Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea

Sticks and Stones

This story is gonna be told by the first person limited perspective of 2D. Because I said so. 

It's pretty common that I wake up with headaches. What is new is that I don't have painkillers to help numb the pain. Murdoc refuses to take me to get more, since apparently we're running on a low budget. Bullshit, since we maintain Kong Studios just fine. Well, I was becoming good at hiding my pain. A lot of things caused me pain. Mainly Murdoc or myself. I always fuck things up for myself. If anything, Murdoc had the right to be mad at me sometimes. He was extremely patient when he wanted to be. But the smallest things could tick Murdoc off. And then, he turns into a different person.

What time is it? 9 am. Why am I alive this early? There's nothing to do till noon, being that's probably when Murdoc will be awake. I can lie here another 2 hours, then I should check the studio. I should probably eat before I go there though. Yeah, that's a good idea. I can hope to soothe this headache and rest my murky eyes.

"Yo 'D. Rise and Shine, you twig."

Or not.

"Me and Noodle were gonna head to the store downtown."

"Kuru Toochie!"

"Yeah... uh we don't wanna leave you alone with the lizard man if you're uncomfortable."

I nod, but then say, "It's fine, I can stay here. It'll take forever for me to get ready, and I don't mind being here that much anyways."

"You sure? We can wait for you man."

"Nah, it's alright, I don't really wanna go out right now. I'd rather stay here."

"Alright 'D. If you change your mind, let us know, and we can pick you up."

He and Noodle leave my room, and I hear them go down the stairs. Finally, I'm out of that conversation. I wish my room had a more discreet entrance. It took like a year of convincing to even get a curtain over the worn door frame. I wish I could have gotten a door, but apparently "doors were too expensive." I just think Murdoc likes to see me suffer. At least my bathroom has a door. That's nice.

Now that I think about it, maybe the no door thing isn't a problem. I don't really care. I mean, it isn't like I have any reason to hide away here. Except from Murdoc, but he'd just break the door down if he was really that determined to hurt me. It isn't like I'd even want to bring birds back here. My room is too messy for that anyway, and I don't know that I'm willing to move on since Murdoc destroyed my relationship with Paula. Not that she respected me much anyway after my eyes got turned to tar pits, but principle-wise it was pretty shitty.

I drift back off to sleep, as the day ahead of me becomes future 2D's issues.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time skip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke to the sound of Murdoc's voice. Great, I must've overslept. What time is it? 2 pm. Typical. Alright, I might as well see what this is about then. I stand up, putting on jeans, not bothering to look for a different shirt. Then I head to wherever Murdoc is. Turns out he's at the top of the stairs, his boot tapping a beat that is probably related to our music, arms crossed as if he's been waiting far too long.

"What took you so long?!"

"Sorry, Murdoc. Just trying to get rid of a headache."

Murdoc sighs. He knows that my headaches are a hard thing to manage. Which is what really makes me confused about the whole thing where he won't refill my med script.

"Can't be helped then. Come on, Dents' let's go."

He grabs my hand and takes me downstairs. I would've expected us to go straight to the recording studio, but no. He instead sits me down at our dining room table, and leaves me there for a minute. Then, he comes back with hot tea for the both of us. See, sometimes he is kind, I tell myself.

"Are we recording anything today?"

"Huh? Oh, I wasn't planning on it actually. I had something we could record, but it isn't finished."

"...Then how come you seemed so anxious for me to be awake, Murdoc?"

"Because, I had no company, you dullard. Rather talk to you than no one."

"Understandable. Having a conversation with me is at least a little less one sided. Not by much though, I still am 2D."

Murdoc legitimately laughed at that, though I'm not sure if it was for the correct reason. Oh well, at least he laughed at something.

"So, how've you been?"

"I guess I've been fine? Is there something specific you're referring to?" I notice he's looking into my eyes. "...oh. These. Yeah, I mean, they're okay. It isn't like they're getting worse. But... they aren't exactly gonna get better with the severity I have. Bet they look pretty cool, huh?"

"You look like a character from one of Noodle's shows. What're they called, Anime?"

"No, I do not. I am far too unfashionable to be in one of those shows."

Murdoc's eyes roll. "Whatever anime boy."

I want to protest, but I don't want to ruin Murdoc's mood, so I just quiet down to let it drop. I look off elsewhere, and Murdoc appears to wait for another subject to come to one of us. We end up sitting in silence for a while. It isn't uncomfortable, at least not in my opinion. Though Murdoc appears to be fidgeting, so maybe the silence is uncomfortable for him. He finally decides to speak again.

"So..."

"What?"

"... I don't know. I just got bored of the silence. Well... 2D, how's your action been? You must get tons, you're the singer and you look like an anime character."

Oh great, this question. "You'd think. But, no, not really. I never really seek people out, and no one really gravitates toward me in that way."

"Huh. That's weird. The fans love you though. I don't know why you'd have any issues."

"I think I know why. It's so easy to say that you slept with the bassist to a popular band, because that's believable. Plus, you're you, so no one would ask any questions. But because it's me, who's entire persona leads people to believe I am innocent, soft spoken, and I'm the singer, it makes it so much harder to prove that you slept with me."

"2D, that's... really well thought out. Still, you should be getting birds, you do deserve it."

"I don't really mind, honestly. It isn't the worst thing on the planet. I could be dead from one of the various accidents I've had in my life. But instead I'm here, singing for a band that will take the world by storm."

"When did you become such an optimist?"

I smile at Murdoc, and he looks back at me a bit confused, but a smirk on his face nonetheless.

Author's note: 

I mean, it's a start. If any of my friends are reading this, hi guys! I hope you're not too disappointed in me, lol. Enjoy the ride. ^^

Oh, if you're at all curious, I got most of my chapter titles here: https://tinyurl.com/y95uqula

I'm not sponsored by any means (lol could you imagine), but if you want to use phrases for your titles, but can't come up with any that fit, then that's the website I used.