#this is very much influenced by the nymics lore stuff from tes but it is a cultural thing in general

[no-light-left-on]

what would be the Outsider’s name, once he leaves the Void?

does he remember the name that Daud returned to him? or did it slip from his memories as he stepped out into the world, so he could truly be born anew?

would he keep it? or would he become a new person with a new name? would he try the weight of a new one? or the taste of many? see how they sound in other people’s voices? does he offer a name that does not fit quite right, but it is a name to be called, and humans need words to speak of things and of one another?

is he afraid to keep a name for too long? trades one for another so he cannot be hurt again, so no one can take the name that is not truly his?

does he keep his real name cradled close to his heart, never to be shared with another until it disappears with his dying breath? or would he tell someone? would it be the name that he is called by the people around him, by strangers turned acquiantances turned friends? would it be the name he is known by?

or would he tell only few? like Billie, or Corvo, or Emily, or anyone of his chosen if he were to meet them once more? would it be a name that is whispered as a secret to them, only spoken in private? a small little privilege for those he holds dearest? his very last gift?

would he tell Billie as he stumbles out into the sunlight? taste it on his tongue along with dust and heat, at first soft, then louder, until Billie repeats it back to him and hearing it from another makes the name feel more real, makes him feel more real, and his heart hammers in his chest hard enough to make up for four millennia.

who would he choose to be, once he is no longer the Outsider?