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Was it weird that Violet wanted to be called Purple?
They liked it better than their real name. There was nothing wrong with Violet as a name, though. They actually liked the pronunciation. Their friends had funny nicknames for them that depended on it too, like Violin and Violent.
It was the connotations that were the problem. It sounded flowery to a lot of crewmates. Probably had something to do with it being a flower.
They’d be talking to someone, and it would be normal, but then they’d call them Purple. It wasn’t shocking, they did look purple, that was how naming conventionally worked around here. So Violet would tell them their name was Violet. Bam— All of a sudden, they’d start talking to them different! They couldn’t tell you exactly how, but they didn’t like it.
They were not dainty like a flower or whatever. They were just. Some kid. They didn’t know.
Were they allowed to change it?
They asked their parents if they were allowed to change it.
They said of course, they would always be their child no matter their name.
Red wasn’t allowed to have friends because the friends they picked were always bad influences.
Red got good at sneaking in and out of places.
At their friends’ houses, they were allowed to play video games. That was the most fun they ever had.
Red wasn’t allowed to have video games because they were a bad influence.
Red stole a handheld console from one of them and kept it in their room. They were terrible at playing, but it helped them cope with stress. Their parents would come in to check if they were studying and they would quick have to hide it and straighten up their posture. There were expectations.
Red wasn’t even allowed to have cute clothes because that was not the child they wanted.
But who would find out about their undergarments?
Indigo was set to graduate college by the end of the year. They’d worked hard for their scholarship and harder to stand out enough to get noticed by MIRA Corporation. They finally got reached out to about an internship opportunity, starting after they received their STEM degree. They were so shocked by the news they completely freaked out and scared their roommate.
The internship would be at a facility on another planet, which meant Indigo already got to ride a spaceship before they even did anything, which was crazy!
Right when they came home to visit their family after calling and telling them the news, their sibling ran out and hugged them and they jumped around together. Their family would miss them a lot once they left, but Indigo could return any time they wanted as they were working under MIRA, the innovator of the space transportation industry.
It felt kind of weird to be called Indigo outside of campus, they realized. They hung around a lot of artsy and alternative types. They told them it was a phase and they wanted to go back to Purple. They got it right that time.
Indigo dropped out of college. They had been failing everything. Who could have ever guessed. At least they wasted their parents’ money while they were at it.
They sure were furious about it. They threatened them by the wrong name and Indigo laughed because they were Indigo now, if they ever spoke to them they would know that.
Predictably, their parents called them crazy. If they were red they could not change their name to Indigo. Indigo told them they already did, purely out of spite, just because they were tired of them telling them who they could and could not be.
Their parents said they had a lot of nerve. If they wanted to throw away the name they had been given, they were a stranger and they were not allowed in their house.
Indigo ran away from their hometown for real. They traveled far.
Their destination was MIRA HQ. They snuck in— they could do this sneaky scuttle and be quiet as a mousemate when they wanted to— and they slipped right into the elevator to the highest floor. Wandering the hallways, they waved at random crewmates and acted like they were supposed to be there. They found the big boss’s office. Luckily, a representative was supposed to be on the way coming to speak with them, so the bodyguards just let them enter because this happened countless times a day. They went and had a lot of nerve to drop to their knees and beg for an internship with no qualifications, because working here was what they had always wanted to do with their life. They would do anything they said if they gave them a chance.
Their subordinates, upon noticing this was an intruder, tried to seize Indigo, but the CEO called them off. They said this Red understood the importance of making a lasting first impression.
Of course, Red didn’t correct Pink.
The obnoxious smacking of flip-flops against the floor had alerted Purple to Red’s presence before they even saw them. They turned around to see them carrying this wobbling tall stack of boxes. They watched Red step around in a circle, trying not to let it topple. “Um, hi, can you—”
“Woah, you need help?” Before they could answer, Purple was steadying the boxes, realigning what they could and watching the top in case they had to catch anything. They kept their hands on the sides of the boxes. “I can carry some of this.”
“I got it. It’s not heavy at all, I just didn’t wanna make another trip,” they told them. “It’ll be fine, Purps. Slow and steady wins the race.”
“Purps?” They raised their brow as they carefully took their hands away.
“Yeahhh, haha!” Red peeked around the boxes. “Purps! Y’know?”
Well, it beat Violin and Violent. Purps exhaled with a smile as they tried the same thing with the S back at them. “Not bad, Reds.”
Red beamed, but Purple made a face. “That sounds stupid.”
“What?!” Red lurched and nearly dropped their boxes again.
“Don’t-!” Purple stepped in to steady the boxes again. “Where do you need to take these?”
Red hunched their shoulders. “Back to Storage.”
Purple looked at their surroundings. “You know you’re going the wrong way, right? We’ve been here long enough.”
“I wanted to find you because it was gonna fall over!” cried Red.
Purple’s brow furrowed. “But you won’t let me carry anything?!”
“I can handle it, you’re always doing everything!” Red argued.
“I can take one box! You said they’re light!” Purple argued back.
Red shook their head. “Nuh-uh. Said I got it.”
Purple sighed. Red always got stubborn about being important and helpful and all. “Guess I’ll just make sure you don’t bump into anything.”
They started walking the way Red came.
“By the way, the reason I said it sounded stupid was because your name can’t be shortened, it’s only one syllable, so if you add an S to it it just sounds like a possessive.”
Red felt stupid. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, it’s like Red’s something,” they explained. “Red’s loud flip-flops. Red’s precariously tall stack of boxes.”
Red laughed. “So I can’t have a nickname?”
“No, I’ll workshop it right now! What other diminutives are there—”
“What’s a diminutive?”
“Watch that wall. S’like, something you put at the end of a word for affectionate endearment. ‘Purps’ is kind of that.”
Red did not watch the wall. “You think I’m affectionately endeared to you???”
Purple rushed and stood on tiptoe to make sure the highest box didn’t fall. “This is why I said let me take one!!!”
“Then take one!!!”
Purple carefully lifted the highest box away, easing it off Red’s stack. “There. Geez.”
They started walking again, actually paying attention to where they were going this time, until they set the boxes down in the Storage Room.
“Phew,” Red wiped nonexistent sweat from their forehead. “Okay now make my nickname.”
Purple leaned back against the wall. “Alright. Reddy.”
“Yes, go ahead!” Red batted their cartoon lashes.
Purple smacked their own forehead. “‘Ready’ is already a word! Darn it.”
“All Reddy a word,” Red chuckled and sat on the ground.
Purple scratched their head and concentrated. “Reddy. Redsdy. Ugh, what’s Redsdy. Redsy- …Redsie?”
There was the epiphany. Purple crisply snapped and pointed at them. “You’re Redsie.”
“I like it!” Redsie grinned. They did like it, more than anything else they had ever been called.
“Purps and Redsie! Nice ring to it,” Purple slid down the wall to also sit.
But the moment their butt touched the floor, the supervisor came in and barked at them. “You two! Lab’s a mess, get on it!”
They left without saying anything else. Purple did the cuckoo finger circle by the side of their head as they got up. Red snickered.
“Purps and Redsie against the world, huh.”
Purple told Red their fun fact.
Red said they didn’t seem like a Violet. An Indigo, maybe.