Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Grand Order or any other referenced material.

Chapter 3

What's in a Name

"Heeeh, he looks like a roasted marshmallow!"

"Piss off, you butt!"

"My, what language! Does your father know you talk like that?"

"Shut up…"

As always, purple jerk always found a way to ruin Dhanvin's day. That evening while his dad was working at the gym, Dhanvin decided that the sun was not too bright for Aditya, and so he wrapped him in that second-hand red fleece blanket – he INSISTED it should be red so Aditya would stop grabbing his hair already – and took him outside for some fresh air. He seemed to really enjoy that, because he was trying to reach out to the birds singing.

Also, he wanted the kid to stop crying. His dad really was not lying when he said that babies were loud.

Anyway, it was a great day today, so Dhanvin decided to sit at the front step and show off his little brother to everyone, until purple showed up. He – he looked a bit more like a boy today – had gotten over their last conversation because that smug look was back at full force.

"What do you want?"

"First you tell me to shut up and then you ask me what I want? How inconsistent."

"What's "i-co-zis-tent"? Why are you here!?"

"I just wanted to see the little baby you went through SO much to get… Are you happy now?"

"YEAH, duh! He's awesome!"

"The baby…?"

"Heck YEAH he is! He's all good now, ain't that right!?" Aditya made some random baby noises, which to Dhanvin sounded like agreement. "See, he agrees!"

Puple looked unimpressed. "He can't understand you yet." Of course he had to ruin it. "Anyway, what's his name?"

"What, you ask about HIS name and you never asked mine!? What the heck!?"

"I know your name."

Somehow, Dhanvin was sure he did. Still, it was important! "OH, YEAH!? SAY IT!"

And Aditya burst into tears. "Crap!"

Purple freak burst into laughter. "Look, you scared him now!"

"Stop laughing, you jerk! Uh, I got to shake him or something, right?" He saw his dad shaking Aditya before so he tried to copy it. He tried to hold him close and… try jumping in place a bit? Just a bit?

"You're doing it wrong."

"Yeah, how do YOU know?"

"First, stop shouting like a monkey. Second, make sure your arm is under his butt so he doesn't slip. And put his head on your chest. And try patting his back a bit."

Dhanvin did not expect a real answer, that was for sure. He did as the kid said, and like a spell, Aditya was all quiet again.

"…Wow. I didn't expect that."

"It's just common sense. Not that I'd expect you to have it…"

"Do you ALWAYS have to ruin everything!?"

Somehow purple ass looked even smugger. "If you get any more smug your face will get stuck like that."

"Oh, you know grown up words!"

"I'm not stupid! I asked my dad because of you!"

"Eeeh? And what did you tell him?"

"That some purple jerk was always talking to me like that!"

"Purple jerk!? I don't have anything purple on me!" True, the jerk's hair was white, the eyes were red… actually, now that Dhanvin knew what albinism was, he would have called it that, but the skin was tanned…

"Well yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"You kinda look purple?"

"Haaaah!?"

"I dunno, you just seem purple."

"How do I seem purple!? There really is something wrong with your head, isn't there?"

"Well, what should I call you? Butthole?"

"Absolutely not. Your father should wash your mouth with soap for saying words like that."

"No he won't. But for real, what's your name?"

The kid looked… surprised? "Why do you want to know?"

"You'll call me my name, I'll call you yours. Deal?"

His dad said that he should make agreements with a handshake, but right now he was holding Aditya. Instead he looked at the kid straight in the eye.

Was he blushing!? What the hell!?

"My name, huh…?" The kid seemed to… think about it. Like, really think about it. Seriously, what the hell?

"Lazim. It's a pretty nasty name, so call me that all you want. Anyway, what's yours?"

Now Dhanvin was totally confused. "Dhanvin. And that's Aditya."

"…I see. Those are pretty fitting names for you two. Oh, a bit of advice though…" In the kid's – Lazim's – eyes, there was something… dark. Like the day he told him that nobody loved him. "Just because you're used to the fire doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Well, see ya!"

And Lazim took off to a random direction and left.

Dhanvin would probably sit there staring at that general direction if Aditya had not decided to poop himself at that exact moment.

"OH, COME ON!"

"Hey, dad?"

"Yes, son?" Dhir had rarely seen Dhanvin so troubled. Something was definitely on his mind. "What happened?"

"Well, I ran into that purple jer-kid again, the one I told you is always smug? And, uh, he told me his name is Lazim and that it's nasty… I don't get it. Why does he think it's nasty? I haven't heard that name before…"

Dhir blinked. Honestly, he had never quite believed Dhanvin about the "purple kid" that was always making fun of him. He had never seen the kid around the neighbor, he had no idea who the parents were, and Dhanvin could never figure out what the kid's gender even was. He would just randomly switch between calling the kid a boy or a girl. He did not really think that Dhanvin was lying per se, but he just could not figure it out. It sounded like a prank.

Now though… Dhanvin looked seriously troubled.

Dhir hummed in response. Lazim… it was not a rare name, really, and he had never heard anything bad about it. "I don't know… I know of a few people with that name, I don't know why he would hate it. Maybe he likes a different name more or something? I have no idea."

Dhanvin did not look very convinced. Then again, Dhir was not very sure about his answer.

"Here's an idea: how about you look it up in the library?"

Dhanvin made a face, and Dhir had to stifle a laugh. Dhanvin hated the library – not because he hated reading, he actually learned surprisingly quickly just by looking over Dhir's shoulder – but the library lady always kicked him out for being too loud. His boy had some damn good lungs in him.

"That old lady is mean."

"Don't call her mean, she'll kick you out again."

The boy pouted even harder.

"Help me make the baby formula, alright? And drink your milk, it's good for your bones!"

"Yes, dad!"

The next morning, after drinking his milk and bread, Dhanvin left little Aditya with his dad and his loyal gym-goers – how was that little baby up at the crack of dawn every day, seriously – and ran all the way to the library. Exercise was good!

Of course, when he arrived he was all panty and sweating, and the librarian lady shot him a seething look.

"Mr. Kahtoon. How nice of you to join us. Will you be quiet today?"

That old-! Actually forget it, he did not have the air to yell. "Do you – have a – book – on – name meanings?"

And now the librarian was staring at him like he had grown a second head.

A few minutes later – a few very dusty minutes, somebody really needed to clean those selves – Dhanvin had a big dictionary of names in his arms. Something about names, meanings and astrology. He was very proud that he was able to lift it.

"I don't want a single scratch on it. And you can't take it out of the library; you don't have a member card. And keep quiet!"

"Yes, ma'am…" Seriously, why did she always think he was here to make a mess?

Fortunately, the names were in alphabetic order, so he was able to find the name pretty quickly.

Even though he knew the basics of reading, Dhanvin still had hard time with some words, so he was not entirely sure what "compulsory" meant. However, he did know what "needed" meant. Also, apparently the name was for both boys and girls which was not helping at all. The book also said some other stuff about the name being loving, kind, hardworking and whatever, but all of it sounded stupid.

No wonder the purple jerk hated "his"(?) – he really needed to figure that out – name, it did not fit at all.

Out of curiosity, he decided to check his own and Aditya's names.

Aditya meant "sun" as he knew – dad said he gave him that name because all the doctors kept saying that he could not go outside too much – but it also said a lot of stuff about arts, determination and honesty. Dad was always saying how those things are important, so that was all good!

And his own? He knew his name was from Lord Shiva, which was cool, and then it said a lot about good looks – okay – but then it went on and on about business and wasting time and Dhanvin thought that was stupid so he closed the book.

Well, that was enough reading for today.

He went to the front desk and handed the book to the library lady, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"That book is stupid."

She scowled. "Well we don't have anything better. Now get outta here."

"HEY, I was quiet!"

"Somehow…"

Dhanvin resisted the urge to yell in frustration, and instead left as fast as he came here.

At least next time he could tell Lazim that "his" name was stupid, so that was something.

Author Notes: Well this chapter absolutely did not go where I was expecting it to. It kind of started with me needing to give a name to Kama (gender neutral to keep Ash frustrated), and then I had to cross out names associated with deities - there are a LOT of names like that - and then I found that weird Hindu astrology website (wut?) and it kind of derailed. Lazim was my first choice of the pool of names I was left with, and I decided to stick with it for irony points. Basically the website entry was going on and on about how loved and supportive and supported and kind the people with that name are. ...yeah. Looking up Aditya and Dhanvin was an afterthought, I chose those pretty quickly because I needed something associated with Surya and Shiva respectively. Plenty of options, sounded a couple that seemed reasonably popular according to Google.

But yeah, I had no idea where this chapter was going. I simply had the "Kama trolls Ash" scene in mind.

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