My mouth fell open at the length of his name. He had to be important, incredibly important to bear such a name. The length of a name denoted importance, at least for drakcol. Who was this human? Royalty? Seth and Caleb hadn’t spoken much about the governing positions of their planet, and I’d never researched about Earth or humans, but this slight human must be among them, whoever the governing masses were.
“I told you. It’s long.”
“How did you come to have such a name?”
“When my moms married theyhyphenatedtheir last names. Do you even have last names?”
“No, but I understand. Seth and Caleb both have one.” Though I didn’t know what the word “hyphenated” meant, I wasn’t going to interrupt him. He was talking, actually talking.
“My mom Charity’s dad was named Bartholomew Reginald. It was important to her family. So when they adopted me, they named me Bartholomew Reginald, and my mom Isabella’s dad’s name was Lucien, so that became my middle name. It’s not a big deal,” he said with a shrug.
“It is. It’s long.”
The first smile I’d ever seen from Bartholomew appeared, and my soul pounded. I wanted to see that smile for the rest of my life. I never wanted him to stop. I traced his lips with myfingertip; they were incredibly soft. His smile faltered, but he didn’t move away.
“Smile, please.”
“I don’t make myself smile when I don’t feel like it.”
“Then I’ll have to make you smile often, Bartholomew.”
“People call me Teddy.”
I frowned in confusion. Humans gave each other nicknames, shortenings, endearments, and pet names with odd frequency. Drakcol might give a close family member, lover, or friend an endearment, but we didn’t shorten names as humans often did. Rather, it was usually about the person’s character or one of their interests.
Bartholomew’s endearment seemed more in the drakcol way. It wasn’t a shortening, and I was fairly certain teddy was also a word for a bear, which was a large furry creature. He didn’t look particularly hairy or large to me, but I was unsure of what humans considered big or hairy. Drakcol didn’t have hair anywhere but the tops of our heads, and almost all were tall as well as broad.
“I will never understand the human urge to destroy perfectly good names,” I said.
He chuckled, and the sound made my soul pound. Bartholomew bent forward, almost touching me. “You don’t have a nickname?”
“Seth and Caleb call me Mindy, and my brothers call me Speedy.”
“I like Mindy.”
I found, when he said it, I quite adored being called Mindy. “At least my endearment makes sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mindy is a shortening, and Speedy was given to me because I run about or go at problems full speed. Your ‘Teddy’ is odd. You’re not a bear.”
“N-no, I’m not. This conversation has taken an odd turn, but alright. You’re right I’m not a bear or a cub. Some might call me atwink, though, personally, I think I’m not cute enough.”
Now I was very confused. What was a “twink,” and why wasn't he cute enough to be one? Bartholomew was exceedingly cute. Humans gave children stuffed bears called teddies sometimes. Seth had already procured several for his and Kalvoxrencol’s child. They were cute, I thought.
“Are twinks toys?” I asked.
Bartholomew gaped at me. “Some might like to be called toys. It depends on the individual, I suppose. I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything. But, so I can get some kind of grasp on this conversation, what in the hell have Seth and Caleb been teaching you exactly?”
I was even more confused. “Are you not called Teddy because of the cute bears?”
His eyebrows came together. “I think we are having twoverydifferent conversations.”
“How did you get your endearment? Was it because of the furry toys?”
Bartholomew laughed, bending closer to the point his nose touched my chest. The joyous sound made me grin and my soul thrum. He was happy; even if it was because I’d said something stupid in his language, I’d made him happy. A warm sensation started in my soul and spread throughout my limbs. I had a desire—no, a need to make Bartholomew happy for as long as I could.
“Mindy, are you talking about teddy bears?”
