painting the night with brush strokes of gray: (Closed thread)

[The_gladiator]

Dimitri twisted harder, irritated with her flippancy. “You are already caught,” he snarled in her ear. “Or, have you so soon forgotten?”

Her continued insolence caused the inevitable and her shoulder made a wet popping noises it snapped out of place from the torque he was exerting. “The only thing I will do for you is spare your miserable existence,” he growled. “The only thing you can earn is less pain.”

Pausing in his torture of her, he felt the touch of his starlight. He reached out to her, but then she was gone. Morgan had her, he knew it.

----

Antonio ignored the If in her statement. They both knew she had her. “It would be our plan, then,” he replied. His smile widened as she continued to smile. He blamed Imogen for the loss of Isabela, Dimitri wouldn’t have taken his sister if not for her. He blamed Morgan too, but he was willing to overlook that based on what she was now saying.

Morgan was quite attractive; most were too intimidated by her power to remember that. However, as she spoke his eyes moved from hers, now lit with her own emerald fire, to the swells of her pale breasts encased in her black dress. He returned his eyes to hers after a long look, “Are you suggesting what I think you are?” he asked voice gone husky with sudden need, sexual need mixed with greed for power.

------

Nicholas nodded to Lillian, “You owed me or my people nothing, still we are grateful.” His murmured “He’s like my brother,” may not have reached her ears as she drifted away. He turned to face Gabriel and Ehlana’s struggle of wills.

He came up behind her and his arms slid around her, resting her from Gabriel. He spoke to her in their native tongue. Words that activated a different part of her mind, a part that might make her feel safer, calmer. They were wording a parent would offer to a child. Strong fingers lifted her chin to meet his gaze. Ehlana fought his grip trying to look away. Gabriel was not strong enough to put her under, but Nicholas was. Nicholas was ruthless though, iron willed and unwilling to see her suffer anymore this night. He caught Ehlana up as she went under. Gabriel opened the earth as Nicholas did this. Nicholas laid Ehlana reverently in the ground, not far from Darian.

“I will sleep over top of Darian,” Nicholas said softly, you rest over the others,” Gabriel nodded his consent and the ground opened for him next. Gabriel was troubled by the fact that he had heard Imogen, a brief touch but couldn’t go to her, couldn’t find her in time before dawn. He knew that he would not sleep on his own so turned to Nicholas.

“Put me under,” it was a humbling request for him to make, full of his frustration, but admission that he would need help. Nicholas merely nodded eyes locking with Gabriel. It was not the almost primal struggle that Ehlana and Nicholas had had, he opened himself to his mentor as he had so many times before and felt the world sliding away. There was something about that, something that nagged at him, something about Nicholas in his mind that felt wrong.

Nicholas lay Gabriel in the ground and then crouched down where he would sleep. He had not yet opened the earth for himself. He watched the sky, watched the pink of dawn creeping over the skyline. His eyes turned to Lillian where she was a distance away. He knew he was trusting her a lot. If she were evil, she could dig him up after sunrise and he would be dead. He would have to shut himself down, but it would not be an easy process. He knew he would stall as long as he could before he went to ground.

 

[SandS13]

Andrea heard it before she felt it. The pop was impossibly loud in her ears. Then the pain radiated through her body. She cried out. He said he would spare her but he didn't let go. He seemed almost distracted.

She panted, sweat beading on her forehead from the pain. "I can get you in...I can help..."

It was really all she had left to offer. Dawn wasn't far and she wasn't going to be able to feed to heal.
---------
Morgan smiled. "If you think I am suggesting we become partners...in more ways that just in the bedroom then we are on the same page."

She pushed her self off the desk and moved in to partially climb into his lap. Her hands moved over his chest. "We could control the strongest psychic our kind has ever seen. We, you and I could rule over the city....more..."

Morgan leaned in, her lips on his ear. "Know this...we will be partners. If you think to double cross me, think again. Others have tried and failed. I have not been around this long by trusting the wrong people." She licked his ear lobe before pulling back to look in his eyes.

"Do we have a partnership then?"
--------
Lillian bundled up in her blankets and watched. It was a little disconcerting to watched Nicholas bury Elhana and then Gabriel. She watched him, sitting there alone.

She left all but one blanket under the tree and moved to his side. "May I?" Lillian didn't wait for him to agree. She sat on the ground and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. "This will help them? Heal them?"

 

[The_gladiator]

Dimitri nodded at Andrea’s words. Absently he popped her shoulder back into place rewarding her for good behavior. It would still be functional. He was lifting her now, carrying her from the city. “You will lead me in tomorrow.” He decreed. “You will spend the day chained to the wall or my bed, your choice.” His breath brushed her ear.

-----

Antonio smirked at her words. He carefully hid that the in the bedroom part was actually the part he was worried she hadn’t meant. However, her words definitely suggested that was on the table. He wondered how far would this go; would she bond to him? His family could be protected with someone of her influence. He suspected she might even be on the Blackstone Council. After all, its membership was a closely guarded secret. There were rumors that only the members knew who the other members were, and that some of the sentinels might know. At the very least she ruled this area. If they could get rid of Nicholas, who ruled the next major territory that mattered, they would be on their way to forging an empire. He could bring in all his family his power base from south America.

He would of course double cross her, that was inevitable, it was just how. With her breath on his ear he found thinking about that to be distracting. “We do,” he said his growl low with need, being blinded by his desire for Morgan in that moment. He had underestimated her sex appeal in that moment.

------

Nicholas seemed jarred out of his thoughts by Lillian’s presence. “It will help Darian and the others,” he said softly. Referring to them as the others because Lillian had not met them, and he hadn’t been there when they were buried, he wasn’t sure who all Darian had put in the ground.” He turned to face her more fully shifting to cross his legs, in an almost meditative posture. “My people are born from the earth, some say. The born vampires anyway. Returning to the earth to heal is only possible for those that are born or converted while alive,” he said softly. “All of those here,” he waved his hand to encompass the area, “Are born, one and all, and most of them ancients all. It would be torture to Ehlana and Gabriel, had I not put them to sleep. Though the earth heals us if we aren’t in a healing state, put into the deep sleep of our people, the panic is near unbearable to feel that trapped by the earth.” He shuttered a bit. “However, they can wake if someone attacks them, they are literally protecting those that cannot wake with their bodies. This is what I will do.” He didn’t tell her that there was no one to put him to sleep. He had done stints in the earth before without being put to sleep, he would survive. “The earth will help Ehlana, though it is bloodless that she suffers from. She would have given all herself to Darian had I not stopped her. And I could only afford her to take so much from me to replenish after her foolishness. Had we each fed Darian she would be at less risk.” He explained. He wasn’t quite sure why he was telling her all this. Perhaps it was just nice to talk out some of his concerns.

 

[SandS13]

Andrea suppressed the bile that rose in her throat. "Wall..." She didn't want this guy anywhere near her body.

She needed to get into hunter mode and learn all she could about him. Find his strengths, find his weakness though she already knew the woman was a major one and Morgan was a trigger for his anger. She needed more though.

The acute pain eased but Andrea's body ached and cried out for rest, for blood.
-----
"Good." Morgan purred. There was an edge to it though. She pulled away fully and stood up. "How do you wish to seal it?"

She started to walk away, pausing to look over her shoulder at him. "Dawn is not far off but there is just enough time left to enjoy the night..." The suggestiveness of her words hung thickly in the air.

--------
Lillian nodded a little. She listened, taking in all the things he was saying, noting details and categorizing like information together in her head. She would hold it all, have it should she ever need it again.

"I can't help but notice there is no one to put you to sleep. You say returning to the earth is torture for those born...are you not born? Were you converted then?" She wanted to know the difference but held that question back. She was more concerned about him, about the prospect of him going into the ground and it being torture for him. Her stomach clenched at the idea that someone like him, so like a knight out of a tale would be tortured.

 

[The_gladiator]

“So, it be done,” Dimitri said and carried her off into the night.

-----

Antonio growled with need and desire. He could see his prize now. She was offering him what he wanted on a silver platter. He stalked towards her. “You think there’s enough time for me to truly enjoy your body?” he asked grinning wolfishly at her.

------

“I am born,” he said softly, “I am the oldest here, in fact. I was the only one here that would have been powerful enough to put Ehlana in the ground. As you observed even Gabriel failed at that task. Gabriel let me in, otherwise I do not know if I could have put him under, without breaking him in the process. It will be to me to meditate, to calm myself, to find sleep.” He shrugged. In the mix he had forgotten to request someone stay behind to assist him. They were too far off, dawn too near though. He knew his duty, and he had done it, sacrificing his comfort for the others.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan smiled. It was seductive and spoke of pleasures yet to be had.

"There will never be enough time for you to truly enjoy me but we shall start and see how long you last..." She was practically purring. She walked away, leading him to her chambers. Her movements were that of a jungle cat, smooth and powerful.

At her entrance the candles lit, a trick of her power. The room looked like a mix of a romantic, gothic story and a dungeon.

She paused in the doorway. "My lovers must give...are you willing?" Her tongue ran along her teeth, already elongating.
------
Lillian's face was soft, her eyes full of sadness. "You really are like a knight aren't you? It isn't like a man who pretends to be chivalrous or brave, selfless."

She shifted closer. "Is there anything I can do to help you? I don't like knowing you are going to suffer or be...tortured..."

 

[The_gladiator]

Antonio was captivated by her beauty, seduction incarnate. He followed her to her chambers.

At her words Antonio only hesitated for a moment before he knelt before her. He was over a foot taller than her so his kneeling put his head level with her breasts, he tilted his neck to the side. This was only a small price to pay for the pleasure he hoped would follow.



Nicholas snorted at Lillian’s words. “I do what I can for those I protect,” was all he replied to her courtly comment. His eyes met hers again as she offered to help him. “It may be nice to talk to someone in their mind while I work on calming myself, until the sun weakens me, and I can no longer reach you. As you may have noticed I can already touch you, but it is not very easy to do so without a blood connection. But I remember your rules, I will not ask that of you.”

That being said he rose and with a wave of his hand opened the earth. He frowned as he realized how shallowly Darian had buried some of the others. He would have to sleep closer to the surface than he would have liked. “Make sure no one unburies me,” he asked her looking down into her eyes again.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan's eyes flashed as Antonio knelt. She hadn't been sure he would. She leaned down, breasts rubbing against his face. Her mouth was on his neck and teeth sunk in smoothly. She channel pure sexual arousal at him as she drank.

Her tongue moved over the punctures, sealing them but continued up to his ear. "I offer myself to you...know that we will be linked and all that will mean..."

Morgan pulled away and dropped her dress. She stood naked before him. "You may choose where you take from..."
-------
"Wait." Lillian stood, dropping her blanket as he opened the ground. "Do it. Just enough so we can speak. I can't take the thought of you alone in the ground and awake. I just can't."

She approached him. "You know my rule and you know I don't offer this lightly. I offer it to you. And I will make sure you stay buried, you have my promise."

 

[The_gladiator]

Though Morgan’s bite wasn’t orgasmic, it was pleasurable as she fed from him, his cheek pillowed on her breast. He could feel his own teeth against his tongue as they exploded into his mouth, he wanted her.

Hungry eyes swept over her nude form. He was surprised that she would really offer to bond herself to him in actuality not just as allies. He pressed her back against the bead, “Your breast, of course,” he said as if there were only one option. To him, in that moment, there was. “I claim you Morgan as my bonded partner. May we be joined until death or mutual agreement divides us,” he spoke the formal words. This was not in public, but when coupled with the mental connection they would form, would make the union binding. The connection came more with the intent behind the blood exchange.

He pressed her into the bed, his head nuzzling her breast for a moment before he sank his fangs in just over her heart, drinking of her strength. Tasting her was exquisite ecstasy for him.



Nicholas seemed to consider her. One blood exchange could not hurt her. She was not psychic that he could tell, she could not be converted, so if they ever bound themselves together it would be as vampire and human servant like Mel and Byron. The exchange without the rest of the power wouldn’t even bind them. He could find her, but moreover it would make it easier for them to speak to one another. In essence since she was not gifted, his blood in her system would help her to forge a link to a part of her mind that she normally did not have access to.

“Be careful what you volunteer for pequeñita,” he murmured, dark blue eyes meeting hers as he closed the distance between them. “Will you let me make this pleasant for you?” he asked softly, knowing she would have to allow him to mesmerize her. Otherwise it would simply be drinking blood for her, something that honestly grossed the average human out.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan licked the last drops of his blood from her lips as she laid back on the bed. She inhaled, pushing her breasts up towards him. His fangs sunk into her and Morgan moaned.

"Claimed, bonded..." Her voice was soft as her hands held his head to her breast. Her legs drew him in.
--------
Lillian began to breath harder, deeper as Nicholas moved closer to her. "You can make it pleasant?" Her voice was soft. She looked up at him as he came to stand in front of her.

 

[The_gladiator]

Antonio drank as long as he dared and then came up her body to kiss her, a fierce meeting of mouths that bespoke their passion. He let his hands roam up and into her long red hair.

Her legs wrapped around him urging him closer until his hardness brushed against the outside of her body.



“Yes,” Nicholas said his eyes filling with his power. “You will experience it as a pleasant sensation when I bite you, but without my help, drinking my blood will be just that, drinking blood, and I’m not sure that you’d find that appealing. Let me in, look into my eyes and allow me access,” he urged.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan growled and pulled his to her. Her mouth was on his, tongue in his mouth. Her nails raked down his back and she urged him into her.

Come to me... Morgan smiled enjoying their new link.
-------
Lillian's cheeks were warm. "Wait...I drink your..." She shivered as she stared into his eyes. "You can have access...to all of me.." She wasn't entirely aware of how her words sounded.

 

[The_gladiator]

Antonio Growled and let himself sink deep inside Morgan at her urging. Her savage intensity fueled his own and he took her hard and fast. There was nothing of lovemaking in what they did. This was two savage predators meeting, coming together.

-------

The corners of Nicholas’s mouth twitched at her words, “I will try not to take that in any other way than what you meant Pequeñita,” He whispered. His mouth was suddenly on her neck, tongue swirling before his teeth bit and he was tasting her. There was a uniqueness to her blood that he enjoyed. Not the rich power of his people, but a pleasant taste that was purely her. He did as she bid and only took enough to forge the link, not even to satiate his thirst. “I did not take as much as I’d like,” He murmured, very conscious of her request.

He opened his wrist and let her hold it to her mouth as his eyes captured hers. He let her drink enough to form the pathway in her mind, to unlock the key to the part of her brain someone who was not psychically gifted was unable to touch. He closed the wound in his wrist and caught her against him. “My blood will give you a slight high for a few moments. It is giving you access to a new pathway in your mind. The feeling will pass.” His hands were firm on her shoulders. The sky was rapidly lightening though. “I must go to ground though. Thank you again for all you have done, and will do for my people.” He leaned down to kiss her forehead, before he was gone, the earth closing over him.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan cried out as Antonio entered her. He moved. Hard, fast and animalistic. They could both feel dawn coming but that wasn't what fuelled the intensity of this.

No, she had had lovers that wooed and tried to be gentle with her and they had their time and place but at heart Morgan was primal, hard and she got pleasure from lovers that understood that.

Antonio did not simply understand it, he was that way as well. She screamed as a hard climax tore through her. Her nails dug into his back, thin lines if blood welling.
-----------
Lillian gasped as Nicholas' teeth were suddenly in her neck. She clung to his neck but just as her body relaxed more against him it was done. She nodded slowly. She wasn't sure why she was surprised. He was respectful, of course he had only taken what she asked. Just enough so they could talk while he laid in the ground. No more.

So why was she disappointed?

Lilian's eyes were on his wrist as he opened it. She started to pull away but then his eyes met hers and she didn't realize until she felt the first few drops in her mouth that she had begun to drink from him. She felt...drunk. No, not drunk but as if someone had drugged her. Her body fell into his and of course, he easily caught her. Her heart raced.

A kiss on her forehead and he was gone, vanished into the earth.

Lillian tried to slow her heartbeat, control her breathing. She walked slowly to the tree and picked up the blankets. She carried them to where Nicholas had gone into the ground and made herself a bed on top of him.

If I lay here so one can dig him up without moving me. And I am closer so he can...hear me? How the hell does it work? I guess I wait to see if he reaches out to me? Reaches out...that is a frightening image...hand bursting out of the ground and grabbing me...well maybe if it was him grabbing me...no, no..oh bad girl...don't go that train of thought. Come on, you were never that girl...no black clothes and the dark and brooding type....and he is very much the dark and brooding. but he doesn't feel dark...No, nope...business not pleasure...

 

[The_gladiator]

Antonio fucked her hard and fast, a wolfish grin as she orgasmed for him splitting his face. “Fuck yes,” he growled. He let her paint her arousal on his back in long scratches, rivulets of blood welling up. He finally pinned her hands over her head, hands on her wrists as he thrust into her harder and deeper, obviously close to release.

--------

There is a definite darkness in me, you are wise to recognize it pequeñita. Nicholas’s words filled her mind. That simple statement informing her very rapidly that he was in her mind, and had observed all of her thoughts. To touch you is a joy, that certainly lightens the darkness. He added.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan smiled as Antonio pinned her down. She let it go. Other times she might fight for dominance, fight for the control but she was enjoying having a lover who could match her.

And he did match her well. The way he looked down at her, the way he let her move and respond. The way he took control...This was a man who would not simply give her what she wanted in bed. That excited Morgan a great deal.

She struggled, just enough to make him know that if he truly wanted to cum he would have to ensure she remained pinned to the bed.
---------------
Lillian went stiff as she laid in her blankets. He was below her and now, he was in her mind. More embarrassing was that he had heard at least her last thoughts. The ones that were about him, specifically.

I didn't mean...I was making fun of myself. I apologize. I shouldn't be thinking about you like that.

She cheeks were hot with embarrassment. Lillian rolled onto her stomach, arms tucked under her head. She wondered where his face might be. It felt less strange to 'talk' to him if she felt like she was at least looking at him.

You have a way with words you know. If I had been the sort of girl into the broody, goth boy I would be swooning right now. Not- not saying I don't find you charming because I would have to be an idiot to not. Lillian rolled her eyes at herself.

Who did you write that song for? The one you sang tonight when I was holding the microphone? A change of topic. A deflection from herself. A pattern of listening and asking questions of the other person. Protecting herself. She had already opened up enough. Lillian's mind went back to the feel of his mouth on her neck, the way his tongue moved. She realized she was turning herself on with the thoughts and quickly shut it down.

 

[The_gladiator]

Antonio leaned more of his superior weight into her, keeping her pinned as she struggled. This was what he liked, the challenge, the threat that if he let her go, she could fuck him up. It was an intoxicating feeling. Born from fire, this was the type of encounter that got his blood pumping.

He drove into her harder, faster. He was clearly close but he was in a contest of wills, could he hold out before she came again for him. The thought of outlasting her drove him on, competition in its purest form.

------

To the contrary I definitely think you should think that about me much more often. There was humor in his tone. He liked when she thought about him. I am not the broody goth type though. He responded a touch of indignance in that statement. I am dark and mysterious. A poet of the night. He responded also addressing his gift with words comment she had made.

Nicholas did not breathe in the ground, he lay still, the pounds of dirt atop him, eyes closed. Even if they were open, they would see nothing but the dirt and rocks above him. He could feel Darian and Ehlana blow him, though their heat was faint. He could also feel her above, not just in his mind, but the force of her life, her vitality.

He was initially distracted from her question by her thoughts about him, her erotic fantasies that licked at his mind. He had to mentally check himself. She did not have the skill to keep him out of what she did not want, so he had to impose that boundary on himself for her, he must respect her. She would not appreciate his knowing how much she enjoyed his touch. He waited so long to respond to her question that she might think he hadn’t caught the question or was not going to answer. It was written to Anastasia. His words were somber, the tone much different than the playful banter of before. It was clear that every word was measured each word and phrasing chosen deliberately. The song was written for and about My brother. Those words perhaps revealing more than he ever wanted to, to anyone but her, However the crowd believes it is about me and someone in my life, they are meant to think that, it brings the listener in, makes them want to be her, want to feel the love, feel a desire that deep. The desire of a true bonded partner to another. He wondered how she would respond, what questions she would ask.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan smiled and licked her lips. Oh yes...he was the perfect match. He thrusted harder, faster. She could feel it, how close to the edge he was. She was close too. Not it was a matter of who would break first.

Her teeth sunk into her lip, blood welled. She knew he would be able to smell it and that the power in it would get his attention, perhaps push him to claim her mouth as he was laying claim to her body.
---------
Lillian actually giggled, out of embarrassment and the girlish crush she was feeling, at his comment. She liked that he was teasing her, flirting lightly.

An image of him, shirtless with a sheet over his legs and her laying in his lap as he read her things he had written popped completely unexpectedly into her head.

It was followed by her mother's voice, the epitome of country club manners, reminding her that good girls didn't date poets or heaven forbid, musicians.

Your brother? Anastasia is his..you said bonded partner. Where are they now? There was something about the tone of his thoughts that made her heart race. This wasn't a love story that ended with happiness. Lillian had chosen her phrasing carefully.

 

[The_gladiator]

Antonio thrust into Morgan again and again. He claimed her mouth in a fierce kiss as he thrust up into her one last time, cumming deep inside her, taking his pleasure from her. He wondered if she would join him, but finally decided that he was taking his pleasure and no longer cared if she outlasted him.

-----

The pause this time was even longer. The lady Anastasia is long gone from this world. Though I know that he hopes one day she will be born again and their love resume. There was sadness in his voice. A reluctance to discuss the subject. Guilt, and a storm of emotions as he touched her mind.

 

[SandS13]

Morgan knew she had him the moment his mouth met hers. It was hard, dominant. He began to cum and Morgan let her climax peak. There was no love here just desire, fierce passion and a lust for power.

She was going to enjoy this partnership, even if it meant he ended up dead when it was over.
------
Lillian licked her lips. You believe in reincarnation? It is...powerful to think that love could transcend time, life and death.

She frowned. There was sadness but also...guilt. Your thoughts are quite well...a mess frankly. I want to ask you more about her, about your brother but I feel like perhaps I am not trustworthy with such knowledge. I mean you met me tonight. You don't owe me your life story any more than I owed you mine but...

Did she dare go that route? Did she dare consider...

Maybe, if things calm down we could get to know each other a bit better...

 

[The_gladiator]

I do not just believe it is true, I have seen it. Gabriel’s Imogen is the Lady Katarina born again. There are other examples. I am certain that Anastasia has been reborn, it’s just a matter of time before he finds her again. I know that and his honor are the only things that keep him going these days. Especially with all the stress of the dawning and his Xavier problem. Nicholas just realized he had said a lot, not that any of it was a secret, but she probably was not interested in so many details.

His chuckle brushed the walls of her mind I could tell you my entire life story and then compel you to forget it all. I would not do such to you, you have too much honor to be used in such a way, but, it’s technically true. The laughter in his mind was less sensual and more genuine Byron loves to tell anyone who will listen how I “mindwipe” humans. He acts like I’m a jedi in Star Wars. The topic was deflected from his story, and perhaps that were for the best.

 

[SandS13]

Lillian's heart sped up, a fear response kicking in as Nicholas said he could just compel her to forget anything he told her. It hadn't occurred to her that now that he was in her mind he had free access. She also didn't realize that vampires could 'mind wipe' humans. It made sense as she recalled the fight and how Nicholas had taken the humans outside.

And he didn't answer her about getting to know each other better. She brushed it off. He wasn't interested.

I don't know what the dawning is or who Xavier is but I don't need to know to understand that he loved her and one day he will have her again. Lillian cuddled up under the blanket to be warmer. She adjusted another to make a pillow under her head.

I would actually like to hear your life story sometime.

 

[The_gladiator]

Perhaps I could tell you more of my story over dinner some time. Nicholas’s mental tone was back to being sensual. If you were serious about getting to know one another. Don’t think I forgot you said it.

The sun rose. Nicholas’s voice grew a little less strong the higher the sun crept. Tell me of the sunrise. Nicholas abruptly said changing topics, curious how she would describe it.

 

[SandS13]

I thought you were just ignoring it. Lillian smiled. I would love the chance to get to know you.

The sunrise. It is just starting to get light. There is the briefest hint of white and a kiss of pink. There are still stars and I can see the moon. It is pale though, fading from view.. She yawned. There is some orange now.

 

[The_gladiator]

It sounds beautiful. Nicholas said into her mind. He could hear the exhaustion in her thoughts. Perhaps I will write a song about the sunrise while you sleep.

His voice was now more of an imperious command, you will sleep pequeñita, for you will have to rouse in a few hours to interact with Louis when he arrives. Jake will have a million questions and you will have to tell him what you know. He spoke like he just expected her to do as he asked, for to him that is what would happen, what made the most sense.