Wages Paid, Relaxation Earned

Haruo Residence, Hueco Mundo, Party Over
''Do you hear that noise...? That sound you hear... is the sound of inevitability.'' "Wake up."

The tone of the young girl's voice was firm and demanding, even though the person she was shaking was her best friend; she pushed and pulled at her unmercifully. Mitsune wanted to play with her. Adalina should learn to wake up when Mitsune wakes up. What fun was it if she was asleep..? Seeing that she wasn't doing any damage, she manuvered her body so that she was strattling the girl; leaving herself with complete acess to the orange-colored hair. Slowly, she began to pull on it...

Adalina Mareado soon opened her eyes giving a loud Owww to signify she was waking up; her eyes drifted open and Mitsu was on top of her pulling her hair! Slowly she rubbed her eyes, "Hey... thar hurts..." she was still groggy. "I'm awake, I'm awake." meaning to let go of her hair, she let her eyes get used to what light there was. She hadnt' been dreaming, but she was rested atleast. Ending with a sentence, "Hey Mitsu, wh-" Her voice stopped as she yawned, "-at's up?"

"Mitsune's awake, so she thought she should wake Adalina up too, so they could play..." Mitsune responded, hugging her friend's neck. Was Adalina going to be mad at her? Maybe if Mitsune acted real cute, she wouldn't be! That'd work, wouldn't it? "M-Mitsune wanted to play... With Adalina's hair..." She whimpered. Maybe she's braid it, or some other little-girl-loves-ponies garbage. Adalina had to be into that... If not, then she was already too mature...

Smiling, she was close to fully awake now. "Yeah, let's play!" giggling, she smiled, "Really...? Umm..." she pondered for a moment, Mitsune liked her hair? She was going to ask her thoughts. "You like my hair?" smiling to Mitsune she slowly pulled herself to a sitting position.

Mitsune bowed her head slightly, and her own unmanigable hair bounced with her. "Y-yeah... It's... a nice color..." She mumbled, looking away instinctively. Her stomach felt funny! She wanted it to stop! Why did it feel like there were butterflys tickling her tummy? "I... I don't know how to braid it... Could you teach me?" Mitsune looked up, her eyes opened wide and her nose sticking up slightly.

"You think so?" smiling with her own chirp, "I like your hair too! I like the way it's all spikey." giggling, she mingled her hands in Mitsune's rowdy hair for a moment. A small tint of color came to her cheeks when she touched Mitsune's hair; her only thought was why...? It was so different to her, maybe she should stop doing it for now. Soon she removed her hand and nodded, "I'd love to, yeah! You want me to braid your hair, then you can try on mine?"

"Yeah!" Mitsune liked the way Adalina moved her fingers through her hair. It felt like she was petting... and that made Mitsune feel nice and dizzy. Sighing softly, she closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the sensation... For some reason, Mitsune wanted to sleep again. Maybe Adalina could spend another night! Bailarin could convince Daddy again, and Daddy could make Mommy! It was perfect!

Adalina nodded, "Turn around." giggling, she tried to remember just how her mother braided her own hair. Soon, she tangled her hands in the mess of her hair, grabbing a hair scrunchie and a few bands from her pocket perparing to get started.

Turning around as ordered, Mitsune smiled warmly. She was so gentle! Adalina pulling on Mitsune's hair didn't even hurt! "Go... slowly?" Mitsune suggested. The girl wanted this to last! Her small frame trembled with excitment at the thought of this lasting hours.

Adalina slowly began, rembering to gather the hair first, using her free hand's fingers to smooth out what rats and hinderences; acting as a comb would. Soon the hair was growing smoother, and as the minutes went by; it was at last smooth. Her hand motions graceful, this was fun for Adalina. Beginning to bring the hair down and criss-cross it, just beginning, Adalina asked, "I will; I promise." smiling as she finished stating.

Mitsune came up with an idea; start a conversation! It'd help pass the time, and make sure neither of them were bored. "Mitsune wants to know if there's anything you want to talk about." The girl asked, oddly referring to herself in third-person. It couldn't be helped. Mitsune restrained a dreamy sigh as Adalina began weaving her hair.

"I was..." pausing as she reweaved a lock of hair that slipped out of place. "Wanting to ask if you liked living here... and some other stuff, is that okay?" she pondered if Mitsune would tell her these things; what if they were secrets? What would she do then? Didn't best-friends tell secrets? Adalina smiled; she was over-thinking things.

Mitsune smiled warmly. Adalina's hands felt warm against her head. "It's fine..." She mumbled dreamily. "Mommy and Daddy fight sometimes, but Mitsune still enjoys it here... Sometimes she's a little sad that there are no friend's to play with, or that she's not going to school like human boys and girls, but that'd doesn't usually matter... Besides, Mommy cooks great, and Daddy's funny and buys me things..." Her response flowed naturally; she wasn't lying, and wasn't sad about it. How could she be sad with Adalina here?

Adalina smiled as she told her about her parents. "My Mommies fight sometimes too... I hate it when they yell." her fear of conflicting domestic issues still arose. "And I don't have much friends because Tristezy scares em away sometimes or we move, which we do alot anymore for some reason... something about Uncle Mareado." she mumbled on, smiling as the weaving was getting close to perfection and finished. "Mommy tucks me in at night and hugs me alot; I love it so much, and Tristezy protects me and teaches me things; she acts alot like a daddy." Snickering, it was an odd statement.

"Yeah, she looks like one too..." Mitsune added. It was true. Tristeza looked somewhat like a man; she had some of the fat, the facial expressions, even the perverted nature. "But! Mitsune has her own room, see? And Mommy got her presents, and Daddy got her a cake! They love her so much, and she's very happy because of it..." Adalina was almost done...? Mitsune wanted it to go on for a while more.

Adalina smiled as she pulled the tip of the hair; slicking it to where it would fit in the yellow band. "Your parents are nice; and your Mommy is smart and preety." "I wish I could live here... or atleast nearby so we could see eachother all the time! I don't want to go..." "Maybe we could convince our Mommies and your Daddy to let us so we can do that." pouting her lips, grabbed a bow from her pocket; it was Adalina's favorite bow... but she wanted Mitsune to have it. It had a small butterfly shape to it; a clip. "I want you to have this. So you can wear it in your hair, and that way you have something of mine!" waiting for a response; Adalina wouldn't take no for an answer.

"B-But!" Immediately, Mitsune started to protest, not only from the question, but from Adalina insisting she take something so precious. It was a butterfly! "I don't know if Mommy'd let you... Daddy could be convinced easily, but not Mommy... Mommy's a crab." One of her hands rose up to shoo the clip away like a bug. Mitsune didn't want it! If she pretended she didn't want it, Adalina wouldn't give it to her! It would work!

"Take it, please?" she offered again, placing the bow in her hand again, this time not moving afterwards. Why didn't she want it...? Did Mitsune not like her? No... maybe she didn't like butterflys. Or maybe she didn't have anything to give back. Adalina looked at her in the eyes, closer this time. "Please?"

"We can convince them, I know it."

Mitsune crumbled easily under the pressure. Almost right after the clip was stuck into her hair, she collasped onto Adalina, snuggling into her warmly. "Okay... We can convince them..." Mitsune agreed. If it didn't work out, she was going to be sad. But it would work out! So that didn't matter! If Adalina could actually see Mitsune's face (it was buried so far in, it was barely visible), it would be red and hot. Adalina was comfy...

Adalina stayed there for a moment. It was odd, but she didn't care. Staying there for a moment, Adalina petted her best-friends hair, smoothing it out further and playing with the braid. She looked so preety with the bow and braid! Then the same feeling occured... the butterflys that Mitsune had felt earlier. It felt wierd! But... a good wierd, she liked it. Adalina smiled, "You want to go play; then we can ask them?"

"Mmmm-hmmm." The hum came from deep in Adalina's stomach. But, what were they going to play? She didn't have any board games! Those were for a lot of people, and she didn't have anyone to play with. They could play tag, but Adalina looked kinda slow... Mitsune would win without a problem, even if she didn't use kogeru.

"Maybe we can play a trick! Or we can go outside and play!" "Or play with the puppy and teach it some tricks!" Her voice estatic, she couldn't wait to play! "But we can't play too big a trick; or Mommy will get mad." Her voice serene she waited for a response.

Mitsune pulled her head out for a brief moment. "What trick?" She asked innocently. Was it a "replace-your-fathers-high-blood-pressure-medication-with-sugar-pills" trick, or a Kick-me-sign one? The former would be.... Fun, but then, someone might die! Mitsune didn't want to get in trouble just because she played a harmless trick on some poor, unfortunate retard. After gasping for air, she plunged back into Adalina's abdomen.

Adalina couldn't stop her giggles this time. Her breathing into her stomach tickled too much! "Hahahaa!" her arms flailed for a moment, and her face grew a bright red because of the laughter. "Maybe we could dip their hands in warm-water! Or... give your daddy a make-over! We could do anything!" her decisions obvious; she didn't want tooo much trouble.

"U-uhm... it's not a good idea to go visit Daddy and Mommy before they wake up in the morning, because they're usually... Undressed..." Mitsune replied uneasily. She would never do that again. "Maybe... Uhm... What about your parents?" She offered.

"Your parents too?!" "My Mommies are always that way! And Mommy always blushes, or pulls the covers up... she looks so embarrased. And Tristezy... oi, Tristezy just smirks; she thinks it's funny!" Adalina was speaking the truth. "Hmm... if their not... we could steal their cloths..." "And hide them. Maybe your parents too! Then what could they do?" It was almost evil...

"Mommy and Daddy would just walk out naked..." It was true, Daddy had done it once, and even though he was drunk, he still could've put clothes on! She wasn't sure about Adalina's parents, though... "Sure, let's do it." She regressed finally. It'd be a fun little prank. Why not?

Adalina nodded, "Alrightie! I'll go get my parents clothes, and I'll go get mine; or we could do it together with your magic!" what she meant was Kogeru but she lacked the proper terming. "I can't wait either way." Her face cheery.

Mitsune smiled for a moment, and then, focusing, warped them both to Adalina's parents room. It seemed the two were still asleep; she doubted the flash or heat would give them away. "So where is it?" She whispered quietly. The clothes! They needed to take the clothes, and hide them somewhere!

Her own voice whispering she pointed to the only change of clothes her parents had. The clothes lay discarded on the floor nearly under the bed. "There."

Bailarin lay sound asleep, Tristeza's arm wrapped around her waist with Tristeza's head laying in the crook of her neck and back.

Mitsune didn't bother tip-toeing. It was only a waste of time; someone her weight wouldn't be able to wake someone from their sleep just by walking. She quickly picked up the clothes and handed them to Adalina. "All done." She mumbled, then hugged her friend. The next second, they were back in Mitsune's room! It seemed she was a bit nervous to do her own parent's room... And how would they answer to Adalina living with them if they played a prank on them?

Adalina smiled, "Okay, now your parents, then the trick is done!" looking at her nervous face; she was curious to whether she wanted to do this or not... probably cause she'd get in trouble. "You know... we don't have to do this if you don't want to." Her gaze reassuring; she could easily back out of this and finding something else to do.

"N-no!" The next instant, they were in her parents room. Her father was resting above her mother, arms wrapped under her and hugging her affectionately as she slept. He was still bloody and bruised... Apparently, they weren't going to let him heal it. But that was okay! "I got your Mommy and... Mommy's clothes, so you go get mine!" She whispered loudly, then nudged Adalina towards the bed. The clothes were in nearly the same place as the other room.

"Okay." whispering quietly, she sneaked over and under the bed, her fingers grasping the cloths and pulling them into her arms, she rushed back to Mitsune quietly as she could, and signaled for them to leave. "Let's go, hurry."

Mitsune brought them out of there quickly. "Where... Where are we going to put them...?" Mitsune asked uneasily. Just this once, Mitsune would let Adalina be the leader. Just this once! She shouldn't get used to it. Because Mitsune would take control back. She would!

When the two disappeared, that was when Tereya managed to open her sleepy eyes... and stare slowly at the body that had her so close it. Her own arms were wrapped around his mid-section, almost in a possessive manner. But, despite her grogginess just fading, the memory she had of last night was all too clear. Damn it... Nori was going to never live this down. He would be hearing his taunting of her because of this one time, she had actually been the bitch. But, she didn't care... he was a lot better than she had expected. Idly, as she grabbed the sheets she was under and keep herself covered as she decided to sit up, she wondered how many more times Nori would--

Wait a minute.

That was when her eyes snapped open, and she swiveled her head around. Her eyes searched for the one thing that had been there before: their discarded articles of clothing. At first, it seemed like a manner of misplacement... who would even care about that shit with moments like that, anyway? Considering that the door was still closed, and the only one in the room was her husband, she decided to shift herself out of the bed. Fuck it... wherever they went to, she'd find them eventually... for now... she'd just get another fit...

Either that, or be a lazy bitch and wear a bathrobe...

After she made the latter's choice, she decided to change -- er -- put on her choice of clothing just to cover herself for the moment.

Her husband groaned lightly when she slipped out of the bed, but now he was sprawled comfortably over her former position. It was so warm~! Unfortunately, this gave a good view of his buttocks, which was now slightly below the private area. It didn't seem to bother Nori. There was no one who was unfriendly in the room at the moment.

A whistle came from Tereya's lips, innocent in nature as she slipped on the robe before he could get too much of a good look. "See you're awake, Princess..." She commented, placing her hands into her pockets and tilting her head over her shoulder to give him a rather bored expression. She looked over herself for a brief moment. "Have a nice sleep?"

"I had a great sleep, thanks..." Nori replied. Slowly, he rolled out of bed and onto the floor, and then rolled over to the dresser. Nori didn't feel like getting up and walking... "Hey." He called out casually, glancing at Tereya. "Dress me, please?" Now that he was so obviously in charge, there was no reason for things not to change. Maybe after she dressed him, Nori would have her make him a sandwich!

....wait a minute.

Did he seriously ask her to do that?

"...excuse me?" Now her voice was slightly heated, an eye twitching. Not only was the guy rolling around on the floor like a friggin' tumbleweed, but he asked her to dress him? He was so full of shit. "What do I look like, your fucking maid?" Though, she was going to take the liberty of cooking. "Get off your lazy ass and dress yourself!"

"I don't think you're in position to be telling me what to do, Tereya, taking into consideration what happened last night. Now, c'mon! The clothes aren't going to dress me themselves. That's why you have to do it." Almost to emphasize, Nori reached up and pulled the drawer open. Inside were several pairs of boxers. "... Well, what're you waiting for..?"

He laughed.

It was good to be in charge.

However, she snickered, then laughed as well at his statement. Of course she wasn't going to take him seriously. "I'm waiting for you to snap out of whatever the hell you're getting high on. Now stop fucking around and get yourself dressed..." Promptly, she turned onto her heel and walked towards the door, grasping the knob. Just because he topped didn't mean shit... and she definitely wasn't going to dress him!

"Oh, I know!" Nori was going to irritate her. But if she beat him up again, he could just dominate her! "Maybe I'll buy you a collar, and walk you around like a dog. Yeah, and when you mis-behave, I'll smack you with a newspaper, but when you behave like a proper little poodle, I'll give you a treat. How does that sound?"

It wasn't working.

"Oh, hohoho, you're a real fucking comedian..." Tereya answered sarcastically, not bothering to look behind her. "If you ain't gettin dressed, then just keep standing there in all of your glory." With that, she opened the door and walked through the doorway in order to begin her journey towards the shower.

"Asshole..." Slowly, he stood, and prepared to dress himself for the day...

Mitsune giggled, hugging Adalina tightly once again. Maybe they could get conjoined at the waist... Then they could share everything... "That was so fun!" The girl chirped, snuggling into her friend once again. "What do you wanna do next? Mitsune can go bug Mommy for breakfast, if you want!"

Such a scary thought, luckily Adalina couldn't read minds. "Yep! Let's go do that!" taking hold of Mitsune's hand, "First we hide the clothes, we can go bury them in the sand, then they'll never find them, but bring the dog so we can act like we we're playing with the puppy, it's perfect!" Clearly it wasn't but as a child the world is full of perfections.

It was on cue that the puppy in question ran into the room.

Yay! Its owner and that strange, orange-haired one was here. Her tongue hanged out, and she was panting in the manner that a dog usually would, almost as if she was smiling at them. They looked like as if they were in the mood to play... great! She was in the mood, too! Her four running legs carried her over towards their direction, sitting her in front of them and wagging her tail.

"Oh!"

Mitsune grabbed them both close, and then brought them--and by extension, the clothes they were holding--outside; far enough away from the house that they could be sensed, but not seen. Letting go of Adalina for a brief moment, Mitsune knocked the dog off balance, making it lay down, and then rubbed it's belly. She bet this felt good! Maybe Adalina would do it to her... That would be fun for Mitsune.

Adalina smiled as the glanced to Mitsune; her hair was thankfully still neat and braided; she had done a good job! And petting the dog was so cute! Rubbing the puppy's with it, she began to talk as if to a baby, "You like that, huh? huh? Aren't you just a pweety puppy!" giggling, she began to scratch it playfully as the puppy wagged it's tail and it's tongue lapped out.

Ah...

To the left...

...no, a little bit to the right...

...right again...

Ah, that's better...

And the puppy was content with the attention, as well as the comforting rubbing across its stomach. She didn't know what in the hell that orange-haired girl was talking about, but if she was liking her this way, then whatever! It began to wave the hind leg that wasn't on the ground back and forth in correspondence to the rubbing.

"Hey!" Mitsune stopped rubbing, and pulled the dog's face close so it could see her face properly. "You listening to me? Dig a hole here, and I'll pet you for another half hour!" It was a good offer! And even if the dog couldn't understand her, it'd still probably be smart enough to see what she wanted... Unless... It was a stupid dog... Then it was only good for dogshit.

Good Boy! Prank Going Downhill
Adalina smiled, "Yeah, do it!" "I'll help too!"

Dig a hole? As of the moment, as Mitsune was holding her face, the only thing she could do was stick her tongue out and continuously lick the girl in an affectionate fashion. However, it was its simple way of showing it understood. Of course she could dig a hole! There was dirt and sand around, so much of it! It was so fun to make all of it fly around everywhere!

"Good girl!" Mitsune didn't show any signs of being disgusted by the saliva sliding down her face. It was nice! The puppy loved her! "Now, dig!" She motioned for Adalina to move away, so she wouldn't be hit by the flying sand. Mitsune sat with her parents clothes over her head. They smelled like sweat...

Yay!

Immediately, the puppy dug her front paws into the sand, peddling it behind her rapidly and madly. Whee! She was making miniature tsunamis out of dirt! Take that, forces of nature! Take that, you puny rocks and pebbles! They could never stand against the strength of.... whatever the hell her name was. Anyway! She dug with zest and eagerness, unwilling to stop for anything.

Adalina moved out of the way; watching the dog go crazy on the dirt, slowly, she pulled the clothes next to them and perpared to bury them. "This'll be so funny!" Giggling madly, and with wicked twist. Of course she wasn't wicked, but Tristeza could always rub off on her.

"Mhm! Yeah!" Mitsune shouted back. The hole didn't need to be that deep... Geez, they only needed to bury four sets of clothes. But, it looked like it was having fun, so... she would resist the urge to pull it out and bite it. For now. "Adalina, I think she likes you~..." She teased, smiling at her friend.

Smiling, Adalina nodded, "Okay Puppy, stop! We need to bury the clothes, now the hole is big enough to hide all the clothes!" "Come on out and get your belly rub." smiling, Adalina waited as the sand blew across the air.

Stop?

Ok!

Immediately, the puppy jumped out of the whole and stood on all fours, panting triumphantly and clearly happy with her work. It walked over to Adalina, sitting down and waiting patiently for her reward.

Adalina turned the puppy upside down and began rubbing the belly, with her other hand she began to scoop the pile of sand back into the hole to fill it, using some additional sand to help shade it to the perfect color. "So close!"

Mitsune added her own touch, piling sand on top of it until it was a small dune, then knocking it away with a punch; making it look like numerous smaller dunes. If they came back to this spot after leaving, they probably wouldn't be able to find the clothes! But that was okay. Mitsune had no intention of giving them back.

Now it was time to put the prank to the test... for Tereya herself was stepping out, scratching the back of her head. A cigarette, lit and smoking, was in the corner of her mouth. One of her hands was in the pocket of her bathrobe. "Oi, Adalina..." She said calmly and almost dryly. "You gonna be staying for breakfast? If so, it's all ready."

Adalina looked to Tereya... no reaction and she had a changes of clothes. ''Ughhhh! ''standing up, she grabbed Mitsune's hand to walk over to Tereya with her, "Really? That sounds great Teary-Chan!" the pronunciation was off; but ignorance was bliss. Sorta.

Nori followed his wife out the door. Sighing as she smoked a cigarette, he hugged her from behind, and layed his chin on her shoulder. "Good morning, girls." Nori chirped warmly, smiling all the while. Second-hand smoke was entering his mouth... it smelled good... "Go on inside and eat breakfast, whether you're staying or not."

Mitsune smiled, grabbing Adalina by the hand and instantly warping them both to the table. Why walk anywhere when you could just teleport? It was simple, and it saved time! Mitsune had forgotten the dog. But she wasn't important... Well, she was! Just not as important as everyone else.

Well... the plan hadn't worked very well... Adalina could still enjoy her time with Mitsu! Going to the table, she had no clue where the dishes or cereal was...

Tristeza groaned as she woke up. Slowly, she moved her graceful and lithe form over the bed's edge, slipping from her wife's form. "Oi..." slowly, she looked around the room, tonight was crazy, but the blasted Haruo Family was a bunch of horny-mules! Although... she and Bailarin had done the same last night, it was different for them. They were the exception that defined the rule.

Problem.

"Where are the clothes?" scammpering around, she couldn't find any... uh-oh. Apparently; the trick did work. Bailarin slowly sat up, "Whaaaaa...." yawning as she did so, seeming similiar to Adalina, "...-aaaaht are you talking about, the clothes are right here on the flo-." glancing, the clothes were gone... and they had nothing to change into. Crud. Soon, Tristeza yelled her usual when in a bad-mood, "DAMN IT!" it was loud enough...

As the dog scampered towards the kitchen, smelling the food coming from within, both hers and Tereya's ears picked up the scream from where they were. That caused the puppy to yelp as it scrambled towards the kitchen... half-lidding her eyes, Tereya glanced behind her without turning her head. "All right, Princess... I made you a plate too, so you don't have to snuggle up to me just to get it..." She drawled, rolling her eyes.

"Well, smartass, there's the very small possibility that I'm snuggling up to you because I love you." Nori snapped, kissing Tereya on the cheek before relinquishing his grip and slipping back into the house. So she did make a plate for him! Great! And it was awesome that he had a back-up explanation too, in case she saw right through him. Which, she did... Nori sat down at the table and began eating whatever was there. He sure wished Tereya would have specified what kind of food was on the table...

When Tereya followed behind him, she trailed off from the dinner table. "Guess those two are awake and up..." She muttered. "Might as well go see what the trouble is...." With a Shunpo, she re-appeared at their door, deciding to lean in and listen. After all, they could be still doing.... whatever they were doing. Though, it was so easy to just burst through the door like she owned the place.... which she did.

Tristeza was talking to Bailarin loud and clear, not even noticing Tereya's presence in the stress. "Our clothes, are gone! We're in here with nothing but our skivvies, which is... one article; so yeah, I think I have the right to scream." Bailarin twisted her lip around thinking of a situation-answer, "Well... where do you think they went?" Tristeza rubbed her temples, "Well... I have two guesses. Either your friend, Nori did it... or maybe Karma has it out for me." Bailarin shook her head, "Don't worry about it, maybe Tereya has some spare clothes... I hate to borrow them from her due to us spending the night here; but we can't really go walking around nude..."

Tristeza smirked, thinking wickedly, Oh we could... "I guess your right."

Adalina had a bowl of cereal ready, some type of cinnamon flavored generic brand.

It was a good thing that speed could allow one to go through walls.

That was how Tereya appeared in the room without having to open the door, grinning toothily. "Oh... so I'm not the only one?" She asked casually, despite the fact that the two in front of her weren't wearing anything. But, hell! She didn't mind! They were all girls, right? "Though..." She snickered, putting one hand behind her mouth in order to stifle it. "I can tell you're in worse shit than we were... did I forget to tell you we didn't bother to put a clothes drawer in here for ya?"

Bailarin kind of did mind, she pulled the covers over her form, concealing her privacy and assets. "Uh?" "You mean this happened to you to?" Tristeza didn't mind, same as Tereya, she just leaned against the bed with her arms crossed, "Yeah, that would have been good to know, so if it wasn't you and Nori then..." pondering, she was trying to think for a moment, the answer obvious, but was so... shameful it was worthy of a facepalm. Their own daughter had stole their clothes... "Bloody kids..."

Bailarin added, "I know this is kind of pushing your hospitality; but do you have any clothes to spare?" "Sorry to ask this of you but... well... you know the dilemma.