Ballerina

by cherry

She can dance

Up on the stage

Like she's moving inside a diamond

Where it protects her.

'Ballerina', OLIVIA Lufkin

>>>>>

"Do you know what you did?"

Murdoc took a sip of his beer, belched, and then made it resume it's position on his protruding gut. "No mate, what did me do?"

"You took the geep out for a drive, came home, and then DIDN'T put it back in the car park."

Murdoc picked some lint out of his belly button. "And this is important because...?"

"It snowed last night."

"Well then I guess you better get shoveling, eh?"

2D opened the closet with force. He threw a jacket, gloves, and boots at the ageing rockstar lounging around on the couch. Murdoc ducked one boot but the second one hit him square in the jaw. "Ow! Don't you bloody throw boots at me!"

"And don't come back until you're done!"

>>>>>

"Lousy, spiky haired son-uv-a-bitch..." Murdoc mumbled as he shoveled snow from under and around the geep. He'd been working for an hour and had almost cleared a path from the geep into the car park. He couldn't wait to finish so he could go inside and resume drinking his beer in his underwear while watching Saturday morning cartoons.

"Done!" He threw the shovel to the ground and then ran over to the geep, ready to drive it into the car park. He stopped in his tracks when he realized he'd left the keys on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Shit." He turned and walked quickly back into the corridor and through the door that led to the eating quarters. He walked into the kitchen and began his search.

"What?" 2D's head poked out from behind the refrigerator door, obviously looking for something to feed himself.

"Keys?"

"Table."

Low-and-behold, there they were. Murdoc grabbed them and made his way out to the car park. On his way he got a glimpse inside the living room. There he saw Russell sitting in his favorite spot on the couch, watching T.V.

"Oi!" He called, "You'd better be up and moved by the time I get back in!"

"Fuck you ya pussy eatin' mutha fucka."

"Fair enough."

Back outside, Murdoc got into the geep, put in the keys, and resumed to drive it into the car park. He parked it in the usual space close to the corridor entrance. He took the keys out and put them in his pocket, but didn't exit from the geep right away.

"So what can I bloody do today?" He said out loud, to no one in particular. He COULD go back and watch T.V., but he didn't feel like dealing with Russell at the moment. Might as well do both of them a favor and not make an awkward situation worse. He thought of hanging out with 2D, but the singer was usually doing something more constructive and didn't feel like being bothered or disturbed by Murdoc's crazy and almost always immature views of what he considered 'fun.'

"Russell and 2D are both rubbish..." He said to himself. "Why, the only one who ever likes to spend time with me is..." He snapped his fingers. "Of course! I'll hang out with ol' Noodle girl!"

>>>>>>

"Hey, is Noodle-luv in her room?"

2-D peered at Murdoc over the magazine he was reading, then his eyes traveled slowly to the kitchen floor before going back to the text on the pages.

"You're tracking mud."

"Bloody 'ell, mate..."

2-D snickered suddenly. "You're tracking mud, Muds..."

"Tsk. Fuck off. Where's the little bugger at?"

"Noodle should be in 'er room, but clean up dat shit first, eh? I dun wanna step in it."

>>>>>

After Mudoc's cleaning spree, the mop was left dingy and dirty, quarts of mud appeared to be trapped in it's depths. He placed the mop back in the bucket.

"All finished, MOM."

2-D put the magazine down and scrutinized the newly washed floor. "Very nice! Now you can go out and play."

"I'm gunna put rat poison in your food."

"Yea, yea..."

>>>>>

"Noodle-luv! Wanna play some X-box with ol' Mudsy? He got your favorite game, 'e did!

"Oi! Ya little bugger, why don'cha answer me?" He knocked a little harder as if to trigger a response, even though he knew she wasn't in there. A normal Noodle would hear the word "X-box" and come running. To quench his curiosity, Mud's opened her door (which was never locked, because Noodle caring about privacy was like Murdoc caring about hygiene; it just didn't happen) and peered inside.

No Noodle.

Although Shaun's door was open. The giant head was sleeping from lack of nutrients. Muds always wondered how someone could sleep in a room with a giant decapitated head. But Noodle was cool like that. She wasn't scared of anything.

Mud's closed the door and whistled to himself as he walked down the corridor and back into the kitchen.

"She ain't in her room, mate"

He opened the fridge and scanned the contents. When he didn't get a response, he closed the door and looked at the table, but 2-D wasn't there anymore.

Muds hated days like this. Days where people seemed to ignore or avoid him, for one reason of another. It happened almost all the time, either Murdoc did something to offend them or they came up with a reason to be upset. It seemed to be the later, for Murdoc didn't remember doing something that openly offended anyone in the studio, or caused them to be as irritable as they were acting. If only he could find Noodle. She was always nice to him.

He kicked the door of a cabinet, not for destructive purposes, but merely to vent some of the clenching feelings welling up in his chest. He stuck his hand in his pocket to make sure he still had the key to his Winnebago. Sure enough, it was there. He decided to go back to his crap-shack, a.k.a. "Home" and see what was on his little black and white t.v. He smiled, remembering that he still had half a beer in his fridge. Besides, with Noodle no where to be found, the Studio was a boring place.

He walked through the corridor and out to the car park, stopping once he got out to take a whiff of the air. His mouth curved up into a crooked smile at the scent of gasoline and smoke. A comfort aroma, at least for Murdoc. Slowly, his head turned left and the Winnebago came into view.

>>>>>

The Christmas tree air fresheners did nothing to hide the smell of tobacco and liquor. It was beyond Murdoc why they were even there in the first place. The only reason he didn't move them was because they looked pretty punk rock.

He threw his keys on the kitchen table and then put his mouth on the faucet and took a gulp of water. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and then searched for his half empty can of beer in the fridge. Remembering he finished it last night, he slammed the door closed and kicked it. He would have to pick some more up at the market. Again.

He trudged into his bedroom, stripping his clothes and throwing them on the floor in the process. When he reached his room and opened the door, he was clad only in his briefs, scratching his belly and burping. He climbed into his bed, but slowly stopped when he realized something was wrong. He turned his head and scanned his room, a feeling of paranoia creeping up his spine. When his eyes fell on the clumped up bulging covers on his bed, he stopped, and stared. Something in the covers twitched and gave a small shudder. He brought his hand up cautiously and yanked the blankets off the bed, but the sight in front of him was anything but threatening. A low noise came from deep within his throat and escaped through his mouth.

"Awwww..."

Noodle shivered at the sudden cold. She moved her hands around the bed, searching for the covers. When she didn't find them, she opened her eyes and searched the room, her gaze falling on Muds. His lips curved up into a smile as he looked at her surprised reaction. So unbelievably cute.

"Mudsy!" She jumped on him, sending them both to the floor. Noodle was thirteen now, and her body was getting bigger. Muds was still looking for a way to explain to her that she can't jump on him anymore. She was a little too heavy now.

"Noodle-luv, you're a big girl now. Ya can't jus jump on ol' scoundrels like me. I can't carry you anymore."

Noodle laughed, but Murdoc knew she didn't understand. Noodle had been getting a little better with her English, but she hadn't made much progress, and was very stubborn when it actually came to speaking it. It was always a challenge to understand what she wanted or was trying to say.

Muds got up off the floor only to realize he had stripped down to his underwear. He began frantically looking for his pants but not before Noodle noticed and decided to make a move.

"Poke!" She jabbed her index finger in his pot belly before laughing and running off.

"Ow! Why you little...!" Muds zipped up his fly and rushed out of the bedroom. He found her sitting on the floor in the Winnebago front, eyeing a certain game system in front of the T.V.

She pointed to it. "X-box!"

"Ha! Yea, an' guess what your ol' friend Mudsy got..." Noodle put her hands over her mouth, already expecting what Murdoc was taking out of a gaming rent shop game. She could hardly keep her excitement in check as she jumped up and down. She grabbed the game out of Murdoc's hand and hugged it to her chest.

Disemboweler 4. The game where ugly-ass zombies disembowel each other with rusty chainsaws. Noodle's favorite game.

"Let's put it in, eh? Hey, hey! Stop spinning around an' get over here!"

Noodle was twirling around on her tippy toes, like a ballerina, holding the game out in front of her. She heard the aggravated tone in Murdoc's voice, and soon stopped her dance, walking over to him and the X-box. He took the game from her and put it in the system. Noodle settled down in a comfy position next to Murdoc, with her head resting on his bare shoulder, and watched the title screen flash on.

"Oh!" Noodle dropped her controller and jumped up off the floor to run into the kitchen. She turned and looked at Muds. "Food?"

He shook his head, "Naw, luv. I'm good."

She shrugged and walked over to Murdoc's petite table. She took a chair and dragged it over to the counter. She stepped up on it and began rummaging around in a cabinet. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she moved onto the second one. Muds watched her work. He decided this was a good a time as any to contemplate how she could have gotten into his Winne. He always left the door locked, on account of 2-D always trying to sneak in and steal a fag. So the door was out of the question. Could she have come in through the window? Noodle skipped over once more, disrupting him from his thoughts. She was equipt with a bag of chocolate chip cookies. She stood in front of him for a while, just giggling and munching on cookies.

"Uh, Noodle. 'Owed you git in 'ere?"

Noodle stared in silence, the only sound being heard the crunch, crunch, crunch of the cookies in her mouth.

"...because I lock tha door, see?" Murdoc pointed to the doorknob. "LOCK." He said it loudly, hoping that Noodle would understand a little easier. She only stared.

"Cookie?"

"No Noodle, I don't want a goddamn cookie."

>>>>>>

This story is strange for me. I'd like to continue but only if people like it. There will be sex in later chapters, or at least I want there to be. I'd like people's opinions on the matter, though. Whether they think it would be too risky, considering Noodle is so young. Tell me what you think.