdoc?” Noodle mumbled while rubbing the sleep out of her eye with the back of her hand.
“What’re you doing sleeping in here?” Murdoc asked with a gruff tone, “You’ve got a room y’now.”
Noodle sat up against the wall behind her, the grip she had on her guitar seemed to loosen as she slumped her shoulders as her eyes narrowed at the carpet like it had personally wronged her. “I was practicing..” she muttered, still not managing to look Murdoc in the eyes just yet
“You can’t be doing that.” Murdoc’s brows pinched together as he scolded her “you’re gonna get worse eyebags than face ache, and his eyes already look like they’re falling out of his head.”
Murdoc noticed how she wouldn’t look near him, clearly she was embarrassed about getting caught, he then stood up and held his hand towards her, “now c’mon, you’ve gotta get some food in you, we’ve got shit to do today.”
Noodle saw his outstretched hand from the corner of her eye and smiled slightly as she grabbed it. Murdoc pulled her up to her feet before letting go of her hand and wiping his hand on his jeans. He then walked out of the recording room, waiting for Noodle to hurry up and get out before he could continue on into the kitchen like he had planned.
Noodle picked up her guitar by the strap and slung it over her back, leaving the recording room and provoking Murdoc to start walking, Noodle falling in step next to him
The two walked in comfortable silence for a bit, Murdoc glanced down at Noodle, she looked determined, not sure why, she was just going to eat breakfast not fight the zombie apes in the graveyard again, then he decided to break that silence
“How long have you been creeping around at night for? I've had 2-D banging on the door of my wagon half asleep yelling about seeing ghosts in the hallways.” Murdoc grumbled
Noodle looked up at him, “I was practicing.” That was it. The same short answer she gave before with the same blank tone as the last time, though this time with direct eye contact so i guess it was better?
Murdoc kept his pace, shoving his hands in his pockets, deciding not to push her any further because he clearly wasn’t going to get an answer out of the girl
Noodle tried to keep her blank demeanour but snickered a little bit when she remembered what Murdoc said about 2-D seeing her in the halls at night.. She might start walking around with a blanket over her head next time
“I’ll stop doing late night practice.” She murmured under her breath but still audible enough for Murdoc to smirk at her words
“Good.”
The two strode into the kitchen being met with the familiar sights, Russel cooking breakfast and 2-D sitting at the table trying to work out the day’s word jumble, he stuck squinted at the empty squares like they were going to tell him all of the answers
“For Noodle.” Russel spoke as he grabbed a white bowl of Rice Krispies cereal off the counter and placed it into the girl’s open hands.
“Thank you, Russel!” Noodle grinned, her tooth gap on display for all to see, she pulled open the kitchen drawer and grabbed a metal spoon out, she then sat down at the kitchen table next to 2-D scraping her chair across the ground as she pulled it into the table
“Muds.” Russel spoke again as he tipped an egg from the frying pan onto a plate next to two sausages and a few pieces of bacon. He then picked up the plate and handed it to Murdoc, the same way he did with Noodle
“Thanks.” Murdoc acknowledged as he dragged his hand across the kitchen counter, grabbing a fork and knife in his grip, he then walked over to the table, slumping down in his chair, not bothering to push it in. Murdoc slid his plate onto the table.
Murdoc stabbed his fork into a piece of bacon and placed it into his mouth as he watched 2-D and Noodle on the other side of the table. Noodle was leaned over to look at 2-D’s newspaper, announcing all the crossword answers in between shovelling spoonfuls of cereal into her mouth
“Bear, boar, mouse.” Noodle scooped up another spoonful of cereal into her mouth “oh the diagonal’s tricky, you’ll get that one soon.” She assured him
2-D looked at the younger girl and wrinkled his nose before he closed the newspaper over enough to where only he could see it.
“You always do this, Noods.” 2-D complained, he didn’t even need to strain his eyes to see the smug look she had plastered on her face
Noodle leaned back in her chair, swinging on it as she lifted her spoon up, and waved it around to emphasise her words
“Maybe you should get better at the jumbles then, Two-Dee.” Noodle teased, announcing his name in a way she knew ticked him off before almost tipping back in her chair. Russel walked behind her and pushed her chair back up as he sat down with his own breakfast.
“Don’t swing, you’re gonna crack your skull open.” Russel lectured, keeping one hand on the back of Noodle’s chair to stop her from swinging back again
“Fineee..” Noodle whined
Murdoc looked at the three of them in complete disgust, there was no need to act all domestic, they were a rock band, not some happy little family. Murdoc snatched the newspaper from 2-D’s hands, rolling it up and hitting him over the back of the head with it
“Quit whinging about some damn children’s puzzle, face ache.” Murdoc complained as 2-D rubbed the back of his head and clenched his jaw. Murdoc chucked the newspaper back over his shoulder, not bothering to turn around and check if it landed in the bin or just landed flat on the tiled kitchen floor.
“Right, listen here cause I'm not gonna repeat it.” Murdoc spoke as he pointed his fork towards Noodle
“We’re recording that music video for El Mañana today.” Murdoc shoved another bit of his breakfast into his mouth “I don’t wanna hear any damn complaining about it because we’ve got no way outta doing it cause it’s already booked.” Murdoc spoke through the food in his mouth.
“Noodle you’re gonna be up on that windmill again cause that’s where you were in Feel Good Inc; the rest of you just do whatever on the ground, I don’t care cause you’re not gonna be in it anyway.” Murdoc proclaimed barely looking up from his food
He never noticed Noodle on the other side of the table, the smug smile had left the girl’s face as she spun her spoon around in the bowl of cereal, seemingly having lost her entire appetite after Murdoc’s declaration.
The kitchen seemed to fall into silence after that, due to the band eating their breakfast and Noodle’s clear discomfort with the entire idea of the flying windmill making its comeback even if it is just for one more music video
And then she couldn't handle the silence anymore, her discomfort making her feel like she was about to be sick. Noodle pushed her chair back and stood up abruptly
“I’m going to get dressed.” she exclaimed as she quickly left the table
2-D looked up at her at her when she reached the door “Are you not gonna finish your-“ and.. she was gone, her footsteps fading further into the distance
The kitchen was plunged back into silence, now having an air of tension.
After a while Murdoc also stood up from the table, leaving his dirty plate on the table, not seeming to care for actually putting it in the sink
“Right, I'm going to find out what’s wrong with that brat, you two better be ready by the time I get back.” Murdoc went to walk out the door but stopped in the doorframe
“AND PICK UP YOUR DAMN SHOES 2-D!”
And off Murdoc went to figure out what the hell was wrong with Noodle
After a short elevator trip he ended up on the second floor where Noodle’s room was. He banged on the girl’s door a few times before he yelled
“Noodle! You decent?!”
It was silent for a few moments before Noodle’s voice broke the quiet
“Go away, Murdoc!”
Yeah that wasn't gonna stop him from trying to drag his guitarist out the studio and onto the giant flying windmill, he pushed open the door to be greeted with Noodle, still in her pyjamas but now curled up beneath her blankets.
“I said go away!” Noodle yelled as she threw the nearest pillow at Murdoc, to which he easily dodged by just moving slightly to the left
Murdoc stormed across the room and grabbed the girl by her shoulders
“What is wrong with you today?!” Murdoc complained as Noodle tried to shove away from him “Why are you being such a pain?!”
“I don’t want to go on that windmill again! I hate heights!” Noodle yelled, finally managing to shove him off, mostly cause Murdoc was in complete disbelief
“You.. hate heights?” He asked, still confused “You’re trying to get out of making the music video for your favourite song on the album because you hate heights?”
Noodle, the girl who literally grew up as a child soldier.. Was scared of heights? No fucking way
“Yeah, so what?” Noodle spoke, clearly not too happy about having to explain her discomfort to Murdoc of all people “I’m allowed to not want to do things.”
“Yeah well this is something you’re not allowed to not want to do.” Murdoc realised his usual way of talking doesn’t seem to be getting through to her. He sighed and gently placed his hand on Noodle’s shoulder.
“Noodle” He mentally groaned, already calling himself a loser for even trying to talk nicely to someone for once in his life “Sometimes we just have to suck it up and do things we don’t want to do. And besides, you’re gonna be fine up there, Noodle’s we’ve got those safety precautions for a reason, it’s entirely safe-”
“-Okay! Okay! I’ll do it! Just stop trying to be motivational, please!” Noodle pleaded as she pushed Murdoc’s hand off of her shoulder and pushed the blankets off of her shoulders
Murdoc didn’t even take offence to getting shoved for a second time as he stood up “That’s what I want to hear! You better be ready in 10 minutes” he yelled back to her as he left, shutting the door behind him
10 Minutes Later
The three men were sat in the living room watching some random game show that just happened to be on the tv, 2-D was the only one actually trying to answer the questions though, Murdoc and Russel seemed to just have it as background sound while they waited on Noodle to finally come up to the top floor
DING
Finally she was here! The three of them looked over to see Noodle walking out of the elevator, she was wearing her favourite black and white striped shirt, black denim shorts, dark brown boots that added at least an inch to her height and.. A bracelet?
“Hey Noods? What’s that bracelet?” 2-D asked, looking from Noodle’s wrist to her face
“Oh, I made it with that bracelet making kit Russel bought me for my birthday,” Noodle said as she pulled three more from her pocket, one red, one blue, one green. “I made some for you guys too!”
Noodle walked over happily, smiling as she dropped one bracelet into each of their hands. 2-D smiled as he slid it onto his wrist. Russel ruffled Noodle’s hair slightly before putting his bracelet on too. Murdoc looked at the bracelet in his hand and grumbled, slipping it into his back pocket
Noodle frowned slightly. “You don’t like it?”
“The bracelet’s fine. I’m just not wearing it right now.” Murdoc spoke “Now can we just get a move on already before I get Jamie and Damon on my ass about us being late?”
“行こう！” Noodle cheered, bouncing her way to the door.
And just like that, the band was piling into the van and on their way to the video venue.
Noodle looked back through the window, seeing the windmill being untied from where it usually sat and it being taken to the venue as well, she gulped. She had a bad feeling about this entire music video, but Murdoc said it’d be safe so it’ll be fine.
..right?