Journal 16
Disclaimer: I don't own
Talk-normal
Talk-3
"Talk"- 3 talking
Warnings for 3's temper and language
Boss Mabel
"So the point is to spin the wheel and get money?" 3 asked as she, Dipper, Mabel, Stan and Waddles watching Cash Wheel TV Announcer
'Ladies and gentlemen, we now return to Cash Wheel! Sponsored by Chipackerz, the chip flavored crackers!' A commercial declared.
"But they taste just like chips!" Mabel said amazed as she and Waddles ate said snack. A contestant spun a 'cash shower' and started punching the other contestants when they tried to take his money.
"I like that guy's style." Stan said, offhandedly.
"Mr. Pines! We got tourists at 9 o'clock! A whole busload of them!" Soos yelled, running into the den.
"Why do they even come to this tourist trap anyway?" 3 asked Dipper who shrugged.
Stan looked out the window and ordered, "Hot tamales, it's a jackpot! Soos! Make some new attractions!"
"You got it, boss!" Soos said as he glues a wolf head onto a chicken's neck.
Stan turned to 3 and said, "Look alive, Polaris! This is your first tourist bus! Don't mess up!"
"Very well."
"Wendy! Mark up those prices! The higher the better! Higher! Bleed them dry!" Wendy made a $2 snow globe to $200.
"Who would pay that much for a poorly made snow globe?"
"Esh, Grunkle Stan. It's like when you see tourists, all you see are wallets with legs." Dipper said, looking at the prices.
"That's not true." He said looking out and grinning, even when one guy threw up. He rubbed his eyes and yelled, "Clean-up on the front lawn!"
Dipper just sighed and grabbed a bucket and went outside with 3 jogging after him.
"We can just cover it with dirt and leaves and call it a day."
3 was blushing, if she could see her face, she would say that her cheeks were now neon red. Stan had forced Dipper into a wolf-boy costume to dance for the tourists. 3 silently cursed Mabel and Sunset for introducing 3 to the concept of wolf men to her.
"Curse this body's teenaged hormones."
"Be astounded at the horrible, pre-teen wolf boy!" Stan called out theatrically and pulled the curtain to reveal the tourists he was fleecing.
"Oh! Oh, look at him! All that hair! His body's changing, ah!"
"Grunkle Stan, this is demeaning." Dipper pleaded, taking out the fake teeth. 3 couldn't come to his defense as she was turning her anywhere but Dipper and was focusing on being a living statue that would move mechanically and grab anyone near her.
"What? I don't know "da meaning" of that word!" Stan joked. "If you throw money at him, he dances."
The tourists cheered and begin to throw their money at Dipper, and he makes an attempt to dance. Stan catches money with a jar.
"Ha ha ha! Ooh! Thank you!"
One man got into her range and started to move stiffly.
"Ah look! Be amazed at the only living statue. That red flush means it will soon do the robot!" 3 grimaced and dance to the enjoyment of the tourists and Stan's greed.
Finally the tourists left, Dipper and 3, walked back to the gift shop to see Mabel and Stan arguing. Mabel stuck stickers on Stan's face who stuck them on the register and Soos, who was passing by.
"I thought Stan liked Mabel."
"Yeah that's weird." Dipper walked up to Stan and complained. "Grunkle Stan, why do I have to wear this wolf costume? I think I'm getting hookworm."
Stan laughed, "Yep. Gluing dog hair to your body will do that."
"I think my skin is suffocating." 3 said, scratching the silver paint on her skin.
"You've got all these dumb, fake exhibits in the Shack. Meanwhile, I've seen actual, amazing things in the forest every day! What if you hunted down a real attraction instead of lying to people for a living?"
"And you should be nicer to your employees, too!"
"Did that attraction just blink?"
The Pines family glanced at 3 who was staring down a new exhibit called "The Cheapskate." Stan got nervous and waved 3 away. "Don't mind that Polaris! Anyway." He turned to the twins and said, "Look, you guys got a problem with how I run the Shack; take it up with the complaints department. Zing!" He held up a garbage bin, laughing.
"I am going to write them such a letter!" Mabel starts writing her letter, and quickly covers what she's writing with her arm.
"She really didn't hear the sarcasm did she?"
Soon Stan ordered: Mabel, Dipper, 3, Wendy, and Soos to the roof to paint glitter on the sign to attract suckers.
"And don't stop 'till you've covered that sign with glitter! Glittery signs attract tourists! Also large birds…" At that moment, the eagle Trembley fought decided to attack Soos. 3 grabbed a long paint roller and started swiping at the bird.
"Ha ha. That's funny." 3 heard Stan mutter when he walked back into the shop.
"Okay, is it just me, or is having Grunkle Stan as a boss seriously the worst?" Dipper groaned
"He's a slave driver!" 3 declared as she finally fought off the eagle and had some scratches on her face.
"I know, right? Why do we even put up with it?" Wendy agreed then frowned at 3. "Hey, Aris? Is your blood black?" 3 hastily covered her scratch and said, "Lightening."
Soos also added, "I once gave him a suggestion to improve the Shack once. I had this idea where I could be, like, the Mystery Shack mascot. Questiony the Question Mark. I ask people questions, you know. Do the question dance."
"That sounds amazing!" Mabel gushed.
"Oh, cool!"
"Yeah, totally!"
"It's a good idea, but let me guess, Stan said you couldn't handle it."
"Got that right, Polaris."
"He said what!?" Mabel shrieked angrily and went downstairs to the roof. Leaving the four to continue the work, 3 groaned and threw a bucket of paint on the sign and said.
"Done."
3 and Dipper went downstairs later on to see Stan packing up the car with Mabel on the steps, holding a large jar.
"Mabel, what's going on?" Dipper asked as they came over.
Mabel turned to them and said, "I made a bet with Grunkle Stan. If I can make more money than him on vacation, then I'll run the Mystery Shack for the rest of the summer."
"Do you think that was wise? I mean, Stan has been running the Mystery Shack since before you guys were born." 3 asked as Stan finished packing.
"See you in 72 hours! We'll see who makes more money." Stan laughed as he threw his fez at Mabel, and it lands on her head. She then moves it so she can see and she sees Stan driving away, laughing.
"Did you just make a bet with a professional con man?" Dipper asked as Stan vanished into the dust.
"Oh come on. Being a better boss than Stan will be a cinch. Profit here we come!" Mabel said cheerfully and the jar she was holding slipped and breaks.
"You broke the jar."
"Not even 30 seconds and we're in the red."
"We'll get a new one."
"I guess we shouldn't be too worried. I mean, how much money could Stan even make on vacation?" Dipper said shrugging.
"Maybe by pick pocketing or selling fake watches. Or maybe on a game show." 3 joked as they entered the store.
The employees entered Stan's office and Soos asked, "You wanted to see us, Mr. Pines?"
Mabel turns her chair around to face them. She was wearing a light blue suit with oversized glasses and…shoulder pads?
"Stan is no longer with us." Mabel said when she scooted over to the desk.
"Mabel…you made it sound like he's dead." 3 deadpanned.
Soos, predictably only heard the 'dead' part. "He's dead? No! It should have been me!"
"Whoa, Soos! Stan's not dead! He's on vacation for 3 days. We made a bet." Mabel soothed as he calmed down.
"Thank you for that clarification."
"Mabel's in charge now!" She said pointing at herself.
"Are those shoulder pads?" Dipper finally asked when he got his voice back.
"Uh huuuuuuh! It's just one of the up-to-date managerial tricks I learned from this book I found propping up the kitchen table." Mabel agreed, holding up a book date back in the 1980's and drinking from a #2 Boss mug.
3 sighed, "I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but you're 34 years too late."
"Why does your mug say #2?" Dipper asked.
"Because the real #1...is you…" She whispered, holding up a mirror to reflect them as they laughed.
"Walk with me. With me as boss you're gonna notice a few changes around here. My job is to help you be your best 'SELVES.' Satisfied, Everyday, Loving Life, Very Much, Everyday, Satisfied. Great listening ears so far!" She then plasters stickers on them to do positive reinforcement.
Mabel stood up and led the 4 into the gift shop, but not before calling to Waddles, "Waddles, hold my calls!"
She pulled out a chair and talked to the 4. "Alright people, now rap with me. Wendy, how can I make your work space more Wendy-friendly?"
Wendy thought for a minute and said, "Hmm, well, Stan never lets me hang out with friends at work."
"Stan ain't here sister! Doors open!"
"Sweet!" 3 however, was so satisfied, she remembered the Convenience Store Incident and what the teens were doing before the ghosts showed up.
She turned to Soos and pulled out the suit she made yesterday and handed it to Soos, "And Soos, I believe this is yours?"
"Questiony the Question Mark!? I wish this was an exclamation point to show how excited I am!"
She then turned to 3 and Dipper, "As for you two, Polaris and Dipper..." Mabel holds up Dipper's wolf costume and silver paint and then tosses them into the shredder.
"Die wolf costume and silver paint, die! I want you two to head into the woods, and don't come back until you guys find an amazing attraction!"
Dipper and 3 grinned at each other and Dipper declared, "Finally! It's time to show Stan how REAL mystery hunters do it!"
Dipper runs off and grabs a flail next to a window with 3 grabbing a convenient taser nearby; they open the window and climbed out to the ledge.
"Dipper out!"
"Polaris out!" Dipper then is pulled out the window by the flail with a concerned 3 following after.
"DIPPER!" 3 landed neatly next to the fallen Dipper and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I may have bruised my spine, but I'm good. Let's go catch us a REAL attraction!"
They ran into the forest with 3 returning to book form when the Shack was out of sight.
"Okay…what to catch…"
"I nominate the gnomes. They'll pay for thinking I'll just roll over and be their queen." 3 said darkly with an evil aura surrounding her.
Dipper thought about it for a moment then shook his head, "No, they're not dangerous enough."
"True…" 3 admitted as Dipper look through her pages but then furrowed his brows. "What's wrong?"
"I just noticed, but you're entries now look faded, like the ink has been worn away." Dipper said concerned, gazing at the now lighter writing.
"Really!?" 3 thought about it for a minute then realized. "Gideon! When I was fighting him, he clipped me a couple of times and I think I bled some ink instead of blood."
Dipper looked worried, "You'd better be careful from now on."
"I know if I bleed too much, then we'll lose clues to my Father's location."
"No 3, I'm worried you could die if you lose all of your ink. Kind of like exsanguination, please, next time you battle megalomaniacs, be careful. I'd hate to see my closest friend killed protecting me or close family when I could've prevented it."
3 mulled it over a bit, touched and a little scared over the thought she could die. "I promise, I'll try to be careful next time." They walked for in silence for a couple of minutes when 3 decided to break the tension with, "You just admitted that a book is your best friend, you're such a nerd." She teased.
"You're a nerd! You're a book that can turn into a person!" Dipper shot back as they laughed and went deeper into the forest and found themselves in front of a cave.
Dipper hid behind a rock and asked, "Okay, where are we?"
3 looked through her pages and said, "We're at the layer of the Gremlobin, half gremlin, half goblin. If you look into their eyes, you'll be driven into insanity via your worst nightmares." They were silent for a minute when 3 asked, "Scary enough?"
Dipper just grinned and held up the flail and net with 3 holding up a knapsack and taser.
They snuck into the cave, Dipper to the ground with 3 climbing up the ceiling with the help with stalactites. They soon found a slumbering Gremlobin nearby, Dipper readied the flail near its head while 3 prepped her taser and leapt down, tasing the beast in the stomach shocking it awake and disorientating it. While it was stunned, Dipper whacked it, dead center of its head and knocking it out.
"That was surprisingly easy." Dipper said, High-Fiving 3 as they looked at the KOed monster.
"Knocking it out is the easy part; it's the dragging a 300+ pound beast into a sack and dragging it back to Mabel is the hard part." 3 said, holding and huge sack up and indicating the monster, Dipper groaned as they stiffed it into the sack and they began the long journey back to the Shack where Mabel was waiting outside.
"Mabel! We captured something! This is gonna blow those tourists away! Ha ha!" Dipper yelled when they got into ear shot. The Gremlobin, by that time had woken up, tried to eat Dipper's arm which caused Dipper to punch it with 3 clawing at it until it reluctantly let go.
"Marvelous work, valued employees! Who's that? Is it Questiony the Question Mark?" Mabel asked exaggeratedly to the hiding Soos.
"Uh, I'm starting to have second thoughts about this, Mabel. I keep forgetting my lines. And this costume is more um…" He stepped out and 3 covered Dipper's eyes as he was only wearing his tighty whites. "Revealing than I expected?"
"Soos! Put some clothes on! You look like a pervert!" 3 shouted.
Mabel gave 3 a warning glance and turned back to Soos, "Don't mind Polaris, Soos. Don't give up, anything is possible when you…imaginize it!" She said, after consulting her business book.
"But I don't know what that means."
"That's because it's not!"
"Ssh." Mabel put a finger on both of Soos's and 3's lips. "Ssshssssshshsshsssh." She rubs her fingers over their faces to 3's ire and Soos's confusion. "Believe in yourself..." She walks away from the shivering Soos to so into the shop.
"Bu-but I...! So-so cold..."
3 glanced at Dipper, who shrugged and the two started to drag the monster into the shop, passing by an angry woman and a sobbing kid when a jar smashed into the back of 3's head.
"3-I mean Polaris! Are you alright!?" Dipper shouted in alarm, placing a hand on the hissing 3's head, gently.
"Oh God! Aris are you alright!?" Wendy said in concern while a guilty looking Nate and Lee stood nearby. 3 stood up and whirled to the two teens with a deadly aura and growled.
"You Have 5 Minutes To Live." She grabbed Dipper's mace and chased the two terrified teens out of the shop.
"Status Update: Murderous Tween about to Kill Lee and Nate, Not Sure what to Feel." 3 heard from Tambry as she plotted the teen's murders. After catching and beating the two teens she returned to the shack to help Dipper stuffs the Gremlobin into the cage and to lead the attraction tour with Dipper.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! My name's Honest Dipper."
"And I'm Veracity Polaris." 3 said in a bow from near the covered cage
"And unlike my cheating uncle, I have something to show you that isn't a hoax! It nearly killed us getting him into that cage, behold, part Gremlin, part Goblin, the Gremlobin!" Dipper and 3 pulls the cover off the cage. To reveal the Gremlobin in its full glory in the light, it roars and spits out a human skeletonized arm.
"Well that's fun." The man said, clearly thinking the arm was fake.
Woman frowned and fake whispered to her husband, "Its fake, honey. You can see the strings." Are they morons!? 3 thought from behind her fake smile. Stan must've brainwashed them already.
"What!? Those aren't strings, that's body hair!" Dipper cried aghast.
"Oh, look at this dear. The Six-packalope." The woman interrupted, pointing at a fake creature to their aggravation.
The man laughed and took a picture, "Wordplay!" Dipper and 3 ran up to them and dragged them back to the Gremlobin.
"No, everything else here is fake. This is a real paranormal beast. Hey, fun fact about this little guy, if you look into his eyes, you can see your worst nightmare." The couple looked into its eyes and they glowed a sickly gold.
"Amazing, right? I work for tips." The couple collapsed, screaming in terror and they glanced at each other.
"This was poorly thought out…"
"Indeed." Dipper ran and called for the paramedics and an ambulance comes by to take them away.
"Thanks again for visiting! Uhh..."
"Be sure to tell your friends in the psych ward! Um…"
They went back into the shop to find and overworked Mabel working by herself with no Wendy or Soos in sight. She finally got the people out of the store and collapsed against the counter as Dipper and 3 walked over.
"Well, we just made two people go insane. How about you?" Dipper asked as he and 3 sat down on either side of an exhausted Mabel.
"I'm so tired. I gave Wendy the day off so I had to do her job." Mabel groaned.
"Why? Was she sick?"
"No…she wanted to hang out with Thompson and Tambry after 3 chased Nate and Lee away…she also might have said I was sounding like Stan."
"Well, maybe you need to start being a little bit tougher around here." Dipper suggested.
Mabel looked at her brother and shouted, "No way, that's what Stan would do! I just need to think positive, be friendly, and everything will work out fine."
At that moment the Gremlobin roared and smashed through the wall, causing the tourists to panic and run away screaming.
"What? How did he get out of his locked cage!?" Dipper yelled, shocked as 3 dragged the twins behind the counter.
Mabel looked guilty and said, "Well...I might have given him the key I stole from 3's pocket and gave it to him for his 5 minute break…"
"Are you CRAZY!?" 3 yelled.
"YOU GAVE HIM A BREAK?!"
"He's an employee...sort of." Mabel said defensively. "In retrospect, it probably was a bad idea."
"We've got to round him up. Where's Soos?" Dipper asked looking for his man-child friend.
"He was stressed out so I told him to take a soothing nature walk."
"Oh great." 3 said facepalming as the monster roared in anger and smashed another wall to drop a television which was showing Stan on Cash Wheel.
'Ladies and Gentlemen, Stan Pines is poised to become our grand champion! Anything to say to your fans out there?' The host asked Stan who had $100,000.
Stan grinned at the camera and held up a shirt reading "Loser"
"See you tomorrow night, Mabel!" He taunted as the monster roared again and threw a Mayan calendar over to where 3, Mabel, and Dipper were hiding. 3 was about to snap when Dipper grabbed her arm and shook his head and dragged the girls to the living room when the creature was playing with Mabel's stickers.
"Why didn't you let me attack him!? I can take care of it!"
"It's too dangerous 3!"
"What do we do, then? He's awarding himself stickers that he didn't even earn!" Mabel demanded. Dipper looked at 3 who grudgingly returned to her book state.
Dipper turned to the Gremloblin page and said, "Uh, got it! When fighting a Gremlobin, use water..." Mabel ran over and splashed it with water.
"...only as a last resort as water will make him much much scarier! AH! Who writes sentences like that!?"
"Oh, Father…" 3 sighed as it smashed the Coo-coo Clock and breaths fire.
"Don't worry, he's gotta leave eventually!" Dipper suggested, optimistic. A few hours later, the Gremlobin was playing with the singing fish, much to the kid's exasperation.
"Ughh, why doesn't he just leave?" Mabel groaned when the monster started to eat the money in the jar.
"Our profits!" She screamed, dodging 3's attempt to grab her and ran towards the Gremlobin.
"Mabel, wait!"
"It's too dangerous!"
"Stop, stop!" Mabel yelled, tearing out of its claws. The Gremlobin growled and snatched her forcing her to look into its eye.
"Don't look into his evil eye; you'll see your worst nightmare!"
"I wish we had an evil eye to show him! Oh no! Ahh…" Mabel began to scream in terror.
"Wait. Hey monster! Take a look at this!" Dipper grabbed a mirror, forcing it to look into its own eyes. It screams and smashes through yet another wall and knocks over the totem pole.
"Well at least he didn't do that much damage. Oh boy."
Mabel looks desperately at 3 and Dipper and held up the clock, "Dipper, 3, it's the third day! We've only got 7 hours to earn back our profits, or I've got to wear that loser shirt all summer!"
Wendy and a ragged Soos soon walk through the smashed wall.
"Hey guys! Am I nuts, or does this place look different?" Wendy asked, looking around.
"Wendy, Soos! Am I glad to see you? We've got a lot of work to do but if we hurry, we can still beat Stan!" Mabel said, running up to them.
"Uh, yeah. I've got a little headache so…maybe I should like, not work today." Wendy said, with a lazy air.
"And I actually just met this pack of wolves, and I think they're gonna like, raise me as one of their own, so I should really be at the den right now."
"You two, lazy, good for nothing…" 3 growled, looking more feral.
"But-but..."
"But hey, see ya on Monday." Soos and Wendy head to leave and shadowed Mabel.
Soos came back over and pointed at the popsicles on the ground, "Uh, beat you dubs, is anyone gonna eat these?"
Mabel started to twitch angrily and breaks the pen she's holding.
"ENOUGH!" She screamed, reaching her breaking point with her lazy employee's. Soos and Wendy froze and turned around as Dipper gasps and 3 grins. "I have had it! I fought a monster to save this business, and this is how you repay me!? I'm gonna get an ulcer from your lollygagging!"
"Lollygagging?" Wendy questioned, nervous.
"Ulcer? You're acting...different." Soos looked a little freaked out.
"You shut your yaps! I've been doing everyone's job while you bums have been bleeding me dry!"
"But I-"
"No buts, except yours on the floor cleaning! Now quit loafing and get to work!" Mabel shouted, interrupting Wendy.
"Yes, Mabel."
"That's yes, BOSS!" She screamed slamming her fist on the counter and Stan's fez falls and lands on her head. She looks in the mirror and gasps, "Dipper, 3, what have I become?"
"What you had to, Mabel. What you had to." Dipper assured her.
"They were taking advantage of your kindness." 3 told her point blank. Mabel took a deep breath and steeled herself to yell.
"We've got seven hours to turn this around! Let's go people!"
Mabel was outside directing a crane to repair the pole while 3 and Dipper helped Wendy cleaning up the shop. "Time is money, hard hat! You got complaints; file them with the complaint department! Ughh, my back. Dipper, 3, we've got tourists at 9 o'clock!"
"But what do we show them? Real magic just freaks people out." Dipper asked.
"Figure something out, knucklehead!"
3 noticed Soos and dragged him towards the exhibits as Dipper dressed like Stan, complete with the combed back hair and eye patch.
"Ladies and gentle-tourists! This shack is filled with wonders, NEVER before seen by human eyes! Behold, the horrible GIANT QUESTION BABY!"
"Am I a man, am I a baby? These are legitimate questions." Soos said as the tourists gasped in horror.
"Have your picture taken with it for a buck. Uh, ten bucks. A hundred bucks!" Dipper said as the people started to literally throw money at 3 and fought to be first to take a picture with Soos.
"We put the fun in 'No refunds'." Dipper said waving as the tourists left.
"Be sure to tell your friends."
"How'd we do?" He asked walking in.
"We filled the whole jar!" Mabel said proudly.
"But we have to minus the repair costs." 3 reluctantly pointed out. Mabel sighed and gave the jar to Dipper so he'd calculate how much they had left.
"Minus the money to replace all the furniture and supplies to fix the shack, that leaves us... one dollar." Dipper said sadly, looking at the single dollar.
"Tick-tock! Time's up, kids!" Stan said smugly from the doorway.
"Oh, no!"
"Nice to see you learned how to dress while I was gone." Stan said as he looked at Dipper's suit.
"How much did you beat us by?" Mabel asked miserably.
"I won $300,000! Well, I would've if I hadn't lost it all. Apparently that word can make you money." Stan admitted.
"So, wait. If you lost everything, then that means- Mabel! You won!" Dipper exclaimed happily to his sister.
"Whoo! We did it!" Soos and Wendy cheered
"Excellent!"
"Wait. What do we win again?" Soos asked.
"Well, according to our bet, I guess Mabel's the new boss?" Stan asked.
"No! No! Don't do that!" Mabel, Dipper, Soos, Wendy, and 3 all yelled at the same time, running up to Stan.
"Huh? What?" He asked, confused.
"Grunkle Stan, I had no idea how hard it was being boss. This place was cuckoo bananas until I started barking orders at people like you." Mabel admitted giving Stan his fez back.
"Yeah, well, I got to admit, it's kind of nice to be back, ya know? Okay, okay, that's enough, get off of me! And Soos, Wendy get to work! Ahem. Please." Stan tried out, and then rubbed his chest. "Uhh! Still hurts."
3 then ribbed Dipper who glanced at her then remembered. He turned to his sister and said, "Mabel, didn't your agreement say something about Stan having to do some kind of apology dance if he lost?"
"N-no. No, it didn't." Stan stuttered.
"Actually, yeah, I think I have it in my notes here." Mabel said smugly, holding up a note book.
"No! That never happened!" Stan denied.
"De Nile isn't only a river in Egypt." 3 said, crossing her arms.
"Word play!" Dipper said, High-Fiving 3 and Mabel.
"Ha ha! I'll get the camera!" Wendy called from the doorway.
"All right, let me just—" He attempted to escape.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel shouted as she and 3 chased after him. 3 paused by the door way, and grabbed the flail and threw it to knock him out.
They forced him into a hideous orange, sequin jumpsuit and forced him to dance up to 29 times now.
"Uhh. Look, I'm not gonna—" Stan said, tiredly.
"Do it!" Mabel shouted from her director's seat.
"I'm Stan, and I was wrong/I'm singing the "Stan Wrong Song" I shouldn't have taken that chance/Now here's my remorseful dance/"
"Do the kicks! Jazzier!" She ordered when he half-heartedly kicked and his fez fell off and the goat attempted to eat it.
"Hey, gimme that! Ow! My back!" Stan groaned, trying to get it from its mouth.
"What do you think?" Mabel asked looking at Waddles who oinked.
"Take 30!"
"Awhahah…" Stan groaned.
"I know I should feel guilty…but this is too funny!" 3 said to Dipper, who nodded.