(Hey look…another chapter…doo dee doo…)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gorillaz or even a glowing blue zombie nightlight. (imagine my brother's faces if I did…)

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Meanwhile Murdoc had proudly exited the lift on the fourth floor with Noodle's food. The bassist smirked as he emptied Noodle's food into the toilet still occupied by a stuck zombie and closed the bathroom door.

He knocked on the ten year old's bedroom, and listened as she slammed the book shut and stomped towards the door.

"Hai?" came an annoyed voice from inside.

"Food, love," he said, imitating the singer's voice.

Noodle opened the door, and when he saw her, she had her back turned, beckoning what she thought was the singer inside of her room.

Murdoc grinned, and did just that, closing the door behind him.

"Gomen nasai," she said nonchalantly, her back still turned. "Fushidara desu."

"Uh…okay." The bassist offered, allowing his rough voice to return. Noodle whirled to face him, horror and shock in her eyes.

"AUTO!" she screamed upon recovery, but this time, Murdoc didn't move. She had nowhere to go. Noodle glared at him so hard, you would have thought Death himself had passed directly between her and Murdoc, leaving the air around them tight and cold.

"Wot's up?" he asked lazily.

Noodle sighed and rubbed her temples. "Food?" she asked impatiently.

Murdoc grinned. "It was…uh….indisposed when ya took too lon' ta answer the door." He guessed she understood him, for his statement only made her fume even more.

"C'mon…." he said, tantalizing her. "I know ya wanna speak English."

"Iie." She said stubbornly, kicking her book out of view.

Murdoc scratched his stubbled chin, then shrugged. "Awright, then. No English, no food."

Noodle scowled, picked up the book, and flipped through it. A second later, she looked up defiantly, fire in her eyes. "Damn….you." she said haltingly, but pure satisfaction in her slitted eyes.

The bassist's anger caught in his throat as he resisted the urge to slap the girl, but he knew Russ would have his hide if he found out. Instead, he pushed his testosterone down and instead laughed awkwardly.

Noodle's look of triumph dissolved into one of confusion. "Nani?"

Murdoc grinned at her. "I'm rubbin' off on yeh. Lards won' like that."

Noodle merely glared and prepared to shove the bassist out of her room, but instead, he held up a jangling key ring. "Wanna go for a spin?" he asked cheesily.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Ten minutes later after yelling and coaxing, Murdoc convinced Noodle to take the stairs to the carpark instead. Jogging down the steps, Noodle was muttering to herself in Japanese, telling herself that the only reason she was going was because her stomach was screaming at her.

Murdoc opened the geep door, and Noodle climbed in, looking interested. She poked the rubix cube dangling from the rearview mirror, then sat quietly in her seat.

"We're gonna ge' som'm ta eat, Noodle-girl, jus' you an' me. Ta make up for us hatin' each other and all. 'Ow's that?"

Noodle stared at him with the same expression 2D had given him a while ago. But she looked away from his mismatched eyes, staring at the dashboard inside. Was it possible for Murdoc Niccals to actually make up with her? She peered through her bangs at him, watching him focus blandly on the road. What evil plot was going on inside his horrible head of his?

They drove in silence for quite some time before Murdoc finally slowed the geep and stopped in front of a Chinese take-out restaurant. He gave a sly half-grin revealing dirty pointed teeth when the geep shuddered to a halt.

"'Ere's some familia' food for yeh." He said in his best attempt to be a bright voice.

Noodle slowly moved her eyes up so instead of gazing upon his mismatched ones, she looked at the "CHINESE" part of the sign, then back down to Murdoc.

"Uhhhh…" she mumbled, one eyebrow raised.

Oblivious, the bassist merely shrugged and waited for her to get the food. She watched him carefully as she picked up her bag and walked inside the take-out store, eyeing him, expecting any moment for the geep to swerve away.

But the wheels stayed in place as she got in, ordered, waited, and picked up the paper boxes and two chopsticks. Walking back outside, her steps were a bit lighter, she had expected Murdoc to leave her alone in an unfamiliar city to find her way back, IF she could find her way back. She opened her door and hopped inside, slamming the door after her.

Handing Murdoc his box and his chopsticks, she began to eat quickly, the food soothing the gnawing in her stomach. When she finished, she sighed with a relaxed feeling and leaned back in her seat. She looked over a Murdoc who had earlier given up on struggling with the chopsticks, and ate the noodles and rice with his fingers, sticking the chopsticks into a passerby's ear who in turn screeched and ran around in circles.

Finished, Murdoc revved up the engine and they both took off down the street, Noodle's spirits lifted and her stomach rejuvenated.

When the geep slowed once more, they were further downtown, the people of Essex swarming everywhere. It was a sea of heads, and made Noodle's vision drown in the sea as she tried to contain it all. She looked over at the bassist who let the engine stall.

"Oh, one more stop, love," he said. Something in his voice made her look over at him in confusion. "The li'rary."

"Nani?"

"Li'rary. You can read up on maps and stuff."

"What….for?" she struggled, scrambling for words she had memorized.

Suddenly, Murdoc leaned over and savagely pushed the guitarist out of the geep. He slammed the door, and started to pull away, calling after her, "So you can find your way back into the FedEx crate and back out of our lives!"

With that he floored it and was gone, leaving the astonished, betrayed, hurt, and lost Noodle to try and keep her balance amid the crowd.

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(Awww...poor Noodle...)