Work Text:
Fingers drumming on the desk thrum like drops of rain against the window. Repetitive, almost melodic, dreary, and nearly ominous.
He didn’t notice when it started, but he noticed it now as he sat, chin buried in his palm, staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular. He'd almost begun to fall asleep when the tapping of his fingers against the desk startled him. He sighed.
Murdoc is coming back tomorrow. He will be here in the flesh, in all his rotten green glory, winning them back with a smirk and a laugh and a little bit of pleasantries.
2D's growing smile faltered because it wouldn’t last long. He knew Murdoc too well, and yet, a part of him couldn’t help but hope it would be somehow different this time. Something, something inside of him was clinging to this rose-tinted reality where Murdoc came back sparkling. Where Murdoc wasn’t Murdoc and he was different in some way 2D really couldn’t place.
In a way that made him enjoyable to be around.
2D sighed again, a little louder this time, as if exhausted from toying with the idea so long in his head. The idea that when Murdoc came back, he’d just be different in a way no one would be able to explain, but everyone would be able to see. In a way 2Ds blurry vision wouldn’t miss.
He gnawed at his lip in thought, fingers tapping faster now, as he tried to think of how different Murdoc could be, and how much of a difference a different Murdoc would make. It made his brain hurt to ponder something so abstract.
Something, something was different about Murdoc coming back this time. In a way no one would be able to comprehend.
Fear? It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t fear.
Pain and anger?
No, no it wasn’t pain or anger.
It was a form of anxiety welling up inside him like adrenaline, only he has nothing to do with it. It wasn’t revenge or bitterness or fear of how much different Murdoc might be.
The problem was: if Murdoc was too different, 2D would have to change, too. Change in a way not a single person would understand. Change in a way they’d both be unrecognizable. Change in a way they weren’t ready for.
It was September 19th, 2018, and Murdoc would be back tomorrow.
Fingers finally stilling, 2D thumbed away the drool at the corner of his mouth, as the thought of Murdoc being different made him hungry in a way he’d never felt before. In a way he’d never hunger again. In a way he’d never be hungry for something again.
He pushed off the desk, deciding he should find something else to eat.