Oh, great… Um,ahem…Hey there, Artie. How are you today? -forces a crooked smile on his face-
-Blinks and looks a the other with a tilted look- Artie…? Where the bloody hell did you make THAT name up? I’m called Arthur, though Earl suits me better at this point. And you are? -looks a bit confused but covers that up quickly-
-frowns deeply, able to figure out the other’s confusion- I could have sworn I made that nickname stick to an Arthur. Might’ve been someone else I know. -clears throat and offers hand- Name’s Alfred… Pleasure to meet you… -a hint of hesitance is in his voice at having to be polite-
-Relaxes a bit- I see… other Arthurs out there. -holds out his hand and shakes the other- Pleasure is all yours, I can see. -raises an eyebrow with a slight smirk- Which one did get that nick name? It would be amusing to know.
Which one got the nickname? -Ponders in thought for a while- …. I think I gave all Arthurs I met that nickname, just never really addressed them with it. And you’re just another statistic, I guess. -shrugs his shoulders- But what I’m wondering is why you use the name Earl. Never heard it before.
Glad I was able to give myself one long before you showed up with “Artie”. Another sarcastic? And what are you then, I wonder… -looks the other up and down- I use the name Earl because it’s my pen name and it gets quite annoying running about when Arthur is a popular name. Makes sense to at least make it one less, correct?