Murdoc Niccals was never really the type of guy who has relationships. He's a one-night stand kind of guy who kicks out women after he's done with them. But for some reason, his interest in women, little by little is fading. Sure he still does it with whores, but it doesn't seems as exciting as before. No wait, screw that, there is NO excitement whatsoever. He then came to the point where he assumes that there is no point in having sex if you can't even enjoy it. You could say he hasn't done any recent 'activity' other than drinking. He even spends more time drinking than interacting with 'his' band. He doesn't even come out of his winne that often anymore. It was really worrying his bandmates...What's happening to him? That's what his bandmates wanted to know and that's what is making them approach the winnebago.

"He should be awake by now" Russel was about to knock if it wasn't for a nervous 2D suddenly stopping him by holding his wrist.

"Don't yew fink he'll be pissed?"

"We must know what's bothering him, Toochi"

"Fine then..." 2D let go of Russel's wrist and stepped back from the door.

Three hard knocks were given. "Ey yo Muds, you in there?"

A grunt, shuffling of beer cans and bottles, and finally footsteps approaching the door. The door swung open to reveal a half-drunk, half-pissed Murdoc. Guess 2D was right.

"The fuck do yew all wont?" He bitterly said.

"Murdoc-kun, are you okay?" Noodle said with eyes of concern.

"I wos until yew knocked on me door" Murdoc chugged the rum in his hand.

"Seriously man, you've changed. You ain't practicing with us anymore" Russel noticed 2D shaking a bit and avoiding Murdoc's eyes.

"Wot? Can't a guy rest a while?"

"It's been three weeks" Noodle said directly.

"Sooooooo?" Murdoc looked ready to slam the door on their faces.

"Ey guys, we should talk ta him when he's sober, y'know, alot less pissy" 2D piped.

"Or how bout yew talk to me-"

"During dinner?" Russel suddenly got between his sentence which seemed to make him angrier.

"WHEN PIGS FUCKING FLY" And with that, the door was slammed followed by a huge 'BANG' sound that echoed through the carpark.

2D stared at the door. "Well, that went well"

"That cracka-ass better be with us during dinner"

Noodle sighed. "I'm gonna go play, wanna play with me 2D-kun?"

"Sure fing, luv"

Russel yawned "You two play your video games, I'mma go take a nap"

"Or eat" 2D said jokingly.

Russel snickered. "Shut up, man"

/ 2 HOURS LATER /

2D, somewhat frustrated, put down the controller.

"Bloody hell, when will I ever beat yew, luv?"

Noodle giggled. "Maybe never"

He stood up. "Well, since I'll never beat yew, wanna go get some ice cream?"

Noodle jumped from the couch "I would love to!"

"I'll just change clothes. Could yew fix dat for me, luv?" He points at their messy play area.

"Hai"

"Fanks"

2D was on his way to the lift when he saw Russel with a bag of chips.

He snickered. "Oi Russ, I thought yew were napping?"

"Just so you know, I did and I felt hungry so..." He emphasized the chips.

"Ov course"

Russel smirked and waved him off and went toward his room. 2D did the same. He was off the lift and was about to go to his room when he spotted the winnebago. He found himself slowly and silently moving towards it.

'Is he okay now? I hope he won't be as pissed as before...' He thought to himself.

Murdoc was sitting on his bed, his head full of thoughts.

'Why is this happening to me? Why am I feeling like this?' He thought.

He snapped out of it when he heard knocking. He was about to yell when heard 2D's voice

"Muds? Yew in there? Can I come in?"

He sat silently then laid down on his bed.

"Yew okay in there? Muds?!"

He heard the door open slightly then closed his eyes as if he was sleeping to see what the bluenette would do.

2D went inside to look for his mate. He then saw him "sleeping" on his bed, assuming he passed out from drinking.

"Mate?" He checked if he was really out.

2D stared at him for a while, admiring how peaceful he looked while sleeping.

The bassist almost flinched when the singer broke the silence.

"Yew look really calm when yew're sleeping, when yew're not hitting me, calling me names...or hurting me. Its a rare sight" Both of them frowned.

Murdoc felt surprised when a blanket was wrapped around him.

"If yew only knew..." 2D trailed off then left the winne.

After hearing the door shut, the satanist rose from his fake sleep.

"If yew only knew too"

After fixing himself up, the singer went to look for the little guitarist. He found her sitting on the couch in the room they've just played in. Damn, he didn't even recognize the place.

"Nice job yew did here, luv"

"Arigato. What took you so long?"

"Wot, con't a guy prepare himself a lil?"

"Its been fifteen minutes, Toochi. I was about to check on you actually"

"Heh, sorry Noods"

She smiled and nodded as they went towards the door, after Noodle thought aloud.

"Seriously, what kind of guy takes fifteen minutes to change?"

"Oh shaddup, Noods" They laughed.

A few minutes after they left, Murdoc decides to eat after realizing his stomach is grumbling. He wasn't surprised to see the drummer in the kitchen but was a little surprised to see he wasn't eating. Russel Hobbs not eating in a kitchen full of food? That's a first.

Russel grinned. "Hey man, isn't it a little too early for our dinner talk?"

"Shut et lard-ass, I'm hungry"

"What, can't wait for two more hours for dinner?"

Well hes gotta admit, Russel's cooking is pretty damn delicious.

"Ugh, fine but don't expect me to talk about me emotions or shit"

"Oh, don't worry, we'll get it out of you eventually"

Murdoc went towards the balcony for a smoke and Russel went back to listening to some of their tracks.

"A good view of mountains of rubbish" He said to himself.

Thoughts began swirling in his head again, memories of what happened less than an hour ago made him feel anxious, guilty...happy.

He began thinking to himself again. 'What did he mean if I only knew? knew what? that I was hurting him? Of course I know that. Did he mean something else...?"

The last thought gave him hope. He was thinking so much, he didn't realize an hour has already passed. He was taken out of his mind when he saw a flash of light blue down below. He saw Noodle and 2D chatting while heading towards the door. Murdoc knows Russel will get the door, so he just smokes some more.

2D sat on the couch, exhausted. Noodle sat beside him.

"Thank you for taking me out today, Toochi"

"Ya welcome, luv."

"Oh, and arigato for the chocolate!"

He smiled. "No prob, Noods"

He stood up and held his pack of cigarettes and went out of the room after patting the chocolate-eating guitarist.

The bassist was staring off into the distance when he heard the door opened behind him.

"Oh, hey Muds"

"Hey dullard"

It unnerved him that the person hes been thinking about for over an hour is standing right beside him. Luckily, he knows how to keep a straight face. He saw the bluenette searching his pockets.

"Well, fuck"

"Wot is et?"

"I don't have my lighter" 2D was about to go get his lighter from his room.

"*sigh* hold on" Murdoc too searched his pockets.

He extended his arm to 2D, holding a silver lighter with a black upside-down cross design on it. "Here"

"Ey, fanks Muds!" He thanked happily.

"Yeah, yeah"

He has to admit, he likes seeing 2D happy. 2D finally lit up his fag and handed the lighter back.

"So, yew and luv went somewhere?"

"We went to some places after treating her ice cream"

"Ah"

2D looked down. "We were talking 'bout yew"

Murdoc got interested. "Really now?"

"Yeah..."

"And why were yew talking 'bout me?

"We were worried, yew dun' talk to us anymore. I'm lucky ta be talking to yew right now"

"I guess yew are"

"So, wots up with yew? He looked at Murdoc

"Hmmm?" He looked at 2D

"Wots happening to yew?" They maintained eye contact.

"I just..." He trailed off.

"Just thinking 'bout stuff"

"Wot kind ov stuff?"

The satanist, again, stared into the distance, not knowing what to say.

"Murdoc?" No response.

"Muds, con't yew tell me?" He seemed desperate for an answer.

As tempting as it is, he doesn't feel like now is the right time. Not now, not when Russel and/or Noodle can barge in to call them for dinner. He doesn't feel ready either.

"Tell yew wot, I'll tell yew when I can"

"When yew can?" 2D squint one of his eyes and tilted his head, doing his 2D-ish look.

"When I feel ready, mate"

"Wow, how big a deal is et?"

He grinned. "Bigger than Russ"

2D was in a fit of snickers. "Must be huge then"

"Yep" They laughed.

They love moments like this when they really are best mates. When no ones kicking ass of the other or hurting anyone. Unfortunately, these precious moments aren't so often and aren't so long.

"Muds! D! Get your Brit asses here and eat!" Russel yelled from inside.

"Pity, I wanted to make fun of him more" Murdoc dropped his fag and stomped on it.

"We can do et again later" 2D did the same.

/ DINNER /

The four band members were eating silently. Halfway through dinner, Russel and Noodle noticed 2D and Murdoc spaced out. They're used to 2D spacing out but for Murdoc its a rare sight.

Noodle poked 2D. "Toochi?"

And hes back to reality. "Hmm? Wot is et?"

"What were you thinking about?"

He blushed lightly, hardly noticeable to the others.

"I wos just finking about how a spoons like a mini shovel fer food" He said, slightly embarrassed.

Russel and Noodle chuckled at the thought. Murdoc didn't seem to hear any of it. While 2D resumed eating, Noodle and Russel traded looks. Signaling each other to talk to Murdoc this time.

"Murdocu?" Noodle tried getting his attention. Didn't work.

"Murdoc" Russel tried. No luck.

Russel was about to nudge him when all of a sudden Murdoc's cigarette pack fell from his pocket but he didn't seem to take notice. 2D spotted it when he heard it land on the floor.

"Uh, ey Muds, yew dropped yer fags" 2D pointed at the pack on the floor.

Murdoc looked up to 2D then followed to where his finger was pointing. He grabbed the pack and stuffed it to his pocket. Russel and Noodle felt surprised and looked at each other.

"Muds" Russel tried again.

Murdoc turned his head to face Russel. He seems to be back to earth.

"Remember what I told you?"

He raised a hidden eyebrow under his bangs and thought for a moment before remembering they were gonna talk about his 'problems'. He gave a face that says, "well fuck me"

"So, we can properly discuss about you now" 2D looked up from his plate.

"Wots there to discuss?" Murdoc said with a straight tone.

"Well, there's the issue of you acting all weird and shit"

"None of yer fucking business"

"We're bandmates. Its the band's whole business if the bandleader is acting all fucked up"

"Well, SORRY for being this way. Satan, I'm just going through something. Can yew NOT leave me to et?"

"What the hell are you goin' through that it takes you more than three weeks to deal with it?"

"ETS JUST SOME PERSONAL SHIT!"

"WELL WHY DON'T YOU TELL US SO WE CAN HELP YOU?!"

"SHUT YER FUCKING TRAP ALREADY! YOU'D NEVA UNDERSTAND"

"WELL HOW SHOULD I KNOW IF YOU AIN'T TELLIN' WHAT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD?!"

While the two band members screamed at each other, Noodle noticed 2D walking out of the kitchen.

'He does hate fights...' Noodle thought.

2D was murmuring on his way back to his room, continuing what he was thinking about besides the spoon-shovel idea.

'Muds seemed okay talking to me earlier, but not to Russ? Is it because I'm his best mate? Am I more trustworthy to him than the others? Is he changing? He didn't even hit me today. Less name calling too. Not that I'm complaining. Its just...weird.'

When he finally reached his room, he got comfortable and laid on his bed.

"Today wos interesting..." He murmured and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Murdoc left the kitchen after replying, "Woteva, fuck this and fuck you", leaving Russel and Noodle on the table.

"Sorry for that, Noods. He was really gettin' to my nerves"

"Its okay Russel, but it was weird..."

"What is, baby girl?"

"He only paid attention to 2D"

Russel's mind flowed back to that moment. Murdoc looked like he snapped back to reality by the sound of 2D's voice. Then, he recalled a few more times Murdoc had something to 2D. The past few days he noticed, in the few times the bassist actually goes out of the winne, he would stare at the singer with this focused look.

"I wonder what shit hes going through"

"Me too. I might ask 2D if something happened between them"

"I think you should do it tomorrow, baby girl. He seemed tired and he might be sleeping already"

"We did walk a lot...I'm tired too actually. Goodnight Russel-san!" She stood up

"Alright, g'night, Noods"

She was about to leave but then she spoke again.

She smirked. ""Hey Russel"

"Yeah?" He said while doing the dishes.

"Atleast we know he wasn't thinking of how a fork is like a trident for food"

He chuckles. "Atleast"

Til next chapter. Sankyu for reading~!