Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz.
A/N: Keep reading, keep reviewing, keep getting chapters! This one's longer, pay careful attention to the details, they all mean something.
I lay in my bed that night, with my bandaged arm lying next to me, pulsing painfully. Noodle had told me to keep pressure on it, along with warning me she'd kick my ass so bad I'd have no blood left to bleed if I did it again, and it stung like a thousand fire ants. Well, it was what I deserved, I guess.

I rolled over, and the sheet caught on my foot. Lately, little Noods had been taking up a lot of my mind. I mean, a lot of it. Was that normal? I hoped so. I wouldn't want people thinking of me as some sick-ass perv going after his bandmates.

I tried to change topics and think of the upcoming album. We had some pretty good songs, but only eight or nine - it wasn't enough.

A newspaper lying on the floor caught my eye. It was Noodles', one of her anti-government papers. She had been in here earlier, reading it while she waited for me to wake up. I reached over, not bothering to get off the bed, and picked it up. Flipping it open to a random page, I scanned the article, which showed giant pictures of a building covered by canvas and tarpaulin, hidden from view all around.

"...So far," says Maria Dover, Head Officer of the PPCDA, "All we know is that the project is mandatory, destructive, and is titled Feel Good Inc."

I paused, read it, reread it, and stared at that one phrase.

Feel Good Inc.

It had a nice sound to it, but there was something about it hidden, like a subliminal message - it gave off a bad vibe. Anything that demands a happy feeling isn't good.

Feel Good Inc. I should ask Noodle for more of her newspapers.

Damn. And there I went again, my thoughts returning to her.

Okay. Sleeping was not going to work, obviously.

I sat on the edge of the bed, gathering myself, and went down the hall. There were no sounds from her room, but I knew she was awake and listening for something, too.

I knocked. Even though no words were said in the first place, a hush fell. Then, the door creaked open. Noodle peered out in the darkness, cautiously.

"2D-sama?" She asked. There was tiredness in her voice.

"Wha's tha' Feel Good Inc?"

She stared at me like I found out her greatest secret. A pause. "Come in here," she said, yawning and motioning me inside. I crept in. She closed the door behind me.

She sat down on her bed and took the paper from my hand.

"You read this?" she asked gravely. I nod, feeling like a puppy who's peed all over the floor and the master's coming home.

Noodle sighs, exasperated. She flops onto the bed. "This isn't good."

"It was in me room," I say, "I jus' picked it up an'-"

"No, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have left it lying around... God, this isn't– promise me you won't tell ANYONE you saw this. Promise."

"I promise. Can ya tell me wha' Feel Good Inc is?"

Noodle takes a breath. It's obvious she'd rather forget this whole thing, but I'm not letting her off the hook that easy, especially now that she's acting like it's the end of the world.

"It's a project," she explains, "Started by the government to achieve absolute control over it's people in a so-called constitutional way. Basically, you get locked up into this Feel Good tower and held there until everything anti-gov has been weeded out and destroyed."

"Like Rapunzel," I say, "Y'know wif the 'air an' tha' tower..." and if there was a list of things NOT to say at this time, that'd be number one. Noodle glared.

"That's what I'm against," she snapped, "To try and stop it before it starts. You know why I'm in danger? Because if they find my name, it will be a matter of hours before they kill everyone in this home, on the spot."

I feel my heart in my throat. I'm getting nervous, but she can't know that. "Death don' sound so scary if ya think 'bout it," I stutter, but it's pretty clear how I really feel.

Noodle shrugs. "Death doesn't scare me," she says, and then, "Only what happens after it."

"Like 'eaven an' 'ell?" I ask. I am not sure what she's getting at.

She shakes her head. "No," she mutters, "Not where I go... what I become..."

I did not understand, as usual.

"D'ya b'leve in 'eaven?" I ask, curious. Noodle doesn't seem like the religious type.

"No," she says, sounding lighter, "Reincarnation. I'm Buddhist."

"Yer Buddhist?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So 'm I!"

"Really? You aren't kidding?"

"Not a' all. Were ya tawkin' 'bout reincarnation, then?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head, confused.

"When ya said ya 're gonna beome summfink afta' life."

Noodle gives me the strangest look, and I still don't understand what she means. "No... I wasn't talking about reincarnation, either."

Suddenly, I realize why we connect like that, or I make one of my '2D-theories' - we have a Zen bond or something like that. That's the reason Muds and Russ... or maybe just Muds, can't see what we see in Noodle, or find anything special about her. They don't connect, they repel.

She yawns suddenly, signaling the end of our talk. I look at her Armageddon clock, forget how to tell time for a few minutes, then figured out at least thirty minutes had passed since I came in.

"Errmm, I'm tired," she groaned, pushing me towards the door, "I have to get changed. Out. Now."

I backed up, stepping outside the doorway, when she kissed my cheek. It caught me off guard, although, I had to say, it wasn't bad. Really soft lips. She had to stand on her tiptoes and it was just a peck, but that didn't really matter 'cause I felt my face heating like a furnace. Noodle scanned my expression, and a smirk appeared. Zen bond. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"My, how red we are," she observed, trying to suppress a smile, and closed the door on me.

It wasn't a rejection.

It was an invitation.