AN: This chapter just popped in my head when writing what comes next, so enjoy.
Disclaimer I Own Nothing.
Chapter 57 Family Fights
Mystique was awake but was keeping her eyes closed; she knew the room, whichever one she was in, was full of people and didn't feel like dealing with any of them at the moment because her chest hurt like hell, even though it was healing itself, Mystique could feel it, before gaining consciousness her injury must have been a lot worse, what was Mystique thinking pushing Frigga out of the way and taking the hit, since when did she put herself at risk for others? She couldn't lie to herself; Mystique tends to put herself at risk for those she cares about, which is one of the reasons she decided to stop caring about anyone but herself; in the end, someone always pulls at her heart. That someone always seems to be taken from her one way or another. Mystique would put her all into caring about someone; in the end, it was never enough.
It started with her parents; as an only child, they once dotted on her. When her mutant gene showed itself, the cowards abandoned her when she needed them the most. After her parents, it was Loki, taken from her; she came up with a plan to at least get to be around him, never did Mystique imagine she would fall in love with the woman he called mother, Frigga was the kindest person she had meant in a long time. Unfortunately, she was married any other time that would not have mattered to Mystique. Still, she would not only put her own life in danger if she acted on her feelings but also Frigga, Odin would indeed seek revenge for such embarrassment, plus Frigga was too honorable to cheat on her husband, whether or not Frigga loved him, Mystique decided she should leave Asgard for both their shakes. She may have told Loki it was out of jealousy of him calling Frigga mother, that had only been a tiny bit of bit the reason,
It took Mystique hundreds of years to get over the loss. After a brief fling with Victor Creed that gave her a son that'll always hate her, she married Baron Christian Wagner; Mystique never loved that man, but he made her life easy and treated her nicely; she was contempt in the life she had with him, then Azazel, the damn bastard, came into her life, tricked her into falling for him, knocked her up, then disappeared, telling her to pretend the child belongs to her husband. She was unable to do because he soon grew suspicious of her pregnancy and kept asking questions, so Mystique killed him, and her comfortable life was over; a part of her blamed Kurt for being born looking like he did; if not for his looks, she could have passed him off as Christian's kid, be his willow, and still live somewhat comfortable with the Wagner money and name. Mystique hates herself for that; she hates that she did not hesitate to toss him over a waterfall, didn't care if he lived or died; Kurt may forgive her for it, but Mystique will never forgive herself. She also decided she didn't need anyone but herself.
That changed when she met Irene Adler, her sweet Destiny; if not for her, she would have never adopted Rogue; her youngest, and only daughter, she will always be thankful to her for that, but that love was not to be either, as it was a death by another's hand that took her away. But she still has her three children, the three that allow her in the lives at least, and her grandson; she adores that little boy, felt proud that Loki trusted her to deliver him, added her name to his, that met so much to her. Mystique knew she'd never had some great love of her life. Still, she has her three children and grandson, so she wasn't alone in this world anymore. She'd do whatever it takes to stay in her children's lives, even if that met putting up with Remy LeBeau and Saphira; oh, hell, she couldn't kid herself; she liked Saphira; LeBeau, that was a different story, Mystique might put up with the man, she would never like him.
Mystique opened her eyes, the first person she saw was Loki; he sat in a chair next to her bed, leaning back, his legs stretched out in front of him, one leg over the other, arms crossed; across from her bed, was the one Enid was in, she was sitting up, talking, looked a little pale other than that she looked fine, at the foot of her bed, sat Saphira, her legs crossed in front of her, Fenrir next to her, chewing on his plushie of Thor. On the other side of Mystique's bed sat Kurt, Remy, and Rogue in chairs lined up against the wall. Mystique felt something in her hand, and she didn't have to look to know it was Kurt's rosary; she smiled a little to herself, that meant he had been sitting here praying for her.
"Mother, you're awake," Kurt said, leaning closer to the bed. "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine." Mystique replied. "A little sore."
"Well, you sure had me frightened." Rogue put in, "You've been out of it for hours. Don't get hurt like that again."
"Yes, Fenrir would like to know you when he gets older," Loki said, "You had your grandson worried." Mystique smiled at that; just like her, Loki wouldn't admit he had been worried about her, instead claiming it was Fenrir; Mystique glanced over at Fenrir; he looked up at her, she gave him a wave, and he smiled at her.
At that moment, Thor walked into the room; he put his hands on his hips and gave Saphira an annoyed look; Loki sat up straighter and turned his whole body towards them as if readying himself to defend his wife.
"I just had a shower," Thor announced.
"Bravo, brother, you learned to bath yourself. Mother must be so proud." Loki replied; Thor shot him a dirty look but said nothing as he turned back to Saphira.
"Do you know where I had my shower?" Thor demanded; Saphira looked up at him.
"In the shower?" Saphira guessed Loki chuckled.
"My shower, in my bathroom, that is in my chambers," Thor replied.
"Okay, " Saphira frowned, not understanding why Thor thought she needed to know this. Then it seemed to dawn on her. "Oh, yeah..about that."
"I assume you will be cleaning my chambers?" Thor replied.
"She's not a servant, Thor." Loki snapped.
"She destroyed my chambers, Loki." Thor snapped back, Loki rolled his eyes.
"So, get one of the servants to clean it, stop bossing my wife around," Loki replied, then looked at Saphira. "That reminds me, where is the mattress from our bed?"
"In Thor's chambers," Saphira replied.
"Why?" Loki asked.
"We had a sleepover." Saphira shrugged, and Loki raised his eyebrow.
"My chambers are a complete mess," Thor complained, "Cloths, dishes, rubbish, and feathers everywhere."
"Feathers?" Loki sounded confused. "Did you sacrifice chickens?"
"Umm, Rue and I, we may have broken your pillows," Saphira answered. "That's where the feathers came from."
"I'm sorry?" Loki asked. "but how do you break pillows?"
"We were having a pillow fight and hit them together too hard, and they burst open," Saphira answered.
"A pillow fight," Loki asked.
"Yeah, when you hit each other with pillows," Rogue explained; Loki looked between the two of them.
"Why on Asgard would you do that?" Loki demanded.
"For fun." Saphira shrugged.
"Fun?" Loki frowned.
"It's part of having a sleepover." Saphira replied, "At least that's what they show in the movies." Loki looked between Rogue and Saphira again, then glanced at Thor, who shrugged, looking confused as Loki.
"I'm never leaving the two of you unsupervised again," Loki replied.
Mystique turned her head back the opposite way and closed her eyes, gripped the cross tighter; she fell back to sleep as Rogue promised Thor she and Saphira would clean their mess up.
Mystique would be let out of the healing chambers, just a few hours later, healed but a little sore, her two sons stuck by her side the rest of the day, watching over her, making sure she didn't need anything. It turns out she'd only be in the healing rooms for about five hours; sleeping made it feel like she had been in there longer; Rogue wasn't with them because she and Saphira were off to cleaning Thor's room; Frigga volunteered to watch Fenrir, Remy went to the palace nursery with her to "help" was the reason he gave, but in truth, it was to keep an eye on Fenrir, in case someone tried something, they trusted Frigga and knew she could fight when she needed. Still, it is hard to protect a baby and fight simultaneously.
Loki and Kurt teleported everyone back to the palace is how they happened to be here when Mystique woke up; according to what Mystique learned, Saphira was so upset over Enid that Rogue called Loki for her, told him something happened to Mystique and Enid, and they needed to get back as soon as possible, Loki told Thor, he and Kurt had everyone grab hold of everyone. They teleported everyone right into the palace when Thor found out what happened, he lost his temper, and a massive storm broke out. Saphira is not very happy with the thunder God because of the ruined gardens his storm left in its wake.
Mystique felt good as new the following day and got up a little earlier than usual, showered, dressed in her black leather outfit, put on her boots, stuck her knives to her sides, then headed to Frigga's chambers; she had left her gun there when she spent the night the other day and decided to retrieve it before accompanying Saphira outside to fix the gardens when Saphira voiced doing so today, Mystique offered to go with her to be able to get out and get some air, Enid would be doing wedding stuff with Frigga, Thor decided he and Loki needed to go into town and get Loki something new for the wedding, Kurt would be going with them. Remy and Rogue offered to take care of Fenrir for the day.
Mystique knocked on Frigga's door; she was already up and looking beautiful; Mystique learned the other night no matter how late she went to bed, Frigga was up before the sun the following day.
"I know just what you are here for." Frigga said, "Please, do come in." Mystique walked in as Frigga got into her dresser and pulled out Mystique's gun. "I put it in here for safekeeping." She handed Mystique the weapon, which was still in its holder.
"Thank you." Mystique took the gun and propped her leg in a chair to strap the gun around her leg.
"I do not understand how you walk around in such tight clothes," Frigga commented, "Do they not bother you."
"No, they are more comfortable than they look." Mystique replied.
"Well, at least those are all in one piece." Frigga teased, and Mystique laughed.
"You sound like Loki," Mystique told her, "He loves to tease Saphira about the holes in her jeans."
"Loki has always been very stylish," Frigga replied, smiling a little.
"He gets that from you." Mystique replied.
"True," Frigga agreed, "But I've noticed our son takes a lot after you."
Mystique grinned with pride. "Rogue and Kurt did say once that we were so alike it was scary."
"I can only imagine why that would be." Frigga laughed and reached out and pushed Mystique's hair out of her face; there was a knock on Frigga's door; it opened, and Odin walked in; he looked between Frigga and Mystique.
"I seem to be interrupting something," Odin said; Mystique turned away from Frigga and faced Odin.
"No, nothing, just stopped by to retrieve something Frigga was holding on to for me." Mystique replied; she reached down and patted her gun.
"I see," Odin replied, "Well, now that you have your weapon, you may leave." He opened the door more, and Mystique narrowed her eyes at him but gave in and left; she wanted to hurt the old goat but figured now wasn't the time.
Mystique spent the morning sitting in the gardens, brooding, as Saphira went around fixing all the plants and flowers. Mystique thought about the other night after they had left the celebration they went to Frigga's chamber and had a long talk, admitting their feelings for each other and realizing they could never be any more than friends; it hurt, but Frigga was married, Asgardain law didn't allow divorce, even though there have been ones that left their spouses anyway; in Frigga's case, it was impossible, even if Odin didn't come after them, which was a possibility; her husband being the King, her two sons, and now a grandson in line for the throne, Thor first in line, Loki second and Fenrir was third unless Thor had children, so yeah, it wouldn't look good on the royal family if the Queen left the King for someone else; Frigga was putting her family; first, something Mystique only recently understood.
After a few hours outside, Saphira decided to take a break and go in, work on the garden again tomorrow. Mystique's brooding mood got worse as the day went on, barely talking to anyone; when she did, it was primarily sarcastic replies or to snap at someone; she didn't eat much either, picking at her food at mealtimes, she knew her kids were starting to worry about how she was acting.
Mystique wanted to be alone, so after dinner, she faked a headache and went to her room to lay down; Kurt walked her there, so that she wouldn't be wandering by herself, then teleported away; she put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, something more comfortable and laid down, with all three of her weapons under her pillow, Mystique wasn't aiming to fall asleep. Still, she must have because the next thing Mystique knew, she was waking up to the sense of someone standing over her and looked up to see Odin, standing next to her bed, Gungnir in his hand, and he was frowning down at her. Mystique quickly reached under her pillow, but her weapons were gone.
"I removed your weapons," Odin told her, "You'll get them back once you are boarding your ship to leave Asgard."
"You thief," Mystique jumped out of bed, "You had no right to take my property."
"This is my realm. I'll do what I want." Odin said.
"I don't give a shit?" Mystique replied. "That gives you no right to come into my room and take my things."
"This is my room, my palace." Odin thundered, "I will enter this room or any room I please; I usually do not enter the guest corridors, but this seems to be the only way I can speak to you without one of your...umm children attached; to your hip."
"Get out; I do not wish to speak with you." Mystique snarled, oh how she hated this man.
"So, you are Loki's birth mother?" Odin demanded. "I never thought you would be much."
"Excuse you?" Mystique demanded; she wanted her dagger, no, she wanted her gun, at that same monomer, to wipe that smirk off Odin's face.
"There is a reason you wanted back in his life," Odin replied, "Which is it? Gold? Power? Near immortality?"
"I don't want any of that." Mystique replied.
"Well," Odin replied, walking closer to Mystique. "You will not get Frigga either,"
"So, that's the real reason you barge into my guest rooms like some heathen." Mystique laughed, "You're afraid I'll steal your wife."
"You? Please, Frigga only befriended you because she pities you," Odin replied. "My wife has always had a soft spot for poor pitiful creatures such as yourself."
"Is that why she married you?" Mystique replied, "Oh wait; she didn't pick you; she had no choice. "
"Stay away from Frigga's chambers," Odin warned, "I do not want to hear of you being alone with her again."
"You don't deserve her." Mystique said.
"And you do?" Odin asked, then chuckled.
Mystique growled out in anger, gave Odin a shove, making him stumble back; then she started punching him as hard as she could, stopping when Odin's hand went around her neck. She tried to kick him but couldn't get her legs up far enough as she choked, not being able to breathe.
"I can have your head for that." Odin snarled, "Do not put your filthy hands on me again; I do not care who you gave birth to." Mystique tried to pull Odin's hand off her when Kurt appeared from nowhere and grabbed hold of Odin's arm and pulled him off her.
"I think, your Majesty," Kurt replied. "It is time for you to leave before you do something you'll regret."
"Do not threaten me, boy." Odin jerked his arm out from Kurt's gasped and narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you?"
"I am Kurt Wagner, sir," Kurt replied.
"You are not Midgardain, at least not fully," Odin replied; he turned back to Mystique. "You will lay with anything."
"Don't talk to my mother that way," Kurt replied; Odin looked at him, then down at his hand, he had it held up, and blue magic was forming at his fingertips.
"I would watch it, boy; you do not want to raise a hand or magic towards me," Odin warned. He gripped Gungnir, and Mystique was fixing to put herself between Kurt and Odin when Loki suddenly appeared walking into the room, Rogue right behind him.
"What's going on?" Loki demanded, looking at all of them.
"Nothing," Odin replied, and without another word or even a glance towards Loki, he walked past him and out the door, nearly bumping into Rogue as he went.
"What was that about?" Loki demanded, "Why was Odin in here?"
"He said nasty things to mother," Kurt replied, checking Mystique's neck.
"What kind of nasty things?" Rogue demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"Why are you doing that? Is there something wrong with mum's neck?" Loki asked, walking over to them; he had an edge to his voice as he lifted Mystique's head back by her chin and looked her neck over.
"What is it?" Rogue asked; as Loki let go of Mystique and stepped back, pointing towards the door.
"Did that bastard put his hands on you?" Loki demanded.
Since growing close as a family, Mystique noticed Loki had calmed down a lot, wasn't quick to anger, able to keep his temper in check, but now standing there in front of her; Mystique could tell Loki was about to lose that temper, and the fact he was angry at someone over her, made Mystique feel vindictive, as she raised her hand and rubbed her neck as if it hurt.
"Yes." Mystique answered; Kurt frowned at her as Loki's eyes widened for a split second before he turned and fled from the room in anger.
"ODIN!" Loki's shut echoed across the palace, making Mystique jump a little, immediately regretting how she just handled that.
Rogue, Kurt, and Mystique looked at each other; then, as they heard more shouting, they took off running towards the yelling. When they caught up with them, Loki and Odin were standing in the middle of the corridor in an entranceway; three different halls led to other places; on the left was a small staircase leading towards doors leading to the outside.
"How dare you stand there wanting to fight me," Odin shouted, "Over that Midgardain you call Mother if it were not for me, you would have frozen to death thrown out like rubbish."
"That was Laufey," Loki shouted back, "She wanted me; if not for her, you would have never found me."
"Oh please, she had her ulterior motives, leading you to me had nothing to do with love," Odin replied. "She wants you no more than Laufey did."
"Liar," Loki said, voice rising; he walked closer to Odin. "When are you going to stop the lies? You think I'm going to believe you when you lied to me all my life; you never gave a damn about me, you never gave a damn about mother, and I wonder if you even care about Thor."
"Do not talk to me in this matter," Odin shouted back, "I saved your life, I took you in, I made you my son, I made you a God, and this is how you repay me, standing here willing to fight over her, to believe her over me, to show me such disrespect. I will not have it."
"Then fight me," Loki said, his hands had formed into fists. "FIGHT ME!"
"Brother!" Kurt stepped in front of Loki and put his hands on his shoulders. "I know you are angry, but please, calm, you'll only get in trouble fighting Odin."
"He put his hands on our mum, Kurt," Loki replied. "He said awful things to her; I have rights to challenge him to a duel."
"As if you have a chance against me," Odin replied; Loki tried to take a step towards Odin, but Kurt held him back; Rogue took hold of Loki's arm, trying to help Kurt calm him down.
"That is not helping, jackass." Rogue glared at Odin, then turned to Loki, "Momma is fine, Loki, please. You'll get yourself thrown in the dungeons or worse."
"I do not care," Loki said, "As long as I get my hands on him."
"I care, sugar." Rogue said, "Do you think I want my brother locked away or dead?"
"Step aside, you two." Odin demanded, "If he thinks he's man enough to challenge me, then let him."
"Do not talk to them in that tone," Loki demanded; he was able to get past Kurt and got his arm free from Rogue, "I'll give you the first strike. Go on, hit me."
"Do not start something you can not win," Odin warned, "I will give you something long overdue."
"Loki, stop." Mystique grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back, but he pulled away; Mystique glanced at Kurt and gave him a meaningful look; he nodded and teleported away in a puff of blue smoke.
"Thor was right; you are an old fool," Loki told him.
"You want me to take the first strike, do you?" Odin said, "You think you can go toe to toe with me? Remember who you are talking to, boy."
"You had no right," Loki said, "You had no right to enter my Mum's room and put your hands on her; I do not care what she may have done or said."
"You want to defend her?" Odin demanded, "Fine; I will only warn you one more time, back out now, before you start something you can not finish."
"First, you throw Saphira in the dungeons, then strip her of her citizenship," Loki yelled. "Then you go after my biological mother. Do you truly hate me so much you want to harm those I love?"
"Is your mind truly so twisted, you would think such things of me?" Odin demanded, "you were brought to Asgard, given godhood, and treated like royalty because of me; I raised you and loved you as if you were my own. All you ever did as a thank you was disobey me, torment your brother, and break your mother's heart, over and over again."
"No," Loki shook his head, "You may have brought me here, made me Asgardain royalty, made me a God, but you never saw me as a son; you never loved me the same that you did Thor, Frigga is the one who did that, to you I was never more than the poor little frost giant you took in that nobody wanted,"
"How can you say that after everything I've done for you?" Odin demanded.
"You barely did anything for me," Loki replied, "Frigga is the one that taught me to walk; she taught me to read, to write, her magic and tricks, and she's the one that taught me how to fight, you were too busy with Thor unless it was when you wanted to put us against each other."
"I never put you and Thor against each other." Odin denied.
"Oh really?" Loki demanded, "So, you never told us we were both born to be kings, but only one of us could take the throne; you never filled our heads with stories of battling frost giants, told us what monsters they were, never telling me I was one of those monsters, you..."
"Enough, Loki, enough," Odin demanded, "This is not the time or place."
"Why?" Loki demanded, "You do not want Asgard to know you sucked as a father; you can not deny that; you raised me to be a jealous, vengeful person, you raised Thor to be a selfish, arrogant fool, good thing we both learned to change the way we were heading or who knows how we would be now."
"Silence," Odin demanded. Loki narrowed his eyes at Odin, then took a step towards him and drew back his fist, and punched him as hard as he could; Odin grabbed his jaw and stumbled back. He looked at Loki with pure shock on his face; then, without warning, he shot a blast at Loki with Gungnir; Loki flew back and smacked down hard on the floor. To Mystique's surprise, Loki started laughing, then sat up and got to his feet.
"You are holding back on me," Loki said; he gathered what looked like a ball of green light in his hand and tossed it at Odin; it hit him in his chest and knocked him back a few feet before he jumped back up and growled.
"Damn it, Loki," Odin swore, heading back towards him, Gungnir at the ready. Loki only laughed and held his hands out at his sides.
"Go ahead, old man, do your worse," Loki demanded. Odin pointed Gungnir at him.
"No," Rogue and Mystique both cried out, rushed forward stood in front of Loki; Odin paused, a moment Gungnir still held out and pointed their way when a familiar hammer came flying over Loki's head; struck Gungnir knocking it out of Odin's hand and causing it to slide down the corridor a few feet; the hammer then went flying back the direction it came, and right into the hand of the God of thunder, standing on either side of him was Kurt and Saphira, Mystique had meant for Kurt to get Saphira, but probably a good thing Thor was with him also.
"ENOUGH," Thor's voice thundered; Saphira ran over and threw her arms around Lok and started whispering something to him. The anger faded from his face as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Thor." Odin began. Thor glared at him.
"Shut up, father." Thor said, "I am in no mood; I can not believe it, two grown me, standing here, acting like playground children fighting over a toy."
Kurt put his hands on his hips and glared at them, agreeing with Thor; Remy, Frigga, and Enid, who was carrying Fenrir, came walking up the corridor, as guards came running up the opposite way, and more people, probably guess from the party came wondering up from the hallways to see what was happening.
"Where the hell have you been?" Thor demanded, glaring at the guards, "Did you not hear the fight? Too late to show up now."
"Sorry, your highness, we.."
"I do not want to hear your excuses, go, you are dismissed; in fact, anyone not related to a member of the royal family in anyone may leave," Thor ordered, but no one moved, and Thor slammed his hammer on the ground and yelled out "GO NOW!"
With Thor's yell, there was a crack of thunder that shook the palace, and everyone not related to the royal family in any way took off scrambling in different directions.
"What in the world has gotten into you two?" Frigga demanded, looking between Loki and Odin. "Why are you two fighting like this?"
"He went into Mum's room and attacked her," Loki explained.
"What?" Frigga demanded; she turned to Odin, "Tell me you did not do such a thing."
"I admit, I went in there to speak with her." Odin said, "Things got heated, and I lost my temper."
"Father." Thor snapped, "As King, you know better than that, Mystique is a guest here. Is this the example you want to set for your kingdom? Do you wish for the other realms to think you go around attacking our guests?" Thor turned to Loki. "And you, Loki, is this the example you want to set for your son that you solve all your problems by losing your temper and attacking people?"
Thor pointed towards Fenrir, who was clapping his hands and making those baby noises; when Loki looked his way, he called out dada and reached for him; Mystique wasn't sure why Enid did it, but she kneeled and sat Fenrir on the floor; he leaned forward and started crawling towards Loki, who grinned, pulled away from Saphira, and kneeled holding his arms out to Fenrir, who crawled a few inches then stopped and sat next to Mjolnir, still sitting on the ground where Thor had slammed it.
"Do not stop there, little trickster; crawl the rest of the way." Loki encouraged as Saphira got down next to him.
"Come on, Fen Fen, come to mommy and daddy," Saphira said. Fenrir grabbed hold of Mjolnir's handle (he was barely taller than it), pulled himself to his feet, then took a step, then two stood there holding on to the handle a moment before letting go and taking a couple of steps by himself, before falling on his bottom, and giggling, Loki laughed, and walked forward and picked Fenrir up.
"That's my little mischief-maker," Loki said, smiling; there was no sign of the anger that was on his face moments ago; it nearly shinned with happiness now. Saphira walked over, teary eyes and smiling; she put her hand on Loki's back looked at Fenrir.
"You took your first steps," Saphira said. "At seven months."
"Our son is brilliant, darling, " Loki replied; he put an arm around her and pulled her close, then kissed her forehead before turning back to his son.
"Mommy is proud of you, Fen Fen," Saphira told him.
"Sweetheart, please do not call him that," Loki said, "His name is Fenrir."
"It's only a nickname, Loke. Loke," Saphira replied, and Loki groaned.
"What have I told you about calling me that?" Loki demanded.
"That you love it." Saphira joked, grinning; Loki rolled his eyes.
"Yes, that's exactly it," Loki replied; Saphira laughed as he leaned in to kiss her when he pulled back; they both turned to Fenrir, talking to him. At that moment, to them, they were the only ones that existed. Mystique smiled, watching the little family, then she glanced towards Odin to see him watching with a smile; he glanced towards her, and his smile dropped a little before he turned and walked away.
AN: Hopefully, the chapter was good, not anything to put, except explain the inline thing, why I assumed it would be; Thor is first in line to be King, so he's first inline, being the eldest and actual son of Odin, next would be Loki as youngest, then Fenrir if anything happened to Thor and Loki, but if Thor had kids, then depending on how many Loki and Fenrir would be knocked down the line because I figured his children would be higher inline, hope that makes sense.
Hopefully, there will only be one or more chapters in Asgard; then, we can move on with the plot.