-- SHINY CHRISTMAS BALLS [Josh]

"Where ya goin'?" Annabel was oblivious to nothing as she leaned over the second floor balcony that overlooked the front yard and driveway. Joshua shielded his eyes from the bright winter sun as he looked up at her, car keys dangling from his hand. "Devin's," he said, loud enough for her to hear. "Why?" He didn't really see that it mattered considering she was probably going to do what she had done almost every day since she'd started her six month long break from school. It was coming to a close and she'd soon have school work again like everyone else but until then she spent her time doing what most gamers did: gaming. "Just wondering. Tell him I said hi!" He nodded to show he'd heard. "And it's from both of us!" Joshua chuckled at this last bit and gave her a thumbs up, knowing that she was talking about the gaming system that Joshua had ordered for his friend. Custom, which meant a buttload more money than the console was originally but that was never an issue for Joshua. Annabel had been the one who'd suggested it, though, along with all of the other bits and pieces that "went along" with it. She knew video games better than he did and when Joshua had mentioned that Devin only had a PS3, Annabel had adamantly insisted, "Fix that. Seriously." Ah, to be a gamer. She had every console one could own and an entertainment system full of games, as well as another bookshelf that held nothing but games. Really, money was a dangerous thing. Most of the games and systems were Christmas presents as she didn't have her own money.

The drive to Devin's was a little slower than normal, mostly because he always made a point to slow down on the icy roads. He didn't care if it frustrated the drivers behind him that wanted to go over the speed limit and kill themselves, he could not afford to crash this car. Harper was not something that would be easily fixed if she got wrecked. Eventually he pulled into the parking lot of the building and knocked on Devin's door, greeting him with a broad grin when it was opened. "Yo, DJ, 'sup?" Josh was always in a jovial sort of mood during the holidays. It was a time when he got to see his friends more often than usual thanks to school not getting in the way and it was also a time when it was considered perfectly acceptable to give gifts. Nothing wrong with that! He expressed surprise when he saw Athena, not being aware that she was going to be over. "Hey 'Thena," he said, cracking a friendly smirk in her direction. "If I'd known you were here I would have brought you something." His words were genuine, sincere. Especially since he hadn't seen his 'other sister' in a while. Really, when you got as close to a family as he was with Devin's, they might as well be family. He was the same way with Lark. Maybe Nell would have been like that, too, if not for the fact that he'd gotten close to her in another way. "Anything you want? I'll get it for you." No holding back with Josh. He cared more about making his loved ones happy than all the money he'd end up spending.

Turning his attention to the large and quite heavily bag of presents he had in his left hand, Joshua lifted it slightly, the grin still on his face. For someone who didn't often smile, he hardly stopped when he was around his best friend. It was like he saved up all of the grins and smirks and smiles and laughter until he was in good company and then just let it all out. "From Annabel and myself, as I'm sure she'd kill me if I forgot to point that out. And she says hi." Oh, siblings. They really were pains in the ass sometimes but you loved them at the end of the day. Devin was like a brother and Athena like a sister so they fell under that category as well, though they managed to get away with not being quite as annoying as Annabel managed. It was probably because his thirteen year old sister was more than adept at getting under his skin. She knew all the tricks. In the bag of gifts there was the (custom) Halo-edition Xbox 360, all of the Halo games (because why not?), three extra controllers to complete a full set (gaming, Annabel insisted, was more fun with friends), and a headset to complete the package. "Figured you could make use of it somehow, eh? I'll play you a couple games if there's still fun in knowing you'll win." He laughed at the thought. They could always get him drunk and then he'd stand a chance but he really didn't want to be the only drunk one. Besides, this hang out needed to be sober after what had happened the last time with Devin sticking his hand in the damned fire.

He was used to Devin's sister and her kamikaze hugs of doom and so Joshua was more than ready for the girl to wrap her arms around him. He chuckled in amusement and returned the gesture, answering the question with an, "It's Christmas, I'm great. Favourite time of year and all." Not his favourite season but his favourite time and for Joshua that was enough. Athena insisted against the giving of gifts and Joshua wasn't too bothered by this. He wasn't in a place to argue right now and wouldn't anyway. "If you're sure about that, okay," he shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans after he'd set the bag of gifts down and looking content. He was an easy-going person around his friends. He was so hard-working and dedicated that it was nice to come and hang out with Devin for a while and really relax. The Earth elemental complimented his personality in many ways and this was possibly one of the reasons the two clicked as well as they did. Devin was a pacifist, Joshua was aggressive. Devin was approachable, Josh wasn't (or at least, not nearly as much). Devin was lazy, Joshua wouldn't be lazy if you paid him to be. It meant they didn't have much in common but they'd made their friendship work so far! "It was nice seeing you again. Have fun." His words were sincere as he smiled and lifted his hand, jerking it once in a lazy wave before letting it drop back to his side again. It really had been good to see Athena, especially after so long.

Joshua rolled his eyes and waved his hand at Devin's comment. "Oh, shut it," he insisted. "You know you're excited." He was mostly trolling his best buddy but he really didn't mind buying gifts for all his friends. There were people that insisted that holidays should not involve gift-giving, that it took away from the spirit of the holidays (or the true meaning of Christmas) but Josh believed that it did the opposite. If the gifts were well thought out and personal, it was a way of assuring those close to you that you cared about them and knew them well. Anyone that knew Devin slightly well would know that the boy was over the moon about video games but as his best buddy, Joshua knew how to make it special all the same. He grinned at Devin's reaction, clearly pleased with himself for making a good call. "Annabel suggested the system but I wanted to make it unique. You know me, I'm a fucking rebel. I have to cheat the system." He was still grinning, obviously joking. The point of a custom edition gaming system was that it was just that. Custom. It wasn't what everyone else had, it stood out in the crowd. For his best friend, Josh ensured that it was special. "Careful you don't get stuck to the couch or something. Bathroom breaks would be a pain in the dick." Literally and figuratively, he supposed. He'd never been stuck in a chair but if it happened he'd get back to you on that.

He raised an eyebrow, smirked. "True." Winning was always fun. Joshua found that there was more satisfaction in it when it was more challenging but winning when you knew you were going to could also be pretty entertaining. There weren't as many bragging rights but it beat losing any day. "Dude, I already know I'm getting my ass kicked. I did offer." He lifted his hands to chest height as if jokingly surrendering. "Besides, you need to test it out, yeah? Make sure everything's working." It had better. It wasn't like the entire package had come cheap. Money wasn't an issue for Josh but if he did pay a lot for something he expected it to arrive in working order or else. Especially if it was for Devin. "Think I will. I'm dying of thirst." It was an exaggeration of course but he went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He would have grabbed the soda but it wasn't nearly as adept at quenching one's thirst. The shit you learned in class sometimes. He took one of the controllers and requested with a laugh, "Try not to kill me in the first five seconds when I'm still trying to work out what the buttons do." There was always the campaign mode but he'd still need to get a handle on the controls before he died in two seconds flat. Hey, he had Annabel as a sister. It had happened before.

Joshua merely looked amused. "Course I had to get you something. You're my best buddy, it's Christmas, I don't need another excuse." He didn't so much enjoy shopping for the gifts as handing them to his friends and watching their expressions light up with delight if he proved he could make a good call. It was satisfying. He preferred to give gifts in person if he could get away with it rather than sending them through the mail or telling his friends not to open it until Christmas. Seeing the look on their face was so much better than an over-the-phone thanks, no matter how sincere. "Oh, so I'm not supposed to give you shit but you can give me shit? I see how it is." He was smiling, though, cheerful, so hopefully Devin could tell that he really didn't mind. He liked getting gifts. He did have a lot of things thanks to his wealth but gifts were special. They made you think of the giver whenever you put them to use and it was a pleasant feeling. Most of his gifts ended up being books, which of course to a man with a personal library was not a bad call. Unwrapping the box that Devin handed him, Joshua examined the puzzle with a curious fascination. He wasn't the type to burst into a loud exclamation of glee but the glint in his gray eyes said enough. "This looks difficult," he mused thoughtfully. He'd done a 3D-Puzzle once before, a dragon that his sister had asked him to work on. Only once. It had been challenging. "Perfect." He grinned, then, breaking the intense expression. "I'll be working on this for days. That's what I like. Thanks, DJ." He was very good at puzzles and so he usually finished them with lightning speed. This looked harder.

It was good to know that he'd saved his friend the necessity of blowing a bunch of money that he didn't necessarily have on something like this. Joshua had plenty of money, more than he actually knew what to do with, and DJ was just another teenager trying to scrape by with a job and an apartment, bills to pay, the works. He liked to hear that he'd done him a favour. "Have fun with that," he chuckled. The Fire graduate raised his eyebrows when Devin mentioned pissing in a bottle. It sounded like a plan and all, until you really thought about it. Why was Joshua thinking so deeply into things? Well, because that was a part of his personality. He couldn't leave things as they were. He had to pick them apart, analyse them. "Uh huh. And what'll you do once the bottle gets full, huh? Drink it? You wouldn't be able to get up for food and drink, either." He smirked his amusement. It was disgusting to think about but he doubted that his friend would actually get stuck in the chair. "Well, we know I'd kick your scrawny ass in a real fight so it's only fair." He thumped his friend on the back at the word 'scrawny', grinning. Devin wasn't a limp stick and so Josh was only teasing. It was his pacifism that really held him back. Wouldn't hurt a fly. Joshua would never hurt his friend and so an ass-whooping wasn't a likely thing for their future. Only in video games where Devin reigned supreme.

His mind jumped straight after Devin's into the gutter and the graduate sniggered, eyes sparkling. "Dude, no homo." That only made him laugh harder and he shook his head, face flushed from the laughter. He wasn't using the phrase in the serious sense of course. Devin knew he wasn't gay, Joshua knew he wasn't either. It was why he could make jokes about being head over heels for the blonde beside him without breaking composure or adding a 'just kidding' to the end. If people really doubted his sexuality then they didn't know him well enough. "I'm not that bad," Josh scoffed. He could hold his own against the computers like most people as long as the difficulty wasn't set insanely high. AI could be tricked, fooled. People were a lot harder to baffle and Joshua usually died first in competitive matches with friends. He was smart and strategic but there really wasn't a lot of time for strategy when someone waits by your spawn and puts a bullet in your head ten seconds in. "It's a game, Dev, we're not trying to get into the Guinness." Joshua said this as he glanced over to observe Devin's intense posture and expression, his own relaxed and light. Maybe that was part of his problem. Maybe he didn't take gaming seriously enough. He focused more on school, on learning useful things. Devin learned how to kill people on a TV screen. Different fields and all.

At the word 'boat', Joshua grinned a little, his gray eyes sparkling with amusement. He was not drunk but that did not matter as he burst into song, "I'm on a boat and, it's going fast and, I got a nautical-themed pashmina afghan..." He couldn't quite pull off the exact vocal tones but it wasn't for lack of effort and Joshua really didn't care what he sounded like, as long as he didn't shatter mirrors or bust anyone's ear drums he was all good. He wasn't half bad at singing even though he'd never had lessons. Not good enough to be a singer but not bad enough to raise complaints if he got his rock on with friends in a public place. He laughed at Devin's remark, shaking his head. "If it's a bomb, bro, I will come back and haunt your ass." He didn't actually believe in ghosts and the afterlife, mind you, it was more for the sake of joking around than anything else. And if someone ever did murder him and coming back as a ghost did end up being possible, damn straight Joshua was going to haunt them for all eternity. He'd pull cruel pranks, fuck up relationships, and all around enjoy being a vengeful bastard. 'Time-consuming and mildly infuriating' might have sounded like a nightmare to anyone else but to Josh it sounded like a pretty good deal. He liked challenges, didn't like things to be simple. He never took the easy way out even if it would save him a lot of trouble. He didn't understand people who got satisfaction from solving menial things. Where was the accomplishment in that? "You definitely know me." That was so true.

Though Joshua was fiercely independent at times, he had to admit that it was nice to have the family fortune to fall back on. It was partially his now, there was no waiting until Donovan died to inherit it. As long as he didn't go buying million dollar mansions and cars he was pretty much allowed free reign. They had so much saved up that it was perfectly safe to rely on the funds for grocery, bills, the works. He did make his own money, though, and he tried to keep the fortune as intact as possible. His life was still young, after all. "I'm gonna have to agree with you there," he said, nodding and pulling a face at the thought. God, drinking your own piss was disgusting. There were people that had those neat survival tricks that could save your life but Josh wasn't sure whether or not he'd be able to stomach the thought of downing his own urine. "I don't think you'd have a chance at that one. You're not shamu the fucking whale or anything, you're still scrawny enough to up and move around." Sorry Devin, your best friend has arrived to crush your dreams and all that wonderful shit. He grinned when his friend got defensive. "See? I told you, scrawny." He closed a hand around Devin's arm, tight enough to be an actual hold but clearly not meant to hurt. "Skin and bones. You need to fatten yourself up." He liked hanging out with Devin like this. Guy time, buddy time. He felt relaxed around the Earth elemental and that was nice.

Though this was something Joshua would never do around a friend that he was not comfortable with, he reached out and patted DJ on the head when he claimed himself to be adorable. It might have seemed creepy or weird to anyone else but Devin would certainly know that Josh was just messing around. Like always. There was something about a lifetime of friendship that made you feel comfortable around another person. "Annabel give me lessons?" Josh laughed, for the mere thought of his sister trying to teach him video games was hysterical. He believed that she liked the power she had over him. He was older, smarter, more self-sufficient, but she could kick his ass in video games and that was clearly the most important asset. "Nah, man. It's more like 'Let me show you how to die in five seconds' as opposed to 'Let me show you how to play'." She was brilliant with sniper-type guns, hiding in the shadows and picking everyone off before they even figured out she was there. It was irritating but funny at the same time. "Yeah, I'm thinking of having a party and Nell's on board. You gonna show?" He wanted to make sure he got a chance to invite all of his friends to the prospective party. He was pretty excited to hang out with all his friends during the holidays. "She's good, though. We're both good." No mention of Jane, of course not. For why would Josh bring up business that was his fiancée's alone? He wouldn't.

Ah, duets. They were fun whether you were drunk or sober and Joshua liked that he could really be himself around Devin with no restraints. He didn't have to worry about upholding any kind of stoic image or anything like that because this was his best buddy and they could just say 'fuck you' to the rest of the world. "I'm on the deck with my boys, mother fucker," he said with a grin. Comical music like that of the Lonely Island was something most people could enjoy if they had a sense of humour. His taste in music was pretty diverse as long as it avoided screaming or horrible sounding instruments. He liked his ear drums, thanks, he didn't want them to split. He hugged Devin tightly in jest when the boy mentioned missing him, the perfect definition of the word clinging as he glued himself to the Earth. "D'ahw," he said in a trollish, teasing manner, his gray eyes lit with delight. This was why he loved coming over to hang around with Devin. It was hilarious and fun and relaxing all at the same time. He had a lot going on in his life with two jobs and two majors, guy time with DJ was something he could really get on board with. He closed his hand in a fist and noogied his buddy, hard enough to be noticeable but not really trying to cause a great deal of pain. Devin was squishy and they were friends, Joshua was playing around, not trying to fuck him up seriously or anything like that. "You know I'd miss you too, man. S'why I'd switch your sugar for salt and shit. I do it out of love." He snickered at the thought.

Joshua scoffed when Devin bragged about his apparent skinniness. He was able to maintain a serious face as usual even as he lifted up his shirt and pounded on his chest. Ouch, that actually hurt. He didn't show it of course, just said, "Dude, I have muscle. Fuck your skinny ass." He thought about what he'd said and laughed, figuring that Devin would also pick up on the accidental innuendo. "Maybe not like that, though." Since he was your typical guy, Joshua picked up on most things that could be taken as a double entendre. And then some. Most of the time he would point it out no matter who he was with. Poor Nell had to put up with his sexual jokes on a consistent basis and she deserved a medal for tolerating him some days. Hell, it was all in good fun. It wasn't like he did it to be creepy or anything like that. The guy thought it was funny and that was that. "Best be careful or you will end up like Shamu, the path you're on," he teased. Nah, Devin had done pretty good for himself so far. Josh was impressed. The Fire graduate had a good metabolism but he also worked out on a regular basis and so all the sugary sweets he ate did nothing to affect his hardened muscles or his slender figure. Tall people looked odd when they were fat and so he wanted to avoid that, thank you very much. Much like he had to duck sometimes to avoid hitting his head on the lower doors. Thankfully society tended to cater to people who were a little over the average height and most doors weren't head-smacking ones. Most.

Yeah, he was a pretty fast learner. It was nice to hear someone say that about him even if it was true. Joshua might not have been reliant on the praise of others to make himself feel confident and accepted but that did not mean he was opposed to it. Especially not when it came from the mouth of his best buddy and childhood friend. "Yeah... yeah, maybe I could get better at 'em," he said thoughtfully, ideas already forming in his head. Hey, Devin was pretty good at video games, right? "Practice makes perfect, eh? I bet a few tips from a good buddy couldn't hurt, either." He nudged Devin lightly to indicate him though it had been pretty clear what he meant either way. "Maybe instead of kicking my ass, you can teach me how to kick ass. Cooperation at its finest." And hey, the thought of Devin teaching Josh something was pretty funny. Usually Josh was the one with the desire to teach things. Video games were not Josh's area of expertise, though, and so he would let Devin take the reins there. He was actually a little excited at the prospect of learning the ropes of something that his friend was good at. That meant they could have something in common and that was a good thing. Always a good thing. "Hey, awesome. I got her tickets to some opera or another. She likes them." He didn't but hey, he was chill with Nell liking whatever she wanted. "It's... weird," he admitted, after sparing a chuckle toward Devin's interview-like tone. "Feels great to be so close, though. God, I can't wait for medical school. What about you? College at last, eh?" He shoved him lightly, grinning.

Since he actually had taken anatomy and could ramble for hours about said subject if you gave him the chance, Joshua almost gave a too-serious answer to Devin's question. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone liked to hear long-ass spiels about things they wouldn't understand unless they'd learned themselves but thankfully he caught himself in time. His buddy was intelligent but it would take a while to explain all of the little branches and subjects that his spiel would have covered and it really wasn't worth it for the sake of the joke. So, instead, he simply said, "Then you'd literally be skin and bones. Blegh." It was a nasty thought. His mind went to how some of the old people at the retirement home had lost all elasticity and youth in their skin so that it sagged and hung in paper-thin folds off their bodies. It was a sad sight sometimes, age. He tried not to allow himself to worry about the day that he'd be an old man with all the problems that came with age. That was a part of his future he didn't look forward to in the least. "Not that special, bro. Screw the back door, I'll find another way out." He threw him a wink, figuring that Devin would understand. He loved that he could trust his buddy to catch on to all of the little wordslips and weird phrasings, all his immature and inappropriate jokes. Joshua had matured in many ways over the years but he did not think his mind would ever permanently leave the gutter. Hell, Josh didn't even want it to. Perverted jokes were often the funniest jokes because they made some people turn red as a cherry and others die laughing.

With a completely straight face, Joshua asked, "Does he splash and get e'rybody all wet?" The song was still stuck in his head from earlier and so he could not help but make a trollish reference to it. And now it was stuck even further. This ain't Sea World, this as real as it gets, he thought, keeping the beat alive in his head. Oh, he was going to have to listen to the damned song later. It would annoy him the rest of the weak otherwise. He was at least glad that Devin had confidence in him when it came to getting good at video games. It was always nice to have your buddies tell you they thought you could do something, at least if you were Josh. He didn't survive off people telling him things like this but he certainly thrived off it. Like it or not, Devin's opinion mattered to Joshua. He might not show it very often but if Devin was upset with him or his actions in some way, he'd feel guilty. Not always guilty enough to rectify the situation or change his opinions but still enough that he could detect that guilt. "The master, huh? Now I wouldn't get cocky. I'll have to sic your competition on you in the form of a very competitive sister." He laughed, shaking his head. Then his expression changed for a moment as he said, "Ah, did I tell you she got her powers?" Annabel wasn't as happy about that as anyone had hoped. They were the 'wrong' powers, as she'd so eloquently and angrily phrased it. "Water. First in the family, at least for a while. She's not too pleased." He looked sympathetic for a moment, then shrugged. "She'll get used to it, I guess." Devin's sister had adapted to being powerless, after all.

"At least she can acknowledge us at school, when it goes back at least." Joshua did not always seek out the silver lining on the clouds but if it was an evident lining he would still point it out. He'd been worried about what would happen about Annabel if she ended up being Fire and now he wasn't going to have that worry. She'd be able to acknowledge Joshua and all his friends in their alliance without worrying about reprimand from another. Still, he felt bad that she was so bummed. "Dude, it's Nell. I'm sure she will." He was not too worried at the prospect of potentially being overloaded with a different recipe every day or meal because of a cookbook or anything like that. He liked it when Nell cooked for him. He liked everything that she did. He was biased of course. "Being undecided isn't so bad," he said, sounding contented enough as he pressed the buttons on the controller and got a feel for what the fuck was going on. And then ran straight into his death. "Well that was an intelligent move. I'm wonderful." He laughed at himself, shaking his head. "Right so, uh. Tips, bro. How do I not die?" He laughed again, obviously amused. He knew there were probably several ways to avoid certain death in a game like Halo but it was a good idea to get a few tips from the self-proclaimed 'master' and simply work their use out on his own. He could play for hours and figure shit out for himself but no thank you. Joshua didn't think he could play for hours even if he was good. Didn't have the laziness for that.

Joshua was secretive about himself but he knew that Annabel would not mind him telling his friends about her power even if she was a bit upset about the whole Fire deal. She was an open person and tended to talk a lot even when she did not know a person well. He often had to remind her that he didn't want her rambling on about him when she was holding conversations with her friends. He appreciated any admiration she might have but he preferred to keep his personal life personal. The fact that she was very different reassured him as he spoke to Devin about her. "Yeah, we didn't really see it coming, either. I mean it suits her but our whole family have been Fire." Patricia seemed to have passed on her outgoing personality to her daughter but not a whole lot of her anger issues. Donovan and Belle often seemed as different as day and night. That was alright, though, because he loved most of his family. Bryce and Patrick did not exist. "I hope so." He didn't want Annabel to be unhappy about her situation and powers for the rest of her life. He could not imagine what it would feel like to hate the element that had been gifted to him by fate and his personality. He loved his fire, even when the element and its alliance had turned on him. His gift had done nothing wrong. Maybe Annabel would come to this conclusion soon enough. "I couldn't have ignored my own sister at school, that's for sure. It'll be a lot more convenient this way." He hated to mention convenience when it inconvenienced Annabel's happiness but the words were what they were. He couldn't help his feelings.

He would never truly understand how it felt to be unsure about college. He'd been certain about what he was doing with his life since he was eight years old and that hadn't changed even in recent years. He was so aware of himself and what he wanted from life that when others were not, it sometimes surprised him. It was never held against his friends, though. He didn't see himself as better than other people because of it. "I mean, at least you can say you gave it a shot even if you give up," he shrugged. "Not that you will or anything, it's just better to have tried and failed than nothing at all." Well, not so much failed as decided that college was not his cup of tea and dropped out. On the contrary, Joshua felt that he'd have been stranded without college. No college meant no medical school and no med. school meant no becoming a doctor like he'd always wanted. No, that wouldn't have worked for him. "Least it stops you from becoming Shamu the couch whale, eh?" The gray eyes glittered with a teasing amusement as he nudged his friend a bit harder than was necessary. It wasn't meant to be an incredibly rough gesture or anything like that, this was simply how Josh behaved around his closest guy friends. Mostly around Devin, though, for this boy was the best of the best. Again it was a friendship he hadn't cemented his true appreciation for until it had gotten many years into it but he never regretted befriended the squishy magician blonde.

Joshua rolled his eyes with a good-natured smile when Devin gave him a sarcastic answer to the question. "No shit, Sherlock." Ah, he did love his best friend. He also trusted him to understand what Joshua had meant and sure enough the Earth elemental was soon giving him a more proper explanation. "Hm. Kay." He wondered what weapons in the game were automatic but he figured he could pick them up and try them until he found one that worked. Wild bullet-spraying guns were not usually his style but he was going to trust Devin's word on it. Being a 'noob' and all, Josh preferred to follow the tips of someone who'd been playing for a while. "Got your back, bro," he said with a chuckle. He pressed the buttons when Devin told him to, chuckling at the movements on the screen. Strafing. How fancy for a video game. He ended up finding a gun that worked and stood back from an enemy, holding the trigger button and grinning when it went down. It was oddly satisfying even if the enemies were not the most difficult thing in the world. "Better than last time. I could get used to this thing." The gun, he meant, but offered no explanation. Devin probably knew what he meant anyway. At least when they were on co-op he could rely on the often derpy AI to forgive his occasional fails. His best friend would not be so merciless if Joshua forgot how to do something. It was all out of love, of course, something that was important to remember.