He stuffed some of the stuffed animals under one arm, and held another from it's tail. He kind of felt that there were too many bright lights and colours for the situation to be comfortable, but that didn't matter. Hell, he was outside. Away from the island. Away from that stupid room with the broken elevator.
Actually, that elevator was probably sabotaged. He didn't put the idea past Murdoc, all recent events considered.
"2D, here." The purple haired teen pointed to another stall down the far end. He attempted to push his hair out of his eyes without letting go of the toys.
"Comin', luv." She walked with ease through the crowd. 2D lowered his head and pushed through so he could keep up. The lights were quite blinding, and the music was a little too loud. He could feel a headache coming on, but at least it wasn't as bad as usual. In fact, his mind was blissfully empty, if you ignored the commotion that is usual at carnivals such as this one.
It was such a strange occurrence, being comfortable in his own skull. He glanced up at the girl he'd known for years. To be honest, it felt like he hadn't actually spoken to her in a long time. He wondered why that was. Usually they couldn't go a few days without talking.
Perhaps this was why his mind was so unusually pleasant. Because things were right again. Because he was with her.
She stopped at the stall she pointed to and nodded. "This one."
"K." He looked at his back pocket. "Er…" She realized his arms were full and quickly grabbed his wallet out of his pocket. "'Fanks luv."
"I should be thanking you." She corrected as she paid the man behind the counter. The game was simple. Shoot the targets, get a certain amount of points, win a prize.
"Do yer really need all this?" He tightened his grip on the animals that were starting to slip. Granted, she didn't seem to have very many stuffed animals any longer.
She picked up one of the guns and answered him without looking back. "I suppose not. But I want them. Want to take the first shot?"
He shook his head. He wasn't very good with weapons anyway. He could fire a gun, but he couldn't aim.
Although, the last time he checked, neither could Noodle.
Regardless, she held the firearm as if it was the easiest thing in the world. It rested snugly against her arm. She grinned as she held it, as if she was being reunited with an old friend. Then, she took three shots in rapid succession. All of them hitting the targets perfectly.
2D frowned. That wasn't like Noodle. She wasn't usually able to handle firearms, was she? Or was he just thinking of how she was back when she was ten?
He gazed down and let his eyes rest on her shoulders. He was quickly reminded of something he'd seen… of Noodle, hooked up to cables. Three of which were in that very shoulder.
That's right. That's not Noodle. He frowned. That was a clone.
She placed the gun down and pointed to a pink elephant. "That one." The person at the desk grabbed the toy and handed it to her. "Thanks." She passed it to 2D and smiled. "We should go soon. My batteries are running low."
He only frowned as the throbbing in his skull intensified. That's right. This Noodle had batteries.
This Noodle could be programmed to hate him, if Murdoc wanted. And this Noodle didn't really care for him. How could a collection of circuits feel anything for anyone?
He closed his eyes and wondered, briefly, if he could keep pretending that this girl was the real thing. Probably not. Without her, he felt like he didn't know himself anymore.
I miss you. He followed the clone out of the carnival and onto the boat that would take them back to Plastic Beach. The moon reflected off the waves and made her face light up. He wondered if the real Noodle actually existed once. Had she? She felt like a dream, now. I miss you and I need you.
Soothe like a wave,
and crash far.
Closing in on the moon,
And who we are.
I love those lyrics. Think of Robo-Noodle as the wave. Having something similar to Noodle would be comforting. Soothing, even. Just as an escape from reality perhaps. But she's closing in on reality and it gets harder for 2D to treat her as different. He frequently starts treating her as if she were the real thing. And by 'closing in on who we are', he starts forgetting who he is, and also who she is. He needs the real Noodle to help him remember both her and himself, not the clone.
The waves are rising and obscuring the moon and himself. Or, Robo-Noodle is obscuring his reality and perception of himself and/or Noodle.
(Of course, that's if I got the correct lyrics. There are so many sites, they all say something different, so...)
I'll stop trying to be symbolic now. Fic inspired by this pic here: userserve-ak(dot)last(dot)fm/serve/_/43734865/Gorillaz+Plastic+Beach+Promo(dot)png (Replace (dot) with full stops/periods/dots. You may also need to add http:/ to the beginning.)
I'm warming up to her, I suppose. Still, it won't be Gorillaz without the real Noodle.