“I’m not opposed to nicknames,” Charlie replied, grinning playfully as his eyebrows rose for a fraction of a second to emphasize the point. In truth he was actually quite fond of nicknames— they denoted at least a certain kind of affection and banter that he genuinely enjoyed, and judging by the fact that he’d been quite surprisingly pleased to run into the English princess on the occasions he had purely for the sharpness of her wit and the ease with which they could speak, so he wasn’t opposed to the idea of her drumming up something to call him. “If there’s something else you’d like me to call you other than ‘your majesty’, you could just tell me? Or I could just stick with your name but that’s a bit boring, honestly. So, I’ll need alternatives if we’re meant to sort this out,” he explained, only half-joking as he studied Luce quietly. His eyes wandered over the length of her with very little shame in the gesture before his gaze settled on hers again as she continued to speak. A deep, rolling laugh surged through him with such an intensity that it was genuinely impossible for him to choke it back and he leaned over to press his palms to his thighs as his shoulders shook and a fairly obnoxious snort interrupted the laughter for several moments before he straightened himself up to grin brightly at the princess, still attempting to muffle his trailing giggles into the palm of his hand. “Do I really look like a Benedict?” He asked, another laugh tumbling from his lips as he gestured to the variety of tattoos lining his forearms that were visible only because he’d rolled up his shirt sleeves during the length of his walk. “Christ, I ought to get you to write up my aliases— I can just picture walking into port somewhere as Benedict MacMillan, because that sounds bloody hysterical.” His smile hadn’t faded in the slightest and he studied the princess again only to note that he found the flush on her cheeks fairly cute in the grand scheme of things, “Don’t worry— you’re looking fit, flushed and all,” He drawled, tossing her a wink before he crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “Me? Nothing exciting. I read a book this morning and thought I might have a walk around after all the sittin’ I’d done and here you are! So, this conversation is now the most exciting thing I’ve done today— you should feel very honored.”
“Not opposed to nicknames,” the brunette repeated the words, making a mental note out of them as a small smile appeared on her features. “As for what you might call me,” Luce announced, then paused as she thought about it. Over the years, she had had many nicknames, it was hard to pick one. “Lucille would have been fine, I mean, it is my given name after all, but, if you think that’s boring, as you’ve put it,” she nodded. “Then, there are also Lucy, Luce, Lulu, Cille,” she was enumerating some that she was able to think of at the top of her head. “There have been many variations over the years, one more creative and spontaneous than the other, so, I suppose it’s all about picking your poison,” she mentioned. Much like the man ahead of her, Luce had never been someone who quite minded nicknames, besides, sometimes when people regarded her in ways that were too formal, her name made it sound as if an elderly lady was about to make an appearance. At least she could say she was happy to dodge being named after late family members, otherwise, she might have ended up with a name such as Hyacinth or Gladys; nicknames for either of those would have been tricky, to say the least. The sound of laughter had Luce’s lips scrunching as she held back a fit of it herself. Then, it was the princess’ turn to look him up and down, taking in all of his features before she addressed his question. “I believe you could have been a Benedict MacMillan if we’re talking about something set on the beginning of the nineteenth century,” she explained, her lips still pressed in a line that prevented her from grinning. “Oh, you’ve been reading? How fascinating. What were you reading?” She couldn’t prevent her curiosity at bay. Luce had always been someone who loved books and literature, it was why she could, so easily, come up with a new name for him. “I surmise that whatever you might have had in hands was interesting, after all, you did say you were engrossed in it for hours,” she thought about it. To her, this was something that made perfect sense. Several times she had encountered books that made her literally unable to put them down. “Well, I’m going to be flattered then. In all honesty, running into you has also been the most thrilling thing that happened to me today.”
