Chapter 8

"Do you think I should go back to having black hair?"

Cyborg looked up from her drawing, finding Noodle looked at her instead of the living room's TV, "If you did that, how would people tell us apart?"

"We wear very different things. And you're a bit shorter than me."

"Am not!"

"Yeah you are," Noodle giggled.

"Oh," Cyborg scratched her chin, "Okay, you'd look nice with black hair."

"Nicer than with purple hair?"

"I-- uh-- no, of course not. You'd even look nice if you wore a clown wig all the time."

"Good save."

"Thank you. But still, I think we would look too similar if you changed your hair."

"Dye your hair then."

"I don't think I'd like to have bright purple hair."

"It doesn't have to be purple. Why not red, or green, or white."

"I'd look like an old granny if I had white hair."

"How about one little bit of your hair? Just your fringe," Noodle pointed to Cyborg's fringe, which hung over her eyes, "Here."

"I'll think about it," Cyborg decided.

"Wanna come to the shops with me?"

"Can I finish this first?"

"How long will that take?"

Cyborg lifted up her book, showing Noodle a half-drawn copy of Russel's face. "Ten minutes maybe," she shrugged.

"How about this - you show me that when I come back," Noodle suggested.

Cyborg hummed, "Okay. You seem in a hurry."

As Noodle rose to her feet, Cyborg caught a shine in Noodle's eye. "Don't worry about it," she dismissed, before rushing downstairs.

"Okay then, bye."

Cyborg dropped her book onto the coffee table beside her and glanced up at a wall-mounted clock. "Twenty minutes," she sighed.

She jumped when she heard the front door slam. Sporting a wide grin, Cyborg hurried to the top of the staircase. Her smile faded when her eyes met Murdoc's.

The bassist growled at the android, who stepped back over to the sofa and sat down. To her dismay, Murdoc climbed up to her level.

"Where's your girlfriend, then?" he slurred.

"My what?"

"Where's Noodle?"

"She went out. It's a little early to have started drinking, isn't it?"

"It's five somewhere," Murdoc added.

Cyborg gave a dry laugh. Then, she scowled at her master when he sat down next to her. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"What have we got here?" Murdoc ignored her, reaching for her book. Cyborg wanted to move to stop him, but her joints froze. "This is supposed to be Russel? Shit," he tore the page in half, "Shit. Shit. Shit. Oh, that's me, innit? Funny."

Cyborg grimaced as Murdoc ripped the paper. He threw the book across the room and cackled. "I'd like you to go," Cyborg murmured, huddling her knees up to her chin.

"You're not so tough without the real Noodle about, are you? You can shoot down a dozen attack helicopters, but you can't speak for yourself."

"Go away!" Cyborg raised her voice. She made eye contact with the satanist for a moment, then quickly averted her eyes. She gasped as Murdoc grabbed her jacket's collar and rose from the sofa, dragging her onto the floor. Cyborg grit her teeth, trying to ignore her self-defense programmes, which became much harder when Murdoc kicked her in the side of the head.

Murdoc pulled his leg back, but Cyborg jumped up before he could kick her again, throwing him off-balance. She pushed him away and he stumbled back up against the wall. Although her programming told her to go for the throat, she resisted, freezing in place.

"Can't even fight properly," Murdoc growled. He charged at the android and jabbed at her face. He took hold of her shirt and kept punching. She grabbed his fist, pushed it away, and forced her elbow into his side, winding him.

"Please stop."

As Murdoc caught his breath, Cyborg reached up to touch her own face. Oil was spilling from somewhere - maybe multiple somewheres. She quickly looked up as Murdoc went for another punch. Taking hold of his wrist, she threw him over her shoulder and onto the coffee table, which shattered under his weight.

Taking a piece of glass that once made up the surface, Cyborg stood over Murdoc. Unable to stop herself from following her self-defense programme, she raised her fist.

Before she could bring her makeshift weapon down on Murdoc, Cyborg's arm went limp, quickly followed by the rest of her body. As her vision began to fade, she noticed the oil pooling around her malfunctioning frame.

When Cyborg came to, she was positioned on a hard wooden chair inside Noodle's bedroom. As soon as her eyes opened, she was pulled into a tight hug.

"Huh? Who are you?" Cyborg mumbled, "Oh yeah. Hi, Noodle."

"Are you okay?" the guitarist asked, pulling away.

"Yes. I-Is Murdoc--"

"He's fine. You just hurt his pride is all."

"I'm sorry. Is he angry? Are you angry?"

"I don't think he'll hold it against you - he's too drunk to remember any of what just happened. And no, I'm not mad. It wasn't your fault."

"Oh. How long was I asleep for?"

"A few hours I think."

"How did you fix me?"

"Just had to top you up with a little oil."

"Thanks."

"Let's not split up again," Noodle suggested.

"Okay. Why were you gone so long?"

"I couldn't find any white dye," Noodle shrugged.

"That's fine."

"Oh no, I did find some eventually. Would you like to try it?"

"Maybe. Did you see what happened to my drawings?"

"Oh yeah," Noodle frowned, "I'm sorry."

"I can just draw more."

"I'll find you some more paper later. Follow me, I'll show you how to dye your hair."

"Oh, hang on. Murdoc said something to me... uh, he said you were my 'girlfriend'. What does that mean?"

"Oh," Noodle's eyes widened, "That's when-- when-- uh-- that's a girl that you love and who loves you back."

Cyborg felt her face flush and the tingly sensation grew in her chest once again.

"I think it was an accurate description," Noodle added. For the first time in recent memory, she was blushing too. Cyborg looked down to find that her fingers were intertwined with Noodle's.

"When you said you wanted to 'give it a shot,' you really meant it, huh?" Cyborg managed a joke.

"Yep," Noodle chirped. Cyborg gasped when the distance between her and Noodle's faces suddenly lessened, "Wanna make it official?"

"How would w-we do that?"

"Like this."

Cyborg almost exploded when Noodle closed the distance and their lips met. She let their kiss continue for a few seconds before quickly pulling away.

"Dont overheat don't overhead don't overheat don't overheat," Cyborg repeated. She took a deep breath and held it, then slowly let herself relax, "Can we do that again please?"

"If you like," Noodle giggled. She pressed her lips against Cyborg's again and they only parted again when Noodle pulled away to gasp for air.