| ~*~ Meanwhile ~*~ 2D tapped out the tune of '19-2000' on his keyboard, singing the verse as Noodle strummed easily to the tune, improvising to fill out for the rest of the band, who were absent. "Keep a mild groove on.......Kay, try it now." 2D said, after completing the verse and continuing the song for a few beats, humming a happy little accompaniment to the music. Noodle took a deep breath, "Here you go!" she said cheerfully, checking 2D's face for indication of whether she'd said it right. He nodded encouragingly and sung softly as a backdrop and hint for her. "Get tha cool, get tha cool shoeshine." Noodle said shyly, and 2D's voice overpowered hers easily. She felt like she'd done it wrong, but 2D's entire face lit up and he paused in his playing to quickly give her the thumbs-up. She sang it more loudly the next time, and they practiced through the chorus a few times to get it JUST right. When both finally sunk to the floor in a tired enjoyment of getting it right, laughing delightedly, 2D finally looked at the girl again, "Kay, Noodle, bed time now, right?" he said softly. Noodle pursed her lips and hugged her knees, then forced a smile, her excitement wearing off. "We all gotta sleep sometime, ne?" 2D said, inadvertantly picking up one of her Japanese speaking habits. Noodle shook her head and started to mumble in Japanese, and 2D nodded uncomprehendingly. He'd never really heard her talk like that before, with that feeling in her voice. "Noodle monogonashii." she said softly, simplifying as much as possible for 2D's sake, "Hoomushikku." When she spoke very simply in her own language, like a tiny baby, sometimes 2D understood her...he was really the only one who did. 2D nodded, picking out that the last word had sounded like 'homesick.' He could understand how she felt, he remembered being a kid and homesick...vaguely. Sometimes things seemed to just slip out of his mind. He put a long-fingered hand on Noodle's small back and rubbed a little, "If ya want, you can sleep wiv me tonight." he said, then got flustered, "Er...not like that, jus' in my room wiv me, maybe in a sleepin' bag or sumfin'." Noodle's face broke into a smile and she nodded, "Arigatou! Wo ai ni." she said softly, and hugged 2D's arm, then skipped off to her room. A few minutes later she was back, dressed in a Powerpuff Girls nightgown and carrying a pillow and stuffed green dog. 2D smiled, took her hand, and they went to his room together. 2D never took up much of his huge bed, preferring to sleep close to the left side, curled up in a ball. He pulled his orange comforters over to the left side of the bed and made a sort of nest there, then dug around in his messy closet behind his shrine to Tibet, and produced a sleeping bag. He unrolled it and lay it on the right side of his bed. Snagging up a pair of pyjama pants he usually never wore, he headed to the bathroom to clean up and change, returning in a few minutes to find Noodle snuggled in her sleeping bag with her stuffed animal, and half asleep already. 2D tousled her mohawk and then curled up himself inside his nest of comforters, pulling the blanket up to his chin and closing his eyes, face turned toward Noodle. "If you need anyfing, jus' wake me." he mumbled as he fell asleep. "Arigatou. Oyasumi nasai." she whispered, also falling asleep. ~*~*~ Noodle woke with a bit of a sore throat from feeling sad. She always felt that way after she was sad for a while. She didn't want to wake 2D up for just a bit of a sore throat, though, so she crawled out of her bed and down to the kitchen for a glass of water. She padded down the hallway to the kitchen and headed towards the cupboard when she noticed a glass on the table. It seemed to be full of some white liquid. Moving closer, Noodle inspected it with her bleary, sleepy eyes, and peered at the cup. She climbed onto the chair, her nightgown swishing around her ankles, and sniffed it. It seemed to be some of the coconut milk she bought in cans in the 'Foreign Foods' aisle at the grocery store! Someone must have bought her some as a present. Smiling and feeling very happy, Noodle downed the glass. It tasted a little funny, but that must have been from sitting out overnight. She climbed off the chair and padded back down the hallway, yawning as her sore throat went away. She padded into 2D's room and crawled back into her sleeping bag, falling peacefully asleep within minutes. |