Nanowrimo 2020 Day 9 - Word Count and Favorite Bit (Patreon)

Today I added 2993 words to Match.God, making my current total word count 20,439!

Upon arriving at the lounge, Hannah had to admit that Charlotte had not been wrong about ‘relaxing in style.’ It wasn’t as fancy as, say, Love’s estate, but it was nicer than anything Hannah had experienced at an airport before. There were even showers. Who showered at an airport?

Despite having eaten not all that long ago, Hannah took the opportunity to eat more fancy pastries and drink more fancy coffee. She was in the middle of deciding which mini cheesecake looked the best when Death called her name.

“Hannah?”

Hannah decided to add the blueberry cheesecake to her plate before turning to Death, who had a look of consternation on his face. “What’s up?”

Was that too informal? He was a god after all.

“That woman called you Ha-yun,” he said. “But you said your name is Hannah.”

Hannah grimaced a bit. “Yeah. Um. Ha-yun is my legal name. But only Grandmother calls me that. And my dad sometimes, when he’s really mad at me. Hannah is my ‘American’ name. To keep the white kids from picking on me at school.”

“Did it help?” Death asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Hannah admitted. “They just found something else to pick on me for.”

“I see. That’s a shame.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Hannah muttered, wandering back towards the table she’d claimed. She set about eating her treats and drinking her coffee. Probably didn’t need to be drinking before a transatlantic flight, but it was too late to worry about it now. That was a Later Hannah problem.

Death watched her, something like a thoughtful expression on his face. After a while, he spoke up.

“What does it mean?”

Hannah paused, a forkful of cheesecake halfway to her mouth. She lowered her fork, tilting her head in confusion at the question. “What?”

“I have been told that human names often have meanings,” Death explained. “And these meanings are often of great importance to those choosing the names of their children. What does your name mean?”

“Which one?”

“Either. Both.”

“Uh, well. I think Hannah means something like ‘grace,’” Hannah said. “I’m honestly not sure. I just kinda picked it because it was close to my actual name. Ha-yun means ‘summer sunlight.’”

Death nodded in understanding. He went silent for a while longer, contemplating something while Hannah continued to eat.

“I think I prefer Ha-yun. May I call you that?”

Hannah didn’t even bother to stop eating this time, eyes still on her plate. “Do what you want.”

“Thank you, Ha-yun.”

Hannah wasn’t really sure what he was thanking her for. It wasn’t like she was doing him a favor or anything. In six months it wouldn’t really matter what he wanted to call her, so why bother making a fuss about it?

Still, there was something to his tone of voice that made her curious. She glanced up at him, and was struck by what she saw. Death was smiling. It was small, almost like he was trying to keep it a secret. It was a sweet little thing, shy and clearly a bit unsure. It felt odd to see, especially given how stiff and mostly unreadable he’d been up to this point. Still, Hannah decided she quite liked it. It was a nice smile. The world needed more of those.

“I don’t think it’s anything to thank me over,” she said, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“I disagree,” Death argued gently. “Names are important, and you clearly have complicated feelings about yours. I am happy that, despite your clear tendency to avoid using it, that you allow me to call you by your real name.”

Hannah shook her head, a bemused smile tugging at her lips. “If you say so.”