[Poppy]

((Hey theree. You think we should make this thread closed since there's 5 of us now? XD So it doesn't get too confusing with more posts? Lol))

"You could try your hand at squirrels or something..? Maybe something smaller." Ceral didn't know much about how other dragons hunted. Maybe they moved fast or waited for hours, but his own kind tended to sit in wait, like some kind of turtle. Ceral can remember times where he's waited for hours just to catch a bite, but it was necessary. He needed food to survive; despite how lazy cave dragons were, it was quite easy for them to get bored, and need entertainment, and then similarly not go through with what might entertain them because they didn't want to do things.

Ceral glanced around briefly for Ivy, wondering where she might be. Was she watching them? He supposed she might be. Maybe he'd go visit her after the hunt. If, ultimately, he had to be here for his purpose, he'd much rather breed with Ivy than any of these other seeders he's run into. "Fish aren't hard to catch either," Ceral noted and shrugged. "That's if you can swim though."

[labprotocol]

(Sorry for disappearing last night. I had a mega migraine. Hey Babybelly welcome to the group! :D I agree with Poppy that now that we have five players we should close the thread, but I'm new and I'm not sure how to set that up.)

Ky shifted, his autumn colored scales were polished and reflected the greenery around him. "I can't fly either, but I can follow you through the canopy. Nym and I can hunt down a deer together." It was obvious that Nym didn't know much about hunting, but the forest dragon wouldn't mind spending some one on one time teaching him. Deer wasn't the only thing he planned on hunting today. Flicking his tail in renewed excitement Ky nudged up against Ceral "Of course if you want any help catching a croc' I'm more than willing to lend a helping claw."

-------------------------------
Reva frowned as she glanced through the Avalon documents. It was a strange assortment with two forest dragons, a swamp dragon, a water dragon, and... whatever the companion and warrior dragons were. They were sure to produce interesting offspring, half of the dragons in the enclosure would produce lovely companion pets while the other half would make good guards and hunting pets. Maybe some of the clutches would produce kits that had the best of both or the worse. Avalon had become a bit of an experiment. The enclosure would attract a lot of attention from tourists.

They were interested to see how many eggs Kage produced per clutch. Based off the dragon's size and that of the carriers she worried a bit that Nym and Ceral wouldn't be able to come to term. The facility couldn't afford to lose clutches with those two. They were gorgeous specimens and on loan from their owners. The Facility was losing money everyday the two went unbred as the Facility paid their masters for the rental, the masters would also get a cut of the profit made from the dragon's clutch.

She glanced at the file again and read through the swamp dragon's record. He was an extremely rare find, but he'd proven a bit difficult. She tapped her pen against her clipboard and walked over to Han's work area. "I want to speed up the process in Avalon. Do we have any synthetic hormones left?" Recently some scientists had created a drug that when digested often sent both seeders and carriers into a mating heat. The drug was useful, but expensive and sometimes the dragons got injured when one became too aggressive. There was also the problem of a delivery system. Since the drug was expensive they didn't want to waste any on food that they dragons might not eat.   They could send a handler or two to bring a couple of them back to the lab for injections.

The department was only allotted five doses per month and if Reva remembered correctly they had already used two on some fire dragons from the Elysian Fields who had been intent on escaping and had already been punished multiple times. Pregnancy was turned out to be an excellent deterrent.

----------------------------

Ivy didn't fly far from the pool and kept tabs on Ceral's position. She wasn't worried that he'd get into any real trouble, but it felt as though the little dragon had a magnetic pull on her heart and she couldn't bare to move too far away from him. What was it about Ceral that intrigued her so much?

She grazed on the prickly bushes by the waters edge, enjoying the snap of wood between her jaws and the bitter acidic taste of sap. The plant was poisonous, but didn't bother her. Female forest dragons were venomous and immune to most forms of poison.

The wind shifted directions, a thick musky scent clinging to the air. Carrier. Leaving her meal, Ivy stalked toward the scent. It curled in her nostrils. It wasn't sweet or particular pleasant, but thick and earthy. As the smell curled and solidified Ivy started to make out the sounds of someone sleeping. With her claws she brushed aside some branches to revile a sleeping dragon. She lowered her muzzled to his face and growled, showing long fangs. "You carriers need to stop hiding. It's not polite."

[Flayme]

Squirrels, deer, fish? Really Nym wasn't sure what he would best at catching, but he was determined to find out. Anything he had to swim after he was sure he had to rule out though. While he could tread water fine, he wasn't very fast when he swam. He could maybe snap something like salmon or other leaping type fish from water, but there didn't seem to be any river large or fast enough to be housing species of fish such as that in this enclosure.

"I don't mind helping chase a deer down." Nym nodded. "Or perhaps rabbits..." He mused, and then slowly began to stalk forward, testing the terrain underneath him. "I've snapped up rabbits before." He nodded slightly and then looked back towards Ceral and Ky. "I may try my luck with that, if you and Ceral would like to hunt for a crocodile, Ky?" He gave a searching glance to the two. He didn't mind venturing off on his own if he had to. He just wanted to explore. So far he'd only seen the gate and the nesting cave.

[labprotocol]

Ky shrugged. He didn't care what they hunted as long as he got to spend quality time with Nym. "Come on, there's a rabbit burrow by the East wall." It was a little far and they would have to circle around the cliff face. "When we get there I can sniff out the rabbits and lead them on a chase. Rabbits tend to circle, so when the rabbit comes back you snap out of the air." Ky turned to Ceral and ran his tail down the purple spine with a grin. "Afterwards we can meet back here."

[Poppy]

((That's okay! I hope you feel better now. And it looks like you got it but yeah, I think all you gotta do is change the title or something to closed. xD))

If they didn't find anything, Ceral knew they could always just go up front and demand for food. He bet others here were being paid for as well, and if that was the case he knew it wouldn't be in the favor of the facility to let the 'rentals' go without food. Cave dragons could go a good week without food, but they preferred not to. Ceral usually ate every day, and before he'd came across the others he had hunted down a few small game. He'd caught a rabbit and some kind of pig or hog, but that had been it. It had taken him a long time to catch both since he wasn't used to hunting on land, but once he got the lay of the area it wasn't too hard to traverse over the rocky earth to snatch up the prey. He simply preferred water, where he was more comfortable.

Ceral idly stretched his wings, glossy, slender, and translucent, the perfect limbs for slicing through water. At Nym's suggestion of he and Ky going for the reptile, he smirked a little and shrugged. Ky seemed to be more interested in Nym, which was perfectly fine by Ceral. He could hunt a crocodile well on his own, and he'd hate to get in trouble for... getting between the two? Was that a thing? He had a feeling Ky might just be the one to breed Nym, and he didn't want to get in the middle of that if that was true. Looked like he still had Ivy on him anyways.

"Whatever you'd two like," Ceral smiled easily, his breath hitching slightly at the touch to his spine. Ceral ran a hand through his curly hair, pushing it away from his face. "I think Ky wants to go with you though." Ceral snorted and bounded off a small ways. "I'll meet back here once I'm done, if not I'll be back by your guys' cave." Ceral raised a brow at the pair before he snaked off between the underbrush, heading towards a darker looking lake he'd spotted in the past few days that he assumed might have some type of gator in it.

[Flayme]

"Ah-" Nym started to say something, but stopped as Ceral made his departure. He was somewhat dismayed as he watched him bound off. It meant that he was suddenly left completely alone with Ky, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. Actually that wasn't sure. He was nervous... Unsure... That's how he felt. He stared for a moment off in the direction that Ceral had disappeared to, and then swung his head back to look at Ky.

"Alright." He nodded finally. "Rabbits." That sounded easy enough. He could probably manage to snap a few. "I suppose I'll follow you then... " He sauntered towards Ky, stopping a few feet away from him. He let himself smile a bit. "Let's see how many we can catch."

[BabyBelly]

Lago had been having a nice dream of his old home in the wetlands. It was muddy, murky, musky and he loved it all. Plenty of vegetation in the wetlands to graze on, and the occasional gator or bird that wondered too close. The dreams about his homeland would always come to their inevitable conclusion--with those damned humans capturing him. He remembered the sting of the tranquilizers, the tear proof netting that caught in his spikes, the giant hovercraft pulling along side his failing body, and all the stupid screaming humans.

But then he heard something, or rather someone unfamiliar in his dreams. It sounded like it was coming from a distance, all echoey and such. It also seemed like it was trying to be threatening. Everything started to fade to black as he emerged from his dream, and he smelled a slightly familiar scent. He groggily opened his eyes and saw some rather sharp fangs right next to his face. The smell was obviously coming from the owner of said fangs. Suddenly it clicked, and he remembered that he was no longer in his own habitat...and that he actually had neighbors this time around.

"Ahhh hell", he slurred still trying to fully awaken. He stumbled standing up and proceeded to fall back onto his hind legs. "Bah, screw it", he said and proceeded to sit there and stare at the now blurry figure in front of him. He could tell it was a female seeder, and that she wasn't too happy at the moment. "Well, you know...it's like...not polite to wake up someone who's...sleeping. So I guess we're both guilty...of being rude". Lago proceeded to stretch his large body, showing off his golden underside. He gave a big yawn as well, showing off his impressive set of teeth and his sharp beak on the front of his face.

[labprotocol]

(Yep all better now)
Finally alone with the delectable carrier Ky grinned and leaned into Nym's personal space. He grinned and nuzzled his head against Nym's neck then brushed gently against the tips of his feathered wings. "Hmmm....soft." He straightened and headed into the thick undergrowth. "Come on." Gold eyes twisted over his shoulder to make sure Nym was following. "You said you'd had a master? Did the Facility buy you or are you here on loan?" Talking about 'masters' and being 'owned' was distressful, but Ky saw no reason to sugarcoat it. And he needed to know before he got to attached, but that seemed inevitable at the moment. His heart warmed and he snorted when he remembered Nym's reply to Ivan's comment on devils.

--------------------------------

"Hmm. I'm Ivy." His accent was strange. Where was this guy from? She shifted to human and held out a hand. "And you are?"

[Poppy]

The lake wasn't too far off (but when he got there, Ceral guessed it was more akin to a pond, as it wasn't that big) but he paused at the edge of the water, lowering onto all fours and eyeing two figures across the way. Ivy and another dragon..? The smell gave him off as a carrier, and Ceral was slightly pleased. Maybe with more carriers around the seeders would have others to focus their attention on. He'd never quite seen a dragon like the one Ivy was hovering above though, and if he wasn't so lazy about going out of his way to introduce himself, he might have just gone over there and done that. But as it was, he was here to hunt. He didn't think he'd stay hidden for too long, a gator fight wasn't quiet, but if he could get in and get out and back to the cave, assuming Nym and Ky might be a little longer, than the faster he'd get this done and over with.

Ceral quietly got into the pond, watching the pair briefly before he ducked under the water. It was fairly murky, but Ceral's eyes were meant to see clearly in the water, and it didn't take him but a few minutes to find a gator resting comfortably at the bottom of the pond. Ceral swam closer, pushing through the water with his wings, and then quickly dashed forward to grab at the gator by its neck; he dug his claws into the side of its neck, pushing past scales, and pulled it close against his body as it thrashed wildly. Luckily, these gators weren't as big as the ones back home, and this one was fairly easy to take down once Ceral had slashed his way past the scales and into the throat, red nectar flowing from the wound as the gator bucked a few more weak times until it stilled. Ceral rose to the surface, slugging the gator with him and tossing it onto land.

It wasn't the biggest game he'd ever caught, but it was food. He turned it over to note its size more thoroughly. "Good enough," he muttered quietly and turned the corpse back over, glancing up once more to see Ivy and the unknown dragon still where they were.

[Flayme]

(( Ah, so I'm an idiot and didn't even realize that Reva spoke to Han... Sorry haha, I'll have him give her some attention now. Being at work cuting out papers is distracting me more than I'd like. ))

"Hmm, the hormones?" Han glanced up at Reva curiously. He'd become distracted flipping through the messy stack of papers pinned to his clipboard. He'd never been the most organized person, but he was doing his best to keep track of all their new arrivals and their needs. "Why do you ask that?" He wasn't sure why he was inquiring... He could already guess what Reva was thinking, and he couldn't say that he disagreed. Injecting a couple of the more reluctant carriers with hormones would most definitely put them on the fast track to being bred, which in turn would mean happy dragon masters and quicker access to funding for this project of theirs'. It didn't seem as if either Ivy or Ky needed any hormones, as they seemed pretty apt to mate. Perhaps the large, sedated resident, if he was reluctant.

"Who are you thinking about doping up?" He glanced to the woman quickly. "I'm sure if hormones are needed to speed things up, we'll be granted a few doses."

-------

Nym instantly bristled as Ky leaned in against him, which made all the feathers on his wings and back stand on end. He only relaxed slightly as Ky pulled away.

"Okay..." Nym said breathlessly and then moved to follow Ky, keeping close to the other dragon as they darted along, but not too close. He wanted to keep a couple feet of distance between he and Ky. Nevertheless, out in the broad daylight of Avalon, Nym found that the enclosure was really quite beautiful. It was green and vibrant, a stark contrast from the mountainside and tundra his humans' resident was settled in. Were the animals here larger and feistier here? "I'm quite interested in what the prey here must taste like..." Nym finally spoke up, though quietly. not wanting to disturb or ruin their hunt. "It must breed like crazy in an environment like this... Surely the humans watching over us make sure of that?-"

Nym paused as he realized that Ky was asking him a question as well.

"Oh-" He said sheepishly. "As far as I'm a aware... I'm on loan." It was a little strange to refer to himself that way... On loan, as if he were some machine, or object that could simply be borrowed around, though, technically he supposed that's exactly what he was considered as. "I wasn't told how long I would be here." He nodded slightly. "And you?... How long have you been here?" Obviously long enough to impregnate Ivan, Nym noted, but perhaps Ky had been here longer? He was trying to remember if the autumn colored dragon had mentioned anything about it.

[BabyBelly]

Lago noticed that Ivy had shifted to her other form and held out what appeared to be her hand. Lago followed suit, going into human form, and looked at her hand a little quizzically. Being exclusively from the wetlands, he wasn't used to human customs, or the customs of other dragons. He looked at the hand for a few seconds and then remembered seeing some humans around the facility putting their palms together and shaking their arms up and down. It was incredibly weird behavior in Lago's eyes. Maybe that's what Ivy was trying to do?

He tentatively reached out his hand put it into Ivy's palm. "Lago, my name's Lago. The humans put me in here last night when you were all asleep." He heard some splashing going on in the large pond/lake behind him, and he smelled one of the other dragons. Damn, I was going to get that gator, he thought to himself. He continued looking at Ivy, trying to ignore his next meal getting taken.

[labprotocol]

(Lol no problem)

"I was thinking about the two carrier on loan. They've had time to adapt and the others seem to have accepted them. It's fairly obvious that the seeders are interested in breeding them. The carriers seem a little reluctant now, but I'm hoping that if we filled them up with hormones they'll be less resistant." She flipped through the report on both of them. "Maybe we should try with Ceral first. He's been in Avalon longer and you did mention that Nym gave the crew problems earlier."


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Ky frowned at the switch of topic, but he let it go. Maybe Nym was uncomfortable talking about the reason he was here. "Yes, the benevolent humans  keep the habitat well stocked. Though I don't think they worry much about the rabbits the way the breed." Speaking of breeding... he might as well bring it up eventually. "So what are your mating customs? Or I guess the mating customs of humans," since it didn't sound like Nym knew any other dragons before he came here.

---------------------------------------------------

Ivy glanced up when Ceral splashed onto the shore. She grinned at the prey he'd caught. "Common," she said pulling Lago toward Ceral. "It's time you carriers got a little more social."

[BabyBelly]

"Heeyyy...", Lago whined a little as Ivy pulled him over to Ceral's position. He really wasn't in the mood to meet new dragons, he just wanted to sleep. Lago looked the dragon up and down as best he could. Was he black or purple? Damn eyesight. He could tell through scent that he was definitely another carrier, and that he had Ivy's scent on him. She marked him...did she want to mark Lago too? He sure as hell wasn't in the mood to get knocked up just yet. Is that why the humans stuck him in here? That would make the most sense he supposed.

"Uhh...hi", he raised his hand up and waved at Ceral.

[Flayme]

((Sorry my computer freaked out and posted before I meant to before... This is my full reply now though lol))

"Hmmm... Yes, Nym probably most definitely needs to be injected eventually. Not only is he seemingly stubborn and indignant towards us, but his type is not one to just randomly breed unfortunately, which think the Fiskes have overlooked." He glanced at his clipboard again. "Tundra dragons are usually quite exclusive breeders, and don't usually start producing clutches until they have found a permanent mate of their own kind... Which in Avalon, is going to be impossible for Nym to achieve..."

Han glanced to Ceral's file next.

"The little Cave dragon just appears to be stubborn.... If we don't see him warming up to any of the seeders soon, then I agree that hormones may be the right option for him, if we're certain they'll be effective on him at all. I don't want to be wasting doses. It seems like a promising idea though." Han furrowed his brow. "Well, if we can catch him that is. If worse comes to worse, Nym should be able to be netted fairly easily,though he's so used to humans we may be able to get him to come right up to gate if we request it... But Ceral, he's been quite aloof so far, and may be hard to catch."

---------

"Oh, mating customs..." If Nym had been in his human form, then he probably would have blushed. He was also realizing that he was accidentally making he and Ky's conversation chase itself in circles. "Well... I don't know much about my own kind, but I do know that humans and tundra dragons are similar in the aspect that we both usually mate for life." He nodded slightly. He'd read that in one of the books in his master's library before. That was something that Nym was particularly proud of, the fact that he could read. It had become somewhat of a lost art among dragons, at least amongst captive ones as far as he was aware. Dragons were regal, clever creatures, known as scholars and intellectuals, though that had been partly lost over the ages and discouraged among 'companion' dragons.

Nym however, had been granted the opportunity to learn from and peruse the Fiske family's large in house library as much as he had wanted. It had thus become one of his favorite rooms in the large mansion, and he had spent hours and upon hours there, both alone and with the two children he was meant to keep an eye on.

"I know it probably sounds a little strange, especially when monogamy is a rare practice amongst other species of dragons..." He said slowly. It was going to be odd to be bred randomly, and produce a clutch of hybridized kits like his master expected, though he didn't suppose he had much of a choice. There weren't any other tundra dragons here as far as he was aware, and even then it wouldn't have been guaranteed that he would have hit it off with them if there was. He was just hoping that whatever seeder chose to breed him, whether it be Ky, who was already obviously mated to Ivan, or another dragon, was gentle with him and let him build some trust and at least a friendship between he and them. "I suppose us northern dragons are just a little strange..." He chuckled. "I also suppose that my kind, living in the lonely peaks of snowy mountains, we cling onto and keep whoever we can, as long as we can. Though, I suppose here in this facility, things are a little different."

[Poppy]

Ceral watched indifferently as Ivy and the new carrier made their way over to him. He hunched over his gator, not prepared to share just yet. Sharing was caring but he was hungry and intended to get a bite first before anyone else stuck their grubby claws all over it. Either this dragon was new or had been hiding out like him, but he guessed they could save their stories for when they all got back to the cave, if the other dragon even wanted to come back. Ceral felt safer around others as weird as it sounded, so he might stick around by the trio at the cave for a bit longer.

He looked over to Ivy, straightening somewhat and relaxing his posture. He dug one of his claws under the scales of the gator, easily snapping them off as he tried to get down to the flesh. Scales weren't too hard to break through, but he didn't exactly like biting into one. "Hey," Ceral greeted casually, noting the scent of the other; it was probably the weirdest smell he'd ever come across. Finding out there were more types of dragons other than cave ones was a thrill, really. "She found you, huh?" Ceral smiled awkwardly at the newcomer and tipped his head towards Ivy. "Not the worst one around, that's for sure." In terms of seeders, that was. Despite her seemingly territorial nature, Ivy was one of the nicer seeders he'd met.

"You new?" he continued, pulling off the scales of the gator as he spoke. "It's like they're adding dragons in here every day." Ceral snorted, the thought of this place eventually becoming simply crowded just a bit disconcerting.

[labprotocol]

Ky was surprised by the answer. He felt oddly warm and glanced away. He picked up speed through the forest. "It's not that strange honestly. Many types of dragons mate for life." Ky may have grown up in captivity, but dragons of all kinds were coming and leaving the facility. "Some are monogamist, in other cultures a dragon may have several mates, and some are more... promiscuous." Like Ivan.
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Ivy rushed over to Ceral and threw her arms around his neck. "Hey," she smiled and nodded to the corpse. "Looks like you don't need someone looking after you after all. Huh." She released him and settled for simply watching the two interact.

Ivy was ecstatic that Avalon was finally starting to have an appropriate population. The last year, since the humans decided that she and Ky were of age and they'd been moved to Avalon, things had been pretty lonely. It was okay the first few months when Ky still talked to her and she had Ivan, but after she'd knocked Ivan up... things became a little more strained.

She determined to get to know this weird speaking, funny looking dragon. He was different and different was fun.

[Poppy]

"I've got it all handled," Ceral said with a wry smile, raking a claw over the gator. He shifted his other hand into his normal human-like hand, scales lining his digits as he opted to use the not-so-dragon-like hand to comb through his wet hair. He hated smelling of pond water now, but it wasn't too bad. It could be worse. "I'm a big dragon." he said proudly, turning over his kill once more. He wanted to eat it right there, but he could wait until he got back to the cave. It would probably be rude to come back with a half eaten kill with bare bones to share. Ceral thought that once he delved in, it would take him a bit to stop until he was full.

"Where've you been?" he asked Ivy, sitting back with crossed legs. He knew once he got back to the cave, if Ky was there Ivy wouldn't stick around. He wished this whole mating thing wasn't such a debacle. He thought it might be interesting to have both Ky and Ivy around, and besides, Ky seemed too interested in Nym to ever be bothered with Ceral, so he didn't suppose there was much competition there. "Ky and Nym went hunting, I told them I'd catch a gator." He sniffed a little. "They said to meet back about a mile or so where we split, but... if I can read either of them, I think Ky might be wanting to stay out a bit longer with Nym, if you catch my drift..?" That, or Nym might insist to come back earlier; Ceral thought he could tell that Nym was a little hesitant about being alone with Ky, but it would've been much more awkward with himself hanging around the pair.

[Flayme]

"Hm... I see." Nym nodded. The fact that perhaps he wasn't as peculiar as he thought was somewhat comforting to him. It didn't distract him from the fact that other dragons were indeed more... Loose, with their mating habits. It made him curious to know the customs of the other dragons here... Ivy was Ky's sister, so hers were probably the same as his, whatever they were. Ivan and Ceral probably differed. He was tempted to ask Ky about it, but wasn't sure he wanted to egg the topic of breeding on any further.

Nym didn't have to worry much longer about what to say next however, as he caught the definite scent of rabbit. it made him pause dead in his tracks and he looked to Ky. "Are we close? I think I can smell a burrow... You still want to chase 'em out?" He asked.

[labprotocol]

Ivan sawed through the last bond then quickly shuffled back. The larger dragon hadn't moved through the whole ordeal, but he was still afraid that the dragon would roar to life and.... do something. Maybe eat Ivan as a good morning snack. Afraid to be within reaching distance of the beast unbound (though he doubted that the binds would have held him for very long anyway) Ivan skittered off to the gate. The sun was significantly lower than when he'd left and his stomach was making decidedly unhappy noises.

-------------------------

Ivy liked watching Ceral's hands work and his smooth but effective movements. She leaned over him so that her thinly scaled breasts touched his shoulder as she watched. She nuzzled behind his ear and enjoyed the silky curls of his hair against her face. "Missed me?" she purred. "I just went for a little flight then ate some bramble bushes for breakfast." She wasn't sure of the human term for the plant.

"Of course Ky would." She reached a hand up to start playing with his hair. "Ky doesn't ever think about anything, but breeding anymore. Stonehead. I'm surprised he wasn't all over you." She played with his hair for a moment. "So are you going to sleep with them?"

----------------------
"Yes," Ky smirked as he bolted ahead. "I'll herd them your way babe."

[Flayme]

Nym cocked his head at Ky. It seemed that the forest dragon had a habit of giving little nicknames to others, apparently at random. Nym didn't mention anything about it however and just simply nodded.

"Alright, I'll wait here and catch them." Nym said. "Or at least try to...." He lowered himself to a crouch and then spread his wings beating them twice in preparation to take off as soon as he saw the little rodents coming his way. They'd be easier to spot from a few feet in the air. He was hoping also that the little things would be so distracted by Ky, that they wouldn't be aware of him until he was already on top of them and had them in his jaws. It would be embarrassing to come back empty handed to the cave, when he was sure Ceral, who was wild and skilled at this sort of thing had probably already caught something.