B.H.

B.H. is a common abbreviation found throughout many documents of the Bill Family. Depending on the family dialect, it stands for either “Blue Heart” or “Black Heart,” originating from the emotion-induced discoloration of the reptilian sapients’ skin. In the family’s folklore, it is said that this discoloration does not merely affect the body, but the soul itself — that intense emotions can “stain” the heart from within.

In older letters and records, the abbreviation was often used to indicate that the author had personally known the deceased individual being mentioned — a distinction considered unusually significant due to the notoriously short lifespan of the Bills. While semi-social attachments to long-dead family members are extremely common within the family culture, genuine first-hand acquaintance is rare enough to carry considerable weight.

As a result, the use of the B.H. mark gradually evolved into a subtle form of distinction for the writer as well: an implicit declaration of “I was with that person once.” In some branches of the family, the abbreviation is therefore associated with memory and honorable witnesshood.