Once More with Feeling

His gentle exhale and slight lower of his brow, the cute little smile still on his face, was enough answer. He didn't mind. In fact, this was kind of fun. He had been stuck with the same amount of people for quite a while now. Nix was slowly creeping into his circle, and he made no effort to stop it. He couldn't tell you why, and didn't care to even consider it.

"Yes. I design things, but another friend of mine also helps. It was his dream to do so, and I say he does it rather well. Ah! Lewis is older than me by 4 years," He paused to count on his fingers before nodding with confirmation and continuing, "And yeah I was a pretty sick kid."
He shrugged.
"I couldn't do anything without help for quite a long chunk of my life."

And you still can't, asshole. Clydus glared as he walked up, handing Nix the locker key and giving her a friendly grin. "Number 4."
He was sure to stay a good range from Kure, and despite the devil's sweet smile at Nix, to Clydus it was a threat. He stuck his tongue out at Kure, who responded with two middle fingers. With that exchange over, Clydus ambled off. Kure shrugged.

Nix was debating whether it would be too pushy to ask more (and had just decided that Kure most likely would've gone into more detail about it already if he were comfortable doing so, and that she should probably get to know him better before she asked more invasive questions) when Clydus appeared from seemingly nowhere. She sat up straight and accepted the key from Clydus with a smile. She hopped off the stage and scurried back over to the bar where her things were, so she missed entirely the brief exchange between Kure and Clydus.

Still resting on the bar were her simple black cross-body purse and small bag still. She pulled her lanyard out of her purse and clipped the key onto her keyring, which was sort of a snapshot of her interests. As she picked up her purse and bag and walked over to ask Kure where, again, the lockers were, he took note of the assorted contents.

The lanyard itself was a nonspecific galaxy print, mostly blues and blacks and purples. Attached to the silver clip were a battered-looking set of car keys, likely to an older Ford model; a number of keys in different shapes and sizes (likely to her apartment, mailbox, etc., in addition to what looked like two keys to the same lockbox), the locker key now among them; a tiny silver flash drive; various keychain-sized membership cards, including ones for an international grocery chain, a locally owned pet store, and a frozen yogurt shop; a black, keychain-sized can of what was probably pepper spray; a metallic, flat purple cat head that was also meant to be used for self-defense; and a miniature, supersoft grey and black tail. 

All of this jingled merrily as Nix bounced back up to him and he led her back to the lockers, pointing hers out and checking that it had been properly emptied and cleaned.

Kure stayed in his spot, humming and looking around. If he chose, he could take a nap at some point... But that seemed a little boring. Unless Nix went off to do something, he'd rather stay awake and he was very capable of going multiple days without sleeping.
He thought about how fun it was to be able to interact with people like this. Sure, he had fun most nights partying with everyone--but this felt more--hmmm... One-on-one? He shrugged. Either way, it was enjoyable.


The locker was spotless like everything else. The room smelled like clean laundry, confirming that the sheets were just changed and washed. There were 4 other lockers, making a total of 5. Clydus' had his name on it, locked tight. There were various photos, magnets, and other doodads on the door of his. Kure's was the first one... And--it was open. It wasn't locked. But without moving the door, you couldn't see the contents. The door was open just enough to confirm it wasn't locked or closed up...

Nix walked in and took in her surroundings, pleasantly surprised by how much she was enjoying talking with Kure and by how at ease she felt around him. She tucked her things into the locker, already tapping out on her phone a short list of the things that she wanted to help decorate and organize it. When she was done, she still had her purse (although it was lighter than before, much of its clutter put on the locker shelf) but had put the rest of her things away. Looking up, she followed Kure's gaze to his own locker and tilted her head with a bemused expression. 

"Are you not much for security or was something booby-trapped?"

Before he could answer, her phone buzzed with a text. It was from Lyra. 

Heyyyy~~ How's work going? The boys aren't being too hard on you, are they? Although I don't think you think there is such a thing as Kure being /too hard/ on you...... hehehe ;)

Kure was leaning on the wall, lifting a long leg and kicking his locker door shut with enough force to close it but not enough to slam it. He slowly put his leg back down, wiping the evil grin from his face. "No traps, I just--don't have anything in there. Are you alright?" The last question was obviously a mixture of him teasing and--some slight concern and honesty.

Clydus stayed a good distance away from them at this point. He stood in the kitchen, watching the two brothers buzz about. They eyed him suspiciously, so he decided to go mess with the bar instead. The twins were obviously on Kure's side with this. Most of the more pure-blooded creatures would be. It was only expected. Clydus sighed. Ah well.

Nix resisted the urge to stick her tongue out, settling for a playful smile instead. "Yeah I'm good, Lyra's just giving me shit." She looked at the time. 2:30. She raised an eyebrow, simultaneously feeling as though they had been speaking for much longer and that not nearly that much time could have passed.

She looked at him expectantly. "So--you guys have two hours until you open, right? What now?"

Kure blinked, remembering so suddenly that they had a job to do at some point. "Right." He turned around and stepped out of the back room with her, back to the main area. Clydus was no where to be found, but Kure heard thumping upstairs. He spoke when they reached the bar, leaning back on it.

"Well, not much prepping to do. Napping is optional. Or whatever you want as long as we're back by 4."
4pm was cutting it close and Nix knew that. But, he was the boss. She figured he could do whatever he wanted. And from the sounds of it, he probably gave Clydus a hard time by doing exactly that. He picked at his nails. He made sure that he didn't look bored, because he wasn't. He just--had something stuck under his nail...

She became distracted by watching him work something from under his perfectly manicured nails (almost effeminately so), quietly rooting for him in her head. When he finally flicked the little piece of whatever it was free, they both made small, victorious gestures and hissed a small "yes!" before looking at each other. They were both equally parts embarrassed to have done something like that aloud and confused but excited the other person had done the same. It was--it should have been a strange moment, but it wasn't. They both laughed softly before looking away, Nix with a soft blush high on her cheeks. 

"Ah, I can--I wasn't planning on leaving before my shift, but I can if you'd rather. Otherwise I'd like to practice ringing people up, managing tabs and filling orders? Since I assume we handle the waitressing bits too, or...?"

He shrugged, arms gently crossed, uncrossing one to let it fall palm-up toward the register as an okay to do what she pleased. "You're free to do so--though it's encouraged just in case. If things get to be too much for you when we open, we're not going to punish you for asking either of us for help."
His tone was professional but--also still rang friendly. He was extremely laid back, it seemed, and honestly he had planned to take a short nap before opening hours--so perhaps he could doze off at the bar and answer any questions she had? That sounded good. He sat down and watched her move around the bar.

It was almost like he threw her into shark-infested waters, expecting her to know how to swim. But at the same time he was shooing the sharks away with no fear. A confusing fellow.

Nix smiled and thanked him, scuttling over to the bar. Out of habit and without conscious thought, she stuck her phone in her bra and clipped a pen to the waistband of her skirt before zipping up her purse and placing it in the cabinet under the register. Then she started wrestling with the machine, which was much newer than anything that had been around when she worked at Rachman's and much more expensive than anything the delivery startup had been able to afford. Thankfully, she found the manual under the cash tray in the register's drawer and was able to become mostly comfortable with the machine, and the theory behind taking and delivering food and drink orders, by four. Throughout, she and Kure chatted here and there or just enjoyed each other's company while Clydus skittered around somewhere in the background, usually muttering something. Around four-fifteen, Clydus disappeared into the kitchen after another glare war with Kure, and Nix looked at Kure with a raised eyebrow that almost covered the nervousness she felt about the blonde's behavior.

"Ah... Is Clydus--okay?" she asked carefully, simultaneously trying not to be nosy and also trying to make sure Clydus didn't fucking hate her for some random reason.... On top of that, she was jittery with energy, equal parts nervous and excited for her first day.

Kure went from dozing off to wide awake surprisingly fast. He was buzzing with energy, and he got up and started walking to the back room to change clothes. He turned on his heel and gracefully started walking backwards as he spoke to Nix. He gave her a nonchalant shrug, his carefree attitude washing over her. "He's alright. Always gets like this as we open." Despite the fact that it was obvious Kure was going to go change, by some weird sudden habit, Nix was following him. He got to the door, opened it, stopped, and turned to look at her. It took a while to set in why his expression was the weird combination of amorous and confused. He gave her a gentle laugh, moving into the room and gently closing the door. Clydus was at the bar already, taking things out and occasionally disappearing behind the kitchen doors.

For a moment, it felt too quiet--but the silence was slaughtered by the sudden rush of regulars coming in. The sheer amount of groups coming in together was a little shocking. They all seemed to have seats they already preferred, and Clydus was welcoming almost every one of them, that shit-eating smile back on his stupid face. Drinks weren't ordered immediately--in fact no one was ordering anything right now. It was just--people greeting people. It was like--they were waiting for something...

Of course.

As they greeted each other and welcomed Nix and joked with her, teased her, and generally made her feel like a part of some weird, massive, alcoholic family--Kure was making his way back down the hall. There was a pause, almost like everyone at once held their breath for a moment. But it was so short that it almost felt like it never happened. Noise burst through the building, people started ordering drinks, food, cat calling the dark-haired devil as he simply tried to make his way back to the bar.

He really mostly changed his shirt, and his hair was a mess, but it suited him extremely well. It was obvious a lot of people ruffled it or grabbed it as he went by. He changed his shirt to a dark button-up, but the more everyone roughhoused with him the less buttons were actually--buttoned. He hissed playfully at a bunch of them, calling out this and that and buttoned a few to keep it on as he finally hopped over the bar. He met Nix's glance through the buzzing chaos and gave her a friendly wink before taking orders, himself.

Without even really realizing it, Nix followed Kure as he walked. It was possible she had taken the manner of his exit as encouraging her to follow; it was possible she'd been mostly following him around for the last three hours or so and had become accustomed; it was possible he was an incubus who had her under his spell and she was inexplicably compelled not to let him leave her sight. Whatever it was, she followed him, the action so natural that she could even text a bit as she walked. When she looked up, they were outside the closed door to what she had come to think of as Kure's room (and it probably was, explaining why he kept nothing in his locker).  Confused, she looked between him and the door, various parts of her feeling fluttery as she met his gaze. Though it was obviously the change in lighting, his eyes seemed...darker, suddenly. Warmer, and--enticing. His eyes were gorgeous (like the rest of him), that Nix had noticed from the beginning, but they were suddenly...

Bedroom eyes, some insidious part of her mind whispered with a jolt, a flush rising to her cheeks as she opened her mouth to say something--how long had she been biting her lip? But before she could inevitable humiliate herself further, he laughed that easy laugh again and slipped inside his room. Nix stood there, gaping stupidly at his closed door, for approximately fifteen seconds before she about-faced and fetched her purse to go put on some quick makeup, focusing mostly on making her eyeliner look nice.

Two minutes before opening she was back behind the bar, a black half-apron that Clydus had found at her request tied around her waist and properly stocked with paper and pen. When 4:30 hit, she was wiping down the bar, mostly for something to do, and suddenly it was as though someone had turned on a tap of people. Nothing even changed--no neon signs turned on, no lights adjusted, nothing to distinguish "open." There were just suddenly people, people that certainly hadn't been outside a moment before, and Clydus knew every one of them by name. Regulars, then. People she would come to know and needed to have like her. But Clydus didn't even seat them properly, just greeted them as they came in, directed them to the specials board, and left them to it. Whenever Nix was about to go over for--drink orders or something equally waitressy, she guessed?--another group would come in and everyone would greet everybody else, taking up apparently familiar stations around the room. Then they started greeting her, these people of all colors and shades, every one of them somehow *more* than usual, often in ways Nix couldn't put her finger on. But they greeted her and introduced themselves and each other, all talking over each other and bantering, everyone laughing.  She should've felt nervous with so many new people and so many new names, but after a good-natured argument broke out between four or five people about what her name was ("No, she said her name was Knicks, like the sports team--" "That's not it you radish, her name was Nyx, like the goddess of--" "You're both rubbish, her name had more syllables than that--nonono, don't tell us love, I'll have them sorted in a moment..."), she felt better about not remembering all of theirs right off.

When Kure came in, the crowd went wild--almost literally. They were playful and lewd, whistling and shouting propositions and grabbing at him in a way that should have seemed invasive and terrible but somehow felt...nice. It made her smile, and then laugh, because for all the fuss he made, Kure was obviously enjoying the attention, and it was clearly some sort of ritual they all had.

Kure's arrival behind the bar itself (over which she did her best not to swoon) seemed to signal the official beginning of the business day, for suddenly drinks were being called out, food orders were being taken, and a relaxed but energetic type of music was playing through the speakers in the Tavern. The TV changed between different sports channels and, very briefly, the news, although the person who chose that channel quickly lost their remote privileges amid much fuss. Everything took on a fun, but friendly energy, and Nix could scarcely remember ever having had this much fun working anywhere else.

The entire night, Nix found herself lost in watching Kure. No matter what he was doing--his body was moving in a constant flow--everything he did was like a dance. When he was simply standing behind the bar talking to some one, he had his elbows on the counter and his feet and ass still moving.
Nix could clearly hear a few people ask if Kure was going to dance again, but he'd kindly tell them no. It was obvious to Clydus that Kure was hovering around Nix almost protectively. Only once did some one get short with her, but it was to be expected with how trashed he was. When Kure even came into his view, he stopped, apologized, and his entire attitude changed. There was no fear--it was simply like Kure was some kind of angelic sight that lifted everyone's mood.





--



4. AM. How?
Clydus was cleaning up, people were saying good bye. A few people gave Nix their number...
Without all the people--the energy went from a high buzz to a calm hum. Kure was on the couch, lying on his back with a leg and an arm hanging off the side. Clydus moved around quietly, as to not to disturb him. There was very little trash left around to Nix's surprise, but it was hard to tell if it was because Clydus' time was spent on picking things up or--if somehow everyone that walked in was respectable enough to not make THAT big of a mess.
Kure's chest was heaving, his skin glistening with sweat. He had his other arm over his face. His hair was, somehow, much messier than before. Not a single button on his shirt was doing its job. It was obvious he was hot. At some point, he had decided to make a show out of making drinks. But it was taken so many steps further that Nix wasn't even sure how most of it was possible.
As Clydus scampered about and Kure rested--it was obvious that Kure was probably Clydus' number one way of making money--so when Kure did his job, Clydus would dote and spoil him. He brought Kure water, pat him on the shoulder, and then gave Nix an extremely enthusiastic thumbs up.
She did good.

Nix exhaled, feeling simultaneously exhausted and energized. She was so relieved that it had gone well. Lyra had, in fact, stopped by for several hours, but had cleared out sometime around 2 am. Now Nix was wiping down the bar and putting away clean glasses, straightening tables and doing her best to help tidy everything up. 

She looked over at Kure and laughed softly to herself, dunking a clean cloth in cold water and wringing most of it out before walking over to him with the cloth and her own glass of water. She sat down in a chair next to him, folding one leg under her and unceremoniously dropping the cloth on his abs. "Cool off, hotshot," she teased, even as she traced the lines of his body with her eyes and took a somewhat nervous sip of water. "That was quite a show. You do this every night or was it just for me?"

Kure yelped quite loud, the pitch equal to that of a young girl. Clydus nearly dropped the dishes he was carrying, but caught them and laughed. "Wakey wakey, your highness."
The dark-haired devil hissed at his friend, but sat up and smiled at Nix. It was--hard to not watch sweat slowly roll down his face, jaw, then chest.

"Aha--it's usually every night. But, if you want a show, they're free for fellow employees." He winked and dodged a dish towel Clydus threw, catching it with his arm and tossing it back with one, smooth motion. Despite the time, the energetic aura still buzzed around Nix and Kure's head. Clydus handled the rest of the cleaning so fast and so happily, it was impossible that either of them would have helped instead of hindered. So, when he finished, all three of them were sitting on the couch, talking and laughing. They got a round for themselves, toasted to Nix's first day, and enjoyed various amounts of food the chefs kindly cooked up for them. It--felt like the night just started. Kure told stories about weird and funny visitors, Clydus told Nix embarrassing stories of Kure (one in which involved Kure getting pantsed while lacking underwear) and all in all, the early morning was nothing less of completely enjoyable.

Nix wondered what her brother would think of all this. The whirlwind job, how laid-back everything was, the ease with which it had played out... And now here she was, on the other side of tipsy with her two new bosses, laughing and talking with them like old friends. For the most part, Nix was content to just listen, but every now and then she would chip in with a sudden memory of details Lyra had told her of what would turn out to be the same story. 

By six A.M., Clydus had "retired for the night" (though, unbeknownst to Nix and to Kure's minor irritation, he was actually just snooping around the second floor and eavesdropping to see if he needed to keep Kure in check). Nix was either very tipsy or kind of drunk, but it wasn't unpleasant. She felt warm and comfortable, curled up in a corner of the couch with a pillow and a mostly empty martini glass, nibbling the rest of a dish and teasing Kure for something or other. She felt--sleepy, and certainly wouldn't be okay to drive for at least another couple of hours. Oh, well.

Kure was sprawled out on the rest of the couch, and if he were drunk enough he would have rested his feet on her. But--he luckily still had some of his wits about him, very gently taking the drink from her and setting it on one of the tables. He realized quickly that she was in no shape to get herself home. He stood up, fixed his shirt, and staggered for a moment.
There was no way he could, either.

He eyed her, feeling somewhat bad for waking her as he gently touched her shoulder.
"Nix? Do you want to move to the room?" He considered carrying her, but he felt like that was overstepping boundaries. So he could just--wait for her answer. She could use the room, he could sleep on Clydus' couch no problem. He grabbed his phone on the bar and leaned away as the bright light dared to steal his vision. Staring at his screen through squinted eyes, he realized something.

"Fuck."
Tomorrow was Sunday. They didn't even tell her they had Sunday off.
He couldn't help but to grin at his own forgetfulness and stupidity.

Nix giggled, nuzzling into the pillow with a soft blush. "Don't you think that's a bit forward of you?~" she teased, not even bother to hiding the fact that she was staring at the way his hips and ass moved as he walked away. She felt--good. Warm, and bubbly, and...affectionate. She was an affectionate person in general, and particularly so while intoxicated. Hence why she'd been--snuggling this pillow for hours what the fuck? 

She sat up, throwing back the rest of her drink before standing, a bit wobbly at first, giggling at herself. Then she walked over to the bar, focusing hard on not looking too stupid. She set the glass down on the bar and leans against it, toying with a piece of her hair and trying not to stare at him.

He gave her a laugh and waved his phone. "Sorry--normally I'm a tease. Also--we have tomorrow off. Clydus and I forgot to mention, we don't open on Sundays. Whoa!" He caught her as she leaned a little to far to one side. He was careful with hand placement as to not accidentally get a handful of boob or ass. He sat her back upright and leaned on the bar, resting his hand on his chin and his elbow on the counter.

"You need to sleep. Can you make it to the room? There's a lock on the door, too--I'll crash upstairs with Clydus. Hey!" He caught her again, but felt his own world getting a little wobbly. He steadied them both on the bar, but couldn't help but to laugh along with Nix.

OOC:

Nix giggled, covering her mouth with her hand a bit self-consciously. She was swaying gently on her feet, and Kure caught her once when the bar wasn't where she thought it was. He spoke--god, his voice was absolutely lovely--and she found herself leaning toward him without meaning to, the bar slipping away from her again. He caught her, and his hand was so warm what the hell. She found herself leaning into his touch with another giggle, and then they were leaning against each other, both of them laughing quietly. They were swaying back and forth softly to their own unheard music (probably the music of being fucking wasted but whatever). 

Belatedly, she realized that he had been speaking to her and really she should probably say something now. She looked up, opening her mouth to speak, and he was right there when did he get that close why was he staring at her oh my god. Their faces were bare inches apart, and she realized she was holding onto one edge of the open front of his shirt, her thumb brushing against his bare skin. His hand was on her wrist, as though trying to decide whether to gently pull her hand away or press it closer. Her other hand was braced unreliably on the cushion of a barstool. The second she had looked up their eyes has locked and she couldn't for the life of her look away. So she stood there, lips lightly parted by the space of unsaid words, the feel of his skin against hers making her even more light-headed than the alcohol was. Aside from the swaying, neither of them moved, as though caught in a sliver of time.

No...
Kure smiled, but it was somber and Nix could clearly see some pain in his eyes. He took a step back, making sure she was steady on her feet. She was drunk. They were both drunk. He wasn't going to take advantage of that. When their skin broke contact, the buzz slowly faded and the grogginess of the alcohol set in. Sadly, the expression on his face somehow made him cuter...
But, he got Nix to the room and in bed one way or another, turning off the lights and gently closing the door, telling her to rest easy.

--

Where--was she? Dreams of beautiful, demonic dances filled Nix's head. Kure--that was his name. The strange, messy-haired, wild-eyed man who she now worked for. The bed smelled like laundry detergent, but at the same time, Nix could smell him.

Clydus was still asleep upstairs as Kure quietly watched TV, sitting on a bar stool. His eyes were glazed over, his mind elsewhere. His leg was shaking, and he quickly slapped a hand down on his knee to stop it. He hid a smile with his other hand, nails poking at the skin on his cheeks.
"Stop it, you idiot."
Speaking to himself, of course, he decided the TV wasn't interesting enough to keep his attention, turning away. He eyed the hallway, then moved to an open space, swiftly flipping onto his hands. He walked in a circle on his hands, then, with his legs together and pointed straight up, started doing push ups. Too much energy.

At 3:27pm, Nix was dragged from a deep sleep by the insistent sound of her phone ringing. She groaned, feeling hazy and disoriented but not unpleasant. Vivid dreams of...she didn't even know how to describe them. There was dancing. And Kure. Lots and lots of Kure. She could swear she smelled him, though she knew the bed was clean. She was so distracted by the remnants of dreams that she almost forgot to answer her phone. When she realized it was still ringing, she scrambled to rescue it from the tangle of sheets and answered it, voice a strange combination of rough and higher pitched.

"Hello?"

"YOU! Finally. Six times I've called you before you decide to honor me with an audience. I was about to get the master key and boil that cat myself--"

She rubbed her eyes, taking a moment to adjust to the thick accent and recognize the agitated voice as that of her sixty-something-year-old landlord, Mr. Vaseras. He spoke excellent English but made frequent trips to his home country of Colombia, so he maintained a thick accent that was rather hard to pick through when one has just awakened. "Mr. Vaseras, what are you--"

"That cat of yours! You'd think you're cooking it with the noise it's been making. I've gotten too many complaints. If you can't do something about it then--"

Nix sat bolt upright in bed, a spike of adrenaline going through her. "OhmygodCorvus," she blurted. "Mr. Vaseras, I'm so sorry, I spent the night away last night, but I'll head back to the apartment right now--"

"See that you do!" he snapped, muttering what were probably obscenities in Spanish before hanging up unceremoniously.

All of five minutes later Nix came tearing down the stairs and skidding to grab her things from her locker. She was rushing back into the main room when she stopped, realizing Kure was doing push ups. With his legs in the air. More like--hand stand push ups really oh my god that's just not fair.

She stared at him stupidly for a couple of moments, somehow managing to completely forget why she'd been in such a hurry.

He stopped, turning his head and trying to look around his arm to meet her eyes. One let at a time, like an acrobat, he turned his body upright. He hopped in place energetically and gave her a very kind, "Good morning!"

Her heart rate... His smile quickly faded and was replaced with worry and concern, but for a moment, he said nothing. They just stared at each other--all while Kure wondered what was wrong--and why she wasn't saying anything.

"Nix? What's up?" Another accent. Very slight, but it still rang through his voice as fluently as his confusion and worry for her. He shifted his weight to his other foot and crossed his arms, but not in any way that made his body language look unfriendly. All his attention was on her.

She blinked, blushing a bit before snapping back to reality, suddenly speaking all in a rush as she scampers for the door. "Ah--sorry I just got a call from my landlord and I have to leave, my cat is apparently making all kinds of fuss because she's a fucking baby--" She kept talking as she left the Tavern and headed to her car without really realizing that she was leaving the Tavern and heading to her car, with Kure following behind. She was about to get in said car when she registered a bright yellow boot on her front tire and just about went nuclear, yelling about was this not a valid parking spot and who the fuck does the city think they are she'll kill every single one of them and the landlord is going to boil her cat and--

Hands in pockets, Kure put his foot on the hood of the truck and leaned on it. He looked at her through the windshield, his hair cutely falling over his naive expression when his head tilted to the side slightly. He spoke the obvious, tone ringing with nonchalant, childish blamelessness.

"Doesn't look like you're going anywhere."

In theory, breaking it would be easy for him. As Nix cursed, he pushed off the truck and walked around it, kicking the boot gently. Despite how little his foot touched it, Nix still felt the car move a surprising amount. Normally, the city leaves this area alone. As long as no one is parking in weird ways, he didn't really see any parking tickets or boots. Amused, but not really surprised.

As she beat her head on the steering wheel, he looked up, eyes still bright and child-like. "Want me to give you a ride?"