why is there a word for that

[alicornucopia]

Finnah's just arrived at work to open the store for the morning shift; she has her apron on but hasn't put her hair up yet. She lets in the customer who always takes half an angle to determine that he wants four buttercreams, again, and then nips into the back to tend to her hair and check the overnight progress of the rock candy.

This isn't the back.

But that -

No, he's too tall to be Mial, if this is a Mial prank it's a stupidly elaborate one.

"Okay, I give up," she says, "what the hell?"

Comments

[middlingalong]

"Those three Mileses are having an extremely vicious game of something with pegs," says Aurin. "Is the main event. You just missed Mial's immediate family."

[isthisart]

"Alas, with them goes the last dose of nigh-magical healing blood, and its donor is long gone, so we can't help you very much with the bones beyond your already impressive fey blessing."

[abeance]

"How did it happen that you came in the back door?" wonders Aurin.

"Well, we were looking for the Enchanted Forest, but it doesn't seem to want us to find it," says Jann, stepping further into the bar and putting Milo in a chair. "Why this place did want us to find it I couldn't say. Perhaps it's on some sort of spree."

[isthisart]

"There does seem to be an element of spree involved. You've also missed child versions of me, Ivan, and Miles; and another of my alts who came with a 'half-alt' of Mark. 'Alt' being what you are to those individuals who resemble you thusly and 'half-alt' being more complicated and requiring a very crowded personality."

[middlingalong]

"And a Bothari and a, what was his name, that doctor fellow. Have you got a Bothari?"

[abeance]

"...Doesn't ring a bell..."

[thisvorlunatic]

"He'd be Milo's bodyguard, if you had one. I don't think anyone's had a Bothari so far except the five-year-old me," says Miles.

[first_and_final]

"Definitely not ringing any bells," says Milo. "Insofar as anyone is describable as my bodyguard it's Jann, who seems to be spoken for alt-wise. Do we now get to play an exciting game of Guess the Absent Alts? Um, Cath? Glynn? Reko...?"

[abeance]

"Milo's cat, my best friend, Milo's boyfriend," Jann adds helpfully. "In that order. Separately."

[isthisart]

"Nothing obvious, but names aren't always definitive," says Linyabel. "Mini-me was adopted as a baby and named Nika, but my other alt and I had similar names. 'Stalas' and 'Milo' have almost nothing in common in terms of sound even absent that confounding factor."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I don't have a boyfriend, I have a wife. Stalas's boyfriend is Mark. Mial is single. None of us has a cat that I know of," says Miles. "What are these people's other characteristics? And why include the cat?"

[first_and_final]

"Why not include the cat?" wonders Milo. "Her full name is Catherine. She's shy with strangers but friendly with people she knows and likes, and very few people will believe me about her glorious sense of humour."

[isthisart]

"I knew an Ekaterin, but she is not a cat, and we haven't spoken in some time. Do cats often have senses of humor where you're from?"

[abeance]

"I would imagine so? I mean, we're not witches, so Milo can only understand her via elaborate code and guessing, but I don't think they actually depend on the presence of witches for anything except interpretive services."

[first_and_final]

"The elaborate code and guessing is really not as hard as everyone makes it out to be," says Milo. "I don't understand why more people don't do it. Well, I guess most people who really want to understand a cat don't also have personal reasons to avoid becoming a witch."

[abeance]

"Yeah? Why don't you want to be a witch?" asks Aurin.

"Milo has to be very concerned about his gender presentation because for unclear reasons things keep mistaking him for a girl - a princess, specifically. A dragon carried him off once about it."

Aurin looks Milo over. "I don't have the faintest urge to carry you off," he says helpfully.

[middlingalong]

"Aurin's a dragon," clarifies Ivan. "Hence for some reason the eye color while he's shapeshifted like so. I'm not anything interesting but Little Ivan was a secret firebird."

[first_and_final]

"...well, good," says Milo. "Do continue refraining from carrying me off. So if cats aren't people in your world, maybe Ekaterin is an alt of Cath, but we'd have a hard time finding out since Cath is at home keeping Reko company and you haven't talked to Ekaterin recently. Okay, how about Glynn and Reko. Glynn is... really good at chess, although not nearly as good as me. Reko is... um... the Duke of Ferdinandia? Jann, do you have any better idea of how to describe these people?"

[abeance]

"Reko is very much the duke of Ferdinandia? I don't think I have any recently minted Ferdinandian coins on my person. Heeee is three years older than me - five older than Milo - pretty good at duke-ing, was all set to pine for Milo forever until I did some excruciating matchmaking in which he waited until I was just about despairing of being able to make eye contact again before telling me he was in love with Milo... pale, dark curly hair, an inch shorter than me?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"...um," says Miles. "This may be ringing a bell. I'm not sure it's a bell I want rung."

[isthisart]

"Does he sometimes say 'let's see what happens'?"

[abeance]

"Yeah! He's probably whoever you're thinking of. Is yours his evil twin or something, what's so concerning?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"He's the emperor of my planet and a close childhood friend and at no point have I ever considered dating him," says Miles.

[abeance]

"...Well, I hope yours isn't just pining forever, but you seem to be doing all right on your end."

[isthisart]

"Thank you," says Linya dryly.