Title:

How Soon Is Now?

Summary: 2D and Noodle were always close. Now, even more so. Were things destined to change between them? And what secrets does their new home harbor? In between Phase 3 and 4. Rated M for language, drugs, etc.

Chapter 1: Fascination Street

Rain dripped and splattered against the windows of 2D's bedroom. It was a typical rainy day in the London suburb. The blue-haired singer was laying on his bed and studying his ceiling. He closed his eyes and reflected on his new home. After jumping around from Kong to the Plastic Beach and to their townhome that they were evicted from, they finally settled on a new studio and home. This one was not quite as big as Kong, but still offered each bandmate their own spacious bedrooms as well as a studio workspace, a living room area, and even a garden and outdoor ball court. From what 2D overheard during the meeting with the real estate agent, it was a shared office space that was vacated during the last economic collapse. Their current living area and game room used to be the lobby and board room of a public relations firm. Their new huge, industrial kitchen originally belonged to a meal-kit service. The cars were now parked in the employee garage. The employee locker room, gym, and showers were now theirs. The recording studio was originally a company that rented out studio time by the hour. There was also the basement that intrigued them. But only the boiler room and utility room was accessible. The other half of the basement resided behind two locked double doors. The real estate agent assured them that the key was never found, but it was most likely just another storage room.

The space took a few weeks to decorate and to make it feel like home. It was a little too sanitized and "corporate" for their tastes, but Russel assured the group that it would not take much time before they would feel comfortable there. Murdoc joked with the drummer that if they had not found this spot, then with their luck, their next home would probably be a haunted house.

2D liked to keep things simple. Just a few photos of his family back home and some posters of his favorite idols like David Bowie and Jim Morrison. Regardless of how simple he liked to keep his layout, pill bottles and various articles of clothing eventually littered his shelves and floor. Simple layouts for rooms helped him to remember where everything was. Ever since his first head injury as a child, a doctor recommended that he stick to routines and simple layouts as much as possible to aid his memory and to reduce stress. As his life with the Gorillaz became more hectic, strict routines were no longer possible to maintain. With every subsequent head injury, he obtained more painkiller prescriptions. The meds helped with the stress, so he did not have that problem anymore. In fact, he zoned out more than ever because of them.

Murdoc originally wanted to just sleep in his Winnebago that was parked in the garage. But after watching Breaking Bad, he started to complain about how "RVs are played out!" He now stayed in a room five doors down from 2D. The few times that 2D caught a glimpse of the bassist's room through a cracked door, its walls were painted pitch black and with red star decals. And there were candles. Lots of candles. The bandmates had asked Murdoc if he figured out what his room was originally used for. His responses were cryptic and vague, so the others gave up on ever knowing.

Russel was never too picky about his living arrangements. From what the band could determine, his room was a former therapist's office complete with built-in bookshelves and a wooden desk that had been left behind. Russel wasted no time in moving his current taxidermy project to the desk and in moving his favorite Buddy Rich and The Roots vinyls to the bookshelf. His room was only three doors down from 2D's and only two rooms away from Noodle's.

Noodle's room was similar to 2D's in that the band could not figure out what it was used for. 2D noticed the room first when he was scoping out a space for his own and he advised her to take it instead due to it being slightly larger and due to it having its own private shower within its bathroom. Within the first week, the 19-year-old guitarist had painted her walls a light purple and had mounted her guitars and posters of Jimi Hendrix and bands such as Smashing Pumpkins and Bikini Kill.

2D sighed on his bed as he reminisced on her room's decor. She definitely had excellent taste in music. And in scented candles. He could almost smell the lavender and vanilla scents. As soon as he recognized the fragrance, he then felt a presence on his bed and opened his eyes. He did not have to see the intruder to know who it was.

"Noodle?"

"Hey."

He sat up and leaned on his elbows to get a good look at her. She was laying on his bed opposite of him and her head was in the same spot that his was. She was wearing headphones and listening to her MP3 player.

"Tryin' to scare me, huh?" he chuckled.

"Nope. Just wanted to hang out. I've been here for a while, but you were too zoned out to notice me."

2D removed her headphones and put an earpiece against his ear.

"Whatcha listening to?"

"The Cure. Their Disintegration album. I finished most of the best 90s alternative albums last month. I'm making my way through the 80s now. Goth rock and post-punk, mostly. Joy Division and The Smiths are next."

"Who is your new favorite guitarist this month, eh?" 2D asked with a smile.

The young woman shrugged.

"I haven't decided yet. But last month it was James Iha."

The man nodded in understanding. The girl had a peculiar habit of obsessing over certain genres of music—an obsession that seemed to grow in intensity ever since her other Gorillaz figured that it was probably a quirk from childhood and had something to do with how her brain processed instruments in songs, but that the quirk now mutated into an all-consuming coping mechanism for whatever traumas occurred during her time away. They did not know much about the extent of her genetic engineering, just that even as a child, she had the uncanny ability to play any song by ear on guitar. Much to Russel's disappointment, this skill did not translate well to drumming or beatboxing—especially not beatboxing. But after some coaching from Murdoc, she did seem to have some novice skill at playing the bass guitar. 2D returned the headphones to her and slowly sat up to face his glass slider door. He watched his face's reflection in the glass. To his dismay, he could see the beginnings of laugh lines around his mouth. Even his hairline seemed a tad higher than it did last year. It pained him to remember that he was already 31 years old. He certainly did not feel any older.

Noodle crawled over to him from behind. She wrapped her arms around 2D's stomach and lazily rested her head on his.

"What's wrong? You look worried."

The man sighed as he averted his eyes to the carpeted floor.

"I dunno. Once you get to my age, you start thinkin' about things."

"Like what?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"You say that like you're some old man!" huffed Noodle, "You aren't that old yet."

2D noticeably perked up. He looked up over his shoulder to face her.

"Really? You don't think so?"

Noodle shook her head.

"Nah. I mean. You still like to play video games with me. And we trade comic books all of the time. And we like a lot of the same music."

"Well...I think some of that may be because I'm Gen X and we are the generation that just never grew up. And you...well. You have good taste in that stuff, haha."

The bedroom door opened a crack and Russel peaked his head in.

"Hey...Guys?"

While still in their odd embrace, the blue-haired and dark-haired bandmates turned around to see the man calling their attention.

"Um….I'm ordering Indian food. Do you guys want your usual?"

"Yes! Thanks!" chirruped Noodle.

The large man shot 2D a disapproving facial expression. 2D could not figure it out, but hoped that it meant nothing.

"Yup. That'll do. Thanks, mate."

"Right...see you guys when I come back."

2D rubbed his eyes as he felt a familiar pain settle in the back of his head. It always started off fuzzy. Like tv static. He knew that it was only a matter of time before it took over his brain.

"Noodle, luv. I might have to take a nap now. I feel a migraine coming. But I'm out of my meds. Naps are the only other thing that I can do in the meantime."

"I have an idea."

Before he could question her, she was out of his door and racing through the hallway. She came back with her hands in her jean pockets. Noodle immediately closed his door.

"What ya got? Ibuprofen doesn't exactly work on me, ya know."

"Yeah. I know. Open your hands."

2D stretched his palms out, expecting any number of mysterious pills to drop. Instead, she gave him a rolled joint and a lighter.

"Wha—? When did you start smoking spliffs?"

Noodle rolled her eyes and moved the ceramic ashtray from his nightstand closer to her.

"I dunno. I tried it when I was 15?"

He gasped and shook his head.

"But...that was during Demon Days, wasn't it? You were so young…"

The teen groaned and plucked the rolled joint from his hand and put it in her mouth. She lit it and took a deep breath. Then she skillfully blew a small smoke ring. Noodle peeked up from her bangs to see 2D's face frozen in a mixture of horror and amazement.

"Like I said. I've been doing this for a while. Especially once I got back from...you know. It was a nice thing to return to once I came home."

She passed the joint to 2D's outstretched fingers.

"Anyway. When did you start? 16? 17?"

He took in a large breath and choked on the bitter smoke. It truly had been a while.

"Um...well… cough cough...I think I was actually 14…"

"Oh really, Stuart?" snapped Noodle.

"But I was still too young. Who got ya started?"

He passed the stick to her and watched as she took in several puffs with ease. She shrugged as she tried to recount the moment in question.

"I mean...when I first moved in with you guys, you didn't exactly do a good job at hiding it. Friday nights. Album drop parties. I was a little kid, but I could still smell, you know."

"Yeah...we were pretty young then. But we mostly stopped once we realized that it probably wasn't good for you to be around. But who got ya sta—?"

"No one did. I started it myself. Murdoc's friends came over one time. They partied and passed out. So I stole a spliff and tried it myself. Satisfied?"

2D nodded solemnly. He was not exactly angry at her or Murdoc. He was just a little shocked.

"How is your head?" she asked. He could tell that she was clearly trying to change the subject.

"Better. But not gone. That's the problem with spliff. It helps me, for sure. But it takes either a lot of spliff or some strong skunk to completely knock my migraines out. That's why I had to cut back...Yawn...I just couldn't be stoned all day."

2D's mind began to feel hazy. It was a pleasant feeling, but it had been far too long since he was used to it. He laid down on his duvet cover and rolled over to his side.

"Uhhh...My blanket feels amaaaazing. I think that I'm still gonna have to nap."

Noodle crawled over to 2D and waved the cigarette in his face.

"Nope. Finish it with me first."

They laid next to each other and passed the drug back and forth. Noodle had removed her headphone jack from her mp3 player so they could listen to music through its external speaker. 2D's mind was lost in the haze. Is this how music used to feel like? Back when he was a kid and everything still felt wonderful? This must be it.

"I forgot how much I love this album," whispered 2D as his outstretched fingers waited on Noodle to finish. She took a final drag before crushing the small roach into the ashtray on the nightstand.

"Sorry. That's all of it."

"Oh. That's okay, luv."

2D pinched the furrow of his brow as he felt the residual migraine. It had been dulled, but he still needed to rest. He yawned, rolled onto his side, and protectively draped one arm over his dear friend.

"Sleep well, D." she whispered to him.

Author's Note: I don't normally ship these two. I actually low-key hate this pairing 90% of the time. But I had an idea and it wouldn't go away. We all know how that goes, don't we?