Cold-Blooded: A DC Universe Fanfiction (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 43: Tim: Elementary

Perhaps in revenge for the time he called her in the middle of what was the night for her, Rose called Robin at an equally awful hour to tell him: "Hey, Rob, guess what?"

"Uh—," he began.

"My dad doesn't have a girlfriend anymore." She paused a moment, "He has a fiancée!"

"Um—that's—Congratulations?"

"Yes!" she practically sang. Well, maybe she was just so happy she had to share or burst. "They're going to get married when we get back to the States. It won't be anything fancy. They've both been married before, with the dresses and dress uniforms and receptions, and it didn't last, so since we're going to be in Nevada anyway, they'll probably just stop in Vegas. Yukie says the whole point in getting married isn't having a wedding, it's being married. Which they are already anyway, except for the legal part, so—Robin, are you still there?"

"Yeah. Your dad is getting married. Which is…great! Uh—why are you going to be in Nevada? When are you going to be in Nevada? I thought you were coming back in—um, what day is it?"

"Oh, it's been pushed back again, another ten days or so. Two weeks, say. Yeah, I'm going to have to make up the semester, but it has completely been worth it. Dad has a house in Nevada, but Yukie has to get her stuff from Gotham City—anyway, I'm sending you some pictures from Hakkoda-san—I mean, from the Mount Hakkoda ski resort. It's the weirdest place, with the snow monsters and the ghosts, but it has the sweetest powder that doesn't come on a donut—."

"Snow monsters?" Robin asked.

"Oh, they're not really monsters. We still haven't seen any yokai. They're just fir trees covered in ice and snow off the Siberian jet stream, but they look like they're going to come to life and attack any moment. They call them Juhyo."

"Ghosts," he stated.

"Yeah. They're the spirits of soldiers who died in 1902. Japan is like the most haunted country in the world. Don't worry, they're not dangerous, as long as you stay in the safe zones," Rose assured him.

"Like staying out of Nerima?" he asked.

"Nothing like Nerima," she said. "These guys aren't angry, they're just lost. Anyway, I'm sending them now—," A moment later, he saw that he'd received some photo messages. "There! I've got to go. Talk to you later!"

"Bye," he said. He looked at the time. It was not quite five, but he knew he wasn't going to go back to sleep, so he took a shower instead, taking his time before going down to the Titan Tower's kitchen.

Raven was already there, looking down into a mug of something steaming. "Morning," she greeted him.

"Good morning," he said in return.

"There's nothing much good about it," she said, dourly. "All the signs point to there being a new Elemental soon."

Cyborg came in just in time to catch the last part of that. "Yeah, it seems like they just keep adding new ones to the table," he said, "but I say, if you have to make it in a lab and it breaks down faster than a Land Rover Discovery 4, it's not a real element."

"Uh—what are you talking about?" Raven asked.

"The Periodic Table. You know, iron, oxygen, arsenic—. What are you talking about?"

"Arsenic!" Starfire burbled. "I love arsenic, and I haven't tasted it since I came to Earth. It's so tasty and such a pretty green. Plus, if you have acne, it clears it right up! You know, I bet it would go great on popcorn. Where does one go to buy it here? They never seem to have it in the grocery store."