Unfinished Smurfs

Chapter 12: Shut Up, Brainiac!

"Come on, Brainiac suits you!" Hefty insisted, apparently not comprehending how big of a deal this was. "And the other name's a bit of a smurfful."

"And Brainiac isn't?!" was all Glasses could think to say in a moment of fire he'd quickly come to regret.

"You're right, that is a little long," Hefty agreed, missing the point as always. "How about... I know, Brainy! Brainy Smurf."

The Smurfs around them started laughing, and Glasses could feel himself heating up.

"Yeah, Brainy, the 'smartest Smurf in Blossom'," Boxer mocked with a cruel grin. "He's right, it really does suit ya, nerd."

"See, Brainy? It's perfect." Hefty smiled. The only reason Glasses didn't shout at him was because he knew Hefty thought the others were laughing with Glasses.

They weren't. They were mocking him, and he couldn't say anything. Because maybe he was wrong, maybe Hefty did know, maybe he wasn't trying to be helpful and just failing miserably at it.

Glasses left, most certainly not wiping tears from his eyes, without saying a word. Because if Hefty was mocking him after all, if he chose Boxer's side, if he wasn't really his friend...

Glasses would rather live in blissful ignorance, just this once, than know for sure.

"Hiya, Know– Kno– Knowlag–" Clumsy struggled to pronounce the word, face scrunching up with effort.

Glasses sighed, because this was the icing on the cake, wasn't it? The one Smurf outside his family to actually try to call him by his chosen name, and he couldn't. His best friend couldn't say his name.

"It's alright, Clumsy." He smiled weakly, feeling like he was admitting defeat. "I'm not Knowledgeable Smurf anymore, you can just call me Brainy."

"Brainy..." Clumsy repeated, drawing out the syllables as if trying them out. "Brainy! Ah like that, it really suits yah. Now everysmurf will know y're tha brainiest Smurf that ever smurfed!"

Somehow, when Clumsy said things like that, they didn't sound sarcastic. They didn't sound mocking or stupid or fake. When he said 'Brainy', it didn't sound like an insulting designation that he'd just have to live with.

No, instead... it sounded like a name.