#ttss17

"Loki! What happened to you?" Lorelei rushed over to him as he entered the house and fell heavily against the wall. There was a large burn on the left side of his body from the oil that Darcy splashed on him and the pain was eating away at him.

Loki closed his eyes, fighting the pain of the burn and the pain of Darcy's betrayal. Still, tears sprung to his eyes and he couldn't do anything to stop them.

Lorelei pulled him into her arms and helped him to the bed. "I'll go get the golden apples," She said before rushing off.

It was only a few minutes before Amora was standing over him, looking at him with false sympathy. "Does it hurt, Loki?"

Loki put his right arm over his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at her. "Amora, please," He sighed.

Amora placed her hand on his shoulder, heedless of his burn, and causing Loki to hiss. "Don't worry about anything, my dear. Lorelei will be here to nurse you back to health and I'll go take care of that awful woman." She withdrew her arm just as Loki sat up to look at her.

"Amora..."

A green flash passed over the walls and windows. "Rest up, Loki. Don't worry about a thing." She disappeared and Loki saw the magic trapping him in the room. He fell back onto the bed to wait for Lorelei. He couldn't do anything before he was healed up anyway. He just had to hope that Darcy would be okay.

Darcy was still leaning against the wall when a shadow fell upon her. She looked up toward the doorway, hoping that she would see Loki, but instead there was a statuesque blonde woman standing there.

"Hello, princess," She hissed out as she approached Darcy. "So, you're the wretch that burned my beloved Loki."

Darcy straightened immediately. "Is he okay? I really didn't mean to hurt him!"

"Didn't you?" The woman questioned. "I saw the dagger you had hidden away downstairs and you caused him an awful lot of pain for a mere accident."

"No, it's not what you think!" Darcy insisted. "I was never going to use that, I swear!"

The woman glared down at her, approaching with a menacing gait. "If you really mean that, I can think of one way for you to help him."

Darcy perked up. "Anything!"

A smile spread over the woman's lips. In a flash of green, a strange, ornately carved box appeared in her hand. "Take this box and go down to Hel."

"What?"

"You heard me," The woman said. "Go to Hel, steal some of her vitality with this box and bring it back to me. That's the only way that you can help Loki."

Darcy stared at the box for a long moment before reaching out to take it. "Alright. I'll do it."

"Damn her!" Loki yelled, banging against Amora's barrier as he watched his Darcy descending into Hel. It had only been a day, and already Amora had managed to ruin everything. Darcy was shivering from the harsh cold and if that didn't kill her, surely Hela would once she found out what Darcy was planning to do. He turned to Lorelei, who was still holding the mirror that she had enchanted to show Loki Darcy's location. "Please, Lorelei, you have to help me."

Lorelei bit her lip and looked away. She was caught between loyalties, Loki knew, a situation that she found herself in often. There had been millions of times that Loki and Amora found to butt heads and she was always in the middle.

"Amora's magic is stronger than mine," Lorelei finally said.

"We can work together," Loki said. He reached out to take her hands, looking in her eyes. "Please, Lorelei, I love her."

That seemed to firm up her decision. "Okay," She said. "But once you're out, don't go to Darcy. Go to Thor. He'll help you."

Loki hesitated for just a second, but he knew that she was right. He nodded. "Okay."

They wove their magic together to begin breaking the spell.

"Brother?" Thor's surprised and gleeful face met Loki as soon as he entered the room. "Brother!" Thor repeated, gathering Loki in his arms and into a bone crushing hug. "What brings you here?"

"I have a problem, Thor, and I am in need of your help to solve it."

"Anything, brother, simply name it!" Thor enthused.

"I married a mortal," Loki began to explain. "She has garnered Amora's wrath through no fault of her own and I fear that her mortality will cause her doom."

Thor laughed boisterously. "That is no problem! I will simply make her a god the same as we are!"

The relief that spread through Loki was immediate and immense. He placed his hand on Thor's arm. "Thank you, Thor."

"Anytime!" Thor made a few hand motions and summoned a bolt of lightning to his hand. "Find her swiftly, because if she remains in Hel too long, I will not be able to save her."

"Of course," Loki answered.

"I will lead you straight to her Loki," Thor said, drawing back his arm to throw the bolt of lightning. "Be swift!"

"I am ready," Loki said.

Thor threw the bolt of lightning and Loki made to immediately follow it. He could not move as swiftly as lightning, but he could keep track of it well enough to find her.

He found her just as she was standing before Hela. The queen of Hel had a smirk on her face as she watched the girl, writhing on the ground from Thor's lightning bolt, mouth open in a silent scream. Loki stood in front of her, trying to block Darcy from her sight.

"Hello, Hela."

"Hello, Loki," She greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Just come to collect something," He answered. "How are you enjoying Baldr?"

Her expression wavered before she answered. She had never acknowledged the favor that he's done for her, but Loki would call on whatever favors he needed to in order to save Darcy.

"I am," She said curtly. She nodded to Darcy. "She'll be dead soon."

"Not for long," He answered. Loki reached down to scoop her into his arms. "Farewell."

"If she tries this again, I don't care on whose word, she's mine," Hela called out.

"Well, today she is still mine," Loki answered, speeding out of Hel as fast as he could.

Amora was glaring at him as he entered his room, laying Darcy on the bed. "Loki--"

"I do not wish to hear it, Amora," Loki said without looking at her. "She is alive and mine. If you leave without a word, I will not be angry with you."

He could practically feel her anger radiating from her, but eventually she did leave. Amora would get over it.

Loki waited for Darcy to open her eyes, remaining visible to her now that she'd already seen him. It was not a long wait. Her eyes opened slowly and Darcy smiled at him. "Hey there, Loki."

"Hello, love. Are you ready to enjoy immortality with me?" He asked her.

"I couldn't have asked for anything better."

The room was completely dark. Darcy stood in the doorway with the light of the hall to her back. She pulled her robe closer, feeling the few lingering water drops on her body from her shower beginning to make her cold. She tried to survey the bedroom. She'd seen it during her tour early in the day, sat on the bed and felt the softness of the pillows. It hadn't intimidated her then.

She felt hands land on her shoulders and instinctively looked behind her. Of course she saw nothing. She still wasn't used to that, though.

"I can blindfold you, if you would prefer," Loki said.

"No," Darcy said, straightening her shoulders. "I don't want to need that." She made herself walk confidently forward and it wasn't until she reached the bed that Loki closed the door and all the light went with it.

She pulled her robe closer again. Sitting on a bed in a dark room was not the most comfortable situation to be in.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked, hand falling onto her shoulder again.

"Yeah..." Darcy answered slowly. "Could you, maybe say something? Talking might help..."

"As you wish," Loki answered. "Perhaps I should talk about how beautiful my new wife is." Loki's lips brushed her neck and she shivered. "How lovely and shapely I find her body." His hands caressed her hips through the robe, trailed up her body, then slipped the garment off her shoulders and cupped her breast. Darcy's breath hitched.

"You... you can't even see my body right now," She whispered.

"No, but I can feel you." He punctuated his point by gently squeezing her breast. "I can hold this weight of you in my arms." His arms wrapped around her middle to pull her closer and she let her weight fall against him. His lips brushed against her ear as he continued. "I can kiss every inch of you until I am intimately familiar with the shape of you."

Darcy shivered. "And how am I suppose to get to know you?" She questioned.

She felt Loki's body pull back from her briefly, then he turned her around so she could straddle his lap. "I suppose you'll have to touch as well, my dear. I suspect this will not be a hardship for you."

Darcy smiled as she leaned in to press a kiss to the first place she could reach. No, it would not be a hardship for her. Not at all. She was willing to use her hands to see what her eyes could not.

Living in Loki's mansion turned out to be much better than Darcy thought it would be. She wasn't lonely as she had feared that she would be. Loki was usually within speaking distance at any given point in time and on the rare occasion that he needed to leave, he usually told her first.

She could often tell that the servants were about and had gotten used to seeing things floating as they tidied up, brooms sweeping across the floor, and hearing their occasional chatter. Loki was playful and snarky, and it was easy and fun for Darcy to snark back at him.

Everything was going pretty great when tall, dark, and golden armored arrived. Darcy jumped up from the couch that she was sitting on to point at him. "You! You're the escort that abandoned me!"

He smirked at her with obvious amusement.

"Heimdall," Loki's voice greeted. "What brings you here?"

"A visitor for your wife," Heimdall answered. He gestured to the door and an anxious looking Jane crept around the corner.

"Jane!" Darcy was running toward her before she even realized it, gathering her up into a hug that Jane fiercely returned.

Heimdall nodded at them and turned to go.

"Thank you!" Darcy called out after him. She didn't get a response, but she thought that that was alright.

"I'll leave you to catch up with your friend," Loki said.

"Thanks," She replied. Jane was looking around for the voice. Darcy pulled her attention back with a question. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing," Jane answered. "I was worried about you."

Darcy's face broke out into a wide smile. "I'm doing great!" She answered.

Jane drew back in confusion. "But... what about... the prophecy?"

Darcy's smile didn't waver. "I don't know what the prophecy was talking about," She admitted. "But that voice you heard, that was my husband, Loki."

Jane's eyes became so wide that Darcy feared they would fall out. "What?"

"He's invisible," Darcy explained. "Or at least, he has been since I got here."

The horror on Jane's face was so severe that it caused Darcy's smile to waver. Jane placed her hands on Darcy's shoulders. "Darcy, do you have any idea what it is that you're married to?"

Darcy was brought up short by that question. "I..."

"Have you ever seen him?" Jane pressed.

"Well, no..." Darcy answered.

"And you're okay with that?" Jane asked in disbelief. "Being married to a monster? One that you can't even see?"

Darcy had, in fact, been okay with her circumstances before this moment. Now she was having doubts.

"This is a creature that is feared by the gods, Darcy!" Jane hissed in a whisper, as if afraid to speak too loudly lest the gods themselves hear her. From her bag she pulled out a dagger and pressed it into Darcy's hands. "Please, Darcy, this thing could kill you if you aren't careful."

"I can't!" Darcy tried to push the weapon away, but Jane wouldn't let her.

"Once this is all over, you can come home," Jane insisted. "Please, destroy this monster before it destroys you."

Darcy stared at the dagger in her hand as her fingers closed over it, conflicting feelings waging war within her. She couldn't... could she?

That night, after Jane had left, Darcy waited in the study for her husband to go to sleep. She stared at the dagger for a long time, trying to weight Jane's words and logic against her own heart. In the end, she left the dagger on the table and took an oil lamp to their bedroom. No matter what kind of monster her husband turned out to be, she had already fallen in love with him and nothing could persuade her to end his life.

She moved as quietly as she could into their bedroom, holding the oil lamp high so that she would be able to see him.

Darcy gasped. She almost hadn't expected it to work, but there he lay, spread out on her bed on top of the covers. His skin was a lovely shade of blue, there were long curved horns stretching out from his head, and lines trailed along his skin in unfathomable patterns. She tried to move forward, needing to get a look at his gorgeous figure.

She tripped over his quiver, one of the arrows sticking her in the shin, and a touch of oil from the lamp splashing on Loki.

Loki sat up with a pained cry, opening eyes that were a startling red. His gaze turned to where she was, leaning on the wall and trying to recover from her fall, and they filled with hurt and betrayal.

When Darcy had wished for something exciting to happen, this wasn't what she meant. She'd wanted something simple or fun. A real conversation where someone didn't mention her looks, a chance to leave her village and explore, not... this.

Her mother was trying to suppress her tears as she braided white flowers into Darcy's hair. Darcy could see how red her eyes were in the vanity mirror however. Jane had hugged her and told her to be brave. Her father had said nothing, simply began the preparations to give his daughter away.

"The oracle says a creature feared by the gods is destined for my daughter," He had announced to the kingdom. "How arrogant we were to think we could keep something as divine and lovely as my daughter is."

It was disheartening to see him so immediately detached to her. What else could she expect, though? A creature feared by the gods... it was too much to even consider.

"I'm all done, Darcy." Her mother sniffled. She stroked Darcy's face, smoothed her hands down Darcy's dress. It was the same preening that Darcy was used to receiving, but it felt different this time. This would be the last time she would receive such attention. Darcy should be sad about that, but she couldn't be. As much as she wasn't looking forward to being given away to some terrifying creature, there was a part of her that was excited.

Darcy had enough memories of devotion and preening and praise to last her a lifetime. She longed for something to change. This had not been what she meant. Not at all. But finally, something would be different.

"Come along, my daughter."

Darcy took one last look around her room. It was so crowded with flowers and trinkets that she couldn't even see her own personal effects.

"I'm ready, mother."

She was left in a meadow, far away from her village where could safely be collected. There was a circle of parting gifts surrounding her and a few tokens of appeasement for whatever was coming to claim to claim her. There was a cliff not far from her perch and she left the circle of gifts to approach it.

Darcy had never been this far from her home and the sight was amazing. The water crashed below and she could see a house far across the cliffs. Was that where her fate waited for her? She couldn't help but wonder.

Sleep came to claim her before any sort of monster did.

She was stirred awake by a strong gale. Opening her eyes, she was started to find a man standing tall before her. For a moment, she moved back in fear. His eyes glowed like fire, his skin the color of wood, and he wore gleaming gold armor. His eyes seemed as if they could see straight through her and Darcy shivered. The fear dulled down after she was able to get a good look at him, but she didn't calm.

Darcy cleared her throat. "Are you my monster?" She asked with a small grin.

He returned the smile and shook his head. "I am here to take you to him." He gestured to the cliff where there was now a rainbow bridging the distance.

Darcy looked at him as if he were crazy.

"He will not like for us to be late," The man told her.

"Right," Darcy replied. Still, there was a pause before she could make herself move. The man, whoever he was, did not move to help her. Simply standing there and waiting. It was surprising after seeing people fall over themselves to do things for her. Was this what it meant to be around monsters? Was this man as terrifying as her soon to be husband?

Darcy pushed herself to her feet and moved to the edge of the cliff. The man held an arm out her. Darcy hesitated before taking it.

"If I do not escort you, the bridge will not be solid," He told her.

"Right..." She took hold of his arm. She was hesitant to step upon the wispy looking light. She'd never known rainbows to be solid. He didn't allow her any hesitation however. He walked confidently, pulling her along with him when she tried to be cautious.

"Can you tell me what I'm walking toward?" Darcy asked him.

"Yes." That was all he said. Darcy waited, but nothing else was forthcoming. She looked at him with a mildly shocked expression.

"Well?" She snapped.

He arched an eyebrow at her disrespectful tone. Darcy flushed, feeling the scolding down to her bones, but she didn't back down. She maintained eye contact even when it caused her to trip over the hem of her dress.

"We have arrived," He said after a prolonged silence.

Darcy looked up in surprise, seeing the large house looming before her. Without thinking she unwound her limb from her escort. What she'd thought was a house was more akin to a mansion and so large it intimidated her.

"Who lives here?" She wondered. She turned to the side and found her escort was gone. She looked around frantically, finding that the bridge of light had also vanished. "You're the worst escort!" She yelled out.

Nothing answered her, but it was just as well. If there was no one around to hear her snark there was no one to get upset by it.

"Well, it would be dumb to just stand out here all day," She said to herself. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the door and opened it. "Hello?" She called out.

"Hello."

Darcy looked around for the voice that responded to her as she cautiously walked forward. "Where are you?"

The door closed behind her. Darcy jumped and spun around. "I am here," The voice repeated. "I am Loki."

"Uhh... hi, Loki?" She greeted uncertainly.

"Hello, Darcy." There was amusement in his voice. "It is nice to formally meet you." He lifted her hand, she assumed it was him since she still saw nothing, and she felt the kiss pressed to it. "That was a lovely wedding ceremony your father arranged. I was quite pleased."

"That's... that's good." Darcy said with a nod.

"I intend to keep you as a wife," He informed her. "But you will not see me. You must not try to see me. I will provide for you any manner of thing that you may like, you need only ask. Do you understand?"

Darcy nodded again. "Yes. You're my rich, invisible husband. Why... are you invisible, though?"

"That information is not for you, Darcy."

"Right..." She was silent for a moment before she spoke. "This is awkward. How am I suppose to get to know you?"

"Simply speak and I will respond."

"How will I even know if you're here?" She asked in frustration.

"You ask," He told her. "If I am here, I will respond. To be on the safe side, you should assume that I am always able to see you."

"What of my privacy?" She huffed. "My modesty?"

Loki laughed. It was both terrifying to hear an unseen creature laughing and... slightly alluring. Loki's voice seemed to pull her in and she wasn't sure why. "You are my wife," He told her. "You have no need of such things with me. You will have no secrets that I do not know. Not of mind or body."

"You can't know my mind," She retorted.

"You can't know that I don't."

Impasse. Darcy wanted to look away, but she wasn't looking at anything. She turned anyway, feeling better at the thought of turning her back to him.

"So what now?" She asked.

"A tour of your new home, if you'd like it." Loki offered.

Darcy raised her eyebrow, but didn't bother to turn back around. She didn't know where he was standing so trying to face would be pointless anyway. "Are you planning to show me around?" She asked in a sardonic tone.

"I believe that you are capable of exploring the manse on your own terms," Loki told her. "Go where you will. Do what you will. I shall follow and tell you whatever you wish about your new home."

Darcy perked up at that. Even if it was only this one mansion, getting to go where she wanted and do what she wanted would be great. Not to mention, talking to Loki was refreshing. He had yet to say a single complimentary thing to her and she was rather relieved by it. Loki was formal, yet snarky, and it was a delightful change from what she was accustomed to.

"Alright," Darcy agreed. "I'll let you follow me."

Loki huffed a laugh again. "Well then, lead the way, wife."

The mansion was huge. Darcy had decided to explore the top first, finding that there were three floors and dozens of rooms. She went absolutely crazy as she ran around looking at everything, picking up whatever caught her attention, and listening to Loki as he told her stories about objects she touched or what the rooms had been used for.

When she got to the dinning room, she was surprised to find that there was a feast laid out on it.

"What's all this for?" Darcy asked. "You got a big appetite?"

Loki chuckled. "This is our wedding feast," He told her. "I had the servants working on this while you explored."

Darcy turned toward his voice. "Wait, there are servants here?"

"Of course."

"I haven't seen anyone."

"Nor have you seen me," He pointed out. "Nor will you."

That put something of a damper on her good humor. It would be like living in an empty palace. She would be just as lonely as she was before. Was this really better than her previous monotony?

One of the chairs was pulled out from the table. "Come here, Darcy. Have a seat."

Darcy hesitated but there wasn't really a reason to. She couldn't go back. It wasn't an option. All she could do was embrace her fate and hope that Loki could make this place feel as alive as it did so far. She took the offered seat and from the movement of the chair, Loki was sitting across from her.

"So what do we do after dinner?" Darcy asked as she began to survey the food.

"Whatever you like," He said. "There are a few more hours of daylight left. You can explore the grounds and afterwards, I will take you to bed and make you my wife properly."

Darcy choked. "What?"

"Did I surprise you?" He asked.

"Yeah... You did."

"Well, I do not intend to put it off, but if you have concerns, I will hear them."

Darcy bit her lip for a moment. "Do I get to see you?"

"No." His voice left no room for question.

"That will be strange," She told him.

"I will turn out the light so you do not have to worry about your sight," He told her. "You will be able to feel me, as you can do now, so there is no need to worry."

"I'm going to worry."

"It will be very pleasant."

"This is my first time," She admitted.

He reached across the table to grab her hand, she could feel it being cradled in both of his own. "I will take care of you, Darcy. I promise you."

The sound of a door slamming echo through the house, shattering the amiable silence that they have been languishing in. Loki looked up from his book and out into the hall, though he didn't expect to see much. The sound had come from downstairs, too far to have naturally carried to where they were two floors up. Magic had to be involved and it was worrying sign that it was being used purely to carrying the warning of someone's irritation.

Lorelei closed her a book with a sigh, sitting up from where she was lounging on the floor. "She's angry."

"She's always angry," Loki answered, eyes drifting down to his book. "We should stop letting her go out."

Lorelei leaned back on her hands, legs crossed at the ankles. "It's going to be our problem." She said with heavy resignation.

"I am in no hurry for that to become true," he said.

It seemed that Lorelei was not either. She remained relaxed on the floor, but she didn't pick up her book again. She was resigned, waiting. She shouldn't be. It wasn't even like she had much to worry about. Whatever Amora's grievance was, she was most likely to come to Loki to deal with it.

The goddess of love was a complete hassle.

Amora waited a grand total of ten minutes before coming to them. During that time, Loki could only imagine she broke everything in the house based on the noise. He heard clunks and clatters, slamming doors, broken glass, and stomping feet. As expected, her eyes were blazing with anger when she arrived.

"What's wrong?" Lorelei asked because Loki wasn't going to.

"Mortals!" Amora hissed and Loki closed his book. Loki knew that this wouldn't be dismissed swiftly. It never was when she took issue with the mortals.

"What offense have they made now?" Lorelei asked with exasperation. Amora ignored her tone or else was too angry to noticed.

"They had the audacity to choose one of their own petty peons to worship in my stead!" Amora yelled. "To claim a mortal is more beautiful than myself!"

Ah, the most severe offense, Loki thought, a vanity blow. Well, no need to remind her that she wasn't the goddess of beauty. She had long convinced herself that she was just that.

"So what do you plan to do about it, Amora?" Loki finally asked.

Amora turned to face him with eyes blazing, glowing green with anger and magic. "Your mischief works best here, Loki. Make her fall in love with the most hideously appalling creature you can find."

"Why should I do your dirty work?" Loki questioned, already knowing that he would but wanting to be contrary about it.

"Because if I go, I may very well slaughter every mortal clustered around her in a ten mile radius." She clenched her fist, flames leaping up between her fingers.

"And," Lorelei added, "You actually have a modicum of self restraint. Unlike Amora."

Truth. All true. This was the reason that Loki was often sent to handle Amora's rages. It was a way of showing mercy to the mortals, an attempt to reign in Amora's vast amount of pettiness and easy to rouse fury.

Loki stood up. "Tell me who she is."

Darcy was exceedingly bored. She sat in front of her vanity mirror, staring into her own bored eyes as she suffered her mother tugging her hair. "Oh, Darcy, you could put the gods to shame." She said, for what was surely eight millionth time of Darcy's life. Darcy remained silent. She had long ago stopped responding to such statements. She tired of wasting her breath on them when the statements would come regardless.

Her sole indulgence to her mother was letting her braid flowers and gems into Darcy's hair. Flowers that were constantly delivered by men wanting win her favor and gems that she was gifted by boys hoping to court her. Her room had long since gotten crowded and this was an easy way to cycle the gifts out. Her mother always had a fit if she tried to simply throw them out.

Her indulgence to her father was keeping her manners, and more importantly her temper, in check when hordes of would-be suitors crowded her for attention. Her father wanted her to one day marry. She was in no way pressed for options, but it still wouldn't due to kill them all before that.

It was unbelievably tiresome having everyone around her saying the same things and behaving in the same way day in and day out. No matter what she did or where she went, very little changed.The praises flowed from people's lips as constant as a sun rise. Gifts appeared in her room more frequently than they did at the temples. Flowers had been laid at her feet as if she was too good to walk on the unadorned ground.

It was madness! No one but Darcy seemed to realize it though. Her father claimed that it was her due, no doubt too pleased by how the trinkets given to her could help fill the royal coffers. Her mother insisted it was her destiny and thrilled in the attention as if it were her own instead of her daughter's. Jane had informed her many a time that it was her burden to bear the weight of glory the kingdom was due.

It was all so tedious!

"All done, love." Her mother smiled as she brushed aside a few lose strands of hair, admiring and preening all at once. "Aren't you a lovely sight to behold." It should have been a question, but it wasn't. Not at all.

Darcy sighed. If she wasn't careful, this stage of admiration could last another hour. "May I go now, mother?"

Her mother cupped Darcy's cheek with one hand, eyes trailing over her appearance once more. "Whatever you like, dear."

Darcy slid away from her mother's touch quickly. "Thank you." She attempted to keep the exasperation out of her voice. She wasn't certain that she succeeded, but she fled before she could tell one way or the other. It was too much to be doted on every hour of ever day. Darcy was getting sick of it. Had gotten sick of it.

"I wish something exciting would happen," She muttered to herself as she walked out into the palace gardens. Surely that wasn't too much to ask for?

"Something exciting," Loki repeated with a grin. He was sitting above her in the trees, his bow resting across his lap and spinning one of his arrows in his left hand. "Well I have a surprise for you!"

As if beckoned by his voice, Darcy looked up. Loki was startled to find that the mortals had actually gotten something right. The girl was unaccountably beautiful. Loki tried to get a grip on his arrow, yelping in surprise when his hand closed around the arrowhead. Glancing back down at the princess, he could feel the magic in the arrow wrapping around his heart, pulling him toward her.