A/N: To Snow Blizzard
*deep breath in*
1: You read the reviews by clicking on the number representing them underneath the story's summary OR clicking the bright orange "reviews" button, depending on whether you see it in the archive or at the story's web address itself.
2: I'll disconfirm it now, and for anyone else who might be curious: the person in the Ruins is NOT W.D. Gaster. But who it specifically IS, I'm not gonna spill. All I can say is that they're a canon, in-game character, and TimeBlade-NEO has it figured out...But like I said, taking a peek could spoil the ending.
3: By the way it's used in the movie, a 'tramp' would be a mutt(mixed breed.) Honestly, Disney, why are you torturing us with your horrible live-action remakes? It's gone way overboard at this point...
4: I know. That's the reference I was making. All of the music pieces Undyne lists are Minecraft tracks(Haggstrom is my personal favorite, just fyi. XP)
Oh, and BTW, there's a chance I might be having problems with the internet where I'm at tomorrow and over the next few days, perhaps even, so just to warn you, I might be MIA for a while. Just in case...
Okay, that's all. This chapter is more fluffy than something that advances the plot much, but it'll do, I hope. Onward!
"Agh...Come on..."
Undyne was in a bit of a rush, since she didn't want to keep Papyrus waiting for too long, but it seemed as though her haste had backfired on her; the fish woman had found herself tangled up in the black t-shirt she was trying to put on, and straightening herself out proved to be more of a chore than it should have.
Finally, after about four tries, she finally popped her head and arms through the correct holes, letting out an exasperated sigh as she smoothed her hair down and turning to scan herself in the full-length mirror situated against the wall for any other wardrobe malfunctions she might need to fix.
"There we go," she grinned. "Guess I better-"
She stopped short when she caught one. One that was rather noticeable.
...Her eyepatch was off kilter, and what was supposed to be hidden beneath it was mostly exposed.
The small smile quickly fell from her face, and Undyne found herself drawing closer to the mirror, inspecting the spot more closely with the keen eye she still had.
God...I almost forgot that was even there... she said to herself.
She honestly wished that she had forgotten about it. It'd been a good two years since that battle, and the fact that she was short an eye hadn't really bothered her for the longest time. Sure, she had to adapt to her altered sense of depth perception and peripheral vision and whatnot, but since then, she'd adjusted to the change quite well; she would have even gone as far to say that her vision had actually improved in the eye she still possessed, since she was using it so much. 'Training' her eye, she thought of it as.
It'd been a long time since she even really cared much about what was beneath the eyepatch she wore; she really didn't need a mirror when changing it out, and therefore almost never saw what she looked like underneath there herself. Yes, she acknowledged it, but that notion was usually buried in the furthest reaches of her mind.
ckBut here she was now, face-to-face with the hideous mark, and having to accept the fact that she was...
Deformed.
She felt her eye becoming wet, and tried to blink away the tears trying to spill...If only she could have blocked or dodged that bullet, then maybe she might not be looking at herself in such a manner...What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she evade the hit in time? What if people somehow saw what she was hiding?
...What if PAPYRUS saw what was under the patch?
Her eye widened, and her mind flooded with possibilities, all of them grim. What would he say if he knew what she really looked like? Would he even really care? He was always telling her that he loved everything about her, and she hadn't doubted him...Until now.
If it looked even the slightest bit less worse than it did, she probably wouldn't be worrying so much. But it was BAD, that she knew well. How would he react if he...no...WHEN he found out about it? It was only a matter of time; she couldn't hide something that could be so easily revealed forever, especially since Papyrus was so curious by nature. Would he faint at the sight of it? Cringe in disgust? Would be ashamed of himself to be going out with someone that looked like...this? What if it put their relationship in jeopardy? What if it ruined even the potential for just friendship between them anymore? What if it didn't even matter, and she was just overthinking all of this far too much?
...But she didn't know for sure. And that was what scared her the most.
Finally, the tears welling up in her eye escaped, and flowed down her cheek as she sunk to the ground where she stood, curled into a ball and sat there, quietly weeping.
...
The snow crunched underneath Papyrus' boots as he exited the house and headed to the garage. He felt slightly uneasy; she'd been in there for a while, and at that point, he was fairly sure she was doing more in there than just changing her clothes. What else she could possibly be doing in there, however, he didn't know.
Something told him he needed to in there, though, and when Undyne was involved, he knew it had to be something important.
So, without any further hesitation, he raised his gloved hand and rapped his knuckles against the wooden door.
"UNDYNE?" he called. "IS EVERYTHING OKAY IN-"
"Gah! Don't come in yet, hold on!"
"OH...ALRIGHTY."
She seemed a bit jumpy, all of a sudden. Odd...
"Ah, come on, come on, get back on there right, damn you..."
After a minute or so of muttering to herself about...something, the door opened, and out she came. Papyrus' eye sockets narrowed ever so slightly at the look of her face; the grin she was wearing was obviously forced, and the cheek beneath her slightly bloodshot eye was a raw, almost painful-looking shade of maroon.
It wasn't hard to tell what that came from.
"Sorry I took so long in there. I was just, uh...thinkin' about stuff. Got lost in my thoughts..."
"UNDYNE?"
"Yeah?"
"...HAVE YOU BEEN CRYING?"
"Huh? What? Me? Do that? Now? Why?" she blurted. "What makes you think that?"
"I CAN JUST TELL THOSE SORTS OF THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE...BUT THE REAL GIVEAWAY IS JUST HOW RED YOUR EYE AND CHEEK LOOK."
She deflated in defeat, emitting a deep sigh as she let her fake smile fade away. She couldn't argue with that.
"'Kay..." she rasped, her eye growing moist again. "...You got me."
He opened his arms and invited her into a hug, and she quickly took up the offer.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER, UNDYNE?"
"It...It's nothin', really."
"IF IT DRIVES YOU TO TEARS, I DOUBT IT'S 'NOTHING.' COME, NOW. WHATEVER IT IS, I'LL HELP. I PROMISE."
"Ah..."
She cast a glance off to the side. She wasn't sure it this was a good idea, but he'd said it again and again; she could always come to him whenever she needed it, no matter how stupid it seemed...He was just that kind of guy.
Undyne broke free of the embrace, then motioned for him to come in. Papyrus entered the garage, then shut the door behind him; whatever she was about to say, he had a feeling it was something personal. And she didn't want anyone to hear but him.
"...Be completely, totally honest with me, okay?"
"I WOULD NEVER LIE TO YOU, UNDYNE. WELL...UNLESS I WAS PLANNING A SURPRISE PARTY FOR YOU, PERHAPS, IN ORDER TO KEEP IT A SECRET UNTIL IT WAS TIME FOR YOU TO FIND OUT ABOUT IT...BUT I'M NOT AT THE MOMENT. I'LL BE COMPLETELY HONEST. PROMISE!"
"Okay..."
She drew in a deep breath, then presented the question.
"...What do you think of this right here?"
She pointed at the dark patch covering where her left eye used to be; it was a stark contrast to the bright yellow to its opposite side.
"YOUR EYEPATCH? HUH...ACTUALLY, I DON'T THINK MUCH OF IT...SOMETIMES, I FORGET YOU EVEN WEAR ONE, TO BE HONEST."
"I mean...Does it look bad?"
"WHAT? BAD? OH, NO, OF COURSE NOT. IT MAKES YOU LOOK TOUGH! AND I LIKE THAT ABOUT YOU!"
"Really...?"
"VERILY SO. ERM, WHY DO YOU ASK?"
"I dunno. It's just...Ugh..."
She leaned up against the wall and massaged her forehead.
"...I guess I've been thinkin' about it a little differently than you lately."
"IS THAT WHY YOU WERE IN HERE FOR SO LONG?"
"Maybe..."
"WELL...WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE UNDERNEATH?"
She tensed at the question, grimacing at the memory of what she saw in the mirror.
"...Bad."
"HOW BAD?"
"Really bad."
"...ARE YOU SURE IT'S AS BAD AS YOU THINK?"
"The sight of it is enough to make ME lose my appetite, and it's on MY face. That's how I know."
"WELL, IT'S HIDDEN MOST OF THE TIME, ISN'T IT? MAYBE YOU'RE JUST NOT USED TO SEEING IT," he surmised, putting a reassuring hand on her back. "...COME TO THINK OF IT, I CAN'T RECALL A TIME I'VE SEEN YOU WITHOUT AN EYEPATCH...EVEN IN YOUR SLEEP."
"I don't want anyone to have to see something like that. Not taking any risks..."
"NOT EVEN...ALPHYS SAW IT?"
"No...I didn't want to scare her off."
Her fists clenched.
"...Sometimes I wish I didn't drive my spear through that slimy lil' punk's heart as soon as I did," she growled. "I should've done what he did to me with his pistol first. Woulda given him a taste of his own medicine before I impaled him through the stomach. Why...Why didn't I make the little bastard SUFFER more than I did...!? He didn't have to go through what I did! Why didn't I make him!? Why am I such a stupid-"
"UNDYNE."
Her increasing anger began to vanish into oblivion as soon as he said her name, and she found it harder and harder to keep a stiff upper lip.
"Yeah...?"
"...CAN I SEE?"
"Wh-what?"
"MAY I SEE IT? I WANT TO HELP YOU, AND...IF YOU LET ME SEE WHAT IT IS YOU'RE HIDING, I'LL KNOW WHAT TO SAY. I...COULDN'T POSSIBLY RELATE TO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT IF I KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE BENEATH THE PATCH, I'LL KNOW HOW I CAN HELP YOU...YOU DON'T HAVE TO HIDE ANYTHING FROM ME, REMEMBER?"
Undyne turned away from him in shame. Of all people, she especially didn't want him to see that.
"AND IF YOU'RE AFRAID IT'LL...'SCARE ME OFF,' AS YOU PUT IT, I CAN PROMISE YOU NOW IT WON'T. IN THE BIG SCHEME OF THINGS, IT DOESN'T MATTER TO ME NEARLY AS MUCH AS EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT YOU...I LOVE YOU ALL THE SAME."
...Then again, of all people, he was likely the only one she could trust not to judge. In fact, considering that they'd become a couple in recent days, it seemed only fitting for him to see what was beneath the eyepatch out of anyone.
Still, though...
"...You're sure about this?" she asked him.
He nodded, and she swallowed the lump in her throat, took another, slightly shaky deep breath, then began to slide the patch off of her eye.
"...AND REALLY, IT'S SUCH A SMALL SPACE. HOW BAD COULD IT POSSIBLY BEEE, HEEEE, GHY'OH MY GOODNESS!"
His eye sockets became the widest they'd been in a while at the sight of it. The caved-in pit where there was once an eye was full of and surrounded by uneven, gnarled scar tissue. There were no scales in the spot, and the skin was an ill-looking shade of maroon, a stark contrast to the ocean blue scales on the rest of her face. He swore it almost looked like a bomb exploded in her eye socket, blowing everything around it completely to bits. With a would like that, he figured it a miracle she survived, because not only was the hole a mangled mess, but it went FRIGHTENINGLY deep into her head.
The barer of the scar turned away again, another tear forming in the corner of the eye she still possessed.
"...Figured you were gonna react that way."
"GOOD GRACIOUS, UNDYNE," he continued, moving to her other side to face her again. "IT LOOKS LIKE YOU WERE REALLY BADLY HURT! I'M NO EXPERT, BUT IF IT'D GONE IN MUCH DEEPER THAN THAT, I FEAR YOU MAY NOT HAVE...Y-YOU DON'T FEEL PAIN IN THAT SPOT STILL, DO YOU? I KNOW IT'S OLD, BUT IT JUST LOOKS SO...PAINFUL."
"Not the kind you're thinking..."
"...THE MEMORY OF WHAT HAPPENED IS WHAT HURTS THE MOST ABOUT IT?"
She nodded, then sank back to the ground and hugged her knees against herself in an attempt to make herself feel better about the whole ordeal, but still failing to hide the tear that was now streaming down her face. Papyrus' expression softened from shock to sympathy, and he reached out a gloved hand and brought it to the left side of her face, gently caressing her cheek just below the scarred pit with his thumb.
"...I'M SO SORRY THAT HAPPENED. A-AND I HAD NO IDEA YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT THAT WAY, YOU SEEMED SO UNBOTHERED BY IT."
"I usually am," she told him, though she couldn't muster the will to look up and face him fully just yet. "But sometimes, like what happened just now, I...I just look at myself in the mirror and start thinking too much about...Where did it go wrong? Why couldn't I dodge that attack? How am I still upset by it, even though it happened two years ago at this point? And...What do I do about it?"
"WELL..." the skeleton continued, sitting back down beside her. "I CAN SEE WHERE YOUR CONCERN IS STEMMING FROM. TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN TO YOU MUST HAVE BEEN...WELL...LIFE-CHANGING. ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS TO ME YOU'RE MORE BOTHERED BY HOW IT LOOKS THAN YOU ARE ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE OUT OF THAT SIDE ANYMORE."
"That's kinda true...When I was in the Royal Guard, we were always being told that risk to our own safety came as a part of the job, so I never ruled it out...I just didn't think that it'd be my FACE of all places that was gonna be hit when I had a helmet on...But I never saw that bullet coming. Went right through the eye opening and just...Smack. My left-hand vision was gone, just like that. I could accept losing an eye...I just didn't expect to lose everything around it, too. The eye socket was completely destroyed; the eyelid's gone and everything."
"WOW...YOU WERE REALLY BRAVE TO GO OUT AND FIGHT THAT HUMAN, YOU KNOW?"
"Well...Like I said, it was a part of the job."
"STILL, THOUGH. YOU WERE AN AMAZING ROYAL GUARDSWOMAN. IT'S NO WONDER YOU BECAME THE CAPTAIN!"
"Yeah...Now the only things I fight are the ivories," she remarked, managing tiny bit of a laugh.
"NYEH HEH...YEAH...YOU'RE VERY GOOD AT THAT, THOUGH."
"Thanks..."
"AND YOU KNOW SOMETHING ELSE?"
"...What?"
"LOOKING AT THE HOLE THERE FOR AS LONG AS I HAVE BEEN, NOW, I THINK I'VE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO IT. IT'S NOT SO BAD-LOOKING ONCE YOU GET USED TO IT."
"You...It's only been a couple minutes," she scoffed, thinking what she was hearing was too good to be true. "...Do you really...You don't really think that, do you?"
"OF COURSE I DO, UNDYNE. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I THINK I EVEN FIND MYSELF LIKING THE LOOK ON YOU! I THOUGHT YOU LOOKED TOUGH AS NAILS BEFOREHAND, BUT WHEN I SEE SOLID PROOF OF YOUR BATTLES FROM YOUR DAYS IN THE ROYAL GUARD, THAT AURA OF STRENGTH AND RESOLVE INCREASES TENFOLD!"
"Really?"
"I SURELY THINK SO! IN FACT, CALL ME CRAZY, BUT THIS IS A LOT EASIER TO PICTURE IN MY MIND THAN THE THOUGHT OF YOU WITH BOTH EYES. AND CALL ME EVEN MORE CRAZY, BUT I THINK I LIKE THE LOOK OF YOU WITH ON EYE BETTER...GIVES YOUR LOOK SOME CHARACTER!"
"Heh...I guess you've got a point. The whole eyepatch look does fit me pretty well."
"IT'S NOT ANYTHING YOU SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED OF. ESPECIALLY AROUND ME...BESIDES, LOOKS DON'T MATTER TO ME NEAR AS MUCH AS WHO YOU ARE ON THE INSIDE. EITHER WAY, YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL TO ME."
That was what made her perk up and turn to face him.
"...You..." she stammered, turning bright plum. "I mean, I know you said you're more concerned with what's on the inside, but...Y-you actually think I'm-"
"A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES? POSITIVELY STUNNING? SOMEONE I COULD NEVER GET TIRED OF SEEING? I COULD GO ON AND ON...WHAT, WITH YOUR OCEAN BLUE SCALES THAT SHIMMER THE WAY THEY DO WHEN THE LIGHT HITS THEM AT THE RIGHT ANGLE, AND HAIR THAT BLOWS IN THE WIND LIKE A GLOWING SCARLET FLAME, AND AN EYE A BRIGHTER YELLOW THAN THE SUN THAT GLEAMS OVER THE SURFACE WHICH ARE THEN ONLY COMPLIMENTED BY YOUR OLD BATTLE SCARS, REFLECTING BOTH YOUR TOUGHNESS AND TENDERNESS PERFECTLY IN A SINGLE PICTURE? WHY, I COULD STARE AT YOU ALL DAY AND ONLY FIND MORE THINGS TO LOVE ALL THE WHILE."
"...You really mean that."
She didn't ask it; she stated it. Because the way he was looking at her was all she needed to know.
"OF COURSE I DO. AND ANYONE WHO FAILS TO SEE THAT SHOULD PROBABLY VISIT AN EYE DOCTOR...BUT LIKE I SAID, UNDYNE: LOOKS NEVER MATTERED TO ME NEARLY AS MUCH AS WHAT'S INSIDE. THAT IS WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT TO ME...YOUR INCREDIBLE LOOKS ARE MORE OF AN ADDED BONUS. NYEH HEH..."
The fish monster felt her eye beginning to water a bit, but she still smiled bigger than ever.
"...That's why I fell for you in the first place, you know?"
"I DO...AND IT MAKES ME HAPPY KNOWING THAT WAS WHAT BROUGHT US TO WHERE WE ARE NOW."
He stood up straight, held out a gloved hand for her to take and lifted her back up onto her feet.
And Undyne immediately found herself being wrapped into another hug.
"...Same."
"THAT...BEGS THE QUESTION, UNDYNE," Papyrus continued. "I KNOW IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER, BUT...WHAT ABOUT ME?"
"You?" she responded, pulling away from him just a tad to look him in the eye...And up and down the rest of him, for that matter, to properly answer his question.
"Well...Half a year ago, I probably would've said you looked like a scrawny dweeb, but...Your looks have really grown on me, gotta admit."
"WHAT PHRASE MIGHT YOU USE IN THE PLACE OF 'SCRAWNY DWEEB'?"
"...'Tall cinnamon roll' sums it up pretty well," she grinned.
"ME? A CINNAMON ROLL? NOT TO COMPLAIN, BUT THAT SOUNDS MORE LIKE SOMETHING ONE WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE SANS!" he remarked, chuckling a bit at the end.
"Yeah, well, he might be small, but you're the one who's irresistibly sweet. And gosh darn if you don't look the part."
"I SUPPOSE THAT'S A GOOD THING?"
The fish monster responded to his question by leaning in and planting a kiss right on his nasal bone.
"...When you feel that way about someone, their looks tend to grow on you, anyway, you know?"
"YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY, UNDYNE."
"Aww...Same to you."
They each drew each other back into the embrace, standing there for as long as they saw fit.
"...I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING ELSE."
"What's that?"
"I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER SEEN YOU WITH YOUR HAIR DOWN, EITHER."
"Oh. Heh...Yeah, that's 'cuz whenever I let it down, it goes nuts," she chortled, slipping her eye patch back over the empty socket. "Gets in my face, and then the next thing I know, it's basically a tangled mop. 'Specially in the morning...Besides, I always thought it just looks better when its up. Amps up my toughness level...Why, did you wanna see how that looks, too?"
"PERHAPS..."
"Now that..." Undyne answered him, reaching back and freeing her fiery locks from her signature ponytail. "...I don't have a problem with."
"WOW..."
"...How's it look?"
"A LOT LONGER," he answered plainly. "AND FULLER. HEH...I-IS IT HOT? IN HERE? TO YOU?"
"You feelin' okay? You're as red as a tomato all of a sudden."
"FINE, FINE! I'M JUST SLIGHTLY...HOW DO I PUT THIS...ERM..."
He took in a deep breath, and then let out exactly what summed up his thoughts.
"...ENAMORED."
"I look that good, huh?"
The skeleton sighed deeply, a captivated smile on his face.
"...YOU COULD NEVER LOOK UGLY TO ME."
"Heh...Thanks for that."
"...WANT TO HEAD BACK INSIDE NOW?"
"Yeah...It's gettin' kinda chilly in here."
"YES, THE GARAGE DOESN'T EXACLY HAVE A HEATING AND AIR SYSTEM...DO YOU THINK IT'D BE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE ONE INSTALLED?"
"Meh...I'm not in here THAT much, so it's no biggie," she answered him as they headed out the door and turned the corner back to the house. "...You know, Alphys made this huge air system for the lab to regulate the temperature, and she barely ever used it because she liked it warm anyways."
"REALLY? WHY DO YOU THINK SHE BUILT IT, THEN?"
"My guess? She was tryin' to impress me. I think she only ever turned it on when I was there, since I can't handle Hotland as well."
"I'M SORRY THAT THE EXTREMES AREN'T VERY NICE TO YOU," he sympathized as they entered the warm house.
"Well, I'd honestly rather be here than in Hotland," Undyne decided as she headed over to the piano and pulled the bench out, rummaging through the compartment inside it for the right bit of sheet music. "At least we've got moisture here from the snow. Over there, I just get...dried out. And that's never good for me. Heck, if that darned Frisk hadn't have decided to drench my face with stuff from the water cooler that day, I probably would've fried where I fell...Guess I should give the kid credit for that."
"...I HAVE A QUESTION."
"Yeah?"
"IF YOU AND THE HUMAN MET EACH OTHER AGAIN...WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? OR DO?"
There was a long, somewhat awkward pause before Papyrus got an answer.
"I...don't know, really," she frowned, straightening out the sheet music on the stand. "I mean...If she'd just gone easier on Mettaton, then...I dunno. I feel like some things would just be better...Heck, Asgore might even still be alive, I don't know...All I know is that she screwed up. Bad...And it cost a few lives that meant a lot to me."
"I SEE..." Papyrus nodded solemnly as he sat down on the sofa.
"...But I think I'm okay, now. Heck, in a way, if...if Alphys were still here, then I might not have realized just how amazing you were, and...well..."
"HEH...YES, YOU HAVE A POINT."
"I guess I've got the squirt to thank for a few things, after all," she scoffed, slightly amused by the fact. "Heh..."
She was just about to start playing when an idea came to her mind. A rather strange, out of the blue, and faintly bittersweet idea.
"Hey...Papyrus?"
"YES, UNDYNE?"
"I...I was wondering if...Tomorrow, after we train at my old house, you'd like to..."
She pursed her lips in slight uncertainty before deciding to spit it out.
"...Head over to the dump and see if we find anything interesting? I dunno, just a thought."
His eye sockets widened a bit in surprise at what she said.
"...THE TRASH DUMP?" he asked. "ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?"
"Yeah. It's been a pretty long time since I paid that place a visit, you know? Never really wanted to go there after what happened to Alphys...But I can't hold on to a regret like that forever, can I? I wanna fix that...Besides, you don't really go there that often, have you?
"NO, I CAN'T SAY I DO. THE ONLY REASON I WENT THERE YESTERDAY WAS TO PICK UP THOSE GOLDEN FLOWERS I BROUGHT ALONG WITH US...AND I JUST SO HAPPENED TO MEET UP WITH FLOWEY THERE, BUT THAT WASN'T AS PLANNED FOR AS IT WAS PLEASANT. NYEH HEH HEH!"
"You got those flowers from that spot in the dump, huh? No wonder they smelled so good..."
"NYES, I HOPED YOU WOULD APPRECIATE THAT...BUT OTHER THAN THAT, I NEVER REALLY WENT THERE EXCEPT FOR THE FEW TIMES YOU INVITED ME OVER. REMEMBER WHEN WE FOUND THE SKULL FLAG?"
"Oh, heck yeah, I do! Brings a smile to my face whenever I see it..."
"HAH...GOOD TIMES, WE HAD."
"So...You game for that tomorrow, Pap'?"
"BUT OF COURSE, M'LADY! IT CERTAINLY SOUNDS LIKE GOOD FUN!"
"Great! Right after we get done training, we'll go, then!"
"SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN!"
"It sure does...Now sit tight. Here comes the music."
With that said, Undyne stretched her fingers out again, and as soon as they made contact with the keys, a soothing melody began to spread throughout the house, calming the SOULs of all who lived there, and drowning their troubles in peaceful tranquility.