Nero blinks. Turns slightly pink. Clearly has no idea what to do with the sudden and sincere expression of gratitude. Not that V had never expressed gratitude to him before, but it was more in the way of "I owe you one" or other cryptic, distant statements. It's a bit startling to hear this from... not from Vergil, but from someone with enough of Vergil in him to make Nero realize how bizarre open gratitude is.
"Um... sure. You're welcome." He reaches up to itch his nose, a nervous tic. "It wasn't a big deal. We were all on the same team."
V watches the way ahead of them to give Nero and himself some privacy from that bare emotion. He needed more time before he spoke, perhaps a matter of hours. No matter that he has those hours now, it always feels like he doesn't, like whatever he's doing may well be his last. Instead of dying of shame, he has to live with it. It sounds like it was too much.
It was a big deal, but V isn't going to reinforce that. It's no larger or smaller for shying away from it in conversation. Nor does he feel any less... everything about it. It matters to him.
"We were," V confirms. Save the world. Fix his mistake. Whichever lens best suited the person in question, the outcome was the same. Whatever else he did, whatever lies he told, V was always honest that he wanted to stop Urizen's reckless pursuit of power and that he needed help to do so.
Nero never pictured himself as manipulated or tricked during the Red Grave incident. He didn't need any convincing or prodding for a shot at avenging himself on Urizen-- even if the decision to abscond from his hospital room put him in the doghouse with Kyrie for the next month. He was, of course, absolutely in the dark when it came to the true meaning of events and the true nature of the enemy they faced. But that was as much Dante's doing as it was V's. He even sort of understands why Dante lied by omission, at this point.
It's less clear to him why V kept things so close to the chest, apart from the sheer unbelievable audacity of his story. Would Nero or Dante have even believed him if he did tell the truth? It probably wouldn't have changed any of Nero's actions or choices. And now, he certainly can't deny that, short of the entire mess being prevented from the beginning, things ended about as well as they could have under the circumstances. They all lived. Vergil lived. And V... Well. He's alive now, anyway.
"What else did Vergil tell you?" he asks, nearing what he thinks might be the real crux of the matter. "About me?"
Nero gives a practical answer, and whatever complicated feelings lie behind it, V can only take him at his word. It's disrespectful to do otherwise. He will not assume where that leaves them. Being on the same side is the bare minimum for remaining civil with each other. It says nothing to what their relationship might be here where there is not a common enemy that urgently must be fought. Whatever Thirteen is, even should V be able to defeat her, that might only spell his death and the end of Vergil's life with Nero.
It's not time yet for V to ask questions. He offered to answer questions for Nero, and the next question is entirely reasonable. If V hadn't spoken with Vergil yet or if Vergil said nothing of the matter, Nero would be in the position to reveal the truth to V—the alternative being to wait for Thirteen to do so. It's too shocking a revelation to be left alone.
"When we first met, I knew you had to be a Sparda," V says. "I assumed at the time you were Dante's. After speaking with Vergil, I know I was wrong."
He words it carefully, neither claiming nor rejecting Nero as his. He's had days—days!—to think about it, and it still confounds him. Oh, not how it happened. He understands when that happened, but what it means for him and Nero? It elevates the uncertainty between them to a whole new level.
V looks over at Nero. "Foolish though it may be, it was more confounding to learn than anything about this place."
Man... was it really that obvious to everyone else?
Like, okay. Nero had also known, in some respect, that he was probably related to the Sparda line. White hair? Superpowers? It's not like there are all that many other demon hybrids running around. But he supposed it never occurred to him how very few there were.
For a long time he, too, wondered if Dante might be his father. He was old enough, and they looked similarly, and had so much in common... but Nero also assumed that Dante would have told him so, were that the case. (In hindsight he wonders why he assumed that, given Dante acts like being straightforward with Nero will actually kill him more often than not. Not unjustifiably, Nero suspects, but still...) But it still surprises him to hear that V-- a shade of his own father-- assumed that as well.
(This whole V business is fucking weird, make no mistake, but it does provide some deeper insight into Vergil... a fact Nero suspects Vergil probably hates.)
V's words leave him a little caught off guard. He frowns, raising an eyebrow. "Confounding how? What do you mean?"
What people may glean about Vergil from their interactions with V is Vergil's problem, something the man no doubt realized as soon as he lay eyes on V. V will do, did, whatever his duty by Vergil. He is the reason Vergil exists. It's difficult enough without trying to cover Vergil's ass. Nor would it likely work. He's not one to take up a lost cause.
He is not sure how much thought Nero has given him or more accurately them, their relationship. If the boy has a clear idea of what he wants or does not, it would be simpler no matter what that answer is. V could set aside any thoughts of his own as to what it could be and accept what it is. Until then, the ground is unsteady at best and threatens to crumble.
"Oh, I know whence you come," V says, "I did not have all my memories when we first met, but they've stitched themselves together with time. It simply complicates what we might mean to each other—
"A question I don't expect an answer to today or by any certain date. You have more than enough on your hands right now."
He motions behind them toward the house and its patients they left behind. It's an issue Vergil is no help on. Vergil made clear he's Nero's father, and V is glad for him, for them both. In the long run, when they leave this place, it is no issue, but for as much of a life as V has, it's an answer he'll have to find. He doesn't even know what it would be, should Nero leave it entirely in his hands.
Nero opens his mouth to retort, but finds he doesn't know what to say. Obviously the situation with Vergil and V is quite unique. He's uncertain what the both of them actually think or feel about any of this or what they may have spoken of when they met up. He's also not sure what he would even begin to call V if pressed for a label now. A friend? An ally? A family member? But what family member, then? A brother? Maybe even a... stepfather?
He feels a sudden pang at that thought. Pictures Vergil's face crumbling to hear it spoken aloud. Is it possible to cheat on your dad with a weird supernatural remnant of himself?
But at the same time, is that fair to V? He'd described him to Kyrie as "everything good in Vergil." It feels quite cruel to deny that, to deny the sprouting feelings and realizations that would, theoretically, blossom into the way Vergil feels about Nero now. And even without any fucky-wucky time bullshit factored in, it feels wrong to treat V as a castoff, as a lesser person. Even if he literally is.
God. He went from having zero parents to having a father and a half and not knowing how the fuck to handle that. Ain't that just the way?
After a moment of silence, awkward fretting, glancing at V here and again, he finally lets out a quiet sigh.
"Well. Okay. What might I mean to you, then?" He folds his arms, looking a little self-conscious. "I'm not... sure how we should deal with this."
A clear no, Nero has not thought about it. That's fine. It's hardly a situation most people ever find themselves in, and as Folkmore has made abundantly clear, there is no shortage of issues on which to spend his time. It's one reason V's hesitated to call on the house and to speak with Nero or Dante. Whatever they thought of him before, they must think something differently of him now. An issue that seemed the past, only a part of Vergil's story, until the day V arrived. So they've had no more time to ponder it than him.
The question gets turned back on V, both eminently reasonable and imminently uncomfortable. Entirely unavoidable as well. It's only natural that Nero's opinion of what he wants would be influenced by what V wants. The question that stares him down in the mirror (when other people are not busy appearing in said mirror) in many iterations: what does he want? what does it mean?
"I must first preface that whatever relationship we might develop does nothing to undermine, demean, or lessen your relationship with Vergil in any regard," V says, "He is your father, and I am given to understand he has worked hard to make amends, gain your trust, and take on that mantle."
No one has implied V would do so, but his presence alone impacts their lives. The ties between him and Vergil cannot be cut, only acknowledged.
"Handling Urizen, I lacked the time to consider what you or Dante might mean to me. You would mean nothing if I failed, and it all seemed like it could wait until then—despite the fact that means until the point I no longer existed as myself," V says. It's so hard to speak of the matter itself, but he cannot speak around it entirely. "Even should you ever decide I mean nothing more than a stranger to you, you will always mean something to me. Something more than the means to stop Urizen and correct my mistake."
The word hangs in his mind.
"Family, I expect. The shape that might take remains more nebulous. Father, uncle, brother, they rise and fall as questions. As something we might be. The only clear thing about it is that whatever we are will take time and effort." His heart races, as though he's running and fighting with all his might. It's only one foot in front of the other, and that feels challenging at the moment. V leans on his cane at the immensity of what he's said.
"A title without what comes behind it is meaningless."
He knows how difficult this must be for him. Just because V is the human parts of Vergil doesn't mean that he's particularly adept at being honest, or forthcoming, or feeling feelings... cuz Vergil fucking sucks at those too. Nero does try to make the same approach work, listening quietly, giving him the time to get out what he wants to say.
He at once does and does not need the acknowledgement that whatever V is to him, it doesn't take away from Vergil. In fact, he finds himself deeply, deeply relieved to hear it. These are anxieties he didn't even realize he was feeling, but giving them a name has made them suddenly far more intense and looming in their dread. The last thing he wants is for some kind of spat to form between the two. Wouldn't that affect something, logically? Would V becoming angry or upset with Nero translate over to Vergil's feelings, too? He's barely found his father (and his shadow), the last thing he needs is to alienate him (or his shadow.)
Nero waits until V seems to be done speaking. Mercifully, he doesn't leave him hanging to sit there and wonder if what he said was being accepted or rejected.
"Yeah." Okay, it isn't the most in-depth response, but he does at least elaborate a bit. "You're right. I don't... know what we are, but I know we're not nothing."
He glances over at V. "You're not nothing. We'll... see what happens, I guess."
V feels as pathetic as he looks in the short time between ending his words, his long stream of words that he barely controlled, and Nero's response. He may as well have eviscerated himself and offered his organs to Nero, how raw it feels. How quickly that could turn to rejection and crumble to dust.
One word, and his feeling feel foolish. Childish even. Nero has never treated him cruelly and helped him where Dante focused on the mission, on Urizen, on (in his mind) Vergil. Nero is not the person to reject V out of hand. If he were, they would not be on this walk or having this conversation. A simple exchange about being busy caring for Vergil and Dante would have been enough. V would have respected that answer and left. Instead, it's this uncertain unsteady footing.
"That may be the most apt description of me I've heard," V remarks dryly. Not nothing, no matter what Vergil thought in the moment he discarded V. He's the human weakness left behind and more. That weakness is more than weakness. Without his need for others, his experience asking for help, he could not have reached out to Nero as he had. As he is.
"We have the time," V says. They're walking nowhere so far as he knows. It's farther from the parts of Epiphany he's become familiar with. They walk, and V has no further idea what they might do together—eat? fight? Nero rejected the idea of the arcade (just as well, V cares little for the location on a personal level, more at ease in a bookstore or library). "I'm in a guest cabin near Elder Mother Station. Until I find more permanent housing."
Nero is new to this "family" thing, but not to that raw, awful feeling of vulnerability. Of offering oneself to someone, wholly and sincerely. Too many times he's felt it, only to have the gesture thrown back in his face, or otherwise violently rejected somewhere down the line. He would be conscious of such a gesture coming from anyone, much less the shadow of his own father.
He shrugs and offers an awkward little smirk at V's observation. Nero doesn't consider himself particularly profound but sometimes he does hit the nail on the head.
So V is nearby... but Vergil notably didn't ask him to live with them. Yeah, Nero ain't touching that with a 20 foot pole, nor even bringing the idea up.
"I hope it's a nice cabin at least," he says. "That's not that far, right? That's good. If you end up needing anything you should let me know, now that you know where the house is."
Appropriate that Nero would identify what V is better than Vergil in some regards. Vergil knows V inside and out, having been him, yet that also leaves him too close. He's too close to V to understand everything—to understand the idea of a future where V persists. They're awkward around each other and mean something, but neither of them ventures to put it into words. Nero goes there and hits it in one. He seemed less powerful, less trained, less familiar with his power than Vergil or Dante, but he's more... something.
V only observes for now. Everything is too tenuous to say anything about anything. V doesn't know Nero the way Vergil or Dante does. Say the wrong thing, and what little they have could evaporate. Get cut. Cast off.
"It's nicer than anything I've known," V says. He may push the limits of how long one is expected to stay. The Lapine neighborhood is also close. He may wind up there, living in a burrow like a hobbit. The housing in Folkmore is all adequate, what V has seen of it, but he chose the guest cabin because it's close to the neighborhood Vergil said they lived in. He's stayed for that reason. "You too should call on me if you need something."
Something Vergil and Dante cannot provide. So pretty much, nothing.
"Low bar. I mean, what... I guess you just kind of... showed up... kicked around Red Grave for a month..." Nero drifts off, realizing he is only mostly sure of the timeline of V's existence. He was comatose for part of it, after all. Thanks, Dad. He's also not sure how lighthearted remarks about it will be taken.
"Anyway." Change subject, quick. "I will. You know where I could get some goddamn sedatives? The two of them are the biggest, whiniest babies in the world right now and one afternoon of peace and quiet could do us all a favor. Talk about manflu."
It's not a sore topic for V. He'd gladly share that the local riffraff made themselves known attacking him so that he could steal enough of their money to hire Dante. Dante still took money, even if Nero hadn't. After they parted ways, Red Grave City was worse off than before. However, the fewer people made it easier when the demons weren't attacking him. If the food worse. Don't eat demons, kids, not if you can help it.
He says none of it because Nero veers away into another topic entirely unrelated. Nero doesn't have to know more than he wants to or be reminded of anything unpleasant, like the reason he was in the hospital in the first place. The question makes him consider the individuals he's interacted with and the various people offering services.
"Could check out the hospital wing at Amrita Academy," V says, "People keep recommending I go there." Except his health isn't an issue so readily solved at a hospital. They can't fix a soul being ripped in two, and V doesn't want them to fix it if they can. Vergil and V in Folkmore may be awkward, but two Vergils would be undoubtedly worse.
He smiles and shakes his head a little at the pun. It sounds like something Griffon would say. "Have you considered hitting them over the head really hard? That could do the trick."
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"Um... sure. You're welcome." He reaches up to itch his nose, a nervous tic. "It wasn't a big deal. We were all on the same team."
He... thinks so, anyway.
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It was a big deal, but V isn't going to reinforce that. It's no larger or smaller for shying away from it in conversation. Nor does he feel any less... everything about it. It matters to him.
"We were," V confirms. Save the world. Fix his mistake. Whichever lens best suited the person in question, the outcome was the same. Whatever else he did, whatever lies he told, V was always honest that he wanted to stop Urizen's reckless pursuit of power and that he needed help to do so.
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Nero never pictured himself as manipulated or tricked during the Red Grave incident. He didn't need any convincing or prodding for a shot at avenging himself on Urizen-- even if the decision to abscond from his hospital room put him in the doghouse with Kyrie for the next month. He was, of course, absolutely in the dark when it came to the true meaning of events and the true nature of the enemy they faced. But that was as much Dante's doing as it was V's. He even sort of understands why Dante lied by omission, at this point.
It's less clear to him why V kept things so close to the chest, apart from the sheer unbelievable audacity of his story. Would Nero or Dante have even believed him if he did tell the truth? It probably wouldn't have changed any of Nero's actions or choices. And now, he certainly can't deny that, short of the entire mess being prevented from the beginning, things ended about as well as they could have under the circumstances. They all lived. Vergil lived. And V... Well. He's alive now, anyway.
"What else did Vergil tell you?" he asks, nearing what he thinks might be the real crux of the matter. "About me?"
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It's not time yet for V to ask questions. He offered to answer questions for Nero, and the next question is entirely reasonable. If V hadn't spoken with Vergil yet or if Vergil said nothing of the matter, Nero would be in the position to reveal the truth to V—the alternative being to wait for Thirteen to do so. It's too shocking a revelation to be left alone.
"When we first met, I knew you had to be a Sparda," V says. "I assumed at the time you were Dante's. After speaking with Vergil, I know I was wrong."
He words it carefully, neither claiming nor rejecting Nero as his. He's had days—days!—to think about it, and it still confounds him. Oh, not how it happened. He understands when that happened, but what it means for him and Nero? It elevates the uncertainty between them to a whole new level.
V looks over at Nero. "Foolish though it may be, it was more confounding to learn than anything about this place."
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Like, okay. Nero had also known, in some respect, that he was probably related to the Sparda line. White hair? Superpowers? It's not like there are all that many other demon hybrids running around. But he supposed it never occurred to him how very few there were.
For a long time he, too, wondered if Dante might be his father. He was old enough, and they looked similarly, and had so much in common... but Nero also assumed that Dante would have told him so, were that the case. (In hindsight he wonders why he assumed that, given Dante acts like being straightforward with Nero will actually kill him more often than not. Not unjustifiably, Nero suspects, but still...) But it still surprises him to hear that V-- a shade of his own father-- assumed that as well.
(This whole V business is fucking weird, make no mistake, but it does provide some deeper insight into Vergil... a fact Nero suspects Vergil probably hates.)
V's words leave him a little caught off guard. He frowns, raising an eyebrow. "Confounding how? What do you mean?"
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He is not sure how much thought Nero has given him or more accurately them, their relationship. If the boy has a clear idea of what he wants or does not, it would be simpler no matter what that answer is. V could set aside any thoughts of his own as to what it could be and accept what it is. Until then, the ground is unsteady at best and threatens to crumble.
"Oh, I know whence you come," V says, "I did not have all my memories when we first met, but they've stitched themselves together with time. It simply complicates what we might mean to each other—
"A question I don't expect an answer to today or by any certain date. You have more than enough on your hands right now."
He motions behind them toward the house and its patients they left behind. It's an issue Vergil is no help on. Vergil made clear he's Nero's father, and V is glad for him, for them both. In the long run, when they leave this place, it is no issue, but for as much of a life as V has, it's an answer he'll have to find. He doesn't even know what it would be, should Nero leave it entirely in his hands.
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He feels a sudden pang at that thought. Pictures Vergil's face crumbling to hear it spoken aloud. Is it possible to cheat on your dad with a weird supernatural remnant of himself?
But at the same time, is that fair to V? He'd described him to Kyrie as "everything good in Vergil." It feels quite cruel to deny that, to deny the sprouting feelings and realizations that would, theoretically, blossom into the way Vergil feels about Nero now. And even without any fucky-wucky time bullshit factored in, it feels wrong to treat V as a castoff, as a lesser person. Even if he literally is.
God. He went from having zero parents to having a father and a half and not knowing how the fuck to handle that. Ain't that just the way?
After a moment of silence, awkward fretting, glancing at V here and again, he finally lets out a quiet sigh.
"Well. Okay. What might I mean to you, then?" He folds his arms, looking a little self-conscious. "I'm not... sure how we should deal with this."
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The question gets turned back on V, both eminently reasonable and imminently uncomfortable. Entirely unavoidable as well. It's only natural that Nero's opinion of what he wants would be influenced by what V wants. The question that stares him down in the mirror (when other people are not busy appearing in said mirror) in many iterations: what does he want? what does it mean?
"I must first preface that whatever relationship we might develop does nothing to undermine, demean, or lessen your relationship with Vergil in any regard," V says, "He is your father, and I am given to understand he has worked hard to make amends, gain your trust, and take on that mantle."
No one has implied V would do so, but his presence alone impacts their lives. The ties between him and Vergil cannot be cut, only acknowledged.
"Handling Urizen, I lacked the time to consider what you or Dante might mean to me. You would mean nothing if I failed, and it all seemed like it could wait until then—despite the fact that means until the point I no longer existed as myself," V says. It's so hard to speak of the matter itself, but he cannot speak around it entirely. "Even should you ever decide I mean nothing more than a stranger to you, you will always mean something to me. Something more than the means to stop Urizen and correct my mistake."
The word hangs in his mind.
"Family, I expect. The shape that might take remains more nebulous. Father, uncle, brother, they rise and fall as questions. As something we might be. The only clear thing about it is that whatever we are will take time and effort." His heart races, as though he's running and fighting with all his might. It's only one foot in front of the other, and that feels challenging at the moment. V leans on his cane at the immensity of what he's said.
"A title without what comes behind it is meaningless."
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He at once does and does not need the acknowledgement that whatever V is to him, it doesn't take away from Vergil. In fact, he finds himself deeply, deeply relieved to hear it. These are anxieties he didn't even realize he was feeling, but giving them a name has made them suddenly far more intense and looming in their dread. The last thing he wants is for some kind of spat to form between the two. Wouldn't that affect something, logically? Would V becoming angry or upset with Nero translate over to Vergil's feelings, too? He's barely found his father (and his shadow), the last thing he needs is to alienate him (or his shadow.)
Nero waits until V seems to be done speaking. Mercifully, he doesn't leave him hanging to sit there and wonder if what he said was being accepted or rejected.
"Yeah." Okay, it isn't the most in-depth response, but he does at least elaborate a bit. "You're right. I don't... know what we are, but I know we're not nothing."
He glances over at V. "You're not nothing. We'll... see what happens, I guess."
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One word, and his feeling feel foolish. Childish even. Nero has never treated him cruelly and helped him where Dante focused on the mission, on Urizen, on (in his mind) Vergil. Nero is not the person to reject V out of hand. If he were, they would not be on this walk or having this conversation. A simple exchange about being busy caring for Vergil and Dante would have been enough. V would have respected that answer and left. Instead, it's this uncertain unsteady footing.
"That may be the most apt description of me I've heard," V remarks dryly. Not nothing, no matter what Vergil thought in the moment he discarded V. He's the human weakness left behind and more. That weakness is more than weakness. Without his need for others, his experience asking for help, he could not have reached out to Nero as he had. As he is.
"We have the time," V says. They're walking nowhere so far as he knows. It's farther from the parts of Epiphany he's become familiar with. They walk, and V has no further idea what they might do together—eat? fight? Nero rejected the idea of the arcade (just as well, V cares little for the location on a personal level, more at ease in a bookstore or library). "I'm in a guest cabin near Elder Mother Station. Until I find more permanent housing."
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He shrugs and offers an awkward little smirk at V's observation. Nero doesn't consider himself particularly profound but sometimes he does hit the nail on the head.
So V is nearby... but Vergil notably didn't ask him to live with them. Yeah, Nero ain't touching that with a 20 foot pole, nor even bringing the idea up.
"I hope it's a nice cabin at least," he says. "That's not that far, right? That's good. If you end up needing anything you should let me know, now that you know where the house is."
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V only observes for now. Everything is too tenuous to say anything about anything. V doesn't know Nero the way Vergil or Dante does. Say the wrong thing, and what little they have could evaporate. Get cut. Cast off.
"It's nicer than anything I've known," V says. He may push the limits of how long one is expected to stay. The Lapine neighborhood is also close. He may wind up there, living in a burrow like a hobbit. The housing in Folkmore is all adequate, what V has seen of it, but he chose the guest cabin because it's close to the neighborhood Vergil said they lived in. He's stayed for that reason. "You too should call on me if you need something."
Something Vergil and Dante cannot provide. So pretty much, nothing.
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"Anyway." Change subject, quick. "I will. You know where I could get some goddamn sedatives? The two of them are the biggest, whiniest babies in the world right now and one afternoon of peace and quiet could do us all a favor. Talk about manflu."
Nero pauses. "De-manflu. Heh."
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He says none of it because Nero veers away into another topic entirely unrelated. Nero doesn't have to know more than he wants to or be reminded of anything unpleasant, like the reason he was in the hospital in the first place. The question makes him consider the individuals he's interacted with and the various people offering services.
"Could check out the hospital wing at Amrita Academy," V says, "People keep recommending I go there." Except his health isn't an issue so readily solved at a hospital. They can't fix a soul being ripped in two, and V doesn't want them to fix it if they can. Vergil and V in Folkmore may be awkward, but two Vergils would be undoubtedly worse.
He smiles and shakes his head a little at the pun. It sounds like something Griffon would say. "Have you considered hitting them over the head really hard? That could do the trick."