Phew! Sorry this is a few days late-holidays got away from me and my betas, but my wonderful grammar knight got it back to me so here it is!
We're entering the home stretch..Atlantis is here, Locri is a day away and Timaeus is there to help Yugi with his anxiety issues...and if my math is correct only two-three chapters left until the moment all my wonderfully loyal fans have been waiting for,,,
Small announcement: The next few chapters are done but in editing/rewrite mode so i can't make promises on updates, due to the holidays. My goal is still to finish writing this story by New years, but I've also become sidetracked/obsessed with finishing my newest one-shot (which will have a sequel chapter. So my goal is to finish that this week and hopefully get that posted soon as well.
Also, once Timaeus part 2 is completed i will be posting a new story called At The King's Pleasure (my take on the Phatoah/Slave fic where Yugi-is-not-a-slave-for-once in response to the sudden surge of newer, more realistic takes on the genre (and my desire for a less meek Yugi) but nyway that won't be up until after New Years so be on the look out!
Disclaimer: I own the plot and this version of Atlantis based on Venice
as always, read, review, critique, comment, ask questions and go nuts!
Chapter LII: Atlantis
The River Gate was even more impressive than the first.
Beyond the bridges, Yugi saw it: the first of the massive river and stone rings Atlantis boasted. Like the first gate, it was crafted from black, white, and red stones, but was curved like the surrounding wall. Smaller than the first, its entrance was arch-shaped and its doors were made of petrified wood. It lacked the two towers with their glowing eyes, but instead had two stone stairways on either side. It was then that Yugi saw it was not just a gate, but a bridge connecting the two sides of the massive mote, as well.
"Just wait until you see Locri's aqueducts." Rhebekka giggled behind her hands. "Now they are truly impressive."
"I'm sure I will be," Yugi said absently as The Eye sailed closer, feeling the ship slow down and the river dip once more. It was shallower than the last canal, and despite going at her max speed just moments earlier, The Eye of Timaeus sailed through the gates with steady ease, gliding into the lagoon with a smooth, slow stop.
Yugi blinked in confusion. "What is this?" he asked Timaeus, gesturing to the calm water and the four closed gates on either side of them, surprised that the eastern and western doors rose a good ten cubits above the other two.
From his place at the helm, Timaeus grinned. "Just watch." He turned the wheel sharply, turning The Eye towards the western gate with ease. A loud whistle like a bird cry preluded the rattling of chains and the groan of heavy wood. And something else, Yugi's ears picked up: rustling water. Suddenly, both the western and eastern doors opened, and two sudden waterfalls came gushing out. Yugi jumped back in shock, almost crashing into Rhebekka, but Timaeus caught him around the waist with one arm. Yugi's eyes widened with stunned mystification as the water level rose and brought the ship with it.
Within moments, she was level with the western gate, and Timaeus sounded the summons. The Eye's sails were quickly readied and her oars pushed her forward. She left the gate with a powerful burst of speed, and the wind caught her wings and drove her forward, Timaeus steering the ship in a perfect curve.
They really do use water for everything here, Yugi mused.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Timaeus asked.
"It is." He quietly gasped, surveying the new landscape with childish wonder. The canal was a massive mote enclosed on either side by walls of speckled stone, and connected by huge stone bridges curved like archways to allow ships to pass through in the low waters. The walls, he saw, did not separate the city from the water, but rather fed various waterfalls into it, and what Yugi thought was on a big ring of land was actually many small islands outlined by a labyrinth of canals and waterways linked by arched stone bridges. Some canals were flaked by sidewalks of grey stone, others wound into alleyways and between buildings, forming a network of water roads.
From the waters of the lagoon, the outline of the city was blurred by the ever-changing reflections, and the huge expanse of sky created a strange luminosity. Even with the hazy mountains visible in the far distant east and west, they seemed ethereal and insubstantial—whereas the rest of the city seemed to lie in the infinite space between water and air, and sea and sky. Beyond the wall, the first inner city rose higher and higher like a massive soaring mountain. Yugi's eyes expanded, and he craned his neck upwards to see it. The buildings of the city were framed only by each other and built so closely they leaned together, castellated, like each island housed a small castle. They were strange to Yugi's eyes. Unlike the quadrilateral grid-like style of Kemet's long houses, these were neither mud-brick nor the wood of the pasture farm houses he'd seen earlier in the hinderlands. They were tall, slender, and cylindrical towers of stone, with arched windows and slim flying buttress pillars for wrap-around decks. Some had sharp-peaked tiled roofs like pointed hats, while others had round golden domes. But most had altanas decorated with oculus windows. All of them stood on piers of stone. The roads, if there were any, were neither sand nor ground, but smashed, smoothed and paved stones forming sidewalks on either side of the massive canals and interstitial alleys between clusters of buildings.
There was no wood, sand, or soil. They have no trees or earth, but what it is stands on the mountains and mud. Yugi realized it at once, watching as The Eye sailed past a rather large gap in the wall—the opening to a waterfall that fed into a broad green waterway cutting straight to the heart of the inner city like a huge, green scar. Atlantis is a kingdom of sea and stone. Closer to the water's edge, he saw larger, taller houses, shaped like boxes—but with tower forms cut into wrap-around decks and boasting oculus windows decorated with beautiful images of colored glass, and fancy with flat altanas roofs and velvet drapes, and glamorous decorations like curved flowers in vines or odd spirals.
They passed under another bridge, this one carved in the reflection of ocean waves and decorated with hundreds of colorful fish wrought from jewels. He spied smaller ones within the city, shaped like perfect arches; others were curved like branches and were painted with flowers; some were not bridges at all, but more canals directed by walls of green stones. Far off in the distance, once such canal—held up by multiple tiers above canals and houses alike—spiraled through the city like a massive snake, spitting water back out into the canal. He couldn't see its end.
"What is that?" Yugi asked curiously.
Rhebekka answered. "One of our aqueducts," she explained, eyes bright. "It brings fresh water for the fountains from the mainland, and deposits the waste water back into the canals, which is then fed back into the ocean."
Yugi gasped, torn between amazement and disgust. "How does that work?"
Rhebekka grinned. "The marsh," she explained. "The salt from the sea drowns and dries the waste, the marsh cleans out the brine, and then the rest is boiled and fed into the fountains for public use."
Yugi blinked, surprised by such a complex system. "Why not use water from the canals?"
It was Rhebekka's turn to grimace.
"The canals are polluted," Timaeus explained, understanding Yugi's logic. "Your Nile is fresh water from the mountains, but your people do not drink from her, yes?"
Yugi shook his head. Palace water and local towns had wells where water was pulled from the ground, fresh and free of the Nile's waste, but it still had to be heated in Ra's purifying light for at least two days in clay pots or stone troughs before it was deemed pure enough to drink. Grinding beer from mead simply took less time.
"Atlantis is the same. The ocean's water is polluted with salt; the marsh with mud. There are waterfalls and streams from the mountains in the west and east, but the capital and south parts of the countries have no such luxury. They have to siphon it from elsewhere."
Yugi nodded, impressed by the technology. "It sounds complicated."
"It is," Rhebekka added. "But it existed since Atlantis was first built and has only improved since." She yawned suddenly, and cracked her spine. "I'm tired. Notify me if there's a bird." She flashed Timaeus a look. "I sent my husband one yester-eve. It should be arriving soon."
Timaeus rolled his eyes. "They can't fly at night, Rhebekka. None will arrive until dawn."
She ignored him. "As soon as it arrives." Then she was gone.
"Stubborn," Timaeus snapped.
Overhead, the sun hung low in the sky; gossamer threads of gold wove through vibrant orange and scarlet before giving way to the deep purples and blues of the coming night. Nut's star-speckled dress cloaked the sky, though the Locrians believed it was in fact a cloak from the dream god Morpheus. Yugi fought down a yawn. Had the day truly ended so quickly?
Timaeus smiled at the cute sound and whistled for Raphael to take his place.
He wrapped his arms around Yugi in a tight embrace once they were alone. "We're almost home, love," he whispered. "Just one more day. Then we'll be in Locri."
Yugi smiled and fought down a blush. His heart hammered in his chest.
Home. The word echoed vibrantly in his mind even as his heart continued to pound. He realized he no longer meant Kemet.
A new home.
In a new place.
With new people.
New rules.
A new culture.
A home and a life he had only a vague inkling of.
His gaze wandered once more to the aquatic world on the other side of the ship: all rivers and waterways, and sea and sky, and round chaotic-like places and buildings. It was so different from Kemet.
Kemet, he felt a wave of homesickness and uncertainty bubble in his belly for. Kemet with its own sea of vast, golden sands, of hard dusty roads and quadrilateral towns, and contrasting worlds of dry, endless sand, and lush green river banks. The two worlds were so different, though both were dependent on their rivers: Kemet was tellurium in its culture and nature; Atlantis and Locri was all lacustrine tors and interstitial rivers. Would it ever feel like home?
A gentle squeeze of his hand reminded him he was not alone.
"What are you thinking?" Timaeus asked, emerald eye shadowed with concern and its pearly twin just as bright.
Yugi couldn't help but smile. Had he been so obvious? Or did Timaeus truly know him so well?
"Just thinking about tomorrow..." He squeezed Timaeus' hand tightly. "And everything."
The embrace came as a surprise, but Yugi welcomed the affection.
"You have nothing to fear, agape mou.My Yugi, I'll be with you."
He placed a soft kiss to Yugi's brow. The boy responded with a bright smile and allowed himself to be carried back to the Great Cabin.
X X X
Timaeus woke to an empty bed the following dawn.
Shocked awake when his outstretched arm reached for the warm flesh of his consort and felt only cold crisp sheets, he shot up and spun around the room. The water closet was empty and Yugi's clothes were gone. Had the boy let him sleep longer? His gaze swept the room, and fell on the window and the darkness outside. Dawn peeped over the black sea in rich red ribbons of color flaked by streaks of gold. Just before dawn. He hadn't overslept.
He rose, dressed quickly, and began the search. It was Rhebekka's turn in the kitchens so he wouldn't be there. Otogi had long since returned to duty and no one else needed medical treatment. The tonics Yugi enjoyed making were well-stocked.
He stepped into the Great Cabin, found it empty of Yugi's presence, but Ryou was there pouring over their maps and making chalets. Rhebekka sat in the corner, untying a message written on tiny paper and tied to the foot of a messenger bird.
"Ryou. Rhebekka," he addressed them separately.
Ryou looked up and flashed a smile. "I believe he's on deck."
"He's at the bow," Rhebekka chimed in without looking, and pinioned the bird's wings with her hands and started for the door.
"Something about wanting to see the sunrise." She stood, patiently waiting for someone to open it.
Timaeus rolled his eyes and let her out.
He found his husband standing on the bow, watching the sunrise and enjoying the view. Dawn had just broken. Pale orange and pink of daybreak meshed with the deep red and purple of the previous night, casting a flaming alpenglow across the horizon. His slender figure of his lover was silhouetted against it all, glowing in the daylight.
He snuck upon him quietly and wrapped his arms about him. With a squeal of surprise, Yugi spun him his arms and half-laughed, half-glared when he saw who it was.
"Couldn't sleep, my love?" he asked.
Yugi frowned. "No, just thinking."
"About what?" Timaeus prodded gently.
Yugi hesitated to answer. The moment suddenly upon him, excitement and apprehension battled for control of his thoughts and feelings like a kaleidoscope of butterflies. Invisible cocoons were hatching into them in his stomach, and he felt every bash and flutter of their desperate wings, but he felt surprisingly light.
He'd grown so used to the steady routine on the ship—to the calm, easy playfulness of it—that the sudden realization that it was all about to change unnerved him. So much had changed and happened already, his and Timaeus' every growing relationship and the relaxed order of The Eye, and it had all fallen into its own ordered universe. And Yugi had fought and found his place in that universe and now, just as with Kemet, it was all about to change once again.
Timaeus had done well to educate him, but there was still so much he didn't understand. Little things, trivial things really, but those trivial things spiraled into much larger, more complex questions that had no answers and swirled into a thick, heavy pit in his belly. It quickly turned sour and Yugi felt himself shake.
"Yugi?" Timaeus felt the change at once and held him tight. "Don't be afraid. If you're uncertain of anything, we can wait until you're—"
Yugi shot up and shook his head. "No, no," he said quickly and pulled away. "It isn't that." Yugi sighed and felt his opposite shoulder for a hand to squeeze.
Timaeus frowned. The clarification did nothing to settle him. Leaning close, he lifted Yugi's chin and rubbed the soft cheek with his thumb. His face was a soft smile. "Then what troubles you, my sweet?"
A cool, calm feeling bloomed and spread throughout Yugi's limbs and he couldn't help but smile back. Timaeus was so close that his warm words whispered across Yugi's face soothed him and made his every nerve tremble in delight.
"It's just…" Yugi paused, struggling to find the right words. "We are almost there—at Locri. And there is still so much I don't know about what it is like and what I'm supposed to do. What if I fail?"
Timaeus looked deep into his amaranthine eyes and fixed him with a fond look before bringing him into his arms. "Is that what you're afraid of?" he chuckled and lifted him up. Yugi yelped and blushed. At this angle, he could look nowhere else but down at Timaeus, memorizing every line and curve of his smile, each sharp angle of his cheek, every inch of adoration and pride beaming in that brilliant emerald eye while its pearlescent twin winked in agreement. What else could he do but blush?
"You will do wonderfully," Timaeus whispered, warm and soft against his cheek. "I've seen you grow from a stubborn, simpering whelp to a strong and passionate Quartermaster who cares for all those in his care like a lioness for her pride." The reference to his old self made him grimace, but the comparison to Sekhmet once again made him blush. Timaeus only chuckled and lowered Yugi into his arms, delighting just how perfectly the little one's soft, pale shape molded against his.
Yugi flushed. "I'll disappoint them. I have not to wear but one silk gown and you're smallest armor. I'll look like a scurry rat."
"Do not speak such things," Timaeus chided and playfully cupped Yugi's rump. "You are beautiful and no force on earth can make you less so."
A smile crept across Yugi's face, and despite himself, his cheeks brightened even more.
"Rest not love, Rhebekka and I will see to your apparel. We'll not have you stumbling into Locri looking anything less than stunning."
Yugi gave a soft laugh at that, but said nothing and looked away.
Timaeus brushed his cheek and lifted his face. Pearl and emerald eyes, warm and loving like the warmth and promise of the rising sun, glazed over him.
"Locri will adore you, just as I do—just as Rhebekka and my men do—and I have no doubt you will come to love them just as you do here. And in time, I hope perhaps you'll come to love Locri as much as you've loved Kemet. And whatever else, never forget..." He leaned in close and for a moment, Yugi thought he was going to kiss him, but instead, he looked deep into Yugi's eyes and promised, "I will be right by your side."
A warm, bright feeling bloomed in Yugi's chest and spread throughout his limbs, filling him with an almost-heartbreaking relief. He could hold back no longer, and hugged Timaeus tight around his neck, smiling like a child. Timaeus returned it affectionately, and set Yugi down, smiling.
"Come, let us feast and I shall explain further." He took Yugi's hand and the younger held it tight.
X X X
They broke their fast on fruits, dried fish, and sweets before the lesson continued. Shifts had been scheduled and posted earlier that morning, and every man was alerted to their daily goals: Timaeus has left specific instructions that The Eye remain in constant motion until she reached home. His and Yugi's own shifts had been specifically chosen to give them time to prepare for the younger's upcoming ceremony, welcoming the return of the Trierarch and the introduction of his new bride.
By the end of it, Yugi quickly realized that—just as Timaeus had promised—he would have an entirely new wardrobe once they arrived in Locri. He would need, he learned, a separate collection for everything: decorative ceremonial attire for festivals, ceremonies, balls, and entertaining; as well as another, plainer, set for daily chores and duties; leggings and cloaks for travel outside the manor; and even a different outfit for his nursing duties. There would be separate top and bottoms and dresses, brocades and cottons, leggings and cloaks, nightwear and small clothes—all of which there would be two sets: one for warmer and one for colder seasons. Colors and fabrics would be fashioned for the corresponding occasion. Embroideries would come later.
Shoes also fell into this category. Unlike Kemet, where he only had his daily oxen sandals and a separate pair for ceremonial occasions, his Magistrate position requires separate pairs for indoor and outdoor chores, relaxing indoors, traveling outside the manor, pleasing his husband, dancing, festival attendance, and political meetings. A wardrobe such as this was befitting his status—and larger and more diverse than any he recalled having as an heir in Kemet.
Most important and bewildering would be the inclusion of sleeves. Particularly long-sleeves.
"Sleeves?" Yugi asked, perplexed by the concept.
"They are a status symbol," Timaeus explained with a patient smile. Doubtless the concept was foreign to one from a hot climate, where such features were rare. "The higher one's rank, the longer their sleeves are." He gestured to his own armor as an example. "As Magistrate, yours would reach your wrists, or perhaps even drape as far as your knuckles or even cover your hands."
Yugi looked at his wrists and their coverings. "That sounds impractical."
"Which is why you will have different styles for each duty." He set down his utensils and wove his fingers together. "Your normal attire will feature the solid style common to my fashion, but your ceremonial dress will require more decorative sleeves." He tried to illustrate the style with his hands. "These will be separate from your actual attire to drape your shoulders, tied and adjusted with ribbons depending on the occasion and who is attending."
Yugi tried to imagine it, but only managed to confuse himself further. He looked at his own attire again.
"Is that why this one is long-sleeved?" Yugi asked, gesturing to the silk top's bell-like sleeves falling to his slim wrist.
Timaeus nodded. "Be proud of them. They mark your status as the highest-possible. Do not forget that rank, my love." Something beamed in his eyes. Pride. Admiration. Perhaps both.
Yugi smiled, agreeing. Then a thought occurred to him.
"What about the King?" Yugi questioned. Had they touched the subject of royal attire? "Each time I saw you in the presence of the King, your garb had long sleeves?" He finished his cabbage and moved on to the dried pomegranate seeds.
"Well," Timaeus chuckled, pausing only to wipe soup from his chin. He rested his chin in his palm before continuing, his smile wicked with delight. "There are exceptions to every rule, love. In this instance, I was in my armor, and if you will recall, I was also wearing my gauntlets." He held his free hand up for inspection. "Thus, you could not tell the length of my sleeves at all. It is the custom for soldiers, need we forget our place beneath the King."
"I see," Yugi lowered his lashes, suddenly feeling seductive. He shifted his chair slightly, and slid his body closer so his fingers brushed Timaeus' arm. "And what is my place?" Yugi teased.
Carnal instincts setting his blood on fire, Timaeus snatched Yugi's wrist. Momentarily paralyzing Yugi, until his lips curled into a smile, waiting for a reaction. A little tug was all he needed and Yugi would be in his arms, and a little push and his back would be against the table, and if he leaned a little closer his lips would be on Yugi's—
Timaeus stopped before his thoughts went any further. Gods, what this little imp did to him without him even realizing.
"Your place," he leaned closer, eyes blazing and voice low and sultry, "is at my side: as my Magistrate. My Consort, my Lover, and all that it implies."
Flashing a smirk that matched his own, Yugi wasted no more time and kissed him, drowning almost instantly in the rich, pungent taste of salt and sea and spice that was Timaeus. The rush that went through him when Timaeus kissed him back was like a gale of storms, filling him with air and then stealing it from him in an instant. He felt breathless and dazed. Like his very spirit had been awaken and stolen with a single spell. Yugi's eyes fluttered closed and he wondered what it would be like to feel this way all the time.
Timaeus did not hesitate and pulled Yugi into his arms, deepening it with twice as much fervor. Yugi tasted like spices and sweetness—of the excitement of the desert and the joyful promise of rain. Yugi did not resist and only pulled him closer, almost wishing Timaeus would push him up against something so his legs would feel less unstable. He got his wish when he felt his back hit the table, and Timaeus' arm wrapped around his waist. Yugi's arms tightened around him, and he felt that familiar carnal flame return, like an all-consuming desire—to taste, to touch, to feel. To touch, taste, and feel Yugi. As his hands roamed and his fingers tightened over soft flesh and smooth silks, he wondered if this was how a lioness felt when she first tasted blood.
They pulled away only for a second before kissing again. Timaeus kissed him with so much ferocity that when Yugi felt his back hit the wood of the table, he surrendered with a laugh of triumph. Yugi was not shy either, Timaeus realized, smirking into their kiss. No timid maid was his beautiful bride. So bold and beautiful and his. Only his, he realized with a swell of pride. Only he would see Yugi like this, touch Yugi like this, make him feel the things he felt now—only he and no one else.
Yugi opened his eyes when Timaeus pulled his lips away; met with blazing dark eyes that glowed wild like embers, skin flushed with carnal heat, and a curled smirk revealing what Yugi could've easily mistaken for fangs. Yugi nearly gasped with pride. He recognized the fire burning in those eyes. He'd seen in it those fleeting moments they were together when Timaeus' mask would slip. When all his masks would slip, leaving nothing but the uninhibited, passionate, and fiercely wild man that lay beneath. He was not a man. Not a knight, not a dragon. No, he was just Timaeus. And he was all his. That fact, that Timaeus would never give himself to anyone but him—that only Yugi could and would bring this version of him to the surface—made him feel light and strong and powerful.
To hell with anyone else, this was what he wanted. What he needed.
Timaeus pulled away, voice low and eyes clouded with a lust Yugi has never seen before. "What have you done to me?" He could not tell if it was rhetoric or serious.
Yugi's answer was a deliberate smile. He pushed himself up, sitting on the table, and at this angle, their heights matched. He took the man's collar in his hands and met his gaze with eyes just as dark and just as blazing. "I could ask you the same thing."
Timaeus only smiled. "Fret not, love. We shall be in Locri soon."
Yugi understood at once what he meant: the realization both terrifying and exhilarating and the urge to throw caution to the wind was strong—as was the overwhelming torturous wait counting down the moments.
As if sensing his nervousness in the way he always did, Timaeus chuckled, wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist, and pulled him closer. His eyes burned with lust and love. Leaning to place a gentle kiss on Yugi's lips, just close enough for the younger to decide its direction.
Yugi would never get the chance to decide.
The door swung open. The force so great it recoiled with a loud bang. Both men jumped and spun. The moment was lost. Timaeus whirled on the interloper, standing by the door, hair and eyes wild. A piece of parchment crumpled in her hand.
"Rhebekka!? What the abyss has—"
"She knows, Timaeus," Rhebekka hissed, cutting off any uncertainty.
Timaeus froze in an instant. Yugi blinked, his still mind recovering from the daze, as well as the sudden waking—head spinning to make sense of who she was.
"And she has for almost a week!" Rhebekka warned, words low and furious. Her fingers writhed at the sides. She revealed the crumpled paper and dropped it on the table.
"Someone told her... She knows!" The girl swallows a shriek and wove her hands through her tied-up hair.
Timaeus was unsure whether to be terrified or furious. Exploding a breath halfway between a whine and a growl, he pressed a curled thumb and forefinger to his temple and demanded, "Who was it?" He didn't need to elaborate further.
Rhebekka said nothing but her nose scrunched. The disappointed frown spoke of her ignorance.
"It was Critias." A small voice alerted them like battle fire, and they spun to its source.
Yugi stood by the doorway, his expression neutral. "You're talking about the Princess, correct? Christina? She was your lover once." It wasn't a question.
A pain etched in Timaeus' chest, wondering how Yugi had known and imagining what he must've thought of his reaction to his former lover finding out about his wife.
Yugi only gave him a comforting smile. "I assume, out of respect to your past friendship, you wanted to tell Princess Christina about me in person, but now, that is no longer an option. If someone told her, it was Critias." He spoke with a darkness to his tone.
The worst part was that Timaeus knew he was right.
Just when you thought it was aafe...
Any guesses on hwere this is gonna go? lol
Anyway, the canal used to turn the ships with the river canals and aqueeducts were loosely based on the panama canal, and the pictures and images found in the city in Aaron Berke's Jurney and Quest series (which is JUST how i envisions locri but moe low-land based) I had so much fun designing Atlantis, and its inner rings!
Just wait until you all see Locri with tis rivers and mountains! I'm gonna have so much with this story from here on out, using this new environment! I hope you're all as excited as I am.
And rest assured Timaeus' former lover will not be the cliched stereotype nototiorus in romance novels-though she won't exactly be pleasant she has her reasons and...well i won't say anything else. Can't give away too many spoilers.
I'll do my best tp keep to my two=week bi=weekly updates but as of now i make no promises (the holidays are crazy) so for noww expect an update anywhere between December 18th and December 23rd. I WILL get at least one up before the holidays
Next Time: The Eye of Timaeus arrived in Locri. The city is alive with excitement as their Magistrate returns, and eagerness to meet and greet his new pride, and on the jerry docks an uninvited guest makes her appearance and the balance of power is about to shift...can Yugi survive his first day in Locri?
As always read, reply, critique, post theories, ask questions and go nuts! Flames must have a reason and critiques are encouraged!