Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea

Basket Case

Murdoc gently holds me in his arms. My eyes open, and the darkness consumes the area around me, him, and my bed. People appear, shouting and arguing about something I can't understand. They keep getting louder and louder as the darkness crawls up my bed. I turn to Murdoc, but suddenly his mouth and eyes open, oozing the darkness that is trapping us in. The bed and Murdoc sink into the dark, and the people become louder, now directed at me. They all speak in static screams. They have oozing dark eyes and crossed out mouths. I beg for an escape as the inky darkness begins to pull me deeper and deeper, eventually grabbing out like a thousand arms and covering my mouth, muffling my screams and filling my mouth with it. My vision slowly is encased in darkness...

I awoke more than startled, my body sweating. I was hyperventilating a ton. I was in a room I don't fully recognize. It looked nothing like my bedroom at home. But this is my bed. I needed comfort, badly. Deep breaths, remember your name I told myself. It was no use. I tried calling for Murdoc, but my body was too stunned to say words. My ears were ringing and my head felt heavy. The most that I could muster was small whimpers. Tears started to form in my eyes. No one would come for me I thought to myself.

"Alright what's wrong motherfucker?" Murdoc came through the curtain, holding a pillow.

"I...hhhhh..." was all I was able to really say. Words still weren't forming in my mouth as I thought about the dream I just had. Though, I suppose the proper name for what that was is a nightmare.

Murdoc looked at me up and down for a moment. "2D... you had a nightmare, didn't you."

I guess I'm 2D. I tried my best to slowly nod, because I didn't want to hurt my head more than it already did. Murdoc threw a pillow over me, and I flinched as it flew over my head. It hit the wall, and then landed on the bed with a soft, fluffy thud that only pillows can make. Murdoc stepped over to my bed, seemingly slightly annoyed for no reason.

"Come on, lay down beside me." Murdoc said, as he climbed on the bed over to the other side of me. I hesitated. "Come on, how am I supposed to comfort you if you're not next to me?"

I laid down next to him, mainly not wanting to annoy him when he's tired. That's a combination I don't want to deal with. I turned my body away from him, not wanting him to see that I was very heavily crying. I know that it wouldn't matter because he's seen me cry before. This time though, it seemed different. I wanted to not see him feel upset because he's not able to handle me, or because he isn't able to help.

Murdoc hugs me from behind and pulls me closer, as if to offer comfort. He began to whisper in my ear. "Listen, I may not know what you're going through, but I do know that you've been treating things like there's this big ball of negativity around you. I know some things you don't have to share, but by opening up, maybe the negatives can take less of a toll."

I turned towards Murdoc. In a moment of desperation for his physical affection, I hugged him. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea. His eyes widened slightly, but he let me do it. It wasn't like it lasted long anyway. I pulled away and rested my face on the pillow beside him, my face still wet with tears. He remained silent, waiting for me to speak.

"Us... d-drowning in p-people's w-words... tox-xic..." I spoke in the most broken sentence I've ever made. Murdoc tried to understand, but it seemed like he was struggling. Eventually after almost a minute of me trying my absolute best to make a coherent sentence, I fell silent.

Murdoc placed his hand on my cheek and used his thumb to wipe away the tears. I leaned into his hand a bit, closing my eyes and trying to smile, signifying that I appreciated the gesture. His hand hovered at my face for a moment, then retreated, following my shoulder and down my arm as it did. The slight tingling sensation that remained on my bandaged arm where his hand had touched made me feel kind of excited in a way.

"Hey, 2D." Murdoc said, looking slightly downwards, probably towards my mid-torso or something. I looked up at him, and he bit his lip, as if thinking about something. "We have to sleep tonight. We're leaving for Hell in the morning. You don't need sleep there, but it catches up to you when you get back."

I nodded, still not able to really speak a full sentence. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. So close that I could feel his chest rise and fall against mine. Our legs entwined in one anothers, we both began to drift off to sleep. I rested my arms around his neck. It was sure to be an adventure tomorrow.

-Time skip-

My murky eyes fluttered open, but only saw black. Has my eyesight gone completely? I shifted my head upwards. No, it was just Murdoc's inky black hair. That's a relief. Wait, why is he in my bed? I don't remember him coming with me to bed last night. Did something happen? I slowly try to piece together what I can remember. That's not a lot of information.

He came to my room in the middle of the night, he threw a pillow at me... This was going nowhere. Whatever me and him did, it was obvious that I wasn't going to remember. Maybe it's for the better that I'm not remembering, honestly.

I tried my best to remain quiet and respectful while he slept next to me. I wonder what time it is. I wonder what time we're supposed to leave. Maybe I should wake him. After all, he's gonna be really mad if we're late. Then again, waking up Murdoc is no easy task. Last time, I used blood to wake him up. I wonder if I could do that again. Though then again, I shouldn't bleed more, or I might become sick. Maybe I'll just wake him by calling out to him.

"Murdoc... Murdoc..." I spoke in a hush. Startling him awake would guarantee a punch in the face. I lightly shook him. No dice. I can't bleed to death, and I can't wake him up using my voice. What else can I do? The stupidest idea came to my head. What if I...

Before I was able to stop myself, our lips made contact. My eyes shut themselves, as it felt like the only part of my body I could actually control. I kissed him lightly at first, but as seconds weighed heavy on me, I kissed him harder. He seemed to respond at the very least, and began returning my kiss. I doubt he's awake, he does this a lot in his sleep. After what felt like an eternity, I began to pull away, completely out of breath. My eyes fluttered open, and Murdoc looked back at me, his head leaning on his bent elbow.

"Well I guess that's one way to wake someone up." He smirked down at me. "Where'd you learn to kiss like that, dullard?"

"Sh- shush..." My face burns with passion. I can feel Murdoc's smirk cut a hole in me. My hands covered my eyes, as I tried to redirect my emotions. Murdoc's body pushed against my own. His strong hands pulled away the hands obscuring my view of him. One hand holding my hands out of the way and the other around my waist. He kissed me on the cheek, but remained in that position on top of me for a moment. Murdoc let go of my hands, and stood up. I sat up to face him, while he approached the door frame. He turned back towards me.

"Get ready. Dress yourself, whatever you need to do. If we're late...." He stopped there, his finger pointed upwards, as if he had more to say. He pointed toward the curtain and walked out of the room. Weird of him not to have a threat on hand. At any rate I guess I'm supposed to get ready. A headache formed in my skull as I stood up, and I winced. It was gonna be a long day.

A/N:

I'd like to say I've gotten better at writing the past month or so. Then again I feel like my braincells are dying. But that's why it's been a month, I was practicing my writing skills. I am now simultaneously more powerful than I've ever been, and also extremely weak because it takes a few days to write now.