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xansmenagerie · 2 years ago

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The Naming of Names

Another Mel fic: while nicknames aren't required for MotW Crooked characters, it just felt right that she would have one. Plus Fidget and Oyster came into my head via nicknames first...

It all starts when she's a mere four years old. According to family legend, it took only half an hour for her to rebelliously tell the teacher to call her Mel after hearing her name mangled repeatedly; what's more surprising is that she starts insisting on it at home as well, until after a while only her grandparents call her Melpomene (unless her mother is very annoyed).

It drives Thalia with her less malleable name quietly insane, especially when Achilles follows suit with 'Ace'. This is a bonus, as far as Mel's concerned.

It is perhaps a little telling that she always phrases it as, "Call me Mel," though; Melpomene is still there under the skin, watching the world through Mel's eyes.

Flash forward many years to a somewhat less dingy than it used to be flat in south London - not even Seth can make a mess faster than Mel can tidy it away, especially with Mason helping. Or, as she now has to remember to call them, Fidget and Oyster; since the Incident where a Mel who was only supposed to be "ferrying the boys back after a night out" ended up having to pick an otherwise unreachable lock to release two of said boys from the building they were trapped in before the security guard came round, she's been firmly brought into the gang, and that means getting to know and use their nicknames.

It wasn't much of a surprise to Mel to find out that the main purveyor of said nicknames was indeed Fidget, with a mind as restless as his fingers and a constant drive towards mischief. She's quite fond of him, in an entirely platonic way, but is dreading what nonsense he's going to come up with for her. Lanky Dave has already ejected Fidget from her room once while she was out chauffeuring Crystal to an event - which was sweet of him, but Mel is beginning to suspect she might have to gently break his heart at some point - and honestly if Fidget's been caught in there once rooting around for ideas he's almost certainly been in there several more times.

It would be worrying if she didn't understand Fidget so well; as it is, she knows he's camper than a row of pink tents and is driven purely by the itch of trying to work out her nickname. It's mostly harmless, and if he gets too annoying then the threat of telling Oyster certain ouzo-loosened truths around Feelings will probably get him to back off for a while.

The door to Mel's room bursts open. Mel, sitting on the sofa out in the common area, fixes Fidget with a very stern glare as he bounces over all puppy-dog eager. Before she can say anything he exclaims a joyfully amused, "I've got it!"

"Don't give it to me then," Mel replies in time-honoured tradition - Fidget might not be one of her blood siblings but she'll be damned not to think of him as a brother by now, terrible feed lines included.

He's too busy being smug to retaliate. "So, you need to find a more secure place for your passport-"

"It was in a lock box in the bottom of my underwear drawer, how secure does it need to-"

"Anyway," Fidget cuts across her indignation, "I've been doing a bit of research down at the library since you told me there was no way on earth you'd answer to 'Greek', and when I saw your full name it clicked."

Mel rolls her eyes. "Go on, what are you trying to lump me with now?"

With an air of triumphant finality, Fidget says, "Muse."

It stings in a way Mel doesn't expect - her gran sometimes calls her that too and the reminder of her old life is jarring - but she has to admit that on a scale of terrible nicknames it does work for her. She still waits a moment to see Fidget squirm before giving him a slow nod. "Fine, but don't you dare explain it to the others, alright?"

"Alright, Melpomene, aka Muse," he says cheekily, and her traitor heart sings a little to hear her name pronounced properly by someone she cares about, "I promise not to make your life a tragedy by telling anyone your secrets, at least this one."

Fidget gives her a brief, fierce hug, then heads to the kitchen for the inevitable celebratory coffee. Muse settles back into the sofa cushions with her book, rolling her new name around in her head until it settles. She thinks she likes it.

(She does smack Fidget when he puts that damn Steps song on for the seventh time in two days, mind. There are limits.)

#mel is nominally the sensible one #motw #short fic #writblr #writeblr

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