iStones, april 6

[catpiper]

[You know those pressing, intense questions that keep you up in the middle of the night? Well, this is one such moment and anyone unfortunate enough to be awake, or awakened, during these early morning hours will be hit with an extremely important q from a confused girl.]

What's a joke?

[And, a few seconds later-]

How do you 'prank' someone? Is that a treasure? 

Comments

[reflash]

Okumura. [He says, because... well... it's a little less likely to result in strangers just instantly latching onto his given name. But.... ugh. She seems nice enough to talk to a little less formally.]

Yukio.

What's your name?

[catpiper]

Okumura Yukio.

[Which is how she's going to refer to him from here on, since he said both names. As usual, it's long, but she's gonna commit it to memory.]

I'm Ren.

[reflash]

[Oh, this is risky. But she... probably won't get as overly-familiar as Shiemi did, or she might just not use honorifics and go with just his name.]

Yukio is fine, Ren-san. Do you... understand how names with more than one part work?

[catpiper]

When it's more than one, that's because it's very long or a last name or a nickname. That's how it works.

[She's GOT this.]

[reflash]

Okumura is my family name, so it isn't... very important for you to use unless there's another Yukio here and you have to distinguish between us.

[catpiper]

I don't know if there's another Yukio. I haven't met them, so you get to keep that name since you were first.

[reflash]

... That's not quite how it works, Ren-san. People can keep their names, even if there's more than one person with that name. If there was someone else named Yukio, you would have to ask them what they want to be called. They might not like it if you told them that you didn't want to use their name.

[catpiper]

[But then they could have a dank name like Renothy and that's the greatest gift of all.]

That's how it is?

[Yall make names so, so hard.]

Okay, I'll ask them first, but they can ask Tim for a new name too. He's good at stuff like that.

[reflash]

What would you do if they didn't want a new name?

[catpiper]

[Wonder why they don't see the beauty of Yukiothy, for one.]

I would do what you said and ask them what they want to do.

[YUKIOTHY]

[reflash]

And then what would you do if they said they wanted to be called Yukio?

[catpiper]

[She knows the right answer, because he just told her, but it still feels like the wrong one.]

I don't know.

[She'll cross that bridge when she comes to it.]

[reflash]

[You don't know? almost escapes him, would have if he weren't putting on his teacher voice, the one he uses to gently coach his students or someone he's tutoring through a problem.]

You would call them Yukio as well, that's all. It's all right for two people to have the same name, even if it gets confusing sometimes.

[catpiper]

Okay, I'll remember that kind of thing.

[And proceed to throw it out the window in practice, but no one can say she wasn't told.]

[reflash]

... what would you do if someone else was named Ren?

[catpiper]

[Oh, Yukio.

Sweet, innocent, wonderful, amazing Yukio who doesn't even know the previous conversations she's had on the matter.]

Tim gave me another name if that kind of thing happens-I can be Renothy. Renothy Cat. That's my other name.

[reflash]

[... what was he expecting? Why did Yukio assume there could possibly be another outcome to this conversation.]

Oh.

[catpiper]

I'm 'prepared' for something like that.

[She has GOT this. So remember that name Yukiothy.]

[reflash]

Well, that's good. [For a given value of good.]