Russell was too frustrated to stay, and admitted that he couldn't blame Noodle and 2D for leaving when he found out. Not only about Paula, but when Russell found Noodle's rope of bedsheets. He had moved back in with his sister some weeks ago to help her with her family nore upfront rather then send her checks to help raise her two kids. If his brother in law survived the accident he couldve done it himself, but luckily the band was always helping Russell's younger sister afloat at least.

Murdoc however wasn't afloat whatsoever. Rather he was drowning. Drowning cause he didn't have a band and he was gonna only be able to survive off of checks for so long until he was kicked out of the house. Murdoc needed to think and fast. Days became weeks and Paula went home and back to her life. Murdoc was stuck here however. And when weeks became one month he accepted that he couldnt contact Noodle and Stuart as though they had vanished and Russell was a lost cause. Even Ace was out of the picture now. So Murdoc roamed the halls of the mansion he wouldnt have anymore and had to accept his fate. Maybe it was time he drank himself to death.

The bar nearby was warm and inviting with brick walls and a stair case leading in. Another dive bar. It had pool tables and restaurant tables and booths. The floor was wooden and glossy, the walls matching with old movie posters. A juke box was in the corner and a fire place was set up too. The theme clearly being log cabin themed as Murdoc saw the mounted deer bust above the fire. A place so comforting yet few were in except for the lone bar tender who was turned away and drinking some of the stock.

Murdoc had a seat and tapped the counter for attention. The woman put a finger in the air behind her signaling she would be ready in a moment. Feeling particularly annoyed Murdoc groaned and rubbed his forehead "I can't afford to be kept waiting, I wanna drink away my issues already. Make it fast or I'll go out of my way to make this place even more of a barren waste land than it is! Don't you know who I am?!" Murdoc was on the edge if the bar stool as his voice echoed the near hollowed room. Paula turned around and poured him a whisky.

"Sheesh arent we fussy today? What the hell pissed in your cereal?" she asked. Murdoc was surprised to see her, but he didnt want to show it. "I'm sorry to snap I'm just really tired and cranky. Been staying up trying to find work and-"

"Say no more. Get behind the counter and come help yourself. No one else is buying my stock so come work for me and we can both make nothing together!" Paula laughed as she dragged him behind. Murdoc didnt choose to fight it. Instead he chimed in and chugged. Hours pass and he wakes up naked in her bedroom. And once again he's back where he was twenty years ago.

Murdoc woke up to his nose in some fluffy brunette hair. Paula was out cold but her body was firey warm against him. He had noticed how she had put on some weight over the years. Not much but some. She was not at all fat but thick. In a older sort of way. Paula laid with eyes shut and makeup smudged. His arms were entangled with hers as she laid there. She was almost comatose. Her soft snore was quiet and faint. Few could hear even with sufficient hearing, and Murdoc knew this was exactly what he had forgotten. He had let alcohol cloud many a traumatic thought, but when it came to her he had dared to replace happy memories with cold ones. Murdoc's fingers curled in her hair and remembered it as if he did it millions of times before.

Thats when he remembered the last time. She was given his necklace to wear and keep, while he had been in bed by her side. She was warm in his arms and her soft snoring nothing about a gentle hum. She was as peaceful then as she was now, and admittedly Murdoc was falling for it.

Of course the year and day were different. The room was certainly bigger as Murdoc saw her apartment. She had green painted walls and white carpet, a closet too messy to be closed cause it was filled with cluttered outfits spilling out, a dresser with an earring stand, a mirror, and a desk surrounded by cluttered papers. On the walls were some old movie posters. Ones Murdoc recalled her watching with Stu and some with him. He remembered seeing Bromance of the Traveling Sock as he saw it on the wall. It was Paula's favorite comedy back in the day. A dumb film about a frat house using an expensive heir loom sock from a frat boy's grandfather's sock company. Only they didnt use that sock like a sock, and when they found out it was the most expensive sock in the world they spend the film cleaning it only to accidentally make a new life form on it that makes the sock even more valuable. Such a dumb plot. He always found dumbd, but the rememberance of Paula laughing and wheezing her head off at any joke she would've cringed at if he made the jokes himself.

Not to mention she had the world's ugliest laugh that Murdoc could hear forever.

Then she woke up and smiled cutely at him. Before sitting up and rubbing her eyes as she stretched a little. "So warm for such a cold Niccals man eh?" Murdoc asked in a bragging and smug sort of tone. But Paula fake punched him anyways and let the comment slide. Perhaps she didn't get the joke, but that never mattered. Murdoc was known for being a cold person emotionally, but any and every woman he's been with would always remember how he was always warm to the touch. Making him just the right kind of cuddle person.

Paula looked at him and smirked as she saw him sitting there. His shirt was off and his chest not too hairy. So she put her head on it and listened to his heart beat. Something she knew was a bad move deep down. Paula was never as smart as she wanted to be but she knew that hearing a heartbeat and feeling warmth was a feeling that was going to generate a bond between the listener and owner of the warmth and heart beat. This was a little too far she knew it. But at this point, she already slept with him and gave him a job. Maybe it would help if she gave him room and board as a little bonus. Maybe being Murdoc's room mate and boss wouldn't be so terrible.