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“No, seriously, this couple thought they were a lost child! It was fucking hilarious!” Evelyn laughed, slapping Neffres on the back as the half-elf groaned and hid their red face in their hands.
“I hate you all. So much,” they muttered.
“Aw come on, Neff, we’re just joking around!” Saz replied, her laughs joining with the uproar of everyone else around the campfire. Though most of the others were probably laughing at their own, completely unrelated, side conversations, it felt as if everyone were laughing at them right now.
In any other case, Neffres would’ve just rolled their eyes, huffed, and left, but Saz had just called them ‘Neff’. They hadn’t heard that nickname in five years. So instead of acting more annoyed than they actually were, Neffres just stared at their friend. Instead of flushing from embarrassment, a little color began to drain from their face.
They’d thought that by not talking about Miryn they’d avoid being reminded of their brother (at least while they weren’t actively doing research). It was stupid, in hindsight. The Shadows and Miryn Kaye would’ve gone hand-in-hand if he were around to join them. Everything the rambunctious group did reminded them of their brother in some way, even if they didn’t realize it at the moment. Maybe that wasn’t the worst thing.
Conversations continued around them, but Saz and Evelyn noticed Neffres’ unusual stillness. “Hey, you good?” Evelyn asked. “I was seriously just messing around.”
Neffres nodded, looking away from them both and into the fire instead.
“Not gonna push too much, but you don’t seem good,” Saz said.
Neffres chuckled faintly, “I’m really okay,” then explained, “You just caught me off guard, callin’ me ‘Neff’.”
“Oh, shit- I won’t call you that again if you do-”
They cut her off, “No, no, it’s not bad or anything. Just been a while since I’ve been called that.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow, guessing, “Nickname from home?”
They nodded, smiling a little, “Yeah.”
“Is it okay if I use it?” Saz asked, still looking like she felt guilty.
Neffres turned their attention back to her and nodded again, smiling more assuredly, “Yeah, it’s all good, just might take me a few times to get used to it. But… It’s nice to hear it again.”