How do I ask someone's name after calling him Captain for an entire barbecue?
Funny'Captain!' I called across the garden. He waved back.
At my aunt's barbecue I recognised a man I'd met several times, but his name vanished from my head. I thought 'Captain' would get me through one greeting. Then he helped move a bench, and I said the Captain was taking charge. Everyone adopted it.
He seems amused. My aunt has now asked me to introduce him to a late arrival. I have reached the administrative limits of Captain.
I tried asking her quietly, but she was carrying plates and heard, 'Can he stay?' She said of course he could. He is currently standing beside me, waiting to meet the new guest.
What's the least awkward way to ask his actual name without turning a silly afternoon nickname into evidence that I was pretending to remember him?