Chapter Text
Nightmare stares expressionless at his cowering brother, kneeling before him in chains at his feet... as he should be.
Just a few minutes ago he had tossed Dream all around his cell as if he were a limp rag doll using his tentacles, furious that he wasn’t getting satisfaction from the revenge he’d been carrying out on him these past few weeks since his imprisonment in his dungeon.
But even that wasn’t enough to make him feel fulfilled with his actions...
By the end of his several minute rampage, Dream was left crying in pain on the floor, begging for mercy while Nightmare just stared down at him blankly.
Golden magic dripped from several cracks in Dream’s skull and the bones that made up his arms onto the floor below him. The ulna on his left arm looked as though it had broken at some point while Dream was being flung around and there was no doubt more injuries that Nightmare caused that he couldn’t see under Dream’s clothing.
Finally after centuries of waiting, he was at last enacting his revenge on his infuriating brother thanks to Sci’s magic suppressing potion, which had worked exactly like he hoped it would. Seeing Dream cry at his feet should have made him feel exhilarated and complete.
So why did he feel n̶͎͊ô̷̯t̸̮͛h̴͝ͅi̸̠̓n̶̞̈g̶͖̕...?
No satisfaction... not even a glimmer of happiness seeing his brother beg for his mercy.
He thought this would be the exact thing he needed to finally be content in his life... but all it seems to be doing is making him feel worse somehow.
And the most infuriating thing... is he doesn’t understand why?
But...
... maybe it’s because Dream still hadn’t suffered quite enough yet?
Or because he had yet to receive a sincere apology from his brother in regards to his actions all those centuries ago...
Yes... clearly he would never be satisfied until both of those conditions were met.
So with some new objectives in mind, Nightmare had picked up his sobbing, terrified brother from where he lay on the floor and adjusted his bodies position so he’d be kneeling on the floor in front of him while he decided what would really make Dream regret everything he had ever done to him. Chains kept his arms stretched out at his sides and his knees attached to the floor as Dream shivered in terror, unable to meet his eye light in fear of what would happen if he did.
Dream can obviously tell he’s planning to do something else to him soon and the anticipation of what that could be has been increasing his negativity levels rapidly for the last several minutes now.
Good. That’s going to make whatever he decides to do even more worth it he’s sure.
Hmm... He supposes it’s about time he should probably be figuring out what that will actually be now...
Looking around the cell, Nightmare’s eye light lands upon a chest that he had brought into the chamber on one of the first days of Dream’s imprisonment.
It is filled with various weapons that he and his boys collected over the years for this exact type of scenario, yet Nightmare has been reluctant to use too many of them himself so far when he can just use his tentacles to inflict quite significant damage... as Dream’s battered and bruised frame can no doubt show at this moment.
However, eyeing the weapons with a small unhinged smile on his face, Nightmare realizes that his tentacles can only do so much assuming he doesn’t plan on killing Dream altogether, which definitely isn’t a part of his plan. He wants Dream potentially scarred, but not dead after all.
Despite the vast range of weapons available to him in the chest at the moment, it is a large kitchen knife in particular that draws his attention the most.
Picking it up, he gazes at his own reflection in it’s shiny blade, frowning when he only sees one eye light staring back at himself. He then briefly glances at his broken eye socket covered currently in corruption and scowls. Just another part of himself he had lost because of Dream’s actions all those centuries ago.
Well... perhaps it’s about time he returned the favor...
He slowly turns his skull to look over his shoulder at Dream behind him for a brief moment before focusing on the knife in his hand once more as an idea suddenly sparks in his mind.
A huge grin forms on Nightmare’s face as he lowers his arm to hold the knife at his side once again. If he can’t be satisfied by any other form of revenge, then Nightmare is going to ensure Dream suffers as much as he did the day of the apple incident.
Seeing the one responsible go through something as agonizing as he did would surely be enough to finally put his mind at ease... Right?
...
He nods to himself in determination...
It has to be...
With knife in hand, Nightmare approaches Dream’s kneeling figure once again, though he notices his feet feel... almost heavy with every step and the knife in his hand seems as though it’s weighing him down all of a sudden.
Is this... hesitation?
He grips the knife handle tighter in his hands as he internally scoffs at the idea.
No... of course it couldn’t be. This is what he wanted after all...
And nothing is going to stop him from going through with this...
It doesn’t take Dream long to notice the weapon in his hand at Nightmare’s approach, his eye lights becoming just tiny dots in their sockets as he begins to tremble uncontrollably.
Nightmare smiles a little at Dream’s reaction. This type of fear is exactly what he wants to see and feel from his brother.
Now... time to increase it exponentially.
“I see you’ve noticed the weapon in my hand Dream.” Nightmare says while holding it up for him to see more clearly, breaking the silence that had fallen onto the cell since he had forced Dream to kneel before him. “Like it? It’s the perfect tool for what I plan on doing to you next. My tentacles can only do so much after all, but with this simple knife...” His eye light flashes for a moment before he lets out a dark, truly bone chilling chuckle “...I can imprint more intentional, permanent marks onto you.”
Dream clearly doesn’t like the sound of that, cowering back as much as he can in the restraints as Nightmare purposefully leans forward to intimidate him more. He briefly looks around the cell in a panic as though he might be able to find a way out of this, but he quickly gives up knowing he’s truly trapped here, his eye lights fearfully focusing back on his brother towering above him once more.
“Wh... Wh-What exactly are y-you g-going t-to d-do to m-me?” Dream manages to stutter out, somehow keeping eye contact with him as he asks this despite the obvious terror he’s feeling.
“Oh you’ll see soon enough... though thinking about it...” Nightmare’s smile becomes truly unhinged as he quickly wraps two of his tentacles around Dream’s skull to keep it as steady as possible for what he’s about to do. “...that’s exactly what you won’t be doing with one eye light by the time I’m finished with you.”
Dream immediately begins to struggle as understanding flashes across his face, though both the chains and Nightmare’s tentacles easily impede any chance of him escaping the fate that awaits him.
He gives up after only a few seconds of this, staring up at Nightmare with a now tearful, begging face as he attempts to plead with Nightmare to reconsider.
“N-Nightmare p-please... d-don’t d-do th-this!” Dream stammers out his voice shrill in clear terror. “We c-can s-still t-talk th-this o-out... I... I know a part of y-you d-doesn’t w-want to c-continue h-hurting me b-brother... so pl-please... p-put d-down the knife and l-let m-me g-go n-now... b-breaking o-one of m-my e-eye lights w-won’t a-accomplish anything!”
Nightmare tuts as his brother’s behavior, squeezing his face while twirling the knife in his hand playfully. “Come now, Dream. You act as though losing an eye light will kill you, yet here I am standing in front of you with only one working eye light myself due to your selfish actions in the past, disproving that theory. It’s about time you feel a fraction of the pain I felt back then.”
“S-Selfish a-actions?” Dream questions in clear confusion yet alarm as his eye lights widen slightly. “N-Nightmare, wh-what are y-you talking-”
“Quiet!” Nightmare demands furiously, wrapping one of the tentacles around Dream’s mouth and squeezing his skull for silence. “If you can’t figure that out then you’re even more foolish than I thought.”
Dream flinches as though struck by his words and from the thought of Nightmare potentially crushing his skull using his tentacle, his eye lights dropping to the floor in defeat as he lets out an involuntary whimper of fear, terrified for what is to come.
Nightmare is thankful Dream stays quiet when he decides to unwrap the tentacle from his mouth again a minute later, clearly understanding not to question him anymore about that subject. His brother winces fearfully as Nightmare begins to tap his chin thoughtfully.
“Now... which eye light is the lucky one I get to break... hmm...”
Nightmare lifts the knife up so it’s dangerously close to the other’s face, pointing it close to each eye light back and forth as he teases Dream in a sing-song voice. “Left... or right... left... or right~”
“ST-STOP!” Dream screams as it gets too close to comfort, trying to pull away from him while sobbing loudly now in distress. “P-Please Nightmare, w-why are y-you doing th-this! Will blinding m-me in an e-eye s-socket r-really m-make you h-happy?!”
Nightmare pauses his movements upon hearing Dream’s question, a question that’s been weighing heavily on his own mind since he first came up with this idea a few minutes ago.
Could... could Dream detect his hesitation in his current state? No, he doubts that is the case with his suppressed magic. Dream is clearly just trying to save himself by trying to talk his way out of this situation, but asking a question regarding his happiness is certainly not the way to make him see reason.
In fact... Dream asking him that question... just makes him want to take this revenge even more...
Nightmare makes sure to look Dream directly in the eye lights as he growls out his answer.
“Yes... I’m sure it will!” He snarls at his brother, placing the knife’s sharp tip at the lower part of the left side of Dream’s forehead. It cuts through the bone there slightly, causing a trickle of Dream’s magic to run down the side of his face as he grimaces in pain. Nightmare smiles just a little at this, his mind made up for him seeing where he just struck his brother. “I think your left eye light will do nicely for this Dream. We are opposites after all, so if my right eye light is gone then it only makes sense I should target your left hmm? But why should I just break your eye light straight away and get it over with quickly when you caused me to go through years of suffering... That’s why I’m going to break into the bone here and drag the knife down... Nice. And. Slowly... ”
“No no NO!” Dream struggles to breathe as he shrieks, desperate to get out of this situation somehow and so he attempts to call to the one person he knows will help. “STOP! BROTHER PLEASE, I KNOW THE NIGHTY I GREW UP WITH IS STILL IN THERE SOMEWHERE! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS...!” He takes a moment to intake a huge gulp of air into his system before he desperately sends out a plea for the brother he grew up with to save him. “...P-Please... I n-need y-you back, N-Nighty...”
Again, Nightmare feels doubt and hesitation building within him at his brother’s words, seeing a memory of a younger Dream gazing up at him in both admiration and affection where his older brother now kneels, but anger is once again able to push that hesitation back down and clears the cloud of doubt growing in his mind.
Now he can only clearly see an image of the brother who betrayed him kneeling before him, one who chose those villagers over him and wasn’t there for him when he needed him most...
One who let them cut down the tree and take everything they should’ve been protecting together...
The brother who deserves to pay for his sins...
... And Nightmare definitely plans on helping him pay...
He places a tentacle on Dream’s shoulder and as expected, a glimmer of hope appears in his gullible brother’s eye lights as he takes the knife away from his forehead for just a few seconds.
“Oh Dream... didn’t I already tell you I’ve changed?” He reminds him with a unsettling smile, watching the hope in Dream’s eye lights fade as he continues to speak. “The ‘Nighty’ you’re so desperately calling for isn’t here, but don’t worry, I’m here to help you repay the debts you owe him for everything you put him and I through, which I’m sure he’s very grateful for.”
Dream opens his mouth to respond, but his voice dies in his throat before he can say anything, clearly horrified at the idea that even the young, non corrupted version of his brother thinks that he deserves to be hurt and have his eye light broken.
“Just think of what I’m about to do to you as... an eye for an eye dear brother.”
Nightmare lifts up the knife in preparation to strike, registering his brother’s petrified expression as he smiles wickedly.
“Scream for me, won’t you?”
Without stalling any longer, Nightmare plunges the knife deeply into Dream’s skull where he cut him earlier in one swift movement, causing Dream to let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony as he tries to fight both the chains and Nightmare’s tight grip desperately to get away.
Several cracks form around the area where the knife was smashed into his forehead due to the severity of the blow, causing more damage than Nightmare assumed it would. Magic quickly begins to seep through these cracks and from the area around the knife down Dream’s face over his now closed eye socket as the skeleton sobs brokenly and hyperventilates in pure terror.
Nightmare’s smile falls a little at this, not enjoying Dream’s reaction as much as he had hoped. Looking down at the hand still tightly gripping the knife imbedded in Dream’s skull, he notices it’s trembling ever so slightly. Wait, why... why is he shaking?! He should be relishing this moment!
...
Perhaps it’s because he hasn’t gone far enough yet...
Yes, clearly he won’t be truly satisfied until Dream has apologized and his eye light is well and truly broken. Right?
Nightmare grips the knife even tighter in resolve, which Dream is clearly able to feel as he begins to squirm even more in his hold than before, screaming for an end to this cruelty...
“NO! PLEASE TAKE IT OUT! TAKE IT OUT!! HAVE MERCY! DON’T DESTROY MY EYE LIGHT PLEASE!! I’LL DO ANYTHING, JUST PLEASE STOP THIS!!!”
Nightmare leans close to Dream so their faces are just inches apart, scowling at his brother unsympathetically.
“Oh? But I’ve barely even started yet Dream...” He taunts him with a malicious smile.
Dream opens his right eye socket with a terrified whimper when he detects the other’s close proximity, trying to plead with his open eye light that he’s had enough, that he knows Nightmare has won and that he’s powerless here. He just needs this torture to end!
“I suppose I’ll consider putting a stop to this...” Nightmare pulls the knife a little further down, slicing more into Dream’s skull as he does so, causing his brother to cry out once more in anguish as Nightmare narrows his eye socket at him. “... if you apologize for everything you caused me to suffer through in the past.”
“Y-YES, YES I WILL!” Dream exclaims without a moment’s hesitation, attempting to nod his skull in Nightmare’s grip as he looks directly in his eye light and apologizes. “I’M SORRY! I’M S-SORRY NIGHTMARE! ... For w-whatever I d-did to y-you, I-I’m truly s-sorry!”
He looks away from his brother to the side with a whimper, before speaking in a quieter, more regretful sounding voice than a second ago. “...I... I d-don’t know h-how I h-hurt you b-brother, but I w-want y-you to know t-that I n-never m-meant t-to a-and I w-want to f-fix it!”
Dream manages to meet his brother’s gaze again at the end of his apology, looking more sincere and remorseful than Nightmare has ever seen him before. “I’m s-sorry... I’m s-sorry N-Nighty... Please... f-forgive m-me...”
Nightmare’s eye light widens a little at Dream’s apology, detecting strong emotions of guilt and regret more than fear or torment in his brother as he spoke.
He can barely believe that he had just witnessed Dream apologize for his wrongdoings from all those centuries ago... but finally it seems he is repenting for his actions.
Nightmare has waited almost his entire lifetime for this moment, dreaming of how it would play out in his mind over and over again for so long;
Dream, at his feet, begging for his forgiveness as he would smirk and reply that he would never be forgiving the other for as long as they both lived. Then he would continue to make Dream suffer a while longer until he got it through that thick skull of his that he is not the weak, pushover skeleton that he had grown up with and that he is no longer his precious brother, no matter how much he wants him to be.
But after hearing Dream’s apology for real, Nightmare isn’t smirking like he thought he would be.
He’s frowning...
Why... why wasn’t that apology enough...? Why is nothing ever enough to bring him true happiness?!
Why did that make him feel somehow even more empty than he did before he started this?
He tries to detect any source of positive emotion from within himself, but just ends up getting angry when he can’t find even a glint of happiness.
Growling out in frustration, Nightmare decides to let his anger out on the one at the center of it all, the one causing him to go through all this turmoil in the first place.
His brother...
“That apology...” Nightmare growls lowly as he once more leans close to his brother, his eye light flashing sinisterly. ”...was not good enough, Dream.”
“No WAIT-!”
Nightmare harshly pulls the knife further down Dream’s face so that it comes to a halt just above his bone brow. Dream’s piercing screams fill the room once more as he fights even harder against Nightmare’s grip and the chains holding him still, though his useless efforts get him nowhere.
Even more cracks form around the area where the knife has cut through Dream’s skull and as the larger ones connect with one another, small pieces of Dream’s forehead bone fall to the ground where they dust soon after, leaving an almost star shaped sizable hole in their wake when they finally stop falling. Magic gushes through the open wound at a alarming rapid rate, staining Dream, his clothes and the floor below him in a golden yellow hue.
Dream is no longer making eye contact with him, though his left eye socket is open wide with fear. Instead he stares at Nightmare’s feet, gasping for breath as he continues to apologize over... and over... and over again...
“I’m sorry, *gasp* I’m sorry, sorry, *gasp* I’m sorry, so sorry, *gasp* please I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”
In shock over Dream’s reaction, Nightmare flinches and accidentally cuts into his bone the tiniest bit more.
The small action on Nightmare’s part may not have caused Dream much more pain than he was in beforehand, but the damage to his mental state has already passed its limit at this stage.
And so this tiny cut was all Dream needed to feel...
To finally...
B̷̛̜̲͐r̸̛̥̭ẹ̴͒͂ǎ̷̞͔̅k̸̜̂̓.
“I’msorry...I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry...”
Dream mutters that one word non-stop as he continues to peer down at Nightmare’s feet. He’s seemingly no longer with it, even when Nightmare relaxes his grip on the knife in shock at Dream’s mental breakdown.
At this point, Nightmare too finds himself hyperventilating as Dream doesn’t stop saying sorry, even when it’s clear with the amount of magic bleeding out of his wounds that Dream is starting to lose his strength and may soon fall unconscious.
He doesn’t understand... Why is Dream’s suffering bothering him so much?!
Why is he hardly able to breathe as he watches his brother tremble before him, his open eye light flickering and his apologies slowing down now as he struggles to stay conscious while his body slumps involuntarily in the restraints?
And most of all...
Why does a part of him feel like this idea was a huge mistake?!
Nightmare’s body freezes up as it battles between flight or fight instincts. His mind is a whirlwind of emotion as he struggles to move the knife further down Dream’s face.
A part of him is screaming at him to stop, but another says he needs to finish what he’s started.
Choosing the latter for now, Nightmare cuts further down the skull through Dream’s bone brow so the knife is touching the outer edge of Dream’s eye socket. This time Dream barely reacts to the pain in his broken, exhausted state, only gasping a little before continuing his seemingly endless string of apologies.
Nightmare visibly winces at his brother’s current condition, though he’s thankful that Dream isn’t looking up to see him do so. It’s clear the injured skeleton's consciousness is failing him fast. He won’t stay awake for any longer than a minute more if Nightmare were to guess.
He’ll have to end this now or never...
Nightmare can’t stop his whole body now from trembling any more as he looks down at what he has to do.
Just one more tiny cut... and he’ll be able to slice the knife into Dream’s eye socket to break the eye light inside at last. Then he’ll be finished...
This... he needs to do this...
When it’s done he’ll finally be satisfied with his revenge...
His bloodlust quenched at last...
Dream’s long awaited punishment... ultimately fulfilled by his hand...
So many accomplishments achieved all at once... if only he could move the knife down a little further...
...
But he can’t.
No matter how hard he tries to will himself to drag the knife down, his body refuses to cooperate.
Instead, Nightmare stands deathly still as he continues to look down at his brother and becomes overwhelmed by Dream’s faltering voice, which although getting quieter by the second, only seems to become more deafening to Nightmare’s ears as time goes on.
When he finally finds it in himself to move, Nightmare’s grip on the knife goes almost completely slack as he lowers his skull to hide his face from view in shame.
He’s failed himself... he knows there’s no way he can go through with this now...
After everything Dream has done to him... he somehow just can’t find it in him to return the favor in the same way...
If only he wasn’t so weak...
“N...Nighty...”
Nightmare immediately lifts his face back up the moment he hears his brother weakly call him by the nickname he gave him when they were kids, surprised he’s saying something different after so many ‘sorry’s’. Dream has his left eye socket open and is staring at him with a wide fuzzy eye light, clearly not able to focus on him properly in his current state.
For a moment as Dream looks up at him, all Nightmare is able to see is the young version of his brother who looked up to him, the one that he cherished and adored more than anything. He’s unable to look away as his eye light shrinks to become razor thin, finally realizing the damage done onto the skeleton he once cared about as his brother gives him one last regretful look.
“Nighty... ‘m sorry... brother... sorry... so... rry...”
His remaining energy spent, Dream at last loses his battle with consciousness, his visible eye light sparking out as he slumps forward in the restraints.
Nightmare’s vision blurs the moment this happens, his emotions going haywire thinking about what he nearly just did to Dream. He watches in horror as magic continues to pour out of the hole in his skull, despite Dream being no longer conscious to even react to the pain of this anymore.
Suddenly the cell he’s in seems suffocating. It feels as though the stone walls surrounding Nightmare are closing in on him, causing everything to become too much for him in the moment as he cowers in on himself.
Conflicting emotions fight with one another in his mind until it all comes out in one long... tormented ... S̵̨̠͌͒Č̷̢̪͖̫͘͠R̴̗̾̈́̏͝E̷̗̮͙͒Ȧ̸̢̞̗͐Ḿ̵̙̜̇͘͠...
His body seems to move on it’s own, rapidly pulling the knife out of Dream’s skull and chucking it to the ground as though it’s burnt him. He never wants to touch a knife like this again after today.
He’s still screaming when he unexpectedly finds himself kneeling on his office floor, apparently having teleported himself out of the cell to there in his anguish. He grips his skull tightly between his two hands, willing himself to calm down and breathe now that he’s alone.
His tentacles lie in a slumped pile on the floor behind him as he kneels there unmoving for a few moments, focusing on every breath in and out.
Stars is he glad that no one is around here to see him like-
“Nightmare...? I heard a scream... is everything ok?”
-this...
Crap! Of course his office door just had to be open at a time like this! Looking up from the floor, he sees Horror standing at the doorway, staring at him in a mix of surprise and concern.
“Nightmare... what happened? ... Are you-”
“I-I’m... I’m fine Horror, do not be alarmed...” Nightmare interrupts, rubbing his skull for a moment while trying to think of an excuse for why he’s on the floor. “I was just... cleaning up something I spilled on the floor here earlier...”
It’s a truly pathetic lie, one that he has no doubt Horror will be able to see right through, but he’s not willing to discuss the truth of what really just happened with anyone right now.
He’s thankful Horror doesn’t make any comments about his state as he picks himself up off the floor, clearing his throat before he speaks to him in a steadier voice than before.
“While you’re here though, I need you to do something for me, Horror... A moment ago I was in Dream’s cell and while there I may have... damaged him a little more than I intended to... I need you and one of the others to get down there as quickly as possible to patch him up and heal him to the best of your ability. Then when you’re done, chain each of his limbs to the back cell wall for me to deal with again later. Is that understood?”
“...Of course Nightmare...” Horror agrees after a moment’s silence, his eye light never leaving Nightmare’s frame. “I’ll ask Cross... to give me a hand...”
“Alright then... just make sure the two of you are careful around him.” He winces a little thinking about the condition he left Dream in, though attempts to hide it from Horror by bringing his hand up to his mouth and clearing his throat once more. “... He was unconscious when I left him... but I doubt he’ll be in the best mental state when he wakes up.”
Horror nods in understanding, appearing as though he’s about to leave but stays put a little longer to give his boss another worried glance.
“Are you sure... you’re alright... Nightmare?” He asks in a clearly concerned tone. “If there’s something... you need to talk about... I can-“
Nightmare quickly shakes his skull, waving his hand dismissively. “No, no, I’m quite fine Horror. I’ll call you if I need anything else, don’t worry.”
Horror still looks a little worried, but decides to trust his boss’s words. “Ok... I’ll go get Cross now then...”
He then disappears with a buzz of teleportation magic, allowing Nightmare to let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in as he’s left alone at last.
He walks over to the office door and shuts it, giving him the privacy he desperately craves before he then trudges over to his desk chair to think.
Sitting down with a heavy thud, Nightmare wonders just how badly he may have broken Dream... What if he’s never the same again?
His thoughts are plagued by the memories of Dream’s chilling screams and the way he had begged for mercy and forgiveness throughout his torture... All things he had thought he wanted to hear from Dream for so long... but instead they just made him feel the emptiest he’s ever felt.
Almost as if... causing Dream to suffer... isn’t what he really wanted all along...
But that idea is absurd surely...?
...
All he knows is that he does not want to see Dream again right now... at least for a few hours anyway...
It’s not because he himself isn’t fine with the idea of seeing his brother beat up... but because he doubts Dream would be able to handle his presence at the moment...
...
Yes... he’s sure he’d be fine if he chooses to go visit his brother later...
He’ll... he’ll go see his brother again in a few hours and figure out what he’s going to do with him then. He should be able to handle seeing him then... definitely...
...
For now, he’ll sit back to just recover rest for a while...
The rest of his gang can handle taking care of Dream for a bit after all... he shouldn’t have to worry about him any longer while he composes himself unwinds here...
...
Dream will hopefully be fine.
Nightmare isn’t is fine.
He’ll be able to easily go down to Dream’s cell again in a while to see how he’s recovering if he really wants to...
And he’ll barely bat an eye lid at Dream’s condition he’s sure...
... because... he doesn’t... care about him...
Not now... and not ever again...
...
But then why does his soul ache in so much regret...?