#to be clear i do not think konan is like the 'mom friend' or a normal person or anything

[hidansexwife]

we never see konan interact with the other akatsuki that much, which i assume is because most of it was her being frustrated at having to wrangle a bunch of insane criminals who make giving yourself wings and calling yourself an angel and a messenger of god look normal and not because kishimoto doesn't think women exist outside of subservience to men

[panharmonium]

more in-progress naruto thoughts under the cut!

i’ve only progressed by like ten episodes but we just got out of the filler and back into the real story, which means that i feel like i’m moving at a million miles per hour because we went from Nothing happening to Everything Happening All At Once

[spoiler policy disclaimer first, as always: I am watching naruto for the first time and i am trying to avoid spoilers, so please don’t interact with this (tags included, because the notifications now show them to me automatically) with any spoilery commentary, including even general things like “oh i love this show but it gets less good after X point” or “X season is better than Y season” or any general assessments of quality/likability/etc re: future seasons.  Thank you! <3 ]

- real!madara has finally made his appearance (and the scene where he appeared was Epic.  i love when they introduce new music).  i wasn’t surprised to see him; i’ve suspected for a while that fake!madara isn’t who he says he is (specifically, i’ve been guessing that he’s madara’s brother, but the story hasn’t confirmed that, so who knows; i could be wrong).  anyway the five kage are lining up to fight him, but we haven’t seen any of the battle; it cut away to naruto’s part of the story and we haven’t gotten back to gaara’s group yet...i think we’ll get into that tonight.

- the tailed beasts part of the story has taken a huge leap forward and i LOVEEEEE it; once again i am SUCH a sucker for the whole “compassion for your enemy/turning your enemies into friends” motif and ughhhhhhhhh it’s fantastic; THIS is the stuff that i love watching naruto do.  this is what he’s built for.  “just who the hell are you to say that having a tailed beast makes me feel despair” + kurama opening his eyes open hearing that - i LOVED that shot.  and i loved the show turning things around and showing things from the perspective of someone who’s been locked in a cage for so long...and the parallel they drew between iruka saying “he’s not a beast; he’s a leaf shinobi and his name is naruto” + naruto releasing kurama from his cage and recognizing him by his name.......MASTERFUL

and oh my god they showed us the BABY tailed beasts wtf i was definitely not ready for this face:

pROTECT HIM ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

- kurama roasting naruto for accidentally kissing sasuke that one time; i was HOWLING; naruto really said he wished he and his tailed beast could joke around and bicker with each other like bee and gyuki do, and kurama just went “ok if you say so”

- sasuke is finally outside lmao.  got tired of sitting around in the dark i guess

- TAKA IS BACK!  honestly suigetsu was winning my heart last night all over again.  i’ve always liked him, but boy, he was not pulling punches yesterday, complaining to jugo about how sasuke dragged them into a conflict that wasn’t what they originally agreed to/dropped a ceiling on their heads/left them for dead...i believe the word “reprehensible” was used, in fact....YOU GO, KIDDO!  tell it like it is! 

- taka also apparently stumbled upon some kind of master plan of orochimaru’s.........no idea of the details at this point but i KNEW we couldn’t count that guy out yet XD

- just a general observation: at this point, i feel like i have hundreds of questions, and instead of answering them, the show just keeps posing more:

a long time ago kabuto said something about “so long as i have the edotensei and that OTHER jutsu, i’m invincible.”  what other jutsu was he talking about???

after that very same conversation with kabuto, fake!madara told black zetsu “you’d better get started on our OTHER program” - what other program was HE talking about???????

fake!madara also once said something very brief about “linking sasuke to the gedo statue”.........what.  what was that about.

what did naruto see when he and sasuke had that brief encounter.  sakura knows he’s hiding something.  what was it?

a million years ago jiraiya was talking about the first hokage’s necklace and said “there are only two like it in the world.”  naruto’s is broken...so who has the other one?

how did itachi know about fake!madara in the first place?  back when fake!madara was telling sasuke about everything that happened, he was like “itachi was the only one who knew of my existence/he agreed to help me if i promised to leave the hidden leaf alone” - but how did itachi even know about fake!madara at all? 

shisui uchiha...what the fuck happened to make him think he needed to kill himself and hide his eyes

how the fuck did danzo end up in cahoots with orochimaru???  and did danzo use shisui’s eye for anything while he possessed it (besides trying to influence the people at the five kage summit)???

i’m still not clear on the parameters of all the visual jutsu.  why do sasuke’s new eyes look the way they do, if they’re itachi’s???  itachi’s were always a kind of three-spoked pinwheel, but now that they’ve been transplanted into sasuke they look completely different - why?  i don’t even fully understand what the mangekyo is - when it was first introduced i thought it was the thing kakashi could do, but we’ve never seen anybody else use it that way (unless that’s actually what fake!madara is doing when he sucks people into him...) - itachi can use it for tsukuyomi and amaterasu and the susano’o because he has it in both eyes, but is that the extent of it?  what are its capabilities actually???  and what was kabuto talking about when he said the rinnegan was a natural progression of the sharingan?

what is written on the uchiha stone tablet?  is it information about how the sharingan can be used to control tailed beasts?  or something else?

how did taka end up under orochimaru’s control?  like - didn’t we once see a flashback of karin participating in the chunin exams at the same time as sasuke?  what the hell happened to her???  how did she end up with orochimaru?????  

what was going on in that brief flashback with madara and the tsuchikage?  the one where young ohnoki is like “that wasn’t the agreement” and madara is like “there is no alliance; you bow to the hidden leaf; also don’t ever mention hashirama’s name in front of me again”?  what is the CONTEXT

what exactly do madara and fake!madara get out of the infinite tsukuyomi?  like...okay, so everyone’s a zombie living in a fantasy world, and what will YOU be doing, exactly?  i’m just not sure i understand their ultimate motivation.  

so many questions about this whole “six paths” thing; i don’t even understand what that is right now or why the sage of the six paths created the ten-tails to begin with or...or anything about it.  fake!madara told konan a bunch of info about shadow style and creation powers but it all went way over my head and i don’t feel like i have any clarity on it yet.

this isn’t plot-related at all, but i still don’t even know what happened to rin.  i’ve known she was dead for like 700 episodes but i have absolutely no clue how what happened.  honestly this show is as tight-lipped about kakashi’s personal information as he himself is; they give us the tiniest bites of information and then just let us stew for years...they never told us what happened to his mom, even.  they told us kakashi was a chunin at age SIX and just like...didn’t think that warranted further discussion.  they mentioned he was a former anbu operative and then never mentioned it again (though i do know that’s coming...it’s been several hundred episodes, so i CAN’T WAIT)

i probably have a billion more questions that i just can’t recall at the moment because there are too many of them to keep in my head at the same time.  i am sure many of these will be answered to one degree or another as i move forward, but right now i am just like “boy, time is ticking, and we have so much left to address...how???” 

[silverfootstepswrites]

Butterfly [26]

summary Happy days, 

“That’ll be 398 yen. Would you like your bento warmed up, sir?”

“Senpai.”

“Yes, sir?”

“....Senpai.”

Sighing, Kakuzu finally lifted his head to stare at the customer. And across the counter stood Itachi, looking understandably concerned. He started.

“Senpai, did you just call me ‘sir’?” asked Itachi.

“I’ve been working since noon, man. Don’t judge me,” Kakuzu grumbled. He turned around to place the container in the microwave. He leaned his elbow on the counter, tugging at the collar of his white shirt. 

“When do you get off?” Itachi inquired. Kakuzu checked his watch.

“An hour?”

“Let’s go get drunk.”

“Hell yeah.”

And exactly an hour and twenty-six minutes later, Kakuzu was chugging down his first beer of the night. The tip of his nose was still bright red from the cold. He smacked his lips and sighed once he drained the glass. Itachi slid another drink over to him, cheek in his hand. 

“So I’m guessing that you still hate your job,” guessed Itachi. 

“With passion. But hey. It pays the rent,” answered Kakuzu. Only then did he shed his parka. 

Itachi raised his glass. “I’ll toast to that,” he remarked. And then Hidan raised his glass too. 

“To paying the fucking rent,” agreed Hidan. They clinked glasses together, glad that the weekend had finally arrived

Unfortunately for Itachi, he had work in the morning. So after a few drinks, he tapped out. He dozed on the bus home and barely made it off at the right stop. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, bone-tired after a long week.

In the morning, Itachi washed up and hurried to catch the bus on time. He walked into the cafe a few minutes before the start of his shift. Securing the ties of his black apron, he started off by starting up the espresso maker. 

The cafe Itachi worked at was small but relatively successful. On weekends, it was busy throughout the day. But during the week, it was never frantic inside. Instead, the business came in waves. 

First, there was the group of blue collar workers picking up some caffeine before an early start to the day. Then came the businessmen and women on the way to the office. Later came the university students looking for a late-morning pick-me-up. Between these waves, the cafe was relatively deserted. 

The manager let Itachi study or work on assignments during these lulls, which was one of the reasons Itachi had chosen to stay at this job. He kept one of his textbooks open on an empty stretch of counter near the espresso machine. Some of his professors raised an eyebrow when he handed in his homework smelling like coffee, but it hadn’t affected his grade yet.

Since the cafe was so close to their university, Itachi saw his classmates pop in throughout the week. Nagato and Konan stopped by for matcha lattes. Nagato was a senior in the middle of his job search. He looked more and more frantic each day. Konan took a moment to wave at Itachi as she followed Nagato out of the cafe. She looked even more stressed about the job search than her boyfriend did. 

Hidan asked for two shots of espresso before his Thursday class.

“You’re going to give yourself a heart attack,” warned Itachi. He rested his elbow on the counter as he watched Hidan gulp the first espresso down like it was a tequila shot. Hidan slammed the paper cup down. He wore sunglasses indoors, fighting against one of his frequent migraines. 

“It’s the only way I can stay awake through that old man’s lecture. If he talks about the ‘eternity of art’ one more time, I’ll gut myself in the middle of the lecture hall,” growled Hidan. Against his better judgment, Itachi got up to pour him another shot of espresso.

“When are we going to meet up this week? We’ve got to work out how we’re going to assemble that big tree piece for our project,” Itachi reminded him. Hidan bared his teeth after he gulped down the rest of the coffee. 

“Tomorrow?” Hidan answered. 

Itachi made Hidan mark it down in his phone before he went to class.

But during that Saturday morning shift, Itachi didn’t recognize anyone who came into the cafe. In fact, he found himself in one of those nice lulls. The only customers in the cafe already had their drinks. It wasn’t his turn to clean the bathroom or to wipe the tables. So he leaned against the counter to take a breather. 

Itachi straightened with the collar of his white uniform shirt. Fixed the cuffs of his rolled-up sleeves. Just as he tucked his hair behind his ears, the bell above the door jangled. Cold air blew into the cafe. Sighing, Itachi stood up straight. 

“Welcome,” he said, putting on his retail smile.

“Itachi.”

Itachi’s eyes popped open. “Oh. Father.” A head popped up beside his father’s leg. “And Sasuke.”

Itachi looked around and caught the manager’s gaze. “Is it alright if I take my break?” he inquired. 

So after brewing a caffe latte for his father and a hot chocolate for Sasuke, Itachi settled in the corner booth with them. 

Sasuke hopped into the seat beside their father. His little feet didn’t even begin to touch the ground. When Itachi pushed the cup across the table, Sasuke tried to take a sip of his drink. Instead he covered the tip of his nose in whipped cream. Itachi chuckled. He reached out to wipe Sasuke’s face with a napkin. 

“Nii-san, you made this?” asked Sasuke. His face scrunched up when Itachi rubbed at his nose with the scratchy napkin. Itachi nodded.

“Just for you.”

Sasuke’s face lit up. He tried to drink again and managed to get a gulp. “Yummy!” he declared.

“Itachi.”

Itachi returned his attention back to his father. Fugaku had retired from the police force this year. It felt strange to see him out of his officer’s uniform. Itachi had more memories of his father in the blue outfit than out of it. 

“Have you been well?” Fugaku inquired. 

Itachi nodded before he asked, “Where’s Mom?”

To his surprise, his father reached inside his jacket. He fumbled for a bit as he pulled out his flip phone. Itachi watched Fugaku mutter to himself as he clicked around on the buttons. He scowled when he opened up his settings by accident.

“Otou-san, you have to push this one,” said Sasuke, leaning over. He grasped Fugaku’s wrist to pull his arm down. And he pressed his thumb to the menu button. Sasuke then went back to gulping down his hot chocolate. 

Finally, Fugaku managed to pull up the message he had received earlier that morning. 

“She’s watching the Figure Skating Championships with her friends,” Fugaku declared, holding up the phone for Itachi to see. It was a photo of Mikoto with two of her friends. One of them was holding up a sign that said ‘MANGETSU’ in big, pink letters. Mikoto held up two little Japanese flags, grinning. 

The message underneath read, “Mangetsu just did so well! I think he’s going to win gold!”

Itachi gave a helpless laugh. Fugaku lowered his phone, tucking it back into his pocket.

“Wasn’t Mom just watching figure skating the other day?” Itachi inquired. 

“Apparently that was a Grand-Something? This is nationals. Just for Japanese skaters,” replied Fugaku, shaking his head. 

Then again, Itachi thought, his mother had always been a huge fan of skating. He knew that his father only watched it with her to support her. It was entertaining in its own way. But somehow his mother knew the skaters by name. Even when they landed their jumps, she would groan and exclaim that they ‘popped a jump’ or ‘under-rotated’, whatever that meant. She kept track of all the dates of competitions, too. 

The men of the Uchiha family knew. If there was skating going on somewhere in the world, it would be playing on the little TV in the kitchen. And no one was allowed to change the channel. 

“We dropped Mom off earlier!” Sasuke told Itachi. Itachi wiped more whipped cream off Sasuke’s cheeks. 

“And you kept Father company? Wow, Sasuke. You’re all grown up now,” answered Itachi with a smile. Sasuke nodded.

“You look like you’re doing well. How’s work?” questioned Fugaku. 

“It’s good. It’s harder than I thought it would be. I thought you were exaggerating when you said high school would be the easiest part of my life,” responded Itachi. And then he watched his father’s hand slip into his pocket again.

“Are you doing alright on rent? You’re eating?” Fugaku went on to ask. He pulled his wallet out and began counting out bills. He rolled them up before shoving them into Itachi’s hand.

“I don’t want you to fall behind on your expenses,” Fugaku muttered. 

The back of Itachi’s neck felt a little hot. He tried to push the money back. 

“It’s alright, Father. I’m not starving or anything,” Itachi said. But Fugaku only nudged the money over again. 

“You’re retired now. You should be saving your money,” Itachi insisted. It was pointless, though. Sighing, he accepted the money, tucking it into the pocket of his black pants. 

“Thank you,” he said. Fugaku grunted something, looking away. 

An awkward silence fell over them. It had been a while since they had spoken to each other. The last time had been when Itachi had gone home to celebrate his mom’s birthday. And, as usual, Itachi and Fugaku had gotten into an argument about Itachi’s decision to go to art school. 

And now, Itachi laced his hands together. Recalling how he had shouted at his father not to try to control his life. He looked up when Fugaku cleared his throat. 

“Itachi. I... I don’t want to control you,” Fugaku began. Neither of them could look the other in the eyes. “I just want you to make the right choices. There’s...” Fugaku broke off, letting out a heavy sigh. 

“It’s hard to support yourself on an art degree. You know that, right? And when you start a family, it’ll only get harder.”

Itachi looked down at his hands as he answered: “I do.”

“But this is really what you want to do?”

“It is.”

Another pause. Fugaku tapped his fingers against the tabletop. His wedding band clacked against the wood.

“Then...it’ll take some time. But I’ll try to understand,” declared Fugaku. 

Itachi lifted his head. Unsure whether he had just heard correctly or not. But he found his father look straight at him. A small smile pulling at his lips. Itachi bit the inside of his mouth. He didn’t know what to say in response to something like that. 

Thankfully, Sasuke knew just what to say. 

“Did you make up with Nii-san, Otou-san?” he asked. 

They both looked over at Sasuke. Fugaku ruffled Sasuke’s hair. 

“Yes, we did, Sasuke,” answered Fugaku. 

The conversation was still awkward. Fugaku stuck around for a little longer, asking Itachi about what he was doing. Itachi explained how he and a partner were working on a project. Each semester, dance students at their school participated in an exhibition for their final grade. It was the job of scenography students to design the stage for one of these performances, which then became their final grade. 

“The exhibition is next month. You should come,” Itachi offered.

And even though he could see that his father still didn’t get what he was studying, Fugaku listened to all of this. He nodded before he said, “Alright, Itachi. We’ll be there.”

Fugaku’s phone vibrated. He opened it up and read over the screen. Then he showed Itachi. Mikoto had sent over a video. It was shaky and a little blurry. But it was of a girl with pink hair gliding across the rink. They could hear several voices calling, “Saku!” as she did a lap around. 

“Who’s that?” Itachi inquired. 

“Some new girl that your mother is obsessed with. I can’t tell any of them apart,” sighed Fugaku, leaning back in his seat. Itachi laughed. 

“Me neither.” But then he considered her white and blue outfit. “Her costume’s a pretty color, though,” Itachi added.

[wingsofanillyrian]

The Prom (Feysand and Nessian Family)

@booksaremylife4eva asked: “ Do you think you can write one about feysand and nessian’s kids in high school? I would love to read one written from you. Thank you!”

A/N: So I read “high school” and my mind instantly screamed PROM! #sorrynotsorry

Masterlist

Send me a request!

Konane fiddled nervously with his tie, scrutinizing his reflection for anything that was awry. He slipped his silver cufflinks through the holes in the sleeves of his white dress shirt, admiring the design. A gift from his father when he’d turned sixteen, they were emblazoned with the three-mountain and star sigil of the school they had both attended, Velaris High.

For the third time that night, he tried (and failed) to smooth down the cowlick in his golden hair.

“Konane! Hurry up, you’re going to be late!”

His mother could be so annoying sometimes. One more quick glance over his tux before he headed out the door, carefully picking his way down the steps to where he knew Oryn and his family would be waiting.

“There’s my boy,” Cassian said by way of greeting, going in for a hug. Konane stopped him with a hand on his broad chest and he pulled back, abashed.

“The suit.”

Hazel eyes rolled and the others chuckled, and Konane moved to stand at his best friend’s side. Oryn was dressed impeccably well, wearing a lovely black tuxedo with a purple shirt, the shade of which exactly matched his violet eyes.

“Well, mom, dad, Aunt Nesta and Uncle Cass, we really must be going.” The raven-haired boy gave them his best charming smile, gesturing for his friend to follow him out the door. “We’ll be late to pick up our dates if we don’t leave now.”

“Wait- one more thing.” Nesta stepped forward and cupped her son’s face in her nimble hands. Her eyes filled with unshed tears, which she quickly blinked back.

“I’m proud of you,” she murmured, reaching up to brush a kiss to his forehead.

“We both are.” His father squeezed his shoulder, his pride evident not through tears, but in the strong set of his shoulders and the smile on his face.

Oryn sighed dramatically behind him, and there was a muffled thud followed by a squeaked “ow!” Peeking over his shoulder, he noticed Feyre scolding her son as he rubbed his now-sore shoulder.

Konane chuckled. “Thanks, you guys. But we really do have to go now.” He squeezed his mother’s hand before following his oldest friend out the door to pick up their dates.

***************

Oryn parked his BMW at the curb outside of James Mallory’s house, and turned to give Konane an encouraging smile.

“Nervous?”

Never one to lie, he nodded. “A bit.”

Konane had been harboring a crush on the junior since September, and had finally been persuaded to act on it in April. The two had met and bonded through baseball, the sport that they both loved. He had asked James to the dance after their first baseball game of the season (in which James had pitched two strikeouts, thank you very much). He’d been creative about it, enlisting the help of Oryn and a few others to create a balloon display that their friends released into the sky at the end of the game. Konane had been worried of rejection, but James had just grinned widely and said yes with a wink.

“You shouldn’t be.” The older boy lay a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “You look great, ‘Nane. Sweep him off his feet, yeah?”

He gave his friend a shaky smile before sliding from the car and walking up the three short steps to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, he silently rehearsed his speech in his head.

Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Mallory, I’m here to pick up your son for the dance tonight at Velaris High. No, I don’t intend on taking him home or trying anything. Yes, I will have him back by midnight.

That speech flew out the window when the man himself answered the door.

“Hey,” he greeted breathlessly, sliding on his shoes.

“James,” Konane said, a bit startled by having his plans foiled. “Um, hi.” The fact that the blue-eyed boy had cleaned up well did little to stifle his growing anxiety.

The sides of his black hair were freshly trimmed, the longer top slicked back in a strikingly handsome way. The lazy grin he wore as he opened the door wider to allow him inside caused his stomach to flip. James’ maroon dress shirt perfectly matched Konane’s tie, a detail that Nesta had insisted on.

“You look good.”

His date ran a tanned hand through his midnight hair, raking his gaze appreciatively over his figure. “As do you. Ready to go, then?”

“Don’t your parents want to meet me or something?”

James’ answering conspirator’s grin was the most enchanting thing Konane had ever seen. “They aren’t home.” Grabbing his jacket from the coat rack, James slipped out the door and locked it behind him. The two walked to where the black BMW idled at the curb, and Konane silently praised himself for remembering to open the door for his date.

“Alright boys,” Oryn said once they both were settled in the backseat, “Let’s get going!”

*************

Twenty minutes later, their trio had grown to a quartet after the addition of Oryn’s date, Jessamine. She wore a violet floor length gown studded with crystals that sparkled in the bright light of the banquet hall. The two had gone as friends, but knowing Oryn, he’d have her wrapped around his pretty finger before the night was up.

The foursome chatted idly throughout dinner, discussing everything from the weather to college. When the empty plates were whisked away and the lights dimmed. All too soon, it came time to dance, and Oryn gracefully and confidently took Jess’ hand and led her out to the floor, throwing a wink in Konane’s direction.

The silence stretching between the remaining couple was growing awkward, but Konane didn’t know how to breach it. Wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, he cleared his throat and took a stab at it.

“Thanks for agreeing to come with me tonight.” He stole a glance at James and was surprised to see him smiling brightly.

“Thank you for asking me, Konane. I was beginning to think you didn’t have the nerve to.”

Running a hand through his golden hair, he laughed nervously. Asking James to the prom had been the most nerve wracking thing he’d ever done. In doing so, he had publicly declared to everyone in the school that he wasn’t straight. It was proving even harder to explain that he was bisexual, though most embraced him in the same way they always had.

Noticing his distant expression, James lay a careful hand over where his own rested on his thigh.

“Hey, you alright?”

It was hard to focus on his words when all Konane could think about was the fact that their hands were touching. Oh god, and his thumb was rubbing circles on his thigh-

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just… Nervous.”

“I know what’ll help.” Threading their fingers together, the taller boy pulled Konane to his feet and flashed him a charming smile. “Let’s go dance.”

Unable to form words, he simply nodded. He was hyper-aware of every place their skin touched, the contact sparking a fire in his gut. James didn’t seem phased in the slightest as he wove through the crowd, finally stopping in the epicenter.

Why couldn’t he be that confident? Konane was sure James could hear his heart hammering, even above the base that thudded in his chest. The blue-eyed boy dropped his hand and turned to face him, a sly smile stretching across his face. Carefully, as if not to scare him off, James rested his hands on Konane’s hips while swaying his own to the fast beat.

Well, now he was lost. He’d never danced with anyone like this before.

Konane instinctively scanned the crowd for Oryn, seeking some direction on what to do. When he caught sight of him, Oryn quirked a brow and laid his own hands pointedly on Jessamine’s hips. Konane swallowed thickly and mimicked his actions, his touch featherlight on the other boy’s hips.

“There you go,” James purred, and Konane relaxed a bit. He moved his hips in time with the beat, quickly loosening up enough to give him a true, unrestrained smile.

It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to affect the budding couple. Sticky bodies jostled them on all sides, the other couples grinding against each other filling the air with euphoria and the salty scent of sweat.

Following their example, Konane turned in James’ embrace and pressed his ass to the other’s front. He was rewarded with a low groan and his hot breath at his ear.

“I rather like this side of you,” James whispered, lips grazing the shell of his ear.

“Don’t get used to it,” Konane replied, but didn’t mean it. He’d do this all night if it kept James’ hands roaming over his thighs and across his abdomen, each touch sending a fresh wave of sparks buzzing through his veins.

They didn’t part until the DJ announced the last song of the night. Hand in hand, the two combed through the other students until they came upon Oryn and Jessamine, wrapped in each other’s arms.

We’ll walk home, Konane mouthed, not wanting to disturb the sweet scene. Oryn nodded, shooting him a look that said be careful.