Thanks for all the support! Hope you like this chapter! R x
Smoke
-----
2D awoke.
And then it dawned on him.
His face was stuck to the kitchen table.
With dried soup.
And Russel was smashing a pig's head with a mallet.
Right next to him.
"Wah?!" he yelled, bolting up right, and then shrieking loudly as his right cheek was ripped from the table, leaving a large pink mark. "Russel, what are you doing?!" he shouted hysterically, rubbing the raw skin on his face.
"I'm making us some bacon," he grinned, before smashing the swine's head again. 2D flinched, "mmm... nothing like fresh bacon in the morning." Russel grinned.
"And how long you been hittin' that then?" 2D asked.
"Oh, I don't know, ten minutes? I was seeing how long it would take to wake you up 'D."
"Right... I'm gonna wash yeh? 'N' then I'm goin' back to bed." But Russel wasn't listening. He was already pounding the pig again. 2D left raking his hands through his crusty hair.
---------
Noodle awoke.
Her head was throbbing, drumming in a steady rhythm.
She'd been woken by Russel, oh no...not home-made bacon again. She thought. Well, I'm not going to get much peace around here... I'm getting up.
Suddenly there was a great yell from the kitchen, she flinched and tripped over, one leg in, one leg out of a pair pyjama trousers. Jumping up she hastily pulled them on and grabbed a thick black hoodie. Flinging her door open she met 2D in the corridor. He smiled a toothless grin at her, sending flutters up her body again.
Oh great...she sighed, blushing. She rushed past him into the kitchen.
"You okay baby girl? You look a bit... a bit... well I don't know," Russel asked, looking up from his pig, "wanna help?" He said, pointing at his hammer and then the large hog in front of him.
Sickness rolled over her and she dashed back across the hall into her room, locking it shut. Sliding down the door she sighed with relief, but her body was still tingling all over.
I must be ill. She decided. Why else am I acting so strange? It all started yesterday... why has my birthday changed everything? Pulling up from the wall, she slid into her bathroom, started the bath and stared into the mirror. What makes 2D so special eh? She asked her reflection. Confused and dissatisfied, she slipped into her steaming hot bath.
---------
"Oi! Tosspot! Shut it!" Murdoc growled.
"It's Pot!" 2D moaned, "Stuart. Pot."
"I know, face-ache, now shut up!"
Noodle sighed; she'd been listening to their constant bickering for almost an hour. Murdoc was high on a new drug he'd got from Satan-knows-where and the smoke was curling around the corridors. The drug's side effects had made him extremely agitated.
So... She thought, no change there then.
A crash echoed through the kitchen and Noodle cringed, "Fuck-off you arse-faced pretty-boy!" Murdoc yelled and more clangs and crashes ricocheted around Kong. She groaned; the noise was almost unbearable. She was about to leave when her door knocked very softly.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Noodle, 's me, 2D, let me in!" he whispered.
Undoing the deadbolt, she opened the door and he slipped into her room.
"Thanks Noodes," he grinned and her heart fluttered.
He needs to stop doing that! She giggled silently.
"He'll fuck off to the Winnie in a while; bit doped to really know what's going on. Not that I can really speak eh?" He said pointing at his head. She giggled again, watching him whip out two cigarettes, light them and drag on them both, relieving a great sigh of relief.
"What?" he said, at her raised eyebrows, "It helps with my stress. And that, I think it's something to do with Murdoc you know?" he breathed out a heavy plume of smoke over her head. The rush he was giving her was amazing. Her body was tingling all over, like a great itchiness she couldn't sedate. Quietly, she sat down on her bed and picked up her acoustic guitar, the less talking she did the better; but what no talking even going to cure, she didn't know. Very softly, she began playing the first song that she could think of: El Manana and almost silently he joined her on her bed; his back against the wall, humming lightly until he was meant to sing.
Summer don't know me no more Summer don't know me I saw that day,
Eager man, that's all
He just let me love in my sea
Cause I do know, Lord,
from you that
Just died, yeah
Lost my mind
Lord, I'll find
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine...
The room seemed in a time of its own, separated from the rest of Kong and was filled with dim light. 2D's face was lit up in the smoke by the red glow of cigarettes and the music washed over Noodle in the misty haze. Something about the smell of tobacco that lingered in the air around her nose made her curious and another odd sensation filled her body, but this time she knew what it was: craving.
Living in a house with two very heavy smokers who occasionally blew in your face meant that Noodle was used to the slightest longing for cigarettes but had never acted upon it. However, today was another matter. In a warm, hazy room filled with such beautiful music, something changed Noodle and before she could stop herself she had already reached out one delicate arm over to 2D's face and, with the lightest of movements, slowly put her fingers on a cigarette and slipped it out of his mouth. The music had already stopped but the room was filled with an astonishing tension that seemed to sing, as both 2D and Noodle watched each other's reaction.
2D knew he should, but stopping Noodle became impossible. As his lyrics had died away, his whole body had seized up and watched her every movement. It was the combination of her dazzling innocence and the foul evil of the cigarette together with her naïveté that was so fascinating, watching her gingerly place it between her lips and curl two fingers around it. Without meaning to, 2D took another draw, as if showing her how. Copying him, Noodle took a long, slow drag, and sighed. The burning inside her was pacified and had been replaced with a wholesome feeling of contentment. After several long minutes of silence and smoking, she felt her muscles relax and she leant on the wall.
This is sooo good, she thought to herself, tipping her head back and blowing a long stream of cigarette smoke above her.
2D was still motionless, observing her; seeing her relax and sink into the wall with satisfaction thrilled him. Although, gradually her face sharpened, looking anxious and he realised it was because their cigarettes were running down to the filters. He stubbed his out and slipped another out from his pocket along with his lighter. Smiling, she stubbed hers too, on her bedside table before flicking it on the floor. An emptiness swarmed her stomach. Cravings...She groaned to herself.
Another cigarette landed in her lap and she quickly stuck it in between her lips. He lit his and she scooted across next to him, waiting her turn. Reaching out to her face, he faltered, dropping the lighter and the room fell into darkness. Hurriedly, they fumbled around for it and suddenly their hands brushed. Noodle's heart rate rose and her body was filled with flutters.
"G..g..got it..." 2D broke the silence his voice wavering. The lighter flared up and the red flame danced across their faces. 2D's abyss-like eyes glowed in the fire as he reached over to her cigarette. Wow, she's beautiful. he thought, watching her delicate features dance and then disappearing into the dark as he flicked the lighter shut. Contentedly, they sat and took a great satisfying drag; something about today had deepened their bond and they both knew it.
Noodle took her guitar a started playing again. 2D sang, carrying on as before. Beautiful and sombre; the song flowed through the corridors of Kong.
I'll be some
To find you
I saw that day,
Lost my mind
Lord, I'll find
Maybe in time
You'll want to be mine...
Suddenly the door burst open, stopping them both dead in their tracks. Noodle dropped her cigarette in shock, cursing as it landed on her lap. The room flooded with light and through the miasma of smoke the great figure of Russel was silhouetted in the door frame.
"...hey do you know where..." But Russel stopped. They both sat, frozen in fear as Russ focused through the smoke on the cigarette in Noodles hand. "'D, I'ma break yo nose if you been lettin' Noodle smoke wit chu..." He growled.
-----
Uh-Oh! x R x
