[Phase 4]
Noodle's eyes snap open at the sound of her cat's absolutely pathetic meowing in her ear. "Agh. Katsu." She complains. Sitting up on her tatami, the young woman yawned. Staring listlessly at the wall for a minute or so, Noodle then gets up from the floor. It's way early again. Usually she would sleep in until 13:00 at the earliest. Today it is only 06:43 and she feels exhausted. She had only gone to sleep around three hours ago. Another loud mewl comes from the cat, pulling her out of her sleepy trance. "What do you want now, I'm sleeping!" Complains she with another yawn.
Noodle looks over at the wall where the cat's food and water dishes are placed. The room has a soft glow due to the nightlight plugged into the socket by the lamp. "I forgot to put food in there before bed, yeah?" The woman looks with sympathy towards the tabby. She had gotten a bit tipsy last night between hanging around with Murdoc and 2D and the club and must have just gone to her room to sleep without realizing. "I'll handle that. Sorry, friend."
Standing up, Noodle cracks her back and then opens a cupboard, pulling out dry food for her cat. "You got too hungry to wait, yeah? I guess I understand that. You're less angry when you're hungry than I can be, so I'll tolerate it." She bends down and fills the cat bowl. Feeling sore, she puts the bag of food back. Filming the Strobelite video with 2D had been tiring despite her love of dancing. It had taken all of the previous day, unfortunately.
Noodle doesn't feel up to sleeping again. The ever-present insomnia that seems to run through everyone in the band had unfortunately been given to her as a kid. So, she does something she hadn't done in awhile. Slipping on the night shoes next to her tatami mat, Noodle starts up the stairs to see if anyone else is awake.
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After going up two or three flights of stairs, Noodle closes the door behind herself. The lights are all on, still, but that's old news. None of them were ever hugely comfortable with having the lights off throughout the place. There might not be zombies, but really, there's always the chance of an apocalypse. Better safe than sorry.
Shoving her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants, Noodle starts toward the kitchen. That's always been the first place she looks when she wants the company of her boys. It's most usually Russel there; he sits at the small table often and either watches the news on the tiny black-and-white box television on the kitchen counter or reads the newspaper. Noodle doesn't like this particular hobby much; it stresses Russel out a bit too much. She always has to remind him that he can't fix all the problems going on in the world, and how he should focus more on the 'here and now' instead of the 'then and there'.
Walking through the doorway to the kitchen with another yawn, Noodle is unsurprised to see Russel where she thought he'd be. "What are you doing up?" She asks sternly.
Russ looks up. "Hey, baby. We was so busy earlier with that video and I couldn't watch the news. I had all my shows recorded." He says.
"Russel, you know that it isn't good for you." Noodle sighs, deliberately sitting down in the seat that blocks Russel's view of the telly.
"What are you doing up?" He asks, looking over at the clock on the stove. "It real early to be up, 'specially with how busy yesterday was."
Noodle crosses her arms, leaning back in the chair. "I could say the same for you." She pauses. "I forgot to feed Katsu last night and he woke me up a bit ago."
"Ohh." He scratches his head. "You should head back to sleep." The man advises.
"Not until you do. Tell me, is any of this stuff on the news making you a happier person?" Noodle inquires. She's tired, yes, but he's not going to sleep unless she makes him.
Russel frowns, considering what to say. Of course he wasn't happier with it, but he'd rather know what's going on than be trapped by ignorance. But he refuses to lie to his kid. "Guess not." The drummer replies reluctantly.
"Remember last time? You didn't sleep for days." Now she seems worried. "I know all the news is important and all, but. It's not so important that you need to lose sleep.' Noodle reminds him.
Russ sighs. "Yeah, I know. You right again." He replies. "Though. I ain't sleeping too good anyhow."
Noodle frowns, standing up and opening the refrigerator to retrieve a water bottle. "That isn't okay, you know." She goes over to him and hugs the man. "I want you to stick around for awhile. But what you're doing isn't healthy. I'm worried."
"Don't be, baby. I slept through the whole video, remember?" He hugs her back tightly. "I know being nocturnal ain't the. Uh. Ain't the best, but that how it is."
Her eyes roll. "Hmph. It doesn't have to be." She replies, not letting go. She'd missed cuddles from Russel; they're comforting. "Please get to sleep."
A sigh escapes the man. "Okay. I guess I probably should." He consents. Noodle grins.
"Thank you." She finally leaves his embrace. The fatherly man chuckles.
"Jeez, when did you become the mama of the group?" Russ asks jokingly.
Noodle chuckles. "The minute I got to Kong in that crate." She answers. "Though. You were already the mama."
Chuckling again, Russ gets up. "You right. Guess you's the sister."
"I can't exactly be a brother, then, can I?" Noodle teases as she watches him go towards his room. "Make sure you sleep well, okay?" She requests, giving him a hug. "You need it."
Russel hugs her back. "I'll try my best, baby. You get some sleep too." He answers, pecking the top of her head. "Night night." He starts down the corridor.
"Night, Russ!"
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Hello, all! This one was obviously half-arsed, I lost motivation mid-ways. No big deal, yeah? I'm not going to let it bother me. My next one will be the lovely prompt that a guest left me! Thank you for that; I really like the idea! Best wishes to you!
Looking forward to break. I really need one; the homework is tedious. That reminds me- I have a test later today that I need to study for... And three homework sheets due tomorrow for electrical class.. and a worksheet due for Criminal Justice class... And an entire four pages worth of questions due for logic class... Ah, well. College is tricky.
Hope you're well!
Until next time,
Liz
