"No name collisions, sounds convenient."

"I guess! I've never thought about it. Is that why humans do those complicated things, did you just run out of names?"

"That's not the only reason we have last names and nicknames, but we do use both for that purpose," Bella says. "Last names are also a family thing, and they're more formal - that's why teachers use them - and nicknames allow for personalization and informality, like how I prefer 'Bella'."

"What do you mean, a family thing?" she asks interestedly.

"My last name is Swan because my father's last name is Swan," Bella explains. "When my parents got married, my mother changed her last name to Swan for the same reason. Modern families sometimes do different things with them, but that's the basic idea, around here."

"Oh," says Jala. "I didn't know that! I thought everyone just made them up like you do with normal names."

"Nope! If you meet two people with the same last name there's a good chance they're related. Although it can also be a coincidence, it makes it likely enough that you can ask if you want to know."

"But related through their fathers? Or through... some kind of... marrying... thing?" she hazards.

"They could be siblings, or first cousins whose fathers are brothers, or second cousins whose paternal grandfathers were brothers, and so on - or one could be the niece or nephew of the other, assuming the right genders and/or pattern of marriages," says Bella. "It's not going to help you figure out anyone else - it's not really designed to be completely informative about that to people who don't know the family, just to connect wives and children to their husbands and fathers."

"I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it," she says, shaking her head.

"I think you can get along without knowing all this," says Bella. "It's not a big deal, especially here where people aren't generally present with close family."

Jala grins. "Oh, good."

And here's Thatcher. "Thanks for the escort!"

"Anytime!" says Jala, waving.

In goes Bella.

Guess who's baking a pie!

Is it Celo? Bella bets it's Celo.

It is totally Celo.

"Hi," [name]. "Met a mermaid today."

"Hi yourself," says Celo merrily. "Did she eat you?"

"Yes. Of course she did. Did you not notice the gaping, bleeding wounds?"

Celo cracks up.

"She seemed really nice, actually. She says whales and dolphins are people, so now I'm trying to figure out how to publicize that."

"Huh," says Celo. "Still wouldn't go swimming with her, if I were you. I might go swimming with her. What's she look like, what's her name?"

"Jala," says Bella. "Very - teal."