#2doc implied

2D gazed at his reflection in the mirror, wringing his beanie in his hands. He hated, hated wearing that beanie. It was stuffy and constricting and hurt his tendrils. What else am I supposed to do? Never leave the house again? He huffed and put the beanie on, wincing as his tendrils were compressed against his forehead. Halloween wouldn’t happen again for almost a year. 2D longed to throw the beanie aside and walk down the street, carrying Noodle and bantering with Murdoc. But he knew what would happen if he did that.

Sclera lenses were very uncomfortable, rigid and unforgiving. Putting them in was always a pain. But it was necessary to even remotely fit in. Black eyes could be loosely explained as hyphema. But fragmented buglike eyes? There’s no lying about that. So 2D was forced to wear those stupid pieces of plastic, or whatever they were made out of. He wasn’t quite sure, but he didn’t care either.

Sure, he could retract his feelers for a little while and walk around with sunglasses on and people wouldn’t bat an eye at him. But he couldn’t keep them retracted for long. Maybe an hour at the most. And then they’d slip back out. And someone would see. And they would tell someone else. And the wrong people would find out. And they would find him. And it would all be over.

12D-3 had nearly been caught once. He’d been sleepwalking down the street when Murdoc caught up to him and shook him awake. A drunk man had seen him and screamed. Murdoc had knocked the man out by slamming the poor bloke’s head against the brick wall. The story still appeared in tabloids anyway. He refused to leave Kong for a week after that, despite Murdoc’s gentle coaxing and reassurances. 

“You alright, mate?” 2D turned his head at the sensation of Murdoc’s hand on his shoulder. Forcing a smile, he nodded.“Yeah. Yeah, I’m just a little tired you kn-” He cut off with a trembling sigh as Murdoc gently traced his calloused fingertips across the steel-blue freckles on 2D’s shoulder.“You don’t have to hide from me, okay?” Murdoc’s typically gruff voice smoothed out to a low rumble as he swept his thumb across the back of 2D’s neck. The alien fretfully bit at his lip as he tilted his head back a little. “Talk to me, starlight. What’s bothering you?”

“I...” 2D glanced back at the mirror for a moment, his skin prickling at how much he had to cover himself. But then he saw the gentle concern in Murdoc’s eyes. “I just hate having to hide myself all the time. The contacts hurt, the hats hurt, the lies hurt, all that hurts.” He turned around and looked Murdoc in the eye. “But what hurts more than any of that is knowing what would happen if I didn’t hide.” 2D had to look away as he felt a tear threaten to fall. “They’d hate me. They’d try to kill me. And they might hurt you too for helping me hide among them.” He took a deep shuddery breath and a step back. “I’ll never be one of them. I’ll never be one of you. But I still have to pretend I am anyway. And it hurts.” Murdoc was quiet for a moment. Then he gently put a hand on 2D’s shoulder.

“I get it. It sucks ass having to hide what you’re really like so people don’t come after you. Having to pretend to be something you’re not just for a shot at being accepted.” Murdoc’s grip on 2D’s shoulder tightened a little, causing the alien to look him in the eye. “But I see you. I see you, alright?” Murdoc paused and carefully pulled the beanie off of 2D’s head. Spiky blue hair and coiling tendrils popped free from the confines of the stretchy hat, and Murdoc was unable to hide a small smile. “And I like what I see.” 12D-3′s eyes widened, uncomfortable contact lenses completely forgotten as the weight of Murdoc’s words hit him. The human smirked. “Fuck those other cunts, yeah? I consider myself lucky to have the privilege, the honour of being able to see you being yourself.”

“I...thank you.” 12D-3 felt his tendrils curling self consciously under Murdoc’s praise. He turned his head away, unable to meet the man’s gaze, when Murdoc tilted the alien’s head back towards him with a finger under his chin. The human’s intense gaze locked with 12D-3′s, and the alien gulped.

“You may not be one of them, but you are one of us, you know. You, me, Russ, and Noodle? We’re a fucked up family now. You’re one of us, and you’ll always have a place here.” Murdoc chuckled. “And you know what? Even if lardass fucks off back to America, and even if Noodle’s mysterious and irresponsible space parents come back to take her out on another space adventure, you’ve still got a place by my side, yeah?” Murdoc playfully clapped his hand against 2D’s back and barked a laugh. “Murdoc and 2D, back to back, facing against the British Area 51 and fuck knows what else!” 2D chuckled as he leaned against Murdoc.

“Together forever, hm? No getting rid of me?” He raised an eyebrow with a playful smirk. Murdoc rolled his eyes with an exaggerated groan.

“Me? Get rid of you? Mate, you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried!” The man barked a laugh. “Alright, finish getting ready and we’ll head to the Geep. I got a surprise for you tonight, yeah?” Murdoc slid his inverted cross necklace off of his neck and slipped it around 2D’s. “Keep that safe for me,” he said with a wink as he patted 2D’s shoulder. 12D-3 stared slackjawed as Murdoc sauntered off.