For this Chapter:

Character(s), Pairing(s): Noodle, 2D

Rating: K+

Warnings: mentions of: d-day, hospitals, none

Chapter Summary: 2D keeps a lot of useless shit around. [Phase 2]

A/N: God bless tumblr user mei-pot. Enjoy, lovelies~!

TWENTY–SIX: Player Play

2D is unpacking a box of his possessions when Noodle finds him.

'Hello!' she says, and helps herself to a seat on the bed as he wanders back and forth, putting handfuls of DVDs into the display unit screwed into the wall. She remembers the arguments about that shelf, the way Murdoc had waved a screwdriver around and she hadn't understand a word he said, but 2D had been trying to hold the unit steady and doing a very bad job of it. The DVDs fall to one side if not braced, and it makes her smile.

'Hello, love,' he replies, reaches over to ruffle her hair.

As he transfers the rest of the DVDs to the unit, she fiddles with loose odds-and-ends in the box, trinkets like ticket stubs and army men and novelty keyrings she recognises as prizes from coin machines at the funfair.

'What's that?' she asks, when she sees a box under the junk.

'Huh?' 2D comes back to the box and looks inside. 'Oh! That's my Euro '96 Subbuteo set.'

'What's Subbuteo?' she asks, and he hauls the box out, shoving the larger plastic storage box out of the way to sit, cardboard box on his lap.

'It's a tabletop footie game,' he says, and lifts the lid with a tight-cardboard squeal to reveal all of its contents, still carefully packaged.

'You haven't played with it?' she asks, prodding at the plastic bags.

'No,' he says, tilts his head as if trying to remember why not. 'No, I. I was still in the coma when I got it.'

Noodle laughs, and nudges him with an elbow. 'You can't get anything when you're in a coma, silly.'

'Sorry,' he says, flushes. 'I meant like, I got given it, you know? As a present?'

'Who gives that kind of present to a coma patient?'

'Murdoc,' 2D mumbles. 'He bought it. Mum said she told him that's why I had the Saturday job, you know? At the place Murdoc ram-raided. She reckons he felt guilty, but.'

Noodle waits, patiently. This is the first thing not addictive consumables that she knows Murdoc to have bought 2D, and she's fascinated. It's a before time, before her, before the band, before this. She rarely hears tales of a time before the band; Murdoc refuses to talk about Stoke-on-Trent and Russel and 2D's memories are jumbled at best.

'I don't think it was guilt?' 2D says, quiet, still looking at the game. 'I think he thought it might wake me up, yeah? Like, he could get out of taking care of me and stuff if I was awake, 'cause my parents would take me home and he wouldn't have to worry about me no more.'

Noodle doesn't tell him that being awake has not stopped Murdoc worrying about him, because they all worry about him. Murdoc is just the best at hiding it.

'Not that he took much care of me anyway,' 2D continues, grumbling a little. 'Mum said I used to come back with all sorts of bruises and stuff. But whatever, it's all over now, I guess. And he bought me the Subbuteo set, so that was nice of him.'

It would have been nicer if he hadn't hit him in the face with a car, Noodle thinks, but then thinks, a little meanly, that if he hadn't, they wouldn't be sat here now. Murdoc's right in that his dashing, debonair plans had created the band, but he could have just asked.

'Do you,' she starts, and then stops. Frowns at her shoes, feet still not quite touching the floor. 'Do you – regret this? The band?'

2D is fiddling with one of the goals, tracing his fingers over the crosshatch of the netting. For a minute or so, he sits in silence, and she hopes he's considering it and not tuning her out.

'Naw,' he says eventually with a soft shake of his head. 'Naw, I don't think I'd have been happy, staying at home with the – the Emporium. And I was with this girl, Paula. She was nice – really, really nice! I think I could have been happy with her. But, I dunno, love. It was. It was kinda.'

He stops talking, and chews at his lip as he thinks about how to say it.

'It's like. Um. I don't. Things could have – should have! – been different, you know?'

She does know. So many things should have been different. She doesn't think that's going to change any time soon.

'But it's all worked out, right? I mean, we're here now. And we're not – we're okay. We came back, and I haven't – me and Muds, we gotta work it out in our own time, right? But we'll get there.'

Noodle is fairly certain that he's not actually answered the question, but that's fine, she never really expected him to.

'I understand,' she says. 'You don't regret the outcome, just the path we got here by.'

'Yeah! That's it! You're so good with your words now, Noods. It's real great, hearing you talk proper.'

She smiles, and he beams back. Sometimes, she thinks she's perfectly aware of what he's doing and saying, and plays it up out of expectation, and other times she can't be sure he even understands himself. But still, he's sweet. Harmless, really.

'It's nice seeing you confident as well,' she says, and touches his hand.

He's as English-cool as ever, rainy and soft and boyish, wear on the knuckles, on the fingertips, dirt beneath his nails. She's missed touching him. Being away had made her think that she was alright, that things were fine, that she was older and more mature and Knew Better now. She was wrong, of course, but never mind, she supposes. Never mind.

She's still young. Still so much to learn, to know, to understand.

'Being away was good,' he says, and he touches her hand as if he can't believe it's real. He missed her a lot, she knows. 'But being back is better. You gonna give me those lyrics you wrote? I wanna start practising. Gotta make this album the best, yeah?'

'Yeah,' she smiles, nods. 'Yeah.'

She looks at the Subbuteo set in his lap, still pristinely packaged and unplayed, a toy for a boy long lost in the rain, and leaps to her feet.

'Finish unpacking,' she says, 'and I'll bring you the lyrics then, okay?'

He nods, and pulls her in for a hug, because he's missed hugging her, and she has always thought he gave the best, so she's more than happy to give in, to bury her face in his paracetamol- and body spray-stinking neck and just hold him for the moment. It's nice.

'I missed you,' she whispers, and he hums, squeezes her tight.

'I missed you too, love,' he whispers back, and it takes him a few minutes to let her go.

NOTES:

Title from Sweepstakes.

2D says in RotO that the reason he had the Saturday job was to get the Euro 96 Subbuteo set. He then goes on to talk about the similarities and differences between sets, and it's so sweet like what an adorable boy. I think my brothers had that one, too.

Short but sweet?

Thanks for reading, lovelies~!