OOO

Chapter 3: Picnics

OOO

"Come on, 'D!" Noodle called back, leaning over the edge of the roof. "Hand it up!"

2D was sticking his head out of the window and looking up at the Asian guitarist. "You sure about this, love? I dunno if I can drag this out the window. Might drop it."

But Noodle waved away the singer's worries and motioned upwards towards the top of the roof that she was sitting on. "Don't worry. Just prop it outside of the window and pop the handle up. I'll pull it up."

"But it's heavy!" 2D called back worriedly, nibbling on his bottom lip.

Noodle rolled her eyes and pointed to her arms. "2D, I'm stronger than you. I've got it, trust me."

An oversized Russel was sitting cross legged behind Noodle who was leaning precariously over the edge of the roof, shouting down at 2D who was leaning out of the highest window of the apartment. The perpetual parental soul within Russel wanted to pluck both of the kids by their collars and pull them away from their perches. While Noodle was making him nervous, he was also a little worried about 2D who was never really known for his coordination.

Russel laid a large finger on Noodle's shoulder, getting her attention. "Listen, baby girl. It's alright. You don't have to go through all of this trouble for me."

Noodle grinned up at him and patted him gently on his large index finger. "It's no trouble at all, Russel," she replied sweetly. "I've got it all handled." Noodle leaned back over the edge of the roof, eliciting a worried hiss from Russel who prayed to God she wouldn't accidently pitch herself off the roof for leaning over too far. He kept his hand near her in case she did accidently fall and heard her scream down, "Okay, 2D. Careful now! Lift the handle!"

Not trusting these two kids to handle anything responsibly, Russel peeked over the edge of the roof to see what was unfolding below him. A large, blue cooler was half hanging out the window, and the drummer could just barely see 2D's hand trying to force the handle up so that it was sticking in the air and ready for Noodle to grab it and presumably drag it onto the roof.

Russel sighed. Part of being unable to fit inside the apartment meant that he wasn't really too informed on the going ons of the apartment. He saw when 2D left the house for his job early every morning on the weekdays, and he also saw Noodle leaving the house late in the afternoons on the weekends to go to her job as well, because apparently 2D sometimes slept in and forget to go to work and they needed a little extra money to keep up the rent and to keep the fridge filled with groceries. Sometimes, when fights between Noodle and Murdoc shook the roof of the apartment, Russel would hear it.

Sometimes, Noodle would climb up to the roof and sit next to him, hugging her knees tightly to her chest and leaning against his side for some support. Sometimes, though this happened a lot less often, even Murdoc would come up on the roof and complain about not meaning to offend the girl, but not knowing how to deal with feelings and apologies and explaining to the girl what was really going through his head. Hell, sometimes 2D would climb on the roof just to get away from the yelling and to get some fresh air while he smoked and talked to Russel about a song he was humming on his way to work that morning.

That was about it. What happened during those long silent periods in the house when nothing was brought to his attention was beyond him. Noodle tried to come up often and keep him updated and make him feel like he was in the loop, but there was always something missing from his interactions with everyone else. It just wasn't the same. Murdoc did say that he was getting smaller by the day. Hopefully once all that toxic junk was out of his system for good, he'd be able to actually step through the front door.

But for now, he'd just have to accept mystery as part of life in this apartment. He supposed that included why in the world Noodle was currently trying to fit a cooler that was nearly as long as she was tall onto the roof.

"Okay, I've got it, let go!" Noodle called out. 2D shouted back that he was letting go and Noodle immediately began to tug the cooler up onto the roof. However, her foot had slipped a little against the roof and Russel watched on with horror as Noodle began leaning too far over the edge of the roof. Thinking quickly, he pinched Noodle's waist between his index finger and his thumb and plucked her back towards him, helping her drag the heavy cooler safely onto the roof.

"Noodle!" he admonished. "Be careful! You almost fell off the roof."

The guitarist wiped some sweat from her forehead and winced playfully. "Oops. I thought for sure I had it." She looked back over the edge of the roof. "Come up, 'D."

Russel frowned as he watched the lanky singer maneuver his way to the top of the roof. "You know, I could have brought that up for y'all," Russel reasoned. "Wouldn't have been very heavy for me. Would have saved you guys the trouble."

"Yeah, but then it'd ruin the surprise, mate," 2D announced, patting Russel on the knee. "Wanted to make it a mystery and such, ya know?"

Russel stared curiously at the cooler. "Where did you even get a cooler that big, anyway?"

Noodle shrugged. "Murdoc kept it in the basement. I think he was using it to keep all his drinks inside, but I'm borrowing it."

Russel sighed tiredly. "Noodle…" he began.

"Eh, leave her," 2D assured with a smile. "God knows Murdoc owes her big time. 'Sides, we're gonna give it back."

"I just don't want to deal with him coming up here and yelling at y'all," Russel explained.

Noodle didn't seem too worried about this and waved away the comment. "It'll be fine." She kneeled down, undid the large plastic latches on all sides of the lid, and popped open the cooler. Russel peeked over the top of the lid to look inside and saw Noodle begin to unpack one of what was potentially twenty or so footlong subs wrapped up in sandwich paper and stuffed thick with deli meats, cheeses, and all sorts of mouthwatering toppings. Russel didn't think he'd ever seen so positively appetizing since those amazing deli sandwiches he used to pick up in Williamsburg back when he still lived in Brooklyn. Noodle must have noticed him blinking dumbly at the sight because she started chuckling when she reached over and handed him the sandwich.

"We didn't have enough money to buy the three foot bread like we wanted, so we just got a bunch of footlongs," she explained sweetly. "Hope that's okay."

Russel hesitantly took the sandwich which fit easily in the palm of his hand. "Did you buy all of these yourselves?"

"Nah, mate," 2D interjected. "Too expensive. Cheaper just to buy all the stuff and make it ourselves, of course. More fun that way, eh Noods?"

She nodded enthusiastically in response and reached over to hand 2D a sub sandwich. He smiled gratefully and ruffled her hair in thanks. "I felt bad when I saw you eating a take out sandwich up here all by yourself the other night. So we thought you could use some company for dinner. Besides," Noodle added, pointing out towards the sunset that was dipping behind the rest of the apartment buildings on Wobble Street. "It's supposed to be a nice night out tonight."

"Yeah," 2D agreed. "Sorta like camping. Did that once when I was a kid. 'Course we weren't eatin' no sandwiches or nothing. But we ate them graham cracker and chocolate things and watched the sun and whatever when it was goin' down. Was nice."

Noodle pulled out one of the sandwiches and held it up for Russel to take. "Sorry if the bread's a little over toasted. 2D and I forgot to check the toaster oven a couple of times. Should still taste good though."

Somehow, the idea of Noodle and 2D in the kitchen alone wasn't very comforting. 2D tended to forget when he put things in the microwave or the over, which led to a lot of mishaps with smoke alarms and singed TV dinners. Murdoc was always the one that had to talk down the neighbors whenever they saw smoke billowing out of the windows. Noodle was a little bit more careful when it came to the appliances, but she was an experimenter and always had been. Russel still remembered that time when they were still living in Kong and Noodle had decided to whip up a soup that she had while she was in Osaka. Except that the other three bandmates had mutually agreed she must have remembered something wrong because when was the last time soup had bananas in it?

There was evidence of their tag team effort in the sandwich Russel was holding. The ends of the sandwich were a little charred, but nothing too horrible that couldn't be scraped off before eating. There was a lot of meats and cheeses packed into the sandwich, but Russel could have sworn there was some potato chips in there somewhere. Or really pale looking pickles. Still, the strange looking meals were an amalgamation of earnest efforts, and Russel couldn't help but laugh at himself as he stared down at his other two bandmates, eagerly awaiting for him to take the first bite.

Deciding that a few burnt pieces and salty bites weren't the worst thing that could happen to him, Russel opened his mouth and took a bit out of half the sandwich as if it were nothing but an hors d'oeuvre that you were meant to down in one or two bites. The extra crunch told him that Noodle had definitely placed in some salty treats along with something else that he could taste but couldn't but a solid name to. Still, the meats were fresh and the cheese was nice and melted. He chewed happily and turned back to the other two guests. He gave them a large thumbs up. "Not bad, kids. Tastes pretty good."

Wobble Street may not have been anything to sneeze at — though, if you asked Russel, the mediocrity was almost comforting after all the mess he'd been through — but the roof of their apartment always gave Russel a good view of the sunset on those rare days when the sky wasn't mugged up by clouds and smog. Today was one of those days. It was warmer than usual today, allowing for comfortable weather as Noodle had promised, and various fractals of warm colors were spilling onto his face, against the roof, and all over the other apartments on the block. Russel smiled against the warmth. "This ain't such a bad place to be for a while, you know?"

Noodle spoke through a mouthful of her sandwich. "Could be worse, I guess," she mumbled. "It almost makes you feel normal, you know?"

"Yeah," 2D said wistfully. "Kinda reminds me of me old neighborhood. With cars and kids going to school and people leaving for work and what not. Don't you think?"

"Looks a little like the nicer parts of Brooklyn," Russel commented. "The ones they fixed up to look all nice and suburban."

2D hummed and tilted his head to the side as he kept staring over the neighborhood. "You lived in Brooklyn, Russel?"

Russel laughed, his shoulders shaking with the effort. "Yeah, 'D. For a little while."

Noodle's legs were kicking the side of the building as they hung over the edge of the roof. "It'd be nice if we could travel again. Not for the band or for the music just...as a break. If Muds will let us anywhere near the money, that is."

"That old bastard's saving as much as he can for our next big break," Russel replied sarcastically. "If we ever have one that is."

Noodle didn't seem concerned over that. "There's time for that," she mentioned, reaching over for another wrapped sandwich. "Not like people don't know where we are. We can spend our money doing something relaxing and then have a come back if the time is right."

2D's ears perked. "'If'?"

Noodle shrugged. "If, when...I'm trying not to force anything. Murdoc does enough of that for all of us."

In a show of almost perfect timing, a husky, broken voice called out from one of the windows of the top floor. "Yeah, you lot are lucky I'm thinkin' big picture. Some appreciation would be nice."

Noodle rolled her eyes and shouted while keeping her eyes on the sunset. "Eavesdropping, were you?"

The sound of Murdoc's cuban heels scraping against the windowsill were heard before his head popped up from over the edge. He rested his arm against the ledge to hold him steady. "Wasn't eavesdropping," he growled moodily. "Just happened to hear you takin' the piss out on me, as usual."

"I can name ten people off the top of my head that have said worse things than that," Russel pointed out.

Clearly, that didn't seem to matter to the old bassist. "Eh, it's the principle of the thing."

Noodle chuckled and finally turned to face Murdoc. "What do you want?"

"Fuckin' hungry!" Murdoc complained. "You and the dullard cleaned out the fridge with them sandwiches you were making and now I can't find any of them."

"That's cause they're all up here," Noodle explained, pointing to the cooler filled with subs.

It took him a moment to come to the realization, but Murdoc squinted at the cooler right before his face morphed into annoyance. "Oi, is that mine?"

2D shook his head. "It's just a borrow, Muds. All in good fun."

Murdoc cursed under his breath and held out a demanding hand. "Hurry up and pass one of those things over here, will you? Ain't nothing else in the house."

But Noodle merely straightened her back, looked back towards the sunset, and kept eating her sandwich. "If you want one, you have to pay for it."

"The fuck are you on about?"

"As I said. If you want a sandwich, you'll have to give us something for it."

For a moment, Murdoc pulled a face that made it seem like he was talking to an idiot. "You took my cooler that had all my drinks in it. And I have to pay you for the sandwiches you're keeping in it?"

"Muds, it really was just a borrow," 2D felt the need to clarify. "It's not like we're not going to give it back— "

"Oh, shut up, will you?" Murdoc snapped. He turned back to Noodle. "Since when was this a pay to eat thing?"

"Since 2D and I spent all this time making the food. We did our part."

Murdoc seemed to be resorting to petulant whining now. "Russel didn't have to do anything!"

"This was for Russel, silly," Noodle corrected, as if it were glaringly obvious. "He doesn't have to do anything. He's the guest of honor. You, on the other hand, have to give us something we want." She nodded her head resolutely as if she had just decreed a law, and continued to eat in silence.

It may have been poorly timed, but Russel couldn't help but laugh as he reached for another sandwich. Murdoc was staring in disbelief at the young guitarist and was waiting for her to jump out smiling, say that she was kidding, and offer him a sandwich like the good little girl that she was. Except that Noodle wasn't really forthcoming with all that childish kindness nowadays. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, Russel had to admit. If it put Murdoc in his place for once, Russel would actively encourage it.

Seeing that he wasn't about to get his way this time, Murdoc sighed, slammed his forehead against his arm in frustration, and looked up tiredly. "Fine. What the hell do you all want?"

2D's hand shot into the air as he announced, "Drinks! We forgot drinks!"

Murdoc rolled his eyes. "All we've got is beer. Take it or leave it."

Noodle lifted one brow. "For Russel too?"

Russel could hear Murdoc gritting his teeth from over where he was sitting. "...fuck, alright, fine. I've got a keg he could use since he's still a bloody fucking giant. But you gotta help me bring that shit up here. I ain't breaking my back because of you."

It took a while for Noodle to pretend to agonize over the decision before she shrugged happily and agreed to the terms. Soon enough, Murdoc had grudgingly relinquished two cases of bottles and had complained the entire time Noodle helped him lug a large keg that he had every intention of emptying himself in private. Still, Russel thought the fact that Murdoc had even agreed to this despite his complaining was pretty impressive. It wasn't like Murdoc had suddenly turned into less of a headache over the years. He was certainly still as insufferable as he had always been, perhaps even more.

But Russel wasn't an idiot, and Murdoc always had a conscience. He would never admit to feeling or guilty or to wronging anyone, but the kicker was always looking at the way he acted. It was the way he let 2D have close to three or four beers without bothering to make a big stink about it, and the way that Murdoc helped Noodle pop open her own drink with his switch knife.

By the time they had all gone through all the drinks and the food, it was incredibly dark out. The streetlights and the moon, which was particularly bright tonight, were the only things offering any light on that small roof that they all barely fit on. It was a tight fit, but for some reason Russel found their positions oddly comfortable. It was just like a little picture that could have easily been plucked from their times in Kong. 2D was leaning against Russel's legs, singing some old song from one of their albums that Russel had nearly forgotten. Noodle had fallen asleep in Murdoc's lap, and the bassist was absently brushing her hair away from her face while he also started dozing off.

Russel couldn't help but look fondly at the sight. Well, it certainly didn't look like any of them were going to be moving anytime soon. Still, a sleepover on the roof wasn't their worst idea.

OOO

-I think a lot about Russel on that roof. What happens when it rains? Doesn't he get chilly up there? Does he order take out for himself since he can't go in the kitchen and cook? So many questions!