Noodle strummed her strings with the same looping chord. For the sake of practice she played and sang when she wanted to think. Stu was at work. She was alone and looking for an apartment near the school he used to attend. The place was going to be cheap for the area's standards. Based on pictures alone, the view was sweet and they allowed her pets with her. Noodle felt an odd joy about this. She hadn't lived in a aapartment with a room mate since she was living in Japan. The fact that she was room mating up with 2D was...

Wait... Room mating?

Roomying? Rooming...? Bunking...?

The fact that I'm sharing room and board with 2D is going to be probably pleasant without Murdoc rumaging around. I can keep him on the right track. But with us in the same living space and not one room...?

Noodle pictured him having college friends over and her getting them coffee. She imagined it in the style of the fifties in black and white as she wore some dress that stuck out every which way at the skirt. She pecks Stuart's cheek and sits by him while he chats about life and she may feel out of the conversation till she hears about their love of something. Friends leads to house parties. Maybe she would find someone nice. She could be someone's sexy out of school girlfriend whose older and more mature then the other girls. Maybe Stu would find a fantastic job and be loaded enough for Noodle to get a seperate apartment.

Maybe he's going to meet someone.

The little fifties style cartoon played with Noodle walking to his apartment; only to find some dumb blonde with fifty children left and right and a baby gnawing morbidly on her chest. Stuart grabbing her shoulder and leaning on it smiling, as if Noodle wasn't hinting enough she was in shock and pain. Or he was going out of his way to ignore it. Noodle's stomach lurched, she wondered if he had that gut sinking feeling when they ran into Tray? If he felt as ugly as she felt in that scene.

Katsu mawed and patted her leg. She realised she stopped playing that same song over and over. Suffice to say, guitar practice was over. She had a cat to feed. Noodle got up and poured cat food out in a dish and took a shower. She slipped on a tight shirt and high waisted shorts, going to put on light makeup and help Rachel with dinner out of kindness.

She washed her hands and put her hair up. The two serving some baked potatoes and burgers. As she handled the meat she hummed Strobelight to herself and worked. "Admittedly I never thought I'd learn to cook growing up." She said. Rachel was putting the potatoes in the oven. "Why's that?" she asked. Noodle flipped the meat over. "Cause the guys didn't teach me, till Stu came along and showed me how. Just small things at first." she said thinking of the burnt toast and ramen she used to make when she was a teenager. "You enjoy taking care of him huh?" Rachel chuckled. "He helped take care of me when I was little. Walking me to school and playing video games, teaching me how to shave my legs and buying me girl supplies. But it always felt unlike a sibling thing. Cause when I got back from being in Japan for seven years plus the time I came to plastic beach he technically hadnt seen me in eleven years. Counting that he wasnt present when I was on plastic beach. Its like we start fresh again. Something like meeting an old childhood friend. Not what I could call parental," Noodle said as she flipped another patty. Completely oblivious to Rachel's bewildered expression. Rachel hadn't heard about these kinds of adventures since the seventies.

"I was just finding it comparable to when I was a young nurse and how I met David," she said, going back to what she was doing in setting the table. "He had hit his hand with a wrench and couldnt feel his thumb so he ended up meeting me at the hospital...and ever since then he would show up with the tiniest of injuries. Cost him a lot just to see me. Shaving knicks, bruised hands from a wrench falling on him, the works!" Rachel grinned as she swept her hair back. Her hair was long and dirty blonde with a slightly messy bun. "So one day I told him he better take me out to dinner already before he ends up killing himself for me!" Noodle smiled at the thought, feeling as though this must be how it feels hearing stories of love from an older loved one. "That's beautiful Mrs.Pot," Noodle admitted.

A deep voice came from the hall when she heard the door open. "It didn't end there either. On the date her old ex boyfriend was the waiter and we ended up fighting outside. He lunged first might I add." David said this and sat down at the table hands folded like he usually did when seating himself. "So I won and called the police. Rachel took me home and cleaned me up and stitched me and-"

"-yelled at you,"

"No ye scolded me before kissing me and it worked out ever since,"

"I yelled!"

"Scolded and it worked out ever since."

"I yelled at yew and ih worked ou ever since!"

"The point is it worked out." Stuart said from the door way. He was leaning on the door with wet hair swept back and wearing a now slightly opened blue collar shirt and work pants as he was barefoot. He looked like he had been sweating all day. "Where were you till now?" Noodle asked, trying hard not to look at the soft blue tufts of hair peaking from the wife beater under his button up. "Washing up before dinner like a nerd," David teased. Rachel slapped his wrist gently setting his potato down. "He was being polite. We raised him that way," she argued. Noodle shook her head smiling as she put the patties on burgers. "Uh uh. He never did that back home." Noodle grinned. "I did too!" he grumbled. "Just not as much. I was just sweaty today." 2D said taking his old seat. It was the exact same spot from when he was little. "There's the old boy himself. Grumpy when he's in the heat." Noodle's lips curled in a smile. He was so precious.