IX. Names

"What about...?"

"...No, I like..."

"Ugh, but that one's so..."

Tak glared at her mate. "...That one's so what?" she demanded.

"...That name is so girly," Zim whined, cringing at the name.

"Well it might be a girl," Tak reminded him coldly, "Did you forget that we don't know the gender?"

"I want to name our smeet after me," he complained.

"For the last time we will not name our smeet after YOU!"

"Oh for the love of Irk, can you two be anymore indecisive?" Skoodge complained, shaking his head.

Currently they were all cramped inside Skoodge and Tenn's Voot Cruiser, having been headed toward Planet Zeynxia for almost three weeks. Tak was due to deliver possibly by the start of next week, and they were almost about six days away.

Zim scoffed at Skoodge, rolling his eyes. "Geez, SOMEONE'S a bit moody today..."

"I'm sure you'd be moody too if you were cramped in a small space with a constantly moody pregnant Irken who complains every five seconds," Skoodge retorted bitterly.

"I'm as big as a volley ball and due to deliver at any day," Tak snapped. "Now shut the fuck up and DRIVE FASTER!"

"Can't we all be just a little bit... I dunno... Chill out?" Tenn asked around nervously, trying to be the voice of reason in the current stress-filled environment they were all in.

Tak and Skoodge said nothing, instead leaning back in their seat, mumbling angrily to themselves.

Suddenly, Zim snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

Beside him, Tak groaned, annoyed, "Got what, Zim...?"

"A GENIUS name," he explained quickly, grinning widely. "If you won't name our smeet after me, how about we flip my name backwards and call it 'Miz'?"

Tak rolled her eyes at first. "Zim, that's..." But then she paused, thinking a bit longer about the name. Maybe... Maybe it could work. "...That's not a bad idea, actually... For if we have a girl, we can name her Miz, and if it's a boy..." She thought for another moment, trying to recall a piece of long-dead Irken history she had heard about years before, where, when Irkens mated and had smeets naturally, the name of the smeet would be a combination of both of it's parents' names. After a minuet of silently combining her name and Zim's name together, her eyes widened and her own grin appeared over her features. "And if we have a boy, we can name him Zik."

"Hmm..." Zim too, thought for a moment. A daughter named Miz, and if a boy was born, a son named Zik. If they had a baby girl, her name could be Miz, his name backward, or if they had a baby boy, his name could be Zik... A combination of Zim's name and Tak's name. He replayed the two names in his head. Miz, Zik. Miz, Zik. Miz, Zik. Miz, Zik. Miz, Zik. Miz, Zik. "You know... Those actually fit perfectly." He turned to Tak and smiled. "I like it."

In turn, Tak smiled back, taking his hand.

Skoodge noticed the two smiling at each other in the back and cringed. "Bleh! If you two decide to get it on while Tenn and I are here, I will personally jump out of this Voot and commit suicide."


A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, and I'm sorry for this being so short! But anyway, enjoy!

The next chapter will be them arriving at Zeynxia, and then the following chapter will be the arrival of the smeet. ;)