on·o·mas·tics
1 a : the science or study of the origins and forms of words especially as used in a specialized field b : the science or study of the origin and forms of proper names of persons or places
2 : the system underlying the formation and use of words especially for proper names or of words used in a specialized field

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He has many names, none of them his.

He wears the one around his neck, Wolverine. This is the part of himself he shows the world, angry and hard and what they made him.

They made him and they named him and he chooses to let the world think that's all he is.

Sometimes, he thinks that's all he is.

Sometimes, he wishes he were something more.

The thought sneaks up on him unexpectedly, the way the girl sneaked into his trailer.

"I'm Rogue," she says, which amuses him.

She asks questions he doesn't want to answer, so he asks one of his own.

"So what kind of a name is 'Rogue'?"

"What kind of name is 'Wolverine'?" she answers, and she's got a point.

"Name's Logan." Just another alias, this time bestowed by Mother Nature. He remembers waking up naked and cold in the shadow of Mt. Logan. He thinks it meant something before, but "before" is a big, white blank stretching out God only knows how many years, and not what he wants to get lost in right now.

"Marie."

It suits her, though he wonders if anyone ever really suits their names. If naming a thing makes it so, or if the name takes its meaning from the actions of the person wearing it.

He's not one for deep thoughts, but the nights are long and cold and dark, and sometimes his own thoughts are all the company he has.

That she trusts him with this name, this power, is interesting; that he trusts her with his, even more so.

Later, he learns that no one else knows, that this, like the promises they've exchanged, is between them. Secrets bond the way promises do, and tend to cause more damage when they fray or shatter. But this is the first secret he's wanted -- asked for -- in a long time, and the first promises he's made that he can recall.

Names and secrets, promises and lies. Women's weapons, deadlier than nine-inch adamantium claws when wielded with intent.

He's a man of action rather than words. Words have a way of tangling and twisting, locking you into things you can't get out of, and that's a scene he doesn't play. He values his freedom above all. But somehow, he's caught in her web before he can think to escape.

And for the first time, he doesn't want to.

end