She's watching him from the side; seated at the foot of his bed, a soft expression on her face as she watched him drift off into his sleep, dreaming of a world she hoped was nice. The high from their last concert of the tour coming down like sand in an hourglass, rushing to leave, the Humanz tour running them until stagnant. The airplane ride back exhausting, settling back into the Spirit House sluggish from the crack of dawn dwindling upon them.

Noodle sighed, leaning down, curling herself into his side, yawning as her conscious left, a smile tucking itself in as she fell out like a light.

Russ had been busy, in and out of his hotel room; phone in hand, complaints about lawyers and paparazzi and contracts. She couldn't find him on most mornings, stopping to see him asleep in the deep night where he had taken to dinner on the couch. They haven't seen Murdoc since the Brit Awards and Russel, despite all he had to say, was busy and she wished she could help him but there wasn't much to do besides waiting on their lawyer fighting the prosecution, waiting to prove Muds had been framed.

Then there was 2D, accompanying her as he had started to do, quiet, a slight withdrawn from the last few concert stops, hiding away from the limelight, shying away from the flurries of photos from the past months. He sang still, in his calming voice, hints of exhaustion drowned by the loud voices of their collaborators, but behind the curtain looking ragged and pale.

She had taken to him then, gravitating closer, underlined worry and relief when he had latched onto her, his palms shaky from the cold sweat of his skin, relaxing into her touch, letting her rock him. She wasn't sure what had caused the withdrawal, but it was present, draining him slow, without an explosive sign, and she wondered, knowing that the staff and their collaborators couldn't yet tell, if Russ knew.

She smiled outwardly, grin picture perfect without a care to the furious flashes of cameras, their screaming fans shouting adoration, and she knew, looking at the way his hands shook before grabbing the mic, she would protect 2D. Hoping to guard and soothe him from the things she couldn't see, the things she couldn't fight, the things she could only offer the comfort of her presence at his side, helpless solace, she wanted to surround him in peace.

Breakfast bleak from stale cereal and dry bread, 2D greeted her, the shadows of his eyes lighter than usual, as if undaunted for the first time in months, yelping when his lit cigarette touched his skin, a timid smile holding her captive as she laughed.

She hummed to herself as she watched him shuffle through the refrigerator, Russ' takeout neatly on its own, grimacing when he showed her the carton of milk, the congealing dairy falling into the sink in slops. They'd go shopping later, she promised.

Watching him then, munching on toast, fruit jam hitting his shirt, she felt light.

This was her world.

Her world of him and Russel and Murdoc; her world filled of music and adventure and them and her and fun.

She felt like playing.

Noodle felt content.