[Phase 1]

Moonlight shines on the water crashing down over the sand. It's a lovely sight to behold, tranquil as seeing a meadow of tulips rippling in the wind; or perhaps a waterfall pouring down in the mountains of Scotland.

It's Noodle's first trip to the beach, and the band have decided to take a little stroll down the sand, the main goal being to lower the young girl's energy level enough for her to be able to sleep. She hums as she and Stuart skip hand-in-hand ahead of the other two, though not too far ahead of Russel. Noodle's being sure that if there's any danger, she can immediately run back to Russ without much effort.

Russel himself is very tired, but still welcomes the bit of walking down the beach. It isn't often he gets to do so, so he'd might as well take the opportunity. Watching Noodle's boundless energy amuses him greatly. It's close to one in the morning and she's still not slowing down.

"Toochee, um! See!" Noodle calls over the sound of the surf. The young man looks over to her.

"What is it, luv? Did you find something?" 2D crouches down.

"A, um. Uh. Noodle, uhh," Noodle shrugs. "No, um. No know?" She points down to a tiny crab in the sand.

"Oh, how cute! It's a baby crab!"

"Huh?"

"A crab. A baby one." Stuart says a bit slower.

"Ooh." Noodle pauses. "What, um, a.. A cr-ob?" She pronounces crab with the developing British accent she's picking up from Murdoc and 2D. It's a tad confusing, considering she's also got a Japanese accent.

"Um, I suppose it's like a beach insect?" He suggests.

"What'd ya find, baby-girl?" Russel's caught up, and Murdoc's almost there, too.

"Oh! Rus-ol! Noodle cr-ob!" Noodle grins widely at the drummer before resuming her instigation.

"What she say?" Russel pauses, thinking it over. "Oh, a crab. That's cool," he replies.

"A, um, uhh, bab-ee cr-ob." She says.

"Don't touch it, though, it might pinch you." Stuart warns, though he's grinning. Noodle's so cute.

"Ohh. Pinch." She pokes at it anyhow, but all the crab does is rush off across the sand, lost in the darkness in a short moment. "No! Where a bab-ee cr-ob goes?" Noodle whines.

"Probably to go eat some dinner; I'm sure he's hungry." Stu replies.

"Um, uhh, wanted Noodle.. To, um. Cr-ob be Noodle.. Uh." She crosses her index and middle fingers on her right hand.

"You mean you wanted him to be your friend? Aww, that's sad he wandered off before you could introduce yourself.. Maybe we'll run into him again when we head back." The singer takes Noodle's hand, and she nods her head.

"Hai. Much a sad." She looks up at Russel. "Hmm, a Rus-ol a sleep? Want?" She asks, taking her father-figure's hand with her free one.

"In a bit, yeah. Bit too late for being up much longer. You're looking tired too, baby."

"Oh, no no, a-waked Noodle. No a sleep." Despite her protests, she tries to conceal a yawn behind Stuart's arm. Definitely getting sleepy.

Russ chuckles. "Right, well, we should head back so we can find Muds, yeah? Can't leave him alone too long, he'll blow something up or some shit like that."

"Hai, a Mu-doc." Noodle agrees, rubbing Russel's hand on her cheek. It's a bit chilly out, now that she's not skipping, and she doesn't much like it.

"Wonder why he's so slow. Maybe he started back before us." Stu suggests as they start walking.

"Probably, after today he looked ready to drop dead on the ground. Kinda wish he did." Russel replies, gazing down at Noodle.

"Yeah," Stuart squeezes her hand gently.

There's silence after his remark; everyone's back to listening to the ocean. A very nice sound, for sure.

Five minutes later, Noodle breaks the silence. "Um, Rus-ol. A up?" She requests, tugging on the large man's hand. "A up, um, uh, a up for ah. Noodle?"

Russ nods, bending over slightly to pick her up. "Gettin' tired, yeah, baby-girl?" He asks. Noodle's still got Stuart's hand.

"Well, it's a bit tough walking on the sand, cos our feet aren't quite used to it. I'll bet it's even harder for her since she's so small," Stuart offers.

"Yeah, I'll bet so. Her feet were sore already from being on the beach all day, she said they hurt." The drummer agrees.

"A ow." Noodle agrees, resting her forehead in the crook of Russel's neck, yawning again. She's facing the ocean, just so she can watch it while Russ walks. "Much ow, yeah? A hurt a Noodle shoe."

"Oh, sorry to hear it, luv." Stu frowns. "Mine are a tad sore, too. Guess it's getting late."

"Never thought I'd hear ya say that; you usually stay up way later than this." Russel shifts Noodle in his arms a bit.

"Well, um,.I guess we've been getting, um, lots of exercise. More than usual." Stuart lets his gaze wander back to the surf.

Russ chuckles a bit. "Mhm. Look, we're almost back to the rental house." He turns his head a bit. "Is Noodle still awake, Dee?" He asks.

"Hmm, she looks close to falling to sleep." Stuart responds, shoving hair from his eyes.

"Um... A Rus-ol." Noodle says, drowsy.

"We gotta get ya rinsed off so the sand don't get everywhere, so stay awake for another minute, baby." He urges, starting up the stairs to the walkway leading to the house.

"A sleep Noodle, hai Rus-ol." Noodle answers, her head lifting to glance back at the ocean one more time. Once it's out of view, the girl turns her head to gaze at the vacation house. The lights are on; Murdoc's sitting on the porch with a lit cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of rum in hand.

"A Mu-doc, see!"

"I was right, then, huh?" Russel nods his head.

"Glad we don't have to go searching for him, yeah?" Stuart grins. The trio stop at the spigot near the house to rinse off their feet and legs. The water makes Noodle squeal, but it's over as quickly as it'd begun.

"A cold, no good." Noodle remarks as she pushes the sliding door open. She doesn't get it very far; the door usually gets stuck about halfway. Luckily, she can slide right through the crack.

"Sorry, baby-girl. Had to be done."

Russel pushes the door open all the way, careful not to push too hard.

"Um. Russ, since it's the first night here, can we have a sleep over? In the, um, den." Stuart asks. "Uh, I don't like being alone in new places the first night."

"Ask Noodle, I don't care long as you get to sleep." Russ watches as Noodle runs up the stairs to see Murdoc.

"Oh, okay!" Stuart follows suit. Everyone's looking rather tired at this point.

Russel scratches his head, sighing. It'll be a bit of a struggle to get Noodle to bed at this rate. Maybe the rest of the week's nights will be easier to deal with.

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Now that the four are all situated in the den, the lights are dimmed and some show is on the telly. Stuart's the only one really paying attention to it. Noodle's wedged herself in the space between the back of the couch and Murdoc's chest. She'd been waiting for Russel to get out of the shower so she can snuggle up to him, and had ended up deducing that Murdoc's the next best thing until then; since Stuart's lying comfortably on the floor and she doesn't much want to disturb him.

"Uh, Mu-doc. See a babee cr-ob on, um, uh, on beach." Noodle says tiredly, her head rested on his chest.

"Oh, well. That's nice, dove. Didn't catch it, did you? Crab's bloody delicious, especially when paired with a nice glass of wine." Murdoc twirls a bit of her hair between his fingers absently, his gaze fixed on the telly.

"No eat! Bad, bad! Is bad. No good." Noodle exclaims, lifting her head to glare at the bassist.

"Fine, fine." Murdoc rolls his eyes as she puts her head back on his chest. "You don't eat the baby ones, anyway. Too small. Probably don't taste good."

Noodle sighs. "A cr-ob no be Noodle friend. Go bye bye."

"No? Well, that's unfortunate. Oh, but did you learn a new word? Haven't heard you say 'friend' before, unless I'm being daft." The man stifles a yawn.

"Hai. Toochee." The child shifts herself so she's fully on his chest now.

"Hm." Murdoc grunts. "Good word. Either way, that fuckin crab isn't worth being your friend."

Noodle is silent, listening to Murdoc's heartbeat. She finds his smell comforting. "Nn, a sad." She murmurs.

A chuckle comes from him. "Don't fall asleep on me, dove, I'm about to go take a piss." He tells her.

"A Mu-doc. Want."

Murdoc pries her off gently. "I'll be back."

"Hmph." Noodle huffs, glaring at Murdoc.

He sighs. "Spoilt brat." The man remarks as he starts to the toilets.

Noodle sits there for a moment before sliding off the couch and onto the floor. "Toochee?" She lays on the hardwood next to him. "Um. What Toochee do?"

Stuart looks at her. "Oh, watching the telly, luv. It's the Twilight Zone marathon, you see." He explains, reaching over to push hair from her eyes.

Noodle nods, snuggling closer to him. "Toochee warm. A good."

"Are you chilly?" 2D asks, letting her burrow into his arms.

"Hai. Chilly Noodle." Noodle agrees. "Want a Rus-ol, but. Uh. Take long." She explains.

"He'll be back any moment now, don't worry too much." Stuart fixes his dark eyes on the child momentarily.

She nods. "A show, what Toochee show be?"

Stuart frowns. "Hard to explain. The episode just ended, though, so you're in luck! Next one will be playing after the advertisements."

Noodle yawns. "Oh, a good." She wishes Russel were down, he'd promised her a bedtime story. "Um.. A sleepy Noodle."

Stuart nods. "Me too, but I don't want to sleep. This show's my favourite."

"Hai. Toochee a good." She doesn't know what he's saying; too focussed on staying awake.

"Thank you, luv..?" He seems confused, but it's nothing new. "Oh, it's starting, see?"

Her legs shift about until she's in a seated position. From where she had been, her view of the telly was obstructed by 2D's figure. She's hardly able to keep her eyes open all the way, but she's determined not to sleep yet.

They're about ten minutes into the episode when Russel and Murdoc make it downstairs, finally. Noodle's half-asleep at this point, but then jolts awake at the sound of their bickering. Leaping up, she barrels into Russel's legs, speaking rapidly in Japanese.

"Baby, slow down a little, okay?" Russel forgets about the argument with Murdoc for the moment. "Sorry I took so long, I got distracted by this piece of shit when I was heading down.. Round twenty minutes ago." He jabs a thumb towards Murdoc, who scowls and stomps to one of the couches. The other one's a futon; Russel had claimed it earlier. Noodle's probably going to share it with him; she's not big on being alone in new places at night, either.

"A Rus-ol. Um, uhh. Noodle, uh, want a Rus-ol, um, a sleep. Eee. Sleepy. A sleepy Noodle, yeah?" She looks exhausted; it's a very late night for her. Russel usually makes her go right to sleep at 23:00; save for her frequent playtimes with Del.

Russ picks her up, frowning. "I figured you would go ahead and sleep when I was showerin'. Didn't think you were waiting on me; I'm sorry. Let's get you to bed, then." Heading to the futon, Russel sits down and hands Noodle her stuffed monkey. The child snuggles up to her toy, humming a little.

"Rus-ol a good, is warm." Noodle slides from the man's lap. "Stay." She directs. The girl walks over to Murdoc, then bends over to make eye-contact. "Good, um, night, a Mu-doc."

He sits up and takes her into his arms. "Is it that time already? Well. Good night, little dove." Murdoc pecks her forehead. "More beach in the morning, now isn't that exciting?"

Noodle grins. "Hai, a beach." She hugs him, then sliding from his lap. "Mu-doc do a sleep." The child orders.

"We'll see. Nighty night." Murdoc replies, patting her head before laying back down.

"Nn." Noodle starts over to Stuart. "Toochee, um, good night. For sleep."

"It is a good night, yeah!" The bluenette sits up and hugs her. "You'll sleep well, please?"

Noodle nods, returning the hug tightly. "Sleepy, a Rus-ol do a sleep, um, and a Noodle sleep."

"Good, that's very good." He smiles, kissing the young girl's cheek, as is their custom at night.

"Night night! Love a Toochee."

"I love you too, Noods. Go on, then, Russ is waiting." Stu yawns.

Noodle nods again, walking to Russel and climbing back into his lap, monkey in hand. "Rus-ol sleep, yeah?" She asks drowsily.

"Mhm, I'm gonna. You too, it's time to sleep." Russel replies.

"Hai. Love a Rus-ol." Noodle's eyes close.

"Love you, baby-girl." He returns, kissing her forehead as well. The large man is glad she's finally getting to sleep.

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"Baby. It's time to wake up; it's morning." Russel says. It isn't really morning; more noon. Everyone else is still sleeping, though.

Noodle mumbles something, then shifting herself around into a more comfortable position on Russel's stomach. She's definitely still asleep.

Russ sighs, rubbing his forehead. He doesn't want to disturb her, but it's important that she doesn't oversleep, or she'll be grumpy for the rest of the day. "Noodle. Up, c'mon." He lifts her into a seated position.

Noodle's eyes open slowly. "Nnn..?" Her voice is soft.

"Ready to start getting to the beach?" Russel asks.

"Uh.. Urusai..." Noodle complains, burying her face back into Russel.

(Translation: shut up.)

Russ rolls his eyes. "C'mon, Noods. Up, let's get goin'."

"Nooo..." Noodle complains again. Russel shakes his head, pulling her into his arms so he can get up off the couch. His neck has that familiar stiffness that comes from sleeping weirdly, but he'd forgotten the painkillers back at Kong Studios. He'll just have to fight through it, much to his annoyance.

Moments later, she's back asleep. Russel chuckles a little at this; she's as stubborn as Murdoc, sometimes. Noodle still in his arms, he stands up and begins walking up the stairs; careful not to disturb the other two men. They can wake themselves.

After breakfast, they'll head back down to the beach.

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Hello, all!

This one took way longer to write than most; but I'm sure that's alright, considering how far ahead I am.

Not much else to say this time!

Thanks for reading; I hope you all are doing well!

Until next time,

Liz