Chapter Text
It wasn't long after Murdoc and Marilyn's rather dejected return that Noodle announced filming for the music videos for Demon Dayz. After all, it was skyrocketing in popularity, and because of Marilyn they'd pushed the videos back as long as they could. It was time to get back to work.
Back to the grind!
Unfortunately not the type of grind Murdoc liked.
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2D knew working with children on a set would be difficult and had been mentally preparing himself for days, imagining having to be around 15 or 20 something little Noodles from back in the day, but to his surprise it really wasn't that hard. Two teachers from the children's choir class were supervising the children, a few parents came to do so as well, and the kids just seemed to be interested in playing in the sand and complaining that it was hot anyway. Really, 2D felt a bit cheated, as if all his preparation was for nothing. Ah well, he supposed this was better than pure unbridled chaos. Maybe.
Two kids ran by throwing sand at each other, a little girl held some sort of lizard up like a prize and was showing it to her classmates who all were oooing and awwing at it, a boy got dared by his friends to eat a beetle and he did, and a group of kids made a sand castle, or more accurately due to the lack of water, a sand lump. The effort was still there and 2D gave them a thumbs up as he walked by, wiping sweat off his forehead with a sigh. It was indeed hot out here. And all he was wearing was pants, boots, and a helmet. He wasn't sure how the others were surviving. However, watching all the children be, well, as one would except kids to be, was rather entertaining to the singer. He sat down on a chair just off set and slumped back comfortably, playing around with his necklace while he waited for the crew to announce filming. He looked up briefly in search of a certain kid in specific, his niece, but he couldn't seem to find her anywhere.
Until he looked down and saw her sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest on the mat of sorts his chair was on. Her hair was too short to be fooled with yet, so it was just left down, but she did have a little headband in it. She was sort of matching the rest of the band's look with the almost military-esc clothing, hers being similar to Noodle's as a pants-shirt-boots combo, but she had a little yellow bandana tied in her hair as a ribbon-like headband curtsey of Noodle. She had begged and begged to have a necklace similar to 2D's, so she did. Her's just was patterned and had Hello Kitty on the front. Noodle had grabbed it for her in a mini mart on the way when they stopped for a bathroom break. She absolutely loved it too. You'd think you gave her a million dollars or something. She just was staring out at the others, looking sad as she always did. She perpetually had big sad eyes like those pound puppy plushies from the 80s. 2D often wondered if Murdoc had eyes like that too, just hidden by his thick bangs. He wasn't so sure he really wanted to know either.
"Marilyn? Why aren't you wiv the others?" 2D asked, nudging her with his boot. She only huffed in reaction to it.
"I don't want to talk to them." She murmured, her voice quiet. Her English had been getting better lately, which was good, she still just had a bit of an accent however. She pronounced her words similarly still like someone would pronounce Spanish words, but 2D figured that made sense.
"Why not? They seem nice. Are they mean or-" He asked, looking a bit confused.
"No. I just... Don't." Marilyn said, slightly louder this time. Her gaze didn't break away from the distant view of nothingness ahead of her. "I... I talk funny, I sound weird, and I just don't want to talk to them." She replied to herself. "Loud."
"Well kids are supposed to be loud. Noodle was." 2D shrugged. "You're the only kid I eva met that was super silent."
"'Cause I sound weird." She replied, trying to stop her voice from dipping or rolling her words together in a way that would be hard to understand. She seemed self-conscious about it.
"You don't sound weird!" 2D protested before looking at her gently. "I sound kinda funny, but ya don't see me shuttin' up, do ya? What about Noodle? She has a real noticeable accent too, y'know. And Russ, and Murdoc, and Del, and-"
"I know." Marilyn cut him off. "I'm weird and I don't know much. I couldn't have a conversación." She muttered looking the other way. "And they are so so loud, 2D... So loud and so many... No me gusta todo este bullicio..." She mumbled, almost shuddering at that. 2D found her so bizarre at times. She was the only kid who got scared at places most would be estatic about. "I... W-Where is Noodle?" She asked finally, as if she'd had enough of this nonsense and wanted her sister again. It was rather cute in a way.
"She's uh, at the second studio sight, love. That's way over there. You can't go over there alone and I gotta stay 'ere in case it's time to film." He said in an almost apologetic tone. "You're just gonna have to stick it out, I fink."
"B-But it's so loud! I just want..." She said in an almost panicked voice before letting out a whine sound and burying her face in her knees. 2D frowned nervously. Maybe she couldn't tough it out after all...
Marilyn rose to her feet for a moment before looking back behind her where 2D claimed the other spot was, and running off before the singer could stop her. Great! If she got lost Murdoc was gonna kill him! Literally!
Marilyn ignored everything and dashed off. She needed to get away from all this noise. It was too much happening at once for her brain to handle. She couldn't process every person in the area. They all blended together like a blur. It made her sick. She needed to get away. She had to. She just wanted to find the others. She knew they'd be calm. They're familiar. Familiar is safe. She wanted to feel safe desperately.
However this was a big area full of all of the same looking sand dunes over and over again, and she had a feeling this wasn't the best of ideas after all... The familiar panic hit her like a ton of bricks, and she couldn't even see 2D and the others again. She felt dizzy. Why'd she have to be like this? Why couldn't she be a normal kid like everyone else?
Marilyn kept wandering around however, sniffling to herself in defeat at letting herself get so lost, before she finally saw something familiar: The van thing that the others were going to be driving, and a director looking guy or two! Thank God she wasn't lost. She was about to give up and lay in the sand for the rest of her life and live with the lizards and other creatures like a western Snow White. She was glad she didn't have to do that. She wasn't the biggest fan of sand anyway.
"I was thinking we could do that too, however I think if we change the shot..." Noodle negotiated, directing the others around like she ran the place, but considering it was her album she kind of did. A least Noodle was politw about her changes. Murdoc just straight up told people they were morons and he could do better when he was making videos back in 2001.
They went through a lot of directors that way...
"Like this?" One of the men asked, angling it better through Noodle's gesture.
"完璧！" She announced, looking pleased. "I think we're se- Oof!" Noodle was cut off in her speaking by a familiar frantic child clinging to her as if she were everyone's only hope left in the world. The familiar little hands grabbed at the fabric of her outfit, and clung to her as if they wanted to fuse with her. She didn't have to look down to see who this was, but she did anyway.
"Marilyn? Why are you- You're supposed to be with 2D." Noodle said, rubbing the child's back lightly. "Did he lose you?"
"I left!" She cried, clinging onto her desperately. "I cannot take the noise and then I got lost and I didn't know where I was going and- ¡solo queria estar lejos!" She sobbed, not taking a single breath that entire sentence. Her eyes squeezed shut as she cried into Noodle's arms, shivering from nervs as if it were were winter outside instead of hot summer. The guitarist only sighed and gently lead her over to where the others were, slightly sympathetic and slightly annoyed. She knew she shouldn't be, Marilyn couldn't control her fears and rampant anxiety, but sometimes in moments like these she wished she either could or Murdoc would just hire a baby-sitter. She was difficult to deal with, to say the least.
________
Murdoc sighed to himself, having to hold the child in his arms while she sniffled and whined from her previous breakdown. He knew he should have had more sympathy for the thing, but he just couldn't. He was already tired of dealing with these at home, and dealing with them in public was just worse. It felt embarrassing, having to sit there holding your child while they cried over god knows what while people stare. He hated it. Usually Murdoc loved having people look at him, but when it's not for that reason it seemed pretty pointless to him. He could tell Noodle in a deep down way felt similar about all this, just probably not to the same extent as him.
They were behind schedule now because of her.
They were always behind schedule because of her now.
"Come on now... Stop that. You're alright." Murdoc said, his voice a mix of soft and exasperated. He patted her back a bit harder than he ment to and she pushed his hand away, burying her face in her hands with a shuddering breath. She knew she was causing them problems, and she felt so guilty from it she wished she could disappear. Part of her wished she had stayed out in the sand dunes now. She felt like they would have preferred that too.
"Lo siento..." She murmured, her voice muffled from her hands. "Me iré..."
"Leave? You don't have to leave, kiddo." Russel, who had learned a little bit of basic Spanish words recently to help, replied, eyeing Murdoc. "You don't have to leave at all."
"I do... You are busy..." She replied softly, looking up from her hands. "I know my way back."
"You just cried 3 minutes ago about bein' lost on the way here. You definitely don't know your way back." Murdoc said, shaking his head. "I should've known you wouldn't be able to handle all that yet at once." He sighed. He almost looked guilty. "I keep forgetting we're not dealing with a normal kid here."
Marilyn blinked at that, her eyes feeling how wet they were from her tears earlier, and she wiped them away with her sleeve. She crawled off him at that, feeling somehow worse than she did before she came over here. Even her own dad didn't think she was normal. That's why she couldn't face those other kids again. They all were normal and regular old kids. They'd think she's a freak. And who was she to argue? She was, wasn't she? She sat down in a corner of the van, surrounded by random junk she didn't feel like asking about, and she pulled her legs up to her chest again and wrapped her arms around them. She'd stay here, away from everyone, so nobody would have to look or deal with her again. She felt awful. Suddenly, not even her Hello Kitty necklace could solve her problems. Not anymore.
Noodle frowned. She felt slightly bad now about being annoyed with her earlier. She really was struggling, and anytime someone suggested she go back to the other kids a look of fear was in those eyes. Sure, she claimed she could go back so the others could work, but they knew she couldn't. She was a mess, and everyone being so unkind and exasperated with her wasn't helping. It was just making her shut down.
"She can stay." Noodle announced. "As long as she's careful and stays out of shots, I don't mind if she stays." Noodle said, walking by and patting the girl on the head gently as she did so, sliding the gloves back on her hands. "Murdoc doesn't want her privacy invaded by her being in the public eye, correct?" She asked, turning her head around to face the man.
"Yeah. Don't want the kid gettin' harassed or anything. Creeps, weirdos, the like." Murdoc nodded. "Or the public to know I have a kid." He shrugged. Marilyn looked a bit hurt at that last statement, figuring he was just ashamed of her, before she looked at Noodle and murmured a thank you in Spanish.
"No hay problema." Noodle replied with a smile before before continuing on, the group getting ready to begin filming. Russel let Marilyn sit up with him in the passenger's seat so she wouldn't be alone. Due to how big the chair was and how small she was, if they angled it right you wouldn't see her at all. It was perfect, and she didn't have to be alone. Marilyn appreciated the gesture.
The red smoke from 2D signal gun could be seen up ahead, so the cameras began rolling and the van was put into motion. Marilyn shrank down in the chair, hoping this was over soon enough and she could go home. She wasn't finding this fun like everyone else.
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Marilyn remained in the van while the others did their thing; stepping out for shots and posing, doing as the director told them, and genuinely just wandering around really in a way that made them appear cool. Marilyn ventured from the front seat to the open back of the vehicle and sat on the edge, her legs dangling off the side as she watched her surroundings tiredly. However, 2D's dancing did get a giggle out of her.
She watched 2D dance around, Noodle and Russel chat a bit with the kids for scenes, Murdoc make eyes at the parents off set who wouldn't give him the time of day, Bootie jump around the dunes and say some lyrics for shots, and the director boss them all around, talking about the visionary or whatever of things. He interested Marilyn. Hewlett? Was that his name? He kept eyeing her with a look of confusion at times, almost as if she wasn't supposed to be here, or he just couldn't place her face. She felt embarrassed at that and crawled back deeper into the van, sitting where she thought nobody could see her.
Until...
"Hey!"
Marilyn jumped harder than a cat at the sudden voice and sound of footsteps. She turned around and saw a little blond haired boy who had crawled into the van when she wasn't paying attention, navigating his way through the mess inside before he plopped next to her with an interested look on his face. Marilyn didn't say anything.
"Why're you in here? I thought you were supposed to be with the class." He shrugged, his voice was friendly if not curious. He sounded a bit like if Linus from The Peanuts didn't speak so proper. Lisp and all. He had an American accent.
"I'm not with the class." She murmured, feeling nervous at speaking. She didn't even know if she was saying words right anymore. She hated English. Why couldn't everyone speak Spanish? She knew that language well.
"Oh, you're not?" He asked, sitting up a bit more. "I wondered why I didn't reconize you."
Marilyn only hummed in response.
"So... If you're not from a class, why are you here?" He asked, sitting crisscross now against the wall with his hands fiddling with a piece of rope.
"Uhm... My dad works here." She replied, watching him play with the rope absentmindedly. He tied it into a little bow. She wondered how he did that with one piece of string. It was rather impressive. Ah well, at least that wasn't a lie.
"Couldn't your mom watch you?" He asked, smiling at his work and sitting it down in front of her, as if he were giving it to her. Marilyn took it with a smile.
"I don't have a mother." She replied. "Not anymore."
"Oh. I'm sorry." He frowned, expecting the worst. Marilyn quickly shook her head.
"She isn't dead. She didn't want me." She replied, shrugging. "It's okay."
"Why didn't she want you?" He asked, looking genuinely confused.
"I don't know." Marilyn replied, looking down at the floor for a moment with a frown. The boy frowned too and just remained silent for a minute before deciding to change the subject quickly.
"My name's Daniel. You?" He asked, smiling again cheerfully. Marilyn looked up at him embarrassedly yet with a smile of her own. He didn't find her strange. Not yet at least.
"Marilyn." She replied, scooting a bit closer to him. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all?
"Okay Marilyn, come on!" He said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up to her feet before practically dragging her out of the van. "I want you to meet my friends!" He said, completely ignoring Marilyn's squeak of surprise and slightly fearful look as he dragged her along with him, a look of excitement on his own face.
Scratch that. It was awful.
Well, only kind of.
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The kids were nowhere near as scary as Marilyn expected them to be, however she found solace in hiding behind Daniel anyway. They still were noisy, and there were far too many of them for Marilyn's own liking, but she made her way through. Somehow.
However; Marilyn's eyes couldn't seem to tear away from a girl about her age in a little pink dress, far too fancy to be worn in the dessert, and a smile on her face. Her eyes were brown and looked friendly and her face was littered with freckles. In fact, her arms were too. And her legs. Her skin was pale and her hair was fluffy blonde. She seemed sweet, and Marilyn's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she sat next to her gently.
"Hello!" She said, sitting properly with that same smile on her face. Marilyn forgot how to breathe. "You're Daniel's friend, right? So am I! I'm April."
"M-Marilyn..." Marilyn murmured, grabbing handfuls of the sand nervously and letting it fall through her fingers. Over and over again.
"Pretty!" April giggled and Marilyn's face wouldn't look up to meet hers. It felt too warm to. "I like your outfit. It's better than mine." She mused, smiling still. She looked like the smiley face sticker the doctor gives out when they give you shots.
"I think the dress is bonito." Marilyn shrugged. She looked up and saw the confused look on her face and cleared her little throat nervously. "P-Pretty." She corrected.
"Oh! Thank you! I guess so, but dresses are all Mommy puts me in. I don't like them very much." She murmured before shaking her head. "I think it's the fabric."
"Would fabric bother you?" She asked, parroting the word back with a slight struggle in her tone.
"Sometimes. If something feels too... I don't know. It does on- Oooo are those your teeth?" She dropped everything from earlier and her eyes sparkled as she pointed to Marilyn's mouth. Marilyn covered her mouth with her hand and squirmed a bit uncomfortably. She hoped no one would ask about that. She felt tears burn in her eyes.
"Yes... They're-"
"So cool!" April cut in, scooting closer to Marilyn and putting her hand on her wrist. "Can I see? Please?" She had a begging look in her eyes. Marilyn paused for a moment before pulling her hand back and opening her mouth. Two rows, on on the top and one on the bottom, lined her mouth with tiny little triangles in the exact places regular teeth would be. Her little tongue looked slightly off too, but nothing to write home about. Marilyn felt ashamed of herself while April was mesmerized. She poked at her teeth and Marilyn quickly pushed her hand back. She didn't say you could stick your finger in her mouth!
"Gross..." Marilyn murmured, looking the other way. "I am."
"No you're not! You're cool! I think you are!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "I think you're uh... What's the word you said earlier?"
"Gross?" Marilyn asked.
"No, the one before that."
"Bonitio?" She asked, tilting her head a bit.
"Yes! It means pretty? In what language?" April asked, her face softening as she spoke. Her voice was high pitched and a bit loud, but Marilyn didn't mind.
"Español. Spanish." Marilyn said, shifting a bit. "I am from Mexico."
"Like Dora?" Another kid nearby asked, and Marilyn looked the other way. No not like Dora. That oddly annoyed her greatly. She wasn't some annoying kid who screamed all the time with a monkey. She was herself.
"Is that why you talk different?" Another kid cut in, and Marilyn gripped at the sand tighter. She couldn't help the way she spoke. She tried her very best.
"Wasn't Deigo from Mexico too?" The kid from earlier asked again. Marilyn wanted to scream.
"That's why you don't use full sentences, right? My teacher and mom get mad when I don't speak in full sentences!" Sentence? What's a sentence? What's a full one? Marilyn was speaking words, wasn't she? Was she messing everything up? Marilyn gritted her teeth together and clenched them.
"Stop asking so many questions!" April snapped, pointing at the three kids just rambling away. "You're scaring her!" She said, patting her friend's hand gently. Daniel nodded in her defense and joined April and Marilyn in the sand.
"You have red eyes you know." Another kid chimed in, crouching beside her. "Kinda like our Rabbit's." She added. That wasn't necessary.
"Yeah! It's kinda weird!" A boy behind the girl added.
Marilyn had enough.
"Stop!" she snapped harshly, throwing a handful of sand at the kids before running off to the van again. She shouldn't have left it. There was no reason to. She was too different to be with the other kids. She was dark, and had weird teeth, her eyes were scary. she talked funny, and nobody else was like her. One other kid had darker skin, and his was like Russel's, not like hers. She wanted to crawl and hide in all the equipment so nobody would have to see her ever again, until familiar footsteps filled the ground outside in front of the open back to the vehicle. She liked those footsteps, but she hated this situation.
"Oi. What happeneded?" The familiar voice of Murdoc filled the space. She buried her face in her knees so she didn't have to look at him. "Come on. No more of that. I can't take anymore bawlin'." He sighed, bending down slightly and crossing his arms, leaning them on the top step of the entrance and laying his head in them, his eyes watching her.
Silence. Murdoc rolled his eyes.
"I don't really care, y'know. Just if you're gonna get sand in some brat's eye and have the mum come over to yell at me I'd like a reason to give her." He sighed tiredly, watching her grip her legs tighter. "Actually they all think your Russel's kid so he's getting the lovely feedback. Which is weird considerin' you're obviously not black and haven't interacted with him once in front of this lot." Murdoc lifted his head up and shook it. "I guess they just see brown and assume. As always. Nevermind you 'ave my hair color and my eye color."
"They don't understand me..." Marilyn whispered, her face still down on her knees.
"Well when you whisper like that, it's pretty hard for anyone to." Murdoc jabbed.
"No. Me." She said, looking up. "Nobody is like me." She said, pointing to herself. Murdoc got the message finally.
"Ah." He said, looking over to the mess that was left behind from Marilyn's little outburst. Thank God they were taking a break from filming. "So you threw sand in some kid's eye 'cause they don't understand you?"
"They think I am scary." She replied, looking slightly deadpan. Why wasn't he getting this?? Was he paying attention??
"Well tossing sand in sensitive areas will certainly make that rumor vanish." Murdoc said sarcastically, reaching into his back pocket and pulling a cigarette out and holding it between his teeth while he fiddled for his lighter in his many pockets. "'at can't be 'e only 'eson." Murdoc said with a cigarette still in his mouth, making it hard to speak properly.
"They said I am Dora. Cartoon." She shook her head. "And that I talk funny." She frowned. "It hurt."
Murdoc lit the cigarette finally and blew smoke out, thankfully in the other direction. He nodded this time and understood. He pulled away from leaning against the van and shrugged. "Fair enough. I would too,"
That was it? He was letting her off the hook like that?!
"I'll tell Russ. Get 'em off the hook from some brat's mum." He grinned. "I gotta be the peacemaker again, eh? The hero?" Marilyn stuck her tongue out in heavy disagreement and Murdoc rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Stay here if you want come out if you don't. I don't care." He shrugged. "Some kids're lookin' for you though."
Marilyn perked up at that. "Kids?"
"Two blonde kids. Girl an' a boy." He said, taking his hand and gesturing behind him before walking off, leaving Marilyn with a decision to make.
After two minutes of debate, Marilyn slid off the step and walked out again, the shaking in her chest ceased.
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The rest of said filming session went fine. Marilyn got to watch her two friends and uncle sing, avoid the kids she didn't like, and keep herself relatively in check.
Until some little boy was looking up a girl's skirt and she kicked him in the back with those heavy boots and made him cry. Murdoc only snorted at it. He could've sworn they got that on video, and he hoped they kept it in too. Oh well. One shot wouldn't hurt her or him. Not like anyone would notice she wasn't really with the other kids anyway.
The time came for the kids to pile into the rescue vehicle and Marilyn actually seemed a bit content snuggled up to her two friends as the bus went in motion. She knew she'd probably never see them again, but she could try to enjoy what they had now, right?
Thank goodness the dune buggy was going. She was hot, and hungry, and-
The vehicle broke down. Great. Turns out Russel accidentally left it running. For two hours. They were out of gas. And stranded for real this time. Great.
"Uh... I-I can use me signal gun!" 2D said, voice full of nervous optimism in the situation at hand.
"Oh shut up." Murdoc sighed, glaring at Hewlett who seemed to be laughing outside with his camera. "This all your fault! Wanker." Murdoc grumbled like a grumpy child.
"What're we gonna do with this many kids? They're bound to get bored." Russel said, watching a few of them already begin to complain. "Or already are..."
"I suggest you start reading!" Noodle said with a grin, tossing a book Marilyn had brought in Russel's lap with a smug look on her face. She knew what she was doing. "You do the crime you do the time!"
Russel sighed and looked at the practical sea of children with nervous, almost tired look.
"Aw man..."