[Mid-phase 1]

It's 16:03, currently. He shouldn't have to deal with this. Hell, Murdoc shouldn't have to deal with a lot of the shit he does deal with. He doesn't even own his soul anymore, for fuck's sake, so why does he have to deal with being ill?

"Mu-doc!" There's a loud banging on the plastic door of his Winnebago. "Mu-doc dead!?" The familiar voice of Noodle is heard.

"Ah, christ, my head, stop that bloody banging!" Murdoc's voice is hoarse. She notices this oddity.

"Open, uh, um, open door!" She demands.

"Go 'way! I don't want any visitors!" He croaks at the girl.

There's the sound of footsteps becoming distant after a moment. "I'm surprised that worked." The Satanist says to himself, resting his forehead back on his hand. He is clutching an empty bottle that had once held rum, having downed the golden liquid hours ago. Still, he hasn't registered that the bottle is empty.

He sits in silence for awhile, said silence only broken by the sound of his own coughs and the distant cawing of a flock of crows. Maybe five minutes pass before more banging on the door of his Winnebago begins. "What d'ya want with me? I'm busy!" Murdoc croaks with severe annoyance.

"Open up, Muds." A deep, gruff voice calls out. "Baby-girl here said that you sound dead and dragged me down here, so at least lemme see what the problem is."

Murdoc decides that he would best not reply. After all, if you don't react, maybe they'll go away. Always worked in Stoke on Trent when those blokes tried to get on his nerves when he wasn't in the mood for a fight.

However, this only made the banging louder. "Murdoc, imma break this damned door down if you don't open it yoself." Russel's voice commands from outside.

"Go 'way!" The man tries feebly. "I'm just fine, for fuck's sake!"

"Imma count to five and this door better be opened up. One,"

"Go 'way--"

"Two,

"I don't need you to--"

"Three,"

"For Satan's sake, Russ-"

"Four,"

There's the sound of frantic rushing over to the door and it slams open, nearly hitting Noodle in the process. "See, I bloody told you, I'm just fine!" Murdoc attempts a lighthearted laugh but fails miserably, instead coughing until it sounds like he's about to regurgitate a lung.

"Mu-doc dead," Noodle points out helpfully, having gotten over the momentary shock of nearly being hit with a door.

"Muds, you do look dead." Russel himself even looks surprised, his pale eyes wide as can be.

"I'm just a little ill is all," The green-skinned man begins, "and you two," another cough makes itself known, "are not helping the matter, so sod off!"

Noodle frowns, not liking the way Murdoc's voice is shaking. The usually-confident voice is now reduced to coughs and awfully feeble complaints, and she is not happy with that. The young girl stomps over to the bassist and latches onto his arm in an attempt to make him stop shaking. After all, the way to help someone stop shaking is to warm them up, right?

"Love, what do ya think you're doing?!" Murdoc tries to shake off the girl from his arm, though to no avail.

"Mu-doc, uh, cold, um, shake." She replies, looking up at him with obvious worry in her eyes. "Noodle, um, warm. . . Is warm."

Russ sighs. "Baby, yo gonna get sick, too, if you get too close," he warns.

Murdoc, on the other hand, finds it quite funny. "What, are you trying to make ol' uncle Murdy feel better?"

Noodle pauses for a moment before nodding at this. "Noodle fix."

"Well, how nice of you, huh?" Murdoc carefully lifts up the tiny girl into his arms, a small grin gracing his face. The Japanese child lets out a small giggle, nodding again.

"Guessin' she missed you, Muds. It's been days since she's seen ya, ya know. Maybe even a week." Russel shakes his head. He knows trying to detach the kid would be pointless and make her scream, so now he is trying to figure out how to make her let go of the sick man of her own accord.

"Well, who wouldn't miss me?" He says, though his voice is uncharacteristically soft. Usually, Murdoc will claim that children are the bane of his existence and all that, but he isn't fooling anyone if he tries to claim that he doesn't have a soft spot for a certain little guitarist. He can't ever bring himself to raise his voice to her, nevermind his fist, and that's a lot for someone such as he. The kid knows it, too, and uses it to her advantage when she can.

"Uh, Noodle, um, uh, fix Mu-doc? Um, all better Mu-doc?" The girl blinks up at the Satanist with curious eyes, her left hand firmly clutched onto the man's filthy nightshirt. Not that she really notices it is filthy, it just smells like Murdoc, and she's okay with it. And if something smells like Murdoc, it's bound to smell a little off, right?

"Oh, yeh, I'm all better, now." Murdoc shifts the kid in his arms so he can cough and it isn't in her face. "So you can stop saying that I've gone and died, you got that?"

"Huh?" Noodle asks, looking over at Russ for a translation.

Russel scratches his head when he notices the kid looking at him. "Uh. Murdoc's not dead." He says slowly. He's not really in the mindset to be able to translate into Japanese, no matter how simple the words.

"Hai, Noodle fix." She agrees with a nod. Noodle stares at Murdoc as if he might vanish at any moment. He's awfully pale, even more than normal. The current shade of his skin reminds her of mint ice-cream.

"Well, thank you, girlie." He chuckles despite himself.

"Mu-doc okay?" Noodle asks, patting his cheek with a look of concern on her face. "Uh, um, shake. Much." She adds.

"Oh, I can't say I am, love, but give it a couple hours and I'll be back to normal, okay?" Murdoc is indeed shaky; whether it is being caused by feeling chilly or the lack of nourishment, (save for a spot of rum), is unknown to him, but he suspects it's a mixture of both.

Noodle doesn't seem satisfied with this answer. "Not, uh, um, not good Mu-doc," she tries to protest. "Cold Mu-doc bad, uh, dead."

"Does she even know what dead means, Russ?" He asks the drummer.

This gets a shrug from Russel. "No idea. Don't even know where she got that word from. Probably from Dee, it don't come up in any conversation I have with her."

Murdoc shrugs. "Not bloody dead." He repeats, turning his head to cough again.

"Noodle, uh, fix Mu-doc? Make fixed."

"Gee, you'd think I'm broken, the way she's talkin'." Murdoc laughed. "Yeah, yeah, do what ya want, girlie."

Noodle nods, gesturing that she wants to be set back down on the ground. Once obliged, she looks up at Russel. "Noodle fix Mu-doc." She tells him with a wide smile.

"Okay, baby, but he better not get you sick. If he does, I'll be real pissed." He warns half-jokingly. "Muds, hows about you come upstairs where there's a heater and blankets? One in here is obviously broken." Russel glances around inside the filthy Winnebago, shaking his head with disgust.

"No fuckin' way am I-- actually, Russ, it's not the worst idea you've ever had, no."

"Well, then, let's go, you won' get any better down here."

Noodle hums, taking the hands of both her boys. "Mu-doc, um. Okay. Good Mu-doc."

"Yes, quite. Plus, I'm all outta rum. Can't have that, can we?" Murdoc says with a sly grin.

"No rum. It won't help you an' your damn illness, you know." Russel glares at Murdoc, who pretends not to notice.

"No rum? Well, I never!!" Murdoc retorts angrily.

"You heard me right. No rum." Russ repeats with a roll of his eyes. Though, the effect is lost on the others, mostly due to the fact that he has no pupils.

"FUCK that! I'll have me rum if I want it! Ha! No rum? No rum, my arse!"

Noodle looks up at the two, her gaze flicking back and forth between the two men. As the argument carries on, her annoyance grows. Yanking down on both men's arms so that they are bent down close to her height, she yells, "Hey! No fight! Fight, uh, fight no good!!!" The child glares at the two of them with more than a bit of anger in her dark-brown eyes, causing even Murdoc to flinch.

"Be sorry! Say it!" Noodle orders. She's obviously quoting Russel. He usually orders- no, forces, Murdoc and 2D to apologise to each other if they're fighting in front of Noodle. "She don't gotta see this, so don't make her!" He'll usually say with exasperation.

She's now gazing at the two men impatiently, tapping her foot as 2D does when he's in the same mood. An obvious yet subtle sign of how much she picks up from her boys, and Russ makes a mental note of this.

"Yeah, uh, sorry, baby-girl," Russel says, highly amused by her behavior. Sometimes he forgets how old she really is.

"Okay, Russel, good. Noodle A nod accompanies this statement, followed by a peck on Russel's cheek.

"Mu-doc. Sorry. Uh, speak." Noodle orders with a glare in the green man's direction.

"Why should I have to-" At seeing Russel crack his knuckles meaningfully, Murdoc gives in. "Oh, bugger. Fine, love, I'm sorry."

Noodle responds with a peck on Murdoc's cheek, too. "Noodle, uh, fine. Good Mu-doc. Good good. "

"Um, yes, I'm good. . .?" He seems a more than a little dumbfounded with this rather strange child.

Noodle nods her approval, now resuming pulling the two towards the lift. The men oblige her silently, Murdoc still trying to understand what had just happened, and Russel grinning like an idiot. He's so damn proud of this kid.

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Greetings!

This chapter is dedicated to the release of the new Gorillaz album (Humanz)! It's tomorrow!!!

I preordered the deluxe edition as soon as preorder was an option, and I am unimaginably excited for it. Now I just have to wait (im)patiently for the thing to be delivered. Fuckin hell. But! Question time! What's your favourite song in the album? Mine is The Apprentice. Or maybe Andromeda. Perhaps even We Got The Power. Hard to say, my favorites keep changing around.

It's the first chapter I've written with Murdoc, so if he's OOC, you can either blame it on him being ill or me being inexperienced. Either way, let me know if there are any gaping holes in the dialogue.

Thanks again to the guest who let me know about the editing error in my last chapter, I'll be sure to avoid it in the future. Like I said, major props to ya!

Does anyone get the reference I made in the title?

Hope you all are doing well!!

Until next Saturday,

Liz