Stuart flipped his heavy eyelids open to find himself in disoriented fuzz. He picked out blurry colors that flickered into faded sepia.
He screwed his eyes and blinked hard, bringing detail to the room that he awoke in. He was back in Kong Studios, curled up in his bed while snow drifted outside his bedroom window, piling at the sill. Soft gusts of wind knocked against the glass but he could tell it was the beginnings of dawn, the clouds growing steadily lighter.
A soft knock at his door aroused his thoughts and he looked over; before he could heave off his large comforter, the door was unlatched and a small girl bounded toward his mattress.
"Toochie! Santa!"
Noodle shifted on her feet, anxious to rouse the tired man from his bed and lead her to the den downstairs.
2D smiled at her and tossed his feet over the edge of the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and yawning loudly, "Noods, ih's pretty early to wake up for Christmas…"
What…? This…This is me eleven years ago… Why can't I move…?
2D checked the alarm clock on his bedside table, taking a glimpse at the blinking blocky letters.
6:48 AM
He blinked softly at Noodle, noting that she was wearing one of Russel's red t-shirts that almost dragged on the floor, but was short enough to let her small bunny slippers peek out from the cloth. Pushing a smile up the side of his face, he quietly said, "I dun' know Noods… Muds will be cranky…"
Stifling another yawn, 2D rubbed the back of his neck and looked down to his plaid pajama bottoms. Is this a memory…? I can't hear my thoughts, so this will be interesting…
He noticed that his body was a little fuller, not so skeletal and tight over his bones. It showed how young he was compared to his current body and it surprised 2D how much he'd changed over the years.
As soon as he began to contemplate on his body, his eye snapped up and was brought to his feet, a spike of icy chill coursing through his feet and up his ankles.
"Jeez, ih's so cold…"
2D pulled on an old hoodie that was lying on the floor some ways away and he took Noodle's hand, leading her through the corridors of Kong until they reached the first door. Noodle tapped on the door and moments later a loud grunt sounded from the other side.
"Russel-san!"
The two waited patiently at the door and from what it seemed, Noodle could barely contain her excitement. It wasn't long until several muffled thumps and another grunt rang out before the door creaked open to a large, black man who stood in the shadow of his room, his eyes flicking between 2D and the fidgety girl in his grasp.
"What's up Baby Girl? It's kind of early, dontcha think?"
"Russel-san, Santa! Pre-sents," Noodle's questioning eyes looked up the blue-haired man who approved of her newly-learned English with a nod and a smile.
The child looked back to the man who groaned once more, returning to his room and adjusted his nightcap that added to his striped long-sleeved shirt and flannel pants. He took her other hand and the three were led to the last room, passing through another set of corridors.
The group stopped a few feet away, 2D pushing ahead and knocking against the door. Silence.
He knocked again, a little harder before he heard a loud grumble and a curse, dismissing 2D away from his bedroom.
He stood there and knocked again, adding, "Muds, Noodle is up to open presents."
"Go away! It's too damn early! Wake me up in five hours!"
2D rapped on the door until an angry Murdoc opened the door, glaring at the man with dark circles rimming his eyes.
"I said, wake me up in five hours."
"Muds, c'mon. This is her first Christmas wif us, and Russewl is already up wif us. I'm sure she'd really love ih if you were there too. I know ih's early… And I know yew are probably tired from working on the album last night, but do it for Noods…"
Murdoc stood there, crows feet digging in between his furrowed brows before he hissed in submission, glaring daggers at 2D before storming back into his room and begrudgingly clothing himself into an appropriate pair of sweats and a maroon bathrobe.
The band accompanied the excited Noodle down to the living room after stuffing themselves into the cramped elevator and Noodle ran to the lit Christmas tree over in the far corner of the room staring in awe at the lights and the assortment of ornaments and shiny tinsel.
Giddy with happiness, the girl ran about the tree, examining the colors and the beauty of it all before waiting patiently for the others to gather around and settle themselves on the stained carpet below them.
Russel sorted through the small collection of presents, distributing them out to everyone until they all had three presents of their own.
Noodle, straying away from the comfort of Russel and the grumpiness of Murdoc, dragged herself to Stuart and stood before him, pursing her thin lips. She smiled quickly and before 2D could remember what happened next, her body collapsed onto his lap and shimmied herself into the comfortable crook of his abdomen.
2D smiled widely and tickled her ribcage for a moment, getting a harmony of giggles and thrashing in response. After he stopped his wrath, the child took a deep breath and grabbed her first package.
Her small fingers tore away at the festive packaging and it was soon revealed to be a Fed-Ex box with a Japanese shipping notice on the top. Noodle looked up questioningly, tapping at the packaging tape that she didn't even try to mess with, for it seemed that she knew even with her attempts to open the present, she wouldn't get far and would only be frustrated with the miniscule progress. 2D looked up to Murdoc, who pushed himself off the floor and returned with a pocket knife, passing it to Stuart who began to work on the cardboard mail.
After a few moments of anxious waiting, when 2D had removed the harm of the knife away, Noodle dug into the box, sending a spray of packaging peanuts into the room and on his lap. She pulled out another plastic package and inside, she could see a red and pink, silken kimono with Asian floral designs lining the ribbon of the dress. She squealed happily and tore it open, flaunting off the dress and laughing happily.
"I figured it would fit you, and since you're from Japan, I thought you'd like to have one of your own, Noodle-Girl," Russel said, happy to see that she was enjoying his gift.
"Arigatō, Russel-san," she bowed her head toward him, her eyes glistening happily from the light of the Christmas tree.
She sat again, folding the dress neatly before setting it down on the plastic packaging and whipping out her second present. It was smaller, but when she shook it, there seemed to be several things wrapped inside.
Following the same procedure, she ripped the paper from the box but did not need the help of 2D cutting away tape, for it was a simple flap that she could open independently.
She peered inside and pulled out two sets of guitar strings, two boxes of pockey-one being chocolate, the other being strawberry- and a photograph of the band. Russel held Noodle on his shoulders while Stuart was on Russel's left, smiling and reaching behind him to place the butt of a cigarette into Murdoc's hair. Muds was ignorant enough to not notice, for he had his arms crossed, focusing on the camera with his tongue lolling out of his smiling mouth. In the corner was their logo and on the back of the photo was written, "9/24/01". "Merry Christmas, Noods."
"Ehh, it's not much, but I figured you needed a new set of chords and you go on about this stuff called "Pockey"… And I figured, why not give you a memory of you first joinin' Gorillaz, yeah? You won't find another band like this one," Murdoc grumbled out, a side smile growing when he saw Noodle smiling at his gift for her.
"Pockey! Arigatō Murdoc-san!" She bowed to him and she continued on to her third and final present, the one from 2D.
She took this present, ripping away the wrapping and tossing the bow to the side, and she tilted her head all the way back, opening her mouth slightly and tapping the box to show Stuart that she needed help with the stubborn tape again. He did his magic, cutting away the material and letting her dig into the bland, cardboard box.
More packaging peanuts were sprayed onto the carpet and she pulled out a brand new radio helmet, complete with the antennas that could adjust in length, but were wireless for her device. She tilted her head to the side, inspecting the headgear.
"Face me, Noods. I'll help you put it on."
She did as she was told, kneeling before him and she watched curiously as he extended the wires on the earmuffs. He fitted it onto her head, thankful that it fit perfectly- not too snug, and not too loose.
Noodle rolled her head around letting the lightweight of the helm fit to her balance and she grinned. "I saw one of these and I fought thah since yew didn't have your own headphones, these would play the radio as well as music from your I-pod. Like ih?"
The girl nodded, bouncing her head from and wobbling it from side to side, getting a feel for the hat before she took it off and said thankfully, "Head-phones! Arigatō Toochie-kun!"
The tape of his memories flickered and jumbled, fast forwarding to a few minutes later. Everyone had already opened their gifts and lounged around the decorated tree, the windows gradually growing lighter and lighter as the morning progressed.
The band had begun to discuss the album which was soon to be finished, and he had listened in on Russel's conversation with Murdoc, taking in the words about final touches and the album cover that was to be on their first album.
Noodle, the bundle that was previously on his lap, was ignoring this and was playing with the bows that she'd removed from her gifts, playing with the sticky side and placing one on her body.
She giggled and piped up, "Toochie!"
The girl ran over to him and stuck a large green bow into the un-kept bed of hair that sat atop his head. Smiling at the random act, he watched her run over and do the same to Russel, interrupting his conversation and sticking it onto his shiny bald head.
"Toochie and Russel-kun are pre-sents!"
Everyone laughed a little and even Murdoc let a small smile creep onto his exhausted face, surrounded by his new set of guitar strings, his new amplifier, and a new bottle of vodka. He seemed content with his new set of things, and the sweet gesture of bows on his band mates seemed to lighten his mood.
2D brought his attention back to Noodle who smiled widely at him, but a large static bump interrupted his memory, flickering the tapes of his mind in and out of the picture of Noodle. 2D blinked and felt another jolt distort his dreaming.
The memory began to dissolve, his reminiscing memory fading and leaving him in a pool of darkness.
Noodle! Don't go! Don't leave me…
Stuart fretted as a loud siren pierced his eardrums, wailing through his subconscious, accompanying a third quake that toppled his body off whatever he was lying upon.
His eyelids flew open, revealing his bedroom that was hidden below the painted landfill of Plastic Beach.
A dim light shown through the window, the curtains swaying and the sirens wailing ever still.
A loud thudding pounded in his head and ears, his vision swaying under the force that swelled in his head. He tried to yell out, but the ringing and the pinching in his head made him lower his voice and he coughed out a dry, "wot?"
His tongue was unbearably dry and the pain that swarmed the comfort of his head pricked and pulled behind his hollow eyesockets, swaying under his weight and staring at the jumble of pipes on his ceiling. Loud crashing sounded above his head, the silence halting and he heard muffled yelling in the above rooms, only barely. The island rocked slightly, the sound of water rushing outside of his window and the groaning of rusty metal reached to his ears, adding to the headache that pulsed in his temple.
Crying silently from the pain, he tried to sit himself up, pulling his sore body up to his mattress. The window, open and frighteningly welcoming, showed that of a whale swimming towards the island, it's eyes set on the man.
"Jus… a dream," 2D croaked, pushing at the throbbing temples on his head.
His queasy stomach threatened to spill his guts onto his bed sheets, but they did not, so instead, he grappled the railings on his bed to stabilize his swaying. His calloused fingers brushed a smooth plastic and he looked down to see his clown-faced mask that hung off the rail of his headboard.
Fumbling with his unresponsive hands, he managed to grasp the guise and tucked the string behind his ears, pulling it over his face and peering through the tiny holes that granted him sight.
He took his gaze one last time to the whale he'd spotted earlier to see a massive void enclosing on the window, large dents circling the walls of his room. A loud echo vibrated through the room and it wasn't long until he realized that he was staring into the throat of the beastly whale that was beginning to consume him.
(Author's Note)
Cliff Hanger!
Cute that he got to relive a memory that he'd brought up earlier.
Is this a dream now? IS IT A DREAM?!
You'll have to wait until next chapter.
I don't own Gorillaz…