The next week or two passed without too much incident, things proceeding as usual, excepting only a few things...
2D had carefully avoided Noodle's room late at night, though at times it was quite a battle to do so.
The man suddenly found himself completely infatuated with the one girl he should completely not be infatuated with, for countless reasons.
But he couldn't help it! Honestly, he'd always loved the girl, even if he wasn't in love with her from the time she had arrived packaged in a plain wooden crate labeled FRAGILE. The thing about it was that the ingredient of lust combined with his affection for her was creating quite an interesting Noodle soup within Stu-Pot.
But he'd managed to carry on as usual, despite several awkward moments when he'd realized he was staring at said Asian, as well as the rapidly increasing thoughts of himself as a dirty old man.
Well, the pills helped a lot, anyway...
But on this particular Thursday afternoon in October, our Romeo found himself quite bored. He'd awoken only about an hour before hand, having attempted to drink Muds under the table at a bar the previous night, and failing quite miserably.
The Satanist was a fucking tank.
The sun was sinking below the horizon, casting beautiful shades of orange-rose across the sky, clashing horribly with the wasteland of garbage and partially dead animals.
Crickets chirped.
The cigarette in 2D's hand crackled softly as he inhaled.
A zombie shrieked and buzzed as it ran into the electric fence surrounding the carpark below.
God damn, there was nothing to do!
2D threw his fag over the railing of the kitchen balcony, stuffed his hands in his pockets, went back inside, stopped off at the fridge to grab several deliciously intoxicating beverages, and made his way downstairs towards his room.
Blink.
Now how did he wind up stopping directly outside the kitchen to stare at Noodle's door?
... Was that music he heard?
Shit.
Bloody, fucking, shit.
2D came upon a bit of a moral dilemma. To peek or not to peek, that, ladies and gentlemen, was the question.
His weight shifted from foot to foot as he nervously looked up and down the hallway. He took a deep breath, stepped towards the door, and decided on a course of action.
Spying was a bit too guilty for him, and he didn't exactly have a legitimate reason this time either (other than the possibility of a free peep show, but somehow his conscience didn't quite think this to be a good enough reason).
So he raised his hand and knocked four times on the door before him.
He wasn't sure whether or not he was relieved when moments later, the door handle turned, the door opened, and there stood Noodle, fully dressed and regarding him with a light smile.
"Afternoon, 2D." She looked him up and down, taking in his slightly disheveled appearance, and taking a guess. "Late night last night?"
He returned her smile with a grin scratching the back of his head with his free hand, saying, "You could say that, ya. Muds an' I had a bit of a contest, all in good fun, an' as usual, he kicked my arse to space. Wish I coulda seen 'im draggin me to the Geep and back to Kong, bet it really pissed 'im off." He chuckled lightly at the thought of Murdoc cursing and trying to get an immobile 2D out of the dingy bar.
"Murdoc-san does not seem to be having much luck lately," Noodle observed, laughing softly at the expense of the bassist.
"Wot d'you mean, Noods?" 2D asked, eyebrows rising.
Noodle blushed, realizing that perhaps it was better if she did not share Murdoc's unfortunate experience two nights ago with the rest of the world.
2D thought she looked cute when she blushed.
"Pardon?"
Oops.
Said that last bit out loud, he did.
"It's cute when you blush Noods," he repeated, seeing no reason to lie, and continuing with a proposition, "Say, it's a bit slow righ' now, and I dun think Murdoc's gonna be callin' a session anytime soon... wot do ya say to watchin a movie and splittin some fizzies?"
Noodle's heart skipped a beat, excited at the prospect of some alone time with her crush. It felt like he'd been avoiding her since the night he'd tripped outside her room, and she was greatly relieved that he was seeking out her company once again.
Her light smile broadened into a grin, her arm closing the door behind her as she stepped out to join 2D in the corridor.
"Sounds like a plan!"
The two wandered down the corridor to the elevator, making small talk by debating over what movie they would watch.
There were no worries about tripping over misplaced objects; Murdoc had snuck up during the night last week and tossed the Big Wheel out into the landfill. No one really seemed to object.
In fact, it was really rather entertaining to watch the zombies drive it around.
By the time they'd reached the carpark, they still hadn't decided on a picture to squander the hours away with.
Miracle of miracles, 2D had a thought.
"Noods... I know ya get a bit tired of the zombie movies, but 'ave you seen the new Dawn of the Dead?"
Noodle couldn't resist the hopeful look in his eyes.
"Actually, 2D-san, I haven't. I figure if I want any zombie action, I can settle for the real thing just outside our house." She giggled lightly to let him know she was only teasing.
"Aw, you'd love it! Not only are the gory scenes beau'iful, there's all this dark humor and deep stuff... it's go' lots o' diff'rent layers to it, kinda like those odd cartoons you're always watchin'..."
Noodle blinked. Leave it to a zombie movie to get 2D to ponder life. Evangelion flew right over his head, but hand him philosophy in the form of the undead and the man understood it like it was his new religion.
"Alright, you have my attention. We'll watch it, but on one condition."
He raised his eyebrows at her in question.
"Wot would tha' be, love?"
"I get to sleep in your room tonight. There is no way in hell I'm sleeping upstairs by myself with those things out there after watching some horrific movie about them."
Noodle looked and felt nervous asking him this question. The truth was, ever since she'd returned to the studio after their four-year split to find it infested with zombies and demonic creatures, she'd had nightmares about them regularly. Granted, she had single-handedly managed to clean out the majority of Kong by herself; she couldn't help but feel as if one day she wouldn't quite be strong enough to protect herself, or those she loved.
And, well, sometimes it got lonely in her room by herself.
2D tried desperately not to think naughty things.
Panties.
Dammit.
Nipple.
Fuck.
Moaning.
Shit.
A very quick debate took place in 2D's head. She'd slept with him many times before, especially when she was younger, so really there wasn't anything wrong with the request. After all, she still thought their relationship was entirely platonic.
He also knew about her nightmares, and wanted to be there to ward them away.
But there was one problem.
If she was curled up next to him, in his bed, warm and inviting... Would he be able to protect her from himself?
'Dirty ol' git!'
But he didn't want to hurt her feelings, nor did he want to give up her company for the evening.
Well, fuck it. He could keep it in his pants for a night, couldn't he?
"Course you can, Noods!" He said brightly, feeling much more worried than his cheerful countenance showed.
But there were ways to take care of that, and he had a twelve-pack of them in his arms.
He opened the door to his room, scavenged his shelves for his beloved DVD, handed Noodle a beer and opened one up for himself.
"Let's jus' not tell Russ 'bout this, shall we?"
She laughed at him openly. Ever since the first time she'd asked him for a taste of his beer when she was fifteen, he'd said the same thing to her. Noodle wasn't exactly partial to getting as hammered as her band-mates, but that wasn't to say she didn't enjoy a few drinks every now and then.
But it was for certain that her big black daddy did not need to know that 2D was supplying her with alcohol.
After all, she rather preferred 2D alive.
And, well, since she was hopeful, with his boy-bits still attached.
She made herself comfortable on his bed while he put in the disk. He flicked off the light and joined her on the bed.
Noodle was fine for the first ten minutes or so.
Then the little girl had taken a chunk out of that girl's husband's neck.
She'd chugged her beer right after, reaching to the foot of the bed to grab another from the box, and then quickly opening it and latching her free hand onto 2D's forearm and gripping tightly, eyes wide as the now-dead man turned on his wife, eyes glistening with hunger and maddening blood lust.
2D winced as the kung-fu grip on his arm tightened even further, and was grateful when it finally loosened and he instead found Noodle's head buried in his chest, one of her eyes peeking out to look at the television, watching in horror as the young blonde woman surveyed the chaos erupting in suburban USA.
Mmmm. Noodle smelled like apples.
Probably tasted like them too.
... Aw. God dammit.
2D found himself following her example. His beer was done in less than a minute. He pulled the box closer to him, fishing out another, eyes never leaving the screen, trying earnestly to distract himself from Noodle's presence.
Which became increasingly harder to do, seeing as how she'd decided she was far more comfortable leaning into him and clutching his arm.
This was not an uncommon position for the two of them to take while watching scary things on the telly.
But this time, it was a bit different... This time, 2D was aware of the movement of her chest against his arm as she breathed, he was aware of how close she was, and most importantly, he was aware of the fact that he was lusting after her.
Well, that was the conclusion he came too after he'd spent the past week wanking in the shower to the mental image of the girl spread out on his bed, moaning and writhing underneath him, greedily asking him to fuck her harder, 2D, please...
Jesus H. Christ.
2D might as well have been watching a porno, what with the semi he was now sporting.
Lord, please don't let Noodle look at his pants.
He was such a horny old fart. He'd seen her grow up for Chrissake! Knew her back when the whole band considered her practically asexual!
2D was suddenly very angry at puberty.
But he let it go for the moment, trying to calm his mind and watch the damn movie.
A/N: Leaving for New York tomorrow, and won't be returning until Sunday... I don't think I'll have access to a computer, but I'll see what I can do. Sorry this chapter was a bit slow and short, but some build-up is in order here. Murdoc's rather shitty experience will come up in the next chapter or so, and Russel will make his appearance soon as well. Oh, and yeah, Noodle drinks. I don't give a damn, she's growing up, and it's a part of the experience. And she's just devious and clever enough to convince 2D to drink with her. Yeah, she's that good.
Next on Escapades: Noodle wakes up and finds that she iz 12 agin o noooooo wat will happen to her and 2d will murdoc get a puppy (pregnant) and iz russel going on a diat for his gostly luver del? OMG STAY TUUUUUNNNNED!1111111111
... Sorry. I don't know where that came from, honestly. I think I've been bombarded by too many retarded summaries.
(this thing was a bitch to spell and grammar check. Fuck me.)