Work Text:
“Let me get this straight. I married you, and Janice is your daughter, so that makes her my stepdaughter.”
“Correct.”
“Now. I married you, and Cecil is your brother, so that makes him my step-”
“Brother-in-law.”
“My step-brother-in-law?”
“Just your brother-in-law. If you’d had a son before we were married, then he would be Janice’s step-brother.”
“Why’s one a step-brother and the other a brother-in-law?”
“It depends on the generations involved. If Janice married your hypothetical son, she’d be your daughter-in-law.”
“I don’t get why there need to be two different terms like that.”
“Common linguistic usage so that people can easily understand what you mean.”
“But I keep getting the terms wrong and people understand me just fine!”
“That’s because literally everyone in Night Vale knows that your wife’s brother is Cecil. If you ever talk to someone from outside our community-”
“Hah-ha! Like that’ll ever happen.”
“What? People move here sometimes.”
“It’s hard to have a conversation when you’re busy shouting ‘Interloper!’”
“Come on, you’ve never shouted ‘Interloper!’ in your life.”
“Shh! Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to be reeducated.”
“You’ve been reeducated, Steve. Several times.”
“Really? Weird. Seems like I’d remember something like that.”