Lifespan Deathwatch

[Damien McEwan]

"S**t! I don't know. Uhhh...what about...The Morbid Zen?"

"Oh god NO! Not even for your birthday! That sounds way too- Ugly!"

Nivek dodges a chunk of chicken Jaina flicked off her fork at him from across the table.

"Your aim suuuucks!" he said. Playfully taunting her.

She went on: "Seriously though. You live here too, and now that you and I are officially an Us, I really want you to choose the new name. 'Morbid Zen' just sounds too much like the stupid name of some washed up, D-list professional wrestler or something."

Nivek thought honestly about it for a moment before admitting: "You have an excellent point."

------

About ten minutes later, the couple stood side by side, still in the galley, cleaning the dishes at the sink.

Keeping in mind her advice that the new name of the ship should sound at least somewhat professional, Nivek says, "What about 'GreenthInc.'...with 'think' stylized as the abbreviation for Incorporated?"

Jaina pauses for a few moments and imagines it. "Hmmh. That's not bad, actually."

"But?"

"Not sure. Something about just seems so, so-"

"What?" he goads her.

"I don't know. Something about it just seems too- Gaian."

"Jeezus," he teased. "If I'd have known you were gonna be this high maintenance--"

"--F**K YOU!" she shot back with mock hurt, flipping him the finger and cracking up.

------

More than an hour later, they are upstairs in the loft towards the back of the Kusari Transport, watching a cheesy horror movie together.

Nivek is stretched out on the couch resting his head in Jaina's lap and says, "Hey! What about...'Erinloch?'

She looks down at him, and he watches her eyes dilate and her lips curl upwards at the thought.

"That sounds really pretty. What does it mean?"

"If I recall correctly, 'Erin' is Gaelic for Ireland, and 'Loch' is Scottish for lake...when I think of it, it reminds me of you."

"But I'm not Scottish or Irish." she said.

"Yeah, I know, but so what?"

Jaina thought honestly about it for a moment before admitting: "You have an excellent point."

---