Theatrical Muse: Name Calling
Tell the story behind your name (or nickname).
“Heya, Murph.” Harry grins at her when she enters his shop. She smiles back but it’s a little strained.
“You got anything for me Harry?” She needs something, anything on this case. Two more people have dropped dead, an investment banker in the Gold Coast and a taxi cab driver from Andersonville. Butters is completely stumped, her Captain is looking at her for answers and she’s got nothing. It’s the most frustrating case of her career and the pressure is starting to weigh on her shoulders.
She knows in an instant that yes, he does but he’s trying to think of a way to not tell her. He gets that look in his eyes where he’s torn between their trust in each other and his whole white knight protect the damsel routine. She hates that routine and has no patience for it today. She crosses her arms over her chest, fixes him with a glare and cuts the lies off before he can start. There’s a brief struggle of wills, but she wins. He sighs because it’s useless to try and lie to her, especially now that she knows it’s all real.
“It’s bad. You remember that case with the exploding hearts?” He doesn’t bother to wait for an answer because he knows she does. She remembers every weird case. “This is worse than that. To kill someone like that you need a lot of very black magic and a lot of will. You really, really want these people dead to do something like this. The ingredients alone are…”
She cuts him off because right now she doesn’t need to know the details of whatever hoodoo this bad guy is doing. “So am I looking at one rouge wizard?”
He shook his head, looking very grim. “You need a lot of skilled wizards. It’s a cult, Connie.”
She knows it’s bad when he calls her “Connie”. It’s pretty easy to judge Harry’s moods from what names he uses for her. Typically he calls her Murph, a shortening of her last name. It’s a sort of friendly, typical Harry greeting for her. Sometimes he’ll call her Murphy because it’s just a syllable, but when he uses her first name it’s serious and deadly.
Scowling deeply she runs a hand through her hair and paces a few steps before facing him again. “I can’t do a thing can I? This is one of those cases, right?”
Harry looks guilty, really guilty because she hates walking away from cases and the reason she does is because of him. He asks, she gives and usually gets nothing in return besides information and maybe a beer once and awhile. Sometimes she gets to catch these bad guys, but usually the ones that use magic slip through her fingers and leave her with open cases that sit in a desk drawer and gather dust. One day, she knows, these open cases are going to catch up to her. They eat into her closure rate and the brass will notice eventually. She doesn’t think that far ahead, she’s got her cases now and now is something she can deal with.
“Alright. Give me what you can, I’ll work it into the file and let you handle it. But, Harry.”
She calls him Harry a lot. Usually she goes with Dresden but Harry comes out now and then when she’s talking to her friend, when it’s important and just between them.
“Call me if you need me.”
He smiles a little. “You got it, Murph.”
“Heya, Murph.” Harry grins at her when she enters his shop. She smiles back but it’s a little strained.
“You got anything for me Harry?” She needs something, anything on this case. Two more people have dropped dead, an investment banker in the Gold Coast and a taxi cab driver from Andersonville. Butters is completely stumped, her Captain is looking at her for answers and she’s got nothing. It’s the most frustrating case of her career and the pressure is starting to weigh on her shoulders.
She knows in an instant that yes, he does but he’s trying to think of a way to not tell her. He gets that look in his eyes where he’s torn between their trust in each other and his whole white knight protect the damsel routine. She hates that routine and has no patience for it today. She crosses her arms over her chest, fixes him with a glare and cuts the lies off before he can start. There’s a brief struggle of wills, but she wins. He sighs because it’s useless to try and lie to her, especially now that she knows it’s all real.
“It’s bad. You remember that case with the exploding hearts?” He doesn’t bother to wait for an answer because he knows she does. She remembers every weird case. “This is worse than that. To kill someone like that you need a lot of very black magic and a lot of will. You really, really want these people dead to do something like this. The ingredients alone are…”
She cuts him off because right now she doesn’t need to know the details of whatever hoodoo this bad guy is doing. “So am I looking at one rouge wizard?”
He shook his head, looking very grim. “You need a lot of skilled wizards. It’s a cult, Connie.”
She knows it’s bad when he calls her “Connie”. It’s pretty easy to judge Harry’s moods from what names he uses for her. Typically he calls her Murph, a shortening of her last name. It’s a sort of friendly, typical Harry greeting for her. Sometimes he’ll call her Murphy because it’s just a syllable, but when he uses her first name it’s serious and deadly.
Scowling deeply she runs a hand through her hair and paces a few steps before facing him again. “I can’t do a thing can I? This is one of those cases, right?”
Harry looks guilty, really guilty because she hates walking away from cases and the reason she does is because of him. He asks, she gives and usually gets nothing in return besides information and maybe a beer once and awhile. Sometimes she gets to catch these bad guys, but usually the ones that use magic slip through her fingers and leave her with open cases that sit in a desk drawer and gather dust. One day, she knows, these open cases are going to catch up to her. They eat into her closure rate and the brass will notice eventually. She doesn’t think that far ahead, she’s got her cases now and now is something she can deal with.
“Alright. Give me what you can, I’ll work it into the file and let you handle it. But, Harry.”
She calls him Harry a lot. Usually she goes with Dresden but Harry comes out now and then when she’s talking to her friend, when it’s important and just between them.
“Call me if you need me.”
He smiles a little. “You got it, Murph.”