(A/N)- I'm so happy to have more time off now that the quarter's finishing up. (Home in four days! WOOHOO!) Been able to work on a bunch of new ideas. Hopefully you'll see them up soon. I won't have school getting in the way so I should have plenty of time to write. When I'm not goofing off and being crazy with my sister.
In the meantime, enjoy this one-shot I finally managed to finish up. And before you ask K9, no, this was not inspired in any way shape or form by our conversation about ship names.
No really it wasn't. I was actually in the middle of writing this when that happened. 'tis true.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Nor can I lay claim to any of the ship names found in this one-shot, save perhaps for 'Robfire'. And the Hot Spot/Argent ones of course.
Portmanteau
Argent was sitting at one of the computer consoles when he came in, clicking and flipping from webpage to webpage. Probably checking up on the latest gossip.
Hot Spot paid it no mind and headed for the fridge. He tugged open the door and dragged out the orange juice. Turning back around as he shut the fridge, he noticed that Argent had sat back in her seat and seemed to be lost in thought about something. He walked over to her as he screwed off the lid of the jug.
"Anything note-worthy?" he asked.
She glanced up at him and then back at the computer screen. "You know there's a poll on on what name squash the pressies should call Robin and Starfire?"
About the only thing that managed to pierce his brain properly was the Robin and Starfire bit.
"Name squash?" he asked, begging for clarification with his befuddled tone.
"You know, like when people refer t' a popular currently dating couple with one name that's an amalgam of both their names." she explained, scrolling down the page. "Brangelina, BenJen, things like that."
Now he understood. Somewhat. He leaned over and looked around her shoulder. "So… what exactly are they calling Wonder Boy and his girlfriend?"
Argent grabbed the mouse, scrolled back up to the poll and rattled off the details like a news anchor reporting on election primaries. "Well, so far 'RobStar' is the most popular, but for some odd reason 'Starbin' has a pretty loyal following and is eking out the infinitely prettier-sounding 'Robfire'."
Hot Spot choked back a snort of laughter. "Starbin?" he repeated, unable to keep the smirk from his face.
The New Zealander nodded and shook her head wonderingly. "Sounds dreadful doesn't it?" she said. "Reminds me of dustbin and I'd rather not have the mental image of a trash can in my 'ead when people talk about our leader and his pretty lass."
"I hope it wins."
Argent slapped at his wrist. "Now that's just mean." she complained.
Hot Spot shrugged and straightened and wandered back over to the kitchen in search of a glass. As he poured himself some orange juice, he realized it had gotten quiet again. The sudden silence most likely meant his friend was deep in thought once more.
Her unspoken thought process made the air in the room remarkably heavy.
"I can hear your contemplation." he said.
"Hm?" She snapped out of her trance.
He gulped down his orange juice before he answered. "You do that a lot." he told her. "It gets kinda awkward."
She twisted in her chair to face him. "Not knowing what I'm thinking 'bout so palpably you mean?" she queried.
He nodded as he wandered back over towards her. "Yeah. It makes me wonder what's going on in your head."
She laughed a little. "Lots o' things Spotty. I'd tell you about it but a lot of it'd be so jumbled and scitter-scatter that you'd get confused." She rested her arms on the back of the chair and smiled cottishly. "An' you wouldn't want that would you?"
She knew him too well. Still, it was nagging at him what her silent thinking earlier had been about. He tried to resist the temptation to ask her. She was making it overwhelmingly difficult with that charming girlish smile he was so fond of and her relaxed, almost sultry pose sitting on the computer chair.
He caved.
"So… what were you thinking about?"
Her expression changed. A flash of mortification passed through her eyes and she quickly looked away, blushing a little in embarrassment. "Oh, well… I was wondering…" She slid her eyes back in his direction, head ducked, a shy smile on her face, the slight flush in her cheeks clearly visible. "What d'you 'spose they'd call us if we were going out?"
A moment of awkward silence.
"Why do you keep asking such weird questions?" he deflected.
Argent tilted her head in confusion, the blush fading away. "How d'you mean?"
Hot Spot rambled on, anxiously trying to divert attention from the question and avoid giving an answer. "You do it all the time. You'll be lost in thought and then all of a sudden randomly spout out some question like how many kids do I want, what would our children look like if we were to have any, would they be half-aliens like us, what would my parents think of you. It's like-" He made a flustered, embarrassed gesture. "Why do you care? Why are you even thinking about that?"
She slumped down in her seat and glared at him. "It's a girl thing." she grumbled. "Just humor me would ya?"
Great. His strategy at diversion had not only failed epically but it had managed to get her irritated with him. Just great.
"Oh fine!" he consented, throwing up his arms exasperatedly. He thought it over for a minute or two, then shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe… Hot Spent?"
"…heavens, I hope not. That sounds positively vulgar." Argent said, bemused expression taking over her face.
Yeah, that one had been pretty much lame. Hot Spot scratched his head and tried to think of more. "Then there's, uh…" he said, racking his brain. "Tosaiah. Or Isoni. If they knew our real names." he threw out before looking to gauge her reaction. He was moderately relieved when a small spark of intrigue came into her eyes.
"Isoni's kinda pretty." she told him. Then she frowned. "But you'd better hope they don't know our real names."
"Right." he acknowledged. That would be a bad thing. It was probably nota wise idea to introduce their parents to the whole supervillain criminal underworld. Hot Spot ruminated on the implications a bit before his mind drifted back to possible name squashes. He had contemplated and dismissed several combinations before realizing what he was doing.
"Now see!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "This is why I hate it when you ask weird questions. Now it's gonna bother me all day!"
Argent flinched and ducked her head. "Sorry." she whispered, giving him an embarrassed, apologetic smile.
He waved her off and they both fell silent. Argent remained as she was, draped over the back of her chair, gaze wandering. Hot Spot plopped down into a seat nearby, still thinking of coupling names despite the fact that it made him uncomfortable and that it was all hypothetical anyway since they weren't even dating. Yet.
"Hot Argent?" he put out.
"Why thank you."
"No, I mean-" he said, feeling a rush of heat sweep over him. He made an exasperated gesture. "You know what I mean!"
"'course." She smiled and twisted her lower body back to face the computer. "But I like seeing you make that flustered expression." Her head turned towards the screen, she read over the webpage for a moment, then announced. "RobStar's got it love. 'fraid you'll have to find another name squash to make fun of."
"Darn it." Hot Spot mumbled, snapping his fingers in defeat. "And they were so mock-worthy too…"
(A/N)- Apologies to anyone who actually uses 'Starbin'. I just think it's hilarious.
And in case you were wondering, I'm rather taken with 'Hotgent' for the Hot Spot/Argent ship name. Credit goes to K9 the First for that one.
Hope you enjoyed!
