A/N: I don't own Gorillaz.
2D had kept all his notes from his brief time at university. They were arranged in an incomprehensible jumble that had no rhyme or reason, but were in fact ordered by whichever case he had liked most. It had been… refreshing, being away from the band and music for a bit, although at the time one could occasionally hear soft melodies floating down the corridor from his room on nights where he couldn't sleep at all.
Nobody really spoke about the innocuous colourful folders that were stacked in the corner of his room. Both Noodle and Russel knew about his law degree, but it wasn't really a subject that they were all that interested in. Noodle liked to wax lyrical with 2D in the middle of the night about random philosophical questions that floated across her mind when the darkness and loneliness of her room began to feel suffocating, and Russel like to engage 2D with long rants about the political climate of the world when the blue haired singer was barely awake at the breakfast table, but neither were that interested in discussing about the various issues of cohabitation rights in property law or the intricacies of inchoate offences found in criminal law.
Murdoc didn't even know that 2D had a degree, and 2D had no desire to disclose that information. Even if he did manage to escape the ridicule that Murdoc was sure to throw at him if he ever found out, 2D was certain that he would somehow be roped into becoming some sort of de facto lawyer for the band, or worse, for Murdoc. 2D was not sure what sort of contracts and deals Murdoc had with various members of the underworld, and he did not want to find out. He wasn't even convinced that they would be legally binding, but he was sure that if either party didn't like his answer he would somehow be the one penalised.
It just wasn't worth thinking about.
But still, he kept his folders and notes. Murdoc hardly ever went into his room, and even if he did it was such a state that it would be difficult to spot them amongst the mess. Most of the time 2D forgot that they were even there, but on the odd night when he couldn't sleep, music didn't appeal to him and Noodle wasn't around to have those soft, strange conversations on the landing then he liked to pull them out and re-read the printed cases with his notes scribbled in the margins, rings from old cups of coffee staining some of the pages. Sometimes, when he really couldn't sleep, then he would pull out his laptop and look up newer cases, read new blog posts, and look up any new articles on the topics that had interested him the most. 2D liked the distraction and the peace, and on those few times that he needed it, his mind would finally quieten enough to sleep.
A/N: This is brought to you (like all my writing) by the power of procrastination over my own law degree. Apologies for technical references to certain law issues; I am absolutely happy to talk to anyone interested about inchoate offences (I almost based my dissertation on them) but I swear if I have to talk about cohabiting couples one more time I'm going to scream. Literally, the only reason at this point that I'm keeping motivation to complete my degree is the fact that if 2D can manage it, then so can I.