Russel shivered inside of his jacket as he and 2D walked through the rain to reach their destination. Good thing it was only a few blocks away from Kong. 2D suddenly stopped with the heavy man almost running in to him. "vere it is!" 2D stated proudly. Russel gazed upon the tiny pub before them, a small white house. It looked very quaint, very cottage-like with a little sign hanging in the front that had the lion and unicorn seal symbol, reading The King's Arms above.
"Well, ya hungry mate?" 2D piped, shaking off his wet jacket. Russel nodded viciously as the two walked in. the warm aroma of homemade cuisines and the crisp smell of beer overwhelmed the Brooklyn man's nostrils, making his mouth water. "Damn, this place is nice." He murmured. 2D smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, I used to come 'ere wif me mates all the time." The singer took in a deep breath and exhaled calmly before they both took a table next the fireplace.
Russel looked over to see a middle-aged woman, with very curly brown hair up in a bun and in a floral top and long white skirt, at their table with a very big grin. "Good day, gentlemen. Nice to give ya a warm place to stay out from the rain," she chuckled, "and wot drinks shall I start you two off with?"
2D gave the woman a lovely smile, "Hello Abby, I'll just 'ave va usual." The woman's brown eyes grew in excitement. "Stuart! I hardly recognized you." She giggled. "Lord, you've grown so much since the last time you came in 'ere. You were just a teen." 2D laughed with her warmly while Russel sat there feeling awkward. Even though he's lived in England for years now, he still feels strange around other English folk. The woman called Abby wiped her face with a handkerchief and continued to take the boy's orders.
"Awight then, so that's one Fuller's London Porter for you Stu, and wot will your friend be havin'?" She turned her direction to Russel who was still looking over the menu.
"Hmm, I'll have the Buxton Imperial Black beer," He finally spoke. "With the Fish and Chips, please." Abby scribbled down the man's request on a notepad and took his menu. "Excellent, 'ave you decided what you'd like Stu?" 2D nodded and handed her the menu. "I'll 'ave the fish n' chips as well, darlin'." Abby thanked the boys before heading back to the kitchen, leaving the two to themselves. Russel crossed his arms and leaned over the table.
"So 'D, tell me about these 'brilliant ideas' you were goin' on about." He spoke up to the vocalist, hoping to pass the time without any more uncomfortable silences. 2D's face lit up. "Well, I was actually finking about maybe promoting a new image for the band." He said eagerly.
"Listen to vis," he paused for a moment, "Reject False Icons." Russel scratched the back of his head and simply stared at the ditz in front of him, waiting for an explanation. 2D sighed. "Alwight, so ya know how the music industry and the media in general always hypes up the likes of not-so-talented musicians and celebrities to basically brainwash the viewers into finking there some sort o' god or somefing, you know?" Russel nodded, actually sort of intrigued by where 2D was going with this.
"Well, we're goin' to encourage our fans to reject these awful attempts of dumbing down music as an art form and call out the media on what they're truly doing, turning it into a gross form of manipulation in order to exploit the very people that warship them." Russel furrowed his eyebrows in astonishment, he had no idea Dents could think past the number five, let alone understand problematic flaws that a modern media thrives off of talented and not-so-talented musicians.
Abby returned to their table with two hot plates in one hand while pouring their beer with the other. "There you are boys, two plates o' the fish 'n chips." She said as she put the meals down in front of them. After taking care of them, she went back to the kitchen and let the two carry on their conversation.
"So as I was saying, we could also use this as a way to promote ourselves," he spoke with a mouthful of fish. "When we finish our next music video, we can hand out these little stickers with 'Reject False Icons' on it to the fans and they can stick it all over magazines and advertisements and what not. We'd be sending out a good message, while also promoting the new album wifout spending a fortune." He finished. Russel sat there in awe, having not touched his food yet which was a surprise. "'D that's fuckin' brilliant." He marveled. "And you're sure you came up with this yourself?" 2D took a sip of his beer. "Yep, I've been finking about it ever since we got the band back togeva'." he conceded.
Russel chuckled. "I guess Murdoc was wrong about you. You're pretty smart, man." He murmured, hoping not to send the singer on another ego trip. 2D instead offered a warm smile. "Thanks Russ. I've always wanted to hear that from someone like you."
As time went on, 2D and Russel chatted about the songs Noodle was coming up with, possible tours and gigs in various parts of Europe and maybe even America, music videos, etc. Then they began to talk about themselves, where they grew up, and what kind of music they like. After about an hour of 2D rambling on about his time in Eastbourne, new wave bands, and his favorite zombie flicks, he finally gave the drummer a chance to speak.
"So, if ya don't mind me being nosy, tell me a little bit about yourself, mate." The singer coaxed, really hoping to strike a good chord with the Brooklyn man. Russel let out a sigh and tried to think for a minute. He really didn't want to delve too deep into his past, so he carefully thought through everything he's been through to get up to this point.
"Well, I don't wanna bore you or nothin', but I did grow up with a single motha' and two little sisters' in the deepest part of Brooklyn, where all the gangs hung out. My parents split up long before I was born, so I could only see my dad whenever he had time to visit us, which was usually never. He was too busy tending another set of kids he had on the side." The drummer paused to take a gulp of beer.
"No kidding?" 2D continued eating as he listened. Russel continued. "Yeah it was tough on all of us, 'specially since my mama had to work two jobs to support us, so it was mostly my sisters and me fending fo' ourselves." He had a moment to think, wondering if he should change the subject. 2D took a swig before speaking. "So what were ya sista's names?" he asked innocently. Russel cleared his throat, "Um, Renee and Rochelle."
"Really? Those are beautiful names." 2D mused. Russel gave a chuckling smile at the singer, happy that he was acting like his old self again. "Yeah, I love them very much. Haven't seen them in years tho', not since I was revived from my coma and sent to my Uncle Rick's place in England."
Russel then leaned back in his chair, already having finished his meal and feeling absolutely stuffed while 2D was still working on his fish. "So, 'ow did you meet Del, while we're on the subject of Brooklyn?" he asked. Russel wiped his face with a napkin and cleared his throat again before speaking.
"Well, we knew each otha' way back in High school. It wasn't just us tho', we were gonna start a possy together, the six of us."
"Really? I didn't know vat. Who else was vere?" the singer asked as he pushed his plate away, unable to finish.
"There was my man Q-Tip, MF Doom, Ice Cube, Me and Del, then there was this girl who called herself Morphine who asked to join so that made six of us." He sighed. "I really liked that girl, and ever since we disbanded I promised I'd keep in touch with her and….Well I haven't." he lamented.
2D raised an eyebrow. "Well, ven why don' you call her?" Russel looked at the singer annoyingly. "I can't just call her out of the blue after years of no contact. She could be married with kids by now or busy having a successful rap career. I'd just be a bother." He sighed. 2D scrunched his forehead and scoffed.
"Oh Russ, quit bein' such a tosser, you won't know unless you try." He said with irritation. He personally never had problems with the ladies, why is Russel being such a worry wart? The drummer gave him a stern look and opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it.
The two sat there for a moment before Abby came by to drop off the bill. Russel yawned as he reached for the piece of paper before receiving a slap on his hand. "What the-"He looked over at 2D who had his wallet out and counting his money. "This one's on me, mate." Russel just sat there for a moment before speaking. "Oh, thanks a lot 'D."
After the two put on their jackets and thanked Abby, the two headed back to Kong. It was still raining outside and was a lot darker outside than before. Russel took note of this and glanced on his phone, realizing it was 10:35. He also had an unread text message from Noodle reading: "Hello! I see u r still out with 2D so I'll just go to bed by myself. Goodnight Otōsan!" Russel sighed, feeling bad he didn't have a chance to tuck the guitarist in tonight. Even though she was a little old for that now, it was just how the two bonded, father-daughter like.
"Hey man, we better hurry back. Its 10:35 now, the zombies will be out and about." The heavy man urged. 2D nodded. "Right, maybe we can catch a cab instead of walking." He suggested. Russel grunted in agreement as the two kept on trudging through the heavy rain, the stars glistening overhead.