Title: That's Electric-Tric-Tric-Tric

Rating: Very light T

Pairing: 2-D/Murdoc

Warnings: Slash

Disclaimer: Guess what?I OWN THE GORILLAZ! (Tee-he. I kid.)

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They often spent the nights like this – sitting at the top of the hill, watching the sun go from a huge ball of fire in the sky to a tiny little pink glow in just a few hours. During the days, they often kept to themselves – 2D spending much of his time down on the beach – always something new on the shores, something different to occupy his oft-distracted mind, Murdoc preferring the comforts of the lighthouse – plenty of rum, plenty of solitude.

But these nights were interesting in the way that they made one long for companionship, made loneliness all the more brutal, and the two men found themselves drawn together as though magnetized, almost fully unaware of the pull but unable to fight it nonetheless.

Murdoc sat sprawled out on the thick grass, leaning back on his hands, torso bare and eyes flickering with a comfortable sort of drunkenness. His breath came in big, self-satisfied gulps, making his chest rise and fall almost in time to the rhythm of the waves that crashed on the beach below.

2D, on the other hand, sat with his legs drawn up to his chest, cotton-covered arms wrapped tight around his shins, head resting on his denim-clad knees. Guarded, protected, as if he knew that there was some danger afoot, something dark and sinister just outside of his protected little world, maybe something straight out of a nightmare like that horrible bogeyman with the terrifying, insect-like eyes, or perhaps an antagonist that hit a bit closer to home, a massive sea mammal often mistaken for a fish.

"You know what I miss most?" 2D murmured, almost more to himself than to the man sitting next to him, a musing of sorts that he only vaguely intended to find an answer to.

For this reason, Murdoc found no problem in taking extra time in swishing the most recent swig of rum around his mouth, tasting every little particle to the fullest as if it would be the last swig he ever took, before replying, "What's that? Ordering carry-out?"

2D chuckled softly, "Nope. I miss those commercial coffee shops. Back in the city, you couldn't walk two blocks without seeing one. You grew used to them, maybe even got a little annoyed by them, said things like 'Does there really need to be one of these on every single corner?', stuff like that. But out here, as far away from the city as you can be, there isn't a single one. No matter how hard you look, you won't find one. And you start thinking things like 'They're got so many, couldn't they spare just one, give just one to me out here? They wouldn't miss just one.' But it doesn't happen. And it won't."

2D stopped here to glance over at Murdoc. He didn't notice, but 2D didn't mind. You got used to that when you had no real definition between your iris and sclera; it was actually quite rare that someone realized that you were looking at them unless you turned your entire head to face them.

Murdoc did, however, notice that 2D had stopped speaking, and, even though he didn't catch him looking, he noted, "You don't even like coffee much, do ya?"

2D chuckled again. "Not even a little bit. Nasty stuff, makes your entire nervous system feel like it's frying. No, it's not the coffee I miss. It's just the façade of the shops, that massive green sign that you saw all over the place. Because the truth is, they tell you something, something important, something I really, really miss." He looked at Murdoc, and Murdoc, finally feeling 2D's eyes on him, turned his gaze on him as he finished, in a voice so small and meek and sad that it could've belonged to a young girl who'd just broken her favorite toy, "They tell you that you're home."

The two of them sat there for a long time, eyes locked, 2D expressing all of his pent-up sadness and homesickness and brokenness in that single, desperate look, until Murdoc couldn't take it anymore and averted his eyes, turning his gaze back to the horizon, where the sky was glittering gold.

2D kept watching him for a minute or two before sighing, looking out at the horizon as well, watching the waves rise and fall like the whole ocean was just this giant being, breathing in and out in choppy, desperate little gasps like a child sobbing for her mother.

Eventually, 2D nodded, "Yeah. That's what I miss most. What about you, Murdoc? What do you miss the most?"

Murdoc jumped, startled by the question, even though it was the logical next thing to come, even though he should've seen it coming. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, chewing on it with his extra-sharp teeth until it felt bruised and damaged, then soothing it with his extra-long tongue, then reverting back to biting it again.

Finally he glanced over at his band mate and stated, "Nothing. I don't miss any of it."

2D's eyes grew wide and he gaped, "Nothing?"

Murdoc shook his head, "Nope. Nothing. It's all rubbish."

"But you have to miss something. C'mon. The city lights? The crowds of cheering fans? Those broads who come to our shows with nothing on their agent short of sleeping with us?" 2D pressured. It just couldn't be; how could Murdoc be stuck on this plastic wasteland and not miss a single thing about the life he once knew? Could Murdoc have possibly been that unhappy? The thought disturbed 2D greatly; he couldn't deal with the thought that he'd been in the same band as Murdoc – hell, he'd shared a bloody room with him too many times to count – and hadn't picked up that he was completely miserable.

Murdoc, on the other hand, took a deep breath and a long swig of rum, swishing it through his teeth, swirling it with his tongue before swallowing as hard as he could, savoring the burning sensation as it scalded his throat, made it raw, made it burn in just the right way that he knew he was diluting himself, boozing himself farther and farther from reality.

He pondered everything the other man had said, and then, almost as if just to prove to himself just how distanced from that world he had become, he set down the bottle of rum and turned so that his entire body was facing the pretty boy singer. They had been quite close before, and with this change of position, they were very nearly pressed against one another with only an inch or two between them. 2D looked up at him with something akin to curiosity shining in his eyes, which turned to confusion and anxiety when Murdoc took his face in his hands and, pulling in one more breath, one gasp of oxygen for strength, connected their lips.

2D barely even had time to be properly startled before Murdoc pulled away, returning to his sprawled out position and taking another long swig of rum as 2D stared at him in shock, mouth moving in soundless expressions of confusion.

"I don't miss anything from back out there," Murdoc stated, his voice soft, all his usual roughness and bravado gone, leaving his tone almost a work of art, a thing of beauty, "because I've got everything I need right here."

/