Gorillaz One-Shots

Pinnocchio {Kinda 2Doc? I dunno man.}

Murdoc woke up, jolting up in bed and screaming. He reached up to his face and brushed at his cheek, wiping away not face paint, to his surprise, but tears. And there wasn't a dumb cone on his nose, either. He scowled and tried to get his breathing under control, clutching at his shirt, not finding red suspenders attached. He pressed his face into the pillow, sobbing, and only managed to take fast, shaky breaths. He couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't go on like this.

It wasn't something like a simple trip to Seaworld that had caused this fear. It was a terrible childhood, memories that refused to go away. It wasn't a small, timid man with blue hair and missing eyes that possessed this, either. It was him, Murdoc, the one who was supposed to be tough, the one who was supposed to be emotionless, fearless. It wasn't whales. It was Pinocchio.

He always thought it was strange that things from your childhood stuck around like this. That happened when he was seven. And now three decades later, the memory still tormented him, no matter how many drugs he took or bottles he emptied or restless nights he had.

"Murdoc?" 2D threw open the door. "Everything okay?!" Usually, he wouldn't just bust into the Winnebago like that, or at least not without knocking first. He'd learned that the hard way. But it was two in the morning, and he was worried about Murdoc. Or at least, more worried than usual. "Mur... doc...?"

Murdoc managed to stop hyperventilating long enough to scream for 2D to just go back upstairs, while inside his mind the only screaming he could decipher amid the chaos was 'It's not real!'. He didn't know that he could believe that voice anymore. He never knew. It had such an impact on him that it still felt all too real.

"It's... i-it's Pinocchio again, isn't it?" 2D stepped closer and cautiously hugged Murdoc close to him. Murdoc practically clung to him, fingernails digging into the back of his shirt. He nodded and started sobbing even harder. He hated it when 2D saw him like this. Absolutely despised it.

"Just... I-I... if... if it's not too much trouble... could you..." Murdoc sighed, but swallowed his pride. He needed this. "... could you stay here for the night?"

"O-oh... oh! Uh, y-y-yeah, sure!" 2D slowly climbed into the bed, hugging Murdoc close again once he'd laid down.

"S-Stu..."

"Yeah?" He blinked in surprise as Murdoc pulled him close, hands in his light blue hair, lips pressed to his forehead inadvertently.

"... d-don't let go... p-please..."

He sighed a little and closed his eyes. "I won't. Now, let's get some sleep."