Apparently Earth wasn't very diverse, only about seven billion people, less than a hundred relevant languages, and yet there were still almost two hundred independent countries and uncountable faiths and cultures.
But that wasn't the point. No, the point was his name. Earth was so primitive and isolated his very name made him stand out. Mon-El was the most basic of Daxamite names! It wasn't very common because it was so simple! It was even in line with Kryptonian naming conventions, that's how unassuming his name was. Xudarians would't have blinked twice at hearing it. Apparently it was too alien for Earth though. "I hate humans," he grumbled to himself, "this planet is dumb." He said blatantly uncaring of Q sitting next to him with some kind of canned beverage, a colorful straw poking out of it.
She grinned at him unabashedly, "Oh come on Mon-El! Everybody has an alias! Even I have one and I'm not even an alien."
"That is true, for some reason Earthlings love to have multiple names." The Durlan, Reep, had transformed into a human boy and was idly examining a handful of nanites. Cupped in the palm of his hand, which was turning strange shades of colors Mon-El wasn't entirely sure were real, the nanites sparked every now and again. Apparently Reep was the brains of the group, Durla was... well, Durla was more of a mess than Earth by far, but this one at least seemed to have a firm grasp of technology.
Brin scoffed and sat on his other side, placing clawed fingers against the cold steel counter top."Q has far too many names, 'human social bonding behavior' she calls it. Nicknames, pet names, all of them different depending on who's speaking to her." As one the aliens in the room turned their eyes on the girl, two of them expectant and one of them curious.
She blushed at the attention, but not once dropped her smile. "What? That's how it is here! And it is too human bonding behavior!" She rolled her eyes and laughed at them when they only continued to stare. "Fine, fine! So my legal name is Jazmin Cullen - Cullen is a family name by the way, I share it with my parents, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins. My mom also calls me Jazzy, and most people at school call me Jazz. Um, I go by Q with you guys, so if anybody knows me through my alien friends I'll know it. Oh, and since I'm a metahuman I might do that whole vigilante thing, with the mask and the- yeah, you know, so then I'd go by Quantum Girl! Or Quantum Lass... Quantissimo... I'm working on it." She shrugged, but was still beaming and looking at Mon-El expectantly.
"That- is a lot of names." He paused trying to absorb it all. The whole shortened version of the actual name was familiar enough, sometimes he was called Mon by various paramours, never by his intended though, she called him less pleasant thing, but a family name? How Kryptonian of them. "We don't... do that. I am Mon-El of Daxam; Mon-El is my full name, I have no others." He wasn't about to mention his revolutionary alter-ego as Valorium, that was for sure. Imagine if that information got back to Daxam before he did? His parents might actually lock him up for that.
Q leapt to her feet to pace. "That's alright! I can help you pick a name!" She ignored his indignant protest and Reep's amused giggles. "Let's see, let's see. Mon-El. M's... Monty, Micah, Michael, Mike! You'll be Mike! And you'll need a family name, something common, and alliteration is best for remembering so it should have an M as well... Matthew? Matthews! Mike Matthews! Perfect, there you go!" It was kind of disconcerting how quickly she was able to reshape his whole identity like that. Mon-El had never felt less like a prince, nor had he ever felt more at ease. Huh, human bonding behaviors. Amazing really.
"You know, you were right Reep, that was much more amusing to watch on the outside." Brin said with a deep chuckle, immediately accompanied by Reep's snickers. "Don't worry 'Mike', she's done it to all of us." For the first time Q lost her smile and turned a pout on the Zuunian, but there was still humor sparkling in her eyes and Mon-El - Mike - found himself laughing at her antics. Maybe he could put off calling Daxam for a few days, this was nice.
"So how is the Amnesia working?" Reep asked, changing the topic after a brief lull in the conversation. He was relaxed, pouring the rest of the nanites from his hand into a glass jar, but his eyes were intent on Q. Feeling eyes on him, Mon-El turned to his other side to see Brin watching him closely, not quite judging, but... weighing.
Q also shot a hesitant glance his way before shrugging and following Reep's lead of including him in whatever this Amnesia thing was. Was someone forgetful? Was it one of those superhero names? A drug? They had something like that on Daxam, called it featherduster, made all your thoughts just float away like specks of dust, and made your brain feel like it was stuffed with feathers. He drew his brows together in thought, paying careful attention. They didn't seem like the type, maybe there was another explanation? Although, Brin's sudden wariness after being at ease around him for so long, it must not be something legal on this planet.
"I checked all the files you told me to, and everything looked like you said it should. I took pictures!" She skipped over to Reep's side and held out a small tablet-like device, showing him something on it's screen.
Mon-El turned to Brin for an explanation. After a sigh, he gave in; "Well, I guess you'll need it too. Reep and Q have been plotting for months now to turn this place into a hideout. For aliens. We're kind of illegal immigrants in this country, and humans don't really have aliens written into their Bill of Rights so... it's dangerous."
Somehow Mon-El was unsurprised. The needing a human name thing had kind of tipped him off about the xenophobia. "Did I mention I hate this planet? I do. I hate this planet." But it was a lie, his resolve to stay only reaffirmed itself. It was interesting, and these people were fun. "So Amnesia, huh? That's what you want to call it? Well, you know what would really make that name fit?" He waited until he had their full attention, and then finished with a cheshire grin; "Alcohol." Oh to be a Daxamite, what a glorious thing. Mother was going to faint.
Emma
Skai
