Donna has known Harvey for three years now, which means she's had three years of experience dealing with his tantrums, mood swings, his arrogance and his stubbornness. She's found a way to deal with all of it, to work it to her advantage, even, so most of the time it doesn't bother her beyond an eye roll and a huff.

But he's been insufferable for the past two weeks. Snapping at her for no reason, completely and immovably set in his own ways, picking pissing contests with other associates, just an all-around nightmare. She thinks it's because it was his mother's birthday at the end of last month, and he's always in a bad mood around that time of the year, but it's been enough time that he just needs to grow up and get over it. No one at the office has anything to do with his personal issues and there's only so much leeway that he's allowed.

Of course, when she tried to gently nudge him towards that realization last week he bit her head off and hasn't apologized since, not even in his non-verbal Harvey ways. So one could say she's been feeling less than favorable towards him and they've engaged in more than a few glaring contests and bickering matches lately.

That's why, when Louis marches towards her cubicle one day and immediately kneels down beside her chair, she doesn't shoo him off right away.

"Louis," she prompts, eyeing his theatrics skeptically.

"Donna, my sweet, beautiful Donna," he starts.

"Spill," she snaps her fingers at him, urging him to cut the crap.

"Donna, I am here, kneeling at your feet, from a position of complete humility and subservience," he starts dramatically, and she resists the urge to both roll her eyes and snort, "To ask you to please, please, please be my Mrs. McMillan." He joins his hands in prayer and gives her an almost-pitiful look.

She had a feeling this request was coming. The firm is organizing one of their legendary associate mock trials and the pairings got drawn at the library yesterday, and Harvey was paired with Louis again for the first time in months. It was the first thing he was happy about since his mother's birthday, and Donna would have been excited for him if he hadn't been a complete jerk and totally taken her for granted, not even asking her to play Mary McMillan, his fake client.

It's a fun case, civil lawsuit of a daughter suing her stepmother for killing her father to get his inheritance. And yeah, she has never not been Harvey's witness, but she still likes to be asked nicely. Unlike everything else she does for him on a daily basis, that is not her job, so she appreciates him showing he knows it's a favor she does him. But this time he didn't, dumping the case files onto her arms and walking away, as if she was just expected to be his lackey.

And, even though she normally wouldn't even consider going against him, his behavior recently, and particularly yesterday, has her giving Louis' proposition some thought.

She narrows her eyes at him. "That would mean going against Harvey."

"I know," Louis answers hurriedly, "But witnessing you use your acting brilliance and your endless grace to strengthen the already-airtight case I'm building would be the best thing that's ever happened to me."

She enjoys the ego stroke, though her face remains impassive. "I do agree I bring an unmatched level of grace to every role," she pretends to muse.

"You absolutely do," he concurs eagerly.

"But I don't know," she gives him a self-suffering sigh and looks away contemplatively, "There's a certain sanctity to the mock trial partnership Harvey and I have been fostering for the past two years."

"Oh, I know," Louis nods, "And I'm prepared to compensate the jeopardy of that sanctity heftily."

Donna pauses, then looks at him out of the corner of her eye. "How?"

"With five sessions at my new, exclusive mudding club," he offers, eyes shining and hands outstretched, his excited smile taking up half his face.

"Louis, that's not compensation, that's punishment," she narrows her eyes at him.

His face immediately falls to a frown and a pout. "Okay, fine. You can have my house at the Hamptons for two weekends."

"Do I have to go with you?" she quirks a brow, her mind drifting to her group of theater friends and the girls' trip they were talking about going on the other day.

"No," he assures her expectantly.

Donna would never agree to risk the integrity of Harvey's case if he hadn't been pissing her off lately. But she wants to teach him a lesson - that he needs to get his head out of his ass, that she's not his property, that he needs to listen to her when she calls him out on these things because she cares about him. And she wasn't planning on teaching it quite this way, but the opportunity has presented itself and it's not an entirely bad one; he'd be pissed, sure, but this is as low as the stakes get and if he loses a firm mock trial, it won't be the end of his career.

Plus, her getting two weekends at a fancy beach house out of this sweetens the deal enough that she manages to get over her initial reservations.

She pretends to give the matter some more consideration before giving him another dramatic sigh. "Okay, fine, I suppose I could do it."

"Really?" his grin widens again, impossibly large and showing all of his teeth.

"Yes. But I'm going to need to dress accordingly," she tells him apathetically, examining her nails.

"Of course, what is an actor without their costume," he nods, pulling his credit card from the inside pocket of his suit, "Whatever you want, no limits."

"No limits? Can I get a Hermès bag too?" she asks eagerly.

He scowls at her. "Are you insane? Those things cost a fortune."

She rolls her eyes at his cheapness but decides to take what she can get. "Okay, fine, just the mock trial outfit, then."

"You'll be the most magnificent plaintiff this firm has ever seen," he tells her, getting up.

"I'm always the most magnificent plaintiff this firm has ever seen," she corrects him smugly.

"You are," he agrees promptly, walking around her cubicle again, "And this time you'll be my magnificent plaintiff. Harvey won't even know what hit him."

Going against Harvey doesn't feel great, but she still smiles winningly at Louis as he marches away, silently convincing herself that this is going to be good for him.

The trial is in two weeks, a tight time frame to work with, but her character is fairly easy to play. She starts reading the case files that same night, and the following morning she breezes into Harvey's office, cutting him off in the middle of him barking some order at her without even saying good morning.

"I just came by to tell you that I checked with Lucia from accounting and with Becky, Paul Porter's secretary, and they're both available on the 22nd for the mock trial," she tells him without preamble.

"Okay, and I should care about that because...?" he lifts his brows skeptically.

"Because that means they can both play Mary McMillan, you just have to pick one," she answers as if it's obvious, "I told them you'd give them your answer by the end of today. They're both young, pretty and have been in mock trials before, I'm sure they'd be great additions to your case." She finishes talking and smiles innocently at him, clasping her hands in front of her proudly.

Harvey frowns. "That's all well and good, Donna, but I don't need them to play Mary McMillan because you are playing Mary McMillan," he says dryly.

"I am?" she feigns surprise.

"Yes."

"That's funny, I don't seem to remember you asking," she makes a mock-thinking face, tapping her chin.

"What, you want a hand-sealed invitation?" he scoffs at her.

"A simple ask would do, actually," she glares at him, "But it doesn't matter anymore because I'm sadly no longer available."

He glares back at her, putting his pen down, "What do you mean, no longer available?"

"I mean what I said," she leans over his chair, looking daringly at him, "I'm no longer available to play Mary McMillan at the mock trial."

"What the hell else do you have going on that's more important than that?" he throws his hands up frustratedly.

"I've been invited to play another character," she retorts.

"Who?"

"Mrs. McMillan," she announces smugly, a devious smirk on her face.

"What?" Harvey stands up, clearly pissed off. "Is this a joke?"

"Am I laughing?" she quirks a brow and he glares at her.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're playing Louis' client?" he gestures vaguely towards the hallway.

"Yes, Harvey, I am," she stands her ground.

"I can't believe you're going against me on my own case," he rounds his desk, "That's going to be humiliating, Donna, all those people know you work for me!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before you just assumed I'd follow you around like a puppy on a leash," she crosses her arms impassively.

"So this is payback because your ego is bruised?"

"No, Harvey," she sobers up a little, taking a step closer to him, "This is for you to learn that you can't treat people like shit just because something bad is going on in your life."

"Again with the Lily thing," he rolls his eyes and shakes his head, turning his back to her and walking towards the windows.

"Yes, again with the Lily thing, and I'll bring it back up however many times are needed until you get it through your head," she insists.

"You know what? It's fine, I don't need you to win. I'm gonna clean Louis out and you'll wish you hadn't stabbed me in the back," he says petulantly, not even bothering to look at her.

"Well, good luck with that, Harvey," she glares one final time at him. "Here are Lucia and Becky's extensions, or you can just go looking for someone else to put up with your awful mood until then."

She spins on her heels and makes for the door, stopping just before it. "Oh, and as for my actual job, I'm almost done with the Samsung briefs, I'll have them on your desk in twenty minutes," she half-grumbles.

"Thanks," he grumbles back.

She stomps out of his office and back to her cubicle. It's going to be a long two weeks.

.

.

When Donna arrives at the office that day and sees her favorite coffee waiting for her on her desk, she smirks knowingly.

She has to give it to him, Harvey held out for longer than she'd expected. But she's not surprised that he broke; they're now one week away from the mock trial and, while she can't know anything about his case, she's seen Harvey in distress about a trial before and so she knows how to read the signs. This is his last chance to convince her to switch sides and it looks like he's trying to do just that.

She didn't want to hang him out to dry, and she made sure to select replacements that would actually be good and dedicate themselves to the role, but it's a fact that no one embodies these mock trial characters quite like her, and she takes not-so-secret pride in seeing him recognize that, even if silently.

But she won't let a triple whip, double fat, extra shot mocha latte with caramel fool her. She wants an actual apology, or at least an acknowledgement that he understood her point and will try to be better going forward. So when she sits down and sees Harvey immediately get up and make his way over, she braces for impact.

"Donna," he says in his usual tone, leaning on the partition.

"Harvey," she matches his tone, going through her e-mails.

"I see you got the coffee I left on your desk for you," he comments casually.

"I did."

"You might have noticed it's a triple whip, double fat, extra shot mocha latte with caramel," he goes on.

"That's right, my favorite order," she replies, still not looking at him.

"I know," he goads.

She finishes typing a reply and finally turns to him, an amicable smile on her face, "Thank you, Harvey."

His unaffected expression blossoms into a smirk. "Does that mean you'll switch roles?"

Donna rolls her eyes at him. "Did you really think it would be this easy?"

He deflates instantly. "Oh, come on, Donna, Louis? He's as fun to work with as a fucking back-office accountant. Besides, you do realize Mrs. McMillan is a bitter old hag, right?"

She grins internally at his transparent attempt at persuading her. "Mrs. McMillan is a nuanced character that allows me to explore untapped skills," she argues, "And who says I'm not having fun working with Louis?"

She isn't, not really. She told Louis right away that she could be his client, but she wouldn't help him build a case against Harvey, just like she isn't helping with Harvey's case either. And even if that weren't the case, the man is a freaking machine when it comes to studying evidence. Where Harvey likes to gloss over the bulk of it and focus on strategic documents, Louis steamrolls over box after box of files, faster than anyone she's ever seen, so she wouldn't be much help to him anyway, especially not when he enlisted the help of one of the firm interns. But Harvey doesn't need to know any of that.

"Literally anyone who's ever worked with him," Harvey scoffs at her teasing remark, "There's no way you can convince me you prefer being on his team."

"It doesn't matter what I prefer, Harvey. I told you this isn't about the mock trial, this is about you understanding for once and for all that you can't just turn off your feelings, and if you don't deal with them properly, they'll continue to affect other areas of your life," she explains calmly.

Harvey leans away from her cubicle, his previous groveling stance gone, "And I told you I don't need your little psychoanalysis, I'm doing just fine. And I'll prove that to you when I win this case." He throws her a dirty look and makes his way back to his office, pointedly turning off the intercom.

She sighs exasperatedly at the now-off red light on her phone, wishing Harvey could be just a little less stubborn.

But he can't, of course, and that becomes abundantly clear as the days go by and he refuses to show even the tiniest bit of vulnerability, emotionally or regarding the mock trial. Donna doesn't push anymore, preferring to focus on her own work instead, knowing that sometimes Harvey needs to have his own space and time to process hard lessons. She said all she had to say, whether he actually listens to any of it or not is on him.

The fated day arrives and she's excited as usual, but also a little nervous. She's agreed to be someone else's client or witness once or twice before, but she's never been on the team opposite to Harvey, and there's a certain pang of disappointment at the fact that she isn't living through this mock trial by his side, which is usually one of her favorite things to do. But she agreed to be on Louis' team, so she might as well enjoy the change of perspective and, who knows, maybe she can even learn a little from him.

The fake hearing starts at 9am at the library and everyone is there. Louis and Harvey battles are always entertaining to watch, not only because they're both superb lawyers but also because Harvey knows exactly how to push Louis' buttons and that usually ends up in some kind of dramatic display. They start with opening statements and then move to depositions; it turns out Lucia was Harvey's choice, and Donna has to hand it to her, the girl is doing an incredible job for someone with no technical training. Everyone is hanging on to her every word, and even though it is impressive, it also gives Donna a tiny tingle of jealousy. She can't be outplayed, especially not by her substitute.

So when it's her turn to be deposed, she gives it her everything, letting her eyes well up as she describes her loving relationship with her fake husband and the horror of his untimely death, letting her voice break as she explains to Louis and the jury that all she's ever wanted was for her husband's will to be carried out as he intended, sniffling into a handkerchief that she lifts to her face with a trembling hand.

Louis is practically vibrating off the floor with pride and ecstasy, and she's beginning to suspect that, if they win this, she'll get even more out of this deal besides the weekends at the Hamptons.

Cross examinations are intense. She gets the impression Louis drives Lucia to the brink of actual tears at some point, and the face-off between her and Harvey is no less tense, with him staring deep into her eyes with each new question, daring her at every turn to continue to go against him. She does, because it's what she signed up for and because she refuses to be the first one to back down from this. There's a palpable spark between them, one Harvey certainly also feels and even explores, at times walking closer to her until they're face to face, and it's like the rest of the room falls away. Harvey and she have been at odds before but never quite like this, and being on his team is great but this, being a challenge to him, isn't too bad either.

Eventually the first day of the hearing comes to an end and everyone slinks away to their offices or, if they're lucky, to their homes. Donna is exhausted, eager to change out of this stuffy outfit she picked and indulge in a nice glass of wine and a chick flick, but she stays for almost two hours after the hearing to go over the day's notes with Louis and align strategy for the next and final day. Harvey leaves without telling her goodbye, and even though she doesn't regret her choice, because she thinks this will be important for him and also because she's having fun, she does hope he isn't actually upset at her and that this doesn't create any lasting grievances between them.

The second day starts just as busy, with other witnesses being deposed, lots of objections being thrown around and the jurors watching everything closely. Donna notices Louis was right yesterday: the jury does seem to be on their side, be it because of her stellar acting or Louis' surprisingly calculated conduction of his case. There's a part of her that feels bad that Harvey is losing, though, and when Hardman, acting judge and resident asshole, goes on a string of concessions to Louis' questions, shutting down objection after objection presumably just to piss Harvey off, she's starts worrying that this will throw him off in a way he won't be able to recover from.

She's relieved when they reach a break, and she goes to the kitchen for a glass of water, resolute to going after Harvey afterwards to check if he's okay.

Her plan proves unnecessary when Harvey walks into the kitchen instead.

"Hey," he says cautiously, possibly trying to gouge how in-character she is right now.

"Hey," she says soothingly, shooting him a smile over her shoulder. "So, Lucia is doing pretty well out there," she says conversationally after a beat of awkward silence, turning around and leaning back against the counter.

"Yeah, she's holding up alright," he agrees humbly, burying his hands in his pockets.

"That fake tear back there was pretty good," she comments, and she can't deny there's a very subtle shade of jealousy behind her tone at the fact that this newbie is doing almost as well as her when she's supposed to be the absolute queen of mock trials.

"Yeah...," he drifts off. "So, listen," he takes a step closer, looking away, "I wanted to tell you that... you were right. I've been letting my personal issues get in the way of work and that's not fair to everyone else."

He sounds and looks extremely uncomfortable, but she hears earnestness in is tone, and waits silently for him to go on. "It's just...," he sighs in defeat, "My dad and I got into a fight because I didn't want to call Lily on her birthday". He shakes his head, clearly frustrated, "I said some things I shouldn't have and things have been off between us ever since, and you know that always gets to me."

Harvey and Gordon are as close as a father and son can be, but she's bore witness before to them falling out, usually because of Harvey's difficulty in understanding and accepting Gordon's good will towards the woman, and it's true that Harvey is never more unmoored than when he's on bad terms with his dad.

"I do...," she watches him carefully, wishing there was something she could do for him. "I'm sorry that happened, Harvey. Have you tried apologizing to him?"

The question is almost redundant, as Harvey himself confirms as he purses his lips humorously, still looking down and scuffing the toe of his shoe on the floor, "Sounds like I should."

Donna grins at his predictable reaction, "That's usually a good place to start."

He looks up at her and she thinks he's going to say something else when Louis storms into the room. "You can stop trying to use your fake daddy issues to win over my client, Harvey, it's not gonna work."

Donna turns to him, ready to tell him off for his behavior, but Harvey beats her to it, whatever vulnerability was visible in his stance before now fully back under his tightly-kept façade. "I don't need to win over your client, Louis, I'm gonna win just as easily without her," he tells the man confidently, straightening back up and adjusting his cuffs.

"I'm sure you'd like to believe that," the man sneers at him, "Let's see how you'll feel after I wipe the floor with you."

"Louis, the only thing you'll be wiping will be that smug grin off your face once I'm through with you," Harvey says menacingly, slowly closing the distance between him and Louis, and Donna isn't surprised to see the man cower minimally, unmistakably intimidated by her boss.

Harvey stares down at him, putting on his best game face, before breaking into a cocky grin and stepping back. "Ladies," he nods once at them and leaves the room in the direction of the library.

Louis is still scowling in the direction Harvey disappeared off to when Donna turns to him, annoyed. "You shouldn't eavesdrop on people's private conversations, Louis," she jabs, displeased that Louis not only heard part or all of Harvey's confessions, but also used it to take a dig at him.

"Oh, Donna, come on, you really believe that tiny violin crap he was giving you?" he rolls his eyes, and she supposes Louis isn't the first person to believe Harvey's tough act but still, she knows well how sensitive, unguarded and fragile Harvey can be at times, and she doesn't appreciate anyone questioning that, let alone trying to use it against him.

She's about to reprimand Louis for discrediting Harvey's earnest moment when the front desk secretary appears at the door. "Counselor, Mrs. McMillan, the trial is back in session," the girl announces solemnly and Donna sighs, preparing to get her own game face back on for the final stretch of the hearing.

The return from the break is eventful, with two more witnesses being called to the stand and their testimonies at times helping, at others hurting both Louis' and Harvey's case. Harvey seems to have his wits much more about him this time, but he's still struggling; Louis built a strong case, and even though Mary is the plaintiff, her version of events is now sounding less plausible than it did yesterday, and she can see he's starting to seriously lose the jurors. Harvey's putting on a brave face, no longer acting like the spoiled child he'd been embodying for the past weeks, and it starts pulling at her heartstrings.

She can't throw the case completely, obviously, because it would be too transparent and it would be unfair to Louis. But, when Harvey's witness mentions her and Louis calls her back to the stand for a rebuttal testimony, allowing for Harvey to cross her again, she thinks there might be an opening there. She starts digging her brain for something she can let slip, a tiny detail that will go by unnoticed if Harvey doesn't pick up on it, and that she can easily explain away to Louis later if he does.

And, when Harvey asks her when she notified her investment manager of her intention to invest in the Blu Fund, she gets a flashback to last night in Louis' office.

"He's going to go for the Blu Fund angle, question why you put in an investment notice for the one and a half million three days before your husband died. Whatever you do, you cannot forget to tell him of the Rayzor earnings from the following week, that gives you an alternative source for the money and counters their premeditation argument," Louis had warned her emphatically. And, well, she may be a great actress, but she's only human. No one could blame her for forgetting one tiny little detail on a case with so much factual information.

"February 24th," she answers resolutely.

"And when exactly did your husband pass away, Mrs. McMillan?" Harvey asks, coming closer to her.

"February 27th," she sniffles, looking down at her lap.

"Hm. And at the time of the investment notice, did you have that 1.5 million readily available?"

"I'm... not sure, I must have. You'd have to ask my investment manager, I was never very good with money," she chuckles sheepishly at the jurors.

"Funny you should say that, because you seem to be doing just fine with money now," Harvey smirks.

"Objection, argumentative," Louis interrupts instantly.

"Sustained," Hardman drawls lazily.

Harvey smiles winningly. "Mrs. McMillan, how do you explain making such a hefty investment just days before your husband died and you inherited his fortune when your investment fund statements, exhibit 42, show you did not, in fact, have that amount readily available?"

She squeals internally, but stays in character, acting flustered. "I- I don't know, money was always coming and going," she waves her hand dismissively, trying to appear nervous.

"Especially after you married a millionaire," he quirks his brows at her.

"It's not like that, I didn't marry him for the money, I loved him," she turns to the jury again, making a pleading face.

"And yet you just happened to find yourself in the convenient position of putting in an investment notice a week in advance because you somehow just knew you'd come into that money soon?" Harvey narrows his eyes at her inquisitively, strolling closer again and damn, he's good. She'd never been crossed by him before, and even though she's fumbling on purpose, his digs still manage to unsettle her a little, which she supposes isn't entirely bad.

"You're making it sound like something different than it was," she replies defensively, wringing her hands.

"Or maybe I'm making it sound exactly like what it was," he counters incisively. "Where else could you have gotten the money, Mrs. McMillan?"

"I- I had other investments," she stutters, widening her eyes.

"None that match this amount," Harvey presses on, stepping closer.

"Objection, badgering!" Louis shoots up from his seat.

"Overruled, answer the question, Mrs. McMillan," Hardman smirks at her, no doubt enjoying watching her get roasted, and she rolls her eyes internally.

"I- I don't know, I never know what to do with these things, I just follow my investment manager's advice," she splutters.

"Seems like you knew exactly what to do this time," he finishes decisively. "No more questions, You Honor."

Her face shows utter devastation but Donna is practically bursting inside, smug about having found a thread she could give Harvey to pull on.

"Mr. Litt, any redirect questions?" Hardman turns to Louis.

"Yes, Your Honor," Louis steps up to the clearing, clearly unsettled by the derailment of her testimony. "Mrs. McMillan, isn't it true that you had investments at Rayzor Inc. that generated that exact amount of earnings one week after you put in the investment notice?"

Donna pauses for a moment, then pretends to remember just what Louis is talking about. "Right! Right, Rayzor, yeah. That's where the money came from," she smiles nervously, nodding a little too hastily, infusing just the right amount of unsteadiness to discredit her own testimony while still granting herself plausible deniability.

Louis doesn't seem entirely pleased, but there's not much he can do right now, so he rests. Donna is excused from the stand and they move to closing statements, and the small opening she gave Harvey was enough to help him recover like nothing else, and he flourishes mesmerizingly in those 10 minutes. By then Louis has been thrown completely off track, and, while his closing is not bad by any means, by the time he's done there's no doubt in anyone's mind about who's going to win this case.

Shortly thereafter, Hardman bangs the gavel, announcing the relief sought was granted, and the room erupts into applause, with Harvey getting patted on the back left and right.

Louis marches to the judge immediately, fuming. "But- But that's not fair!" he stammers indignantly, "She clearly threw the case by not mentioning a detail she knew she had to mention!"

Donna rolls her eyes at Louis throwing her under the bus, but Hardman simply seems unimpressed.

"And?" the man questions, "Witnesses are unreliable and unpredictable, they change their stories all the time. It's your job as a lawyer to know how to deal with that when it happens."

Louis scoffs furiously, looking from Hardman to her, then back to Hardman, them storming off, muttering obscenities to himself. She figures she won't be back on Louis' good graces anytime soon, and she can definitely kiss those weekends at the Hamptons goodbye, but she can't say she's too bothered by it because Harvey winning a case just feels right.

Her self-satisfaction only grows when Harvey falls into step beside her as she's making her way back to her cubicle.

"Donna," he prompts smugly.

"Harvey," she retorts knowingly.

"I should say 'sorry for your loss'," he ribs her.

Donna rolls her eyes, snorting, "I think we both know you're not sorry at all."

"No, I'm not," he snickers, his petulant grin almost splitting his face in half.

"I knew you'd change your mind eventually," he confides after a moment and, well, she would never admit to throwing the case but she's pleased that there seems to be a mutual and implicit understanding that she did.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I just got a bit flustered up there, that's all," she lifts a brow dismissively and he grins.

"That's okay, happens to the best of us," he teases her and she shakes her head at his daringness.

"You should be thanking me," she digs.

"That would imply there was something to thank you for," he smirks insufferably and she huffs.

"You're intolerable."

"Maybe," he grins, "But at least I win cases. You can't go around associating yourself with Louis like that, it's bad for your reputation."

Donna scoffs, "Please, with my acting skills I could associate myself with a goat and they'd still win the case."

Harvey breaks into laughter as they power-walk to his office and she grins along, feeling pretty happy with the result of the trial. This may have been the first mock trial case she's ever lost, and that bothers her a little, but Harvey and her did end up acting as a team of sorts and he's back to his usual mood, and all after having admitted to her that she was right and that he's going to try to be better in the future. All in all, it was a pretty good day.


A/N: Writing plot is not exactly my strong suit, so I hope that mock trial case made sense. Also, writing Louis is not my strong suit either, hopefully he doesn't read too out of character. Thanks for reading :)