A/N: This chapter…it will probably be extremely late. You see, I went to the con weekend before last…spent a few days recuperating and writing something for my friends, which I am most definitely not going to mention on this account…And then I started writing this…
And then I kind of realized that it's seven o'clock PM on a Thursday and I hadn't even started the story. Yes, that's right; I started this chapter on Thursday night. I'm hoping to have it done on Sunday, but we'll just see how that turns out. I'm really sorry about…kind of failing in the semi-regular updates section of things. I think I've kind of been all over the board, ranging from just under a week to almost two, but unless I go a really long time without posting, I'm probably not dead.
If I do…I may just be dead. Call the cops. Y'know that scene from Junjou Romantica where Akihiko passes out alone in his apartment while trying to meet a deadline and Aikawa and everyone at Marukawa Shoten doesn't figure it out for two or three days, then they storm the apartment and Aikawa starts telling the half-dead Akihiko to get his ass into gear and keep writing? Yeah. Something like that's probably going to happen.
Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to everyone in the Shuto Con Hetalia RP Group. They're my cosplay group, my second family, and some of my closest friends. They live all over the state and I don't see them often, and that kills me because I miss them so much! But hopefully some of them read this story (I already know of one; the Finland in the group, which makes her my wife as I'm our Sweden) and they see this and know how much I appreciate their love and support. :3
Pairings: Denmark/Norway, Finland/Sweden
Background Noise: Hong Kong/Iceland
Warnings: Shonen-ai, swearing, underage drinking, ideologically sensitive material. There will be an excess of swearing in this chapter. I'm terribly sorry if you're offended, because I didn't intend to offend anyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia. Denmark, Norway, and all other characters and concepts belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and his associates. Nor to I own Taming of the Shrew, written by William Shakespeare, or 10 Thing I Hate About You, which is property of Touchstone Pictures. The only thing I own is the story below as it is written.
Chapter Seven: Punch
Sorenson-Väinämöinen residence, 3:30 PM the next day
"This is bad."
Glancing to the side at the sudden groan, Berwald found Tino's head banged onto the kitchen table. It was Sunday, and their schedule today had looked much like that of yesterday. Today, however, it did not include snooping around in Nikolai's room; both of them had agreed that they'd found everything they could in that room. And even if they hadn't, neither of them wanted to find out what else was hiding in that room. It was bad enough right now.
As if to prove Berwald's musing, Tino grumbled, "When he came home last night, I couldn't even meet his eyes. I mean, there has to be a reasonable explanation, right? I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding…but I can't bring myself to be alone with him long enough to ask him! This really is bad, Berwald…" He told all of this to the table, and only when he was done talking did he move his eyes up to stare at Berwald's face. Confusion and worry clouded the big, violet doe eyes that Berwald so adored.
Berwald tapped the text book that Tino was slumped over. "You'll b' okay. Y'wanna stop fer t'day? Seems t'me that yer doing just fine now, d'ya still need the tutoring?"
"Not…really," Tino mumbled, staring at a sentence out of the corner of his eye. "I mean, you pretty much helped me tackle the problem within the first week. I just…I like this." Tino looked up and smiled. "I like being with you, pouring over books and talking in a language only you and I understand." There were other kids in the school that took Swedish, of course, but when it was just he and Berwald talking in quiet whispers, it was easy to believe that they were the only two who could.
"Well…that doesn't have to stop." Berwald spoke in Swedish now, and with the absence of his accent his voice became less gravely. The other man actually had a very pleasing, baritone voice. It was just speaking English, and his own insecurity in his accent that made him mumble and sound gruff. Tino had a slight Finnish accent—he'd lived in Finland until he was five. But it was nothing compared to Berwald's, whom had only come to America two years ago to live with an aunt and finish his studies in America.
Like many Swedes and citizens of other nations that taught English as mandatory second language, the Swede's written English was immaculate, and he could read it just fine. But his thick accent and the fact that he'd never really spokenit all that much at home meant that his pronunciation was incredibly off.
Tino's Finnish accent came out when he was speaking Swedish, though, and Berwald had told him many times that Swedes thought a Finnish accent speaking their language was one of the cutest things you could ever hear. And Berwald, it would seem, was no exception to that. It made Tino smile thinking about it, and before he knew it a little grin had curled its way into his face. In Swedish, sweetly and slowly, he murmured, "I'm glad."
Berwald watched as Tino rose from his seat and wound around the table. He placed one leg on either side of Berwald's knee and lowered himself down, wrapping his arms around Berwald's neck. Tino smiled, and the Swede felt his heart flutter. Never had he thought Tino would smiled at him like that, let alone perch himself on his knee like he belonged there, wrap his arms around Berwald's neck and play with the hairs at the nape of his neck.
It amazed him. What also amazed him was how natural, how right it felt.
"Hey," Tino whispered, drawing Berwald's attention to his words rather than his face. Berwald glanced into the Finn's eyes, and Tino rested their foreheads together. "What's going to happen after graduation? I'm moving to Boston soon after."
Berwald would like to say that he hadn't thought about this much. Unfortunately, that would be a lie. It was pretty much the only thing that had been on his mind for a week and a half. The moment the afterglow of the initial commencement of their relationship faded away, Berwald made the realization that it could just as soon be ripped from his fingers. They graduated in less than three weeks, and Berwald's mother was expecting him to come back to Sweden and go to college there.
The only reason she'd sent him to America was because it would look good on a transcript, and later a resume… He hadn't really known what to think for a long time. He could stay in America, but then what if the relationship with Tino didn't work out? But what if he went back to Sweden, and missed the change of something that could have been wonderful?
In the end, there was really only one conclusion to make. Stay with the boy that he'd been in love with for a year. It had actually turned out not to be that hard of a decision.
"Well," sighed Berwald, still in Swedish. He wrapped his arms around the small of Tino's back, and pulled him against him. Tino shimmied forward a bit until he was more straddling Berwald's thigh, and he kissed Berwald's cheek before settling back down. "I'd have to go back to Sweden and renew my visa. And that could take a few months."
"Mmm-hmm," Tino murmured.
"But it wouldn't be too hard to do it. And they have trade schools everywhere, even in Boston."
"…mmm-hmm," Tino mumbled again, brows furrowing in that classic are-you-saying-what-I-think-you're-saying way.
"And it probably wouldn't be too hard to convince my mother that staying here and going to college here would be better than going back to Sweden. Even if I ended up going back to Sweden later, it would look good on a resume that I studied in America." It wouldn't be an internationally lauded university like Tino's, but it would be something. Employers in Sweden ate things like foreign exchange programs and studying abroad up.
"Really?" Tino asked, sitting up straight. "And…and you'd be okay with that? You'd be okay with changing your plans just to be with me, even though our relationship is so new?" At Berwald's nod, Tino smiled and leaned in to give him a small peck. "Now I know why I feel so lucky every time I'm with you."
Berwald chuckled, ducking his head shyly. Oh, Tino was so wrong. Berwald was the lucky one. But in the interest of not letting this dissolve into some cliché, fluffy mock-argument, he simply leaned in and kissed Tino again. Tino put his fingers through Berwald's hair, opening his mouth against the Swede's. Berwald did the same, and let their tongues meet and explore each other's mouths.
Pulling back after a moment, Tino cleared his throat and tried to force his blush down. Failed at it. He mumbled something, not meeting Berwald's eyes, and he was just so cute that Berwald couldn't help but he terribly amused. He moved his head around, trying to see into Tino's eyes, and said, "Hmm?"
"Uhm…I said do you want to move to the couch?" Tino whispered. "It's more comfortable." No one was expected to be home for at least another hour, and Tino wasn't going to pass this chance up. He may have never been in relationships much—he'd been in one or two behind his father's back, but never anything serious—but he knew what he wanted, and at the moment a heady make-out session with Berwald sounded simply wonderful.
Berwald hummed and nodded after a moment, blushing. Tino stood up and headed into the living room. Berwald watched for a moment, as Tino's shapely thighs and bum moved out of the room. Then he quickly rose and joined Tino on the couch, where Tino rose to straddle his lap once more. Both inexperienced teens blushed, having the same thought: Just what am I doing?
But at the same time, it felt right. And as Tino rested his arms on the back of the sofa and hesitantly leaned in to kiss Berwald again, Berwald placed a comforting, encouraging hand on Tino's back and pulled him in with the other hand.
Slowly, they got accustom to the feeling. Tino adjusted himself several times, trying to get comfortable, and eventually he was. The wiggling definitely did not leave Berwald unaffected however, and he hoped against hope that Tino didn't feel the stirring underneath his belt.
Luck was hardly ever on Berwald's side, though, and of course Tino had to feel it. He knew he had, right when the Finn froze and broke away very slowly. At first, it looked as if he wasn't quite sure what was going on. Then Berwald realized the look on his face wasn't confusion; it was indecision. Probably thinking about whether to mention it or not. Berwald could hardly bear the embarrassment, and before he could stop himself he blurted, "Tino, I…"
"It's okay," Tino whispered, shaking his head. "Uhm…me too." His indecision seemed to come to an end then, because he suddenly looked determined. He took Berwald's big hand in his own and murmured, "Y-you can…touch me, if you want?"
Berwald's body suddenly felt incredibly hot, and he wouldn't be surprised if his face resembled something like a tomato or cherry. All the same, he bashfully nodded and let Tino place his hand against the front of his jeans. The feel of his boyfriend, even through the jeans, made Berwald feel desperately aroused.
Biting his lip, Tino whispered, "Can I…?" and Berwald nodded, although to himself it seemed frantic and all too quick. But Tino just giggled in the way Berwald recognized as saying, 'You're just too cute,' and Berwald let it go. Instead, he covered his face with his hand and tried not to make a sound as Tino unbuttoned the fly on his jeans and slunk his hand underneath, and underneath his cotton boxer shorts as well. He had no idea why, but he was so desperately embarrassed.
If the blush on Tino's face was any indication, so was he.
Vaguely, Berwald heard a click and a creak from far off in the house. He figured it was just the house settling. It was a bit old, and his mind wasn't fit for thinking that much at the moment. So he just went with that explanation as he settled deeper into the sofa, blushing but unable to stop his verbal reactions to Tino's ministrations.
Then Tino happened to look over Berwald's shoulder, and what he saw there made him freeze and turn completely white. Berwald was confused until he looked at Tino's face, at which time he immediately thought the worst.
The person behind him was Tino's father. Tino's father had walked in on them doing…doing this. Tino's father was going to kill him.
"Nikolai," Tino whispered.
Berwald had a hard time deciding if that was better or worse. When Berwald saw Nikolai stomp into the living room, grab Tino by the wrist, and jerk him bodily off the couch, Berwald decided it was probably worse. Not only was he, Berwald, going to die, but Tino would probably be staring death in the face as well. Nikolai looked furious, and Berwald quickly fixed himself and tried to get in-between the brothers; both, at this point, screaming at the top of their lungs.
"What the fuck, Tino? WHAT THE FUCK?"
"Fucking let go of me, Nikolai! God damnit! It's not what it fucking looks like! Calm down!"
"Calm down? Calm down? How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when I just came through the door and see my brother; my younger brother with his fucking hands down some guy's pants? How the fuck am I supposed to react to that?"
"Well you could start by not dragging me around like a psychopath! And you have no right to me screaming at me like this, Nikolai—"
"The fuck I do—!"
"—no fucking right…!"
"And you!" Nikolai rounded on Berwald, unleashing the full power of his fury upon him. "If you're not out of this fucking house in ten seconds, I am going to call the cops and tell them you tried to rape my brother."
"Oh, you wouldn't FUCKING DARE!" Tino shrieked, grabbing a handful of Nikolai's hair and jerking him backwards. Nikolai did a complete one-eighty, barely keeping balanced on his heel, and stared at Tino in shock for a moment. Even Tino looked shocked. Then Nikolai's face contorted in fury and he reared back, slapping Tino hard across the face. The Finn, whom was unbalanced anyhow from their tussle, fell against the sofa, clutching his face.
"You," Nikolai hissed, glaring at Berwald. "Leave. Now."
Berwald stared at Tino, whose face was buried in the sofa. He wanted so badly to ignore Nikolai and help his poor boyfriend, but Tino looked up and shook his head. "Please, Ber. Just go." The look in Tino's eyes left no room for question, and Berwald slowly walked towards the door.
Still, he did not feel comfortable leaving Tino alone in that house with his volatile brother. God only knew what would happen.
The silence was deafening. Nikolai stood over his bother, as the Finn's shoulders heaved with sobs. Guilt was churning in his stomach and making him feel sick and disgusting. He had no idea what had come over him; all he knew, was that when he walked through the door he'd had the most awful flashback to his own life three years ago. Back when his life was a living hell and he'd fooled around so often to get some affection, and find a reason to exist.
He hadn't realized for a long time that being someone's sex toy wasn't a reason to exist.
"Tino…," Nikolai whispered, laying a hand on Tino's shoulder. Tino slapped it away—literally slapped it, and rose his head out of the couch cushions to deliver a glare in Nikolai's direction. And the Norwegian's heart almost stopped, because for a second he thought he saw genuine hate in his brother's eyes. "Tino…I…"
"Don't say you're sorry, Nikolai. I know you fucking aren't," Tino whispered, getting up off the floor and sitting in a chair facing away from his brother. There were a few more seconds of heavy silence, and Tino curled as far into his own body as he could get. Nikolai sat on the couch, completely numb, and Tino continued in a whisper, "You aren't even…you don't…you didn't have to do that. You didn't have to talk that way to him, you didn't have to treat me like that in front of him. Do you even know how embarrassed I am right now? For so many different reasons?"
"Tino…how was I supposed to react when I saw that?" Nikolai tried to reason. "Did you expect me to be alright with it? Did you expect me to think, 'Oh, that's nice. Tino's been fooling around with some guy when no one's here. Wonderful. I'm proud.' Because you're smart enough to know that that's not going to happen."
"I expected you to act like a reasonable human being instead of freaking out like that and…I don't even…uhg!" Tino threw his hands up in the air, and slumped down in his chair so Nikolai couldn't even see him. His disembodied voice continued, "And for your information, Berwald isn't 'some guy.' He's my boyfriend. Secondly, I haven't been fooling around. Today was the first time anything like that happened and neither of us expected for it to."
"Oh really," Nikolai scoffed, obviously disbelieving. "It just so happened that you two were alone, in this big house on a Sunday? That's not impure at all, Tino. Yeah, I'm sure you were here…studyingor something. We're the same fucking age, Tino, do you expect me to believe that bullshit?"
"Actually," Tino mumbled. "We were studying. He's been coming over every Sunday for the last three weeks to help me with my Swedish. I was getting a B." He sighed and sat up again, looking at Nikolai. "We had finished studying and we were talking about things. I was…" Tino sighed, blushing. "I was in his lap, I'll admit. But we've sat together like that before and it didn't seem to matter. But today we started kissing, and one thing lead to another…" Tino sighed and shrugged. "If it makes you feel better, I came on to him. It's not like he was making me do something against my will. He's so shy…"
"How long have you known him?"
"Uhm…about…about a month."
"How long have you been dating?"
"Two weeks."
"Tino!"
"What?" Tino demanded, crossing his arms. Nikolai wondered why his brother had to be so petulant half the time. "It's not like we were going to have sex, Nikolai! Neither of us is ready for that, and the relationship is even farther from being ready for it. I'm not stupid, okay? But…it just…It felt so right at the moment. Don't you understand?" Tino paused, and snorted. "Oh wait, I'm sorry. You don't. You've only ever had sex with people you've never met before and teachers whose classes you're failing, right? Yeah, now I remember. Sorry."
Nikolai's heart jumped into his throat, and his head shot up, his navy blue eyes meeting his brother's narrowed violet. It was obvious Tino was furious. Tino would never have said anything even remotely like that if he was not, and Nikolai had no recent memory of Tino being this angry. But surely Nikolai had heard him wrong? Tino had no way of knowing about all that. He opened his mouth to respond, but all he could say was, "What did you just say?"
"I found the stuff in your drawer, Nikolai," Tino whispered. "The clothing, and that box of letters? I found it yesterday."
"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Nikolai muttered in determined monotone, while on the inside he was completely freaking out. He, quite honestly, wanted to cry. How had Tino found out? He'd been so careful, especially in his efforts to make sure that no one found out about what he'd once done, when he'd decided to put that lifestyle to rest. He'd been determined to never let anyone know who he'd once been.
He knew he should have thrown those clothes and that box of letters away a long time ago. But he was terrified that someone would find them in the trash and ask about them. No, he'd always thought they were much safer, hidden in his room in a place no one even knew was there.
Somehow, Tino had found it. And now his brother…
His brother would never look at him the same way again.
Tino looked away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I take it back."
"Tino!" Nikolai cried. As much as he wanted to, he could not leave it at that. He tried to make his voice steady, but it still cracked too much for his liking. "How…how did you find that stuff? How do you know? I…I…"
Shame. Complete and utter shame. That was the only thing that registered in Nikolai's mind. He couldn't even bring himself to be angry at his brother for snooping in his room.
"I…was trying to help you," Tino mumbled. As much as he wanted to lie and not incriminate himself, he couldn't think of one that made much sense, and he knew he'd forever feel awful about lying to his brother for something like this. Two wrongs don't make a right, and lying to Nikolai about something Nikolai had lied about, would not equal the truth. If he wanted Nikolai to tell him these things, he had to come clean as well. "We're…There's this guy, and he wants to know more about you, and he asked me to help…and…I just want to see you happy, Nikolai. So I agreed. I went into your room and snooped around for a while yesterday. I never thought I'd find something like that."
Nikolai snorted and rolled his eyes. But it was a half-hearted movement. Tino could see the way his brother's lips were wiggling and his eyes shining. "L-let me guess the guy's name…Mathias, right?"
"Yeah."
"That guy just doesn't give up," Nikolai muttered, shaking his head. "I mean, I must have told him no about eleven times. Then, suddenly yesterday…something came over me and I said yes…" He sighed shakily and looked back at Tino. "And now you now my dirty little secret, huh? How I'm not as much of a prude as everyone thinks? How, when I was fourteen I would sleep with anything that moved—and didn't go to our school—just to get some feeling back into my life? How I'm a disgusting slut?"
"Oh, Nikolai…don't say that," Tino sighed. "I mean, you were young and confused…and, yeah, that's not really an excuse but, I guess…I can kind of understand why you did it."
"How did you know about Francis?" Nikolai asked. "Mr. Bonnefoy? How did you know?"
"There were…some letters in the drawer," Tino mumbled. "I thought, if I read them…that I would get a feel for why you'd done what you'd done. But they only confused me more. I'm sorry, Nikolai. I know I've lost your trust." Tino got up now, and sat down on the sofa beside Nikolai. "But, Nikolai…you're doing better now, right? Those clothes looked like they hadn't been worn in a few years. You're not…not doing that anymore. Right?"
Nikolai shook his head slowly. "No…I stopped soon after we went into Sophomore year. I couldn't stop thinking how ashamed my mom would be if she could see what I was doing…and eventually, that's what made me stop." Once again, he let out a shaky sigh.
"I'm sorry," Tino whispered, and Nikolai looked up to see Tino's face had twisted into one of shame and grief. Everything Nikolai was feeling on the inside, he could see on his brother's face. And Nikolai wondered both why Tino was looking like that, and why he, himself, couldn't just for once let himself go and cry.
"Why?" Nikolai whispered. His throat felt tight and his eyes stung, and yet he couldn't loosen up and let himself sob like Tino currently was. His mother had always told him that a good cry would get everything out of your system and make you feel better. But Nikolai just couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd felt weak so many times in his life, he didn't want to feel weak now. Especially not when he'd finally learned how to keep his emotions tightly reined in.
"For…for snooping in your room, and not just asking you about yourself," Tino sobbed, tears cascading down his face. "A-and…I realize that I don't know as much as I should about you. I mean, I kn-know we're only step brothers, b-but we should know more ab-bout each other than we do. I w-wouldn't have h-had to snoop in your r-room if I was a better brother, and knew m-more about you." He paused to wipe his eyes and then continued, "A-and I'm so sorry for not being there f-for you when your m-mom died. I can't even b-begin to imagine how a-alone you felt. But I j-just didn't know w-what to do for you! W-we were only thirteen, and we were still l-like strangers to e-each other. We've gotten c-closer recently, but b-back then I b-barely knew anything a-about you…I ch-chose to comfort my dad instead, b-because I know how in l-love he was with your mom…"
"Tino, please stop…"
"And I'm sorry about agreeing to h-help Mathias, but God Nikolai…I j-just want to see you h-happy!" Tino hiccupped and he buried his face in his hands, sobbing. "I'm h-happy! I've n-never been h-happier in my life, and I j-just want you to f-feel the s-same kind of happiness! I th-think I might be in love, Nikolai. And I want that f-for you, too."
"Tino…"
"D-don't you want to be in l-love? L-like our parents were?"
"Tino! Please, stop crying. I can't…I can't deal with it, okay?" Nikolai reached out and, in a very rare show of tenderness, wiped away his brother's tears. He'd always kind of thought of Tino as a younger brother—someone to be protected. Even if there were only six months separating them, he'd always felt that way towards him, and it physically pained him to see his brother so distraught, especially over him.
Especially since he'd been so cruel to him earlier. Sometimes, the urge to protect Tino and the urge to discipline him got their wires crossed and he ended up hurting his brother more than he'd like to admit.
"You've always protected me…and I've always just ignored you," Tino muttered. "I'm not stupid…I know my father doesn't do much for me, so he must do even less for you. You're the one who's been taking care of me for the last five years, even though I'm always yelling at you that you have no control over me."
Tino quieted for a long moment, and they met eyes. Nikolai sighed and wiped away the rest of Tino's tears.
"Tino," Nikolai said, shaking his head, "Only you can sob about how happy you are, and then go on blubbering about how you're sorry for me screwing my own life up."
Even the sad tone of the moment couldn't stop Tino from giggling. "I'm sorry, I just…"
Nikolai sighed and reached forward to hug his brother. "You're okay. None of this is your fault. I mean, you shouldn't have been snooping. But…you never expected to find things like that, and your intentions were pure."
"The road to Hell was paved with good intentions."
"Oh, Tino." Nikolai cuffed him gently across the head, and Tino chuckled. "Anyway…it's okay. And…I'm happy for you. I guess, if you feel that way…I give your relationship with Berwald my blessing. And I won't tell dad. But please, be careful. Use protection and all that, okay? Even I did that."
"Nikolai, I told you I…!"
"But someday you will," Nikolai said. He squeezed Tino's shoulder. "You're a really good kid, Tino. Be careful."
"I know," Tino mumbled. "And you…you should give Mathias a chance, Nikolai. He cares about you."
"Yeah, I know…Unfortunately, I have no idea why," Nikolai pondered. "I even told him this…I mean, I've never given him a reason to care."
"There are just some people like that," Tino said, shrugging.
Nodding, Nikolai got up off the couch and said, "Well…the party for the people who participated in the Fair is tonight. Dad left a note this morning that said he wouldn't be home until late. I'd…call that boyfriend of yours and tell him that I didn't kill you. And could you please tell him that I didn't mean what I said? I was just so…pissed. When I came through that door all I could think was, "My god, it's happening to my brother, too." But…I guess I should have trusted you more."
"You should have, but I can't blame you."
Nikolai nodded, and turned around. With his back turned to the Finn, he said, "Uhm…Tino. Can I tell you something?"
"Huh?"
"I…you're my brother. You're my younger brother, and we've known each other half our lives. Even though we're not related. And even though I may not act like it sometimes…I love you. Okay?" Then he hurriedly ran up the stairs.
"Nikolai!" Tino cried, his delayed reaction giving way to a quick tailing of his brother. "Nikolai!" The Norwegian stopped on the stairs, but didn't turn around. Tino said, "I love you, too. You're really important to me. Don't think any different."
Nikolai nodded hesitantly, and continued up the stairs. But he had a smile on his face.
End Chapter; TBC
A/N: I'm terribly sorry about this chapter, guys…I don't really like it. I don't know exactly how it got to this point…I wanted to confront the issue of Nikolai's past, and I knew that if I held it off for too long, it would start being the elephant in the room. Then it turned into a chapter-long dramafest and I feel like I rambled way too long and it didn't really make sense. I'm also terribly sorry about the excessive swearing. It makes me feel really bad.
Uhm…next chapter will definitely be better, I promise. And there's still a lot to explain with the whole Nikolai storyline. But this chapter gives you the basics. I hope you guys can bear with me for a while.
Happy Fourth of July, my fellow Americans! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Also, happy belated Canada to my Canadian friends!
Also, thank you so much to my wonderful new beta, Wolf Ness. She's great! And we've both established that we quite like exclamation points~
-Lynn
