"Calm Before The Storm", from the Final Fantasy X Soundtrack

"Max?" Chloe asked a minute or so after waking up, the smell of fresh bread and mulled wine bringing her out of the dregs of her sleep, "Uh, Max?"

Looking around the campsite outside of the old tower near her childhood home of Arc, Chloe scratched at her head and winced when she pulled a beetle out of her matted blue hair. Need another bath, though preferably with warm water this time, Chloe thought to herself as she groaned and stood. Dressed in only her tunic and breeches, she'd slept on the same straw mattress Max had given her to sleep on the first night she'd stayed. Thankfully it had not been as cold as the night before; even with the fire nearby, Chloe had woken up a couple times that night with a chill running through her weary bones.

Stretching as she yawned, Chloe instinctively reached back and ran fingertips across the length of her scar. She still couldn't entirely believe that she was healed; it wasn't that she doubted Max's sincerity or skills, but rather that Chloe had figured she'd be crippled for life. Not crippled as much as some, but if you carry a blade and can't lift your sword arm you might as well be strapped to a chair and dragged around, Chloe thought as she followed the smell of bread and wine. Approaching the tower entrance, unusually locked, Chloe nearly swung her fist onto it before remembering the previous evening's events that had led to her staying with Max again.

"Y'know," Chloe had said as they'd reached the camp, "You could not call me an idiot for a minute and I'd be perfectly okay with that."

"But… Ugh, idiot," had grumbled in reply, removing the headdress and setting it on her worktable before spinning on her heels to level a finger directly in Chloe's face, "….Just… You were fucking stupid, y'know that? What if you'd taken off the talisman, huh? You'd be cold as a cod in the bay, you…you…"

"No 'idiot', okay?"

"You jackass!" Max practically spat out, Chloe flinching at the irritation behind the words, "You no-good, dumbass, ungrateful-!"

"Hey," Chloe said, cutting off Max to their mutual surprise, "I'm, uh, I'm hella grateful. Hella. You weren't there until the end, Max! Do you even know who I was fighting, or why?"

"I'm assuming it was something to do with the girl I healed…," Max said, the ire in her voice wavering as she slumped onto the ground. Her posture a visual expression of her fatigue, Max looked up at Chloe with weary eyes, "I just don't understand city people…"

"Uh, Arc isn't a city, dude," Chloe said pointedly as she sat down in the dirt across from Max, "You've been to the northern kingdom, so you-"

"It's all the same to me," Max said, fatigue evident in her voice, "…You need a place to stay?"

"Well, I don't fucking expect to be welcome in the village for the time being…"

"You'll be welcome if I go with you."

"Max, you rode a bear into town. You'll be lucky if the guards don't try and spear you on sight!" Chloe said, fighting the smirk trying to take shape, "C-C'mon, you seriously…?"

Max started to giggle, Chloe listening as the melodic sound came in small and infrequent bursts at first before turning into an all-out fit of laughter that took hold of her as well. Laughing together, Chloe and Max fell to the ground across from each other and laughed at the fact that Max had ridden a bear not only into town but inside Joyce's tavern. Commiserating together in saddened humor over the likelihood of being chased out of Arc because of a bear and Chloe's swordplay at the Two Whales had come, Chloe and Max had laid on the ground for hours as they imagined scenario after scenario where they would try to sneak into Arc only to be chased out with spears and swords drawn. Max talked of seeing the fortifications of the northern kingdom, the ballista and giant crossbows along the structure's corner towers.

"What about a dragon?" Chloe asked, her voice turning hoarse from their mutual hysterics.

"Dragons aren't around anymore, Chloe," Max said as she sat up, pulling Chloe into a sitting position when the blue-haired mercenary raised her arms toward the sorceress, "They died out or flew off to unknown lands centuries ago."

"I suppose your people have some all-knowing history of dragons and all the other magical creatures…like owlbears…"

"Owlbears?"

"Owlbears."

"You're high," Chloe snorted when she heard Max's reply, looking over to see Max looking at her with a wry smirk on her face, "You're definitely high."

"On life, maybe," Chloe said, patting her empty coin purse, "Not enough coin to get high. I could get high on you, though."

"Wowser, that was lame…like your arm the other day," Max said with a snort, rolling her eyes when Chloe's jaw dropped in shock, "What a load of shit. You're not shocked, so stop pretending."

"…Worth a shot," Chloe said with a shrug, "So, what now? Hope you didn't have any bidness in Arc tomorrow, 'wisewoman'."

"No, as a matter of fact, I didn't," Max said as she got to her feet and headed to the tower, "You coming?"

"Hmm?"

"I've got food and wine in the tower, and I could use some help bringing it out. I do have only two arms, sellsword."

"That's a dirty word, witch," Chloe retorted, smiling in triumph when Max opened her mouth to speak before clamping it shut, "Ha! Next time I'll use your full-"

"Don't get cocky, Chloe."

The night had proceeded with a fair amount of mirth, spiced wine and a small cask of beer with a spread of various foods: bread, cheese, salted pork, and fruit. Chloe had lazily eaten and drank her fill while lying in the grass while Max had sat on a tree stump near the hilltop's tree line with a mug of wine, cheese wedge, and half a loaf of bread. Looking at how the sorceress's freckled skin and coppery hair seemed to glow in the moonlight, Chloe felt an odd sensation in her stomach. Butterflies? For her? I've not felt such a flutter in me since I was still running through Arc, barely past my twelfth winter. Also, she's not a flashy piece of ass. Max has a head on her and a keenness that matches mine. I'd have to woo her or catch her unawares with a kiss. Hmm, she is hella cute sometimes. When she doesn't look like she could melt someone's face off with a stare

Now, with day having broken, Chloe remembered that she'd passed out just as she'd thought of trying to flirt with the sorceress. Unclenching her fist, Chloe let the pounding on the door turn into as polite a knock as she could manage. Not hearing anything, Chloe twisted her lips into one corner of her mouth and narrowed her eyes. She ignoring me?

"What?" Chloe heard Max ask to her relief. "Chloe?"

"Yeah, s'me. What's up? You never lock this up."

"You've slept here twice, Chloe," Max said from the other side of the door as she pulled back the bolt and opened it, "You don't know what I really do up here aside from my work."

Dressed in an oversized tunic, her coppery hair a mess, Chloe smiled as the small girl before her looked less like a fearsome, beast-riding sorceress and more like a girl needing to be bedded. Nearly moving in for a kiss right then and there, Chloe's last inch of resolve took hold and she stopped and exchanged the leaning in for a step into the doorway to seek out the food and drink she'd caught scent of.

"Breakfast?" Chloe asked, eyes alight at the idea of something hot for her morning meal.

"…I'm in the midst of making something, yes," Max said, eyeing Chloe with a raised eyebrow, "But I'd like some baked fish to go with the bread and salt. Go get some."

"What? I'm a guest!" Chloe said with mockingly indignant tone, "Do you have anything I can fish with?"

"What, you can't stab one with a blade?" Max asked, smiling when Chloe scratched the back of her head with eyes darting off to the side, "Okay, Amazon. Wait out here and I'll put the bread and wine out to cool while we fish. Won't take much to warm them back up, and I prefer my bread a little crunch from being toasted over a fire."

"That's hot," Chloe said as Max began to strip out of her tunic to change into her breeches and vest, "Like you."

"What?" Max asked, looking up with only her leather breeches on as she'd not caught the tail end of Chloe's mumbling, "D'you say something?"

"I like my food hot," Chloe blurted out, her cover-up sounding awkward to her despite coming out of her own mouth, "Y'know, a hot breakfast being hella agreeable and all."

"…You're weird," Max said, eyes narrowed at the bluenette for a moment before she shrugged and continued getting dressed as Chloe glanced at her lean form every now and then when Max wasn't paying attention.


"Max?" Chloe asked, the sorceress having lost her in the woods. Chloe'd known the forest outside of Arc like it were her second home when she was a child; now, many winters having passed, only through the more blatant landmarks was she able to find her way to the waterfront that Max had selected. Not paying attention as she looked around in confusion, Chloe didn't notice the fish until it smacked her in the face. "What the fucking hell?!"

"Ha!" Chloe heard Max cry out with a triumphant tone that got under the mercenary's skin as she spun around to try and find the victory cry's source.

"Not cool, Max!" Chloe shouted, teeth bared as her hands instinctively went to her blades.

"Not cool, but cold and uncooked!" Max shouted, Chloe picking up on how far her prey likely was, "Look for me all you want, dork, but you cannot find that which doesn't wish to be found!"

Chloe spun again and heard the splashing of something wading through water along the shore. Smiling, Chloe prowled through the overgrown brush and trees until she came to the forest's edge and stepped out onto the rocky beach with a look of predatory glee on her face. The deer she found looked indifferently at her. It was just a deer, Chloe thought, groaning a little before noticing that the deer was staring at her a little oddly, Wait. She is a sorceressand she did ride a bear into town Um

"Max…?" Chloe asked as she looked at the deer, its ears twitching in response to Chloe speaking, "Max, uh, are you a deer?"

The fish smacking her in the back of the head from the opposite direction answered her question and she turned to see Max leaning against her spear with another two fish tied together with a leather cord. The brilliant smile and gleam in the smaller girl's eye deflated Chloe's irritation somewhat and she picked up the fish only to chuck it back at Max. Watching Max stab the fish with her spear while the it was in mid-air, Chloe smirked as the little sorceress appeared to be showing off. I get it, Max. You're some kind of assassin sorcerhuntress or whatever.

"Was hitting me with the fish necessary? I mean, really?" Chloe asked as she scowled at the grinning brunette.

"Not necessary, but fun. Watching you get lost was a little funny," Max said, pointing up at the trees with her spear after she'd tied the fish Chloe had thrown at her onto the other two she was carrying, "Where's the fourth fish, the one I threw at you first?"

"I dunno, probably back in the water. You did hit me with it by the small inlet back in the woodland," Chloe shrugged and pointed off into the forest, wincing when Max's smile turned into a chagrined look of disappointment, "Shit. You were giving me my half, weren't you?"

"Uh-huh," Max said as she handed Chloe the fish she'd caught before wading back out into the coastal waters, "Gimme a moment and I'll have another fourth fish."

"That's not really necessary, Max," Chloe said, Max looking over her shoulder as though to imply Really? "Let's just go back. One fish-"

"One fish'll be plenty for me," Max said as she took one for herself and left Chloe with the remaining two, "You need to eat more to keep your strength up. My treatment of you still takes some time for a full recovery."

The walk through the woods was calm, Chloe chattering about how she'd ran through these woods with some of the people Max had likely met since coming to Arc. Knowing that Max already knew Dana, Juliet, and Kate, Chloe had laughed when Max rolled her eyes at the mention of Warren. A "poor soul", Max had called him, Chloe snickering a little as Max had talked of how every time Warren came up to ask her something about magick she always left him with more questions.

"He's funny, but doesn't really seem to understand what he's asking, or whom he's asking the questions to," Max had told Chloe as they'd found a small path leading up the hill.

"What do you mean?" Chloe had asked in response, fish slung over her back as she carried Max's spear for her.

"He seems to think that what knowledge he has means that I will pursue a relationship with him. Warren's nice, but his breath reeks of beer and bad ale so often that I imagine if someone split him open you'd find he would only bleed the same cheap alcohol he seems to drink every day."

Having snorted at the jab, Chloe wondered what Max had thought of her upon their initial meeting. She nearly bowled me over when I was heading up to see her. She was, still is, like a different person at the time. Tattered clothes and an inability to look me in the eye The girl standing before me now is starkly different from the girl who ran into me.

"Max, what'd you think of me when we first met?" Chloe had asked.

"…I thought you seemed like you'd had a rough life. The scar alone made me sad," Max said, her voice seeming to become distant as the tower became visible ahead, "I liked your hair. I noticed it when I nearly ran you over at the waterfront and managed to not smile when I saw you while Prescott and his goons were bothering me."

Chloe smiled at the memory of watching Max in action, the energy crackling from such a small form still astounding. Looking at Max from the corner of her eye, Chloe gazed at the small upturn of Max's lips into a smile; Chloe wanted to press further, inquire as to what else Max was thinking of. Choosing instead to keep her barrage of questions at bay, the young mercenary instead walked ahead a few paces with a swagger in her step as she glanced over her shoulder to wink at the smaller girl.

"Keep up!" Chloe said with a satisfied grin, the thin-lipped scowl on her companion's face giving away Max's thoughts regarding the blue-haired girl baiting her.

"Yes, because it's my fault that you're freakishly tall…"

"I'm not freakishly tall. You're just hella short."

"Ass."

"Teeny-tiny."

"Chloe…"

"Pixie."

"Chloe"

"No!" Chloe snapped her fingers with a look of elation on her face, "You're like some vaguely-oversized fairy!"

"…Ass…"


"How's the fish?" Max asked between bites of toasted bread and cooked fish, the empty mug that had contained her wine tipped over at her feet.

"S'good," Chloe said with her mouthful of food as she swallowed hard before chugging down half her second mug of wine, "Wish you had something stronger, though. By the way, what're you up to today? Or is it 'we'?"

"It's 'we', for the time being," Max said as she tossed the last of her bread at a thankful Chloe and began to clean up the area around them of fish bones and her empty mug, "I have a house call."

"…I thought you didn't have business in town," Chloe said, alarm instantaneously on her face as she thought of their jokes about the guardsmen from the night before possibly coming true. She wasn't worried about losing the fight; it was the having to fight that bothered her. I'm not all that willing to throw down again and possibly get myself banned from my childhood hometown, Chloe thought to herself only to visibly relax when Max smiled at her.

"Not in town," Max shook her head and pointed in the opposite direction of where Arc was, "Dana's place."

"The huntress?"

"Yeah. She wants me to show her how I make my poultices and we were going to hunt together. She'll be okay with you tagging along if you're with me."

"So I'm baggage, huh?" Chloe asked as she finished the last of her fish, "Maybe I'll just go back to Arc, then. Don't want to be a nuisance."

Max rolled her eyes at the blue-haired girl's statement and looked over at her with a dull, weary glare.

"Are you serious? You're not a… Wait, are you trying to guilt-trip me?" Max asked, eyes narrowing as her lips pursed, "Ooh, Chloe, that's not very nice. You're a mean person."

"Duh," Chloe said with a snort, the jovial moment cut short as she watched Max get to her feet and collect her satchel, some things off of her worktable, and her spear, "Wait, you're going to leave me here?"

"Why would I bring someone along who's just tried to make me feel bad for no other evident reason than a laugh?" Max asked, glancing over her shoulder at Chloe as she paused on her way out of the hilltop clearing, "That was unkind, and I get enough of that in town or when I was at the northern kingdom. I-I don't need anymore, and I don't want any."

"Max," Chloe said as she scrambled to her feet, reaching for the young sorceress's hand, "It was just a joke. I…I didn't mean to actually guilt you into anything. I'm hella sorry. For real."

"…You're really sorry?" Max asked, turning around to eyeball the mercenary with an irreproachable stare, poking Chloe in the chest with the butt of her spear, "If you're really sorry you can come with me, but if I pick up on this being more bullshit I'll knock you out and leave you outside a gate to Arc."

"…Damn, you don't fuck around," Chloe said, running back to where she'd been sitting to grab her blades before running after Max as the sorceress was already walking along the path, "Hey! Wait up, Max!"

"You could at least try and catch up with me," Max commented offhandedly as Chloe followed a short distance behind. Halfway down the hill, Max had taken to jumping from one large rock to the next as they haphazardly would border the path in odd formations. Jumping down from one of said boulders, Max stuck her spear in the ground and marched back up the hill to where Chloe had leaned against a tree, "Shit, I forgot you were still recovering. I-I'll take you back to camp and go-"

"No!" Chloe shouted, eyes widening for a moment before she leaned back against the tree and panted a little to catch her breath, "I mean, I want to go with you. Besides, I thought the talisman would let you know if I was about to pass out or whatever."

"You were about to pass out?" Max asked as she let Chloe lean on her, an arm draped onto her shoulder as she helped the weary mercenary downhill.

"Well no, but you never know when these things might happen," Chloe said, her voice tremulous as the words came in short bursts like she was using her breathing to force them out, "I… Can we stop, take a break? Please?"

Easing Chloe over to a small overhand that was a little off the path they were using, Max leaned her companion against the cool stone and sat alongside her, taking off her headdress to scratch at her unruly copper hair. The poison really did take its toll, Max thought as she cast a furtive glance over at the mercenary, Chloe nearly asleep as her head bobbed a little. I should just carry her back to camp. Not like I couldn't. Wait. Wowser, why do I even care? I've known this girl for all of what, a couple days?

"Yes, and yet you've already tied her unto yourself with a life debt," the sorceress muttered to herself, Max looking over at Chloe as the bluenette was asleep, "This girl… There's something about her. Hmm…"

Stroking the azure hair, dark blonde roots visible where the dye was fading, Max enjoyed its softness. Remembering how soft her mother's hair had been when she had run fingers through it, Max smiled a little at the slumbering mercenary. The memory also left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach; withdrawing her hand, Max nudged Chloe awake and stood up.

"You should go back to camp," Max said, her voice sterner than she'd intended. Wincing at the other girl's visible disappointment, Max sighed and leaned against her spear, "You really don't give a shit about your own health, do you?"

"I'm breathing, and my heart is beating in my chest," Chloe said, thumping a fist on her chestplate, "Hella good enough for me."

Roughly halfway to Dana's home, Max halted in mid-step at something that caught her attention. Visible from the corner of her eye, Max turned her head and what she saw had the young sorceress running with Chloe walking slowly behind. Not caring how long it took Chloe to join her, the image before her sent Max to her knees as tears silently ran down her face. You didn't deserve this, my friend. I'm so, so sorry The people of the south can be so heartless.

Lying on the ground, tongue sticking out of its mouth, was the bear that had let Max carry her and Chloe to safety outside of Arc when Max had sensed Chloe was in danger through the talisman. Summoning the animal to her campsite, Max had surprised the beast with the kindness of her request. Now, lying in a dried pool of blood with gore and viscera emanating from a large slash along its abdomen, the bear was nothing more than dead flesh as Max reached over and closed the poor animal's eyes. Hearing Chloe finally catch up, Max looked up at her and was surprised by the other girl taking a knee so as to hold her.

"Uh…," Max said, awkwardly reaching around at first before pressing her face into Chloe's neck as she cried, "T-They didn't even do it to hunt. He's dead because of me, b-because he carried us to safety when I a-asked him to, Chloe."

"I'm so sorry, Max," Max heard Chloe whisper into her ear and it only led Max into pressing herself more tightly against the bluenette, "No doubt either Jeffershit or Prescott were behind this. Um, is there anything we need to-"

"Not now," Max said, absently stroking the nape of Chloe's neck as she let the tears fall from her face. Feeling odd by how comforted she was in Chloe's arms, Max pulled back and slowly got to her feet with Chloe following suit, "When we reach Dana's I'll ask her to come here with us after the hunt so that the poor creature might be of some use. All I have is my spear, and you your blades – not enough to at least take what the bear's body offers in use, let alone what it deserves in terms of respectful thanks."

Walking back to the trail, Max felt Chloe's fingers brush against her own and she looked over to see Chloe watching her silently. Slipping her fingers between her companions, Max let Chloe hold her hand as they walked in the direction of Dana's cottage. Catching Chloe glance at her every now and then, Max gave her a sidelong look before speaking up.

"What?" Max asked, the anxiousness of her companion wearing off on her. Max was already anxious and upset as it was; she didn't want any more drama added on.

"I've just never seen anyone cry over a dead animal. At least, not one that wasn't a pet," Chloe said, her words coming out slow and methodical as Max picked up on her new friend trying to formulate the right chain of words that wouldn't come across wrong, "Is that how it is with your people? Reverence for nature and all that shit?"

"Yes, 'all that shit' is very important to us," Max replied in jest, a knowing grin on her face that seemed to ease her companion somewhat, "There's a balance to things, a give and take. When we hunt, we thank the animal we kill for the food and goods it will provide us. We leave tokens for it in its final moments. My father used to carry around a bag of seeds and nuts to place before the nose of deer, dried fish for bears and larger beasts. We thank them and respect them by using as much of their body as we can for food, clothing, and tools. What doesn't get used is burned and the ash is collected so as to be used in spellcraft."

"What good do ashes do? What, you put it into a potion or elixir and turn into an animal?" Chloe asked, pausing when Max's eyes widened, "No, no fucking way…"

"Relax, dork," Max said, a dry chuckle escaping her lips as she nudged Chloe with her shoulder, "Nothing so…weird. No, it's used as a base for ink to write with. Also, if a salve needs to be thicker or heavier, ash is added. It's not that uncommon, using ash for things like that. I've seen people in the village and in the northern kingdom use coals from a fire to write or mark things down."

"So, you can't turn into an animal…"

"…Why do you ask?"

"Why do you avoid the question?"

Max's response of a smile garnered a chagrined, bleak expression from Chloe that had Max laughing, her spirits restored somewhat. Something about the swordswoman walking with her put Max at ease, the easy banter between them and how Chloe's smile and scowl seemed to draw mirth out of her; there would be a time for her to pay respects to the poor creature that had borne her and Chloe out of harm's way, but not right now. Right now, we need to head to Dana's so that I might instruct her on better poultices as well as hunting. My own stores will need resupply if I'm to feed another mouth as well as my own for the time being. Wowser, how did I become so entangled with this lackadaisical blue-haired girl from just a healing? I know I invoked a life debt as payment, but she could have paid that off easier than it seems. Goddess, I could have simply told her to get lost. Why this girl? Max asked herself as she looked over at an oblivious Chloe.

Why you? Who are you, to me?


Dana's home was a cottage-sized dwelling that was equal parts stone, wood, and mud wall. The roof was freshly thatched with layers of straw and the smell of cooking meat wafted around from the other side of the small structure. Taking her headpiece off and setting it by the entrance, Max and Chloe followed the scent of food to find Juliet cooking a haunch of meat on a spit. Moving to the fire, Max warmed her hands as she watched Chloe stare at the food. She'll still be hungry, her body having to recuperate from having all that poison in her system. I got rid of it, but she'll need more nourishment than usual for a couple more days in all likelihood. Squatting beside the fire, Max exchanged greetings with Juliet.

"Your patroness left without me?" Max asked, looking to her left and right, "I see no sign of Dana anywhere."

"…That's because the first thing you bothered to smell was meat, wisewoman," a voice whispered, Max and Chloe both leaping to their feet in anxious surprise to find Dana standing behind them with a sly grin on her face, "For a girl raised in the far north, you sure are oblivious sometimes."

Max, smiling, embraced Dana before shoving her shoulder. She appreciated any jest as much as the next person, but between Chloe's sass and everything that had occurred the past couple days, Max was more than a little on edge.

"You ass," Max said, the scowl on her face breaking as a smile reluctantly took shape, "What is it with giving me a hard time? Is it really that much fun?"

"Uh, yes and yes," Chloe answered, Max glaring at her only to signal defeat with a raising of her hands when Juliet giggled.

"S'fine. Whatever. I don't have to help you with your poultices," Max said to Dana before looking over at Chloe, "And I certainly don't have to take care of you."

"Who the fuck said you had to, Max?" Chloe asked, head tilted to one side as she looked at Max skeptically.

"Uh, the armed guardsmen you were trying to take on by yourself, jackass," Max said, failing to pick up on the teasing aspect of Chloe's remark.

There was an awkwardness after that, Max's ability to discern how people would tease each other sometimes overridden by her anger issues and social anxieties around others. Looking over at Chloe, seeing the mercenary pressing her knees to her chest as she sullenly watched the fire, Max bit her lip and realized she'd said something to upset her companion.

With Juliet stripping the cooked meat off to dry and cure, Max watched Dana assemble her lightweight arm and slip the leather pieces into place before she raised a cocked eyebrow at the young sorceress. Looking over at Chloe, Max got up and offered her hand to the blue-haired swordswoman.

"C'mon," Max said, sticking her hand out a little closer in Chloe's direction, "We need to hunt if you're staying with me."

"Who said I want to stay with you?" Chloe said, clearly upset at Max.

"…I'd like it if you would," Max said, surprising herself a little with how softly she spoke the words, as though it were an intimate confession of sorts. Feeling Chloe's hand slip into her own, Max smiled as she pulled her companion up. This girl

There's something about this girl Weird

Author's Note -

A little shorter than the others, but the future chapters will be closer to this length. I don't want to stretch out the story and I feel like 4000 to 5000-ish words is a good-sized entry.

I wanted to just show them having some time together with nothing else going on except them living and going about a day. Yes, it is a fantasy AU - that doesn't mean that everything has to be swords and sorcery, though. I'm kinda getting into slice-of-life stuff, it helps with character development and is a refreshing break from the mayhem of previous stories I've done.

That said, shit goes down next chapter. You didn't think Max was just going to cry over her dead animal friend, did you? Are you for cereal?

Review, and I'll see you all later!

Stay hella, Cinnamon Rolls! :)