literature

Bats and Scorpions

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The Dramatic Meeting of the Angry Batchild and the Pissbaby Scorpion King



Satsuki was having a Not-Good day.

More specifically, he’d been having a series of Not-Good Days, starting from when he’d woken up after a long night of panic filled running to discover that he had no idea where he was.

He’d been fortunate enough to already have had his backpack on him, filled with what meager possessions he still had (namely his mask, hunting clothes and some assorted toiletries) and he thanked every lucky star he imagined might be looking out for him for even that much. The only downside was that he’d have to find blankets to replace the ones he’d left behind soon, and that was a task he was very much not looking forward to at present. There looked to be some sort of charity shop or something on the street below the rooftop he was perched on, but he’d need to get closer to get a better look and he really did not want to be seen leaving this particular condemned office complex, with its clearly marked “NO TRESPASSING” sign, by the police box nestled between the convenience store on the corner and some sort of run-down medicine shop.

He blew a strand of hair out of his face irritably as he scrutinized the distance between the building he was currently standing on and the slightly lower rooftop of the run-down apartment building across the alley. If he could just… jump that gap, he could use the heavily rusted fire escape to get to the ground and hopefully not draw too much attention to himself.

That was a pretty big “if” though, even if it looked like a somewhat manageable jump. He glared upward wishing desperately for the cover of night at that moment; if he could just use his kagune maybe he could use it to glide a bit, but no, the sky remained infuriatingly sunny and un-nightlike.

He didn’t really have much of a choice did he?

Taking a fortifying breath, he backed up a few steps in preparation, and then charged forward, pushing off the ledge with as much power as he could.

...and immediately discovered it wasn’t enough.

His ribs forcefully collided with the fire escape’s upper platform in a resounding clamor of shame and disintegrating metal, and he rebounded off, falling down to slam into the closed cover of a dumpster and rolling off to where he slammed his head into the wall opposite.

Even with his body aching from impact and head even more so, he somehow managed to condense all of his thoughts down into a single sentiment.
Fuck my life.
 
*****

It was a fairly typical day in the second district. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the scent of murder was in the air. NAISORI had only recently woken up and rolled out of bed (despite it basically being noon by now). Having donned his usual attire of a tight black t-shirt (hey those muscles are his pride), jeans, and (of course) red sneakers, NAISORI was at a loss for what to do.

He wouldn’t be needed at the Den for a while and none of his followers had asked him to do anything that day. Should he play xbox? No he finished all his new games already. Should he… take a walk? Huh that’s not very typical.

Deciding he really had nothing else to do, NAI resolved himself to go out for a walk (you’d think he’d done enough of that already). After a while he reached one of the less populated, more run down parts of the district. Preferring to stay as unseen as his six foot self could, he veered into one of the back alleys. The maze of alleyways was no problem for the second king- he’d memorized them all a long time ago.

All of a sudden a loud crash resounded through the air, catching NAISORI’s attention. He rounded a couple of turns and looked down one of the alleys to see a small ghoul (teenager? yeah he looks like a teen) sprawled on the ground clutching his head. Looking at all the fallen debris and the damage to the fire escape, it was easy to guess what had happened. Heh, I guess it’s not a very typical day afterall.

*****
“Hey little guy!” NAISORI called out to the small boy. “You aight over there?”

*****
Satsuki groaned loudly, reluctantly cracking open an eye to get a look at the person addressing him.

Or, er people?

Satsuki opened both eyes. Blinked, confused, blinked again, and when the image didn’t resolve itself into one person made the decision to figure it out later.

“The fuck does it look like?” he managed to retort at the twins? mirror images? double vision? Fuck it, he was in too much pain from his probably vaporized ribs and concussion to care much at this point. Muzzily, he looked the (fuck it) newcomers up and down.
Okay, maybe he shouldn’tve been mouthing off this guy could probably gut him without thinking.

He tried to shift himself into a sitting position.
NOPE his ribs screamed at him that was not an option.

Defeated, he craned his neck slightly to look up at (fuck it) the guy on the left who had (maybe) spoken, fighting down the dizziness in favor of eye contact.

*****

NAISORI regarded the boy with an amused grin. This kid seriously screwed himself up. He was certainly going to help with the district leader’s current state of boredom.

“Well, well I see you still have some bark left kid.” NAISORI chuckled as he looked the kid up and down. Ratty clothes and rattier hair. Shit, is he a street kid? (that would definitely explain the attitude).

“Give it a second, if you’re any kind of tough you should recover in a minute or two” the older male advised. “Also… the hell are you staring at?” The kid was staring pretty intensely at a spot a bit to the side of the tall king.

*****

“Stupid stupid stupid picked the wrong one to look at goddammit fuck”
Satsuki was really not feeling today.

He briefly debated trying to roll into a sitting position again, or at least closer to a wall (and a more easily defensible position) or at least a less pathetically flopped stance on the ground.
Thinking was not getting any easier, but his breathing felt significantly less restricted, maybe his ribs were knitting? He took a deep breath to test it. Yes. Better sort of. He probably didn’t have any lasting lung damage. He thanked his significantly less lucky stars that at least ghouls healed quickly.

What was he thinking about in the first place again?

He looked up.

Right. That guy. Not the one on the left that one wasn’t real. Apparently.

Was he saying that out loud? Yep, he definitely narrated that entire bit out loud.
His head hurt.

*****

That one confused NAI a bit.

“Wrong one? You seein’ double or can you see ghosts or some shit?” He asked rather confused.

Watching the poor kid trying to sit up was starting to get to the leader.
Maybe he should go help him up?

Heh better not.

Don’t wanna damage the poor guy’s pride anymore than it already was.
(Though he was starting to feel bad for him. Does this poor kid even have a home? The longer NAI looked at him the more he looked like a street rat).

“Hey where’d you come from anyway? I’ve never seen ya around before.”

*****

Satsuki blinked, honestly thrown by the question.
“Um.”
He couldn’t focus, there was too much fuzz in his head, so he pointed haphazardly up at the building he’d just tried to jump from, then quickly realized that that wasn’t what this guy was asking and put it back down.
“Far away? I guess?”
He finally managed to lever himself up onto one elbow, neck still craned up at... whoever this guy was, it was easier to focus on him now that the double images seemed to have resolved themselves into a single person.

*****

NAISORI couldn’t help himself anymore, and he finally allowed the laughter he’d been fighting to bust out in full force.

“That wasn’t much of answer!” The king roared out in the midst of his laughter. “Do you remember why you rolled on into this district or did the fall knock that out of your head too?”

NAI felt bad for kid, he really did. 

But there wasn’t a force on Earth that could quell his laughter. 

What? The kid was funny.

*****

Satsuki scowled at the tall asshole with the tacky red sneakers (who even wore shoes like that?? this guy apparently, holy shit??).
“I was running away! I didn’t really have a chance to check where I was going!”
Nevermind that he technically didn’t know where he started from either, but he got the feeling that’d either make this guy laugh harder  or pity him and neither was all that appealing of an option right now, concussion aside.

Pulling himself tenderly to his feet, and wasn’t that a relief to not have to crane his neck as much even if this guy was fucking tall as shit, he fixed the guy with his best glare even as he swayed a little unsteadily on his feet from the maelstrom of pain and dizziness staging itself inside his skull, and made to walk past him out of the alley.

*****

That’s it.

Fuck it.

NAI decided he was gonna pester this kid (as if he wasn’t already).

An amused smirk spread across his face as he moved his larger body to block the small teen’s escape route and stepped closer to him.

“Whoa whoa, where ya goin lil’ guy? Kinda rude to skip out when someone’s talkin’ to ya.”

Hell was this kid even fit to move yet?

“If you don’t know where you’ve been and you don’t know where you are, then where are ya gonna go anyways? Might as well stick around and talk till your head’s cleared up. Heh who knows if ya make me laugh like that again, maybe i’ll help ya find your friends or family or whatever. Not like i have anything to do for a few hours anyways.”

*****

Satsuki was not looking forward to this “conversation” in the slightest.

Teetering back a step or two in order to not faceplant into this guy’s chest (and probably break his nose in the process), Satsuki made every effort to intensify his glare, but knew it was completely useless judging by how his interactions with this guy had gone so far.

This guy, whoever he was, was not helping Satsuki’s wall induced headache.

Did he hit his head on a wall? He did didn’t he?

Not relevant.

Backstory. Right. This guy wanted at backstory, he was gonna get a goddamn backstory.

Probably. Maybe?

Satsuki swayed unsteadily on his feet.

“I’m on my own, not that it matters.” he mumbled, “It doesn’t matter where I am. What do you care anyways?”

He figured this guy’s motives would probably be just as unclear even without the concussion.

*****

The smirk fell from his face and was replaced by a rather rare look of concern (he was only an ass half the time you know).

Oh shit. Now NAI felt really bad. All alone?

How the hell did this kid make it here on his own?

“Hey now what’s that supposed to mean huh? You got a name at least?” NAI always did have a soft spot for kids.

The boy probably couldn’t tell, but the king was already forming a plan in his head-- he just needed to see how the rest of this convo was gonna go.

*****

“I’m Satsuki.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of the look on this guy’s face, even with the haze starting to clear a bit. Was that… concern? He didn’t think he knew how to deal with that coming from someone who’d basically been making fun of him since the second he showed up.

“Who the hell are you?”

*****

The smirk made it’s triumphant return.

“mmmmm Name’s NAISORI, nice to meet ya Satsuki. Welcome to District Two.”

Time to set the plan in motion.

“Hey weird question, you like dogs?”

Not that the answer was going to matter to NAI.

*****

The fuck kind of name was NAISORI? Satsuki could even feel that he probably wrote it in big letters, even just hearing the damn thing.

District Two? Well that answered the question of where he was at least, even if on a larger scale he still wasn’t sure where the fuck this place was on a map, he’d at least heard about it.
Well “heard”, more like “heard the whisperings about this place being a hotbed of anarchy”.

More importantly.

“I… guess so?” He’d met a few and hadn’t gotten bitten. That probably counted positively.
The fuck was this guy thinking? Did he somehow hit his head too?

*****

HEH here goes nothin.

“Wellllll if you have nowhere else to go...how do you feel about being a dog sitter?”

Hey he has sixteen dogs and counting. That shit’s hard to look after.

And since this kid really does seem to be a street kid, hell why not take him in?

After all, this Satsuki kid is a real riot.  

*****

Satsuki is immediately suspicious. He tilts his head slightly at the guy, eyes narrowed disbelievingly

And who could blame him? What sort of weirdo chats up a concussed kid who fell from a rooftop and then offers him a job?.

He’s beginning to sense a pattern with this NAISORI guy, and it seems to involve lots of weirdass sudden decisions.

“And if I say yes? You’ll, what, give me a place to stay for looking after a bunch of dogs? Really?”

His thoughts weren’t very articulate at present, but most of them were just masses of confusion.

*****

HEH HEH hook. line. and now for the sinker.

The laughter snuck back into NAI’s voice as he replied to Satsuki’s skepticism.

“It’s sixteen dogs to be exact. And hey what the hell my house is too big for just lil old me anyways. Well… I suppose it’s more like an apartment complex or something but whatever, details not important.”

NAI decided to sweeten the pot a little. Let’s get this kid to come along willingly so he doesn’t have to add kidnapping to his already extensive rap sheet.

“And of course that means meals, a bed, and if you like it here, a place to belong. We’re all outcasts here ya know.”

*****

Satsuki’s thoughts on the subject matter presented, in order were:
“Sixteen dogs what the fuck?!”
“Apartment complex??? Who the fuck is this guy??”
And then a vague, niggling feeling that maybe he did sort of know who this guy was. He seemed to remember one of his gang mates (the one with the pisspoor dye job who gossiped like an old lady at a bus stop) talking about something like this once, but no one ever listened to the guy anyways(and now he’s dead so it doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter), so he pushes the thought brusquely to the side.

Now, Satsuki was smart enough to recognize a bit of emotional manipulation when he heard it.

However.

He was also tired, traumatized, completely fucking broke with basically only the clothes on his back, and still mildly concussed. So he let his shoulders fall in defeat.

At least if this blew up in his face later he’d know he could blame the concussion later.

“Fine.”

Maybe this guy would turn out to be trustworthy.

*****

SINKER. hehehe look at you, ya smooth operator.

“Well would ya look at that? I’ve managed quell the ball of fury that is Satsuki!”

NAI closed the gap between the two of them with a couple long strides. Throwing an arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders he began to lead him out of the alley they were currently in (and away from the property damage--not getting stuck with that today).

“Don’t you worry your lil head Satsuki, I take good care of my ghouls.”

*****

It was nice to have confirmation that NAISORI was a ghoul even if there was NO FUCKING WAY a human would have a name like NAISORI, like fuck, what kind of name was that??

He shifted a bit uncomfortably under NAISORI’s arm and let himself be led, fuming silently at the “ball of fury” comment, but deciding not to make a big deal of it just in case he started a fight by accident. Sadly, if that had happened, it would not have been the first time.

He tried to keep an eye on their surroundings as they walked, hoping to end up with some sort of mental map of the place to make navigating easier if he ever needed an out.

*****

NAISORI finally led the two out of the alleys entirely and out onto the city streets. If he had to choose, NAI would say the best perk of being district leader was most ghouls gave him as wide a berth as possible. That coupled with the fact that most humans avoided him based on his size alone meant that every time he went somewhere it looked like a toned down version of the parting of the red seas.

Seriously, there’s a reason he stays out of populated areas. He draws a whole hell of a lot of attention. And attention draws inspectors. NOT FUN AT ALL.

But hey, at least that means he gets home pretty damn quickly.

NAISORI finally stopped the two outside of what really did seem to be a smallish apartment building. And a nice one at that. It may have been small as apartment building go but it was still three stories tall and looked like it was supposed to house a whole hell of a lot more than two ghouls and sixteen dogs.

“Well, here it is. Home sweet home. Seeing as you’ll be livin’ here now, you can have the full run of the place. Oh yeah! Do you remember that club we passed a couple blocks back? The Scorpion’s Den? I own that too, so I’ll tell the boys about you so you can have access to that too.”

*****

Satsuki was starting to get the feeling that NAISORI was either some high ranking ghoul official(if such a thing even existed) or a cult leader (he was banking more on the latter than the former), and the way the crowds parted before his passage unnerved him maybe just a little bit while lending itself heavily to his theorizing.

At least you’re on his side now. For as long as you’re his… dogsitter I guess. And there is no way in hell I look old enough to drink what the fuck does he think a kid like me needs with a club like that??

Satsuki wisely kept his mouth shut.

“So, sixteen dogs, right? Where are they?”

May as well get the doggie introductions over with.

*****

Poor kid won’t know what hit him.

NAISORI led Satsuki forward and stopped him about ten feet from the door. He continued forward and opened the front door (oddly not locked) and then walked back to stand next to the small teen. Without warning, NAISORI put two fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle.

As if hell had let loose inside the building, the air filled with loud barks and the sound of many bodies clamoring towards them. True to his word sixteen (mostly large) dogs came running out to greet their master.

“Alrighty Satsuki pay close attention and don’t worry, I don’t expect you to get them all memorized today. Let’s start with the little guys. The pomeranian is Lord Malice and the corgi behind him is Duke Kibbles. The cocker spaniel over there is Cyborg-- poor guy can’t use his back legs so he has that cart thing. Then there’s Mochi the chihuahua, yeah… she’s a little uh psychotic. Best thing you can do is just let her do her thing. The handsome one-eyed aussie is Captain and his bff is Missy, she’s the pitweiler. The three-legged St. Bernard is Lailah and next to her is Scooby-- he’s a Great Dane. Now, Kermit the Borzoi over there is deaf so good luck getting his attention, hell he only ran out here cuz everyone else did. Then we have Mr. Floofles, he’s some kinda chow- shepherd mix-- I’m not really sure. The Doberman Pinscher is Kitty-- hey c’mere and say hi girl, he’s not gonna hurt ya-- jeez, yeah she’s a scaredy cat. Ok then we have Dumbo the Newfoundland, Heyewe the Sheepdog, and Eeyore the Bull Mastiff. The Malamute is Igloo-- he doesn’t like cold weather, don’t ask. And of course, my pride and joy, Sprinkles-- the most beautiful Tibetan Mastiff you’ll ever see.”

*****

Satsuki looked out over the sea of dogs before him and wondered, not for the first time today, what exactly he’d gotten himself into.

The names all went by so fast, and he was so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of happy tongues and wagging tails (in the case of the smallest one, more of a dead-eyed stare like she was waiting for him to start something but still) that most of them fled his mind the second his ears processed them.

He’d known what he was getting into, but it was still a bit much to take in. He could handle this.
Right?

He absently stroked the head of the dog nearest to him, the one that looked a bit worried, and tried to gather himself.

It was… a little gratifying to have someone be happy to see him, even if that “someone” was “someones” and also a veritable roomful of dogs that had no idea who he was and were probably happier to see their master than some bedraggled street rat he’d dragged with.

*****

Poor kid… he looked at little worried. Eh, he’ll get over it.

“So you wanna go inside or what?”

NAI led the overwhelmed teen through the door and into a rather pleasant foire.

“Ok kiddo let’s see, I guess you can go ahead and pick whatever room ya’d like. The dogs are free to roam around the house but they stay on the first floor for the most part. I think they’re trying to keep Cyborg in the loop, sweet little bastards.”

NAISORI bent over slightly a hefted Sprinkles into his arms, showering him with affection.

“So you prefer 1st, 2nd, or 3rd floor.”

*****

A little intimidated by the sudden show of strength (silently tucking the name of the dog away for future reference) it took Satsuki a little longer than he’d like to admit to realise that the question had been directed at him.

“I-- uh, 2nd floor? I guess. It doesn’t really matter to me.”

He cursed himself for the stutter, willing the tremor out of his hands, and tried to stand a little taller, set his shoulders a little firmer.

*****

HEH chest up all ya want little man, I heard that.

“Well alright then let’s show you around and maybe you’ll see a room ya like!”

NAISORI began to lead Satsuki through the “house” showing him various rooms of importance. The kitchen (not that it was much needed) and the laundry room were all on the first floor as well as a handful of bedrooms. As they climbed the stairs to the next floor--just as NAI said they would-- the dogs stayed behind. That is, save for one. It seems that Sprinkles prefers to accompany his master at all times.

The second floor was mostly comprised of bedrooms and included a “game room” that NAI had thrown together. The third floor proved to be basically the same as the second.

“Well that’s basically the whole place. Oh! and if you take the stairs over there you can get on the roof. My room is up here on the third floor--the one right over there. So, ya see one ya want?”

*****

After dashing briefly in and out of each room on the second floor, Satsuki decided he liked the room closest to the stairs leading to the first floor. Mostly because it look the easiest to defend. Not that he’d mention that out loud.

He found himself a bit unsure of how to next proceed, should he ask after his duties or try to get settled in the room?

He tentatively slung his pathetic backpack off of his shoulders and tucked it into a corner of his new room.

He stopped short and let himself enjoy the way the words “his room” sounded in his head.
He hadn’t had a room of his own since--
Since--
Since his sister died.

He immediately banished the thought from his head and turned to watch NAISORI surreptitiously.

*****

There he goes again with the mean looks, this kid is gonna get a permanent squint one of these days.

“Well it’s already furnished but if there’s anything else you want just ask. I dunno a tv? Some more pillows or blankets at least? C’mon kiddo don’t afraid to ask for something. You’re in my house now after all! Which reminds me! House rules. Pretty simple really. There aren’t any, heheheh.”

Man he cracks himself up sometimes.

“Like I said earlier, I’m gonna tell the boys at the club about you. If you ever need anything and I’m not around-- or if you need to find me-- go ask them. That includes food by the way. If you wanna hunt go for it but if you’re not feelin it ask the boys and they’ll feed you. Otherwise, I mean just like walk the dogs or some shit keep em clean, don’t worry about Sprinkles though, I’ll take care of him.”

NAI ruffled the fur on the big dog’s head.

“If you wanna go out either ask me or take a couple of the dogs the first couple times so you don’t get lost. Some of the ghouls might give you a hard time but once word spreads the majority will leave you be. If someone really gives you a hard time just tell me and I’ll take care of it. You can usually find me in my room, the game room, or in the club on the dance floor. I’ll tell you if I go somewhere else.”

Hopefully this kid’ll loosen up in a couple days or so, his stiff posture is starting to make NAI’s shoulders hurt.

“So yeah, just kinda do whatever you want and hey if ya like it around here you can always become a full-time ‘underling’.”

*****

He wasn’t sure what about NAISORI’s speech seemed to put him at ease, but he felt his shoulders settle a bit so that was that.
He cursed himself for feeling tentative, but ploughed through it anyways, this was a good opportunity to replace the things he lost, now was not the time to squander chances like this.

“Could I get some more blankets?” he paused, considered himself for a moment, grimaced and then added, “Probably some new clothes as well.”

His shoes were still in good condition, but his shirt was starting to stray towards “uncomfortably threadbare” and he’d already had to saw these pants off at the worn through knees.

He eyed the bathroom in the corner, and the prospect of getting all the blood and grime out of his long hair made him want to make a rush for it, propriety and NAISORI’s presence be damned.

*****

There we go! At least the kid’s askin’ for shit.

“Sure thing! I’ll get em while you go take a shower. Yeah I see you eyeing the bathroom!”

NAI exited the room and went to gather the items the young teen asked for. When he finally returned he didn’t hear the water running so he assumed Satsuki had finished. He knocked a couple times before letting himself in. Was he forgetting something?

“Shit.”

Kid needs a towel.

*****

Satsuki stayed under the water maybe a little longer than was probably strictly necessary, but after the day he wasn’t finished having yet, he figured fuck it, why not. He scrubbed a good handful of shampoo (the fancy kind that he liked to steal from the fancy hotel a good twenty minutes walk from his gangs old territory; it smelled like oranges) into his hair, finger combing out knots and clumps of blood and dirt as he went until he was satisfied that it was clean. He finished by washing himself with the bar of soap that was waiting for him in the shower and then just stood under the warm spray for a few more minutes, simply enjoying the feeling of the warm water cascading down his back.

Turning off the water, he hesitated getting out, realizing that he hadn’t checked to see if there was a towel before he got in.

Satsuki weighed his options, did he want to wait here and hope NAISORI realized, or did he want to make a dash for the spare boxers he kept with his hunting clothes and just sort of drip dry?

He decided to wait for a bit, if NAISORI didn’t return in a few minutes, he’d risk a little embarrassment and then go sit in the bathroom to dry off. He pulled the shower curtain back closed and sat down to wait.

*****

NAISORI walked into the bathroom to finally give the poor boy a towel.

“Sorry little buddy I brought you a towel.” He handed him the towel around the curtain.

“I wasn’t sure how many blankets you wanted so I figured better to give ya more than you need so I think i grabbed like...ten? I left them on the bed. I’ll put some of the clothes on the counter here and the rest with the blankets. When you’re done I can show you around my territory, if you want. At least the more important stuff that’s close by. This place is fuckin huge after all.”

*****

As Satsuki finished putting on the clothes NAISORI had brought him (and his own spare boxers that he ran out and grabbed) and started drying off his hair, he resigned himself to the fact that he had probably definitely become dogsitter for the leader of District Two. He wondered why he hadn’t seen it before, quite honestly, especially with the way he kept going on about “his territory”.

He sighed lowly as he wove his hair into the neatest braid he could manage (not very) and checked the length of his bangs in the bathroom mirror (he’d probably have to cut them again soon, they were almost in his eyes again).

He took a step back and really looked at himself in the mirror, for the first time in a long time. He was a bit… scrawny, Satsuki noted, not really caring, but with the shirt and pants that NAISORI had brought him (both a bit on the big side) he looked even scrawnier. He shrugged, watching his reflection mimic the motion, at least he was clean now, and the hot water had put a healthy flush in his face that made him look significantly less like some sort of vampire.

After readjusting his clothes one last time, he slipped on his shoes (with the clean socks NAISORI had thoughtfully brought him) and rejoined NAISORI in the hallway.

“So,” he began awkwardly, “Where to first?”
:iconlostdistricts:

The beginning of a great new friendship(?)

Joint story rp with :iconnervousbat:

This is... seriously long. Sorry. (we're not sorry). It totaled at 15 pages (5236 words)...this is basically a college essay. 

Word Count:
:iconnervousbat: --> 2810= 28 points

:icondarkroisin: --> 2426= 24 points

Yeah NAI's... a big freakin dude and of course Sprinkles is a huge ball of fluff. Poor tiny Satsuki is stuck in a den of giants.
*and a homicidal chihuahua
© 2014 - 2024 darkroisin
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onhiku's avatar
Did you add the points in yet? :0