Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you've seen on Andromeda. Everything else, I own.

Spoilers: Maybe The Pearls that Were His Eyes (which is weird, considering I haven't seen the episode yet, just read the spoilers). Oh, and Harper's nickname from Banks of the Lethe.

Author's Note: this is just something short I wrote while in the middle of writing a sequel to "I Can't Do Anything Right"

Nicknames
by Nsane1
January 2001

"Beka?" Trance called tentatively, poking her head around the entrance to the *Eureka Maru.*

"Hold on a second!" came a muffled voice. Within a minute, the woman appeared, looking slightly disheveled.

Beka ran her hands through her hair then wiped them on her pants. "Oops, should've done that the other way around. So, what's up, Trance?"

"I wanted to ask you a question," Trance said with all the innocence she could muster.

Beka frowned. "Go ahead," she allowed suspiciously.

"Why is your name Beka?" Trance asked quickly.

"I don't know, why is your name Trance?" Beka replied sarcastically. "Seriously, what kind of question is that?"

"No, I mean, your full name is Rebecca, right?" Beka nodded, and Trance continued, "Then how is it spelled?"

Beka raised an eyebrow, but answered, "R-e-b-e-c-c-a."

"So, why is there a 'k' in Beka?"

The question threw Beka for a loop and left her, for once, at a loss for words. "Um..."

Trance pushed on, relentlessly. "Shouldn't you spell it B-e-c-c-a?"

"I like it better with a 'k'!" Beka defended herself. 'Oh, real bright, Beka.'

"But it's wrong that way!" Trance argued.

"Um...well, Trance, it's a nickname. Nicknames don't have to have anything to do with your real name," Beka told her, finally thinking of something to say that didn't sound stupid.

"They don't?" Trance asked, wide-eyed.

"No, they don't. Like, Tyr calls Harper 'The Little Professor,'" Beka explained, having no idea how she had gotten into this situation.

"But that has something to do with his...um..." Trance searched for the right word.

"Character?" Beka suggested dryly.

"Yeah!" Trance agreed. "But your nickname doesn't."

"No, you're right. But it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"If it doesn't matter, why is your nickname spelled like that?" Trance persisted.

"It's shorter with a 'k'," Beka tried, hoping Trance would leave her alone.

"Oh," Trance said.

"And besides, I'm used to spelling my name B-e-k-a," Beka told Trance, and started to walk off the *Maru*. Trance let her go.

"Wow, Trance, she practically ran off the *Maru*, muttering something about needing coffee," Harper said admiringly.

"Yeah, that was pretty good, huh?" Trance grinned. "And now you owe me dinner."

"Oh, yeah," Harper remembered. "Alright, you win. Now, if only I could have gotten a picture of her face..."

Their laughter follwed them down the hall.

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