Chapter 13

"I thought pets had to ride in the cargo hold."

Murdoc followed his comment with an obnoxious cackle. Cyborg scowled at him, then walked past him, following Noodle towards the passenger jet. After half an hour of trying to convince the airport staff working at the metal detector that she indeed was a robot, Cyborg had finally made it past security.

What did he want?" Noodle asked as Cyborg caught up.

"Nothing," Cyborg shrugged. Noodle noticed the robot's irritated expression, but she decided not to address it. It was probably just Murdoc being Murdoc, after all.

Noodle wrapped her arm around Cyborg's shoulders. "Did you remember to pack your charger?" she asked.

"Yes," Cyborg motioned with the suitcase she was carrying, "I brought an adaption plug too."

"Smart."

"Can I sit next to you on the plane?"

"Sure."

"Thanks," Cyborg beamed.

Noodle lead Cyborg aboard the plane, then guided her over to a set of three seats by a window. Cyborg plopped down right beside the small porthole, while Noodle took the centre seat. By the looks of it, the plane was almost done filling up. Cyborg saw Murdoc drag 2-D on board, then shove him into a seat. Then, bassist casually wandered over to some woman she'd never seen before and sat beside her. Russel was one of the first passengers to board, sitting in the middle row and taking up two seats.

Cyborg directed her eyes to the runway outside. A plane was just taking off, and theirs was the next in line. "Ready?" Noodle asked.

"Mm-hmm," Cyborg nodded.

"Ever flown before?"

"Yeah," Cyborg answered, "We flew all around the place on the Plastic Beach tour."

A flight attendant appeared from the cabin and the chatter in the plane died down. The screens in the back of each seat flicked on and an instructional video began playing, the attendant copying each motion the video showed.

"I must've seen these a dozen times," Noodle whispered, looking instead at her phone.

"I haven't," Cyborg leaned closer to the screen, completely invested, "I always used to look away, because I thought the screen would make my head explode."

As she watched the clouds below, Cyborg stuffed her face with peanuts. Noodle was gradually nodding off, as the anticipation of performing after so long had caused her to miss a few hours of sleep.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask... how do you eat?" Noodle asked.

"Like this," Cyborg turned back to Noodle, baring her pearly whites.

"No, I mean, how do you digest it?"

"Oh," Cyborg stowed her packet of peanuts on the tray on front of her, then scratched her head. "It gets burnt up in my stomach by a bunch of mini flame throwers."

"Really?"

"Probably not. I have no idea, honestly," Cyborg laughed.

"Oh," Noodle laughed too.

"I actually don't know how most of me works. I mean, I know I have oil, not blood. I know where some of my emotions come from. But I don't know how I digest, or why I can breathe if I don't need oxygen, or even why I love you." Cyborg's face flushed at the sudden realisation of what she'd just said. "Well! I mean! I know why I really like you, but I don't know what part of my programming allows tha-"

"I love you too," Noodle elbowed her partner.

Cyborg turned away, waiting for her blush to fade. When it did, she looked back and took a deep breath in. Then, she pressed her lips against Noodle's cheek. "Cool," she whispered.

Cyborg spent the remaining couple of hours watching Terminator Salvation on Noodle's phone, her human girlfriend's head resting on her shoulder as she slept.

Every now and then, Noodle would mumble something in her sleep that Cyborg managed to understand. "Osaka," "twenty-three," and the name, "Mr. Kyuzo" were amongst her absent ramblings.

After the plane landed in New York and the band made their way out of the American airport, they bee-lined to the hotel Murdoc had booked. Instead of heading to his room, 2-D lingered around the buffet for a while. Noodle, however, having received a total of five hours sleep recently, hurried to her own room, joined by Cyborg.

"Ah," Noodle groaned at the small bed in the room, "How much do you wanna bet Murdoc did this on purpose?"

"I don't have any money," Cyborg retorted. Noodle gave a tired laugh, then leaned her suitcase against the wall. Cyborg left hers on a nearby coffee table. "I'll sleep on the floor," the robot said.

"No you won't, there's enough room," Noodle said, kicking off her shoes and dropping onto the bed. Cyborg unpacked her charger, plugging it into the wall with her adaption plug.

"Don't you two wanna see the town?" Murdoc's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway, "It's lovely out."

"It's Winter and it's freezing," Noodle corrected him.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Murdoc jeered, "I'll leave you two to your alone time."

Cyborg shut the door on him, then wandered back over to the bed. "What did he mean by that?" she wondered.

"Who knows?" Noodle shifted over to give Cyborg room.

"I don't," Cyborg slid the curtains shut. Noodle groaned in thanks. Then, she crawled in beside the human guitarist, plugging herself in.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" Noodle asked. Cyborg switched on her heat-sensitivty.

"Yeah, it is kinda toasty," Cyborg decided.

Noodle sat up and peeled off her top. Cyborg jumped, then covered her eyes. To the robot's surprise, Noodle gently took hold of her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. "It's fine," Noodle smirked.

"Oh, okay," Cyborg found her eyes focusing on Noodle's bra-covered chest. The two Noodles' forced close proximity didn't help dull the growing tingle in her own chest either.

"Just a quick nap, then I'll get up," Noodle promised.

"I'll set an alarm," Cyborg reached for Noodle's phone, desperate for an excuse to look away.

"When you get in the shower, does any water get in that hole in your forehead?"

"Yeah."

"How does it feel?"

"It's fine."

"Great. I've got a surprise for you."

"Oh, it's been a while since the last one."