Murdoc woke up hearing the distinct sound of running water. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered if he was imagining the hotel room in front of him. He actually got out of prison last night, didn't he? The bassist couldn't help but quietly laugh at his situation. 2D came to his house last night out of nowhere and practically kidnapped him. It's not really what Murdoc was planning to happen; however, it certainly could have been worse.
He grumbled to himself a bit after realizing how dry his mouth was. He's a bit dehydrated after drinking quite some alcohol last night. Murdoc caught the sight of the familiar now half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table by the window. The clock next to the bottle read 9:22 AM. After debating with himself for a few seconds he decided not to drink the alcohol. Despite how much being drunk would take the stress out of running from the law, he'd prefer to be sober in case 2D fucks up. He gets to take over if the singer makes a mistake, which is bound to happen eventually. He'll reserve getting plastered for when he knows that they're safe for the night.
Stretching, Murdoc got out of the bed and moved over to the bathroom door. He listened for a moment to hear who he assumed was 2D showering. He opened the door and said, "Good Morning, 2D. Mind if I use the loo?" He snorted when he saw the figure behind the curtain jump at the sound of his voice.
"You scared the shit out of me, Murdoc!" 2D yelled over the sound of the shower. He huffed in annoyance at both Murdoc and his body's natural reaction to Murdoc, which is to brace itself. He could see that the bassist's silhouette was already heading for the toilet, so he didn't bother to give him permission or not. "Just don't flush, please!" He yelled again.
The Satanist gave the other man a thumbs-up despite knowing that he probably can't see it. After he finished urinating, he moved over to the sink and stuck his head under the faucet. Why pay for bottled water when there was a perfectly good drink right here? Perfectly good was an overstatement because he can taste the metal in the water. Murdoc grimaced and stood straight once more, "Ya' almost done, mate?"
Why is he still in the bathroom? 2D was enjoying his alone time in the shower until he almost pissed himself. Grabbing for the tiny bottle of shampoo he answered, "Just let me wash my hair then I'll be out."
Murdoc smoothed some of his own hair down in the mirror. He looked back over to the curtain before making his way out of the small, foggy, room. "Alright then, take your time. I'm going to be in our room," He said on the way out.
2D's hands in his blue hair slowed a bit after he thought about what Murdoc said. 'Take your time'? Why does he want him to do that? Is he planning something? Will he be gone by the time 2D gets out of the shower? He bit his lip and worked his hands through his hair a little faster.
In the other room Murdoc looked through the menu for their room service. He was starving after not eating anything last night. Would 2D mind is he got some food? It is his money after all. He probably wouldn't mind as much if the bassist ordered something for him as well.
The singer scrubbed his scalp under the faucet until he felt that all of the suds were out of his hair. Then he tore the curtain open and hopped out of the shower. Swiftly, he wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the door. His hair was dripping water droplets that littered the floor with every step he took. 2D saw Murdoc sitting on the bed in the hotel room where he said he'd be. Before he could stop himself, he let out a sigh and relaxed his posture.
Murdoc raised an eyebrow in question. 2D looked like an absolute nutcase when he slammed the door open. His eyes were wide-open and was still dripping wet, did he even dry himself? However, after getting a good look at Murdoc he seemed to have chilled out a bit. Still, the bassist was curious, "What the bloody hell happened to you in there?"
"What?" 2D asked. He thought about what he said for a moment and then realized how he must have looked. Maybe he should have thought before he acted. Of course Murdoc would still be here, where else would he go? "Oh, um, nothin' sorry," He said after Murdoc continued to bewilderingly stare at him.
"You left the shower on," The Satanist was having a very hard time trying to not say something 'mean' about the way the singer was acting.
Turning around he noticed that yes, the shower was still on. 2D ran back into the bathroom and turned the faucet off. He could hear Murdoc laughing in the other room; it was like he was calling him stupid without actually saying it. While he was still in here he might as well finish his shower routine and dry himself properly.
Murdoc couldn't help but feel terrified for his own safety. Right now his life was in the hands of a man who didn't know how to properly shower. He leaned back on the bed and groaned in frustration. At least they had some food on the way thanks to him, but he would much prefer to be in charge. 2D better appreciate what he did. Humming to himself, he reached for the remote on his end table and turned on the television. The news was on and reporting on something from the United States.
2D, now fully dry and clothed went back into the room where their beds were and sat at the edge of Murdoc's bed. He still feels like rubbish from last night. He really wanted Murdoc to hear the song that he wrote. Surely, he had to hear some of it, but he was afraid that if he asked the Satanist about it he would just deny it. The singer thought about talking to Murdoc about how he felt about last night. His therapist told him to talk to Murdoc about things like feelings after all.
He also wishes that Murdoc would talk to him about stuff as well. 2D wants to understand why the other man acts the way he does; more specifically, why he feels the need to manipulate and hurt others. The singer has been told about some of the hardships that the bassist has been through. It was actually Murdoc himself that told 2D about those things when he was so drunk that he couldn't tell 2D wasn't a woman. The whole time 2D felt terribly awkward while trying to comfort the crying man, but at least he got some strawberries out of the whole ordeal.
The singer knows how helpful talking about personal problems are. The whole reason he went to therapy was to talk about his feeling and what was going wrong. It's a mystery as to why Murdoc felt more comfortable talking to who he thought was a complete stranger rather than 2D. It might have been just because he was very intoxicated, but it still hurt to know that maybe Murdoc really didn't trust 2D, just like he said he didn't. He doesn't trust Murdoc either, so he shouldn't be as upset about it as he is.
2D just sitting at the end of Murdoc's bed made the bassist nervous. Was he waiting for him to do something? The man said he wanted to be in charge so why is he just sitting here? Is he actually going mad? With what happened with the shower he might actually believe that. "So, what's your plan, leader of ours?" He decided to ask and try to break the man's trance.
Looking behind him, he saw Murdoc give him a confused look. 2D started playing with his fingers before he answered with, "Um, well we still need to burn that stuff from that car. Then I figured we could get some of your stuff, like your clothes and whatever else you need."
"Sounds good so far, then what?" Murdoc asked and propped his head up on his arm.
2D looked away for a moment before answering with, "I still haven't really thought that part through, I was kind of hopin' we could just figure it out as we go."
"'Figure it out as we go'? It's my life your talking about, Dents, I would appreciate it if you put some effort!" Murdoc said now sitting straight up. He practically growled at the other man.
2D cringed at the familiar sound of Murdoc's anger. He can't back down now, "I am puttin' in effort! I got us a place to sleep, didn't I?"
"Well what about food? I'm practically starving here, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday," Murdoc said fully knowing that they had food coming.
"That isn't a problem, we can go wherever you want and get some food, we aren't in the wild or nothin'," He said thankful that the bassist didn't seem genuinely as angry as he thought he was.
Murdoc smiled smugly and said, "Well I actually took care of our breakfast and ordered us some room service."
2D looked surprised for a moment, "Really? What did you get?"
"Well I got myself some coffee and an omelet. Wasn't sure what you wanted so I got you some pancakes since I know you like those, also some herbal tea since you don't like coffee, which is a sin, really," The Satanist said before crawling over to sit next to 2D.
The singer gave the other man a pleasant smile, seemingly forgetting about the beginning of a budding argument. "Oh, well thank you, Muds! I'm glad you remembered what I like."
The bassist turned his attention over to the television and mumbled a "Don't mention it." 2D was always too forgiving with him. He should be glad that 2D was still in a way the same as he's always been, but he can't help but have that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that he deserves punishment for his actions.
2D noticed the slight change in behavior with Murdoc. Did he make Murdoc upset with something he said? All he did was thank him. He wished once again that the bassist was comfortable enough to talk to him. Well why does Murdoc have to talk to him if he won't talk to Murdoc? He was being a bit of a hypocrite here. Maybe he should actually try to talk to Murdoc, "Hey, Muds?"
Murdoc was still watching the news when he replied with, "Yeah?"
The singer bit his lip for a moment apprehensively before speaking, "Last night you fell asleep, right?"
"Well considering the fact that I woke up this morning I would say that I did."
2D started watching the television as well, "I know that. What I meant was, did you fall asleep while I was singin' to you? Because I really would rather that you listened to me."
"I did listen to you, moron! You made sure of that didn't you? How could I fall asleep right then?" Murdoc looked to 2D and met his eyes. Then he felt his heartbeat quicken when he realized his mistake, "Shit, I didn't mean to call you a moron, I swear."
"Did you like it though?" 2D asked without emotion, just focused on the Satanist's reaction.
They stared at each other for what must have been a full minute while Murdoc was thinking of what to say. Finally, he said, "It was alright, yeah." That was only half-true, he loved it. It seemed like the singer wrote it specifically for him, even if he knew that was unlikely he still felt strong emotions from it. It wasn't even the best song he's ever heard but coming from 2D he wouldn't mind listening to nothing but that song for the rest of his life. He knows he doesn't really deserve to receive unconditional love from anyone, but those lyrics were probably the closest he'd get to feeling love from another person. That song better be on the new album or he would be very upset with the band.
2D couldn't even comprehend the feeling of disappointment that came from hearing the underwhelming answer. "Really?" He deadpanned, "It's just 'alright'?"
Now Murdoc was panicking on the inside. The way 2D was reacting made him think that the song might have actually been for him. He just got done telling himself that he doesn't deserve that. "Well it's a good song, just not really… Satan, I don't even know what you want me to say, 2D."
"I myself don't really know what I want you to say. I just… need to hear you talk about it. Like why do you not like it?" The taller man almost sounded desperate with what he was saying. That song really meant a lot to 2D. It put his complicated feelings into words and a part of him wanted Murdoc to understand it. He himself still doesn't fully understand why he feels the way he does for Murdoc.
Murdoc looked back at the singer. He was very perturbed by what was happening here. "I didn't say I didn't like it! I do like it! I like it a lot, love it actually. Made me feel like I got my fucking soul back!" The bassist wasn't sure why he was now shouting to the other man. It was like whenever he felt an emotion he just replaced it with anger and hoped for the best outcome.
The singer didn't like the other's new response either. "Well you don't have to go and be all sarcastic about it. I spent a lot of time on that song!" He has escalated to yelling as well, it was what Murdoc understood after all.
"Why are you so fussed about the stupid song?" Murdoc said without thinking once more.
2D stood up, not being able to take sitting down any longer. He has to keep reminding himself that Murdoc has to be acting this way for a reason. Is he lying about not liking the song or liking the song? And why does he feel the need to lie in the first place? "I wrote that song specifically with you in mind. I thought you would have liked it given that you're so self-centered."
Murdoc didn't even really register the insult. He was too worked up on the fact that he was correct. The song was indeed written specifically for him. The Satanist took a moment to find his words. "You wrote that about me?" He spoke much quieter compared to the loud yelling he did earlier. The thought of such a nice song being about him scared him.
"Yeah I did. Like I said last night, I missed you a lot even if I shouldn't have," 2D crossed his arms and looked at the other side of the room. He really didn't want to look at Murdoc right now, he couldn't describe his feelings towards Murdoc in one word right now except 'negative'. He didn't hate the other man, not at all. In fact, he still very much cared about him, but he's wondering if it's worth it to help Murdoc in this weird journey of theirs.
Murdoc is kind of flattered that 2D wrote such a beautiful song about him.
I don't deserve it.
He can't believe that 2D still liked him enough to do that.
I don't deserve it.
He has been rotten to 2D since he was out of prison and the man still felt the need to share the song with him.
I really don't deserve it.
"I missed you too," Murdoc bit the inside of his cheek so hard that he could taste blood. He didn't want to say that. He shouldn't have admitted that.
Now that made 2D look back over to Murdoc. The bassist was looking straight at the television. He could tell that Murdoc was embarrassed by what he said. The singer relaxed his facial muscles so that his glare was more of a neutral expression. He thought carefully about what to say before he said it as to not aggravate Murdoc further. He was just starting to make some sort of progress after all, "Thank you, Murdoc. I really do appreciate you telling me that."
The bassist let out a breath. He's grateful that 2D didn't say anything more than that. If he were still living at home his father would probably berate him or worse for saying shit like that. Feeling somewhat more confident in this subject Murdoc said, "Really though, I enjoyed the song quite a lot."
The two were cut off when the television started talking about a prison in London. Murdoc's attention was instantly glued to the television. 2D followed suit to see what the bassist was looking at. The news anchor started off by talking about a prison riot that began last night at Wormwood Scrubs. Murdoc smirked to himself at his plan actually working.
As the newscast went on about the known details no one mentioned Murdoc Niccals. Normally, Murdoc would have been offended at them not mentioning his name, but since it seems that no one noticed that he left, he's relieved. The prison riot was still happening if the news was accurate; the prisoners were demanding absurd things, which means that Murdoc has some time until they start looking for him.
"What are you lookin' so excited for?" 2D asked from beside the Satanist.
"We have plenty of time to go back to my house now that we know they aren't worried about me. Then we can find a way back to America and get like one of those celebrity murderer lawyers, they seem to always win after all. Then I'll be a free man in no time, Dents," Murdoc gave the other man a softer-looking smile as a peace offering.
2D looked unsure of this plan that Murdoc concocted. He agrees that they should go back to Murdoc's house, but he didn't really want to leave England. He still needs to talk to the band too. For now, he said, "We'll go back to the house, but then we'll decide what to do from there, alright?"
Because Murdoc was convinced that he could get 2D to go with his way he said, "Sure thing."
A knock at the door stopped 2D from saying anything else about the situation. They'll eat breakfast first and then head out for the day.