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It can be a lot sometimes, but Kara is very proud to be the main person who teaches Chris about Krypton. Kal had talked about it with her fairly early on – he was going to do his best, to pass on what he knew, but of the two of them, Kara was the one who actually remembered Krypton, who could pass on the lived experience of it. It’s an important duty she takes seriously, to ensure that Chris knows Krypton from someone who lived there.
They talk in Kryptonian – Chris grew up with it, he’s the only other person living for whom Kryptonian is their mother tongue. Kal’s Kryptonian is perfectly fluent and Kon’s is very close to that, of course, but there’s a difference between the easy familiarity and home that Kryptonian is for Kara and Kryptonian as a second language for them. With Chris, that slight disconnect is not there.
It's during one of these lessons, where Kara is going over the history of the house of El and the various members over the years, that she realizes that she doesn’t actually know Chris’s Kryptonian name – Kal did not introduce him to her with it, and Chris has never mentioned it.
It's kind of ridiculous that Kara is only thinking of this now, and she’s kicking herself for not noticing something so crucial sooner. But she can ask now. “This is a bit silly, but I don’t think I ever caught what your Kryptonian name is?”
Chris shrugs and looks away. “I don’t have one.”
“You don’t?!” Kara can’t contain her shock. “I would have thought – since it’s your native language – that you’d have one.”
“I don’t want it. I’m not Zod’s son.” Chris spits out Zod’s name like it’s a curse. “I’m Clark and Lois’s, and Lois named me.”
“I totally understand that.” Kara says, raising her hands placatingly. Chris nodded curtly and looked away.
The silence settles for a long moment before Kara gathers the courage to break it.
“You know, Chris,” Kara says hesitantly, not wanting to push too hard. “You can just make a new Kryptonian name, for who you are now. You’re an El, you’re family. That’s never been in question.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Kara confirms. “And it might be good for you, to come up with a Kryptonian name of your own that’s not connected to Zod at all.”
“Yeah, I can see what you mean.” Chris says. “I just don’t know what I’d pick.”
“Well, what ideas do you have?” Kara prods.
“I don’t know, how about Kri? It sounds like Chris a bit.”
“It doesn’t have to sound anywhere close to the same. My human name is Linda, which is very different from Kara.”
“Well, yeah, but I kind of like the idea of it sounding a bit like Chris. And I want to match names.”
“How so?”
Chris shrugs. “Well, there’s Kal, Kon, and Kara – they all sound similar, you know? And Chris fits that pattern too, kind of.”
“Huh. I don’t think I ever realized our names do that.” Kara muses. “It definitely wasn’t intentional.”
“Matching just kind of feels like another way of showing I belong? That I’m not an odd one out, that I’m part of it all.” Chris shrugged. “I know I don’t need to match to be part of the family, but I like that connection.
“I get that. If you’re looking for a connection to names the House of El uses, I have some better ideas there, I think.”
“How?”
“My father’s name was Zor-El. My uncle’s name – Kal’s father – was Jor-El. It was kind of a theme for quite some time, to have those kinds of names in the family.” Kara says, fiddling with her skirt.
“Yeah?” Chris says, nose scrunched in confusion.
“There’s more than one way to ‘match’ names in this family, Chris. We don’t happen to have someone with one of those names currently. It would connect you to that tradition, which is what you’re looking for, right?”
Chris smiles softly. “Yeah, it is. What are some of those names you were thinking of?”
“Tor, Kor, Sor, Bor –”
“Bor-El, really?” Chris snorts.
“Well, maybe not that one.” Kara laughs. “Oh, and I’ve always liked the name Lor.”
“Lor?” Chris asks cautiously.
“Yeah, it’s a family name I’ve always liked, and it would match that pattern well. It also means light.”
“Oh?” Chris tilts his head curiously.
“It’s a slightly unusual but not uncommon name. And you are a light, in this family. I think it would fit you well.”
“You think so?” Chris says. There’s an odd note in his voice that Kara doesn’t know how to parse.
“Yeah, it would.”
“That’s funny, because that’s my current name.”
It takes a moment for Kara to parse that, and then her jaw drops open in shock and horror as she buries her face in her hands.
“Oh I can’t believe that I – you don’t have to then – I totally get not wanting to –” Kara stammers.
“No, I like it from you.” Chris says earnestly. He looks pleased. “I hadn’t thought about it much beyond it being from Zod, but I like getting it from you, Kara. It feels more like it could be mine.”
“Lor-El.” Chris tests out the name cautiously. A smile spreads across his face. “I like it. Could you call me Lor? Just to see if it feels right from someone else?”
“Sure thing, Lor.” Kara says, squeezing his hand.
His face lights up in brilliant joy. It makes him look even more like the kid he truly was, without the burdens that came from his past and being one of the few living Kryptonians.
“Yes! I’m Lor-El!” Chris whoops, leaping up into the air, unable to contain himself.
“Yes, you are!” Kara beamed in delight, watching him express his joy in flight.