Jail was quietly working on his project right now as he nursed many bruises and the like over his jawline and his Numbers weren't doing any better either. Everything has gone downhill for him ever since Shocker sent one of the member of the Dark Six to watch after him. He gritted his teeth in anger. 'How dare that worthless parasite harmed someone of his status and ruined his flawless visage!' Jail thought angrily to himself as continued to check various calculations and formulas for the project.
Though he knew full well that in comparison to someone of the Dark Six's rank, his title as the Head Scientist of Shocker meant nothing to beings on par with the Dark Six. They were all monsters who proved themselves to be the best of the best at what they do and none of them were to be underestimated. In short, they were all monsters at the top of their game.
Gryllus Worm, the one sent to watch over him was special, not because that Worm was the strongest in terms of physical capabilities. Gryllus was the only capable of copying even magic styles and the like without any consequences. Something that Gryllus used to devastating effect in all of the operations that the Worm has ever elected or been selected to take part in most of the time.
RAGE Dopant was a being of unparalleled power and manipulation over heat. Much like how the human body heats itself up to deal with viruses and the like and how humans stop thinking clearly. Rage has the ability to casually bring about heat on par with the temperature of the sun given enough time and the willingness to take the risk to do so.
The Fangire known as Shocking Fury of the Endless Night is another such being that has the properties of an Eel. Unlike some though this one got exposed to rather dangerous and volatile chemicals that mutated the Fangire even further, allowing it to gain the ability to manipulate electricity to a certain extent and even become a natural conductor for lightning as well.
False Agito can said to be the true and current Ruler of the Mirror World but due to some interference from the likes of Riders. False Agito's influence has been limited but that did not mean that he was weakened in the least, instead he used this option to find and kill the strongest of Mirror Monster and added their essence to his own to make himself stronger and tougher.
The Devil Phantom. Now that was certainly a very interesting case, that one was actually born from an exceptionally powerful Mage out here in the galaxy and now that Phantom's might is very well known, especially to someone like him. As he always wondered if gaining a Phantom or becoming one might make a Mage stronger than ever before. And much to his interest, the Phantom in question have proven to be much more powerful, for what reasons why, he did not know. But it is now rather interesting to know that theory has been proven true for now.
And the last one always made his face turned into a scowl, the Roidmude made by Dr. Banno always infuriated him to no end. The man made a mechanical life form that was far superior to anything that he could ever make with his two hands. While he improved, and made the Numbers as strong as they are, they were still no match for an evolved Roidmude.
Roidmude # 13 or Strength as he was known was a devastatingly powerful being that was able to obtain the Super Evolution inherent within all Roidmude. And it absolutely infuriated him that even their potential made anything he could ever hope to make or see in his Numbers look redundant and therefore utterly unnecessary to do anything that Shocker needs power for. That one was the only that could make him seethe just by even thinking about that machine's existence. So easily as such in his head.
Ignoring the Dark Six for the time being, he checked up on his project and he smirked knowingly, as the key matures even further and soon it would be time for the key to serve its purpose in giving Shocker the power that they deserve to wield without any consequences. All they need is a few more months, which mainly consisted of growing the key to the appropriate age and then doing all the necessary brainwashing on the key so the key would never betray them or leave them.
Then his smirk disappeared when the Gryllus Worm entered the room in one of its many disguises that it had picked up over the years. The Dark Six member walked over to him and shoved a messaging board into his hands and the Worm's glare told him to get to working on staying in contact with Shocker now or suffer the consequences for failing them now.
Grudgingly, he then turned his eyes away from his work and seethed underneath as he started writing down all the relevant information there is to know about the project and what advancements he has made in other fields of their research and the projected date for when the key will finally be ready for their glorious organization to use soon enough.
Then once he was done the Gryllus Worm then walked away from him back to the exit, and as soon as the Worm left he started to release the breath of air that he was holding, as did his other Numbers. Prideful he may be at times, but he was not stupid enough to get on the bad side of one of the member of the Dark Six. That was practically a death sentence for anyone stupid enough to try.
As the doctor went back to his work on the project, he failed to notice that the Key he was working on opened its eyes and the Key's first thoughts were. 'Where am I?' A tool that somehow gained sentience would have been a call for concern if the doctor was not so scared and as focused on his work right now.
"Let us all give congratulations to Subaru and Teana for finally passing their Mage promotion exams and finally becoming B Class Mages and officially joined Riot Force Six as our new Forwards!" Hayate shouted rather cheerfully as she raised her cup, as did everyone there in the group did and then toasted their cups to the two Mages in question. One was blushing red in embarrassment and could not look up and the other was smiling quite widely right now.
"KAMPAI!" Everybody shouted as they clinked their glasses together and started drinking away. That was when the celebration for Teana and Subaru began in earnest and everyone was having a rather good time. It was a fun time for everyone as both Subaru and Teana were talking earnest about their new promotions and finally getting to be part of Riot Force Six as their Forwards.
"Still, I can believe we actually made it now, Teana!" Subaru said rather cheerfully as she devoured a whole chicken leg.
"…A bit difficult but not that hard once you thought about all that we had done to improve ourselves to reach the point we had." Teana said calmly but was smirking a bit as she took another sip from her cup of Grape Juice.
"I know! Right? We are still young and we are just going to keep getting stronger and stronger, so long as we train and do our parts right as Forwards our potential is limitless!" Subaru shouted and said with a smirk on her face.
"…I suppose so, but do remember that there is always a bigger fish out there in the sea, so that also means we have to be cautious as well, Subaru." Teana pointed out as she then started eating the plate of fried rice on her person.
Subaru just pouted childishly at her. "You're no fun Teana." She childishly declared. "Even after Yu went out of his way to remove that unbearably huge stick out of your surprisingly smooth butt!" She finished.
Her words caused Teana to choke up and started coughing a bit and causing her to turn bright red. "Why are you even speaking about my ass you perverted woman!" Teana shouted at Subaru as Subaru looked at her with indifference.
Then Subaru smiled like a dope. "Because your ass is quite smooth Teana and surprisingly perfectly proportioned as well." She said casually, ignoring the fact that some of the other guests were blushing or listening closely now. "And I would know, cause after all I did feel it up." She finished.
"…You what?" Teana croaked out in flat surprise. "When did you even have the chance to even think about going near my rear end you pervert!" She shouted soon after.
Subaru put her right hand underneath her chin. "Ah!" She shouted. "It would be during our usual bath times in the public place!" Then Subaru gained a teasing grin on her face. "And don't tell me you don't do it to me either, you always were jealous of my chest you know, Teana?"
As Subaru continued to keep on teasing, Teana was shaking from a mixture of both anger and embarrassment. Her eyes gained a red shine before she lunged at Subaru, Teana's added weight caused Subaru to fell over and soon shouts could be heard from where they fell as most started to gather around and started cheering on for a good catfight. Judging from the sounds so far, it seems Teana was winning.
On the side both Erio and Cara were interacting perfectly fine before Teana and Subaru decided to get really violent and when they both saw the two teenage girls fighting. Cara's response was to give a worried glance, while Erio just rolled his eyes a bit at how immature both Subaru and Teana were acting.
"Do you think we should be doing something to stop the fight Erio?" Caro asked in concern and winced as she saw that the two girls were now pulling hair.
Erio shrugged. "Not really, if it was something to be worried about or if they start pulling out magic. I'm pretty sure that Hayate, Nanoha, Fate, Yu, or one of the Cloud Knights would have stopped it." He said pointing to the group.
When Caro turned, what she saw caused her to sweatdrop a bit. Hayate was currently taking bets right now, Nanoha was criticizing their movements, Fate was not even paying attention as both she and Yu were talking rather comfortably as she was sitting on his lap and Yu's arms wrapped around her waist, most of the Cloud Knights were indifferent and Signum was talking fondly to Kenzaki, who was invited by Signum to 'live a bit more.'
"…I guess." Caro said a bit hesitantly before turning her attention back to Erio now. "So, what are Yu and Fate like?" She asked causing Erio to blink and look at her. "I mean you have known them longer than I have, right?" She said rather sheepishly.
"…" Erio was silent before sighing and then he started to talk. "Well both Fate and Yu are rather hardworking people." He started off, before he gained a brief smile on his face. "Fate…was like the mother that I never had. Always so warm and kind that I felt perfectly natural around them." Then he grinned a bit now. "Yu on the other hand was a bit distant but he always cared for me in his own unique way that seems to be something out of an overprotective parent." Erio said as Caro listened intently. "Yu, well he always encouraged me to be more of a man to do what I need to do and follow my own code of honor that I believe in." Erio said as he continued speaking about both Fate and Yu and Caro listened to every last word that he said.
Meanwhile with said duo by another side.
"So…you are just going to let them fight it out like that Yu?" Fate asked a bit hesitantly. "The amount of damage that Teana and Subaru could incur could be costly." She said calmly.
Yu just shrugged. "Hey, if they are not using magic and they are just brawling it out then it is perfectly okay in my books if they wish to duke it out like any teenage brat dealing with puberty." He bluntly said as he went back to his bowl of rice noodles.
Fate just sweatdrop at how nonchalant Yu was taking it with the way that Subaru and Teana were acting. "But Yu, they are supposed to be our fine Forwards for Riot Force Six. What does it say about us if we allow them to duke it out like children and we did not bother to stop this behavior?" She asked as she took another sip of fruit punch.
Yu looked at Fate as she finally got off her lap and started to sit down on a chair and he was thinking for a bit before he bumped his hands. "Ah…think it says to the other members of the TSAB that we are not a standard unit and that we are close enough to simply be able to act like this." He said calmly, then he pointed to Hayate all of a sudden. "Besides. Do you really want to get in her way when she's trying to have fun with the situation right now?"
Fate shivered at that as she quickly shook her head, the last time she tried to stop Hayate when she was having fun. She ended up before forced to wear a Victorian era dress that were way to snug in certain places and ended up having her pictures taken by Hayate and to her shame, got posted online and became quite popular and ended gaining over sever hundred million views.
Of courses to make her feel better about it and not as embarrassed. Yu took it upon himself to dress up as a very high class gentleman that seemed to be in a relationship with her and this time more people were disappointed that she was already taken. Then their popularity exploded as many people found them being together to be quite adorable and a wonderful pairing to do then.
"I rather not go through whatever social embarrassment that Hayate has planned for me again Yu." Fate said rather calmly, though there was a strong sense of urgency as well. "I don't think it would be good for my sanity if I continued to go through such a thing." She said as she took a big gulp this time to calm her nerves down.
Yu just shrugged again. "At least you weren't the one that could not resist her puppy dog eyes and could not stand it and decide to dress up in whatever outfit she wants you too whenever she feels like it." Yu commented rather blithely, fully used to whatever whims that Hayate has for him and has long reached past the point of caring. "I mean did you see me dressed up as one of the Pillar Man from JoJo's Bizarre Adventures?" He asked jokingly.
Only to stop smiling when he saw Fate blushing bright red. "You…did look…quite impressive…in only a loincloth and a rather…fabulous headdress." She muttered offhand as she remembered the day that she and Nanoha came into their house after a break day only to see Yu shining like a gem as he was left in almost his birthday suit and he crossed his arms on the back of his head. It was so dazzling of a sight that she and Nanoha suffered instant nosebleeds and collapsed on the floor with very happy grins on their faces all the meanwhile as Hayate took pictures of their knocked-out expressions.
Yu just sighed knowing that she was off in whatever fantasy she was in, so he did the one thing that he only does in private with her but at this party was too loud and focused on the catfight that he could do whatever he needs to do. He then reached down and kissed her gently on the cheeks.
Fate quickly reacted as she turned her head so fast that Yu would not be surprised to hear a whiplash and her eyes went wide and she soon started to blush a bit more and looked down a bit. "Yu…that's not fair of you to do at all." She pouted a bit as she leaned onto me still.
I smiled a bit at that. "May not be." I admitted. "But it certainly gets the job done doesn't it Fate?" I whispered straight into her ears as a layer of pink started to fall onto her skin as she pouted at me one more time and turned her attention away from me. Despite that action, I could still see her lips a bit upturned at the end and she leaned onto me a little bit closer after that.
I smiled deeply at that action. Though I may never say it, but I have long past the point of simply caring for Fate and Nanoha as simply the best of friends. Truth is, I simply loved them, but…I am simply too gutless to admit it. Not to mention how could I ever admit to loving two women at the same time? It…wouldn't be fair to either of them. It's simply just me filling out my own desires and the like and I am not that kind of man to simply want both of them for my lust…no matter what Valkyrie had to say on the matter that I should 'claim both of my shield maidens like an aggressive alpha male.'
He may have been many things, a Rider, a brother of two foster sisters of sorts, a TSAB leader working as one of the straight subordinates to the Grand Marshal, a man of pride and honor at times, short tempered when pushed, and a self-sacrificing fool. But he had his own pride and code to follow.
Hayate, was not actually just paying attention to the catfight and the possible money that she could make off their massive fight. She was also subtly paying attention to what Fate and Yu were doing and it seems that Nanoha was as well, if judging by her annoyed look when she saw Yu kissed Fate on the cheeks meant anything at all in the least.
'Seems that there is more to their relationship than simply being fire forged friends.' Hayate thought as she watched in amusement as Teana then got Subaru into a choke hold and started to pin her down like a professional wrestler. 'Oh, I think I am going to go home with a full purse tonight if this still goes on.' Hayate thought in amusement as Subaru started to turn blue now.
'But still though.' Hayate continued to think to herself as she then saw Nanoha got up and started sitting to the other side of Yu and started leaning on him as well. 'I know for a fact that those three actually care for each other very much, but Nanoha is rather dense, Fate is rather shy about it, and Yu is more than disgusted himself with having feelings for two different women at the same time.' She thought in frustration.
At the rate, they were going at they were going to be stuck at the Best Friends Forever stage and she can't afford to let it end like this. Not only would none of them be happy but that would mean she would be losing a huge chunk of cash from betting on it being a three-way relationship. And she staked a nice chunk of cash onto them all being in a relationship with each other.
Of course, that said the other betters included all of her Cloud knights and Reinforcement, Yu's parents, Alicia, Yuuno, Chrono, Amy, Lindy, Nitoh, the Grand Marshal, about fifteen of the past Riders, the Enforcers from Lindy's ship, Mr. Kougami, Alf, Suzaku, Alisa, Momoko, Shiro, Kyouya, and Miyuki all had a stake in it. Last, she checked, the value of the money was enough to let any one of them be set for life and not have to work anymore. Which is why she really want to win it.
Imagine all the possible costumes and outfits she could make with that much dough! She would truly earn the title of Goddess of Cosplay with that much cash. Already in the annual cosplay summit she already earned the nickname of Mistress of Cosplay and this was her plan to ascend into Godhood! She will not be denied her money or her rightful title due to relationship troubles!
Yes, yes, she knows she sounds greedy, but come on! This was the best love story that she'd seen in real life discounting the current romance that Signum had with Blade right about now! A story about the legacy of two famous heroes who would one day become friends with a very special girl who managed to awaken her own latent powers and soon met another girl who suffers from a dark and tragic past and the legacy of heroes fought for not one but for the sake of both girls. It sounds so romantic!
Even Blade's romance with Signum just made her squeal! A woman who could be considered to be an artificial being, stained with the blood of an unknown number of mages who could no longer age and find happiness save for serving her master. Then meets a Rider who gave up his humanity for the sake of his comrade so he too, can live a peaceful life and is now damned to live forever as well. Forsaking all bonds and relationships so the ones he cares about will never see him stay young forever. Now after meeting each other in battle, they soon became rivals, then friends, then comrades, to becoming lovers soon after. It's just so beautiful that it made her almost squeal loudly!
'Now, how to cash in on that huge gold pot and to get those three to admit their feelings for each other.' Hayate thought in intense concentration as she became visibly happy when she won the bet that she set up and started collecting on all the bets made then. 'Wait a minute, how did they do it in that clichéd romance movie the last time?' She thought as a light bulb went off in her head causing her to smile a lot on the inside as she finally came to her answer.
All she need to do now was to wait for most people to leave then she can exact her plan to get all three of them hooked up before they know it and she will be much richer by the end of this week, just need to wait for the time being is all that's required.
"I must say, that was a rather violent end to some rather peaceful celebration there." Nanoha stated as she took off her coat and Yu and Fate followed her action as well. Both of them nodded as well, with Yu taking the time to roll his eyes at what happened.
"Well what did you expect, Nanoha?" Yu asked bluntly. "Apparently, Teana did not take being perved on at all by Subaru and you didn't even have the decency to stop the fight from escalating but rather you took the chance to criticize all the moves that those two rookies made when they were wrestling each other." He said as Nanoha went a bit red at that.
"But you didn't bother doing anything at all either!" Nanoha shouted as she pointed her finger at Yu. "You could have easily stepped in and stop them from fighting much more easily than I could have." She said while still pointing her finger at Yu right now.
"True." Yu admitted as Nanoha smiled victoriously as she finally got one over Yu this time. "If, I were their instructor and mentor, which I am not." He pointed out. "Secondly weren't you the one to ask me to stay out of whatever plans you had to push Subaru and Teana to their max potential either?" He asked calmly as he examined the bottle of sake that Hayate gifted him before he, Fate, and Nanoha left the party.
Nanoha tried to find something to say but her own words were used against her and she slumped on the floor in depression now. All the meanwhile Fate was finding the situation rather funny in her personal opinion, before she noted the bottle of sake that Yu carried in his hands. Which was strange, as Yu was not at all a drinker and found it to be a waste of money and the like.
"By the way Yu." Fate started to speak up and grabbing both Yu's and Nanoha's attention which made her shrink a bit but she continued on. "Why is it that you have a bottle of sake on you right now?"
Now that Nanoha was paying attention to where Fate was pointing to, she was curious about that actually. "Yeah Yu, why do you have a bottle of sake on you?" She asked politely to him. "I mean wasn't it you who said that spending any of our money on alcohol to be a complete waste?" Then she got a teasing look on her face. "Or did something happen to make you reconsider changing something in that rather hard head of yours Yu?" She all but purred out the last of what she said to him.
Yu's reactions were to roll his eyes at Nanoha while Fate just giggled and blushed at how silly Nanoha was acting. "Of course, not Nanoha, this was actually a gift from Hayate for helping her lay the foundation to Riot Force Six all those months ago, you know?" He explained before looking at the bottle weirdly. "Though for the life of me, I cannot understand why she decided to thank me with a bottle of sake." He said in confusion while rubbing his head.
Nanoha then took a closer look at it and soon she gasped in surprise with eyes widened in shock. "Yu!" She breathed out to him, making him look in confusion. "That's not an ordinary bottle of sake that you could buy anywhere, that is actually something you might see in a collector's set!" She exclaimed causing both Yu and Fate to start paying more attention to her.
"So, what's so special about this particular bottle of sake Nanoha?" Yu asked then before he shook the bottle around a bit causing Nanoha to whimper a bit at how carelessly he's treating the bottle, that was a rather special brand of sake rarely seen in the world actually!"
"Yu." Nanoha began. "What you're holding is a bottle of Hibiki 35 Years Old." She finally breathed out first. "There were said to have been only about 150 of the bottles made worldwide and their price can easily reach over $22,000 back home Yu." She explained as now Yu was looking absolutely shocked at the blue bottle he was now holding in his hands like it was a live explosive.
"I think the main question that is on our mind is how on earth did Hayate get her hands on a bottle of this kind of sake." Fate pointed out to which both Nanoha and Yu nodded in agreement. "That kind of brand and the age it holds means that the bottle should not at all be easy to acquire."
There was nothing but silence as the trio tried to think of a rational way that she could have obtained this rather special brand of sake but none of them could come up with any explanation for how on earth could Hayate possibly obtain a bottle of sake like this.
"…Best not to think about it?" Yu asked as the other two quickly nodded in agreement with him about that. "So, I guess this means selling the bottle is out of the question then I guess?" He muttered uncertainly about this rather expensive brand of sake that he was currently holding.
Then Nanoha started to twitch a bit in her eyes as she went straight up to Yu and got right in his face. "OF COURSE, NOT YU! THAT'S THE KIND OF BOTTLE THAT HAYATE WENT OUT OF HER WAY TO GET FOR YOU! SOMETHING LIKE THAT SHOULD BE DRANK EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A DRINKER!" She yelled all the meanwhile poking him harder and harder on his chest then.
Yu then groaned a bit as he managed to push Nanoha away while messing with his ears right now. "Okay, okay, I got it Nanoha. You really did not have to yell that loudly in my ears you know." He said with a deadpan causing Nanoha to gasp and looked to the side and started blushing in embarrassment soon enough.
"So, do you think we should drink it then you two?" Fate spoke up and asked another question that had a good point. As both Nanoha and Yu got contemplative glances at the bottle.
"Well…to be fair we have the day off tomorrow." Yu started.
"So, we would have more than enough time to recover by then." Nanoha then spoke up.
"And since we are technically in that celebrating mood for Subaru and Teana, it would not be a bad idea to toast them only with alcohol this time." Yu stated.
"In other words, we got nothing to lose!" Nanoha said rather cheerfully as she popped the cork on the bottle and Yu got pout three cups as both Nanoha and Fate grabbed one then started pouring themselves a cup to drink.
"Well then." Yu said. "Bottom's up." He said as they clang their cups and drank it down fast.
You see while this may have been a normal thing to do, the problem was Hayate had acquired this bottle and with Rein's help she was able to increase the alcohol content so that it could possibly knock out an elephant for whatever purpose she needed. Or in this case some rather powerful Mages, while their magic could process this so they never get liver poisoning. The amount of alcohol still in their system would have made all them act funny and less inhibited.
And for the rest of the night their neighbors would fail to get any decent amount of sleep as the trio's actions made them groan in annoyance and blush when the loud shouting started to become moans and some were actually impressed by how long the vast majority of them went. It was only until three in the morning that they finally finished and their neighbors could finally get some rest. Thankfully for the trio, their neighbors would never figure it out who it was.
Yu moaned and started to move around as he tried to blink out the dark spots in his eyesight when the sun started to shine in his room and the warm bodies started to hug him a bit too tightly.
Then he blinked in confusion. 'Warm bodies? Massive headaches? …no clothes on?' he thought to himself as he looked down and currently in their birthday suits were Nanoha and Fate sleeping rather soundly as they wrapped their arms around his waist.
"…"
Yu then decided to looked down to make sure that they actually did the stunt as he lifted the covers and took a sniff and got right back up. Ah yep, they certainly did the dirty last night for sure.
When Yu lifted the cover at the time the sudden chill caused Nanoha and Fate to start waking up before they both froze when they saw each other and without any clothes and then both noticed that Yu was up and currently sitting in the bed with his eyebrows raised and calmly looking at them.
Fate started to turn blood red as did Nanoha and then they looked underneath and a few hints here and there confirmed that they did in fact sleep with each other last night.
"Eek!" Fate choked out as she tried to get out the bed, key word being tried as Yu kept her from leaving as Nanoha was unsure of what to do right now. As Fate struggled more and more to get out she was suddenly pulled back in to Yu's warm embrace.
"Shh, Fate don't worry never forget that I am here for you and no matter what happens from this point on I will always care for you." Yu said comfortingly as Fate started to calm down and was a little bit sad when Yu let go and did the same for Nanoha who could only smile gratefully at him.
After a while Fate was the one to spoke up. "I suppose we should be talking this over like the calm rational adults that we are then?" She asked as both nodded in answer to her question.
"Yes…we have a lot to discuss." Yu said though he looked down a bit as the memories of what happened last night started to rush through his head and he admit it, he was a damned pig the way he was.
Only to be knocked out of his shame as both Nanoha and Fate embraced him in a hug. "Don't worry Yu, we'll figure this out." Nanoha promised.
"You've been there for us so many times, that the least we could do is be there for you." Fate spoke kindly to him.
Yu was stunned by this before he smiled then before nervously asking them. "I suppose since I lost my credibility as a gentleman it would not be bad if I admitted that I loved the both of you now did it?" Then flinched as he said it but unknown to him both Nanoha and Fate were smiling brightly.
"That is no issue at all Yu." Fate started grabbing his attention.
"Because you see." Nanoha then said.
"you weren't the only one." Fate spoke.
"That loved two people as well." Nanoha smiled at him.
"You could say." Fate then said.
"That we know what you're feeling as well." Nanoha then smiled brightly at the end of that.
Then the two girls leaned forwards and kissed each other on the lips as Yu was blinking at the sigh then they disengaged as Nanoha had a gentle kiss with Yu on his lips as he was blinking rather quickly now. Then Fate came in and Yu could have sworn he got tongue there as well.
By the end of it all Yu's brain finally caught up with him and the only thing that he could have said was. "It seems that we have a lot to talk about now, don't we girls?" He questioned as the both of them nodded in reply to that.
Yu then laughed. "Well then let's get dressed and get some coffee then, I rather not speak about such important topics without any clothes now." As the trio got started on putting on some clothes and the like. But they took their time, there was no need to rush now, they had the time that they needed to discuss.